USA > New York > Rockland County > The history of Rockland County > Part 45
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I have already spoken of the burial grounds at New City, Nanuet and Clarksville, and in the history of Nyack have given the history of Oak
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Hill, which extends into Clarkstown, and the old ground at Upper Nyack. More than in any other township, were interments in Clarks made in pri- vate ground. The isolation of the settlers from other settlements, the distance that existed between the early settlements and the few early churches, were greater than elsewhere Hence the number of family bur- ial plots is very large. One of the oldest places of sepulture in the town is probably that which stands south of the road leading from New City to Hempstead. It is said that the date of either 1703 or 1708 has been found on one of the tombstones. On the Long Clove road, near Pye's saw mill, stands a local grave yard, and another about a mile further north, stands just east of the Hackensack. On the road from Waldberg church to Pye's saw mill, some six hundred yards west of the church, is a burial ground, and others are on the property of Onderdonk on both sides of the road from Rockland Lake to Valley Cottage; on the east side of the mountain road, formerly called the Lyon's Hill road, near its junction with the mountain road that leads from Upper Nyack to Valley Cottage ; on the south side of the King's highway, between John Storms' old hotel and Valley Cottage ; and a negro burial ground stands west of the Hackensack swamp, and north of the Turnpike.
David Pye, 1791-92. Isaac Blanch, 1793-96, 1801 - 2. Claus R. Van Houten, 1797- 98-99. 1803-4. Resolvert Stephens, 1805-7. Abram Snyder, 1808-11-19. Richard I. Blanch, 1812, 15- 20-24. James Stephens, 1816-18. Abram P. Stephens, 1825- 32-37.
SUPERVISORS.
Abram Hogenkamp, 1826. Albert Lydecker, 1831. Jacob P. Demarest, 1833. John O'Blenis, 1834. A. J. Demarest, 1835.
Joseph P. Brower, 1842-48 John E. Hogenkamp, 1845- 62-66. Matthew D. Bogert, 1846. Jacob J. Eckerson, 1851-52. E. E. Conklin, 1853. John T. Blanch, 1854.
Aaron T. Polhemus, 1856- 57. Isaac Tallman, 1858-59- James L. Conklin, 1860-61. Peter T. Stephens, 1867-68. Tunis Blauvelt, 1869, 71-73. Isaac Van Nostrand, 1872- 77. Nelson Stephens, 1874. Barne Van Houten, 1879-80. J. G. Demarest, 1881-82. F. P. Demarest, 1883-84- 85.
TOWN CLERKS.
John J. Wood, 1809-12. Abram Cole, 1813. Ebenezer Wood, 1814-20. Abram Hogenkamp, 1815- 19-26. Jabez Wood, 1822-27-32.
Henry R. Stephens, 1823- 25. John E. Hogenkamp, 1833- 35-42.
Peter T. Stephens, 1834. Abram B. Hogenkamp, 1843-44. John T. Cole, 1845. Harman Blauvelt, 1846. Isaac Blanch, 1847-50. Abram A. Stagg, 1851-55- 58, 59. Abram J. DeBaun, 1856-57.
Martin Knapp, 1860. Thomas L. De Noyelles, 1861-70-75. Alfred Phillips, 1871-73. Paul D. Spotte, 1874. Joseph De Noyelles, 1876- 84.
Authorities referred to : History of Clarkstown, by H. P. Fay. N. Y. S. Geological Re- port, by W. W. Mather.
Archives of the Rockland County Historical Society.
CHAPTER XXI.
STONY POINT.
DATE OF ERECTION-ORIGIN OF NAME-AREA-FIRST TOWN MEETING- CENSUS-HISTORY OF GRASSY POINT-STONY POINT-TOMPKIN'S COVE-CALDWELL'S LANDING-DOODLETOWN-IONA ISLAND-STONY POINT PROMONTORY-BEAR HILL-PINGYP HILL-THE HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD-LARGE TREES.
The people of Haverstraw township had seen two sections taken from their vast area and still their territory contained 27,084 acres. The de- velopment of the brick industry and the growth of the limestone business rapidly increased the population of the north end of this territory, and the inhabitants of the present town of Stony Point, felt that they should have a separate representative in the Board of Supervisors. With this cause was combined another. Haverstraw has long had the reputation of taking all political offices for her own people, and the inhabitants in the north end of the township found, that when they desired some of the pub- lic places, their wishes were unheeded as long as possible, and when re- fusal would no longer be tolerated, only the smallest crumbs that fell from the political table were allotted to them. These things bred ill-feeling, dissatisfaction grew by a constant interchange of grievances between the people who felt themselves injured, and at length the creation of a new township was advocated and secured.
On March 20th, 1865, the town of Stony Point was erected by Act of Legislature, with the following boundaries: "Beginning at a point on the Hudson River, the southeast corner of the land of Abraham B. Con- ger, about twenty-one chains southerly from the end of the steamboat wharf at Grassy Point, and running thence south about eighty-five and one-half degrees west eighteen chains to the 'Minisceongo Creek, and southwest corner of said A. B. Conger's land ;' thence along said Minis- ceongo Creek, southerly, westerly and southerly, to the northeast corner of the land known as the ' Silas D. Gardner farm ;' thence along said farm south eighty-eight and one-half degrees, west fifty-four chains to the pub- lic road leading from North Haverstraw to Benson's corner; thence along said public road, and west line of the said Silas D. Gardner's farm five chains and eighty-five links to southeast corner of the land of William C.
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and James A. Houseman ; thence along the line of said Houseman's land to the south line of William Call's land, the south line of Washington Waldron's land, the south line of Benjamin F. Valentine's land, and through other lands, north sixty-six and three-quarters degrees west, one hundred and thirty-five chains fifty links to an apple tree on the south side of the public road in front of Hiram Phillip's house; thence along said road, on the south side to the junction of the Monroe and Haverstraw Turnpike ; thence along the south side of said turnpike westerly to the di- vision line between ' Great Mountains lots,' three and four; thence fol- lowing said division line north forty-five degrees, west to the division line between the Counties of Orange and Rockland ; thence along said Orange County line northeasterly to the Hudson River ; thence along the west shore of said Hudson River, southerly to the place of beginning." The new township, which was named from that bold, rocky promontory which Anthony Wayne made historical, contained 17,792 acres of land much of it rocky and unfertile in the extreme.
The first town meeting was held on April 11th, 1865, at the store of Robert Kerr; Frederick Tomkins, Abraham S. Vanderbilt, and George Knapp presiding, and Wesley J. Weiant was elected Supervisor, Benson Briggs, Town Clerk, and Alexander Waldron, Wesley J. Weiant, Alfred M. Wiles and Josiah M. Dalson, Justices. By the Legislative act which created the town, Henry M. Peck, Edwin Marks, Henry G. Knapp, Wil- liam Benson, Abram Weyant, and Alexander Waldron were appointed Commissioners, to apportion the town debt on each town according to the valuation of the real estate on the last assessment-roll of the town of Haverstraw.
Owing to the nature of her land, Stony Point presents little induce- ment for agricultural immigrants, and her population, slowly increasing, is almost entirely located along the river banks. The census gives :
1865, 1870, ' - - 3,205. 1880, - 3,308.
-
2,186. 1875,
3,272.
GRASSY POINT.
To the present observer, the dun-colored sand hills, crowned with a few tumble-down shanties, the ugly clay-pits, the long rows of roofs covering brick-kilns, and the clouds of smoke and dust that hang over this village in summer, must cause its name to appear satirical. But there have been other days for Grassy Point, when the beauty of its verdure, which grew down to the very river edge, and its charming location made it a delight- ful place for residence. It was in those days of pristine lovliness that the name it now bears was given it.
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In tracing the early transfers of land in Haverstraw, we found that by purchase the property now embraced in the village came into the hands of John Allison. Allison died in 1754 and left the tract to his son Joseph, describing it in his will as " being a tract purchased of Albert Minnie and others, bounded North and East by Hudson River, South by the moun- tains, and running Westerly by Minisceongo Creek and the mountains."
Previous to his death, Joseph Allison gave to his sons Johh, William and Joseph, a deed for all the land between Minisceongo Creek and Hudson's River and the " Narrow Passage," described as "all that tract of land in Haverstraw called the further neck, bounded North and East by Hudson's River, West, by the marsh, or salt meadow, and South, by a fence, as it runs across the narrow passage, and stands nearly opposite the point of land and meadow of Mr. Thomas Hay's farm, on the west side of the creek, containing 1031/2 acres, more or less." This land they were to sell. If it brought £600, they were to retain that sum as their portion of their inheritance; if more, all over and above £600 was to be paid to him.
On April 9th, 1798, this land was sold to Jacob Sabriska, who, in a brief time, sold it to William Denning, Jr., and he, on July 4th, 1798, sold it to his father, William Denning. This William Denning, Sr., was a lawyer, who had accumulated sufficient wealth to permit of his passing his summer months in the country. Not far from the end of Grassy Point, he erected a handsome house, and remained a summer resident of our County till the time of his death.
At the time Denning built his house, the whole tract of land above described was heavily wooded with magnificent oak and chestnut trees. At the mouth of Minisceongo Creek, which, by reason of a long strip of meadow just southwest of the causeway that leads to Penny Bridge was narrower than to-day, was a high hill or bluff covered with trees and grass. At a later period, a small wharf was built which projected into the creek just opposite Crum Island. After several years, Denning sold ten acres at the south end of his purchase to William Smith, a nephew of Joshua Hett Smith, who built a large two-story house on his purchase, beautified the grounds, and gave to his place the name of Rosa Villa.
I have gone thus fully into detail to show that however much of a misnomer Grassy Point may seem now, there was a time when the name was appropriate. After the death of Denning, who was a brother-in-law of Joshua Hett Smith, his property passed through the hands of Philip Verplanck, Isaac L. Pratt, Dr. Lawrence Proudfoot, who bought it with the intention of cutting it up into lots. It was Proudfoot who built the
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double house still standing near the steamboat wharf. At this time, the tract was divided into three parts, of which the northernmost came into the possession of David Munn in 1834, the middle one, after some trans- fers, was purchased by A. B. Conger, and the third was bought by Thomas Murphy and E. Warner as a speculation. The latter also purchased the Crom farm, on the opposite side of the creek. In 1837, Murphy and Warner failed, and their property later became the cause of the case of Worall vs. Munn.
The first steamboat landing at Grassy Point was built by Dr Law- rence Proudfoot about 1830, and for many years, owing to the depth of water, it was the stopping place for steamers passing up and down the river. Till the Rockland extended her trips to Haverstraw, this landing was the shipping point for steam communication with the city for that section of our County north of the mountain. The first hotel at Grassy Point was kept by Dr. Proudfoot in his double house. On the north side of that house was a small addition in which Proudfoot kept a small store and bar, and in which the first post-office was opened. In 1845, O. C. Gerow opened a general country store in a building a few feet west of Proudfoot's house. In 1848, James Creney opened a hotel at the Point, on the property now occupied by Thomas Dinan, and kept it till 1850, when he purchased property at Haverstraw and moved to that place. The first lumber yard at the Point was started by W. F. B. & A. Gurnee and George H. Smith.
In speaking of the industries of the County, mention was made of the large iron works erected along Florus Falls Creek and of the brick yards stretching along the river shore. Another industry now demands note. In the spring of 1845, John I. Wiles moved from Orange county to Grassy Point with his family, and opened a shop for the purpose of doing business in the shape of blacksmith or wheelwright work. On the death of John I. Wiles, in 1851, the business, which even then had become profitable, was carried on till 1855 under the name of F. J. & A, M. Wiles, and from that time till 1861 under the name of F. J. Wiles & Co. Since 1861 the business has been managed by A. M. & W. H. Wiles. As busi- ness increased new works were added. In 1871, a foundry was built and started, and at the present time this branch of industry, which began in such a humble way, gives employment to many score men and is used in manufacturing machinery for flour and saw mills and brick-making.
The number of vessels engaged in the transportation of brick from the County made marine railways and ship yards near Haverstraw a vital necessity. Snedeker's Landing had become a thing of the past and at
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Tomkin's Cove and Peck's old dock were the only ship yards north of the mountain. Regarding the opportunity as a good one, George L. Wicks started a yard at Grassy Point where the depth of water was favorable to the enterprise, and put down a marine railway in the autumn of 1883.
The first post-office at Grassy Point was opened on July 30th, 1834, with James De La Montanya as postmaster, On Aug. 21st, 1834, the name of the office was changed to North Haverstraw, and it retained this name till Sept. 10th, 1836, when it was changed back to Grassy Point. In 1838, Thomas Murphy became postmaster and held the position till 1844, when he was succeeded by Edward Strang and hein turn was followed by Oliver C. Gerow in 1845. On Sept. 5th, 1845, the office was discon- tinued. On April 14th, 1871, the post-office at Grassy Point was re-es- tablished with Alfred M. Wiles as postmaster.
NORTH HAVERSTRAW-FLORUS FALLS OR STONY POINT.
Eighteen years before the separation of the present township of Stony Point from that of Haverstraw, the population in the northern part of the territory had increased to such an extent as to warrant the establishment of a post-office in that section. Through the efforts of Dr. William Govan, an office was established in his house and named North Haver- straw.
The starting of this office made a change in the location of the busi- ness centre in this section. Theretofore the thickest population had been up the road toward Bulson's, and the few stores opened in the neighbor- hood were nearer the old tavern than Dr. Govan's corner. The only church edifice, that of the Methodist Society, which had been built in 1834, stood on the site of the present structure, and the prospect looked altogether in favor of the village, which could already be forseen, starting in that location. The establishment of the post-office stopped this growth and created the present village.
This section bore the name of North Haverstraw till the separation of the territory, and the erection of Stony Point township, when it was changed to Flora Falls, the appellation of a pretty little cascade, which falls into the creek of the same name by the district school house in the present village of Stony Point. So evidently is this name a corruption of Florus, that I have so entitled it. The original owner of this property was Florus Crom. He, as well as others in the early days of settlement, was spoken of by his Christian name and this cascade, being a good guide to a locality and on Crom's property, was spoken of as Florus' Falls The name of Flora Falls was attached to the village till 1870, when it took that of Stony Point.
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The post-office was established at this village on April ist, 1847, with William Govan, M.D., postmaster. On May 11th, 1850, Wm. Knight was appointed postmaster and held the office till June 25th, 1853, when Dr. Govan was re-appointed. On Nov. 17th, 1856, Wm. Brewster became postmaster but held the office less than a month when he was superseded December 13th, 1856, by Dr. Govan. On November 16th, 1860, William Penny was appointed to the office, and he has been followed by : William Knight, from May 31st, 1861 to April 7th, 1870-during his term of office, on March 27th, 1865, the name of the office was changed from North Haverstraw to Flora Falls ; Ezekiel O. Rose, from April 7th, 1870, till January 21st, 1885-during his term, on July 27th, 1870, the name was changed from Flora Falls to Stony Point ; Mary A. Penny, from Jan- uary 21st, 1885 till August 11th, 1885, and the present postmaster, Richard B. Stalter, August 1 1th, 1885.
The first drug store in this village was opened by E. O. Rose in 1865, and this was followed in 1883 by one opened by William Govan, M. D. The first public hall-Allison's Hall-was built in 1873 by B. J. Allison. Following the change produced by the establishment of the post-office, Theodore Smith built a store on the site now occupied by the store of E. O. Rose, which was occupied by William Knight, and in 1862 Richard Marks built a store on the site of that now occupied by Joseph Penny. This was destroyed by fire in March, 1865, being then occupied by Robert Kerr.
In 1844, William Knight bought the machinery which had been in use in the chemical works of Waldron & Benson, and started a chemical work for the manufacture of Pyroligneous Acid, not far from Cedar Pond. This industry, which furnished acid for the Garnerville Print Works, gave em- ployment to three or four men, and was continued till 1868.
TOMKINS' COVE.
On another page will be found the early title to this land. As early as 1789, a small kiln had been started at the limestone cliffs by John Crom but, as in the case with brick making and stone quarrying, little was done before this century. From the time of Crom till 1838, nothing seems to have been accomplished with the quarries, and at the time of Daniel Tomkins' advent, the present scene of industry was a wilderness of bushes and rocks. In fact, Tomkins discovered the limestone only by searching carefully from Hoboken to the present Tomkins' Cove. During and after his search, he made several trips on foot between Haverstraw and Newark.
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In the spring of 1838, having purchased twenty acres of land the year before for $100 an acre, Daniel Tomkins embarked at Newark, N. J., on board a sloop named Contrivance, with sixteen men, one woman, one horse, one cow, and a small quantity of lumber, and set sail for his new home. Upon arriving at the now thriving hamlet of Tomkins' Cove, the men and women were landed by small boat, while the animals were lowered into the water and allowed to find their own way to shore. A shanty for shelter was at once erected, and on the following day the work of quarrying out the limestone was begun.
This branch of business proved a success from the outset, and has steadily continued to increase in importance. Beside the manufacture of lime, the company owning the cliff has added to its business by crushing lime stone for macadamizing purposes.
When first begun, the business at Tomkins' Cove was carried on under the name of Tomkins, Hadden & Co. At a later period, the firm was changed to Calvin Tomkins & Co., and the members were Calvin and Daniel Tomkins and Walter Searing. In 1859, the Tomkins' Cove Lime Company was formed, and since that time the business has been conducted in its name.
The establishment of one industry soon led to a demand for another, and about 1842, a store was opened near the landing by Calvin Tomkins & Co. In 1850, the ship yard was started, and a marine railway laid down for the accommodation of vessel owners. It may not be uninter- esting to know in this connection that the original vessel which brought the immigrants to the Cove, the Contrivance, is still in a good state of preservation, and makes regular trips to and from New York city.
Until 1874, the old district school house, a small wooden building which was open for only a brief period during each year, was the sole educational institution in this section. Then the present Union School edifice was erected, and presented to the public by Calvin Tomkins.
The post-office at this place was established March 15th, 1860, with Warren Searing as the first post-master. He held the office till January 25th, 1872,when he was succeeded by Walter T. Searing, who fills the posi- tion at the present time.
GIBRALTAR-CALDWELL'S LANDING.
At the point of the frowning Thunder Mountain, called by its Dutch name, Donderberg, Joshua Colwil, a descendant of John Cholwell, one of the original patentees of the Cheesecocks patent, had made a home before the beginning of this century, and on March 19th, 1800, was granted by
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Legislative act, the right, in conjunction with Joseph Travis, of Peekskill, to run a ferry across the river from his landing to that of Travis. By what means Colwil's name became transferred to Caldwell is as unknown as the change from Chowell to Colwil, but it did become so altered, and the old name of Gibraltar gradually gave way to that of the first ferryman. A short time ago, one Charles H. Jones, a resident of Long Island, who owned some property at Caldwell's, exerted influence enough to get the railroad company and post-office authorities to give his name to the Point. Who this Jones is ; what d_eds he has performed that should entitle him, a stranger to our soil, to grace old Donderberg with his name, I have yet to learn. It is to be hoped that sooner or later the residents of Stony Point township will demand a change of the name back to Caldwell's.
At Caldwell's was carried on one of those visionary schemes that will be possible so long as people shall seek wealth without labor. On a pre- ceding page I have said, that when the heavy ordnance was being moved from Stony to West Point, on its abandonment by the Americans, the flat boats engaged in the transportation were fired on by the Vulture and one of them sunk. In later days, a rumor was started to the effect that the famous pirate, Captain William Kidd, had lost his vessel at this point, and that untold treasure lay at the bottom of the river awaiting recovery. One story has it that a prospector for gold started the tale by his implicit confidence in his divining rod, which is reputed to have indi- cated the presence of gold at this spot ; and, that on a superficial drag of the bottom a cannon was brought up. Another story is to the effect that a cannon fouled the anchor fluke of a sloop, and was hove up by the sailors.
Without pausing to learn how the cannon was discovered, enough to know that such an event did occur and was at once taken advantage of to obtain money. A stock company, named the Kidd Salvage Company, was formed June 20th, 1844, and a large amount of stock was put on the market in January 1845. A prospectus in pamphlet form, called "Wonder- ful Mesmeric Revelations, giving an account of the discovery and a de- scription of a sunken vessel near Caldwell's Landing, supposed to be that of the pirate, Kidd, including an account of his character and death at a dis- tance of nearly 3,000 miles from the place," was published. Then a coffer dam was built at the extreme end of the Point, and a steam engine set at work pumping it clear. Some cannon were found, one of which was set in the curb at the corner of Wall and Broad streets, New York City, and one passed into the possession of William Blakely, of Verplanck's Point.
Work was continued at this folly till 1848, from one to three
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dozen men being constantly employed ; stock was floated in England as well as in this country; a fortune was expended in keeping the dam intact against the tremendous pressure of water, and then-the en- gine stopped ; the laborers disappeared, the stock company passed from existence, the Sheriff wound up the business, and the English cannon, cap- tured by Anthony Wayne, and thought to have been destroyed by a shot from the Vulture, were returned to land to oxidize and become dust.
Abram V. Thompson and his son-in-law, Henry Sheldon, were active in the management of this transaction. Mr. Crane was the engineer in charge of the work. The property was bought by William Blakely, of Verplanck's Point.
The post office at Caldwell's was opened in October, 1885, with James A. De Groot as post master. Another event in the history of Caldwell's calls for mention. In the war of 1812, it was soon demonstrated that the hope of the United States lay in her fleet, and the Navy received every encouragement. A new yard was planned, less exposed to attack than that at Brooklyn, and Caldwell's Landing was talked of because of its safety, and the great depth of water at it. But, according to the tradition still preserved in this section, the legislators who decided on this spot, reckoned without their host. Colwil, or Caldwell was a Federalist of the most pro- nounced type. In his estimation, as in that of many of his confreres, the war with England was not only needless, but actually iniquitous, and he would lend no hand in the struggle. With this feeling, he placed so dis- proportionate a valuation on his property that the Government at once abandoned the project.
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