USA > New York > Orange County > The history of Orange County, New York > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
The present house of worship, being the third erected by this congre- gation, was dedicated January 4, 1854. The present chapel was added in the year 1884. The church was remodeled and memorial windows added in the year 1898. In the year 1898 the church celebrated the cen- tennial of its existence with impressive services and the publication of an interesting history of its century of church life.
The commodious parsonage adjoining the church was erected in 1895 at a cost of about $8,000.
Methodist Episcopal Church, Sugar Loaf .- Rev. Isaac Condee was the first Methodist preacher to visit Sugar Loaf, which he did in the year 1803 or 1804. and first preached in the home of John D. Conklin.
In the fall of 1804 he organized the first class and appointed John D. Conklin, leader. It is the mother of all the Methodist churches within a radius of ten or twelve miles.
The certificate of incorporation was executed on August 6, 1809. The trustees then chosen were Henry Wisner, Jr., Joseph Beach, Andrew Cunningham, Benjamin Wells, Richard Wisner, Horace Ketchem, Elijah Stevens, John D. Conklin and Benjamin Horton.
159
TOWN OF CHESTER.
A subscription was taken and the first church was built in year 1810. Ten years later, in the year 1820, the Sunday school was established. The parsonage was erected in the year 1832. The second church, the present building, was built in 1852, and at three separate times it has undergone repairs. Rev. J. B. Wakeley, D.D., preached the sermon at the dedica- tion of the church in the year 1852, and following the extensive repairs to the church, made in 1872, Bishop Cyrus D. Foss preached the dedica- tion sermon. The church celebrated the centennial of its existence in the fall of 1904, at which time many of the former pastors were present to participate in the services, when Bishop Foss was again present.
A long list of worthy men have served this church as pastors. Rev. P. N. Chase, Ph.D., is at present in charge ; M. D. Stevens, superintend- ent of the Sunday school ; Miss Alice Turfler, president of the Epworth league.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Chester was organized in the year 1837. and for some time used the academy for worship: afterwards used the "Ball Room" of Yelverton Inn. In the year 1852 the present property was purchased and the church edifice erected in charge of the following trustees :
C. B. Wood, W. L. Foster, Daniel Conklin, S. R. Banker, Jolın T. Johnson, William Masterson, G. B. McCabe.
In 1867 the church was enlarged and in 1878 the present parsonage was purchased. In the year 1879 the sum of $3.000 was expended in beautifying the church building.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church .- The organization of St. Paul's Episcopal Mission was effected on May 25, 1897, at which time Samuel Wilkins and James A. Parkin were elected trustees. Services were held in various places until the summer of 1898, when land was purchased and the present church edifice on Main street was erected. The church was dedicated by Archdeacon William R. Thomas, D.D., on August 6, 1898. The church was consecrated by Bishop Henry Cadman Potter on July 25, 1899. Prior to this, the usual organization of the Episcopal Church was effected. Mr. Samuel Wilkin and R. W. Chamberlain, wardens, were elected. J. A. Parkin, E. T. Jackson and W. F. Depew. vestrymen. Articles of incorporation were filed on February 27, 1899.
The clergyman, Rev. J. Holmes McGuinness, D.D .. at this time was elected.
160
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
St. John's African Union Chapel .- This church was organized on June 22, 1904, under the auspices of the African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church in America and Canada, with five members and Rev. Edward Nicholas as pastor. The church and Sunday School has at present a total membership of eighty-eight.
Rev. Mr. Nicholas was assigned to this field of labor by the ninetieth annual conference of the above named denomination, held at the mother church in Wilmington, Delaware County, May 18, 1904.
The citizens of the place have done much to encourage this well begun work.
ORGANIZATIONS.
Chester Lodge No. 363, Knights of Pythias, was organized in the year 1894, and the lodge charter is dated July 25 of that year. The lodge was started with a membership of twenty-one, which has increased to forty Knights. The lodge conventions are held every Thursday evening at Castle Hall, in the Wilkin building. The sums paid to members in sick benefits since the organization amount to $1,000.
Standard Lodge No. 711, F. & A. M., was instituted July 27, 1871, and continued to meet in this place, where many of its members resided until a few years ago, when a majority decided to change its place of meeting to Monroe.
The Chester National Bank was organized in the year 1845 as a State bank, and became a national bank on June 6, 1865.
The bank occupies the up-to-date quarters in its new building, erected in 1896, on Main street. The building is of brick, with Quincy granite facing, built at a cost of $10,000, its fire and burglar-proof vault contain- ing 100 safe-deposit boxes, at an added cost of $8,000.
Chester free library, organized through the effort of Chester Library and Social Club, was chartered by the University of the State of New York, December 19, 1901. The original trustees were Hiram Tuthill, president : Charles W. Kerner, secretary and treasurer ; Joseph Board, Joseph Durland and Roswell W. Chamberlain, trustees. Mrs. Abbie Masters is librarian. The library owns about 800 volumes, and in 1907 circulated 3.543 books. It is supported by voluntary contributions and entertainments. The reading room, which is well supplied with periodicals,
*
.)
-
Joseph Durl and
161
TOWN OF CHESTER.
and the library, are open to the public on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings and Saturday afternoons.
The Young Men's Christian Association was organized March 1, 1907, with 110 members. The members occupy the rooms in the Lawrence building. The society started in a very flourishing condition.
There have been various organizations from time to time in Chester to advance its interests. The Board of Trade was organized October 1. 1900, with Frank Durland, president; W. A. Lawrence, vice-president ; Charles W. Kerner, secretary; Hiram Tuthill, treasurer. Directors, Jo- seph Board, William Osborne, George Vail, G. M. Roc.
The Board of Trade represents the spirit that has effected co-operation in many ways for advancing the interests of the town. Among them are the incorporation of our village and the securing of the water supply from Walton Lake, and the Telford streets. At present the officers are looking forward to the development of the suburban idea on the beautiful site that our village affords, and will welcome desirable manufacturing interests.
From a small beginning in the year 1874. the manufacture of Neuf- chatel and square cream cheese has grown until at the present time the Lawrence & Son's cheese factory is using over 300 cans or 12,000 quarts of milk daily, employing a daily average of twenty-five men. This factory. consuming such a large amount of milk, together with Borden's large re- ceiving station, with a receiving average of 100 cans daily, proves the high productiveness of the land in this section.
The Sugar Milk factory is located adjoining this cheese plant for the manufacture of milk sugar.
This sugar is made from the whey, a by-product delivered by the cheese factory.
MILITARY.
The military record of Chester is a worthy one. Quite a number of Chester residents made up a company during the Revolutionary War. under Colonel Allison, and were attached to the Goshen regiment.
In the second war with England there was a representation of hardy men of this town to endure the hardships of the war. Some of them survived until the year 1880.
During the general training days that followed the second war with
162
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE
England, Captain Jolin Yelverton, whose sword is still prized as a relic of those days of patriotic zeal, led the men of the town to Durland's Square, where the volunteer militia were inspected.
During the Civil War nearly 200 men represented this town in de- fending the Union. Many of them suffered upon the battlefield A few citizens from the young men of the town enlisted in the Spanish Ameri- can War.
SUGAR LOAF.
Sugar Loaf is one of the oldest communities of Orange County and as a trading center was established shortly after the settlement of Goshen.
It is one of the villages of Chester township to which we may look with interest in these early times. It was named by these pioneer settlers from the conelike mountain which towers above the quiet village to an elevation of 1,226 feet above sea level. The mountain, which consists mostly of greywack slate, resembles in appearance, as viewed from the village, a loaf of sugar, such as was used in the homes of the early set- tlers before the day of granulated sugar as an article of commerce. This sublime eminence, the highest in the county, affords from its summit one of the most commanding views in the county. This view is best secured by entering the field near George H. Mapes's place on the road to Sugar Loaf Valley and walking, as it were, from the tail to the head of the lion-like mountain, for this is the shape of the mountain as viewed from Chester depot.
N. P. Willis, the American poet and literary genius, who loved old Orange County's hills from Butler Hill on the Hudson, which he re- named Storm King, to Adam and Eve in the drowned lands, speaks of Sugar Loaf Mountain when viewed from the Chester Hills as being like a crouching lion ready to spring upon its prey.
The earliest record of inhabitants includes Hugh Dobbin, who lived near Sugar Loaf Mountain in 1738. Mr. Perry lived near the pond, which bore his name and later was called Wickham Pond. This was prior to the middle of the eighteenth century, when Clinton, the surveyor, marked the Cheesecock claim line, which extended from the base of Goose Pond Mountain to Bellevale and thence to the Jersey line.
Stephen W. Perry, who lived in the Sugar Loaf Valley a century ago,
Fred. B. Seely.
TOWN OF CHESTER.
was probably related to the Perry with whom the surveyors stopped in those Colonial days when the Indians still lived in the mountains and the surveyors were accustomed to use the Indian wigwams for shelter during their journey, blazing the trees on the Cheesecock line through the trackless forest.
Nathaniel Knapp lived for a time on the Levi Geer place, and a head- stone with the date 1804, the initials N. K., aged sixty-four years, marks the place of his burial. For some sentimental reason he was buried under a great oak on the farm upon which Hugh Dobbin probably lived in the year 1738. According to tradition the old log house of this early pioneer was at the curve of the road near the entrance to the meadow. Among other men that have been prominent about Sugar Loaf were Henry Wisner, Horace Ketchum, Squire James Hallock, Jesse H. Knapp, Vincent Wood, who lived on the Asa Dolson farm, and John Holbert, born 1773, who lived on the farm now occupied by his grandson, Samuel Holbert.
The Knapp family came from Connecticut, and settled on three differ- ent farms. Some of the family emigrated later through a trackless forest to the Butternut Creek in Otsego County.
The Nicholas Demerest family, of Chester, descended from James Demerest's family. who came from Bergen County, New Jersey, and settled on the ridge near Sugar Loaf, occupying a farm of five hundred acres. John Bigger is mentioned by John Wood, the assessor. in 1775. as a taxpayer, together with David Rumsey, Samuel Wickham, Jacobus Bertholf and Barnabas Horton.
In Sugar Loaf Valley, east of the mountain, John King settled soon after his marriage in 1784, upon a farm of two hundred acres. Among his neighbors were Cornelius Board and George Davis. Thomas Fitz- gerald lived near the line of the town of Warwick. More recently in the community life of Sugar Loaf the following men may be mentioned : Joseph Cooper. Crinis Laroe, David Dyer, Lewis Rhodes, Jesse Wood, John D. Conklin, John Bertholf. Silas Rose, David W. Stevens, Charles Fitzgerald and Elisha Stevens.
Miss Martha Odell. of Chester, now ninety-four years of age, re- members the visits of "Frank Forrester" and his companion. "Tom Draw," passing through the village and over the hills to the valley and beyond for game and fish.
164
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
The school of Sugar Loaf village in the past century has educated many bright boys and girls. The old school-house stood on the road that leads from the village to the northwest. The house was on the west- erly side of the road. Reeder Feagles and Lieutenant Wood were among the teachers in the early part of the nineteenth century.
The fact that men with patriotic zeal have been identified with Sugar Loaf may be summarized by the statement that in the home of Mrs. H. C. Baker are mementoes of her husband's service in the Civil War, Jesse H. Knapp, who was an officer in the second war with England, and Caleb Knapp, who served in the American Revolution.
The Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War included other patriots like Jacobus and Gillion Bertholf, David Rumsey, father of Royal Rumsey, and Captain Henry Wisner. Jacob, John and Josiah Feagles were patriotic citizens of this section during these times.
The interesting story is told of Hugh Dobbin, the pioneer of Sugar Loaf, that during the Revolution he was exempt from service, but pointed with pride to the fact that in 1757, in the struggle with the French and Indians, he assisted the Government by pasturing one hundred and fifteen horses belonging to Captain John Wisner's company.
We cannot turn from the story of this section without alluding to the loss of one of its interesting objects, now only a tradition. Mr. Thomas Burt, of Warwick, at the age of eighty-seven, remember the time when on the side of Sugar Loaf Mountain there was an eminence upon which was the profile of a man with broad shoulders, narrow neck and enlarged head with hat on. This was called the "Old Giant," and near it was a fissure in the rock called the "Giant's Cellar." Tradition says that Claudius Smith, after his depredations through the county, hid in this cleft of the rock.
George E. Brink.
165
TOWN OF CORNWALL.
CHAPTER XIII.
TOWN OF CORNWALL.
BY E. M. V. MCCLEAN.
T HE first view of Cornwall is not attractive. Two rugged hills rise before us, their sides not even clothed with virgin soil, for the loose soil sends down sand and boulders to the street below. They are separated by a rocky ravine, at the bottom of which runs a brook, scarcely visible in summer's drought, but fed in the spring by the melting snow from the hills, becomes a torrent that sweeps away bridges and roads that form its banks. A narrow highway has been cut at the base of each hill, but merges into one road just where the stream is spanned by a pretty stone bridge.
The landing itself is simply a business place without any pretense of beauty. Nathan Clark's store stands as it did in 1824. Some small houses shelter a few families, storehouses line the docks. Taft, Howell & Com- pany's mill has only the attractiveness of utility if we except the emerald velvet robe of Ampelopsis, which almost covers the entire front. The West Shore depot is a more modern structure and past this the black rails sweep north and south.
We will take the right hand road past the post-office, presided over by Miss Young, and ascend a rather steep hill. After we leave the little bridge we are shut out from the sight of civilization. At our right rises an al- most perpendicular hill darkly clothed in fir, pine and hemlock. On the left is a substantial hand rail protecting us from the rocky gorge below. It is cool and dark here and we will stay long enough to review a little of Cornwall's early history.
As the Half Moon anchored in the broad bay south of Newburgh, the swift canoes of the Indians shot out from the shore to investigate what kind of a bird their white winged visitors might be. They were of the tribe Warwaronecks, afterwards known as the Murderer's Kill Indians.
On April 15, 1685. Governor Dongan purchased the tract claimed by this tribe, extending from Murderer's Creek to Stony Point, the river forming the eastern boundary. A year previous to this a Scotchman
165
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
named McGregorie had brought his own and several families to settle here. A document is extant in which Margaret McGregorie states :
"They were not only the first Christians that had settled thereon but also peaceably and quietly and enjoyed their land during the term of their natural lives."
McGregorie was placed in command of the militia and marched with his men to fight the Indians. Before he left he was assured by Governor Dongan the patent for his land should be issued. It never was. He was killed in 1691 and during the trouble with the Leisler government and that of Governor Fletcher his property was sold to Captain Evans. After a great deal of trouble in getting back to his family, who held it until 1727, it was sold to Thomas Ellison.
There is no record of the names of any of his family after his death except his and that of his wife's brother Tosusk, the Laird of Minne- vard. The boundaries of this tract were very indefinite until in 1799 when Monroe and Blooming Grove were erected into separate towns. Buttermilk Falls still formed part of our territory, but the mountain made business intercourse so very inconvenient that in 1872 a petition was granted by the Legislature severing this connection, the new village taking the name of Highland Falls.
FREIGHTING.
There were still many hundred acres and those were divided into large farms where cattle, horses and small stock were raised in great quantities. Orange County milk and butter had become famous and Cornwall con- tributed her full share. Not only the products of our own neighborhood but those of the other counties reached New York by the way of Corn- wall landing. A friend recently gone from us, Miss Maria Conser, who was a child at that time, gives the following graphic description: "How we children liked to stop on our way to the old schoolhouse to watch the loaded wagons drawn by three mules abreast lumbering over the rough roads. We were frightened when we met the droves of cattle. The toss- ing of their wild horns sent us scrambling upon the stone wall until they had passed. Hours would elapse while tubs of butter, forests of hoop- poles, cows, calves, sheep and lambs were placed on board of the night boat. The passengers went to their berths but alas, for their hope of
Charles Ketcham.
167
TOWN OF CORNWALL.
rest ; the lowing of cattle, the bleating of lambs and the noise of the crew forbade sleep. About midnight a lull would come; the boat gliding through the softly murmuring water made sleep possible."
In 1805 Isaac Tobias constructed a dock at New Windsor where he built the sloop Hector and sailed it from the landing. A few years later Captain Nathaniel Ketchum ran the Revenge between here and the city. In 1828 the Experiment, the first steamboat that sailed from the landing, was built by Silas Corwin of New Windsor and commanded by Captain Isaac Vanduzer. She had four smokestacks and was but little more speedy than the sloops. After a few years she was sold to Weeks & Griffin who in turn disposed of her to Bertholf & Co. She was finally con- verted into a barge. Two others, the Wave and General Jackson, were put on, and in 1855 Captain Joseph Ketchum and Henry M. Clark purchased · the Orange County and ran her between here and New York. The build- ing of the Erie Railroad to Piermont sent a large part of the freight by that route and we have never recovered our lost prestige. But just about this time a new industry sprang up which partially made up for the freight that had been carried elsewhere. The land was found to be especially adapted to the raising of small fruits-the Hudson River Ant- werp raspberries and strawberries being the most successful, and thou- sands were shipped every night during the fruit season. This too fell off when it was discovered that we had a home market for all we could raise. This was due to the personality of one man, N. P. Willis.
IDLEWILD.
Those who visit Idlewild today and note the miles of gravel walk sweeping where the vista that opens is most beautiful: the rare trees brought from many lands,-the acres of lawn, smooth as velvet-the profusion of flowers that meets one at every turn, -- the luxurious mansion crowned to its eaves with blossoms and vines, can hardly realize the wild grandeur of the scene that appealed to the poet soul of N. P. Willis, and drew from the owner, Mr. Daniel Ward, the question, "What do you want with such an idle wild?"
An unbroken woodland lying about the bank of the river, whose ro- mantic beauty was as yet unappreciated : bisected by a dark ravine at the bottom of which ran a brook only revealed by the music of its waters an l
I68
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
thrown into spray by huge boulders obstructing its course. Pines, hem- locks and forest trees centuries old sprang towards the sunlight but at their base grew inpenetrable underbrush.
The name has become a household word not only among our own peo- ple, but in the lands beyond the sea, and thousands of readers followed with delight every step that was taken to change the scene from barbarism to civilization. "A letter from Idlewild" was published every week in the Home Journal of which Willis and George P. Morris were editors.
While still a boy in college the publication of his Scriptural poems at- tracted much attention. These were followed by "Pencilings by the Way," a brilliant record of a trip through Europe.
In 1851 he was sent to Cornwall by his physician in hopes of prolong- ing his life. He was threatened with consumption and had already been warned by the danger signal of several hemorrhages. The medicine pre- scribed was rest, nourishment and every hour possible spent out of doors. He boarded with a gentle Quaker lady, Mrs. Southerland, over whose home the dove of Peace was brooding. Slowly but sometimes almost im- perceptibly came returning strength, but to make it permanent he must remain here and so came the purchase of a home. The Civil War brought financial reverses, for a majority of his subscribers were in Che South, but he turned again to work in order to recoup some of his losses, but his health again broke down and he died on his 60th birthday, 1867, in the home he loved so well.
Mr. Willis was twice married-first to a sweet-faced English girl, who only lived for a few years. His second wife was Miss Cornelia Grinnell, daughter of one of our merchant princes. She sold the estate, which passed into the hands of Judge George, a gentleman of culture and refined taste, who carried out many of the improvements planned by his predecessor. He sold it to the late Mr. Courtney, who was then Presi- dent of the West Shore Railroad. After Mr. Courtney's death it passed into the hands of Mr. Charles Curie, the present owner.
In Mr. Willis's "letters from an invalid," he described the beautiful walks and drives in the neighborhood where he spent his days and the description brought summer visitors seeking for board. Every room was occupied and hundreds went away for lack of accommodation. The next season saw new houses built and others were enlarged, and there seemed no limit to our prosperity. A paper published here in 1874 contained the
169
TOWN OF CORNWALL.
advertisements of twenty-five houses that were public boarding-houses, be- sides all that were accommodated in private families. Many who came as visitors purchased building sites and erected summer homes. One of these was Mr. Harvey, of Brooklyn, who built Homeland, adjoining Idlewild. Mr. E. A. Mattheissen secured the next site where Mattheissen Park is now. Mr. Solomon, of New York, chose Land's End for his beautiful home. Mr. Bellows's residence was on Bayview Avenue. Mr. James Stillman and his mother cach have a summer cottage here.
BOARDING-HOUSES.
Among all the houses opened for guests the Mountain House stood first, from the fact of its position twelve hundred feet above tide-water in the heart of pine woods, where the visitors found healthi as well as recrea- tion. The building itself was also attractive. In the carly sixties Dr. Champlin, who had been traveling in the East, saw some marvelous cures performed on consumptive patients by the use of kourmis.
Property on the mountain was at this time nearly all held by two families-John Losee Wood and Christian Vought; so when the doctor erected two houses as a sanitarium, no one objected. The architecture was oriental-windows and doors were surmounted by round arches, and the second story was built over the broad piazza which surrounded it on three sides. A number of goats were installed in what is now the Chalet across the road, and two physicians, Doctors Pellatier and Boyd, had charge of the houses, but the enterprise was a failure and it became a boarding-house, numbering among its patrons some of the most'exclu- sive families of New York and Philadelphia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.