USA > New York > Ulster County > The history of Ulster County, New York > Part 28
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The Bukkabom or Bookabome rises at the foot of High Point, and empties into the Esopus at Brodhead's bridge. There were, at one time,
De Witt C. Davis.
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TOWN OF OLIVE.
four saw-mills on this stream, but none are in operation now. One was owned by the Brodheads at Brodhead's bridge; up the stream was one owned by Joseph Bell and John B. Davis. A stave mill, in which in May, 1858, the owner accidentally amputated the fingers of his right hand, be- longed to D. C. Davis; up the stream at Bridal Veil Falls was a mill built by David Abbey and afterward owned by Abram Blom. It is now obliterated. Up near the mountains Stephan Winchell had a saw-mill, but only the foundations can be seen.
There is a small spring brook which rises on the farm of William B. Ennist and flows into the Bakeman ; next is the Jackey Brook, named after old Jack Crispell, a negro, formerly owned by the Crispell family. This is joined by a large spring brook rising on the farm of Thomas Eckerts and flowing through the maple-sap grove of Martin H. Crispell, and near West Shokan, empties into the Bakeman below the mill of Z. P. Boice. The Bakeman, flowing through West Shokan at Boice's saw-mill, is formed by spring brooks within a mile above the station and empties into the Esopus near the residences of Frank Boice and Osten Rider. This stream is noted for trout.
The Bushkill is the most noted stream in the town for trout. It rises in Waldron Hollow, and is made up by the Gulf Hollow stream, the Can- ape Brook, the Mine Hollow stream, the South Hollow stream, the Wit- tenberg stream and the Dry Brook. It empties into the Esopus about half a mile above the Shokan bridge. On this stream there have been five saw-mills, two or three stave mills and a large tannery. All are now gone. The tannery was owned by Nathan W. Watson who was super- visor for several years, and in 1857 a member of Assembly from this district. The Traver Hollow stream rises back of Sam's point, at the foot of Cross mountain, and empties into the Esopus half a mile below Boice- ville. There have been two saw-mills on this stream, one owned by Millard H. Davis, still in running order.
On the east side of the Esopus, the first stream is the Beaverkill, which flows through the Beaverkill swamp. It is fed by several small streams from the hills and mountains, and discharges into the Esopus half a mile above Winchell's Falls. One saw-mill owned by Marshall Winn and Benjamin Van Steenberg, is now in operation. A small stream crosses the State road near the house of Edward Davis, and supplies Peter R. Elmendorf's saw-mill and empties into the Beaverkill.
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
Butternut Brook, originally known as Olymute Brook, is formed by two streams ; one comes from the Coons' neighborhood, the other from above the farm of Ephraim Weeks, and they unite below the bridge near the house of John DuBois, three-quarters of a mile from its mouth. It empties into the Esopus near the Mayer's tannery. Lemuel Boice and John P. Boice formerly had saw-mills and Andrew Hill a grist-mill on this stream. Another small stream rises in the hills near Joseph Whittle's place and reaches the Esopus just below Boiceville. A legend is that Abram D. Ladew, who once lived on the Swarthout place, was bitten by a rattlesnake while looking for his cows up this stream, and used remedies which cured him. It has been suggested by the whimsically inclined, that there was a snake remedy factory in this region but there is no authority for the statement.
Further along is the Beaver Creek, which forms the line between the towns of Olive and Shandaken, and reaches the Esopus at Cold Brook.
The mountains of Olive are romantic and picturesque. Near Little Point is the Gap, called since ancient times the "Wagon Road," though there is no road there. The Gap is about 100 feet wide, with sheer rock sides, as though by some convulsion of nature the mountains had been broken apart.
Round Mountain is a ridge extending from the Gap to High Point, and is 3,100 feet high. From High Point the City of Kingston and the Hud- son may be seen in clear weather, and the view to the south, east and west has been called the finest in the Catskills. On High Point and Round Mountain, huckleberries abound. The Point is level on top and all about are great flat rocks where names have been cut by visitors, some of the inscriptions being very ancient. To the north and northwest is a succession of mountains as far as vision extends.
Next is South Mountain,, also famous for huckleberries. Crossing South Hollow there is another mountain, extending to the Canape, and from High Point to Watson Hollow; across the Canape is the Mom- baccus Mountain, noted for huckleberries and bears. The writer has seen the bear traps there. The Mombaccus Mountain extends to the Shan- daken line at Gulf Hollow. The Shandaken line crosses Breath Hill, the Hanover Mountains, the Blackberry Mountains, Sam's Point and Quarry Mountains.
On the east side of the Esopus is Toran's Hook, where it is said the
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TOWN OF OLIVE.
Indians had a sort of a carousal. There is what is known as the Indian dancing floor, described as a "place of flat rocks," which has been much visited. Near this is the Tice Ten Eyck, so named for a member of that well-known family. It was supposed that there was a mine on this mountain the location of which was known to the Indians, but no white man has ever been able to discover it, though repeated attempts have been made.
The first settlement was made at Olive City. At this point was located the first Old School Baptist Church. The building is still standing though a new one has been built near Hog's Back, which is occupied by the congregation. A short distance west was a tannery owned by James R. Goodwin. The Post Office at Olive Bridge is at the store of John H. Looke, who is also town clerk. Bishop's Falls is a short distance below ; there is a very old grist-mill here, which still grinds. It was once owned by a very remarkable character, named Jacob Bishop, who was blind. It is said that he never made mistakes in his grist nor in the bags of his customers. The mill is now owned and operated by Jesse B. Boice. Across the falls is an old mill formerly owned by Henry DeWitt, long out of use. Here are also three boarding houses, owned by William Haver, John Beesmer and Alex Van Kleek.
About a mile above Olive City, half or three-quarters of a century ago, was a hotel owned by William J. Davis, where the elections were held and town business transacted. Darius W. Hover now owns it and maintains a boarding house. Near this the first bridge across the Esopus was built in 1825, which was washed away many years ago.
The first Methodist Episcopal Church was built at Tongore, in 1822 or 1823, and the congregation embraced all the families of that faith in the town. Among the earliest members were Jacob Van Steenberg and Benjamin North, both local preachers of note. District No. 2 school- house is located here.
A store was kept where Alonzo G. Davis resided before his death, and where Gordon Craig afterwards lived, and conducted a small store. Craig was the first supervisor of the town after its organization in 1823, and in 1832 was member of Assembly for Ulster County. Other mem- bers of Assembly from Olive have been, Conrad Brodhead in 1840, John D. La Montague in 1846, Martin Schutt in 1856, Nathan W. Watson in
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
1857, Benjamin Turner in 1860, Thomas Hill in 1863, and Charles H. Weidner in 1887.
KROMVILLE is three miles south of Tongore, in the extreme south- western part of the town, and is a farming region. It has a Reformed Church, a school-house, a store and post-office. Samsonville, in the western part of the town, has a Methodist Church, which belongs to the Tongore Circuit, a school-house, a store and a post-office. A tannery owned by Pratt and Samson once made much business here. It burned down, and there is now a saw-mill and grist-mill.
BRODHEAD'S BRIDGE is a station on the Ulster and Delaware Railroad. A stone "dock" once owned by Hewitt Boice, and now by S. D. Coyken- dall, does a large business. It is in charge of John J. Boyce. The store and post-office is kept by Ira Elmendorf. Mrs. Bessie James conducts a large boarding house, which will accommodate 150 guests.
Two miles above is WEST SHOKAN, a railroad station called Shokan. Matthews & North are large merchants here, requiring the services of four clerks. The trade is large, much of it coming from the town of Denning. Z. P. Boice, now Sheriff of Ulster County, has a saw-mill which employs fifteen men and four teams. Logs are drawn six to eight miles. The product is chiefly heading, shingles and boat timber. A hotel owned by Satterlee & Hamilton will accommodate fifty guests. George Siemon and William Dibbell have blacksmith and wagon shops. Herbert Bell is in the livery and harness making business, and John Van Kleek and Abner D. Winne are also in the livery business. During the summer season there is great activity by reason of summer boarders. There is a meat market, barber-shop and post-office. The shoemaker, Allen F. Eckert, has been in business here for more than fifty years. Here is also a school employing two teachers, and a physician, Dr. J. D. W. Dumond. The Baptist Church is located about half a mile above the village. There is also a variety store and jewelry repairing shop, conducted by Oranzo Giles. The oldest house in the village is owned by Mrs. Jemima Elmendorf ; it was originally the property of Hendricus Crispell, who owned it during the war of the Revolution.
On the east side of the Esopus is SHOKAN, originally called Ashokjan. There are two churches here, the Reformed Church and the Methodist Episcopal. The Reformed Church was organized in 1799. There is a general store, owned by Azarias Winchell & Son. Charles H. Davis deals
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TOWN OF OLIVE.
in groceries and boots and shoes, and runs the post-office as deputy post- master ; Mayer's tannery occupies the ground on which Hoyt Brothers had theirs forty or fifty years ago; John J. DuBois does wagon-making and blacksmithing. The district school has two divisions. A. E. Schoon- maker is the undertaker near the Shokan bridge. There are also a milli- nery establishment, conducted by Mrs. Elwyn Winchell, two dressmakers, Mrs. William Dibbell and Mrs. James Diamond, and a number of board- ing houses which cater to the summer trade. Dr. B. B. Bloom, a physician, resides here.
BOICEVILLE is a hamlet located on the Ulster and Delaware Railroad. The store of John C. Hornbeck and the post-office, which is kept there, are in charge of Benjamin Church. An excelsior factory, owned by John C. Hornbeek, employs about twenty men and there are several summer boarding houses. The school-house is on the west side of the creek.
COLD BROOK, a railroad station, is a large shipping point for quarry- stone, which comes from the mountains in abundant quantities. The Eso- pus is bridged at this point for the convenience of the people from Wood- stock and Wittenberg who patronize the railway.
OLIVE, the village which bears the name of the town, is about two miles from the Olive Branch station on the railroad, in the southwestern part of the town. It was formerly a business point of some importance. It is surrounded by a farming region, has one store and a blacksmith shop. The post-office is kept by Isaac Delemater at his residence.
BROWN'S STATION was formerly known as Brook's Crossing, and is the first station on the U. & D. railroad after it reaches the town. Levi Elmendorf is a merchant and postmaster, and there is a school-house nicely located. There is a Reformed Church and a blacksmith shop. The church has no pastor at present. The Hudson River Wood and Pulp Mill at Winchell's Falls does a large business. The falls were once the property of Lemuel Winchell, who had a store and foundry there about one hundred years ago. Gideon Perry had a carding and fulling mill about the same time. It was from here that the Bush boys, Isaac, Stephen and Cornelius, were kidnapped by the Indians during the war of the Revolution. It was years afterward when they returned. Two of them, Stephen and Cornelius settled here; Isaac settled somewhere in the western part of the State. There are two large boarding houses, conducted by Albert Brown and Egbert Dederick.
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
ACORN HILL is the center of a good farming region. There are also a number of fine stone-quarries, and the Wesleyan Methodists have a small church here.
WINCHELLS is the site of a school-house located about half way between Olive Bridge and Samsonville. Near it is Little Point and Bear Spring, which tradition says was formerly used by the bears as a summer resort for bathing purposes. It is an excellent spring of clear cold water.
WATSON HOLLOW was formerly the center of active business. Nathan W. Watson had a large tannery, and there were two saw-mills and a stave mill. The tannery was burned and many of the houses have been torn down and moved away. Mr. Watson was supervisor of the town in 1850, 1857, 1864, 1865, 1866, and was a member of the Assembly in 1858.
HOG's BACK is so called on account of the shape of the hill; Coons' neighborhood lies between Tice Ten Eyck and Toran's Hook; there are several good farms there, among them those of Henry Coons, John J. Weeks and Willis Everett. Huckleberry Hill is near the foot of High Point. Charles Hamilton and Richard O. Constable had farms near. The Constable place remained in the family for three generations. It is now owned by Michael Dwyer.
The first hotel was at Olive City and was kept by Conrad DuBois. Lemuel Winchell opened the first store at Winchell's Falls.
There are twelve school districts in the town and fourteen teachers are employed, Shokan and West Shokan each having two.
The northern and western part of the town is from the Hardenberg patent, while the southern and eastern portion comes from the Marble- town Commons. The Hurley Patentees' settlements began about the middle of the eighteenth century. George Middagh settled near Olive Bridge in 1740, where he was joined in 1742 by Samuel Cox, and in 1745 by William Nottingham. John Crispell located just east of Shokan in 1747 and Hendrick Crispell at Shokan in 1760, on the place now owned by Zadoc P. Boice and others. West Shokan is built principally on this farm. John Coons settled early near Brown's Station, and many others whose names appear in the early histories of the towns from which its territory was taken were the early builders of the town of Olive.
The house owned by William D. Every at Shokan, was for many years the only one there. It was not until after the construction of the Kingston and Middletown Turnpike in 1832 that other settlers located at that point.
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TOWN OF OLIVE.
The first bridge across the Esopus in the town was built about 1825, near the boarding house of the heirs of Darius W. Hover. This was the only one in the town for many years. It was carried away by high water, and in 1852 the bridge was built at Shokan.
The first post-office in the town was at Tongore. It was called Olive P. O., and the mails were carried from Marbletown to Shandaken weekly. The Olive post-office was afterward moved to Beaverkill, and kept by John J. Tappen.
A considerable portion of the town was owned by landlords until about 1842 and 1843, when the tenants refused to pay rent because of unsatis- factory conditions of tenure of the leases. The landlords generally sold the property to the settlers, and when the war was over landlordism was abolished.
The early industry of the town was lumbering, and the utilization of the bark in tanning. After the timber was cut and the saw-mills and tanneries had passed away, the energies of the people found an outlet in quarrying bluestone from the hills where it abounds in inexhaustible quantities.
The average elevation of the lowlands of the town is about 800 feet. A curious fact worthy of note is that the towns of Olive, Rochester and Denning corner on a mountain 2,700 feet above tide.
The earliest physicians in Olive were Doctors Connelly, Quinlin and McClellan. The area of the town is 37,370 acres.
The present population of the town, by the State census of 1905 is 2,347, having decreased from 3,083 in 1870.
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
CHAPTER XXVI. TOWN OF PLATTEKILL. BY DEWITT W. OSTRANDER.
T HIS is one of the southern tier towns. It is bounded on the north by the south line of the New Paltz Patent; on the east by the town of Marlborough; on the south by the northerly line of the County of Orange, and on the west by the towns of Shawangunk, Gardiner and Lloyd. Its area is about 20,890 acres.
The town was originally formed from the town of Marlborough by act of the Legislature passed March 21, 1800. A part of Shawangunk was annexed April 3, 1846, but was restored March 28, 1848. Although formed in 1800, yet for many years previous, and for a long time pre- ceding the Revolution, it was a large factor in the old town of Marl- borough.
The surface is generally a rolling upland, the easterly border is traversed by a range of hills known as the Marlborough Mountains, along the summit of which is the dividing line between Plattekill and Marlborough.
The town is well watered with small streams, the largest of which is the Quassaick Creek, which rises in the easterly part and flows southerly into Orange County. The Black Creek rises in the central part of the town near Ardonia and flows northerly through Clintondale and empties in the Hudson north of Elmore's Corners in the town of Esopus, and the Plattekill Creek rises near the center of the western border of the town, flows northwesterly and empties in the Wallkill.
The soil is a fine quality of sandy loam, fertile and productive. Large quantities of hay and grain are raised in the southerly and westerly part of the town, while the central and northerly part ranks high as a fruit producing section.
This town is included in the bounds of the extravagant patent, known as the "Errus Patent," which was cancelled in 1689, and afterward divided into smaller parcels. Among the early grants within the town are found the following patents of land granted by King George, the Second :
Dewitt W. Ostrander.
4
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TOWN OF PLATTEKILL.
Patent granted to William Bond, dated July 7, 1720, conveys a tract of 500 acres in the southeasterly part of the town. Patent granted to William Bradford, dated Sept. 1, 1727, conveys 2,000 acres in the south- easterly part of the town. Patent granted to Andries Marschalk and John Spratt (known as the Spratt and Marshall Patent), dated April, 1828, conveys 1,000 acres in the northwesterly part of the town.
The Richard Durham Patent is dated October 13, 1752, and conveys 2,000 acres in the northeasterly portion of the town. The Bradley and Jovan Patent, granted to Richard Bradley, Attorney-General of the Province of New York, and Millan Jovan, is dated June 4, 1726, and consists of one parcel containing 400 acres, and another of 4,000 acres, situated in the southwesterly part of the town. The Patent known as the "Richard Bradley Children," was granted to "Ann Bradley, Sarah Brad- ley, Catharine Bradley, George Bradley and Elizabeth Bradley, "the daughters and younger son of our Attorney-General of our Province of New York," dated March 26, 1739, and consists of two parcels, one con- taining 817 acres, and another of 1,783 acres.
Other patents were granted during our Colonial existence, and after independence the State conveyed such lands as were found to be vacant and not covered by Colonial grants. These Colonial grants, made before the Revolution, were declared valid by the State, and the patentees either settled on their grants or sold to others.
Plattekill is a town of homesteads; nearly all the farms and houses are owned by their occupants and have been built from the cultivation of the soil. It is mostly the middle class that populates the town; the steady, moral, thinking class; industrious and prosperous, unsoiled by wealth and not unnerved by poverty. With prosperity comes culture and morality, a condition always found where neither "riches nor poverty abound."
The first market vineyard in the Hudson River valley north of Cornwall was planted in this town by William T. Cornell in 1845. This vineyard occupies land in Clintondale. From that small beginning, fruit culture has spread in the towns of Marlborough, Lloyd, Esopus, and a part of Orange County, and thousands of tons of the finest grapes in the world are shipped to the great cities, especially New York, Boston and Phila- delphia. Among the vineyardists was William Kniffin, a stone-mason, who had a few acres of land. Mr. Kniffin was a man of clear perception
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THE COUNTY OF ULSTER.
and accurate judgment, who observed and experimented until he perfected a system of grape-pruning known as the "Kniffin System," which is the "drooping" system, and is most largely practiced by vineyardists through- out the United States. Plattekill therefore stands forth as the mother of the Hudson River vineyard industry and as the most peerless instructor of the nation in grape-pruning.
It may also be noted here that the "Isabella" was the pioneer grape, which has long since been discarded, and that the now famous standard variety, the "Concord," was introduced in the Hudson River valley by Andrew J. Caywood, who formerly lived near Ardonia.
The first town meeting was held April 1, 1800, pursuant to an act of the Legislature passed March 21, 1800, by which the town was formed from Marlborough.
The following officers were elected: Supervisor, David Ostrander ; Town Clerk, Daniel Everett; Commissioners of Highways, Samuel Baldwin, William Drake and Jabez Close; Assessors, Peter Esterly, James Rose and Thaddeus Hait; Overseers of the Poor, Jonathan Bailey, Peter Esterly ; Constables, Robert Gilmore, Cornelius Polhamus ; Collector, Robert Gilmore. One of the post-roads laid out and used as a highway was from Modena to connect with a highway in Orange County leading to Newburgh. The turnpike leading from Milton to Tuttletown in the present town of Gardiner and known as the Farmer's Turnpike, was laid out in 1809 by three commissioners, who completed the whole distance of about twelve miles in three days. The turnpike to Modena was opened in 1866-7. The roads are generally in good condition and well cared for.
Prior to 1802 there were no stores in the town, so far as can be learned. Before any were opened the inhabitants patronized the river towns, but most of the trading, especially from the westerly portion of the town, was at the general store of Gen. Joseph Hasbrouck, situated just south of the Guilford Church in the present town of Gardiner.
CLINTONDALE.
This village is located in the extreme northeast of the town, and partly within the southwesterly tongue of the town of Lloyd. Situated on the westerly slope of a range of hills, surrounded by vineyards, orchards and fertile fields, with no manufacturing establishments, it is clearly seen that the chief resource of the place is from the soil.
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TOWN OF PLATTEKILL.
There are three churches, Methodist Episcopal, Friends and Pente- costal; one school-house, a large, beautiful building, erected at a cost of about $2,500, and known as District No. 1I, of Plattekill, although partly in the town of Lloyd. There are two general stores, a stove and tin store, meat market, drug store, two blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, two tem- perance hotels and one public hall. There is one physician, one lawyer and one dentist. The railroad station, named after the village, is situated about one and a half miles northwest of the village proper, on the line of the Central New England.
The early settlement began about 1750, mostly from the southerly part of the town, and was known as "Quaker Street," until the post-office was established in 1849, when it received its present name. The first general store was kept in the house now owned by Anthony Sutton in 1810. John Underhill kept a store in 1820. Harry Palmer kept another from 1836 to 1844. From 1832 to 1834 James Stewart kept a grocery and sold whiskey near the Quaker meeting house. Among the other early merchants were Benjamin Roberts, Jeremiah Relyea, D. L. Horton, W. B. Roberts, E. S. Andrews, D. F. Geralds and John Lowell.
William Cornell invented and patented a waterproof overshoe in 1830, which was the forerunner of the present "arctic" overshoe. These shoes were manufactured by William Cornell and John Thorn for thirteen years in various parts of the village.
During the time, or shortly after the Revolution, Zachariah Hasbrouck erected a grist-mill near the "Stone Bridge," which he continued to run until 1830. James Turner built a grist-mill and saw-mill on another stream in 1834, which was run for a number of years, when the flour machinery was removed and a saw and planing plant was substituted.
Among the early ministers who preached in the Clintondale Meeting House were Dr. Adna Heaton, Nathaniel Silleck, Nathaniel Thorn. Stephen Wardell, Sarah Roberts and Esther Weeks, who became noted throughout the United States.
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