USA > New York > Rockland County > The history of Rockland County > Part 31
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In 1870, the Supervisors determined on the crection of a building for the care of insane persons. In 1879, this structure was completed, was rejected as an asylum, and was turned into a home for male paupers.
THE ROCKLAND COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY.
This society, the oldest continuous organization in our County, was organized on June 4th, 1816, with Joseph Dederer as President, Cornelius C. Blauvelt, Secretary, and John Cole, Treasurer. No records except the original constitution, with one or two amendments, existed till 1828. The
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society was designed for the purpose of supplying the poor with copies of the Bible, and, at a later period, added to this the education of the chil- dren of the poor.
In 1838, the society was reorganized as the Young Men's Bible Society of Rockland County, with Rev. Peter Quick, President, Revs. Peter Allen, Jared Dewing, Isaac D. Cole and Mr. 1 M. Dederer, Vice-Presidents, Cornelius Sickles, Secretary, and John Polhemus, M. D., Treasurer. In November, 1847, another reorganization took place, and the society be- came the Rockland County Bible Society. The officers of this new body were : Hon. Hugh Maxwell, President ; Judges William Fraser, Edward Suffern, and James Garner, Vice-Presidents; Rev. A. M. Kettle, Sec- retary, and D. D. Smith, Treasurer. This society still exists a strong and active organization.
THE ROCKLAND COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
In 1730, Dr. Osborn came to Haverstraw, and from that time till his death attended to the maladies of such as called upon him. After this first physician came his son, Dr. Richard Osborn, who began practice in Haverstraw precinct before the Revolution. At this time also Dr. John Outwater was practicing in Tappan. At this early period there was but little demand for medical skill. The population was small ; the manner of life among the people healthful ; and such intercourse as was held with the outside world seems not to have introduced pestilence.
While the records of the large towns of those days show a plentiful number of impostors and quacks, this County seems to have been free from them, and the only record of layman treatment that I find was in 1755, when Adam Weisner was paid £4-19-5 " for keeping old Decker's daughter two months and twenty-six days and doctoring her."
Early in the Revolution, after the disasterous battle of Long Island, the army hospital was removed to Tappan. The medical staff at that time consisted of William Shippen, Chief Physician of the Flying Camp; Isaac Foster, Department Director General ; Ammi R. Cutler, Physician General of the Hospital ; Phillip Turner, Surgeon General of the Hospital ; William Burrett, Physician and Surgeon General of the Army. Beside thesc, were Surgeon Van der Weyde, who, with George Clinton, escaped capture after the surrender of Fort Clinton, by swimming across the Hudson River; and Dr. James Thatcher, whose Military Diary has preserved many of the events of the War of Independence for us.
The first Medical Society in Rockland County was organized in 1829, with Dr. Abraham Cornelison, President. From the close of the Revolu-
288
tion till the organization of the County Society, the list of physicians seems to be unknown. Dr. Abraham Cornelison was located on the road from Clarksville to the brewery, and bills of his for 1813-14 and ' 15 exist, Dr. John Polhemus, by the old mill at Clarksville, and others, doubtless, in other sections of the County. In the Coe burying ground, near the English church, is a stone to the memory of Jesse Coe, M. D., who died in 1825, at the untimely age of thirty-five years, and in the same plot is a stone erected to the memory of Dr. William Duzenberry's wife, Marga- ret, who died August 3d, 1828.
The first society does not seem to have flourished. So onerous are the duties of a physician, so uncertain the time that he can call his own, that the time and labor of attending a meeting, even but once a year, was a burden. Then, too, the distance was great for most of the members, and the roads not over-excellent. These causes led to a gradual decay of interest, and the virtual death of the organization.
From the origin of the Society till its reorganization in 1850, many physicians practiced in the County, among whom were: Dr. Mark Pratt, who settled in Haverstraw in 1833, and remained there till his death in 1875, and Drs. Smith, Noble, Lee, Hegeman, Johnson, Lilienthal, Ropeke, McKnight, Reisberg, Slip, Talman, Chamber, Bogert, Staal, Springer, Tyler, Allen and Owen.
In 1850, the Medical Society was reorganized with Dr. John Demarest as President, the following physicians being present and becoming members.
M. C. Hasbrouck. James A. Hopson. Lucius Isham.
Chas. Whipple. J. C. Haring. John Purdue.
Daniel L. Reeves.
James J. Stephens.
Chas. Hasbrouck, of N. J.
S. S. Sloat Jacob S. Wigton.
The Presidents of the Society following Dr. John Demarest have been :
Caleb H. Austin, 1854.
Jacob S. Wigton, 1870-71.
John Purdue, 1855.
James J. Stephens, 1876.
J. C. Haring, 1856-57-58-59.
James A. Hopson, 1877.
John Demarest, 1860-61.
Edward H. Maynard 1878.
Moses Cantine Hasbrouck, 1862-63-64-65.
C. H. Masten, 1880.
S. S. Sloat, 1866-67 and 1872.
Thomas Blanch Smith, 1868-69.
Gerrit F. Blauvelt, 1881.
A. O. Bogart, 1882.
Among the medical men who have joined the society since its reorgan- ization are, besides those mentioned among the presidents : Daniel Lake
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and C. L. Humphrey. of Spring Valley ; Bernard O'Blenis, J. C. Haring and J. Hengler of Clarksville ; William Govan, of Stony Point ; Benjamin O. Davidson, John O. Polhemus, Frank Hasbrouck, George A. Mursick, W. S. Stevenson, C. H. Teneyck and J. W. Swift, of Nyack ; H. H. House, of Rockland Lake ; Rykman D. Bogart of Pearl River ; E. B. Laird, D. F. Wemple and Thomas C. Wood, of Haverstraw ; N. R. Van Houten, of New City, and G. H. Hammond, Wm. S. House, Henry Reisberg, H. C. Near, John Sullivan, Isaac J. Wells and George A. Lockwood.
Many others doubtless have practiced the healing art in this County, but their names have passed away. They lived, they labored as no other men except physicians ever will labor, they died. Yet, though the names of these simple country physicians be forgotten, their work lives. It is through these earnest men that Medicine has advanced, has ceased to be a theory, has become a science. They have met pestilence and from their battle with it arose quarantinc. They have seen the agony produced by the surgeon's knife, and to alleviate it discovered anesthesia ; the perils of travail have been overcome and its pains diminished ; they have made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk; they have lived close to the example of the Good Physician, and died in the consciousness of work well done.
ROCKLAND COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
In the Spring of 1844, B. P. Johnson, then Secretary of the State Agricultural Society, suggested to N. C. Blauvelt, of our County, the ad- visability of calling a meeting of the citizens, with a view to forming a society for the encouragement of agriculture. Accordingly, Mr. Blauvelt called such a meeting, and on June 29th, 1844, many of our farmers met at the Court House in New City and organized the County Agricultural Society, with Abraham Stephens, President, and N. C. Blauvelt, of Spring Valley, Secretary.
The first County Fair was held in 1844, and for several years after- ward, on the common in front of the Court House. In those days more attention was given to agricultural products, and there was no horse racing. The Rockland County Messenger said, in regard to one of the features of a fair of those days: "Five teams of oxen entered the list for a ploughing match, and earned for themselves great credit as adepts in this manly art." At length some of the citizens, who kept fast horses and wished a place to try their speed, leased the common, laid out a half-milc track, fenced in their property, and permitted the Agricultural Society to use the grounds. Horse racing, after this, became part of the regular programme of the annual exhibitions.
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In 1875, J. A. Van Riper opened a fair ground, with a half-mile race track, at Spring Valley; whereupon the Agricultural Society selected that place for their fairs, and erected buildings on the spot. These new grounds were objectionable to many, and from the feeling thus caused sprang a second agricultural society, which selected for its annual fairs the old grounds at New City. Forty-two exhibitions have been held by the So- ciety since its organization.
ROCKLAND COUNTY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.
This organization was effected on October 29th, 1859, with S. D. Demarest, President ; Ebenezer Lane, Vice-President; L. Wilson, Secre- tary, and T. H. Gimmel and H. D. Gesner, Executive Committee. The first name of the society was, " The Rockland County Educational Asso- ciation," and its purpose was the advancement of education in our County. In 1860, it was thought that greater benefit could be obtained by joining with the teachers in Westchester county. Accordingly union was formed under the name of the Hudson River Educational Association.
This organization soon died and the teachers in this County again con- sulted among themselves. The society is now called the Teacher's Asso- ciation of the County of Rockland. Within the past few years this body has increased its activity, and is now exerting a most excellent influence in our social life. It is a pleasing feature of later years that our citizens are taking greater interest in educational matters, and encourage. by that interest, the labors of our educators. It is a pleasing feature, that the too often over-worked and under-paid teacher is at last being appreciated as the only sure hope of a successful continuance of this republican form of government. It is a pleasing feature that both the number and the pro- portion of the illiterate in Rockland County is steadily decreasing and the number, who are obtaining a higher education, increasing.
ROCKLAND COUNTY HISTORICAL AND FORESTRY SOCIETY.
On February 22d, 1878, a meeting of people, who took an interest in the history of this County and desired to obtain the story of its origin, progress and vicissitudes ere that story should have become altogether legendary, was held at the Rockland Female Institute, now the Tappan Zee Hotel, for the purpose of organizing a county historical society, which should be the collector and custodian of historical records. On February 30th, of the same year the organization was completed and the society in- corporated, under the name of the Rockland County Historical and Fores- try Society, by Hon. John W. Ferdon and Charles W. Miller, of Pier-
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mont ; Dr. C. R. Agnew and W. S. Gilman of Palisades ; John L. Salis- bury and Garret Van Nostrand, of Nyack; Henry Whittemore, of Tap- pan ; and W. S. Searing, of Tomkin's Cove.
Like many exemplary movements, this one, after a brief period of ac- tivity, fell into a condition of lethargy. The distances between the larger villages were great, and it was difficult to obtain a well attended meeting. Then, too, the majority of the people did not altogether understand the pur- poses of the Society, and were loth to yield their documents and curios to its keeping. A few noble efforts were made to excite enthusiasm, efforts that, while they seemed to produce but little effect at the time, did really tend to educate the public for the future, and then the Society passed into a condition of dry rot and seemed in a fair way to pass from existence. Through the efforts of some of its former members it was rescued from this fate and has now become an active and growing organization, that already is accomplishing a task that generations to come will be thankful for, and that has a bright future before it.
We have given the list of the Representatives in Congress, and the State Legislature from this section till the organization of Rockland County. It is now my duty to add the names of our citizens, who have since been chosen to represent us in the councils of the Nation and State.
THIRTEENTH CONGRESS. From May 24th, 1813, till March 3d, 1815. 34 District, comprising Rockland and Westchester. Peter DeNoyelles. SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS. From December 3d, 1821, till March 3d, 1823. 3d District, comprising Rockland and Westchester. Jeremiah H. Pierson.
TWENTY-THIRD CONGRESS. From December 24, 1833, till March 3d, 1835. 2d District, comprising Kings, Richmond and Rockland.
Isaac R. Van Houten. TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS.
From December 24, 1839, till March 3d, 1841. 2d District, comprising Kings, Richmond, and Rockland. James B. L. Montanya. THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS.
From December ist 1851, till March 2d, 1853. 7th District, comprising Rockland and Westchester.
Abraham P. Stephens. FORTY SIXTH CONGRESS. 14th District, comprising Rockland, Orange and Sullivan. John W. Ferdon.
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STATE SENATE.
John Suffern, from Jan. 28th, 1800, till April 6th, 1803. Benjamin Coe, from Jan. 27th, 1807, till June 19th, 1812. Samuel G. Verbryck, from Jan. 25th, 1814, till April 14th, 1817. Abraham B. Conger, from Jan. 6th, 1852, till July 21st, 1853. John W. Ferdon, from January Ist, 1856, till April 18th, 1857.
STATE ASSEMBLY.
Benjamin Coe, 1798-9. Sam'l G. Verbryck, 1800-1-4-7-9 -20. Peter De Noyelles, 1802-3.
AbrahamJ. Demarest, 1837. David Clark, 1838. Benjamin Blackledge, 1839. William F. Fraser, 1840.
Wesley J. Weiant, 1858-9.
Peter S. Yeury, 1860.
William R. Knapp, 1861-1874.
James S. Haring, 1862-63-64.
John Coe, 1805.
John Haring, 1806.
Edward De Noyelles, 1841-2. Prince W. Nickerson, 1865-66. Cornelius M. Demarest, 1843. James Suffern, 1867-69. Thomas Lawrence, 1868.
Peter S. Van Orden, 1810-15-24. Cornelius A. Blauvelt, 1816-17. *Abr. Gurnee, 1818-19-21-25- 26.
Cornelius Blauvelt, 1822.
John I. Suffern, 1823-1854.
*Edward Suffern, 1826-1835. Levi Sherwood, 1827.28.
George S. Allison, 1829-30.
John J. Eckerson, 1831.
Isaac I. Blauvelt, 1832.
James D. L. Montanya, 1833. Daniel Johnson, 1834-1836.
John Haring, Jr., 1844. Joseph P. Brower, 1845. Samson Marks, 1846. John A. Haring, 1847. Lawrence J. Sneden, 1848. Matthew D. Bogart, 1849. Brewster J. Allison, 1850. Jacob Sickles, 1851.
James M. Nelson, 1870-71-78.
Daniel Tompkins, 1872.
William Voorhis, 1873. James C. Brown, 1875. George W. Weiant, 1876-7.
James W. Husted, 1879-80. John Cleary, 1881-2. William H. Thompson, 1883.
John Demarest, 1852. Nicholas C. Blauvelt, 1853. John W. Ferdon, 1855. Edward Whitemore, 1856. James Westervelt, 1857.
John W. Felter, 1884-5. George Dickey, 1886.
* The election of 1826 was contested by Edward Suffern. Abraham Gurnee was unseated, and Edward Suffern declared elected.
Authorities referred to " Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York." County Records, " Transactions of the New York State Medical Society." " History of the Rockland County Medical Society," by William Govan, M. D. " The New York Civil List."
CHAPTER XVI.
PERIOD OF CIVIL WAR-THE POLITICAL FEELING IN ROCKLAND COUNTY AND THE ELECTION OF 1860.
THE EFFECT OF THE SHOT ON FORT SUMTER-SPLIT OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY INTO PEACE DEMOCRATS, AND WAR DEMOCRATS OR UNION MEN-EARLY VOLUNTEERING AND THE ORGANIZATION OF COMPANIES -THE MOVEMENT AMONG THIE UNION MEN TO GIVE FINANCIAL AID TO VOLUNTEERS AND THEIR FAMILIES-THE EARLY CONCEPTION AND GROWTH OF THE ROCKLAND COUNTY BRANCHES OF THE U. S. SANI- TARY COMMISSION -THE OUTBURST OF ANGER AMONG THE DISLOYAL AT THE ORDER FOR A DRAFT-ORGANIZATION OF SECRET SOCIETIES AMONG THE LOYAL MEN OF THE COUNTY FOR SELF-PROTECTION- THE HISTORY OF THE DRAFTS-THE ELECTION OF 1864-THE DEMON- STRATIONS OF JOY OVER THE NEWS OF THE END OF TIIE CONFLICT- THE CENSUS OF ROCKLAND COUNTY'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WAR.
In a previous chapter I made mention of the political feeling among a vast majority of the voters of our County, and gave, what appeared to me, the reasons for that feeling. Little change had occurred in the belief of the people during the three score and two years which had elapsed be- tween the organization of the County and the election of 1860. Few im- migrants had arrived within our boundaries, and few had gone forth. Dominant by such majorities as to be secure beyond peradventure, the Democratic party had indulged in bitter family fights for office and such spoils as existed, but its organization was so perfect that, on all important questions, the warring factions joined against their common enemy.
One after the other, in the years that had passed since the erection of the County, the Democrats of Rockland had seen the decay and death of the Federal and Whig parties, and had come to look upon the opponents of their principles as malcontents, as disgruntled office seekers, as, in fact, political anarchists, who, if they could not rule, would ruin the Nation rather than see it well administered by their political enemies.
With this feeling they viewed the organization of the Republican Party, seeing in it nothing more important than the old anti-Democratic movement, unless it was perhaps, that this new organization had allied itself with and adopted the principles of that band of fanatics known as Abolitionists. The election of 1856, dispelled in a measure this sense of
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security. The events, which followed each other with such startling ra- pidity between that election and the campaign of 1860, the uproars in the National Legislature, the insurrection of John Brown and the threats of resignation made by Representatives from the Southern States in case a Republican was elected to the presidency; had centered attention on this new party, and led the Democrats to unite in a solid front.
And yet neither party rcalized the meaning of the contest of 1860. The Democrats still felt that their opponents only sought office. That those opponents meant to carry out the idea of the abolition of slavery never seemed probable. Such a statement might be made to the masses, threats of the introduction of ex-slaves into competition with the laborers of the County were often indulged on the stump as were pleasantries re- garding the Republican desire to have miscegenation made legal; but among the thinking Democrats the subject was not mentioned as a likely contingency. Nor were the Republicans less ignorant of the result of the campaign. Time after time compromise had followed compromise, and they viewed the threats of secession made by the Southern Democrats, as a bold attempt to retain power or the usual prelude to a demand for the extension of slavery. A majority and a vast majority of the Republican voters of 1860 in this County did not expect to see abolition successful. A still greater majority of the Democratic voters did not expect to see the doctrine of State Sovereignty carried into rebellion.
After an unusually active campaign, in which many of the leading statesmen of the time stumped the County, the election was held Novem- ber 6th, 1860, and gave the following results :
United Candidates :
Breckenridge,
Orangetown. Ist. Dist. 2d. Dist. 422
288
3d. Dist. 79
Ist. Dist. 2d. Dist. 250 419
Douglass,
Bell,
Lincoln,
I74
155
59
378
I22
United Candidates :
Ramapo.
Breckenridge,
Clarkstown. Ist. Dist. 2d. Dist. 3d. Dist. Ist. Dist.
2d. Dist.
3d. Dist.
Douglass,
- 230
121
216
124
75
145
Bell,
Lincoln,
29
60
92
103
153
85
Total United Democrats : 2,369.
Total Lincoln :
1,410.
Democratic majority : 959.
Haverstraw.
As all of my readers know, the result of the election was the choice of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States by a popular majority greater than that of any one of his rivals, and by a majority of 57 votes in the Electoral College.
For a time the feeling in Rockland County was one of uncertainty
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No one knew just what course to follow. The Democrats, beaten at last after years of authority, had to await the action of their national leaders before they could agree on a line of policy ; and the leaders, with the sole exception of those composing the Southern wing, who had a definite policy in view, had no plans. The Republicans, after the subsidence of their first enthusiasm over the victory, awaited anxiously the action of the South.
It is unnecessary to enter into the details of the events that occurred in the Nation at large, between Dec. 1, 1860 and April 14, 1861. These belong to the broader field of national history, and the reader must refer to works devoted to the subject for information. My duty is to confine myself as closely as possible to the effect produced upon the people of Rockland County by these events. In entering upon this work I fully realize the delicate nature of my task. Too young to take any active part in the contest, but old enough to distinctly recall the bitter feelings engendered by the fratricidal strife ; the severing of the friendships of years, the disruption of social ties, the hatred which arose between neigh- bors, the threats uttered against each other by active partisans of one or the other side, with all these recollections vividly awakened, it may seem unwise that I should more than touch upon this period. Still another objection may be urged-that by education and association during the war and by observation since, my political bias is Anti-Democratic.
Yet, in spite of these things, I prefer to dwell somewhat upon this time. Beyond the mad passions of the contest there appears a something grand, God-like. Men who took sides during the Civil War were driven to that course, not by military or civil authority, but by their views of what was right. They acted under the influence of an IDEA. The war is ended. The bitterness of the war is nearly, will soon be forgotten. What families in England are still estranged by recollections of their civil wars ? The idea for which the war was fought will live forever.
With abiding faith in the good of men, who follow an idea through persecution even unto death; with confidence in the existence of this Government so long as her citizens shall be moved to act for what they think right, I now undertake the labor of telling the story of our County in the war, uninfluenced by party bias or personal hatred. From all sources, without regard to political taint, I have drawn my data, and will give it without fear and without favor.
The secession of one after another of the Southern States produced a peculiar political condition in our County. The Republican party still viewed the action as part and parcel of a more than usually determined
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effort to obtain fresh concessions, and was outspoken in its condemnation of the movement. The Democratic party began the division which after- ward obtained. One wing adhered absolutely to the radical doctrine of State Sovereignty. It accepted as a right, the act of secession, sympa- thized in every movement of the revolting States, and denied with reiter- ated asseveration, the constitutional power of the National Government to coerce a State. The other wing, while willing to adhere to the princi- ples of its party up to a certain point, stopped short as it faced the inevit- able issue of those principles, and announced its faith in the inviolate nature of the Federal Union.
Even while events were in this strained though still non-belligerent condition, matters at Washington had grown so warlike, that the militia of the State was placed under marching orders. On January 5th, 1861, the 17th Regiment N. Y. S. M., Colonel Edward Pye, was ordered to be in readiness to move instantly. It was not .called upon to advance further at this time, but at a later period, as we shall see, was sent to the front.
Finally, on Saturday, April 13th, 1861, the news reached our County that Fort Sumter had been fired upon, and on the following morning the daily papers brought an account of its surrender to the Confederate forces. Perhaps I may digress for a moment and endeavor to reproduce the scenes in Nyack during April 13th and 14th, 1861. On the former day the news was received with a dumb uncertainty : no one seemed to fully realize the awful tidings that war had begun. On the latter, which was Sunday, Spier street, leading to the old steamboat dock, was filled with people, while the dock was crowded, all awaiting the arrival of the steamboat Aurora with the morning papers. Long before the papers could be distributed, the news that Sumter had fallen spread to the out- ermost edge of the waiting crowds. Instantly men became frantic with rage and patriotism ; the church congregations, which had begun service, were soon made aware of the news by the cheers and yells in the streets, and by cager couriers, who hastened to the sacred edifices bearing the news. From every pulpit in Nyack that day, arose fervent and patriotic prayers, and from every pulpit words were spoken that stirred men's souls.
On the receipt of the news in Rockland County, party ties were abruptly broken. The radical wing of the Democratic party assumed the stand-point of disunion under the name of "Peace Democrats," while the Union wing at once joined the movement to save the Nation, and became known as " War Democrats."
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