The history of Orange County, New York, Part 30

Author: Headley, Russel, b. 1852, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Middletown, N.Y., Van Deusen and Elms
Number of Pages: 1342

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The shacks are built in the form of the letter T. The stem of the T consists of a room containing the washstands, lockers for each patient. and toilets and baths. In front of this is a sitting room, and opening from either side of this are the sleeping rooms. The latter are practically only verandas, being open in front and on the side, while for protection against storms and severe winds there is a similar provision to that used on the portable houses ; that is, the curtains ordinarily rolled up are lowered, shutting off the verandas from the outside. A single-story shack accom- modates twelve patients, six on each veranda. The two-story shack ac-

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commodates just double that number, being exactly alike in its two stories.

A feature of considerable importance in an institution of this kind is the manner in which the different patients are segregated. As nearly as possi- ble patients in the same physical condition as well as those who are apt to be congenial are assigned to the same quarters.

Every patient is closely observed for about ten days after admission. The amount and frequency of rest, exercise and work is determined at all times by the condition of the patients. They are assigned to work accord- ing to their strength and capabilities. All dining-room duties, such as waiting on the table, washing dishes, and preparing vegetables, are per- formed by selected patients who show but slight lesions, negative sputum, and have no cough. Many of the patients are able to do farm work, and this keeps them out in the air and relieves their ennui.

In a large institution of this kind the problem of sewage disposal is not an easy matter. But by the aid of expert sanitary engineers this has been satisfactorily overcome. Thousands of feet of pipe have been laid, and an up-to-date disposal plant has been erected. The effluent from this plant will have been so purified as to be practically indistinguishable from pure water.

An abundance of pure water has also been provided, and is supplied at a high pressure to all the buildings. Fire plugs are scattered about the sanatorium grounds, and a fire-fighting system has been organized.

The sanatorium has its own dairy. for the patients are encouraged to drink considerable milk. The cow barn and the milk handling rooms in connection with this, are immaculately clean, and this condition is re- flected by the milk, which is of the highest possible purity.

The one fact which stands out prominently at the sanatorium is the broad foundation on which the whole work has been planned. The work is being directed with admirable foresight, and will yield immense returns in the fight against tuberculosis in New York City. The sanatorium was established in order to provide a place for treating these consumptives of New York who are unable to pay, the large army who until now have had merely the clinics and dispensaries, but for whom country treatment is most desirable. The city maintains the patients absolutely free, the only condition being that the disease is not too far advanced.

The present capacity of the institution, about 150, is only a small frac- tion of what it will be five or ten years hence. Yet even these small num-

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bers are an immense potential for good when they return to the city cured or improved, for they carry with them habits of cleanliness and personal hygiene and a knowledge of the value of fresh air, which are of incalcula- ble value not only to them, but to all with whom they come in contact.

The present officers of the institution are: Dr. Thomas Darlington, commissioner of health ; Dr. Hermann M. Biggs, general medical officer ; Dr. Irving D. Williams, superintendent ; Dr. Edward J. McSweeny, resi- dent physician, and Dr. Frank P. Hauser, assistant resident physician.

RAILROADS, HAMLETS, MINES.

Erie & Jersey Railroad .- In the year 1904 a corporation was organized, known as the Erie and Jersey Railroad Company, which ostensibly was an independent line, to be built from a point on the Erie railroad west of Guymard, on a circuitous route, to the north of the present Erie rail- road, to Turner. It was well understood that this road was a part of the Eric system, and was to be a double-track road, the projectors of which alleged that it would be used for freight, but as it shortened the route of the road and was a much casier grade, when completed, undoubtedly would be used by many fast express trains.

The condemnation laws of this State were not elastic enough to permit of taking property along the line of this route through the courts, and the greater part of the right of way had to be bought by the company, and fabulous prices were paid for its right of way, which was 130 feet wide. About eleven miles of this road is in the town of Mount Hope.

The Eric & Jersey Railroad Tunnel .- On August 10, 1905. Bennett & Talbott, contractors, of Greensburg, Pa., contracted with the Erie & Jersey Railroad Company to build twelve miles of railroad, eleven miles of grading, which would require about 1,500,000 cubic yards of excava- tion, and about 15,000 yards of concrete masonry, and one mile, three hun- dred and three feet of tunnel through the Shawangunk Mountains, be- tween Guymard and Howells, N. Y. The road was to be completed within a period of two years. Work was commenced on September 4. 1905, by sinking a shaft at the center of the tunnel to a depth of 117 feet. Owing to a delay in getting the right of way, however, they were com- pelled to sink another shaft at the east portal of the tunnel to expedite the work, beginning on or about October 1, 1905. The west portal of the tunnel was begun on or about November 15 of the same year. The

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completion of the work was delayed somewhat on account of the suspen- sion of work April, 1907. The excavation of the tunnel will now be com- pleted on or about the first of March, 1908, while the arching will be finished some time in July, 1908. The excavation of solid rock required for this work was 180,000 cubic yards. The timber required to support the roof was 1,700,000 feet, while the amount of concrete sidewall was 8,000 cubic yards. The number of brick required was 8,000,000. The ma- chinery used in the construction of this tunnel was two improved Style A Marion steam-shovels, known as the "45-ton." Alpha Portland cement was used for the masonry. Francis Lee Stuart was chief engineer of this work.

Finchville .- This hamlet is in the southwestern part of the town at the eastern base of the Shawangunk Mountains. It was founded by James Finch, the old settler, in whose honor the name was bestowed. But the precise date of this settlement is not accurately disclosed by the records. It was to this place that many terror-stricken women and children fled for refuge from the Mamakating Valley during the Indian troubles there.

New Vernon .- This is a small hamlet in the northern border of the town. In fact, part of it is in Sullivan County. It was named thus to distinguish it from Vernon in New Jersey. It had one church and some twenty dwellings in 1860, and has shown no very material increase in recent years.

Guymard, in the western part of the town of Mount Hope, was the culmination of the plan of the Gumaer brothers to have a railroad station nearer Gumaer's, which was on the Delaware & Hudson Canal. After the strenuous times of 1857, labor could be obtained at sixty-five cents per day, and the Gumaer brothers decided to build a road from the canal to the Erie railroad, and then the station was named Guymard.

About 1862 they concluded to extend the new road to the old turnpike on top of the mountain. While constructing that part of the road, lead was discovered. As a result of this discovery, many mines were pros- pected on the Shawangunk Mountain and were operated more or less from 1863 to 1870. Among these was the mine of the Guymard Lead & Zinc Co., from which several carloads of lead were shipped weekly. After the close of the Civil War the price of lead declined, and considering the crude mining methods and the cost involved, eventually the mines were abandoned.

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TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE.

Of the Gumaer brothers, Peter and Jackson are now living at Guymard. Chauncey Gumaer, son of Peter, having had nearly twenty-five years' mining experience in Colorado and the West, has returned and is now working the old mine at Guymard. With the improved methods of mining, he believes his new venture will prove successful.

An incident of considerable local historical interest occurred here in the spring of 1863. The mine at Guymard was being worked by its owners, when one day one George H. Servoss, an Englishman, arrived and claimed that he owned the mine and all the mineral rights in this sec- tion through a grant by Queen Anne of England. He erected a small building on the grounds and his miners began operations. The rightful owners were wild with excitement and the news was soon communicated to others interested in mining in this section at that time. . \ day was appointed, when between 100 and 200 men assembled and tumbled Ser- voss's building over into the gully below the railroad track and drove him and his miners from the mine. This was probably the last attempt of a subject of Great Britain to claim territory or granted rights in the United States which had been so definitely decided nearly a hundred years before by the ancestors of some who took part in driving this Englishman from his false claim.

A singular incident in connection was this: Ambrose W. Green, who kept a hotel at Otisville, and was much interested in mining, was one of the men who assembled and helped to drive Servoss from his claim at Guymard. Servoss came to Otisville that night and with some of his miners stopped at Mr. Green's hotel. Being convinced that Yankee blood still predominated in this section, Servoss gave up his claim. While stop- ping with Mr. Green he began prospecting and on June 13, 1863, leased the mineral right of Thomas Hawk of his farm situated less than a mile above Otisville. Ambrose W. Green witnessed the document and Servoss formed what was known as the Otisville Copper Mining Company, which he worked for some time. Servoss died in New York City on December 10, 1907.

The Farmers' Library was incorporated in October. 1807, just a century ago. Its first meeting was held at the home of Benjamin Woodward. The original trustees were Benjamin B. Newkirk, Benjamin Woodward. Wil- liam Mulock, James Finch. Jr., Peter E. Gumaer, Daniel Green, William Shaw, Jr., Stephen Farnum and Peleg Pelton. The library was estab-

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lished at once and it is said to have contained a valuable collection of his- torical works which were doubtless the only available books for such use at that early period of library literature. This old library was maintained there some thirty years, which certainly speaks well for the people of that region at that time. The educational influences of this old library upon the young people of that section during that period are said to have been most wholesome and of incalculable value.

POINTS OF HISTORIC INTEREST.

Of course the Shawangunk Mountain range is always interesting to the geologist and historian. The pass through these mountains at Otis- ville is well worth visiting. It was the only break the Erie engineers could find when they laid out the railway, and they went over ten miles north of Port Jervis to utilize it.

The old Finch homestead at Finchville has long been an object of in- terest, although the old house itself was burned many years ago. It was here that the militia halted on their way to the fatal Minisink battlefield and took a hurried meal. Resuming their march over the mountains, it is said very few of the soldiers survived the terrible encounter and lived to recross those hills and again enjoy Mr. Finch's hospitality.

The huge bones of a noted mastodon, which awakened much popular interest at the time. were found deeply imbedded in the soil on the old Allison farm, a short distance from Otisville, nearly fifty years ago. This remarkable find took the imagination back to the primitive era when these mammoth creatures roamed at will over this western continent.

INDUSTRIES.

Of course the primary and paramount interest of the people in this town from its early settlement even to the present day, has been agricul- ture. The cultivation of the land attracted the settlers thither and the raising of crops, together with lumbering, were the leading pursuits in which the residents engaged for over a hundred years. The sunny moun- tain slopes and the alluvial bottoms along the rivers were well adapted to plant growth, and the farmer obtained good results from his labor. Nearly all the ordinary crops to which the latitude and climate were

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suited could be grown with profit. The town had its full share in the production of the famous "Orange County butter," which was made in large quantities for a time. But for many years past, with the ample railway facilities afforded for prompt shipment, nearly all the milk produced has been shipped to New York direct and the butter- making branch of the dairy interest has been almost entirely discon- tinued. In fact, many of the farmers have been buying butter elsewhere for their own use, finding it more profitable to sell their milk, which of course has been produced to a far larger extent than ever before.

MILITARY HISTORY.

This town east of the mountain range was long regarded as a place of refuge for those fleeing from the frequent Indian attacks in the Mam- akating Valley. Historic records contain many thrilling and pathetic incidents of this nature, and they are presented in much graphic detail, although doubtless based largely upon traditionary authority.

As to the history of Mount Hope during the Revolution, there is none. apart from the annals embraced in the records of the parent towns of Deer Park and Wallkill, from which Mount Hope was taken forty-five years after the settlement of that little dispute with a tyrannical nation over certain questions regarding human rights and personal liberty. Con- cerning the roll of honor, belonging to this territory in that war for independence the reader is referred to the records of Deer Park and Wallkill, found on other pages of this work.

In the War of 1812 the Wallkill Regiment was ordered out in full force. while the 128th Regiment of Sullivan was drafted into the service. This organization then included many men from this Mount Hope section. Those who served in that secondary struggle from here. mentioned in the records, are Joseph Stanton. Amzi Mapes. John Mulock. Zebulon Giffen. Frederick .A. Seybolt. Richard Penny and Captain William Mulock.

During the war of the rebellion the town was of course an integral factor of the county, and it bore an honored share in that memorable struggle. The population being small the number who enlisted in the service of the government was not very large. Under the various calls of President Lincoln in 1862-1863-1864 some 330 men went forth from this town to serve their country. In addition to this, fifty-eight were drafted into the service.

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At a special town meeting held August 9, 1864, and ratified on the twentieth of the same month, a tax of $37,000 was ordered for the pay- ment of bounties at the rate of $800 per man. In February, 1865, another tax of $10,000 was authorized for a similar purpose. The town was after- ward reimbursed by the Government for bounties paid to the amount of $11,400. In addition to this, voluntary subscriptions and contributions amounting to $913 were sent forward at different times. Of the Mount Hope soldiers four were reported killed in action. The record also con- tains the names of forty-one other men who enlisted during 1863 and 1864.

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TOWN OF NEWBURGH.

CHAPTER XXIV.

TOWN OF NEWBURGH.

EARLY PATENTS.

W HILE Newburgh is the most important and impressive place in Orange County, Newburgh Town, outside of the city, has its facts and points of interest.

After the annulment, in 1669, of the patent purchased of the Indians by Governor Dongan, and conveyed by him to Captain John Evans in 1684 in which patent was included the territory of the Newburgh pre- cinct, the entire district was conveyed, between 1703 and 1705, in small patents, ten of which were in the Newburgh precinct, and a list of which is given in the chapter on Newburgh city.

All patents were conditioned upon a payment of quit-rent, sometimes in money, sometimes in wheat or other commodity.

The Palatine settlement, including a portion of the present city of Newburgh and a portion of the town, is elsewhere considered. So are the changes and troubles that followed the coming of the new Dutch and English settlers, resulting in a decision of the council which practically terminated "The Palatine Parish by Quassaick." Ruttenber says that when this decision was rendered the original members of the parish had long previously removed from it or been laid away in the quiet church- vard, and adds: "As a people they were earnest, good men and women. Wherever their neighbors of subsequent migrations are met, their record compares favorably with that of immigrants from any other country. No citizens of more substantial worth are found under the flag of this, their native land, than their descendants; no braver men were in the armies of the Revolution than Herkimer and Muhlenberg. Had they done noth- ing in the parish but made clearings in its forests and planted fields they would be entitled to grateful remembrance. They did more ; they gave to it its first church and its first government ; and in all subsequent his- tory their descendants have had a part."

As to the other patents: The Baird patent included the settlement of Belknap's Ridge. later classed at Coldenham. It was issued to Alexander

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Baird, Abraham Van Vleque and Hermans Johnson, and was sold to Gov- ernor William Burnet. The Kipp patent included the district east, north and west of Orange Lake, and adjoined the Baird patent on the south. It was issued to Jacobus Kipp, John Conger. Philip Cortlandt, David Prevost, Oliver Schuyler and John Schuyler. It was divided into six parts, and these were subdivided into farms. About 1791 a company of Friends from Westchester County settled on the patent. They were Daniel, Zephaniah and Bazak Birdsall, John Sutton and John Thorne. The first purchasers on the Bradley patent are supposed to have been Johannes Snyder and John Crowell. The Wallace patent, issued to James Wallace alone, was afterwards purchased by John Penny, who sold 200 acres of it to Robert Ross, and settled, with his seven sons, upon the remainder. The Bradley patent was to Sarah, Catherine, George, Elizabeth and Mary Bradley, and was taken in their name by their father, Richard Brad- ley, who thus secured six tracts, of which that in Newburgh was one. The Harrison patent was to Francis Harrison, Mary Fatham, Thomas Brazier, James Graham and John Haskell. It included the present district of Middlehope, and its settlers were influential in the control of the town during its early history. The Spratt patent was in two parcels, 1,000 acres in Newburgh and 2,000 acres in Ulster. It was issued to Andrew Marschalk and John Spratt, the latter taking the Newburgh tract. This was purchased in 1760 by Joseph Gidney, and took the name of Gidney- town. The Gulch patent was to Melichor Gulch and his wife and chil- dren of the original company of Palatines. The Johnson or Jansen patent adjoined the Gulch patent, and was the first occupied land in the north- western part of the town.

The settlement of these patents resulted in dividing the old precinct of the Highlands in 1762 into the precincts of Newburgh and New Wind- sor, the former embracing the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill in Ulster County with the present town and city of Newburgh, and the latter covering substantially the same territory as now.

GOVERNMENT BEGINNINGS.

The next April, 1763, Newburgh's first town meeting was held at the house of Jonathan Hasbrouck, now known as Washington's Headquar- ters, and these officers were chosen: Jonathan Hasbrouck, supervisor ;

1 M3 an

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TOWN OF NEWBURGH.

Samuel Sands, clerk : Richard Harper, John Winfield and Samuel Wyatt, assessors : Daniel Gedney and Benjamin Woolsey, poor masters ; Jona- than MeCrary, John Wandel, Burras Holmes, Isaac Fowler, Muphrey Merritt and Thomas Woolsey, path masters; Nathan Purdy and Isaac Fowler, fence viewers and appraisers.

Ten years later Marlborough and Plattekill settlements were set off as New Marlborough, and left Newburgh with almost the same territory as that of the present town and city. The first supervisor of this reduced town was John Flewwelling and the first clerk was Samuel Sands.

The territory of the present town embraces 26,882 acres in the extreme northeast portion of the county. The soil along the river front for a distance of five miles is warm, productive and well cultivated. The rock formations are largely slate and lime. In 1875 its population was 3.538, and the census of 1905 places it at 4.885 persons.

Subsequent to the incorporation of the city of Newburgh. April 25, 1865, the town of Newburgh was invested with the government of its own officers. The following supervisors have been elected :

Nathaniel Barns, 1866; C. Gilbert Fowler. 1867: Nathaniel Barns, 1868 to 1870; W. A. Pressler. 1871; John W. Bushfield, 1872 to 1877; Henry P. Clauson, 1878 to 1880: W. A. Pressler. 1881 to 1885 : Oliver Lozier, 1886; John W. Bushfield, 1887: Oliver Lozier. 1888 to 1801; William H. Post. 1892 to 1899: Henry P. Clauson, 1900 10 1906: Fred S. McDowell. 1907 and 1908.

EARLY PATRIOTISM.

But little need be added to what has elsewhere been sketched regarding Newburgh's part in the war for independence. Its people were prompt in patriotic response to the non-importation resolutions of the Continental Congress. It was one of the five precincts to publicly burn the pamphlet assailing those resolutions, entitled. "Free Thoughts on the Resolves of Congress." and on June 27. 1775. at a public meeting, appointed a Com- · mittee of Safety: Wolvert Acker. Jonathan Hasbrouck, Thomas Palmer, John Belknap, Joseph Coleman. Moses Higby. Samuel Sands, Stephen Case, Isaac Belknap, Benjamin Birdsall, John Robinson and others. When the pledge to support the acts of the Continental and Provincial Congress was ready 174 names were voluntarily signed to it and twenty-one of the

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fifty-four men who refused to sign afterward made affidavit that they also would abide by the measures of Congress and pay their quota of all expenses. Some of the thirty-three Tories who stood out were imprisoned and some were executed. The Newburgh patriots as promptly reorgan- ized the militia of the precinct. They furnished two companies for a new regiment in September, and in December helped to constitute a regiment of minute men, and provided its colonel in the person of Thomas Palmer. They also, in 1776, organized as rangers or scouts to prevent attacks from hostile Indians. Throughout the war the citizens of Newburgh were con- spicuous as volunteers in the regular army and as local militiamen in the cause of the Revolution, and were subjected to much inconvenience and many privations in consequence of the presence of other troops, as elsewhere stated. Many of them were killed and many more taken pris- oners in the defense of the Highland forts, after which the poor taxes were increased from £50 to £800 and special donations were collected for those who had been deprived of their husbands or parents.

The history of Washington's doings and sayings in and near Newburgh is so familiar that they need not be repeated here.

EARLY ORGANIZATIONS.

The Benevolent Society of the County of Orange was formed in Jan- uary, 1805, with the following officers: Hugh Walsh, president; Gen. John Skey Eustace, vice-president; John McAuley, treasurer; William Gardner, Secretary.

In the sketch of Newburgh village and city mention has been made of the charter provision for a Glebe fair. This fair is believed to have been held occasionally as late as 1805, as there has been found in an old newspaper notice of one to be held in October of that year, with an offer of $125 as a premium to the jockey riding the best horse on the course of Benjamin Case, $50 to another jockey riding the best horse on the following day, and $25 to the jockey riding the best filly on the third day.

The Newburgh Bible Society was organized September 9, 1818, at a . meeting held in the Presbyterian Church of Newburgh village, after a dis- course by Rev. James R. Wilson. The first article of the constitution de- clared that its "sole object shall be to encourage a wider circulation of the Scriptures, without note or . comment." The following officers were

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The history of Orange County, New York, Part 30

Author: Headley, Russel, b. 1852, ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Middletown, N.Y., Van Deusen and Elms Number of Pages: 1342

Author: Headley, Russel, b. 1852, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Middletown, N.Y., Van Deusen and Elms
Number of Pages: 1342