USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 2
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Vandewerker, H W. M. D., 185
Van Wormer. Francis M .. 43
Van Wormer Family 179
Vaughan. Albert C, 183
Vaughn. Charles A .. 181
Wakeman Abram. 199 Walker. Edgar P .. 190
Walker. Harlan A., 192
Wolfe. Levi. 190
Woodruff R. B. 268
Yates, Rev. Jeremiah F., 198 Yout. George. 294
PORTRAITS.
J Allen, Hiram. . . .... ... facing 3 part II
V Clemons. Hon. George L. facing 4 part II
Derby, John H facing 6 part II
Farwell. Fonrose facing 8 part II
Gray. Emmett J facing 10 part II
Hill, Frederick E . facing 536 part I
Rice, Jerome B .facing 27 part II Hawley, David facing 19 part II
~Hull, Edgar. facing 536 part I
Hughes, Gen. Wm. H. . facing Ir part II - Howland. Amasa .. facing 13 part II Howland, Lansing M. . facing 92 part II
Hyde. Hiram .. facing 15 part II Ingalls, Hon Chas R. . facing 515 part I Ingalsbe, Grenville M . facing 532 part I Ingalsbe, Milo facing 39 part II Lillie. Hon. Thomas A. facing 536 part I Martine, J. R., M. D. facing 299 part II Main, John facing 21 part II
Middleworth, H. V. .. facing 128 part II V
Northup, Charles S. .. facing 22 part II Northup. H. Davis. .. facing 25 part II Northup. Hon James M. facing 23 part II v Paris Hon. Charles R. . facing 530 part I Paris. Hon. U. G facing 510 part I
Potter, Hon. Joseph . facing 573 part I
Rogers. Randolph . facing 543 part I
V Root, Henry S .. facing 458 part I
- Sheldon, Hon (). W . facing 30 part II Shipman. Hiram. . facing 32 part II
Smith, C C facing 35 part II
Stevenson, Thomas facing 41 part II Stone, Charles . facing 278 part II
Van Wormer. Francis facing 43 part II Van Wormer, Rodney. . facing 536 part I Wait. Hon. A. Dallas. . facing 552 part I Williams, Valentine. . facing 193 part II Witherbee, Rollin M .. facing 36 part II
Ward. Benjamin L., 293
Warner, Walter A , 189
Warnock. Alexander. 193
Warren, Roswell Ethan, 194 Watkins R H , 271
Tingue, Charles E .. 270
Wicks, Lemuel E .. 187
Wilbur. George H .. 192
Williams, John G., 196
Williams. Valentine. 193
Williamson, Charles W, 186
Winegar. L G .. 191 Wisely. Harry P., D. D S .. 194 Witherbee. Robins Miller, 36
Wall Edward, 184
Walsh. Arthur. 294
3
THE COUNTY DIVIDED.
On the 7th of March, 1788, the war of the Revolution having been concluded, the independence of the American colonies recognized, and the government of the State of New York well established, the legis- lature passed an act dividing the State into sixteen counties. The ter- ritory included in the boundaries of Washington county was divided into two parts by a line " beginning at the most northerly point of the rock commonly called Rogers' Rock, situate on the west side of Lake George, and thence due west to the county of Montgomery, and run- ning also from the said rock due east to the west bounds of the county of Gloucester." That part of the county lying north of this line was, by the act, erected into a county to be called the county of Clinton, and that part south of it, into a county to be called by its former name, the county of Washington. It was further provided that, until the first State census, the supervisors of Clinton and Washington counties should meet together at Salem and canvass the votes cast in both counties. At the same session an aet was passed dividing Washington county into nine towns: Argyle, Salem, Hebron, Granville, Hampton, Whitehall, Kingsbury, Westfield and Queensbury.
On the 7th of February, 1791, an act was passed in which it was re- cited that the census of the electors and inhabitants of the State, lately taken, showed that alterations in some of the districts and counties were necessary; and it was accordingly enacted, among other things, that the towns of Cambridge and Easton, in the county of Albany, be annexed to, and thereafter considered as part of, the county of Washington.
It is to be observed that the boundaries of Charlotte county as estab- lished in 1772, included a great part of the present State of Vermont, and the county of Washington continued to include part of the same territory until the 7th of October, 1790, when the State of New York relinquished its rights to it in order that it might be erected into a new State. This territory, then included in what was known as the New Hampshire grants, early became a bone of bitter contention between the provincial government of New Hampshire on the one hand and that of New York on the other. As the tide of emigration began to flow toward the fertile valleys above Albany, between the Connecticut river and the valley of the Hudson and Lake Champlain, the Governor of New Hampshire made grants of lands within these borders, claim- ing the territory under the New Hampshire charter. The government of New York sharply opposed this claim and, in turn, claimed the ter- ritory under the grants to the Duke of York. Upon an appeal to the
4
WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
Crown the claim of New York was upheld by an order of the King in council on the 20th day of July, 1764, and the authority of the govern- ment of New York was declared to extend to the Connecticut river. The latter government, though it seems to have had a due regard for those who had actually settled upon and improved lands under the New Hampshire grants, in attempting to enforce its rights and authority in the disputed territory, encountered an organized resistance and precipi- tated a conflict with the New Hampshire claimants and settlers that was only suspended by the greater struggle of the Revolution. During the Revolution the settlers in Vermont developed a political importance and demanded admission to the confederation as an independent State, which was denied on account of the opposition of New York. A second application led to bitter feelings and apprehensions among the confed- erated States that Vermont might be led to declare allegiance to Great Britian. Finally, in 1790, New York offered to relinquish the disputed territory upon terms that were accepted and, on the seventh of October, 1790, the cession was made and Vermont was admitted into the Union March 4, 1791. By this act Washington county was deprived of a great part of the territory originally given to it, and a considerable sacrifice was required of those occupying under grants within its boundaries, made by the government of New York. The sum of thirty thousand dollars was paid to the State for the lands thus ceded, and this sum was distributed among those to whom it had made grants that were thus rendered worthless. It is said that, for this comparatively insignificant sum, "lands of upwards of a million of dollars in value, were wrested from their owners without their consent and became the property of the State of Vermont about four cents and nine mills per acre were paid them for lands, in some instances, worth as many dol- lars."
Finally, in 1813, by an act of the legislature of the State of New York, all that part of Washington county lying west of a line begin- ning at the southeast corner of the town of Queensbury, and running thence north along the east line of that town to Lake George and thence northerly along the west line of the towns of Fort Ann and Putnam to the south line of Essex county, was erected into a separate county by the name of Warren.
The boundaries of Washington county as thus established in 1813, have remained unchanged and no further additions to, or subtractions from its territory, have since been made.
5
ITS BOUNDARIES.
Washington county extends from 42° 55' to 43° 48' north latitude, and from 30° 18' to 30° 42' longitude east of the city of Washington. It is bounded northerly by the county of Essex, easterly by the State of Ver- mont, southerly by the county of Rensselaer, and westerly by the coun- ties of Saratoga and Warren. Its extreme length is about sixty miles and its width less than twenty miles. Its area is about 807 square miles, or 516,500 acres. The northern part of the county extends into the Adirondack mountain system, being traversed by the Palmertown range, the highest peak of which, Black Mountain, on the eastern shore of Lake George, attains an altitude of 2878 feet. The southern part of the county is also occupied by ridges of mountains or high hills of different character from those in the northern part, and separated from them by the remarkable depression which extends southerly from the southern extremity of Lake Champlain to the Hudson River valley, of which it is the northerly extension.
The mountains of the southern part of the county are subdivided into three principal ranges of the same general character. The most east- erly of these ranges is a northerly continuation of the Taghkanic Range of Rensselaer county. The next range is sometimes described as a continuation of the Petersborough Mountains of Rensselaer, and extends northerly to Salem, where it spreads out like a fan between the streams. The third range, known as the Bald Mountain Range, extends from the southwesterly edge of the county northerly and east- erly to the easterly part of the town of Whitehall. The declivities of these ranges are usually steep and, except where broken by ledges, are arable to their summits. They gradually rise toward the east, reaching their culminating point near the eastern border of the county. The highest summits are 1000 to 1200 feet above tide, though Willard's Mountain has an elevation of 1605 feet. These three ranges belong to one general group, are of the same geological formation, and form a connecting link between the mountains of Vermont and the highlands of the lower Hudson River valley. They are composed of slate rock, ledges of which crop out along their whole extent. Many of these ledges in Granville and Hebron are quarried, and furnish stone much valued for roofing, building and ornamental purposes. Among the slate quarries are found numerous veins of injected quartz, intersecting the slate strata in every direction, varying from the thickness of a sheet of paper to several inches. They often present cavities and surfaces beautifully studded with transparent crystals of quartz. The edges of
6
WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
the slate are sometimes bent and distorted by the quartz dikes, showing the extreme heat and great force of the injected veins.
The Palmertown Mountains belong to the primary formation, con- sisting principally of gneiss, granite, sandstone and impure limestone. ' Their sides are very precipitous and broken, and their summits are wild, irregular masses of naked and barren rocks. The valleys between them are narrow and rocky, often bordered by precipices hundreds of feet in heighth.
The northern part of Washington county lies in the water-shed of the St. Lawrence and the southern part in that of the Hudson. The crest or summit, where these water-sheds meet each other, forms an ir- regular line crossing the county near its central part, in a general east- erly and westerly direction. It is one of the "Great Divides" of the American continent, extending half-way across it and touching at almost no point an elevation raised so slightly above the level of the sea as in the town of Kingsbury, Washington county. It begins in the west line of the town of Kingsbury, not far from its northern extremity and runs thence in a direction about southeast by east nearly five miles; thence, curving to the south, it runs in a general southerly direction about seven miles into the town of Argyle; there, sweeping around the head waters of Wood Creek, it runs northeasterly, again crossing the north line of the town of Argyle into the town of Hartford; then turning easterly and keeping near the south bounds of the latter town, it runs into Hebron, crosses its northwest corner, and keeping close to the boundary line between Hebron and Greenwich, passes out of the county into Vermont.
The Hudson River forms the western boundary of the southern part of the county, and Lake George the western boundary of the northern part. The northern part of the county has for its eastern boundary the narrows of Lake Champlain, and for part of its northern and north- eastern boundary Poultney River, while the Hoosick River forms part of the county's southern boundary. Besides these waters, which form part of its boundaries, the county contains the Batten Kill and Moses Kill, (originally called Moss Kil, probably from Captain Moss who set- tled opposite its mouth) which flow into the Hudson south of Fort Ed- ward; South Bay, a projection of the Lake Champlain narrows, toward the southwest, and a narrow valley, continuing in the direction from its southern extremity, divides the Palmertown Mountains into two ranges. Wood Creek, called by the French Riviere du chicot or River of logs, flows.
V
GEOLOGY.
northerly through the depression that extends from Lake Champlain to the Hudson River and empties into the southern extremity of that lake at Whitehall; and the Mettowee or Pawlet and Poultney Rivers are tributaries of Wood Creek, flowing into it from the southeast and east, near its mouth. Black Creek is a tributary of the Batten Kill from the north and White Creek a tributary of the Hoosick River, also from the north. Besides these water courses, are many smaller brooks and streams running into them from the valleys that form a network over much of the surface of the county. Cossayuna Lake lies near the cen- tre of the county, is the principal lake lying within its boundaries, being about three miles in length. Its name is said, by the St. Francois In- dians, to signify " The Lake of the Pines."
The geology of Washington county is most interesting and has en- gaged the attention of many eminent geologists of our own and foreign lands. It covers a wide range, beginning in the northwest part of the county with the masses of granite and gneiss that tower above the waters of Lake George and impart to the scenery of that most beauti- ful of lakes it grander features. Black Mountain and the other moun- tains of the Palmertown range are granitic and belong to the great Adirondack group. All these were formerly classed as azoic though the present opinion is that they were originally stratified and have been crystalized by intense heat since they were deposited. The large quantity of graphite found in these rocks is generally believed to indicate the existence of vegetable life at the time of their formation. Passing southerly and easterly from Lake George we traverse the wild and rugged region of granitic mountains until we emerge into the depression which extends from Lake Champlain to the Hudson, through which flows Wood Creek and through which passes the Champlain Canal. Here we find the Potsdam sandstone, a fine, white, hard sandstone in even, uniform layers, overlying the granite and gneiss and appearing in precipices resembling walls of masonry. Crowning these precipices and stretching eastward from them, appears a much softer, gray rock, composed of lime and sand in variable proportions, the calciferous sand- stone. Continuing further east we reach a pure limestone of a leaden blue color, compact and fine grained, the Chazy limestone. Finally, beyond the limestone and at a distance of from three to six miles from the granitic rocks, we find slate or shale, which continues from the place where it is first encountered, east and south over the remainder of the county. The thickness of this deposit increases as we progress south-
S
WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
ward until it becomes very great. It is exposed along the course of the Hudson River, where it rises above its waters, often to considerable heights, revealing the pecularities of its structure, and well known as. the Hudson River shale. Eastward, it presents variations of structure and appearance exhibiting a cleavage transverse to the lines of stratifi- cation and a variety of coloring which make it of valute for roofing material and other purposes. All of these geological formations seem to have been projected northward into a valley lying between two great primary ridges, the Adirondacks on the west and the Green Mountains. of Vermont on the east. As we leave the borders of Washington county and travel eastward, we pass beyond the slate and presently encounter again limestone and then a fine, hard, silicious sandstone, and finally the granitic masses of the Green Mountains. A distance of twenty-five or thirty miles in a direct line carries us across from the primitive rocks. of one of these ranges to those of the other.
Among the features of the geology of Washington county that are most interesting and have attracted most attention, the following are worthy of mention :
The slate rocks which underlie by far the greater part of the county, have been bent and broken and twisted throughout their whole extent until the ingenuity of the geologist is exhausted in vain endeavors to assign to their proper positions the strata, where exposed, or to ascer- tain the relations that exist between those that appear in juxtapo- sition. It is supposed that this confused state of the rocks has resulted from a contraction of the depression between the Green Mountain range and the Adirondack group which has broken up the stratified rocks and produced faults, fractures and even folds, or plications, piling lower layers or strata upon upper ones, as floating ice is piled and broken in a river when its width is contracted and its waters forced through a rocky gorge.
A remarkable illustration of the effects which such a force can produce is seen in the appearance of the limestone cliffs at Bald Mountain. This limestone was once below strata of shale of great thickness but natural convulsions are supposed to have resulted in a great fold at this place which brought the limestone to the surface and threw off the super- imposed shale.
The slate rocks of the Taghkanic Range differ so greatly in structure and appearance from those in the western part of the county that they have caused geologists to entertain grave doubts as to the place that
9
GEOLOGY.
should be assigned to them. These doubts have been heightened by the appearance of masses of limestone and sandstone in them at different points. The opinion, however, prevails that these formations are con- temporaneous with the Hudson River shales.
The mineral wealth of Washington county is great and has served to enrich many of its inhabitants. The northern part of the county contains iron ore that has been worked with profit. Large deposits of graphite are also known to exist. The limestone of Bald Mountain has been quarried and burned for lime on a great scale and the lime thus produced has had a great reputation on account of its snowy whiteness which made it peculiarly valuable for certain purposes. Slates also abound, varying in character and quality, but valuable for roofing, flagging and other purposes.
The soils of Washington county comprise the gray and blue clay of the quartenary division of Prof. Mather, the tertiary clay, or Albany and Champlain clay of Dr. Emmons, which, according to Dr. Asa Fitch, covers about one-seventh of the surface of the county ; small tracts of sandy soil which may be regarded as identical with the greater expanse of like soil in the northeastern part of Saratoga county and which may be called the Saratoga sands ; tracts of gravel or drift soils which have generally been regarded as forming the best agricultural parts of the county and which have been subdivided into original and re-arranged drift and finally those soils that have resulted from the decomposition of the surface rocks and which remain to-day where they where formed and have been called "Geest " or unmoved soil. These four soils sup- plemented by small tracts of muck or peat in swamps and narrow strips of alluvial soil along the margins of lakes and streams make up the soils of the county. The clay soils are said to be best adapted to grass and grazing and produce much valuable hay. The sandy tracts though less productive than the clays are easier to cultivate and are said to have been first cleared. The gravel soils are less stiff and tenacious than the clays and less open and porous than the sands. They are com- pounded of diversified materials and well adapted for easy, convenient and profitable tillage. Wheat was first raised upon them after they had been cleared near the last quarter of the last century but now they are thought best adapted to the growth of Indian corn though in the rotation of crops, oats, rye, grass, potatoes, flax, barley, buckwheat, peas, beans and other crops are raised upon them. The geest soil of the Palmertown
[2 ]
10
WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
mountain range has nourished the luxuriant forest growth that once flourished upon it but is too shallow for profitable cultivation. Made up in great part of vegetable mould, forest fires have sometimes almost consumed it. Geest in the limestone regions is said to be most admi- rably adapted for fruit growing and that in the region of Taghkanic sandstone and the slates of the southern and eastern portions of the county has been considered of remarkable fertility, the latter producing potatoes of excellent quality and in great abundance.
The day has passed when Washington county could hope to be notable as a wheat producing region, though it is said that when some of its lands were first cleared of their forest growth great crops of wheat were raised upon them. The northern part of the county which penetrates the Adirondack mountain ranges is generally unfit for culture. It is adapted only to the nourishing of a forest and to hold back the waters of the streams whose sources lie within its borders. If the State should pursue a wise policy it would soon incorporate these lands into the Adirondack forest preserve and assist nature to restore them once more to the condition of a noble and stately forest to repair the ravages of fire and the axe and thus to make them what nature formed them and intended them to remain, a priceless possession of the people of the State and their posterity to remote generations.
The remainder of the county will doubtless tend more and more toward development as a grazing country and use for dairy farming. The sweet grasses of the hillsides and valleys through the central and southern portions of the county have long been recognized as one of its principal and most valued products and the increasing populations of the Hudson River valley create an increasing demand for dairy products which no lands can better supply. Dairy farming supplemented by market gardening it seems probable will be the notable agricultural enterprises in the future of Washington county.
Washington county though pricipally esteemed an agricultural county is not without many and important manufacturing enterprises which will be mentioned more particularly in the histories of the several towns.
The population of Washington county grew with great rapidity in the early years of its settlement attaining at the end of the first quarter of the present century a density which during the last three quarters of the century has only been increased about ten per cent. The popula- tion according to the last Federal census of 1890 was 45,690 souls.
Washington county, N. Y., may, with truth, be said to be, par exel-
11
CLASSIC GROUNDS.
lence, the classic ground of the United States. On its territory, dating back from the earliest time of its settlement, it has witnessed not only predatory Indian warfare, but heard the tread of armnies contending on the soil of the new world for the mastery of the old-sent forth by England and France-the mightiest powers at that day among the na- tions of the earth.
The space allotted to me in this sketch would be all too short to re- late in detail, the hair-breadth escapes, the romantic incidents and the singular vicissitudes which have occurred within its borders. These have ever been favorite themes for such great novelists as Cooper and James to dilate upon; and I can merely touch upon the stormy events which occurred on its soil.
CHAPTER II.
SARATOGA PATENT - WOODS AND GAME OF WASHINGTON COUNTY - CHAMPLAIN'S EXPEDITION.
The title to that part of the county lying on the southernmost tier, and named Easton, was derived from the " Saratoga patent " which was granted November 4, 1684 by Governor Dongan to Cornelius Van Dyck, Jan Janse Bleecker, Peter Schuyler, and others. The title to the rest of its territory came from a grant of land given by Governor Fletcher to Reverend Mr. Dilliers, the Dutch minister in Albany, September 3, 1696. But three years afterward (1699) the legislature of the colony of New York, acting on the suggestion of the Earl of Bellomont, who had succeeded Fletcher as Governor, vacated this part-a circumstance which subsequently, when the county came to be settled, was a cause of many wrangles and conflicting disputes in regard to titles, which for a long time seemed as if they would be almost in- terminable.
It is needless to remind the reader that, in the early beginnings of the history of the county, all of its ridges and valleys were covered with a primeval and heavy growth of oak, ash, elm (out of the bark of which the Iroquois fashioned their canoes,) beech, maple, pine and other indigen- ous American trees; while they furnished inexhaustible numbers of deer, bear, wolf, panther, otter and the industrious beaver,-all of which made this territory, with the Adirondacks in plain sight, the
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