USA > New York > Rockland County > The history of Rockland County > Part 43
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
A high hill in this neighborhood still bears the name of Scotland Hill, and here also is located the Scotland graveyard, long since abandoned.
On December 29th, 1827, a post-office was established at Scotland, with Peter D. Tallman as post-master. On June 5th, 1848, this office was discontinued.
About a mile southwest of Tallmans, is the hamlet called Masonicus- an Indian name. Here, from 1800 to 1820, Cornelius Wannamaker kept the Masonicus.store and tavern, and here, in 1855, the Masonicus Church
408
was built. Between Scotland and Masonicus is Saddle River, on which are located one grist and one saw mill, and a stream on the east side of Cherry Lane, on which are situated a grist and saw mill, and two mills which combine both these industries. At the junction of the Saddle River road with the Nyack turnpike, John Yeury formerly kept a tavern. This property later passed into the hands of Peter P. Jessey, who kept a store here for many years.
I have tried to tell in another part of this work how the early inhabit- ants found amusement. As new settlers arrived in the County, the old customs disappeared. The community of feeling, the tie of friendship brought about by long association in suffering and success, could not well have been extended to and would not have been appreciated by these new comers. Hence, the barn-dances and corn-huskings of an older time gradually gave way to the new order of things. But the axiom, that human nature is the same through all the world, was ever true. Young people desire relaxation and pleasure, and when these were no longer af- forded at home, they sought them abroad. To meet this demand a new form of business was started-taverns.
A generation of people still living requires no explanation of what a tavern was, but there is a generation just entering the struggle of life, and there are generations yet to come to whom this name, as used in days gone by, might be an enigma. It seems wise, therefore, to pause a mo- ment and look at these places. The old wayside inn of the Revolution, was a house where man and beast could obtain refreshment and comfort on their journey, and the focus for all the gossip from the city and coun- try. The modern hotel is a place where the traveller can obtain board and lodging.
The tavern combined the uses of the ancient inn and the modern hotel, but to them added a third, a most important use, that of a public dancing hall. It was seldom that the taverns were used by casual travellers. At the most flourishing time of their existence, communication between busi- ness centres had found other channels beside the highways. They were used by the residents of this and neighboring counties, who found it nec- essary to pass by them, as a place for lunch and a spot where their horses could be fed.
The taverns were usually built upon the public highways, midway be- tween two villages. Somewhere down stairs were a bar and dining room. On the first floor above was the ball room, running the length of the building. The remainder of the house was used for family purposes. This was the usual arrangement subject always to the changes necessitated
409
by the architecture of the building. At a short distance from the house was a barn, and attached to it was a long shed fitted up with horse troughs for the accommodation of such travellers as carried the food for their ani- mals with them.
These taverns were the resort for all the young people for miles around. In winter a dance would be held almost nightly in the ball room, the par- ticipants being couples, who had started out for a sleigh ride, and on stop- ping at the tavern and finding others present had organized a set. At times, generally the eve of some holiday, the proprietor would give a ball, but this in little wise differed from the usual dance save perhaps in the greater number of people present. These taverns were also the scenes of brawls. Any public resort where ugly dispositioned people meet and drink is liable to such disturbances-but the conflict, if it passed to blows, ended without serious injury to either party. The revolver was yet un- known.
The mention of the " Red Tavern," " 76 House," " Stephen's Tavern " in this County, of " The Jug," "Jim Bogert's" and "Nagle's " taverns, in northern New Jersey ; will call back to the older reader, recollections of many happy hours. But above all and far beyond all, in the memory of people three score years of age and upwards, natives of Rockland ; stands the tavern known as " Aunt Kate's." So widely popular was this hostelry of Mrs. Catherine Tallman's, that I have considered it more ap- propriate to speak of the customs of this era in social life, in the chapter devoted to the town in which she lived and reigned, than to place it else- where.
The days of inns passed away in this County upon the influx of strangers, and when the immigration had grown sufficiently large, taverns also ceased to be popular. The increase of population, the intro- duction of outside labor, the acquisition of wealth, led to the formation of classes in society and each now finds its amusement in its own way.
Between New Hempstead and the " Brick Church" is Summit Park Cemetery incorporated in 1882, with Andrew Johnson, President; Wm. H. Parsons, Secretary ; Aaron D. Johnson, Treasurer ; and John F. Haupt- man, W. P. Hope, Peter S. Van Orden, John Haring, J. E. Jersey, and Wm. R. Pitt, Trustees, The grounds of this place of sepulcher consist of an acre and a half, principally deeded by Erastus Johnson. At the Brick Church graveyard, the oldest dates found are on the stones marking the resting places of William Smith, September 23d, 1794 and Hannes Smith, January 8th, 1794.
About three quarters of a mile northeast of Ladentown, on the road
410
from Sufferns to Haverstraw, and on the extreme bounds of the township, is the place called Camp Hill, from the fact that during the Revolution, the American Army was in camp there.
Returning once more to the Ramapo Valley. From the Orange Turn- pike west to the apex of the triangle in which our County ends, is a suc- cession of mountains, still retaining much of their primeval solitude. In these hills, two and three-quarter miles from the store at Sloatsburg, is a sheet of water called by the Indians, Pothat or Potake, by early surveyors, Van Duser's Pond, known to residents of the County as Negro Pond, and found on old maps of Rockland under the spelling of Niggar Pond. West of this, and forming part of the boundary line between this State and New Jersey, is another pond, called Shepherd's.
In the field notes of a survey made October 27th, 1774, occurs the fol- lowing : "Begun at the 17 miles end and continued our range N. 54 deg. 15 m. West ; at 44 Chains, square Northward, about 12 or 15 Chains, a high, steep, rocky mountain,; at 60 Chains in a swamp; at 68 Chains, the West edge of said swamp; at 80 Chains, set up a chestnut stake with No. XVIII. in negro Guy's improvement, and put stones round it, North- easterly of his house."
Tradition has it, that a " good Mr. Rutherford," who owned large tracts of land, allowed people to settle on it where they chose. Many of that unfortunate race, whose ancestors were torn from their native land, and survived the horrors of the " middle passage," to become the bond- men of a Christian people, seem to have settled in these mountain wilds at an early day ; to have made homes among these forbidding rocks, and to have cultivated the sterile land, till even now, it is said, the cleared field and orchard of one of these fore-time negro settlers can be seen on the west of Negro Pond.
As has been said in speaking of Ladentown, the abandonment of man- ufactures and the development of machinery in the production of wooden- ware have withdrawn employment from many of the dwellers in these mountains, still, a large industry is carried on in getting out hoop-poles and cord-wood, and Sloatsburg, which is the depot for this business, has much of this material shipped yearly.
We must turn again to the general history of the township, and learn the history of the Orange Turnpike. Early in the settlement of the County, a road was forced through this Clove to permit the passage of settlers on their journeys to and from the settlements along the Delaware. As those settlements grew, as the section north of the mountains became populated, this, the only real pass between the Hudson and the Delaware
4II
into the interior of the State, came into constant use. The Revolution still further demonstrated the need of an excellent highway through the Clove, and finally the industries, which sprang up along the Ramapo River in the closing years of the last century, necessitated a better means of communication. To accomplish this, the Orange Turnpike Company was incorporated by an act of Legislature, April 4th, 1800, at the request of the following people :
Wm. Wickham,
David M. Westcott,
John Steward,
James Everitt,
Antony Dobbin, Jonathan Sweezy,
James Carpenter,
Thomas Waters,
James W. Wilkin,
John Wood, Solomon Smith, John Gale, Jr.,
William Wickham, George D. Bradner, John Webb, Daniel Marvin, and Seth Strong Selah were appointed Commissioners. Two hundred and fifty shares of stock at $25 per share, were issued and taken up by 67 people among whom were Aaron Burr, Peter Townsend, Seth Marvin, J. G. Pierson & Brothers, John Suffern, &c.
At the time of the organization of this company, the old " Albany Road," bending to the north shortly after entering the State, ran in front of the present Episcopal Church at Suffern to what is now the Nyack Turnpike, where it turned to the left, following the course of the present Nyack Turnpike to a point between the Catholic and Methodist Churches, then striking directly across to the Eureka House, it proceeded westward along the Ramapo. The Turnpike Company opened the road parallel to the present railroad from the New Jersey line to the present Hilburn works and then lifted it from the valley to the side of the mountain. On May 3d, 1869, the Legislature authorized the Company to abandon the western half of the road. The Turnpike Company to-day own but ten miles of road, reaching from the New Jersey line, and on this there is only the toll-gate at Sloatsburg.
From Nyack and Haverstraw stages were run to Piermont during the winter season ere the railroads were extended to those villages ; but at the best of times this means of communication was but temporary, only while the river was closed, and the vehicles used were the outgrowth of exped- iency. Already a generation has risen to whom these stage lines are un- known. If this be true of the eastern section of our County, with what interest must it be noted that, within the memory of men still living the Ramapo Valley was the passage way for stages running from New York via Paterson to Goshen, Newburgh, Albany and the West.
412
In 1798, the fare by the Goshen stages for a seat from Ramapo to New York was I Is. 4d., and 2s. for a trunk. In 1810, the time schedule can perhaps best be given by a copy of the mail arrivals at Ramapo.
DATE. NORTH.
SOUTH.
DATE.
NORTH. SOUTH.
7:15, A. M.
¥
.... 2:45, A. M.
9:50, A. M.
3d, 4th, 5th, Midnight. 6th, ... 7th, 8th, 11:50, A. M. 9th, 9:10, A. M.
... . . . . 2:45, A. M.
2:45, P. M.
6:50, A. M. .
Noon.
10th, .
IO:34, A. M.
. . ..
26th, 27th, 28th, 29th,
. . .
4:40, A. M. ....
12th, .. 13th, ...
8:30, A. M.
3:40, A. M.
30th, 10:50, P. M.
. ...
3Ist,
.. 8:20, A. M.
16th, 10:30, P. M. . . .
In 1812-13, Henry I. Traphagen and William Southerland were running the stage with four horses. They were succeeded in 1814-16 by Levi and William Alger. In 1817, Joseph French ran an extra stage from New- burgh to New York four times a week with four horses. In 1819-20, Garret Bampa ran "through the Franklin Turnpike gate," and Abram Clearwater carried the stage on " through the Orange Turnpike gate." In 1821, Sturgis began running the stage. In 1823, Stephen Sloat had charge of it. In 1824-25, Dr. T. G. Evans. In 1826, Stephen Sloat & Co .; 1827-29, H. H. Zabriskie & Co. (daily) - 1830, Stephen Sloat & Co. (daily.) It was in those days that the Sloat mansion, at Sloatsburg, served as a tavern on the post road.
How strange this sounds in these days of lightning expresses, drawing room cars and electric appliances, which have annihilated space and time. It seems wise that we should review the period for a better realization of what our country and County were, and for a better appreciation of what those silent giants-inventors-have accomplished for this western conti- nent.
Jan. Ist, .... 2d, 9:05, P. M.
. .
Jan. 17th, . . . 18th, 9:00 P. M. 1 9th, 20th, ... ... 2 Ist, .... 8:00, A. M. .... 22d, 23d, 9:40, P. M. 24th, 25th, 11:30, P. M. ....
7:40, A. M.
. ... 4:10, A. M. . ...
14th, 10:50, P. M. 1 5th,
IIth, 10:41, P. M.
413
Gilbert Cooper, 1791-1798. James Onderdonk, 1798- 1801, 1802-4.
William Dusenhery, 1801.
Gilbert T. Cooper, 1805-6. Peter S. Van Orden, 1807- 1811-1819.
David De Baun, 1811-1814. Garret Sarven, 1814.
Abraham Gurnee, 1815-1818
James Taylor, 1818-1820. John J. Gurnee, 1821.
Peter R. Van Houten, 1822 -1830-31.
SUPERVISORS.
Nicholas L. Haring, 1826.
John Haring, 1839.
James Yourey, 1840.
John A. Haring, 1837, 1843 -1844.
John J. Coe, 1841.
Cornelius Demarest, 1842.
John Demarest, 1845-47.
William Forshee, 1848.
John B. Gurnee, 1849-51, 1861.
Frederick Van Orden, 1852- 54. Nicholas C. Blauvelt, 1855- 6.
Peter P. Jersey, 1857.
John Crum, 1858-9.
Henry R. Sloat, 1860.
John D. Christie, 1862.
Erastus Johnson, 1863-4. Andrew Smith, 1865. James Suffern, 1866-70.
Dwight B. Baker, 1872-3.
Peter L. Van Orde n, 1874-5
Jacob Snider, 1876.
George W. Suffern, 1870- 71, 1877-1883. Peter Tallman, 188 3-84. A. D. Blauvelt,
TOWN CLERKS.
Gilbert Cooper, 1791-2, 1804-8.
John Conklin, Jr., 1793-4.
Arch. Cassady, 1795-7, 1799 -1802, 1837-1843, 1847- 1853. Gilbert T. Cooper, 1798. Andrew Onderdonk, 1802-3
Garret Sarven, 1809-1814, 1815-1818, 1820. John Knap, 1814.
Theunis Cooper, 1821.
James Taylor, 1822-26.
Isaac Finch, 1830-31.
William II. Gray, 1872.
Theunis J. Cooper, 1844.
Peter Tallman, 1880.
Tunis Cooper, 1845-6. John G. Serven, 1854-1859. D. D. Ackerman, 1859-61, 1863-71. Thomas Reed, 1862.
Wm. H. Parsons, 1873-79. Esler Sherwood, 1881.
From 1791 till 1802, town meetings were held at the house of Theunis Cuyper, just southeast of the " Brick Church;" from 1802 till 1863, at Cassady's Corners ; and from 1863 till the present time, at Monsey.
Authorities referred to : History of Ramapo, by Rev. Eben B. Cobb, assisted by E. Frank Pierson. New York State Session Laws. New York State Civil List. Archives of the Rock- land County Historical Society.
CHAPTER XX.
CLARKSTOWN.
ORIGIN OF NAME-DATE OF ERECTION INTO A TOWNSHIP-AREA-FIRST TOWN MEETING-CENSUS-HISTORY OF CLARKESVILLE, NEW CITY- ROCKLAND LAKE -NANUET-DUTCH FACTORY-MACKIE'S AND STAGG'S CORNERS-WALDBERG, SNEDEKER'S OR WALDBERG LANDING- STRAWTOWN-BARDON'S STATION-PEAT BEDS-SILVER SPOON FAC TORY-THE BREWERY-BURIAL PLACES-TOWN OFFICERS.
In the chapter relating to the transfer of land in early days, it was seen that the lower part of the Kakiat patent was sold to a party of five men, in 1716, among whom was Daniel De Clarke. De Clarke's property was divided, and parts of it sold. In one of these sales, bearing date July 16, 1764, the property is described as being at Clarke's Town. This is the first mention I find of the name. This town was separated from the town of Haverstraw, on March 18th, 1791, and was one of the four townships in existence at the time the County was erected. The boundaries of the town will be found with those of the County. The number of acres in- eluded in the new town was 24,091.
The same causes which had led the people of Haverstraw to petition for a separate town government nearly three quarters of a century before, influenced the inhabitants of the present Clarkstown and Ramapo, in 1791. Steadily had the population inereased and with that inerease had grown up serious objections to the distance necessary to be traveled to attend town meetings. Then too, the area of the old town of Haverstraw, was far larger than its officers could carefully attend to. The roads were bad, the demands on their time onerous and the temptation to shirk their duties, great. It was with mutual pleasure therefore that the people of the old and new towns separated.
The first minutes of a town meeting, that can now be found, read as follows : " At a Town meeting held on Thursday, the 4th day of April, 1809, by the inhabitants of Clarks Town, at the New City. Present, John I. Blauvelt, Peter D. Smith, Resolvert Stephens, Justices ; Peter Stephens, moderator ; John J. Wood, town clerk; Abram Snyder, supervisor ; John Van Houten, Richard Blanch, Dowe Tenure, assessors ; Martines J. Hogenkamp, collector ; Abraham Polhamus, James Vanderbilt, poor- masters; Dowe D. Tallman, Abraham Cole, Hendrick Stevens, con-
415
stables ; Hosman Perry, Jacob Vanderbilt, Peter D. Demarest, commis- sioners of highways; Abraham Storms, Isaac B. Van Houten, Samuel DeBaun, fence viewers; Abraham Storms, Isaac B. Van Houten, Samuel DeBaun, pound masters.
Road masters : Jacob Wood, John Jersey, Aurt Ramsen, Peter P. Dem- arest, Jr., Isaac I. Blauvelt, Henry A. Snyder, John C. Van Houten, Abra- ham Garrison, Thomas Ackerson, Jr., Daniel Thew, Garret Smith, Henry Stephens, Jacob Myers, Abraham D. Blauvelt, Charles Benson, Dowe Tallman, John E. Smith. William House, Adrian Onderdonk, Simon Post, John Felter, Solomon Waring, Jesse Beagle, Aury Demarest, Peter Ben- son, Garret T. Snedeker, Theodorus Ramsen.
To be raised for the poor $400.
Every dog that is bit by a mad dog is to be Killed Immediately ; $5 fine for every 24 hours that they live afterward, the money to go for the use of the poor.
The Town Clerk is for to get a New Book for to enter the proceedings of the Town.
To be raised for Roads and Bridges $70.
The Law Respecting fishing in the Ponds with Scins Passed Last year is to stand.
Entered by JOHN J. WOOD, Town Clerk."
The second largest town in area of the County with more tillable land than any of the others, Clarkstown, is devoted almost entirely to agricul- ture. No large villages are within its bounds. Until recently, all its com- munication with the Metropolis was by water, except in the extreme south- western corner, and at no place on all its river front can the water be reached without crossing intervening mountains. Yet, despite these ob- stacles, the growth of the town has been steady though slow.
In 1800, Clarkstown had 1806 inhabitants. In I845, Clarkstown had 2797 inhabitants.
In 1810,
1996
In 1855,
3572
In 1820,
ISOS 66
In 1865,
4023
In 1825, State Census,
2075
66
In 1870, U. S. Census, 4137
66
In 1835, 66 21 76 66 In 1880, 4382 66
As in the case of the other towns suspicion must rest on the report of 1820.
NEW CITY.
In 1774, the court-house at Tappan was destroyed by fire. During the seven and forty years that Tappan had been the county-seat, the sec- tion of the County north of the mountains had become well populated,
416
while Haverstraw exceeded Orangetown in its number of residents. Fair- ness demanded that in the building of a new court-house a more central location should be selected, and the site at New City was chosen.
The old settlers had a strong faith that at the spot where the County buildings stood, a city must of necessity spring up, so, when in 1774, it was decided to locate the court-house in Clarkstown, they named the new site New City. This new city has followed the old one of Tappan in the vigor of its growth. The first hotel at New City was opened by Jabez Wood, and this was followed by one opened by Abraham Hogenkamp.
The post-office at this place was established May 12th, 1815, under the name of Clarkstown, with Peter D. W. Smith as postmaster. He has been followed by: Abram Hogenkamp, December 28th, 1822; Jabez Wood, July 23d, 1839; William H. Melick, June 30th, 1849; John H. Stephens, February 13th, 1851 ; A. J. Van Houten, August 7th, 1855; Alcibiades Cornelison, June 8th, 1861, and Peter De Bevoise, July 19th, 1872. The name of the office was changed to New City, July 5th, 1876.
In 1844, the Rockland County Agricultural Society was organized, and its annual exhibitions or fairs held at New City till 1875. Even this addition to its income failed to give the hamlet stronger life. In 1875, the Nanuet and New City Railroad, now owned by the New Jersey and New York Railroad, was opened, and gave the place better communication with other parts of the County and State.
The first school built at New City stood on the common, near the site of the present County Clerk's office. From there, it was moved to where the hotel known as "Kossuth's " stands, and in 1853 to its present loca- tion. A new school building was erected in 1880. At the beginning of the century, Wood had a tannery a few feet east of the " street," which was discontinued about 1825, and at a later period, members of the same family carried on a distillery on the brook west of the "street."
A little east of the main road, near the Trotting Park in New City, is an old grave-yard, long disused and overgrown with brambles and ivy. Among the dates still legible are two, "1733, M. C.," and " 1734, L. C.," and still a third, " 1733, C. S.," bears the same early record.
CLARKSVILLE, NYACK TURNPIKE OR MONT MOOR.
When Daniel De Clarke advanced into the wilderness, which formerly occupied the soil of the present Clarkstown, and wrested from that wil- derness a home, he may have felt that the spirit of justice in men in the coming years, would lead them to unhesitatingly acknowledge his cour- age and perseverance as the pioneer in this section, by retaining his cog-
417
nomen as the name of the hamlet he settled. If such were his feelings we, his followers, fully realize that he was far from right. The township does indeed bear his name with the elision of the final letter, but the hamlet known as Clarkestown as long ago as 1764, has been re-named by the fastidious generations since and called Clarkesville, Nyack Turn- pike, and now Mont Moor. The relevance of this last name, is, perhaps, known to the person who gave it.
The location of the church at this spot in 1752, gave the hamlet a definite existence, and its importance was further added to by the erection of grist and saw mills on the brook, which flows in front of the old church. Not till after the opening of theturnpike was there further business growth in the present village, and the hamlet more nearly resembled the present Orangeville than any other place. With the turnpike came a change of business centre and of life.
The first business enterprise was begun by William O'Blenis, who opened a store on the southeast corner of the pike and Sickletown road. In 1835, Samuel DeBaun was running a distillery on the opposite corner, where the hotel now stands. Five years later, the distillery was torn down to make room for the present hotel, which was built for Thomas War- ner. The presence of store and tavern led to the establishment of a blacksmith at the corners, and then came the wheelwright shop.
While these changes were being made on the turnpike, a new enter- prise was begun near the old church. In 1835, James Newsen utilized the water power of the brook by erecting a horse-blanket and woolen fac- tory on the site now occupied by Abram Demarest's saw mill. Its exist- ence was brief, and by 1838, it had been abandoned. About 1840, a cooper shop was built alongside the old road to Nyack, which ran north of the swamp, by Hiram Purdy, and added to the industries of the place.
The post-office was established under the name of Nyack Turnpike June 25th, 1834, with William O'Blenis as first post-master. He was succeeded October 16th, 1852, by Samuel G. Ellsworth. Since that time the post-masters have been : John R. Ten Eyck, October 24th, 1857; Samuel G. Ellsworth, October Ist, 1858 ; William J. Wilcox, May 23d, 1859; James I. Lydecker, May 10th, 1861 ; John T. Smith, April 15th, 1872 ; Benjamin Smith, December 15th, 1875 ; and Cornelius R. Martine, September 10th, 1885. On April 19th, 1880, the name of the office was changed to Mont Moor.
The district school of Clarksville, built on the site of the original edi- fice, which was erected toward the close of the last century, stands along- side the road from Pye's corner north to the brewery. It looks a relic of
418
the idea, that such a building was good enough for the parents and must needs be for the children. It may be of interest to notice the long period that a school has existed at this place for a full appreciation of what I am now to relate.
This neighborhood has the doubtful honor of having been the scene of the last trial for witchcraft held in New York State, possibly the last among a so-called civilized people.
The supposititious victim of demoniae power in this Clarksville case, was the widow of a Scotch physician, named Jane Kanniff, who moved into the hamlet prior to 1816, took a small house situated a few rods west of the old church on the New City road, and devoted herself to the care of her only child, a son by a previous marriage, named Lowrie.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.