USA > New York > Ulster County > The history of Ulster County, New York > Part 20
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KINGSTON.
and other free delivery incidentals, cost $14,567. The railway postal clerks and weighers upon the roads terminating here were paid $8,258. The rent of offices cost $1,600 and the surplus, of nearly $9,000, was turned in to the Government. Free city delivery began May I, 1895, with eleven carriers, which has been increased to sixteen. Kingston became a first- class post-office July 1, 1901. The main office has been located in the Kingston Opera House building since 1869.
An appropriation of $110,000 has been made by Congress for a Public Building. Plans have been drawn for a new post-office, a site secured and the foundation completed at the junction of Prince street, Pine Grove avenue and Broadway, $25,000 having been thus expended. It is now said that the contracts for the superstructure will be given out early in 1907.
The Rondout post-office was established some time prior to 1830 and continued there until 1895, since which time it has been maintained as a station of the Kingston office. The Wilbur post-office, established about 1856, was also abolished in 1895. The following is a list of the Kingston postmasters and their terms of office, beginning with the existing records : Conradt Elmendorf, early in the century, succeeded after some years by William Cockburn, Jacob K. Trumpbour, 1829-39; Benjamin M. Has- brouck, 1839-41; William Culley, 1841-45; Isaac Van Buren, 1845-48; Daniel Young, 1848-49; William H. Romeyn, 1849-53; William Kerr, 1853-61 ; Caleb S. Clay, 1861-69; Joseph S. Smith, 1869-73 ; Daniel Brad- bury, 1873-82; William M. Hayes, 1882-86; W. S. Gillespie, 1886-90; Noah Wolven, 1890-94; H. G. Crouch, 1894-98; Geo. M. Brink, 1898- 1902; Walter C. Dolson, 1902 to the present time.
The list of Rondout postmasters is as follows: Edmund Suydam, William Sims, John Hudler, John H. Stratton, Rensselaer Acley, William Winter, 1871-77 ; Andrew N. Barnes, 1877-84; Richard Mooney, 1884-98; David Gill, 1888-92 ; Henry Beck, 1892-95.
Wilbur postmasters : Thomas Booth, Henry H. Pitts, Michael A. Rush, Daniel Zoller.
The Young Men's Christian Association was organized in September, 1876, with thirty charter members. Andrew E. Schepmoes was the first president. A fine new building was erected at a cost of $46,000 in 1896. It includes a large public hall, a well fitted gymnasium, reading-room, parlors and other convenient rooms, and there is now a total meinbership of 500.
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
The Industrial Home, corner of Chester street and Highland avenue, for orphan and indigent children, was organized in 1876. It has been successfully managed by charitable ladies of the city. Over 700 needy children have been placed in good homes, and many others temporarily cared for. The present new building was built in 1903, at a cost of $17,000. Mrs. Mary I. Forsyth is now the president.
The Kingston City Hospital is a commodious and useful structure located near the City Hall. The association was formed in the spring of 1890, with John E. Kraft as president. Three years later the new building was erected by subscriptions, donations, and various public charitable entertainments ; and to-day the hospital is one of the most beneficent and useful institutions in the city. The original cost of the building, site and fixtures, which are most complete in surgical appliances, was about $15,000. About five years ago Mr. Samuel D. Coykendall spent about $10,000 in repairs and improvements, and he is now building a new nurse's hall, which will cost some $10,000 more, making the present value of the plant about $35,000. The association, of which Rev. Dr. R. L. Burtsel is president, has now the following endowments: John Wesley Shaw, $5,000; Ira Davenport, $5,000; Katharine S. Davenport, $500; Rev. John B. Gleason, $500; Henrietta Wynkoop, $400; Margaret E. Hess, $500. The hospital receives an annual appropriation from the city of $4,500, and $2,000 from the county.
There are two sanitariums in the city. The Sahler Sanitarium was established about seven years ago on lower Wall street and was greatly enlarged this year. The total cost of the building to this date is not far from $50,000. The Benedictine Sanitarium, which partakes more of the character of a public hospital, is a most imposing brick structure standing upon a sightly bluff overlooking the city, west of Broadway, opposite the City Hall. It was erected a few years ago and cost about $50,000. Both these institutions are doing good work.
The Wiltwyck Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized here in October, 1892, with fourteen charter members. Mrs. De Witt Roosa is the present Regent, and there are 150 members.
RANDOM NOTES.
The first doctor in Kingston, then known as Wiltwyck, was Gysbert Van Imborch, whom Governor Stuyvesant induced to settle here in 1662. Prior to that time the people trusted to the skill of the Reader, comforter
The Tappen House.
E
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KINGSTON.
of the sick, and Chorister, Van der Sluys, the Indian medicine men, and to Mrs. Slecht, a midwife.
The first Government Light House at the mouth of Rondout Creek was built in 1837 by James S. McEntee. This structure was carried away by a freshet two years later and rebuilt. Mrs. Murdock has kept this light for nearly fifty years, since 1858.
At the opening of the eighteenth century, Kingston had less than 100 houses. Until 1822 there was only one piano in the place. Then another was brought in by a French lady. At that time the post-office was located on the corner of North Front and Fair streets. In 1798 the post-office seems to have been in an upper room on Green street.
The first brickyard was operated near the present site of the Kingston Bridge, where brick were made for home use.
The Eagle Hotel was built in the spring of 1835 by Thomas Clark. The house was burned in 1876, and rebuilt by B. J. Winne in 1877, who ran the hotel for some years, since which it has remained under the present Winne management. The old Ulster County House was among the earlier hotels in Kingston, and stood on Wall street, opposite the old Dutch Church. Solomon Brown, a famous hotel man of that period, kept this house from 1835 to 1847, and bought the present Kingston Hotel in 1853. The Schryver Hotel, at the head of Main street on Clinton avenue, was a prominent house long known as the "Temperance House."
The Mansion House in Rondout was opened in 1832 by James S. Mc- Entee, and was the only hotel there for many years. The Kingston Hotel is probably the oldest in the city; part of the present structure went through the fire in 1777, as the charred beams show.
The first school house in Rondout was built upon a ledge of rocks at the foot of Wurts street in 1832, at a cost of $500.
A story is told of one of Molly Elmendorf's colored female servants who fled with her mistress to Hurley on the approach of the British. When told of the destruction of the Elmendorf mansion in the great fire, the old negress stoutly contradicted it, insisting that it could not be so, because she had the key of the house in her pocket.
In 1822 Fair street was known as "The Doverstraucha," and it ex- tended only from North Front to John street. Wall street then ended at John street from the south, and did not extend to North Front as now.
James S. McEntee built what is known as the "Island Dock" in the
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
upper creek, in 1846. He also built the old plank-road between Rondout, Wilbur and Kingston, which was found so difficult to get rid of after the city charter was obtained.
The name "Wiltwyck," which is now applied to a small region of Kingston east of Broadway, near the center of the city, was of course the old name for the stockaded part of Kingston in 1663. "Higginsville" was formerly applied to the lower end of North Front street near the Bogardus Mill of 1800, the Bridge, and the original Kingston Depot of the Ulster & Delaware Railway. The old tannery there, and the many stone teams from the Flagstone quarries made it a busy spot in former years.
Ponckhockie, an Indian name, was an early appellation applied to the northern part of Rondout, toward Kingston Point. It was somewhere in this section that the old Dutch fort is believed to have been built al- though the exact site of that historic redoubt cannot now be determined.
Rondout was visited by the cholera epidemic in 1832, and again in 1849. The first did not prove serious, but the last was fearful in loss of life, and was followed by great depression of business. The White Storehouse on the dock was turned into a hospital. It came again in 1852, but this visit had a beneficial effect on the health and cleanliness of the community. The streets and yards were cleaned up as never before. The yellow fever also broke out there in 1844, having been brought from the West Indies in a cargo of pineapples.
The Kingston and Rhinebeck ferry across the Hudson is operating under a very old franchise granted by Queen Anne. Originally the boat was run from Columbus Point, on this side, and was propelled by horse- power for a long series of years. About 1815, or thereabouts, steam power was introduced into the "Rhine," which is thought to have been the name of the ferryboat at that time. Then in 1852, after the opening of the railway, the ferry was brought into the Creek, where it has since remained. The old "Rhine" was succeeded by the "Lark," which in turn was followed by the "Transport," still in use.
The first local baggage express in Kingston was started by Winter Brothers in 1866, and has been operated by them ever since, although there are now many rival companies in the business.
No effort seems to have been made toward grading or regulating the Rondout streets until 1859. A stream of water was constantly pouring down Division street hill (now Broadway) from a spring at about the
The Wynkoop House.
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KINGSTON.
present junction of Spring street. During the heavy rains this water would carry tons of sand down the steep hill to the Creek, often leaving thick deposits upon the store floors near Ferry street. About that time, however, this enthusiastic spring was taken in hand by a new board of trustees, and the water was deflected elsewhere. Then the grading of streets began, Ferry street receiving the first attack, closely followed by Hunter, Wurts, Hasbrouck avenue, Meadow and Abruyn streets. And all this was done without any expense for engineers.
The Twaalfskill Club has a fine golf course on Andrews street, near the center of the city, where a handsome and convenient club house has been erected. The membership includes many of the more prominent citizens of Kingston. Judge A. T. Clearwater is now the president.
A curfew law was adopted in Kingston in April, 1906, requiring all persons under sixteen years of age to be off the streets after 9 P. M. in summer, and 8 in the fall and winter. But so far there is no record of any attempt to enforce the ordinance, which would probably be somewhat difficult in view of its vague provisions.
FIRST STATE CENTENNIAL OBSERVATION AT KINGSTON.
The one hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of the State government at Kingston, was most appropriately commemorated July 30, 1877. It was a memorable event worthy of the occasion. The city was most elaborately decorated in every part, scarcely a house being omitted. The day fell on Monday, and it was very hot and threatening. But the town had been filling up with people all day Saturday and Sunday from all parts of the State. Guns boomed and bells were rung at mid- night, both up and down town. Early in the morning the city became packed with people. At noon the great military procession, under Major General James W. Husted, the Grand Marshal, and his staff, formed on the Strand and moved up Union avenue toward Kingston, branching off toward the westerly side opposite the City Hall to the place prepared as the "Centennial Grounds," where the public exercises were held. Justice T. R. Westbrook delivered the address of welcome, and was followed by other formal addresses by Chauncey M. Depew, Gen. George H. Sharpe and others. These may be found in full in the "Centennial Volume," issued by the State in 1879. There were brilliant fireworks in the evening.
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
KINGSTON IN THE REBELLION.
While it is somewhat difficult to separate the town of Kingston from the balance of the county, in speaking of the services of her citizens in the Southern Rebellion, something should be said concerning the attitude of the people here during that conflict, and what they did.
It must be admitted that even in the face of the glorious record of patriotic valor which had been achieved by many of their ancestors in past centuries, these people now were not all in favor of this civil war to preserve the Union. Some were not even sure it was worth saving. Even some of the most prominent citizens, lawyers, politicians and business men were openly opposed to the plan of coercion adopted by the administra- tion, and they labored against it. But happily, they were in the minority. It would be unkind to mention any of these names now in this connection. The term "copperhead," by which they were known, sounds harsh and uncharitable now. Many were doubtless sincere and honest in their opinions at that time, although it is safe to say nearly all of them lived long enough to see their mistake.
However, some of the best fighting regiments in the war went out from Kingston, and they made a record in the service of their country second to none in the entire Union army. The first rebel gun that belched forth on Fort Sumter brought a big mass meeting in the old Court House, at which John B. Steele presided. Patriotic speeches were made and measures were adopted to enlist men for the war. At the hrst call of President Lincoln for volunteers the old 20th Regiment, State Militia, the "Ulster Guards," under Col. Pratt, promptly responded, leav- ing Rondout April 28, 1861, 815 strong, for three months. Company B, Captain George H. Sharpe; Company C, Captain Tappen; Company F, Captain Flynn ; Company G, Captain Hendricks, and Company H. Captain Derrenbacher, were composed mainly of Kingston men. The boys re- enlisted for three years, "or the war," and returned to the front for busi- ness of the most serious importance, Oct. 25, with 987 men. They were kept in the thickest of the fight and lost very heavily.
The 120th Regiment of Volunteers was then quickly organized by General George H. Sharpe, who was its Colonel, and mustered in Aug. 22, 1862. This included some of the best men of Kingston. The regiment was promptly ordered to the front, with little chance for drill, and after participating in many other important battles, finally covered itself with
The Van Steenburgh House.
-
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glory at Gettysburg, losing 218 officers and men. The fine monument in the old Dutch Churchyard was erected by Gen. Sharpe some years ago, "to the undying renown of the rank and file" of that famous regiment, which has since been known as one of the "300 fighting regiments of the war."
The 156th Regiment of Volunteers was also organized in Kingston by Col. Erastus E. Cooke, and mustered in the service Nov. 17, 1862, doing valiant service on many a bloody field at great sacrifice of life.
General Sharpe became a member of Gen. Grant's staff, and had the honor of signing the paroles of Lee's shattered army at Appomattox ; and other military officers from Kingston won much distinction.
THE HONORABLE CITIZENSHIP OF OLD KINGSTON.
The following graceful tribute to the memory of the ancient dwellers of Kingston, paid by General Sharpe in a most interesting and compre- hensive address on the old homesteads of Kingston, delivered Dec. 20, 1875, seems a fitting paragraph with which to close this paper.
He said in his opening: "The old citizens inhabiting all these home- steads, were a prudent, economical, and frugal people, of strong religious principles, simple and unostentatious in their lives. They were farmers to a greater of less degree, each man having a portion of the lowlands, or the fields on the Arm Bouwery. By the side of every residence was a barn directly upon the street, and, as every householder kept cows, these were seen issuing forth in large numbers to the meadows in the morning, and their returning bells made the evening hour melodious. Beside the smaller shops or stores, many citizens were engaged in trade, purchasing cereals and other large products from the surrounding country and for- warding them in bulk to New York with the yield of their own broad acres."
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
CHAPTER XVI. TOWN OF DENNING.
By CHARLES E. FOOTE.
T HE town of Denning was formed from Shandaken by a division of the territory of the latter on March 6, 1849. Ten years afterward, the town of Hardenbergh was taken off, which left the boun- daries about as follows: On the northeast by the town of Shandaken, on the southeast by the towns of Olive and Rochester, on the southwest by the town of Wawarsing and Sullivan County, and on the northeast by the town of Hardenbergh. It contains 64,050 acres of land.
What has been called a spur of the Catskill mountain range extends across the town from northeast to southwest, to an elevation of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet. Other authorities consider that it is no part of the true mountain range, but is more properly the "foothill" region, such as is found adjacent to the lower elevations of nearly every mountain system. Whichever it be, it is remarkably picturesque, with narrow valleys extending between high and steep hills in every conceivable direc- tion, hills so steep at times as to be inaccessible, and in other rare in- stances sloping upward in gradually elevating contour until the verdure- clad top is reached.
Within the town of Denning is found the true watershed between the waters of the Hudson and those of the Delaware rivers. The Rondout Creek is in the eastern part, with its east and west branches, and the Neversink in the western portion with similar branches, and numerous brooks and rivulets almost interlacing, form in most absolute perfection the ideal watershed of two great systems. The Rondout Creek, its branches joining just inside the county line, flows southwesterly some miles into Sullivan County, as though bound to reach the Delaware. Suddenly turning to the southeast it flows across the town of Wawarsing until it reaches the foothills of the Shawangunk mountains, then with another abrupt turn to the left it flows northeasterly to the Hudson at Kingston; the Neversink, only a short distance to the west, joins its branches just outside the county, and, taking a southerly course, reaches the Delaware at Port Jervis.
243
TOWN OF DENNING.
In the northern part of the town, between the two branches of the Neversink, is the State Deer Park, a large tract of land the title to which has been reassumed by the State. It abounds in trout streams, which unlike other sections of the town, can be fished by all. Where the heads of the Neversink and Rondout Creeks are in the closest proximity, in the north part of the town, are the Hanover mountain, Lone mountain, Table mountain, 3,865 feet, and Mt. Peak o'Moose, 3,875 feet above tide, which are among the highest peaks in the town.
In the earlier years there were vast forests of hemlock on the sides and summits of the hills, which gave rise to the extensive saw-mill and tanning industries. With the exhaustion of the bark the tanneries have mostly closed or moved elsewhere, while the few saw-mills (five of them) still in operation, are using up the odds and ends of timber, or are getting out some special cuts from the second growth hardwood which abounds profusely.
In the summer the town of Denning is a paradise for those who love the wilds of Nature. There is plenty of small game in the hills and plenty of fish in the streams. There is not a railroad within the town limits ; but there are numerous places where the world-weary pilgrim can get accom- modations and live, during the heated season, close to nature, with all the really necessary accompaniments of civilization; or he may pitch his tent in a gully between the hills, and make himself as comfortable or un- comfortable as his tastes and means will permit.
There are many clubs of various kinds who own many miles of trout streams, which are held for the exclusive use of their members. These usually have a rustic club-house where their families and themselves may find shelter in bad weather. None of them, so far as the information at hand has demonstrated, are given to elaboration, though some very wealthy men are said to be among the members.
The town was named in honor of William H. Denning, who formerly owned a large portion of the land in the town. The earliest settlement, so far as known, was at Dewittville, about 1827, when a saw-mill was built there by Dewitt & Reynolds. It has been found that the settlements were usually made on the nearest arable land to the mills and tanneries, that the products of the soil should be grown on the spot. With the removal of the industries the farmers found other markets, and Denning, in its moderate way, remained prosperous and hardy.
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
Of the 64,000 and odd acres of land in the town, it is doubtful if more than ten per cent. is cultivated. It is possible, of course, that the steep side-hills may be put to use and made profitable, but it would hardly be in the raising of general farm products or in dairying. Goats or certain breeds of sheep might be grown to advantage, and there is a theory that for grape culture those side-hills cannot be excelled.
The settlements are all along the creek valleys. Anthony Schwab is said to have been the first settler. He located on Read Hill in 1841. John W. Smith, who had previously built a saw-mill, erected a tannery in 1849. Other early settlers were:
Hiram Depew,
Albert Van Dover,
Conrad Bevier,
Nathan Kogone,
Cornelius Drew,
Joseph B. Anderson,
Harvey W. Hoyt,
Charles Rhodes,
Michael Schwab,
Jacob Rosekraus,
John Scott,
John W. Smith,
Ezra S. Bliss,
Cornelius Bevier,
Bradford D. Donaldson,
Peter T. Bush,
Abram Van Buskirk,
Nathan Sheely,
Herman Depew,
Henry J. Whipple,
John De Witt,
James Evans,
Abraham DeWitt, James Johnson,
Baily Beers.
There are two churches in the town, one is a Methodist Episcopal, located in the Sundown valley, along the Rondout Creek. Services were begun there in 1856, and a church building costing $2,000 was erected in 1868. The first pastor was Rev. F. N. Andrews. The society was formally incorporated in 1878.
There being no railroad in the town, its sources of communication are by way of Claryville, just over the line in Sullivan County, at the junc- tion of the two branches of the Neversink Creek; also by way of Big Indian, an Ulster & Delaware railway station in the town of Shandaken, a few miles to the north, and through the towns of Rochester and Wawar- sing to what was formerly the Delaware and Hudson canal, now the Ellenville & Kingston Railway.
The productions of the town are ample for the support of the popula- tion. There is considerable poultry raised, and the making of maple sugar and syrup is given much attention in the early spring.
There were seventy-four men enlisted for the service in the Civil War from the town of Denning. They were in different regiments, but prob-
J. Marzo. EnG.F!
Conrad Hiltebrant.
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TOWN OF DENNING.
ably a larger number were members of Co. E of the 120th, than of any other single organization.
There are ten schools in the town, located at the most accessible points along the valleys. Three of these are on the east branch of the Never- sink Creek, one just inside the town line above Claryville, another just above Dewittville, and the third a short distance below the little hamlet of Denning near the center of the town. Another is in the Sundown valley and another at Red Hill. The others are scattered.
The civil organization of Denning was established at a town meeting held at the Red Hill school house, April 6, 1849, at which were elected the following officers for the newly created town:
Supervisor-Abraham DeWitt.
Town Clerk-John DeWitt.
Justices of the Peace-Herman Depew, Abrm. Vanbuskirk, Bradford
D. Donaldson, Ezra S. Bliss.
Assessors-Jacobus Rosekraus, Harvey W. Hoyt, Cornelius Bevier. Commissioner of Highways-Peter T. Bush, Nathan 'Sheely, Henry I. Whipple.
Overseers of the Poor-Abrm. Vanbuskirk, Stephen Peck.
Denning is the central village and post-office, and John W. Smith was the first postmaster.
Dewittville is in the valley below on the east branch of the Neversink, near Sullivan County. On the west branch is the most thickly settled region, known as the Satterlee section, and at the junction of the east branch and the Rondout Creek is the poetic locality known as "Sundown Valley."
Lumbering is the leading industry, although even in this roughest town in the county the farmer has managed to grow a few crops.
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