USA > New York > Rockland County > The history of Rockland County > Part 23
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Shares to the number of 700 at a par value of $25 were issued for the expense of constructing the road and no gate was to be placed upon it within a half mile of its junction with the Orange Turnpike.
When the project of building a Turnpike from Nyack to Sufferns was first broached, the people of Haverstraw made an effort to save the travel to their village by obtaining a turnpike charter for their advantage. With this object in view the New Antrim and Waynesburgh Turnpike Company was incorporated, by Act of Legislature on April Ist, 1814, to construct a road to " begin at the dwelling house of John Suffern, situated in the Town of New Hempstead, from thence in a direct course as nearly as may be, to such a point in the village of Waynesburgh, late Warren (now Haver- straw), as the Commissioners, Edward Suffern, John Knapp, John D. Coe, Josiah Conklin, Elias Gurnee and George Smith shall direct." The Trus- tees of this proposed road were: Halstead Coe, Edward Suffern, Josiah Conklin, John Knapp, John D. Coe, Elias Gurnee, Andrew Suffern, John Felter and Abram Dater. These Trustees were authorized to issue 640 shares of stock at $25 a share. Further than the obtaining of the charter, this work never progressed.
In the history of the Townships, it will be my duty to speak of the Orange, and Haverstraw and Monroe Turnpikes; and in that division of this work I shall also place the history of Highland and Midland Avenues, which have recently caused so much ill feeling and such a prolonged re- sort to law in the eastern section of our County.
Ere leaving the subject of the County's roads, it is but just to say ; that in a matter, usually one of commotion and ill will, she has been singularly happy. As the exigencies of life made more demand for shorter means of
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communication, neighbors along the proposed routes have as a rule, will- ingly given the ground and aided in the construction of the road-bed, while the expense of new bridges has been borne without murmur. As a result of this friendly feeling, distance has been shortened by the simple act of straightening a winding road, or by the serious labor of breaking through there-to-fore primeval forests, or climbing along the edges of there- to-fore impregnable mountain sides ; until now almost every point in our County is easy of access.
While the subject of a Turnpike was disturbing the peace of the com- munity, another and tremendous venture was being determined on at Nyack. With the same enterprise which led them to favor closer and better means of travel in the County, two men of that place decided to at- tempt to obtain surer and more rapid communication with New York, and the result of many long and anxious consultations ended in the building of the steamboat Orange.
Looked at from our point of vantage, it seems impossible that the pro- jectors of this enterprise should have hesitated for a moment. The un- certainty of sailing vessels was such as to practically place the County, so far as getting produce to the market was concerned, further from New York, than Albany, with its steamboats was, and this cause in great measure prevented that development of her resources which later obtain- ed. It is evident that any safe means of conveyance capable of overcom- ing the cause of obstruction to the County's development, would be a financial success. But John E. Green, and Tunis Smith, the movers in the building of the Orange, did not have our point of vantage. By hard labor and close economy they had accumulated a little money, and the invest- ment of that money was a serious matter. Not yet had a score of years elapsed since the first steamboat, the Clermont, passed up the river ; and the idea of a little country village, with less than two hundred people, building a steam vessel seemed an extreme risk. Those who took a gloomy view of the project were many and they did not hesitate to ex- press their idea of what they regarded as the height of folly. Had it not been for the belief, on the part of those active in this venture, that the Turnpike would succeed in getting through, the enterprise would not have been tried ; but with firm faith that the road would be built, the Nyack people started their boat.
On July 12th, 1826, Henry Gesner, John Green, Benjamin Blacklidge, and others, issued the following prospectus :
" Whereas Henry Gesner, Benjamin Blacklidge and John E. Green, and all those that will associate with them and have subscribed their names
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hereto, have in contemplation to form themselves into a company for the purpose of building or otherwise obtaining and navigating a steamboat or vessel on the Hudson River, which will require a capital of about $10,000 which is to be divided into shares of $50 each, and each share to consti- tute one vote in the proceedings of said company, and no less than one share to be subscribed for ; and as soon as the said capital is subscribed for, the subscribers will meet, according to notice to be given thereof, at any convenient place in the village of Nyack, there and then to make such rules and regulations as shall be required concerning the same; and for the above purpose we the undersigned do hereby promise to pay the several sums annexed to each of our respective names in such manner and proportion as may be required by said company or their representa- tives."
NAME.
No. SHARES. AM'T INVESTID.
John E. Green
100
$5,000
Tunis Smith
20
1,000
William Perry
20
1,000
lIenry Gesner
20
1,000
Peter Smith
15
750
Benjamin Blacklidge
IO
500
John G. Perry
IO
500
Isaac P'. Smith
IO
500
C. T. Smith
6
300
William Shurt
5
250
John Shaw
I
50
217
$10,850
On July 20, 1826, a meeting of the subscribers was held at the house of Peter Smith in Nyack. John E. Green was chosen Chairman, and Benjamin Blacklidge, Secretary, and the Nyack Steamboat Association was organized with John E. Green as President and Tunis Smith and William Perry Directors.
September 1, 1826, a contract was made with Henry Gesner to build a boat, seventy-five feet in length, twenty-two feet beam, inside the guards, and seven and a half fect depth of hold for $4, 124, the vessel to be finished and ready for her engine by March 1, 1827. In November, 1826, a con- tract was made with William Kimble, agent of the West Point Foundry, for an engine with 26-inch cylinder and 4-foot stroke for $4,500; and on December 27, 1826, a contract was made with Elnathan Applebly to do the joiner work according to the following plans, for $230.
One after cabin, two lengths of berths and one under berth on each side, with a closet at the end of each length. A bulkhead between the after and main cabins, with double doors; and the after cabin to be fin-
210
ished in the way sloops' cabins generally are. Main cabin to be about fifteen feet long, with a row of lockers on each side for seats, and a covered stairway, the height of an ordinary man, with side windows in and closet under it to the deck; forecastle to be about twelve feet long, with two lengths of berths on each side and stairway to the deck, similar to that in the main cabin, a closet under the stairway and one in the bow; the cabins and forecastle to be lighted by ports. Main deck, wheel-houses with small rooms fore and aft of each, built flush with the top of the paddle boxes, in the top of which were to be scuttles; a desk for the captain, a table, and "spitting boxes." Of these rooms on deck, one was used for the office, one as a refectory and one as a freight office.
Little note is made during the progress of the work. Before its com- pletion, William Shurt and Benjamin Blacklidge had sold out their stock at par, the former to William Perry, the latter to Garret Green.
While those who predicted failure for this steamboat enterprise had not had sufficient influence to stop it, their gloomy prognostications did affect the directors to such an extent that the boat was so modeled that, should she prove a failure under steam, her hull could, without difficulty, be turned into use as a coasting schooner. The Orange was not a handsome boat. While we may admire the courage of those who built her, while we may feel deep veneration for her as the pioneer of all the steam communi- cation to this County that has followed, while, as lovers of this County, we may appreciate the material prosperity her construction gave rise to : it would be gross mendacity for us to pretend that the old Orange was a thing of beauty. Ycleped by some the "Pot-cheese," because of her shape, and by others called the "Flying Dutchman," a sarcastic allusion to her lack of speed, the first steamboat from Nyack bore testimony in her build and velocity to the sturdy determination and careful calculation of her sponsors. It may not be foreign to the subject to place the Orange in comparison with the first steamboat which ran upon the river and with the last steamboat built at Nyack, to ply between the County and New York.
Clermont-built 1806-7 ; builder, Charles Brown, N. Y. Length, 130 feet ; beam, 18 feet ; depth, 7 feet ; cylinder, 24 inch, stroke, 4 feet.
Orange, built 1826-7 ; builder, Henry Gesner, Nyack ; length, 75 feet ; beam, 22 feet inside guards ; depth, 7 feet, 6 inches ; cylinder, 26 inch ; stroke, 4 feet.
Chrystenah-built 1866; builder, William Dickey, Nyack. Length, 196 feet ; beam, 32 feet ; depth, 9 feet; cylinder, 50 inch ; stroke, II feet.
At last, in March, 1828, the Orange had so nearly reached completion,
21I
that arrangements were made for her management. John White, Jr., was chosen captain, and paid $110 a month, with the income of the bar and dining-room, on condition that he was to supply and board all the help except the engineer. Harman Felter of Rockland Lake, was taken as pilot, and Isaac P. Smith became engineer. The regulations of the boat state, that she will leave Nyack every day at 4 P. M .; returning, leave the city at II A. M. ; rate of fare, two shillings for adults, children, half price, and infants in arms, included in the mother's fare ; baggage and freight at the same rates charged by sloops, and all freight not given in charge of the captain, carried at the owner's risk. The after cabin being for females, no smoking in it was allowed ; no peddlers were permitted to sell such wares on board as were kept in the refectory ; passengers were expected to behave in an orderly manner, and no disputing, quarreling or profanity was to be tolerated, and no games of chance of any kind could be played on the boat. An advertisement of the Nyack Steamboat Association, prepared for the Evening Post, in April 1828, read as follows :
" The Steamboat Orange, Captain John White, Jr., will commence running daily between Nyack and New York, on the 5th day of May next, and will leave Nyack every day of the week, Saturdays and Sundays ex- cepted, at 4 P. M., New York, II A. M., Saturday, Sunday and Monday excepted. On Saturday, the boat will leave New York at the time ap- pointed weekly by the captain, and will stop at State Prison, New York, and Closter as usual. Every exertion has been made to entertain board- ers, and many houses are now in readiness for the accommodation of guests ; carriages will be in waiting at Nyack on the arrival of the boat, to convey passengers to any part of the County. Military, or other organ- izations wishing an excursion into the country can be accommodated at any time, by giving the captain notice of their intention four days in advance."
The following were the freight and passenger rates of those days :
Passengers
$ 0 25 Flour per barrel
$ 0 121/2 4
Children
121/2 J'aint per quarter keg
Horses and Cows
75
Crates - 25
Calves
25
Boxes of soap or candles
6
Sheep
121/2
Horse, gig and driver 1 50
Lambs
9
Turned stuff per bundle 371/2
Ilogs
25
1 00 Shingles per 1,000 bundle 25
= bushel
3
Sealing lath per 1,000
1834
Lime per load
50
Boards per 100
1 00
bushel
4
Plank
2 00
Coal per load
50
Timber per load
50
Hogsheads
75
Brick
50
Tierces
371/2 Sack of salt
12
Salt per load
50
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Close indeed would communication with the city have been if the boat could have been kept up to her time-table. As a matter of fact, the trip to New York took place on one day, the trip home on another. It was not till 1847 that the Warren was advertised to make a trip each way in one day, and then only twice a week. In 1861 the Metamora made two trips each way between Haverstraw and New York daily.
From the outset the Orange proved a success. The tide of travel, which had been divided between Haverstraw, Nyack and Tappan landings, now centered on the points touched at by the steamboat, and the quantity of freight carried was enormous. From the landing at the foot of the present Main street, in Nyack, rows of wagons, waiting their turn to unload, would extend to Franklin street on steamboat days, and at Tappan and Closter landings the scene was but little different. From Ramapo, from Ladentown, even from Haverstraw, both passengers and freight came to the Nyack boat, and she was loaded till the water was within a few inches of her guards, and then was frequently compelled to take one or two sloops in tow to carry the surplus freight. Under such circumstances it was impossible to attempt speed, even if the boat had possessed it. A trip in three hours was a fast one, and double that length of time was not infrequent. Yet the passengers seem seldom to have complained of delay. Everyone for miles around knew each other, and a meeting on the steam- boat gave an opportunity for a renewal of those social relations, which had been interrupted by the labors of life. While the men gathered on deck or in the main cabin, according to the season and weather, the women met in the after cabin and enjoyed their gossip. Each brought her knitting along, all talked in Dutch, and the click of the needles and hum of the gutterals kept not unmusical time. Who shall say what ma- terial prosperity was started with those busy needles-what plans were discussed in that gutteral patois, which should reach full completion long after the skillful hands that used the needles so deftly should be folded- long after the knitter had sailed down that other river which enters the shoreless ocean of eternity. In his recollections of Rockland County for thirty years, the Rev. Dr. A. S. Freeman states, that as late as 1846 this. custom and language still existed among the travellers on the local steam- boats.
The fuel used on the Orange was wood, and huge piles of cord-wood stood along the roadside, from the foot of Main street up to Piermont ave- nue. On the arrival and unloading of the boat, the next duty was to get fuel on for the following trip, and this labor kept the crew employed till far into the night. For a year or two the Orange ran without competi-
213
tion. Then trouble arose with the Tappan people, and, on April 16th, 1830, a Legislative Act was passed, incorporating John Blanch, Cornelius I. Blauvelt, Peter H. Taulman, and their associates, into "The Orangetown Point Steamboat Company." This company was allowed to issue $10,- 000 worth of stock-each share representing $100, with the privilege of increasing to $15,000, and was to build a "good, substantial steamboat " to perform regular trips on the water, between Orangetown Point, in the County of Rockland, and New York city. A vessel was built on the shore north of Taulman's Point, named the Rockland, and placed in oppo- sition to the Orange. The new steamboat could beat the old one without difficulty, and the usefulness of the "Flying Dutchman " seemed about over.
Those who remember Captain Isaac P. Smith need not be told that he was not a man to accept defeat calmly, and under his representations the Directors of the Nyack boat resolved on adding a false bow to the Orange, on widening her guards and on altering her wheels; changes which proved successful, and placed the vessel ahead. Some of the stock of the Orange- town Point company having been bought by Haverstraw people, the route of the Rockland was extended to that village in 1831, and she touched on her trips at Upper Nyack.
After running a few years in this way, Edward De Noyelles, John S. Gurnee and Leonard Gurnee, of Haverstraw, and John Blanch and Peter H. Taulman of Piermont, with others, formed a stock company and had the steamboat Warren built at New York by Sneden and Lawrence. This boat plied between De Noyelles' dock at Haverstraw and Vescy Street, New York, leaving the former place every Monday, Wednesday and Fri- day at 11 A. M., and the latter every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2 P. M. She landed at Snedeker's-now Waldberg,-Slaughter's Land- ing, Nyack, Sneden's, Closter, Huyler's and Hammond St. cach way.
In 1838, Capt. Isaac P., David D., Abram P., and Tunis Smith built the Arrow and ran from Haverstraw to New York. On the completion of the Arrow, the Orange was sold to Mr. Cox for five or six thousand dollars and run as an opposition boat from Peekskill to New York. On the first trip passengers were carried free, and the boat was so over- crowded, that her human freight was landed at Hastings to prevent her sinking. The next trip she did not carry a passenger. Later, the Orange was bought by the Rockland County Farmers' Association, and run as an opposition boat to Upper Nyack. The project did not pay, and the projec- tors lost heavily by their operation. I find no further mention of either the Orange or Rockland, and presume they were broken up.
214
In 1840, the Arrow was burned at the Nyack landing. At once rebuilt, she continued running till 1841, when she again caught fire at Nyack and burned. Rebuilt again, the boat was called the George Washington, and under that name continued running from Haverstraw to New York for a year or two. The boat was then sold, was enlarged, called the Broadway, and run to Albany as a day boat; still later she was run to Haverstraw, on the east shore route, by Radford and Cox. In 1865 the Smiths re-pur- chased the boat, keeping her on the same route and under the same name, till the law compelling vessels to take their original name came in force, when she again became the Arrow. In 1866 a flue burst on the boat, causing loss of life, and after this the vessel was condemned.
In 1850, the Smiths, of Nyack, bought the Warren, changed her name to Swallow, put her on the line with the Arrow, and with the two boats made trips from Haverstraw at 6 and II A. M. and 3 P. M. daily, returning from New York at 7 and 11 A. M. and 4 P. M.
I append copies of the time tables of the Arrow and Warren :
"NYACK, .V. Y. & ERIE RAILROAD Fast Sailing Steamboat 'ARROW'
Will leave New York, the foot of Duane Street, every day (Sundays excepted) at 3 o'clock, landing at the New York and Erie Railroad; returning, leaving Nyack, every day (Sundays excepted) at 7 o'clock, and the railroad at the arrival of the cars from Goshen. The Arrow will leave Nyack every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evening at 572 o'clock. Freight taken as usual (excepting live stock).
Touching at the foot of 1Iammond Street each way.
N. B .- Freight taken only at the risk of its respective owners. NEW YORK, May 10, 1842."
"On and after Monday, April 30, the steamboat Warren, Captain J. Mausell, will leave Haverstraw every morning at 14 to 7 o'clock. Returning, will leave New York from the Steamboat Pier at the foot of Vesey Street every afternoon at 3 o'clock (Sundays excepted).
For Freight or Passage apply on board. No freight taken on board at Hammond Street Dock.
N. B .- All Freight, Baggage, &c., at the risk of its respective owners. HAVERSTRAW, April 26, 1849."
The Warren-now Swallow-only ran a few days under the new man- agement. On Saturday, June 22d, 1850, she left her pier in New York at II A. M. When off Fifty-fourth Street, she was found to be on fire, and headed for the shore. Becoming unmanageable, she struck the dock and sheered off into the middle of the river, where she burned to the
215
waters' edge. The steamboats Ivanhoe and Pioneer immediately came to the aid of the imperiled passengers, and saved most of them from a horrible fate ; but in the excitement and fright many jumped overboard and were drowned. The hull of the Swallow was, later, sold at the Warren Hotel in Haverstraw, exclusive of the engine and bell, for $25. All the hull, ex- cept that containing the engine, was cut away, and from that part a new boat, the Isaac I'. Smith, was built. To supply the place of the Swallow, the Norwalk was put on the route, and continued till the Isaac P. Smith was ready.
Returning to Nyack, we find that in 1845, Abram P. Smith bought a steamboat named the Union, and ran it as a freight boat from Nyack, leaving every other day at noon. In 1848, he sold the Union and pur- chased a smaller boat named the Stranger, which left Nyack every after- noon at five o'clock. She was mostly used for freight, though passengers were carried. In 1850, the Thomas E. Hulse, Captain, E. Van Wart, Pilot, Alfred Conklin, was run as a morning boat from New York to Hav- erstraw. From this period till within a dozen years, there was a constant opposition to the Smith's steamboat line for the control of the freight and passenger traffic of this County, an opposition which was fought down, but carried the old line with it in the moment of victory. The extension of railroads, first to Piermont, then to Nyack, at length to Stony Point, and finally to Haverstraw, has furnished the County with travelling facilities more regular, more rapid, and far more frequent than anyone could ever hope to accomplish with steamboats, and has turned the tide of travel. At first, the slow-sailing, uncertain sloops, sufficed to accommodate the few who journeyed. The steamboat came as a revelation to the people, and was the miracle of its time; and ere people, who saw the launch of the old Orange, have passed away, a new means of locomotion has come and ceased to be a wonder.
The franchises granted to individuals to run ferries between the Rock- land and Westchester shores are many. On March 19th, 1800, Joshua Colwil and Joseph Travis obtained a charter for a ferry between Cald- well's Point and Peekskill. On May 4th, 1835, an act was passed per- mitting S. W. Bard, of Haverstraw, and Ward Hunter, of Peekskill, to es- tablish ferry communications between those places; and on May 11th, of the same year, John Haff, of Sing Sing, was given permission to run a ferry between that village and Slaughter's Landing. On April Ist, 1840, George W. B. Gedney was given the franchise for a ferry between Nyack and Tarrytown for fifteen years. March 25th 1837, Samson Marks of Haverstraw, obtained a franchise for a ferry from Call's Dock to Ver-
216
planck's Point. April 23d, 1844, George E. Stanton, Peter B. Lynch, William H. Peck, Robert Wiltse, Gaylord B. Hubbell, and A. P. Stephens obtained the passage of an act incorporating them into "The Sing Sing and Rockland Lake Ferry Company," and on March 2d, 1849, Benjamin L. James and James L. Shultz obtained a franchise for a ferry from Pier- mont to the opposite shore.
The first ferry at Caldwell's was carried on by means of a row boat and this supplied the wants of the people till about 1830. Then a horse- boat was put on this route and continued till the little steam ferry-boat Jack Downing came into use.
The next mention of a steam ferry-boat that I find in the County was the Vinton, plying between Haverstraw and Crugers in 1852. She was owned by Elisha Peck, and run by Samuel A. Vervalen to connect with the Hudson River Railroad, which was then being built, and in which Mr. Peck was financially interested. In 1852 Captain John Bard ran a small boat named the John T. Rodman, between Haverstraw, Peekskill and in- termediate landings; later replacing her by a boat named the "Sarah." In 1853 Abram P. Smith bought a little side wheel steamer named the Daniel Drew, and started her as a ferry-boat between Nyack and Tarry- town. A year later, 1854, he bought the J. J. Herrick for a ferry- boat, and ran her until he sold the ferry to D. D. and T. Smith in 1862. The number of names which that boat sailed under was legion. In the patriotic fervor of the civil war, she was called the Union, and at another time the Nyack and Tarrytown ; ere being broken up, she was given her old name, Bergen, and as such is remembered by the residents of Nyack. In 1874 the present ferry-boat, Tappan Zee, was built and has since continued on the route. Row boat ferries between Caldwell's and Peekskill and be- tween Grassy Point and Crugers have intermitted with steam ferries for many years. During the early days of the Knickerbocker ice business, a row boat ferry plied between the present Rockland Lake and Sing Sing; and after the construction of the Erie Railroad, before the Hudson River Railroad was opened a row boat ferry ran between the present Irvington and Piermont Pier.
For forty years the steamboat interests of Nyack remained in the hands of the brothers, Isaac P., D.D., Tunis and Abram P. Smith, the latter retiring first in 1862, and Isaac P. dying a few years later. In the last few years of this long period a stock company was formed, but D. D., and T. Smith still controlled the business. The advent of the railroad to Nyack, follow- ing on years of strong opposition, proved too heavy a load for the manage- ment longer to carry, and the business crisis of 1878 crushed the com-
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