Skip to main content

Full text of "The early history of Saugerties, 1660-1825"

See other formats 


Qass. 
Book 


COPYRIGHT  DEPOSIT 


THE   EARLY 

HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES 
1660-1825 


BY 


BENJAMIN    MYER    BRINK 


Ubat  our  (Ibil^ren  ma^  be  patriots 
we  tell  tbem  of  our  jf  atbers 


WITH  SIXTEEN  ILLUSTRATIONS 


KINGSTON,  N.  Y. 
H.    W.    ANDERSON    &    SON 

1902 


THE  LIBRARY  OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two  CoptEs  Received 

JIJN.    14   1902 

nC0PVR«3MT   ENTRY 

cLaSS  CL^XXa  No. 
COPY  B. 


Copyright,  IQ02,  by 
BENJAMIN   MYER   BRINK. 

All  rights  reserved. 


•  •  ;  •     ••     •••  ••• 

••      •  .    • 

:     ;       ...  ;  * .. 

•     •••          ••.••• 

•    I        •  •  •   • 

.  .r. • 

-•    •••••• 

/       V 

I  I  X     I 

' '  / 

•••  ••,  ••• ...   ,, ,  , 

cr^.r.^:-.:  *  •..•.• 

•  ••  •••      •••  » 

•  .    •        •  •  • 

'•.••.•..:.•:•.•..•:;: 

.  •    •       •• .  . 

TO    THOSE    OLD    FRIENDS 

NOW    CONSTITUTING 

Sauacvties  Cbapter,  Saugbters  of  tbe  Bmericau  IRcvolution, 

WHO   WITH   HIM   ARE 

DESCENDANTS  OF  THE  SAME  SIRES,  WHO,  IN 
THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION 

GAVE   THEIR 

LIVES,  THEIR  FORTUNES.  AND  THEIR  SACRED  HONOR 

TO   SECURE   THE 

CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY 

WE  ENJOY, 

THIS    BOOK   IS    DEDICATED 

BY 

THE     AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 

At  the  request  of  Saugerties  Chapter,  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revokition,  the  author  has  attempt- 
ed to  tell  the  story  of  the  settlement  and  develop- 
ment of  the  town  of  Saugerties,  basing  this  work 
upon  papers  contributed  at  various  times  to  the 
press. 

He  would  acknowledge  the  assistance  given  him 
by  that  chapter,  not  only  so  far  as  it  has  been  per- 
sonal, but  more  than  this  in  its  cultivation  of  a 
spirit  of  true  patriotism  which  more  than  justifies  its 
existence  as  the  world  may  thus  know  that  its  very 
being  calls  attention  to  all  our  ancestors  struggled 
for,  suffered  and  sacrificed  that  they  and  their  chil- 
dren might  be  forever  free. 

He  has  attempted  to  tell  how  those  ancestors 
lived  their  simple  and  sincere  lives  ;  to  set  forth 
their  manners,  customs  and  pleasures;  to  record 
how  they  developed  their  young  men  and  maidens 
into  men  and  women  physically,  mentally  and 
spiritually,  and  built  the  township  we  love. 

He  has  attempted  to  gather  up  their  old  Dutch 
ballads,  folk  songs,  riddles,  nursery  rhymes  and 
nonsense  verses  before  it  is  forever  too  late.  This 
has  never  been  done,  and  it  can  not  be  done  by 
the  next  generation.     He  here  expresses  his  indebt- 


vi  PREFACE. 

edness   to   the   many  friends   whose   assistance  was 
indispensable. 

In  selecting  the  subjects  for  the  ilkistrations  he 
has  chosen  those  alone  which  are  connected  with 
the  town  history.  He  attempted  to  secure  a  pic- 
ture of  the  first  physician,  but  failed ;  and  sub- 
stituted his  residence  instead.  The  typical  Dutch 
farm  house  is  inserted  because  it  is  typical.  No 
portrait  of  pastor  Kocherthal  exists,  nor  of  the 
West  Camp  church.  The  monumental  tablet  is 
given  instead.  The  house  of  Christian  Myer  is 
included  for  the  reason  that  the  home  of  the  family 
from  which  came  eighteen  Revolutionary  soldiers 
should  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance.  The 
first  minister  (except  Kocherthal)  and  the  first  mer- 
chant, with  his  residence  and  store,  are  included ; 
but  the  first  lawyer  could  not  be.  There  was  none 
until  shortly  before  the  date  at  which  this  story 
stops.  And  the  author  regrets  that  the  book  has 
not  reached  the  standard  of  his  wishes,  efforts  and 
intentions. 


CHAPTER 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV, 


CONTENTS. 

I'AGE 

Introductory  and  Descriptive     ....       1 

A  Decisive  Battle 7" 

The  Earliest  Records 14 

The  Coming  of  the  Palatines     ....     27 

The  Palatines  at  the  Camp 34 

The  Palatines  Find  Homes 42 

The  West  Camp  Church 50 

The  Palatine  Leader 55 

Sixty  Formative  Years 60 

Saugerties  Village  Before  the  Revolu- 
tion   67 

Katsbaan  Before  the  Revolution  ...  75 
Cedar  Grove  Before  the  Revolution  .  83 
Churchland   and   Plattekill   Before   the 

Revolution 89 

Saxton  and  Asbury  Before  the  Revolu- 
tion   96 

Maiden    and    West    Camp   Before   the 

Revolution 104 

Glasco  and  Flatbush  Before  the  Revo- 
lution     Ill 

The  Legion  of  Honor 118 

The  Revolutionary  War 126 

Continuation  of  the  Tappen  Journal     .  133 

The  Campaign  of  1776 140 

The  Campaign  of  1777 147 

The  Campaigns  of  1778  and  1779     .    .156 

Patriotic  Divines 163 

An  Indian  and  Tory  Raid      168 

In  Captivity  in  Canada 177 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


XXVI.    Captain  Snyder's  Escape      .    .    .    .183 

XXVII.   After  the  Revolution 191 

XXVIII.    Educational   Conditions    After    the 

Revolution 197 

XXIX.    The  Country  Doctor 203 

XXX.   The  Old  Farm  Houses 210 

XXXI.    Farm  Life  in  Olden  Time    .    .    .    .218 
XXXII.    The  Indispensable  Loom     ...    .  226 

XXXIII.  Social  Life  in  Olden  Time   .    .    .    .  222 

XXXIV.  Interesting  Documents  pf  the  Revo- 

lution  239 

XXXV.   The  Katsbaan  Church      245 

XXXVI.   The  Beaver  Creek 257 

XXXVII.    The  Days  of  Sloops       262 

XXXVIII.    The  Trip  of  the  Clermont    .    .    .    .  268 
XXXIX.    The  Formation  of  the  Town    ...  275 

XL.    Beginning  to  Grow 283 

XLI.    Building  the  Factories  and  Open- 
ing the  Quarries 291 

XLII.    Military  Leaders 299 

XLIII.   The  Saugerties  Bard 310 

XLIV.    ''Katsbaan" 316 

XLV.   Old    Dutch    Ballads,    Rhymes    and 

Folk  Songs 324 

XLVI.   Saugerties    Chapter,    Daughters   of 

the  American  Revolution     .    .    .  346 
Appendix — 

Saugerties  Soldiers  of  the  Revolution      .  349 
The  Graves  of  the  Patriots 353 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Site  of  Old  Sawyer's  Mill 6 

Ravine  Where  the  Indians  Fought 11 

The  Oldest  House  in  Town 24 

The  Kocherthal  Tablet 57 

The  Post  Tavern 12 

The  Katsbaan  Church  of  1732 76 

The  Persen  Residence  and  Store 80 

The  Cedar  CHpje 96 

Steene  Herte  and  Fountain 101 

The  House  of  Major  Dan  Wolven 106 

Field  Where  Capt.  Snyder  was  Captured    .    .    .168 

Residence  of  Dr.  Kiersted 208 

A  Typical  Dutch  Farm  House 215 

CorneUus  Persen 229 

Rev.  George  Wilhelmus  Mancius 247 

House  of  Christian  Myer 359 


THE     EARLY    HISTORY    OF 
SAUGERTIES. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTORY   AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 

The  town  of  Saugerties  is  the  northeast  town 
of  Ulster  county,  New  York,  and  extends  from 
the  centre  of  the  channel  of  the  Hudson  river 
to  the  brow  of  the  Catskills.  Its  northern  limit 
is  the  boundary  line  with  Greene  county,  and 
on  the  south  the  town  of  Ulster  where  the 
Plattekill  empties  into  the  Esopus.  Its  area  is 
about  30,000  acres,  and  its  population  was  in 
1900  9,754.  This  had  decreased  in  the  preced- 
ing twenty-five  years  from  10,934  in  1875. 

The  town  was  organized  from  the  town  of 
Kingston,  April  5,  181 1,  and  is  thus  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century.  But  for  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years  preceding  it  had 
been  a  large  factor  in  what  constituted  the 
town  of  Kingston,  and  Katsbaan  and  West 
Camp  were  known  throughout  the  colonies 
before  the  Revolution  ;  the  latter  as  the  scene 
where  was  colonized  the  first  German  emigra- 


2  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

tion  to  America  in  1710,  in  an  ill  starred  project 
of  the  British  Government  for  the  production 
of  naval  stores,  which  failed,  and  the  former  as 
the  location  of  a  widely-known  country  store, 
so  widely,  in  fact,  that  Burgoyne  had  selected 
Katsbaan  as  the  site  of  one  of  his  three 
camps  between  Albany  and  Kingston  upon  his 
intended  march  from  the  former  city  to  New 
York.  The  others  were  Kack's  Hackey  (Cox- 
sackie)  and  Katskill  (Leeds).  It  is  needless  to 
add  that  some  men  from  Katsbaan  assisted  in 
dissuading  him  at  a  meeting  they  had  with 
Burgoyne  at  Saratoga. 

The  town  occupies  two  distinct  plateaus. 
The  lower  one  extends  from  the  hills  along 
the  Hudson  to  the  mountain  ridge,  two  peaks 
of  which  are  respectively  Mt.  Airy  and  Mt. 
Marion.  This  ridge  divides  the  town  from 
north  to  south  into  two  nearly  equal  portions. 

The  eastern  plateau  lies  upon  strata  of  sand- 
stone and  shale  along  its  eastern  border,  with 
limestone  ledges  farther  west.  All  these  extend 
in  a  northerly  and  southerly  direction.  The 
upper,  or  western  plateau  lies  upon  a  founda- 
tion of  greywacke,  commercially  known  as  blue- 
stone,  which  has  been  for  three-fourths  of  a 
century  the  source  of  the  chief  industry  of  the 
town. 

The  town  is  well  watered.  Along  the  whole 
of     its    eastern     border     flows    the     Hudson. 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  DESCRIPTIVE.      3 

Through  the  southern  half  come  the  waters 
of  the  Esopus  creek  which  have  proceeded 
from  their  source  in  the  heart  of  the  Catskills 
for  many  miles  in  a  southeasterly  direction 
until  they  were  free  from  the  confinement  of 
the  mountains.  When  they  reached  the  fertile 
plain  in  the  town  of  Marbletown  they  coursed 
due  north  for  thirty  miles  to  Saugerties  village, 
where,  after  watering  as  productive  fields  as 
the  sun  shines  on,  they  empty  into  the  Hudson. 
Through  parts  of  the  northwestern  portion  of 
the  town  the  Cauterskill  carries  the  rainfall 
of  the  Catskills  to  the  river,  and  through  the 
western  part  the  Plattekill  performs  the  same 
service.  The  Beaver  drains  the  upper  and 
lower  plateaus  in  a  ten  mile  course,  and  in  the 
northeast  the  little,  though  historic  Saw  creek 
does  like  duty.  It  is  a  peculiarity  that  all  of 
these  streams  except  the  Plattekill  and  Saw 
creek  flow  north. 

It  is  contemplated  in  this  history  to  tell  the 
story  of  the  settlement  of  the  town  and  its 
growth  ;  to  show  the  nationality  and  character 
of  those  who  were  the  pioneers,  and  from  whom 
the  people  of  the  town  descended  until  its 
development  into  a  manufacturing  centre  upon 
the  purchase  of  its  immense  water  power  at 
Saugerties  in  1825.  In  carrying  out  this  inten- 
tion the  first  important  event  will  be  the  coming 
of  the  Palatines  in    1710  and  the  story  of  the 


4  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

two  churches  which  they  founded  at  West 
Camp  and  Katsbaan  ;  the  second,  the  service 
of  townsmen  in  the  French  and  Indian  War, 
and  the  third,  the  story  of  their  connection 
with  the  fight  for  our  civil  liberties.  In  this 
connection  it  may  be  said  that  the  dangers  to 
the  patriot  cause  from  the  invasion  of  Bur- 
goyne  in  1777  called  into  military  service  in 
the  field  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of 
that  year  practically  the  whole  male  popula- 
tion, young  and  old,  of  the  town  capable  of 
bearing  arms.  Even  men  who  had  been  Tories 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  were  compelled  to 
assist  or  leave  the  country.  A  few  families  did 
so  and  went  to  Canada.  A  few  more  remained 
loyal  to  the  British  Crown,  but  the  most  of 
those  who  had  been  opposed  to  the  cause  of 
the  patriots  in  1775  became,  under  the  stress 
of  events,  at  least  nominal  patriots.  This  will 
explain  why  names  of  certain  Tories  are  found 
on  the  list  of  the  patriots  who  served  in  the 
army. 

This  town  was  included  in  the  charter  given 
to  Kingston  in  1667,  and  when,  on  the  19th 
day  of  May,  1687,  Gov.  Dongan  issued  the 
patent  for  the  grant  of  the  large  territory  to 
the  freeholders  of  the  town  of  Kingston  in 
trust,  which  was  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years  known  as  "The  Kingston  Commons,"  it 
comprised  all  the  town  of  Saugerties  south  and 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  DESCRIPTIVE.       5 

west  of  Sawyer's  creek,  with  the  exception  of 
the  four  Meals  and  Hayes  patents,  until  the 
bounds  of  the  great  Hardenbergh  patent  were 
reached  at  the  foot  of  the  Catskill  mountains. 
Thus  most  of  the  early  settlers  derived  the 
titles  to  their  farms  and  homes  from  the  trus- 
tees of  Kingston  Commons. 

Although  a  part  of  the  town  of  Kingston, 
this  town  did  not  participate  in  its  Indian 
troubles  of  1655  to  1663.  There  is  no  cer- 
tainty of  any  permanent  settler  within  the 
borders  of  the  town  of  Saugerties  at  that  time. 
The  question  of  **  the  old  sawyer,"  or  "  little 
sawyer,"  will  be.  taken  up  in  a  subsequent 
chapter.  But  aside  from  him  there  is  no  rec- 
ord of  a  settler  within  this  town  before  1688, 
when  Cornelius  Lambertsen  Brink  acquired 
lands  on  the  southern  border  of  the  town  at 
the  junction  of  the  Plattekill  and  Esopus,  and 
built  the  stone  house  still  standing.  He  had 
been  a  captive  taken  at  the  massacre  at  Esopus 
(Kingston)  in  1663.  With  twenty-two  others 
he  was  rescued  after  a  captivity  among  the 
savages  of  just  three  months. 

Nor  were  there  any  Indian  troubles  within 
the  town  except  when,  during  the  Revolution, 
the  savages  were  incited  by  the  Tories.  Per- 
manent settlement  was  not  made  until  after 
the  treaties  between  the  Indians  and  colonial 
Governors  Stuyvesant  and  Andros  had  extin- 


6  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

guished  all  Indian  titles,  and  thus  the  early- 
settlers  were  able  to  live  without  the  dread  of 
a  nnidnight  attack  by  a  savage  foe  with  all  the 
horrors  of  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife. 

Indian  villages  did  not  exist  within  the  bord- 
ers of  the  town.  It  was  a  sort  of  neutral  ground 
between  the  Katskill  Indians  on  the  north  and 
the  Esopus  Indians  on  the  south.  Evidences 
such  as  arrowheads,  knives  and  axes  of  stone 
are  continually  found  here  which  show  it  to 
have  been  in  their  occupancy.  The  journal  of 
Capt.  Martin  Cregier  in  1663  tells  of  the  Indian 
maize  plantation  just  north  of  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Saugerties,  and  there  are  other  evidences 
about  town  that  Indians  were  often  here.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  no  permanent  Indian  village 
existed  within  the  limits  of  the  town  of  Sau- 
gerties. 

In  the  earlier  chapters  of  those  to  follow 
much  will  appear  concerning  an  "old  sawyer," 
or  a  "  little  sawyer"  who  is  only  known  by  that 
appellation.  He  had  a  sawmill  at  the  mouth 
of  the  little  stream  still  known  as  the  Saw 
creek,  and  by  the  Dutch  his  mill  was  spoken 
of  in  the  possessive  case  as  "  de  zaagertje's,"  or 
the  sawyer's.  From  this  came  the  name  of  the 
stream  on  which  his  mill  was  erected,  then  of 
the  locality,  in  time  of  the  town  and  lastly  of 
the  village. 


•I.f 


CHAPTER    II. 

A   DECISIVE   BATTLE. 

"  The  Journal  of  the  Esopus  War,"  by  Capt. 
Martin  Cregier,  describes  the  destruction  of 
Wiltwyck  (Kingston)  by  the  Esopus  Indians 
in  1663,  the  capture  of  many  of  the  women 
and  children,  and  the  military  expedition  that 
effected  their  release.  A  detachment  of  the 
command,  under  Sergeant  Niessen  (Niese), 
proceeded  to  Saugerties,  while  the  main  force 
under  Capt.  Cregier  tracked  the  savages  and 
their  captives  up  the  Wallkill  valley.  Capt, 
Cregier's  "Journal"  says  of  Niessen's  detach- 
ment : 

"July  12,  1663.  Sergeant  Niessen  returned 
with  his  troops  bringing  one  squaw  and  three 
children  which  they  had  captured.  Examined 
the  squaw.  She  answered  that  some  Kattskill 
Indians  lay  on  the  other  side  near  the  Sager's 
Kill,  but  they  would  not  fight  with  the  Dutch. 
On  the  i6th,  some  Mohawks  arrived  and  went 
to  see  the  Esopus  Indians,  and  fetched  from 
them  some  captive  Dutch  women."  There  is 
a  text  for  a  long  sermon  here.  It  is  one  inci- 
dent   in   a   story   which    had    begun   forty-five 


8  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

years  before,  and  was  to  be  continued  one 
hundred  years  more  until  the  power  of  France 
on  this  Continent  would  be  overthrown  under 
Montcalm  at  Quebec  by  the  British  under 
Wolfe.  A  crisis  in  that  long  struggle  culmi- 
nated on  the  borders  of  our  town  of  Saugerties. 
It  is  necessary  to  go  back  to  the  days  of  Hud- 
son to  see  why  the  Katskill  Indians  would  not 
fight  the  Dutch,  and  the  Mohawks  compelled 
the  Esopus  Indians  to  release  their  Dutch  cap- 
tives. 

In  August,  1609,  Henry  Hudson  discovered 
the  beautiful  river  which  bears  his  name  and 
ascended  it  as  far  as  Waterford.  While  he  was 
prosecuting  his  voyage  Samuel  de  Champlain 
in  Canada  was  carrying  on  the  work  begun  by 
Jacques  Cartier,  and  had  just  discovered  lovely 
Lake  Champlain,  and  was  proceeding  south 
upon  its  waters.  Thus  representatives  of  these 
two  nations  of  Europe  almost  met.  Almost, 
but  not  quite.  Champlain  retired  to  Quebec 
and  Hudson  returned  to  Europe  to  report 
to  his  employers.  A  trading  company  was 
formed  in  Amsterdam  to  prosecute  the  trade 
for  furs  along  the  river  and  a  trading  post  was 
established  about  four  miles  south  of  Albany, 
and  here  the  Dutch  unconsciously  prepared 
for  the  death  grapple  which  their  successors, 
the  English,  would  have  with  the  French  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  until  the  Continent 


A  DECISIVE  BATTLE.  9 

became  the  home,  not  of  absolutism,  but  of 
freedom,  by  a  masterly  act  of  John  Jacob 
Eelkens  in  1618. 

In  the  opening  h'nes  of  "The  Song  of  Hia- 
watha" Longfellow  sings  : 

' '  In  the  vale  of  Tawasentha, 
In  the  green  and  silent  valley, 
There  he  sang  of  Hiawatha." 

This  green  valley  was  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Hudson,  six  miles  south  of  Albany,  at 
what  is  now  Norman's  Kill.  And  here  in  the 
spring  of  1618,  Eelkens,  the  commander  of  the 
trading  post,  assembled  the  representatives  of 
the  Five  Nations  and  entered  into  a  treaty  of 
peace  and  amity  with  them  which  was  never 
broken,  though  troubles  and  difificulties  often 
arose.  And  to  this  amity  the  English  suc- 
ceeded upon  the  passing  of  the  province  into 
their  hands  and  the  French,  despite  all  their 
efforts,  could  never  detach  them,  or  weaken 
that  friendship.  In  the  words  of  representa- 
tives of  these  Indian  tribes  in  1737,  one  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  years  after  this,  addressed 
to  the  English  Governor  of  this  province  "  In 
ancient  times  when  our  fore-fathers  first  met 
at  this  place  we  will  tell  you  what  happened 
before  there  was  a  house  in  this  place,  when 
we  lodged  under  the  leaves  of  the  trees,  the 
Christian  and  we  entered   into  a  covenant   of 


10  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

friendship."  John  Fiske  says  of  this  treaty  that 
"  It  was  never  violated  or  seriously  infringed. 
The  Five  Nations  were  all  more  or  less  stead- 
fast allies  of  the  Dutch,  and  afterwards  of  the 
English  until  1763." 

The  Indians  of  North  America  belonged  to 
two  great  families,  the  Iroquois  and  the  Algon- 
quin peoples.  The  seat  of  the  former  was  the 
Mohawk  valley  and  the  lake  region  of  New 
York.  The  five  nations,  or  tribes,  were  savage 
and  powerful  warriors  and  dominated  the  Con- 
tinent. The  tribes  of  the  Hudson  and  of  New 
England  and  Canada  were  Algonquins.  But 
the  aggressive  Iroquois  were  forcing  them  into 
subjection  and  at  last  became  their  tributary 
lords. 

Early  in  1628  the  Mohegans  of  the  upper 
Hudson,  the  Hoosic  and  the  Hoosatonic  valleys 
were  driven  from  their  haunts  by  the  Mohawks 
and  an  Indian  war  was  begun.  To  resist  their 
aggressions  the  Mohegans  had  allied  them- 
selves with  the  Katskill  tribe  and  the  Esopus 
Indians  and  with  other  scattered  bands  along 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Delaware  and  Scho- 
harie. But  the  terrible  Maquas,  or  Mohawks, 
had  pressed  down  the  Catskill  creek  from  Scho- 
harie on  frequent  raids.  At  last  the  Mohegans 
intrenched  themselves  at  the  junction  of  the 
Cauterskill  and  Catskill  creeks  and  built  another 
fort  at  Jefferson  Flats,  west  of  Catskill.     These 


^-^- 


o 

O 

<: 

G 

W 
K 
«-(■ 


A  DECISIVE  BATTLE.  11 

forts  were  stockades  of  logs  set  close  to  each 
other  perpendicularly  in  the  ground,  and  they 
remained  long  after  the  Dutch  had  settled  the 
region. 

Tidings  of  their  purpose  and  of  their  prepa- 
rations for  defense  reached  the  Mohawks  and 
they  determined  once  for  all  to  subdue  the 
river  Indians.  Down  the  Catskill  creek  from 
Schoharie  they  descended  upon  the  Mohegans 
at  their  forts.  The  fighting  was  fierce  and  the 
Mohegans  were  driven  out.  A  stand  was  next 
made  at  the  spring  along  the  Saugerties  road 
to  Catskill  just  where  the  watering-trough  is 
standing  above  the  Embocht  school  house. 
But  the  onset  of  the  Mohawks  was  irresistible. 
They  were  driven  down  to  the  present  Ulster 
county  line  and  took  refuge  on  Wanton  Island 
in  the  Hudson,  recently  the  site  of  the  National 
Ice  Company's  ice  house.  Here  they  fought 
with  the  energy  of  desperation  and  the  Mo- 
hawks were  unable  to  dislodge  them.  The 
Mohawks  withdrew  and  built  their  camp-fires 
quite  a  distance  at  one  side  and  appeared  to  be 
thoroughly  discomfited.  The  Mohegans  were 
deceived  into  abandoning  the  island  to  fall 
upon  their  enemies,  who,  finding  them  at  last 
on  the  main  land,  and  taking  them  in  flank  and 
rear  along  the  road  to  the  present  Smith's 
Landing,  and  in  the  ravine  just  east  of  the 
old  Connelly  blacksmith  shop,  fell  upon  them 


12  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

at  dead  of  night  with  unearthly  cries  and  with 
fearful  slaughter.  Most  were  killed  and  many 
were  made  prisoners.  The  power  of  the  river 
Indians  was  forever  broken  and  the  Iroquois 
dominated  the  Continent.  The  tribes  of  New 
England  and  Canada  submitted  and  an  annual 
tribute  of  wampum  and  dried  clams  was  exacted 
by  the  conquerors. 

Regularly  every  year  this  was  collected.  Two 
Indians  would  start  from  the  Mohawk  castle, 
proceed  down  the  river  of  that  name  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Schoharie,  paddle  up  that  stream 
to  its  upper  waters,  then  carry  their  birch  bark 
canoe  by  a  short  portage  to  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Esopus  creek  and  follow  that  stream  to 
its  mouth  at  Saugerties,  collecting  tribute  as 
they  went.  Such  was  the  prowess  of  the  fear- 
ful Iroquois  that  no  one  molested  the  embassy. 
From  Saugerties  they  paddled  up  the  Hudson 
either  to  Roelof  Jansen's  Kill  (Livingston 
creek)  and  ascended  that  stream,  or  followed 
the  Hudson  to  the  Hoosic  river  above  Troy 
and  entered  the  country  of  the  New  England 
Indians  from  thence.  But  wherever  they  went 
they  were  received  with  respect  founded  on  the 
fear  their  reputation  inspired. 

Many  were  the  efforts  made  by  the  French 
to  detach  them  from  the  Dutch  and  English. 
But  down  to  the  day  in  1763,  when  Montcalm 
and  Wolfe  both  went  to  the  grave  at  Quebec 


A  DECISIVE  BATTLE.  13 

and  the  flag  of  France  on  this  Continent 
was  forever  furled,  these  efforts  were  unavail- 
ing. Did  Gov.  Stuyvesant  or  Gov.  Andros 
negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Esopus  Indians  at 
Kingston?  Some  Mohawk  chieftain  was  pres- 
ent to  approve,  or  not.  Did  the  Indians  about 
New  York  city  confer  with  the  colonial  author- 
ities? An  Iroquois  chief  was  there.  Did  New 
England  ofificials  negotiate  with  red  men  ?  The 
consent  of  the  Maquas  was  necessary.  No 
wonder  that  the  captive  Katskill  Indian  told 
Capt.  Creiger  that  her  people  would  not  fight 
the  Dutch.  Thus  though  Saugerties  was  neu- 
tral ground  nevertheless  on  its  borders  occurred 
a  battle  of  tremendous  consequence  to  the 
future  of  America  in  its  coming  fight  for  free- 
dom. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   EARLIEST   RECORDS. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  it  is  said  that  a 
squaw  informed  Sergeant  Niessen  and  his 
troops  that  "some  Kattskill  Indians  lay  on 
the  other  side  near  the  Sager's  Kill,  but  they 
would  not  fight  with  the  Dutch."  This  is  the 
earliest  mention  of  the  Sawyer's  creek  in  the 
old  records  and  is  under  the  date  of  July  12, 
1663.  It  establishes  the  fact  that  the  sawyer 
from  whom  the  town  took  its  name  had  had  a 
mill  there  long  enough  before  1663  to  name 
the  little  stream. 

The  Indian  treaties  with  Governors  Stuy- 
vesant  in  1658  and  1664,  and  Nicolls  in  1665 
had  extinguished  the  titles  of  the  red  men  to 
the  lands  at  Kingston  and  to  the  west  and 
south  of  that  place.  The  time  had  arrived 
when  this  should  be  done  to  the  territory  north. 
Therefore,  in  the  spring  of  1677,  Governor  Sir 
Edmund  Andros  summoned  the  Esopus  Indians 
to  a  conference  at  Kingston  with  himself  and 
the  magistrates  of  the  town.  The  meeting  was 
held  on  the  27th  of  April,  1^77,  and  the  follow- 
ing is  the  ofificial  account  of  the  proceedings: 


THE  EARLIEST  RECORDS.  15 

Conference   Between    Governor   Andros   and 
THE  Esopus  Indians.  * 


Kingston,  the  27th  of  Aprill,  1677. 

Present — His  Honor  the  Governor,  Capt.  Salis- 
bury, Capt.  Chambers,  Mr.  West  and  the  Magis- 
trates, and  Geo.  Davit,  Interpreter. 

His  Honor,  the  Governor,  asked  the  Esopus 
Sachems,  Sewerakan,  Pomerewague,  Kaelcop,  An- 
krop  and  the  majority  of  the  Esopus  Indians,  women 
as  well  as  men  and  youths,  whether  they  had  any 
claims  upon  the  land,  occupied  by  us  in  pursuance  of 
the  agreement  made  with  His  Honor,  Governor 
Nicolls,  They  went  out  and  after  some  time  spent 
in  deliberation,  Kaelcop  said  that  they  did  not  think 
they  had  sold  land  so  far  North,  but  they  were  well 
satisfied  we  should  have  it  provided  His  Honor 
would  give  him  a  blanket,  a  shirt  and  a  loaf  of 
bread.  The  Governor  then  inquired  whether  it 
would  satisfy  them  completely,  to  which  he  replied, 
''Yes,  but  if  His  Honor  would  add  a  piece  of  cloth 
it  would  be  well."  He  and  the  Sachems  and  all  the 
other  Indians  were  told  to  point  out,  or  describe  the 
boundaries  as  they  were  to  be  now.  They  described 
them  as  follows  :  —  Beginning  at  the  Ronduyt  Kil, 
thence  to  a  Kil  called  Kahakasnik  North  along  the 
hills  to  a  Kil  called  Magowasinginck,  thence  to  the 
second  fall,  Easterly  to  Frudeyachkanieck  on  the 
"  Groote  Revier,"  along  the  river  South  to  Ronduyt 
Kil,  with  everything  lying  within  these  boundaries, 
good  and  bad,  hills,  valleys,  waters,  etc. 

Kaelcop  further  declared  that  he  had  ceded  to 
the  old  sawyer  his  claim  upon  a  kil  called  the 
Sawyer's  Kil,  and  the  land  stretching  up  to  the 
boundary  of  the  land  belonging  to  the  Katskil 
Indians  along  the  river  as  far  as  the  mountains  above. 


16  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Whereupon  His  Honor,  the  Governor,  asked  the 
Sachems  and  all  the  other  savages,  old  and  young, 
whether  this  was  so  ;  they  should  give  a  free  and 
fearless  answer.  They  replied  it  was  so  and  nobody 
else  had  any  claim  upon  the  land.  Questioned 
once  more  if  they  were  satisfied  with  the  aforesaid 
payment  they  said  ''Yes,  fully."  His  Honor  then 
gave  to  Kaelcop  in  presence  of  all  the  others  the 
articles  agreed  upon  as  full  pay,  to  wit  :  A  blanket, 
a  piece  of  cloth,  a  shirt,  a  loaf  of  bread  and  baize 
for  socks.  All  being  well  satisfied,  His  Honor  said 
he  intended  to  have  the  boundaries  reviewed  for 
better  satisfaction  and  desired  Kaelcop  and  some 
other  Indians  to  go  along  and  point  out  the  land- 
marks for  which  they  should  receive  extra  pay. 
They  accepted  the  proposition  with  thanks,  and  said 
they  were  ready  to  go  at  any  time. 

Signed, 

Kaelcop,  for  the  Amogarickakan  family. 

Ankerop,  for  Kettsypowy. 

KuGAKAPO,  for  the  Mahow  family. 

Wengiswars,  for  the  Kahatawis  family. 

Pamiere  Wack,  Sachem  ;  Senera  Kau,  Sa- 
chem ;  Mamarij  Backwa,  Sachem  ;  in 
the  name  of  all  Esopus  Indians. 

In  presence  of  His  Honor  and  the  undersigned  : 

Thomas  Chambers,  Hendrick  Jochemsen, 

G.   Hall,  Joris  Davit, 

JoosT,  Sylvester  Salisbury, 

DiRCK  Schepmoes,  Will  Rodeney, 

E.   Whittaker,  John  West, 

Wessel  TenBroeck,  N.   DeMeyer. 

Testis, 

Wm.   La  Montanye,  Sec'y. 


THE  EARLIEST  RECORDS.  17 

Thus  is  recorded  in  this  Indian  treaty  of 
1677  the  fact  that  "  the  old  sawyer"  had  secured 
an  Indian  title  to  the  Saw  creek  not  only,  but 
to  the  land  stretching  from  it  to  the  lands  of 
the  Katskill  Indians,  and  as  far  back  as  the 
mountains.  The  Indians  always  respected  the 
treaty,  and  no  trouble  with  the  whites  ever 
arose  over  the  lands  thus  conveyed.  So  this 
old  sawyer,  so  far  as  Indian  title  could  make 
him,  became  the  largest  landholder  the  town 
ever  had.  At  least  15,000  acres  must  have 
been  conveyed  him.  But  there  is  nothing  to 
show  that  he  ever  sought  confirmation  of  his 
title  from  the  colonial  authorities,  and  in  fact 
no  one  knows  the  name  of  him  who  gave  the 
name  to  the  town  of  Saugerties.  Nor  has  any 
investigation  ever  disclosed  when  he  secured 
this  Indian  grant,  nor  when  he  first  came  here. 
Cregier's  Journal  shows  the  stream  thus  named 
fourteen  years  before  the  Andros  treaty,  or  in 
1663,  so  that  he  must  have  been  here  as  early 
as  the  first  settlement  of  Kingston.  For  this 
sawmill  must  have  been  there  long  enough 
before  that  date  to  have  named  the  little 
stream.  The  date  mentioned  there,  July  12, 
1663,  is  the  earliest  mention  of  Sager's  creek  in 
any  record.  The  entry  in  that  "Journal"  is 
given  in  the  last  chapter. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  1683,  Col.  Thomas 
Dongan  arrived  in  New  York  to  be  governor 


18  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

of  the  colony.      In  a  few  days  he  issued  writs 
for  the  choice  of  representatives  of  the  free- 
holders in  a  general  assembly.     On  the  17th  of 
October,  1683,  this  assembly  met.     It  was  the 
first  meeting  of  representatives  of  the  people 
in  a  legislative  assembly  in  the  colony  of  New 
York.     At   this  first   meeting  of  a  legislature 
one  of  the  first  acts  was  to  divide  the  province 
into  counties,  and  twelve  were  created.     One 
of  these  was  Ulster.     Its  description  includes 
these  words  "  all  the  village  neighborhoods  and 
Christian  habitations  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Hudson  river  from  the  Murderer's  Creek  to  the 
Sawyer's    Creek,"    thus    having    its    southeast 
limit  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  entering  the 
Hudson   just    above   Cornwall,   at    the    High- 
lands ;  and  its  northeast  in  the  present  village 
of   Saugerties  where    the   Saw   creek   empties 
into  the   same  river.     Before  the  date  of  the 
organization   of    Ulster  county,  November    i, 
1683,  there   is   no  record   of  a   conveyance  of 
land  and,  presumptively,  no  settler. 

This  was  not  to  remain  so  long.  On  the 
15th  of  April,  1685,  George  Meals,  a  resident 
of  Albany,  and  Richard  Hayes  a  resident  of 
Kingston,  and  both  in  the  British  service, 
secured  from  the  colonial  authorities  four  con- 
siderable parcels  of  land  in  the  town  of  Sau- 
gerties, the  patents  not  being  issued  until  May, 
1687.     One  of  these  was  for  a  swamp  of  three 


THE  EARLIEST  RECORDS.  1 9 

hundred  acres,  now  known  as  '*  The  Big  Vly," 
situate  in   the   north   of   the    town    and    lying 
partly  in  Albany  (now  Greene)   county.     An- 
other was  situate  on  "The  Old  Kings  Road" 
along   the   Beaver  creek,  containing,  the   farm 
known  as  the  Kemble  place,  and  was  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty-two  acres  ;  the  third  lay  just 
north  of  the  present  village  of  Saugerties,  on 
both  sides  of  the  Sawyer's  creek,  and  contained 
two  hundred  and  one  acres  and  the  fourth,  the 
largest  of  all,  was  on  both  sides  of  the  Esopus 
creek  at  its  mouth  and  contained  four  hundred 
and  forty-one  and  three-fourths  acres.     It  was 
described  to  be  at  a  place  **  called  The  Sagier's." 
The  bounds  began  on  the  Hudson  just  taking 
in  the  falls  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saw  creek  and 
proceeded   in  a   direct   line   along   the   present 
Division  street  of  Saugerties  village  to  about 
the  present  bridge  below  the  Geo.  W.  Wash- 
burn   place   which   spans   the   Tannery   brook. 
From  thence  it  crossed  the  Esopus  in  a  direct 
line  and  ascended  the  hill  to  a  point  just  west 
of   the    Richard    C.    Washburn    place.     From 
thence    it    proceeded   in   a  straight   line    until 
near    the    southerly    bounds    of   the   cemetery 
on  Barclay   Heights  and   thence  to  the  river. 
November  22,  1687,  George  Meals  and  Sarah, 
his    wife,   conveyed    all    their    interest    in    the 
patent  to  his  partner,  Richard   Hayes,  and  on 
the  same  day  Hayes  sold  his  interest  in  this 


20  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

patent,  so  far  as  the  south  side  of  the  creek 
was  concerned,  and  also  in  the  Big  Vly,  to  John 
Wood.  And  on  Oct.  i,  1694,  Sarah,  wife  of 
the  late  George  Meals,  conveyed  to  Wood  the 
interest  her  husband  and  she  had  in  the  same 
and  which  he  in  his  lifetime  had  sold  to  Wood. 
Then  Richard  Hayes  and  Goodwith,  his  wife, 
sold  the  remainder  of  the  village  patent  to 
John  Hayes,  and  on  August  16,  1712,  he  con- 
veyed the  same  to  John  Persen.  So  far  there 
had  been  no  settlement  on  this  tract.  John 
Persen  became  a  settler.  He  built  a  grist  mill, 
established  a  ferry  across  the  Esopus  and  in 
his  will,  in  1748,  bequeathed  house,  lands,  mill, 
negro  slaves  etc.  to  his  wife.  His  daughter. 
Vannitje,  was  the  wife  of  Myndert  Mynderse 
who  built  the  stone  house  on  his  estate  which 
is  now  the  residence  of  F.  T.  Russell,  whose 
wife  is  a  descendant.  But  up  to  the  date  of 
the  purchase  by  Persen  (1712)  there  is  no  evi- 
dence of  any  settler  in  the  bounds  of  the 
village.  This  date  is  subsequent  to  the  coming 
of  the  Palatines  to  West  Camp,  Oct.  4,  1710. 
The  records  of  conveyances  of  real  estate  show 
that  none  of  the  Palatines  settled  in  this  village 
until  some  years  later.  So  it  seems  clear  that 
John  Persen  was  the  first  settler  within  its 
bounds,  unless  the  nebulous  sawyer  be  excepted. 
John  Persen  was  born  in  Kingston  where  he 
was  baptized  Sept.  2,   1683.     He  was  the  son 


THE  EARLIEST  RECORDS.  21 

of  Sergeant  Jan  Hendricks  Persen  of  the  New 
Netherland  army  and  Annetje  Mattys,  his  wife. 
Both  came  to  Kingston  from  Albany.  John 
Persen  m.arried  Anna  Catryna  Post,  daughter 
of  Jan  Jansen  Postmael  spoken  of  below. 
Cornelius  Persen,  who  kept  the  store  in  Kats- 
baan,  was  a  grand  nephew  of  John. 

On  May  19,  1687,  the  same  month  in  which 
the  Meals  and  Hayes  patents  were  issued,  Gov. 
Dongan  granted  a  large  territory  of  land  to 
*'  the  Inhabitants  and  Freeholders  of  the  town 
of  Kincrston"  for  their  benefit.  This  tract 
practically  covered  the  present  towns  of  Eso- 
pus,  Ulster,  Kingston  and  Saugerties,  except 
what  lay  northeast  of  the  Saw  creek  in  the  last- 
named  town,  for  the  triangle  between  that 
creek  and  the  river  in  which  is  now  West  Camp 
and  Maiden  was  then  part  of  Albany  county. 
The  patent  ordained  and  declared  said  inhab- 
itants and  freeholders  a  body  corporate  and 
politic  with  succession  forever,  with  full  power 
to  hold  and  convey  real  estate  and  personal 
property  of  every  kind,  and  to  sue  and  be  sued 
in  the  corporate  name,  and  provided  for  an 
annual  election  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  March 
of  twelve  trustees,  to  hold  ofTfice  for  one  year. 
Thenceforth  all  applications  for  lands  within 
the  present  town  of  Saugerties  west  of  the  Saw 
creek  were  to  be  made  to  the  trustees  of  Kings- 
ton Commons  instead  of  the  colonial  author- 
ities. 


22  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

Now  who  was  the  first  settler  in  this  town  ? 
In  1763  upon  the  whole  territory  north  of  the 
Esopus  and  within  the  village  corporation  of 
to-day  there  were  less  than  a  dozen  families 
viz  :  Wilhelmus  Burhans,  Myndert  Mynderse, 
Isaac  Post,  Egbert  Schoonmaker,  Samuel 
Schoonmaker,  Hiskia  Du  Bois,  Jan  Post, 
Abraham  Post,  Petrus  Myer,  Johannes  Myer 
and  Jecobus  Post.  The  most  numerous  of 
these  families  are  the  Posts.  They  were  de- 
scended from  Jan  Jansen  Postmael,  spoken  of 
above,  who  emigrated  from  Harlingen,  in  Fries- 
land,  Holland ;  married  Jannitje  Le  Sueur, 
daughter  of  Francois  Le  Sueur,  and  settled  in 
Harlem,  New  York.  Afterwards  he  came  to 
Kingston  where  his  son  married  Cornelia  Yssel- 
steyn  in  1702.  Their  son  Abraham,  born  in 
1708,  married  Maria,  daughter  of  Myndert 
Schutt,  who  had  the  patent  north  of  Maiden 
which  will  be  described  in  a  subsequent  chap- 
ter, and  Myndert  Schutt  had  married  Sarah, 
a  sister  of  John  Persen  spoken  of  above.  The 
Post  families  of  the  town  were  descended  from 
Abraham,  who  was  not  born  until  1708,  and 
whose  parents  lived  in  Kingston.  The  first 
conveyance  of  land  to  Abraham  Post  bears 
date  Feb.  28,  1735. 

Wilhelmus  Burhans  obtained  his  property  in 
1740  from  the  Meals  patent.  He  was  the 
father-in-law  of  John  Brink,  Jr.,  and  this  place 


THE  EARLIEST  RECORDS.  23 

was  known  as  the  Brink  place  until  very 
recently.  It  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saw 
creek  on  the  Hudson  and  was  the  site  of  the 
mill  of  "  the  old  sawyer."  Myndert  Mynderse 
obtained  his  property,  as  said  above,  through 
the  deed  to  his  father-in-law,  John  Persen  in 
1712  ;  Egbert  Schoonmaker's  deed  is  dated 
Jan.  6,  1756;  Samuel  Schoonmaker's  dates  to 
March  4,  1734;  Hiskia  Du  Bois,  March  2, 
1722  ;  while  Petrus  and  Johannes  Myer  were 
descendants  of  the  Palatines  of  October,  17 10. 

Passing  over  the  town  the  same  conditions 
prevail.  Aside  from  those  of  Palatine  origin, 
and  thus  Germans  and  not  earlier  than  1710 
there  were  the  following  early  Dutch  settlers  : 
Harmanus  Hommel  on  the  Luther  Myer  farm 
in  Hommelville,  March  4,  1727;  Evert  Wyn- 
koop  at  the  same  date  bought  what  is  now  the 
Rio  Alto  Stock  Farm ;  and  Arie  Newkirk 
bought  a  part  of  the  Meals  and  Hayes  tract 
along  the  Old  Kings  Road  on  the  same  day. 
Nicholas  Trumpbour  purchased  the  Evert  Sax 
farm  in  Katsbaan  March  3,  1735  ;  Coenraedt 
Reghtmyer  the  Winne  farm  in  Katsbaan  Feb. 
24,  1738,  and  Hermanns  Reghtmyer  the  pres- 
ent Rightmyer  farm  in  Katsbaan  in  the  same 
year. 

One  of  the  earliest  deeds  given  by  the  trus- 
tees of  Kingston  Commons  was  of  a  small  place 
on  the  Old   Kings  Road  to  Johannes  Minqua 


24  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

(or  John  the  Minqua,  or  Mohegan),  which  sug- 
gests that  he  may  have  been  a  full,  or  at  least 
a  half-blood  Mohegan,  or  Delaware  Indian. 
The  deed  is  dated  March  i,  1715. 

There  are  no  grants  of  land  preceding  the 
date  of  the  Palatines  (1710),  except  the  Brink 
patent  at  Mt.  Marion  ;  the  Paulison,  the  Trap- 
hagen  and  the  Winne  grants.  Of  these  the 
Traphagen  and  the  Paulison  grants  were  sold  ; 
the  Winne  grant  was  made  in  1692  and  that  of 
Brink,  which  was  the  earliest  of  all  and  made 
Feb.  6,  1688.  This  is  the  oldest  grant  in  the 
town  except  the  Meals  and  Hayes  patents 
which  precede  it  by  about  eight  months.  It  is 
stated  in  a  former  chapter  that  Cornelius  Lam- 
bertsen  Brink  immediately  built  upon  his  land 
the  old  stone  house  which  still  stands  upon  the 
hill  just  north  of  the  covered  bridge  over  the 
Plattekill  at  the  town  of  Ulster  line,  and  much 
of  the  tract  is  still  in  the  possession  of  Charles 
Brink,  a  descendant. 

As  a  summary  of  this  investigation  it  appears 
to  the  writer  that  the  first  actual  settler  of  the 
town  of  Saugerties,  aside  from  the  undeter- 
mined *'  old  sawyer,"  was  his  great-great-great- 
great  grandfather,  Cornelius  Lambertsen  Brink, 
who  came  into  this  town  about  February  6, 
1688. 

Thus  the  year  1700  saw  but  two  settlers 
within  the  limits  of  the  town,  Cornelius  Lam- 


v3 


a 


THE  EARLIEST  RECORDS.  25 

bertsen  Brink  and  Petrus  Winne,  unless  the 
sawyer  was  still  living  here.  Who  was  he? 
Jonathan  W.  Hasbrouck,  who  spent  many 
years  gathering  materials  for  a  history  of  Ulster 
county,  which  he  never  completed,  speaks  of 
a  Jacob  Pietersen  who  lived  at  Saugerties  about 
1660,  but  does  not  give  authority.  He  may 
have  been,  if  he  ever  existed,  the  sawyer.  The 
Seventeenth  Century  closed  and  a  decade  of 
the  Eighteenth  passed  without  another  con- 
veyance of  land  within  the  bounds  of  the  town 
of  Saugerties.  It  is  probable  that  some  trapper 
may  have  made  a  temporary  home  in  the  wild- 
erness which  he  shifted  as  game  appeared  more 
plenty  elsewhere.  The  trustees  disposed  of 
the  land  on  such  easy  terms  that  it  was  not 
difficult  to  acquire  homes  and  farms.  Still, 
before  1 710,  but  few  were  applied  for. 

In  connection  with  the  sawyer  another  ques- 
tion arises:  "  For  whom  did  the  sawyer  saw?" 
A  sawmill  is  not  constructed  to  have  its  product 
used,  or  consumed,  solely  by  its  owner  living 
under  primitive  conditions  in  an  unsettled 
wilderness.  The  Indian  chief,  Kaelcop,  speaks 
of  him,  as  before  stated,  as  being  here  in  1677, 
while  Capt.  Cregier  mentions  Sager's  creek  in 
1663,  fourteen  years  previously,  and  twenty- 
four  years  before  the  Meals  and  Hayes  patents 
and  fifty  years  before  John  Persen  settled  in 
this    village    and   built    the   grist   mill   on   the 


26  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Esopus.  There  were  no  roads  at  that  early 
date  as  the  Old  Kings  Road,  the  earliest  in  the 
town,  \vas  the  "  ffootpath  to  Albany"  as  late 
as  1670  and  not  laid  out  as  a  road  until  1703. 
It  has  been  said  that  he  sawed  for  Livingston, 
the  first  proprietor  of  Livingston  Manor.  But 
this  Livingston  was  not  born  until  1654  and 
received  his  grant  in  1686  which  was  by  royal 
charter  erected  into  a  manor  in  171 5.  And 
any  one  who  knows  the  conditions  of  the  Hud- 
son at  the  mouth  of  the  Saw  creek  would 
hardly  claim  that  the  product  of  a  saw  mill 
could  be  readily  shipped  in  anything  but  a 
flat-bottomed  scow.  The  sawyer  is  mysterious 
and  his  customers  seem  mythical,  but  his  exist- 
ence seems  a  sufficientlv  attested  fact. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    COMING   OF   THE   PALATINES. 

As  the  year  of  our  Lord  1710  was  drawing' 
to  its  close  there  seems  to  have  been  but  two 
families  settled  within  this  town,  both  of  whom 
were  living  on  the  southern  border  on  the  Eso- 
pus  creek  and  the  Plattekill.  Since  Petrus 
Winne  had  obtained  his  grant  in  1692  no  one 
had  sought  and  secured  a  home  within  the 
limits  of  this  town.  During  those  twenty  years 
its  solitudes  remained  unbroken.  Kingston  on 
the  south  slowly  added  to  its  population,  and 
Katskill  (Leeds)  on  the  north  had  had  an  un- 
troubled existence  and  quiet  growth  since  1644. 
But  it  was  still  the  smallest  of  hamlets.  Be- 
tween the  two  settlements  lay  the  primitive 
wilderness  and  at  the  time  of  which  we  speak 
almost  untrodden  by  the  red  sons  of  the  forest. 
Their  titles  had  been  extinguished  for  a  third 
of  a  century,  yet  their  successors  seemed  in  no 
hurry  for  its  possession.  In  truth  the  whites 
who  could  settle  were  very  few.  Emigration^ 
which  had  but  just  begun  to  any  extent  at  the 
close  of  Dutch  supremacy,  had  not  yet  awak- 
ened under  their  British  successors.     In  Octo- 


28  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

ber,  17 10,  it  was  to  come  in  as  a  flood,  and  the 
present  northeast  corner  of  both  the  town  of 
Saugerties  and  the  county  of  Ulster  was  to  be 
the  scene.  At  that  date,  and  for  fifty  years 
longer,  this  spot  was  part  of  the  county  of 
Albany  (Greene)  county.  But  as  it  was  added 
to  Ulster  in  1767,  and  is  still  in  this  county  its 
history  will  be  treated  as  the  history  of  the 
town  of  Saugerties.  For  in  October,  1710,  the 
-colony  of  Palatines  came  to  East  Camp  and 
West  Camp.  It  was  the  largest  emigration  at 
any  one  time  in  colonial  days,  and  it  brought 
into  Ulster  county  a  colony  of  Germans  to 
become  pioneers  and  founders  with  the  Dutch 
in  Kingston,  and  the  French  in  New  Paltz. 

Who  were  the  Palatines?  Whence  came 
they,  and  why?  They  came  from  their  homes 
on  the  sunny,  castled  Rhine  along  which  his- 
tory has  been  made  since  civilization  began. 
There  has  always  been  a  '*  Wacht  am  Rhein." 
It  has  always  been  the  battlefield  of  Europe. 
Into  the  history  of  the  Palatinate  this  history 
cannot  go.  It  can  only  briefly  state  the  causes 
of  the  emigration. 

There  are  two  Palatinates  in  Europe,  the 
Upper  and  the  Lower.  With  the  Upper,  or 
Bavarian,  this  history  has  no  concern.  It  has 
to  do  with  the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine,  the 
Lower  Palatinate.  It  might  be  somewhat  in- 
definitely  said  to  be  Alsace  and   Lorraine   of 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PALATINES.       29- 

what  was  France  to  1871,  and  Wurtemburg 
and  Baden  in  Germany.  Its  capital  was  Hei- 
delberg. Its  principal  cities  were  Mayence, 
Mannheim,  Spires  and  Worms  among  many 
other  historic  ones. 

The  people  were  mostly  Protestant,  and 
about  equally  divided  between  the  Lutheran 
and  the  Reformed  faiths.  In  1685,  the  year 
the  Meals  and  Hayes  grant  was  made,  which 
was  the  first  step  towards  the  settlement  of 
this  town,  Louis  XIV.  revoked  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  which  had  given  safety  to  the  Hugue- 
nots of  France,  and  eighty  years  of  prosperity 
to  that  kingdom.  At  once  the  flight  of  the 
best  of  Frenchmen  began.  Tens  of  thousands 
fled  to  the  Pfals,  as  they  termed  the  Palatinate, 
which  name  survives  in  our  New  Paltz.  And 
the  anger  of  Louis  was  kindled  against  the 
Palatinate  where  already  his  covetous  eyes  had 
been  resting.  From  that  time  these  beautiful 
Rhine  provinces  were  almost  unceasingly  har- 
ried by  the  hosts  of  France.  Lust  and  rapine 
stalked  rampant  through  the  land.  The  story 
of  the  wars  of  the  Grand  Alliance,  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  or  of  any  of  those  which 
during  the  next  twenty  years  "  made  the  Pal- 
atinate a  cinder,"  would  be  of  interest  but  can 
not  be  told  here.  Every  great  city  on  the 
Rhine  above  Cologne  was  taken  and  sacked. 
The  Elector  Palatine,  from  the  walls  of  Mann. 


30  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

heim,  one  day  counted  no  less  than  twenty- 
three  towns  and  villages  in  flames.  The  brutal 
soldiers  of  Louis  even  broke  into  the  imperial 
tombs  in  Spires  and  scattered  the  dust  and 
bones  of  the  emperors.  Many  are  the  ruins 
to-day  along  the  castled  Rhine  which  tell  of 
the  atrocity  of  the  army  of  the  Grande  Mon- 
arque. 

More  than  all  the  people  suffered.     Frozen 

corpses  lay  over  the  fields,  which  in  life  they 

had  plowed  and  reaped.     The  conflagration  of 

Chicago   did  not  sweep  more   insatiably   than 

did  the  besom  of  French  destruction  over  this 

land   of   the    Rhine.     Thousands   of    families 

were  homeless,  and  in  direst  straits  wandered 

through     Germany,     Holland     and     England. 

Many  permanently  settled  in  those  countries, 

but  the  years   1708  and   1709  found   13,000  in 

England    still    unprovided    for.     Queen   Anne 

was  then  on  the  throne  and  was  first  cousin  to 

their  Prince.     The  Palatines  never  wearied  of 

singing  her  praises.     One  day  a  band  of  these 

refugees   led    by   one    of    their    pastors,    Rev. 

Joshua    Kocherthal,     marched     through     the 

streets  of  London.     Their  shovel  hats,  quaint 

garments  and   wooden   shoes   were   objects  of 

great  curiosity  to  every  observer.     Their  leader, 

pastor   Kocherthal,  was  a  tall,  grave    man   of 

mature  years.     The  queen  sent  for  him  and  he 

presented  a  petition  for  her  favor  as  he,  with  a 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PAL  A  TINES.       3 1 

company  of  forty-one  souls,  who  had  taken  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  her,  were  about  to  depart 
for  America.  She  questioned  him  minutely, 
and  he  described  himself  and  his  people.  She 
was  impressed  by  his  sincerity,  ability  and  force 
of  character  and  granted  his  request.  He 
brought  his  little  colony  here  and  settled  them 
on  the  Hudson  where  is  now  the  city  of  New- 
burgh. 

As  soon  as  he  saw  the  colony  firmly  planted 
he  sailed  for  England.  These  few  colonists 
could  be  cared  for.  There  were  thousands 
more  in  England  who  needed  him.  He  had 
another  interview  with  the  queen  whose  sym- 
pathies were  aroused,  as  were  those  of  the 
court  and  people.  Collections  had  been  taken 
in  the  churches  for  their  support.  This  history 
will  not  tell  the  long  story.  Nor  speak  of  the 
serious  problem  before  the  government.  At 
last  some  wiseacre  conceived  the  idea  that  Eng- 
land, which  was  entirely  dependent  upon  other 
nations  for  naval  stores,  might  produce  them 
herself  from  the  pines  upon  the  Hudson  and 
it  was  decided  upon.  Six  thousand  acres  of 
land  were  purchased  from  Robert  Livingston 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river  and  the  FuUerton 
tract  of  eight  hundred  acres  on  the  west  side, 
and  towards  the  end  of  January,  i/io,  ten 
ships,  upon  which  about  3,000  souls  embarked, 
set    sail   for   the    Hudson   river.     After   weary 


32  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

years  of  death  and  destruction,  after  wander- 
ings over  Europe  the  largest  exodus  that  ever 
took  ship  to  seek  a  new  home  sailed  away.  To 
what?  Before  them  a  vast  and  stormy  wintry 
sea.  Beyond  it  a  vague  wilderness  and  to  most 
of  them  twenty  years  more  of  wandering  be- 
fore final  homes  were  found  in  Pennsylvania. 
As  the  last  of  the  emigrants  embarked,  a  boat 
was  overturned  and  its  occupants  were  drowned. 
Then  a  great  storm  arose,  separated  the  ships, 
and  for  five  months  these  poor  exiles  were 
tossed  about  in  their  packed  vessels  during  the 
most  inclement  of  winters  with  scant  provisions 
and  with  a  mortal  sickness  on  board,  beating 
against  adverse  winds  in  search  of  a  home. 
Before  June  13,  17 10,  when  they  reached  New 
York,  470  had  died.  Their  voyage  was  one  of 
the  most  terrible  in  history.  And  they  little 
knew  what  was  worse  than  all.  A  semi-serf- 
dom awaited  them.  These  people  are  usually 
spoken  of  as  ''  poor  Palatines."  And  they  were. 
They  possessed  absolutely  nothing  materially. 
Lust,  rapine,  murder,  outrage  and  war  for 
twenty  years  had  taken  care  for  that.  Once 
they  had  not  been  so.  Their  land  had  been 
the  garden  of  Europe.  Who  that  has  sung 
"  Bingen  on  the  Rhine"  of  the  Palatines  needs 
such  information?  And  they  had  more.  No 
one  who  has  ever  seen  the  documents  signed 
by   these   Palatines   needs    be   told    that    they 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  PA  LA  TINES.       33 

came  from  lands  of  school  houses.  They  were 
the  signatures  of  hands  that  were  used  to  pens. 
They  came  to  West  Camp  Oct.  4,  17 10.  Bark 
and  log  huts  were  built  for  winter  quarters. 
Here  they  shivered  and  suffered.  But  they 
built  a  church  that  very  winter.  And  in  Jan- 
uary, three  months  after  their  landing,  they 
had  a  school  house.  And  it  was  made  of 
sawed  boards.  Think  what  this  means  !  Think 
what  these  exiles  had  passed  through  !  Think 
where  they  were !  They  could  keep  their 
weary  bodies  alive  somehow.  But  mind  and 
soul  must  have  the  best  obtainable  in  this 
howling  wilderness.  The  world  has  long  ad- 
mired the  high  ideals  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth 
rock  had  set  before  them.  But  the  relative 
needs  of  body,  mind  and  soul  were  nevermore 
clearly  seen,  nor  more  quickly  provided  for 
than  by  these  exiles  from  their  home  along  the 
sunny  Rhine  who,  in  the  direst  straits  of  pov- 
erty, in  semi-serfdom,  in  mid-winter,  while 
shivering  frames  lacked  nutritious  food,  first  of 
all  built  themselves  a  school  and  a  church. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  PALATINES   AT   THE   CAMP. 

On  June  13,  1710,  the  first  of  the  ten  vessels 
which  had  sailed  from  England  dropped  her 
anchor  in  New  York  harbor.  The  new  governor 
of  the  colony,  Col.  Robert  Hunter,  came  with 
her,  and  on  June  16,  reports  that  **  three  of  the 
Palatine  ships  are  wanting,  and  those  that  have 
arrived  are  in  a  deplorable  condition."  And 
they  were.  Many  cases  of  contagious  diseases 
were  among  the  colonists.  So  it  was  decided 
to  disembark  them  upon  Nutten  (now  Gov- 
ernors) Island  where  huts  were  built  for  them. 
Not  until  the  end  of  July  did  all  the  ships 
report,  and  even  then  one  had  never  come 
farther  than  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island 
where  she  went  ashore.  Her  passengers  were 
saved,  but  the  goods  were  much  damaged. 
Since  they  sailed  from  England  in  the  latter 
part  of  January,  1710,  four  hundred  and  sev- 
enty of  their  number  had  died  at  sea  and 
within  eighteen  months  that  number  had  in- 
creased until  one-fourth  of  the  3,000  who  had 
embarked  had  perished. 

The  death  of  so  many  of  these  emigrants 


THE  PALATINES  AT  THE  CAMP.        35 

left  more  than  three  hundred  widows,  single 
women  and  children  upon  Gov.  Hunter's  hands. 
The  London  Board  of  Trade  in  their  wisdom 
had  decided  to  send  the  Palatines  to  the  Hud- 
son river  to  make  naval  stores  from  the  pines, 
and  had  caused  them,  on  Dec.  21,  1709,  to  sign 
a  covenant  before  they  sailed  by  which  they 
agreed  to  "  repay  to  Her  Majesty  the  full  sum, 
or  sums  of  money  in  which  we  are  indebted  to 
Her  Majesty,"  by  "  the  production  or  manu- 
facture of  all  manner  of  naval  stores."  They 
farther  promised  not  to  leave  the  lands  allotted 
to  them  on  any  manner  of  pretense.  For  this 
purpose  they  had  been  transported  and  now 
Gov.  Hunter  set  about  colonizing  them. 

His  first  step,  after  placing  the  people  on 
Governors  Island,  was  to  find  the  most  promis- 
ing place  in  which  the  Palatines  could  accom- 
plish the  desire  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  He 
immediately  dispatched  the  surveyor-general 
to  the  Mohawk  river  and  to  Schoharie  to  locate 
a  site.  During  his  absence  he  issued  an  order 
apprenticing  the  orphan  children  around  in  the 
province  and  they  were  distributed  from  Liv- 
ingston's Manor  to  Long  Island.  This  in 
those  days  meant  a  final  separation  in  most 
cases.  It  was  the  first  act  of  the  authorities 
which  embittered  the  people  against  the  gov- 
ernor. The  report  of  the  surveyor-general 
recommended   the   settlement    of    the   colony 


36  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

upon  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  at  what  became 
East  Camp  and  West  Camp.  This  was  the 
second  of  their  grievances.  They  had  met  in 
England  a  deputation  of  Mohawks  from  whom 
they  had  obtained  a  promise  of  lands  at  Scho- 
harie, and  they  came  to  this  country  believing 
they  were  to  be  sent  there.  They  began  to 
complain  that  faith  was  not  kept  with  them. 
In  vain  did  the  governor  tell  them  that  Scho- 
harie was  on  the  frontier  and  could  not  be  well 
defended ;  that  there  were  no  pines  there  for 
the  naval  stores ;  that  were  there  pines  there 
in  paying  quantities  there  was  no  means  of 
transporting  the  product  to  navigable  waters. 
They  answered  that  they  had  been  promised 
lands  in  Schoharie,  and  it  was  a  violation  of 
agreement  not  to  be  sent  there. 

The  governor  was  inexorable  and  about 
Oct.  1st  he  bought  the  land  on  the  east  and 
west  sides  of  the  Hudson.  He  made  a  con- 
tract with  Robert  Livingston  to  feed  them,  and 
on  the  sixth  of  October  he  began  their  sup- 
port. On  November  14,  1710,  Gov.  Hunter 
writes  :  '*  I  have  just  returned  from  settling  the 
Palatines  on  Hudson's  river.  Each  family  hath 
a  sufificient  lot  of  good  arable  land,  and  ships 
of  fifteen  foot  draught  of  water  can  sail  as  far 
as  their  Plantations.  They  have  already  built 
themselves  comfortable  huts  and  are  now  em- 
ployed in  clearing  the  ground.     In  the  Spring 


THE  PALATINES  AT  THE  CAMP.        37 

I    shall    set   them    to    work    in    preparing   the 
trees." 

The  colony  was  composed  of  seven  villages, 
the  four  in  East  Camp  being  Hunterstown, 
Queenstown,  Annsbury  and  Haysbury,  and  the 
three  in  West  Camp  were  named  Elizabeth- 
town,  Georgetown  and  Newtown.  As  stated 
in  the  last  chapter  no  sooner  had  huts  to  shelter 
them  been  constructed  than  the  colony  began 
to  erect  a  church  in  which  the  two  pastors, 
Rev.  Joshua  Kocherthal,  the  Lutheran,  and 
Rev.  John  Frederick  Hager,  the  Reformed, 
officiated.  And  here  for  twenty  years  they 
lived  in  religious  harmony  until  those  of  the 
Reformed  faith  built  the  church  at  Katsbaan 
on  the  west  side,  and  that  of  Germantown  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river  and  left  the  church 
at  West  Camp  to  the  use  of  the  Lutherans  of 
of  the  colony.  With  the  church  arose  the 
school.  Three  months  had  but  just  passed 
when  a  school  house  "  of  sawed  boards"  is 
reported,  and  these  poverty-stricken  colonists, 
who  protested  that  their  children  had  been 
taken  from  them  and  apprenticed  to  strangers, 
had  gathered  the  rest  for  instruction  under  a 
teacher  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Johannes  Mattice  Jung  (Young). 

In  their  huts  of  logs,  brush  and  bark  the  Pal- 
atines passed  the  winter  of  1710-11  shivering 
and    suffering.     Tradition,    which    fixes    their 


38  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

coming  on  Dec.  24,  says  that  the  winter  was 
mild  and  open  and  the  river  did  not  freeze 
over.  But  tradition,  as  it  so  often  is,  is  griev- 
ously at  fault.  According  to  the  complaints 
they  made  to  the  government  the  winter  was 
severe.  They  suffered  greatly  from  the  bitter 
cold  in  their  huts  and  tents  in  the  wilderness, 
and  the  insufficient  clothing  furnished.  Further 
than  this  they  charged  Livingston  with  provid- 
ing food  poor  in  quality,  and  inadequate  in 
quantity.  What  ground  for  these  charges  there 
was  cannot  be  ascertained.  Nor  how  far  their 
natural  disappointment  was  a  factor.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  they  had  been  full  of 
enthusiasm.  The  queen  and  the  government 
had  been  generous  to  them  in  England. 

But  they  were  now  under  men  who  were 
attempting  to  make  an  enterprise  financially 
successful.  The  English  government  had  in- 
vested 8,000  pounds  sterling  in  the  scheme. 
But  every  future  dollar  came  from  the  pocket 
of  Gov.  Hunter  until  he  had  sunk  about 
$130,000,  and  when  it  failed  it  was  never 
refunded  him.  The  situation  of  the  Palatines 
was  almost  destructive  of  the  last  trace  of 
enthusiasm  not  only,  but  of  hope.  Unwit- 
tingly it  may  be,  but  no  less  surely,  they  had 
bound  themselves  by  a  covenant  to  reimburse 
the  cost  of  their  transportion  by  a  serfdom 
which  might  last  many  years  ;  it  was  the  dead 


THE  PALATINES  AT  THE  CAMP.        39 

of  winter  in  an  inhospitable  climate,  in  a  howl- 
ing wilderness,  in  sheds  of  bark  and  logs,  and 
with  many  relatives  bound  out  among  strangers 
and  from  whom  they  might  never  learn  tidings. 
This  happened  in  some  cases  at  least.  No 
wonder  there  was  dissatisfaction  and  com- 
plaint. And  all  this  was  aggravated  by  the 
attitude  of  the  officials  placed  over  them,  who 
carried  themselves  as  masters  among  slaves. 

As  the  snows  disappeared  the  people  began 
to  work  preparing  the  pines  for  a  flow  of  tur- 
pentine. Jean  Cast,  a  Frenchman,  who  had 
been  left  by  the  governor  as  his  personal  rep- 
resentative at  the  Camp,  writes  under  date  of 
March  14,  171 1, ''The  people  are  willing  to 
take  their  share  of  the  salt  beef  which  they 
hitherto  were  unwilling  to  accept.  While  thus 
occupied  a  great  many  of  the  settlers  came 
from  all  the  villages  to  receive  the  tools  sent 
them  from  New  York ;  they  all  without  excep- 
tion evinced  a  modesty,  civility  and  respect 
which  surprised,  as  much  as  it  delighted  me. 
They  have  all  exhibited  equal  readiness  to  clear 
and  prepare  their  gardens  and  have  invited  me 
to  spend  a  week  with  them." 

But  dissatisfaction  increased.  It  soon  be- 
came apparent  that  the  project  would  never 
succeed.  The  trees  were  mostly  white  pine, 
and  although  there  were  many  pitch  pines  they 
were  but  small.     The  children  were  set  at  work 


40  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES, 

gathering  pine  knots,  of  which  the  forest  was 
full  and  from  them  about  sixty  barrels  of  tar 
were  made.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  sole 
result  of  the  undertaking.  By  May,  i/ii,  the 
murmurs  of  the  people  were  so  persistent  that 
the  governor  came  up  to  the  Camp  and  found 
a  mutiny  brooding.  They  demanded  to  be 
sent  to  Schoharie  and  claimed  to  have  been 
cheated  in  the  contract  they  signed.  He  paci- 
fied them  and  returned  to  New  York,  but  was 
overtaken  before  he  reached  the  city  with  tid- 
ings that  the  mutiny  had  broken  out  again. 
He  was  compelled  to  put  it  down  with  a  force 
of  soldiers.  The  Palatines  returned  to  their 
villages  and  to  their  tasks.  All  through  the 
following  summer  they  labored  on,  resignedly 
and  steadily.  They  worked  at  the  trees  pre- 
paring 15,000  a  day  until  over  100,000  had  been 
made  ready.  But  by  the  winter  of  171 1 -12 
their  patience  was  exhausted.  Fresh  troubles 
arose.  It  was  upon  the  same  grievances.  Still 
they  remained  quiet  until  the  spring  when  the 
governor  ordered  from  Albany  an  additional 
force  of  a  lieutenant  and  thirty  men.  From 
this  time  the  colonists  appear  to  have  been 
under  a  kind  of  compulsory  servitude,  a  slav- 
ery. No  wonder  they  were  in  a  state  of 
chronic  revolt.  They  tell  the  story  of  the  pre- 
ceding winter  in  a  "Statement  of  Grievances" 
sent  to  the  king.     The  winter  was  "  very  severe 


THE  PALATINES  AT  THE  CAMP.         41 

and  no  provision  to  be  had  and  the  people  bare 
of  clothes,  which  occasioned  a  terrible  conster- 
nation among  theni  and  particularly  from  the 
women  and  children  the  most  pitiful  and  dolor- 
ous cries  and  lamentations  that  have  perhaps 
ever  been  heard  from  any  persons  under  the 
most  wretched  and  miserable  circumstances,  so 
that  they  were  at  last,  much  against  their  wills, 
put  under  the  hard  and  greeting  necessity  of 
seeking  relief  from  the  Indians." 

In  April,  1712,  some  of  them  upon  the  east 
side  of  the  river  deserted  and  crossing  sought  a 
refuge  among  their  brethren  of  West  Camp 
and  many  passed  over  to  the  Dutch  across  the 
Sawyer's  creek  in  Ulster  county.  But  the 
magistrates  of  Kingston,  responding  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  authorities  of  the  Manor,  sent 
them  back.  They  then  determined  to  go  to 
Schoharie  and  some  of  them  started,  but  were 
compelled  to  return  by  force.  Finally  on  Sep- 
tember 13,  1712,  the  governor  decided  that  the 
scheme  was  a  failure  and  gave  permission  to 
the  Palatines  to  shift  for  themselves. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE   PALATINES   FIND    HOMES. 

The  release  of  the  Palatines  from  the  con- 
tract  to  labor  in  making  naval  stores  in  payment 
of  the  cost  of  their  transportation  to  America 
was  accompanied  by  the  notice  that  the  "  con- 
tract is  still  binding  and  they  must  return  on 
call."  But  the  failure  was  so  complete  that  no 
call  was  ever  made  and  the  colonists  became 
freemen.  The  Palatines  on  the  Manor  took 
steps  at  once  to  secure  that  freedom.  About 
one-third  of  those  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
remained  there.  The  rest  migrated  to  Scho- 
harie. With  their  troubles  in  acquiring  title 
to  the  lands  there  and  their  dispersion  to  the 
Mohawk  and  Pennsylvania  we  have  nothing  to 
do  here.  Nor  with  the  small  band  that  founded 
Rhinebeck  and  named  it  after  their  loved  river 
in  the  homeland.  We  must  follow  the  Pala- 
tines of  our  town. 

It  is  difificult  to  determine  the  relative  num- 
bers of  the  colonists  on  either  side  of  the  river. 
The  colony  had  more  than  seven  times  the 
acreage  on  the  east  side  that  it  had  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Hudson.     Cobb's   "Story  of 


THE  PALATINES  FIND  HOMES.         43 

the  Palatines"  takes  it  for  granted  that  there 
was  almost  no  tar-making  on  the  west  side. 
But  to  one  familiar  with  the  soil  on  either  side 
of  the  river  it  would  seem  that  the  west  bank 
would  be  a  natural  home  of  the  pine.  The 
soil  fulfils  the  pine  land  conditions  better. 
Besides  there  is  direct  evidence  of  tar-making 
at  West  Camp.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Palatine 
commissioners  on  July  4,  171 1,  it  was  resolved 
that  "  Every  two  Palatine  Coopers,  whereof 
there  are  12  on  this  (east)  side  and  4  on  the 
other  (west)  side  of  Hudson's  river  have  four 
Palatines  for  their  assistants,  to  cut  down,  saw, 
and  split  the  timber  and  assist  in  making  the 
barrel  staves  fit  for  the  containing  Tarr  for 
Transportation,  and  that  the  respective  List 
masters,  or  heads  of  Every  Village  on  this  side 
Doe  detach  24  men,  and  12  men  on  the  other 
(west)  side  every  munday  in  their  turn  -^^  *  * 
and  there  work  till  Saturday  night."  The  list 
masters  (foremen)  for  the  west  side  of  the  river 
to  supervise  the  tar-making  were  for  Elizabeth- 
town,  John  Christopher  Gerlach  ;  for  George- 
town, Jacob  Manck  ;  for  Newtown,  Philip  Peter 
Grauberger.  But  whatever  the  fact,  one  thing 
is  beyond  dispute.  The  colonists  at  West 
Camp  remained  where  they  were.  They  did 
not  go  to  Schoharie.  The  names  of  those  pos- 
itively known  to  have  been  here  from  the  first 
show  that  these  families  are  in  our  town  to  this 


44  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

day  in  their  descendants.  There  is  one  thing 
remarkable.  Although  the  purchased  lands 
upon  the  east  shore  were  so  much  more  than 
upon  the  west  it  seems  that  the  headquarters 
was  on  this  side.  Here  was  built  the  church. 
Here  pastor  Kocherthal  lived,  died  and  was 
buried.  Here  the  colonists  were  content  to 
stay. 

It  is  an  interesting  question  what  was  the 
number  of  Palatines  who  came  to  the  Camp, 
and  how  many  remained.  But  it  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  answer.  There  is  a  discrepancy  in 
the  different  accounts  of  the  number  of  those 
who  sailed  from  England  in  January,  1710. 
The  journal  of  Conrad  Weiser  gives  4,000. 
Other  accounts  state  the  number  at  above 
3,000.  This  number  is  probably  nearer  the 
truth.  On  February  8,  171 1,  the  Lords  of 
Trade  report  to  Queen  Anne  that  the  number 
of  Palatines  settled  at  the  Camp  is  2,227.  Of 
these  the  names  of  82  heads  of  families,  and 
a  total  of  257  persons  is  given  as  having  win- 
tered at  West  Camp.  On  March  25,  171 1,  the 
subsistence  of  1,437  persons  is  reported.  A 
report  made  May  i,  171 1,  says  that  1,761  per- 
sons were  here,  of  whom  583  are  at  West 
Camp.  The  number  given  on  June  24,  171 1,  is 
1,874,  of  whom  639  are  at  West  Camp.  Octo- 
ber 24,  171 1,  the  number  at  the  Camp  is  only 
1,422.     The  last  report  of  all  is  made  a  number 


THE  PALATINES  FIND  HOMES.         45 

of  years  after  this,  and  after  the  exodus  to 
Schoharie,  when  68o  persons  are  reported  at 
Schoharie,  232  at  West  Camp  and  those  at 
East  Camp  are  359,  with  140  at  Rhinebeck. 
At  this  time  40  are  said  to  be  in  Kingston,  or 
probably,  Kingston  Commons,  meaning  else- 
where in  this  town  than  in  the  vicinity  of  West 
Camp.  It  is  expressly  said  that  no  widows  or 
orphans  are  included  in  this  statement. 

In  the  covenant  made  between  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  the  Palatines  while  in  London,  a 
promise  was  made  of  an  allotment  to  each  per- 
son of  forty  acres  of  land  free  of  taxes,  or  rents 
for  seven  years  from  the  date  of  the  grant,  and 
to  be  made  at  the  conclusion  of  their  service. 
This  was  never  made  them.  And  when  they 
were  released  and  bidden  to  seek  for  them- 
selves, most  of  those  at  West  Camp  passed 
over  from  the  Fullerton  patent  to  the  Kingston 
Commons  seeking  homes.  In  another  chapter 
we  will  see  the  effect  of  this  upon  the  church 
at  West  Camp  for  a  generation  and  a  half. 

Nevertheless  some  families  remained  at  West 
Camp  and  acquired  good  titles  to  homes  and 
farms.  On  Oct.  10,  1715,  Gov.  Hunter  reported 
that  the  Palatines  who  were  supporting  them- 
selves not  only  did  so  very  comfortably,  but 
the  more  industrious  really  began  to  make 
money.  On  July  7,  1717,  he  reports  that  all 
earn  a  living  and  some  are  grown  rich. 


46  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

There  is  one  quaint  estimate  of  what  the 
colony  would  need  made  in  November,  1710, 
a  month  after  the  settlement,  which,  after  giv- 
ing the  number  of  sets  of  harness,  blacksmith's, 
carpenter's  and  other  tools  and  implements, 
says  that  "some  things  are  wanted  forth  with, 
as  a  church  for  divine  service  in  each  of  the 
settlements  ;  a  warehouse  in  ye  same  and  house 
for  ye  ofificers ;  3  pair  of  millstones;  250  cows 
and  600  sowes."  Also  wanted  "  100  pounds 
in  New  York  money  to  pay  a  Phisitian  general, 
40  pounds  to  pay  2  surgeons;  20  pounds  to 
pay  2  schoolmasters.  Four  nurses  are  wanted 
for  ye  hospital  at  216  pence  a  week.  The  sub- 
sistence of  the  above  will  be  paid." 

A  full  list  of  the  Palatines  who  came  to  New 
York   with  Gov.    Hunter,   in   June,   1710,  was 
never  made,  nor  of   those  who  came  to  the 
Camp.     And  the  constantly  changing  numbers 
increases   the   difficulty  of   mentioning   them. 
But  the  following  names  of  those  who  settled 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river  are  taken  from  the 
records,  mentioning  only  those  whose  descend- 
ants are   found  in   this   town.     Peter   Maurer, 
(Mower),  wife  and  an  adult  woman  ;  Frederick 
Mirckle  (Markle),  wife,  2  lads  and  3  girls  ;  Val- 
entine  Wolleben   (Wolven)    and    wife ;  Philip 
Wolleben  ;  John  Becker  and  son  ;  Albert  Ded- 
crick   Marterstock  and   wife  ;  John  Eberhard ; 
Peter  Wolleben,  wife  and  three  children;  An- 


THE  PALATINES  FIND  HOMES.         47 

thony  Kremer  (Cramer) ;  Stephen  Frolich 
(Freligh),  wife  and  3  children  ;  Gartrud  Eiker- 
tin  (Eckert)  and  2  children  ;  Peter  Becker  and 
wife ;  Valentine  Ffaulkinberg,  wife  and  one 
child;  Wilhelm  Muller  (Miller) ;  Elizabeth  Jung 
(Young)  and  3  children;  Elizabeth  Bayherin 
(Bear)  and  one  child  ;  John  Michael  Emerick 
and  wife ;  Peter  Diebel  (Dibble),  wife  and 
child ;  Catherine  Schultzin ;  Christian  Myer 
and  wife  ;  Peter  Overbach  and  wife  ;  Hyerony- 
mous  Schib  (Shoub)  and  wife.  These  spent 
the  first  winter  at  West  Camp.  Among  those 
who  came  up  from  New  York  in  the  spring  of 
171 1,  and  during  the  summer  are  Palatines  by 
the  names  of  Young,  Plank,  Bronck,  Dederick, 
Schutt,  Newkirk,  Eligh,  Wanamaker,  Valk,  Sax, 
Snyder,  Romer,  Felton,  Hoffman,  Schumaker, 
Hauver,  Hagedorn,  Schaffer,  Keyser,  Sagen- 
dorf,  Riffenberg,  Linck,  Hoff,  Winter,  Dill, 
Sharpe  and  Kieffer.  And  from  those  who 
came  in  1708  to  Newburgh  there  came  the 
following:  Daniel  Fiero,  Andreas  Valck  and 
Isaac  Turck  and  their  families. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  history  to 
trace  these  families  along  the  lines  descending 
from  this  Palatine  stock.  Descendants  of  most 
are  residents  of  this  town  to-day.  The  earliest 
homes  of  many  of  them  will  be  located  in 
subsequent  chapters. 

So  Saugerties  received  its  strongest  element 


48  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

and  the  most  numerous.  At  this  time  there 
was  but  a  handful  of  settlers  within  our  borders 
and  these  were  Dutch.  Some  of  the  earliest 
deeds  granted  were  to  Palatines.  A  few 
Huguenot  families  were  early  resident.  And 
one  or  two  English.  But  this  influx  of  at  least 
two  hundred  and  fifty  people  was  enough  to 
stamp  a  character  upon  the  community  for 
generations.  They  were  an  intelligent  people. 
Their  signatures  show  that  they  were  used  to 
handling  a  pen.  The  journal  of  Weiser  is  well 
written.  Their  first  act,  which  built  a  school 
house  immediately,  proves  it.  And  the  next 
chapter  but  one  will  show  their  leader,  Koch- 
erthal,  to  have  been  a  man  of  fine  education. 
They  were  God-fearing,  for  their  earliest  record 
is  that  they  built  a  church  forthwith,  as  well  as 
a  school  house.  They  were  liberty  loving. 
Their  semi-serfdom  was  irksome,  and  only 
acquiesced  in  because  they  felt  indebted  to  the 
queen  and  her  government  for  assistance.  And 
they  were  patriotic.  Their  record  of  service  for 
their  adopted  country  is  noble.  The  first  win- 
ter they  sent  a  company  of  volunteers  for 
service  against  the  French  in  Canada.  And 
during  the  Revolutionary  war  no  patriots  were 
more  self-sacrificing  than  they.  Among  the 
apprenticed  orphan  children,  previously  spoken 
of,  was  one  named  John  Peter  Zenger,  who,  in 
.after  years,  established  a  paper  in  New  York 


THE  PALATINES  FIND  HOMES.         4^ 

and  fearlessly  criticised  the  arbitrary  colonial 
government.  He  was  arrested  and  imprisoned. 
His  trial  and  triumphant  acquittal  established 
the  freedom  of  the  press  in  America,  and  would 
be  an  interesting  story,  but  it  does  not  particu- 
arly  relate  to  the  history  of    our  town. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE   WEST   CAMP   CHURCH. 

No  sooner  had  the  Palatines  been  landed  on 
the  shores  of  the  Hudson  at  the  Camp  than 
they  took  steps  to  provide  a  place  for  the 
public  worship  of  God.  The  authorities  had 
been  advised  that  two  such  buildings  be  erected, 
one  on  either  side  of  the  river.  But  without 
waiting  for  the  action  of  the  civil  authorities 
the  people  themselves  provided  a  place  at 
West  Camp.  And  they  did  this  the  first 
winter  they  were  there.  It  has  been  often 
said  that  pastor  Kocherthal  was  not  with  the 
colony  at  the  Camp  during  the  winter  of 
1710-11.  But  the  baptismal  register  shows 
baptisms  during  these  months.  If  this  be 
answered  that  he  was  with  the  colony  at  New- 
burgh  and  the  baptisms  were  there  it  is  sub- 
mitted that  Jean  Cast,  writing  from  West 
Camp,  March  27,  171 1,  reports  a  conversation 
with  Kocherthal  regarding  the  repugnance  of 
his  flock  to  the  making  of  tar  and  other  naval 
stores  which  unmistakably  establishes  the  fact 
of  his  presence  there. 

The    church    at    West    Camp    was    erected 


THE   WEST  CAMP  CHURCH.  51 

almost  upon  the  site  of  the  present  one.  As 
the  colony  reached  West  Camp  on  or  about 
Oct.  4,  1710,  it  is  probable  that  divine  services 
were  immediately  held  and  have  continued 
from  that  date,  with  an  exception  to  be  men- 
tioned. The  building  was  erected  for  the  wor- 
ship of  the  colony,  which  was  composed  of 
Lutherans  and  those  of  the  Reformed  faith. 
There  were  two  pastors,  the  Rev.  Joshua  Koch- 
erthal,  Lutheran,  and  the  Rev.  John  Frederick 
Hager,  Reformed.  Hager  resided  at  East 
Camp,  and  we  find  them  jointly  reporting  the 
number  of  families  under  their  charge  in  1718. 
In  October,  1715,  Hager  petitioned  Gov. 
Hunter  for  leave  and  help  to  build  a  church 
at  East  Camp,  promising  that  services  should 
be  performed  after  the  liturgy  of  the  Church 
of  England.  Nothing  resulted  from  the  peti- 
tion. 

Tradition  has  always  held  that  a  bell  was 
presented  to  the  church  by  Queen  Anne  which 
has  since  disappeared.  But  it  seems  that  tra- 
dition must  be  m  error.  The  church  records 
kept  by  Kocherthal  do  indeed  mention  the  bell 
given  by  Her  Majesty.  But  Kocherthal  had 
brought  over  the  Quassaick  (Newburgh)  colony 
in  1708,  two  years  before  he  brought  the  Camp 
colony.  With  the  first  colony  he  brought  the 
bell  as  his  records,  which  cover  both  colonies, 
show.     They  also  show  that  the  bell  was  loaned 


52  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

to  the  Lutheran  church  in  New  York,  where  it 
remained  for  more  than  twenty  years,  when  it 
was  brought  to  Newburgh  in  1733.  Kocherthal 
died  in  1719,  when  about  to  journey  once  more 
to  England  with  a  Palatine  commission  to 
secure  the  promises  covenanted  to  the  colonists. 
The  church  was  served  by  Hager  for  a  while 
and  then  by  the  Rev.  John  Jacob  Ehle,  Re- 
formed, and  the  Rev.  Daniel  Falckner  and  the 
Rev.  W,  C.  Berckenmayer,  Lutherans,  the  last  a 
son-in-law  of  Kocherthal.  These  services  were 
continued  occasionally  until  1729.  In  1727, 
the  present  Reformed  Church  was  organized  at 
Germantown,  and  in  1730,  the  Rev.  George 
Wilhelmus  Mancius  came  from  Holland  to  the 
Camp,  and  finding  most  of  the  colony  settled 
upon  lands  of  the  Kingston  Commons  and 
worshipping  on  the  Kats  Baan  became  their 
pastor.  In  1732,  upon  his  incitement,  they 
erected  the  old  stone  church  there.  From  this 
time  the  records  cease  at  West  Camp  until 
after  the  death  of  Mancius  in  1762.  In  1765, 
they  began  again,  and  in  1775,  the  Rev.  Philip 
Groz  was  settled  as  pastor  in  West  Camp. 
The  old  church  was  replaced  by  a  new  one 
about  1791-2,  and  was  afterwards  rebuilt.  In 
1871,  it  was  torn  down  after  the  erection  on  a 
site  but  a  few  feet  distant  of  the  present  beau- 
tiful structure. 

What  was  the  reason  for  this  long  lapse  in 


THE   WEST  CAMP  CHURCH,  53 

the  records  of  the  church  ?     A  suggestion  seems 
to  be  in  what  has  been  told  in  this  connection. 
The   settlement  at  West  Camp  was  upon  the 
patent  of  Thomas  FuUerton.     This  was  repur- 
chased by  the  British  government  through  Gov. 
Hunter,   who  advanced   $130,000  towards   the 
naval  stores  scheme.     When  the  project  failed 
the  sfovernment  would  not  reimburse   Hunter. 
His  money  was  invested  but  the  sole  asset  was 
the  property  here  at  the  Camp  including  the 
Fullerton  tract.     So  there  was  a  cloud  on  the 
title  to  the  lands.     The  Palatines  passed  over 
the  Sawyer's  creek  to  the  Kingston  Commons 
and  took  up  land  there.     Here  there  was  plenty 
which  could  be  purchased   for  not  more  than 
$2.50  per  acre,  or  leased  for  ten  years  at  a  rental 
of  two  fat  hens  per  annum  and  after  that  time 
for  not  more  than  a  peck  of    wheat  per  acre 
with   the   privilege  of    purchase   at   any   time. 
And  most  of  the  Palatines  availed  themselves 
of  the  privilege.     For  many  years  most  of  the 
families  resided  there  and  after  the  Katsbaan 
church  was  built  worshipped  there.     For  Man- 
cius  preached  in  German  at  Katsbaan,  at  least 
at   first,  and  afterwards  both    in  German   and 
Dutch.     At   his   death   in    1762  his  successors 
preached    in    Dutch    only.     By   this  time    the 
land  question  was  settled  and  West  Camp  had 
received    its    proportionate    share    of    settlers. 
Then  a  pastor   came   and  the  records   on  the 


54  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

church  book  are  continued.  Thus  this  church 
at  West  Camp  is  the  oldest  within  the  present 
town  of  Saugerties.  From  1765  the  services 
have  been  regularly  held  and  are  to  this  day. 
The  congregation  is  large  and  widely  extended. 
A  curious  difference  has  always  been  manifest 
between  the  Palatines  holding  the  Reformed 
faith  in  this  town  and  those  of  the  Lutheran. 
The  Reformed  intermingled  with  the  Dutch 
and  Huguenot  element  not  only,  but  built  no 
less  than  five  Reformed  churches  in  different 
parts  of  the  town,  while  the  Lutheran  element 
intermingled  comparatively  little,  and  all  re- 
mained loyal  members  of  the  original  church 
at  West  Camp  wherever  they  resided. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE   PALATINE    LEADER. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  remarkable  man 
who  led  the  exodus  from  the  Palatinate  into 
England  and  then  brought  two  colonies  across 
the  Atlantic  to  the  valley  of  the  Hudson.  He 
was  not  only  the  pastor  of  the  flock,  but  their 
leader  and  guide  in  temporal  affairs,  their  coun- 
sellor and  friend.  He  was  just  in  the  prime  of 
life,  a  tall  and  grave  man,  scholarly  and  retiring 
and  of  a  winsome  personality.  He  impressed 
all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  whether  the 
Lords  of  Trade,  or  the  people  of  England ; 
whether  Queen  Anne,  or  his  suffering  com.pa- 
triots.  Her  Majesty  set  aside  customs  in  his 
favor  and  provided  for  his  support  as  a  clergy- 
man in  a  communion  not  of  the  Church  of 
England.  His  entries  in  the  records  of  his 
church  show  a  poetic  soul  whom  the  dark 
waters  of  affliction  could  not  overwhelm  ;  a 
Christian  scholar  whose  interpretation  of  his 
varied  experiences  accorded  with  a  faith  which 
surmounted  every  obstacle  and  found  every 
event  another  proof  of  the  favor  of  his  Master 
and  Friend. 


56  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

As  we  have  been  telling  the  story  of  the 
colony  we  have  given  glimpses  of  his  spirit. 
We  will  add  some  matters  of  his  personal 
record.  The  Rev.  Joshua  Kocherthal  was 
born  in  the  year  1669,  the  year  of  the  birth 
of  his  beloved  Sibylla  Charlotte,  as  he  calls  his 
wife.  She  accompanied  him  upon  his  first 
voyage  which  brought  the  Newburgh  colonists, 
and  with  them  their  three  children.  Two 
others  were  born  in  this  country.  On  their 
voyage  out  they  came  with  the  fleet  bringing 
Lord  Lovelace,  the  new  governor  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey.  The  weather  was  tempestu- 
ous and  they  were  eleven  weeks  at  sea,  reach- 
ing New  York  on  New  Years  Day,  1709,  having 
suffered  severely.  He  left  his  wife  and  children 
in  New  York  on  his  return  to  England  for  the 
larger  emigration  and  while  he  was  away  his 
fourth  child  was  born.  The  story  of  the  six 
months  voyage  to  New  York  with  the  3,000 
Palatines  in  1710,  we  have  already  told,  of 
their  hardships,  sufferings  from  fever  and 
storm,  their  serfdom  and  final  dispersion.  In 
all  this  their  pastor  was  their  constant  guide, 
counsellor  and  helper.  September,  17 12,  saw 
the  release  of  the  people  from  their  thankless 
and  grinding  task  at  the  pines.  It  also  wit- 
nessed the  breaking  up  of  the  pastor's  flock. 
A  little  over  one  year  more  and  his  beloved 
Sibylla  Charlotte  was  called  away  on  Decem- 


THE   KOCHERTHAL   TABLET. 


THE  PALATINE  LEADER.  57 

ber  i6,  1713,  and  the  pastor  was  left  alone 
with  his  five  children,  the  oldest  of  whom, 
Benigna  Sibylla,  was  a  girl  of  fifteen  years. 
Faithfully,  for  six  years  longer  he  lived  and 
served  in  West  Camp  and  shepherding  the 
people  of  his  widely  scattered  charge.  Then 
the  Palatines  at  Schoharie,  along  the  Mohawk 
and  here  on  the  Hudson,  disappointed  in  not 
receiving  their  promised  lands,  determined  to 
send  a  committee  to  London  to  secure  from 
the  government  the  lands  they  claimed  at 
Schoharie  and  asked  their  pastor  to  go.  He 
consented,  but  while  preparing,  suddenly  ex- 
pired. With  reverent  hands  his  affectionate 
people  laid  his  weary  frame  to  rest  in  the  green 
field  southeast  of  the  church  at  West  Camp 
and  here  in  1742,  his  daughters  laid  over  his 
grave  a  large  slab  of  brown  stone  bearing  a 
quaint  German  inscription  which  was  written 
by  some  one  not  too  familiar  with  that  lan- 
guage, and  which,  after  correcting  some  mani- 
fest errors  is  as  follows : 

'*  Wisse  Wandersmann  unter  diesem  Stein 
ruht  nebst  seiner  Sibylla  Charlotte  ein  rechter 
Wandersmann  der  Hoch-Deutschen  in  Nord 
Amerika,  ihr,  Josua,  und  derselben  an  der  Ost 
und  West  Seite  des  Hudson's  river  rein  Luth- 
erischen  Prediger.  Seine  erste  Ankunft  war  mit 
Lord  Lovelace  1707-8,  den  iten  Januar.  Seine 
zweite   mit   Col.  Hunter,    1710,   den    14,  Juny. 


58  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Seine  Englandische  Rueckreise  unterbrach 
seine  Seelen  Himmelische  Reise  an  St.  Jo- 
hanestage,  1719.  Begehrst  du  mehr  zu  wissen 
so  untersuche  in  Melancthon's  Vaterland  wer 
war  der  Kocherthal,  wer  Harschias,  wer  Win- 
chenbach. 

B.  Berkenmayer,  S.  Huertin,  L.  Brevort. 
MDCCXLII." 

The  three  names  at  the  bottom  are  those  of 
his  three  daughters  Benigna,  Susanna  and 
Louisa,  and  Berckenmayer,  Huertin  and  Bre- 
vort were  the  names  of  their  respective  hus- 
bands. Who  Harschias  and  Winchenbach 
were  the  writer  has  never  learned.  The  Rev. 
PhiHp  Lichtenberg,  formerly  of  this  village, 
thus  translated  the  inscription  : 

"Know,  traveller,  under  this  stone  rests,  be- 
side his  Sibylla  Charlotte,  a  real  traveller,  of 
the  High  Dutch  in  North  America  their  Joshua 
and  a  pure  Lutheran  preacher  of  the  same  on 
the  east  and  west  side  of  the  Hudson  river. 
His  first  arrival  was  with  Lord  Lovelace  in 
1709,  the  first  of  January.  His  second  with 
Col.  Hunter,  1710,  the  fourteenth  of  June. 
The  journey  of  his  soul  to  Heaven  on  St. 
John's  Day,  17 19,  interrupted  his  return  to 
England.  Do  you  wish  to  know  more?  Seek 
in  Melancthon's  Fatherland  who  was  Kocher- 
thal, who  Harschias,  who  Winchenbach?" 


THE  PALATINE  LEADER.  59 

But  the  character  of  the  Palatine  leader  and 
his  poetic  nature  are  most  fully  shown  in  the 
entries  in  his  own  handwriting  in  the  records 
he  kept  of  baptisms,  marriages  and  the  like  in 
his  church  book.  The  title  page,  under  date 
of  December,  1708,  has  this  inscription:  "^ 
vie  Josua  de  Valle  Concordics,  vulgo  Kocherthaly 
ecclesicB  Germanice  Neo-Eboracen  ministro  pri- 
mo''  (by  me,  Joshua,  of  the  Valley  of  Concord, 
commonly  called  Kocherthal,  first  minister  of 
the  German  church  in  New  York).  The  bap- 
tismal record  has  this  caption  ;  '''Jesu  Auspice^'* 
(Jesus  our  Leader).  The  list  of  church  mem- 
bers is  headed:  "" Jesu  ecclesicB  sues  Auctore  et 
Conservatore''  (Jesus,  Author  and  Preserver  of 
His  Church).  Where  he  recorded  gifts  to  his 
church  he  placed  at  the  head  of  the  page : 
^'  Jesu  retribuente,''  (Jesus  Repaying).  Over  the 
record  of  his  marriages  he  wrote  ''  Jesu  ccelesti 
nostrarum  animariim  Sponso,''  (Jesus,  heavenly 
Bridegroom  of  our  souls).  And  when  he  re- 
corded the  death  of  those  who  passed  away  he 
wrote  "•/esu  Vivificantey  (Jesus  vivifying). 

Here  in  the  green  fields  of  his  own  Newtown^ 
on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  his  remains  rested 
as  in  a  new  valley  of  concord  until  1896  when 
they  were  disinterred  and  placed  under  the 
West  Camp  church  and  the  stone  that  had  so 
long  covered  his  grave  was  removed  and  placed 
in  the  vestibule  of  that  edifice  as  a  mural  tablet. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

SIXTY    FORMATIVE   YEARS. 

From  the  date  of  the  abandonment  of  the 
scheme  for  the  production  of  naval  stores  by 
the  Palatines  in  September,  17 12,  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolutionary  war,  there  is  but 
little  for  a  historian  of  this  town  to  record. 
Less  than  seven  hundred  people  resided  in  its 
borders  and  there  were  but  three  centres  of 
population,  Katsbaan,  West  Camp  and  Sau- 
gerties,  and  these  but  small  clusters  of  houses. 
Former  chapters  have  shown  where  scattering 
farmers  lived.  There  were  no  factories,  but 
such  as  saw  mills,  grist  mills  and  the  like  inci- 
dental to  the  wants  of  an  agricultural  people. 
Of  these  and  of  other  industries  which  arose 
soon  after  the  Revolution,  another  chapter  will 
speak.  It  is  here  proposed  to  tell  the  few 
historical  incidents  of  the  period  between  1715- 

75. 

To  do  that  is  to  begin  with  the  troubles 
between  the  English  and  French  in  1710-11  in 
America  in  which  the  Palatines  took  part.  It 
was  an  incident  in  the  long  struggle  for  the 
possession  of  North  America  which  is  so  fully 


SIXTY  FORMATIVE   YEARS.  61 

told  in  the  glowing  pages  of  Francis  Parkman. 
During  the  summer  of  1710,  when  the  Pala- 
tines were  at  New  York  preparing  for  the 
settlement  at  the  Camp,  an  expedition  against 
the  French  in  Canada  was  decided  on.  During 
the  first  winter  of  the  Palatines  at  the  Camp 
(1710-11)  they  were  called  upon  to  furnish 
volunteers.  Such  a  summons  could  not  fall 
upon  more  willing  ears.  The  long  and  brutal 
career  of  devastation  and  death  during  which 
they  had  suffered  from  the  French  in  the 
homeland  was  not  forgotten  and  with  alacrity 
they  enlisted.  Two  companies  were  formed, 
one  of  fifty-nine  men  under  Capt.  John  Con- 
rad Weiser  and  one  of  fifty-two  men  under 
Capt.  Hartman  Winedecker.  A  force  of  1,600 
men  from  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Con- 
necticut was  mustered  at  Albany  for  the  inva- 
sion of  Canada,  and  a  fleet  of  sixteen  men-of- 
war  and  forty  transports  with  troops  sailed 
from  England  for  the  St.  Lawrence.  But  this 
fleet  was  wrecked  on  the  rocks  in  that  river 
and  the  invading  force,  hearing  of  the  tidings 
as  they  reached  Lake  Champlain,  returned  to 
Albany  and  disbanded. 

During  the  decade  and  a  half  that  succeeded 
the  dispersion  of  the  Palatines  the  town  gradu- 
ally acquired  population.  The  Palatines  were 
reinforced  by  Dutchmen  coming  from  King- 
ston  until,  by   1730,  the  vicinity  of  Katsbaan 


62  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

had  many  settlers.  About  1727  Johannes 
VanDriessen,  a  brother  of  Rev.  Petrus  Van- 
Driessen,  pastor  of  the  Reformed  church  of 
Albany,  through  forged  certificates,  succeeded 
in  obtaining  from  the  Congregationalists  of 
Connecticut,  an  ordination  to  the  ministry. 
He  came  to  East  Camp,  organized  the  present 
Reformed  church  of  Germantown  and  built  an 
edifice.  Complaint  was  made  to  the  Classis  of 
Amsterdam,  in  Holland,  and  by  that  body  all 
who  were  concerned  therein  were  censured, 
and  Rev.  George  Wilhelmus  Mancius,  (who 
had  just  been  ordained),  seems  to  have  come 
to  America  to  the  Camp  to  investigate.  He 
sailed  from  Amsterdam  July  12,  1730.  Arriv- 
ing at  East  Camp  he  found  himself  powerless. 
The  people  were  attached  to  VanDriessen  and 
content  in  the  long-desired  church.  So  he 
passed  over  the  river  to  West  Camp.  Examin- 
ing into  the  state  of  affairs  there  and  finding 
most  of  the  colony  worshipping  two  miles 
westward  on  the  hill  at  Katsbaan  he  became 
their  pastor  in  the  autumn  of  1730  and  in  1732 
the  old  stone  church  was  built.  Soon  the 
whole  flock  was  worshipping  here.  For  some 
reason,  presumably  for  the  one  given  else- 
where, which  was  the  difficulty  in  acquiring 
title  to  lands  east  of  Sawyer's  creek,  most  of 
the  colony  had  settled  on  Kingston  Commons 
and  services  at  West  Camp  were  interrupted 


SIXTY  FORMATIVE   YEARS.  63 

until  1765  when  they  were  regularly  contin- 
ued. But  we  can  not  enter  here  upon  the 
farther  history  of  the  Katsbaan  church. 

In  1754  Gen.  Edward  Braddock  was  com- 
missioned by  the  British  government  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  all  their  forces  in  America 
and  sent  to  the  colonies.  With  his  disastrous 
expedition  this  history  is  not  directly  con- 
cerned. But  the  French  and  Indian  war  then 
beginning  affected  this  town.  The  operations 
against  France  were  to  be  carried  on  all  along 
the  line  and  to  Sir  William  Johnson  was 
intrusted  the  command  of  an  expedition 
against  Crown  Point  of  6,000  men  of  New 
England  and  New  York.  Some  of  these  were 
from  Ulster  county  and  a  few  may  have  been 
recruits  in  our  town.  But  in  1757  a  grand 
campaign  against  Canada  was  projected.  One 
expedition  was  determined  upon  to  proceed  by 
the  way  of  Lake  Champlain  and  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  Gen.  Webb.  He 
reached  Fort  Edward  with  4,000  men.  Col. 
Munroe,  another  British  officer,  was  at  Fort 
William  Henry,  sixteen  miles  distant,  with 
3,000  men.  Montcalm,  in  command  of  the 
French  and  Indian  forces,  approached  with 
9,000  reported  troops  and  Col.  Munroe  called 
upon  his  superior.  Gen.  Webb,  for  assistance. 
It  was  not  sent.  Montcalm  came  upon  Col. 
Munroe    and     for    six    days    the    latter    was 


64  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

besieged,  when  finding  no  reinforcements  com- 
ing he  was  compelled  to  surrender  on  the 
promise  that  he  should  march  out  of  Fort 
William  Henry  with  the  honors  of  war.  But 
the  French  ruthlessly  violated  the  terms  and 
permitted  their  savage  allies  to  murder  and 
torture  those  who  had  relied  upon  their  prom- 
ise and  surrendered.  Among  the  troops  under 
Webb  lying  but  sixteen  miles  away  and  clam- 
oring to  be  led  to  the  relief  of  their  country- 
men were  many  of  the  Ulster  county  militia 
and  of  these  was  a  company  from  Saugerties 
under  the  command  of  Capt.  Tobias  Wyn- 
koop,  who  resided  upon  the  Old  Kings  Road 
on  the  farm  now  known  as  the  Kemble  place. 

These  Ulster  county  troops  numbered  three 
hundred  and  were  commanded  by  Col.  Thomas 
Allison.  They  proceeded  to  Albany  by  sloops 
and  then  marched  under  a  torrid  August  sun 
from  Albany  to  Fort  Edward  in  two  days, 
carrying  upon  their  backs  their  full  equipment. 
Many  dropped  out  by  the  way  and  the  energy  of 
the  officers  occasioned  much  complaining  from 
the  men.  But  officers  as  well  as  men  marched, 
carrying  muskets,  fording  streams  and  hasten- 
ing forward  unceasingly.  And  when  they 
heard  that  the  army  was  not  to  go  to  the  relief 
of  Munroe  their  indignation  knew  no  bounds. 
It  is  said  of  the  Ulster  regiment  that  the  whole 
contingent  got  under  arms  in  less  than  an  hour 


SIXTY  FORMATIVE  YEARS.  65 

and  waded  across  the  Hudson  through  water 
reaching  their  shoulders  clamoring  to  be  led 
against  their  hated  foe.  For  many  of  them 
were  from  the  valley  of  the  Rondout  and  had 
long  been  sufferers  from  Indian  outrage  in 
Sullivan  county,  in  Orange  and  in  Wawarsing, 
and  they  had  cheerfully  enlisted  to  make  an 
end  of  the  atrocious  warfare  the  French  and 
Indians  were  conducting.  This  western  fron- 
tier of  Ulster  county  was  peculiarly  harassed 
by  Indians  during  these  years,  and  Sergeant 
Abraham  Post,  of  Saugerties,  had  led  a  band 
of  Saugerties  men  as  scouts  along  this  frontier 
during  the  year  1757. 

For  the  campaign  of  1758  Ulster  county  was 
called  upon  to  furnish  228  men.  There  is  no 
means  of  ascertaining  how  many  were  from 
this  town.  No  Ulster  county  troops  were  with 
Abercrombie  at  his  defeat  at  Ticonderoga  as 
they  had  been  sent  with  the  force  of  Col.  Brad- 
street  to  reduce  Fort  Frontenac,  on  Lake 
Ontario.  This  was  captured  and  the  troops 
returned  to  Albany.  The  campaign  of  1759 
resulted  in  4:he  capture  of  Quebec  by  Wolfe 
and  the  end  of  the  war.  But  it  is  impossible 
to  give  the  names  of  those  who  served,  or  tell 
who  were  the  soldiers  from  this  town.  It  seems 
probable  that  the  company  of  Capt.  Tobias 
Wynkoop  was  a  part  of  this  force  against  Fron- 
tenac in  1758  and  of  that  of   1759  which,  under 


66  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Amherst,  succeeded  in  driving  the  French  from 
Lake  Champlain.  But  who  composed  it  can 
not  be  told  at  this  late  day.  The  records  have 
disappeared,  or  none  were  ever  kept. 

From  this  date  until  the  Revolution  no  event 
for  the  historian  seems  to  have  occurred.  The 
people  quietly  pursued  their  business  from 
which  they  were  to  be  aroused  to  battle  for 
their  liberties  in  the  great  contest  with  Eng- 
land. Here  they  nobly  bore  their  part.  An 
attempt  will  be  made  to  show  where  they  re- 
sided within  the  borders  of  this  town  when  the 
contest  began.  In  the  chapters  to  follow  it  is 
proposed  to  tell  the  part  borne  by  men  of  Sau- 
gerties,  of  whom  so  many  served,  and  whose 
honored  remains  rest  in  so  many  of  the  ceme- 
teries of  this  town.  In  too  many  cases  their 
dust  has  returned  to  kindred  clay  and  no  mark 
is  on  the  spot.  In  others  the  stone  needs  an 
Old  Mortality  to  decipher  it.  The  Saugerties 
Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  composed  of  the  descendants  of 
those  patriots  of  this  town,  have  sought  out 
many  of  those  graves,  and  have  determined  to 
care  for  them,  and  upon  each  Memorial  Day 
lay  a  wreath  upon  each  while  others  do  the 
same  to  those  who  fought  to  preserve  what 
they  fought  to  secure. 


CHAPTER    X. 

SAUGERTIES    VILLAGE    BEFORE    THE 
REVOLUTION. 

Before  the  story  of  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion is  taken  up  it  is  proposed  to  pass  over  the 
earlier  settled  portions  of  the  town  and  con- 
sider such  of  the  families  then  resident  as 
were  possessors  of  original  patents,  grants,  or 
deeds,  and  where  they  were  located  before 
that  great  conflict.  In  doing  this  the  point 
of  view  will  be  the  decade  1760-70,  looking 
towards  our  own  time  (1900).  It  is  proposed 
to  invite  to  a  walk  about  town.  The  tramp 
will  be  over  so  much  of  the  present  village  of 
Saugerties  as  lies  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Esopus  creek.  Instead  of  the  spreading  town 
which  would  greet  us  in  1900,  within  its 
bounds  there  are  but  twelve^^wellings,  all 
told,  and  a  school  house.  There  is  no  church 
edifice,  as  the  people  worship  at  the  "  steene 
Kerk  op  de  Kats  Baan,"  although  for  six 
years  from  1780  to  1786  the  pastor,  Rev.  Lam- 
bertus  De  Ronde  resided  in  the  Post  house  on 
the  grounds  of  the  present  residence  of  Mrs. 
Dawes.     We  will  set  out   for  our  walk  from 


68  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

the  spot  from  whence  the  village  takes  its 
name.  This  is  at  the  falls  in  the  Saw  creek  at 
the  Mason  residence  which  will  be  for  genera- 
tions known  as  the  Brink  homestead.  The 
mill  of  the  old  sawyer,  or  little  sawyer,  as  he 
was  familiarly  called,  (klein  zaagertje,)  stood 
here  where  the  waters  tumble  down  into  the 
river  out  of  this  wild  ravine. 

On  March  3,  1740,  Barent  Burhans,  the 
miller,  was  recently  deceased  and  had  pur- 
chased, during  his  lifetime,  a  part  of  the  pat- 
ent of  George  Meals  and  Richard  Hayes  to 
lands  at  Saugerties.  This  patent  is  dated 
May,  1687.  His  four  sons  Johannes,  William, 
Jacob  and  David,  that  day  released  each  other 
and  the  trustees  of  Kingston  Commons  gave 
them  a  deed  for  their  lands.  John  Brink,  Jr., 
will  marry  a  daughter  of  William  Burhans  and 
the  place  thus  pass  into  the  Brink  family. 
John  Brink  will  then  establish  a  ferry  across 
the  Hudson  to  Chancellor  Livingston's,  which 
ferry  will  survive  in  the  ferry  to  Tivoli.  His 
son,  Capt.  Andrew  Brink,  will  run  a  sloop  to 
New  York,  carrying  among  other  things  the 
farm  products  of  Livingston,  and  when  Robert 
Fulton  with  Livingston  will  build  the  Cler- 
mont, will  be  associated  with  them,  and  com- 
mand the  boat  upon  her  successful  steam 
voyage,  August  3,  1807,  and  that  night  she 
will  lie  anchored  just  opposite  where  we  stand 


EARL  Y  SA  UGER  TIES.  69 

to  resume  her  voyage  in  the  morning  to 
Albany.  When  she  is  fitted  up  for  passengers 
she  will  be  commanded  for  some  time  by  Capt. 
Brink.  John  Brink,  Jr.,  will  be  a  soldier  of 
the  Revolution  and  enlist  three  times  during 
that  war,  and  serve  in  succession  in  different 
regiments.  His  remains  will  lie  with  other 
soldiers  of  the  same  conflict  in  Main  street 
cemetery.  This  place  will  remain  in  the  Brink 
family  until  nearly  1900. 

We  would  say  in  passing  that  we  are  stand- 
ing at  the  northeast  boundary  of  Ulster  county 
on  the  Hudson  as  the  act  dividing  the  province 
into  counties  in  1683,  bounded  Ulster  county 
on  the  Hudson  from  Sawyer's  creek  to  Murder- 
er's creek,  which  is  between  Newburgh  and 
Cornwall.  In  1767,  the  legislature  will  change 
the  county  line  and  it  will  start  from  the  river 
at  Wanton  Island,  near  Smith's  Landing,  in- 
stead of  from  here. 

Now  let  us  pass  to  the  south  along  the  river. 
We  are  on  the  large  Meals  patent.  Here  is 
the  stone  house  of  Myndert  Mynderse,  built  in 
1743,  twenty  years  before  our  walk.  It  is  on 
the  first  land  grant  in  the  town  given  to  George 
Meals  and  Richard  Hayes  covering  441^  acres 
on  both  sides  of  the  Esopus  creek  at  its 
mouth.  George  Meals  subsequently  conveyed 
his  interest  to  his  partner  who  conveyed  the 
same  to  John  Hayes,  from  whom  it  passed  to 


70  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

his  son-in-law,  John  Persen.  He  in  turn  be- 
queathed it  to  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  the 
Myndert  Mynderse  spoken  of.  This  place  will 
be  in  1900,  still  in  possession  of  the  family  in 
which  it  has  remained  for  eight  generations. 
John  Persen  built  a  grist  mill  on  the  falls  of 
the  Esopus  and  a  scow  ferry.  Here  an  iron 
bridge  will  be  built  in  1874.  Another  ferry 
will  be  maintained  at  Stony  Point  until  a  pon- 
toon bridge  replaces  it,  which  Henry  Barclay 
will  buy.  These  ferries  in  turn  will  be  suc- 
ceeded by  a  wooden  bridge  in  1839,  ^^^  ^^^^ 
by  the  above  mentioned  iron  bridge. 

We  journey  on  past  the  old  grave  yard  on 
the  Mynderse  place  with  its  venerable  stones. 
Notice  the  beautiful  prospect  over  the  Hudson. 
None  is  finer  in  this  vicinity.  At  the  foot  of 
the  hill  on  the  dock  is  standing  the  old  Post 
house  under  one  of  the  largest  buttonball  trees 
along  the  river. 

From  here  we  return  northward.  On  this 
corner  of  Main  and  Maiden  streets  is  the  house 
of  Egbert  Schoonmaker  It  will  be  still  in  the 
family  of  a  descendant,  the  son  of  the  late 
Peter  P.  Schoonmaker,  in  1900.  A  little  north 
is  that  of  Samuel  Schoonmaker  near  the  second 
Meals'  patent.  Attention  is  directed  to  the 
fact  that  this  land  is  a  natural  park.  The  lands 
of  this  region  were  heavily  wooded  except 
directly   north  of  the  village  until  about  the 


EARL  V  SA  UGER  TIES.  7 1 

vicinity  of  the  **  People's  Road  "  east  of  the 
Canoe  Hill.  This  park  had  long  been  culti- 
vated by  the  Indians  in  maize,  or  Indian  corn. 
In  Capt.  Martin  Cregier's  "Journal  of  the  Eso- 
pus  War,"  written  Sept.  24,  1663,  he  writes: 
**  The  party  that  was  sent  out  in  the  night 
returned  home  about  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon ;  they  were  at  Sager's  Killetje,  on  the 
Indian  maize  plantation,  but  saw  no  Indians, 
nor  anything  to  indicate  that  they  had  been 
there  for  a  long  time,  for  the  maize  had  not 
been  hoed  and  could  not  come  to  its  full 
growth,  but  had  been  much  injured  by  the  wild 
beasts ;  neither  will  any  of  it  reach  perfection, 
except  one  plantation  of  it,  which  was  good, 
having  been  hoed  by  the  Indians.  It  was, 
however,  much  injured  by  the  wild  beasts; 
each  of  our  people  brought  a  load  of  it  home 
an  his  back  and  left  some  more  standing  which 
we  will  when  convenient  bring  hither.  They 
also  say  that  it  is  beautiful  maize  land,  suitable 
for  a  number  of  bouweries  and  for  the  imme- 
diate reception  of  the  plough." 

It  is  well  to  notice  that  it  is  to  John  Persen, 
mentioned  above,  that  the  old  stone  church  of 
Katsbaan  is  indebted  for  the  grant  upon  which 
the  church  stands,  which  he  obtained  for  it  in 
March,  1731,  from  the  trustees  of  Kingston 
Commons  and  he  was  the  first  elder  in  its  con- 
sistory.    And,    returning   to    Egbert    Schoon- 


72  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

maker's,  we  should  remark  that  the  church  will 
owe  its  continued  life  during  the  interval  from 
the  death  of  Domine  Mancius  in  1762  to  the 
settlement  of  De  Ronde  as  its  pastor  in  1780, 
a  period  of  eighteen  years,  to  its  most  active 
elder,  Egbert  Schoonmaker,  whose  efforts  will 
keep  it  alive  during  the  time  when  the  Dutch 
Reformed  church  is  rent  by  an  ecclesiastical 
contest,  and  the  country  is  at  war  and  Kats- 
baan  without  a  pastor. 

From  the  house  of  Egbert  Schoonmaker  on 
the  corner  we  pass  westward.  Here  are  two 
houses  on  opposite  sides  of  the  street  belong- 
ing to  Hiskia  DuBois.  One  will  be  long 
known  as  old  Kiersted  house.  Just  west  of 
these  and  near  where  will  be  the  Reformed 
church  resides  John  Post.  His  brother, 
Abraham,  keeps  tavern  still  farther  westward. 
It  is  the  village  gathering  place.  It  is  built  ^f 
strong  timbers  firmly  clasped  and  will  remain 
the  village  tavern  for  almost  a  century.  On 
its  site  m  1900  will  stand  the  hardware  store 
of  James  Russell.  But  the  tavern  meanwhile 
will  pass  from  the  Posts  to  Frederick  Krows  in 
1817,  who  will  conduct  it  until  about  1850, 
when  the  building  will  be  moved  back  from 
the  street  to  the  rear  of  the  hardware  store 
and  will  be  a  tinshop  until  1900.  North  of 
this  tavern  of  Abraham  Post,  Jecobus,  another 
brother,  resides.     On  this  site  Dr.  Dawes  will 


THE   POST   TAVERN. 


EARL  Y  SA  UGER TIES.  73 

build  after  many  years  a  residence  farther  east 
than  the  house  of  Jecobus  Post,  which  stands 
close  to  the  street.  It  is  in  this  house  that 
Domine  DeRonde  resided  as  said  above. 
Northwest  of  this  residence  of  Jecobus  Post  is 
the  dwelling  of  Isaac  Post.  This  building  will 
be  still  standing  later  than  i860  under  the  hill 
west  of  what  will  afterward  be  the  terminus  of 
Elm  street. 

We   will  return   to   the   tavern  of  Abraham 
Post.     This  is  yet,  in  1763,  a  part  of  the  town 
of  Kingston  and  will  be  for  fifty  years.     But 
with  the  store  of  Cornelius  Persen  at  Katsbaan 
it  is  one  of  the  centres  of  the  town  and  in  a 
dozen   years   it   will  be   the   meeting  place  of 
men  to  discuss  the  issues  of  the  Revolution. 
Here  will  come  the  messenger  from  Kingston 
with    the     patriotic    Articles    of    Association 
which    all   will    sign.     Here   will   be    told   the 
victories  and  defeats  of  the  long  war.     These 
roof-trees  will  ring  with  the  shouts  that  pro- 
claim the  victories  of  Saratoga  and  Yorktown 
and  the  conquests  of  John  Paul  Jones.     And 
from    here,  and   from   Cornelius   Persen's,  will 
depart  the  militia  re-enforcements  for  the  cap- 
ture   of    Burgoyne.     To    this    old    tavern    will 
come    the    messenger    to  tell    that   Vaughan's 
soldiers   have    set   fire   to   the   Wolven    house, 
where   in    1900  John   G.    Myers  will  live,  and 
here  in  the  long  years  of  the  following  peace 


74  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

the  story  will  be  often  told  to  younger  gen- 
erations. 

But  we  will  resume  our  walk.  No  houses 
now  until  we  reach  that  one  in  the  distance 
except  the  school  house  near  where  afterwards 
will  be  the  Russell  Block  until  we  reach 
Petrus  Myer's  which  will  be  occupied  after 
long  years  by  Sherwood  D.  Myer,  a  descen- 
dant. One  dwelling  more  remains.  In  it  is 
living  Johannes  Myer,  and  it  will  remain  in 
the  possession  of  his  descendants  until  it  is 
purchased  by  John  Michael  Genthner. 

The  ever  beautiful  site  of  the  village  with 
its  grand  guardianship  of  the  Hudson  and  the 
Catskills,  where  the  Esopus  sweeps  into  the 
river,  is  the  same  in  the  middle  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century,  as  at  the  opening  of  the 
Twentieth.  But  the  dozen  houses  of  1763  are 
hundreds  now,  and  the  fifty  inhabitants  then 
are  thousands  to-day. 


CHAPTER    XL 

KATSBAAN   BEFORE   THE   REVOLUTION. 

Beginning  at  the  old  stone  church  in  Kats- 
baan  our  next  walk  will  be  around  that  section 
of  the  town.  It  is  the  most  populous  portion 
and  we  will  find  as  many  residents  as  there 
will  be  in  1900.  As  we  assemble  at  the  church 
before  us  lies  one  of  the  grandest  visions  of 
the  majesty  of  the  Catskills.  At  no  point  from 
which  these  mountains  are  visible  are  they  so 
impressive  as  from  the  cemetery  hill  near  at 
hand.  Although  around  us  is  a  thickly  settled 
region  most  of  the  houses  are  simple  structures 
of  frame,  or  stone,  and  many  are  of  logs.  The 
forests  have  been  cleared  hereabout,  except 
that  there  is  a  large  grove  of  white  oaks  around 
the  church  of  which  a  few  will  remain  until 
1900.  This  white  oak  forest  extends  eastward 
across  the  Saw  creek  and  over  the  fiats  to  West 
Camp  and  will  be  spoken  of  in  another  chapter. 

The  church  has  stood  already  almost  forty 
years.  Who  built  it  and  why  is  told  elsewhere. 
The  trustees  of  Kingston  Commons  under  date 
of  March  i,  1731,  leased  in  perpetuity  to  Jo- 
hannes Persen  and  Hendrick  Fees,  and  to  their 


76  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

successors  in  office  an  acre  of  land  on  each  side 
of  the  "Old  Kings  Road"  for  those  "profess- 
ing the  religion  and  doctrines  disciplined  in  the 
Reformed  Protestant  Church  of  Holland  ;  in- 
stituted  and  approved  by  the  national  Synod 
of  Dort  -5^  *  *  *  to  build  a  house  for 
God's  worship  *  *  ^  "^  *  at  a  place  called 
*  Ye  Kats  Baan  ; '  said  place  being  a  rock  ledge 
where  the  King's  Highway  that  leads  from 
Kingston  to  Albany  runs  a  great  way  upon 
said  ledge ;  the  said  two  acres  to  be  where  the 
ledge  or  rock  shows  itself  most  open,"  the 
rental  to  be  three  pepper  corns  per  annum  if 
demanded;  and  twenty-two  acres  more  were 
granted  as  a  glebe  to  be  used  for  the  minister. 
This  was  situate  at  the  north  end  of  said  open 
rock,  and  from  thence  to  the  Saw  creek,  and  is 
practically  the  land  of  the  Everitt  and  Whitney 
places.  Afterwards  another  grant  of  sixteen 
and  one-half  acres,  situate  where  will  be  the 
farm  of  Alfred  W.  Fraser,  was  added  to  the 
glebe. 

The  church  will  be  the  same  edifice  in  1900, 
and  yet  not  the  same.  At  that  later  day  it 
will  extend  seventeen  feet  to  the  south  and  the 
side  walls  will  be  greatly  altered.  At  this  pre- 
Revolutionary  day  it  has  a  Gothic  roof  and  the 
eaves  come  half-way  down  the  side  walls  as 
they  will  be  in  1900.  The  entrance  is  on  the 
east  side  and  through  a  porch  in  which  hangs 


^J 

OJ 


I 


W$f  T* ,  A 


EARL  Y  KA  TSBAAN.  77 

a  conch  shell  to  announce  the  hour  of  worship. 
Over  the  porch  and  under  the  eaves  are  in- 
serted a  number  of  brown  stones  inscribed  with 
the  names  of  the  builders,  which  stones  will  be 
removed  and  inserted  in  the  north  wall  when 
the  church  is  rebuilt  in  1867.  There  is  no 
steeple  nor  bell.  When  built  in  1732  there 
were  no  pews.  These  came  later.  And  in 
November,  1743,  there  was  a  sale  of  seats. 
The  pulpit  is  on  the  west  side  of  the  church' 
and  opposite  the  entrance.  It  is  an  octagon 
and  stands  on  a  pedestal.  An  aisle  through 
the  centre  separates  the  men  and  women. 
Across  the  centre  another  aisle  runs  from  north 
to  south  so  that  the  two  aisles  form  a  cross 
the  four  arms  of  which  are  of  equal  length. 
The  half  of  the  church  on  the  north  of  the 
aisle  from  the  door  to  the  pulpit  is  occupied  by 
the  "  manse  bancken,"  or  seats  for  the  men, 
and  on  the  south  side  by  the  "  vrouwen  banck- 
en," or  seats  for  the  women.  One  row  of  seats 
begins  at  the  left  of  the  minister  and  runs  all 
around  the  wall  on  three  sides  to  the  door, 
with  a  corresponding  row  from  his  right  hand 
around  three  sides  to  the  same  door.  Besides 
this  row  there  are  on  the  men's  side  three  rows 
of  seats  east  and  west  to  the  cross  aisle,  with 
three  cross  rows,  and  on  the  women's  side  three 
east  and  west  rows  and  one  cross  row.  On  the 
farther  side  of  the  cross  aisle  five  cross  rows  on 


78  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

the  men's  side,  and  six  for  the  women  with  one 
row  on  either  side  from  the  cross  aisle  to  the 
door.  At  this  date  there  is  no  fire  in  the  build- 
ing in  winter,  but  long  oval  stones  from  the 
beds  of  streams  are  heated  at  home  and  brought 
along  to  the  services.  It  is  not  proposed  to 
speak  in  this  place  of  the  attire  of  the  wor- 
shipers, nor  of  the  services.  Domines  Mancius 
and  De  Ronde  will  be  described  in  another 
chapter.  These  pastors  covered  successively  a 
period  of  forty  years  of  faithful  service  among 
a  faithful  people. 

The  story  of  this  church  will  be  told  in 
another  chapter.  We  will  proceed  upon  our 
walk.  Below  the  church  hill,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  King's  Road,  lived  Hermanus  Recht- 
myer.  His  descendants  in  1900,  after  one 
hundred  and  sixty-three  years  of  occupancy, 
will  still  own  this  farm. 

Across  the  Beaver  creek  westward  resides 
Hendrick  Freligh.  This  farm  was  purchased 
by  the  Frelighs  March  4,  1727,  and  they  after- 
wards acquired  the  William  H.  Hommel  farm 
as  well ;  while  Peter  Freligh,  son  of  Hendrick, 
lived  upon  the  Abram  E.  Hommel  farm  and 
afterwards  upon  the  first  named,  or  Hendrick 
Freligh  farm,  upon  the  death  of  his  father. 
Two  sons  of  Peter,  Solomon  and  Moses  enter- 
ed the  ministry  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church,  as  did    Peter,  son   of  Solomon.     Sol- 


EARLY  KATSBAAN.  79 

omon  became  a  noted  divine  and  professor  of 
theology,  and  trained  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 
Ostrander  for  the  ministry.  He  (Solomon) 
will  be  so  ardent  a  patriot  during  the  Revolu- 
tion as  to  be  hated  and  hunted  by  the  British. 
This  Freligh  farm  during  the  next  century  will 
be  known  first  as  the  Wells  and  then  as  the 
Gray  farm. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Old  Kings  Road 
resides  Richard  Davenport.  His  land  stretches 
from  the  road  from  the  stone  church  leading 
to  West  Camp  all  the  way  south  to  where,  in 
1900,  will  be  the  hotel  of  Jacob  Kaufman  and 
his  dwelling  is  here  where  Ephraim  I.  Myer 
will  long  afterwards  live.  The  Davenports 
will  be  Tories  in  the  Revolution  and  when  the 
cause  of  England  will  be  wiped  out  in  patri- 
otic blood  they  will  find  more  congenial  neigh- 
bors in  Canada,  and  his  tract  will  be  divided 
into  three  or  more  farms.  The  homestead 
will  be  ov/ned  by  Jonathan  Myer,  who  will 
conduct  a  tavern  here.  When  he  dies,  about 
1814,  his  widow  will  marry  Elias  Snyder, 
whom  the  Indians  in  1780  will  capture  and 
carry  to  Canada,  and  who  will  escape  from 
captivity.  In  1823  Elias  Snyder  will  sell  the 
farm  to  John  Snyder  Myer,  the  father  of 
Ephraim  I.  Myer.  Adjoining  the  Davenport 
tract  on  the  south  is  the  small  place  of  Cor- 
nelius Osterhoudt  which  will  soon  pass  to  the 


80  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Fieros,  and  will  for  over  a  century  be  a  tavern, 
and  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Fiero,  in  1854, 
be  successively  conducted  by  Vander  Beck, 
Gaddis,  Bostwick  and  Jacob  Kaufman. 

Next  to  this  place  on  the  south  resides  Cor- 
nelius Persen.  Here  is  the  store  of  the  whole 
region.  In  the  approaching  war,  when  the 
British  will  occupy  New  York  City,  the  mer- 
chandise will  have  to  be  hauled  from  Philadel- 
phia by  an  inland  route.  Here  the  patriotic 
meetings  during  the  long  war  will  be  held. 
Here  the  recruits  to  reinforce  the  army  at 
Saratoga  will  assemble.  And  after  the  war 
John  Jacob  Astor  will  have  his  headquarters 
here  to  which  the  trappers  of  the  Catskills  will 
bring  their  furs.  The  place  will  remain  in  the 
possession  of  the  descendants  of  Cornelius 
Persen,  the  Cornelius  P.  Brink  family,  until 
about  the  close  of  the  coming  century. 

One-fourth  of  a  mile  farther  north,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Old  Kings  Road,  is  the  home 
of  Johannes  Trumpbour.  In  after  years  the 
church  will  sell  the  glebe  lands  mentioned  in 
this  chapter,  which  lie  north  of  the  church  and 
purchase  this  property  and  build  a  parsonage. 
In  1 85 1  it  will  be  sold  and  be  successively 
owned  by  Reuben  Quick,  John  P.  Sax  and 
Evert  Sax. 

Teunis  Aspel  resides  on  the  farm  westward 
which   will    be    owned    in    succession    by    the 


EARLY  KATSBAAN.  81 

Fieros;  by  William  Valkenburgh,  Peter  M. 
Valkenburgh  and  lastly  by  Chauncey  P. 
Finger.  South  of  this  is  the  farm  of  Petrus 
Luyck,  or  Loucks,  on  both  sides  of  the  Beaver 
creek.  This  will  be  in  after  years  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Fieros,  then  of  different  members 
of  the  Sax  family  until  Addison  Sax  in  1900. 
It  was  purchased  by  Luyck  March  4,  1746. 

We  have  now  reached  the  Saugerties  road. 
Beginning  at  Saugerties  this  follows  prac- 
tically the  present  course  of  the  Canoe  Hill 
road  of  1900  northward  and  westward  until 
where  William  Clement  will  reside  in  1900. 
Thence  it  will  run  south  along  the  division 
fence  about  three  hundred  yards,  and  then 
west  across  the  land  of  Cornelius  Persen  to 
the  Old  Kings  Road.  Thence  it  will  follow 
this  highway  until  within  one  hundred  feet  of 
the  coming  turnpike  when  it  will  turn  west- 
ward and  pass  close  alongside  of  where  the 
limekiln  of  William  Fiero  will  stand ;  swing 
south  around  by  the  house  of  Petrus  Luyck 
(Addison  Sax's) ;  ford  the  Beaver  creek  and 
then  swing  back  under  the  hill  to  where  will 
be  the  future  turnpike  at  the  residence,  in 
1900,  of  Stephen  F.  Valkenburgh.  This  road 
will  be  described  as  running  "  from  Sager's  to 
the  cedar  clipje  and  thence  to  the  blue  moun- 
tains." This  ''cedar  clipje"  is  the  large  boul- 
der  still    lying    in    1900    nearly    opposite    the 


82  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Fisher  store  in  Quarryville  and  was  at  the 
time  of  our  walk  surmounted  by  a  cedar  tree 
which  will  remain  there  until  about  i860.  No 
houses  are  along  this  road  above  the  long 
Quarryville  hill  until  Saxton  is  reached,  and 
the  road  runs  through  a  dense  woods.  The 
invaluable  quarries  are  unknown,  and  from 
them  millions  of  dollars  of  bluestone  are  yet 
to  be  taken.  But  at  Saxton  there  are  some 
fifteen  houses,  and  the  rich  plain  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountains  is  known  and  cultivated. 


-^ 


CHAPTER    XII. 

CEDAR   GROVE   BEFORE   THE   REVOLUTION. 

Our  walk  is  resumed  at  the  store  of  Cornelius 
Persen  in  Katsbaan.  This  store  stands  by  the 
road  side,  and  will  until  September  4,  1852,  the 
day  of  the  explosion  of  the  steamer  Reindeer  at 
Maiden,  when  by  a  "  bee"  of  neighbors  it  will 
be  moved  back  from  the  road  about  fifty  feet. 
Here  it  will  stand  until  the  summer  of  1900, 
when  it  will  be  torn  down.  Meanwhile  it  will 
be  a  storehouse  excepting  during  1867,  while 
the  church  is  being  enlarged  and  rebuilt,  when 
the  pulpit  and  furnishings  will  be  placed  in 
this  building  and  it  will  be  used  for  worship. 

Across  the  road  is  the  blacksmith  shop  of 
the  settlement.  Here  labors  Jan  Top,  one  of 
two  African  slaves  owned  by  Cornelius  Persen. 
Top  is  a  character  whose  love  of  horse  flesh 
and  whose  shrewd  sayings  will  be  spoken  of 
about  Katsbaan  for  two  or  three  generations, 
as  he  will  remain  here  until  the  slaves  of  this 
state  are  finally  emancipated  in  1827,  and  for 
a  number  of  years  thereafter  as  a  freeman. 
Under  a  shelving  rock  at  the  foot  of  these  pre- 
cipitous limestone  walls  just  westward  dwells 


84  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES.    - 

the  last  Indian  of  this  region.  The  reniains  of 
his  wigwam  will  remain  there  for  seventy-five 
years,  and  more,  and  ashes  may  be  found  there 
in  1900.  He  is  called  "  Nachte  Jan"  or  Night 
John.  He  is  a  close  friend  of  Cornelius  Persen 
and  when  Runnip  and  his  Indians,  in  1780,  will 
capture  and  carry  of¥  to  Canada  Capt.  Jeremiah 
Snyder  and  his  son  Elias,  Nachte  Jan  will  warn 
Persen  in  time  to  escape  and  save  his  goods 
from  plunder. 

Passing  south  along  the  Old  Kings  Road  we 
will  find  Johannes  Young  living  on  the  east 
side  of  the  road  on  lands  to  belong  in  1900  to 
the  Winne  estate.  The  house  will  be  standing 
after  1850,  and  the  well  will  be  in  existence  in 
1900.  The  part  of  the  Winne  estate  on  the 
west  side  of  the  road  belongs  to  the  tract 
granted  Coenradt  Reghtmyer,  February  24, 
1728.  The  dwelling  was  where  the  house  of 
Isaac  Hommel  will  stand  in  1900,  and  the  old 
stone  house  in  which  Hommel  will  then  live 
may  be,  in  part  at  least,  of  the  earlier  date. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Old  Kings  Road^ 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  where  Nathan  Van  Steen- 
berg  will  live  in  1900  is  the  school  house. 
Afterwards  another  school  house  will  be  erected 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  farther  south 
on  the  site  of  the  house  in  which  Christian 
Myer  will  live  in  1900.  Here  school  will  be 
kept  until  the  Common  School  law  of  June  19, 


EARLY  CEDAR  GROVE.  85 

1812,  is  passed,  when  the  site  of  the  then  exist- 
ing school  in  Katsbaan  will  be  purchased  and 
the  school  be  continued  there  in  successive 
buildings  until  1900.  But  a  school  house  will 
afterward  be  erected  opposite  the  Myer  house 
and  be  known  as  the  Cedar  Grove  school. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Old  Kings  Road  and 
farther  south  and  east  than  the  dwelling  of 
Young  is  the  house  of  Johannes  Mower.  This 
is  very  near  the  site  in  1900  of  the  dwelling  on 
the  estate  of  the  late  Peter  W.  Myer.  It  will 
pass  from  the  Mowers  into  the  ownership  of 
the  Myers,  and  descend  from  David  to  his 
grandson  Peter.  There  was  at  one  time  a 
large  tract  in  the  hands  of  the  Mower  family 
and  on  this  tract  stands  the  house  in  which 
Frederick  Eygenaar  lives.  It  is  east  of  the 
road  and  back  in  the  fields  northeast  of  where 
in  1900  William  D.  Brinnier  will  have  his  sum- 
mer home.  The  ruined  house  may  be  seen 
after  i860. 

A  half  mile  west  of  the  Old  Kings  Road  and 
westward  from  the  school  house  is  the  house 
of  Ury  and  Hermanns  Hommel.  At  the  close 
of  the  next  century  it  will  pass  from  the  Hom- 
mel family  to  Luther  Myer.  Still  farther  west 
is  living  Christian  Snyder. 

We  will  return  to  the  Old  Kings  Road.  As 
we  go  south  we  come  to  the  Meals  and  Hayes 
grant.     This  contains  252  acres  and  was  given 


86  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

those  parties  by  Thomas  Dongan,  Governor  of 
the  province  of  New  York,  under  date  of  April 
15,  1685.  It  is  described  as  being  "at  a  place 
called  Sagiers,  three  miles  westward  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Esopus  creek  at  a  run  called  the 
Bever  Kill."  So  this  little  stream  has  had  its 
name  from  that  early  date.  This  grant  stretches 
over  the  farms  which  in  the  next  century  will 
belong  to  the  Kembles  and  the  Wynkoops  and 
reach  south  to  the  ''church  land,"  or  grant  to 
the  Dutch  church  of  Kingston.  Thus  this 
Meals  and  Hayes  tract  will  cover  farther  south 
than  the  site  in  1900  of  the  old  farmhouse  of 
Mrs.  Germond.  The  grant  is  long  and  not 
wide  enough  to  reach  as  far  west  as  the  houses 
which  will  be  in  1900  the  dwellings  on  the  Rio 
Alto  Stock  farm  and  that  of  Russell  Wynkoop. 
Evert  Wynkoop  resides,  as  we  take  our  walk, 
on  what  will  be  the  stock  farm  and  he  is  the 
great-great-grandfather  of  Russell  Wynkoop, 
who  will  be  the  owner  in  1900  of  part  of  the 
tract.  Towards  the  north  end  of  this  grant  is 
the  house  of  Johannes  Valk  nearly  opposite  to 
what  will  be  after  many  years  the  Brinnier 
house  spoken  of.  Farther  south  Capt.  Tobias 
Wynkoop  resides,  where  will  be  the  Kemble 
house  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  And  near 
ihe  south  bounds  of  the  grant  is  the  house  of 
William  Myer,  where  long  afterward  will  stand 
the    old    farmhouse    of    Mrs.    Germond.     On 


EARLY  CEDAR  GROVE.  87 

the  east  side  of  the  road,  and  farther  south, 
Ephraim  Van  Keuren  lives  on  the  site  at  the 
large  spring  where  in  1900  Abram  Wolven  will 
reside,  and  farther  south  on  the  hill  will  be  after 
the  Revolution  the  hotel  of  Johannes  Myer, 
whose  farm  will  be  in  1900  in  possession  of 
Wells  Myer,  his  grandson.  This  tavern  will  be 
in  twenty-five  years  a  noted  hostelry.  Aaron 
Burr,  among  other  public  men,  will  make  it  a 
frequent  stopping  place  on  his  trips  to  and  from 
Albany.  Here  he  will  enjoy  many  an  even- 
ing's chat  with  mine  host  '' Oom  Hans  Myer," 
with  whom  he  had  served  in  the  Continental 
army,  and  stories  of  the  brilliant  and  fascinat- 
ing Col.  Burr  will  linger  long  in  the  traditions 
of  the  vicinity  of  this  tavern  and  that  of  Abra- 
ham Post  in  Saugerties,  where  he  so  often  re- 
sorted. A  mile  farther  west  beyond  the  great 
bend  of  the  Beaver  creek  resides  Maria  Snyder 
on  the  farm  in  after  years  of  Noah  Snyder, 
which  will  be  in  possession  of  John  J.  Jordan 
in  1900.  And  a  little  farther  east  is  that  of 
Hieronymus  Valkenburgh,  whose  descendant 
John  Valkenburgh  will  sell  it  near  the  close  of 
the  next  century  to  Thomas  Spellman,  who 
will  dispose  of  it  to  the  West  Shore  Railroad 
Co.  And  a  short  distance  north  is  the  house 
of  Johannes  Hommel  on  the  Peter  I.  Snyder 
farm  of  after  years. 

We  have  walked   from  Katsbaan  to  Union- 


88  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

ville.  We  return  to  the  house  of  Cornelius 
Persen  in  Katsbaan  and  pass  down  the  road 
that  winds  across  the  fields  to  Saugerties. 
Here  is  the  residence  of  Wilhelmus  Valk. 
This  farm  will  remain  in  possession  of  the  Valk 
family  until  1870,  when  Peter  V.  Snyder  will 
purchase  it.  The  road  here  runs  east,  but 
soon  turns  southeast  and  crosses  this  little 
brook.  Beyond  this  and  on  the  east  side  of 
the  road  resides  Hendrick  Osterhoudt,  where 
long  afterwards  will  dwell  Cornelius  Hoff.  A 
mile  farther  south,  where  afterwards  will  run 
the  "  People's  Road,"  lives  Adam  Short  on  the 
gravel  hill.  His  house  will  long  remain  and  be 
called  "  the  old  fort."  Farther  east  and  near 
what  will  long  afterward  be  the  Brede  crossing 
of  the  West  Shore  railroad  are  living  John 
Monk  and  John  Fennal.  A  quarter  mile  south 
from  them,  and  west  of  the  Canoe  Hill  road, 
and  south  of  the  above  "  People's  Road,"  on 
what  will  in  1900  be  the  Cantine  farm,  just 
below  the  hill  in  front  of  the  Lasher  house,  is 
living  Petrus  Eygenaar  whose  farm  stretches 
across  the  flat  to  the  Canoe  Hill.  Thus  we  are 
brought  to  Saugerties,  described  in  Chapter  X. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

CHURCHLAND   AND    PLATTEKILL   BEFORE   THE 
REVOLUTION. 

The  next  pre-Revolutionary  walk  about 
town  will  be  down  the  Old  Kings  Road  to  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  town  at  the  bridge 
over  the  Plattekill.  We  will  assemble  at  the 
inn  of  Johannes  Myer,  which  stands  where 
Wells  Myer  will  reside  a  century  later. 

As  we  get  ready  suppose  we  talk  of  this  Old 
Kings  Road.  It  is  the  oldest  highway  in  the 
town.  The  first  allusion  to  it  occurs  in  a 
petition  of  John  Osterhoudt,  Jan  Burhans  and 
Cornelius  Vernoy,  all  of  Kingston,  to  a  special 
court  held  in  April,  1670,  at  "  ye  towne  hall 
at  Kingston,  in  Esopus "  by  a  commission 
appointed  by  Governor  Francis  Lovelace  ''  for 
setting  out  the  Boundaryes  of  Kingston, 
Hurley,  and  Marbleton  and  for  Regulateing 
the  Affaires  of  those  places  and  ye  parts 
adjacent."  The  petitioners  ask  "that  fifty- 
foure  acres  cleare  and  good  land  that  his 
Honr,  the  Govr,  hath  been  pleased  to  promise 
and  grant  them  on  a  certain  neck  of  land  five 
miles  distant  from   Kingston,  north,  over  the 


90  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Kill  and  near  the  ffootpath  leading  to  Albany 
be  commended  to  the  Govr.  to  be  confirmed 
and  allowed."  With  this  petition  there  was 
one  by  Tjerck  Claes  DeWitt  and  William 
Montania  for  a  grant  to  set  up  a  saw  mill  for 
the  public  benefit  at  the  same  place,  with 
seventy  five  acres  a  mile  further  at  a  place 
called  ''Dead  Men's  Bones."  This  too  was 
granted  on  condition  that  the  above  five 
petitioners,  with  two  others  build  their  seven 
houses  all  together  in  an  "innshipp"  for 
mutual  protection.  The  spot  where  the  mill 
was  to  be,  and  was  erected,  was  at  what  will 
be  our  stopping  point  to-day  at  the  bridge 
over  the  Plattekill  between  the  towns  of  Sau- 
gerties  and  Ulster.  The  "  ffootpath "  to 
Albany  was  where  is  now  the  Old  Kings 
Road.  On  June  19,  1703,  an  act  was  passed 
by  the  colonial  legislature  "  for  the  laying  out, 
regulating,  clearing  and  preserving  public 
Common  Highways  throughout  this  Colony." 
This  act  directed  that  a  road  be  laid  out  from 
the  New  Jersey  line  to  Albany,  and  the  com- 
missioners from  Ulster  county  were  John 
Cock,  Jacob  Aertsen  and  Abraham  Hasbrouck. 
This  road  passed  through  Goshen,  Shawan- 
gunk.  New  Paltz  and  Rosendale,  to  Kingston; 
thence  north,  through  Fox  Hall  and  Pine 
Bush  to  the  fording  place  across  the  Esopus 
creek,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sawkill ;   thence  on 


CHURCHLAND  AND  PLATTEKILL.      91 

the  west  side  of  the  Esopus  creek  northerly  to 
Albany.  As  Queen  Anne  was  reigning  it  was 
named  "The  Queen's  Highway,"  and  so 
appears  in  old  deeds.  But  as  no  female  sov- 
ereign sat  on  the  British  throne  again  while 
New  York  was  a  colony  the  name  of  **  The 
Old  King's  Road  "  soon  displaced  the  other. 

In  our  former  walks  we  have  endeavored  to 
locate  the  houses  and  families  and  tell  who 
was  residing  in  them  as  we  passed  by.  On 
this  trip  we  will  merely  speak  of  the  grants  of 
land  we  pass  and  of  some  of  the  features.  As 
we  leave  the  inn  of  Johannes  Myer  the  tract 
on  the  west  side  of  the  road  is  the  "  Church- 
land"  and  it  will  give  the  name  to  the  locality. 
It  is  a  grant  of  two  hundred  acres  originally 
made  March  i,  1710,  to  the  Kingston  Dutch 
Church  and  greatly  enlarged  by  grants  of 
adjoining  lands,  and  land  in  the  vicinity  made 
subsequently.  The  original  grant  begins  on 
the  small  stream  called  in  the  grant  ''The 
Muddah  Kill"  and  runs  to  the  mountains 
(Mt.  Marion)  and  thence  north  along  the 
mountains  to  the  Meals  and  Hayes  patent ; 
then  along  their  south  bounds  to  and  across 
the  "Queen's  Highway."  The  northwest  part 
of  the  grant  will  be  the  farm  of  the  heirs  of 
Isaac  Snyder.  In  this  grant  the  small  stream 
running  past  what  will  be  the  house  of  Peter 
B.  Post  is  called  "Cartrit's  Kill." 


92  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

South  of  the  churchland  is  the  grant  of 
Frederick  Markle.  It  was  originally  of  eighty- 
four  acres,  with  later  additions.  The  first 
grant  bore  date  March  i,  171 5.  This  will  be 
the  farm  of  C.  S.  Lowther.  The  bounds  are 
given  thus:  Northwest  by  the  Styll  Berg 
(Mt.  Marion)  and  southwest,  southeast  and 
northeast  by  Kingston  Commons.  Thus  no 
adjacent  lands  had  been  granted  at  that  time. 

Then  crossing  to  the  east  side  of  the  Old 
Kings  Road  we  find  the  farm  of  Christian 
Myer,  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  Pala- 
tines who  landed  at  West  Camp,  October  4, 
1710.  His  deed  was  given  21  February,  1724. 
It  will  be  the  Cantine  farm  of  1900.  In  the 
deed  is  described  the  cave  of  the  Muddah  Kill 
which  is  so  well  known  to  residents  of  Sau- 
gerties. 

Next  south  is  the  farm  of  Peter  Winne.  This 
will  pass  into  the  possession  of  David  Polhe- 
mus,  Benjamin  Myer  and  towards  the  close  of 
the  next  century  to  Mynderse  Wynkoop.  It 
will  be  the  birthplace  of  the  late  Dr.  Jesse 
Myer,  of  Kingston,  and  of  the  father  of  the 
late  John  G.  Myers,  of  this  village. 

Some  distance  south  of  the  Markle  land  is 
the  place  of  Cornelius  Langendyke,  which  will 
remain  in  the  Longendyke  family  for  more 
than  one  hundred  years  when  it  will  be  pur- 
chased   by  Peter  Snyder.     The  lands  reached 


CHURCHLAND  AND  PLATTEKILL.       93 

down  to  the  Plattekill,  above  the  Gilsinger 
falls.  Part  of  this  land  was  known  in  1725  as 
*'  Robert  Chism's  plantation."  Adjoining  the 
Longendyke  farm  Frederick  Scram  on  March 
28,  1729,  purchased  42  acres  along  the  land  of 
Tunis  Osterhoudt  which  included  part  of  the 
Traphagen  tract  now  to  be  mentioned.  But 
all  the  flats  north  and  east  to  the  Winne  land 
at  the  Muddah  Kill  are  still  commons.  Only 
where  a  century  later  Francis  Myer  and  Alex- 
ander Dowling  will  live  are  two  small  houses. 

We  are  now  come  to  the  Traphagen  tract 
which  passes  the  doors  of  where  Myer  and 
Dowling  will  live.  On  the  fifth  day  of  Decem- 
ber 1688,  there  was  granted  to  Johannes,  Hen- 
drick  and  William  Traphagen  a  long,  narrow 
strip  of  land  containing  two  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  the  north  bounds  of  which  were  near  the 
West  Shore  crossing  of  1900  south  of  Scher- 
mei  horn's,  and  the  south  bounds  reached 
almost  to  where  in  coming  years  will  be  the 
Plattekill  church.  It  did  not  reach  farther 
east  than  where  in  after  years  will  be  the  Mt. 
Marion  station  of  the  West  Shore  railroad,  nor 
as  far  west  as  the  hotel  west  of  that  station. 
At  its  southeast  corner  it  almost  touches"  a 
triangular  grant  of  133  acres  to  Paulus  Paulison, 
which  runs  diagonally  to  where  will  be,  in  1900, 
the  covered  bridge  over  the  Plattekill  into  the 
town  of  Ulster.     Its  base  is  almost  on  the  line 


94  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

of  the  West  Shore  south  from  the  railroad  sta- 
tion. This  grant  was  given  in  1688,  but  subse- 
quent to  the  Brink  grant  mentioned  below,  and 
occasioned  trouble  as  the  bounds  of  the  Pauli- 
son  grant  infringed  upon  the  preceding  one  to 
Brink.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Old  Kings 
Road  are  the  eighty-six  acres,  and  the  subse- 
quent forty  additional  ones  granted  to  Peter 
Winne.  Here  in  1900  will  be  the  Ira  Snyder 
farm.  This  was  first  conveyed  December  15, 
1692.  It  will  remain  with  the  descendants  of 
Peter  Winne  until  almost  1900.  Its  west  bound 
is  the  Plattekill,  its  south  bound  the  Brink 
tract  and  its  east  bound  the  Old  Kings  Road. 
On  the  west  side  of  the  Plattekill  and  across 
from  the  Winne  grant  are  fifty-one  acres  sold 
to  Lucas  DeWitt  February  24,  1728. 

We  have  reached  the  last  grant  in  the  town 
and  one  of  the  very  first  in  point  of  time.  It 
was  purchased  by  Cornelius  Lambertsen  Brink 
February  6,  1688,  from  the  trustees  of  the 
Kingston  Commons.  Huybert  Lambertsen 
Brink  emigrated  from  Wageningen,  Holland, 
and  arrived  in  New  York  December,  1659,  on 
the  ship  Faith.  The  above  son  Cornelius  was 
born  on  the  voyage.  The  father  settled  in 
Kingston  and  then  became  one  of  the  original 
patentees  of  Hurley  and  moved  there.  In 
1663,  at  the  Indian  massacre  of  Kingston,  his 
wife  and  three  children,   including  Cornelius, 


CHURCHLAND  AND  PLATTEKILL.       95 

were  captured  by  the  Indians  and  carried  to 
the  Shawangunk  mountains  where  they  were 
held  captives  three  months.  At  last  they 
were  rescued  and  restored  to  their  family. 
When  Cornelius  was  twenty-six  years  of  age 
he  married  Maretje  Meynderse  and  three 
years  later  bought  the  tract  spoken  of  on 
which  we  stand.  It  follows  the  Plattekill  from 
this  covered  bridge  to  the  Esopus  and  then 
down  below  the  coming  West  Shore  bridge 
and  the  falls.  He  built  this  old  stone  house 
and  it  will  be  the  residence  of  a  descendant, 
Reuben  Brink,  two  hundred  years  after  this, 
when  it  will  pass  into  the  possession  of 
Charles  Brink,  another  descendant,  who  previ- 
ously owned  another  part  of  the  same  grant. 
Another  part  will  be  long  in  the  possession  of 
Peter  H.  Brink,  of  the  same  family,  and  then 
be  owned  by  the  Finger  estate.  Here  is  the 
covered  wooden  bridge  over  the  Plattekill  and 
the  line  of  the  town  of  Ulster.  It  is  the  limit 
of  our  walk. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SAXTON  AND  ASBURY  BEFORE  THE 
REVOLUTION. 

Following  the  road  to  "the  blue  mountains 
by  way  of  the  cedar  clipje  "  we  will  attempt  to 
locate  the  families  settled  there  before  the 
Revolution.  This  is  rendered  more  difficult 
than  in  other  parts  of  the  the  town  as  the 
records  of  early  deeds  and  grants  in  the  office 
of  the  county  clerk  give  but  little  assistance. 
But  it  can  be  done  approximately. 

As  we  pass  up  the  road  through  the  future 
Quarryville  all  is  the  silence  of  a  dense  forest 
in  which  is  the  budding  of  spring,  and  the 
early  song  of  countless  birds  is  heard  alone. 
As  we  reach  the  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  Cats- 
kills  we  find  spreading  farms  around.  The 
Dutch  settlers  had  a  native  scent  for  fertile 
lands  and  soon  learned  what  was  to  be  had  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountains. 

Somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  iron  bridge 
of  1900,  on  the  road  from  Saugerties  to  Wood- 
stock. Hendrick  Wolven,  John  Wolven  and 
Jacob  Brink  are  living,  and  northeast  from 
them  Tunis  Shoe.     We  cannot  locate  them  ex- 


THE  CEDAR   CLIPJE. 


EARLY  SAXTON  AND  ASBURY.         97 

actly  and  will  not  pass  so  far  south.  We  have 
reached  the  farm  where,  towards  the  close  of 
the  next  century,  Milton  Crapser  will  live  and 
die.  Here  is  living  Capt.  Jeremiah  Snyder,  of 
the  First  Ulster  Regiment,  and  his  son  Elias. 
They  are  very  ardent  patriots,  and  very  efficient 
in  the  cause,  and  have  incurred  the  enmity  of 
their  Tory  neighbors,  of  whom  there  are  a 
number  here  along  these  mountains  and  near 
the  county  line.  In  May,  1780,  incited  by 
these  disloyal  neighbors,  a  band  of  Indians  will 
carry  the  captain  and  his  son  to  Niagara  and 
Canada  as  captives.  Just  north  of  Snyder's, 
near  the  residence  in  1900  of  John  S.  Over- 
baugh,  is  living  Lawrence  Winne,  and  across 
the  Plattekill,  a  half  mile  east,  resides  Matthias 
Markle.  North  of  Winne's  about  half  a  mile 
is  the  house  of  Evert  DeWitt,  and  a  little 
farther  north  is  living  Aaron  Winne  with  Fred- 
erick Rowe,  Jr.,  as  a  near  neighbor.  This 
Rowe,  a  Tory,  will  be  met  by  Capt.  Snyder 
while  a  captive  on  his  way  to  Canada,  frater- 
nizing with  his  Indian  and  Tory  friends. 

We  are  now  come  to  where  in  the  next  cen- 
tury will  be  the  residence  of  Col.  Christopher 
Fiero,  and  the  birthplace  of  his  son,  J.  Newton 
Fiero.  Near  this  spot  resides  Samuel  Wells, 
who  will  be  an  ancestor  of  the  wife  of 
Col.  Fiero.  And  proceeding  north  over  what 
will  be  in   coming  years  the  Saxton   flats  we 


98  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

pass  in  succession  the  houses  of  Luke  DeWitt, 
Johannes  Rowe,  William  Burhans,  Michael 
Plank  and  John  Burhans  before  reaching  the 
county  line.  Johannes  Plank  is  living  across 
the  fields  near  what,  in  1900,  will  be  the  home 
of  William  Winne.  Of  these  John  Burhans, 
William  Burhans,  Johannes  Rowe,  Johannes 
Plank,  Jr.,  and  Frederick  Rowe,  Jr ,  will  be 
ardent  loyalists  and  for  this  reason  hated  in- 
tensely by  their  patriotic  neighbors. 

Having  reached  the  Albany  county  line 
(soon  to  be  Greene  county),  we  will  descend 
by  a  road  through  the  woods  to  what  will  be 
Asbury.  As  we  reach  the  lowlands  under  the 
range  of  hills  northeast  of  the  future  Quarry- 
ville,  we  find  Myndert  Dederick  living  on  what 
will  be  afterwards  the  homestead  of  John  Ded- 
erick (late  Chidester's)  and  farther  east  is  the 
dwelling  of  William  Dederick;  while  south, 
near  where  in  1900  Gideon  P.  Ostrander  will 
live,  is  living  Wilhelmus  Rowe.  Thence  cross- 
ing over  to  the  Katsbaan  church  and  passing 
north  we  find  Peter  McGee  dwelling  near  where 
James  E.  Dederick  is  to  live  in  the  next  cen- 
tury, while  farther  south,  along  the  Saw  creek, 
resides  Johannes  Shoub. 

Let  us  walk  on  north.  Crossing  to  the  west 
side  of  the  Old  Kings  Road  we  find  Hans  Ury 
Eligh  on  the  Andries  Eligh  farm,  to  be  owned 
later  by  Nicholas  Mower.     Farther  northeast 


EARLY  SAXTON  AND  ASBURY.         99 

across  the  Kings  Road  are  the  lands  of 
Christian  Dederick,  with  the  house  of  John 
Luke  just  south  of  Dederick's ;  and  at  Asbury, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  above  road,  reside 
Zachariah  Snyder  and  Evert  Wynkoop.  Far- 
ther north  and  east  of  the  road,  at  the  county 
line,  is  living  Valentine  Fiero.  On  his  lands 
is  the  *'  Steene  Herte  Fonteyne  "  (Stone 
Heart  Spring),  or  source  of  the  Saw  creek, 
and  thus  the  northeast  corner  both  of  Ulster 
county  up  to  1767,  and  of  the  patent  of  the 
Kingston  Commons.  Its  location  was  the 
occasion  of  dispute  and  legal  strife  during  a 
severe  litigation,  in  1738.  The  question  arose, 
''Where  did  Albany  county  begin?"  In  the 
original  description  Albany  county  extended 
south  to  the  Sawyer's  creek.  Ulster  extended 
north  to  the  Sawyer's  creek.  Now,  what  was 
meant  ?  The  mouth  of  Sawyer's  creek  is  at 
Saugerties  village  on  the  Hudson.  The 
source  is  the  above  spring  west  of  the  **  Big 
Vly."  The  trustees  of  Kingston  Commons 
contended  that  Albany  county  came  to  the 
source  of  the  creek  and  followed  it  to  the 
river.  The  assessors  of  the  town  compelled 
the  trustees  to  indemnify  them,  which  was 
annually  done,  and  at  last  the  strife  was  ended 
by  granting  the  contention  of  the  trustees. 
Afterwards  the  county  line  was  continued  in  a 
straight  line  to  the  river. 

L.ofC. 


100  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Not  only  was  the  question  of  the  boundary 
involved,  but  it  included  that  of  the  bounds  of 
the  Kingston  Commons.  The  trustees  had 
begun  a  number  of  ejectment  suits  in  which 
the  question  of  title  was  raised.  This  had  to 
be  determined  by  locating  the  county  line  as 
this  was  the  bound  of  the  Commons.  As  told 
in  Schoonmaker's  "  History  of  Kingston  "  one 
of  the  witnesses  testified  : 

**  Margaret  Snyder,  the  wife  of  Zachariah 
Snyder,  being  duly  sworn  deposeth  and  saith, 
that  she  is  the  daughter  of  Valentine  (Felte) 
Fiero,  *  *  ^  that  she  was  born  and 
brought  up  at  her  father's,  and  after  being 
married  removed  to  near  the  *  Steene  Herte,* 
and  lived  there  until  about  twenty  years  ago. 
When  she  was  ten,  twelve,  or  thirteen  years  of 
age  her  father  turned  the  cattle  (as  she 
believes  about  the  25th  April)  in  the  woods 
near  the  Steene  Herte  Fonteyne  where  one  of 
the  cows  was  entangled  in  the  morass.  She 
went  to  see,  and  found  a  cow,  which  she 
called  her  own,  just  drawn  out.     *     *     * 

"  Her  father  having  cut  a  switch,  took  her 
to  the  north  side  of  the  Steene  Herte  rock, 
and  taking  her  by  the  hair,  told  her  he  would 
give  her  something  to  remember,  that  that 
side  was  Albany,  showing  her  letters,  and  gave 
her  a  smart  whipping.  After  which  he  took 
her  to  the  south  side  of  said  rock  and  told  her 


EARL Y  SAXTON  AND  ASB URY.        101 

that  side  was  Esopus,  and  pointed  at  letters 
on  that  side  of  the  rock,  and  giving  her  a 
second  whipping  told  her  to  remember  that 
he  had  been  flag  bearer,  and  Peter  York  and 
Nicholas  Branden  chain  bearers  on  the  survey, 
and  that  was  the  line  between  Albany  and 
Esopus,  etc." 

In  the  illustration  the  spring  is  given  and 
the  overhanging  rock,  which  from  the  spring 
resembles,  measureably,  a  heart  rudely  shaped 
in  stone.  The  spring  is  on  the  west  side  of 
the  **  Big  Vly,"  at  the  point  where  the  Saw 
creek  is  the  outlet  and  thus  was  at  that  time 
the  northeast  corner  of  Ulster  county,  and  of 
Kingston  Commons. 

Suppose  we  retrace  our  steps  and  go  to  the 
river  along  this  creek,  the  county  line.  Before 
we  reach  the  vicinity  of  the  Katsbaan  church 
we  come  into  a  great  forest  of  immense  white 
oaks  extending  a  mile  each  way  over  the  flats 
towards  West  Camp.  These  flats  are  very  low 
and  swampy.  The  trees  are  of  tremendous 
girth,  height  and  age.  A  very  few  will  still 
remain  in  1900  at  Katsbaan  church,  but  the 
spreading  forest  will  be  cleared  by  the  grand- 
father of  the  Cornelius  Hoff,  who  will  reside  in 
1900  on  the  Canoe  Hill  road. 

Immediately  east  from  the  church,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Saw  creek,  and  thus  in  Albany 
county  until   1767,  is  the  patent  of   Dederick 


102 


HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 


Mauterstock  which  stretches  to  the  east  and 
south  for  many  hundreds  of  acres.  Part  of 
this  land  will  be  in  possession  in  1900  of  John 
H.  Mauterstock,  a  descendant.  Farther  south 
are  fifty  acres  granted  to  Peter  Mowerse. 
This  is  the  land  which  will  lie  in  1900  where 
the  creek  will  turn  east  before  it  reaches  the 
Maiden  turnpike  and  will  be  at  that  date  the 
land  of  Jerenniah  Mower  and  Mrs.  Ellinger. 
The  "Muddy  Kill"  of  1900  is  called,  as  we 
walk,  "  The  kill  from  the  fountain,"  which 
fountain  will  still  flow  with  a  large  stream  in 
1900,  before  the  door  of  William  Valk.  In 
the  deed  of  Mowerse  the  hill  east  of  what  will, 
in  the  next  century,  be  the  Hoff  place,  is 
called  "  Armpachlo's  bergh,"  or,  in  English, 
"  the  hill  of  poor  duds."  This  deed  of  Mow- 
erse was  given  February  24,  1728.  West  of 
the  Mowerse  land  is  a  small  piece  of  glebe  of 
the  Katsbaan  church  which  will  belong  to 
Alfred  W.  Fraser  in  1900. 

Our  course  is  still  along  the  Saw  creek  south 
and  east.  Here  is  the  farm  which  will  be 
owned  next  century  by  Michael  and  then  by 
Luther  Fiero.  Now  it  is  the  possession  of 
Robert  Beaver,  who  purchased  it  February  28, 
1735.  It  is  described  as  lying  east  of  "Arm- 
pachlo's bergh,"  and  he  has  more  land  farther 
south  and  east  of  the  next,  or  Canoe  Hill. 
This  word,  spelled  "  Kanow  Hill,"  first  appears 


EARLY  SAXTON  AND  ASBURY.        103 

in  a  deed  given  to  Hiskia  DuBois  February  25, 
1726. 

Once  more  we  have  reached  the  patent  to 
Meals  and  Hayes  which  lies  east  of  the  trotting 
course  at  Saugerties  and  stretches  north  beyond 
the  north  end  of  the  Washington  avenue  of 
igoo,  and  have  thus  reached  the  settlement  at 
Saugerties  described  in  a  former  chapter. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

MALDEN    AND    WEST    CAMP    BEFORE    THE 
REVOLUTION. 

The  northeast  portion  of  the  town  of  Sau- 
gerties,  between  the  Saw  creek  and  the  Hudson 
was  a  part  of  Albany  county  until  1767,  as 
heretofore  stated.  Greene  county  was  formed 
in  1800.  This  territory  is  what  will  afterwards 
be  Maiden  and  West  Camp,  with  the  adjacent 
farm  lands.  Starting  from  the  mouth  of  Saw- 
yer's creek,  and  proceeding  north  we  first  pass 
over  the  fields  of  the  Brink  farm  until  we  reach 
what  will  in  1900  be  the  lands  of  John  G. 
Myers.  We  have  now  reached  the  Major  Dan 
Wolven  grant,  or  Gottfried  De  Wolfen  tract, 
as  it  is  sometimes  called.  Almost  the  whole 
of  this  corner  of  the  town  was  originally  cov- 
ered by  patents  or  grants.  The  first  was  this  of 
Wolven.  On  the  north,  adjoining,  was  that  of 
Myndert  Schutt.  Bordering  on  the  Schutt 
grant  on  the  north  was  the  long  grant  to 
Fullerton  which  reached  from  the  Schutt  tract 
to  the  county  line  at  Wanton  Island.  The 
"  Big  Vly  "  was  covered  by  one  of  the  Meals 
and  Hayes  grants ;   Dederick  Mauterstock  had 


MALDEN  AND    WEST  CAMP.  105 

a  large  triangular  patent  west  of  Fullerton, 
while  reaching  to  the  north  end  of  the  Wash- 
ington avenue  of  1900,  from  the  north  line  of 
the  corporation  of  Saugerties  village  was 
another  large  patent  of  Meals  and  Hayes. 

But   we   will   stop   a   moment    at   the    stone 
house  of  Major  Wolven  and  speak  of  what  is 
to  happen  in  October,  1777.      Burgoyne  will  be 
surrounded  at   Saratoga  by  the  patriot   forces 
and    must    surrender,    if    not    relieved.     The 
farmers  from  this  vicinity  will  be  in  the  Ameri- 
can army  there.     Sir  Henry  Clinton  will  send 
Gen.  Vaughan  up  the  river  from  New  York  on 
a  marauding  expedition  to  lay  waste  the  coun- 
try from  which  every  available  soldier  will  be 
either   with  Gen.   Gates   at  Saratoga,   or  with 
Governor  Clinton  defending  the   Highlands  of 
the   Hudson.     From   where  we   stand  we  can 
see   the   smoke   ascend   when   Vaughan    burns 
Kingston,  and  his  marauding  vessels  will  come 
as   far  as  here.     On  the  opposite  side  of    the 
Hudson    the    buildings    of    Gen.    Petrus    Ten- 
Broeck,   the    house,   barn    and    out    houses    of 
Robert  G.  Livingston,  and  a  house  and  mill  of 
Chancellor  Livingston  will  be  burned  the  day 
after   Kingston   is   destroyed.     The    next    day 
another  house  of  the  chancellor  will  be  burned, 
one  of  John   Livingston,  and  three  others  be- 
longing  to  neighbors.     Then   a  house   on  the 
east  side  belonging  to  Judge  Smith  will  be  con- 


106  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

sumed,  when  the  British  will  cross  to  this 
side  of  the  river.  They  will  find  here  a  sloop, 
or  brig,  at  anchor  and  one  on  the  stocks  and 
burn  them.  They  will  land  at  this  house  of 
Major  Wolven  and  set  it  on  fire,  but  the  fire 
will  go  out  and  the  charred  spot  will  be  visible 
during  the  next  century,  A  detachment  will 
start  for  the  Brink  place,  but  before  it  reaches 
it  a  signal  gun  from  Vaughan's  ship  will  recall 
it  as  the  news  has  reached  Vaughan  of  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender  and  the  vessels  will  come 
about  and  immediately  proceed  to  New  York. 
But,  meanwhile,  the  wife  of  John  Brink,  whose 
husband  is  with  the  army  at  Saratoga,  flees 
with  her  child  and  carries  him  all  the  way  to 
Woodstock  for  safety. 

This  tract  of  Major  Wolven  reaches  all  the 
way  along  the  river  to  a  point  just  north  of 
where  next  century  will  stand  the  store  of  the 
Ishams  in  the  village  of  Maiden,  and  to  the 
bounds  of  the  Myndert  Schutt  tract.  On 
May  9,  1808,  two  hundred  acres  of  it  will  be 
sold  to  Asa  Bigelow  and  Samuel  Isham  for 
$6,000.  At  this  time  Bigelow  will  have  a  gen- 
eral store  in  Saugerties  on  the  site  of  the 
future  Russell  Block  which  he  will  own.  In 
this  store  will  be  the  first  post  office  of  the 
village  and  Bigelow  be  the  first  postmaster. 
Before  this  day  there  will  be  a  tri-wcekly  mail 
from  New  York  to  Albany  on  the  west  side  of 


MALDEN  AND    WEST  CAMP.  107 

the  Hudson  by  the  Old  Kings  Road,  returning 
on  alternate  days,  arid  letters  and  mail  be  left 
at  the  store  of  Cornelius  Persen  in  Katsbaan. 
It  is  a  long  cry  and  distinct  advance  which 
before  the  century  closes  will  see  frequent 
daily  mails  in  the  village,  and  daily  rural  free 
delivery  all  over  the  town. 

Soon  after  the  purchase  of  the  Wolven  tract 
Bigelow  and  Isham  will  begin  to  build  a  frame 
store  on  the  street,  in  Maiden,  leading  to  what 
will  be  afterwards  the  Isham  dock.  In  1814, 
they  will  build  the  brick  store,  afterwards  to 
be  known  as  the  Isham  store.  This  will  be 
near  the  north  end  of  the  Wolven  tract.  In 
1813,  Bigelow  will  purchase  of  John  Van 
Steenberg  a  part  of  the  Schutt  grant  and  on 
it  in  1818,  he  will  build  a  stone  building  still 
to  be  used  in  1900  as  the  Blue  Stone  Co. 
ofifice,  having  previously  withdrawn  from  the 
partnership  with  Isham.  Here  is  to  grow  up 
the  village  of  Bristol,  which  will  be  called 
Maiden,  later,  so  as  to  secure  a  post  ofifice. 
From  this  place  a  turnpike  will  be  built  in 
1826  to  Palenville,  and  here  will  be  established 
one  of  the  most  successful  industries  in  this 
state  in  buying,  selling  and  manufacturing 
blue  stone.  On  November  6,  181 5,  Bigelow 
and  Isham  will  sell  the  south  end  of  the 
Wolven  tract  to  William  Myer,  from  whose 
heirs   it    will   pass    December,    i860,    through 


108  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Russell    N.    Isaacs    to    Francis    Pidgeon,    and 
from  him  to  John  G.  Myers. 

Adjoining  the  Wolven  grant  on  the  north  is 
that  of  Myndert  Schutt.  It  reaches  west  to 
the  Sawyer's  creek  and  north  to  the  Fullerton 
patent.  The  dwelling  of  Myndert  Schutt  was 
built  about  1712  and  will  be  standing  down 
through  the  next  century.  Myndert  Schutt 
married  Sarah  Persen,  of  the  family  at  Sau- 
gerties  who  became  the  owners  of  the  Meals 
and  Hayes  patent  at  the  mouth  of  the  Esopus 
creek,  and  their  daughter  Maria  Schutt  mar- 
ried Abraham  Post,  from  whom  the  Post  fam- 
ily, who  will  be  so  prominent  in  the  early 
history  of  this  village,  is  descended.  Most  of 
the  Schutt  grant  passed  into  the  possession  of 
Abraham  Post.  Then  Thomas  VanSteenberg 
purchased  183  acres  in  1757,  so  that  at  the 
time  of  our  walk  the  tract  is  comparatively 
small. 

From  the  Schutt  grant  north  to  the  county 
line  of  1900  is  the  Fullerton  patent.  It  reach- 
ed almost  as  far  west  as  the  patent  of  Meals 
and  Hayes,  which  covered  the  **  Big  Vly,"  and 
contained  about  eight  hundred  acres.  When 
the  Palatines  were  brought  over  from  England 
in  1710  by  Governor  Robert  Hunter  and 
settled  at  East  Camp  and  West  Camp  in 
October  of  that  year.  Gov.  Hunter  was  com- 
pelled  to  purchase   lands   for  them.     On   the 


MALDEN  AND    WEST  CAMP.  10^ 

east  side  of  the  river  he  purchased  6,000  acres 
of  Livingston,  but  on  the  west  side  he  could 
not  find  sufficient  land  available  and  covered 
with  pines  from  which  naval  stores  of  tar, 
pitch,  resin  and  turpentine  could  be  made. 
After  considerable  negotiation  he  succeeded 
in  purchasing  this  patent  from  its  possessor, 
Thomas  FuUerton,  who  was  an  ofificer  in  the 
Royal  Custom's  Service  in  Scotland.  This 
tract  had  been  granted  by  Governor  Thomas 
Dongan  February  28,  1687,  to  Robert  Fuller- 
ton  and  lay  southwest  from  Wanton  island. 
On  this  Fullerton  tract  the  Palatines  were  dis- 
embarked October  4,  1710,  and  gathered  in- 
to three  villages  convenient  to  the  pines  call- 
ed Elizabethtown,  Newtown  and  Georgetown. 
These  villages  were  only  a  mile  apart,  but  as 
they  were  merely  of  log  huts  for  those  who 
were  cutting  pines  for  tar,  etc.,  they  perished 
when  the  enterprise  was  abandoned  and  the 
colonists  scattered  to  become  possessors  of 
farms  of  their  own.  This  was  not  as  easy 
upon  this  Fullerton  patent  as  it  was  a  mile 
farther  west  upon  the  lands  of  Kingston  Com- 
mons and  most  of  the  enterprising  among  the 
Palatines  passed  over  and  soon  acquired  farms 
from  the  trustees  and  mingled  with  and  inter- 
married among  the  Dutch. 

The    name   of    Fullerton    will   long   survive. 
There  is  in  existence  a  map  of   General  Bur- 


1 10  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

goyne  on  which  were  located  the  places  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Hudson,  where  he  meant  to 
encamp  his  army  on  his  march  to  New  York 
after  capturing  Albany,  provided  he  defeated 
our  army.  One  of  these  encampments  was  to 
be  at  "  Katsbaan  near  FuUerton."     But 

*'The  best  laid  schemes  of  mice  and  men 
Gang  aft  agley," 

Burgoyne  came  to  Albany,  but  tradition 
says  he  rode  a  paroled  prisoner  in  an  ambu- 
lance wagon  driven  by  ''  Oom  Hans  Myer," 
who  afterwards  kept  the  inn  in  this  town, 
where,  in  1900,  his  descendant,  Wells  Myer, 
will  live,  as  told  in  a  former  chapter,  and  when 
this  wagon  was  driven  through  Katsbaan  on 
its  way  home  Burgoyne  was  on  his  way  under 
parole  to  England.  It  might  be  in  place  to 
state  that  a  part  of  the  box  of  this  wagon  is 
preserved  in  the  Senate  House  in  Kingston. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

GLASCO   AND    FLATBUSH    BEFORE   THE 
REVOLUTION. 

We  have  now  looked  into  the  condition  of 
the  whole  of  the  town  which  was  settled 
before  the  Revolutionary  war,  except  the 
peninsula  formed  by  the  Hudson  river  on  the 
east  and  the  Esopus  creek  on  the  north  and 
west.  This  region  is  Glasco,  Flatbush  and 
Glenerie. 

When  Kingston  Commons  was  originally 
laid  out  and  mapped  the  woodland,  mountain- 
ous and  wild  lands  were  divided  into  what  was 
there  denominated  classes.  The  third,  fourth, 
fifth  and  six  classes  covered  the  wild  lands 
from  the  south  bounds  of  the  town  to  Albany 
county  line  covering  the  hills,  some  of  the 
peaks  of  which  were  afterwards  called  Mt. 
Marion,  Mt.  Airy,  etc.  The  seventh  class  lay 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Esopus  creek  and 
began  at  the  mouth  of  that  creek  on  the  south 
side,  and  ran  up  the  creek  to  Glenerie  falls, 
(upper  falls) ;  then  easterly  to  where  the 
settled  lands  in  Flatbush  appeared,  and  thence 
north   to  a  point  northwest  of  where  in  the 


1 1 2  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

next  century  will  be  the  hotel  of  Schoentag. 
Thus  the  half  of  this  part  of  the  town  was 
wild  land  and  much  of  it  will  so  remain  until 
1900.  In  this  portion  a  grant  of  one  hundred 
acres  was  made  to  Arent  Tunis  Pier.  On  this 
grant  will  be  the  site  of  the  Glenerie  of  the 
future  as  it  lies  on  the  east  and  south  side  of 
the  Esopus.  The  grant  was  dated  December 
5,  1688.  This  fine  water-privilege  will  not  be 
used  to  a  great  extent  except  the  upper  falls 
upon  which  a  fulling  mill  and  afterwards  a 
paint  mill  will  be  erected.  The  middle  falls 
will  never  be  harnessed  and  little  will  be  done 
with  the  lowest,  or  Glenerie  falls  proper,  until 
about  1835,  when  Coloael  Edward  Clark  will 
establish  a  white-lead  plant  there,  which  will 
be  developed  by  his  successors,  Battelle  & 
Renwick,  into  one  of  the  best  in  the  United 
States.  Around  it  will  spring  up  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  small  villages  until  the  com- 
pany will  be  absorbed  into  a  great  white  lead 
trust,  when  the  works  will  be  abandoned,  and 
the  village  be  deserted  and  fall  into  ruin. 

Our  tramp  will  begin  on  the  hill  afterwards 
to  be  called  Ury,  and  later  Barclay  Heights. 
This  hill  is  reached  from  the  -village  by  cross- 
ing the  Esopus  on  a  scow  ferry  above  the 
upper  falls  at  Stony  Point.  Later  another 
such  ferry  will  run  from  the  foot  of  the  future 
MacCarthy  street  at  Phillips'  boat  yard.     The 


GLASCO  AND  FLATBUSH.  113 

wooden  arch  bridge  of  1839,  ^^ith  its  successor 
the  iron  bridge  of  1874,  will  abolish  these  fer- 
ries. But  during  the  summer  of  the  latter 
year,  while  the  iron  bridge  is  building,  this 
ferry  will  be  re-established  from  Phillips'  for  a 
number  of  weeks.  As  we  journey  south  from 
the  top  of  the  hill  in  these  days  of  old  we  find 
first  the  lands  of  Edward  Wood.     Part  of  this  ^ 

property  was  purchased  from  the  Meals  and 
Hayes  grant,  but  on  March  4,  1734,  he  bought 
thirty-four  acres  of  the  trustees  of  Kingston 
Commons.  During  the  Revolution  a  tavern 
will  be  kept  here  by  Hendrick  Schoonmaker 
for  some  years.  In  1825,  the  property  will 
pass  into  the  possession  of  Henry  Barclay,  the 
founder  of  the  future  village  of  Saugerties, 
who  will  build  his  residence  here  and  will  live 
to  185 1.  In  1854  his  dwelling  will  be  torn 
down  to  erect  the  residence  of  Joseph  B. 
Shef^eld. 

Next  south  is  the  land  conveyed  by  the 
trustees  to  Tjerck  Schoonmaker  on  March  4, 
1734,  the  day  of  the  conveyance  to  Wood. 
On  part  of  this  Mynderse  Schoonmaker  will 
Hve  in  1900.  West  of  this  is  the  grant  to 
John  Legg,  or  Laig.  This  was  made  Febru- 
ary 24,  1740.  This  will  be  the  Richard  C. 
Washburn  place  of  1900.  Legg's  descendants,  K 
Samuel  Legg  and  William  Legg,  will  be  mer- 
chants  at    the    upper   landing   soon   after  the 


1  14  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Revolution,  and  later  a  Samuel  Legg,  a 
descendant,  will  nnake  a  moderate  fortune 
here  as  the  manufacturer  of  a  whip,  known 
up  and  down  the  valley  of  the  Hudson  as  the 
*'  Esopus  whip,"  which  drivers  will  consider 
indispensable. 

To  Peter  VanLeuven  on  March  i,  1731,  and 
to  Andries  VanLeuven  February  6,  1747,  and 
at  subsequent  times  were  granted  large  tracts 
of  land  further  south  along  the  river  and  west 
to  the  Esopus  creek.  These  lands  covered 
the  Spaulding  place  of  1900,  and  reached  to 
Glasco.  They  will  remain  for  a  century  in  the 
family  and  among  the  descendants.  The  site 
of  the  future  village  of  Glasco  is  at  present 
ungranted  land,  but  on  September  15,  1786, 
the  trustees  will  convey  a  tract  to  Herman 
Minklaer  which  will  reach  along  the  Hudson 
beyond  the  south  bounds  of  the  coming 
village. 

The  river  bank  south  was  originally  granted 
by  Governor  Dongan  to  Jan  Mattysson  &  Com- 
pany, in  a  patent  dated  February  13,  1688.  In 
this  grant  were  six  hundred  acres  and  it  was 
divided  into  two  hundred  acres  to  Capt.  John 
Spragge  on  the  north;  two  hundred  acres  to 
Mattys  Mattysson  in  the  middle  and  two  hun- 
dred acres  to  Claes  Westphalen  and  Abel  West- 
phalen  to  the  south  and  reaching  to  Kalkoene 
Hoeck  (Turkey  Point).     At  this  point  it  bound- 


GLASCO  AND  FLATBUSH.  115 

ed  on  the  Haines  grant  which  extended  over 
into  the  bounds  of  the  town  of  Ulster.  But 
the  patent  lapsed  in  some  unknown  way  and 
the  tract  became  part  of  Kingston  Commons. 
On  January  22,  1722,  the  trustees  deeded 
thirty-five  acres  on  the  north  end  of  this  tract 
to  James  Whitaker,  whose  lands  are  described 
as  being  over  against  Magdalen  Island  and 
bounded  on  the  west  by  lands  of  John  Laig. 
He  also  had  seventeen  acres  lying  west  of  a 
hill  called  "  Rondebergh,"  while  south  of  the 
lands  of  John  Laig,  and  southwest  of  those  of 
Whitaker,  a  tract  of  land  had  been  granted  to 
Lawrence  Swart.  Much  of  this  property  will 
remain  in  the  possession  of  descendants  of 
Whitaker  during  the  next  century  until  in  the 
latter  half  it  will  be  owned  by  Egbert  Whitaker 
of  this  village. 

During  the  Revolution,  on  August  24,  1781, 
the  trustees  granted  to  James  Osterhoudt, 
Petrus  Burhans,  Samuel  Burhans,  Isaac  Bur- 
hans  and  Abraham  Burhans,  all  of  Flatbush, 
all  those  lands  situate  at  Flatbush  south  and 
east  of  a  line  running  along  the  south  bounds 
of  Jecobus  (James)  Whitaker  from  a  point  on 
the  road  eastward  to  the  Hudson.  This  grant 
extended  south  to  the  Haines  patent.  A  very 
large  proportion  of  this  tract  will  be  in  1900  in 
possession  of  the  different  branches  of  the 
Osterhoudt  family  and  their  descendants. 


1 1 6  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

We  have  now  tramped  over  the  whole  of 
the  town  which  was  settled  previous  to  the 
Revolution.  While  the  writer  does  not  claim 
to  have  found  the  house  of  every  settler,  nor 
even  to  have  located  every  original  patent, 
grant,  or  conveyance  of  land  he  feels  he  has 
done  so  with  as  many  of  them  as  can  be  de- 
termined at  this  late  day,  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  years  from  the  beginning 
of  that  war,  and  at  least  some  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  years  from  the  original  settlement 
of  the  town. 

He  has  found  a  number  of  tracts,  lots  and 
farms  which  he  is  unable  to  locate  after  long- 
continued  search  among  old  deeds,  etc.,  which 
are,  at  least,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years 
old.  As  a  specimen  he  will  mention  sixty 
acres  conveyed  to  Christian  Fiero.  He  was 
one  of  the  elders  when  the  Katsbaan  church 
was  built  in  1732.  From  him,  probably,  all 
those  of  that  name  in  this  town  are  descended. 
On  June  14,  1728,  the  trustees  of  Kingston 
Commons  granted  him  a  parcel  of  land  "  at  the 
southwest  end  of  a  place  called  Tryn  Claesen 
Vlackten "  (the  flats  of  Catherine,  wife  of 
Nicholas),  containing  sixty  acres.  February 
28,  1729,  the  trustees  granted  Johannes  Ever- 
hard  sixty  acres  adjoining,  and  on  the  same 
day  sixty  acres  more  to  Daniel  Miller  adjacent 
to  the  land  of  Everhard,  with  the  further  de- 


GLASCO  AND  FLATBUSH.  117 

scription  that  it  lay  at  the  foot  of  a  high  hill. 
Here  are  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land. 
Where  did  it  lie  ?  There  is  no  record  of  a 
subsequent  purchaser.  It  was  "flats."  And 
it  is  noticeable  that  no  upland  was  taken  up 
until  all  the  level  land  was.  No  one  coming 
from  low  and  level  Holland  secured  anything 
else  as  long  as  level  lands  could  be  obtained. 
There  seems  to  be  no  place  from  the  Plattekill 
to  the  Greene  county  line  where  one  hundred 
and  eighty  acres  could  be  crowded  in  which  he 
has  not  covered. 

In  1803  and  1804  the  trustees  finally  divided 
the  commons,  or  corporate  lands,  among  the 
inhabitants  entitled  thereto,  and  on  December 
13,  1816,  assigned  the  funds  in  their  possession 
to  the  supervisors  and  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
of  the  towns  of  Esopus,  Saugerties  and  Kings- 
ton and  then,  after  a  corporate  existence  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty  years  finally  and  per- 
manently dissolved. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE   LEGION   OF   HONOR. 

Preceding  chapters  have  brought  the  story 
of  the  town  of  Saugerties  down  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolutionary  war.  There  were 
less  than  seven  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants 
within  the  borders  of  the  town  in  1775,  and 
of  these  not  one  hundred  within  the  bounds  of 
this  village.  Neither  Maiden  nor  Glasco  ex- 
isted. Not  a  soul  lived  where  are  now  pop- 
ulous quarry  villages.  Katsbaan  and  West 
Camp  had  probably  as  many  residents  as  they 
have  to-day.  And  a  few  farmers  were  settled 
in  Plattekill,  Flatbush  and  Saxton. 

Despite  the  fact  that  schools  had  begun  to 
teach  the  English  language  it  was  rarely 
spoken.  Public  documents  must  needs  be 
written  in  English.  Nevertheless  many  made 
their  wills  in  Dutch.  Aside  from  this  all  busi- 
ness was  in  Dutch,  as  was  all  conversation. 
Among  the  Palatine  settlers  and  their  descend- 
ants were  many  who  still  spoke  German,  espe- 
cially among  those  Lutheran  families  who  had 
not  intermingled  with  the  Dutch.  And  the 
writer    remembers    Palatine    German    speech 


THE  LEGION  OF  HONOR.  119 

among  such  families  as  late  as  the  civil  war  of 
1861-5.     The    services    in    the    West     Camp 
church  were  in   German   for  many  years,  and 
when   Rev.  George  W.  Mancius  came  to  Kats- 
baan  in   1730,  he  preached  at  first  in  German. 
When  he  went  to  serve  the  church  in  Kingston 
in   1732,  as  colleague  of  Rev.  Petrus  Vas,  the 
consistory  of  that  church  gave  him  two  years 
to  perfect  himself  in  Dutch  speech.     He  was  a 
learned  man  of  remarkable  linguistic  acquire- 
ments, being  able  to  speak  nine  different  lan- 
guages.    But  German  at  the  Katsbaan  church 
was  very  soon  superseded  by  Dutch,  and  in  the 
latter  language  all  the  services  were  held  until 
the   coming   of    Rev.    James   David  Demarest 
as    pastor    in    1808.     When    Rev.    Dr.    Henry 
Ostrander  was  settled   in    1812,   he   continued 
English  services  with  stated  ones  in   Dutch  for 
many  who  could  hardly  understand  the   Eng- 
lish,  or   who  were   able   to   worship  with   less 
restraint   in   their  mother   tongue.     But    time 
changed   it  all.      Down  to  the  last  generation 
there  were  many  families  in  which  Dutch  was 
the  language   of   the  household,  and   even   as 
late  as  1900  the  writer  knew  a  number  of  homes 
in  the  town  in  which  all  family  affairs  were  still 
discussed   in   the  old   tongue   and   around   the 
table  both  parents  and  children  used  the  speech 
brought   from    Holland   almost   three  hundred 
years  ago.      But  the  next  generation  will  know 


1  20  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER TIES. 

it  not.  Dutch  words  and  expression  survive 
and  will  continue  with  Dutch  force  of  charac- 
ter, but  the  tongue  has  become  a  memory  along 
the  Hudson. 

Among  those  who  were  residing  in  1775 
within  what  is  now  the  town  of  Saugerties 
were  but  two  or  three  English  families.  All 
the  others  were  of  Dutch,  Palatine,  or  Hugue- 
not origin.  Hence  there  was  no  prepossession 
in  favor  of  England  here.  On  the  whole  her 
government  had  been  just  and  liberal  until  the 
advent  to  power  of  Lord  North  and  his  ultra 
Tory  ministry.  A  conflict  had  been  going  on 
in  the  Reformed  church  for  years  which  is 
known  as  the  Coetus  and  Conferentie  strife,  and 
which,  in  1772,  was  decided  in  favor  of  the 
former.  The  Conferentie  party  wished  the 
church  to  remain  under  control  of  the  Church 
of  Holland.  The  former,  or  Coetus  party, 
wished  it  to  be  American  and  free.  This  long 
strife  had  educated  the  Dutchmen  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  Americanism,  although  the  conserva- 
tive Dutch  of  this  town  were  largely  Confer- 
entie. But  Rev.  Lambertus  DeRonde,  the 
pastor  of  the  Katsbaan  church  during  the  Rev- 
olution, preached  the  sermon  at  the  Synod 
which  had  united  the  factions  and  henceforth 
the  Reformed  Church  was  to  be  free  from 
European  control.  This  was  in  1772,  and 
when   Lexington   was   fought,  April   19,   1775, 


THE  LEGION  OF  HONOR.  121 

three  years  of  complete  Americanism  had  had 
its  influence  upon  the  men  of  Saugerties. 
There  was  no  village  of  size  in  the  town.  But 
the  tavern  of  Abraham  Post  in  Saugerties  and 
the  store  of  Cornelius  Persen  in  Katsbaan  had 
known  many  discussions  of  the  principles  at 
stake  and  the  disputants  were  awake  to  the 
fact  that  Americans  could  and  must  resist 
tyranny,  and  were  able  to  regulate  their  own 
affairs,  while  many  were  holding  that  they 
could  govern  themselves. 

The  high  handed  measures  of  the  British 
Crown  so  thoroughly  awakened  the  patriots  of 
Ulster  county  that  a  meeting  was  held  in 
Hurley  on  the  sixth  of  January,  1775,  to 
arouse  the  people  to  resist  the  demands  of 
tyranny,  and  its  enroachments.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  meeting  of  the  patriots  of  the 
town  of  Kingston  which  then  included  the 
town  of  Saugerties.  A  Committee  of  Obser- 
vation was  appointed  consisting  of  seven 
members,  of  which  three  were  from  Sau- 
gerties, viz:  Johannes  Persen,  Christian  Fiero 
and  Egbert  Schoonmaker.  One  of  the  acts  of 
this  committee  was  to  .see  that  merchants  did 
not  "sell  or  vend  any  East  India  tea."  On 
April  19,  1775,  occurred  the  battle  of  Lexing- 
ton. As  fast  as  messengers  could  ride  the 
news  spread  over  the  land.  On  April  28,  a 
call  was  issued  for  another  Provincial  Congress 


122  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

to  meet  in  New  York  May  22.  Ulster  county 
was  represented  by  seven  deputies.  On  May 
29,  this  congress  resolved  that  "a  general 
association  of  freeholders  and  inhabitants  be 
fornned,  and  that  the  articles  thereof  be  pre- 
sented for  signature  to  every  inhabitant  before 
July  15,  1775,  and  on  that  date  those  who 
refused,  or  neglected  to  sign  them  be  report- 
ed." Ulster  county  promptly  fell  in  line. 
Articles  of  Association  for  the  patriots  of  the 
county  were  immediately  drawn  by  which  the 
signers  bound  themselves  "  to  mutual  defense 
of  rights  and  liberties  ;  to  prosecute  measures 
necessary  to  safety ;  to  prevent  anarchy  and 
confusion  ;  to  preserve  peace  and  good  order 
and  the  safety  of  individuals  and  private  prop- 
erty until  a  reconciliation  between  England 
and  America,  on  constitutional  principles,  can 
be  obtained." 

The  articles  were  circulated  at  once.  In  the 
whole  town  of  Kingston  there  were  five  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  signatures  and  only  thirty- 
three  refusals.  The  paper  was  duly  brought 
to  Saugerties  and  circulated.  Who  the  mess- 
engers were  is  not  definitely  known  at  this  late 
day.  They  were  probably  the  three  members 
of  the  General  Committee,  Johannes  Persen 
and  Egbert  Schoonmaker  of  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Saugerties  and  Christian  Fiero,  of 
Katsbaan.     As   the    names    of   the    signers   in 


THE  LEGION  OF  HONOR.  123 

Saugerties  are  included  among  those  residing 
elsewhere  in  the  town  of  Kingston  the  follow- 
ing list  may  be  only  approximately  correct. 
But  it  can  not  vary  greatly.  They  were 
Barent  Burhans,  Juren  Bear,  Adam  Bear, 
Johannes  Backer,  Hendrick  Backer,  Petrus 
Backer,  John  Brink,  John  Brink,  Jr.,  Cornelius 
C  Brink,  Petrus  Brink,  Jacob  Conyers,  George 
Carle,  Sampson  Davis,  Hezekiah  DuBois, 
Hezekiah  DuBois,  Jr.,  Jacobus  DuBois,  Lucas 
DeWitt,  Jurrie  W.  Dederick,  Jacobus  Ded- 
erick,  William  Dederick,  Jr.,  Matthew  Ded- 
erick, Johannes  Dederick,  Myndert  Dederick, 
Frederick  Eygenaar,  Wilhelmus  Emerick, 
Johannes  Emerick,  Christian  Fiero,  Christian 
Fiero,  Jr.,  Stephanus  Fiero,  Hendrick  Fiero, 
Hendrick  P.  Freligh,  Peter  Freligh,  Samuel 
Freligh,  John  Freligh,  Philip  Felton,  Johan- 
nes Felton,  Jacob  France,  Michael  Hoff, 
Martynus  Hommel,  Jerrie  Hommel,  Jr.,  Her- 
manus  Hommel,  Peter  Hommel,  Luke  Kier- 
stede,  Christoffe  Kierstede,  Cornelius  Langen- 
dyke,  Luijker  Langendyke,  Dederick  Mauter- 
stock,  Adam  Mauterstock,  Jacob  Mauterstock, 
William  Mauterstock,  Johannes  Mauterstock, 
Benjamin  Myer,  Benjamin  Myer,  Jr.,  Hen- 
dricus  Myer,  Christian  Myer,  William  Myer, 
Petrus  Myer,  Johannes  Myer.  Jr.,  Petrus 
Myer,  Jr,,  Petrus  Low  Myer,  Tobias  Myer, 
Teunis  Myer,  Stephanus  Myer,  Jacob  Mower, 


124  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Johannes  Mower,  Jr.,  Petrus  Mower,  Leonard 
Mower,  Nicholas  Mower,  John  Monk,  Har- 
mon Minkelaer,  Myndert  Mynderse,  Arie 
Newkirk,  Jan  L.  Osterhoudt,  Abraham  Oster- 
houdt,  Cornelius  Persen,  Johannes  Persen, 
Jacobus  Persen,  Abraham  Post,  Jecobus  Post, 
Martynus  Post,  Jan  Post,  Isaac  Post,  Hendrick 
Post,  Jurrie  W.  Rightmyer,  Johannes  Right- 
myer,  Coenradt  Rechtmyer,  Hermanus  Recht- 
myer,  Lodewick  Russell,  Hendrick  Snyder, 
Benjamin  Snyder,  Abraham  Snyder,  Isaac 
Snyder,  Jeremiah  Snyder,  Martynus  Snyder, 
Egbert  Schoonmaker,  Samuel  Schoonmaker, 
Hezekiah  DuBois  Schoonmaker,  Hendrick 
Schoonmaker,  Edward  Schoonmaker,  Tjerck 
Schoonmaker,  Jr.,  Solomon  Schutt,  Adam 
Short,  Petrus  Sax,  Phillipus  Viele,  John  Val- 
kenburgh,  Christian  Valkenburgh,  Johannes 
Valck,  Jr.,  Wilhelm  Valck,  Aaronhout  Valck, 
Peter  Whitaker,  Jacobus  Whitaker,  William 
Whitaker,  Barent  Whitaker,  Johannes  Wol- 
ven,  Johannes  Wolven,  Jr.,  Godfrey  Wolven, 
Hendrick  Wolven,  Jeremiah  Wolven,  John 
Wolven,  Laurence  Winne,  Peter  A.  Winne, 
Arent  Winne,  Benjamin  Winne,  John  Wells, 
Hendricus  Wells,  Evert  Wynkoop,  Hezekiah 
Wynkoop,  Tobias  Wynkoop,  Cornelius  E. 
Wynkoop,  Jurian  Young,  John  Young  and 
Jeremiah  Young — one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
in    all.     The   only   persons  in   this   town   who 


THE  LEGION  OF  HONOR,  125 

refused  to  sign  were  Richard  Davenport^ 
William  Eligh,  William  Fiero,  Abraham  Hom- 
mel,  Peter  Luecks,  Josias  Minklaer,  Johannes 
Plank,  Johannes  Plank,  Jr.,  Johannes  Row, 
Frederick  Row,  Jr.,  Johannes  Row,  Jr  ,  Johan- 
nes Trumpbour,  and  Nicholas  Trumpbour. 
Thus  there  were  but  thirteen  Tories  in  its 
borders. 

The  roll  of  signers  of  the  Articles  of  Asso- 
ciation has  always  been  esteemed  a  Roll  of 
Honor,  and  justly  so.  Almost  every  man  on 
this  roll  entered  the  military  service  during 
the  long  war  unless  physically  disqualified,  or 
too  old  and  feeble.  And  many  who  were  old 
shouldered  the  musket  as  the  rosters  frequent- 
ly show  that  fathers  and  sons  served  in  the 
same  regiment.  And  what  is  true  of  the  mili- 
tary service  is  much  more  true  of  the  above 
Articles.  In  many  instances  every  man  in  the 
family  signed  and  grandsire,  son  and  grandson 
pledged  themselves  to  a  mutual  defense  of 
their  liberty  not  only,  but  to  individual  peace 
and  safety.  And  through  seven  long  and  dis- 
couraging years  they  nobly  kept  the  faith. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE   REVOLUTIONARY   WAR. 

So  far  in  the  progress  of  events  there  was  no 
purpose  of  independence.  But  events  were 
moving  apace.  The  Continental  Congress  as- 
sembled in  Philadelphia  concluded  it  would  be 
wise  to  assume  the  aggressive.  The  invasion 
of  Canada  was  determined  on,  and  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  began  to  make  provision  for  this. 
Among  the  regiments  called  was  one  from 
Ulster  county,  of  which  James  Clinton  was 
made  colonel.  It  was  placed  in  a  brigade 
under  command  of  Gen.  Montgomery  and 
reached  Quebec  where  the  latter  fell,  and  the 
expedition  returned. 

In  August,  1775,  an  act  was  passed  reorgan- 
izing the  militia.  In  this  re-organization  Ulster 
county  was  called  upon  for  four  regiments. 
This  town  was  included  in  the  northern,  or 
First  Ulster,  and  the  command  of  the  regiment 
was  given  at  first  to  Col.  Johannes  Harden- 
bergh.  The  regiment  had  various  vicissitudes, 
and  when  it  was  finally  organized  it  entered 
the  service  under  Col.  Johannis  Snyder,  a  na- 
tive of  this  town,  then  resident  of  what  is  now 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY   WAR,  \27 

Kingston.  He  was  the  son  of  George  Snyder, 
a  Palatine  who  came  to  West  Camp  with  the 
colony  of  1710.  When  this  regiment  was 
officered,  Oct.  25,  1775,  the  third  company  was 
under  the  following  officers:  Capt.  Matthew 
Dederick  ;  First  Lieut.  Evert  Wynkoop,  Jr.  ; 
Second  Lieut.  Petrus  Eygenaar  and  Ensign 
Hendrick  Myer.  The  fourth  company  was 
officered  as  follows  :  Capt.  John  Lucas  DeWitt ; 
First  Lieut.  Petrus  Osterhoudt  ;  Second  Lieut. 
Tobias  Myer  and  Ensign  Petrus  Brink. 

On  May  i,  1776,  the  regiment  was  reported 
ready.  It  was  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Snyder.  The  company  of  Capt.  DeWitt  was 
now  numbered  the  second,  and  consisted  of  a 
captain,  two  lieutenants,  one  ensign,  eight  non- 
commissioned officers  and  fifty  privates.  This 
company  was  raised  in  the  south  part  of  the 
present  town.  The  company  of  Capt.  Ded- 
erick, now  number  four,  when  the  return  was 
made  had  one  lieutenant,  no  ensign,  eight  non- 
commissioned officers  and  forty-eight  privates. 
This  company  was  raised  in  Katsbaan  and  West 
Camp.  The  company  of  Capt.  Jeremiah  Sny- 
der, which  was  raised  in  the  western  part  of  the 
town  did  not  organize  as  soon  as  the  others. 

■So  far  the  contest  had  been  resistance  to 
tyrannical  enactments  in  the  vain  hope  of  re- 
conciliation with  the  mother  country.  But 
Parliament  had  by  an  act  declared  the  colonies 


128  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

in  rebellion,  had  raised  troops  for  its  suppres- 
sion and  hired  mercenary  troops  in  Germany 
for  subjugation.     So  the  issue  was  joined. 

On  June  7,  1776,  the  die  was  cast.  Congress 
that  day  "  Resolved,  that  these  United  Col- 
onies are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and 
independent  states;  that  they  are  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and 
that  all  connection  between  them  and  the  State 
of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally 
dissolved,"  and  appointed  a  committee  to  draft 
a  Declaration  of  Independence. 

July  4,  1776,  saw  the  immortal  document 
signed.  The  world  knows  the  result.  The 
Provincial  Congress  of  New  York  had  been 
elected  in  April  of  that  year.  It  met  in  May^ 
1779,  at  White  Plains.  When  the  resolution  of 
Continental  Congress  of  June  7,  was  laid  before 
it,  it  was  decided  that  it  was  of  too  great  mo- 
ment to  be  acted  upon  without  a  reference  to 
the  people.  It  was  so  referred  and  another 
election  ordered.  This  new  body  met  at 
White  Plains  July  9,  1776;  the  action  of  the 
Continental  Congress  was  laid  before  it,  and 
the  same  day  the  Congress  at  White  Plains 
*'  Resolved,  unanimously,  that  the  reasons  as- 
signed by  the  Continental  Congress  for  declar- 
ing the  United  Colonies  free  and  independent 
States,  are  cogent  and  conclusive  ;  and  while 
we  lament  the  cruel  necessity,  which  has  ren- 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.  129 

dered  that  measure  unavoidable,  we  approve 
the  same,  and  will  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and 
fortunes,  join  with  the  other  colonies  in  sup- 
porting it."  Messengers  were  sent  through  the 
colony  to  publish  the  declaration  and  the  reso- 
lutions of  approval,  and  the  strife  was  on. 

The  writer  has  been  permitted  to  make  use 
of  a  diary  in  the  handwriting  of  Christopher 
Tappen,  of  Kingston,  now  in  possession  of 
Mrs.  William  Mould,  of  the  village  of  Sau- 
gerties.  Mr.  Tappen  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
Governor  George  Clinton,  and  was  one  of  the 
delegates  to  the  above  congress,  at  White 
Plains.  His  diary  begins  with  his  journey 
from  Kingston  to  that  village  at  the  session 
spoken  of,  on  July  9,  1776,  and  is  concluded  on 
the  25th  of  the  following  January.  It  gives 
an  inside  history  of  the  times  and  reveals  the 
petty  envies  and  jealousies  which  then,  as 
now,  mar  human  actions  even  when  the 
motives  are  the  most  patriotic  and  Christian. 
Human  nature  is  ever  human  nature.  The 
writer  has  condensed  the  diary,  and  added 
explanations  in  parentheses. 

Mr.  Tappen  writes:  I  set  out  on  horseback 
from  Kingston  on  July  9  to  go  to  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  of  New  York,  to  be  convened  at 
White  Plains;  crossed  the  Hudson  and  put  up 
at  Poughkeepsie.  I  was  there  informed  that 
Congress  had  removed  to   Harlem.     My  asso- 


130  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

ciates  Colonel  (Levi)  Pawling,  Colonel  (Charles) 
DeWitt,  and  Mr.  (Matthew)  Cantine,  agreed 
to  cross  again  to  the  west  side  of  the  river,  so 
as  to  leave  our  horses  in  the  English  Neigh- 
borhood. (This  is  in  the  vicinity  and  north- 
west of  Nyack.)  On  Friday,  the  I2th  we 
arrived  at  Burdett's  Ferry,  (the  ferry  between 
Nyack  and  Tarrytown).  Soon  before  we 
arrived  a  firing  of  cannon  being  heard  by  us 
we  made  all  the  haste  possible  to  the  ferry  to 
know  the  cause  thereof.  When  we  came 
there  two  men-of-war,  one  schooner  and  two 
tenders  were  discovered  standing  up  the  river. 
We  applied  to  the  ferrymen  to  put  us  over, 
who  were  unwilling.  This  gave  us  an  oppor- 
tunity to  see  the  firing  of  Mount  Washington 
on  the  shipping.  We  arrived  in  New  York  on 
Saturday  and  were  informed  that  Congress 
was  sitting  at  White  Plains.  Returned  to 
Burdett's  on  the  Sabbath. 

On  Monday  we  crossed  the  ferry  and 
arrived  at  White  Plains  at  4  p.  m.,  when  we 
went  to  Congress  and  delivered  in  our  creden- 
tials. 

Tuesday,  16  July,  8  o'clock  p.  m. : — By  a 
motion  of  Mr.  Robert  Yates,  Mr.  Robert  R. 
Livingston,  Mr.  John  Jay,  Mr.  Gilbert  Living- 
ston, Mr.  Paulding  and  myself  were  appointed 
a  secret  committee  for  the  purpose  of  obstruct- 
ing  the    channel,    or   annoying    the    enemy's 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY   WAR.  131 

ships  in  their  navigation  of  the  Hudson.  On 
the  next  day  set  out  on  the  business  and 
lodged  at  one  Purdy's,  near  Croton's  river. 
At  six  in  the  morning  of  Thursday  we  went  to 
Peekskill  where  we  waited  for  Messrs.  Jay  and 
R.  R.  Livingston  who  arrived  at  4  p.  m.  Just 
then  the  ship  Rose,  commanded  by  Captain 
Wallace,  and  her  tender  came  up  and  anchor- 
ed near  the  Donderberg.  Soon  after  the 
tender  barge  went  to  the  west  shore  in  order 
to  pilferage  the  inhabitants  there,  but  being 
disappointed  by  a  couple  of  our  men  who  lay 
in  ambush  and  fired  on  them  they  returned  to 
the  tender,  when  the  captain  of  the  ship  and 
four  or  five  of  the  barges  went  ashore,  killed 
five  or  six  poor  hogs,  and  set  fire  to  the  dwel- 
ling of  one  Holstead,  which  consumed  in  a 
few  minutes. 

Friday  morning  we  went  to  Fort  Montgom- 
ery in  order  to  consult  with  General  Clinton, 
Colonel  Clinton  and  Captain  Bedlow  and 
lodged  there  that  night.  On  Saturday  Gen- 
eral Clinton  informed  us  that  he  had  been  to 
view  a  high  point  of  land  on  the  south  side  of 
Poop  Loop's  Kill,  which  he  was  of  the  opinion 
ought  to  be  fortified,  and  insisted  that  we 
should  go  with  him  to  view  the  spot,  which  we 
did,  and  advised  him  to  fortify  it ;  then  we 
proceeded  to  Fort  Constitution,  from  whence 
Gilbert  Livingston  and  I  went  to  Poughkeepsie, 


132  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

On  Sabbath  Day  we  met  with  Captain  Law- 
rence, and  Tudor  and  Jacob  VanZandt  and 
divided  our  business  into  several  departments 
and  gave  instructions  for  that  purpose.  The 
next  day  I  received  from  Gilbert  Livingston 
the  sum  of  223  pounds,  14  shillings  and  8 
pence  to  execute  part  of  my  instructions 
and  set  forth  for  Kingston.  On  Tuesday  I 
employed  several  blacksmiths  to  make  she- 
vaux,  etc.  (A  chevaux  de-frise,  or  Friesland 
horse,  is  a  heavy  boom  of  timber  traversed 
with  large  iron  bars  about  six  feet  in  length, 
and  sharpened  to  a  point.  This  boom  was 
stretched  across  the  Hudson  at  Polopel's 
Island,  but  had  no  forts  or  earthworks  for  its 
protection  at  either  end.  A  heavy  chain  was 
also  welded,  and  was  stretched  across  the 
Hudson  at  West  Point,  the  construction  of 
which  by  this  committee  will  be  told  in  the 
next  chapter.  Forts  Montgomery,  Clinton 
and  Constitution,  prevented  its  removal  until 
they  were  reduced  in  the  autumn  of  the  next 
year,  1777.) 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

CONTINUATION   OF  THE  TAPPEN   JOURNAL. 

The  Tappen  diary  continues:  Wednesday, 
July  25th,  1776 — went  to  Sawgertjes ;  pur- 
chased a  sloop  of  Benjamin  Snyder,  when  Mr. 
White  came  up  with  me  and  delivered  me  a 
letter  of  Robert  R.  Livingston. 

Thursday,  26th. — Purchased  Low's  sloop  for 
170  pounds;    also    pitch,    tar   and    dry    wood. 
After  dinner  went  to  the  landing  (Rondout)  to 
order  the  materials  on  board  of  said  sloop  and 
buy  some  cannons.     Mr.  White  came  over  with 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Yates  on  the   subject  that 
Mr.  Livingston  wrote  to  me    about   the    day 
before,  and  applied  to  me  for  an  order  to  im- 
press teams,  which  I  gave  him.     Also  desired 
me  to  provide  him  with  twenty  axe  men  the 
next  day  to  fell  and  hew  timber  at  ten  miles 
.  up  the  river.     I  understood  that  the  ofificers  of 
the  First  Regiment  were  convened  at  the  sign 
of  The  Indian  King  in  order  to  agree  upon  a 
set  of  officers  for  the  regiment,  to   be   raised 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  (Levi)  Pawling. 
Think  as  the  militia  were  to  train   in  a  few 
days,  that  if  I  was  to  send  out  any  men  um- 


1 34  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

brage  would  be  taken.  I  went  over  to  where 
the  officers  were  assembled.  Requested  of  the 
landlord  to  call  out  Col.  (Johannis)  Snyder,  to 
whom  I  applied  for  twenty  men  of  his  militia; 
showed  him  my  papers,  of  which  he  demanded 
a  copy,  an  extract  of  which  I  made  with  my 
request  at  the  foot  thereof  and  carried  into  the 
room  where  he  and  a  number  of  other  gentle- 
men were  sitting,  delivered  it  to  the  colonel, 
who  laid  it  down  on  the  table.  Major  (Adrian) 
Wynkoop  took  it  up  and  read  it,  when  Major 
(Philip)  Hooghteling  took  it  up  to  read,  when 
I  withdrew  from  the  room  in  order  to  wait  for 
an  answer,  and  went  about  some  other  busi- 
ness in  the  meantime.  In  about  an  hour  there- 
after waited  upon  the  colonel,  found  the  door 
open,  seeing  him  engaged  upon  some  other 
business  with  other  people  stepped  back  to  the 
stoop  at  the  door  and  sat  down.  Addressed 
myself  to  Major  Hooghteling  by  asking  whether 
they  had  fixed  their  officers.  He  answered  me 
in  a  surly  tone,  "What  do  I  know?  —  the 
Congress.  Why  have  they  not  done  it?"  I 
answered  "The  Congress  have  done  a  part 
and  left  the  other  for  you  to  do."  To  which 
he  replied :  "  I  do  not  know  what  you  do 
there.  I  could  send  my  negro  Jug  there  and 
he  would  do  as  much  as  you  all  could."  I 
asked  the  occasion  of  that  affront.  He  replied  : 
"You  are  a  scoundrel."     I  told  him  "You  talk 


THE   TAPPEN  JOURNAL.  135 

like  a  fool."  Whereupon  he  gave  me  a  back- 
handed stroke  in  the  face  which  in  a  manner 
stunned  me.  However,  I  raised  myself  from 
the  seat.  He  was  ready  for  the  second  blow 
which  I  defended,  took  hold  of  him,  and  laid 
him  over  the  stoop,  when  another  person  at  his 
back  gave  him  a  lift,  or  push,  so  as  to  send  me 
to  the  opposite  side,  he  on  me.  I  tumbled 
him  from  me,  but  he,  taking  me  in  the  hair 
twisted  my  neck  so  as  to  have  an  advantage  to 
strike  me  in  the  face.  I  defended  every  stroke 
until  some  persons  took  hold  of  the  arms.  I 
had  to  defend  them  when  he  beat  me  to  such 
a  degree  that  I  was  blind  for  twenty  hours  in 
one  eye  and  but  for  a  dim  glimmer  out  of  the 
other,  which  brought  on  a  slow,  weak  fever  so 
as  to  disable  me  for  any  business  for  eight 
days.  On  Friday,  the  next  day,  sent  an  ex- 
press to  Sawgertjes  to  know  how  the  works 
were  going  on,  and  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
White.  On  Saturday  Egbert  DuMond  was 
kind  enough  to  go  to  the  landing  to  take 
account  of  the  things  sent  on  board  of  Low's 
sloops. 

On  Sunday  I  sent  an  express  for  Mr.  Liv- 
ingston to  Poughkeepsie,  and  Monday  evening 
Messrs.  Livingston  and  Paulding  came  to  my 
house  where  we  consulted  upon  the  business 
in  my  department  and  issued  orders  for  this 
purpose. 


136  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

By  Wednesday,  July  31st,  my  face  and  eyes 
were  much  better,  but  having  great  pains  in 
my  breast  and  stomach  I  was  not  able  to  go 
out.  On  Saturday,  August  3rd,  I  went  to  the 
landing  (Rondout)  to  buy  canoes.  Various 
minor  matters  occupied  me  until  Friday,  the 
9th,  when  I  attended  Capt.  Hazewood  at  the 
fire  vessels  and  superintended  the  works.  At 
nine  in  the  evening  set  out  for  Fort  Montgom- 
ery to  examine  the  state  of  the  provisions  of 
which  great  complaints  are  made,  and  to  bring 
up  one  of  the  fire  vessels  from  thence.  We 
arrived  there  at  eight  in  the  morning  of  Satur- 
day and  found  Gen.  Clinton's  brigade  on  the 
march  to  a  post  on  the  north  side  of  Kings 
Bridge.  Went  to  examine  new  forts  and  or- 
dered the  fire  ship  off.  We  set  out  on  Sunday 
from  Fort  Montgomery  to  Fort  Clinton  where 
we  dined.  After  dinner  we  went  to  Pough- 
keepsie  which  we  reached  at  ten. 

On  Monday,  August  12th,  went  to  the  ship- 
yard and  ordered  sundry  things  and  after  din- 
ner formed  a  committee  at  Mr.  Poole's.  By 
order  of  this  committee  we  went  next  day  to 
John  Schenck's  and  marked  four  hogsheads  of 
West  India  rum  belonging  to  one  Franklin,  as 
Mr.  Schenck  says,  and  consigned  to  one  Mab- 
bett,  and  that  he  has  no  particular  orders  to 
sell  it.  As  Messrs.  Jay  and  Yates  had  import- 
ant business  at  home  they  requested  leave  of 


THE    TAPPEN  JOURNAL.  137 

absence.  They  departed  leaving  instructions 
to  Mr.  Livingston  and  me  how  to  proceed  in 
the  meantime.  I  obtained  leave  on  Saturday 
to  go  home  and  took  with  me  money  to  pay 
accounts.  On  Monday  I  hired  men  to  go  to 
Poughkeepsie  to  bring  three  canoes  there. 
Tuesday  I  went  to  Poughkeepsie  and  settled 
accounts  and  Wednesday  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Yates  concerning  cannon.  Went  down  to 
Davis'  where  the  carpenters  are  at  work  upon 
logs  for  the  chain.  Next  day  I  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  chairman  of  Kingston  for  ten  or  twelve 
carpenters  to  work  upon  the  locks.  They  ar- 
rived to-day.  I  purchased  a  canoe  of  Capt. 
Hughes.  On  Friday  put  carpenters  to  work, 
and  blacksmiths  also.  In  the  afternoon  took 
some  iron  in  a  sloop  to  have  it  forged  in  Kings- 
ton. Mr.  Livingston  and  I  conveyed  it  there 
Saturday.  I  engaged  Abram  VanKeuren  to 
work  on  the  iron  in  making  the  chain.  I  re- 
turned to  Poughkeepsie  on  Sunday  and  the 
next  day  inspected  the  fire  vessels.  Returned 
to  Kingston  on  Saturday  and  back  to  Pough- 
keepsie on  Monday,  September  1st.  As  none 
of  the  committee  came  back  to  Poughkeepsie 
by  Tuesday  I  resolved  to  go  to  the  Congress 
in  order  to  inform  them  of  the  state  of  our 
business.  I  reached  Fishkill,  where  Congress 
was  sitting,  by  ten  on  Wednesday.  Next  day 
I  was  taken  sick  with  a  fever.     Although  very 


138  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

sick  on  Friday  Mr.  (Charles)  DeWitt  informed 
me  that  no  session  of  Congress  could  be  held 
unless  I  attended.  This  I  did.  I  remained 
very-sick  until  the  next  Wednesday,  when  feel- 
ing somewhat  better  I  concluded  to  go  to  Mr. 
Clinton's  (Gov.  George  Clinton's).  I  hired 
Capt.  Jackson's  sloop  to  bring  me  up.  The 
next  day  I  arrived  home.  I  did  not  return  to 
Congress  until  Monday,  December  9th,  when  I 
set  out  for  Fishkill,  where  it  was  sitting,  in 
company  with  Col.  DeWitt.  (The  remain- 
ing entries  in  the  diary  are  unimportant  and 
cease  altogether  on    Saturday,   January   25th, 

I777-) 
The  above  journal  establishes  the  fact  that 

the  heavy  impeding  chain  built  to  prevent  the 
ascent  of  the  Hudson  by  the  British  was  made 
in  Kingston.  Links  of  this  chain  are  still  to  be 
seen  at  West  Point,  and  at  Newburgh.  The 
boom  was  made  by  carpenters  at  Poughkeepsie 
and  the  fire  ships  bought  at  Saugerties  and 
Rondout. 

And  it  shows  the  unfortunate  jealousy  exist- 
ing all  through  the  war  between  Congress  and 
the  army.  This  hampered  the  movements  of 
Washington  from  year  to  year  and  caused 
constant  insubordination.  Cliques  and  cabals 
which  were  governed  by  political  reasons,  or 
envious  ones,  constantly  interfered  with  mili- 
tary   plans,    changing    leaders    and    depriving 


THE    TAPPEN  JOURNAL.  139 

armies   of   necessary   men   and   equipment  for 
political  reasons,  if  not  for  worse. 

Major  Philip  Hooghteling  served  as  such  in 
the  First  Ulster  Regiment,  which  was  raised  in 
Kingston  and  Saugerties.  The  Third  Ulster, 
spoken  of  as  Col.  Pawling's,  was  raised  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Rondout  and  the  Wallkill.  The 
journal  shows  how  an  effort  was  made  to  secure 
enlistments  from  the  above  town  also.  It  is 
certainly  a  tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  Kings- 
ton and  Saugerties  that  such  a  call  was  made 
by  the  Third,  as  the  Fourth  Ulster  was  largely 
a  Saugerties  and  Kingston  regiment.  We  can 
understand  the  opposition  of  the  First  to  the 
application,  if  we  cannot  excuse  it. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE  CAMPAIGN   OF    1 776. 

In  the  chapter  which  preceded  the  last  the 
writer  narrated  the  story  of  the  organization 
of  the  militia  of  the  town,  and  especially  of 
the  First  Ulster  Regiment,  in  which  the  great 
majority  of  Saugerties  men  served.  As  there 
stated,  it  was  reported  to  be  ready  on  May  i, 
1776,  and  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Johannis  Snyder,  of  Kingston,  a  native  of 
Saugerties.  The  captains  of  the  three  Sau- 
gerties companies  were  Matthew  Dederick, 
John  Lucas  DeWitt  and  Jeremiah  Snyder. 
On  July  4th  the  colonies  were  declared  to  be 
"  Free  and  Independent  States."  Five  days 
after,  on  July  9th,  this  action  of  Congress  was 
ratified  by  the  State  of  New  York,  and  on  the 
sixteenth  of  the  same  month  the  New  York 
Convention  resolved  that  one-fourth  part  of 
the  militia  of  the  counties  of  Westchester, 
Dutchess,  Orange  and  Ulster  be  forthwith 
drawn  out  for  the  defense  of  the  liberties, 
property,  wives  and  children  of  the  good 
people  of  this  State.  Then  a  resolution  was 
passed  urging  those  who  remained  at  home  to 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1776.  141 

render  all  necessary  assistance  to  the  families 
of  those  who  enlisted,  and  another  directing 
that  all  the  men  raised  in  the  counties  of 
Ulster  and  Orange  be  stationed  in  the  High- 
lands on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  to  guard 
those  defiles,  the  possession  of  which  Briga- 
dier-General George  Clinton  shall  think  most 
conducive  to  the  safety  of  the  State.  The 
convention  at  the  same  time  asked  General 
Washington  to  appoint  an  ofificer  to  take 
command  of  all  the  levies  on  both  sides  of  the 
river.  Washington,  having  no  one  to  spare, 
and  having  such  confidence  in  Clinton  that  he 
deemed  him  the  most  suitable,  nominated  him 
to  the  command.  This  nomination  the  con- 
vention approved,  a  levy  of  one-fourth  of  the 
militia  was  made  and  Colonel  Johannis  Snyder 
called  his  regiment  together  to  fill  the  quota 
required. 

We  are  not  concerned  here  with  the  dififi- 
culties  met  in  filling  this  quota  which  arose 
over  the  services  of  a  troop  of  horse  attached 
to  the  regiment,  etc.,  but  must  sketch  the  ser- 
vice rendered  so  far  as  concerns  Saugerties 
men. 

Meanwhile  the  Fourth  Ulster,  under  Col- 
onel Johannes  Hardenbergh,  in  which  were 
many  from  this  town  had  gone  to  New  York 
to  aid  in  the  defense  of  that  city  by  Washing- 
ton.    On  August  9th  the  colonel  complained 


142  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

to  the  State  Convention  of  the  destitute  con- 
dition of  the  troops,  and  asked  a  supply  say- 
ing, that  his  men  were  even  willing  to  have 
the  funds  to  purchase  supplies  deducted  from 
their  pay.  The  convention  immediately  order- 
ed the  supplies  furnished  on  those  conditions. 
This  is  worth  noting  to  show  the  ardent 
patriotism  of  those  who  fought  to  secure  our 
liberties. 

Through  all  the  disastrous  campaign  of  1776 
which  ended  in  the  loss  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  Ulster  county  carried  her  full  share. 
And  while  so  many  of  her  sons  were  fighting 
on  Long  Island  one-quarter  of  those  remaining 
at  home  were  drafted  for  service  in  the  passes 
of  the  Highlands.  But  arms  were  scarce  for 
their  equipment  and  it  was  determined  to  arm 
only  those  who  were  drawn  for  immediate  ser- 
vice, and  equip  the  remainder  with  lances. 
This  exhibits  the  straits  in  which  the  patriots 
were  placed. 

Colonel  Johannis  Snyder  proceeded  to  the 
Highlands  to  command  the  levies  reaching 
there  October  18,  1776.  He  found  an  order 
issued  eight  days  before  to  detach  three  hun- 
dred men  of  his  command,  well  armed,  with 
three  days'  provisions,  to  proceed  to  Peekskill 
to  continue  in  service  three  weeks.  And  on 
the  13th  the  field  officers  of  the  First  Regi- 
ment had  selected  Major  Adrian  Wynkoop,  of 


THE   CAMPAIGN  OF  1776.  143 

that  regiment  to  take  command  of  the  detach- 
ment. 

On  November  3d  the  Committee  of  Safety- 
ordered  the  militia  of  Orange  and  Ulster  coun- 
ties to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  at  a 
moment's  warning  to  oppose  the  invasion  of 
the  British  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson. 
But  the  British  made  no  attempt  upon  the 
passage  during  the  remainder  of  1776  after  the 
capture  of  New  York  and  confined  their 
operations  to  a  campaign  in  New  Jersey.  The 
coming  of  winter  and  the  freezing  over  of  the 
Hudson  released  most  of  the  militia  to  their 
homes,  and  Colonel  Snyder's  regiment  all 
returned  as  its  term  of  service  expired. 

To  understand  this  it  is  well  to  look  for  a 
moment  at  the  constitution  of  the  military 
forces.  There  were  three  classes  of  these. 
The  first  was  the  Line,  as  it  was  called,  which 
would  be  called  to-day  the  regular  army,  but 
in  those  days  came  to  be  denominated  "The 
Continentals."  These  regiments  were  under 
the  direct  command  of  General  Washington  as 
Commander-in-Chief. 

The  second  branch  was  the  Levies.  These 
were  drawn  from  the  militia  regiments  and 
sometimes  by  a  direct  draft  upon  the  people 
for  a  specified  term,  and  they  could  be  com- 
pelled to  serve  outside  of  the  state  during 
their  entire  term  of  service. 


144  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

The  last  class  was  the  Militia.  They  could 
then,  as  now,  be  called  to  render  service  out- 
side of  the  state  for  three  months  only  at  a 
time.  "  Every  foot  soldier  must  provide  him- 
self and  appear  and  muster  with  a  good,  well- 
fixed  musket,  or  fusee,  a  good  sword,  belt  and 
cartridge-box,  six  cartridges  of  powder,  a  horn 
and  six  sizable  bullets,  a  flint,  a  blanket,"  and 
sometimes  a  tomahawk.  For  want  of  these 
articles  a  fine  of  twenty  shillings  and  prison 
charges  was  imposed  until  the  fine  was  paid. 
At  his  discretion  the  captain  was  allowed  and 
authorized  to  sell  the  delinquent's  goods.  "  In 
case  the  offender  be  unable,  or  refuse  to  pay^ 
and  he  have  no  goods  to  distress,  he  shall  ride 
the  wooden  horse,  or  be  laid  by  the  neck  and 
heels  in  a  public  place  for  not  to  exceed  an 
hour." 

The  militia  were  called  out  when  they  were 
needed  and  kept  as  long  as  needed,  and  then 
permitted  to  return  to  their  homes  subject  to 
another  call.  Sometimes  a  whole  regiment 
would  be  called  out  for  many  months  at  a 
time,  sometimes  for  but  a  few  days,  and  this 
frequently  during  several  months;  and  some- 
times no  call  would  come  for  a  whole  year. 
Sometimes  a  whole  regiment  would  be  called  ; 
sometimes  one  company;  sometimes  twenty 
or  twenty-five  men.  Thus  the  same  men 
might    serve    in    two  or    three   companies    in 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1776.  145 

the  same  year  and  even  in  two  or  three  regi- 
ments. 

The  counties  were  divided  into  districts, 
and  each  district  placed  under  a  colonel  who 
was  to  see  that  every  man  liable  was  enrolled. 
Quakers,  Moravians  and  United  Brethren  were 
enrolled,  but  could  be  exempt  from  actual  ser- 
vice by  paying  an  exemption  fee.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  Revolution  this  was  one  hun- 
dred pounds  (New  York  currency),  or  $400  per 
year.  One  miller  to  each  grist  mill,  three 
powder  makers  to  each  powder  mill,  five  iron 
makers  to  each  furnace,  three  journeymen  to 
each  printing  ofifice  and  one  ferryman  to  each 
public  ferry  were  exem.pt. 

Four  times  a  year  the  militia  must  meet  for 
training  in  specified  localities  and  once  a  year 
a  general  training  day  was  ordered  for  "all 
the  soldiers  within  the  government."  All 
males  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  fifty 
were  liable  for  military  duty  and,  in  case  of 
invasion,  all  between  fifteen  and  sixty.  Cases 
did  arise  where  they  were  called  out,  if  able- 
bodied,  up  to  seventy. 

The  pay  of  a  private  was  but  %6.66  per 
month  and  this  not  always  in  money,  and  if  so 
often  in  money  not  current.  He  was  also 
allowed  one  pound  of  sugar,  two  ounces  of  tea 
and  one  pound  of  tobacco  a  month  besides  his 
subsistence.      If   a   slave    enlisted    and   served 


146 


HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 


three  years,  or  until  discharged,  he  became  a 
freeman.  Thus  the  opening  of  the  New  Year 
(1777),  which  was  to  witness  the  most  severe 
call  ever  made  upon  the  patriotism  and  ener- 
gies of  this  town,  found  almost  every  man  and 
boy  of  its  population  who  would  carry  a  gun 
under  arms. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE   CAMPAIGN   OF    1777- 

The  year  1777  was  dark  and  discouraging  as 
it  opened  upon  the  American  cause.  Wash- 
ington had  been  driven  out  of  New  York  and 
across  New  Jersey,  and  though  he  had  won  a 
notable  success  at  Trenton  on  Christmas,  the 
patriotic  sky  was  gloomy.  The  invasion  of 
New  York  from  Canada  had  not  taken  place 
and  Burgoyne  had  retired  to  winter  his  troops 
in  Canada,  yet  it  was  known  that  the  advance 
would  be  made  the  following  summer,  and  it 
was  expected  in  force.  From  whence  would 
the  patriots  obtain  troops?  Those  inured  to 
war  were  with  Washington  in  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  and  few  but  the  militia  were 
available. 

All  through  the  winter  of  i'jy6-'/  prepara- 
tions were  going  on.  All  over  the  valley  of 
the  Hudson  and  in  New  England  lead  was 
being  run  into  bullet  moulds  and  powder  was 
made  in  small  quantities  everywhere.  The 
militia  constantly  drilled,  as  never  before,  and 
at  every  store  and  church  the  discussion  of 
their  rights  and  wrongs  and  of  means  of  resist- 


148  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

ance  was  carried  on.  In  the  town  of  Sauger- 
ties  the  great  places  for  discussion  and  debate 
were  the  store  of  Corneh'us  Persen,  in  Kats- 
baan,  and  the  inn  of  Abraham  Post,  in  what  is 
now  the  village  of  Saugerties.  But  not  alone 
here.  In  groups  around  the  two  churches  in 
town,  the  one  in  Katsbaan  and  that  at  West 
Camp,  successive  Sundays  heard  the  ceaseless 
story  of  the  injustice  of  Great  Britain  and  the 
determination  to  win  the  fight  for  liberty. 
Rev.  George  Wilhelmus  Mancius,  the  pastor 
at  Katsbaan,  had  died  in  1762  and  the  next 
one  to  serve  was  Rev.  Lambertus  DeRonde, 
who  did  not  come  until  1780.  But  in  these 
intervening  eighteen  years  the  people  were 
regularly  supplied  by  the  pastors  of  Albany, 
Kingston  and  Catskill,  now  Leeds.  All  three 
of  these  were  ardent  patriots.  But  no  one  more 
fervently  so  than  the  pastor  of  the  last  named 
church,  Rev.  Johannes  Schuneman.  His  father 
had  been  one  of  the  Palatines  of  the  West 
Camp  colony  in  1710,  and  the  son  had  entered 
the  ministry  of  the  Reformed  Church.  Where- 
ever  he  went  he  was  on  fire  for  liberty.  Whether 
he  led  his  people  in  worship  at  Leeds,  or  Cox- 
sackie,  or  whether  he  came  to  Katsbaan  for 
Sabbath  service  his  messages  from  the  pulpit 
were  not  only  those  of  religion,  but  the  claims 
of  patriotism  and  liberty.  So  his  frequent 
visits  to  Katsbaan  were  occasions  for  the  en- 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.  149 

kindling  of  a  spirit  of  determined  effort  to 
achieve  the  independence  of  America  from  the 
control  of  Great  Britain  forever.  He  is  the 
hero  in  a  story  very  popular  fifty  or  sixty  years 
ago  entitled  "  The  Dutch  Domine  of  the  Cats- 
kills."  So  the  year  1777,  though  gloomy  as 
the  opening  months  passed,  found  the  people 
of  Saugerties  never  so  determined  to  win  as 
then. 

For  the  campaign  Lord  Howe  asked  of  the 
British  government  a  force  of  50,000  men  to 
cut  the  united  colonies  in  two  along  the  line  of 
Lake  Champlain  and  the  Hudson  river.  To 
this  end  a  powerful  army  was  to  come  down 
from  Canada  to  meet  a  force  proceeding  up 
the  Hudson  from  New  York.  What  was  to 
resist  this?  New  York  State  was  then  nothing 
more  than  Long  Island  with  the  valleys  of  the 
Hudson  and  the  Mohawk,  The  opposition  to 
Burgoyne  and  St.  Leger  would  demand  every 
soldier  from  the  Mohawk  and  the  Upper  Hud- 
son. The  Lower  Hudson  and  Long  Island 
troops  were  with  Washington  in  New  Jersey. 
So  the  defense  of  the  Highlands  devolved 
upon  the  counties  of  Orange,  Ulster,  Dutchess 
and  a  part  of  Westchester.  Once  more  the 
First  Ulster  took  the  field  under  Col.  Snyder 
and  went  to  the  support  of  Gen.  George  Clin- 
ton. To  show  their  entire  confidence  in  Clin- 
ton   the    State  convention    passed  resolutions 


150  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

authorizing  him  to  call  out  the  whole,  or  any 
part  of  the  militia  whenever  he  deemed  it  nec- 
essary, and  station  them  where  he  deemed  best, 
and    gave    him    power   to    impress   carriages, 
horses,  teams,  boats  and  vessels  whenever  he 
deemed  it  necessary.     For  these  he  was  author- 
ized to  draw  on  the  convention  for  payment. 
Nor   were   these    extraordinary    powers    ever 
abused.     Faithfully  and  well  did  Clinton  meet 
the  expectations  of  his  people,  and  when   in 
the  following  July  the  new  State  of  New  York 
was  constituted,  George  Clinton  was  elected  by 
the  people  to  the  ofifices  both  of  governor  and 
lieutenant-governor.     He    declined    the   latter 
office  and,  by  successive  re-elections  they  con- 
tinued him  in  the  former  for  twenty-one  years. 
We  cannot  narrate  nor  review  the  campaign 
of  this  eventful  year.     During  the  whole  sum- 
mer the  most  of  the  First  Ulster  Regiment  was 
with   Clinton  in   the   Highlands.     Those  were 
despondent  days.     Over  all  hung  the  cloud  of 
Burgoyne's  advance  from  Canada,  and  in  July 
it  became  a  fact.     Schuyler  had  not  the  troops 
to  put  up  a  defense.     But  the  axe  of  the  wood- 
man preceded  the  advance  of  the  enemy  and 
every  step  onward  from  Lake  Champlain  was 
obstructed  by  the  felling  of  trees  and  the  de- 
struction of  bridges,  etc.,  so  that  it  took  him 
twenty-four  days  to   march   twenty-six  miles. 
Meanwhile  Schuyler  was  calling  on  Gov.  Clin- 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.  151 

ton  for  reinforcements.  If  sent  they  could  be 
only  those  of  Ulster  and  Dutchess  counties, 
and  every  man  was  needed  for  the  defense  of 
the  Highlands.  At  last  Clinton  determined 
that  the  progress  of  Burgoyne  must  be  stopped 
at  all  hazards  and  any  cost  and  directed  that 
the  militia  of  the  north  end  of  Ulster  and 
Dutchess  counties  be  sent.  They  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Gen.  Peter  TenBroeck, 
of  Dutchess,  who  resided  opposite  to  Sauger- 
ties,  on  the  Hudson. 

Every  able-bodied  man  was  summoned  to  go 
to  the  relief  of  Schuyler.  Down  to  fifty  years 
ago  tradition  in  the  town  had  many  tales  of 
the  events  of  the  march.  Many  were  afoot,  a 
few  drove  wagons  carrying  members  of  the 
family  and  neighbors,  and  some  were  on  horse- 
back. One  of  these  traditions  gives  the  fol- 
lowing incidents :  Tobias  Wynkoop  was  con- 
stantly urging  a  more  rapid  march  and  when 
they  reached  a  spot  from  whence  the  cannon- 
ading could  be  heard  he  became  excited 
over  the  possibility  that  the  battle  would  be 
over  and  he  not  obtain  a  shot  at  the  redcoats 
and  Hessians.  Ephraim  Myer  begged  his 
father  for  permission  to  go  along.  His  father 
told  him  he  was  too  young  to  carry  a  musket. 
But  at  last  the  lad's  entreaties  prevailed  and 
the  father  consented  that  he  take  his  fife,  as  he 
was  a  skilful  player.     And  the  martial  strains 


152  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

of  this  were  very  effective  in  summoning  the 
patriot  farmers  to  follow  upon  horseback  and 
even  on  foot.  Before  they  had  proceeded 
many  miles  enough  had  gathered  for  two  com- 
panies and  they  were  thus  mustered.  But 
arriving  at  Saratoga  the  musician  quickly 
exchanged  his  fife   for  a  musket. 

One  company  was  in  charge  of  Orderly  Ser- 
geant Cornelius  Wells,  but  arrived  too  late  for 
much  active  service  and  was  detailed  to 
gather  the  wounded,  and  the  wagon  which 
Christian  Myer  had  driven  up  became  of  great 
service  as  an  ambulance.  The  orders  for 
gathering  the  wounded  were  that  they  must 
first  relieve  those  less  severely  injured  and 
leave  those  mortally  hurt  until  the  last.  One 
man  was  found  seemingly  dying,  if  not  already 
dead.  They  rolled  him  over  and  left  him. 
But  before  they  had  gone  far  the  wounded 
man  arose  and  followed  them  exhibiting  a 
severe  wound  in  his  head  which  had  stunned 
him.  This  ambulance  wagon  was  one  belong- 
ing to  William  Myer,  who  resided  on  the  Ger- 
mond  place  in  this  town.  The  wagon,  in 
charge  of  his  sons.  Christian  and  Johannes, 
had  conve^^ed  many  of  the  neighbors  to  Sara- 
toga before  it  was  thus  detailed.  When  the 
militia  returned  Burgoyne  is  said  to  have 
ridden  to  Albany  with  the  Myer  brothers,  and 
the  wagon  was  ever  preserved  in  the  family  on 


f 


THE   CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.  153 

this  place,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  Hendrick 
Myer  at  Brabant,  and  is  now  in  the  Senate 
House  in  Kingston. 

But  this  anticipates.  In  the  meantime  the 
summer  had  almost  passed.  Re-enforcements 
had  begun  to  reach  Schuyler.  General  Herki- 
mer, the  brave  Palatine  leader  along  the 
Mohawk,  had  fought  and  fallen  in  the  bloody 
battle  of  Oriskany,  but  had  stopped  St.  Leger 
and  his  Indians  from  joining  Burgoyne.  The 
battle  of  Bennington  had  been  fought  and 
won  and  on  September  19th  the  two  armies 
had  met  and  the  British  advance  had  been 
checked  by  the  first  battle  of  Stillwater.  For 
eighteen  days  there  was  no  further  movement. 
But  all  this  time  the  Americans  were  stripping 
the  surrounding  region  of  all  supplies.  The 
action  of  the  19th  was  hailed  with  joy  every- 
where and  the  militia  flocked  to  Saratoga.  It 
is  at  this  point  that  those  of  our  town  enter 
the  scene  and  at  the  end  of  these  eighteen 
days  they  were  a  part  of  two  thousand  men 
who  appeared  under  the  command  of  General 
Peter  TenBroeck. 

On  the  7th  of  October  occurred  the  second 
battle  of  Stillwater,  or  Bemus  Heights.  Here 
our  Saugerties  militia  were  in  the  thickest  of 
the  fight  in  the  attack  upon  the  British  centre, 
while  the  British  right  was  being  broken  by 
the  vigorous  charge  of  Morgan's  Virginia  rifle- 


1 54  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

men  and  the  innpetuosity  of  Benedict  Arnold. 
This  really  ended  the  campaign  and  brought 
about  Burgoyne's  surrender  ten  days  after. 

His  army  was  marched  across  New  Eng- 
land, while  Burgoyne  was  brought  a  prisoner 
of  war  to  Albany.  General  Schuyler  had 
entertained  the  captive  general  with  honors 
befitting  his  rank  at  his  country  home  near 
Saratoga,  and  invited  him  to  dine  with  him  and 
Mrs.  Schuyler  at  their  residence  in  Albany. 
Burgoyne  wrote  home  of  the  gentlemanly 
courtesy  and  hospitality  of  Schuyler,  and  was 
ever  after  a  friend  of  America  in  the  British 
Parliament. 

Tradition  has  always  held  that  upon  the 
return  of  the  Saugerties  troops  from  Saratoga 
they  were  given  a  welcome  by  barbecue  at 
Asbury  as  they  crossed  the  county  line  into 
Ulster,  and  were  then  escorted  as  they  came 
down  the  Old  Kings  Road  through  the  town. 

Meanwhile  the  First  Ulster  Regiment,  as 
an  organization,  was  with  Colonel  Johannis 
Snyder  defending  the  Hudson  Highlands. 
The  British  left  New  York  on  October  3d  by 
land  and  water.  Following  a  circuitous  route 
around  the  Donderberg  their  forces  reached 
Forts  Montgomery  and  Clinton  by  the  rear. 
They  were  built  for  defense  against  a  fleet  and 
had  but  little  to  oppose  on  the  landward  side 
with   the   handful    of   troops  under   Governor 


THE   CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.  155 

Clinton.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  sixth  the 
British  appeared  and  carried  both  forts  by 
assault.  Governor  George  Clinton  escaped  by 
sliding  down  a  precipice  and  crossed  the  river 
in  a  small  boat,  while  General  James  Clinton 
escaped  to  the  woods.  Two  hundred  and  fifty 
patriots  surrendered  and  their  losses  in  killed 
were  about  one  hundred,  while  the  British  lost 
three  hundred  killed. 

When  the  chain  and  chevaux-de-frise  had 
been  forced  the  enemy  proceeded  up  the  river, 
and  on  the  i6th  burned  Kingston.  The  next 
day  they  reached  Saugerties  and  burned  the 
buildings  of  General  Peter  TenBroeck  and  the 
Livingstons  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  On 
the  22d  they  continued  their  devastations  on 
the  west  side  at  Saugerties  where  they  set  fire 
to  *'two  houses  with  barns  and  appendages," 
one  of  which  was  on  the  place  of  John  G. 
Myers.  Next  day  they  burned  a  sloop  in  the 
creek  and  one  on  the  ways  here.  It  is  said 
that  armed  troops  visited  the  house  now 
owned  by  Mrs.  Frank  Pidgeon  foraging,  but 
did  not  set  fire  to  the  buildings.  Then  hear- 
ing of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  they  came 
about  and  returned  to  New  York.  This  prac- 
tically closed  the  campaign  of  1777  so  far  as 
the  Hudson  valley  was  concerned. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE   CAMPAIGNS    OF    1 778   AND    1779. 

The  bloody  battle  of  Oriskany,  fought  on 
August  4,  1777,  which  cost  the  life  of  the  noble 
old  Palatine,  Gen.  Herkimer  and  the  lives  of 
one-fourth  of  his  command  admirably  suc- 
ceeded in  its  purpose.  Not  only  was  St.  Leger 
and  his  Iroquois  Indians  prevented  from  mak- 
ing a  junction  with  Burgoyne,  not  only  was 
the  Mohawk  Valley  saved  from  conquest,  but 
the  Indians  were  taught  a  lesson  which  they 
never  forgot.  Hereafter  it  was  impossible  for 
the  British  to  raise  an  Indian  army  for  allies. 

But  there  was  one  sad  result.  The  wives 
and  families  of  the  settlers  in  exposed  places 
on  the  frontiers  were  open  to  the  vengeance  of 
skulking  foes.  At  Oriskany  more  than  one 
hundred  Indian  warriors  had  fallen  under  the 
muskets  of  frontiersmen  and  the  tribes  were 
thirsting  for  scalps  in  revenge.  For  this  the 
scalp  of  a  woman  or  a  child  would  satisfy 
where  none  other  could  be  obtained.  And 
during  the  summer  of  1778  exposed  buildings 
everywhere  were  burned  and  the  tomahawk 
dripped  with  the  blood  of  defenceless  women 


THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  17^8  AND  1779.      1 57 

and  children.  Toward  this  hostility  they  were 
skilfully  cultivated  by  Sir  John  Johnson  and 
other  leading  Tories. 

These  savages  were  led  by  two  ferocious 
Tories,  John  Butler  and  his  son  Walter,  and  by 
the  celebrated  Mohawk  chief,  Joseph  Brant. 
Brant  had  been  educated  among  the  whites 
and  to  his  savage  nature  was  added  a  culti- 
vated mind.  He  has  been  held  responsible  for 
the  atrocities  committed  by  the  Indians  after 
the  battle  of  Oriskany,  but  later  historians 
have  rescued  his  memory  from  undeserved 
obloquy.  He  opposed  the  bloody  acts  of  his 
savage  brethren,  but  they  were  led  by  two 
fiends  in  human  shape,  the  Butlers,  and  wher- 
ever they  appeared  destruction  and  death 
marked  their  track.  The  warfare  Brant  would 
have  conducted  would  have  been  as  devastat- 
ing as  that  of  Sheridan  in  the  valley  of  the 
Shenandoah,  but  he  opposed  the  bloodthirsti- 
ness  of  his  Indian  brethren  and  their  more 
savage  leaders,  the  Butlers.  From  July  to  No- 
vember, 1778,  they  carried  on  a  merciless  war- 
fare from  the  valley  of  the  Susquehanna  north- 
ward. Whole  settlements  were  given  to  the 
flames  and  from  gray-haired  women  to  infants 
in  the  cradle  no  mercy  to  age  nor  sex  was 
shown.  Only  to  mention  the  names  of  Wyom- 
ing and  Cherry  Valley  is  to  call  to  mind  the 
horrors   of   Indian   warfare.     These   massacres 


1  58  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

were  in  June  and  November  of  that  year.  The 
latter  name  recalls  as  well  the  cultivation  and 
refinement  which  marked  that  village  as  its  de- 
votion to  the  patriotic  cause.  This  warfare 
was  not  confined  to  New  York  aud  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  tribes  of  Kentucky  were  then 
bitterly  at  war  with  Daniel  Boone.  The  battle 
of  Vincennes  was  that  year  fought  with  the 
Indians  of  Indiana.  Readers  of  "Alice  of  Old 
Vincennes"  will  recall  this  story. 

The  British  during  that  year  made  an  expe- 
dition up  the  Hudson  and  captured  Stony 
Point.  Washington  threw  a  force  into  West 
Point  and  sent  "  Mad  Anthony"  Wayne  to  re- 
capture Stony  Point  in  which  effort  he  was 
dashingly  successful.  The  writer  is  not  able 
to  establish  it  as  a  fact,  but  there  seems  evi- 
dence that  Col.  Snyder,  with  some  of  his  regi- 
ment was  stationed  at  West  Point  at  this  time. 

During  all  these  months  of  1778,  the  fron- 
tiers of  Ulster  were  menaced  by  bands  of 
prowling  Indians,  with  their  often  more  savage 
Tory  allies.  In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  Brant 
appeared  along  the  Ulster  frontier  carrying 
dismay  and  death.  He  ravaged  along  the 
mountain  border  of  the  town  of  Saugerties  and 
through  the  Rondout  valley. 

In  1779,  Brant  made  another  raid  and  the 
scene  this  time  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Goshen, 
near  where  the  bloody  battle  of  the  Minisink 


THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  1778  AND  1779.      1 59 

was  fought.  Washington  determined  to  stop 
these  raids,  and  committed  the  task  to  Gen. 
Sullivan,  for  whom  Sullivan  couniy  is  named. 
The  expedition  consisted  of  four  brigades,  in 
one  of  which  were  four  New  York  regiments, 
containing  many  Ulster  county  men.  On  May 
4,  1779,  they  struck  camp  at  Wawarsing  under 
orders  to  march  to  Wyoming.  He  found  Brant 
marauding  at  Fantine  Kill,  six  miles  distant. 
On  his  approach,  Brant  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men  fled  to  the  mountains.  About  fifteen 
people  of  Ulster  county  had  been  massacred 
by  these  Indians  before  Brant  was  driven  away. 

Gen.  Sullivan  was  thorough  in  his  work.  In 
three  weeks  he  had  succeeded  in  completely 
subduing  the  tribes  of  hostile  Indians,  and  so 
effectively  taught  the  lesson,  that  they  sued 
for  peace  and  promised  to  bury  the  hatchet. 
From  this  time  the  Indian  warfare  was  confined 
to  predatory  bands  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
They  were  only  outcasts  of  the  various  tribes 
led  by  those  more  bloodthirsty  allies,  the  con- 
temptible Tory  degenerates. 

It  is  impossible  to  detach  from  this  general 
account  the  part  taken  by  Saugerties  men. 
Under  officers  from  different  companies  they 
were  in  constant  service.  Different  detach- 
ments were  out  at  different  times  watching  the 
frontiers  and  scouting  in  the  mountains  of 
Ulster  and  Delaware  counties. 


160  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Some  time  during  this  year  of  1779  Capt. 
Jeremiah  Snyder,  who  resided  at  Blue  Moun- 
tain, with  his  son  Elias,  and  three  others  were 
scouting  along  the  Catskills  watching  some 
prowling  Tories  when  Capt.  Snyder  and  An- 
thony Van  Schaick  became  detached  from  the 
rest  of  the  party.  As  they  were  cautiously 
passing  through  the  dense  woods  and  under 
the  brow  of  a  cliff  they  were  suddenly  startled 
by  the  discharge  of  musketry  and  five  bullets 
struck  the  rocks  and  earth  near  the  captain. 
They  looked  up  and  saw  the  enemy  on  the 
cliff  who  ordered  them  to  surrender.  Their 
muskets  were  discharged  and  then  they  ran  for 
their  lives.  Thirteen  shots  were  fired  at  them^ 
but  they  escaped  unhurt. 

There  is  in  existence  a  pay-roll  of  a  party  of 
Saugerties  men  of  Johannis  Snyder's  regiment 
who  were  under  the  command  of  Lieut.  Peter 
Post,  of  Saugerties,  who  scouted  for  one  month 
from  April  3d  to  May  3d,  1779,  along  the  east- 
ern base  of  the  Catskills.  When  their  service 
was  up  Lieut.  Post  stopped  on  his  way  home 
to  stay  over  night  with  a  friend,  a  Mr.  Wolven, 
who  lived  near  Pine  Grove  on  what  has  been 
known  as  the  William  H.  Cunyes  farm.  After 
he  had  retired  for  the  night  a  party  of  Tories 
and  Indians  surrounded  the  house  and  carried 
him  ofT  a  prisoner  to  the  mountains  where  he 
was    detained     for    five   days.     Then    he    was 


THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  1778  AND  1779.      1 6 1 

stripped  of  his  uniform  and  released  upon  giv- 
ing his  parole. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Anson  DuBois  is  the  authority 
for  the  following : 

One  Sunday  morning  during  these  years  two 
families  from  Woodstock  came  to  Katsbaan 
church  to  service.  Each  family  brought  a  babe 
for  baptism.  There  was  a  Tory  at  church  who 
quietly  slipped  out  before  the  close  of  service. 
When  these  two  families  were  returning  home, 
and  were  just  above  Unionville,  they  suddenly 
found  themselves  surrounded  by  Indians  whom 
the  Tory  had  put  on  their  track.  The  men 
were  made  prisoners  and  the  women  and  chil- 
dren left  sitting  in  the  wagon  to  get  home  the 
best  way  they  could.  The  Sunday  hat  of  one 
of  the  men  was  seized  by  an  Indian  who  clapped 
it  on  his  head  and  danced  about  the  frightened 
women  with  wild  grimaces. 

The  activity  of  Brant  and  his  Tories  and 
Indians  along  the  Catskills  kept  the  whole 
community  excited.  The  Tories  were  partic- 
ularly embittered  because  the  store  of  Cornelius 
Persen  in  Katsbaan  had  been  for  years  the 
meeting  place  of  the  patriots  and  on  one  of  the 
raids  of  Brant  it  had  been  determined  to  seize 
Cornelius  Persen.  A  friendly  Indian  named 
Nachte  Jan  (Night  John)  whose  wigwam  was 
on  Persen's  land  and  who  felt  indebted  to 
Persen  informed  him  of  the  scheme  and  Persen 


162  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

left  home  every  night  while  his  patriotic  neigh- 
bors watched  with  him  his  house  and  store 
from  points  in  the  adjacent  woods  and  fields. 
The  blow  of  Sullivan  relieved  the  situation. 

With  the  close  of  1779  the  demand  for  active 
service  upon  the  men  of  this  town  practically 
ceased.  There  were  a  few  calls  for  short  serv- 
ice, and  many  of  the  militia  had  enlisted  either 
in  the  Continentals,  or  were  serving  in  the 
Levies.  But  the  militia  had  almost  no  sum- 
mons thereafter. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

PATRIOTIC     DIVINES. 

During  the  war  of  the  Revolution  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  Kingston  had  as 
its  pastor  the  Rev.  George  J.  L.  Doll.  He 
was  an  earnest  preacher,  but  a  still  more 
earnest  patriot.  His  pulpit  often  rang  with 
notes  less  suggestive  of  the  gospel  of  peace 
which  in  less  stirring  times  he  delighted  to 
preach  than  of  a  summons  to  arms.  Many  an 
ardent  exhortation  fell  from  his  lips  to  the 
struggle  for  civil  liberty  and  the  rights  of  free- 
men which  was  then  on. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  war  the  church  of 
Katsbaan  had  no  settled  pastor.  But  the 
pulpit  was  pretty  regularly  supplied  by  Dom- 
ine  Doll  and  by  the  Rev.  Eilardus  Westerlo, 
of  Albany.  Both  of  these  men  were  full  of 
the  patriotic  spirit  and  earnest  in  advocacy  of 
the  cause.  But  the  preacher  who  more  fre- 
quently than  the  others  supplied  that  pulpit 
was  one  who  was  a  veritable  Boanerges,  a  son 
of  thunder.  He  was  the  Rev.  Johannes  Schu- 
neman,  of  Coxsackie  and  Catskill,  now  Leeds. 
His   father    was    one    of    the    Palatines    who 


164  HISTORY  OF  SAUCER  TIES. 

settled  in  West  Camp  in  17 lo  where  the  dom- 
ine  was  born. 

The  year  1780  was  comparatively  a  quiet 
one  in  the  Hudson  river  valley.  This  was  the 
year  of  Arnold's  attempt  to  betray  West 
Point,  but  the  region  about  Saugerties  was  in 
comparative  peace.  Domine  Schuneman  con- 
tinued to  come  down  to  Katsbaan  to  supply 
the  pulpit.  And  just  here  a  fuller  tribute  to 
this  patriot  should  be  given.  He  lived,  as  a 
former  chapter  said,  at  what  is  now  Leeds. 
Between  there  and  Katsbaan  church  is  a 
distance  of  ten  miles  and  at  that  time  it  was 
largely  wooded  and  much  of  it  a  dense  forest. 
He  was  intensely  hated  by  the  Tories  because 
of  his  ardent  patriotism.  And  he  hated  the 
enemies  of  his  country  and  never  lost  an 
opportunity  to  denounce  them.  From  Leeds 
to  his  other  charge  at  Coxsackie  was  a  dis- 
tance of  twelve  miles  and  much  of  this  way 
too  was  along  a  forest  road.  But  the  domine 
feared  nothing  but  his  God.  No  foe  lived 
who  had  any  terror  for  him.  He  was  short 
and  corpulent  and  was  marked  with  the  small- 
pox. He  was  a  dead  shot  with  the  rifle  and 
his  enemies  knew  it.  And  that  rifle  was  his 
constant  companion.  He  always  took  it  with 
him  into  his  pulpit  during  these  years  and 
when  arising  to  preach  set  it  close  at  his  side 
after  carefully  examining  the  priming. 


PATRIOTIC  DIVINES.  165 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Ostrander  said  of  him  : 
*'  His  voice  was  one  of  great  power  and  com- 
pass. His  distinct  and  impressive  tones,  his 
natural  and  vigorous  gesticulation  and  the  mani- 
fest fervent  kindliness  of  his  spirit  conspired  with 
the  eminently  evangelical  character  of  his  dis- 
courses to  render  his  preaching  effective.  The 
Revolutionary  troubles  called  into  full  exercise 
Domine  Schuneman's  intense  patriotism,  in 
connection  with  his  heroic  and  self-sacrificing 
spirit.  The  district  of  country  in  which  he 
lived  was  the  theatre  of  great  commotion  and 
horrid  cruelty.  So  deeply  convinced  was  he 
that  the  interests  of  religion,  as  well  as  the 
civil  interests  of  the  country  were  bound  up 
in  the  great  struggle  that  he  gave  himself  up  to 
it,  in  his  appropriate  way,  with  all  the  earnest- 
ness and  energy  of  a  ruling  passion.  *  *  * 
He  knew  well  that  he  was  looked  upon  by  the 
enemy  as  a  prize  of  more  than  ordinary  value; 
but  nothing  daunted  by  this  he  never  withheld 
any  good  service  in  aid  of  his  country's  inter- 
ests which  it  was  in  his  power  to  render.  He 
was  armed  night  and  day  with  instruments  of 
death  for  the  defense  of  his  own  person  ;  but 
his  main  trust  was  in  the  living  God."  No 
tidings  of  disaster  disheartened  him,  no  im- 
pending danger  terrified  him,  no  warnings  or 
entreaties  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  imminent 
peril  made  any  impression  on   him.     And  he 


166  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

kept  up  his  course  unmoved  and  unharmed 
during  all  these  years  of  war  riding  every  Sun- 
day along  his  wooded  roads  with  his  trusty 
rifle,  and  his  fervent  sermons  inspired  the  dis- 
couraged patriots  until  in  1783  the  glorious 
battle  was  won. 

"The  Dutch  Domine  of  the  Catskills"  and 
his  patriotic  services  should  never  be  forgotten 
by  the  people  of  this  town  and  this  region. 
His  was  a  strenuous  life  and  he  inspired  those 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact  with  his  enthu- 
siasm. His  services  at  Coxsackie  and  at  Leeds 
were  regular,  those  at  Katsbaan  were  special, 
but  very  frequent.  And  more  so  during  the 
years  when  the  Upper  Hudson  was  the  theatre 
of  war.  He  preached  up  to  within  six  days  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  May  10,  1794,  in  his 
82nd  year. 

This  year  1780  saw  the  church  in  Katsbaan 
receive  its  second  pastor  the  Rev.  Lambertus 
DeRonde.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  his  ardent 
patriotism  too  was  the  cause  of  his  coming. 
He  was  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  Collegiate 
Dutch  churches  of  New  York  city,  which  was 
then  occupied  by  the  British.  His  sermons 
had  long  been  severe  upon  the  course  of  the 
British  government  and  its  brutal  treatment  of 
its  prisoners  of  war.  At  last  he  dealt  with 
the  matter  in  plain  language  and  the  British 
commander  sent  him  from  the  city  and  up  the 


PATRIOTIC  DIVINES.  167 

Hudson.  He  came  to  Katsbaan  and  was  its 
pastor  for  six  years. 

The  cause  of  the  patriots  was  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  course  of  the  ministers 
of  the  gospel  before  the  opening  and  during 
the  continuance  of  the  long  war  None  were 
more  ardent  advocates  than  they.  The  serv- 
ices of  such  men  as  Witherspoon  in  Congress 
were  indispensable  and  the  valley  of  the  Hud- 
son during  those  "  times  that  tried  men's  souls" 
was  especially  fortunate  that,  with  no  uncer- 
tain sound,  such  men  as  Doll,  DeRonde  and 
Schuneman  inculcated  the  doctrines  that  ''  all 
men  are  created  equal  and  that  they  are  en- 
dowed by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalien- 
able rights,  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  That,  to  secure 
these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among 
men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  con- 
sent of  the  governed." 

And  when  to  such  steadfast  doctrine  was 
joined  a  fearlessness  and  courage  such  as  "  The 
Dutch  Domine  of  the  Catskills"  possessed,  and 
in  such  an  aggressive  personality,  men  were 
compelled  to  take  their  stand  whenever  and 
wherever  he  came  in  contact  with  them.  It 
resulted  in  making  this  region  as  thoroughly 
patriotic  as  any  spot  in  all  America  during  the 
long  war. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AN   INDIAN   AND   TORY    RAID. 

The  principal  event  of  the  year  1780  in  the 
town  was  the  capture  of  Capt.  Jerenriiah  Sny- 
der of  the  First  Ulster  Regiment  and  his  cap- 
tivity in  Canada.  As  military  operations  in  the 
early  part  of  this  year  were  suspended  along 
the  Hudson  the  militia  were  at  home  at  their 
agricultural  labors.  On  Saturday,  May  6th. 
Capt.  Snyder  and  his  son  Elias,  then  in  his 
eighteenth  year,  were  engaged  in  getting  ready 
a  field  near  their  house  at  Blue  Mountain  for 
planting  corn.  The  field  was  bounded  on  three 
sides  by  the  primeval  forest.  Father  and  son 
were  separated  by  nearly  the  length  of  the 
field,  which  was  the  long  white  strip  of 
plowed  land  running  across  the  accompanying 
illustration.  This  was  open  on  the  north  and 
towards  the  house.  All  at  once  a  terror 
seemed  to  possess  their  horses,  and  the  next 
moment  three  distinct  parties  of  Indians  and 
Tories  painted  vermillion  appeared  from  the 
three  wooded  sides  of  the  field.  The  captain 
and  his  son  abandoned  the  horses  and  fled 
towards  the  house    where   the  way  was  still 


AN  INDIAN  AND   TORY  RAID,        169 

open.  Then  the  six  Indians  in  the  rear,  among 
whom  were  the  notorious  John  Runnip  and 
Shank's  Ben,  raised  the  yell  and  rushed  after 
them  in  pursuit.  As  they  neared  the  house 
they  found  themselves  cut  off  by  three  Tories 
who  came  over  the  hill  in  the  rear  of  the 
house,  at  about  the  spot  where  the  snowbanks 
appear.  Completely  surrounded,  Elias  sur- 
rendered to  a  tall  fellow  named  Hoornbeek, 
who  was  with  Ben's  gang,  while  the  captain 
was  seized  by  Runnip.  A  dispute  arose  be- 
tween the  parties  nearest  the  captain  as  to  who 
was  entitled  to  the  prisoner,  because  of  the 
reward  the  British  offered  for  captives,  which 
came  near  a  settlement  as  one  of  the  disputants 
struck  at  the  captain  with  his  tomahawk  to 
obtain  his  scalp.  The  blow  made  the  captain 
reel  and  cut  him  deeply  near  the  ear.  He 
attempted  another,  but  Runnip  parried  this 
just  in  time  to  shove  aside  a  spear  thrown  by  a 
third  at  the  captain. 

All  this  was  observed  by  the  women  of  the 
family  from  the  house,  and  they  fled  with  the 
children  to  the  woods.  The  united  bands  of 
savages  ransacked  the  house  and  piled  upon  a 
heap  its  contents,  especially  the  pork,  clothing 
and  maple  sugar.  The  leader  then  demanded 
of  the  captain  four  guineas  which  had  been 
paid  him  by  a  Tory  a  few  days  before,  saying 
he  knew  they  were  in  the  chest.     The  key  was 


170  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

delivered  him,  but  the  impatient  savage  split 
the  lid  with  his  tomahawk.  The  number  of 
guineas  was  correct,  but  in  his  eagerness  he 
overlooked  one  in  the  chest,  and  one  rolled 
away  on  the  floor.  But  he  obtained  two  and 
$200  in  Continental  bills.  By  this  time  the 
outbuildings  were  ablaze.  Then  Capt.  Snyder 
begged  that  some  things  be  left  for  his  wife 
and  children.  Permission  was  granted,  and 
some  were  carried  out.  They  were  soon  ordered 
to  desist,  and  the  house  was  fired.  Then,  tak- 
ing the  captain  and  two  sons,  they  set  out  for 
the  mountains.  Upon  urgent  pleading  of  the 
captain  and  Elias,  the  Tories  finally  released 
Ephraim,  the  younger  son,  who  was  lame  and 
only  nine  years  old.  And  another  act  of 
humanity  is  worthy  of  mention.  As  they 
proceeded  the  women  were  discovered  hiding 
in  the  bushes,  but  were  not  molested.  After  a 
while  a  halt  was  made,  and  the  captors  pro- 
ceeded to  divide  the  plunder  and  paint  the 
prisoners.     Then  all  moved  on  in  Indian  file. 

Nothing  had  been  allowed  the  prisoners,  and 
in  their  ordinary  attire  they  were  marched  on 
and  soon  became  footsore.  They  climbed  the 
Catskills  in  an  oblique  direction  from  what  is 
now  Palenville,  and  passed  between  the  two 
Mountain  House  lakes  to  the  east  branch  of 
the  Schoharie  kill,  which  they  forded  and  then 
camped    for    the    night.     The    next   morning 


AN  INDIAN  AND    TORY  RAID,       171 

their  fears  were  relieved  by  Runnip,  who  told 
them  that  they  would  not  be  hurt  unless  they 
attempted  to  escape.  He  intended  to  take 
them  to  Niagara,  and  would  be  kind  to  them 
as  far  as  circumstances  would  permit. 

It  was  now  Sunday  morning.     The  Tories 
and  Indians  separated,  the  former  taking  the 
$200  and  the  guns  and  the  latter  the  prisoners 
and  the  rest  of  the   booty.     Runnip   now  as- 
sumed command  and  led  the  party  to  a  depot 
for  provisions  built  in  a  ravine  of  hemlocks  on 
a  scaffold    formed    about    ten    feet    from   the 
ground  and  supported  by  two  hemlocks  and  a 
crotch.     This  depot  was  near  the  head  of  the 
Schoharie  kill.     Monday  was  wet,  and  they  re- 
mained in  camp.     Runnip  produced  the  papers 
he  had  obtained  from  the  captain's  chest.     He 
threw  the  smaller  ones  into  the  fire  and  pre- 
served the  larger.     Among   the   former   were 
many  important  memoranda  relating  to    the 
military  operations  of  the  patriot  army  which 
it  was  well  should  not  be  read  by  the  enemy. 
Among  the  latter  were  the  captain's  commis- 
sion   and   some   deeds.     (About  twenty  years 
ago  the  writer  learned  that  the  commission  was 
in  the  British  Museum,  and  he  made  an  effort 
through  the  then   Secretary    of    State,    Hon. 
Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  to  obtain  them  for 
the  descendants  of  Captain   Snyder.     The  ef- 
fort failed,  but  copies  of  some  valuable  papers 


1 72  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

relating  to  the  capture  and  their  escape  were 
secured.) 

Tuesday  morning  at  daybreak  the  luggage 
was  divided  into  eight  packs  and  each  of  the 
Indians  shouldered  one.  Then  Runnip  and 
Hoornbeek,  the  owners  of  the  prisoners,  made 
a  subdivision  and  Captain  Snyder  and  Elias 
shouldered  their  packs.  Hoornbeek  after  a 
little  pitied  the  boy  enough  to  relieve  him  of 
one-third  of  his  load. 

Towards  sunset  that  evening  they  encamp- 
ed on  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Delaware. 
The  Indians  separated,  some  to  search  for 
potatoes  on  the  abandoned  fields  of  white 
settlers  and  some  to  build  an  elm  canoe.  Two 
remained  near  at  hand  repairing  their  moc- 
casins, having  left  their  tomahawks  at  a  little 
distance.  The  moment  when  a  successful 
attempt  at  escape  might  be  made  seemed  at 
hand.  Elias  was  just  preparing  to  spring  at 
the  tomahawks  when  four  Indians  returned 
and  thwarted  the  design.  As  they  returned 
to  their  elm,  they  took  Elias  with  them. 

The  canoe  was  finished  by  noon  of  the  next 
day  and  in  it  the  whole  party  of  ten  embarked 
with  all  their  baggage.  Three  miles  down 
stream  a  small  timber  canoe  was  discovered 
and  two  Indians  with  their  baggage  took  pos- 
session. They  floated  on  down  that  after- 
noon  about   twenty-four   miles   and   the   next 


AN  INDIAN  AND   TORY  RAID.       173 

day  sixteen  miles  farther  until  the  junction  of 
the  east  and  west  branches  of  the  Delaware. 
At  this  point  the  canoes  were  abandoned  and 
the  march  was  resumed.  After  proceeding 
five  or  six  miles  Runnip  was  suddenly  taken 
very  ill.  A  rattlesnake  was  killed,  cleaned, 
skinned,  boiled  into  a  soup  and  eaten,  both 
soup  and  flesh  by  Runnip,  and  he  was  a  well 
man. 

At  noon  on  Saturday  the  Susquehanna  was 
reached  and  another  canoe  was  constructed 
from  the  bark  of  a  large  chestnut  upon  which 
they  floated  sixty  miles  down  to  Tioga  Point. 
Here  a  young  elk  was  shot  which  afforded  a 
welcome  change  of  food.  They  left  their 
canoe  here  and  proceeded  on  foot  along  the 
Chemung  river  and  passed  the  breastwork 
which  the  Indians  had  thrown  up  the  year 
before  to  resist  the  invasion  of  General  Sul- 
livan. Between  the  Indian  breastwork  and 
the  Genesee  Flats,  on  Sullivan's  route,  a 
mound  was  passed  at  the  side  of  the  path. 
"  There  are  your  brothers "  said  Runnip  in 
Dutch  as  he  pointed  to  them.  They  were  the 
graves  of  a  scouting  party  of  thirty-six  men 
which  had  Keen  intercepted  and  killed  by  the 
Indians.  In  the  vicinity  of  this  mound  they 
fell  in  with  a  pack  horse  which  had  wandered 
from  the  army  and  had  wintered  in  the  wild 
grass  on  the  Chemung  flats.     He  was  a  small 


174  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

chunky  bay,  low  in  flesh,  but  apparently  in 
good  heart.  By  this  time  the  feet  of  Elias 
were  covered  with  large  blisters,  which  almost 
prevented  walking.  One  day  his  sufferings 
became  so  acute  that  he  was  about  to  drop. 
For  such  things  the  Indians  have  no  sym- 
pathy, nor  any  remedy  but  the  tomaha\vk. 
Providentially  they  halted  for  the  night  an 
hour  before  sundown  that  day. 

On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  May  21st,  the 
party  reached  Genesee  Flats  and  met  there 
the  first  white  men  they  had  seen  since  their 
captors  had  separated.  They  were  Tories  and 
neighbors  of  Captain  Snyder.  Their  names 
were  John  Young  and  Frederick  Rowe. 
Young  had  lived  for  a  number  of  years  within 
a  mile  of  Snyder  and  now  he  had  a  long  con- 
versation with  him.  Rowe  did  not  utter  a 
word.  The  party  forded  the  Genesee  river 
through  water  up  to  their  arms.  Then,  never 
stopping  to  dry  their  clothes,  they  marched  on 
a  dozen  miles  and  encamped  for  the  night. 
Soon  after  a  white  woman  of  about  twenty- 
five  years,  with  a  child  in  her  arms  came  to 
the  camp  with  an  Indian  who  was  her  hus- 
band. She  enquired  in  English  who  the  pris- 
oners were  and  all  the  circumstances  of  their 
capture,  destination,  etc.,  and  then  volunteer- 
ed the  story  of  her  life.  In  the  French  and 
Indian  war,  as  a  small  child,  she  had  been  cap- 


AN  INDIAN  AND    TORY  RAID.        175 

tured  and  had  remained  with  them  ever  since. 
She  knew  not  from  whence  she  had  come,  nor 
who  she  was.  She  was  a  woman  of  intelli- 
gence despite  her  surroundings  and  her  hus- 
band seemed  a  chief.  Her  face  after  all  its 
exposure  to  the  elements  still  retained  a  meas- 
ure of  beauty. 

On  the  24th  of  May  they  camped  on  a 
stream  about  thirty  miles  from  Niagara. 
Here  the  Indians  stopped  to  fish  and  the 
younger  ones  drove  the  fish  down  the  stream 
so  that  the  older  ones  could  spear  them.  A 
species  of  sucker  was  caught  averaging  three 
feet  in  length.  The  next  morning  a  passing 
band  of  Indians  compelled  the  captain  to  give 
them  his  coat  and  they  walked  away  with  it. 
Not  long  after  they  met  a  band  of  Indians  and 
squaws  and  the  squaws  robbed  them  of  their 
hats.  A  little  later  they  met  two  more 
squaws,  one  of  whom  was  the  sister  of  Run- 
nip.  Their  greeting  was  very  joyful  and  the 
women  extended  their  goodwill  to  the  pris- 
oners whom  they  took  cordially  by  the  hand. 
They  spent  the  night  about  four  miles  from 
the  fort  and  on  the  morning  of  May  26  march- 
ed over  towards  it.  They  passed  through  an 
encampment  of  several  thousands  of  Indians 
and  the  youths  and  squaws  armed  with  clubs 
tried  to  strike  at  them  as  they  went  by,  but 
Runnip    and  their   captors   carefully   guarded 


176 


HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 


them  from  the  gauntlet.  They  were  soon 
safely  within  the  gates  of  Fort  Niagara.  The 
fort,  though  to  be  a  prison,  seemed  a  haven  of 
rest  to  the  weary  captives  and  within  the 
stronghold  they  gradually  recovered  fro.m 
their  exhaustion. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

IN   CAPTIVITY   IN    CANADA. 

By  the  circuitous  path  from  Saugerties  to 
Fort  Niagara  Capt.  Snyder  and  his  son  Elias 
had  journeyed  more  than  five  hundred  miles. 
They  had  experienced  but  one  rainy  day  when 
they  rested  under  a  scaffold  of  hemlock  at  the 
head  of  Schoharie  creek  while  the  Indians  lay 
wrapped  in  their  blankets  on  the  naked  earth. 
They  had  been  fairly  well  fed  and  of  food 
which  consisted  largely  of  suppaan,  or  unbolted 
Indian  meal,  boiled  with  dried  peas.  The  pork 
which  had  been  foraged  from  the  premises  of 
Capt.  Snyder  had  been  carried  with  them  until 
it  was  eaten.  An  elk  had  been  shot  and  a  part 
of  a  deer  taken  from  wolves,  otherwise  they 
had  had  no  game  but  muskrats.  But  they 
could  not  join  their  captors  in  a  meal  upon 
muskrats. 

The  Indian  who  had  almost  tomahawked  the 
captain  was  his  barber  now  and  shaved  him 
regularly  twice  a  week.  He  was  quite  an  ex- 
pert with  a  razor.  The  prisoners  were  painted 
on  the  first  and  second  days  of  their  captivity 
and    then    not   again    until    they   reached    the 


178  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Susquehanna.  After  this  they  were  painted 
regularly  every  morning.  All  were  generally 
silent  on  the  march  and  the  little  conversation 
had  was  in  broken  Dutch.  Runnip  told  Sny- 
der of  a  proposed  raid  into  Shawangunk  after 
higher  officers  and  in  July  Snyder  met  some 
more  recently  taken  prisoners  who  told  him 
that  they  had  met  Ruimip  on  his  way  to 
Shawangunk.  A  year  after  this  Capt.  Snyder 
met  Capt.  Anthony  Abeel,  of  Catskill,  also  a 
captive  in  Canada,  who  told  him  the  result 
of  the  raid  into  Shawangunk.  The  officers 
wanted  were  not  captured,  but  some  negro 
slaves  were  seized.  These  rose  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  slew  their  captors,  among  whom  was 
Runnip  himself. 

Fort  Niagara  had  been  built  by  the  French 
during  their  long  control  of  Canada  and  had 
been  one  of  their  strongholds.  Since  Canada 
had  become  British  the  latter  had  increased 
the  strength  of  the  fortifications  until  it  was 
a  seat  of  their  power.  It  was  at  the  outlet  of 
the  Niagara  river  into  Lake  Ontario.  About 
six  or  eight  acres  were  inclosed  about  the  fort 
within  which  the  British  commander  had 
erected  a  handsome  residence.  This  was  now 
occupied  by  Col.  Guy  Johnson,  son-in-law  of 
Sir  William  Johnson,  of  Johnstown.  To  him 
the  Snyders  were  brought  for  an  interview. 
He  was  a  short,  stout  man,  about  forty  years 


IN  CAPTIVITY  IN  CANADA.  179 

of  age,  of  stern  countenance,  and   a  haughty 
demeanor,    dressed    in     British    uniform,    with 
powdered  locks,  cocked  hat  and  sword  by  his 
side.     He  ordered   all   served   with   a  glass  of 
rum,  the  Indians  first.     Then  Runnip  delivered 
the  captured  papers  to  Col.  Johnson  and  gave 
a  succinct  account  of  the  captives  and  the  place 
where   they    were    taken.     Johnson    then    in- 
quired the  news  of  the  frontiers  and   Runnip 
replied  that  the  British  fleet  had  ascended  the 
Hudson  as  high  as  Kingston  ;  that  he  and  his 
comrades   had    been    at    Kingston    Point    and 
witnessed  it.     Then  turning  to  Capt.  Snyder, 
Johnson   inquired :  "  Do    you   know   anything 
about  it?"     Deeming  it  prudent  not  to  con- 
tradict the  Indian  the  captain  said,  "  It  may  be 
so,  but  we  do  not  know."     Various  questions 
were  asked  relating  to  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
after  which   Runnip  arose  and  made  a  speech 
in   his    native   tongue  of    some   ten   or   fifteen 
minutes,    which    a    well-educated    Stockbridge 
Indian  rendered  fluently  into  English.     As  far 
as  the  captain  could  gather  it  the  purport  was 
that    the    quarrel    and    war   was    between   the 
British    and    Americans    and    the    Indians  de- 
manded to  be  well  paid  for  their  help.     John- 
son replied  that  they  would  be  rewarded  with 
rum,  provisions  and  corn  ;  but  they  must  not 
give  any  to  the  Indians  who  hung  around  the 
fort. 


1 80  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

After  this  was  settled  Runnip  took  Capt. 
Snyder  by  the  hand  and  placed  it  in  that  of 
Col.  Johnson  thus  handing  him  over.  The 
same  ceremony  was  repeated  as  Elias  was 
transferred.  They  were  then  conducted  to  the 
guard  house  on  the  top  of  the  wall,  where  they 
were  confined  for  a  week.  On  the  third  day  a 
Tory  named  Rowe,  a  sergeant  in  the  British 
army,  paid  them  a  visit.  He  had  been  brought 
up  a  short  distance  from  Snyder's  residence  in 
Saugerties,  and  called  to  enquire  about  his 
friends  and  relatives  in  that  neighborhood. 
He  was  very  civil,  and  appeared  to  commiserate 
their  condition.  They  were  not  allowed  any 
private  conversation.  About  this  time  they 
were  each  presented  with  a  frock  coat  of  coarse 
Indian  cloth. 

While  in  the  guard  house  they  were  visited 
by  the  celebrated  chieftain,  Brant.  He  was  a 
likely  fellow,  of  a  fierce  aspect — tall  and  rather 
spare,  well  spoken — and  apparently  about 
thirty  years  of  age.  He  wore  moccasins  ele- 
gantly trimmed  with  beads,  leggings,  breech 
cloth  of  superfine  blue,  a  short  green  coat  with 
two  silver  epaulets,  and  a  small,  laced,  round 
hat.  At  his  side  hung  a  beautiful  silver 
mounted  cutlass,  and  his  blanket  of  bluecloth» 
purposely  dropped  in  the  chair  to  show  his 
epaulets,  was  gorgeously  decorated  with  a  bor- 
der of  red.     Brant's  language  was  very  insult- 


IN  CAPTIVITY  IN  CANADA.  181 

ing.  He  asked  many  questions,  and,  among 
others,  from  whence  the  captain  came? 
When  he  answered  that  he  came  from  Esopus, 
Brant  replied,  ''That  is  my  fighting  ground." 
At  the  close  of  the  interview  he  addressed 
Elias  and  said:  "You  are  young,  and  you  I 
pity ;  but  for  that  old  villain  there  I  have  no 
pity."  As  he  said  this  he  pointed  to  the  cap- 
tain. 

At  the  end  of  a  week  they  were  removed 
across  the  river  and  with  three  other  white 
prisoners  put  into  the  hold  of  a  twelve-gun 
vessel  on  Lake  Ontario.  Sergeant  Rowe  re- 
peated his  visit,  and  presented  the  captain  and 
his  son  with  second-hand  hats,  while  a  humane 
Tory  named  Birch,  who  had  lived  on  the  east 
branch  of  the  Delaware,  generously  offered  to 
supply  their  wants.  He  had  been  well  ac- 
quainted with  Benjamin  Snyder,  a  brother  of 
the  captain,  and  seemed  anxious  to  requite 
former  kindnesses  of  that  brother.  During 
the  afternoon  of  Friday,  June  2nd,  the 
vessel  got  under  way,  and  when  off  from  the 
wharf,  the  prisoners  were  allowed  to  come  on 
deck.  On  Sunday  afternoon,  June  4th,  they 
were  put  ashore  on  Carleton  Island  at  the  foot 
of  the  lake.  In  a  small  fortress  on  this  island 
they  were  confined  about  three  days  of  rainy 
and  foggy  weather,  when  they  were  transferred 
to  boats  and  sent  off  towards  Montreal  under 


182  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

guard  of  Tories  from  Sir  John  Johnson's  bat- 
talion. On  their  way  down  the  St.  Lawrence 
they  stopped  at  Ogdensburgh,  where  they  re- 
ceived on  board  a  female  prisoner  with  five 
deserters  from  the  American  army.  A  heart- 
rending scene  was  witnessed  as  the  woman  was 
separated  from  her  husband,  who  was  detained 
a  prisoner  at  Ogdensburgh.  At  Cote  du  lac» 
about  forty  miles  from  Montreal,  they  were 
landed  and  confined  in  the  guard  house  for  an 
hour.  Re-embarking,  they  were  carried  with 
the  current  to  La  Chine,  which  they  reached 
June  12.  From  this  place  they  were  marched 
on  foot  to  Montreal,  a  distance  of  nine  miles. 
The  poor  female  was  released  as  soon  as  she 
arrived.  By  noon  the  captain  and  his  son  had 
quarters  assigned  them  in  the  Prevot.  Here 
in  this  dismal  and  disgusting  den  they  were 
confined  for  months. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

CAPTAIN   SNYDER'S   ESCAPE. 

The  Prevot  at  Montreal  was  a  large  dismal 
looking  place  of  stone,  with  great  windows, 
and  it  served  not  only  as  a  prison  for  American 
soldiers,  but  for  criminals  of  every  description. 
In  a  room  twenty  feet  by  sixteen,  in  the  second 
story,  forty  Americans,  military  prisoners,  were 
closely  shut  up  until  August ;  and  their  sleep- 
ing apartment  .was  still  smaller.  It  was  but  an 
entry  or  gangway  thirteen  feet  long  and  eight 
wide,  and  in  this  the  forty  were  stowed  at  night 
in  two  rows  with  heads  to  the  wall  and  feet  inter- 
laced. Sometimes  when  the  prisoners  were 
many  at  least  fifty  were  crowded  in.  Their 
jailer  was  a  humane  man  who  had  married  his 
wife  in  Albany  and  did  as  much  for  them  as  he 
could. 

About  the  first  of  August  they  were  taken 
before  Gen.  M'Clean.  Those  who  could  pro- 
cure recommendations  from  loyal  Canadians 
were  released  upon  parole.  But  neither  the 
captain,  nor  his  son  could  do  so.  Gen.  M'Clean 
finally  sent  away  the  captain  to  labor  on  the 
island,  retaining  the  son  as  a  hostage.     At  the 


184  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

end  of  ten  days  he  had  so  far  ingratiated  him- 
self with  the  one  in  charge,  Sir  William  Grant, 
that  he  was  able  to  secure  the  liberation  of  his 
son. 

On  the  night  of  Oct.  8th  six  of  the  prisoners 
escaped.  As  a  result  all  were  again  confined 
in  the  Prevot.  Here  they  remained,  without 
stockings,  under  a  cruel  Hessian  keeper,  who 
beat  his  prisoners  with  a  sword,  until  June  13th 
fallowing.  After  a  time  Capt.  Snyder  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  some  indulgence  when  this 
Hessian  learned  that  he  and  his  son  were  of 
German  descent  from  the  Palatines  who  had 
come  to  West  Camp.  Their  time  was  occupied 
in  cards,  except  the  large  share  devoted  to 
clearing  themselves  of  vermin  which  infested 
the  jail. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  June,  1781,  Col.  James 
Gordon,  of  Ballston,  was  brought  in  a  prisoner 
with  others.  Through  his  influence  Capt.  Sny- 
der and  son,  and  Capt.  Anthony  Abeel  and  son 
were  liberated  on  parole  and  billetted  among 
the  Canadians  on  the  island  of  Jesu,  sixteen 
miles  above  Montreal.  Here  they  were  not 
treated  well,  but  better  than  in  the  prison. 
They  remained  here  until  the  first  of  December 
when  all  of  the  prisoners  here,  of  whom  there 
were  twenty-one,  were  confined  in  one  house. 
After  a  few  days  things  were  relaxed  ;  but  it 
was  not  until  Christmas  that  they  first  began 


CAPTAIN  SNYDER'S  ESCAPE.  185 

to  taste  the  blessings  of  good  treatment  and 
cleanliness.  During  the  winter  they  were  pre- 
sented with  a  roll  of  cloth  by  a  compassionate 
Quaker.  This  they  made  into  clothes  them- 
selves after  a  fashion.  The  following  summer 
they  obtained  work  among  farmers  and  me- 
chanics and  spent  the  winter  again  at  cards. 
An  Irish  prisoner  had  somehow  obtained  a 
copy  of  Pliny's  Epistles  which  he  gave  Capt. 
Snyder  and  these  furnished  his  sole  intellectual 
enjoyment. 

With  the  coming  of  the  spring  of  1782  the 
prisoners  began  to  make  plans  for  escape.  The 
captain  objected  because  of  his  parole.  But  it 
was  urged  that  he  was  absolved  from  this  as 
the  British  commander  had  broken  his  prom- 
ise by  locking  them  up  in  the  house  in  Decem- 
ber which  had  released  the  obligation.  Then 
Elias  declared  that  he  would  desert  at  all  events 
and  his  father  yielded.  Preparations  were 
made.  Some  leather  for  moccasins  was  bought. 
A  passport  to  Montreal  was  obtained.  While 
there  a  pocket  compass  was  bought  and 
wine  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July.  And 
when  that  day  arrived  twenty  faithful  Ameri- 
cans met  in  Capt.  Snyder's  quarters  and  com- 
memorated the  day  in  four  gallons  of  wine, 
two  of  rum  and  other  incentives  to  what  was 
then  considered  a  proper  spirit. 

On   the  evening  of    September   loth,    1782, 


1 86  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

the  attempt  to  escape  was  made.  At  a  con 
certed  point  Capt.  Snyder  and  Elias,  Jonathan 
Millet,  of  Stonington,  Anthony  Abeel,  of  Cats- 
kill,  and  James  Butler,  of  Philadelphia,  set 
forward  for  the  lower  part  of  the  isle.  Here 
they  found  two  boats  which  they  lashed  to- 
gether. About  three  miles  below  there  was  a 
rapid  and  as  the  night  was  dark  Snyder,  Abeel, 
Millett  and  the  baggage  were  landed,  while 
young  Snyder  and  Butler,  having  separated 
the  boats,  were  to  navigate  them  as  well  as 
they  could  to  a  point  below  the  rapid.  They 
succeeded  in  passing  without  accident,  but 
missed  those  who  had  gone  by  the  shore.  The 
night  had  nearly  passed  before  they  were 
landed  on  an  island  ten  miles  below  Montreal. 
Their  boats  were  drawn  up  into  the  long  grass 
and  they  lay  all  day  in  their  wet  clothes  wait- 
ing for  the  night. 

After  dusk  they  took  the  boats  and  crossed 
to  the  east  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  by 
daybreak  they  had  reached  the  river  Chambly. 
Here  they  lay  all  day  in  an  old  hedge.  After 
sunset  they  found  a  canoe  and  came  across. 
But  by  an  oversight  they  had  lost  their  axes, 
the  only  weapons  they  had.  Conceiving  them- 
selves beyond  danger,  they  now  advanced  by 
daylight,  passing  around  all  the  settlements 
except  one  through  which  they  walked  armed 
with  clubs.     We  cannot   follow    their   perilous 


i 


CAPTAIN  SNYDER'S  ESCAPE.  187 

journey  through  the  trackless  wilderness  to  the 
headwaters  of  the  Connecticut  River,  and  the 
straits  to  which  they  were  brought  for  the 
want  of  food.  Almost  starved,  Elias  found  a 
thigh  of  a  moose  stripped  of  all  but  its  sinews, 
which  they  burned  and  ate  of  for  two  days. 
Some  days  after  they  found  a  frontiersman  at 
work  in  a  field  and  obtained  a  loaf  of  bread. 
That  night  they  slept  at  the  house  of  a  Mr. 
Williams,  who  made  them  eat  a  moose  pie 
prepared  for  the  family  supper.  Neighbors 
came  in  with  a  magistrate,  who  examined 
them  and  then  furnished  them  with  passports 
to  Gen.  Bailley.  The  people  of  New  Hamp- 
shire v/ere  exceedingly  kind  to  them,  and  pro- 
vided for  all  their  wants.  They  reached  Gen. 
Bailley 's  quarters  on  Sunday,  September  29. 
He  provided  them  with  shoes.  After  two  days 
there  the  general  fitted  out  the  captain  with  a 
horse,  and  he  rode  home  through  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  crossing  the  Hudson  at 
Poughkeepsie.  The  rest,  came  on  foot  and 
crossed  at  Kinderhook. 

On  his  way  home  Capt.  Snyder  had  an  inter- 
view with  Governor  George  Clinton  on  the  6th 
of  October.  The  writer  has  a  copy  of  the  of- 
ficial record  of  the  examination.  It  was  con- 
cerning the  authenticity  of  the  rumors  that 
the  British  in  Canada  were  preparing  for  an- 
other invasion  of    this   State,  by  the   way   of 


188  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Lake  Champlain  and  the  Hudson  River  valley. 
We  now  know  that  no  such  move  was  in  pre- 
paration, as  the  commissioners  of  Great  Brit- 
ain and  the  United  States  were  negotiating  for 
peace,  and  within  eight  weeks,  on  November 
30,  1782,  a  preliminary  treaty  was  signed. 
This  was  followed  by  the  definite  treaty  of 
September  3,  1783,  and  the  evacuation  of  New 
York  by  the  British  November  25,  1783,  and 
the  establishment  of  peace. 

Captain  Snyder  in  the  interview  and  Gen- 
eral Bailley  and  General  Sullivan  in  contem- 
poraneous reports  refer  to  these  rumors  of 
another  invasion.  But  it  is  now  known  that 
they  originated  in  the  troubles  between  the 
authorities  of  this  State  and  New  Hampshire 
over  their  claims  to  what  is  now  Vermont. 
Vermont  was  clamoring  to  Congress  for 
admission  as  a  state  into  the  Union  and  Con- 
gress was  postponing  such  admission  until  the 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed.  But  the  people  of 
Vermont  were  restless  and  impatient,  and  that 
impatience  manifested  itself  in  constant  col- 
lisions between  the  soldiers  of  New  York  and 
New  Hampshire  and  in  charges  of  sympathy  of 
Vermont  with  the  common  enemy.  This  had 
led  Captain  Snyder's  party  to  avoid  Vermont 
on  the  way  home,  and  to  the  circuitous  route 
through  New  Hampshire.  After  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  w^as  formed  Ver- 


CAPTAIN  SNYDER'S  ESCAPE.         189 

mont    and    Kentucky    were    the    first    states 
admitted  to  the  Union. 

There  is  in  existence  a  return  of  Colonel 
Johannis  Snyder  of  the  levies  raised  in  his 
regiment  for  the  reinforcement  of  the  army 
under  date  of  July  loth,  1780.  The  three 
companies  from  the  town  of  Saugerties  are 
thus  reported  :  Captain  John  L.  DeWitt,  100 
men ;  Captain  Matthew  Dederick,  91  men ; 
Lieutenant  Peter  Backer,  70  men  ;  in  all  261 
soldiers.  Lieutenant  Backer  was  in  com.mand 
of  the  company  of  Captain  Jeremiah  Snyder 
during  the  captain's  captivity  in  Canada. 

This  ends  the  story  of  the  connection  of  the 
town  of  Saugerties  with  the  Revolution.  The 
last  two  years  had  been  quiet.  The  theatre  of 
war  had  been  shifted  to  the  South,  neverthe- 
less as  late  as  March  12,  1781,  the  trustees  of 
Kingston  Commons  employed  four  men  to 
constantly  scout  from  the  bounds  of  Hurley 
to  the  Albany  (now  Greene)  county  line  near 
Palenville  to  watch  the  Indians  and  Tories. 
This  covered  the  western  border  of  Saugerties, 
and  on  April  3,  1781,  they  purchased  three 
hundred  pine  trees  for  stockades. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Thirteen  days  after  this 
they  purchased  two  hundred  pounds  of  gun- 
powder for  defense,  and  on  June  4,  178 1,  the 
trustees  appointed  a  committee  to  consult 
with  Colonel  Johannis  Snyder  for  the  defense 


190  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

of  the  town.  So  late  the  annoying  troubles 
with  the  Tories  and  Indians  continued.  At 
last  the  reward  came.  No  hostile  foot  has 
ever  trodden  the  soil  of  this  town  since  that 
day.  And  when  the  history  of  that  conflict 
was  written  it  was  recorded  that  not  only  had 
Ulster  county  and  Saugerties  furnished  in  full 
every  call  for  troops  made  during  the  long 
war,  but  had  exceeded  that  quota  by  more 
than  one-third. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION. 

No  happier  day  was  ever  enjoyed  by  the 
people  of  this  town  than  the  day  when  the 
news  came  that  Cornwallis  had  surrendered  at 
Yorktown  to  Washington.  It  was  a  perfect 
day  in  October,  most  of  the  militia  were  home, 
for  there  were  not  many  soldiers  from  this 
region  in  the  army  in  Virginia  and  as  all  were 
farmers  they  were  engaged  in  securing  their 
fall  crops.  On  most  of  the  farms  husking 
corn  was  in  progress  when  a  messenger  on  his 
way  to  Albany  along  the  Old  Kings  Road 
brought  the  tidings.  All  work  was  immedi- 
ately suspended  and  neighbors  flew  to  tell 
neighbors  the  glad  news  that  the  long  war  was 
now,  in  all  probability,  over.  To  the  tavern  of 
Abraham  Post,  in  Saugerties,  and  to  the  store 
of  Cornelius  Persen,  in  Katsbaan,  most  of  the 
people  found  their  way  to  ascertain  the  credi- 
bility of  the  tidings  and  to  discuss  the  future. 
Tradition  tells  how  Jan  Top,  a  negro  slave  of 
Persen,  came  into  the  assembled  crowd  from 
the  pile  of  corn  which  he  was  husking  with  a 
long  ear  from  which  he  deliberately  removed 


192  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

every  kernel,  after  which  he  held  it  up  exclaim- 
ing *'  Here  it  is  at  last,  and  he  is  no  more 
Cornwallis,  but  Cob-wallis."  On  the  following 
Sunday  all  the  region  was  assembled  in  the  old 
stone  church  in  Katsbaan  to  a  service  of 
thanksgiving  and  praise  to  Almighty  God  for 
the  success  which  had  crowned  our  arms.  The 
pastor,  Domine  DeRonde,  who  had  been  the 
eloquent  preacher  of  New  York  before  he  was 
driven  from  his  pulpit  there  by  the  British, 
arose  to  the  occasion,  and  his  patriotic  periods 
were  long  remembered  by  his  auditors.  The 
Dutch  is  a  very  expressive  tongue  and  the  dom- 
ine, who  had  many  old  scores  to  settle,  never 
used  the  language  with  acuter  pungency,  or 
greater  effect. 

But  the  rejoicings,  the  celebrations  and  the 
acknowledgments  over,  the  conviction  grad- 
ually dawned  upon  the  people  that  all  had  not 
yet  been  secured.  Money  there  was  in  plenty, 
but  it  was  nothing  but  Continental  currency, 
of  which  forty  dollars  were  hardly  worth  one 
dollar  in  silver.  Not  a  coin  of  what  was  in 
circulation  was  the  product  of  a  mint  in  this 
country  except  coppers.  English  and  French 
guineas,  Spanish  joes,  doubloons  and  pistoles 
and  one  or  two  French  coins  were  the  only 
gold  in  circulation  and  most  of  the  residents  in 
rural  regions  had  rarely  seen  a  gold  coin. 
English   crowns,   shillings  and   sixpences,   and 


AFTER    THE  REVOLUTION.  193 

Spanish  milled  dollars,  picayunes  and  pista- 
reens  were  the  coins  in  silver. 

But  when  the  value  of  these  came  to  be 
computed  confusion  worse  confounded  reigned. 
Values  which  had  been  estimated  in  pounds, 
shillings  and  pence  began  to  be  reckoned  upon 
the  basis  of  the  Spanish  milled  dollar.  But 
what  was  that  value?  A  shilling  meant  six- 
teen and  two-thirds  cents  in  Massachusetts. 
But  in  New  York  and  North  Carolina  it  meant 
twelve  and  one  half  cents.  In  most  of  the 
states  seven  and  one-half  shillings  made  a 
dollar.  In  New  England  six  shillings  were  one 
dollar;  in  New  York  and  North  Carolina  eight 
shillings ;  in  Georgia  five  shillings,  while  in 
South  Carolina  it  required  thirty-two  and  one- 
half.  Besides  all  this  the  current  coin  had 
been  so  clipped,  sweated  and  counterfeited 
that  a  man  needed  to  travel  with  a  pair  of 
scales  in  his  pocket  and  a  ready-reckoning  table 
in  his  memory  to  receive  any  approach  to  a 
true  value  when  money  was  paid  him. 

The  result  was  barter  everywhere.  The 
stamp  acts,  navigation  laws  and  all  the  other 
oppressive  measures  of  the  British  Parliament 
had  resulted  in  throwing  the  people  upon  their 
own  resources.  Every  farm  house  was  not 
only  a  hive  of  industry  in  producing  products 
of  the  soil,  but  a  farmer  and  his  family  were 
manufacturers  of  everything  they  needed,  or 


194  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

used.  They  made  their  own  sugar  and  mo- 
lasses, they  brewed  their  own  beer,  they  spun 
and  wove  their  own  clothing  and  bedding  from 
the  wool  and  flax  they  raised  on  their  own 
acres.  Every  farmer  was  cooper  enough  to 
make  his  own  pails  and  tubs,  blacksmith 
enough  to  weld  iron  and  shoe  his  own  horse, 
carpenter  enough  to  build  his  own  house  if 
needed,  and  wagon  maker  enough  for  his  own 
wagons  and  sleighs.  No  butcher  brought  him 
meat,  for  he  salted  every  November  the  year's 
supply,  and  during  the  year  his  calves  were 
killed  when  six  weeks  old,  and  the  quarters 
divided  among  his  neighbors  from  whom  he 
received  similar  quarters  when  they  had  calves 
of  that  age.  The  skins  were  taken  to  a  farmer 
who  had  a  tan  vat,  and  there  in  a  liquid  strong 
with  oak  or  hemlock  bark,  it  lay  for  eighteen 
months  in  process  of  tanning.  Then  it  was 
dressed  and  ready  for  the  peripatetic  shoe- 
maker, who  came  to  board  with  the  family 
while  he  made  the  family  shoes  for  a  year. 

The  homespun  cloth  from  the  family  looms 
was  taken  to  some  mill  where  it  could  be  fulled, 
and  then  an  itinerating  tailoress  would  come 
and  be  the  family  guest  while  she  cut  and  made 
the  garments  of  the  household,  meanwhile  re- 
tailing the  gossip  gathered  upon  her  flittings 
through  the  neighborhood.  All  through  the 
livelong  day  and  far  into  the  evenings  the  spin- 


AFTER    THE  REVOLUTION.  195 

ning  wheels  hummed.  When  they  ceased,  the 
fires  on  the  hearth  were  carefully  covered  to 
keep  a  coal  alive  for  the  morning  to  avoid  the 
necessity  for  flint  and  tinder,  or,  may  be,  a 
a  journey  through  snowdrifts  to  borrow  a  live 
coal,  for  fifty  years  were  to  pass  before  a  fric- 
tion match  would  be  invented. 

When  the  farmer  was  cutting  his  firewood  in 
the  forests,  his  eye  was  ever  open  for  a  tough 
and  solid  tree  with  a  suitably-forked  limb, 
which,  pointed  with  iron,  would  make  a  plow, 
for  iron  plows  were  unknown  until  after  the 
Nineteenth  Century  had  come.  His  hay  was 
cut  with  a  scythe,  whose  snath  he  had  bent 
himself,  and  the  short  blade  had  been  made  by 
the  neighboring  smith.  His  hay  was  raked  by 
the  hand  rakes  made  at  his  fireside  on  winter 
evenings  when  he  was  not  employed  in  fash- 
ioning axe-helves  after  a  design  which  seemed 
to  him  perfectly  adapted  to  his  natural  method 
of  swinging  an  axe. 

His  oxen  plowed  his  fields  with  yokes  his 
hands  had  made.  His  team  of  horses  had 
never  known  a  hame  collar,  as  the  harness  was 
of  his  construction,  and  the  broad  breast 
pieces  were  of  leather  from  his  beeves  of  pre- 
vious years,  whose  hides  had  been  dressed  for 
him.  From  these  his  own  skill  had  constructed 
the  broad  leather  belts  which  almost  covered 
the   animals.     Where   harness    was    not    thus 


196  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

made  it  was  of  rope  from  the  tow  from  which 
flax  had  been  spun.  But  this  constantly  broke, 
and  repeated  repairs  covered  the  faithful  ani- 
mals with  every  species  of  knots. 

Labor  was  scarce.  There  were  many  fam- 
ilies who  owned  a  slave,  but  many  more  did 
not.  And  of  those  who  did  but  few  owned 
two.  Even  if  labor  could  be  hired,  there  was 
no  money  to  pay  wages.  It  had  to  be  paid  in 
produce  of  the  farm.  So  the  universal  custom 
of  '*  bees  "  became  established.  Farmers  had 
plowing  bees,  planting  bees,  logging  bees» 
stumping  bees,  hoeing  bees,  mowing  bees, 
reaping  bees,  husking  bees.  There  were  bees 
to  raise  new  buildings ;  there  were  bees  to 
gather  loose  stone.  There  were  bees  to  spin 
and  bees  to  weave.  There  were  apple-cutting 
bees  and  quilting  bees,  and  out  of  all  this 
neighborliness  the  farmers  of  this  town  were 
found  in  the  year  that  gave  us  civil  freedom 
poor  in  what  the  world  calls  wealth,  but  rich  in 
that  afifluent  living  when  every  interest  of  a 
neighbor  is  an  interest  of  our  own. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

EDUCATIONAL   CONDITIONS   AFTER   THE 
REVOLUTION. 

In  the  last  chapter  an  attempt  was  made  to 
describe  the  condition  of  this  town  when  the 
seven  years  of  war  of  the  Revolution  were 
closed.  It  is  here  proposed  to  glance  at  the 
educational  conditions. 

In  the  American  histories  which  undertake 
to  describe  the  social  conditions  of  this  period 
there  is  a  strange  distortion  of  certain  facts. 
The  people  are  pictured  as  not  only  poor 
financially,  but  intellectual  and  educational 
conditions  are  put  at  a  very  low  ebb. 
McMaster  even  says  that  "  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  a  school  house  was  never  seen 
outside  of  a  village  or  town."  Let  us  see  if 
this  is  true  of  what  is  now  the  town  of  Sau- 
gerties. 

The  county  of  Ulster  has  a  peculiar  position 
among  the  original  counties  of  the  thirteen 
states  which  formed  the  American  Union.  It 
grew  not  only  from  one  original  permanent 
settlement  in  early  colonial  days,  but  from 
three.      And   each    of   the   three   was  from  a 


198  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

different  country  in  Europe,  and  each  brought 
its  own  language.  Kingston  was  a  Dutch 
settlement,  New  Paltz  was  a  French  and  West 
Camp  a  German.  But  they  had  one  thing  in 
common.  Before  anything  else  might  be 
done  a  church  and  a  school  must  be  built. 
Kingston  had  Andries  Van  Der  Sluys  to  teach 
the  children  of  the  colony  as  soon  as  the 
colony  was  started.  New  Paltz  did  the  same 
thing,  and  a  former  chapter  told  how  the 
Palatine  colony  at  the  Camp,  which  came  on 
the  fourth  of  October,  1710,  and  lived  in  huts 
of  bark  and  brush  that  winter  built  a  school 
house  of  sawed  boards  within  three  months  of 
the  day  it  landed. 

The  chapters  which  took  our  readers  on  a 
walk  about  Saugerties  and  Katsbaan  locating 
the  buildings  during  the  decade  1760-70  called 
attention  to  a  school  house  in  each  place. 
The  writer  can  establish  the  fact  that  the 
present  Union  School  of  Saugerties  is  the 
historical  successor  of  the  school  then  stand- 
ing near  the  site  of  the  present  Russell  block, 
and  the  school  house  at  Katsbaan  that  of  the 
school  of  that  early  day.  The  writer  has  the 
certificate  by  which  the  owners  of  the  school 
house  then  on  that  site  in  Katsbaan  conveyed 
the  school  they  had  so  long  maintained  to  the 
people  of  the  newly  constituted  district  upon 
the  organization  of  the  school  system  of  this 


EDUCATIONAL   CONDITIONS.  199 

state.  This  disposes  of  the  assertion  of 
McMaster  as  at  the  date  of  which  he  wrote 
(1784),  both  these  schools  were  at  least  twenty 
years  old,  and  probably  sixty. 

But  while  it  is  a  fact  that  our  Revolution- 
ary sires  had  provided  schools  for  the  young, 
but  little  else  was  provided.  There  was  a 
desk  all  around  the  room  before  which  was  a 
seat  without  a  back.  This  seat  was  usually  a 
heavy  slab  into  which  holes  had  been  bored 
and  peg  feet  inserted.  No  map  nor  chart  was 
on  the  walls,  no  globe  nor  model  to  enable  the 
eye  to  catch  the  meaning  or  shape  of  the 
thing  described  was  in  the  room.  Nor  was  it 
a  part  of  the  task  of  the  teacher  to  make  it 
plain.  The  average  teacher  trained  his  pupil's 
memory  far  more  than  the  reason.  His  pupils 
were  taught  to  read  with  some  degree  of 
fluency,  to  write  with  ease  and  in  a  legible 
hand,  to  spell  as  fairly  as  could  be  expected 
when  all  authorities  did  not  agree  on  ortho- 
graphy, to  cipher  until  the  pupil  could  cal- 
culate by  the  rule  of  three  and  to  learn  long 
rules  with  multitudinous  exceptions  upon  the 
use  of  language.  This  was  all.  The  pupil 
had  to  sit  upon  the  hardest  of  benches  for 
eight  hours  a  day  struggling  over  Cheever's 
Accidence,  or  DaboU's  Arithmetic,  wrestling 
with  the  polysyllables  of  Dillworth's  speller, 
committing  to   memory  long  pages  of  Web- 


200  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

ster's  American  Institute  and  long  sections  of 
the  Catechism  interspersed  with  Dr.  Watts* 
*'  Hymns  for  Infant  Minds."  The  school 
books  were  printed  upon  a  kind  of  straw 
paper  in  letters  which  were  not  pleasing  to  the 
eye,  and  were  illustrated  with  the  rudest  of 
wood  cuts  which  had  done  duty  for  genera- 
tions of  school  books  and  would  for  genera- 
vtions  more  until  Noah  Webster  introduced 
the  first  of  the  glorious  list  of  modern  school 
books  with  his  famous  spelling  book. 

The  schoolmaster  was  not  specially  trained 
for  his  labors,  nor  was  his  a  life  profession.  He 
was  usually  some  student  for  the  ministry,  law 
or  medicine,  who  eked  out  his  scanty  funds 
with  a  few  months  each  year  in  pedagogy.  He 
would  give  two  months  to  this  every  winter, 
while  some  maiden  who  desired  to  provide 
somewhat  towards  a  matrimonial  outfit  would 
devote  two  months  of  one  summer,  or  two,  to 
teaching.  The  boys  went  in  the  winter  with 
a  few  girls  living  near  by,  and  the  girls  went  in 
the  summer  and  with  them  the  little  boys. 
Such  were  the  conditions  which  obtained  all 
over  the  land,  and  yet  in  these  unpromising 
surroundings  the  minds  of  the  men  and  women 
were  trained  who  developed  and  moulded  this 
country  of  ours  during  the  wonderful  Nine- 
teenth Century. 

The    teacher    boarded    around     among    his 


EDUCATIONAL    CONDITIONS.  201 

patrons.  He  needed  a  strong  constitution  as 
he  would  sleep  one  night  in  the  best  room,  the 
next  one  in  the  garret ;  one  night  in  a  room  in 
which  there  was  fire,  the  next  in  one  in  which 
no  fire  had  been  lighted  in  six  months;  one 
night  he  would  have  heavy  bed  blankets,  on 
another  he  would  sleep  between  a  thin  feather 
bed  and  a  thick  one,  while  on  a  third  would 
have  linen  sheets  on  his  bed  and  over  all  the 
skin  of  some  wild  animal. 

He  was  expected  to  make  himself  agreeable 
during  the  long  winter  evenings,  to  help  back- 
ward pupils  with  their  sums,  to  escort  the 
young  ladies  of  the  family  to  singing-schools, 
apple-cuts,  spinning  bees,  or  quiltings,  and  as 
he  went  on  Sunday  morning  with  the  family 
with  whom  he  chanced  to  be  sojourning  to  the 
chilly  church  it  was  his  province  to  carry  the 
footstove  with  glowing  hickory  coals  to  keep 
warm  the  feet  of  the  lady  of  the  house  who 
was  entertaining  him.  And  on  winter  nights 
when  the  wind  was  heaping  the  snow  outside 
of  the  house  where  he  was  staying  he  would 
be  found  employed  in  turning  the  swift  or  reel 
for  the  spinning  maidens,  or  holding  the  yarn 
as  the  daughters  of  the  family  wound  it. 

His  authority  in  the  school  was  absolute. 
His  scepter  was  the  rod  or  ferule,  his  word  in 
the  home  was  final  in  matters  to  be  learned 
from  books,  his  rivalry  was  dreaded  by  coun- 


202  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

try  swains  and  were  he  a  gentleman  by 
instinct  and  in  manner  his  attentions  would  be 
most  readily  accepted  by  the  fairer  sex  in  the 
neighborhood. 

His  salary  was  but  a  pittance,  his  duties 
laborious,  but  his  position  carried  with  it  a 
standing  among  his  fellows  unknown  in  this 
day  of  trained  teachers,  well  equipped  schools, 
varied  curricula,  and  text  books,  which,  in 
clear  and  intelligent  language  convey  the  idea 
and  the  thought  in  the  things  they  teach. 

He  exacted  reverence  and  respect  and  such 
were  paid  him.  But  with  it  was  inculcated  a 
respect  for  law  and  the  rights  of  others  that 
was  most  valuable  to  a  people  just  made  free 
and  independent  that  their  liberty  should  not 
degenerate  into  license  and  selfishness.  He 
taught  the  rising  generation  well  in  things  it 
needed  to  learn  during  the  infancy  of  the 
Republic  and  many  of  those  lessons  might 
with  great  advantage  be  taught  to  the  genera- 
tion of  the  opening  of  the  Twentieth  Century. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

THE   COUNTRY   DOCTOR. 

As  we  pass  in  review  the  conditions  of  the 
town  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  or  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years  ago,  no  one  will  in- 
terest us  more  than  the  country  doctor.  Others 
may  have  known  much  of  the  town  ;  he  knew 
the  town.  Others  may  have  been  faithful  in 
their  day  and  generation  ;  he  was  the  faithful 
one.  When  highways  went  around  hills,  and 
were  swamps  when  rains  were  falling;  and 
were  an  object  lesson  in  ruts,  stumps  and  stones 
in  times  of  drought,  he  was  the  one  person  who 
knew  those  terrible  roads  by  day,  and  pursued 
their  tedious  miles  at  every  hour  of  the  night. 
He  knew  the  town  and  the  people  of  it  for  had 
he  not  ushered  them  into  it  and  did  he  not 
close  their  eyes  as  they  made  their  exit  ?  Had 
he  not  physicked  them,  plastered  them  and 
bled  them?  Was  not  his  name  a  witness  to 
every  will  when  the  drugs  he  had  pounded  in 
his  own  mortar  had  not  proved  as  effective  as 
he  had  hoped  in  warding  off  some  disease 
which  had  baffled  his  wisdom  to  diagnose  and 
his  skill  to  cure  ?     And  best  of  all,  were  there 


204  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

not  at  every  cross-road  and  along  every  coun- 
try lane,  in  houses  without  number,  many  of 
those  who  had  been  restored  to  health  by  his 
cheering  word,  his  winning  smile,  his  infectious 
laughter  and  his  simple  remedies  when  calomel 
and  purging  had  failed,  when  copious  bleeding 
had  been  ineffective  and  when  rhubarb  and 
molasses  had  been  prescribed  in  daily  doses  all 
in  vain  ? 

What  though  the  old  white  horse  which  he 
bestrid  carried  the  only  drug  store  in  a  score  of 
miles?  What  though  universal  medicines  had 
not  been  invented,  nor  favorite  remedies  com- 
pounded ?  What  though  almanacs  with  testi- 
monials from  those  who  had  risen  from  the 
grave  because  a  bottle  of  some  useful  panacea 
had  been  placed  in  the  coffin  were  not  yet 
printed?  In  spite  of  the  primitive  conditions 
prevailing  sick  and  suffering  humanity  all  over 
the  town  blessed  the  day  in  which  that  old 
white  horse  stood  tied  at  the  door  while  the 
old  doctor  with  beaming  face  was  within  with 
warm  greeting  and  warmer  clasp  of  hand  and 
warmest  word  direct  from  a  heart  that  was 
pumping  its  own  red  blood  until  the  afflicted 
one  felt  his  very  presence  a  reviving  hope. 
That  restless  sufferer  might  be  tossed  with 
fever;  he  might  be  denied  water  especially  if 
it  were  cool ;  to  him  ice  might  be  forbidden 
when   his  veins  were   afire  and   instead  small 


THE  COUNTRY  DOCTOR.  205 

quantities  of  clam  juice  be  administered  ;  he 
might  be  cupped  and  leeched  and  bled ;  he 
might  find  his  gums  shriveled  from  his  teeth 
by  the  mercurial  compounds  he  swallowed,  yet 
the  faithful  physician  in  his  constant  attend- 
ance and  unremitting  care  oft-times  had  brought 
him  through  it  all  in  safety. 

These  were  days  when  there  was  no  royal 
road  into  the  medical  profession.  There  were 
but  two  medical  schools  in  the  country  and 
these  but  poorly  equipped.  Many  a  medical 
student  was  admitted  to  practice  who  had 
never  dissected  a  human  body.  So  difficult 
was  it  to  obtain  anatomical  subjects  that  it  is 
said  that  the  Harvard  medical  school  had  made 
a  single  body  do  duty  for  a  whole  year's  course 
of  lectures.  And  the  writer  remembers  the 
gruesome  tales  of  the  efforts  made  in  their 
student  days  by  the  practitioners  of  fifty  years 
ago  to  obtain  cadavers  for  the  purpose.  How 
many  a  grave  was  violated  in  those  days  the 
world  will  never  know  ;  how  rarely  did  the 
body  of  a  dying  criminal  escape  the  knife  med- 
ical students  would  never  reveal. 

But  meager  as  was  the  education  obtained  in 
those  days  in  medical  schools  most  of  those 
who  entered  the  profession  were  denied  even 
this.  Almost  all  who  sought  to  enter  upon 
the  practice  of  medicine  could  do  no  more 
than  study  with  an  old  practitioner.     Such  a 


206  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

student  went  into  the  office,  the  pestle  rarely 
left  his  hands  as  he  had  to  grind  the  powders 
in  the  mortar  day  by  day.  It  was  his  to  hold 
the  basin  while  the  patient's  blood  was  filling 
it ;  to  mix  and  roll  the  pills  the  doctor  had 
compounded  ;  scrape  the  lint,  tear  the  band- 
ages and  sew  wounds  while  his  master  directed. 

What  if  but  few  of  the  drugs  of  to-day  were 
known  ?  He  learned  to  know  the  medical 
qualities  of  all  the  plants  and  herbs  of  the 
neighborhood.  What  if  the  books  he  studied 
abounded  in  errors  and  false  speculations? 
Granted  that  he  had  a  keen  eye  and  logical 
mind,  a  memory  that  was  tenacious  and  an 
apprehension  that  was  quick  he  soon  reached 
the  limit  of  the  book  knowledge  of  his  master 
and  began  to  draw  on  the  stores  of  his  experi- 
ence, and  before  long  was  equipped  with 
what  was  needed  to  carry  a  benediction  to 
those  who  were  suffering. 

He  could  know  that  in  the  community  none 
was  more  welcome  than  he.  None  more  re- 
spected. None  occupied  a  higher  station. 
None  more  readily  rose  to  prominence  and 
wealth.  And  yet  none  other  felt  the  impo- 
tence of  man  as  he.  Fevers  raged  and  deci- 
mated whole  communities,  for  it  had  not  yet 
been  learned  what  sanitation  will  do  to  banish 
them.  Quinine  had  not  yet  been  discovered, 
though  cinchona  bark  was  pounded  in  small 


THE  COUNTRY  DOCTOR.  207 

quantities.  Small-pox  carried  off  its  victims 
by  the  hundred  and  disfigured  many  more,  for 
vaccination  was  not  made  known  until  1798, 
and  innoculation  was  still  declared  to  be  against 
the  law  of  God.  Surgical  operations  were  still 
performed  regardless  of  the  pain  and  mis- 
ery occasioned  the  victims,  for  anaesthetics 
were  unknown  until  1846,  and  the  wonderful 
triumphs  of  the  surgery  of  the  present  day 
would  have  been  regarded  as  but  little  short  of 
the  miraculous  ;  while  the  long  and  increasing 
list  of  remedies  found  in  this  year  of  grace  in 
the  materia  medica  would  have  been  entirely 
unintelligible  to  him,  and  a  glimpse  at  the  spe- 
cial and  mechanical  instruments  and  devices  of 
modern  surgery  would  have  been  the  great- 
est of  revelations. 

Few  volumes  were  found  in  the  doctor's  li- 
brary, and  aside  from  saws,  lancets  and  turn- 
keys, few  surgical  instruments  used  in  his  prac- 
tice. No  medical  societies  called  for  the  read- 
ing of  his  experience  and  discoveries,  and  no 
medical  journals  were  published  to  tell  of  his 
successful  cures  or  operations.  His  renown 
was  local,  and  he  survived  for  a  generation  or 
two  in  the  memory  and  love  of  those  whom  he 
had  cured,  or  at  least  helped,  and  when  he  died 
he  went  to  his  long  rest  worthy  of  such  a 
tribute  as  Ian  MacLaren  paid  Dr.  William 
MacClure  in  the  *'  Bonnie  Briar  Bush." 


208  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER TIES. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  earliest  physicians 
of  this  town.  The  old  stone  house  now  stand- 
ing on  the  north  side  of  Main  street  in  this 
village  was  the  home  upon  the  farm  of  Hiskia 
DuBois.  This  farm  was  upon  both  sides  of 
the  present  Main  street.  In  1773  it  was  sold 
by  David  DuBois  to  Dr.  Christopher  Kiersted, 
whose  mother  was  Leah  DuBois  of  New  Paltz. 
Dr.  Kiersted  was  born  in  the  city  of  New 
York  in  August  1736.  There  he  was  edu- 
cated, and,  as  stated,  came  to  Saugerties  in 
1773.  This  house  he  made  his  residence  and 
office.  He  was  then  the  only  physician  in 
town.  He  died  March  23,  1791,  but  before 
his  death  two  young  men  from  Katsbaan  had 
studied  medicine  with  him.  They  were  Dr. 
Coonradt  Newkirk,  who  was  born  in  1766,  and 
Dr.  Abram  Fiero,  born  in  1770.  When  they 
began  to  practice  they  both  located  in  Kats- 
baan, Dr.  Fiero  upon  the  place  now  owned  by 
William  Clement  and  Dr.  Newkirk  upon  that 
now  in  possession  of  William  Fiero.  These 
were  the  town  physicians  for  many  years,  Dr. 
Fiero  dying  in  1828  and  Dr.  Newkirk  as  late 
as  1850. 

On  Tuesday,  July  i,  1806,  thirteen  phy- 
sicians of  Ulster  county  met  in  Kingston  and 
organized  the  Ulster  County  Medical  Society. 
Two  of -these  were  Drs.  Newkirk  and  Fiero 
and    thus   became   charter    members.       Their 


tfi 

3 

% 

n 

pj 

o 

c 

5tt 


THE   COUNTRY  DOCTOR.  209 

first  act  was  to  consider  and  ascertain  the 
cause  of  an  epidemic  of  fever  in  Kingston  at 
the  request  of  the  authorities  of  that  village 
and  it  was  found  in  a  mill  pond  of  stagnant 
water,  and  the  first  paper  discussed  was 
"  Fever." 

In  the  early  days  of  the  last  century  Dr. 
Christopher  C.  Kiersted,  son  of  the  old  doctor, 
began  to  practice  in  this  village.  The  writer 
does  not  know  the  year  he  was  admitted,  but 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Ulster  County 
Medical  Society  in  1819.  With  the  develop- 
ment of  the  great  manufacturing  interests  and 
the  consequent  growth  many  other  physicians 
settled  here  of  whom  it  is  not  within  our 
province  to  tell.  This  book  deals  only  with 
the  origins  of  things  in  the  town. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE   OLD   FARM   HOUSES. 

The  chapters  just  concluded  have  made  the 
attempt  to  transport  us  back  to  1783  and  to 
the  conditions  under  which  the  people  of  this 
town,  having  just  emerged  from  a  seven  years 
war,  were  living.  It  is  here  proposed  to  look 
at  their  dwellings  and  farm  buildings. 

Of  the  old  stone  farm  houses  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  years  ago  and  over,  very 
many  remain  in  different  parts  of  the  town. 
Year  by  year  some  are  torn  down,  but  every 
community  has  several.  Some  are  unoccupied, 
some  used  for  other  purposes,  but  most  have 
been  greatly  transformed  and  fitted  to  modern 
conditions  of  heating  and  furnishing.  Yet 
some  can  be  found  with  the  old-time  charac- 
teristics. 

This  dwelling  was  usually  of  stone  and  most 
frequently  limestone,  then  as  now,  abundant. 
Those  earliest  built  were  low  and  rambling. 
The  front  roof  descended  from  the  ridge-pole 
very  steeply  to  the  eaves,  while  the  back  roof 
came  to  within  eight  feet  of  the  ground.  There 
was  usually  no  break  in  the  roof,  but  dormer 


THE   OLD  FARM  HOUSES.  211 

windows    were    frequent    in    that    front.     The 
house  was  of  one  story  and  above  this  was  a 
garret  covering  the  whole  lower  floor.     This 
garret   rested    upon    heavy   beams   for    it    was 
chiefly  used  for  the  storage  of  grain  and  usually 
contained  the  indispensable  loom.     The  house 
was  entered  in  front  across  a  "  stoep"  on  either 
side  of  which  were  long  seats  which  in  summer 
fulfilled  the  purpose  of  a  family  sitting  room 
and  place  for  neighborly  chat  and  gossip  over 
a   friendly  pipe.     In   the   rear   of   the    house, 
especially   if  that  rear  was  towards  the   east, 
was  built  as  a  lean-to  a  large  room  for  summer 
purposes.     This  was  of   frame  and    along   its 
outside   was  a   long  horizontal   shutter  which 
could  be  let  down  and  supported  in  the  man- 
ner of  a  bracket,  and  which  thus  became  a  shelf 
on  which  to  expose  to  the  actinic  rays  of  the 
morning  sun  the  newly  washed  milk  pans.     In 
.   this  summer  room  was  found  during  that  sea- 
son the  family  table  which  was  a  round  one, 
and  when  not  in  use  the  top  was  turned  up  on 
a  roller  hinge  revealing  a  lid  under  which  were 
kept  the  knives,   forks  and  pewter  spoons  in 
daily  use.     Around  the  room   were  chairs  of 
maple  with  flag  or  splint  bottoms. 

The  table  furniture  was  largely  of  pewter 
aside  from  steel  knives  and  forks.  Pewter 
spoons,  cups,  tea-pots,  dishes,  bowls,  molasses- 
pots  and  measures  abounded.     Large  pewter 


212  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

platters  were  on  every  table.  Even  pie  dishes 
were  made  of  the  metal.  Silver  ware,  espe- 
cially spoons,  every  family  had,  but  not  in 
every  day  use. 

From  the  front  door  a  wide  hall  extended 
across  the  house  to  a  rear  door  and  in  this  hall 
summer  evenings  ever  were  the  sweetest.  On 
one  side  of  this  hall  was  the  large  family  sitting 
room  with  its  immense  fireplace  and  its  well- 
scrubbed  floor,  the  home  of  the  spinning  wheel 
and  its  accompanying  reel  and  swift.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  hall  was  the  parlor,  or 
best  room  containing,  oft-times,  high-backed 
chairs  of  mahogany  with  claw  feet. 

Entering  the  house  from  either  front  or  rear 
one  came  through  a  door  divided  into  an  upper 
and  a  lower  half,  the  lower  of  which  was 
usually  shut.  Upon  it  hung  a  heavy  brass 
knocker  for  announcing  a  caller.  The  house 
was  guarded  by  shutters  which  were  kept  open 
by  a  large  iron  letter  S.  Many  shutters  had  a 
crescent-shaped  slot  towards  the  top  to  give 
enough  light  for  one  to  pass  in  the  room  with- 
out running  against  furniture  when  they  were 
closed. 

The  floors  of  the  house  were  laid  with  wide 
white  or  yellow  pine  planks  and  these  were 
often  hewed  and  the  under  side  of  those  on 
the  lower  floor  was  a  slab.  A  chair  rail  ran 
around  the  plastered  wall  of  the  living  room. 


! 

\ 


THE   OLD  FARM  HOUSES,  213 

and  the  big  fireside  with  its  immense  brass  and- 
irons was  the  family  centre  all  the  winter 
months. 

The  cellars  were  large,  cool  and  airy.  They 
were  flagged  with  stone  and  for  more  than  half 
the  year  they  held  the  family  provisions.  Here 
were  firkins  of  butter,  barrels  of  pork,  corned 
beef  and  salted  shad  and  herring,  with  a  large 
tub  containing  soused  pig's  feet,  headcheese 
and  roletjes.  Along  another  side  was  a  hogs- 
head of  vinegar  and  just  beyond  were  barrels 
of  cider  and  probably,  one  of  wine.  Here  too 
were  stored  the  apples,  potatoes,  cabbage  and 
vegetables  for  the  winter. 

In  the  bedrooms  were  high-post  bedsteads 
and  around  the  walls  were  large  blue  chests  of 
pine,  oak,  or  it  may  be  cedar  containing  rolls 
of  the  family  linen,  or  manufactured  articles 
from  the  same,  with  blankets  of  wool,  quilts 
and  coverlets.  And  when  a  bride  was  to  be 
fitted  out  her  trousseau  could  be  furnished 
from  these  blue  chests. 

On  the  high  bedstead  was  a  downy  feather 
bed  over  a  straw  mattress,  or  tick,  resting  upon 
tight  cords  crossed  in  the  frame  of  the  bed- 
stead. The  bed  was  draped  with  white  dimity 
curtains,  or  perhaps  a  kind  of  chintz,  with  vines 
and  birds  and  flowers.  The  bedstead  was  high 
enough  to  receive  under  it  during  the  day  the 
trundle   bed    in    which    the    children    slept    at 


214  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

night   and  a  valance  hid  it   from  sight  when 
thus  disposed  of. 

In  the  living  room,  or  in  the  wide  hall  ticked 
the  six-foot  clock  with  a  face  recording  the 
changes  of  the  moon  as  well  as  the  hours, 
minutes  and  seconds  of  the  day.  Near  it  stood 
a  writing  desk,  or  secretary,  with  drawers  to 
the  floor.  This  was  either  cherry,  or  mahogany 
ornamented  with  brass  mountings  and  contain- 
ing pigeon-holes  and  other  receptacles  for  the 
stationery,  papers  and  documents  of  the  family. 
The  upper  part  was  frequently  the  bookcase 
for  the  family  library.  Also  either  in  the  hall 
or  in  the  living  room  was  the  closet  with  glass 
doors  behind  which  was  the  china  of  the  family 
awaiting  a  wedding  or  a  New  Year's  dinner  to 
displace  the  pewter  of  daily  use. 

Behind  the  house  was  the  great  kitchen. 
Here  was  the  domain  of  the  negro  women  of 
the  household  if  such  there  were.  Here  stood 
the  dresser  on  which  was  displayed  the  pewter 
of  the  family  shining  as  brightly  as  frequent 
polishing  could  make  it.  Beside  the  mammoth 
fireplace  was  the  brick  oven  with  its  long  spadle 
for  placing  or  taking  out  the  platters  of  bread 
or  biscuit,  or  the  pewter  pie  dishes.  Within 
the  chimney  jams  hung  the  crane  ready  for 
instant  use,  and  beside  it  stood  a  tin  Dutch 
oven  ready  for  service  in  front  of  the  glowing 
fire,  while  against  the  jam  was  the  spit  for  the 


"  '^:$  -^ '"'  \\ '  4  1 


•\'. 


THE  OLD  FARM  HOUSES.  215 

roast.  Long  iron  toasting  forks,  long-handled 
frying  pans  and  grijddles,  revolving  gridirons 
and  ladles  were  in  their  accustomed  places  and 
beside  the  dresser  stood  a  wooden  mortar  with 
a  long  cylindrical  stone  for  a  pestle  to  grind 
the  spices  for  the  family. 

Most  of  the  remaining  houses  have  been  alt- 
ered so  often  that  their  early  features  have  gone. 
The  lean-to  described  has  disappeared  from 
almost  every  one  in  town.  The  house  of 
Luther  Myer,  in  Hommelville,  still  has  one  in 
all  its  pristine  glory.  Many  still  have  their 
heavy  beams  and  low  ceilings.  But  even  here 
the  ruthless  hand  of  the  renovator  has  often 
robbed  it  of  beauty  by  cutting  part  away,  or 
covering  them  with  ceiling  boards  or  plaster. 
Most  of  the  divided  doors  have  gone,  the  high 
post  bedstead  has  disappeared  with  pewter 
dishes  and  spinning  wheels,  and  the  large  open 
fireplaces  vanished  with  the  groups  that  made 
merry  around  the  pine-knot  fires. 

Shortly  after  the  new  century  began  with 
1801,  a  new  style  of  stone  houses  began  to  be 
erected.  When  a  more  modern  limestone 
dwelling  was  built  at  that  time  upon  the  farm 
so  long  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Ephraim 
I.  Myer,  of  Katsbaan,  it  was  the  talk  of  the 
town.  The  ceilings  were  made  high  and  plas- 
tered, and  a  circle  of  plaster  ornamented  the 
ceiling  above  the  centre  of  the  room.     Then 


2 1 6  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

the  stone  parsonage  at  Katsbaan  was  built  a 
two-story  house  and  set  another  fashion. 

The  village  of  Saugerties  has  types  of  both 
these  styles  of  Dutch  stone  dwelling  architec- 
ture. The  Mynderse  house,  the  Peter  P. 
Schoonmaker,  and  the  Kiersted  representing 
the  older,  while  that  of  Sherwood  D.  Myer 
represents  the  newer. 

The  barns  were  immense  affairs.  As  abund- 
ant room  was  necessary  to  swing  the  flail  barn 
floors  were  built  of  great  size.  Of  necessity 
crops  were  stored  overhead  and  oak  beams  of 
strength  and  size  must  be  used  to  support  them. 
In  these  latter  days  these  barns  have  been 
torn  down.  Threshing  by  machinery  requires 
little  barn  room,  bays  hold  the  crops  which  in 
storage  are  thus  but  little  removed  from  the 
ground,  and  labor-saving  machinery  gathers 
and  stores  them.  Nevertheless  the  changed 
conditions  are  not  greater  than  can  be  wit- 
nessed to-day.  Could  a  modern  farmer  of  this 
town  be  transported  to  a  Dakota  prairie  and 
see  machines  doing  every  species  of  farm 
labor  he  would  not  be  more  interested  than 
an  Eighteenth  Century  farmer  of  Saugerties 
returning  to  see  the  present-day  methods  on 
his  own  acres. 

Readers  of  this  chapter  will  find  much  in  it 
which  seems  of  a  later  day  than  the  close  of 
Revolution.      But    the    change   from  the  con- 


THE  OLD  FARM  HOUSES.  217 

ditions  of  that  day  was  slow  and  gradual. 
Those  whose  memory  recalls  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  saw  much  of  what  existed  one 
hundred  years  ago.  But  since  the  civil  war  of 
1861-65  almost  all  the  life  of  the  former  days 
has  been  swept  away.  And  the  coming  gen- 
eration will  find  it  difificult  to  understand  the 
manners  and  customs  that  continued  in  this 
town  until  shaken  to  their  destruction  by  the 
earthquake  of  the  terrible  civil  war. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

FARM   LIFE   IN   OLDEN    TIME. 

When  we  were  glancing  at  the  settlement  of 
this  town  in  one  of  the  earlier  chapters,  we 
noticed  how  little  land  was  under  cultivation 
before  the  year  1700.  Attention  was  called  to 
the  great  "  bouwerie "  of  maize  the  Indians 
were  cultivating  just  north  of  the  village  of 
Saugerties  in  1663,  and  had  been  during  un- 
known years,  and  the  beginning  of  farm  life  as 
the  first  permanent  settler,  Cornelius  Lambert- 
sen  Brink,  took  possession  of  his  grant  in  1688 
on  the  Plattekill  and  Esopus  at  the  south  end 
of  the  town,  with  Peter  Winne  adjoining  him 
in  1692.  No  one  besides  these  resided  in  the 
town  when  the  year  1701  ushered  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century. 

For  twelve  years  there  was  no  further  con- 
veyance of  land  in  the  town  of  Saugerties. 
The  four  Meals  and  Hayes  grants  of  1685-8/ 
had  been  passing  through  different  hands  with- 
out anything  being  done  towards  settlement 
upon  them.  On  the  i6th  of  August,  1712,  the 
large  patent  covering  so  much  of  the  village  of 
Saugerties  was  deeded   to  John  Persen,  who 


FARM  LIFE  IN  OLDEN  TIME.        21^ 

settled  upon  it.  One  month  later  (September 
13,  1712)  the  British  government  abandoned 
the  tar-making  project  at  West  Camp,  and  al- 
lowed the  Palantine  colonists  to  seek  homes 
for  themselves,  which  most  of  them  who  were 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  did  within  our 
town.  The  twenty-five  years  following  (171 5- 
40)  witnessed  the  clearing  of  the  forests  and 
the  breaking  of  the  soil  to  the  plow,  especially 
at  Katsbaan  and  about  the  present  village  t)f 
Saugerties.  And  almost  every  one  of  the 
early  deeds  in  this  town  on  record  covering  the 
more  desirable  farming  land  is  dated  during 
these  twenty-five  years.  So  that  at  the  time 
under  consideration,  or  the  year  1783,  the 
farms  of  the  town  had  not  been  tilled  for  much 
more  than  fifty  years.  We  propose  to  look  in 
this  chapter  at  this  comparatively  virgin  soil 
and  its  harvests. 

We  find  the  farmers  raising  the  standard 
crops  year  by  year.  On  every  farm  the  great 
crop  was  hay  for  the  subsistence  of  the  domes- 
tic animals  of  the  farm.  There  was  no  local 
market  for  it,  as  every  one  but  Domine  De 
Ronde,  who  lived  where  is  now  the  residence 
of  Mrs.  Dawes  in  the  village  of  Saugerties,  was 
engaged  in  farming.  Captain  Benjamin  Snyder 
carried  some  to  New  York,  as  he  had  resumed 
his  trips  with  his  sloop  from  the  creek  since  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  was  signed.     But  baling  hay 


220  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

was  not  yet  thought  of,  and  the  sloop  could 
not  carry  much  loose. 

Old  meadows,  as  now,  were  turned  over 
by  the  plow,  and  potatoes  or  corn  planted  on 
the  upturned  sod.  Potatoes  was  the  profitable 
crop  in  the  virgin  soil.  And  on  almost  every 
farm  were  potash  kettles  producing  pot  and 
pearl  ash  from  the  exhaustless  forests,  and  the 
residuum  kept  the  fertile  soil  yielding  such 
crops  of  potatoes  as  the  town  has  never  pro- 
duced since.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
cereals,  corn,  rye  and  wheat,  and  during  the 
short  days  of  winter  the  country  resounded 
with  the  ring  of  the  flails  as  the  golden  sheaves 
of  wheat  and  rye  were  parting  with  their  treas- 
ures. 

On  every  farm  was  a  tobacco  patch.  Every- 
body smoked  or  chewed,  and  the  use  of  snuff 
was  almost  universal.  It  was  known  that  bet- 
ter tobacco  came  from  Virginia,  but  there  was 
no  money  for  Virginia  tobacco,  and  the  home 
product  must  suffice,  though  snuff  was  brought 
up  the  river  and  could  be  obtained  at  Persen's 
store  in  Katsbaan.  In  those  days,  as  now,  the 
great  tobacco  firm  was  that  of  the  Lorillards, 
and  jars  of  Lorillard's  snuff  stood  on  the  shelf 
of  every  merchant.  On  every  farm  were  flocks 
of  sheep.  The  winter  clothing  of  all  was 
woolen.  This  was  from  the  backs  of  the  sheep 
of   the    farm.      Sheep   shearing    every    spring 


FARM  LIFE  IN  OLDEN   TIME.        22\ 

provided  the  raw  material,  which  was  then 
taken  to  the  wool  carder  and  returned  in  rolls 
for  the  large  spinning  wheel  to  be  spun  for  the 
loom,  and  the  whir  of  these  made  music  in 
every  house  as  the  spinner,  holding  the  roll  in 
her  left  hand  and  whirling  the  wheel  with  her 
right,  stepped  back  five  or  six  feet  on  the  floor 
and  then  wound  the  spun  thread  upon  the 
spindle  as  she  returned.  Twenty  years  before 
this  Hargreaves  had  invented  the  spinning- 
jenny,  which  could  spin  a  dozen  threads  or 
more  at  once,  and  a  few  of  these  had  already 
come  in  use  in  the  town.  This  yarn  was  then 
dyed  and  woven  into  cloth  or  blankets  and 
the  cloth  again  taken  to  the  mill  to  be  fulled,, 
after  which  a  traveling  tailoress  cut  and  made 

the  family  clothing. 

Every  farmer  had  his  field  of  flax  as  well. 

This  was  carefully  tilled  and  when  ready  to 
gather  was  pulled  and  laid  in  rows  to  rot  the 
outer  stalk.  Then  it  went  to  the  "crackle," 
by  which  those  stalks  were  broken.  This  was 
a  frame  of  long  wooden  knives  upon  which 
was  a  lid  of  similar  knives  hinged  to  the  frame 
at  one  end.  The  upper  knives  were  raised 
and,  descending,  each  just  avoided  the  corre- 
sponding lower  knife  while  breaking  the  outer 
stalks  of  the  bunch  of  flax  placed  between  the 
knives.  The  bunch  of  flax  went  next  to  the 
"  switchel,"  or  **  swingle."     This  was  an  erect 


222  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

board,  not  quite  perpendicular,  about  three 
feet  high  and  the  upper  end  was  sharpened. 
The  bunch  of  flax  from  the  crackle  was  laid 
over  this  and  beaten  with  a  long  wooden  knife 
to  separate  the  fibrous  parts  from  the  stalky 
and  entirely  break  up  the  coarser  fibers.  It 
was  then  ready  for  the  "  hetchel."  This  was  a 
board  with  a  square  of  iron  teeth  in  alternat- 
ing rows.  Through  this  the  bunch  was  repeat- 
edly drawn  and  the  fine  fibers  of  flax  were 
combed  from  the  coarser  tow.  This  fine  pro- 
duct was  then  ready  for  the  distafl"  of  the 
small  flax  wheel,  so  well  known  everywhere, 
on  which  it  was  spun.  Its  future  course  to 
the  loom  and  the  bleaching-green  need  not  be 
told.  The  years  we  are  describing  found 
chests  and  presses  filled  with  countless  yards 
of  linen,  and  garments  of  the  same,  in  the 
dwellings  of  the  town.  Some  of  these  were 
especially  fine  in  texture  and  witnessed  to  the 
labor  and  skill  of  the  fair  hands  that  had  spun 
and  woven  them.  One  of  the  pleasantest 
recollections  of  the  boyhood  days  of  the  writer 
is  a  scene  in  which  a  half  a  dozen  or  more  men 
were  cradling  grain  together,  each  man  one 
step  behind  the  one  leading  him,  and  each 
clad  in  a  suit  of  homemade  white  linen.  The 
graceful  swing  of  the  cradle,  as  each  kept 
stroke  along  a  hillside  was  a  pastoral  picture 
which  will  never  be  seen  again.     The  tow,  the 


FARM  LIFE  IN  OLDEN  TIME.        223 

coarser  flax  from  the  hetchel,  was  spun   into 
rope  or  mops,  or  woven  into  doormats. 

The  orchards  were  laden  with  apples.  There 
were  not  as  many  varieties  as  to-day,  many  of 
those  we  use  having  been  developed  by  the 
systematic  and  scientific  culture  of  the  apple. 
But  a  few  of  the  excellent  old  varieties  as  the 
Straat  and  Esopus  Spitzenbergh  are  either 
lost,  or  deteriorated.  The  delicious  pears  of 
to-day  were  almost  unknown  as  they  were 
originated  during  the  Nineteenth  Century. 
This  is  true  of  most  of  the  orchard  fruits  as 
peaches,  plums,  nectarines  and  apricots. 

Many  of  the  vegetables  which  now  enrich 
our  tables  were  unknown.  There  were  no 
cauliflowers,  no  egg-plants,  no  tomatoes,  no 
nasturtiums.  The  seeds  of  the  tomato  were 
brought  in  after  years  from  France  to  be  cul- 
tivated as  an  ornamental  shrub  for  its  golden 
love-apples.  The  fruit  was  at  first  thought  to 
be  poisonous.  Turnips,  beets,  cabbage  and 
onions  were  grown,  but  not  spinach  and  aspar- 
agus though  the  latter  began  to  be  gathered 
where  it  was  found  to  be  growing  wild. 

On  the  hills  and  in  the  woods  huckleberries, 
strawberries,  raspberries  and  blackberries  grew 
in  abundance.  But  nothing  had  been  done  to 
produce  the  exquisitely  flavored  berries  found 
in  the  gardens  of»  today.  Nor  were  the 
beautiful   flower   gardens   of   to  day   possible. 


224  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES, 

The  beautiful  geraniums,  fuchsias,  and  chry- 
santhemums which  bloom  with  us  were 
unknown.  So  were  many  others  of  those 
which  every  woman  cares  for  now  and  loves. 
Tulips  were  there  and  roses.  But  the  exquisite 
productions  of  the  propagating  skill  of  the 
florist  which  we  enjoy  had  not  been  conceived 
of.  And  yet  the  gardens  of  those  days  with 
their  bachelor's  buttons,  sweet  peas,  sweet 
Williams,  holly  hocks,  marigolds,  pinks  and 
violets  will  be  ever  fragrant  in  the  memory  of 
those  who  gathered  them  in  childhood. 

No  one  gathered  ice  in  those  days.  Every 
thunder  storm  curdled  the  milk.  The  butter 
was  hung  after  every  meal  in  a  pail  in  the 
coolest  corner  of  the  well  and  bushes  were  left 
to  grow  to  shade  the  cellar  windows  to  pre- 
serve the  delicious  coolness  to  be  found  in 
every  farmer's  cellar. 

Oranges  were  sometimes  seen,  cocoanuts 
often  and  lemons  were  frequently  found  in 
groceries,  but  pine-apples  and  bananas  were 
unknown.  A  fruit  store,  such  as  every  coun- 
try  village  now  knows,  had  never  been  seen  in 
the  largest  cities,  and  a  representative  of 
sunny  Italy  could  hardly  be  found  in  America 
at  that  day.  It  was  known  that  Columbus 
was  an  Italian,  and  Amerigo  Vespucci,  but  it 
had  not  been  conceived  that  any  other  would 
ever  come,  and  modern  Italian  exhibitions  of 


FARM^LIFE  IN  OLDEN  TIME.        225 

fruit  could  not  have  been  displayed   at    their 
completest  county  fair. 

On  every  farm  porkers  were  fattening  for 
the  November  "  butchering."  And  in  the 
stall  a  beef  was  being  fed  for  this  event.  In 
May  the  farmers  flocked  to  the  Hudson  river 
for  shad  and  herring,  and  a  barrel  of  each  was 
salted  for  the  family  larder.  Game  was  still  to 
be  had  in  reasonable  plenty  and  streams  were 
stocked  with  fish.  Every  farmer  had  a  flock 
of  poultry,  including  ducks,  geese  and  turkeys 
while  the  last  in  their  wild  state  were  fre- 
quently found  by  the  sportsman.  Every  spring 
the  sky  was  darkened  by  the  interminable 
clouds  of  wild  pigeons  flying  north,  of  which 
hundreds  found  their  way  into  the  farmer's 
kitchen.  So  the  life  of  those  days  was  still 
one  of  comfort  and  plenty  though  many 
things  we  find  to  be  necessities  had  never 
been  conceived  of.  Above  all  there  was  a 
whole-soulness  in  the  life  they  lived  which  the 
strenuousness  of  modern  existence  has  almost 
destroyed  from  the  earth. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

THE   INDISPENSABLE   LOOM. 

Much  more  remains  to  be  told  of  the  life 
and  work  on  the  farm  in  the  early  days  of 
1783.  The  present  generation  will  be  inter- 
ested in  the  appearance  of  our  grandsires  and 
dames.  They  were  largely,  or  almost  entirely, 
clad  in  garments  homespun  and  made.  We 
attempted  to  tell  of  the  cultivation,  prepara- 
tion and  use  of  the  flax  and  linen.  More  should 
be  said  of  homemade  woolens. 

A  description  of  the  large  spinning  wheels 
for  wool,  and  for  tow  as  well,  was  given  in  the 
last  chapter.  We  propose  to  take  the  reader 
to  a  Saugerties  farm  in  the  spring.  There 
comes  a  balmy  day  in  that  season  and  the  flock 
of  sheep  is  driven  to  some  stream  where  a 
waterfall  is  tumbling.  The  flock  is  there  im- 
pounded. One  by  one  they  are  taken  to  the 
fall  and  the  water  pours  into  the  heavy  fleece 
which  has  coated  them  through  the  wintry 
days  now  gone.  Holding  the  sheep  in  his 
arms  the  farmer  rubs  the  drenched  fleece  until 
the  water  from  it  runs  clearly.  Then  another 
takes  its  place.     After  a  few  days  drying  it  is 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  LOOM.         227 

ready  for  the  shearer  who  quickly  robs  it  of  its 
winter  coat.    This  was  taken  to  the  fulling  mill 
where  it  was  carded  to  remove  burs  and  other 
foreign   substances,   and   to  transform   it  into 
rolls  for  spinning.     From  the  spindle  the  yarn 
was    run  off   upon  a  reel   which   had   a  clock 
ratchet  to  give  notice  when  a  hundred  yards  of 
yarn  had  been  wound.     This  was  called  a  skein, 
and  two  or  more  of  them  twisted  together  a 
''hank."     Sometimes  it  was  necessary  to  twist 
the  threads  of  yarn.     Two  skeins  were  then 
hung  around  a  "swift."     This  was  a  cage  of 
wooden  rods  which  hung  upon  an  upright  staff 
upon    which   it    revolved.     The   only    bearing 
was  at  the  top  of  the  staff  which  was  sharpened 
and  inserted  in  the  cross-pieces  supporting  the 
rods.     From  the  revolving  swift  the  yarn  un- 
wound  as  it  was  twisted  upon  the  spindle  of 
the  large  spinning  wheel.     As  the  bearing  of 
the  swift  had  never  been  known  to  be  oiled  the 
friction  soon  produced  a  wierd,  uncanny  sound 
which,  once  heard,  could  never  be  forgotten. 
Thirty  knots  of  warp  and  stocking  yarn,  and 
forty  of  woof,  or  filling  were  considered  a  day's 
work. 

After  reeling  the  yarn  was  scoured  and  went 
to  the  loom.  The  warp  was  "spooled"  and 
thence  run  off  on  the  warping  bars.  Then  each 
thread  by  itself  was  drawn  through  one  of  two 
*•  harnesses"  and  wound  on  the  warping  beam 


228  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

after  each  passed  through  a  reed.  The  filling 
was  run  on  a  quill,  which  was  usually  a  cone  of 
small  paper,  home-made.  A  quill  wheel  was 
used  to  fill  both  spools  and  quills.  The  quills 
were  then  inserted  in  a  shuttle  which  was 
thrown  by  hand  through  the  alternating  threads 
of  warp.  Then  by  treadles  worked  by  the  foot 
one  harness  was  pulled  down  as  the  other 
raised,  the  reed,  hung  in  a  heavy  frame,  was 
beaten  with  one  hand  and  the  shuttle  with  the 
woof  was  thrown  back  by  the  hand  which  had 
caught  it  to  ihe  hand  which  threw  it  while  the 
other  harness  was  brought  down  and  the  shuttle 
returned. 

From  the  loom  the  web  went  to  the  dye. 
The  colors  were  usually  snuff-brown  or  butter- 
nut and  either  often  mixed  with  white.  After 
dyeing  the  cloth  was  fulled,  teasled,  sheared 
and  pressed  and  was  then  ready  for  the  tailor- 
ess,  as  before  described.  But  no  process  could 
keep  this  homemade  cloth  from  catching  lint 
and  dust,  and  from  fulling  when  it  became  wet^ 
and  the  clothes  often  shrank  in  the  wearing. 
It  possessed  one  great  virtue,  it  would  wear, 
and  through  seasons  not  a  few.  To  prevent 
the  shrinking  the  wool  was  frequently  mixed 
with  cotton  and  a  cloth  called  satinet  was 
made  which  was  almost  universally  worn,  or 
the  wool  was  mixed  with  linen  and  called 
linsey-woolsey. 


CORNELIUS  PERSEN. 


THE   INDISPENSABLE  LOOM.         22^ 

Dresses  and  petticoats  were  also  made  from 
homemade  flannel,  and  whatever  the  aesthetic 
eye  might  say  about  them  they  had  the  merit 
of  warmth,  and  with  the  homemade  woolen 
stockings,  cuffs,  mittens  and  comfortables  the 
women,  boys  and  girls  of  the  families  were 
ready  for  the  blasts  of  winter. 

For  all  ordinary  wear,  and  even  for  service 
on  Sunday,  our  ancestors,  both  in  youth  and 
in   older   years  were   thus   clad   in   homespun 
woolen,  and  in  summer  in  linen  of  their  own 
production.     But  all  occasions  were  not  ordi- 
nary, especially  for  the  young  of  both  sexes, 
'  and  few  were  so  poor  as  to  be  unable  to  secure 
a  suit,  at  least,  of  what  was  worn  in  the  outer 
world.     This  had  been  hard  to  obtain.     It  was 
difficult  to  secure  the  money  to  buy  with  and 
more  difficult   to  buy.      During  all  the  years 
from  1776  to  1783  the  British  had  been  in  pos- 
session of  New  York  city  and  thus  merchants 
up  the  Hudson  had  been  shut  out   from   the 
city.      Cornelius  Persen,  who  kept   the    town 
store   at    Katsbaan,    had    been    compelled    to 
transport   his   merchandise  all  the  way   from 
Philadelphia  by  the  inland  route  of  the  Ron- 
dout  valley  to  Port  Jervis  and  the  Delaware 
valley  to  Philadelphia.     And  during  the  long 
months  of  the  British  occupation  of  that  city 
he  had  made  the  long  journey  with  teams  to 
Boston.      As  most  of   what    the  people  used 


230  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

was  raised  on  their  own  farms  a  merchant  did 
not  keep  the  assortment  of  to-day.  Still 
spices  were  needed,  and  tea.  Salt  was  a 
necessity.  Farmers  produced  their  own  flour, 
sugar,  molasses  and  tobacco.  But  they  pur- 
chased their  snuff,  exchanged  farm  products 
for  their  tea  and  spices,  and  in  their  barter 
provided  for  finer  garments  from  the  mer- 
chant's shelves.  What  had  he  to  offer?  His 
dry  goods  were  called  broadcloths,  tammies, 
half-thicks,  persians  and  pelongs,  blue  sagatha 
and  red  bunts,  ticklenburghs  and  black  ever- 
lastings, and  handkerchiefs  bearing  the  unin- 
telligible names  of  bandanoe,  lungee,  romals, 
culgee,  puttical  and  silk  setetersoy.  If  Per- 
sen's  shelves  could  not  supply  the  would-be 
purchaser  who  desired  any  of  the  above  dry 
goods  a  journey  of  twelve  to  fifteen  miles  over 
a  rough  road  would  provide  for  his  or  her 
selection  the  assortment  to  be  found  in 
Groote  'Sopus,  as  the  Dutch  always  called 
Kingston. 

The  wagon  of  that  day  had  no  springs,  and 
jolted  fearfully  over  the  roots  and  stumps  and 
through  the  ruts  of  country  roads.  One  day 
Cornelius  Persen  brought  home  a  vehicle 
which  was  the  wonder  of  the  country-side.  It 
had  only  two  wheels.  The  body  was  hung 
upon  two  heavy  straps  of  leather  stretched 
from  a  cross-bar  in   the  shafts  under  the  box 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  LOOM.         231 

and  around  big  iron  bows  behind  the  seat  and 
thence  down  to  the  axle.  There  was  not 
much  spring  to  the  leather  straps,  but  when 
the  wheels  struck  an  obstacle  there  was  a 
lateral  motion  which  prevented  a  jolt  at  the 
risk  of  being  thrown  from  the  gig.  This 
vehicle  could  be  used  only  to  ride  to  church 
and  on  other  occasions  of  state.  But  it  was 
the  predecessor  of  modern  conveyances,  and 
the  days  of  the  lumber  wagon  as  a  family  car- 
riage waned. 

Most  of  the  labor  was  done  by  oxen.  Oxen 
plowed  the  fields,  for  they  were  cheaper  and 
more  steady  and  patient  to  break  up  the 
newly-cleared  ground  so  full  of  stumps,  roots 
and  stones.  Oxen  drew  the  logs  and  fire- 
wood, oxen  were  yoked  to  most  of  the  wagons 
upon  the  highways.  The  crops  were  drawn 
from  the  fields  upon  ox-carts  and  hay  was 
loaded  so  far  over  the  beasts  that  they  were 
hidden  and  the  load  seemed  almost  to  move 
itself.  These  patient  beasts  of  burden  were 
emblematic  of  the  slow,  the  sure  and  the  safe 
life  of  those  days  when  the  foundations  of  the 
prosperity  of  this  mighty  land  were  being  laid. 
We  may  smile  at  their  slowness.  But  our 
fathers  built  sure,  and  they  built  well.  The 
foundations  thus  laid  have  never  needed 
repairs  and  all  the  stress  of  modern  life  would 
have  shaken  any  other  to  its  overthrow. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

SOCIAL   LIFE   IN   OLDEN   TIME. 

The  culmination  of  the  year  among  our  an- 
cestors one  hundred  years  ago  was  the  holiday 
season.  With  the  labors  of  the  field  completed 
and,  for  the  time,  the  flail  in  the  barn  sus- 
pended and  the  wheel  and  the  loom  in  the 
house  set  aside,  the  families  who  had  toiled  so 
hard  gave  themselves  over  to  a  season  of  en- 
joyment. In  those  days  this  season  began 
with  the  day  of  Santa  Claus,  or  St.  Nicholas, 
December  6th.  That  worthy  saint,  or  his  em- 
bodiment, went  about  distributing  presents  to 
good  children,  and  at  that  time  all  were  good,  by 
filling  their  stockings  hung  in  chimney  corners. 
All  had  made  great  preparation  for  his  recep- 
tion.    The  children  had  been  singing  all  day: 

"  Santa  Claus,  goedt  heilig  man, 
Loop  uw  wag  van  Amsterdam, 
Van  Amsterdam  na  Spanje, 

Van  Spanje  na  Oranje, 
En  breng  deze  kindjes  eenige  graps. 

Sint  Nicholas,  mijn  goeden  vriend, 

Ik  had  u  altijd  wel  gediend. 
Als  gij  mij  nu  wat  wilt  geven, 

Zal  ik  u  dienen  mijn  leven." 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  OLDEN  TIME.       233 

This  petition  might  be  roughly  rendered  into 
English  after  this  fashion  to  us  degenerate 
Dutch-Americans : 

Santa  Claus,  good  holy  man, 
Go  your  way  from  Amsterdam, 

From  Amsterdam  to  Spain, 
From  Spain  to  Orange, 

And  bring  these  little  children  toys. 

Saint  Nicholas,  my  dear  good  friend. 
To  serve  you  ever  was  my  end. 

If  you  me  now  something  will  give, 
Serve  you  I  will  as  long  as  I  live. 

But  a  generation  or  so  before  the  time  of 
which  we  are  writing  this  day  had  been  less 
and  less  frequently  observed  and  all  its  essen- 
tial features  transferred  to  Kerstijdt,  or  Christ- 
mas, which  followed  in  nineteen  days  thereafter. 
Services  were  held  in  the  church,  with  the 
communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  while  at 
home  great  preparations  were  in  progress  for 
the  family  dinner  of  the  year. 

Nieuw  Jaar,  or  New  Year's  Day,  was  always 
kept.  There  was  not  as  much  calling  to  bring 
the  greetings  of  the  New  Year  as  in  villages 
and  cities,  but  houses  were  ever  open  on  that 
day  and  the  fullest  hospitality  shown.  And 
every  New  Year's  day  services  were  held  in 
the  church  in  Katsbaan  and  the  sermon  re- 
viewed   the   year.     With  the   coming    of   the 


234  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Rev.  Dr.  Ostrander,  in  1812,  he  introduced  the 
feature  of  an  interpretation  of  the  immediate 
future  in  the  h'ght  of  the  recent  past,  which 
was  exceedingly  profitable,  as  he  used  the 
Scriptures  to  show  how  all  was  bearing  on  the 
extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth. 
Paas,  or  Easter,  was  duly  observed  and  Pinxs- 
ter,  or  Whitsuntide,  was  a  holiday.  This  was 
the  special  day  of  the  colored  people. 

Shortly  after  New  Year's  day  had  come  and 
gone  a  succession  of  visits  was  begun  and  con- 
tinued. Leaving  part  of  the  family  at  home 
to  care  for  the  stock  on  the  farm  and  keep  the 
house  the  team  Avas  hitched  to  the  sleigh  and 
driven  to  some  distant  relatives  for  a  stay  of  a 
day  or  two.  From  there  to  another,  and  some- 
times a  dozen  or  more  such  visits  would  be 
paid  to  relatives  and  friends  living  within  a 
radius  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles.  Upon  their 
coming  home  the  visiting  family  would  begin  to 
receive  return  visits  and  this  interchange  would 
be  kept  up  until  the  returning  sun  would  begin 
to  send  the  sap  of  spring  into  the  sugar  maples, 
and  the  season  for  providing  the  sugar  and  mo- 
lasses for  the  year's  supply  was  at  hand,  and  it 
was  time  to  tap  the  maples. 

It  was  a  busy  scene  around  the  sap-bushes. 
The  upturned  troughs  of  previous  years 
would  be  cleaned,  the  elder  or  sumac  spiles 
prepared  and  the  trees  tapped.     It  was  a  work 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  OLDEN  TIME.       235 

that  required  attention  to  gather  the  sap  into 
the  sugar  house  and  boil  it.  In  those  early- 
years  brass  and  iron  kettles  hung  over  the  fire 
and  slowly  evaporated  the  water,  but  in  time 
the  well-known  large,  shallow  pans  displaced 
the  former  and  rapidly  reduced  the  sap  to  the 
desired  sweets.  No  one  who  has  ever  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  enjoy  the  delicious  sugaring-off 
can  ever  forget  the  occasion  when  a  mass 
thrown  into  the  newly  fallen  snow  to  cool  de- 
lighted the  palate. 

But  no  sooner  was  the  close  of  the  winter 
celebrated  by  these  preparations  for  the  sac- 
charine neccessities  of  the  family  than  busy 
housewives  found  other  needs  equally  pressing. 
Into  an  immense  tub  set  upon  a  large  flat 
stone,  and  upon  a  layer  of  straw,  a  great 
quantity  of  ashes  was  put  for  leaching.  The 
lye  thus  obtained  was  boiled  into  soap  with 
the  accumulated  grease.  In  the  cellar  of  the 
house  usually  stood  a  trough  excavated  from 
the  trunk  of  a  huge  tree  and  divided  into  two 
compartments.  Into  one  of  these  compart- 
ments this  soap,  which  had  been  made  soft^ 
was  poured  and  kept  for  a  year  to  thoroughly 
cure  before  using.  The  succeeding  spring  the 
other  compartment  was  filled  and  from  the 
first  the  year-old  soap  was  used. 

Meanwhile  during  the  short  days  of  winter^ 
the  threshing  had  been  done  and  the  beaten 


236  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

grain  been  winnowed  by  being  thrown  by 
broad  winnowing  baskets  against  the  wind 
blowing  across  the  barn  floor,  as  fanning  mills 
were  yet  unknown.  It  was  a  long  and  laborious 
process.  And  during  all  this  time  the  axe  had 
been  plied  in  the  forests,  and  the  year's  supply 
of  wood  for  the  fires,  and  of  rails  for  the  Vir- 
ginia fences,  which  zigzagged  around  all  the 
fields,  had  been  chopped,  brought  home,  split 
and  piled.  The  farmer  had  erected  his  rope- 
walk,  and  the  tow  from  the  flax  the  women  had 
spun  had  been  made  into  rope.  His  flint-lock 
musket  had  been  cleaned  for  the  northward 
flight  of  the  wild  pigeons  that  would  darken 
the  sky  for  days,  and  pigeons  in  every  variety 
of  preparation  would  find  their  way  from  his 
kitchen  to  his  table. 

With  the  young  men  and  boys  he  had  set  his 
traps  in  the  forests  about,  and  many  a  skin  of 
mink,  otter  or  muskrat,  or  it  may  be  of  larger 
game,  had  been  obtained.  The  gun  had  se- 
cured for  him  the  pelts  of  a  number  of  foxes, 
and  these  were  prepared  for  the  annual  visit  of 
John  Jacob  Astor  to  Persen's  store  in  Kats- 
baan.  Here  they  brought  welcome  dollars  to 
the  hunter  and  the  trapper,  for  Astor  came 
with  the  earliest  sloop  up  the  Hudson  in  the 
spring,  and  trappers  and  hunters  from  the  Cats- 
kills  and  beyond  the  mountains  resorted  to  this 
store  to  meet  him.     At  times  the  old   store- 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  OLDEN  TIME.       227 

house  was  filled  with  them,  and  Astor  carried 
the  overflow  into  the  kitchen  against  the  indig- 
nant protests  of  the  mistress  of  the  house. 

The  social  life  of  the  young  people  had  been 
maintained  through  the  winter.  Many  had 
been  the  spinning-bees,  and  these  had  been 
followed  by  a  frolic.  Quilting  bees  had  been 
numerous,  and  to  these  the  young  men  came  in 
the  evening.  Regularly  during  the  winter  a 
singing  school  was  held  every  week.  Here 
some  vocal  instructor  gathered  the  young  in 
school  house  or  church,  and  catching  the  pitch 
of  the  key  from  his  pitch-pipe  instructed  and 
led  them  in  sacred  song.  Often  some  one  who 
was  an  expert  with  the  flute  or  violin  would 
give  instruction  thereon  as  well,  and  train  a 
choir  of  voices  not  only,  but  develop  an  or- 
chestra in  the  use  of  violin,  violoncello  and 
flute.  About  the  year  1830  a  teacher  by  the 
name  of  Dunton  was  such  an  one,  who  visited 
Katsbaan  and  trained  a  choir  remarkable  for 
their  cultivated  voices  and  skill  with  the  above 
instruments. 

Debating  societies  were  features  of  the  win- 
ter. The  questions  were  argued  with  every 
recurring  year.  The  disputants  were  ranged 
upon  the  afifirmative  and  negative  sides,  and 
the  decision  as  to  which  brought  forward  the 
better  arguments  and  reasoned  most  cogently 
was  left  to  three  judges.     Our  Dutch  ancestors 


238  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

in  this  locality  became  noted  reasoners,  and 
held  their  opinions  with  tenacity,  but  there 
were  those  who  prided  themselves  upon  their 
logic.  It  was  related  of  some  that  when  they 
found  their  opponents  abandoning  the  field, 
they  would  go  over  to  those  adversaries'  side 
and  argue  their  view  of  the  case  to  a  trium- 
phant conclusion.  In  these  forums  the  ques- 
tion of  liberty  had  been  argued  time  and 
again  preceding,  during  and  after  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  and  preceding  the  civil  war  of  1861-5 
these  debating  societies  were  once  more  arenas 
for  the  discussion  of  the  mighty  questions 
finally  decided  in  that  momentous  conflict. 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  the  great  holiday  of 
the  year.  Around  it  centered  all  that  was 
patriotic.  Its  spirit  was  an  exhilaration  of  the 
energy  of  a  young  nation  conscious  of  possess- 
ing boundless  resources  not  only,  but  of  being 
free.  The  day  was  ever  celebrated  by  young 
and  old.  The  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  read  by  him  who  possessed  the  most  so- 
norous voice,  and  the  orator  of  the  day  was 
ever  expatiating  on  the  deeds  of  Washington 
and  the  army,  and  ever  viewing  the  universal 
spread  of  liberty  and  American  institutions. 
And  in  view  of  what  has  been  achieved  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century  the  boast  of  those  orators 
has  been  entirely  justified. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

INTERESTING    DOCUMENTS    OF    THE 
REVOLUTION. 

The  story  of  our  town  was  brought  down  to 
the    close  of   the   Revolution,  but    before   we 
leave    this    period    the    writer    desires   to   call 
attention    to    two   or   three  interesting   docu- 
ments  and   have  them    become   part  of   that 
story.     We  will  consider  them  in  their  chrono- 
logical order.     The  first  is  a  request  made  by 
Captain  Jeremiah  Snyder  of  Governor  Clinton 
for  ammunition.     To  explain  the  situation  it 
should  be  said  that  the  battle  of  Oriskany,  in 
the  Mohawk   valley   in    1777  and  the  terrible 
slaughter  of  the  Indians  there  aroused  in  them 
a  burning  desire  for  revenge.     From  this  time 
the  settlements  on  the  frontier  suffered  from 
the  torch  and  tomahawk,  or  were  in  constant 
alarm.     Early  in  1778  Governor  George  Clin- 
ton   placed    the    defense    of    the    north-west 
frontier  of  Ulster  county  in  the  hands  of  Col- 
onel Johannis  Snyder.     He  had  charge  of  this 
until  the  close  of  the  war.     One  of  the  princi- 
pal approaches  by  which  the  savage  foes  came 
to  the  settlements  was  through   the    Esopus 


240  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

valley.  Colonel  Snyder  stationed  a  force  at 
Little  Shandaken  which  was  continued  there 
with  short  intervals  until  1781.  Captain  Jere- 
miah Snyder,  of  this  town,  was  in  command 
in  the  autumn  of  1778  and  his  letter  needs  no 
explanation. 

Captain  Snyder  Asks  For  Ammunition. 

Little  Schondeacon,  Octbr,  15,  1778. 

Sir,  I  think  proper  to  let  you  know  that  upon  my 
taking  the  Command  at  this  place  I  found  that  the 
Company  was  in  a  bad  posture  of  Defence  in  Regard 
to  Ammunition.  I,  therefore,  would  be  glad  you 
would  endeavor  to  send  a  fresh  Supply  as  soon  as 
possible,  that  we  may  be  able  to  make  some  Resist- 
ance in  case  the  enemy  should  make  an  excursion 
upon  this  Settlement,  but  we  have  at  Present  no 
InteUigence  of  their  being  near  this  Place. 

This  Company  now  Consists  of  Forty-one  Private, 
besides  Serjeants  &  Corporals,  and  these  I  can  not 
Suply  with  three  Cartirages  a  peice ;  from  this  you 
may  Judge  what  Defence  we  can  make.  My  Request 
is,  therefore,  you  will  Send  a  Supply  as  soon  Possible 
and  you'll  obUdge,  Sir, 

Your  Most  Hble  Serv't 

Jeremiah  Snyder,  Capt. 

To  Gov.  George  Clinton. 

The  second  document  is  a  year  and  a  half 
later.  To  the  First  Ulster  Regiment,  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Johannis  Snyder,  had  been 
attached  a  troop  of  horse  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Sylvester  Salisbury.  For  some  reason 
this  troop  had  been  detached  from  this  regi- 


INTERESTING  DOCUMENTS.  241 

ment  and  assigned  to  some  other.  Neither 
the  circumstances  nor  the  other  regiment  is 
now  known.  The  petitioners,  who  were  Sau- 
gerties  men,  protested  and  joined  in  the  follow- 
ing 

Petition  to  Governor  George  Clinton. 

Kingston,  April  24th,  1779. 

The  Petition  of  the  Troopers  in  the  north  Part  of 
Ulster  County  to  his  Excellency  Governor  Clinton 
humbly  sheweth : 

As  a  mutual  attachment  and  good  Understanding 
between  Officers  and  their  men  are  an  Essential  Part 
of  the  many  Requisites  which  are  necessary  to  ensure 
victory  to  our  arms  and  Freedom  to  our  Country, 
And,  Whereas,  Capt.  Sylvester  Salisbury,  (between 
whom  and  your  petitioners  there  subsisted  the  Great- 
est Harmony  and  Confidence),  has  resigned  his 
Commission,  and  that  solely,  because  he  was  to  be 
under  the  Command  of  a  man  whom  he  deems 
unworthy  of  the  Rank  he  holds  : 

We,  the  Subscribers,  Beseech  your  Excellency, 
either  to  annex  the  Troop  to  some  other  Regiment, 
or  put  them  under  the  Command  of  some  superior 
Officer,  and  re-appoint  Captain  Sylvester  Sahsbury 
to  the  Command  of  the  Troop.  Should  this  be  the 
case,  your  Petitioners  beg  leave  to  assure  your 
Excellency,  that  their  Services  shall  be,  as  they  have 
heretofore  been.  Free,  Chearful,  &  Ready.  And 
your  Petitioners  &c.  shall  ever  Pray  &c. 

Adam  Woolfven,  Abraham  Keater,  Roeloff 
Eltenge,  Christian  Dull,  Moses  Pattison,  Tjerck 
Low,  Petrus  Winne,  Junier,  Henry  P.  Freligh,  John 
Dewitt,  Jr.,  John  A.  D.  Witt,  John  E.  Schoon- 
maker,  Peter  C.  Brinck,  Edward  Osterhoud,  Hen- 


242  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

dryck  Turck,  John  Turck,  John  FreUgh,  Benjamin 
Velten,  John  J.  Chrispel,  Benjamin  Winne,  John 
DeWitt,  Jun.,  John  Brink,  Jun.,  Baltus  Kiffer, 
Peter  VanLeuven,  Christian  Fero,  Marten  Hommel, 
jr.,  Hermanus  Hommel,  Abraham  Hoffman. 

The  third  of  these  documents  exhibits  a 
serious  state  of  affairs.  We  have  just  noticed 
the  conditions  that  required  the  presence  of 
troops  to  guard  against  invasion  by  the  way  of 
the  Esopus  valley  in  1778.  Before  that  year 
had  passed  Wyoming  and  Cherry  Valley  had 
been  blotted  out  by  the  tomahawk,  the  torch 
and  scalping-knife.  And  every  settler  in  an 
exposed  place  trembled  for  his  home  and  loved 
ones.  It  was  known  that  the  savage  foe  was 
preparing  for  further  devastation.  In  view  of 
pending  danger  the  following  petition  was 
started  in  Katsbaan  and  circulated  through  the 
town : 

Saugerties  Men  Ask  for  a  Guard. 

To  His  Excellency  George  CHnton,  Esq.,  Gov- 
ernor and  Commander  in  Chief  of  all  the  MiUtia  of 
the  State  of  New  York  and  Admiral  of  the  Navy  of 
the  same. 

The  Petition,  of  the  principal  well  affected  Inhab- 
itants of  the  most  northerly  part  of  Ulster  County, 
Humbly  Sheweth  : 

That,  whereas,  after  Sincerely  consider' d  our 
present  Situation,  we  find  that  we  live  in  a  very  Dan- 
gerous part  of  this  State  ;  many  Disaffected  Persons 
among  us,  and  a  Savage  Enemy  dayly  on  our  weakly 
Guarded  frontiers  ;  and  whereas,  four  young  men  of 


I 


INTERESTING  DOCUMENTS.  242 

our  Neighborhood,  who  have  lately  Engaged  in  the 
Eight  months  service,  are  gone  off,  and  Joyned 
without  Doubt  the  Enemy,  they  will  Discover  unto 
them,  our  present  weak  Situation,  for  the  Small 
Guard  at  Woodstock  is  in  no  State  to  our  Safety,  for 
this  minute  we  are  alarmed,  and  Called  out  to  the 
Blue  mountains,  for  the  Enemies  are  making  their 
approach  on  our  Quarter,  as  we  Supose,  will  take 
their  Revenge  on  us,  because  a  few  Disaffected  Per- 
sons have  been  sent  under  Guard  to  Kingston  out  of 
our  Neighborhood.  In  any  General  Alarm,  when 
the  mihtia  is  Called  forth  in  Defense  of  this  State, 
the  well  affected  men  turn  out,  and  the  Disaffected 
Persons  remain  at  home  ;  as  witnesseth  the  late 
alarm  in  every  such  Case.  Our  Famihes  and  Ef- 
fects are  greatly  Exposed,  for  some  of  our  mihtia 
Men  are  gone  to  Nepenak  (Napanoch),  some  at 
Woodstock,  and  if  more  men  Should  be  Continually 
Called,  our  Farming  Business  must  be  neglected,  to 
the  great  Loss  of  this  State,  and  we  fear  much,  if 
we  be  not  Timely  assisted.  Shall  be  obliged  to  flight, 
and  leave  our  all  to  a  Savage  Enemie. 

Therefore,  We,  the  Subscribers,  most  humbly 
approach  your  Excellency  with  this  our  humble 
Petition,  imploring  your  Protection  in  Sending  a 
Reinforcement  of  Fifty  or  Sixty  men  out  of  Dutch- 
ess County,  and  to  Station  them  at  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains, at  and  near  Tobias  Wynkoop's,  for  Such  a 
Guard  will  be  most  handy,  when  Station' d  as  above 
said,  either  to  reinforce  the  present  Guard  at  Wood- 
stock, or  assist  us  in  time  of  need. 

Sir,  we  do  not  presume,  to  prescribe  unto  your 
Excellency  how  to  protect  this  State,  but  knowing 
your  Excellency's  Mind  can  not  at  once  be  every- 
where, makes  us  approach  you  with  these  presents, 
not  doubting  your  aid. 

Sir,  That  Divine  Providence  may  bless  and  pro- 


244  HISTORY  OF  SAUCER  TIES. 

long  your  Days  and  give  Success  to  your  Endeavours 
to  Suppress  our  Savage  Enemy,  we  Shall  Ever  pray. 

John  Christian  Fiero,  Christian  Will,  Christian 
Fiero,  Jeremiah  Snyder,  Yurry  William  Reghtmyer, 
Petrus  Emrich,  Jurry  Hommel,  Benjamin  Snyder, 
Johannes  Folck,  John  L.  DeWitt,  Capt. ,  Johannes 
Rechtmeyer,  Peter  Osterhoudt,  Lu. ,  Ludwigh  Roes-  , 
sell,  Ephraim  Myer,  Christian  Fiero,  Jr.,  Cornelius  J 
DeWitt,  Petrus  Backer,  Abraham  Low,  Jr.,  Stephen 
Fiero,  John  Langandyck,  Christiaen  Snyder,  Peter 
T.  Myer,  Petrus  Myer,  Jacobus  Whitaker,  Jr.,  Jo- 
hannes Persen,  Peter  Myer,  Jr.,  Cornelius  Persen, 
Jacop  Frans,  Matthew  Dederick,  John  Cox,  Jr., 
Peter  Eygener,  Corn's  Langendyck,  William  Emer- 
ich,  Tunis  Myer,  Salomon  Schut,  PhiHp  Feltan, 
Jacobus  Dederick,  Tunis  Osterhoupt,  Jury  William 
Dederick,  James  Winne,  William  Falk,  Willi' m  De- 
Witt,  Peter  Eygener. 

May  ye  15th,  1779. 

The  Governor  granted  their  request.  A  for- 
mer chapter  told  of  the  scouting  during  1779  j 
by  Capt.  Jeremiah  Snyder  and  Anthony  Van- 
Schaick  along  the  foot  of  the  Catskills,  and  of 
the  service  of  the  detachment  under  Lieut. 
Peter  Post  in  the  same  year.  It  also  told  of 
the  terrible  punishment  visited  on  the  savages 
by  Sullivan's  expedition,  which  destroyed  their 
crops  and  villages.  Although  the  next  year 
(1780)  Capt.  Snyder  and  his  son  were  seized 
and  carried  into  captivity  in  Canada,  there  was 
no  other  molestation  of  the  people  of  this 
town.  Nevertheless,  the  regiment  of  Col. 
Snyder  patroled  this  frontier  until  1781. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

THE    KATSBAAN    CHURCH. 

This  old  church  is  frequently  called  in  early 
documents  "de  steene  kerk  op  de  Kats  Baan," 
the  stone  church  on  the  Kats  Baan.  What 
was  the  Kats  Baan?  To  this  there  have  been 
two  answers.  In  the  first  entry  made  in  the 
church  records  by  Domine  Mancius  (who  was 
a  German)  the  name  is  spelled  Kaatsbaan. 
Kaatsbaan  is  the  Dutch  word  for  tennis  court, 
and  many  have  held  its  derivation  to  have 
been  that  the  church,  which  is  upon  a  hill, 
stands  upon  the  south  end  of  a  barren  rock, 
almost  level,  which  extends  northwards  for 
one-fourth  of  a  mile.  An  active  imagination 
may  fancy  this  rock  to  resemble  a  tennis  court 
on  which  Titans  might  play.  There  was  a 
spot  two  hundred  years  ago  between  Kingston 
and  The  Strand  (Rondout)  which  was  called 
in  deeds  of  that  day  by  the  same  name,  *'  Kaats- 
baan." 

The  other  derivation  finds  the  root  of  the 
name  with  Katskill  and  Katerskill  in  the  pan- 
ther, or  wild  cat,  with  which  this  densely 
wooded   region   was   infested.     As   Katskill  is 


246  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

the  kill  or  creek  of  the  wild  cat,  Katerskill  the 
creek  of  the  male  of  the  species,  so  the  Dutch 
words  Kats  and  baan,  a  haunt,  resort,  course  or 
range  mean  tlie  haunt  or  resort  of  the  animal. 
Around  this  baan,  or  haunt,  the  most  majestic 
of  white  oaks  flourished  in  which  these  terrible 
creatures  had  their  home. 

When  the  Palatine  colony  came  to  the  Camp 
in  1 7 10  they  immediately  built  a  church  at 
West  Camp.  This  was  a  church  for  the  col- 
ony in  which  the  services  were  conducted  by 
both  the  pastors,  Kocherthal,  the  Lutheran, 
and  Hager,  the  Reformed.  The  people  lived 
in  peace  and  amity  during  the  next  ten  years, 
and  worshipped  there.  But  a  cause  of  dissen- 
sion had  arisen.  On  Dec,  20,  1709,  a  month 
before  the  Palatines  sailed  from  England, 
Hager  had  taken  orders  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, being  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London, 
and  upon  his  arrival  at  the  Camp  had  en- 
deavored to  introduce  the  ritual  of  the  Angli- 
can Church  in  the  worship  of  the  colony. 
Kocherthal  protested.  But  he  died  in  1719 
and  Hager  in  1721.  The  colonists  had  but 
occasional  religious  services  for  a  year  or  two 
from  Rev.  Daniel  F.  Falckner  and  Rev.  William 
C.  Berckenmeyer,  both  Lutherans,  when  an- 
other Reformed  clergyman  appeared,  Rev. 
John  Jacob  Ehle,  or  Oehl,  a  German,  who  also 
had  taken  orders  before  leaving  London.     He 


REV.    GEORGE  WII,HEI.MUS   MANCIUS 


THE  KATSBAAN  CHURCH.  247 

attempted  to  continue  the  efforts  of  Hager  and 
remained  among  the  people  until  about  1727. 
But  the  Germans  did  not  take  kindly  to  these 
attempts  at  conformity,  and  would  have  none 
of  the  ritual  or  liturgy.  To  what  extent  this 
caused  them  to  be  found  worshipping  "on  the 
Kats  Baan"  in  1730  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
But  Nov.  8,  1730,  the  records  at  Katsbaan  be- 
gin in  the  handwriting  of  Rev.  George  Wilhel- 
mus  Mancius,  who  signs  himself  in  Dutch 
•'their  at  that  time  pastor." 

Who  was  Mancius?  He  was  born  in  Nas- 
sau, Germany,  1706;  was  educated  in  Leyden 
University,  Holland,  and  Herborn  Theological 
Seminary  in  Germany,  and  sailed  from  Amster- 
dam to  this  country  July  12,  1730,  coming 
immediately  to  the  Camp.  The  question  why 
he  came  here  to  this  town  has  never  been 
answered.  But  reasons  may  be  found.  The 
Palatines  upon  the  east  side  of  the  Hudson 
greatly  desired  a  church  of  the  Reformed  faith, 
but  could  not  obtain  a  minister.  The  Classis 
of  Amsterdam,  in  Holland,  would  not  permit 
an  ordination  in  America,  and  candidates  for 
the  ministry  were  compelled  to  take  the  long 
voyage  across  the  sea.  John  Van  Driessen 
was  ready  to  become  the  pastor  at  East  Camp 
(Germantown),  but  unwilling  to  go  to  Holland 
for  ordination.  So  he  presented  himself  to  a 
Congregational  Association  in  Connecticut  and 


i 

248  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

laid  before  them  documents  which  had  been 
forged,  upon  which  they  ordained  him  to  the 
ministry,  and  he  assumed  charge  of  the  Pala- 
tine church  of  East  Camp.  When  the  Classis 
of  Amsterdam  heard  of  it  they  protested,  but 
could  do  nothing.  (See  Chapter  IX.)  The 
writer  is  disposed  to  find  a  reason  for  the  com- 
ing here  of  Mancius  by  the  way  of  Holland  in 
this  matter  in  connection  with  the  efforts  of 
Hager  and  Ehle  to  Anglicize  the  Palatine 
church,  taking  account  of  the  further  fact  that 
Mancius,  a  German,  would  naturally  come  to 
the  place  where  the  first  German  colony  in 
New  York  had  settled. 

-  When  Mancius  appeared  at  West  Camp  he 
found  most  of  the  colony  removed  a  mile  or 
two  west  to  the  lands  of  the  Kingston  Com- 
mons, as  stated  in  Chapter  VII.  There  is  no 
record  or  evidence  of  his  organizing  the  church 
at  Katsbaan.  He  speaks  of  'Me  germeente," 
or  the  congregation  worshipping  on  the  Kats- 
baan and  says  the  churchbook  is  begun  Nov. 
8,  1730,  by  himself,  ''their  at  that  time  pastor." 
Where  they  worshipped,  or  in  what  building  is 
not  known,  as  the  stone  church  was  not  erected 
until  1732.  He  became  their  pastor  and  con- 
tinued so  until  his  death  in  1762,  with  the 
exception  of  eight  months  during  1731-2  when 
he  was  the  pastor  in  Schraalenberg,  New  Jer- 
sey.    He  was  called  to  Kingston  in  May,  1732, 


THE  KATSBAAN  CHURCH,  249 

to  become  associate  pastor  in  the  Reformed 
church  with  Rev.  Petrus  Vas  and  continued  in 
charge  of  Katsbaan  with  his  Kingston  church 
until  his  death. 

The  lease  for  the  land  upon  which  the  stone 
church  was  built  and  a  description  of  the 
church  have  been  given  in  Chapter  XL  As 
stated  in  Chapter  VII  the  Lutheran  church  at 
West  Camp  seems  to  have  been  virtually- 
abandoned  from  this  time  until  1765,  after  the 
death  of  Mancius,  and  the  church  of  Katsbaan 
was  the  only  place  of  worship  between  Kings- 
ton and  Katskill  (Leeds).  The  death  of  Man- 
cius  in  1762  created  a  vacancy  in  the  pastorate 
which  was  not  filled  until  1780.  During  this 
interval  it  was  supplied  by  Domines  Doll,  of 
Kingston,  Schuneman,  of  Katskill,  and  West- 
erlo,  of  Albany,  who  regularly  administered 
the  sacraments.  Occasional  services  from  other 
ministers  appear  from  the  church  records. 

Rev.  Lambertus  DeRonde  became  the  fourth 
pastor  of  the  flock,  of  which  we  have  reckoned 
Hager,  Ehle  and  Mancius  his  predecessors. 
His  pastorate  began  in  1780  and  continued 
until  1786.  How  he  was  driven  by  the  British 
from  the  Collegiate  Church  in  New  York  city 
for  his  patriotism  is  told  in  Chapter  XXVII. 
But  this  persecution  gave  to  Katsbaan  a  faith- 
ful pastor.  For  seven  years  after  1786  the 
church  stood  without  a  pastor  and  was,  as  be- 


250  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

fore  ministered  to  by  Domines  Schuneman  and 
Doll  until  the  conning  of  Rev.  Petrus  Van 
Vlierden  in  1793  to  be  the  fifth  pastor.  He 
came  by  way  of  the  island  of  St.  Croix  in  the 
West  Indies,  now  just  transferred  from  the 
sovereignty  of  Denmark  to  the  United  States. 
He  had  taken  high  honors  at  Leyden  Univer- 
sity, and  remained  in  the  pastorate  at  Katsbaan 
for  eleven  years,  or  until  1804.  The  church 
was  once  more  without  a  pastor  until  1808, 
when  for  two  years  Rev.  James  D.  Demarest 
served.  Again  pastorless  until  18 12,  Rev.  Dr. 
Henry  Ostrander  was  called  and  settled  in  May 
of  that  year,  and  continued  for  fifty  years. 
This  long  pastorate  brings  down  the  story  far 
beyond  the  limits  of  this  work. 

A  legend  has  been  handed  down  by  tradition 
through  successive  generations  in  the  Katsbaan 
Church  to  this  effect :  After  the  Palatines  came 
to  the  Camp,  and  the  Lutherans  and  Reformed 
separated  the  question  arose  whether  Katsbaan 
should  be  a  German  Reformed  or  Dutch  Re- 
formed church.  A  meeting  was  called  of  which 
the  presiding  officer  was  Hans  Martin  Snyder. 
The  argument  that  there  would  be  no  other 
German  Reformed  church  with  which  to  affili- 
ate, while  all  future  growth  would  be  from  the 
incoming  Dutch  from  Kingston  prevailed,  and 
the  vote  was  a  tie.  Snyder  gave  the  casting 
vote    as   president  and    as   he    was   not  fluent 


THE  KATSBAAN  CHURCH.  251 

in  Dutch  he  decided  in  favor  of  a  "  Neger 
Deutsche  kerk"  (Negro  Dutch  church),  and 
not  Neder  Deutsche  (Low  Dutch),  as  he  in- 
tended. 

But  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this 
tradition.  The  name  of  Hans  Martin  Snyder 
does  not  appear  among  the  Katsbaan  church 
people  until  about  1770;  there  is  no  evidence 
that  it  was  ever  organized  as  a  Dutch  Reformed 
church  at  all;  and  while  Mancius  was  here 
both  Lutherans  and  Reformed  worshipped  in 
the  stone  church  as  in  the  church  of  the  colony 
until  1762.  The  church  never  came  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  church 
until  after  1773,  as  it  was  reported  to  Synod 
that  year  that  it  still  "stood  out ;  "  and  was  first 
reported  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Synod  in 
1784.  If  the  traditionary  incident  ever  occurred 
it  must  have  been  about  1780,  and  there  was  a 
Hans  Martin  Snyder  at  Katsbaan  at  that  time. 
The  meeting  may  have  then  and  thus  decided 
through  its  president  in  this  ludicrous  manner 
that  Katsbaan  become  a  Dutch  Reformed 
church. 

A  generation  or  two  ago  there  was  a  story 
current  at  Katsbaan  which  showed  the  wit  of 
Domine  De  Ronde.  He  did  not  reside  in 
Katsbaan,  but  in  what  is  now  the  village  of 
Saugerties  upon  the  present  Dawes  property. 
There  was  a  time  during  his  pastorate  when 


252  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

his  salary  was  greatly  in  arrears.  One  Sunday 
after  preaching  a  most  excellent  discourse,  as 
he  came  down  from  the  pulpit,  and  took  the 
hand  of  each  one  of  the  consistory  in  turn,  one 
of  the  elders  remarked  in  Dutch,  "  Well, 
domine,  you  have  given  us  employment  for  a 
whole  afternoon ;  there  is  enough  in  the 
sermon  we  have  just  heard  for  a  week's 
digestion."  He  replied,  "Very  well,  then  it 
will  be  on  Sundays  with  you  as  upon  every 
other  day  of  the  week  ;  you  are  filled  to  the 
full,  and  I,  I  have  nothing  from  you  but 
mauger  zaagertjes  (lean  Saugerties)." 

The  old  church  of  1732  remained  unchanged 
until  181 5,  except  some  minor  improvements 
and  a  new  floor  in  1813.  In  1815  the  roof  was 
taken  off,  the  walls  were  raised,  galleries  were 
built  on  the  east,  west  and  south  sides  of  the 
church,  the  pulpit  was  placed  at  the  north  side 
of  the  church,  with  a  canopy  above  it,  straight 
back  pews  were  put  in  place  of  the  former 
benches,  the  porch  upon  the  east  side  was 
removed,  two  doors  were  inserted  in  the  south 
wall  and  a  steeple  was  erected  in  which  a  bell 
was  hung.  When  all  was  done  the  seats  were 
•distributed  by  lot.  But  even  with  these 
improvements  the  church  could  not  hold  the 
worshippers.  When  days  were  pleasant  and 
weather  favorable,  the  church  was  full  to  over- 
flowing  and    on  summer  days   outside   every 


THE  KATSBAAN  CHURCH.  253 

open  window  were  groups  of  listeners  to  the 
preaching  of  the  Word  of  God.  For  from  the 
Emboght  and  from  Kiskatom,  from  Maiden 
and  from  Saugerties,  from  Blue  Mountain  and 
from  Plattekill,  the  people  gathered.  Thus 
the  building  remained  until  1867  when  it  was 
rebuilt  as  it  is  to-day.  In  1841  the  canopy 
and  pedestal  had  been  taken  away  and  the 
steeple  altered. 

The  church  was  not  incorporated  until 
March  28,  1796,  when  its  title  became  *'The 
Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  Reformed 
Protestant  Dutch  Church  of  Kaatsbaan  in  the 
town  of  Kingston,  in  Ulster  Country."  When 
the  town  of  Saugerties  was  organized  in  181 1 
this  title  became  a  misnomer,  and  as  the  town 
grew  and  the  consistory  had  charge  of  the 
religious  interests  of  the  whole  town  including 
Saugerties  village,  Blue  Mountain,  Maiden  and 
Plattekill  it  was  re-incorporated  July  1 1,  1826, 
under  the  title  **  The  Minister,  Elders  and 
Deacons  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of 
the  town  of  Saugerties."  It  has  been  said  it 
was  made  "The  Church  of  Saugerties,"  but 
actually,  it  had  the  comprehensive  title  just 
stated.  When  the  division  was  made  in  1839^ 
and  Katsbaan  became  a  new  organization  it 
was  incorporated  as  "  The  Reformed  Protest- 
ant Dutch  Church  of  Cattsbane."  But  this 
title  was  not  historically  correct,  and  the  con- 


254  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

sistory  constantly  erred  in  official  papers.  At 
last  this  was  corrected  by  a  re-incorporation 
April  4,  1892,  as  "The  Reformed  Church  of 
Katsbaan." 

In  1816  the  residents  of  the  present  village 
of  Saugerties  petitioned  for  a  house  of  worship 
in  that  village.  The  Katsbaan  church  respond- 
ed favorably,  provided  that  the  necessary  funds 
were  raised.  Nothing  resulted  therefrom,  and 
in  1 82 1  another  petition  was  presented  with  a 
like  reception  and  with  the  same  result.  In 
1826  a  third  petition  was  successful  and  the 
brick  church  was  built,  which  was  afterwards 
the  Saugerties  Academy  and  is  now  the  George 
Burhans  building  on  Livingston  street.  In 
1 83 1  the  village  of  Saugerties  was  incorporated 
as  the  village  of  Ulster  and  the  inhabitants, 
which  were  largely  of  other  extraction  than 
Dutch,  made  a  determined  and  continuous 
effort  to  get  rid  of  the  name  of  Saugerties  for 
that  locality.  The  bank  when  incorporated 
was  "The  Bank  of  Ulster,"  the  papers  "The 
Ulster  Palladium"  (1828);  "The  Ulster  Star" 
(1833)  and  "The  Ulster  Telegraph"  (1846); 
the  iron  mill  was  "The  Ulster  Iron  Works," 
and  the  lead  mill  "The  Ulster  White  Lead 
Co.,"  and  in  every  way  possible  the  attempt 
was  to  rid  the  community  of  the  Dutch  name 
which  seemed  to  mean  nothing,  and  was 
thought  to  be  of  uncertain  origin.     This  effort 


THE  KATSBAAN  CHURCH.  255 

was  finally  abandoned  in  1855  and  the  village 
was  re-incorporated  as  the  village  of  Sauger- 
ties.  The  conservative  families  of  the  town 
and  village  had  continued  to  call  the  latter 
by  the  old  name  during  all  the  prolonged  at- 
tempt to  foist  the  new  one. 

On  October  ist,  1833,  the  classis  of  Ulster 
was  petitioned  by  residents  of  the  village  of 
Ulster  to  divide  the  congregation,  and  on  Jan. 
II,  1834,  the  application  was  made  to  the  con- 
sistory for  a  separate  organization  in  the  village 
to  be  known  as  the  Reformed  Church  of 
Ulster.  This  petition  was  denied.  Few 
signers  were  of  the  Dutch  membership,  or  ele- 
ment because  of  the  fear  that  in  a  new  church 
elements  not  Dutch  would  preponderate,  and 
that  at  an  early  date  an  effort  might  be  made, 
and  be  successful,  to  take  the  church  into  some 
other  denomination.  In  denying  the  applica- 
tion the  consistory  remarked  "Some  are  not 
members  and  others  not  of  our  denomination." 
It  expressed  a  willingness  to  divide  as  soon  as 
each  could  support  a  church.  In  1835  another 
petition  was  presented,  with  one  in  opposition. 
In  June  of  that  year  consistory  met  with  a 
committee  of  the  classis  of  Ulster  to  see  if  a 
division  could  be  made,  and  a  day  was  ap- 
pointed when  the  male  members  of  the  con- 
gregation should  meet  at  the  church  in  Kats- 
baan  to  vote  on  the  proposition.     Such  a  vote 


256  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

was  taken  and  the  division  was  disapproved  of. 
In  1838  another  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  village  of  Ulster  was  denied. 

By  this  time  it  became  evident  that  some- 
thing must  be  done  in  the  matter.     As  these 
petitions  came  almost  wholly  from  the  elements 
in  the  church  in  the  village  of   Ulster  which 
were  not  Dutch  the  consistory  felt  more  and 
more  indisposed  to  grant  their  request.     The 
result  was   that   Katsbaan   was   influenced  by 
the   consistory  and   their  pastor  to  be  consti- 
tuted a  new  congregation.     This  would  leave 
the   Dutch  element  in   Ulster  as  a  balance  of 
power   in   the   church  where   they   would   not 
petition  to  be.     But  it  would  make  the  Ulster 
church  the  old  organization,  the  church  of  the 
town  of  Saugerties  legally,  which  it  was  not  in 
history,  nor  in  fact.     It  cost  the  people  of  the 
Katsbaan   church   many   a   feeling  of   sadness 
thus   to  give  up  the   historic   church  of  their 
fathers  to  those  whom  they  felt  to  be  in  many 
things  not  in  harmony  with  their  origin.     Very 
few  of  the  families  of  the  village  of  Ulster  in 
1839   were   of    Palatine   descent,   the    element 
there  which  was  called  Dutch  being  mostly  of 
Holland  lineage,  while  at  Katsbaan  nine-tenths 
of  the  Dutch  families  were  of  Palatine  ances- 
try.    These   felt   that  they  surrendered  som.e- 
thing  when  they  consented   that  the  Palatine 
church,  as  an  organization  go  to  strangers. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE     BEAVER     CREEK. 

The  development  of  the  manufacturing  in- 
dustries of  this  town  is  but  a  story  of  the  last 
seventy-five  years.  But  it  will  be  of  interest 
to  speak  of  the  history  of  such  industries 
which  preceded  1825.  The  name  of  the  town 
came  from  the  **  little  sawyer"  who  had  a  mill 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Sawyer's  creek  before  1670 
and  two  grist  mills,  respectively,  upon  the  upper 
and  lower  falls  of  the  Esopus,  or  particularly  at 
Stony  Point  and  about  the  site  of  the  Martin 
Cantine  Co.,  were  built  before  1725.  The  mill 
of  the  Posts,  now  owned  by  Martin  Terwil- 
liger,  is  older  than  the  Revolutionary  war,  but 
older  than  any  was  the  grist  mill  on  the  south- 
ern border  on  the  Plattekill  at  the  bridge  into 
the  present  town  of  Ulster.  Still  this  mill 
was  not,  nor  has  it  ever  been,  within  the  bor- 
ders of  this  town. 

When  the  Palatines  landed  at  West  Camp  in 
1710  there  was  no  grist  mill  in  the  town.  The 
colony  was  fed  by  Robert  Livingston,  of  the 
Manor,  under  contract  with  Gov.  Hunter,  from 
Livingston's    mill    on     Roeloff   Jansen's    kill. 


258  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Complaints  were  made  as  to  the  quality  of  the 
flour  furnished,  and  a  white-washing  investiga- 
tion was  made.  But  there  is  no  disputing  the 
facts  that  complaint  was  made  by  the  colon- 
ists. Tradition  in  the  family  of  the  descend- 
ants of  Christian  Myer  has  always  kept  alive 
the  following  story :  The  wife  of  Christian 
Myer  was  Anna  Gertrude  Theunis,  of  a  well 
born  Palatine  family  reduced  to  destitution  in 
the  terrible  wars  in  the  Palatinate.  When 
they  came  to  the  Camp  she  submitted  to  the 
trials  and  deprivations  of  the  terrible  first  win- 
ter without  complaint  until  at  last,  under  the 
miserable  quality  of  the  flour  furnished,  her 
spirit  broke  down  completely.  Her  husband 
had  obtained  some  wheat  somewhere,  but  there 
was  no  mill  nearer  than  Twaalfskill,  now  Wil- 
bur, in  the  city  of  Kingston.  Obtaining  his 
consent,  which,  not  thinking  her  in  earnest,  he 
gave  one  morning  as  he  went  to  his  task  of 
preparing  pines  for  the  production  of  naval 
stores  to  release  their  obligations  to  the  gov- 
ernment, she  took  a  schepel  of  wheat  (three- 
fourths  of  a  bushel)  in  a  bag  and  carried  it  on 
her  shoulders  through  the  woods  all  the  long 
way  from  West  Camp,  by  way  of  the  Old 
Kings  road  to  Wilbur,  where  it  was  ground, 
and  back  again  the  same  day,  arriving  home 
after  her  thirty-four  mile  tramp  exhausted,  but 
conscious  that  she  had  flour  fit  for  the  table. 


THE  BEAVER  CREEK.  259 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  industries  of 
the  town  aside  from  grist  and  saw  mills  began 
along  the  Beaver  creek.  No  other  stream  in 
the  town  pursues  so  many  miles  of  course 
within  its  borders.  It  rises  in  a  swamp  on  the 
farm  of  Larry  Van  Wart  near  the  Blue  Moun- 
tain church.  Flowing  south  it  reaches  the 
valley  of  Unionville  and  makes  use  of  this  to 
reach  the  lowlands.  Swinging  a  great  circle  it 
bisects  the  farm  of  Mrs.  Germond  and  then 
upon  a  course  due  north  it  winds  through  a 
valley  for  about  five  miles  until  it  flows  into 
the  Cauterskill  at  the  Greene  county  line. 

To-day  its  windings  can  be  traced  by  the 
many  walnut  trees  upon  its  banks.  Some 
twenty  years  ago  a  local  poet  wrote  of  it : 

^'  Soft-flowing  Beaver,  by  thy  winding  side 

I  wander  with  the  hours  of  passing  day. 
Through  thy  pellucid  depths  and  shallows  glide 

The  phantom  forms  of  finny  tribes  at  play. 
Umbrageous  are  thy  banks;  in  close  embrace 

The  walnuts  o'er  thy  bosom  interlace; 
And  in  their  mottled  shade,  by  yonder  spring, 

The  circling  swallow  dips  his  restless  wing. ' ' 

When  the  first  mention  is  made  of  the  region 
in  the  earliest  land  grants  in  1685,  it  was 
already  called  the  Beaver  creek.  Hunters  and 
trappers  had  obtained  their  peltries  for  many 
years  along  its  banks  and  from  its  beaver 
dams.  As  we  pass  in  review  the  incipient  in- 
dustries of  the  town  we  will  follow  the  stream 


260  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

towards  its  mouth.  The  first  claiming  our  at- 
tention, if  not  the  earliest  erected,  was  the  mill 
at  Unionville  which  was  built  by  Adam  Mon- 
tross  in  the  earliest  years  of  the  last  century 
for  a  grist  mill.  This  subsequently  passed  into 
the  possession  of  a  man  named  Backus  and 
then  into  the  Van  Hoesen  family.  From  a 
grist  mill  it  was  made  a  plaster  mill  and  finally 
dismantled  has  disappeared.  Even  the  high 
dam  is  broken  and  the  stream  is  unconfined. 

On  the  northern  portion  of  the  Wynkoop 
tract  was  the  next  industry.  Here  where  now 
is  the  bridge  leading  over  the  Beaver  to  the 
house  of  Russell  Wynkoop,  was  a  hat  factory. 
There  are  those  still  living  who  remember  the 
stone  benches  within  it  where  beaver  skins 
were  dressed.  Judge  Henry  Wynkoop,  who 
lived  there  seventy-five  years  ago,  was  called 
"The  Hatter."  The  stone  foundations  of  this 
factory  are  now  the  abutments  of  the  bridge 
above  named.  Just  north  of  the  old  hat  fac- 
tory is  a  strong  sulphur  spring  and  there  is 
another  a  mile  north  on  the  farm  of  Addison 

Sax. 

A  few  hundred  yards  north  of  this  spring  of 
Sax,  a  brick  yard  was  in  operation  early  in  the 
past  century.  The  brick  in  the  erection  of  the 
store  of  Daniel  Lamb  in  this  village  were  from 
this  brickyard.  A  little  farther  north,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Maiden  Turnpike,  was  the 


THE  BEAVER  CREEK.  261 

tannery  of  Cornelius  Fiero.  This  remained 
there  until  within  the  past  fifty  years,  and 
the  vats  were  where  is  the  present  bed  of  the 
stream  for,  by  a  freshet  after  the  tannery  was 
demolished  the  raging  waters  cut  through  a 
new  course  which  the  line  of  vats  made  one  of 
least  resistance. 

Another  grist  mill  was  built  in  olden  times 
on  a  branch  of  the  Beaver  where  is  now  the 
residence  of  C.  P.  Finger  and  a  saw  mill  on  the 
same  branch  at  the  residence  on  the  farm  of 
William  H.  Hommel  and  in  days  long  since 
another  brickyard  was  in  operation  upon  the 
farm  of  Abram  E.  Hommel. 

All  of  these  have  disappeared.  Not  a  wheel 
is  turned  upon  the  Beaver  to-day.  No  brick  is 
made  and  so  far  as  this  stream  is  concerned 
tanning  is  a  lost  art.  The  little  stream  in  its 
winding  course  of  almost  ten  miles  flows  un- 
obstructedly  and  fed  by  never  failing  springs, 
waters  the  valley  even  in  its  droughtiest  sea- 
sons  recalling  Tennyson's  "Brook": 

''  For  men  may  come  and  men  may  go, 
But  I  go  on  forever." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE    DAYS     OF    SLOOPS. 

When  the  Treaty  of  Peace  between  Great 
Britain  and  this  country  was  at  last  in  effect  in 
1783  the  interest  and  concern  of  the  people  of 
this  town  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  peace- 
ful pursuits  of  life.  So  far  almost  the  sole 
occupation  had  been  agriculture.  The  grind- 
ing of  grain  and  the  sawing  of  lumber  were 
about  the  only  work  of  mills.  As  the  British 
had  swept  the  river  of  what  sloops  there  had 
been  in  1777,  river  commerce  had  almost  dis- 
appeared. A  former  chapter  told  of  the  pur- 
chase of  the  sloop  of  Capt.  Benjamin  Snyder 
during  1776  for  a  fire  ship,  and  a  subsequent 
one  of  the  burning  of  two  sloops  in  the  Eso- 
pus  at  this  village  by  Vaughan's  marauding  ex- 
pedition. 

Soon  after  the  keel  of  another  was  laid  by 
Capt.  Snyder,  and  for  some  years  it  ran  regu- 
larly to  New  York  on  monthly  trips.  Some 
time  about  the  middle  of  the  decade  (1790- 
1800)  Capt.  Andrew  Brink  built  a  large  sloop, 
which  he  named  for  a  favorite  sister,  "  The 
Maria."     His  father  had  instituted  many  years 


THE  DAYS  OF  SLOOPS.  263 

before  the  scow  ferry  which  crossed  the  river 
from  his  door  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sawyer's 
creek  to  Chancellor  Livingston's,  just  opposite, 
and  the  son  was  born  with  a  love  of  the  water. 
The  Maria  was  thought  by  the  people  of  those 
days  a  craft  of  wondrous  size,  and  its  owner 
immediately  secured  from  the  Chancellor  the 
transportation  of  the  products  of  his  manor, 
and  from  other  up-river  towns  a  most  profit- 
able trade. 

The  captain  of  a  Hudson  river  sloop  before 
the  advent  of  steam  occupied  a  unique 
position.  He  was  the  link  socially  between 
the  river  towns  and  city  life.  He  was  the 
business  agent  not  only  of  the  merchant,  but 
of  the  farmer.  He  selected  the  merchant's 
stock ;  he  sold  the  farmer's  products ;  he  was 
the  expressman ;  he  carried  the  news ;  he 
matched  the  goods  in  the  city  from  samples 
which  the  housewives  of  the  river  towns  gave 
him  ;  bore  the  messages  of  friendship  and  bus- 
iness with  which  he  was  entrusted  at  each  end 
of  his  route ;  he  was  the  welcome  guest  in  the 
city  families  on  which  he  called,  to  whom  he 
told  of  their  country  friends,  and  through  him 
the  news  of  sorrow  and  bereavement  of  his 
patrons,  or  the  tidings  of  their  prosperity, 
were  conveyed,  for  he  often  carried  the  writ- 
ten missives  as  postman,  but  more  frequently 
he    was   intrusted    with    the    verbal    message 


264  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

which  bore  the  tidings  of  a  sad  death  or 
burial ;  or  was  the  happy  messenger  to 
announce  a  marital  engagement  of  youthful 
lovers ;  or  he  bore  the  gossip  of  the  river 
village  as  he  was  asked  to  carry  to  city  friends 
and  relatives  what  had  passed  since  the  last 
voyage. 

When  the  boat  arrived  at  the  pier  in  the 
city  and  her  lines  were  thrown  the  captain 
went  ashore  to  deliver  his  messages  from 
house  to  house  and  do  his  errands  from  store 
to  store.  With  him  went  the  ladies  who  had 
been  confided  to  his  care  during  the  voyage 
and  whom  he  delivered  to  their  friends. 
When  his  errands  were  all  done  he  set  about 
drumming  up  a  return  cargo.  The  pur- 
chases for  merchants  and  farmers  made  he 
would  peradventure  find  the  sloop  not  yet 
half  laden.  He  must  use  his  influence  to 
secure  some  business  ventures  on  the  part  of 
mercantile  friends.  Meanwhile  days  slipped 
by.  The  date  of  the  return  of  the  vessel  was 
problematic.  But  when  at  last  a  satisfactory 
cargo  was  obtained,  or  in  default  when  the 
captain  decided  that  a  cargo  of  grain  and 
timber,  or  hay,  or  skins,  or  other  products  of 
the  soil  or  chase  could  be  more  readily 
obtained  up  the  river  than  one  of  goods  in  the 
city  the  captain  gave  the  announcement  that 
on    a    certain   day    the    sloop   would   sail.      It 


THE  DAYS  OF  SLOOPS.  265 

quickly  circulated  from  mouth  to  mouth  and 
when  the  appointed  day  and  hour  arrived 
there  was  a  gathering  on  the  pier  that  rivaled 
a  modern  farewell  at  the  departure  of  a 
European  steamer,  and  amid  the  fluttering  of 
handkerchiefs  and  good-bye  cheers  the  vessel 
dropped  out  from  her  pier  into  the  stream. 

It  was  an  Elysian  delight  to  lie  on  deck  on 
a  summer  day  under  the  shadow  of  a  sail  and 
watch  the  transformation  of  the  Highlands,  or 
the  lights  and  shadows  of  Catskill  mountain 
scenes.  But  all  days  were  not  summer  days, 
nor  all  days  Elysian.  There  were  voyages  in 
storms  of  snow,  or  when  ice  was  forming. 
There  were  days  in  late  autumn  when  the  hay 
from  farms  was  loosely  piled  in  a  mighty  stack 
on  the  deck  of  the  craft.  And  then  no  fire 
must  be  built  on  the  vessel,  despite  the  dis- 
comfort. For  no  ardent  mariner  dared  risk 
the  danger,  as  baling  hay  was  unknown  and 
the  idea  of  stoves  was  yet  unborn. 

Once  started  on  the  voyage,  the  uncertainty 
of  its  duration  was  the  most  prominent  fea- 
ture. A  sloop  setting  sail  on  an  afternoon 
might  have  reached  her  destination  at  Sauger- 
ties  when  her  passengers  awoke  the  next 
morning.  And  again,  it  might  be  becalmed 
before  Spuyten  Duyvil  was  reached,  and  be  a 
week  on  the  trip  up  the  Hudson.  And  light 
winds  often  blew  so  gently  that  the  travelers 


266  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

would  go  ashore  in  a  small  boat  and  buy 
butter,  eggs  or  milk  and  regain  the  vessel  a 
mile  or  two  from  where  they  left  it. 

As  stated  above  the  sloop  Maria  carried 
much  of  the  produce  of  Livingston  Manor. 
And  during  the  ten  years  Captain  Brink  sail- 
ed her,  Livingston  was  a  frequent  ptissenger. 
He  had  been  experimenting  with  steam  before 
he  went  as  Minister  to  France  in  1801,  and 
while  there  had  been  interested  in  the  steam- 
boat that  Robert  Fulton  had  put  on  the  Seine 
in  1804,  and  which  had  broken  down.  The 
men  became  very  intimate  and  Fulton  married 
a  niece  of  the  Chancellor.  So  he  came  to  be  a 
frequent  and  welcome  guest  at  Clermont,  the 
home  of  Livingston. 

In  the  cabin  of  the  Maria  the  Chancellor 
and  Fulton  often  discussed  the  problem  of 
steam  navigation  as  a  quicker  means  of  com- 
munication, and  a  more  reliable  power  than 
wind,  and  around  the  captain's  table  talked 
over  their  plans,  the  obstacles  encountered 
and  the  causes  of  their  failures.  They  were 
now  in  the  presence  of  a  practical  navigator, 
who  had  been  on  the  water  from  boyhood  and 
was  in  command  of  the  fleetest  of  river  craft 
built  under  his  own  supervision.  Fulton  was 
a  man  of  great  scientific  knowledge  for  one  of 
those  days,  and  had  many  a  mechanical  inven- 
tion to  his  credit ;    and   Livingston  to  a  pro- 


THE  DAYS  OF  SLOOPS.  267 

found  knowledge  of  law  and  statecraft  added 
a  rare  skill  in  mechanics,  and  besides  was  the 
possessor  of  one  of  the  largest  of  American 
fortunes.  On  a  voyage  up  the  river  the  three 
decided  to  attempt  once  more  to  solve  the 
problem  and  use  every  means  to  succeed. 
They  went  to  work.  Chancellor  Livingston 
furnished  the  capital.  Robert  Fulton  obtain- 
ed from  Scotland  a  Watt  engine  of  twenty 
horse  power,  with  a  copper  boiler,  which  he 
adapted  to  his  plans,  while  Captain  Brink  set 
about  embodying  his  ideas  as  to  what  the 
craft  should  be  from  his  experience  as  a  navi- 
gator of  the  Hudson.  The  latter  part  of  the 
year  1806,  and  until  midsummer  of  1807  were 
spent  upon  the  boat  and  the  engine,  to  the 
ridicule  of  many  of  the  acquaintances  of  the 
captain  in  his  own  town.  Even  his  own  wife 
laughed  at  him  to  which  he  replied  that  he 
he  would  soon  go  to  Albany  in  command  of 
the  steam  craft  and  stop  opposite  his  father's 
place  on  the  river  and  take  her  along.  All  she 
could  say  was  "  when  I  see  you  and  Mr. 
Fulton  driving  a  boat  with  a  tea  kettle  I  will 
believe  it."  We  will  see  how  the  captain's 
wife  took  her  ride. 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

THE   TRIP   OF   THE   CLERMONT. 

The  morning  of  August  3,  1807,  was  bright 
and  warm.  At  a  pier  in  the  harbor  of  New 
York  a  vessel  was  lying  which  the  events  of 
that  day  were  to  make  historic  and  the  trip 
she  was  just  to  undertake  would  never  be 
forgotten.  A  motive  power  would  be  utilized 
that  day  which  would  change  the  face  of  all 
the  earth  and  would  plow  every  sea.  The 
power  of  millions  of  millions  of  horses  would 
not  be  able  to  accomplish  during  the  century 
then  just  begun  what  would  be  wrought  by 
the  force  confined  in  what  was  derisively 
called  *'  a  tea  kettle."  Fulton's  copper  boiler, 
bubbling  and  hissing  at  that  North  River  pier 
that  morning,  seemed  to  be  throbbing  with  a 
consciousness  of  its  power  and  what  it  was  to 
do  when  it  would  come  to  its  birth.  And  all 
the  material  forces  of  modern  civilization 
awaited  a  touch  of  a  hand  on  a  lever  there 
that  day  to  spring  full-grown  into  being. 

The  craft  that  was  lying  at  the  pier  that 
morning  in  the  early  days  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century  would  have  excited  the  contempt  of 


THE   TRIP  OF  THE  CLERMONT.      26^ 

those  who  saw  that  century's  close.  A  long 
narrow  vessel  with  two  masts  on  each  of 
which  was  to  be  spread  a  sail ;  a  low  cabin  on 
each  side  of  the  deck ;  somewhat  forward  of 
the  center  of  the  vessel  a  revolving  wheel  on 
either  side  with  ten  paddles  like  the  arms  of  a 
wind-mill,  and  these  unenclosed  in  a  wheel 
house ;  and  on  the  pier  a  jeering  crowd  of 
spectators  exchanging  cheap  witticisms  with 
each  other  at  the  expense  of  Fulton  and  his 
associates  on  board,  silent,  but  confident. 

When  the  appointed  hour  had  arrived  the 
vessel  was  cast  loose,  and  the  scofifing  crowd 
became  quiet,  for  they  saw  her  paddles  revolve 
and  the  boat  worked  its  way  out  into  the 
stream.  Soon  after  reaching  the  middle  of 
the  river  there  was  a  break  in  the  machinery 
which  occasioned  alarm,  and  which  took  some 
time  to  repair.  This  was  duly  accomplished 
and  the  vessel  slowly  proceeded  up  the  Hud- 
son,  and  the  crowd  was  quiet  as  the  visionaries 
with  their  jeered-at  boat  propelled  by  a  tea 
kettle  passed  out  of  sight. 

The  trip  excited  great  interest  along  the 
river  and  some  alarm,  especially  at  night,  as  it 
was  thought  to  be  a  vessel  on  fire.  Dry  pine 
wood  was  used  in  the  furnace  and  its  light 
illuminated  the  sky  for  miles.  The  boat  left 
the  pier  in  New  York  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  Monday,  August  3rd,  and  reached 


270  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES, 

Clermont  (opposite  Saugerties),  the  seat  of 
Chancellor  Livingston,  at  one  o'clock,  on 
Tuesday.  The  one  hundred  and  ten  miles 
had  been  covered  in  just  twenty-four  hours. 
Here  the  boat  was  anchored  in  mid-stream 
and  Fulton  went  ashore  to  spend  the  night 
with  Livingston,  while  Captain  Brink,  at  his 
father's  on  the  opposite  bank,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Saw  creek,  came  to  redeem  his  promise 
and  take  his  wife  to  Albany  in  the  boat  driven 
by  a  tea  kettle. 

Anchor  was  raised  on  Wednesday  morning 
at  nine  o'clock  and  Albany  reached  that  after- 
noon at  four  so  that  the  actual  traveling  time 
had  been  thirty-one  hours.  The  next  morn- 
ing at  nine  the  return  began  and  Saugerties 
was  not  made  until  six  in  the  evening — nine 
hours.  Here  they  anchored  for  the  night  and 
left  for  New  York  at  seven  on  Friday  morn- 
ing, which  was  reached  at  four  that  afternoon, 
or  in  nine  hours,  the  whole  return  trip  in 
eighteen  hours  of  actual  traveling.  Both  on 
the  trip  to  Albany  and  upon  the  return  the 
wind  had  been  dead  ahead  and  no  benefit 
could  be  derived  from  the  sails. 

It  is  a  fact  but  little  known  that  Fulton  had 
named  the  craft  "  Experiment  "  and  it  was  not 
until  her  return  to  New  York  and  her  paddle- 
wheels  had  been  enclosed  and  cabins  and 
other   accommodations  provided   for  carrying 


THE   TRIP  OF  THE  CLERMONT.      271 

passengers  that  the  name  "■  Clermont "  was 
substituted.  By  the  latter  name  she  has 
always  been  known. 

It  is  a  striking  comment  on  the  lack  of  news 
enterprise  in  those  days  that  the  Albany  jour- 
nals contained  no  notice  of  this  trial  trip. 
The  vessel  arrived  in  Albany  on  her  second 
trip  on  Saturday,  September  5th,  1807.  The 
Albany  Gazette  of  that  date  notes  in  an 
obscure  corner  of  an  extra,  without  flourishes ; 
''  The  steamboat  which  left  New  York  on 
Friday  morning  arrived  at  Albany  on  Satur- 
day, having  twenty-four  passengers  on  board." 
It  left  on  Monday  morning  following  with 
forty  ladies  and  gentlemen  as  passengers.  On 
October  1st  following  the  New  York  Evening 
Post  announced  that  the  steamboat  arrived 
from  Albany  with  sixty  passengers  in  twenty- 
eight  hours.  She  left  New  York  next  day  at 
ten  o'clock  against  tide  and  a  strong  head 
wind,  ran  foul  of  a  sloop  eighteen  miles  up 
which  tore  away  one  of  her  paddle  wheels, 
and  after  various  detentions  arrived  in  Albany 
on  the  evening  of  October  4th,  at  ten  o'clock, 
with  ninety  passengers,  having  forced  her  way 
up  against  a  constant  wind  with  one  paddle 
wheel. 

She  was  now  put  on  the  regular  course  to 
Albany  for  freight  and  passengers.  The  writer 
has  in   his  possession   the   following  letter  of 


272  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

instructions    written    to   his    grandfather    by 
Robert  Fulton  : 

New  York,  Oct.  9,  1807. 
Capt.  Brink  :  — 

Sir — Inclosed  is  the  number  of  voyages  which  is 
intended  the  Boat  should  run  this  season.  You  may 
have  them  pubhshed  in  the  Albany  papers. 

As  she  is  strongly  man'd  and  every  one  except 
Jackson  under  your  command,  you  must  insist  on 
each  one  doing  his  duty  or  turn  him  on  shore  and 
put  another  in  his  place.  Everything  must  be  kept 
in  order,  everything  in  its  place,  and  all  parts  of  the 
Boat  scoured  and  clean.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  tell 
men  to  do  a  thing,  but  stand  over  them  and  make 
them  do  it.  One  pair  of  quick  and  good  eyes  is 
worth  six  pair  of  hands  in  a  commander.  If  the 
Boat  is  dirty  and  out  of  order  the  fault  shall  be 
yours.  Let  no  man  be  Idle  when  there  is  the  least 
thing  to  do,  and  make  them  move  quick. 

Run  no  risques  of  any  kind  when  you  meet  or 
overtake  vessels  beating  or  crossing  your  way.  Al- 
ways run  under  their  stern  if  there  be  the  least 
doubt  that  you  cannot  clear  their  head  by  50  yards 
or  more.  Give  in  the  accounts  of  Receipts  and  ex- 
penses every  week  to  the  Chancellor.  Your  most 
Obedient 

ROBT.   FULTON. 

The  boat  was  advertised  to  sail  from  "  Paul- 
er's  Hook  ferry  (now  Cortland  Street  Ferry), 
provisions,  good  berths  and  accommodations 
provided."  For  the  first  time  in  history  travel 
on  the  Hudson  river  could  arrange  its  journey- 
ings  with  regard  to  time.     It  was  the   begin- 


THE   TRIP  OF  THE   CLERMONT.      273 

ning  of  the  day  of  time  tables  for  journeys  by 
water.     The  schedule  of  rates  was  as  follows: 

Titne. 

New  York  to  Newburgh $3  oo  i4h 

"       *'       *'  Poughkeepsie     ...  4  oo  lyh 

''       *'       '*  Esopus    (Kingston)  .  5  00  2oh 

*'       '*      '*  Hudson 5  50  3oh 

<*        "       *'  Albany 7  00  36h 

It  was  proposed  to  accomplish  three  entire 
trips  from  Albany  to  New  York  and  back  in 
two  weeks.  On  November  6th  the  boat  car- 
ried over  one  hundred  passengers. 

The  Hudson  Bee  in  June,  1808,  contains 
this  interesting  description  of  the  boat :  **  The 
steamboat  is  certainly  a  curiosity  to  strangers. 
To  see  this  large  and  apparently  unwielded 
machine  without  oars  or  sails,  propelled  through 
the  element  by  invisible  agency  at  a  rate  of 
four  miles  an  hour,  would  be  a  novelty  in  any 
quarter  of  the  globe,  as  we  understand  there  is 
none  in  Europe  that  has  succeeded  in  the  plan 
upon  which  this  is  constructed.  The  length 
of  the  boat  is  160  feet,  and  her  width  in  pro- 
portion so  as  not  to  impede  her  sailing.  The 
machine  which  moves  her  wheels  is  called,  we 
believe,  a  twenty-horse-power  machine,  or  equal 
to  the  power  of  so  many  horses,  and  is  kept  in 
motion  by  steam  from  a  copper  boiler,  8  or  10 
feet  in  length.  The  wheels  are  on  each  side, 
similar  to  those  of  water  mills,  and  are  under 


274  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

cover;  they  are  moved  backwards  or  forwards, 
separately  or  together,  at  pleasure.  Her  prin- 
cipal advantage  is  in  calms,  or  against  head 
winds.  When  the  wind  is  fair,  light  square 
sails,  etc.,  are  employed  to  increase  her  speed. 
Her  accommodations,  52  berths,  (besides  sofas, 
etc.,)  are  said  to  be  equal,  or  superior  to  any 
vessel  that  floats  on  the  river,  and  are 
necessarily  extensive  as  all  the  space  unoccu- 
pied by  the  machinery  is  fitted  in  the  most 
convenient  manner.  Her  route  between  New 
York  and  Albany  is  a  distance  of  160  miles, 
which  she  performs  regularly  twice  a  week, 
sometimes  in  the  short  period  of  32  hours,  ex- 
clusive of  detention  by  taking  in  and  landing 
passengers.  On  her  passage  last  week  she  left 
New  York  with  100  passengers,  upwards,  and 
Albany  with  80  or  90.  Indeed  this  aquatic 
stage,  the  Experiment,  from  Albany,  together 
with  the  public  sloop,  the  Experiment,  of  this 
city,  bid  fair  to  attach  the  greatest  part  of  the 
travelers  which  pass  the  Hudson,  and  afford 
them  accommodations  not  exceeded  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world."  Thus  the  connection 
of  this  town  with  the  introduction  of  steam 
navigation  was  vital  and  close. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

THE   FORMATION   OF  THE   TOWN. 

As  the  history  of  the  town  has  been  brought 
down  to  the  opening  years  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century  a  glance  at  the  development  of  the 
village  of  Saugerties  may  be  of  interest. 

In  chapter  X.  it  was  shown  that  in  1763  but 
twelve,  or  strictly  speaking,  eleven  houses  were 
to  be  found  on  the  north  side  of  the  Esopus 
within  the  corporate  bounds  of  the  village  of 
Saugerties.  To  obtain  this  number  the  house 
of  John  Brink,  Jr.,  at  the  mouth  of  Sawyer's 
creek,  of  Myndert  Mynderse  on  the  river  and 
others  had  to  be  counted.  So  that  in  the 
closely  built  part  of  the  village  there  were  but 
six  houses,  namely:  Those  of  Hiskia  DuBois, 
John  Post,  Abraham  Post,  Jecobus  Post,  Isaac 
Post  and  Petrus  Myer,  Those  occupied  nearly 
the  location  of  where  are  now  the  old  Kiersted 
house,  the  Reformed  Church  parsonage,  James 
Russell's  store,  the  Dawes  residence,  a  site 
under  the  hill  west  of  the  north  end  of  Elm 
street,  and  the  Sherwood  D.  Myer  residence. 
The  house  of  Johannes  Myer  on  the  site  of  the 
present  house  of  J.  M.  Genthner  might  be  added* 


276  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

The  close  of  the  Revolution  in  1783  saw- 
little  change  in  the  village.  About  1792 
Robert  R.  Livingston  became  a  purchaser  of 
lands  hereabout,  and  in  after  years  the  Liv- 
ingston family  owned  considerable  property 
here.  When  Henry  Barclay  began  the  manu- 
facturing interests  in  Saugerties  in  1825  the 
Livingstons  invested  largely  in  real  estate  in 
this  village. 

The  present  town  of  Saugerties  had  always 
been  the  northerly  part  of  Kingston  Commons, 
and  thus  part  of  the  town  of  Kingston.  But 
the  lands  belonging  to  the  Kingston  trustees 
had  been  sold  off,  or  divided,  about  the  year 
1804  and  there  was  little  need  for  the  corpora- 
tion to  continue.  Besides  dissensions  arose 
among  the  trustees  and  complaints  against 
them  became  frequent.  They  finally  and  per- 
manently dissolved  December  13,  1816,  after  a 
corporate  existence  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years.  The  funds  remaining  in  their  hands 
were  divided  and  assigned  to  the  overseers  of 
the  poor  of  the  towns  of  Saugerties,  Esopus 
and  Kingston,  in  which  three  towns  the  lands 
of  the  corporation  lay. 

Previous  chapters  have  spoken  of  the  dis- 
puted questions  of  the  boundaries  of  the  town. 
The  northern  portion  about  Asbury  was  long  a 
scene  of  strife  between  the  town  officials  of 
Catskill  and   Kingston  because  the  boundary 


THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  TOWN.     277 

line  was  indefinite.  About  1746  this  was  de- 
termined. Then  arose  the  question  of  the 
triangle  bounded  by  the  Hudson  river,  the  Saw 
creek  and  the  present  Greene  county  line. 
This  was  what  is  now  West  Camp,  Maiden 
and  the  adjacent  territory.  The  inhabitants 
had  to  attend  to  all  their  civil  duties  as  far  from 
home  as  Albany  and  a  forty  mile  drive  over  the 
miserable  roads  of  those  days  and  as  many 
back  occasioned  much  complaining.  Finally 
the  present  boundary  of  Ulster  county  on  the 
north  from  the  Hudson  westward  was  fixed  in 
1767  and  the  triangle  was  annexed  to  this 
town.  With  the  opening  century  it  became  a 
burden  to  transact  all  town  affairs  as  far  from 
home  as  Kingston  and  a  separate  town  exist- 
ence was  mooted.  Almost  a  dozen  years 
passed  before  this  was  effected.  The  town  of 
Saugerties  was  incorporated  April  5,  181 1,  and 
on  April  16  the  first  town  meeting  was  held  at 
the  house  of  Christian  Fiero  (now  Kaufman's) 
in  Katsbaan  at  which  John  Kiersted  was  chosen 
supervisor;  Capt.  Andrew  Brink  town  clerk; 
Benjamin  Snyder  and  Hezekiah  Wynkoop  over- 
seers of  the  poor;  Cornelius  Wynkoop,  John 
T.  Schoonmaker  and  Samuel  Post  assessors; 
Peter  P.  Post,  Jonah  Valck  and  Abraham 
Wolven  commissioners  of  highways  ;  and  Elisha 
Snyder  collector.  By  successive  elections  Capt. 
Andrew  Brink  was   continued   town  clerk  for 


278  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

the  next  ten  years  and  had  his  office  at  the 
store  of  his  father-in-law,  Cornelius  Persen,  in 
Katsbaan,  as  Capt.  Brink  had  retired  from  the 
command  of  the  steamboat  Clermont,  had  de- 
clined the  offer  of  Livingston  and  Fulton  to 
move  to  Albany  and  act  as  the  Albany  agent 
of  their  steamboat  line,  and  had  taken  charge 
of  Persen's  store. 

The  town  was  laid  out  in  twenty-nine  road 
districts  upon  organization,  and  the  present 
bounds  of  such  districts  largely  follow  the  old 
establishment  both  in  the  number  of  the  dis- 
trict, its  limit  and  the  feature  natural  or  arti- 
ficial which  bounds  it. 

At  the  incorporation  of  the  town  in  i8il 
the  following' families  were  living  in  the  pres- 
ent village  of  Saugerties  :  Jacobus  Post  was 
living  under  the  Canoe  Hill ;  John  Post  on 
what  is  now  the  corner  of  Market  street  and 
Ulster  avenue  (the  Jeremiah  Russell  place) ; 
Peter  Post  on  the  Dawes  property;  Abraham 
Post  where  is  now  the  James  Russell  store, 
and  in  the  building  now  in  the  rear  of  that 
store  and  which  was  then  the  village  tavern  ; 
Cornelius  Post  where  was  lately  the  Gustave 
Peters  saloon  on  Partition  street ;  Petrus 
Myer  where  Sherwood  D.  Myer  now  lives ; 
Abram  Myer  where  J.  M.  Genthner  lives  ;  Peter 
I.  Post  on  the  Fosmyre  place  on  Main  street  ; 
Tjerck  Schoonmaker  on   what   is  now  the  site 


THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  TOWN.     279 

of  the  Whitaker  building  on  Main  street  ; 
John  Burhans  on  the  opposite  corner  where 
the  Davis  shoe  store  stands  ;  Andrew  McFar- 
lane  where  is  now  the  Zeigler  saloon  on  Parti- 
tion street ;  Luke  Kiersted  in  the  old  Kiersted 
house  on  Main  street  ;  Peter  Schoonmaker  at 
the  corner  of  Main  street  and  Maiden  avenue 
where  the  late  Peter  P.  Schoonmaker  lived  ; 
James  Brink  on  the  Brink  homestead  on  the 
river  ;  Garret  Mynderse  in  the  old  stone  house 
at  the  river  now  the  residence  of  F.  T.  Rus- 
sell ;  Isaac  Post  in  the  old  stone  house  on  the 
dock  near  the  mouth  of  the  Esopus ;  Henry 
Heermance,  who  taught  the  village  school, 
lived  on  Partition  street  below  the  Phoenix 
hotel;  Samuel  Schoonmaker  on  the  Finger 
place  on  Market  street  ;  while  Asa  Bigelow, 
who  had  come  to  Saugerties  from  Connecticut 
in  1807,  lived  and  kept  store  on  the  site  of 
Russell  Block. 

Farther  north  were  two  small  houses  owned 
by  Alexander  McKenzie,  one  of  which  burned, 
while  the  other  was  afterwards  long  the  home 
of  Joel  T.  Persons.  The  only  other  house  was 
that  of  Samuel  Wolven  east  of  the  Canoe  Hill, 
where  is  now  the  place  of  James  O.  Beers. 
Thus  in  181 1  there  were  but  twenty-one  houses 
in  this  village  north  of  the  Esopus,  and  this 
was  but  an  increase  of  nine  from  the  twelve 
found   here   in   the   spring  of   1763,  forty-eight 


280  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

years  before.  But  the  progress  was  to  be  more 
rapid  in  immediately  succeeding  years,  even 
before  the  boom  came  in  1825,  with  the  com- 
ing of  Henry  Barclay. 

The  town  was  but  a  year  old  when  the  war 
of  1812  broke  out.  Four  years  before  a  mili- 
tary company  had  been  formed  in  the  town 
which  was  known  as  **  The  Rangers."  It  main- 
tained its  organization  for  thirty  years.  Cap- 
tain John  Clark,  its  commander,  moved  from 
the  town  in  181 1,  and  the  first  lieutenant,  Luke 
Kiersted,  removed  to  Durham,  Greene  county; 
Abraham  Post,  the  ensign,  went  to  Ontario 
county  in  181 1,  leaving  the  company  under  the 
command  of  the  orderly  sergeant,  Peter  Post. 
Then  Captain  Peter  Elmendorf  was  placed  in 
command,  with  Peter  Post  first  lieutenant. 
The  company  was  ordered  to  Plattsburg, 
where  they  served  three  months.  Another 
company  was  formed  from  this  town  and 
Woodstock,  of  which  William  Osterhoudt  died 
in  the  service  ;  Daniel  E.  DuBois  was  killed  in 
a  sortie  at  Fort  Erie,  and  Alexander  McKen- 
zie  died  in  the  service.  The  others  who  served 
from  this  town  were  of  the  garrison  on  Staten 
Island  and  were  the  following:  —  Andrew 
Brink,  James  Brink,  Francis  Brown,  John  H. 
Coon,  Philip  Carle,  John  H.  Carr,  Tjerck  Bur- 
bans,  Andrew  DeWitt,  Jr.,  John  I.  Decker, 
Egbert   Dederick,  John  H.  DuBois,  Jeremiah 


THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  TOWN.     281 

DuBois,  Peter  Elmendorf,  Cornelius  Fiero, 
Joshua  Fiero,  Peter  M.  Fiero,  Peter  Freligh, 
Valentine  Freligh,  John  Hendrick,  Cornelius 
Hoff,  Thomas  Holland,  Abraham  Hommel, 
Andrew  Hommel,  Isaac  Hommel,  John  A. 
Hommel,  Matthew  Hommel,  Levi  Hommel, 
Solomon  Hommel,  Thomas  A.  Houghtahng, 
Henry  Hovenburg,  Alexander  Ingram,  Jacob 
I.  Kipp,  Frederick  Krows,  James  Kortz, 
Solomon  Lewis,  William  Low,  fifer ;  Peter  A. 
Low,  William  Lasher,  Adam  Moose,  Benjamin 
C.  Myer,  Jonathan  C.  Myer,  Peter  D.  Myer, 
Simeon  Myer,  Tjerck  Myer,  Isaac  Myer,  John 
A.  Myer,  Jacob  Mauterstock,  Benjamin  Over- 
bagh,  Garret  Post,  Abraham  I.  Post  Abram 
Post,  Victor  Post  Samuel  Raymond,  John 
Rightmyer,  Robert  Schoonmaker,  Egbert 
Schoonmaker,  Joseph  Schutt,  John  Shute,  Jr., 
George  J.  Sitzer,  Alexander  Snyder,  EHsha 
Snyder,  Martin  Snyder,  Jeremiah  Snyder,  Joel 
Snyder.  Noah  Snyder,  Peter  I.  Snyder,  Zach- 
ariah  Snyder,  Jacob  Staats,  Henry  Stewart, 
Moses  Schutt,  Jeremiah  Teetsell,  drummer; 
John  Teetsell,  Peter  VanKeuren,  Jonas  Van- 
Etten,  Peter  VanVlierden,  Jacob  Valck,  Moses 
Valck,  Aaron  Vedder,  Peter  P.  Whitaker, 
Peter  L.  Winne,  Peter  P.  Winne,  William 
Winne,  Andrew  Wolven,  Evert  H.  Wyn- 
koop,  Henry  Wynkoop,  Admiral  Warren, 
Gunn  Watts,  and  Henry  VanHovenberg.     But 


282  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

the  service  of  those  from  this  town  was  but 
short  as  the  theatre  of  war  was  not  in  this 
vicinity,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  conflict  was 
on  the  ocean  so  largely,  and  the  later  military 
operations  were  around  Washington  and  New 
Orleans. 

Before  this  chapter  is  concluded  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  coming  to  this  town  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Ostrander  in  1812  to  become 
pastor  of  the  church  of  Katsbaan.  Here  he 
continued  for  fifty  years,  or  until  1862.  He 
was  intellectually  the  most  gifted  man,  prob- 
ably, who  ever  resided  in  the  town  and  his 
influence  was  very  great,  especially  during  the 
early  years  of  his  residence.  Through  his 
efforts  a  library  was  established  in  1814  which 
consisted  of  about  seven  hundred  volumes, 
covered  with  leather,  and  which  was  called 
"The  Saugerties  Library."  It  was  kept  in 
Katsbaan  and  some  volumes  of  it  were  in 
existence  as  late  as  1895.  It  was  largely  of 
historical  works  and  travels,  with  volumes  of 
adventure  and  such  works  as  the  "  Spectator." 
Comparatively  little  fiction  was  in  the  library. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

BEGINNING  TO   GROW. 

With  its  incorporation  as  a  town  in  1811 
Saugerties  began  to  grow.  At  that  date  the 
village,  as  was  shown  in  the  last  chapter,  had 
added  to  its  numbers  but  about  nine  houses 
since  1763,  or  in  about  forty-eight  years,  and 
the  rest  of  the  town  had  advanced  but  little  as 
well.  Until  1807  there  had  been  only  two 
churches  in  town,  the  Lutheran  at  West  Camp 
and  the  Reformed  in  Katsbaan.  The  West 
Camp  church  had  had  intermittent  pastor- 
ates before  1800,  and  during  the  existence  of 
the  Katsbaan  church  from  1730  to  1812  there 
had  been  at  various  times  no  less  than  thirty- 
two  years  of  dependence  upon  occasional  ser- 
vices of  such  ministers  as  could  be  obtained  to 
administer  the  sacraments  and  preach  as 
opportunity  was  afforded.  The  Reformed 
church  of  Flatbush  had  been  organized  in  1807 
and  had  increased  the  number  of  the  churches 
of  the  town  at  its  organization  to  three.  In 
May,  1 8 12,  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Ostrander  was 
called  to  become  the  pastor  of  the  Church  of 
Katsbaan.      He    was    immediately    an    intel- 


284  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

lectual  and  moral  force  in  the  town.  Within 
three  years  he  had  rebuilt  the  church  in  Kats- 
baan ;  had  begun  religious  services  at  Sauger- 
ties,  using  for  the  next  fourteen  years  the  ball- 
room of  the  hotel  of  Frederick  Krows  ;  had 
begun  services  at  Plattekill  in  conjunction 
with  the  pastor  of  the  Flatbush  church,  and 
was  conducting  like  services  at  Blue  Moun- 
tain, Saxton,  Maiden  and  elsewhere.  He 
organized  the  first  Sunday  school  in  the  town 
in  1818;  he  started  a  town  library  of  seven 
hundred  volumes  in  Katsbaan  in  1814  and 
almost  as  soon  as  he  came  into  the  town 
agitated  the  question  of  a  classical  school. 
That  year  (1812)  witnessed  the  organization  of 
the  State  system  of  district  schools.  Under  it 
the  town  was  divided  into  twelve  school  dis- 
tricts. Dr.  Ostrander  earnestly  desired  that  a 
classical  school  be  formed  to  give  an  advanced 
education.  His  wishes  were  not  destined  to 
an  immediate  realization.  But  such  a  school 
was  organized  in  Maiden  in  the  early  30's  and 
was  conducted  by  Merritt  Bradford,  of  Connec- 
ticut. It  preceded  the  organization  of  the 
Saugerties  Academy,  which  was  instituted 
about  1855  when  the  congregation  moved  from 
the  old  brick  church  into  the  present  Reformed 
Church  in  this  village.  While  speaking  of  this 
church  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  services  in 
Dutch    were    never   held    there.     At    the   old 


BEGINNING   TO  GROW.  285 

stone   church   in    Katsbaan    none    other   were 
held  until  the  pastorate  of  Domine  Van  Vlier- 
den  closed  in  1804.     With  the  coming  of  Dem- 
arest  in  1808  English  services  began  and  when 
Dr.  Ostrander  became  pastor  in   1812  he  alter- 
nated the  services  between  the  two  languages. 
When  he  began  to  preach  in  Saugerties  in  the 
ball-room    of   Frederick    Krows  he   did    so   in 
English,  with  occasional  Dutch,  leaving  those 
who  desired    Dutch    preaching  to   have   it   at 
Katsbaan.     As  the  older  generation  died  less 
and  less  was  had  until  in  1825  it  ceased  alto- 
gether.    After  that  date  Dr.  Ostrander  held  an 
occasional  Dutch  service,  but  it  was  usually  at 
a  school  house  in  the  outlying  parts  of  his  con- 
gregation   on   a  Sunday  afternoon.     The  last 
Dutch  sermon  in  the  town  of  Saugerties  was 
preached  at  the  Blue  Mountain  church  about 
1886  by  its  pastor,  the  Rev.  Abram  G.  Lansings 
and    was    thoroughly    enjoyed    by   his    many 
parishioners  who  were   able  to  understand  it, 
as  well  as  by  many  from  surrounding  congre- 
gations.    It   is  an   interesting   question   if   an 
audience  of  three  hundred  could  be  gathered 
from    our    town    population    of   ten    thousand 
to-day   who    could    understand    a    sermon    in 
Dutch,  even  if  it  were  in  the  colloquial  dialect 
spoken  as  late  as  1850. 

To  what  was  said  above  concerning  the  or- 
ganization of  schools  it  should  be  added  that 


286  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

from  the  very  first  settlement  of  the  town  the 
education  of  the  young  was  attended  to.  One 
of  the  earliest  of  these  chapters  told  how  the 
Palatines  of  17  lo  built  a  school  house  even  be- 
fore they  built  dwellings  for  themselves.  And 
our  glimpse  in  former  chapters  of  the  conditions 
of  things  in  1763  showed  school  houses  in 
every  settled  locality  within  our  borders.  It 
was  there  noticed  that  when  the  educational 
act  of  1812  went  into  force  the  trustees  of  the 
Katsbaan  district  (No.  6)  received  from  the 
school  board  of  that  place  a  deed  for  the  school 
house  and  site,  and  ever  since  the  school  has 
been  conducted  an  that  spot  where  for  years 
before  the  youth  had  been  trained ;  and  it 
should  be  noticed  that  when  the  Kingston 
Academy,  which  had  been  founded  in  1774, 
was  incorporated  in  1795,  the  third  name  of 
incorporators  in  the  list  was  that  of  the  Rev. 
Petrus  Van  Vlierden,  pastor  of  the  Katsbaan 
church. 

From  its  formation  as  a  town  Saugerties  be- 
gan to  be  actively  alive.  The  last  chapter 
spoke  of  Asa  Bigelow  as  a  resident  of  the  vil- 
lage and  keeping  store  where  is  now  Russell 
Block.  He  had  begun  the  shipment  of  the 
produce  of  the  town  to  New  York  markets. 
But  ingress  and  exit  by  the  Esopus  creek, 
which  was  full  of  sand  bars,  was  very  uncer- 
tain, and  in   18 13  he  removed  to  Bristol  (now 


BEGINNING   TO  GROW.  2S7 

Maiden),  where  he  had  purchased  a  village  site 
of  the  Wolven  heirs  in  1808  and  built  a  frame 
store.  In  18 14,  with  Samuel  Isham,  he  built 
the  brick  store  so  long  known  as  ''The  Isham 
Store,"  and  four  years  later  the  stone  store, 
now  the  of^ce  of  the  Bluestone  Company. 
Thus  before  1820  the  village  of  Maiden  had 
entered  upon  its  prosperous  career,  and  was  to 
become  the  chief  centre  of  the  bluestone  in- 
dustry when  the  immense  quarries  would  be 
discovered  during  the  next  decade.  To  the 
Wolven  lands  Bigelow  had  added  by  purchase 
in  1813  a  part  of  the  Schutt  patent,  so  that  the 
growing  village  had  an  unrestricted  oppor- 
tunity. 

Although  Bigelow  withdrew  from  Saugerties 
village  in  those  early  years  of  the  town  to 
found  Bristol,  or  Maiden,  others  came  to  take 
his  place.  In  the  spring  of  1814,  Jeremiah 
Russell,  who  had  been  keeping  a  country  store 
in  Asbury,  removed  to  Saugerties  and  engaged 
in  the  business  of  a  merchant  and  forwarder, 
shipping  to  New  York  large  quantities  of  wood, 
tan  bark,  staves  and  lumber.  He  built  a  num- 
ber of  sloops,  and  contiuued  in  business  until 
1833,  when,  disposing  of  it  to  his  son,  William 
F.  Russell,  he  became  a  private  banker. 
George  A.  Gay  also  engaged  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits in  those  earlier  years  and  continued  a 
merchant  on  the  site  of  the  present  "  Corner 


288  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Drug  Store  "  until  he  was  elected  county  clerk 
in  1840. 

Nor  were  these  the  only  centres  of  business 
in  the  town  before  1820.  Aside  from  Persen's 
store  in  Katsbaan,  which  had  been  the  prin- 
cipal one  for  fifty  years,  and  the  store  at  As- 
bury,  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  about 
1820  William  Adams  opened  one  at  West 
Camp,  and  for  ten  years  Glasco  had  been 
growing  into  notice.  About  the  time  of  the 
organization  of  the  town  a  company  had  been 
formed  for  the  manufacture  of  glass  in  Wood- 
stock, and  it  was  known  as  "  The  Woodstock 
Glass  Company."  Although  their  factory  was 
not  within  the  bounds  of  the  town  of  Sauger- 
ties,  their  shipments  were  made  across  it.  The 
company  built  its  docks  on  the  Hudson  below 
Saugerties  and  built  a  road  from  the  river  to 
Bristol,  in  the  town  of  Woodstock.  This  road 
has  ever  since  been  known  as  "  The  Glasco 
Turnpike."  Upon  its  storehouse  on  the  river 
was  painted  in  large  letters  **  The  Glass  Co. 
Store  House,"  and  by  dropping  the  final'' s  " 
from  the  name  the  locality  became  known  as 
Glasco.  The  company  had  hard  sledding  from 
the  first.  Dissensions  arose,  the  transporta- 
tion of  raw  material  and  finished  products  over 
more  than  ten  miles  of  very  rough  and  hilly 
roads  cost  more  than  the  advantage  of  unlim- 
ited fuel  for  the    furnaces  was   worth,  and  the 


BEGINNING   TO  GROW.  289 

company  became  loaded  with  debts.  On  the 
17th  of  August,  1 816,  Isaac  Honfield  recovered 
judgment  against  the  glass  company  for  $76,- 
018.56,  and  an  execution  seized  the  property. 
Despite  the  litigation  an  effort  was  made  for 
years  to  keep  the  enterprise  going.  At  last  the 
burdens  became  so  heavy  that  its  life  was 
crushed  out,  leaving  no  memorials  of  it  but  a 
local  n^me  for  a  road  and  for  a  village.  The 
latter  has  been  perpetuated  by  the  inexhaust- 
ible deposits  of  blue  clay  for  the  manufacture 
of  brick.  Here  uncounted  millions  have  been 
made  each  year  for  more  than  half  a  century. 

There  remains  one  other  event  of  the  decade 
ending  1820,  which  requires  our  notice.  It  is 
the  incorporation  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Saugerties.  A  certificate  was  filed 
bearing  date  August  12,  181 5,  but  the  church 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  organized  until  the 
the  spring  of  1828,  when  the  lot  on  which  the 
church  now  stand  was  bought  of  Henry  Bar- 
clay on  March  19,  for  $200,  During  the  next 
year  the  church  was  built. 

The  date  of  the  first  Methodist  services  in 
the  town  is  not  as  clear  as  it  might  be.  The 
Rev.  John  Crawford,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, who  came  from  Westchester  county,  is 
said  to  have  preached  in  a  barn  which  stood 
near  the  Exchange  hotel  in  the  village  of  Saug- 
erties, as  early  as   1794,  and  also  to  have  held 


290  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

services  in  Asbury  as  early  as  1800.  From 
these  dates  services  were  occasionally  and 
sometimes  frequently  held  in  private  houses, 
with  camp  meetings  annually  in  various  parts 
of  the  town  down  to  the  year  when  the  incor- 
porating certificate  was  filed.  Whatever  the 
date  of  the  first  Methodist  services,  the  Meth- 
odist Church  of  the  town,  so  strong  in  num- 
bers and  influence  in  our  day,  may  properly  be 
said  to  have  begun  in  the  decade  under  con- 
sideration in  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

BUILDING  THE  FACTORIES  AND   OPENING 
THE   QUARRIES. 

In  the  last  chapter  we  considered  the  growth 
of  the  town  from  its  organization  in  i8ii 
through  the  first  decade  of  its  existence.  That 
growth  was  rapid  and  steady.  But  the  second 
decade  was  to  witness  a  boom.  This  had  two 
causes— the  beginning  of  manufacturing  and 
the  opening  of  bluestone  quarries. 

Petrus  Burhans  and  others  conveyed  to  John 
Brink  and  Robert  R.  Livingston,  under  date 
of  December  i,  1790,  about  one  hundred  and 
five  acres  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Esopus  in  the  village  of  Saugerties.  The  in- 
terest of  Brink  therein  was  sold  to  Liv- 
ingston January  26,  1792,  and  October  i, 
1806.  Thus  Robert  R.  Livingston  became  a 
landholder  here  and  his  holdings  were  increased 
until  about  1820  he  owned  a  large  portion  of 
the  north  side  of  the  Esopus. 

On  the  first  day  of  September,  1825,  the 
founder  of  the  village  and  its  industries  ap- 
peared. Henry  Barclay  that  day  purchased 
for  $7,000  of    Tjerck   Schoonmaker,  Jr.,  and 


292  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Jane,  his  wife,  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of 
land.  Four  months  later,  January  i,  1826, 
he  completed  his  scheme  by  purchasing  of 
Robert  L.  Livingston  for  $28,250,  forty-eight 
and  one-fourth  acres  on  the  north  side  of  the 
creek,  a  small  tract  on  the  south  side  and  ten 
acres  on  an  island  in  the  Esopus  called  "  Per- 
sen's  Island."  Barclay  had  now  both  sides  of 
the  stream,  including  the  lower  falls  and  the 
upper  at  Stony  Point.  He  constructed  a  dam 
on  the  lower  falls,  cut  the  raceway  through  the 
rocks,  and  began  to  build  the  iron  mill  and  the 
paper  mill.  The  foundations  for  both  these 
enterprises  did  not  await  the  purchase  of  the 
Livingston  property,  but  began  in  1825  in  the 
same  month  in  which  Barclay  secured  the  land 
of  Schoonmaker.  In  1827  the  Ulster  Iron 
Company  was  formed  and  took  possession  of 
the  iron  mills  in  that  year.  John  Simmons 
signed  a  contract  with  the  company  April  18, 
1828  as  manager.  Some  attempts  had  already 
begun  at  iron  making,  but  Simmons  remodeled 
the  furnaces,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1828  oper- 
ations started  in  earnest.  For  sixty  years  this 
mill  was  the  principal  industry  of  this  town. 
It  is  not  purposed  in  this  history  to  tell  the 
story  of  the  iron  mill.  The  writer  would  only 
call  attention  to  the  quality  of  the  iron  made 
by  an  incident  of  the  year  1840.  The  Navy 
Department  desired  chain  cable  of  iron  of  ten- 


FACTORIES  AND   QUARRIES.  293 

acity  disproportionate  to  the  size  of  the  iron  it 
was  proposed  to  use.  A  test  was  ordered,  and 
the  links  were  to  be  made  of  iron  two  and  one- 
eiehth  inches  in  circumference.  It  was  made 
in  the  Washington  navy  yard,  with  President 
Young,  of  the  Ulster  Iron  Company,  present. 
The  cable  stood  the  test.  He  then  asked  that 
it  be  subjected  to  twice  the  strain.  It  stood 
this.  He  then  requested  a  greater  strain. 
The  officials  demurred  that  it  would  break  the 
chain.  Mr.  Young  insisted,  saying  that  he 
would  risk  the  chain  if  they  would  the  ma- 
chine. They  consented,  and  the  test  was 
applied.  The  links  were  drawn  together  until 
the  chain  resembled  a  solid  bar  of  iron,  and 
finally  the  machine  broke  down  under  the 
terrific  force.  The  naval  officials  hung  up  the 
chain  as  a  specimen  of  the  iron  America  could 
produce. 

With  the  building  of  the  iron  mill  Barclay 
had  laid  the  foundation  for  the  paper  mill, 
which  was  put  in  operation  in  October,  1827. 
Upon  the  death  of  Barclay  in  185 1  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  J.  B.  Sheffield  &  Co.  This 
book  is  not  to  tell  the  history  of  the  paper 
mill,  which  continued  to  turn  out  an  increased 
product  until^it  suspended,  more  than  sixty 
years  later.  As  an  element  in  the  growth  of 
the  town  it  ranks  next  to  the  manufacture  of 
iron. 


294  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Three  years  later,  in  1830,  Isaac  McGaw 
erected  a  building  for  the  manufacture  of 
calico  prints  on  the  north  side  of  the  Esopus, 
and  below  the  falls,  paying  Henry  Barclay  a 
rental  of  $850  a  year  for  the  water  privilege. 
It  was  never  used  for  the  purpose,  and  in  1835 
Charles  Ripley  bought  and  enlarged  the  works 
and  began  the  manufacture  of  white  lead. 
This  was  continued  until  after  the  beginning 
of  the  civil  war  of  1861-65,  when  the  works 
were  abandoned.  In  this  connection  the  white 
lead  works  at  Glenerie  should  be  mentioned, 
which  were  also  begun  in  1835  and  were  finally 
closed  only  with  the  absorption  of  the  Ulster 
White  Lead  Company  into  the  lead  trust. 

With  these  industries,  whose  motive  power 
was  derived  from  the  almost  exhaustless 
power  of  the  falls  in  the  Esopus,  the  town 
grew  into  the  most  active  and  prosperous 
place  in  the  Hudson  river  valley.  The  village 
was  chartered  as  the  village  of  Ulster  in  1 831, 
and  continued  as  such  until  1855,  when  it  was 
re-incorporated  as  the  village  of  Saugerties. 
The  scope  of  this  work  will  not  cover  the 
organization  of  the  banks,  fire  companies,  the 
origin  of  the  steamboat  lines,  etc.,  of  the  town. 
These  have  followed  the  enterprise  we  have 
mentioned  as  such  always  follow.  We  are 
compelled  to  deal  only  with  the  origin  of  what 
distinctively   made    the    town    of    Saugerties, 


FACTORIES  AND  QUARRIES.  295 

pausing  solely  to  speak  of  the  press.  The 
first  paper  published  in  Saugerties  was  the 
Ulster  Palladium,  by  P.  J.  Fish  and  C.  Frary 
in  1828.  The  second  was  the  Ulster  Star,  in 
i833»  by  William  Cully.  Both  died  in  their 
infancy.  The  third,  the  Ulster  Telegraph,  by 
Solomon  S.  Hommel  in  1846,  is  still  published 
as  the  Saugerties  Telegraph. 

Here  we  must  notice  the  tanning  industry 
which  was  largely  carried  on  across  the  town 
during  the  first  half  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, but  which  was  not  located  distinctively 
within  the  town  except  the  tannery  of  Peter 
B.  Myer  in  this  village,  and  the  Shaler  tannery 
at  West  Saugerties.  All  this  has  passed  away 
with  the  passing  of  the  hemlock  forests.  Also 
just  speak  of  the  manufacture  of  powder  on 
the  Plattekill  and  Cauterskill  by  the  Laflins, 
although  the  latter  mill  was  just  over  the 
county  line.  Nevertheless  the  powder  was 
shipped  through  Saugerties.  This  industry 
was  established  in  Fish  Creek  by  Matthew 
Laflin  in  1832  and  developed  into  the  great 
Laflin  &  Rand  Powder  Company.  The  bus- 
iness was   finally   removed   from   the   town   in 

1874. 

The  story  of  the  town  includes  the  dis- 
covery and  development  of  the  blue  stone 
quarries.  Silas  Brainard  came  to  this  town  in 
1 83 1  to  build  for  Henry  Barclay  a  bridge  over 


296  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

the  Esopus  in  tliis  village.  He  heard  of  the 
opening  of  a  flagging-stone  quarry  at  Coey- 
mans,  and  went  to  investigate.  He  found  the 
stone  to  be  the  same  as  he  had  seen  cropping 
out  on  the  farm  of  John  Valkenburgh  at 
Unionville.  Returning  to  town  he  purchased 
twenty  acres  of  Valkenburgh  for  $2,000  and 
opened  a  quarry.  The  following  year  his 
nephew,  Nelson  Brainard,  purchased  the 
remainder  of  the  Valkenburgh  farm,  and 
engaged  in  the  business.  Meanwhile  Elisha 
Parks  had  found  the  same  blue  flagging-stone 
at  Quarryville,  and  the  industry  rapidly 
extended.  This  town  became  the  centre  of 
the  business  in  the  United  States,  and  from 
Maiden  alone  more  than  $1,000,000  of  dressed 
blue  stone  was  shipped  per  annum  for  years. 

A  large  industry  to-day  is  brick  making. 
Its  development  within  forty  years  at  Glasco 
has  been  enormous.  Preceding  chapters  have 
spoken  of  this  and  of  the  earlier  yard  on  the 
Beaver  creek. 

We  have  considered  the  nationalities  of  the 
first  settlers.  The  earliest  comers  were  the 
Dutch,  with  a  few  Huguenot  families  and  one 
or  two  English.  In  1710  the  Palatine  colony 
at  West  Camp  brought  in  a  preponderance  of 
Rhineland  Germans.  More  families  of  Eng- 
lish descent  came  in  during  the  next  one  hun- 
dred years   from  New   England,   but  at    their 


FACTORIES  AND  QUARRIES.  2^7 

close  in  1811,  when  the  town  was  organized, 
the  proportion  was  practically  the  same.  In 
the  decade  beginning  with  the  coming  of 
Henry  Barclay  in  1825,  a  great  change  came 
over  the  town  as  strong  immigration  affected 
its  population.  Many  English  iron-makers 
settled  here,  and  many  Irish.  But  far  more 
of  the  latter  came  when  the  quarries  were 
opened  and  Quarryville  was  settled.  The  lead 
mills  brought  many  Germans  from  elsewhere 
in  Germany  than  the  Palatinate,  and  less  akin 
to  the  Dutch.  The  making  of  brick  in  recent 
years  has  added  hundreds  of  Italians.  So  that 
to-day  it  is  probable  that  the  descendants  of 
the  original  Dutch  and  Palatines  are  not  one- 
half  of  the  population. 

The  last  chapter  said  that  in  181 1  there 
were  no  churches  in  town,  but  the  Reformed 
at  Katsbaan  and  Flatbush  and  the  Lutheran 
at  West  Camp.  And  it  told  of  the  organiza- 
tion ot  the  Methodist  church  in  18 15  in  this 
village.  During  the  '20's  the  Methodist  church 
at  Asbury  was  built.  Before  1840  the  influx 
of  new  elements  of  population  had  called  for 
the  organization  of  Trinity  Episcopal  in  Sau- 
gerties  in  1831  ;  St.  Mary's  Catholic  in  Sau- 
gerties  in  1832;  the  Baptist  in  Saugerties  in 
1833  ;  the  Presbyterian  in  Maiden  in  1834;  the 
Reformed  in  Plattekill  in  1838;  and  the  sep- 
aration of  the  original  Reformed  congregation 


298  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

into  Katsbaan  with  the  stone  church  there, 
and  that  of  Saugerties  in  the  village  of  Ulster 
with  the  brick  church  which  had  been  built  in 
1827.  This  division  was  made  in  1839.  Many 
other  churches  have  been  incorporated  since 
that  day,  but  later  than  the  period  under  con- 
sideration. The  consecutive  story  of  the 
origin  and  development  of  the  town  of  Sau- 
gerties has  been  as  closely  covered  as  the 
scope  of  this  work  will  permit  it  and  it  has 
been  brought  down  to  a  date  late  enough  to 
take  in  all  the  elements  that  have  entered  into 
the  making  of  the  town. 


CHAPTER    XLII, 

MILITARY    LEADERS. 

Among  the    names   of    the   leaders    of    the 
patriots   of  the   Revolution  in    Ulster  county 
there  is   none  shining   with   a   brighter  lustre 
than    that  of   Colonel    Johannis   Snyder,  who 
commanded  the  First  Ulster  Regiment  during 
the  war.     The  public  services  of  George  Clin- 
ton, James  Clinton  and  Charles  DeWitt  have 
received   recognition,   but  little  has  been  said 
of  those  of  Colonel  Snyder.     There  are  a  few 
allusions  to  his  services  in  some  of  the  papers 
of  The  Ulster  County  Historical  Society  and 
in   Sylvester's    History  of  Ulster   County,  and 
Schoonmaker's    History   of    Kingston   speaks 
of  him  at  some  length.      Most  of   what    has 
been    published  is  based   upon   the  paper  on 
'' Vaughan's     Expedition,"     read     before    the 
historical   society   by    Col.   George   W.    Pratt, 
October  i6,  i860.     This  paper  states  that  "  na 
descendant  of  Col.  Snyder  remains  in  Kings- 
ton,"  which   was  an  error  that  has   been  per- 
petuated by  speakers  and   writers  ever  since,, 
for   a    number   of    families    in    that    city   are 
descended  from  him,  and  many  in  this  town. 


300  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Colonel  Johannis  Snyder  was  a  son  of 
George  Snyder  and  Christina  Theunis,  his 
wife,  and  was  born  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Saugerties,  January  4th,  1720.  George  Snyder 
was  one  of  the  Palatines  who  settled  at  West 
Camp.  He  removed  to  Kingston.  Here  for 
forty  years,  and  up  to  the  time  of  his  death 
the  colonel  served  as  justice  of  the  peace  and 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

This  sketch  is  especially  concerned  with  the 
military  record  of  Colonel  Snyder.  The  ap- 
pointment, in  August,  1775,  of  George  Clinton 
as  brigadier-general,  occasioned  deep  feeling 
among  the  officers  of  the  Northern  Regiment 
of  Ulster  county,  and  they  united  in  a  protest 
against  being  superseded.  Various  attempts 
to  settle  were  unsuccessfully  made.  Finally 
the  First  Regiment  was  officered,  on  May  i, 
1776,  with  Colonel  Snyder  as  colonel.  It  re- 
ported 472  officers  and  men.  In  April  of  that 
year  he  had  been  elected  Delegate  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  and  the  regiment  was  not 
called  to  active  service  until  Sept.  i,  1776,  after 
the  battles  of  Long  Island  and  Harlem  had 
put  the  British  in  possession  of  New  York 
city.  He  was  then  directed  to  proceed  to 
Fort  Montgomery  in  the  Highlands,  opposite 
Anthony's  Nose,  to  take  command  of  The 
Levies.  Here  he  arrived  September  27.  The 
three  months  for  which  his  regiment  had  been 


MILITARY  LEADERS.  301 

called  out  expired  November  30,  and  as  offen- 
sive operations  by  the  British  during  the  winter 
were  impossible  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Sny- 
der returned  home  at  the  end  of  its  term  of 
service. 

On  May  5th,  1777,  a  great  excitement  was 
occasioned  in  Kingston  by  the  act  of  Colonel 
Snyder  in  taking  into  custody  Charles  DeWitt, 
a  member  of  the  Convention  which  formed  the 
first  constitution  of  this  State.  The  name  of 
Charles  DeWitt  had  been  included  in  a  list  of 
delinquents  in  serving  in  the  militia,  and  who 
had  not  furnished  a  substitute.  By  the  orders 
of  Colonel  Snyder  all  such  were  taken  into 
custody.  DeWitt  claimed  exemption  because 
of  his  position  as  member  of  the  Convention. 
The  Convention  sided  with  him  and  reported 
that  Colonel  Snyder  was  **  guilty  of  a  high 
breach  of  the  privilege  of  the  Convention." 
He  was  ordered  before  it,  but  did  not  go. 
General  George  Clinton  wrote  a  long  letter 
defending  Colonel  Snyder  and  the  matter  was 
dropped.  His  regiment  is  shown  by  the  Clin- 
ton papers,  just  published,  to  have  been  at 
Fort  Montgomery  as  early  as  June  4th  of  this 
year  (1777)  under  his  command  until  the  or- 
ganization of  the  State  government  July  30, 
1777,  when  Colonel  Snyder  took  his  seat  as 
Member  of  Assembly  in  the  first  legislature 
chosen  in  the  new  State.     To  this  office  he  was 


302  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

repeatedly  re-elected  and  sat  as  such  in  the 
legislatures  of  1777,  1778,  1786,  1787  and  1791. 

The  year  1777  was  the  most  momentous  in 
the  history  of  this  State.  It  was  at  the  darkest 
hour  of  the  Revolution  and  the  commonwealth 
was  struggling  to  the  birth.  On  the  north 
Burgoyne  was  preparing  to  cut  the  revolting 
colonies  in  twain  along  the  line  of  the  lakes 
and  the  Hudson.  On  the  south  Howe  and 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  were  preparing  to  co-oper- 
ate, and  all  the  energies  of  the  patriots  were 
aroused  to  defend  the  northern  frontier  and 
the  passes  of  the  Hudson.  Colonel  Snyder's 
activity  was  untiring.  He  was  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment  in  the  Highlands  ;  he  was  assigned 
by  Gen.  George  Clinton  to  almost  every  court- 
martial  convened  to  try  Tories  who  were  active 
everywhere,  and  whom  our  troops  were  seizing 
on  every  hand  ;  he  was  a  member  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Safety  ;  he  was  Member  of  Assembly  and 
in  all  these  capacities,  executive,  legislative 
and  judicial  his  strong  common  sense  made 
him  easily  first.  None  could  be  more  energetic 
than  he  when  action  was  required,  and  none 
more  calmly  poised  when  conflicting  evidence 
was  to  be  weighed  and  decided  on,  and  the 
opinion  of  none  was  more  highly  esteemed  as 
measures  were  to  be  proposed  for  enactment 
into  laws. 

As    before   stated,  Colonel  Snyder   left   his 


MILITARY  LEADERS.  303 

regiment  to  meet  the  first  legislature,  and  after 
its  prorogation  to  serve  on  the  Council  of 
Safety  it  appointed.  For  Gov.  Clinton  had 
prorogued  the  Legislature  in  view  of  the  ap- 
proach of  the  British.  So  Colonel  Snyder  was 
at  Kingston  when  Gen.  Vaughan  landed  to 
destroy  it.  Gov.  Clinton  had  written  to  the 
colonel  committing  to  him  its  defense.  But 
with  what  ?  He  could  find  but  five  small  can- 
non and  no  troops.  They  were  either  with 
Governor  Clinton  defending  the  Highlands,  or 
at  Saratoga  facing  Burgoyne.  All  told,  in- 
cluding old  men  and  boys,  not  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  and  these  poorly  armed  responded  to 
his  call.  Colonel  Snyder  threw  up  a  hasty 
earthwork  at  Ponckhockie,  and  one  near  the 
present  site  of  the  City  Hall  and  planted  his 
toy  cannon.  But  the  British,  numbering  about 
2,000,  soon  drove  away  the  defenders.  The 
story  of  the  destruction  of  Kingston  is  so  fa- 
miliar that  it  need  not  be  told  here. 

After  Governor  Clinton  withdrew  to  New 
Windsor  and  the  Highlands  with  his  forces 
Colonel  Snyder  was  left  here  in  charge  of  the 
remaining  troops  until  he  went  to  Poughkeep- 
sie  to  meet  with  the  Legislature,  Jan.  5,  1778. 

As  spring  approached  the  people  of  Kingston 
began  to  take  measures  to  rebuild  the  settle- 
ment. But  they  needed  assistance.  The  story 
is  familiar  of  the  noble  contribution  made  by 


304  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  and  the  help  of  Robert  R. 
Livingston.  The  official  assistance  received  is 
less  so.  Governor  Clinton  assigned  Colonel 
Snyder  and  a  part  of  his  regiment  to  Kingston, 
and  he  energetically  took  hold  of  the  work 
with  the  men  of  his  detachment. 

Things  assumed  new  life  and  energy  when 
the  colonel  directed  them  and  the  town  rap- 
idly  arose    from    its    ruins.       But    new   tasks 
awaited  Colonel  Snyder.     The  battle  of  Oris- 
kany  in  August,  1777,  and  the  bloody  slaugh- 
ter of  the  Indians  who  ambushed  the  patriot 
troops  on  that  hard-fought  field    aroused   the 
savages  to  vengeance.     Everywhere  the  settle- 
ments on  the  frontier  suffered  greatly  during 
the  next  three  years.     Wyoming,  Cherry  Val- 
ley and  Minisink  are  witnesses  to  the  cruelty 
of  the  fiendish  foe.     It  is  to  the  credit  of  Col. 
Snyder  that   no   descent   was  made  in  Ulster, 
county  upon   the  exposed  settlements.     Gov- 
ernor  Clinton    committed    the    defense  of  its 
north-west    frontier  to  him  as   he   committed 
the  south-west  to  Colonel  Cantine.     The   ene- 
mies were  not  the  Indians  alone.     More  blood- 
thirsty than  all  were  the  Tories  who  were  liv- 
ing  all    around    among    the   patriots.     While 
with  his  regiment   in   the   service  during    the 
years  1776  and  1777  Colonel  Snyder  had  been 
a  member  of  most  of  the  courts  martial  held 
when   Tories  had  been   tried,  and   when   their 


MILITARY  LEADERS.  305 

guilt  was  proved  had  been  severe.  Now,  with 
the  frontier  of  Ulster  county  to  defend  against 
such  human  devils  as  gave  to  the  tomahawk 
and  scalping-knife  defenceless  women  and  chil- 
dren at  Wyoming  and  Cherry  Valley,  Colonel 
Snyder  laid  a  heavy  hand  upon  the  Tory  whites 
who  incited  the  red  men  to  their  fiendish  deeds. 
An  article  in  an  Ulster  county  paper  some 
years  after  the  Revolution  speaks  of  Colonel 
Snyder's  success  in  unearthing  their  machina- 
tions, and  defeating  their  plottings  so  invariably 
that  no  raids  occurred  in  his  territory  except 
the  one  when  Captain  Jeremiah  Snyder  was 
captured. 

Part  of  his  regiment  was  usually  stationed 
at  Little  Shandaken  to  watch  the  approach 
through  the  valley  of  the  Esopus,  and  until  the 
close  of  the  war  scouts  constantly  covered  the 
territory  from  the  Hurley  woods  to  the  Palen- 
ville  Clove  along  the  foot  of  the  Catskills.  On 
two  or  three  occasions  marauding  Indians  and 
Tories  were  turned  back  by  finding  their  move- 
ments watched,  and  at  least  one  raid  in  force 
along  the  line  of  fhe  present  Ulster  and  Dela- 
ware Railroad  in  Shandaken  led  by  nearly  one 
hundred  Tories  was  thus  foiled.  To  his  regi- 
ment was  attached  a  troop  of  light  horse  which 
did  very  efficient  service  and  was  commanded 
by  Captain  Sylvester  Salisbury,  most  of  the 
members  of  which  had  been  recruited  in  the 


306  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

town  of  Saugerties.  A  petition  by  them  to 
Governor  George  Clinton  will  be  found  in  an- 
other chapter  in  which  they  ask  to  remain  with 
their  old  regiment. 

With  the  advent  of  peace  Colonel  Snyder 
returned  to  his  duties  as  magistrate,  and  to 
active  labor  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Corporation  of  Kingston,  of  which  for  many 
years  he  had  been  a  member.  Here  he  con- 
tinued to  serve  until  his  death  in  1794,  at  which 
time  he  was  president  of  the  board  and  had 
been  of  five  preceding  ones. 

On  Friday,  August  22,  1794,  Colonel  Johan- 
nis  Snyder  died  in  the  seventy  fifth  year  of  his 
age.  The  next  day  a  public  funeral  was  given 
him.  At  three  in  the  afternoon  the  procession 
was  formed  at  his  residence  on  Maiden  Lane, 
and  his  remains  were  taken  to  their  burial  in 
the  churchyard  of  the  Dutch  church.  Min- 
ute guns  were  fired  from  field  pieces  stationed 
on  *' The  Plains,"  as  the  present  Academy 
Green  was  then  called,  during  the  march  to  the 
grave  and  as  the  procession  returned.  That 
procession  was  the  greatest  that  Kingston  had 
ever  seen,  and  the  officials,  soldiers  and  citizens 
composed  a  rank  and  file  which  was  longer  than 
the  distance  from  his  residence  to  the  grave. 

His  residence  was  on  the  south-west  corner 
of  Maiden  Lane  and  Fair  street,  in  Kingston 
on  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  the  Rev. 


MILITARY  LEADERS.  307 

F.  B.  Seeley,  the  pastor  of  the  Fair  Street  Re- 
formed Church.  Colonel  Snyder's  house  was 
torn  down  in  1807  by  Edward  Eltinge,  and  the 
site  has  been  occupied  by  the  residences  of 
various  prominent  families  until  it  passed  to  its 
present  owner  a  year  ago. 


The  only  other  military  officer  above  the 
rank  of  captain  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution 
who  can  be  claimed  as  a  Saugerties  man  was 
Major  John  Gillespy  of  the  Fourth  Ulster 
Militia.  He  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  in 
1 741,  and  was  the  son  of  John  Gillespy  and 
Elizabeth  Wilkins,  his  wife.  He  was  early  left 
an  orphan,  and  was  brought  to  this  country  by 
an  aunt,  and  reared  by  her  at  New  Windsor 
Orange  county,  New  York.  Here  he  lived  and 
married  Miss  Margaret  Smedes. 

When  a  boy  he  volunteered  in  the  French 
and  Indian  War  and  served  in  the  navy  on  the 
vessel  "  Harlequin."  He  was  engaged  in  one 
fight  at  sea,  which  lasted  "  nine  glasses,"  or 
hours.  After  the  war  he  served  as  justice  of 
the  peace. 

When  the  colonies  rebelled  against  Great 
Britain  he  immediately  espoused  their  cause 
and  offered  his  services.  He  was  made  major 
of  the  Fourth  Ulster  Militia,  Colonel  Johannes 
Hardenbergh  commanding.     Early  in  the  sum- 


308  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

mer  of  1776  he  went  with  the  regiment  to 
New  York  city  to  assist  in  its  defense.  The 
regiment  then  consisted  of  four  companies 
from  Ulster  county  and  one  from  Livingston 
Manor,  Columbia  county.  But  many  of  the 
troops  were  without  arms,  and  lacked  most  of 
the  necessaries  for  service.  Upon  an  earnest 
request  from  Colonel  Hardenbergh  addressed 
to  General  Woodhull,  President  of  the  State 
Convention,  on  the  9th  of  August,  1776,  in 
which  he  stated  that  his  troops  asked  to  be 
supplied  even  if  it  were  deducted  from  their 
pay,  supplies  were  granted  at  the  expense  of 
the  patriotic  troops  themselves. 

On  the  27th  of  the  same  month  the  bloody 
battle  of  Long  Island  was  fought,  in  which 
this  regiment  bore  its  share.  The  Americans 
were  defeated,  and  many  of  the  prisoners 
taken  were  murdered  in  cold  blood  by  the 
British  and  Hessians.  Among  these  was  Gen- 
eral Woodhull  himself. 

The  regiment  participated  in  the  battle  of 
Harlem  Heights  and  in  the  other  engagements 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  city.  During  the 
summer  of  1777  the  regiment  was  with  Gov- 
ernor George  Clinton  defending  the  passes  of 
the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson,  and  when  the 
passage  was  forced  in  October  of  that  year, 
they  came  with  the  rest  of  Clinton's  command 
to  the  relief  of  Kingston.     They  had  reached 


MILITARY  LEADERS.  309 

the  residence  of  their  colonel  in  Rosendale, 
eight  miles  from  Kingston,  on  the  afternoon 
of  October  i6th  and  halted  temporarily. 
Major  Gillespy  was  dealing  out  rations  to  his 
men  when  the  smoke  from  the  burning  town 
of  Kingston  became  visible.  Orders  to  re- 
sume the  march  were  immediately  given,  but  as 
the  troops  came  over  the  '*  Kijkuit "  and 
caught  sight  of  the  town  they  found  they 
were  too  late.  The  enemy  were  retiring  to 
their  vessels  off  Rondout. 

Major  Gillespy  removed  to  Saugerties  after 
the  close  of  the  war  and  died  here  January 
5th,  1810,  aged  69  years.  During  the  whole 
of  his  residence  in  this  town  he  was  engaged 
in  the  business  of  a  tanner,  and  his  home  was 
the  constant  resort  of  members  of  his  old  reg- 
iment to  whom  his  hand  and  purse  were  ever 
open  to  so  great  an  extent  that  he  suffered 
much  in  financial  depletion. 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 

THE     SAUGERTIES     BARD. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  has  made  forever  famous 
the  troubadours  of  his  native  land,  who  wan- 
dered  as  minstrels  through  the  mountains  and 
valleys  of  Scotland,  singing  the  brave  deeds  of 
olden  times.  All  remember  the  opening  lines 
of  "  The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  "  : 

"  The  way  was  long,  the  way  was  cold. 
The  minstrel  was  infirm  and  old, 
His  withered  cheek,  and  tresses  gray, 
Seemed  to  have  known  a  better  day ; 
The  last  of  all  the  bards  was  he 
Who  sang  of  border  chivalry. 
For  well-a-day  !  their  date  was  fled, 
His  tuneful  brethren  were  all  dead. 
And  he,  neglected  and  oppressed. 
Wished  to  be  with  them  and  at  rest." 

There  are  many  living  to-day  who  will 
recall  the  wandering  minstrel,  who  was  uni- 
versally known  along  the  Hudson  in  the  years 
preceding  the  Civil  War. 

All  through  the  counties  of  Ulster  and 
Greene,  at  least,  was  he  well  known  in  the 
years  from    1835   to  i860;    and  often  was  he 


THE  SAUGERTIES  BARD.  311 

seen  all  down  the  Hudson  River  valley,  and 
even  upon  the  streets  of  New  York,  and  west- 
ward along  the  Mohawk  he  had  occasionally 
wandered,  and  into  Canada.  He  was  harm- 
less, eccentric,  impulsive,  and  at  times  inco- 
herent, with  a  faculty  for  impromptu  rhyming, 
a  sweet,  sympathetic  voice,  and  skill  sufficient 
to  draw  the  sweetest  sounds  from  violin  or 
flute.  He  would  take  a  popular  air,  which 
everyone  just  then  happened  to  be  singing, 
and  passing  along  the  country  sides  would 
gather  the  local  events  and  happenings.  Then 
with  violin  in  hand,  would  improvise  the  tale 
in  a  song  to  the  popular  air,  and  the  passer  by 
would  stop  to  hear.  And  if  the  song  caught 
the  fancy  of  his  auditors,  he  would  have  the 
words  printed  as  a  ballad,  and  with  an  old 
horse,  and  his  loved  violin  and  flute,  he  would 
drive  away,  along  the  country  roads,  or  village 
streets,  accompanied  by  his  troop  of  dogs, 
singing,  playing  and  selling  his  ballads. 

Such  was  Henry  S.  Backus,  "  The  Sauger- 
ties  Bard,"  as  he  called  himself.  He  was  a 
native  of  the  northern  part  of  Greene  county, 
New  York.  His  father  was  a  colonel  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  was  at  Sackett's  Harbor 
during  the  building  of  Commodore  Chauncey's 
fleet,  and  was  shot  in  one  of  the  conflicts  on 
the  Niagara  frontier.  The  colonel  was  an 
agreeable  companion,  with  an  excellent  voice 


3 1 2  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER TIES. 

and  great  skill  with  musical  instruments,  and 
from  him  his  son  derived  his  love  for  martial 
music.  A  brother  of  the  bard  was  educated 
at  West  Point,  married  a  daughter  of  General 
Brady,  U.  S.  A.,  became  a  colonel  also,  and 
repeatedly  received  honorable  mention  for 
gallantry  in  the  Mexican  War. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood 
with  a  passion  for  what  concerns  a  soldier. 
He  possessed  a  peculiarly  correct  ear  for 
martial  music,  and  in  early  years  was  an 
efHcient  teacher  of  the  fife,  the  drum  and  the 
bugle.  Later  he  taught  school,  and  coming  to 
Saugerties  he  married  a  Miss  Legg,  with 
whom  he  lived  for  a  number  of  years.  After 
her  death  his  mind  received  a  peculiar  bias 
and  he  began  to  lead  the  life  of  a  wandering 
minstrel.  When  events  occurred  which  startled 
the  community,  he  often  retired  into  the  room 
in  the  rear  of  the  store  of  his  friend,  John 
Swart,  in  the  village  of  Saugerties,  and 
reduced  the  account  to  rhyme.  This  he  pub- 
lished, and  on  his  minstrel  tours  would  sell 
these  penny  ballads  with  others  narrating 
striking  events  in  the  region.  Much  of  his 
composition,  in  cold  type,  is  the  merest  dog- 
gerel, which,  when  sung  as  an  improvisation, 
in  his  sweet  voice,  accompanied  by  his  charm- 
ing violin,  seemed  to  capture  his  auditors. 

The  songs  are  forgotten  to  all  except  a  few 


THE  SAUGERTIES  BARD.  313 

of  the  older  inhabitants,  and  yet  occasionally 
one  of  the  almanacs  of  the  Saugerties  Bard 
comes  to  light,  of  one  of  the  years  from  1845 
to  1855,  which  contains,  besides  the  tables  of 
an  almanac,  his  ballads  on  the  local  events  of 
the  prevfous  year.  There  is  a  little  poetic 
merit  in  his  "  Dying  Californian  ": 

''Lay  up  nearer,  brother,  nearer. 

For  my  limbs  are  growing  cold  ; 
And  thy  presence  seemeth  dearer 

When  thine  arms  around  me  fold. 
I  am  dying,  brother,  dying, 

Soon  you'll  miss  me  from  your  berth, 
And  my  form  will  soon  be  lying 

'Neath  the  coral-bedded  earth." 

One  summer  evening  the  writer  remembers 
to  have  heard  the  notes  of  a  whip-poor-will  in 
a  thicket  not  far  away.  Listening  to  the 
querulous  complaint  of  the  bird,  he  did  not 
notice  in  the  darkness  that  someone  was  pass- 
ing.    Presently  a  voice  was  heard  to  sing : 

"  In  rural  strains,  with  right  good-will. 
Loud  sings  the  lovely  whip-poor-will 

From  eve  till  dawn  of  day. 
She  all  night  long  the  descant  sings. 
Through  shady  groves  her  music  rings, 
A  sharp  and  thrilling  lay — 
Whip-poor-will,  whip-poor-will,  whip-poor-will." 

It  was  the  Saugerties  Bard,  who,  with  a 
troop   of   dogs,   and   his    ever-present    violin, 


314  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

passed  by,   and    found    his   inspiration   in   the 
woodland  note. 

But  the  poetic  muse  was  impractical. 
Though  he  wooed  her  and  received  her  favors 
she  did  not  provide  for  his  subsistence. 
Friends,  voluntarily,  contributed  for  years  to 
his  support.  But  as  his  generation  died,  or 
sought  homes  elsewhere,  the  bard  began  in  his 
older  days  to  suffer  wan{.  The  writer  can  see 
him  now  pass  by,  clad  in  a  suit  of  gray,  with 
long  gray  locks  covered  with  a  cap ;  and  his 
wanderings  took  him  from  his  more  familiar 
haunts.  The  country  during  the  winter  of 
1860-61  was  in  the  throes  of  the  excitement 
before  the  great  Civil  War.  The  minstrel  was 
forgotten,  and  his  mental  powers  were  in  their 
decadence.  During  the  winter  he  was  hardly 
seen.  The  night  of  Monday,  May  13,  1861, 
was  cold,  cheerless  and  wet,  as  sometimes  are 
nights  in  May.  On  Tuesday  morning,  James 
H.  Gaddis,  who  kept  a  hotel  at  Katsbaan, 
went  past  a  shed  near  his  barn  at  an  early 
hour.  He  saw  a  man  lying  there,  and  exam- 
ining him  found  him  unconscious,  numb  with 
the  cold  and  almost  starved.  He  was  fed  and 
taken  to  the  village  of  Saugerties.  Here  some 
one  entered  a  charge  of  vagrancy  against  him, 
and  an  ofificer  was  sent  with  him  to  the  Kings- 
ton jail,  and  the  harmless  singer  of  the  hap- 
penings of  village  and  countryside   was   com- 


THE  SAUGERTIES  BARD.  315 

pelled  to  learn  that  practical  men  had  no  com- 
passion upon  an  impracticable  troubadour  who 
could  not  work,  or,  if  he  could,  would  rather 
sing.  The  sick  and  starving  minstrel  was 
locked  in  a  cell,  a  physician  prescribed  for  him, 
but  never  came  to  see  him  again.  The  jail 
physician  threw  away  the  medicines  of  the  first 
practitioner  and  left  others,  but  gave  him  no 
further  attention.  For  two  or  three  days  the 
poor  outcast  tossed  on  his  cot  in  his  cell  unat- 
tended, suffering  physically  and  mentally  until 
the  morning  of  Monday,  May  20,  1861,  when 
he  turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and  breathed  his 
last.  One  who  had  known  him  heard  of  it  and 
went  to  the  jail.  On  his  cot  was  lying  an 
emaciated  skeleton,  scantily  clad  and  exhausted 
by  starvation  and  sleeping  out  of  doors.  His 
violin  was  gone,  his  canine  companions  were 
dead,  his  friends  had  deserted  him,  and  now, 
within  the  walls  of  a  jail,  the  sweet  voice  of 
the  Saugerties  Bard  was  silenced  forever,  to 
the  disgrace  of  those  whose  inhumanity  saw  in 
the  helpless  indigence  of  a  harmless  trouba- 
dour nothing  but  the  worthlessness  of  a 
vagrant,  fit  only  for  a  convict's  cell. 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 

"  KATSBAAN." 

In  a  former  chapter  on  the  Beaver  creek 
allusion  was  made  to  a  poem,  "  Katsbaan," 
from  which  a  few  lines  were  quoted.  This 
poem  was  published  in  the  Saugerties  Tele- 
graph about  twenty-five  years  ago  without  the 
name  of  its  author.  As  some  lines  are  descrip- 
tive of  persons  and  scenes  of  which  former 
chapters  speak  it  has  been  thought  well  to 
give  the  poem  entire  in  this  connection. 

The  glorious  splendor  of  thine  arching  sky ; 

The  winning  beauty  of  thy  smiling  fields, 
As  verdant  in  the  summer' s  sun  they  lie, 

Or  golden  with  the  stores  their  harvest  yields, 
Woo  me,  sweet  Katsbaan,  to  thy  paths  to-day, 
By  brook,  or  lane,  or  field,  or  haunt  to  stray, 
And  let  thine  influence  o'er  my  spirit  steal. 
To  sing  thy  charms — thy  history  reveal. 

Each  day  to  greet  thee,  with  enraptured  haste 
Taghkanic's    peaks    he    climbs  —  the    morning 
sun  ; 

Then  when,  with  ever  new  delight,  has  gazed 
Through  all  the  hours  thy  varied  charms  upon, 

The  Catskills  makes  his  easel  in  the  west 

To  paint  the  curtained  chambers  of  his  rest, — 


''KATSBAAN:'  317 

Delighted,  as  thy  beaming  eyes  behold 
His  cloud-wove  tapestries  of  purpled  gold. 

Soft-flowing  Beaver,  by  thy  winding  side 

I  wander  with  the  hours  of  passing  day. 
Through  thy  pellucid  depths  and  shallows  glide 

The  phantom  forms  of  finny  tribes  at  play. 
Umbrageous  are  thy  banks.      In  close  embrace 
The  walnuts  o'er  thy  bosom  interlace ; 
And,  in  their  mottled  shade,  by  yonder  spring 
The  circling  swallow  dips  his  restless  wing. 

How   clear   those    fountain    depths    reflect    the 
shade ! 

How  glistening  that  crystalhne  outflow  ! 
I  take  this  cup,  of  shell  of  cocoa  made, — 

The  virtues  of  ''The  Powder  Spring"  would 
know. 
Deep  in  that  sparkling  mirror  plunge  the  cup, 
And,  of  its  liquid  brightness,  gather  up 
A  draught  medicinal.      Health  overflown  ! 
Then  grasp  my  pilgrim  staff"  and  wander  on. 

I  pass  along  thy  lanes  and  many  a  bee 

His  clover-gathered  harvest  homeward  brings ; 
Robert  of  Lincoln's  burst  of  melody. 

As  rising  from  yon  copse  he  floats  and  sings  ; 
Those  fields  of  corn  in  serried  ranks  extend 
With    spears    upraised,    they   would    their  stores 

defend  ; 
And,  as  a  veil  of  gauze  no  charm  conceals. 
That  orchard  fruit  that  every  leaf  reveals. 

Another  field,  God's  acre.      Resting  here 

Behold  the  spoils  the  hand  of  death  hath  won  : 

Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust.      And  year 
By  year  the  conflict  and  defeat  goes  on. 


318  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

'Tis  quiet  here.      Beneath  this  tree  I'll  rest, — 
Ponder  the  questions  springing  in  the  breast  : 
Is  it  defeat  ?     And  evermore  to  be  ? 
May  not  this  field  become  a  plain  of  victory  ? 

Behold  this  ancient  church  of  mossy  stone, — 

The  tapering  spire  that  pointeth  to  the  skies  ; 
Tell  these  of  conquering  Death,  and  this  alone  ? 

Of  hopeless  griefs,  and  cheerless  miseries  ? 
Let  us  approach  the  venerable  pile 
With  reverent  step  and  docile  heart  the  while  : 
God's  house  it  is.      His  Holy  Name  it  bears 
Honored  through  fifty  and  one  hundred  years. 

What  is  the  tale  thy  rock-based  walls  can  tell  ? 
What  teachings  from  that  sacred  desk  within  ? 
*'  I  tell  of  victory  over  death  and  hell, — 
I  tell  of  God's  great  sacrifice  for  sin, — 
I  teach  to  all, — to  thee  if  thou  wouldst  know, 
God  saved  the  world  that  sin  had  plunged  in  woe!  " 
Tell  some  calm  message  to  my  heart  in  strife. 
"  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life." 

O  comfort  this  !     His  is  the  victory  ! 

The  conqueror  Death  His  messenger  becomes 
To  hold  our  bodies  in  security, 

And  take  our  spirits  to  their  heavenly  homes  ! 
Within  thy  walls,  O  house,  a  while  I  wait. 
Wouldst  thou  the  history  of  thy  years  relate  ? 
Who  were  the  heralds  from  the  courts  of  grace 
Who  told  these  precious  truths  within  this  place  ? 

It  speaks.  ' '  From  homes  in  ruin  by  the  torch 
of  war  ; 

From  hills  ;  from  valleys  by  the  storied  Rhine  ; 
A  band  of  storm-tossed  exiles  journeying  far, 

Here  found  a  home,  and  here  arose  this  shrine. 


''KATSBAANr  319 

Here  'op  de  Kats  Baan  '  laid  they  stone  on  stone 
With  songs  of  praise  to  Him,  their  Guide  alone  ; 
Far    from    the    Fatherland,   and    far    from    war's 

uncease — 
They  raised  this  temple  to  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

'<  Here  came  the   myriad-tongued,  came  Mancius, 
to  weld 
Dutchman  and  Palatine  and  Huguenot  in  one  : 
Their  voices  to  a  common  Father  swelled, — 

Reformed  or  Lutheran, — an  irenicon. 
The  Wallkill  valley  and  the  Hudson  wide 
Saw  spires  arise  in  vale  ;  on  mountain  side, — 
Of  an  unceasing  toil  the  monument, 
As  thirty  years  and  two  of  life  were  spent. 

''  So  stood  I  here  reveahng  God  to  man  ; 

For  many  years  thus  floorless,  fireless  stood. 
Then  Mancius  died.      And  eighteen  years  passed 
when 
No  pastor  here  to  guide  this  flock  to  God. 
'Twas  Freedom's  time  ;    and   fortunate   in    their 

need 
Came  patriots  to  preach,  who  came  to  lead, — 
To  fan  the  patriot  flame  to  ruddy  glow. 
Thus  Doll ;  thus  Schuneman  ;  thus  Westerlo. 

"  As  Israel's  tribes  to  Zion's  holy  hill, 

Up  to  these  courts  the  worshippers  would  come 
From  where  is  Saugerties  ;  where  Plattekill, 

Flatbush,  Blue  Mountain,  Maiden,  Kiskatom  : 
All  daughters  fair  of  mine.      But  passing  fair 
Those    faithful   ones    who    traveled    leagues    to 

prayer. 
Call  others  privileged?     These  had  this  much  ; 
The  gospel  undefiled  in  Holland  Dutch. 


320  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

"  I  see  the  pulpit  high — an  octagon. 

Its  pedestal,  doophtiisje,  winding  stair  ; 
And  room  within  for  one,  and  one  alone  ; 

A  canopy  above,  suspended  there. 
No  spire,  no  bell ;   but,  'neath  the  eaves,  a  porch 
With  trumpet  hung  to  summon  all  to  church  : 
Till  innovation  brought  stoves,  bell  and  spire. 
Floors,  straight-back  pews,  voorleser  and  a  choir. 

''  With  brows  enwreathed  by  the  scholastic  bays 
In  rivalry  at  far-famed  Leyden  won  ; 
Van  Vlierden,  first  in  learning  and  in  grace. 

Took  up  the  task  De  Ronde  had  laid  down. 
Through  eleven  years  of  controversial  storm, 
While  feuds  ran  high  and  party  spirit  warm. 
He  preached  the  cross,  and  multitudes  were  blest. 
Then  passed  the  short  two  years  of  Demarest. 

^'  The  'noblest  Roman  of  them  all'  I  see  ! 

Before  me  stands  Paul  of  this  latter  age  ! 
Giant  in  logic — deep  in  philosophy — 

Learned  in  the  lore  of  classic  history's  page — 
Mighty  in  Scripture — theologian — 
A  lion-hearted,  tender-hearted  man  ! 
Ostrander  !   yes,  thy  locks  of  driven  snow 
Before  me  rise  !  Thine  eagle  glances  glow  ! 

"  Perchance  to-day  the  sovereignty  of  Heaven 

The  burden  of  his  theme.      On  wings  sublime 
A  view  of  God's  prerogatives  is  given  ; 

Or  we  with  Moses  up  Mount  Sinai  chmb. 
Perchance  His  fatherhood.     The  wayward  will, 
Drawn  by  the  fihal  cords  he  binds  with  skill  ; 
Breaking,  is  led  to  Abba,  Father,  call — 
Returning  home,  a  weeping  prodigal. 


''KATSBAAN:'  321 

*'  Or  justifying  faith,  that  maketh  whole, — 

Or  hope — the  anchor  caught  within  the  vail ; — 

Devotion — wing  of  the  aspiring  soul, — 
Or  charity — that  nevermore  shall  fail. 

Depravity — lo,  an  Egyptian  night  ! 

God's  holiness — mount  of  transfiguring  hght  ! 

Man  ruined  ; — see  the  track  a  cyclone  trod  ! 

Redeemed, — a  living  temple  of  his  God  ! 

*'  Perchance     God's    wondrous    love,    in     Christ, 
declared  : 
See,  as  he  speaks,  his  tender  bosom  glow  ! 
Perchance  the  theme  God's  arm  in  justice  bared  : 

The  spirit  of  Elijah  burning  now. 
Perchance  a  Pisgah  view  ;  as  with  the  seers 
He  reads  with  Daniel  of  the  coming  years  ; 
Or   walks   with    John    the    rock-ribbed    isle    of 

Greece, 
And  sees  the  dawning  of  Millennial  peace. 

*'  Or  by  the  couch  of  pain,  or  bed  of  death: 

He  tells  of  Him  who  pain  and  sickness  bore  : 

Who  made  the  grave  His  spoil  :  Who  vanquisheth 
The  King  of  Terrors  now  and  evermore  : 

Who  bore  our  sins, — is  wilhng  to  receive 
All  who  will  come,  repent,  confess,  beheve. 

The  dying,  and  the  living,  day  by  day 

He  points  to  Jesus  and  he  leads  the  way. 

* '  The  story  this  of  half  a  century's  space. 

Sons  laid  their  sires  to  rest  beneath  this  sod  : 
His  tears  were   dropped   with    theirs  within   this 
place  ; 
Committing  them  unto  their  father's  God. 
Their  sons  in  turn  laid  theirs.      That  pastor  old — 
The  old,  old  story  of  the  Love  re-told 


322  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

That  came  and  wept,  and  won  at  Bethany  : 
'Forevermore  the  dead  shall  live,  in  Me.' 

**  Often  another  and  a  different  scene  : 
Some  Cana  here,  as  once  in  Galilee  : 
He  went,  as  following  the  Nazarene  ; 

And  when  the  vows  in  their  sincerity 
Were  made  his  spirits  burst  their  close  restraint 
With  humor,  wit,  tales  new,  and  old,  and  quaint  : 
As  from  a  bubbling  spring  his  mirth  outpoured — 
Cheer  filled  the  room,  as  plenty  filled  the  board. 

*'  Such  is  the  story  of  these  ancient  walls. 
I  can  not  of  the  living  pastors  tell — 
Of  Collier,  Chapman,  Searle —  in  winning  souls 
They  served  their  Master,  and  they  served  Him 
well." 
Such  was  the    tale.     With   hngering  steps,   and 

slow, 
And  many  a  backward  glance,  I  turned  to  go  : 
And  still  that  voice  oft  in  a  silent  hour 
The    ''Old   Stone   Church's"    tale  re-tells  with 
power. 

Ye  field  of  oaks,  down  all  the  hoary  past 

The  faithful  sentries  at  this  house  of  God  ; 
Ye   braved    the    summer's    lightning  —  winter's 
blast  : 
True  to  your  charge  in  solid  phalanx  stood. 
How  few  ye  are  !     About  on  every  side 
I  see  the  stations  where  your  comrades  died  ; 
Faithful  to  death,  in  branch,  in  twig,  in  stem. 
The  zephyr  sings  e'en  now  their  requiem. 

Again  I  set  me  down.     Around  me  lie 

The  goodly  farms  that  cover  hill  and  plain  ; 


''KATSBAAN:'  323 

The  happy  homes  ;   their  guardian  roof-trees  by  : 

Do  any  after  all  these  years  remain 
An  olden  heritage,  and  unconveyed  ? 
Behold  the  home  by  yonder  maple's  shade  ; 
The  spreading  farm  house,  through  whose  open 

door 
We  see  God's  gift  of  generations  more. 

I  take  my  staff,  dear  Katsbaan,  to  depart  ;  — 

Thy  well-taught  lessons  on  my  soul  impressed  ; 
And  as  I  journey  on  would  hft  my  heart 

To  do  His  will,  and  leave  with  Him  the  rest. 
The  evening  shadows  round  my  pathway  lie,  — 
The  Catskills  darken  in  the  western  sky  ;  — 
I  soar  in  soul  !  Their  aspiration  given  : 
They  lift   their   peaks   and   converse   hold  with 
heaven. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

OLD    DUTCH   BALLADS,    RHYMES  AND 
FOLK     SONGS. 

Among  the  pleasing  recollections  of  every 
one  brought  up  from  infancy  in  a  home  where 
the  parents  were  able  to  speak  Dutch  there  is 
one  that  ever  haunts  the  memory  with  its 
strains.  It  is  that  of  the  rhymes  of  the  nur- 
sery. Who  that  was  ever  trotted  on  the  knee 
of  such  a  father  can  forget  "  Trip  a  trop  a 
troontjes  ?  " 

Trip  a  trop  a  troontjes, 
De  varkens  in  de  boontjes, 
De  koetjes  in  de  klaver, 
De  paarden  in  de  haver, 
De  eenjes  in  de  water-plas, 
De  kalf  in  de  lang  gras  ; 
So  groot  mijn  kleine  poppetje  was. 

This  might  be  rendered  into  English 

Trip  a  trop  a  troontjes. 
The  pigs  are  in  the  bean  vines, 
The  cows  are  in  the  clover  blooms, 
The  horses  in  the  oat  fields, 
The  ducks  are  in  the  water-pond, 
The  calf  is  in  the  long  grass  ;  — 
So  tall  my  little  baby  was  ! 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        325 

Or,  when  he  had  thrown  one  leg  over  the 
knee  of  the  other  and  made  a  saddle  of  the 
free  foot,  he  asked  you  to  ride,  and  then  he 
sang 

Zoo  rijden  de  Heeren 

Met  hun  mooije  kleeren  ; 

Zoo  rijden  de  vrouwen 

Met  hun  bonte  mouwen  ; 

Dan  komt  de  akkerman 

Met  zijn  paardjes  toppertan  ; 

Hij  drijft  voorbig  nauw  Amsterdam 

Met  zijn  koetsier  achteran  : 

Schoe,  schoe  paardjes 

Met  zijn  vlossa  staartjes  ; 
Draf,  draf,  draf. 

A  free-handed  translation  into  English  could 
render  it : 

So  ride  the  Lords 
With  their  handsome  clothes  ; 
So  ride  their  ladies 
With  their  calico  sleeves  ; 
Then  comes  the  farmer 
With  his  horses  tandem  ; 
He  drives  them  on  to  Amsterdam 
With  his  coachman  behind  : 
Shoe,  shoe  the  horses 
With  their  flossy  tails  ; 
Trot,  trot,  trot. 


And  as  the  mother  rocked  a  Dutch  cradle 
she  might  be  heard  to  sing 


326  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

Slaap,  kindje,  slaap, 

Daar  buiten  loopt  een  schaap, 

Een  schaap  met  vier  witte  voetjes, 

Dat  drinkt  zijn  melk  zoo  zoetjes  : 

Witte  wol  en  zwarte  wol, 

Zoo  krijgt  ieder  zijn  buikje  vol. 

The  English  would  be 

Sleep,  baby,  sleep, 
In  the  fields  there  runs  a  sheep, 
A  sheep  with  four  white  feet 
That  drinks  its  milk  so  sweet  : 
White  wool  and  black  wool ; 
So  either  gets  its  stomach  full. 


When  spinning-bees  were  held  the  maidens 
would  tease  each  other  with  the  following 
song: 

*'  Spin,  mijn  lieve  dochter, 

Dan  geve  ik  u  een  hoen. " 
''  Ach  !  mijn  heve  moeder, 
Ik  hav  het  niet  gedaan  ; 
Ik  kan  niet  spinnen,  — 
Ach  zie  !  mijn  vinger  doetmijn  zoo  zeer. 

''  Spin,  mijn  lieve  dochter, 

Dan  geve  ik  u  een  schaap. ' ' 
'*  Ach  !  mijn  lieve  moeder, 
Het  geve  mij  de  gaap  ; 
Ik  kan  niet  spinnen,  — 
Ach  zie  !  mijn  vinger  doet  mijn  zoo  zeer.'* 

"  Spin,  mijn  lieve  dochtor, 

Dan  geve  ik  u  een  koe." 
*'  Ach  !  mijn  lieve  moeder, 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        327 

Het  maakt  mij  zoo  moe  ; 
Ik  kan  niet  spinnen,  — 
Ach  zie  !  mijn  vinger  doet  mijn  zoo  zeer." 

<'  Spin,  mijn  lieve  dochter, 

Dan  geve  ik  u  een  paard. ' ' 
''  Ach  !  mijn  lieve  moeder, 
Ik  ben  het  niet  waard  ; 
Ik  kan  niet  spinnen,  — 
Ach  zie  !  mijn  vinger  doet  mijn  zoo  zeer." 

''  Spin  mijn  heve  dochter, 

Dan  geve  ik  u  een  man." 
'■'■  Ach  !   mijn  heve  moeder, 
Dan  gaan  ik  daaran  ; 
Ik  kan  wel  spinnen, — 
Ach  zie  !  mijn  vinger  doet  mijn  geen  zeer." 

In    English    the  song  vi^ould  be    similar   to 
this: 

'<  Spin,  my  beloved  daughter. 

Then  give  I  thee  a  hen." 
"  Oh,. my  beloved  mother, 

I  never  this  have  done  ; 
I  can  not  spin, — 
Oh,  see  !   my  fingers  are  so  sore." 

''  Spin,  my  beloved  daughter, 

Then  give  I  thee  a  sheep. ' ' 
"  Oh,  my  beloved  mother. 

That  would  only  make  me  yawn  ; 
I  can  not  spin, — 
Oh,  see  !   my  fingers  are  so  sore."    - 

<'  Spin,  my  beloved  daughter, 
Then  give  I  thee  a  cow." 


328  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

**  Oh,  my  beloved  mother, 
That  makes  me  so  tired  ; 
I  can  not  spin, — 
Oh,  see  !   my  fingers  are  so  sore." 

*'  Spin,  my  beloved  daughter, 

Then  give  I  thee  a  horse." 
*'  Oh,  my  beloved  mother, 

It  is  not  worth  the  while  ; 
I  can  not  spin, — 
Oh,  see  !   my  fingers  are  so  sore." 

"  Spin,  my  beloved  daughter. 

Then  give  I  you  a  husband." 
*'  Oh,  my  beloved  mother. 
Then  go  I  now  right  on ; 
I  can  spin  well, — 
Oh,  see  !   my  fingers  do  not  get  sore." 


A  popular  ballad  of  the  olden  time  was 

De  Heer  en  de  Meisje. 

Ik    zagen    een    mooije    meisje  ;     en    vroeg    zij 

opstaan  ; 
Voor  haar  zoete-lieve  uit  zij  onderzoeken  gaan  : 
Zij  trachten  en  zij  zoeken  uit  onder  de  linde, 
Maar    zij    kunnen   haar   zoete-heve    niet  ergens 

bevinde. 

Met  dat  komt  een  heer,  en,  ophouding,  hij  roep  ; 
"  Schoon  meisje,  wet  gij  wel  wat  gij  zook  ?  " 
*'  Ach  !    wet   gij    mijn    heer   ik    mijn    zoete-lieve 
velore. 
En  ik  kun  niet  van  hem  zien, — ik  kun  niet  van 
hem  hoor. " 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        329 

Met  dat  trekt  de  heer  uit  zijn  fluweelen  mouw 
Een  ketting  zoo  lang  van  geellachtig  goud  : 
**  School!  meisje,  dit  zal  ik  met  blijdschap  beschenk, 
Dan  zal  gij  op  uvve  lieve  niet  langer  gedenk. ' ' 

*'  Hoewel  de  ketting  bezitting  zuck  lengte, 
Dat  het  van  de  aarde  tot  de  hemel  bereik, 
Dan  liever  ik  wensch  voor  eeuwig  verreizen, 
Als  dat  ik  een  ander  geliefde  verkiezen." 

Met  dat  spreek  de  heer,  bezweren  bij  zijn  bloed  ; 
*'  Schoon  meisje,  wet  gij  wel  wat  gij  doet  ? 
Gij  zeker  zal  zoo  wezen  mijn  Ueve  huisvrouw. 
En  ook  een  ander  Heve  zal  ik  ooit  getrouw." 

Without  attempting  to  give  a  translation  in 
rhyme  or  rhythm,  a  rendering  into  English 
might   read : 

I  saw  a  handsome  maiden,  and  early  she  arose  ; 
For  her  sweet-heart  she  went  out  to  search  : 
She  tried  and  she  searched  out  under  the  Hndens, 
But  she  could  not  her  sweet-heart  anywhere  find. 

With  that  came  a  lord,  and,  holding  up,  he  called  : 

*'  Beautiful  maid,  know  you  well  what  you  seek?  " 

*'  Oh,  know  you,  my  lord,  I  my  sweet-heart  have 

lost, 

And  I  can   not  of  him   see  ;    I  can  not  of  him 

hear." 

With  that  drew  the  lord  out  his  velvet  sleeve 
A  chain  so  long  of  yellow  gold  : 
<*  Beautiful  maid,  this  shall  I  with  pleasure  bestow, 
Then  shall  you  on  your  love  no  longer  think. ' ' 


330  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

'  *  Although  the  chain  possessed  such  a  length 
That  it  from  the  earth  to  the  heaven  reached, 
Then  rather  I  desire  to  spend  it  forever  in  search, 
As  that  I  another  lover  must  choose." 

With  that  spoke  the  lord,  a  swearing  by  his  blood  : 
*'  Beautiful  maid,  know  you  well  what  you  do  ? 
You  surely  shall  so  be  my  loving  wife. 
And  too  no  other  love  shall  I  ever  marry.' ' 


There  was  another  little  rhyme  very  widely 
sung  which  runs  after  this  manner  : 

Daar  was  e^n  mooije  meisje  in  het  killetje  vervallen  : 
Had  ik  niet  hoor  haar  dompelen, — 
Had  ik  niet  hoor  haar  schreeuwen, — 
Had  haar  kopje  niet  boven  steken 
Dan  had  zij  wis  verdrunken. 

The  English  of  this  would  be  : 

There  was  a  handsome  maiden  in  the  httle  creek 

had  fallen : 
Had  I  not  heard  her  plunging, — 
Had  I  not  heard  her  screaming, — 
Had  not  her  head  kept  out 
Then  had  she  sure  been  drowned. 


Some  Dutch  Mother  Goose  must  surely 
have  dreamed  the  following  nonsense  rhymes. 
How  her  patriotic  soul  delights  to  impale  the 
Spaniards  whom  her  compatriots  had  so  suc- 
cessfully fought  for  eighty  years  : 

Hinken  de  pinken 
Zitten  te  klinken, — 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        331 

Zat  met  de  kan 
Dat  hij  uit  gedrinken. 
*'  Is  daar  niet  in  ? 
Laten  het  halen  ! 
Jan  van  Spanje 
Hij  zal  het  betalen  !  " 

Or,  rendered  into  English,  the  rhyme  runs : 

Hinker  the  winker 
Sitting  to  touch  glasses — 
Drunk  with  the  can 
That  he  had  emptied. 
**  Is  there  nothing  in  ? 
Let  it  be  brought  ! 
John  of  Spain, 
He  shall  pay  the  bill ! " 


A  boisterous  boaster  is  thus  described : 

Daar  komt  hij  !  Een  snoeshaan  geweldig  gestampen  \ 
Een  beest  hij  gebruUen  !  Een  mansbeeld  gezwoUen  ; 
Een  openlijic  bloodard  !  Het  maakt  neen  vershil ; 
Het  ware  Jan  van  Spanje  zonder  zijn  bril. 

Or,  in  English : 

There  comes  he  !  A  braggart  hard  riding  ! 
A  beast  he  a-roaring  !  A  mannikin  swelled  up  ! 
An  arrant  coward  !  It  makes  no  difference  ; 
He  is  John  of  Spain  without  his  spectacles. 

The  allusion  seems  to  be  to  the  historic  joke 
of  Holland,  in  which  the  loss  by  the  Duke  of 
Alva  of  the  city  of  Brille  has  always  been 
called  '*  The  loss  of  the  Duke  of  Alva's  spec- 
tacles "  (zijn  bril). 


332  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Here  is  a  churning  song  : 

Ha  !    ja  !    zaa  !    ha  !    ja  !    zaantjes  ! 
De  boter  loopt  door  de  roerstok  eindjes. 
Ha  !  ja  !  je  !     Ha  !  ja  !  je  ! 
Boterje,  boterje,  komt ! 
ledereen  kHentje  tobbetjevol. 

So  far  as  it  can  be  expressed  in  English,  it 
would  be  : 

Ha  !    ja  !    zaa  !    ha  !    ja    zaantjes  ! 
The  butter  runs  through  the  dasher's  ends. 
Ha  !    ja  !    je  !     Ha  !    ja  !    je  ! 

Butter,  butter,  come  ! 
Everybody  a  httle  tub  full. 


In  this  is  a  riddle : 

Holder-de-bolder 
Dans  boven  de  zolder  ; 
En  al  de  lands  heeren 
Kunnen  niet  Holder-de-bolder 
Van  de  zolder  pareeren. 

The  answer  is  "  Smoke,"  and  the  English 

Head-over-heels 
Dances  over  the  garret ; 
And  all  the  nation's  lords 
Can  not  Topsy-turvey 
Ward  oif  from  the  garret. 


The  Netherland    Mother   Goose  was  surely 
the  author  of  this  : 

**  Ik  bakken  mijn  brood  ;  ik  brouwen  mijn  bier  ; — 
Had  ik  mijn  paardjes  ik  zouda  gij  jagere." 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        333 

'*  Wedden  uwe  paardjes  weinigje  man 
Op  den  koop  toe,  achter  an." 

This  jingle  may  be  in  English  : 

* '  I  bake  my  bread  ;  I  brew  my  beer ; 

Had  I  my  horses  I  would  you  drive." 
*'  Wager  your  horses,  little  man, 

Into  the  bargain,  on  behind." 


In  one  of  her  patriotic  moods  the  venerable 
dame  thus  sings  : 

Wij  wil  mee  naar  Engeland  vare, 
Voor  Van  Tromp  doet  Engeland  zeer. 

Engeland  is  opsluiten  ; 

De  sluitel  is  verbreken. 
Zwarte  bedelaar,  wat  doen  gij  hier  ? 

The  reference  to  Van  Tromp  is,  without 
doubt,  to  his  great  naval  victories  over  the 
British,  after  which  the  Dutch  admiral  sailed 
up  the  English  channel  with  a  broom  at  his 
masthead.     The  translation  is: 

We  will  also  to  England  sail. 

For  Van  Tromp  does  England  sore. 

England  is  locked  up  (blockaded)  ; 

The  key  is  broken. 
Black  beggar,  what  do  you  here  ? 


At  parties  of  young  people  in  those  days 

this  ditty  was  usually  sung  : 

Het  regent,  en  het  hagelt,  en  'tis  onstuimig  weder  ; 
In  komt  de  boerman  zuigen  cider  : 


334  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Wie  wezen  de  maaier  ?  ik  wezen  de  binder  ; 

Ik  heb  mijn  lieve  verloren  ;  waar  zal  ik  vind  haar  ? 

The  song  survives  and  is  still  sung  in  rural 
companies  in  the  English  version  as  follows  : 

It  rains,  and  it  hails,  and  '  tis  boisterous  weather ; 

In  comes  the  farmer  sucking  cider  : 

Who  is  the  reaper  ?     I  am  the  binder  ; 

I  have  my  love  lost ;  where  shall  I  find  her  ? 


A  popular  children's  rhyme  was 

Wie  komt  met  mij  naar  koetjestal 
Zoete  melk  ter  halen  ? 

Ik  en  gij  en  kindjes  al 
Zal  het  wel  betalen. 

Vier  paardjes  voor  wagen 

Had  het  haast  verjagen. 
Toe,  paardjes,  toe. 

which  may  be  translated  thus  : 

Who  comes  with  me  to  the  dairy 

Sweet  milk  to  bring  ? 
You  and  I  and  children  all 

Shall  pay  for  it  well 
Four  horses  before  the  wagon 
Had  almost  run  away  with  it. 
Hurry,  horses,  hurry. 


Here  is  an  old  riddle  : 

Een  koning  moet  een  koning  onder  een  essche- 

boom  : 
De  koning  tot  de  koning  zegt,   **Wat  ben  uwe 

naam?" 


DUTCH  RHMYES  AND  SONGS.        335 

'' Goud  ben  mijn  zadel ;  zilver  ben   mijn   teugel ; 
essche  ben  mijn  boog. 
Ik  vertelt  mijn  naam  drie  tijdt  in  een  rij." 
(Antvvoord,  Ben.) 

In  English  the  riddle  would  run  thus  : 

A  king  met  a  king  under  an  ash  tree  : 
The  king  to  the  king  said,  ' '  What  is  your  name  ?' ' 
*'  Gold  is  my  saddle  ;  silver  is  my  bridle  ;  ash  is 
my  bow. 
I  told  my  name  three  times  in  a  row. ' ' 
(Answer,  Ben.) 


Here  is  the  story  of  the  trading  of 

Een  Arme  Schepzel. 

*'  Goeden-morgen,  naaste  Jan  ! 

Waar  komt  gij  zoo  vroeg  van  daan  ?  " 
*  *  Van  de  markt. "      "  Wat  doen  gij  daar  ?  ' ' 
'■ '  - Verkoopt  mij n  dochter. "    "  Wat  krijgt  gij  voor  ?  '  * 
*'  Een  schepel  geld."      "  Geve  mijn  de  geld." 
*'  Kom  aan,"  zegt  Jan. 

"  Goeden-morgen,  naaste  Jan  ! 

Waar  komt  gij  zoo  vroeg  van  daan  ?  * ' 
' '  Van  de  markt. "      "  Wat  doen  gij  daar  ?  ' ' 
' '  Handelt  mijn  geld. "      "  Wat  krijgt  gij  voor  ?  ' ' 
"  Een  vosse  paard."      "  Geve  mijn  de  paard." 
"  Kom  aan,"  zegt  Jan. 

'*  Goeden-morgen,  naaste  Jan  ! 

Waar  komt  gij  zoo  vroeg  van  daan  ?  ' ' 
'  *  Van  de  markt. "      "  Wat  doen  gij  daar  ?  ' ' 
"  Handelt  mijn  paard."      "  Wat  krijgt  gij  voor  ?  " 
"  Een  bontekoe."      ''  Geve  mijn  de  koe." 
* '  Kom  aan, '  *  zegt  Jan. 


336  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

''  Goeden-morgen,  naaste  Jan  ! 

Waar  komt  gij  zoo  vroeg  van  daan  ?  ' ' 
'  *  Van  de  markt. "      ' '  Wat  doen  gij  daar  ?  ' ' 
"  Handelt  mijn  koe. "      "  Wat  krijgt  gij  voor  ?  " 
**  Een  zwarte  schaap."      "  Geve  mijn  de  schaap.'* 
*'  Kom  aan,"  zegt  Jan. 

**  Goeden-morgen,  naaste  Jan  ! 

Waar  komt  gij  zoo  vroeg  van  daan  ?  ' ' 
"  Van  de  markt."      "  Wat  doen  gij  daar  ?  " 
''  Handelt  mijn  schaap."      "  Wat  krijgt  gij  voor?  " 
'*  Een  kraaien  hoen."      ''  Geve  mijn  de  hoen." 
'*  Kom  aan,"  zegt  Jan. 

"  Goeden-morgen,  naaste  Jan  ! 

Waar  komt  gij  zoo  vroeg  van  daan  ?  ' ' 
' '  Van  de  markt. "      "  Wat  doen  gij  daar  ?  ' ' 
"  Handelt  mijn  hoen."      "Wat  krijgt  gij  voor?'* 
'*  Een  bits  wetsteen."      "  Geve  mijn  de  steen. " 

"  Kom  aan,"  zegt  Jan. 
Met    dat   hij    verwerpt    zijn    wetsteen    achter   zijn 

dochter. 

'•  Arme  schepzel "  is  a  contemptuous  ex- 
pression meaning  "  A  poor  creature,"  and  the 
story  of  his  trading  may  be  told  in  these 
words : 

"  Good-morning,  neighbor  John  ! 

Whence  come  you  so  early  to-day?  " 
**  From  the  market."      *'  What  did  you  there  ?  " 
'*  Sold  my  daughter."      "  What  got  you  for  her?  " 
* '  Three  pecks  of  money. "     ' '  Give  me  the  money. '  * 
''  Come  on,"  said  John. 

*'  Good-morning,  neighbor  John  ! 
Whence  come  you  so  early  to-day?  " 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        337 

«'  From  the  market."      "  What  did  you  there  ?  " 
' '  Traded  my  money. "      "  What  got  you  for  it  ?  " 
**  A  sorrel  horse."      ''  Give  me  the  horse." 
'•  Come  on,"  said  John. 

The  next  day,  John  returned  from  the 
market,  having  traded  his  horse  for  a  spotted 
cow,  the  next  his  cow  for  a  black  sheep,  then 
his  sheep  for  a  crowing  rooster,  then  the 
rooster  for  a  keen  whetstone.  Then,  realizing 
his  foolishness,  he  threw  the  whetstone  after 
his  daughter. 


When  boys  were  anxious  that  the  sap  should 

loosen  the  bark  that  whistles  might  be  made 

they  sang 

Sappen,  sappen,  rijpen  ! 
Wanneer  zal  gij  pijpen  ? 
Onsluit  mij  fluitje  ! 
Los  !  los  !   los  ! 

Or  in  English 

Sap,  sap,  ripen  ! 
When  will  ye  pipe  ? 
Unlock  my  whistle  ! 
Loosen  !  loosen  !  loosen  ! 


The  following  was  inscribed  in  an  old  book: 

Die  dit  vint  en  brengt  het  hier, — 
Om  een  appel ;   om  een  peer  : 
Die  het  vint  en  niet  het  doet ; 
Is  hij  gallig  niet  te  goet. 


338  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

And  interpreted  it  is: 

Who  this  finds  and  brings  it  here, — 
About  an  apple, — about  a  pear  : 
Who  it  finds  and  does  it  not ; 
His  gall  is  not  too  good. 

A  St.  Nicholas  song  is  given   in  a   former 
chapter.     Here  is  another : 

Zie  !  de  maan  schijnt  door  de  boomen  ! 

Makkers,  stuit  uwe  wild  gerass  ! 
De  heilig  avondstonds  aankomen  ; 

De  avonding  van  Santa  Claus. 
Van  verwachting  klopt  onze  hart — 
Wie  de  koek  krijgt  ;  wie  de  garde. 

Attempting  to  render  this  into  English  we 
have 

See  !    the  moon  shines  through  the  trees  ! 

Comrades,  stop  your  wild  rackets  ! 
The  holy  evening  is  approaching  ; 

The  evening  of  Santa  Claus. 
With  expectation  throbs  our  heart — 
Who  the  cake  gets  ;  who  the  rod. 


Then   follows  a  short   homily  on   diligence 
and  industry : 

Wie  in  de  somer  vergaardert  haast, 
Dan  kun  hij  in  de  winter  leest. 
Die  set  hem  bij  een  warme  vier 
En  eet  en  drinkt  op  zijn  pleizier. 
Maar  die  niet  somer' s  haast  gespart, 
Men  ziet  wel  hoe  zijn  winters  varet  ; 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        339 

Zij  leven  lui,  en  slaapen  lang  ; 
En  borgen  op  de  Kersttijdt  aen  ; 
Betalen  op  St.  Nimmer's  dag  ; 
Zulk  lui  gespuys  ik  niet  vermaagh. 
De  Schrift  de  wijz  haar  tot  de  mier  ; 
Al  is  het  maar  een  arme  dier. 


A  free  translation  would  make  it : 

Who  in  the  summer  reaps  with  speed, 
Then  can  he  in  the  winter  read. 
Such  sits  him  by  a  warm  fire 
And  eats  and  drinks  at  his  pleasure. 
But  such  as  summer's  haste  have  spared, 
Men  see  well  how  their  winters  go  ; 
They  live  lazily,  and  sleep  long  ; 
And  borrow  on  the  Christmas  next  ; 
Paying  upon  St.  Never' s  day. 
Such  lazy  rabble  I  do  not  delight  in. 
The  Scriptures  point  them  to  the  ant  ; 
Though  it  is  but  a  poor  insect. 


Another  rhyme  which  was  often  repeated  in 
former  days  was  this  : 

De  molenaar  is  een  groote  dief, — 
De  groote  zakken  have  zijn  lief; 
De  kleine  laten  hij  doorlopen. 
Uit  elk  een  zak 
Hij  sluipen  wat ; 
Dan  nood  hij  niet  eenig  brood  te  koopen. 

English   readers    may    read    it     after    this 
fashion  : 

The  miller  is  a  great  thief, — 
The  larger  bags  have  his  love  ; 


340  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

The  smaller  lets  he  run  out. 
Out  of  each  bag 
He  steals  a  little  ; 
Then  needs  he  not  to  buy  any  bread. 


The  following  is  a  Mother  Goose  rhyme  pure 
and  simple  : 

Terre,  leere,  lits-a-lote — 

De  hond  lijt  in  de  keuken  doode  : 

Zijn  staart  was  voort ; 

Zijn  kop  ontbloot. 
Toe  komt  mijn  heer,  a  jonger  ; 
En  hij  zegt  de  hond  was  dronker. 
Den  komt  een  timmerman, 
En  timmert  de  hond  zijn  staart  weer  aan. 

Suppose  we  make  this  read 

Terre,  leere,  lits-a-lote — 

The  dog  lies  in  the  kitchen  dead  : 

His  tail  is  gone  ; 

His  head  is  bare. 
Then  comes  my  young  lord  ; 
And  he  says  the  dog  is  drunk. 
Then  comes  a  carpenter, 
And  builds  the  tail  on  again. 


Another   children's    riddle    was    similar   to 
this: 

Daar  blijft  een  mooije  dingetje  altijd  langst  de  dijk  ; 
Met  zijn  oogen  op  zijn  kopje  als  rondom  hij  kijk  ; 
Met  zijn  voeten  in  de  moerashij  dans  wipperty- wop. 
Raader,  raader,  raader,  wat  dingetje  was  dot  ? 
(Antwoord,  Kikvorsch.) 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        341 

The  riddle  might  be  thus  in  English  : 

There  lives  a  handsome  little  creature   the   while 

beside  the  dyke  ; 
With  his  eyes  above  his  head  all  around  him   he 

gazes  ; 
With  his  feet  in  the  swamp  he  dances   whipperty- 

whop. 
Guesser,  guesser,  guesser,  what  creature  is  that  ? 

(Answer,  Frog.) 

There  was  a  riddle  v^hich  ran  after  this  sort ; 

Ik  vare  hier  van  oude  land, 
Verbonden  dicht  met  ijzer  band  ; 
Moorde  have  ik  niet  gedaan; — 

Versluipen  niet; 

Bedriegen  niet; 
Maar  een  pin  is  in  mijn  kop  verslaan. 
(Antwoord,  Vat.) 

To  English  children  the  riddle  would  be: 

I  sailed  here  from  the  old  land, 
And  am  bound  with  iron  bands; 
Murder  have  I  not  done; — 

Stolen  not; 

Cheated  not; 
Yet  a  peg  is  beaten  into  my  head. 

(Answer,  Cask.)  ^ 


Old-time  horses  are  represented  as  saying 

Op  de  berg  slaan  mij  niet; 
Neder  de  berg  haast  mij  niet; 
DoOr  de  vlakte  spaar  mij  niet; 
So  kan  ik  werk  en  verget  u  niet. 


342  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

An  American  horse  would  interpret  this  to 
read 

Up  the  hill  whip  me  not; 
Down  the  hill  speed  me  not; 
Across  the  level  spare  me  not; 
So  I  can  work  and  forget  you  not. 


An    old    Dutch   aphorism   made  use  of   by 
Washington  Irving  is  this  : 

De  waarheid  die  in  duister  lag ; 

Die  komt  met  klaarheid  aan  den  dag. 

It  is  just  as  true  in  English  : 

The  truth  that  in  the  darkness  lay  ; 
That  comes  with  clearness  in  the  day. 


The     advice    in     this    motto    is    certainly 
judicious : 

Drink  wat  klaar  is  ; 
Spreek  wat  waar  is  ; 
Eet  wat  gaar  is. 

Translated  it  is : 

Drink  what  pure  is  ; 
Speak  what  true  is  ; 
Eat  what  is  well  cooked. 


Something  of  an  entirely  different  order  is 
the  following  homely  rhyme  : 

Wij  planten   eens  aardappelse,  —  de  oogst  was  niet 
heel  groote; 


DUTCH  RHMYES  AND  SONGS.        343 

En  wij  gedachte  zij  zoo  verrotten  daar  was  nietig 

voor  ons  nood. 
Wij  doen  hen  in  de  kelder  in  de  mooije   drogen 

weer, 
En  de  aardappelse  ware  mooije  de  heel  jaar  door. 

An  English  version  would  have  it : 

We  planted  once  potatoes  ;  the  harvest  was  not 
great ; 

And  we  thought  they  had  rotted  so  there  was  noth- 
ing for  our  need. 

We  put  them  in  the  cellar  in  the  lovely  dry  weather, 

And  the  potatoes  were  excellent  the  whole  year 
through. 


The   following  is  cumulative  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  English  *'  House  that  Jack  Built": 

De  eerste  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  heve  stuurde  tot  mijn 
Een  patrijs  in  de  peerboom. 

De  tweede  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  heve  stuurde  tot  mijn 
Twee  tortelduif  en  een  patrijs  in  de  peerboom. 

De  derde  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  Ueve  stuurde  tot  mijn 
Drie  Fransch  hoenen,  twee  tortelduif  en  een  patrijs 
in  de  peerboom. 

De  vierde  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  lieve  stuurde  tot  mijn 
Vier  leggen  ganzen,  drie  Fransch  hoenen,  twee  tor- 
telduif en  een  patrijs  in  de  peerboom. 


3.44  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

De  vijfe  dag  van  Kersttijdt 

Mijn  lieve  stuurde  tot  mijn 
Vijf  eendjes   zwemming,  vier   leggen  ganzen,  drie 

Fransch  hoenen,  twee  tortelduif  en  een  pat- 

rijs  in  de  peerboom. 

De  zesde  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  lieve  stuurde  tot  mijn 

Zes  vioole  speelen,  vijf  eendjes  zwemming,  vier 
leggen  ganzen,  drie  Fransch  hoenen,  twee 
tortelduif  en  een  patrijs  in  de  peerboom. 

De  zevende  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  lieve  stuurde  tot  mijn 

Zeven  gedansen  meisjen,  zes  vioole  speelen,  vijf 
eendjes  zwemming,  vier  leggen  ganzen,  drie 
Fransch  hoenen,  twee  tortelduif  en  een  pat- 
trijs  in  de  peerboom. 

De  achtste  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  lieve  stuurde  tot  mijn 

Acht  beene  hammetje,  zeven  gedansen  meisjen, 
zes  vioole  speelen,  vijf  eendjes  zwemming, 
vier  leggen  ganzen,  drie  Fransch  hoenen, 
twee  tortelduif  en  een  patrijs  in  de  peer- 
boom. 

De  negende  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  Heve  stuurde  tot  mijn 

Negen  bulle  bruUing,  acht  beene  hammetje,  zeven 
gedansen  meisjen,  zes  vioole  speelen,  vijf 
eendjes  zwemming,  vier  leggen  ganzen,  drie 
Fransch  hoenen,  twee  tortelduif  en  een  pat- 
rijs in  de  peerboom. 

De  tiende  dag  van  Kersttijdt 
Mijn  lieve  stuurde  tot  mijn 


DUTCH  RHYMES  AND  SONGS.        345 

Tien  paardjes  drafen,  negen  buUe  bruUing,  acht 
beene  hammetje,  zeven  gedansen  meisjen, 
zes  vioole  speelen,  vijf  eendjes  zwemming, 
vier  leggen  ganzen,  drie  Fransch  hoenen, 
twee  tortelduif  en  een  patrijs  in  de  peer- 
boom. 

A  rendering  of  the  first  verse  and  the  tenth 
will  sufficiently  translate  it: 

The  first  day  of  Christmas 

My  loved  one  sent  to  me 
A  partridge  in  the  pear  tree. 

The  last  verse  comprises  all  the  rest : 

The  tenth  day  of  Christmas 
My  loved  one  sent  to  me 

Ten  trotting  horses,  nine  bulls  bellowing,  eight 
bones  of  ham,  seven  dancing  maidens,  six 
vioUns  a-playing,  five  ducks  a-swimming, 
four  geese  a-laying,  three  French  hens,  two 
turtle-doves  and  a  partridge  in  the  pear 
tree.  (A  Dutch  partridge  is  the  American 
quail. ) 


In  giving  an  English  rendering  of  the  above 
ballads  and  rhymes  no  attempt  has  been  made 
to  do  it  in  the  English  idiom.  The  translation 
has  usually  been  a  bald  and  literal  one.  They 
are  given  as  closely  as  possible  as  they  were 
sung  by  our  ancestors  in  the  Dutch  of  former 
days. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

SAUGERTIES     CHAPTER,    DAUGHTERS     OF    THE 
AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

The  latter  years  of  the  Nineteenth  Century- 
witnessed  a  revival  of  a  spirit  of  patriotism  in 
this  country  in  the  direction  of  a  recognition 
of  our  debt  to  those  who  gave  us  the  liberties 
we  enjoy.  The  civil  war  had  called  forth  all 
the  energies  of  the  American  people,  and  in 
the  appreciation  of  the  valorous  defense  of  the 
Union  by  the  soldiers  of  that  terrible  conflict 
the  deeds  of  their  sires  had  almost  passed  out 
of  sight.  But  during  the  last  two  decades  a 
number  of  societies  have  arisen  to  teach  this 
generation  the  debt  thus  owed.  Among  these 
there  is  none  so  large  or  so  efficient  as  The 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  For 
some  time  it  had  been  felt  that  Saugerties 
should  have  a  chapter.  This  work  has  told 
how  true  the  fathers  were.  Their  daughters 
felt  that  an  obligation  was  resting  upon  them 
to  cultivate  this  spirit  in  the  rising  genertion 
of  this  town. 

During  the  autumn  of  1900  and  the  follow- 
ing winter  the  matter  took   a  definite  shape. 


SAUGERTIES  CHAPTER,  D.  A,  R.      347 

A  preliminary  meeting  was  held  January  17, 
1901,  and  on  February  13.  following,  Sauger- 
ties  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  American  Rev- 
olution, was  organized  with  fourteen  charter 
members.  These  were  Mrs.  Katharine  C. 
Spaulding,  Mrs.  Lydia  C.  French,  Mrs.  Julia 
M.  Phelps,  Mrs.  Annie  M.  F.  Smedberg,  Mrs. 
Marie  K.  W.  James,  Mrs.  Eliza  R.  Seamon, 
Miss  Jessie  F.  Da^wes,  Miss  Katharine  G.  Sah- 
ler,  Mrs.  Ella  F.*  Mould,  Miss  Ella  DeWitt, 
Miss  Ethel  Gray,  Mrs.  Isabel  F.  Overbagh,  Mrs. 
Kate  S.  F.  Davis,  Miss  Annie  Wilbur. 

To  effect  this  organization  Mrs.  Katharine  C. 
Spaulding  was  elected  Regent;  Mrs.  Lydia  C. 
French,  Vice-Regent ;  Mrs.  Annie  M.  F. 
Smedberg,  Recording  Secretary;  Mrs.  Marie 
K.  W.  James,  Corresponding  Secretary  ;  Mrs. 
Julia  M.  Phelps,  Treasurer;  Miss  Jessie  F. 
Dawes,  Registrar,  and  Miss  Ethel  Gray,  His- 
torian. 

To  the  chapter  the  following  members  were 
added  before  June  ist,  1902:  Mrs.  Fannie  R. 
Cantine,  Miss  Edith  Corse,  Miss  Julia  E. 
Lamb,  Miss  Gertrude  M.  Lamb,  Mrs.  Maude 
M'F.  Washburn,  Mrs.  Helen  S.  Gale,  Mrs.  M. 
E.  P.  Gillespy,  Mrs.  Peter  Cantine,  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth S.  W.  Lewis,  Mrs.  Mary  V.  E.  Burhans, 
Mrs.  Nora  B.  Hommel,  Mrs.  Mary  K.  Pidgeon, 
Miss  Abby  P.  Leland,  Miss  Anna  M.  Russell, 
Miss   Jennie    A.    VanHoesen,  Miss    Mary    E. 


348  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

VanHoesen,  Mrs.  Anna  E.  S.  Miller,  Mrs. 
Mary  G.  Lasher,  Mrs.  Julia  Welch  Searing — 
thirty-three  members  in  all. 

The  chapter  determined  to  decorate  the 
graves  of  such  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  as 
are  within  the  bounds  of  the  town  of  Sauger- 
ties  whose  names  and  resting  places  are 
described  in  the  appendix  preceded  by  a  list 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  from  the 
town.  On  Memorial  Day,  May  30,  1901,  this 
was  done  by  committees  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  each  locality. 

Prizes  have  been  offered  by  the  chapter  for 
papers  upon  subjects  of  Revolutionary  history 
to  pupils  in  our  public  schools,  and  this  history 
•of  the  town  is  now  published  at  its  request  to 
tell  fully  and  connectedly  who  they  were  who 
founded  our  town  ;  what  our  ancestors  did  to 
secure  the  freedom  we  enjoy,  and  how  they  did 
it.  The  heritage  will  be  better  appreciated 
when  we  know  what  it  cost,  and  know  that  it 
was  secured  by  those  whose  blood  flows  in  our 
veins. 


APPENDIX. 

Saugerties  Soldiers  of  the  Revolution. 

The  following  list  of  those  who,  as  residents  of 
what  is  the  present  town  of  Saugerties,  were  soldiers 
in  the  patriot  army  during  the  American  Revolu- 
tion is  probably,  as  correct  as  it  can  be  made  at  this 
late  day.  Some  names  may  be  omitted ;  a  lew 
repeated  ;  many  served  in  more  than  one  regiment 
and  some  names  may  be  the  same  under  more  than 
one  way  of  speUing.  Great  pains  have  been  taken 
to  include  all. 

FIRST   ULSTER   MILITIA. 


Col.  Joh 

annis  Snyder. 

Capt.  Matthew  Dederick 

Lieut.  Peter  Osterhoudt 

Capt.  John  L.  DeWitt 

Lieut.  Johannes  Persen 

Capt.  Jeremiah  Snyder 

Lieut.  Peter  Post 

Lieut.  Peter  Backer 

Lieut.  Edward  Whitaker 

Lieut.  Petrus  Eygenaar 

Ensign  Peter  Brink,  Jr. 

Lieut.  Martin  Hommel 

Ensign  Stephen  Fiero 

Lieut.  Tobias  Myer 

Ensign  Tobias  Wynkoop 

Adam  Baer 

John  Brink,  Jr. 

Cuffee,  Adam  Baer's  slave 

John  A.  Brink 

Henry  Baer 

John  G.  Brink 

John  Baer 

John  T.  B  ink 

Jurrie  Baer 

Peter  Brink 

John  Beaver 

Frederick  Pritt 

Peter  Beaver 

William  Britt 

CorneHus  Brinck 

Barent  Burhans 

Cornelius  C.  Brinck 

John  Burhans 

Hendrick  Brink 

John  Burhans,  Jr. 
Tjerck  Burhans 

Jacob  Brinck 

Jacob  Brink,  Jr. 

Hieronymus  Carnright 

John  Brinck 

Jurrie  Carle 

John  C.  Brink 

George  Carle 

John  J.  Brink 

Jacob  Cunyes 

Peter  C.  Brink 

Henry  B.  Crura 

Henry  Brink 

Henry  W.  Crum 

350 


HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 


Jacob  Crum 

John  Davenport 

John  B.  Davis 

Joseph  Davis 

Sampson  Davis 

Samuel  Davis 

William  Davis 

Jecobus  DuBois 

James  DuBois 

William  DuBois 

Gilbert  Dederick 

Calo,  Gilbert  Dederick's  slave 

John  Dederick 

Jonathan  Dederick 

Harmanus  Dederick 

Jacobus  Dederick 

Matthew  DeRonde 

John  T.  DeWitt 

Abram  DeWitt 

Cornelius  DeWitt 

Stephen  Eckert 

Henry  Eckert 

Jacob  Eckert 

Jeremiah  Eckert 

Martinus  Eckert 

Solomon  Eckert 

Frederick  Eygenaar 

Jacob  Eygenaar 

John  Eygenaar 

Johannes  Eygenaar 

Peter  Eygenaar,  Jr. 

Peter  P.  Eygenaar 

William  Eygenaar 

Cornelius  Ej^genaar 

Jacobus  Eygenaar 

Peter  D.  Eygenaar 

Jacob  Eligh 

Johannes  Eligh 

Johannes  Emerick 

Peter  Emerick 

Wilhelmus  Emerick 

Wilhemus  Emerick,  Jr. 

John  Emerick 

Peter  Eygenaar 

Benjamin  Felten 

John  C.  Fiero 

Peter  Fiero 

Coonradt  Fiero 

Stephen  Fiero 

William  Fiero 

Coonradt  Ferris 

Christian  Fiero 

Christian  Fiero,  Jr. 

Han  Christian  Fiero 

George  Foland 

Jacob  Foland 

Adam  France 

Cornelius  France 

Jacob  France 

Jacob  France,  Jr. 

Johannes  France 


Wilhelmus  France 
Johannes  Freese 
Hendrick  Freligh 
Hendrick  Freligh,  Jr. 
John  Freligh 
Samuel  Freligh 
Abraham  Hommel 
Hermanus  Hommel 
Jurrie  Hommel 
Jurrie  Hommel,  Jr. 
Petrus  Hommel 
Harman  Hommel,  Jr. 
John  Kiersted 
Wilhelmus  Kiersted 
Cornelius  Langendyke 
John  Langendyke 
Samuel  Legg 
John  Legg,  Jr. 
Frederick  Low 
Tjerck  Low 
Jecobus  Low 
Abram  Low 
Peter  Magee 
Peter  Magee,  Jr. 
Samuel  Magee 
Johannes  Markle 
Joseph  Martin 
Adam  Mauterstock 
Johannes  Mauterstock 
Peter  Mauterstock 
Jacob  Mower 
Cornelius  Minklaer 
Hermanus  Minklaer 
Christian  Myer 
Peter  L.  Mj'er 
Stephen  Myer 
Johannes  Mower,  Jr. 
Jacob  Musier 
Abram  Myer 
Penjamin  Myer 
Benjamin  Myer,  Jr. 
Cornelius  Myer 
Coonradt  Myer 
Ephraim  Myer 
Henry  Myer 
Johannes  Myer,  Jr. 
Peter  Myer 
Peter  Myer,  Jr. 
Peter  B.  Myer 
Peter  L.  Myer 
Peter  T.  Myer 
Stephen  Myer,  Jr 
Teunis  Myer 
William  Myer,  Jr. 
John  Osterhoudt 
Petrus  Osterhoudt 
Peter  L.  Osterhoudt 
Abraham  Osterhoudt 
Cornelius  Persen 
John  Persen 
Teunis  Ploegh 


SAUGERTIES  SOLDIERS. 


351 


Daniel  Polhamus 
Abraham  Post 
Abraham  A.  Post 
Cornelius  Post 
Henry  Post,  Jr. 
Isaac  Post 
Isaac  Post,  Jr. 
Jacobus  Post 
John  Post 
Martin  Post 
Martin  Post,  Jr. 
Samuel  Post 
Herman  us  Rechtmyer 
Coonradt  Rechtmyer 
George  Rechtmyer 
George  Rechtmyer,  Jr. 
Johannes  Rechtmyer 
Jurry  W.  Rechtmyer 
Peter  Rechtmyer 
Andrew  Richley 
Jacob  Richley 
Lodewick  Russell 
Peter  Sax 

Samnel  Schoonmaker 
Edward  Schoonmaker 
Egbert  Schoonmaker,  Jr. 
Hiskia  Schoonmaker 
Tjerck  Schoonmaker 
Tjerck  Schoonmaker,  Jr. 
Christian  Schutt 
Solomon  Schutt 
August  Shoe 
Henry  Short 
Petrus  Short 
Benjamin  Snyder 
Christian  Snyder 
Henry  Snyder 
Johannes  Snyder,  Jr. 
Martinas  Snj'der 


Solomon  Snyder 
Valentine  Trumpbour 
John  Trumpbour 
Jacob  Trumpbour 
Hendrick  Turck 
Johannes  Turck 
Johannes  Teetsell 
Johannes  Valk 
Wilhelmus  Valk 
Abraham  Valkenburgh 
John  Valkenburgh 
Andries  Van  Leuven 
John  Van  Leuven 
John  Van  Leuven,  Jr. 
Zachariah  Van  Leuven 
John  Van  Steenburgh 
Paulus  Van  Steenburgh 
Petrus  Van  Steenburgh 
Thomas  Van  Steenburgh 
John  Viele 
Henry  Wells'^ 
Jacobus  Wells  '^ 
Peter  A    Winne 
Petrus  Whitaker 
John  Whitaker 
John  Winne 
Benjamin  Winne 
John  Wolven 
Jeremiah  Wolven 
John  Wolven,  Jr. 
Adam  Wolven 
Evert  Wynkoop 
Hezekiah  Wynkoop 
John  Wynkoop,  Jr. 
William  Wynkoop 
Daniel  York 
Abraham  Young 
Jeremiah  Young 
Cornelius  Wells.  ^ — 


FOURTH   ULSTER  MILITIA. 


Major  John  Gillespy 
Lieut.  Jurry  Hommel 
Ensign  Petrus  Brinck 

John  Brink,  Jr. 
Peter  Brink 


Lieut.  Christian  Fiero 
Lieut.  Evert  Wynkoop 
John  Brink 

Solomon  Brink 
Johannes  Mauterstock, 


CAPTAIN  SYLVESTER  SALISBURY'S  LIGHT  HORSE  TROOP. 


Adam  Wolven 
Abraham  Keator 
John  J.  Crispell 
Benjamin  Winne 
Roeloff  Eltinge 
John  DeWitt,  Jr. 
Christian  Doll 
John  Brink,  Jr. 
Moses  Pattison 
Baltus  Kieffer 


Tjerck  Low 
Peter  Van  Leuven 
Petrus  Winne,  Jr. 
Christian  Fiero 
Henry  P.  Freligh 
Martin  Hommel,  Jr. 
John  DeWitt,  Jr. 
Hermanns  Hommel 
John  A.  DeWitt 
Abraham  Hommel 


352  HISTOR  Y  OF  SA  UGER  TIES. 

John  E.  Schoonmaker  John  Turck 

Peter  C.  Brinck  John  Freligh 

Edward  Osterhoudt  Benjamin  Felton. 
Hendrick  Turck 

COLONEL  ALBERT  PAWLING'S  LEVIES. 

Adam  Brink  Wilham  Myer 

Cornelius  Brink  Henry  Post 

Cornelius  Brink,  Jr.  Isaac  Post 

John  Brink  Jacobus  Post 

John  C.  Brink  Martin  Post 

Tjerck  Burhans  Samuel  Post 

John  Eygenaar  Christian  Schutt 

Coonradt  Ferris  Solomon  Schutt 

Abraham  Fiero  Abraham  Snyder 

Peter  Fiero  Elias  Snyder 

Adam  France  Christian  Snyder 

Abraham  Myer  Isaac  Snyder 

Teunis  Myer  John  Turck 

Peter  Myer  Nicholas  Trumpbour 

Benjamin  Myer  George  Young 

FIFTH   REGIMENT  OF  THE  LINE. 
Adam  Brink. 

FOURTH  WESTCHESTER  MILITIA. 

John  Crawford. 

Notes. — Colonel  Johannis  Snyder's  name  is  in- 
cluded in  the  list  as  he  was  a  Saugerties  man  by 
birth,  although  living  in  Kingston  at  the  time  of  the 
war.  Major  John  Gillespy  did  not  become  a  resi- 
dent of  Saugerties  until  after  the  war.  The  same  is 
true  of  John  Crawford,  who  became  a  minister  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  was  the  father 
of  that  church  in  the  town. 

Cufifee,  the  slave  of  Adam  Baer,  under  the  law 
was  entitled  to  his  freedom  after  he  had  served 
three  years,  the  State  recompensing  his  master. 
So  was  Cato,  the  slave  of  Gilbert  Dederick. 

The  hst  includes  the  names  of  some  who  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  were  Tories.  But  they  so 
angered    their  patriotic  neighbors   that  they   were 


SAUGERTIES  SOLDIERS.  353 

compelled  either  to  emigrate  to  Canada,  or  enter 
the  service  of  the  army  of  the  patriots.  Many 
chose  the  latter  course.  Here  are  316  names. 
Allowing  for  duplicates  250  men  must  have  served. 


The  Graves  of  the  Patriots. 

During  the  year  1901  a  thorough  and  extended 
search  was  made  all  over  the  town  of  Saugerties  to 
locate  and  identify  the  graves  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution  who  sleep  in  the  bosom  of  the  town. 
Most  of  the  graves  have  lost  the  stones  which  mark- 
ed them.  Excepting  the  three  cemeteries  at  Kats- 
baan,  Saugerties  and  Plattekill  these  patriots  lie 
scattered  in  almost  forgotten  graves  upon  the  farms 
on  which  they  lived  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

It  is  not  attempted  to  give  the  inscriptions  in  full. 
Only  the  name,  and  date  of  birth  and  death  are 
given.  And  where  only  the  date  of  death  and  age 
are  told  merely  this  is  transcribed.  A  number  of 
the  inscriptions  are  in  Dutch,  and  one  is  in  Palatine 
German.  Of  these  the  English  rendering  is  given. 
The  page  given  with  the  name  is  the  one  on  which 
such  service  is  found  in  "  New  York  in  the  Revolu- 
tion." Where  no  regiment  is  mentioned  the 
military  service  was  in  the  First  Ulster  Regiment. 

In  the  cemetery  at  the  Katsbaan  church  are 
found  the  graves  of 

Cornelius  Persen,  who  died  7  February  1S27,  aged  82  years,  11  months 
and  20  days.     See  page  189. 

Ephraim  Myer,  born  21  October  1759;  died  18  February,  1843.  Page 
189. 

Jecobus  Wells  ;   died  20  December  1798,  aged  54  years      Page  190. 


354  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

Christian  Fiero,  died  28  January  1826,  aged  67  years,  i  month  and  21 
days.     Page  188. 

Johannes  Mauterstock,  died  31  January  1833;  aged  81  years.  Page 
189. 

Ensign  Stephen  Fiero,  died  16  September  1831  ;  aged  81  years  and  5 
months      Page  187. 

Hermanus  Rechtmyer,  died  13  May  1835;  aged  81  years,  2  months  and 
13  days      Page  189. 

Abraham  Fiero,  died  4  November  1826 ;  aged  63  years,  6  months  and 
5  days.  He  served  in  Colonel  Albert  Pawling's  Regiment  of  the  Levies. 
Page  83. 

Peter  Fiero,  died  1S02,  aged  41  years.     Page  188. 

In  the  field  southeast  of  the  station  at  West  Camp  lie  Captain  Matthias 
Dederick,  died  19  December  1S08  ;  aged  71  years,  9  months  and  19  days. 
Page  187. 

Wilhelmus  Emerick,  died  27  November  1841  ;  aged  86  years.  Page 
188. 

On  the  farm  of  Luther  Myer,  in  Hommelville,  is  buried 

Hermanus  Hommel,  died  i  April  1S28  ;    aged  82  years.     Page  189. 

On  the  farm  of  Russell  VVynkoop,  in  a  lonely  cedar  woods  rests 

Johannes  Falck,  born  i  January,  1740  Died  2  November  1822  Page 
188 

On  Rio  Alto  Stock  Farm  is  the  grave  of 

Lieut.  Evert  Wynkoop,  died  16  April  1830;  aged  86  years,  7  months 
and  8  days      Also  in  Fourth  Ulster.     Pages  191  and  200. 

In  the  Main  Street  Cemetery,  Saugerties,  lie  buried 

John  Brink,  Jr.,  died  9  Tune  1814  ;  aged  69  years,  8  months  and  8  days. 
He  also  served  in  Fourth  Ulster  Regiment.     Pages  187  and  200. 

Major  John  Gillespy,  died  5  January  1810  ;   aged  69  years.     He  was  of 
Fourth  Ulster  Regiment.     Page  199 
\y  \        Martinus  Snyder,  died  2  February  1831  ;   aged  82  years,  11  months  and 

Y  10  days.    Page  190. 

Samuel  Schoonmaker,  born  5  April  1755  ;  died  25  March  1815.  Page 
190 

Petrus  Myer,  died  30  December  1813  ;  aged  81  years,  5  months  and  26 
days.     Page  189. 

Abraham  Myer,  born  5  March  1762  ;   died  1821.     Page  189. 

Johannes  Myer,  died  5  January  1829;  aged  82  years,  lo  months  and  16 
days      Page  189 

Isaac  Post,  died  31  July  1812  ;  aged  51  years,  8  months  and  5  days. 
Page  189 

Lieutenant  Peter  Post,   died  12  March  1787;   aged  43  years,  7  months 
/         and  25  days.     Page  187. 

Isaac  Snyder,  died  26  January  1S29  ;  aged  78  years,  5  months  and  17 
days  Page  290.  His  name  is  not  on  any  list,  but  he  was  granted  a  Land 
Bounty  Right  for  service  in  First  Ulster  Regmient. 

On  the  Mynderse  farm  one  stone  remains.     It  is  at  the  grave  of 

Henry  Myer,  died  30  September  1793  ;   aged  gi  years      Page  189. 

On  the  Spaulding  place  are  the  two  graves  of 

John  VanLeuven,  died  15  January  1S05 :  aged  51  years,  10  months  and 
8  days.     Page  190. 


SAUGERTIES  SOLDIERS.  355 

Andrew  VanLeuven,  died  23  May  1806  ;   aged  51  years  and    13  days. 
Page  190. 

On  the  Schoentag  place,  near  Glasco  is  buried 

Abraham  Osterhoudt,  died  3  November  1817  ;   aged  69  years,  6  months 
and  II  days      Page  189. 

On   the   farm  of  Allen  GrifTin,  on  the  Hudson,  at  Flatbush  are  three 
graves : 

Joseph  Davis,  born  5  July  176 1  ;   died  23  September  1836,  page  188. 

John  Osterhoudt,  died  23  December  1813  ;    aged  73  years,  i  month  and 
23  days.     Page  189. 

Peter  L.  Osterhoudt,  died  10  November  1S09  ;   aged  61  years,  5  months  >^ 

and  29  d^ys.     Page  189 

In   the  old  cemetery  in  Plattekill,  west   of  the   church,   is  the  largest 
cluster  of  Revolutionary  graves  in  the  town.     Here  lie 

Ensign  Peter  Brink,  died  16  March  1818  ;   aged  68  years,  10  months  and 
15  days.     Also  in  Fourth  Ulster.     Pages  187  and  200. 

Stephen  Myer,  born  S  November  1760  ;   died  4  April  1841.     Page  189. 

Peter  B.  Myer,  born  12  June  1762  ;   died  30  March  1841,     Page  1S9. 

Tennis  Myer,  died  22  November  1S31  ;   aged  76  years.     Page  189. 

Wilhelmus  France,  "  A  Revolutionary  Soldier,"  who  died  13  July  iSiS  ; 
aged  93  years,  9  months  and  26  days.     Page  188. 

John   C.   Brink,  died  30  June   1S43  ;   aged   80  years,  4  months  and    25 
days      Page  1S7. 

Benjamin  Myer,  died  12  December  1819;  aged  89  years,  i  month  and 
21  days      Page  189. 

Peter  C.  Brink,  died  22  January  1839;   aged  81  years,  3  months  and  12 
days      Page  1S7 

Benjamin  Winne,  died  2S  April  1808  ;   aged  54  years.     Page  191 

Tjerck  Burhans,  died  25   November   1S32 ;  aged   73   years,   4   months. 
Page  187. 

Jacob  Conyes,  died  27  February  1815  ;   in  his  83rd  year.     Page  1S7. 

Johannes  Snyder,  born  28  August  1750;   died  15  October  1815.     Page 
190. 

Just  north  of  the  Gilsinger  mill  at  Mt.  Marion  lies 

Tjerck  Low,  died  8  May  18^4  ;   aged  79  years,  4  months  and  13  days. 
Page  189. 

On  the  Trumpbour  farm  at  Mt.  Marion  is  buried 

Cornelius   Langendyke,   died  2   September   1S3S ;     aged   So   years    and 
6  days      Page  189. 

On  the  Francis  Myer  farm  are  the  gra%'es  of 

Lieutenant  Tobias  Myer,  bora  9  February  1734  ;  died  28  January  1S09. 
Page  187. 

Peter  T.  Myer,  died  10  October  1S39 ;  aged  77  years,  i  month  and  28 
days      Page  i8g 

On  the  Cantine  farm  at  Churchland  rest 

Benjamin  Myer  Jr.,  born  i  November  1755  ;   died  19  May  1800.     Page 
189. 

Stephanus  Myer,  born  25  July  1725  ;   died  7  May  1790.     Page  1S9 

On  the  bank  of  the  Hudson,  on  the  grounds  of  John  G.  Myers,  in  a 
plot  carefully  tended  lie  the  remains  of 


v^ 


356  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

John  Wolven,  who  died  26  September  1798  ;  aged  55  years,  6  months 
and  26  days      Page  191. 

On  the  John  W.  Davis  farm  northeast  of  the  West  Shore  station  is  the 
grave  of 

John  Post,  who  died  20  November  180-,  aged  71  years,  5  months  and 
15  days.     Page  189. 

In  the  cemetery  at  Uniohville  rests 

John   Valkenburgh,   who   died   24   September   1827,    aged    S2    years,  2 
months  and  20  days.     Page  190. 
At  the  foot  of  Mt.  Marion,  on  the  farm  of  C.  S.  Lowther  are  buried 

Captain   John  Lucas  DeWitt  who  died  27   May  1803,  aged   72  years, 
I  month  and  9  days.     Page  1S7. 

Abraham  DeWitt,  died  9  December  184S  ;   aged  82  years,  9  months  and 
19  days      Page  1S8 

On  the  farm  of  Larry  Van  Wart,  at  Bkie  Mountain  is  the  grave  of 

Samuel  Freligh,  who  died  29  September  1838,  aged  83  years,  8  months 
and  28  days.     Page  188. 

At  the  Greene  county  line,  in  the  old  cemetery  on  the  borders  of  the 
Abeel  and  Saile  farms  north  of  Saxion  repose  : 

Hezekiah  Wynkoop,  "  A  soldier  of  the  Revolution,"  who  died  19  June 
1839,  aged  89  years,  i  month  and  22  days.     Page  191. 

Christian  Myer,  died  31  May  1S17  ;   aged  77  years,  9  months  and  7  days. 
Page  189. 

Cornelius   Myer,  died  22  July  1828;  aged  63  years,  9  months  and  iS 
days.     Page  1S9 

At  Saxton,  west  of  the  house  of  the  late  Colonel  Christopher  Fiero,  is 
the  grave  of 

Henry   Wells,  who  died   i    March  1824,  aged  83   years  and  2  months. 
Page  190 

South  of  Quarryville,  on  what  was  known  as  the  Frank  Stone  farm,  is 

found  the  grave  of 

'   Peter  Hommel,  who  died   i   February  1828,  aged  77  years,  3  months  and 
I  day.     Page  1S9. 

North  of  Asbury,  on  the  Trumpbour  farm,  is  the  grave  of 

Valentine  Trumpbour,  who  died  20  February  1830,  in  the  68th  year  of 
his  a^e      Page  190. 

In  the  old  cemetery  on  the  hill  above  West  Camp  landing  are  buried 

Guysbert   (Gilbert;   Dederick,   died  5  September  1837  ;  aged  85  years. 
Page  188. 

Jacob   Trumpbout-,  died  11   April  1824;   aged  75  years,  3  months  and 
3  days      Page  190. 

Along  the  Hudson  north  of  Maiden,  and  just  above  the  brickyard  of 
John  J.  Cooney,  is  the  grave  of 

Solomon  Schutt,  who  died  27  April  1802,  aged  78  years      Page  190. 

On  the  adjoinining  farm  of  E.  P.  Simmon,  are  two  graves. 

Joseph  Martin,  who  died  i  November  1825,  aged  98  years,  ii  months 
and  6  days      Page  189 

Christian  Schutt,  who  died  10  March  1825,  aged  64  years,  and  4  days. 
Page  190. 

A  little  farther  north  along  the  river  on  the  farm  of  the  Friendship  ice 
house  are  two  graves, 


SAUGERTIES  SOLDIERS.  357 

Jacobus  Dederick,  who  died  21  March  1829,  aged  86  years  and  7 
months.    Page  188. 

Harmon  Dederick,  who  died  6  May  1S51,  in  the  88th  year  of  his  age. 
Page  188. 

Christian  Schutt  and  Solomon  Schutt  each  had  additional  service  in 
Colonel  Albert  Pawling's  Regiment  of  the  Levies.     Page  86. 

On  the  farm  of  the  late  Jeremiah  O'Bryon,  in  Saxton,  is  the  grave  of 

William  Myer,  who  died  21  July  1S40,  aged  81  years,  11  months  and  16 
days.     Page  189. 

On  the  farm  of  Washington  Myer,  at  Blue  Mountain,  is  the  grave  of 

George  Young,  born  1722  ;  died  1799.  He  served  in  Colonel  Albert 
Pawling's  Regiment  of  the  Levies.     Page  87. 

Ob  the  Judson  Herrick  farm,  Pine  Grove,  rests 

John  Wolven,  who  died  5  October  1826,  aged  63  years,  9  months  and 
4  days.     Page  191. 

In  the  cemetery  at  the  church    in  Asbury,  are  the  remains  of 

Rev.  John  Crawford,  who  died  7  March  1851,  aged  91  years  and  14 
days.     He  served  in  the  Fourth  Westchester  Regiment.     Page  214. 

Thus  the  graves  of  seventy-two  of  the  more  than 
two  hundred  and  forty  from  the  town  of  Saugerties 
in  the  Revohition  are  here  identified.  Colonel 
Johannis  Snyder,  of  the  First  Ulster  Regiment, 
under  whom  nearly  all  served  hes  in  a  well-cared- 
for  grave  in  the  churchyard  of  the  First  Reformed 
Church,  in  Kingston.  The  graves  of  Captains 
Dederick  and  DeWitt  of  this  town  are  in  the  hst, 
but  that  of  Captain  Jeremiah  Snyder  is  not  known. 

Of  these  two  hundred  and  forty  soldiers  and  over 
there  remained  sixteen  who  were  hving  on  Septem- 
ber 10,  1832.  On  that  day  the  people  of  Kingston 
celebrated  the  fiftieth  year  after  the  close  of  the  war 
of  the  Revolution  by  giving  a  dinner  in  their  honor 
in  Kingston  at  which  ninety-six  veterans  of  the 
Revolution  assembled  from  all  over  Ulster  county. 
They  met  at  the  court  house  at  2  p.  m.  and  formed 
in  hne,  preceded  by  bands  of  music  and  followed  by 
judges,  court  officials   and   citizens.      The   veterans 


358  HISTORY  OF  SAUGERTIES. 

uncovered  their  heads  as  they  began  their  last 
march,  and  cheered  Old  Glory  as  it  was  unfurled. 
Their  ages  were  from  68  to  92.  Each  veteran 
carried  a  cane  and  attempted  the  old  miHtary  step. 
Not  a  dry  eye  was  in  the  mass  of  citizens  on  Wall 
street.  Amid  the  roar  of  cannon  the  march  to  the 
dinner  at  the  Kingston  Hotel  on  Crown  street  was 
taken.  But  the  ranks  moved  very  slow.  Most  of 
the  honored  guests  were  over  eighty  years  of  age 
and  before  the  hotel  was  reached  some  had  to  be 
assisted. 

An  ox  had  been  roasted  whole  and  every  thing 
was  appropriate  to  such  an  occasion.  Crown  street, 
Kingston  Hotel,  its  spacious  yard  and  all  the  build- 
ings were  packed.  After  the  cloth  was  removed 
Hon.  John  Sudani,  then  the  representative  Ulster 
county  orator,  addressed  the  guests  in  his  happiest 
vein,  and  his  speech  was  long  remembered  as  a 
masterpiece  of  the  oratory  of  that  day.  Those 
present  from  Saugerties  were  Samuel  Post,  7  2 ; 
Ephraim  Myer,  73  ;  Adam  France,  75  ;  Peter  C. 
Brink,  75  ;  John  C.  Brink  and  Adam  Brink  (twins), 
70;  Cornelius  Langendyke,  74;  Hezekiah  Wyn- 
koop,  83 ;  Wilhelmus  Emerick,  73  ;  John  Brink, 
72;  Conrad  Fiero,  ^^\  Abraham  DeWitt,  70; 
Joseph  Davis,  71;  William  Myer,  74;  Abram  Low, 
68;  Martin  Post,  70. 

Before  we  conclude  the  remarkable  record  of  the 
family  of  Christian  Myer  must  be  noticed.  He  was 
one  of  the  Palatines  of  17 10,  and  his  home  was  at 
Churchland  on  the  farm  recently  owned  by  the  late 


SAUCER  TIES  SOLDIERS.  359 

Peter  Cantine.  Of  the  above  seventy-two  soldiers 
whose  graves  are  identified  eighteen  are  those 
of  sons,  grandsons  and  one  great-grandson  of 
Christian  Myer.  Nor  is  this  all.  There  were  a 
number  of  soldiers  who  served  in  the  Revolution 
who  were  sons  of  his  daughters.  Still  without  the 
latter  a  record  of  eighteen  from  one  family  is  with- 
out parallel. 

The  accompanying  illustration  of  the  home  of 
this  patriotic  family  gives  the  house  as  it  appears 
to-day.  To  a  great  extent  it  is  altered  from  its 
appearance  in  Revolutionary  days. 


INDEX. 


Abeel,   Capt.   Anthony,    178,   1S4, 

186. 
Adams,  William,  288. 
Algonquins,  10 
Allison,  Col.  Thomas,  64. 
Andros  Indian  treaty,  15 
Armpachlo's  bergh,  102. 
Articles  of  Association,  122. 
Asbury,  barbecue  at.  154. 
Asbary,  church,  297. 
Aspel,  Tunis,  So. 
Astor,  John  Jacob,  80,  236 

Backer,  Lieut.  Petrus,  189. 

Backus,  Henry  S.,  31C-315. 

Baptist  church.  297. 

Bailley,  Gen.,  187 

Barbecue  at  Asbury,  154. 

Barclay  heights,  112, 

Barclay,  Henry.  112,  276,  291,  295. 

Battelle  &  Renwick,  112. 

Beaver  creek,  3,  81,  86,  87,  257-261. 

Beaver,  Robert,  102. 

Berckenmeyer,    Rev.    William   C, 

5S,  246. 
Bigelow,  Asa,  106,  107,  2S6 
Big  Vly,  19,  104,  108. 
Blue  stone  quarries,  295,  296. 
Bradford,  Merritt,  2S4. 
Brainard,  Nelson,  296. 
Brainard,  Silas,  295. 
Brant,  Joseph,  157,  158,  161,  180. 
Brick  making,  260,  261,  289 
Brink,  Capt   Andrew,  68,  262,  266- 

274,  277. 
Brink,  Charles,  24,  95 
Brink,  Cornelius  P.,  80. 
Brink,  Cornelius  Lainbertsen,  5,  24, 

94 

Brink,  Huybert  Lambertsen,  94. 

Brink,  John,  Jr.,  22,  68,  69,  106,  275 

Brink,  Ensign  Petrus,  127. 

Brink,  Peter  H.,  95 

Brinnier,  William  D..  85. 

Burgoyne,  Gen,  John,  no,  150, 
152,  154 

Burhans,  Bareot,  68 

Burhans,  Peter;  Burhans,  Samuel; 
Hurhans,  Isaac  ;  Burhans,  Abra- 
ham ;  Osterhoudt,  James ;    115. 


Burhans,  Wilhelmus,  22,  68. 
Burr,  Aaron,  87. 

Canoe  hill,  88,  102. 

Cartrit's  Kill,  91. 

Catskills,  the  Dutch  Domine  of  the, 

149,  166,  167. 
Cedar  Clipje,  81,  96. 
Churchland,  86,  91. 
Clark,  Col.  Edward,  112. 
Clement,  William,  8t,  20S 
Clermont,  the,  6S,  266-274. 
Coetus  and  Conferentie  strife,  120. 
Continentals,  the,  i/)3 
Continental  currency.  17O1  192. 
Country  physicians,  203-209. 
Crapser,  Milton,  97 
Crawford,  Rev.  John,  2S9 
Cregier,  Capt.  Martin,  6,  7,  71. 
Cunyes,  William  H.,  160 

Davenport,  Richard,  79. 
Daughters,    American    Revolution, 

baugerties  Chapter,  66,  346-348. 
Dawes  residence,  72,  219,  275. 
Debating  societies,  237. 
Declaration  of  Independence,  128. 
Dederick,  Capt.  Matthew,  127,  140, 

189 
Dederick,  Christian,  9S. 
Dederick.  James  E.,  98. 
Dederick,  Myndert,  98. 
Demarest,    Rev.    James    D  ,     119, 

25O,  320. 
DeKonde,  Rev.  Lambertus,  67,73, 

78,  120,  148,  192,  219,  249,  251,  320. 
DeWitt,   Capt    John   Lucas,    127, 

140,  189 
DeWitt,  Evert,  97 
DeWolfen,  Gottfried.  104. 
Doll,  Rev.   George  J   L.,  163,  2-19, 

319- 
Dowling,  Alexander,  93. 
Dry  goods,  23O. 
DuBois,  Hiskia,  22.  72.  275. 
Dutch     Domine   of    the   Catskills, 

149,  166.  167. 
Dutch  lanfjuage,  119,  284,  285. 
Dutch  preaching,  53,  119,  284,  285. 
Dutch  songs,  232,  324-345. 


362 


INDEX, 


Educational  conditions,  197-202. 

Eelken's  treaty,  9. 

Ehle,  Rev.  John  Jacob,  52,  246. 

Eligh,  Andries,  98. 

Eligh,  Hans  Ury   98. 

Ellinger,  Mrs.  102. 

Esopus  Indians,  lo. 

Exemptions  from  military  service, 

145. 
Eygenaar,  Frederick,  85. 
Eygenaar,  Petrus.  88. 
Eygenaar,  Lieut.  Petrus,  127. 

Falckner,  Rev.  Daniel,  52,  246. 
Farm   life,   192-196,   210-217,    218- 

225. 
Fees,  Hendrick,  75. 
Fennal,  John,  88. 
Fiero,  Dr.  Abram,  208. 
Fiero,  Christian,  116,  122,  277. 
Fiero,  Col.  Christopher,  97. 
Fiero,  Cornelius,  261. 
Fiero,  J.  Newton,  97. 
Fiero,  Luther,  102. 
Fiero,  Mrs.  Mary,  80. 
Fiero,  Valentine,  99. 
Fiero,  William,  81,  208. 
Finger,  Chauncey  P.,  81,  261. 
First  postmaster,  106. 
Flax,  221. 
Flowers,  223,  224. 
Fort  Niagara,  177,  178-180. 
Eraser,  Alfred  W.,  76,  102. 
Freligh,  Hendrick,  78. 
Freligh,  Rev.  Moses,  78. 
Freligh,  Rev.  Peter,  78, 
Freligh,  Rev.  Solomon,  78. 
Freligh.  Peter,  78. 
Fruits,  223. 

Fullerton  tract,  31,  108,  109. 
Fulton,  Robert,  68,  266  274. 

Gay,  George  A.,  2S7. 
Gerlach,  John  Christopher,  43. 
Germantown  church,  62,  247. 
Germond,  Mrs.  86,  259. 
Genthner,  John  Michael,  74,  275. 
Gillespy,  Major  John,  307. 
Glenerie,  112. 

Grauberger.  Philip  Peter,  43. 
Groz,  Rev.  Philip,  52. 

Hardenbergh.  Col.  Johannes,  126. 
Hager,  Rev.  John  F  ,  37,  51,  z/i6. 
Hayes,  John,  20. 
Hiawatha,  9 
Hoff,  Cornelius,  88,  lOi. 
Hommel,  Abram  E.,  78,  261. 
Hommel,  Hermanus,  23,  85. 
Hommel,  Isaac,  84. 
Hommel,  Johannes,  87. 


Hommel,  Ury,  85. 

Hommel,  William  H.,  78,  261. 

Hooghteling,    Major    Philip,    134, 

^  139- 

Hoornbeek,  169,  172. 
Hunter,  Gov.   Robert,  34,   36,   38, 
39,  45- 

Indian  battlefield,  11. 
Indian  maize  plantation,  71. 
Indian  raids,  156  160,  161,  168-189. 
Industries,    60,    194-196,     218-238, 

257-261. 
Iroquois,  10,  11. 
Isham,  Samuel,  106,  107,  286. 

Jan,  Nachtc,  84,  161. 
Jordan,  John  J.,  87. 
Johnson,  Col.  Guy,  178. 

Katsbaan,  i,  3,  17,  323. 

Katsbaan   church,   7L1,    75-7S,    119, 

161,  164.  245-256,  318^1. 
Katskill  Indians,  8,  10. 
Katskill  (Leeds),  27,  163,  164. 
Kaufman,  Jacob,  80,  277. 
Kiersted,     Dr.    Christopher,    208, 

Kiersted,  Dr.  Christopher  C,  209. 

Kiersted,  John,  277. 

Kings  Road,  Old,  19,  23,  26,  85,  89, 

107,  191. 
Kingston  Commons,  4,   21,   23,  53, 

75.  99.  109,  I'll  276. 
Kocherihal,   Rev.  Joshua,   30,  37, 

48.  51,  55-59.  246. 
Krows,  Frederick,  72,  284. 
Laflin,  Matthew,  295. 
Lamb,  Daniel,  260. 
Langendyke,  Cornelius,  92. 
Legg,  John,  113,  115. 
Legg,  Samuel,  114. 
Levies,  the,  143. 
Livingston,  Robert  31. 
Livingston,   Robert   R.,   263,    266- 

272,  276,  304. 
Lowther,  C.  S.,  92. 
Luke,  John,  99. 
Luyck,  Petrus,  81. 

Maize  plantation,  71. 

Making   the   impeding  chain,  137, 

138. 
Maiden  church,  297. 
Maiden  turnpike,  107. 
Manck,  Jacob,  43. 
Mancius,  Rev.  George  W,,  52,  62, 

78,  119,  148,  247  319. 
Markle,  Fredeiick  92. 
Markle,  Matthias  97. 
Mauger   Zaagertjes,  252. 


INDEX. 


363 


Mauterstock,   Dcderick,    loi,     102, 

104. 
Mauterstock,  John  H.,  102. 
McGaw,  Isaac,  294. 
McGee,  Peter,  98. 
Meals  and    Hayes    patents,    18-21. 

68,    69,  85,   86,  103,  105,  108,  113, 

218. 
Militia,  the,  144,  147. 
Military  service,  exemptions  from, 

145- 
Minklaer,  Herman,  114. 
Minqiia,  Johannes,  23. 
Mohegans,  10. 
Monk,  John,  88. 
Montreal,  182-186. 
Montross.  Adam,  260. 
Mower,  Jeremiah,  ic2. 
Mower,  Johannes,  85. 
Mower,  Nicholas,  98. 
Mowerse,  Peter,  102. 
Mt.  Airy,  2. 
Mt.  Marion,  2. 
Muddah  Kill,  the,  91,  92. 
Muddy  Kill,  the,  102. 
Myer,  Benjamin,  92. 
Myer,  Christian,  84. 
Myer,  Christian,  92,  258,  358. 
Myer,  Ephraim,  151. 
Myer,  Ephraim  I,  79,  215. 
Myer.  Francis.  93. 
Myer,  Ensign  Hendrick,  127. 
Myer,  Dr.  Jesse,  92, 
Myer,  Johannes,  22.  74,  275. 
Myer,   Johannes  (Oom  Hans),  87, 

89,  91,  no,  152. 
Myer,  John  Snyder,  79. 
Myer,  Jonathan,  79. 
Myer,  Luther,  23,  85,  215, 
Myer,  Peter  B.,  295. 
Myer,  Peter  W.,  85. 
Myer,  Petrus,  22..  74,  275. 
Myer,  Sherwood  D.,  74,  216,  275. 
Myer,  Lieut.  Tobias,  127. 
Myer,  Wells,  87,  89. 
Myer,  William,  S6.  152. 
]\Iyer,  William,  107. 
Myers,  John  G.,  73,  92,  108,  155, 
Mynderse,  Garret,  279. 
Mynderse,  Myndert,  20,  22,  23,  69, 

219,  275. 

Naval  stores.  35,  36,  4c,  41. 
Negro  Dutch  church,  250. 
Newkirk,  Ane,  23. 
Newkirk,  Dr.  Coonradt,  208. 
Niagara,  fort,  177,  178  180. 
Niessen,  Sergeant,  7,  14. 

Old  Kings  Eoad,  19,  23,  26,  85,  89, 

107,  IQI. 


Old  sawyer,  5,  6,  17,  25,  68,  257. 

Orphan  children  apprenticed,  35. 

Osterhoudt,  Cornelius,  79. 

Osterhoudr,  Hendrick,  88 

Osterhoudt,  James;  Burhans, 
Peter;  Burhans,  Samuel;  Bur- 
hans, Isaac  ;  Burhans,  Abraham  , 

US 
Osterhoudt,  I  leut.  Petrus,  127 
Osterhoudt,  Tunis,  93. 
Ostrander,  Gideon  P.,  98. 
Ostrander,  Rev.  Dr.  Henry,  79,  119, 

165,  250,  282-285,  320. 
Overbaugh,  John  S.,  97. 

Palatines,  28-59. 
Palatine  dissatisfaction,  39. 
Palatines,  names  of,  46,  47. 
Palatines,  number  of,  44,  46. 
Palatine   statement   ol   grievances, 

41. 
Parks,  Elisha,  296. 
Paulison  grant,  24,  93. 
Peoples  road,  88. 
Persen,   Cornelius,   73,    80,   81,   83, 

88,   107,   121,   161,  191,   229,   230, 

236,  278. 
Persen,  John,  20,  i6g,  71,  75,    1^2, 

218 
Persen's  store,   2,   80,  S3.  88,   121, 

148,  161,  .191,  220,  230,  236. 
Petitions  to  Gov.  Clinton,  241,  242. 
Pidgeon,  Francis,  ic8. 
Pidgeon,  Mrs    Frank,  15S,  216. 
Pietersen,  Jacob,  25. 
Pier,  Arent  Tunis,  112. 
Plattekill  church,  297. 
Polhemus,  David.  92. 
Post,  Abraham,  22,  72,  73,  87,  121, 

148,   191     275,  2/8 

Post,  Sergeant  Abraham,  65,  108. 

Post,  Isaac,  22,  70,  73,  275,  279. 

Post.  Jan.  22,  72,  275,  278. 

Post,  Jecobus,  22,  72,  275. 

Post,  Peter  B  ,  91. 

Post,  Lieut  Peter,  160. 

Post,  Peter  P.,  277,  27S. 

Post,  Samuel,  277. 

Post's  hotel,   72,    73,   87,   121,    148, 

191,  284 
Postmael,  Jan  Jansen,  21,  22. 
Postmaster,  the  first,  106. 

Quick,  Feuben,  So. 

Reghtmyer,  Coenradt,  23,  S4. 
Reghtmyer,  Hcrmanus,  23,  7S. 
Regiment,    First   Ulster,    126,    139, 

142,  149,  154,  158    160,  240. 
Regiment,  Foiirth  Ulster,  139,  141, 

307-309. 


no 


364 


INDEX. 


Rio  Alto  Stock  Farm,  23,  86. 

Ripley,  Charles,  294. 

Road,  Old  Kings,  19,  23,  26,  85,  Sg, 

107,  191 
Robert  Chism's  plantation,  93. 
Rondebergh,  115. 
Rowe,  Frederick,  Jr.,  97,  174. 
Rovve,  Wilhelmus,  98, 
Runnip,  John,  169-180 
Russell,  Frederick  T.,  20,  279. 
Russell,  James,  72.  275. 
Russell,  Jeremiah,  287. 
Russell,  William  F.,  287 

Salisbury,  Capt.  Sylvester,  240 
Sap  boiling,  234. 

Saratoga,  Saugerties  troops  at,  153. 
Saugerties  academy,  254. 
Saugerties  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  66, 

346-348. 
Saugerties  library,  282,  284 
Saugerties,  Methodist  church,  289. 
Saugerties  Reformed  church.  254- 

256 
Saugerties  Telegraph,  254,  295. 
Saw  creek,  3,  17.  19,  25,  75,  99,  loi. 
Sawyer,   the  old,  5,  6,  17,  25,   68, 

257- 
Sax,  Addison,  8r,  260. 
Sax,  Evert,  23,  80. 
Sax,  John  P.,  80. 
Schoonmaker,   Egbert,   22,  70,   72, 

122 
Schoonmaker,  Hendrick,  113. 
Schoonmaker,  John  T.,  277. 
Schoonmaker,  Mynderse,  113. 
Schoonmaker,  Peter  P.,  70,  216. 
Schoonmaker,  Samuel,  22,  70. 
Schoonmaker,  Tjerck,  113. 
Schoharie,  claimed  by  Palatines,  36. 
Schuneman,   Rev.   Johannes,    148, 

163,  249,  319 
Schutt,  Myndert,  104,  106,  loS. 
Scow  ferry,  112 
Scram,  Frederick,  93. 
Shank's  Ben,  169. 
Shearing,  220,  226 
Sheffield,  Joseph  B  ,  113,  293. 
Short,  Adam,  88 
Shoub,  Johannes.  98. 
Singing  schools,  237 
Snyder,  Capt    Benjamin,  133,  181, 

219,  262,  277. 
Snyder,  Christian,  85. 
Snyder,  Ebas,  79,  84,  16S-190. 
Snyder,  Elisha,  277 
Snyder,  Hans  Martin,  251. 
Snyder,  Isaac,  91. 
Snyder,  Captain  Jeremiah,  84,  97, 

127,    140,   160,   168-190,    1S9,  240, 

244  357- 


Snyder.  Colonel  Johannis,  126,  141, 
142,  149,  154,  158,  160,  189,  239, 
240,  29Q-307,  357. 

Snyder,  Maria,  87. 

Snyder,  I^ioah,  87. 

Snyder,  Peter,  92. 

Snyder,  Peter  1  ,  87. 

Snyder,  Peter  V,,  88. 

Snyder,  Zachariah,  99. 

Soap  making,  235 

Social  life,  232 

Soldier's  dinner,  357. 

Spaulding,  Charles  A.,  114. 

Spellman,  Thomas,  87 

Spinning  and  weaving,  221,  227, 
228. 

St.  Mary's  church.  297. 

Steene  Herte  fonteyne,  99,  100. 

Stock  Farm,  Rio  Alto,  23,  86. 

Sudam,  John,  35S. 

Swart,  Lawrence,  115. 

Tappen,     Christopher,     assaulted, 

Tappen  journal,  129-139. 

Tawasentha.  9. 

TenBroeck,   Gen.   Peter,  105,    15I, 

^i53i  155- 

Terwilliger,  Martm,  257. 

Threshing,  235. 

'J'ivoli  ferry,  68. 

Tobacco,  220. 

Top,  Jan,  83,  191. 

Trappmg.  236. 

Traphagen  grant,  24,  93. 

Treaty  of  peace,  18S. 

Trinity  Episcopal  church,  297. 

Trumpbour,  Nicholas,  23. 

Trumpbour,  Johannes,  80. 

Turkey  point,  114. 

Ulster  Iron  Works.  293. 
Ulster  Palladium,  254,  295. 
Ulster  Star,  254,  295. 
Ulster  Telegraph,  254,  295. 
Unionville,  87,  lOi. 
Ury,  ii2. 

Valk,  Johannes,  86. 
Valk,  Jonah,  277. 
Valk,  Wiihelmus,  88. 
Valk   William,  T02. 
Valkenburgh,  Hieronymous,  87. 
Valkenburgh,  John,  87. 
Valkenburgh,  Peter  M.,  81. 
Valkenburgh,  Stephen  V .,  81. 
Valkenburgh.  William,  81, 
Vaughan's  expedition,  73,  105,  155. 
Van   Driessen,  Rev.  Johannes,  62. 

247. 
Van  Hoesen's  mill,  260. 


INDEX. 


365 


Van  Keuren,  Ephraim,  87. 

Van  Leuven,  Andries,  114. 

Van  Leuven,  Peter,  114. 

Van  Schaick,  Anthony,  160,  244. 

Van  Steenberg-,  Nathan,  84. 

Van  Steenberg,  John,  107. 

Van  Steenberg,  Thomas,  108. 

Van   Vlierden,    Rev.    Petrus,    250, 

285,  2S6,  320 
Van  Wart,  Larry,  259. 
Vegetables,  223. 
Veteran's  dinner,  357. 

Wanton  island,  1 1,  104,  log. 
Washburn,  George  W.,  19. 
Washburn,  Richard  C,  19,  113. 
Weaving,  221,  227,  228. 
Weiser,  Capt.  John  Conrad,  61. 
Wells,  Sergeant  Cornelius,  152. 
Wells,  Samuel,  97. 
West  Camp,  i.  33.  34-S9»  257* 
West  Camp  churchk  50-54,  59,  148. 
Westerlo,  Rev.  Eilardus,  163,  249, 

319* 
Whitaker,  Egbert,  115. 


Whitaker  James,  115. 
White  oak  forest,  75,  loi. 
Winedecker,  Capt.  Hartman,  6[. 
Winne,  Aaron,  97. 
Winne,  Lawrence,  97 
Winne,  Petrus,  24,  92,  94. 
Wolven,  Abraham,  277, 
Wolven.  Major  Dan,  73,  104,  105. 
Wood.  Edward,  113. 
Wood,  John.  20. 
Woodstock  Glass  Company,  288. 
Wynkoop,  Major  Adrian,  134,  142. 
Wynkoop,  Cornelius,  277. 
Wynkoop,  Evert,  23,  86. 
Wynkoop,  Lieut.  Evert,  127. 
Wynkoop,  Judge  Henry,  260. 
Wynkoop,  Hezekiah,  277, 
Wynkoop,  Mynderse,  92. 
Wynkoop.  Russell.  S6,  260. 
Wynkoop   Capt.  Tobias,  64,  65,  86. 
Wynkoop,  Tobias,  151. 

Young,  Johannes,  84. 

Zenger,  John  Peter,  48 


jUN 


lA 


l«t 


JUN    14  1902 

1  COPY  DEL.  TOCAT..DIV. 
JUN.     14  1902 


21 


i  K)/ 


/ 


^0  y/// 


/