USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 27
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packages stored in Kingston of several thousand pounds, made complaint that when he came to take possession one of the pack- ages was entirely gone.
But there are other and more serious internal difficulties to record before proceeding further in the general narrative than the tea episode. The State was cursed with the presence of disaffected men scattered throughout its entire range. Although Tories at heart, many of them lived in apparent friendship with their patri- otic neighbors and of the cause of freedom. Ready, however, at any time to betray and sacrifice their country, they had their secret signs, marks, and signals, by which they were well known to each other and well understood by the British spies and emissaries prowling around. They were not all so shrewd, however, as always to escape detection ; their doings were occasionally , brought to light, the prisons became filled to overflowing, and the gallows was occasionally resorted to to render well-deserved punishment. Pris- oners were sent to Kingston from almost every direction, and when its jail was filled to overflowing vessels were anchored out in the Rondout stream and used to take care of the surplus. A company of soldiers was kept constantly on duty to insure their safe-keeping.
The records of a few of the examinations and trials of offenders have been preserved, and narrations of some of the cases will follow. History must necessarily cover the transactions of foes within as well as foes without.
On the 5th day of May, 1777, a preamble and resolution in re- gard to county committees was passed by the State Convention, as follows :
" Whereas it has been found by experience that the several Committees within this State have greatly contributed to the public security and defence, by expediting the measures necessary for the general weal ; and whereas it will be necessary that the salutary influence of such Committees shall be continued until the Govern- ment of this State shall be firmly settled and obtain its full energy and vigor
"Therefore Resolved, that it be recommended to the inhabitants of this State to choose such active, spirited and discreet subjects of this State, as they shall deem proper for members of the several Committees within their respective counties, and to continue as members of such committees, until the first day of October next, and although the office of a member of any of said Committees is extremely painful and laborious, yet as the service will expire before the said day, it is most earnestly recommended to the good subjects of this State, cheerfully to undertake, and vigilantly to execute the said offices, more especially as the last hope of our dispirited foes is now grounded upon those intestine divisions,
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which they so assiduously labor to promote. By the assistance of which, they expect to accumulate greater evils upon a country, which they cannot subdue, and without which all their diabolical designs must prove utterly abortive."
On the 31st of March, 1777, an investigation was had and testi- mony taken before the Committee of Safety and Observation of the Precinct of Mamakating, in the county of Ulster, in which the following facts were developed : On the Wednesday previous to the 31st of March, Samuel Waring came to John More and asked him to join in a plot against the Whigs, and explained that the design was to meet with Joseph Barton at the Sussex Court House, New Jersey, on Wednesday of the following week. Barton was to be there with a large number of men. A party was also expected from the north, across the Lakes, with a band of Indians. The war vessels were expected to sail up the river about that time, which would draw all the militia down to guard along the river, and leave the country back unprotected. The men would then divide them- selves in different parties, fall upon the unprotected country, and cut off and destroy what they could. It also appeared, in that investigation, that recruiting officers were around, secretly enlisting men in the service of the King under promise of large bounties and pay.
On the 5th of April, 1777, a stranger came to the house of Isaac Low, who kept a tavern in the precinct of New Paltz, and solicited entertainment ; he represented that he came from Warrack, in the State of New Jersey. After some conversation he applied to Mr. Low to take him to Mr. Trompoor's, where he had left his horse, and he exhibited a pass under the name of Jacobus Bay. Low declined, on account of the sickness of his wife, but finally agreed to take him part of the way. When they were about starting the stranger wanted to be taken by a route to avoid Kingston ; he gave as a reason that he came from New York, and as there was a guard at Kingston, he would be arrested. He then in further conversa- tion admitted that his real name was Goos Quackenboss, and he expected to be a lieutenant ; that he had been sent up to fetch people down, and would soon return on the west side of the river with a number of men. Low then took him to Garret Freer, in the town of Kingston, on the south side of Rondout Creek, and left him there. Freer put him forward in his journey, by water, so as to avoid Kingston.
Complaint was made by Cornelius Elmendorf, Jr .. to the Committee of Safety and Observation of the town of Kingston, that Jan Freer had, on the oth of April, conveyed from his house by water, in his canoe, a person justly suspected of being an enemy of the State of New York, and that his father, Garret Freer, had
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aided and assisted him therein. Garret and Jan Freer were then cited before the committee. Jan Freer acknowledged that he had conveyed the suspected person away in his canoe, and that his father, Garret, had sent his negro with him to assist. The com- mittee then tendered to both Garret and Jan the oath of allegiance, which they refused to take; upon such refusal they were both committed to jail.
Some time afterward Garret Freer being anxious to visit his home, and having applied for permission so to do, his application was granted upon the terms specified in the following resolution of the Committee of Safety :
" Resolved that the Gaoler deliver Garret Freer to the care of such person, as the Minister Elders and Deacons of the Church of Kingston, shall direct, they engaging to return the said Garret Freer to jail, the evening of the same day they take him out ; and that the said Gaoler do again receive the said prisoner, and keep him agreeable to his mittimus."
In the proceedings of the convention of the 13th of May is the following entry : "Garret Freer, a prisoner confined in the jail below, was brought up and admonished by the President, and a discharge for him delivered to the Sheriff on his paying the fees due."
On the 8th day of August, 1777, Jan Freer, on account of the dangerous illness of his father, was discharged from prison on his giving a bond, with security in £400 for his future good behavior, and that he would surrender himself whenever required by the Council of Safety or executive power of the State.
On the 9th of April, 1777, Cornelius Newkirk and William McDarmoth, of Wagh Kunk, in the town of Kingston, were cited before the Committee of Safety and Observation charged with cer- tain treasonable discourses. On being separately examined they. partially denied the charge. They were then discharged upon voluntarily subscribing and taking the oath, of which the follow- ing is a copy :
"I, the subscriber, do most solemnly swear that I renounce all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, that I will be a good and true subject to the State of New York, that I will to the utmost of my power defend the said State against the enemies thereof, and that I will discover all plots and conspiracies against it, which may come to my knowledge, and pray God Almighty so to keep me as I do faithfully and sincerely keep this oath and declaration."
On their journey home, Newkirk and McDarmoth stopped at the house of Mr. Joseph Osterhoudt, about four miles from Kings- ton, and lodged there. At that time the houses usually were only one story, and the loft not divided into rooms. To secure privacy
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for females, their bedsteads were surrounded with curtains so hung as to be closed all round. Newkirk and MeDarmoth re- . tired soon after their arrival, and were shown to their beds in the upper room. There was a bed such as is described above in that room, which bed Mrs. Elizabeth Yeomans occupied ; but it appears not to have been noticed by the two lodgers.
Soon supposing themselves entirely alone, they commenced a confidential talk, which was substantially, according to Mrs. Yeomans' testimony, as follows : Newkirk said, " They take us to be good Whigs, but my heart is the same as before." McDar- moth replied, "So is mine, but we now have taken the oath." Newkirk said, " They read the oath to me several times, but I had. taken care that I should not hear it, for I stopt my ears with wool, which I brought from home, as I expected they would offer the oath to me." McDarmoth said, "I did not think so far ; when- the oath was offered to me I asked what oath I was to swear ; they told me to be true to the country, and I could do that, and free my conscience, for it is our country, where we were born, but the King is the ruler of the country." They had considerable further talk ; part of it was about hanging a man, and also about keeping an account of all their expenses.
The next morning Mrs. Yeomans gave information of the con- versation overheard by her, and the two Tories were again arrested and taken before the committee. Upon examination they admitted the truth of Mrs. Yeomans' statement, and consequently were com- mitted to jail.
It appears by proceedings before the Kingston committee and certificate of Christopher Tappen, that in the latter part of April, 1777, Abraham Middagh called at the house of Jacobus S. Davis, in the town of Marbletown, and inquired of him whether there were any strangers about. Upon receiving a negative reply he stated that Jacob Middagh had come up with him, and was near at hand, and if he would go with him he would bring him to him. They went to the house of Frederick Bush, where they found him.
Jacob Middagh told Davis that he had lately come from New York in order to inform his friends and acquaintances how matters were circumstanced there, and that he would make gentlemen of all those who would go down with him ; that the party who had previously gone with him were encamped at Jamaica, on Long Island, and lived well ; they had provisions of all kinds in plenty ; that every man of family who went down with him to New York would be entitled to one hundred acres of land for himself, fifty acres for his wife, and fifty acres for every son. They would not be obliged to fight unless they were so inclined, but would be
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required to take an oath of fidelity to the King of Great Britain ; that the British troops were to move up the Hudson River by land as soon as the country would afford grass for their horses. They wanted Davis to go with them, but he refused. They then told Davis that they were going to his father's house to enlist his brother Jacob, and they left.
Next day Jacob Middagh returned with a number of men, and called at Jacob Davis's house. Middagh stated that Christian Winne had gone to Little Shandaken to get more men for him, and was to meet him in that neighborhood ; that he would have been away before if Winne had come down. Wilhelmus Merricle and Jacobus Bush were in the company. Merricle encouraged the men who were to go down by telling them that it was a righteous cause in which they had embarked, and endeavored to prove it by Scrip- ture quotations. Jacob Middagh warned Davis that they would be the death of any person who gave information against him or any of his company.
The further history of that expedition appears by the certificate of Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, chairman of the Committee of Obser- vation, etc., of the Precinct of Shawangunk, of examinations had before that committee on the 30th day of April, 1777. Upon the examination of Jacob Davis before that committee, it was disclosed that Jacob Middagh and others came to his father's house on the 23d of April, and asked him to go with them to New York to join the Regulars ; he consented, and immediately got ready to go, and his father provided him with provisions and other supplies needed on the march. They went that night to Shocan. The next morning they went to Jagh Cripplebush, and stopped a little while at Abraham Middagh's; from thence to Richard Oakley's, where they arrived about nine o'clock in the evening. After resting there awhile they went to William Wood's, in the Cox- ing Clove, where they met Samuel Freleigh, James Jones, and a Reg- ular officer, who told them that he and Jones were going along with them in the morning. They lodged that night at William Wood's, and the next morning crossed the mountains near the Widow Bevier's, in the New Paltz Precinct. Lieutenant Jacobus Roosa and Jacob Middagh went to the Widow Bevier's and shortly returned. They then proceeded on their way, and were piloted by Joseph Sluyter to Cornelius Du Bois, where they crossed the Wallkill. They took Joseph Freer and John Van Vliet prisoners. After a short parley they let them go, but took their arms from them, and made them swear that " they would not tell on them."
They finally reached a barn of Arthur Mckinney, where they re- mained a day and night, while Samuel Freleigh, James Jones, and the Regular went to Major Colden's. The major told them that he
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thought it would be impossible for them to get through the guard. Freleigh, Jones, and the Regular officer then left them. On Monday morning they proceeded on their journey, but in the afternoon of that day they were attacked by a company of militia. Jacob Davis and Andries Longyear escaped, but did not know what became of the rest. It also appeared from other testimony that there were twenty-six men in the company.
A large number of the band were arrested, and were tried by court-martial on April 30th and May 1st at Fort Montgomery, charged with "levying war against the State of New York within the same, and of being enlisted soldiers in the service of the King of Great Britain, when owing allegiance to the State of New York."
From the return made by General George Clinton, to the State Convention, of the trial and conviction of the prisoners, dated on the 3d day of May, 1777, it appeared that Jack, a negro man, slave of Gysbert Roosa, with Daniel Reynolds and Peter Aldridge, were by the said court-martial acquitted of the charges brought against them respectively, and that Hendrick Crispell was excused from a trial on the said charges, in order that he might be made use of as an evidence on behalf of the State against other criminals brought before the court. That John Van Vliet, William McGinnis, Corne- lius Furier, William Teits, Coenradt Mysener, Andries Keyser, John Rapelye, Sylvester Vandermerken, Jacobus Roosa, Jacob Middagh, and Jacobus Longyear were adjudged guilty of the crimes wherewith they severally stood charged. Alexander Camp- bell was found guilty of holding correspondence with the enemies of the American States, giving them intelligence and adhering to them, and giving them aid and comfort and secreting them. Arthur Mckinney was found guilty of the same crimes, except the charge of secreting them. Silas Gardiner was found guilty of holding correspondence with and assisting the enemies of the said States, and Isaac Lockwood was found guilty of attempting to join the enemy. The court-martial sentenced all who were thus found guilty "to be hanged by the neck until they be dead," except Isaac Lockwood, who was condemned to close, confinement in a common jail during the pendency of the war, or until discharged by proper authority.
The findings and sentences were all approved by the conven- tion, except in the case of Alexander Campbell, which was not approved.
' On the 12th of May, 1777, the convention passed a resolution pardoning all the condemned persons, except Roosa and Middagh, but directed the pardons to be withheld from them at the dis- cretion of the convention, Council of Safety, or governor of the State, and in the mean time the pardons be kept secret.
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Roosa and Middagh were subsequently executed by the sheriff of Ulster County. The others were confined in jail at Kingston ; they were eventually discharged, some at earlier and others at later dates ; some upon taking the oath of allegiance, others upon giving bonds for good behavior, and others upon enlisting in the Conti- nental forces.
In one season during the Revolution a number of Tories and desorters wintered in the mountains at the west end of Woodstock, at a neighborhood called " Little Shandaken." At that time there were only four or five dwellings at the settlement, occupied by Frederick Row and his two sons, John and Peter, and also the Carle family. Frederick Row was considerably advanced in age. He had one negro. The refugees were some twenty in number, and had a log hut near a dark ravine in the mountains, about three miles from the settlement. In order to procure food, whenever a snow- storm occurred they would take that night to go to the settlement and get what they wanted. They were then always careful to wear their shoes wrong-end foremost, so as to make the track of one go- ing into the woods instead of coming out, and again changing the shoes on returning. Row's negro often carried them victuals by order of his master, but he was a patriot, and disliked the duty. In the spring the refugees went to Niagara and joined the British army. Row was a deserter from Captain Elias Hasbrouck's company.
On the 2d day of May, 1777, the convention, after declaring that a number of artful and designing persons in every county in the State were daily endeavoring, by exaggerating accounts of the power of the enemy, and other wicked and criminal practices, to work upon the fears of weak and timid persons, and to betray the liberty of the country, appointed a committee to prepare two or more vessels lying in the river for the reception of prisoners, and arrange to have them properly guarded. They also authorized the committee for detecting conspiracies, etc., to cause suspicious and dangerous characters to be apprehended throughout the State, and confine them on board those vessels ; and they by resolution further declared that any person thus confined who should be found on shore without being properly discharged, would be deemed guilty of felony, without benefit of clergy, and if found .. guilty by a jury empanelled for the trial, would be immediately executed.
The following orders, made by the committee for detecting and defeating conspiracies, may be of some interest. as showing the usual manner and form of judgment against disaffected and danger- us persons :
"In Committee on enquiring into and detecting and defeating all
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conspiracies which may be found in the State of New York against the Liberties of America Jan 29th 1777
" Whereas Matthew Goes Jr and Dick Gardinier are most notori- ously disaffected to the American cause and have refused to swear allegiance to the State of New York. And ought not to have an opportunity by returning to their respective places of abode to exert their influence to the prejudice of the American cause
" Resolved that they forthwith be removed to Ulster County and confined at their own expense at the house or farm of such noted friend of the American cause as Charles De Witt Esquire one of the members of this Committee now in the said county shall pre- scribe. And further that they respectively give their parol of honor to Charles De Witt Esq not to depart from such house with- out license first had from this Committee or the Convention or future Legislature of this State. And that they will not in the mean time by word or deed directly or indirectly contravene or oppose the measures now pursuing, or which may be pursued by the General Congress or the Convention or future Legislature of this State or others acting under their authority for the establish- ment of American Liberty. And further that they will neither write nor receive any letters or other papers without immediately showing them to such person or persons as Charles De Witt Esq shall nominate for that purpose
" Resolved that a Copy of the foregoing resolutions be transmit- ted to Charles De Witt Esq and that he be requested to execute the business thereby committed to him
" By order of the Com " JOHN JAY Chairman"
Although Ulster County was thus annoyed with Toryism, still they were not troubled to the extent their Whig friends were in the neighboring precinct of Rhinebeck, Duchess County, where, as appeared by a letter of Brigadier-General Petrus Ten Broeck, the Tories were in open rebellion, and refused to obey the orders of the constituted authorities. At a meeting of the Committee of Safety, held on the 3d day of January, 1777, it appearing that the greater part of the privates in Colonel Graham's regiment of militia residing in Rhinebeck Precinct, in the county of Duchess, refused to obey the resolutions of the Convention of the State, by which they were ordered to the defence of the passes in the Highlands, and also prevented those who were well affected from obeying said resolutions. A commission was appointed with full power to com- pel the obedience of the disaffected persons, and to tender to them an oath of allegiance in the particular form prescribed in the resolutions of the Committee of Safety. Such of them as re-
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fused to take and subscribe to the oath were to be disarmed and arrested.
In order to furnish the commission with the necessary power to enforce their orders, the Committee of Safety ordered General Clinton to dismiss two regiments of militia belonging to the north end of the county of Ulster from their then duty, and directed that two hundred men be drafted thereout, put under the command of a field officer, and ordered to repair to the Flats in Rhinebeck on the 13th of January, and be under the direc- tion of the commission appointed as above stated. The com- mission was also authorized and enjoined to order the detach- ment of militia to fire upon, and otherwise treat as open enemies, such of the disaffected persons as persisted in their refusal to obey the authority of the State.
The Ulster County militia repaired to their post of duty, and the trouble appears to have been settled without proceeding to extreme measures.
Peter R. Livingston, of the Manor of Livingston, on the 2d day of January, 1777, reported to the Committee of Safety in regard to his regiment, that " upon the strictest inquiry the whole regiment, except a precious few, are so reluctant, and most of them so dis- affected, that little or no dependence can be put in them ; numbers daily riding about the county, huzzaing for the King and drink- ing his health in the taverns."
Such is a sample of the internal difficulties our ancestors had to contend against, with a powerful enemy ready to batter at their very doors.
The following are inserted to show some of the proceedings of the Committee of Safety and of the convention, rendered necessary by the Tories and their machinations, and the requisite provisions to put them where they could do the least harm :
On the 28th day of March, 1777, the convention ordered that a body of two hundred men be raised to guard the Continental ships at Esopus Landing, and the public records and Treasury of this State, against the designs of disaffected persons, as well as to guard the different passes and roads frequented by those persons for the purpose of conveying intelligence and going over to the enemy.
On the 20th day of April, 1777, the convention further ordered that one hundred and ninety-eight able-bodied men, well accoutred, and armed with a good musket, a fuse, a sword or tomahawk, a powder-horn and bullet-pouch, or cartouch-box, be raised to serve in the county of Ulster, to be divided into three companies, to con- tinue in service until the 15th day of July next, unless sooner dis- charged, to be subject to the order and direction of the convention, the Committee of Safety, or future executive power of the State.
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That they be divided into three companies, forming one corps. Of first company that Evert Bogardus be Captain, Edward Schoon- maker First Lieutenant, and Cornelius Du Bois Second Lieutenant ; of second company that Isaac Belknap be Captain, - Roosa First Lieutenant, and Abraham Schoonmaker Second Lieutenant; and of the third company that Frederick Schoonmaker be Captain, Zacharias Hasbrouck First Lieutenant, and John C. De Witt Second Lieutenant.
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