USA > New York > Orange County > The history of Orange County, New York > Part 17
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Bullville .- This is in the southwestern portion of the town near the Wallkill line. It was named in honor of Thomas Bull, who lived there many years and engaged in various business enterprises, and in fact founded the place. While the name of the hamlet is not especially felici- tous, nor even euphonions, the location is attractive and pleasing, it being upon high ground with a fine view of the surrounding landscape. . \ fine commodious Methodist church was built there many years ago and there is a most attractive cluster of fine dwellings. In 1880 a hotel was con- ducted by Silas Dickerson and a general store by Charles Roe. There were also a creamery, two blacksmith shops, a flour and feed store, a coal yard and even a distillery. The place is seven miles west of Montgomery village.
Scarsville .- This was formerly known as Searsburgh. It is another small village, near the center of the town. on the Dwaarskill. It was named for, and practically founded by, Benjamin Sears, already men- tioned at some length. He built the mills there at an early date, and his more (listant neighbors soon gathered about him and built their homes there. It was formerly a trading point of some importance, but the ad- vent of the railway brought other neighboring hamlets into greater prom- inence and left this place somewhat isolated. But in 1880 there were a hotel, two blacksmith and wagon shops, a grist mill and a saw mill still in operation. There is also a post-office. The location being central, the town meetings were usually held there in past years, and the general official business was transacted there.
Thompson's Ridge .- A short distance west of Searsville, on the Craw- ford Branch Railway. is this hamlet, as before stated. In former years
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it was mainly composed of the Thompson family, for which it was origi- nally named. Daniel Thompson, the railway superintendent, lived near there. The station is quite an important one both for its passenger busi- ness and the large shipments of milk which are made from it. A small store, the post-office, and the various railway structures make up the business part of the hamlet. It is in the midst of the finest farming sec- tion of Orange County, the farms of the Thompson family and others in that neighborhood being the most productive in the county.
Collaburg .- This is in the southern section of the town, and the name is now printed "Collabar" on the modern map of the county. The locality is somewhat thickly settled. It was formerly an important point on the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike, with a hotel and many other buildings of a varied character. But the new railway did not touch the place and travel was soon diverted to other points, which stopped all further development there.
Pine Bush .- This is located near the Shawangunk River, in the north- ern part of the town, near the Ulster County line, and it is a thriving business village, the most important in the town. It is the northern ter- minus of the Crawford Branch Railway, and its post-office serves a large section of country on both sides of the river in that region. The village site is generally level and attractive, upon the highi bank of the stream at that point, and the land environment comprises a most fertile farming section. The old grist mill there belongs to the Revolutionary period, and the Shawangunk Mountains rise in rugged, frowning peaks which overlook the valley and form a background of rare beauty. The heights of the Hudson River are seen in the distant horizon toward the east and north, and there is a rare combination of upland, valley, mountain and stream, forest slopes and well tilled farms which charms the beholder and forms a most attractive and beautiful landscape. Summer visitors are attracted here in large numbers, and they find much to admire and enjoy.
Among the early tradesmen here was James Thompson, who opened a store in 1824. He was succeeded by Hezekiah Watkins, Tarbosch & Weller, Louis Wisner, Elijah Smith and George Oakley. Dr. Ewan came in 1830, and built a hotel and also conducted a drug store. Abra- ham Mould began a tannery plant in 1825, but after a few years he was killed by James Mitchell in a violent personal quarrel, for which Mitchell was finally acquitted on the ground of self defense.
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TOWN OF CRAWFORD.
The old Ellenville and Newburgh plank road-a wicked production of a benighted period-passed through Pine Bush. This, however, marked the beginning of the modern growth of the place. There were then only three or four dwelling houses. In 1880 there were in addition to the various railway structures, two hotels, several stores, many shops of various kinds, a restaurant, grist mill and saw mill, meat market, pho- tograph gallery, livery stable, distillery, marble works, and a great variety of other business enterprises. The post-office was originally known as Crawford, and Arthur Slott was probably the first postmaster. The name of the village was bestowed on account of the dense growth of pine trees which formerly covered that entire tract of land. The opening of the railway was of course a great event for Pine Bush and had much to do with its subsequent development and progress. Mr. A. R. Taylor, a leading business man, came from Ulsterville in 1848 and proved a most progressive citizen, opening many new stores and taking an active part in all village improvements. He was a civil engineer and was credited with having driven the first stake in Chicago during an engagement in the west many years ago, which if true is a well merited distinction.
SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN.
Oliver Mills. Alexander Thompson and Hieromous Weller were the first .chocl commissioners chosen at the formation of the town. From 1843 to 1856 the public schools were under the control of town superin- tendents chosen at each annual election. There were ten school districts in 1823, and 655 children between the ages of five and fifteen in the town, small portions of the towns of Wallkill and Montgomery being then in- cluded in this enumeration. The amount of public money received was $264.44. Among the early school teachers of this town were John Hard- castle. William Brown, Mr. Reed and Mr. Crosby. And they are said :0 have been firm believers in the free use of the rod in the inculcation of a thorough knowledge of the three "Rs" and the maintenance of proper discipline.
THE CRAWFORD CHURCHES.
The first effort to build a church in Hopewell was made in 1779 by the Presbyterian association. But they succeeded only in completing the exterior of the building an ! very little was done toward finishing the
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inside of the structure. And yet for the next three years those devoted Christian people were content to worship in this unfinished building with all its discomforts. They went to church faithfully and regularly. In 1792 they united in a corporate body and selected a full board of trustees, as follows: William Cross, Robert Milliken, Jonathan Crawford, Daniel Bull, Andrew Thompson, Nathan Crawford, Abraham Caldwell, Robert Thompson and Robert McCreery. Soon after this they finished their church and called the Rev. Jonathan Freeman as their pastor, who was installed August 28, 1793. This may be regarded therefore as the date of the organization of this church, which began with twenty-one members. Mr. Freeman multiplied this number by five during the next five years and then resigned for another field of labor. The next five years this little pulpit remained vacant. Rev. Isaac Van Doren took up the work therc in 1803 and labored most successfully for 21 years, adding some 152 members to the little flock of worshippers during that period. Then, after further changes in the pastorate, a new and more commodious church building was built of stone on another site, which was completed in 1832. Rev. John H. Leggett was then the pastor for the next twenty- three years, when he went to Middletown. His ministerial work in this Hopewell church is highly spoken of in the records, he being a powerful preacher and a man of great activity and influence.
What was known as Graham's Church, associated Reformed, was es- tablished by Robert Graham in 1799. A house of worship was erected at once and it was opened for use in Angust of the same year. Mr. Graham died a few weeks later, but he devised 100 acres of land to this church organization for its pastor. This church was merely a branch of the older organization at Neeleytown until 1802, when it became inde- pendent. with Samuel Gillespie and Andrew Thompson as elders. There were then only 28 regular members, and the Rev. John McJimsey still served both this and the Neeleytown church. He left in 1809 but re- turned ten years later and remained until his death in 1854. Robert Graham, the founder of this church. was a staunch Scotch-Irish Presby- terian, and he left a lasting impress for good upon this people.
The Crawford Methodist Church is located at Bullville and it was in- corporated April 20, 1859. The trustees named were Jacob M. Shorter, Robert Hill and Herman S. Shorter. The original church structure was completed in the summer of 1861 at a cost of $8,000, which was donated
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by Mrs. Mary Shorter. Rev. John Wardle was the first pastor, being assigned there in response to a request of Mrs. Shorter.
The Methodist Church of Pine Bush was incorporated November 28. 1870, with the following trustees : William B. Barnes, John Walker, Sam- uel Armstrong. William H. Cowley and Francis M. Bodine. But there had been religious services there many years before this, especially in the school house. The old Reformed Church over the river at Shawangunk, in Ulster County, had many members in the Pine Bush village, and there was preaching in the little school house nearly every Sunday, either by the pastor of that church or by the Methodist preacher from Bullville. But the Methodist people were not satisfied with this arrangement and they finally built a church for themselves, completing it in the spring of 1871 at a total cost of $8,000, of which only half had been paid. But the balance was pledged at the dedication ceremonies held on the night of April 24, 1871. This building was repaired and improved some ten years later.
HISTORIC POINTS OF INTEREST.
Near the site of the old Slott grist mill on the bank of the river is an old log hut which is said to date back to the ante-Revolutionary period. During that war this hut was on the Van Amburg property, and that family was somewhat closely connected with the noted Anneke Jans, who once owned the ground now covered by the vast estates of Trinity Church in New York City, in which her myriad heirs, scattered all over America to-day, still claim an equitable share, and justly so, perhaps. In this old log structure once lived a stalwart female member of the Van Amburg family, and the story is that during the Revolution a big reward was offered by the British officers for her capture. "Shanks Ben," a noted Ulster County Tory, like Claudins Smith of Orange County, being at- tracted by this rich reward, planned her capture. He concealed himself in one of the farm hay-stacks where he knew she would come to feed her cattle at a certain time. But when he saw the huge old-fashioned hayfork in her hand, he concluded that discretion was the better part of valor, and was in fact glad to escape with his own life, fearing she might chance to puncture his brave anatomy in reaching for the required hay- fodder. If this somewhat noted woman was ever captured by the red- coats the records fail to disclose it.
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Aside from the pursuit of farming and lumbering, this town has never been able to boast of any very important industries. Nearly every citizen was engaged in the cultivation of the soil during its early history at least. As already noted, the town was famed for its production of the choicest grade of Orange County butter. In later years, under the changed con- dition of transportation facilities, the manufactured products of the dairy were almost entirely discontinued and gave way to the natural product of milk, which was shipped to the New York markets in large quantities.
The growth of apples, peaches and other fruits, for which the land is so well adapted, has meanwhile increased in extent and importance, and many of the Crawford orchards that were properly cultivated and cared for have become sources of large profit to their owners.
While many of the more ancient grist and saw mills of the town have now disappeared, some have been greatly improved and modernized and new ones have been built.
MILITARY HISTORY.
On this topic little can be said with reference to the early history of this separate section, as the town came into existence some time after the close of the wars with foreign nations. All such data is hopelessly buried in the ancient annals of Wallkill and Montgomery so far as the Crawford chronicler is concerned. There were doubtless patriots of this section who served in the Continental army of Washington, and others who went out in the military company during the second outbreak in 1812. But the records contain no separate lists of these and this roll of honor cannot therefore be presented here. Philip Decker, David Rainey and Joseph Elder, the only names we can positively identify as being residents of what is now the town of Crawford, who served in the Revolution.
But in the War of the Rebellion the record is more complete. While, like most other towns in nearly every county in the northern States, there were misguided men in Crawford, partisans, politicians and abject foi- lowers of that class, servile men with little principle and less brains, who opposed the war on political principle, or through ignorance of the situa- tion, without regard to the safety of the American Union of States, the great majority of the citizens. here as elsewhere, were loyal Union men. And when the first secession gun belched forth on Fort Sumter the old
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spirit of patriotism which had animated their ancestors was fired anew The town furnished 188 men for the Union army and navy under the various calls of President Lincoln and the draft. Sixty-nine men went forward at once under Captain Samuel Hunter, who organized a company of volunteers in the town known as Co. H, which was attached to the 124tl: Regiment. The sum of $525 was raised by subscription in 1862 for bounties paid to 21 volunteers who enlisted in the 168th Regiment, and $50 was raised for a like purpose in connection with the regiment first named. In 1863 $3.000 was raised and $27,610 the following vear. Then, under the last call, $16.500 was added to these cash contii- butions from this town, making the total sum $47,685. On the final set- tlement with the State after the war. $11.700 of this amount was returned to the town for excess of years and bounties. A tax of $30.000 was at- thorized in January, 1865, but as is seen above only a portion of this amount was required.
The record contains a detailed list of the men furnished by the town from which it appears that ten enlisted in the 56th Regiment in 1861. one in the 18th, five in the 19th, and twelve in other regiments during the first year. Then in 1862, twenty-one went out in the 124th, and thirty in the 168th. Twenty-nine enlisted in various other organizations in 1863 and 1864. and twenty-nine others were drafted into the service, most of whom furnished substitutes.
As showing who were among the leading farmers in this town in the early part of the 19th century, it will be of interest perhaps to quote a few items from an old list of agricultural premiums awarded at the county fairs held in that period. In 1820 Daniel Bull was awarded $20. for the best farm of 100 acres in the town. He also had the second best fat oxen. The next year Henry Bull got $io for the second best farm, and Daniel Bull $15 for the best working oxen. In 1822 Henry Bull had the best three acres of winter wheat, for which he was awarded a prize of SIo. Moses Crawford then received a like award for 2,051 pounds of butter from twenty cows. In 1823 Moses Crawford received a four- dollar prize for the third best piece of dressed woolen cloth, also various other prizes for white flannel. linen, etc. William Gillespie then had a fine exhibit of sewing-silk, for which he received a prize. These items are taken at random from an old record which, strangely enough. does not contain the first awards in many cases.
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The population of Crawford, according to the national census of 1880, was 1,951, which was a decrease from that of 1870 of seventy-three.
The Pine Bush Library Association was organized November 10, 1899, at a meeting held in Wallace Hall for the purpose of considering the practicability of establishing a public library in the village. H. J. Mc- Kinney, Mrs. Joel Whitten, J. E Ward, Mrs. J. L. Acheson, D. T. Bowen, Miss Emma B. Shaper, S. K. Seybolt and Mrs. Nelson Van Keuren were chosen trustees. H. J. Mckinney was elected president, retaining the office until his death, September 24, 1907. While ably dis- charging the duties of the position, he was a liberal contributor to the support of the library. He supervised the construction of the building it now occupies.
The library was incorporated December 21, 1899, receiving from the State University a provisional charter. December 1, 1904, a permanent charter was granted.
Through the kindness of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Pine. Bush the library was kept in the rooms of that organization with- out cost to the association, until the summer of 1907, when it was re- moved to its present home. This was remodeled from a building pre- sented to the Library Association by H. R. Taylor, a resident of the vil- lage, and is a substantial edifice with an attractive interior, admirably arranged for library purposes.
The library, which is free, now numbers more than 2,000 well selected books. The funds for its support are derived from the membership dues, contributions, lectures or entertainments, and the State appropriation.
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TOWN OF DEER PARK.
CHAPTER AV.
TOWN OF DEER PARK.
LOCATION, AREA AND TITLE.
T HIS town is located in the extreme western angle of Orange County. In outline the territory forms nearly a perfect triangle. It is one of the larger towns in the county, having an area of 37.020 acres, according to the latest tax tables of the Orange supervisors. being exceeded only in extent by the town of Warwick. It is also next to the largest in population. having 11.562 inhabitants, according to the State census of 1905. It is also a most important town in several other respects, as will be seen from the comprehensive outline presented in the succeeding pages.
It contains the point of land where three States intersect-New York. New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This precise point is known as the "Tri- States' Rock." This solid rock is at the extreme point of the tongue of land lying at the mouth of the Neversink River and between that stream and the Delaware River. A copper bolt has been sunk in this rock to mark the spot which has been agreed upon by the authorities of these States. By standing over this bolt one is therefore in three different States at the same time.
Whether or not the full legal import of this strategic point of vantage has been well understood by certain classes, or made use of in critical emergencies, is not definitely known. It is, however, one of the show places of Port Jervis, and visitors may easily find it by a short walk through Laurel Grove Cemetery.
In ISSo the.town assessors reported a total value of taxable property of $2.431.680. upon which a tax of $37.374.27 was levied. These amounts have been increased to $2.509,003, and $41.378.65 respectively, the valu- ation of the two banks not included, $379.706, on which their tax is levied.
With the exception of the small tracts known as the Arent Schuyler patent, the Tietsort 400 acre patent, and the Cuddeback patent, the title to all the land of Deer Park comes from the Minisink patent. This name was originally spelled "Minnisink." The tribal Indian occupants were
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first known as the Minquas, and subsequently as the Minsis, from which the present name seems to have been evolved.
Captain Arent Schuyler visited this region in 1694, during that turbu- lent period of war with the savages, in order to determine how far the influence of the French had effected the aborigines.
The town is bounded on the north by Sullivan County, on the southeast by Mount Hope and Cornwall, and on the southwest by New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the County of Sullivan.
NATURAL FEATURES.
The topographical features of Deer Park are peculiarly marked. There is the broad valley of the Neversink on the east, reaching from northeast to southwest. This soil is exceptionally fertile, and here it was that the early settlers began to build their cabins and blaze their way into the thick forests.
A short distance from the Neversink stream the old Delaware & Hud- son Canal was constructed and operated for many years, the line being nearly parallel to the river. This great coal artery from the mines to the Hudson was, however, abandoned in 1898 after seventy years of success- ful operation, and the new Ellenville & Kingston Railway took its place.
The Neversink stream has no important tributaries from the east. On the west the Old Dam Kill comes into the main stream at Huguenot. This drains a large portion of the central territory and gives some valu- able water power. Basha's Kill is the largest branch entering from the east near Cuddebackville.
The Delaware River separates the town from Pennsylvania on the southwest, and the Mongaup branch of the Delaware divides the town from Sullivan County. Tributaries of this Mongaup stream drain the higher central portions of the town. Still other tributaries of the Dela- ware flow through the Honesdale region.
The general surface of the town is a mountainous upland broken by many small streams which often flow through rocky ravines. There are steep declivities along the Delaware, Mount William and Point Peter be- ing the most attractive features near Port Jervis. Along Basha's Kill the bottoms are known as the Mamakating valley. Those along the Never- sink constitute the Suckapack valley, until the junction with Basha's Kill
S. H. Gariss.
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is reached, when it is called the Neversink valley proper, although also known as the Peenpack. This valley extends to the mouth of the Never- sink at Carpenter's Point. If space permitted it would be interesting 10 trace the origin and significance of these quaint names.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
In 1689 the old town of Schenectady in New York State was captured by the Indians after a bloody fight. Among the residents there who fled from the place was one William Tietsort (now written Titsworth ), who came to the land of Esopus first, but soon afterward went to this Minisink region and settled in these forests. After a residence there of some years he sought the right to purchase a tract of land there. This was in 1608. and he succeeded in obtaining the land. His title to this tract, though in dispute for a time, was finally confirmed, and it was excepted from the Minisink patent. This tract was afterward sold to John Decker, and the location is thought to have been near Port Jervis. Thus the honor of being the first settler seems to belong to this William Tietsort.
Other pioneer settlers came into the Peenpack valley and also in Mama- kating Hollow. Most of these old pioneers seem to have taken such lands as suited their fancy with very little regard to who the owner might be. Many of these came in from the famous Esopus region, and these were mostly of that thrifty Dutch stock which made that ancient region so famous and important in the formative period of the State and national history. Nearly all settled along the streams where the advantages of fertile soil and level land seemed most attractive and important.
In 1697 Arent Schuyler received his patent, which covered a large tract in the Minisink country called by the natives Sankhicheneck, otherwise Mayhawaem, also another tract called "Warinsayskmeck, upon the river Mennessincks before an island called Menagnock, which was near the Maghaghkemek tract and contained 1,000 acres and no more." About the same time another grant of land containing 1200 acres was given to Jacob Codebeck, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swartwout. Bernardus Swart- wout. Jan Tys. Peter Gimar and David Jamison.
Both these patents were in the Peenpack valley, and they were so im- perfectly described in the titles that it was impossible to fix their precise location or boundaries. They were therefore regarded as "floating" pat-
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ents or tracts, and the grantees were inclined to take possession of most any unappropriated lands in that valley and settle where they saw fit. This led to much difficulty in the succeeding years, and when it became .necessary to divide this Minisink patent the commissioners found no end of trouble.
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