The history of Orange County, New York

Preface

In presenting this new History of Orange County to the ])ubHc, we do so in the earnest hope that it will prove to be the most complete compilation of local chronicles that has up to this time been offered to our citizens. The authenticity of the facts contained in the various articles is as absolute as the utmost care could make it. The data have been procured from the best known authorities, and the sketches, when completed, have been subjected to the most searching examination for verification and correction. That no errors will be discovered in this production, is too much to hope for; but we do most certainly trust, that if any such errors there be. neither in number nor by their nature, will they be found to be sufficiently important to detract from that character for reliability, which it has been our constant aim and endeavor to impart to this history.

In this new work the design has been, to make clear the development of ideas and institutions from epoch to epoch ; the social and economic conditions of the people have been preserved in the narrative, and much attention has been paid to describing the civil characteristics of the several towns and cities, both in the conduct of their local affairs and also in relation to each other and the county at large.

It is a well-known fact that considerable prejudice exists among a great body of the people toward county histories in general, for the reason that some such compilations in the past, have been composed of fact and fiction so intermingled, as to render it a difficult matter to know what was true and what was false. It has been our object in this work to hew straight to the line, satisfied to simply furnish such information as we were able to gather concerning each important matter or interesting event ; and where the desired materials were lacking, we have not attempted to supply that lack, by filling in the vacant niches with products of the imagination. We have not striven for effect, but our object is merely to give an authentic account of facts recent and remote, so disposed in a proper and orderly manner, as to enable our readers to clearly understand the history of their county from its origin down to the present dav.

6 PREFACE.

It is the limitation attached to all works devoted to general history, that from their very character only a superficial knowledge of the men and their times can be derived from them, while on the other hand, that which tfiey lack is supplied by local histories of this nature, whose great value in adding to the fund of human knowledge cannot be overestimated ; for they are the only mediums through which we can get the whole story of the economy of life, practiced by those men and women in every county in our broad land, which eventually resulted in transforming a wilderness into a garden, and from a weak and needy folk, creating a rich and mighty nation. It has long been recognized by every scholar, that the knowledge of such humble elements is absolutely essential, in order that the mind may intelligently grasp the potent factors which go to make up history. Hence, our correct understanding of the advancement and growth of a people varies in just such proportion as the narrative of their daily lives is full or incomplete.

The history of our own county cannot be studied too often ; for it is one of great interest, and the record revealed is a proud one. There is no section of the country possessing more of historic interest, nor does one exist, as closely identified with those crucial events connected with the formative period of the Republic. In this county was held the last cantonment of the Revolutionary army, here Washington passed a large portion of his time, and within our borders he rendered his greatest service to our country.

At the time the army went into winter quarters at Little Britain in 1782, although peace was not declared vmtil the following year, yet it was well understood that the long war was over and the States were at last independent of Great Britain. The knowledge of this fact naturally inclined the minds of men to a consideration of the form of government to be adopted for the infant commonwealth, and now^iere did the matter receive more attention than in that encampment, and from those soldiers whose deeds in arms had made the happy consummation possible.

The leisure entailed from the long relief from active duty which ensued after going into camp, afforded ample opportunity for both the officers and men of the army to discuss this question in all its bearings. It must be borne in mind that republics were not much in favor at that period, while the incompetent and discreditable manner in which Congress had conducted the national affairs for years, had created profound distrust

PREFACE. 7

and widespread discontent. Under the circumstances it is not so surprising that, beheving nothing but chaos and ruin would be the lot of the country should the form of government then in force be continued, the army should have finally declared for a limitcfl monarchy, and desired Washington as king.

The deputation of Colonel Nicola to present the subject to Washington does not require repetition here, nor the details of the manner in which that great man resolutely put aside all feelings of personal ambition, and so sternly repressed the movement for all time, that our present form of free government became an assured fact. These events are merely mentioned to bring vividly to the mind the recollection of the important connection our county sustained toward that great drama, and also to bring clearly home the fact, that even though the sun of liberty rose first from the green at Lexingtcn or the bridge at Concord, the gestation of the Republic occurred on the banks of the Hudson in the old county of Orange.

Some criticism of this work has been occasioned through the inclusion therein of biographical sketches ; but we are certam that upon calm reflection it will be seen that such objections rest upon no substantial foundation. The narratives of the lives of men and their acts constitute all there is of history. If it be true that all that our county shows in the way of growth and development, is entirely due to the men and women W'ho originall}' ]>eopled this region, and w^orthily performed those parts allotted to them in the general scheme of life, during their existence here, it is equally true that their successors who still abide with us. took up the burden where it fell from the hands of the fathers, aufl most signally continued the work, and carried it forward to success. If the works themselves are deserving of commendation, surely the workers and finishers thereof are entitled to the honor of some mention.

In sending forth this volume, we trust that in addition to its value as a depository of accurate information and useful knowledge, it will also prove an effective instrument in creating a more active public sentiment regarding historical subjects, and especially foster an interest in the annals of our own county.

The editor would be wanting in gratitude did he fail to acknowledge his obligations to the well-known writer, the late Mr. Edward M. Ruttenber. The whole historical field comprising that perio<l prior to the Revo-

8 PREFACE.

lutionary era, has been so carefully gleaned over by that indefatigable and accurate historiographer, that there remains little or nothing that is new, to reward any subsequent investigator into the history of that era, and therefore all who include that epoch in any sketch, must perforce draw largely from the store of valuable materials gathered by him. The editor also desires to return his sincere thanks to our numerous contributors, for their cheerful assistance, and especially for the painstaking care exhibited by them in the preparation of those articles which appear herein, and whose excellence constitutes the chief merit of this work.

That the efforts of myself and associates have fallen short of the high standard we had set up for ourselves at the inception of our labors, we are well aware ; but we do at least claim, that we have in some material degree, contributed in this volume to the "rescuing from oblivion and preserving the services which others have performed for God and country and fellow men." If the public by its verdi'-,t allows this claim to stand, our reward will be ample and we shall rest well content.

RussEL Headley.

Chapter 1-x Page Chapter XI

The Town of Blooming Grove By Benjamin C. Sears I30

CHAPTER Xn.

, ^, . ^ . By Frank nnrlan<I l4o

The Town of Chester ">

CHAPTER XHI.

The Town of Cornwall ^y ^■

CHAPTER XIV.

^ r n (r.,-A Bv J. Erskine Ward . . i»3

The Town of Crawford oy j. >^

CHAPTER XV.

The Town of Deer Park

CHAPTER XVI.

-The Town of^Goshen, By George F. Gregg

CHAPTER XVII.

^ ^ •„„ Bv Charles E. Stickney 239

The 1 own of Greenville ^y

CHAPTER XVIII.

r ,T *..„K„rorV, Bv Margaret Crawford Jackson 250

The Town of Hamptonburgh oy ^*^'"«

CHAPTER XIX.

, „. ., ,, Bv Captain Theodore Fanrot 201

The Town of Highlands ^^ ^ »

CHAPTER XX.

.,,.-•,. By Chrxrles E. Stickney

Tho Town 01 \ri.iiMnk ^y

CHAPTER XXI.

The Town of Monroe

CHAPTER XXII.

. , c Rv David A. Morrison

71,.. -l,,vvr, ot Montcoinery ^y i^*'^'" ^•

CHAPTER XXIII.

-T Rv Wickham T. Shaw

The Town of Mount Hope «> Wick nam

C.IAPTER XXIV.

Thf Town of Xewburgh i

.•^25 lo CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV. page

The City of Newburgh 348

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Town of New Windsor By Dr. C. A. Gorse 381

CHAPTER XXVn.

The Town of Tuxedo 397

CHAPTER XXVHI.

The Town of Wallkill By William B. Royce 405

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Town of Warwick By Ferdinand V. Sanford 427

CHAPTER XXX.

-The Town of Wawayanda , By Charles E. Stickney 454

CHAPTER XXXI.

The Town of Woodbury 460

CHAPTER XXXII.

The Bench and Bar By William Vanamee 466

CHAPTER XXXIII.

The Medical Profession By John T. Howell, M.D 560

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The Schools ^ By John M. Dolp'h 600

CHAPTER XXXV.

The Churches By Rev. Francis Washburn 623

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Agriculture By David A. Morrison 638

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Journalism By W. T. Doty 653

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Freemasonry By Charles H. Halstead 736

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Horse Breeding By Guy Miller 751

CHAPTER XL.

Dairying 761

PART II. Biographical Sketches 77^

CHAPTER I.

COUNTY, PRECINCTS AND TOWNS.

ORANGE was one of tlie earlic>t counties of the State, 'lating back to 1683. when it \\as organized by a colony law. It was ajso one of those foniied by a general act of organization in 1788. when it included the present county of Rockland, and was described as extending from the limits of East anrl West Jersey on the west side of the Hudson River along the river to ^Murderer's Creek, or the bounds of Ulster County, and westward into the woods as far as Delaware River — that is, all that part of the state south of an easterly and westerly line from the mouth of Murderer's Creek to the Delaware River or northerly line of Pennsylvania. In 1797 Rockland county was set off from it, and five towns from I'lster were added. Its boundaries were definitely fixed by an act of the New York legislature adopted April 3rd, 1801. The previous act of April 5th, 1797. provided that five towns, then a part of the County of Ulster, should be annexed to the county of Orange, and thai the courts should hold their sessions alternately at Newburgh and Goshen. Two days afterward another act was passed defining the boundary lines of the towns composing the newly-constructed county, and naming them as follows: Blooming Grove, Chesekook, Deer Park. Go.shen. Minisink, Montgomery. New Windsor, Newburgh. Wallkill -wv] Warwick. There were subsequent changes, and the following is a list of the present towns, with the years of their erection, and the territories from which they were taken :

Blooming Grove, 1799, taken from Cornwall; Cornwall. 1788. as New Cornwall, and changed to Cornwall in 1797; Chester, 1845. taken from

Goshen, Warwick, Monroe and Blooming Grove; Crawford, 1823, taken from Montgomery; Deer Park, 1798, as a part of Ulster County and taken from Mamakating; Goshen, 1788; Hamptonburgh, 1830, taken from Wallkill, Goshen, Montgomery, Blooming Grove and New Windsor ; Monroe, 1799, taken from Cornwall, original name Chesekook, changed to Southfield in 1802, and to Monroe in 1808, and divided in 1890 into Woodbury and Tuxedo; Montgomery, 1788; Mount Hope, 1825, taken from Wallkill, Deer Park and Minisink, original name Calhoun; Newburgh, 1788; New Windsor, 1788; Wallkill, 1788; Minisink, 1788.

There are three cities in Orange County, Newburgh in the town of Newburgh ; Middletown, in the town of Wallkill, and Port Jervis, in the town of Deer Park. Newburgh was chartered as a city in 1865, Middletown in 1888, and Port Jervis in 1907.

The irregular county thus constituted is bounded on the northwest and north by Sullivan and Ulster Counties, on the east and southeast by the Hudson River and Rockland County, on the southwest and west by New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Sullivan County. It has nearly half a million square miles.

The towns along the northwestern and northern border are Deer Park, Mount Hope, Wallkill, Crawford, Montgomery and Newburgh.

Along the Hudson are Newburgh, New Windsor, Cornwall and Highlands.

Next to Rockland County are Highlands, Woodbury and Tuxedo.

On the New Jersey line are the point of Tuxedo, Warwick, Minisink, Greenville, and a section of Deer Park.

The most western town is Deer Park which lies along New Jersey, the Delaware River and Pennsylvania on the southwest and Sullivan County on the north.

In the interior are the towns of Wawa\anda, Goshen, Hamptonburgh. Blooming Grove, Chester and Monroe.

The postoffices of the county as distributed in the several towns are named as follovv's :

Blooming Grove : Salisbury's Mills, Washingtonville, Blooming Grove, Oxford Depot, Craigsville.

Chester : Chester, Greycourt, Sugar Loaf.

Cornwall: Cornwall, Cornwall-on-Hudson, Cornwall Landing. Idlewild, Mountainville, Orrs Mills, Meadowbrook, Firthcliffe.

COUNTY, PRECINCTS AND TOWNS. 19

Crawford : Bullville, Pine Bush, Thompson Ridge.

Deer Park: Cuddebackville, Godeffroy, Huguenot, Port Jervis, Rio, Sparrowbush.

Goshen : Goshen.

Greenville : Greenville.

Hamptonburgh : Campbell Hall, Burnside.

Highlands: Highland Falls, Fort Montgomery, West Point.

Middletown : Middletown.

Minisink: Minisink, Johnson, Westtovvn, Unionville.

Monroe: Monroe, Turner.

Montgomery: Walden, Montgomery, Maybrook.

Mount Hope : Otisville, Guymard.

Nevvburgh : Newburgh, Middle Hope, Liptondale. Cedarcliff, Cronomer Valley, Savilton, Orange Lake, Roseton.

New Windsor: Little Britain, Rocklet, Vail's Gate, Moodna.

Tuxedo: Arden, Southfields, Tuxedo Park.

Wallkill : Middletown, Circleville, Stony Ford, Howells Crystalrun, Fair Oaks.

Warwick: Edenville, Warwick, Florida, Pine Island, New Milford, Wisner Lake, Bellvale, Greenwood Lake, Amity,

Wawayanda: New Hampton, Ridgebury, Slate Hill, South Centreville.

Woodbury: W^oodbury Falls, Highland Mills, Central V^alley.

To go back and particularize more fully : In 1686 the town of Orange was organized, and soon afterward adjoining patents were attached to it for jurisdiction and assessment. In 1719 the northern settlements were separated into the precinct of Orange, with Tappan as its center, and the precinct of ITaverstraw. with "the <^7hristian patented lands of Haverstraw" as its center. In 1714 the precinct of Goshen was organized, and included the entire county except the Orangetown and Haverstraw districts. In 1764 it was divided by a straight line, all the lands west of the line constituting the precinct of Goshen and all the lands east, the precinct of .X-ew Cornwall. The four precincts named were the political divisions of the county until after the Revolution. In 1788 the towns of Warwick and Minisink were erected from Goshen, and in 1791 the towns of Clarkstown and Ramapo were erected from Haverstraw. In 1797 the name of the town of New (^trnwall was change 1 to Cornwall.

In the southern towns of the County of Ulster, afterward transferred to Orange, changes were made in 1709. The precincts of Highlands and Shawangiuik were attached to New Paltz, and^' th€ :.present Orange County towns of Montgomery, Crawford and Wallkill were then embraced within its Hmits. These division^ continued until 1743, when they were changed to three precincts — Wallkill, Shawangunk and Highlancfs. There was also the precinct of Mainakating west of the precincts of Wallkill and Shawangunk, the northern part of which was made a part of Deer Park in 1798 by the law annexing the Ulster County towns. In 1762 the precinct of Highlands was divided into the precincts of Newburgh and New Windsor, and in 1772 the precinct of Newburgh was divided so as to form another precinct on the north, named New Marlborough. The same law divided the precinct of Wallkill so that its northern section became the precinct of Hanover. In 1782 the name of this precinct was changed to Montgomery by permission of the Provincial Convention of the State. By the general act of 1788 the Ulster County precincts which have been named were erected into the towns of Newburgh, New Windsor, New Marlborough, Shawangunk and Montgomery.

In the winter of 1797, after much opposition to plans for changing the boundaries of Orange and Ulster Counties, two bills were agreed upon by a Convention of Delegates from the several towns interested, and these were presented to the Legislature and passed. One of them set off from Orange the present County of Rockland, and the other annexed to Orange Cotmty the towns of New Windsor, Newburgh, \\^allkill, Montgomery and Deer Park, then the southern section of the county of Ulster.

In 1 801 a general law dividing the State into counties fixed the tlien somewhat undefined boimdaries of Orange, and another law adopted the same year fixed the boundaries of its towns as they now are, with the exception of Woodbury and Tuxedo, into which Monroe was separated in 1890.

The first Board of Supervisors of the present county, which met in Goshen in 1798, was composed as follows: John Vail, Goshen; Francis Crawford, New Windsor ; Reuben Tooker, Newburgh ; Anselem Helme, Cornwall; Jacob Post, Warwick; Nathan Arnont, Minisink: James Finch. Deer Park; David Gallatin, Montgomery: Andrew McCord, Wallkill.

Since that time the three towns of Greenville, Wawayanda and Highlands have been erected.

no

EAKL\ 1X1)1. \.\ CHARAC'H-:k AXl^ COXDL'CT 21

Chapter II. Early Indian Character And Conduct

AMONG the surprises experienced by Columbus and the e.xplurcrs who sailed up and down the coast of North America soon after his great discover)-, were the characteristics of the newly-found race of native Indians. Their tribal differences were comparatively slight, and although uncivilized, many of them exhibited traits which indicated a remote ancestry above savagery, and caused speculation which has not yet ceased.

Hendrick Hudson, from whom the magnificent Hudson River takes its name, has given us in his journal the first information alx)ut the tribes at its mouth and along its shores. Sailing from Amsterdam in the ship Half-Moon in 1609, he first landed near Portland,* JMe., on July 19th. Thence he sailed south to Chesapeake Bay, thence north to Delaware Bay, and thence to Sandy Hook, anchoring, probably off Coney Island. September 3(1. Here and on the New Jersey coast Indians came to the ship in canoes, and bartered green corn and dried currants for knives, beads and articles of clothing. He wrote that they behaved well, but when he sent out a boat on the 6th to explore the Narrows, his men were attacked by twenty-six natives in two canoes, who killed one of his crew with an arrow and wounded two others. On September nth he sailed through the Narrows and found a good protected harbor. Here his ship was again visited by many natives, who brought Indian corn, tobacco and oysters for barter, and (lisi)laycd copper pipes, copper ornaments, and earthen pots for cooking.

Hudson started on his vo\age up the river September 12th. and began his return September 22d. His ship stopped near the present city of Hudson, but he proceeded much farther in a small boat — as far, it is supposed, as Albany. About 25 miles below Alba^iy an aged chief entertained him hospitablv. and the Indians oft'ered in barter tobacco and

* To avoii! circnnilocution prestnt names will be generally iiseil fo imlicale localities.

beaver skins. Here the Indians of the Hudson, and probably of all North America, first tested the white man's Hquor. Hudson gave them some to see how they would act under its influence. Only one drank enough to become intoxicated, and when he fell down in a stupor the others were alarmed, but after he became sober the next day their alarm ceased, and they manifested a friendly spirit. This was on the east side of the river. Below the Highlands on the west side the natives were of a different disposition, and shot arrows at the crew from points of land. For this they were punished by Hudson's men, who returned their fire and killed about a dozen of them. Hudson's journal says that above the Highlands "they found a very loving people and very old men, and were well used." One of his anchoring places had been the bay at Newburgh, and here he wrote prophetically : "This is a very pleasant place to build a town on," and the handsome and prosperous City of Newburgh shows that he judged well. At this point many more Indians boarded the ship, and did a brisk business in exchanging skins for knives and ornamental trifles.

At several anchorages the Indians brought green corn to Hudson's ship, and it was one of the agreeable surprises of the crew at their meals. Com was generally cultivated by the Hudson River tribes, and grew luxuriantly. Ruttenber says it was long supposed to be native, but investigation shows it was transplanted from a foreign shore. It is certain that the early explorers knew nothing of it until it was brought to them by the Indians, and that it had been cultivated by the latter from immemorial times.

Hudson wrote that some of the Indians whom he met along the river wore mantles of feathers and good furs, and that women came to the ship with hemp, having red copper tobacco pipes and copper neck ornaments. Verrazano, who sailed along the North American coast 33 years after Hudson's expedition, said the Indians were dressed out in feathers of birds of various colors. He mentioned "two kings" who came aboard his ship in Narragansett Bay as "more beautiful in stature than can possibly be described," and characterized them as types of their race. One wore a deerskin around his body artificially wrought in damask colors. His hair was tied back in knots, and around his neck was a chain with stones of different colors. The natives who accompanied the chiefs were of middle stature, broad across the breast, strong in the arm? and well

EARLY INDIAN CHARACTER AND CONDUCT 23

formed. A litilc later Roger Williams was welcomed as a friend by an old chief, Canonnieus, and his nephew, and he described the Indians who accompanied them as of larger size than the whites, with tawny complexions, sharp faces, black hair, and mild, pleasant expressions. The women were graceful and beautiful, with tine countenances, and of modest appearance and manner. They wore no clothing, except ornamental deer skins, like those of the men, but some had rich lynx skins on their arms, and various ornaments on their heads composed of braids of hair which hung upon their breasts. These Indians were generous in their disposition, "giving- away whatever they had."

Later the Indians were classed from language into two general divisions — the Algonquins and the Iroquois — terms given them by the Jesuit missionaries. The Iroquois occupied central and western New York, including the ^Mohawk River, the headwaters of the Delaware, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The Algonquins included all the Indians of Eastern New York, Eastern Canada, New England, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Eastern Virginia. Several tribes in the west Hud.son River counties constituted the Lenni-Lenape nation, which held its council fires on the site of Philadelphia. Some of their names were Waoranecks, Haverstroos, IMinisinks and Waranawonkongs. When Hudson came the Lenapes were the head of the Algonquin nations, but wars with the Iroquois and the whites so weakened them that they became the subjects of the Iroquois confederacy for eighty years previous to 1755. Then they rebelled, allied themselves with other tribes, Ix-camc the head of the western nations and successfully contested nearly all the territory west of the Mississippi. Dur-ng the period of their subserviency thev were known as the Delawares. The Mohawk^ were the most eastern nation of the Iroquois, and were called Maquas by the Dutch, and a branch on the Delaware, Minquas. The Iroquois, first known as the Five Nations, later received the Tuscaroras of North Carolina, who removed to New York, and with the Chcrokees and other southern Indians became the sixth nation of that great Indian confederacy, to which they also .were related by language.

Both the Algonquin and Iroquois confederacies were divided into tribes and sub-tribes of families, each with a head who was the father or founder. These combined for mutual defense and the heads elected one of thc-r number chief sachem, regarding themselve^^ a^^ a nation to make laws, negotiate treaties, and engage in wars, the wars being mostly between the Algonquins and Iroquois.

The Esopus Indians occupied parts of Orange and Ulster Counties, and their war dances were held on the Dans Kamer. a high promontory north of Newburgh. Their rule extended to other families east and west of the Hudson, but their territory cannot be clearly defined.

Regarding Indian character, there have been presented by our historians some contrasting but not wholly irreconcilable views. E. M. Ruttenber, in his valuable contribution to the History of Ulster County, edited by Hon. A. T. Clearwater, says :

"When they were discovered the race had wrought out unaided a development far in advance of any of the old barbaric races of Europe. They were still in the age of stone, but entering upon the age of iron. Their implements were mainly of stone and flint and bone, yet they had learned the art of making copper pipes and ornaments. This would rank their civilization about with that of the Germans in the days of Tacitus (about the year 200 A.D.). They had, unaided by the civilization of Europe, made great progress. , They had learned to weave cloth out of wild hemp and other grasses, and to extract dyes from vegetable substances ; how to make earthen pots and kettles ; how to make large water casks from the bark of trees, as well as the lightest and fleetest canoes; h?d passed from the cave to the dwelling house; had established the family relation and democratic forms of government ; their wives were the most faithful, their young women the most brilliant in paint and garments and robes of furs ; they carved figures on stone, and wrote the story of their lives in hieroglyphics, of which some of the finest specimens in America are preserved in the senate house in Kingston ; and most remarkable of all, and that which carries back their chronology to a period that cannot be defined, they had developed spoken languages that were rich in grammatical forms, differing radically from any of the ancient and modern languages of the old hemisphere, languages which were surely ingenious, and of which it was said by the most expert philologists of Europe that they were among 'the most expressive languages, dead or living.' . . . Thev were savages or barbarians, as you may please to call them, men who wrote their vengeance in many scenes of blood, the recital of which around the firesides of the pioneers became more terrifving bv renetitimi ; nevertheless they were representatives of a

race whose civilization, though it was 1200 years behind our own, had no faults greater than were found in the races from which we boast our lineage."

In Samuel Eager's "History of Orange County," published in 1846-7, are found statements presenting a different conception of Indian qualities. It says :

"The Indian character in this State is well known, and we have no reason to believe that the character of the Indians of Orange was materially different. If you know one you know the general character of those who compose his wigwam, 'and knowing this you know that of his tribe. They are all alike— dirty, slothful and indolent, trustworthy and confiding in their friendships, while fierce and revengeful under other circumstances. Their good will and enmity are alike easily purchased. All have the war dance before starting upon and after returning from the warpath, and bury the dead standing, with their instruments." Their known rule of warfare is an indiscriminate massacre of men, women and children, and they are cruel to their captives, whom they usually slay with the tomahawk or burn up at the stake. They believe in a future state of rewards and punishments, and sacrifice to a Good Spirit — an unknown god. We have the testimony of Hendrick Hudson that the Indians above the Highlands were kind and friendly to him and his crew, and the more so the further they proceeded up the river. This, we presume, related to those on both sides of the river, though below the Highlands they were of a more hostile character. W'c have understood, as coming from the early settlers, who first located in Westchester and Dutchess and afterwards removed here, as many of them did. that the impression was very general that the Indians on that side of the river were less hostile and more friendly to the white settlers than those on the west; and this was given as a reason for settling there, which accounts in some measure for the earlier settlement of that side of the river.