USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 45
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By nine o'clock the military companies, the great observed of all observers, were expected to march into the field and take the re- spective places to which they belonged. Kingston was not honored with any uniformed company at that date. The companies, being all of the " Jobuncker" class, arrived and marched separately, each one preceded by his captain, dressed in his " best suit" and wear- ing the usual high and bell-crowned hat, with a tall feather pro -. jecting therefrom, sometimes white, sometimes black, with a few inches of red tipping at the top ; sometimes an epaulette resting on one shoulder, but invariably a sword dangling by his side and suspended from a red morocco belt buckled round his waist ; occa- sionally a red sash over the belt, more frequently none. His troops closely followed him in platoons, dressed in various shades and colors, some in their best array, expecting their admiring sweet- hearts on the ground ; others appearing as if they had just come from the plough, the carpenters', blacksmiths', or other mechani- cal shop ; some having long-tail coats, some short-tail coats, and others without any tails to their coats at all. Their arms and accoutrements consisted of a musket or shotgun, with a bayonet dangling on the left side from a strap passed over the opposite shoulder, and a cartouch-box suspended in the same way from the other shoulder. Thus accoutred, on the soldiers marched in com- panies to their appropriate places. By this time there was prob- ably not a hamlet in the whole regiment's beat, and perhaps not a farm-house, which was not represented among the spectators on the ground.
The men, after being manœuvred and practised by companies for an hour or more, stacked their arms, and then came the recess. That was the time for the soldier and the civilian beaux to mo- nopolize the attention and smiles of their loved ones, at the same time indulging their tastes and sweetening their palates with cards of gingerbread, and stick after stick of molasses candy, occasionally washing or moistening it down with some liquid sweet or some- thing stronger. This was the harvest time for the hucksters. It lasted for about an hour, when suddenly the drums sounded their call to duty ; then the sweethearts were deserted, the guns were unstacked, and the soldiers formed in ranks.
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433
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
Before this the guards had been set and the spectators crowded outside of the central square reserved for military movements- some on foot, some on horseback, and some in carriages, all kinds of vehicles being represented. Suddenly a great buzz was heard, and the attention of all was drawn in one direction, to see the gen- eral, with his gold-laced coat and chapeau, mounted on a pranc- ing charger, at the head of his richly caparisoned and mount- ed staff, approaching to take part in the grand regimental re- view.
Now the military line was formed, and the practice by the entire regiment as one, in shouldering, ordering, carrying, and presenting arms commenced, and then, after many marching and counter- marching manœuvres, the companies were all formed in platoons, and the general and his staff took their stand on the edge of the reserved square ; the marching inspection and salutes were then in order. The whole regiment marched past their general officer in platoons for review and inspection. In the mean time, while a considerable portion of the crowd of spectators were witnessing the manœuvres of the military, others were engaged in depleting the booths and peddling wagons of all their contents.
After the review came the marching from the field and through the different streets of the village, followed by the dismissal. Then the show was ended, and the crowd dispersed, some all right, some with aching heads, some with trembling, uncertain limbs, and others, again, apparently ignorant of which of their ends was uppermost.
In the early part of the third decade of this century a uniformed company called the Ulster Grays was organized in Kingston, by some young men who took some pride in military matters. They became thoroughly drilled, and were a credit to themselves and the town to which they belonged.
The soldier-like demeanor and good discipline of that and other organizations of a similar character throughout the State could not save the general militia system from the destructive shafts of ridicule well aimed at the "Jobuncker" companies, and the ridiculous foppery of many of their company, as well as regi- mental officers, who appeared to think that with the coveted rank of a militia officer, by which they could acquire a prefix or handle to their name, they had reached the acme of fame, and were the envy and wonder of all observers. Such men, puffed up with their fancied importance, by many of their acts disgusted respect- able citizens and threw discredit upon the whole system. It gave rise to the organization in many places of companies styled " Fan- tasticals." They by using grotesque arms of various descriptions, from the old musket to the cane and broomstick, and with fan-
28
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
tastic dresses to match, drew large crowds of admirers to their parades. Men who could mimic and ridicule were selected as officers, and by voice and manner, as well as dress, prepared the way for new laws, involving an entire change in our military sys- tem, and the consequent abolition of the annual "general train- ing."
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CHAPTER XXV.
KINGSTON AS IT WAS IN AND ABOUT 1820.
TT is the intention, in this chapter, to give a particular descrip- tion of Kingston as it was in and about 1820, with a map and ex- planations, which will be especially of local interest, showing the situation of the houses and the names of their occupants, with occa- sionally such remarks, biographical or historical, as the particular subject may appear to demand. On the map the names of the streets are indicated by letters, as follows : N. F., North Front ; E. F., East Front, now Clinton Avenue ; F., Fair ; W., Wall ; C., Crown ; G., Green ; J., John ; M., Main ; P., Pearl ; M. L., Maiden Lane ; St. J., St. James'.
1. On entering the village of Kingston from the interior, through what is now Hurley Avenue, a small frame building stood on the south side of the road where a hotel now stands ; it was at that time occupied by Cornelius Winne.
2. After turning the corner to the right, and thus passing into the Bridge Road, there was, a short distance from the corner, and where the Russell two-story frame dwelling now stands, a building occupied by Reuben Nichols as a dwelling and saddle and harness- maker shop.
3. A short distance farther to the south on the same side of the road (west), and fronting North Front Street at its terminus, stood a frame storehouse which had been built a few years previous, and occupied by A. & A. Story. About 1820 it passed into the posses- sion of J. & J. Russell, emigrants from Scotland.
On the south side of that store was an inlet or opening then com- municating with a lane leading therefrom southerly to Lucas' Turn- pike. That inlet was originally the commencement of the old King's highway to Hurley, Marbletown, etc., from that point taking a somewhat circuitous course ; it struck into the site of the present highway a short distance west of the old Winne house. The change of the road was made in 1813, so as to run direct into the Bridge Road as it now does.
4. Opposite the Story storehouse, and a few feet southerly from the street, on a rise of ground, stands one of the old stone houses. It was the old homestead of Nicholas Bogardus. At the date of
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437
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
our review it was owned and occupied by Peter E. Hasbrouck as a dwelling and bakery.
5. On the northeast corner, made by the intersection of the Bridge Road with North Front Street, where the tannery now is, was the apple-mill and distillery of Isaac Du Bois. Going east across the hollow the street was then quite narrow-not much more than room for two teams to pass one another-the bridge over the mill-brook was crossed, and the site of the old colonial mill on the left and of the mill-pond on the right was passed.
6. After passing those points in North Front Street, eastward, the first building reached was the frame building occupied by Gilbert Cooper as a dwelling and tobacco factory, on the south side of the street, where the large brick hotel now stands. The old brewery-or a section of it-of colonial and Revolutionary fame . formed a part of that tobacco factory.
7. On the southwest corner of North Front and Green streets stood one of the old stone houses, a two-story double house, in Revolutionary times the homestead of Johannis Sleght. At the date of our review it was owned by Rachel Bogardus and occupied by tenants. About that time it was occupied by William Brink as a store and dwelling.
Directly opposite this house " Frog Alley" entered North Front Street. That was then the road to the "riff" or fording place. Prior to the building of the bridge across Esopus Creek in 1790, it was the only direct avenue to the district of country on the north side of Esopus Creek.
8. On the west corner of Frog Alley and North Front Street stood a small frame shop which, as indicated by the sign painted over the window, had been occupied by Peter E. Osterhoudt, a watchmaker.
9. A short distance up Frog.Alley, on the east side, stands one of the old stone houses. In colonial and Revolutionary times it was one of the Bogardus homesteads. At the date of our review it was occupied by tenants-about that time by Henry Darling, a stone-cutter.
.10. At the southeast corner of Green and North Front streets stands one of the old stone houses, the homestead of Anthony Hoffman. It is still owned and occupied by some of his descend- ants, and at the date of our review was in the possession of Abra- ham Hoffman, the son of Anthony.
11. Opposite the Hoffman house is a large, two-story double stone house. It was the homestead of Joseph Gasherie, who was the first surrogate of Ulster County, and held the office for a num- ber of years. At the date of our review the building was owned and occupied by Edward O'Neil.
438
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
12. A short distance to the east, and on the same side of the street, stands a large, two-story double stone house ; it was the homestead of Abraham B. Bancker, and was built in the early part of the century, after the great fire in 1804, upon the site of the building then burned. Mr. Bancker was clerk of the State Senate continuously from 1784 to 1802. At the date of our review the building was owned by George W. Bancker, of Rhinebeck, and occupied by John Champlin, district attorney, until his death in November of that year.
13. Next east, on the north side of the street, is the two-story brick-front double house built by Isaac Du Bois and John Hume in 1818 and 1819. It was built upon the site of the old stone house in which Cornelius Elmendorf, with the cognomen of " Old Nabor," kept public house in the early days of this Republic.
4,00
THE DEWAAL HOUSE.
'14. On the south side of North Front Street, and opposite the Bancker house, stands the " Dewaal house," so named from having
439
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
been owned and occupied by William Dewaal as a public house for many years. The house was burned down in the great fire of 1804, during the occupancy of Mr. Dewaal, and immediately afterward rebuilt as it now appears. During Mr. Dewaal's occupancy it was kept as a public house, and the old house, as well as the new one, contained the favorite dancing hall. The new one was particularly celebrated on account of its beautiful spring floor. Mr. Dewaal died in 1820, honored and respected by all who knew him. Hiswidow sur- vived him, and continued there for some years and until her death.
15. The next building on the south side of the street, and a little east of the Dewaal house, was a frame building, which in 1816, and for some time afterward, was occupied by Conrad E. Elmendorf and Derick Du Bois as a store. In 1820 the publication of the Craftsman, a newspaper, the special organ of the Hon. John Sudam, was started in that building by Benjamin G. Johnson, as publisher. It was so continued there for a few years, when its printing and publishing office was removed to Wall Street, in the frame building then standing next north of the burying-ground. After that the building was occupied for many years by James and Daniel L. Wells as a cabinetmaker's shop.
16. On the north side of North Front Street, and a short dis- tance east of the Du Bois and Hume house, stands a frame building, the main part of which was standing in 1820 and occupied by John Hume as a store. It was also used for many years by Jacobus Hardenbergh as county treasurer, John Hume being his deputy.
17. The next building on the north side of North Front, and facing Crown Street, is one of the old stone houses of Revolutionary date. It was the homestead of Anthony Freer. In 1820 it was occupied by John S. Van Steenbergh. At that time he had a watchmaking and jewellers' shop in an annex at the east end. A part of the main building was then occupied by a Mrs. Coppin as a millinery store.
18. On the southeast corner of North Front and Crown streets was a large, two-story double stone dwelling-house, with a gambrel roof fronting on Crown Street. In 1820 it was occupied by Lieu- tenant-Colonel Jacobus S. Bruyn. It was built a few years after the Revolution upon the site.of the building burned down in the great fire of 1776, Colonel Bruyn was a captain in the New York line of infantry in 1775, and joined the Northern army under com- mand of General Schuyler. He was present at the capture of St. Johns and Chambly. He proceeded with the army under General Montgomery to Canada. He was with General Montgomery in his assault upon Quebec, and near that officer when he fell. Upon his return to New York he was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the Con- tinental line, and was stationed at Fort Montgomery. He was there
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
when the fort was stormed and taken by the British. He was taken prisoner at that time, and brought to New York and confined on board of a prison-ship in the harbor. After about three years' cap- tivity he was exchanged, and rejoined the army. At the close of the war he settled in Kingston. He was a member of Assembly in 1788, and immediately after a member of the Senate for one term. He died in July, 1825.
19. On the north side of North Front Street, and a little to the east of the Van Steenbergh house, was a small frame building, in 1820 occupied as shops. The two-story brick store and dwelling now there was built on its site.
20. A little farther to the east, and where Military Hall now stands, was a double, two-story frame building, occupied about 1820 by James G. Wilson, at the west end, as a tailor shop, and at the east end by Lawrence Wilson, as a hatter shop.
21. Next to that, and with only a narrow alleyway between, was a frame building erected for a barn or carriage-house. It was owned by Abraham Myer, an attorney and counsellor-at-law. He was surrogate in 1813 and district attorney in 1820. He occupied a room at the east end of the building finished off for a law office. The building was subsequently converted into a store, and occupied as such for a number of years, until torn down to make room for some more pretending brick structures.
22. Immediately opposite, and on the south side of North Front Street, was the dwelling-house of Mr. Myer. It was a one-story frame building formerly owned by William Ellsworth. It was erected by him upon the site of his building destroyed by fire in the general conflagration of Kingston. The house is still standing. Mr. Myer was a man of considerable ability, and took a high stand in his profession as a practising lawyer. He was appointed surrogate in 1813.
23. A few feet east of the Myer house, and on the same side of the street, stood the large, double two-story stone house of Chris- topher Tappen. It was one of the old stone houses rebuilt after the burning of Kingston. There had stood the homestead of Christoffel Tappen, the head of the Tappen family, who died in 1740. He was in his day one of the prominent men of the place. He was speaker of the Trustees of Kingston, and also President of the Board of Magistrates for many years and up to the time of his death. His son Christopher succeeded to the ownership of the place. He was a man of ability, and represented the county fre- quently in different representative bodies, both in colonial times and after the organization of the State government. He was a member of the convention which framed and adopted the first State constitution. He was a brother-in-law of Governor George Clinton,
441
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
and held the office of deputy county clerk under him as chief from 1759 to 1812, and the office of county clerk from 1812 to 1821.
Governor Clinton always made his home in that house when in town, and during the sessions of the Legislature in Kingston there was the executive chamber. One tradition asserts that Gen- eral Washington lodged there, and not at the Bogardus house, when visiting the village, as before stated. The writer gives both tradi- tions. Of course they are not both correct ; he cannot tell which is.
24. Directly adjoining the Tappen house on the east, in 1820, was a one-story frame building used and occupied as a store in 1820 by the firm of Peter Tappen & Co. Mr. Tappen was a son of Chris- topher, and the " Co." was William G. Eltinge. The building was removed when Wall Street was opened, and the street now covers its site.
25. A little farther to the east, on the south side of North Front Street, and within a few feet of the corner of Dover Street, stood a one-story frame dwelling-house, in 1820, owned and occupied by Philip Newkirk. It had, previous to Mr. Newkirk's occupancy, been owned and occupied by Peter Tappen, a brother of Chris- topher.
26. Opposite to the Newkirk house, and on the north side of North Front Street, stood a frame building, which had been orig- inally put up for a machine-shop, but never finished as such. In 1816 there was organized therein a Sunday-school, which is reputed to have been the first institution of the kind in the place or in the county of Ulster. In 1820 it was used by Samuel Fowler as a black- smith shop and for the sale of some farming implements. It was subsequently finished off and occupied as a store by Matthew Ten Eyck for some years. On its site now stands a large brick building.
27. A little farther to the east, and directly opposite and facing Dover Street, stood a small frame dwelling-house occupied by a Mr. Mills. Many of the old citizens will recollect his daughter, "Betsey Mills," as a faithful tailoress, visiting their houses, and call to mind having worn many a garment of her make.
28. On the southeast corner of Dover and North Front streets, in 1820, stood a barn belonging to or connected with the Tillotson house, next mentioned. It was subsequently converted into a store for Tappen & Eltinge, and occupied by them for a time. The build- ing is still standing at the southeast corner of North Front and Fair streets.
29. The last and only remaining house in North Front Street was the large, two-story stone house still standing on the north side of the street and facing East Front Street, now Clinton Avenue. This house was built in 1802 by John Tremper, a few feet to the east of the ruins of the house of Johannis Wynkoop, burned in the
442
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
Revolution. In 1820 it was occupied by John C. Tillotson and owned by Mrs. Tillotson, the daughter of Chancellor Livingston.
30. The first building in East Front Street (now Clinton Avenue) is the frame building facing North Front Street. That building was put up shortly after the Revolution, and occupied as early as 1794 by Peter Van Gaasbeek for mercantile purposes. After his death it was occupied for a time by John Tremper. In 1820, and for several years previous and subsequent it was occupied for the same purpose by Peter G. and Henry Sharp. In 1820 Matthew Ten Eyck was associated with them under the firm style of Sharp, Ten Eyck & Co. The building was owned by James Cockburn. It is now converted into an apartment house.
31. The next building in East Front Street is the old one-story stone house, on the west side of the street, known as the " Senate House," with a history. In 1820 it was owned and occupied by Sarah Dumond, the widow of Peter Van Gaasbeek. She acquired it by will from her uncle, Abraham Van Gaasbeek.
This house is one of the oldest in the city of Kingston. It was originally built by Colonel Wessel Ten Broeck in the latter part of the seventeenth century, supposed to be about 1676. He was a man of considerable prominence in his day, and the house when built was rather in advance of the ordinary houses of that time in this vicinity. At the time of the Revolution it had passed into the hands of Abraham Van Gaasbeek. Upon the organization of the State government in Kingston, in the year 1777, that house was selected for the meetings of the Senate of the State of New York, and in it the first Senate was organized, on the 10th of Sep- tember, 1777, and held its regular sessions until the meetings of the Legislature were broken up by the near approach of the enemy after the capture of Fort Montgomery. On the 16th of October, 1777, it shared the same fate as the other houses in the village, and was reduced to naked walls. Soon after the Revolution it was rebuilt, or, rather, the wood and inside work restored, as is understood, very much in accord with the old model. About 1794 it passed by will to Sarah, the wife of Peter Van Gaasheek, a member of the Third United States Congress under the Constitution, who died shortly after the adjournment of that body. In 1820 the house was occupied by the Widow Van Gaasbeek and her daughter Sarah. It afterward passed into the hands of F. E. Westbrook, and then to Mrs. Marius Schoonmaker, who sold it to the State in 1887. It has since undergone thorough repairs, to be kept and preserved by the State as a relic and memento of the past, and especially of the organization of our State government. It is a low but long one- story house, built in front and ends with the limestone so common in the vicinity. The rear wall is of old Holland brick, which
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
tradition reports was brought across the sea for ballast. They are the large-sized Holland brick, nine inches long, four inches wide, and two inches thick. The walls throughout are solid and firm in every respect. A representation of the building will be found in Chapter XVIII.
General Armstrong occupied this house in 1804 for a short period before his departure as Minister to France. He moved here prin- cipally for the education of his children in Kingston Academy, and when he left as Minister to France he took Mr. Warden, the then principal of the academy, with him as his secretary.
It was during his then residence here that the able, but ex- tremely bitter political controversy was carried on between him and Barent Gardinier through the village papers.
During his residence here in 1804 his father-in-law, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, on his return from the French court, made a triumphal entry into this village. The citizens of Kingston not only honored the man, but they felt grateful to him for the munifi- cent gift he had given the trustees for the benefit of the suffering inhabitants, as recorded elsewhere. When it was known that the chancellor was coming preparations were made for a gala day in the village. A public holiday was proclaimed, and on his approach a procession was formed headed by the trustees of the corporation, who proceeded out on the Albany road to meet him. On his arrival he was escorted to Bogardus's Tavern, where he was re- ceived with an address of welcome, and after an appropriate reply by the chancellor and reception of the citizens, they sat down and discussed a great dinner.
32. The next house on East Front Street was one of the old stone houses which is still standing. During the Revolution it was the homestead of Abraham Masten, and rebuilt by him after the burning in 1777. It is a double two-story stone house ; it has been somewhat enlarged latterly. In 1820 it was owned and occupied by his son Abraham, and is still in the family.
33. Next, in 1820, stood another of the old stone houses, with its gable end on East Front and facing toward John Street, but dis- tant from the last-named street about seventy-five feet. It was owned and occupied in 1820 by Captain Thomas Van Gaasbeek.
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