USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 43
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The following accident, occurring to one of the Kingston sloops on the 11th of June, 1820, as narrated in the Plebeian of the fol- lowing week, will serve to show the number of passengers some- times carried in the sloops as late as that date, and after more than ten years of steamboat transportation :
" On Saturday last about four O'clock, in the afternoon one of the sloops owned by Mr Abraham Hasbrouck of our Landing, Mr Jacob Du Bois Captain, was dismasted near the State prison on its passage from New York to this place, having thirty passengers aboard. The Captain, we understand, hailed the event by an hurrah, for the fortunate escape of his passengers-not one having received the least injury. . That escape was truly miraculous."
At first the communication between Kingston and New York by sloop was, of course, irregular and infrequent. As the country improved, and population increased, the commercial intercourse of Kingston with other places advanced proportionately, and led to the establishment of regular packet lines between the two places. with regular sailing days, giving the citizens of Kingston weekly communication with the metropolis.
After that two rival lines were soon in operation, one owned by- Abraham Hasbrouck, the other by William Swart. The William
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Swart line changed proprietors several times, and subsequently, but prior to 1825, the business of that line was transferred to Twaalfskill. Mr. Rufus R. Skeel, a retired merchant of New York, an early friend of the writer, who moved with his father, Theron Skeel, to Twaalfskill in 1825, has given some interesting details in reference to the commerce of Kingston at that date, furnishing a good criterion to estimate that of a prior date.
" The whole of the freight from Kingston to New York was car- ried in four sloops of one hundred tons each-the Comptroller and Martin Wynkoop, from the Strand (Kingston Landing), owned by Abraham Hasbrouck, and the Convoy and Convention, from Twaalfskill, owned by Tappen, Eltinge & Co., in which Theron Skeel was interested. Each sloop made a trip in two weeks. Two left the Rondout Creek on Friday, and two left New York on the same day. There was but little to go either way ; about seventy tons in each sloop to New York, and about twenty tons each week from New York, for eight months of each year ; more in spring and fall, less in summer. Firewood and hoop-poles made the bulk of the freight down, and supplies for the country merchants the bulk of the freight up the river. There were no manufactures and very little grain sent to New York. Some sawed lumber was car- ried. The Rondout Creek was then only navigated by those four sloops, and was so quiet that the hull of a boat built for steam, but unfinished, was sent from New York in 1826 to be laid up on the south bank of the creek between Twaalfskill and the Strand. That vessel was towed from New York into the Rondont Creek by the steamboat New London, which was the first steamboat to enter that stream. That hull was some years subsequently sold to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, used by them as a freight barge, and named the Lackawanna.
" With the progress and completion of the Delaware and Hudson Canal the freighting business was very much increased, and the four sloops in 1828 ran full for half of the year. In 1829, when the canal was opened to Honesdale, more sloops were added. In that year also the steamboat Congress was brought into the creek by Mr. Theron Skeel, and used for freight and passengers between Twaalfs- kill and New York, and was the first steamer for passengers run into the creek. It towed one or two freight barges from Pough- keepsie to New York, but had only a little freight and few pas- sengers out of the Rondout Creek. In 1831 the steamer Hudson was brought into the Rondout Creek and run from the Strand, or Kingston Landing, to and from New York."
After the establishment of the freighting business at Twaalfs- kill an elderly lady, who had been born and brought up at that place, in sight of the creek, used to say that " Twaalfskill was not
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as pleasant then as when she was a girl-about 1810-then no sloops came up there ; no vessels were seen save Indian canoes and skiff's bringing a bag or two of grain to be ground at the mill."
In 1825, and for some years subsequent, there was no road along Rondout Creek from Twaalfskill in either direction, neither to the Strand (Rondout), nor to Eddyville in the other course.
At this time the great wealth of Kingston and its vicinity in Ulster County - bluestone and cement - lay undeveloped and hidden in the bosom of the earth. It was not until the fall of 1836 that Philip V. D. Lockwood, the pioneer in the development of our flag stone, opened the quarry, and in 1837 made the first shipment of flag-stone that was made from this county to the city of New York. Ezra Fitch next took up the business. Others followed their lead, and now the trade amounts to millions of dollars annually, and the bluestone of Ulster County may be found covering walks and forming sills and lintels of doors and windows in nearly every city of the Union. The cement manufac- ture some years after 1820 was started in a small way by three brothers, John, Moses, and Jacob Hoffman, in the neighboring town of Hurley, now Rosendale ; they were soon followed by Watson E. Lawrence ; and there are now in Kingston and neighboring towns millions of dollars invested in its manufacture, and the iron rail stretching over the land in every direction, and the mighty ocean washing the shores of the Union, and its numberless tributaries penetrating the interior, bear the Ulster County cement in vast quantities to every section of the country.
The passage of the first steamboat down the river was a notable event ; it gave rise to many curious surmises and ideas by those who unexpectedly witnessed it. That was in 1807, when Fulton made his first successful passage with his newly constructed steam- boat. It must have been indeed a novel sight at that time to see a boat with revolving wheels uncovered ploughing through the water. Mr. Mulks, an aged gentleman of this city, informed the son of the writer that he was then a little boy residing with his father on the banks of the Hudson where the channel came close to the shore. There were some friends visiting them at the time who had a little boy with them. The little visitor, seeing the boat come along, cried out in amazement to his mother, "Ma ! ma ! come ; come and see the wagon go through the river without horses !"
. For a number of years after the invention of steamboats their usual speed was less than eight miles an hour. By their schedule time between New York and Albany, as late as twelve years after their introduction upon the Hudson, they left Albany at nine in
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the morning, were due at Kingston at five o'clock in the afternoon, . and at New York at five o'clock the next morning. Their adver- tised time for the return trip was to leave New York at five P.M., arrive at Kingston at five A.M., and at Albany at one r.M. Not- withstanding such schedule time, they seldom arrived on time. The Clermont was the first boat. That was followed successively by the Paragon, the Lady Richmond, the Chancellor Livingston, and the James Kent, all built and owned by the same company. The usual mode of receiving and landing way passengers in the early steamboat days was by small boat with long towline attached. That towline was at one time drawn in by a windlass attached to the machinery when the boat was in motion. Then the small boats were frequently drawn a mile and upward behind the steamer before reaching it. The law finally interfered and prohibited the lines being attached to any part of the machinery. After that the boats were drawn in by hand. Then it became necessary for the boatmen to stop the headway of the steamboat and approach as near the dock as possible. That mode of landing was apparently attended with much danger, but it was generally adopted for many years with very few accidents.
There were no staterooms to the steamboats in those early days, and the fare included meals as well as passage. There was gener- ally, therefore, a great rush for the table, as well as for berths and cots.
The first regular communication between New York and Albany by stage was established on the east side of the river by Isaac Van Wyck and others, under a statute passed April 4th, 1785, giving them the entire monopoly of the business for ten years by expressly prohibiting any competing lines.
It was not until some time after that stages were established between New York and Albany on the west side of the river. That was done, however, in the early part of the century by a company styling themselves "the Goshen, Kingston, and Albany Stage Line." They made trips thrice a week with two-horse stages dur- ing the suspension of navigation by the ice. That line of stages was continued until 1814, when there was a change of proprietors and arrangements. The change is thus noticed in the Plebeian of December 20th, 1814 :
"The new line of Mail stages, drawn by four horses, on the west side of Hudson's River, between New York and Albany, promise to be of great public utility. They arrive in this village every day in the week, Monday excepted, and at much earlier hours than the old line did. . . . We. are much pleased to find that so good a substitute has been provided for Steam Boats at the present season, during suspension of navigation by the ice." This
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" daily" arrival is understood to have been one day up and the next day down.
The old line changed horses at Goshen, at Mr. De Witt's (Green- kill), and at Catskill. The new line made their changes at Goshen, New Paltz, and Catskill. Samuel Budd, of New Paltz, was one of the principal proprietors, or, rather, had the part of the route from New Paltz to Catskill.
The new line of stages continued with occasional change of pro- prietors until after 1820. But Kingston never enjoyed, prior to 1820, nor, indeed, for many years thereafter, a daily line of stages either with New York or Albany on the west side of the river ; and when during the suspension of navigation they received a daily mail, it was by way of Rhinebeck.
Postal facilities in those early days were very poor, as will be inferred from a notice which appeared in the Farmers' Register, a paper published in Kingston. The notice appeared in the issue of Saturday, August 17th, 1793, as follows : " Those gentlemen, who wish to have their letters forwarded by post, are requested to send them to the Post office at Kingston on Wednesday evening."
In 1815 the advertised letters remaining in the post-office at Kingston, to be called for, included letters for Esopus, New Paltz, Hurley, Marbletown, Rochester, Marlborough, Wawarsing, Platte- kill, Woodstock, Neversink, and Westfield. The advertisement for January, 1820, included letters for Hurley, Esopus, Marble- town, Woodstock, Marlborough, Rochester, Beaverkill, and Rocky Hill.
The following extracts from a notice, under date of March 28th, 1815, taken from the Ulster Plebeian, will serve the double pur- pose of illustrating the great want of postal facilities at that date. and how hard was then the printer's lot.
"For various imperious reasons, we have concluded to stop the circulation of the Plebeian, after the present week, through the towns of Hurley Marbletown Rochester Wawarsing Mamakating Shawangunk Plattekill Marlborough New Paltz and Esopus, by a Post rider employed as heretofore at the expense of this office. As we wish the papers to be read throughout our own County, and also in Sullivan, especially as long as the two Counties are identified in interest in the elective franchise, we take the liberty to recommend to our Patrons in those places to form clubs where practicable, to procure the papers either from the office or the nearest Post office. The greatest number of papers we circulate on the above mentioned route, are between this village and William Sypher's in Wawar- sing, a distance of about thirty miles ; in the whole of which extent there is no Post Office. Mr Sypher lives about twelve miles from the Post office in Bloomingburgh Sullivan County. We therefore
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presume that a number of our Patrons south of Mr Sypher's and in Sullivan may conveniently get the papers at that office." Then, after stating that Shawangunk and New Paltz have post-offices, and Esopus had formed a club to get the papers at the office, he regrets that he does not know how to accommodate Plattekill and Marl- borough, which have no post-offices. The notice then further pro- ceeds as follows : "The fact is we have paid at the rate of $182 per annum for carrying 175 Plebeians on that route, when better than two thirds of those papers were left between this and Mr Sypher's, from whence our Post has usually gone to Bloomingburgh Shawan- gunk Plattekill Marlborough New Paltz and Esopus an extent of 120 miles taking four days to perform the tour. We are con- strained to declare that we cannot afford the incidental expenses of that post rider.
(Signed) " JOHN TAPPEN"
His conclusion appears a very reasonable one when we take into consideration that the subscription price of the paper was by post $2 per annum. More than one half the subscription used up in the distribution !
A post route was established from Kingston to Milford, Pa., in 1817. On the 13th day of November in that year the first United States mail-carrier started from Kingston on that route on horse- back, making one trip a week.
The first newspaper printed in this county was the one referred to in the previous portion of this history as published by John Holt. He was the State printer, and followed the Legislature here, but was driven away when Kingston was destroyed.
The first newspaper published after the Revolution was the Farmers' Register, by William Copp. The publication of that paper was commenced in 1792, and had only a brief existence. A short time after that ceased to enlighten the public Mr. Copp asso- ciated himself with Samuel Freer in the starting and publication of another weekly journal called the Rising Star. After that paper had passed through a short period it found its patronage was unsupporting, and came to a dead halt. Next in order came the Ulster Gazette, which commenced its career in 1798 as the supporter and unflinching advocate of the doctrines of the Federal Party. It was conducted by Samuel Freer and son until the death of the father ; after that it was continued by the son, Samuel S. Freer. It continued and flourished as a strong party organ until some time in the third decade in this century, when it expired, never having yielded an uncertain sound on any political question in- volving Federal principles or measures.
In the year 1802 the Ulster Plebeian, an anti-Federal or Repub-
27
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
lican paper, was established in Kingston by Jesse Buell. The publication was commenced in the old stone house standing on the south side of Pearl Street, between Fair Street and Clinton Avenue. Mr. Buell moved to Albany in 1813, and established the Albany Argus. In July, 1814, he disposed of the Plebeian to John Tappen, who assumed the publication and editorship of the paper until his death in 1831, since which time it has changed propri- etors several times and names twice, first to the Ulster Republi- can, next to the Argus, under which title it is still edited and pub- lished by Mr. Crouch.
In these papers was conducted in the early years of this century the bitter political controversy between General Armstrong and Barent Gardinier. The difficulty started in the publication by Barent Gardinier of a letter found among the papers of Major Grier, an Irishman, and an American officer in the Revolution, in which it is alleged Armstrong acknowledged himself to be the author of the celebrated "New Burgh army letters." The controversy was kept up from time to time for two or three years, and the dis- cussion included the great political questions of the day.
Both those papers, as party organs, were conducted with much ability, and neither ever wavered in the advocacy and maintenance of the doctrines, measures, and candidates of its party.
Other papers and party organs have since sprung up, but as none of them flourished prior to 1820, they call for no particular mention here.
Samuel S. Freer during his control of the Gazette was the great travelling apostle of Federalism in this and adjoining counties. The editing, composing, and printing of his paper was accomplished in the first half of the week. On Wednesday afternoon the carrier did his duty through the village, and the post-office received its quota, which was a small one. On Thursday morning the saddle- bags, after being filled with the copies of the Gazette for distribu- tion to country subscribers, were thrown across the saddle, and " Uncle Sam," as he was called, mounted on top and started to spend the rest of the week journeying through Ulster, Orange, and Sullivan counties distributing his papers and enunciating in public places and at family firesides on his way his favorite political doc- trines, trying to make converts and confound his political op- ponents.
At times during his career he also undertook the distribution of the Plebeian, thus carrying the Republican or Democratic anti- dote with him.
Freer having in the early part of his career published in his papers some matters derogatory to the Supreme Court, was cited to appear before the court at Albany to answer for the offence. He
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went to Albany and saw Alexander Hamilton, who sympathized with him as a brother Federalist. Hamilton's reply to him was, " Well, my good fellow, we do not know what we can do for you. If the court should imprison you, that will have to be borne by you alone ; we cannot suffer in your stead ; but should they fine you, the money shall be forthcoming. As regards counsel, I am with you heart and hand, and will plead your cause." The trial came on, Hamilton argued his case in a most powerful speech. When he had concluded the court fined Freer ten dollars, of course a virtual triumph. Freer lost a fortune in the publication of his paper and died poor. He was a man of considerable ability, a good political manager, and strong in a political discussion.
John Tappen, who was the editor and proprietor of the Ulster Plebeian for seventeen years, and until his death on the 20th of April, 1831, at the age of sixty-five years, was educated to the pro- fession of law, which he followed until he assumed the duties of editor in 1814. His mother was the sister of General George Clinton ; his father was Christopher, and his grandfather Christoffel Tappen, whose names we have found prominent in the history of this place during the provincial and revolutionary periods.
Mr. Tappen was a man of fine talents, sterling integrity, and withal a devoted, exemplary Christian. After taking charge of the Plebeian he confined himself strictly to its management, so much so as seriously to impair his health and prematurely hasten his death. Under him the editorial columns of the Plebeian never wavered in the advocacy of Republican principles, and the able, firm, and unyielding support of the candidates and measures of his party.
M
4.20
CHAPTER XXIV.
HABITS AND CUSTOMS.
THE early settlers of Esopus were neither needy adventurers nor speculators who left their homes to seek their fortunes, nor were they criminals escaping from justice ; but they were men and women who deserted birthplace and kindred for conscience' sake. Rather than submit to tyranny and abjure their religious faith, they left father, mother, and kindred, comfortable homes endeared to them by early associations, and braved the terrors of the deep, ran the hazards of a border life surrounded by savages to reach an asylum and abide in a home where they could without restraint worship God according to the dictates of their conscience, and enjoy freedom in their religious belief. Such were the early settlers of Kingston, and such the causes which drove them from their fatherland.
We have in this history followed them and their descendants through many decades of years ; some distinguished for the enjoy- ment of peace and comfort, others burdened with the deadly war- whoop and bloody massacre ; others, again, passed in the peaceful, but at the same time earnest struggle for their rights as freemen, and again defending and demanding those rights at the cannon's mouth. Twice were they the victims of the marauder's torch ; the first that of the uncivilized, the second of the civilized, but equally barbarous and relentless foe. Still, amid all these changes and trials they remained firm in adherence to the faith of their fathers, and unyielding in their demand for freedom and religious toleration, and steadfast in their favorite doctrine-" No taxation without representation."
We have now in our narrative of events passed over nearly two centuries since the settlement of Esopus, and have thus reached the third decade of the nineteenth century in the Christian era. At that time a large majority of the citizens of Kingston were the direct descendants of the early settlers, and in many of them could be traced the sturdy character of their ancestry. The Dutch ele- ment was then largely in the ascendant, the Dutch language was the predominant language at the fireside, and Dutch customs pre- vailed in social intercourse. The settlement had increased grad-
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ually, but improvements were and had long been at a " stand still," and it had not kept pace with many of its neighboring villages. It was not and had not then been crazed by the spirit of adventure and speculation. But the time appears to have arrived for a new order of things. It is a trite saying that " There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." The progress of events has shown that such tidal wave, in connec- tion with the subject of this historical sketch, set in during that third decade, and has ever since continued increasing in force as it has progressed, and still continues its forward progress with un- abated strength and power. This appears, therefore, a proper point at which to pause and take observations and reckonings. It is so especially as the vast influx of population since that time has obliterated the peculiar characteristics of the inhabitants of those times, and the memory of them is fast passing away.
The personal recollections of the writer commence with that third decade, and the statements which follow of the condition of the place, and of the social customs and general character of the inhab- itants at that time, are based upon his own personal recollections, confirmed by some of his then youthful associates still living, with whom he wandered in boyish glee through every nook and corner of the then village and vicinity, roamed about the glens and rocks, floundered in the creeks in summer, and glided over their icy sur- face in the winter, meeting with no inhabitant, young or old, with whom he did not have or could not claim an acquaintance.
As has been remarked, Dutch customs then prevailed in social intercourse. Neither the fashionable morning calls of the present day between neighbors, nor the large midnight parties, turning night into day, were then in vogue. The custom between neighbor- ing ladies was the interchange of afternoon visits. One, two, or three, as might be convenient, sending a message to a neighbor, that if agreeable they would spend the afternoon with her. If convenient the answer was in the affirmative, if not another early time would be named. Upon the day fixed the visiting matrons appeared about two o'clock in the afternoon, work in hand-usually knitting. The entire afternoon was spent in neighborly chat, and about five o'clock the gentlemen of the families made their appear- ance. That was the signal for tea. No elaborate preparations were made for entertainment at the tea-table, nor expected. The table, of course, was decorated with the old-fashioned silver, and short cake, plain cake, and preserves were the principal accompaniments of the old Hyson. Soon after tea the guests took their departure. In due time the visit was returned in like manner. Of course morning and afternoon calls were made between acquaintances and friends, and particularly upon strangers ; but they did not savor
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of the formal character of those of the present day. Strangers, when visiting in the village in those days, always received special attention, and never could complain of want of hospitality or of neglect.
For tea-parties verbal invitations were usually given the previ- ous day. On such occasions the lady guests were expected about five o'clock in the afternoon, and the gentlemen about six, or a little after. About seven tea and its accompaniments were served by passing them to the guests seated about the room. After tea the evening was spent by the young people in games of different kinds, to suit their fancy. Dancing was seldom indulged in at private parties. Sometimes a contra-dance or two might be indulged in to the music of the jewsharp played by one of the slaves. Pianos were not then, as now, "plentiful as blackberries." There was only one in the whole place ; that was at Mrs. Rachel Beekman's. In 1821 or 1822 another was brought into the village by Madame Hardy, a French lady, for her daughter Laura, who subsequently married Judge John Van Buren. She at that time boarded with the mother of the writer. When Miss Hardy practised, as she usually did toward evening, crowds were attracted about the windows, filling the sidewalks to listen to the unfamiliar music. Then the ball-rooms monopolized the dancing. Usually the young gentlemen early in the winter arranged for a series of balls during the season, and designated the managers. The selected managers issued invitations and made all the necessary arrangements. They escorted all the ladies to and from the ball- room. No invited lady then remained at home for the want of a gentleman escort. The managers procured two or three sleighs or other conveyances, and they personally, with such con- veyances, called for the ladies at their homes and brought them to the dancing house. After the managers had completed the gather- ing of the ladies about eight o'clock, they escorted them to the ball-room, where the gentlemen had by that time assembled, and the dancing at once commenced to the music of the violin, usually with " Money Musk," and closed some time after midnight with the Virginia reel, when the managers escorted all the ladies to their homes. The favorite dances were contra-dances, frequently interspersed with cotillons. The matrons of that day would have been horrified to have any of their children engage in any of the fashionable round dances of the present day, and their introduction would soon have made the ball-room a forbidden place. Church members seldom, if ever, attended the dance-it was not considered the proper place for them.
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