The history of Kingston, New York

Front matter

Class _E_L2J_ Rnok K 6' JS 3

Gopjiight W

THE

Preface

BY the kindness of Miss Kate Vanderlyn, of this city, I have been enabled to produce as a frontispiece for this book a copy of the sketch of Kingston and the Catskill Moiintains, which was made in 1819 by her nncle, John Vandeilyn, the artist. The sketch '«-as taken from the bluff of rocks a little to the east of the present junction of Wall and Fair streets. It presents in the foreground the fields, with their dividing fences, lying between the artist and St. James' Street, which was then the most southerly street. Those fields appearing on the sketch, with the division fences, were then a part of the territory designated as the " Armbowery" (poor farm). They are now thickly covered with dwellings and business places. In the backgroiand are the lordly Catskills, with the village lying between.

I am also indebted to her for the loan of a miniature of the artist taken in Paris, from which the engraving in the text was made. The likeness in the text of Charles De Witt, of Greenkill, was made from a miniature loaned for the purj)Ose by his grandson, Richard De Witt, of Greenkill.

This book, which lias been i:)repared at the earnest request of some kind friends, even if it does not meet theii" full expectations, I trust will not be disappointing.

There are great and, indeed, insurmountable difficulties in preparing a complete history of Kingston, on account of the loss and destruction of public records and other valuable papers.

I am, however, greatly indebted to my friends : Richard De Witt, Sutherland De Witt, and Hon. David M. De Witt, kinsmen of Charles De Witt, of Greenkill ; John W. Ilasbrouck, of Middletown ; Frederick E. Westbrook, Esq., of New York ; and Thomas Beekman and Kate Vanderlyn, of this city, for valuable material which has been freely used in the accompanying pages.

As stated elsewhere in regard to the chapter of ancestral notes, I am indebted to Cornelius H. Van Gaasbeek, Jr., of this city, for a large portion of the material used in its compilation. Why it is not more complete has been the lack of ability to procure the necessary material.

VI PREFACE.

The scope and object of the work has been to give a compact but complete history of the place, the customs and pursuits of its inhabitants, and their connection vnth public events from its first settlement down to the year 1820, which embraces the whole of the interesting era of its distinctively Dutch character. This period also covers the exciting events and incidents of the Indian and French wars and the struggles of the Revolution. In a strict sense the work is a history of Kingston ; but at that day Kingston occupied such an important position in the country at large, and in the military and civil events that preceded the war for independence, and also in that great contest, that its history during the colonial times, to be fully understood and elucidated, draws with it a great deal of the provincial history.

I have, therefore, found it necessary to refer quite extensively to the contests of the people and the colonial assemblies with the crown and the colonial governors, involving the fundamental principles of freedom which led to the Eevolution. I have endeavored to trace them from their origin and indicate their progress and development for nearly a century, until their culminating triumph in the Declaration of Independence.

The work as it is is now given to the public, but not at as early a date as was originally intended. The delivery to the press was delayed for a time on account of an apprehension, on the part of the author, that the demand therefor was not sufficient to justify the expense attending its publication. Whether his fears were well founded or not will be shown by the character of its reception.

M. SCHOONMAKER.

Kingston, November, 1888.

CONTENTS. IX

CHAPTER XXV. page

KrNGBTON AS IT WAS IN AND ABOUT 1820 435

CHAPTER XXVI.

Ancestral Notes, 472

CHAPTER XXVII.

Indian Relics, 496

Appendix

PAGE

First Charter or Patent Granted to Wiltwyck, 1661 503

Articles op Capitulation to the English, 1664, 507

-Kingston Patent, 1687 510

Agreement to I\Iaintain Constitutional Rights, 517

Signers in the Troop op Horse in Ulster County, Dated in Kingston,

A List op the Persons who Have Refused to Sign the General Asso

CIATION, 520

Oppicers op Ulster County Regiments, 521

Roll op the Officers Elected in the Several Districts or Beats in

THE Town op Kingston, 521

Return op a Company op Horse in the Town of Kingston, in Ulster

County, 521

Roll op Officers in the Regiment whereof Levi Pawling is to be

Colonel 522

"A True Acc't of the Dwelling Houses Outhouses Barracks Destroyed

AT Kingston," 522

"Statement of the Allotment op the Five Thousand Acres of Land Contributed BY Robert R. Livingston, 525

An Account of the English School in Kingston 526

List of Supervisors in C^olonial and State Governments, .... 527

List op Magistrates, 527

Presidents of the Magistrates, 529

List op the Speakers or Presiding Officers of Trustees 529

-Alphabetical List of the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty

op the Town op Kingston 581

List op Directors of the Village of Kingston in 1805 to and Including 1820, 586

Delegates from Ulster to Colonial Assembly, 537

Delegates fro.m Ulster and Dutchess Counties to Colonial As.sembly, . 587 Delegates from Ulster County to Colonial Assembly, ..... 537 Members of the Provincial Convention from Ulster County, . . . 537

Representatives in Congress prom Ulster County, 537

Senators from Ulster County under the Constitution of 1777, . . 538

Members of Assembly from Ulster County under the Constitution of 1777, 538

ILLUSTEATIOI^S.

PAOB

View op Kingston, 1819. From a Painting of John Vandeelyn the

Artist Frontispiece.

Plan of Wiltwyck with Stockade, 1658 9

Wampum Belt, 1664 46

Kingston Church Before the Revolution, 213

" " as Rebuilt After, 221

Bill of Lading of Church Bell, 1794 224

Court House, 262

Tappen House, Executive Chamber, 1777 ■ . . 274

Senate House, 1777, 275

Assembly Chambeu, 1777, Bogardus House, 276

Council of Safety met 1777, Elmendorf House 295

Van Steenbergh House Escaped Fire, 1777 304

Map op Kingston, 1777 308

House where Council of Safety Met, JIarbletown, 1777 319

" " Washington was Entertained, 1782, Marbletown, . . 335

Stopped in Hurley, 1782 336

Revolutionary Soldier's Discharge by General Washington, . . 340

Kingston Academy 347

Academy Vacation Ball Tickets, 354

Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, Portrait 397

Map op Kingston, 1820 436

The Dewaal House, 439

John Vanderlyn (the Artist), Portrait 457

Charles De Witt, Portrait, 478

HISTORY OF KINGSTON.

Chapter I

TO THE CLOSE OF THE FIKST ESOPXJS INDIAN WAR, AND CONCLU- SION OF TREATY OF PEACE, 1660.

IT is now little more than two centuries since the Bed man reigned supreme over this, his then pleasant hunting-grounds, teeming with game and the wild beasts of the forest. What changes have taken place within that period ! The native Indian, witb his game, has disappeared ; and with the onward march of religion, science, education, and industry a prosperous city, teeming with life, wealth, and industry, has taken the jjlace of the wandering savage and the lordly trees of the forest.

I am at times amazed wlien I contemplate the changes which have taken place within the territory of the city of Kingston, even within my own limited recollection. I remember Rondout when it was a little hamlet called the Strand, or Kingston Landing, with about half a dozen dwellings and storehouses all told ; and Wilbur, with two mills, a distillery, and three dwellings called TwaalfskiU ; and Kingston village not to exceed two hundred dwellings and half a dozen stores, keeping a general country assortment ; the local commerce limited to four sloops, each making a full trij) every fortnight to and from New York.

And what have we now ? A city of over twenty thousand inhabitants, and with a commerce which daily exceeds the annual commerce in value of my first remembrance. My task lies in the history of a place embracing such changes, I fear my ability to do it Justice. Those who have urged me to the task I trust will not be disappointed at the manner of its fulfilment, if my lamp of life continues to burn sufliciently long to accomplish it.

In the history of a small teratory such as this, necessarily its first settlement may be distinguished by some thrilling narratives and encounters with the savages, but thereafter it must settle down to a great extent into family history and narratives. Indeed, the history of a community is necessarily but little more than a compilation and combination of family histories. There are always in 1 a stirring, active business place some men of mark, who by their activity and energy give cliaracter to tlie place. And it is such men, and not those who, like the turtles, draw thetr heads within their shells, who necessarily demand prominence in historical reminiscences.

Of course little other than arrangement can be original in such a work as this. True history is only a record of what has been, and the historian must necessarily gather his princi|)al facts from foi-mer chroniclers of the times— contemporaneous chioniclers, so far as they may be found — and traditions I'eceived from ancestry. These remarks ajjply to times and seasons beyond the personal recollections of the chronicler. When those are reached, if life is spared, his effort will l)e to make them imjiartial and correct delineators and records of the times.

In the year 1609 Hendrick Hudson, in a ship called the Halfmoon, furnished him by the Dutch East India Company, dejiai'ted from Holland in search of a passage to the East Indies. After reaching America, he coasted along its shores to lind the desired passage. On the 12th of Septemlwr, 1009, lie entered a narrow strait, which led him to the magniticent river which has since immortalized his name. He anchored his ship and remained several days in the beautiful bay liordering on Manhattan Island, and was visited by the astonished natives, " clothed in mantles of feathers and robes of fur." They manifested not only great friendship but re^'erence for him and his companions, as a superior race of beings, messengers of an almighty power. Hudson then proceeded up the river which some of the Indian tribes called " Cahohatatia," which translated means river of the mountains, and exj^lored it to a point a short distance beyond the present site of Albany, stopping at several places on the route, and was everywhere met with friendly greeting by the Indian tribes.

On his return to Europe, although detained by the British and prevented from returning to Holland, lie transmitted to his Amsterdam patrons a most glowing description of his discoveries connected with the " river of the mountains."

The next year the East India Comjiany of Holland sent a ship to trade with the natives. Finding their first venture profitable, they soon established trading posts at Manhattan, Fort Orange, now Albany, and at some intermediate points along the river, including the moutli of the creek at Atkarkarton, afterward Esopus, now Kingston. At this last-mentioned place the valley of the several large streams (the Rond(mt, the Wallkill, and the Esopus), all concentrating at that point and extending far into the interior, furnished facilities for a trading post ; one of the Indian trails led across to the Delaware River. The mountains and

HISTORY OF KTNGSTOIT. 6

forests through which these valleys extended abounded with game and animals valuable for their furs.

On the 11th day of October, 1614, the States-General of Holland granted to " the United New Netherland Company the exclusive right to visit and navigate all the lands situate in America between New France and Virginia, the sea coast of which lies between the fortieth and the forty-fifth degree of latitude, and which are named the New Netherlands ; and to navigate or cause to be navigated the same for four voyages within the period of three years, to commence from the first day of January, 1615, or sooner."

Under the authority thus granted the company took possession of the Hudson River, and built three forts or redoubts thereon — one on Castle Island just below Albany, one on the Battery at New Yoi-k, and one at tlie mouth of the Rondout Creek.

After the expiration of this i:)atent, and on the 3d of June, 1620, the States-General incorporated the West India Company with enormous and almost unlimited powers. In the name of the States- General it could make contracts and alliances with princes and nations, build forts, administer justice, appoint and discharge governors, soldiers, and public ofRcers, and promote trade.

The government of the company was vested in five separate cliambers of managers : one at Amsterdam, managing four ninths ; one in Zeeland, two ninths ; one at Dordrecht, one ninth ; one in North Holland, one nintli, and one in Friesland and Groningen, one ninth.

General executive power, for all purposes except war, was intrusted to a board of nineteen delegates, called the " College of the XIX."

The time of the patent was for twenty -four years, and the New Netlierlands was included within their grant.

At this time, when the Dutch sought to acquire possession of the Hudson River and adjoining tei'ritory, that on the west of the Hudson below Albany was occupied by the race of Indians known as the Algonquins, which race was divided into numerous bands under local names. The band or tribe at Kingston and its immediate vicinity are generally known and designated as the Esopus Indians, sometimes named the Warynawancks.

The ^Yest India Company was specially organized for commercial and trading purposes, and therefore its principal object was the control and possession of the New Netlierlands, for the purpose of conducting and monopolizing the rich and very profitable trade in furs with the natives. As a necessary consequence, the earliest immigrants were merely a company of traders. But that state of thinii's did not and could not lono- continue. The Refonnation and the subsequent religious persecutions drove many of the conscientious servants of God to seek an asylum beyond the reach, of the tyrants of Euroi^e. The lirst of those arriving here in the vicinity of Manhattan, Avith the intention of remaining, was a company consisting of about thirty families of Walloons, who had fled to Holland from France to avoid persecution. They settled on Long Island, near what is now the Navy Yard, about the year 1625. Others arriving at the same time went to Fort Orange, now Albany.

The Dutch West India Company purchased the island of Manhattan from the Indians for a sum equivalent to about twenty -four dollars of oiir money. Peter Minuit, the first agent of the company, under the title of governor, built a house upon the island and resided there. The lower end of the island was then occupied by a fort and a few cottages, and was called New Amsterdam.

Governor Minuit continued his agency for several years, apparently cultivating the friendship of the savages and the interest of his employers. Uj^on his resignation he was succeeded by Wouter Van Twiller, who, although a good tradesman, was lamentably deficient in the science or art of government, but, at the same time, had the wisdom to i)ursue a i)eaceful and conciliatory policy with the savages.

About 1638 Governor Van Twiller was succeeded in his agency by Willem Kieft. He was a man entirely unfitted for his position. Avaricious, dishonest, unscrupulous, and arbitrary in his measures, he kept the colony in a continual turmoil ; drove the Indians to desperation and nuidness, aroused Indian wars and massacres, and soon had scarcely a friend in the colony.

One of his first steps against the Indians was, in 1638, to attempt the levy of a tribute upon the river Indians. They rebelled against its enforcement. About 1640 the Raritans, a tribe living along the liver of that name, were accused of stealing some hogs. Governor Kieft at once, without making any inquiry into the justice or falsity of the charge, sent a band of soldiers to punish them, who fell upon them unawares, killed a number, and destroyed their corn. Another instance is related by a chronicler of the times :

" A Dutchman sold to a young Indian, a son of a chief, brandy ; and, when he was intoxicated, cheated and drove him away. The Indian, raging with drink and maddened by the treatment he had received, went to his home, procured his bow and arrows, returned and shot the Dutchman dead. The chiefs of the murderer's tribe hastened to the governor to explain the matter, and to pay the price of blood ; they wished for peace, but the governor was inexorable. He demanded the murderer, but he had fled to a neighboring tribe. ' It is your own fault,' exclaimed the indignant chief ; ' why do you sell brandy to our young men % it makes them crazy.' Just at this time came a company of Mohawks, all anned

■with niTiskets, to demand tiibute of the enfeebled river tribes. The latter fled to the Dutch for protection. ' Now is the time,' urged the people, ' to obtain forever the friendship of the Indians living around us by their protection.' But Kieft, true to his nature, deemed it the proper time for their extemiination.

' ' The unsuspecting victims of this sclienie of treachery and cruelty were with the tribe of Hackensacks, just beyond Hoboken. About the hour of midnight some soldiers from the fort and freebooters from the ships in the harbor passed over the river, and soon thereafter were heard the shrieks of the dying Indians. The carnage continued ; the poor victims ran to the river to pass over to their supposed friends at New Amsterdam. But they were driven into the water. Tlie mother who rushed to save her drowning child was pushed in, that both might perish in the freezing flood ; and another company of Indians, trusting to the Dutch for protection, who were encamped on the island a short distance from the fort, were murdered in the same manner. In the morning the returning soldiers received the congrat^llations of Kieft."

The settlers, when they became aware of the facts, were indignant and horror-stricken, and condemned the atrocity in no measured terms. As might have been anticijjated, the anger and indignation of the savages were aroused to the highest pitch of fury, and war was inaugurated wliich knew no mercy. Wherever a white man's hut was situated, there was sure to ascend the smoke of conflagration. All the settlers who could escape the fury of the savages rushed to the fort, for protection, and all outside settlements were deserted. Some in their terror returned to Holland. If at any time before that there had been any settlers in Esopus, as some allege, their homes were then deserted and abandoned. The war was thus started in the winter of 164.3, and waged with slight interruption, and with more or less brutality, for two years, before peace was concluded. Kieft, whose conduct was censured hj his superiors, was soon after recalled, and set sail for England, which country he never reached, being shipwrecked and drowned on the passage.

In 1646 Petrus Stuyvesant was appointed to succeed Kieft as governor. He was honest and trustworthy, but had a most difiicult task before him to overcome the eifects of Kieft' s misgovemment and treachery.

In 1652 considerable difficulty arose at Rensselaerwycli in regard to title and occupancy of land, caused by the patent of the Putroon Van Rensselaer overlapping the occupancy of some settlers. Parties became very violent in their quarrels, which, in a numl^er of cases, led to personal conflicts. Thomas Chambers, an Englishman, Mattys Hendrix, Christopher Davis, and Johan De Hulter, avIio liad settled on tlie disputed tenitory, and several of their neighbors, desiring peace and comfort, left for Atkarkarton (Esopiis), "an exceedingly beautiful land," and formed a settlement there. Although there is little doubt that Europeans had resided in that vicinity before, still this immigration of Chambers and his neighbors was the first approach to a permanent settlement.

Here Chambers, in 1653, received a gift from the natives of about seventy-six acres of laud, described as bounded " Easterly and Westerly by the woods, and running Northerly and Southerly by the Kill." This grant, thei'efore, must ha^e been of the lowland along the creek, as that was prairie land, which makes the description intelligible. Some of his associates also pui'chased land from the Indians about the same time, avIio afterward received confirmatory grants thereof.

Settlers now began to come in rapidly, and soon there was quite a colony gathered together. As early as 16.55 the wife of Cornells Barentse Slecht was licensed " as a midwife for Esopus."

Each of the settlers at that time had apparently his territory allotted to him and settled thereon, so that they were scattered and entirely unprotected from the savages.

It appears that Johan De Hulter, in 1654, purchased a tract of one thousand acres from the Indians, bounded on the north by the lands of Thomas Chamlters, and was patented by his widow in ilarch, 1(557. This grant, it was claimed by some, covered the site of the old village of Kingston, but was denied by Governor Stuyvesant. This settlement remained in peace for only a short time, for in 1055 the Indians, on both sides of the river, made war upon the Dutch at New Amsterdam and its vicinity, and the settlers at Esopus, fearing an attack and being without any means of defence, fled from their homes to places of comparative security, leaving their dwellings and flocks to the mercy of the savages. As soon as peace was concluded, which was in the following fall, they returned to their homes to find that much had been appropriated and destroyed by the Indians.

With residences thus scattered, the natives were living around and among them, which resulted in frequent depredations the one upon the other ; and, as appeal's to lie always the case, the settlers were not careful to keep the " fire-water" from the Indians' lips. That in one instance resulted in a drunken spree near Ponckhockie, in which the Indians in their craziness killed one man, a skijiper named Ilai-mon Jacobs, while standing on board his vessel ; and the dwellings of Jacob Adriance and Andries ^^an der Huys, located at Ponckhockie, were set fire to and burned to the ground.

Such was the fear created in the minds of some of the settlers, that they submitted to some of the most humiliating exactions from the Indians, as appears by the character of their call upon Stuy vesant, the governor, for assistance. In it they say : ' ' The savages compel the whites to plough their maize land, and when they hesitate threaten, with firel)rands in their hands, to burn their houses. . . . That the chiefs liave no control of their men. We are locked up in our houses and dare not move a limb."

The extent of their settlement at that time, May, 1658, may be judged by the fact that in such application to the governor they state that " they had 990 schepels of grain in the ground, and had 60 or 70 peoj)le, who support a reader at their own expense. "

Immediately on receipt of the news, May 28th, the council directed the governor to proceed with sixty or seventy men to the relief of the inhabitants.

He arrived there on Wednesday ; the next day being Ascension Day, he notified the people to meet him after service in the afternoon. He told them the killing of one man and the burning of two buildings was not enough to make war. They must concentrate and form a village with a stockade, so as to be able to protect themselves. They objected on account of their poverty and their inability to house their crops so near harvest, and they wished the troops to remain and to have the village built after harvest. He finally told them that there was no security as they then lived ; they must concentrate then or remove to Fort Orange or Manhattan ; or if they remained as they were, they must give him no more trouble. If they agreed to concentrate, he would remain until the work was complete.

The next day, the 30th of May, he had a conference with about fifty wa,rriors, who met him under a tree. Stuy vesant then recounted to them their insolence to the whites, their murders, and their burning of dwellings ; still he did not come to make war, but to punish the guilty ; and asked them why they acted thus, and were constantly threatening the inhabitants. After a pause one of the chiefs arose and said : " The Shawanakins sold our children drink, and they were thus the cause of the Indians being made ci-azy, which was the cause of all the mischief. The sachems could not always control the young men, who would often fight and woiind. The murder was committed not by one of our tribe, but by a Minnisink, who had skulked away among the Haverstraws. The one who fired the two small dwelling-houses had run away, and dared not cultivate his own soil. We are innocent, not actuated by malice, do not want to fight, but cannot control the young men."

Stuyvesant replied that if any of their men wanted to fight, let them step forth. He would place man against man ; yes, twenty against thirty or forty of the hotheads. But that it is unmanly to threaten farmers, and women and children, who are not warriors.

8 HISTOR"? OF KINGSTON.

If it was not stopped lie would be compelled to retaliate on old and young, on women and children. " You must repair all damages, seize the murderer if he comes among you, and do no further mischief. The Dutch are now going to live together in one spot. It is desirable that you should sell us the whole of the Esopus land and remove farther into the interior ; for it is not good for you to reside so near the Shawanakins, whose cattle might eat your maize, and thus cause frequent disturbances." The matter was settled upon the terms thus dictated by Stuyvesant, and the savages departed after exchanging some small presents.

The citizens finally came to tenns with Stuyvesant, and entered into a written agreement, which translated is as follows : ' ' We, the subscribers, assembled inhabitants of the Esopus, having found from time to time, through a very sorrowful experience, and to the damage of us aU, the faithless and unbearable boldness of the Indians' barbarous nature— how uncertain it is to depend on their words — how careless and perilous it is to live so separate and wide apart among such a faithless and insolent nation, have (on the proposition and promise of the Director-General, the lord Petrus Stuyvesant, to furnish us with a night-guard, and in case of necessity with further help) resolved among one another, that in order to better protect ourselves, our wives and children, it is necessary to leave our separate dwellings immediately after the signing of this, in the most speedy manner possible, and to concentrate in such place as the Lord Director shall choose, and surround it with palisades of proper length ; and in order that through these means, if it please the all-good God to lend his blessing, we may be better prepared to preserve ourselves and ours from a sudden onslaught of the Indians, we bind ourselves one to another, after prayer to the Lord, to take the means named in hand without any objection, and to complete them as speedily as possible, under a fine of one thousand guilders, to be paid for the benefit of the place, by any one who may oppose the same by words or deeds. In further witness whereof we have hereto set our own hands, in presence of the Lord Director-General and Govert Loockermans, old Schepens of the City of Amsterdam in New Netherland. Done the last of May, 1658.

" Signed : Jacob Jansen Stol, Tliomas Chambers, Cornells Barentse Slecht, mark of Willem Jansen, Peter Dercksen, Jan Jansen, Jan Broersen, Dirck Hendricksen Graef, Jan Looman."

After this agreement was signed, the first thing requiring attention was tlie selection of the site for the village. That, of course, was a matter of primary importance. Stuyvesant wisely selected the site of what subsequently became the thickly settled pai-t of the old village of Kingston, comprising the tract of land having

HISTORY OF KINGSTON.

North Front Street on the north, Main Street on the south, Green Street on the west, and East Front Street (now Clinton Avenue) on the east ; thus being protected by very steep banks on three sides, and exposed on a level only at the south.

The location appears to have been satisfactory to all, as the inhabitants proceeded at once to remove their dwellings and build the stockade. The selection was made on the 31st day of May, aud in three weeks' time the palisade was substantially completed, the buildings removed, a bridge thrown over the brook beyond the gate near the northwest corner of the stockade, and a guard-house and temporary barracks built.

North.

Steep desfent, lowland.

West, g-

Eaet.

Extensive level plain.

South.

Plan op Stockade, Wiltwtck, 1658.

The outside lines represent the stockade.

No. 1. The fortified part. No. 3. The gates to fortified part.

No. 2. The blocli-liouse. No. 4. The outside gales.