XX. TOWN OF MINISINK…

XX. TOWN OF MINISINK

By Charles E. Stickney.

DERIVATION OF THE NAME.

The derivation of the name Minisink is undoubtedly from the Delaware valley, which was the "Minisink" country of its Indian owners. They had a large village and castle on the Jersey side of the Delaware River, opposite a large island in the river, both that and the village being known to them and to the early white settlers by the name "Minisink." They were a sub-division of the Lenni-Lenape tribe that somehow became known later by the name of Delaware, from an English lord, who visited the mouth of the river about five minutes once, and left his unmerited name to the river and its valley as well as to the tribe of Indians about it. In truth a most foolish freak upon the part of the white people, who had far more deserving names to give, if they wished to observe and reward more daring explorers. Foolish, too, because the Indian names were just as beautiful, even more so than that of the old lord.

This sub-division of the Lenni-Lenape Indians was called the Minsi (wolf), and they were easily recognized from other tribes by the white people. In 1663 when Wiltwyck (now Esopus or Rondout) was attacked, its white settlers declared that they saw the Munsey (Minsi) Indians among their assailants.

In front of their village on the river flats south of the island lay their great national cemetery covering acres of ground, where many generations of their nation lay entombed. Some of them were buried so close to the river that the sweep of its current often washed away the dirt and exposed their bones as the writer saw them. The early white people in the valley, all German, at first assumed that the name Minsi, pronounced by them "munsey," was derived from the fact that the water had at some time been drained by the Water Gap from the lands in the valley and that the name was derived from "the water is gone." We have never found any corroboration of that theory. The village was the source of the name, but what is meant in the Lenni-Lenape language we probably shall never know. From their village the white settlers applied it to the whole valley.

William Tietsort, whom they induced to settle among them near present Port Jervis, and do their blacksmithing, in 1690, found the name there. Arent Schuyler, who has left on record his diary of the visit he made there to find whether the French spies had been there from Canada, said of it: "1694 ye 6th, Tuesday, I continued my journey to Maghackemeck (Indian name for the neighborhood of the junction of the Neversink with the Delaware) and from thence to within half-a-day's journey of the Minisink." A half-day's journey would about represent the distance to the village and castle of the tribe mentioned, and where he was bound.

The Indians who occupied the territory in these three towns were one of the three divisions of the Lenni-Lenapes. On the first map of the country made they were called Maquas, which was later corrected to Munseys and by the English to Minsies. The name of their headquarters, Minisink, has come down to us from all the various languages spoken by white settlers as Minisink. That corroborates it as an original Indian word. Every clan or sub-division of the tribes used an accent of their own, so that they were easily distinguished, but the difference was not so radical but that the whole Lenni-Lenape people could understand each other. Therefore the name Minisink was a name known over a vast region before the white people came here. Its meaning is a mystery which all linguists can guess at with some probability of nearness.

ORGANIZATION AND BOUNDARIES.

June 23rd, 1664, this region belonged to Holland, at least that country claimed it; but Charles, then King of England, deeded that day, to his brother, James, Duke of York, a tract "to the northward as far as the northernmost branch of the Delaware River in 41 degrees and 40 minutes north latitude, thence in a straight line to Hudson's River, to be called 'Nova Cesaria' or New Jersey." England sent over a fleet and captured the whole country in this vicinity a little later the same year, and that made the Duke's patent valid.

The region under consideration was then a dreary forest, but land speculators soon began to deal in tracts of it, and New York Province claimed that the line, 41.40 latitude north to the northernmost branch of the Delaware River, ran from its beginning on Hudson's River to the mouth of the Lehigh River (which they asserted was the branch of the Delaware referred to in the deed) where is now Easton, Pa.

On the other side the owners of New Jersey claimed that the branch referred to in the deed was a tributary of the Delaware River at what is now Cochecton, N. Y. It will be seen that this disputed territory was of great extent, the apex of the triangle on the Hudson River widening out to a base of near 50 miles from present Easton to present Cochecton. In this triangle was comprised nearly all of what we now call Sussex County, N. J., and, according to the New Jersey claim, taking in the present city of Port Jervis and about all of the present towns of Greenville and Minisink. The great dispute as to the ownership of this triangle lasted for a hundred years and its tales of warfare and contests in courts are of great interest, but not altogether pertinent to our subject. The start upon Hudson's River is thus mentioned in N. J. Archives, Vol. I, page 531, in 1685-6: "Gawen Lawrie of New Jersey, Governor Dongan of New York and others" fixed at a point nigh Colonel William Merrit's house (see mention in first census of Orange County) on the west side of the Hudson River and "marked with a penknife on a beech tree standing by a small run." How different surveyors could locate the degree of latitude from thence to such widely different points was explained in old documents to be the fault of the crude quadrants then used.

In 1704 Queen Anne of England granted 23 persons a patent (deed), for a tract of land which was named "Minisink," because it embraced the land in Minisink along the Delaware River down as far as Big Minisink island, and as far north as Peenpack (a nickname for the Gumaer settlement on the Neversink). March 20th, 1765, Alexander Colden, of New York, said of this patent, Vol. III, p. 988, Documentary History of New York: "It contains not less than 250,000 acres, under the very small Quit-rent of nine pounds current money of this Province."

The Wawayanda patent had been granted the previous year (1703) to 12 men and the Minisink patent lapped upon it, hence we may well conclude that the quarrel between the Provinces of New York, New Jersey, the owners of the Minisink patent and those of the Wawayanda patent made a very mixed question of title. There does not appear to have been any severe contests in the three towns of which we write between individual land owners, except those of the large patents. In 1767 the Provinces of New York and New Jersey appointed commissioners to run out a compromise line settled upon to run from the apex of the triangle on Hudson River to the present station at Tri-states, which was done and that line has since remained as the boundary between the two States. Titles derived from the Minisink patent south of that line were void, but the titles of landholders in the three towns were all derived from the New York patentees, hence there followed no confusion.

During the Revolution there were few changes in county matters, but March 7th, 1788, the legislature of the State enacted that subdivisions of counties should be called towns instead of precincts. By that act Orange County was divided into the towns of Haverstraw, Orangetown, Goshen, New Cornwall, Warwick and Minisink. The southern boundary of the latter was the State line of New York and New Jersey.

The town of Minisink under that formation was bounded on the east by the Wallkill River, northeast and north by the town of Wallkill and the Ulster County line around on the northwest to the Delaware River, and the State line.

In 1798 the town of Deer Park was created and it cut off from Minisink its over-mountain lands, which had belonged to old Minisink and thus cut off the base whence the name had been derived. Since then the town has held to the name, a reminder of its old associations and of being once the home of a part of the Minsi Indian tribe.

In 1825 the town of Calhoun was formed principally from Deer Park and Wallkill, and formed part of the boundary of Minisink on the north. In 1833 the name of Calhoun was changed to Mount Hope.

In 1840 the town of Wawayanda was erected from the northeastern portion of Minisink, and took the place of Wallkill in the boundary of the former.

In 1853 the town of Greenville was taken from the westerly portion of Minisink, and fixed the boundaries of the latter as they now are.

GEOGRAPHICAL.

The line between the States previously referred to on a westerly course has set-offs to avoid great obstacles in some places, but where it bounds Minisink it is a straight line. It crosses the Wallkill a short distance south of Unionville.

Millsburg, is a small village, named from the large mills once located on Bodinot's Creek at that place. Extensive saw-mills, grist, cider, and plaster mills, were for a long time kept there by John Racine, and did a very large business for years after his death. They are now gone. Down stream a short distance were other grist and saw mills, of which one, a grist mill, is still in existence and managed by Frank Mead. A little farther down the stream were once very large woolen carding and fulling mills, where cloth was made of the finest quality. These are now in ruins.

Boudinot's Creek has gone by various names, such as Indegot and Bandegot, but antiquarians have now settled upon the derivation of the name from Elias Boudinot, and the probabilities are that they are right. Elias was a merchant in New York City, and speculated in the lands out in the wilderness, as many others were doing in those times. The records show that he bought, June 10th, 1704, of Philip Rokeby, one-third of his share in the Wawayanda patent; also, August 8th, 1707, a twelfth part of the patent. He soon sold out his interests in the patent and so far as we have been able to find, never saw the creek in question, and he certainly never made a settlement in this county.

Rutger's Creek was undoubtedly named from the circumstance of Anthony Rutger's buying of the widow and son of John Merrit, one-half of the one-twelfth of the Wawayanda patent allotted to Daniel Honan, who had in 1705 sold it to Merrit.

The creek in question rises in the town of Greenville and flows eastward near Unionville, where it takes a northeasterly course through Waterloo Mills, Westtown, Johnson's, and then southerly through Gardnersville to the Wallkill. Its Indian name is not known.

Tunkamoose Creek, a small tributary of the Wallkill near Unionville, has what is claimed to be an Indian name, but we cannot verify it.

The Wallkill is said by Haines to have drawn its name from some families of Walloons who settled by it, and it has also had various other derivations alleged. Its Indian name is well known. In the very early surveys about Franklin Furnace, N. J., in 1712-15, the surveyors have written the name plainly, Twischsawkin. That this name was not of a mere local application is shown by the fact that on a map accompanying Smith's History of New Jersey, made and published in London, Charing Cross, by Wilham Faden, December 1st, 1777, from surveys made in 1769 by the commissioners who ran the State line, the name Twischsawkin is applied to the stream. On that map there is not a settlement marked from Goshen to Mackhackemeck in this county. In Sussex County the settlement of the Walling brothers, where Joseph Walling kept an inn, now Hamburg, N. J., is marked "Wallins." They were located there somewhere about 1725-1730, and a brother settled in this town of Minisink at about the same time, by the river. We take him to have been the first settler in the town, and mention is made of him later. The true derivation of the name Wallkill is due to their settlements. The name "Wallins" was known far and wide to the stragglers who first came into the neighborhood and the river that ran by their locations, first called by visitors, Wallinskill, about 1750 got abbreviated to "Wallkill." The Walloons spoken of by Haines were undoubtedly "Wallins." The Indian name Twischsawkin has been interpreted to mean "abundance of wild plums." A land abounding in snakes comes nearer its true meaning in our study of the Minsi language.

Unionville village, assumed to be derived from the union of good feelings following the settlement of the line between the States of New York and New Jersey, is near that line, and is believed to have been settled about 1738. It now has three stores, two hotels, coal and feed stores, a system of waterworks owned by a private company, three churches, and other places of business. It was incorporated as a village in 1871, September 26th. Isaac Swift was the first president.

Westtown, a village so named because it was situated at the western limit of the settlements when Goshen was headquarters of civilization in the county, has three stores, two churches, one hotel.

Johnsons, so-named after William Johnson who gave the land for the Middletown, Unionville & Water Gap Railroad when it passed through the town where the depot is now located, has three good stores, two feed and coal stores, one hotel, and Borden's large milk and cream plant, and is a place of considerable business.

Gardnersville, on Rutger's Creek, about two and a half miles southeast of Johnsons, is mostly in the town of Wawayanda, and derived its name from the Gardner family who once owned extensive grist, saw and cider mills there. It is now mainly known from the feed mills of John R. Manning, at present its principal industry. In the early settlement of the country there was a defensive place near, known as Fort Gardner. Its location is not precisely known. In some records it is spoken of as being southward from where Westtown now is. It was most probably at Gardnersville. An old stone building on the late Lain farm is the "Fort Gardner," says one tradition.

Waterloo Mills (derivation of name unknown) since the decline of the milling industry has nothing now to show of its former important grist mills but the ruins.

FIRST SETTLEMENT AND POPULATION.

Of the first settler in the present territory of this county, Patrick Mac Gregorie, whose brother-in-law, David Toshuck, is spoken of in Ruttenber & Clark's History of Orange County (p. 13) as having "closed his earthly career in the bosom of his family at Plum Point," we desire to mention. In New Jersey Archives, Vol. I, p. 460, it says: "David Toshuck, of Moneyweard, partner with James, Earl of Perth, Captain Patrick Mac Gregorie, all sharers in Proprieties," were so mentioned in 1864. In a note on Vol. IX, p. 337, mention is made of the will of Edward Antill proven in New York, April 7th, 1725, wherein he gives his wife all his interest in a "certain proprietorship formerly purchased of David Toshuck, laird of Minnevarre." On p. 338 it is stated that "Edward Antill, Jr., came into the possession of the laird of Minnevarre's broad acres at Raritan landing in Middlesex County where he spent the most of his life." Donald Macquirrish, of Murderer's Creek, is mentioned with David Toshuck, of Minnevarre, Scotland, in a deed dated March 13th, 1687. From all which we have doubts as to the death of the aforesaid David Toshuck at Plum Point.

Governor Dongan bought, October 25, 1684, of three Indians, one of whom was Joghem or Keghgekapowell, for ninety pounds and eleven shillings in goods, all the land from the mouth of Murderer's Creek on the Hudson, to a "water pond upon the said hills called Meretange." The latter is the present Binnewater pond in Greenville. This purchase embraced about thirty by forty miles of the territory of Orange precinct, and a part of the lands in three towns. It lapped on other grants also. September 12, 1694, he sold it to Captain John Evans. In the latter sale went a house on Plum Point, which Captain Mac Gregorie had built there on his land by advice of that very Governor, who also sold the land without any scruple.

Lord Bellomont, in reviewing the transaction afterwards in writing January 2, 1701, to the Lords of Trade, said:

"Capt. Evans's great grant of 40 miles one way and 30 another, has but one house on it, or rather a hut, where a poor man lives, built by Patrick Mac Gregorie, a Scotchman, who was killed at the time of the Revolution here, and his widow compelled to sell her house and land to Capt. Evans for 30 or 35 pounds."

The foregoing was not only a concise history of the first settlement in this county, but it was in reality the first census, and shows that then, 1701, there was not a single person in the limits of our three towns as a permanent settler. It may be said in apparent contradiction that a census taken by Bellomont in 1698 showed this county to have in it 29 men, 31 women, 140 children and 19 Negroes. They were all located along the Hudson River, in what is now Rockland County. Yet there was at that time a blacksmith, William Tietsort (Titsworth), in Minisink, near where Port Jervis now stands, who had settled there in 1698 at the request of the Indians to work at his trade for them. In 1703, the county had 268 people in it; in 1712, 439. The Gumaer patent was settled on in the Neversink valley by this time, but there is no record of any settler in our three towns at that time. In 1723 the census showed 1,097 white and 147 colored people in the county. The owners of the big patents used great inducements to get settlers to locate on their land, and it is probable that some were in our territory but not of record. In 1737 there were 2,840; and in 1746, 3,268 people in the county.

Inman Walling was a settler, probably 1725-1730, by the Wallkill, east of present Westtown, and John Whitaker died in 1742 near where Unionville now is, and had been a resident there, no one knows how long. His will on record in the surrogate's office in Goshen, liber A. page 221, mentions his wife Eve, sons Richard, Peter and John, and daughters Jean and Elizabeth. Their descendants are yet residents of the town and of Sussex County adjoining. Those two families were probably the first permanent ones in this town of Minisink. There were others in the limits of what is now Wawayanda at or about the same time.

There were two Smith families early in the precinct of Minisink. One of them, Benjamin, settled near the present Slate Hill village, and the other on the farm now owned by J. Cadigan near Johnsons, where he kept an inn, the place being known as Smith's Village for at least seventy-five years.

Other settlers came in rapidly. William Stenard in 1749; Captain John Wisner from Warwick in 1776; George Kimber in 1750; Caleb Clark in 1800; William Lane in 1760. In an assessment roll made for Goshen precinct in 1775 Godfrey Lutes, Peter Middagh, Daniel Rosencrans, Inman Walling, Peter Walling, Increase Mather, John Whitaker, Jr., and Ebenezer Beers were shown to reside in this town besides the other first settlers mentioned.

The census of the county in 1756 showed it to have a population of 4,446 whites and 430 slaves. In 1771 there were 9,430 whites and 662 Negroes.

The Horton family were early residents of this territory, but we have no positive data of their first advent. October 20, 1764, a line run to divide the county into two precincts was described as "beginning near the new dwelling house of John Manno, and thence on a course which will leave the house of Barnabus Horton, Jr., ten chains to the westward." His house we do not think was in this town. A Barnabus Horton in 1813 lived near what is now South Centerville in Wawayanda. Gabriel Horton, justice of the peace, 1839-1843, lived about a mile and a half west of present Slate Hill in Wawayanda. William Horton in this town was a holder of important local offices, and his son Charles W. Horton, former supervisor, is now one of the leading citizens, as is also his neighbor, Reeves Horton.

In 1835, ten years after the town of Calhoun (Mount Hope) had been set off, the remainder of the territory in old Minisink had 4,439 inhabitants, and the present limits of this town about 1,000.

In 1850 the town of Wawayanda was taken off, and in 1853 the town of Greenville. In 1855, by the first census after their elimination, this town had a population of 1,295.

Since then its limits have remained unchanged. In 1860 its population was 1,266; in 1865, 1,209, a decrease owing to the civil war; in 1880, 1,360, including the incorporated village of Unionville, which had 316; in 1905, the last census taken, 1,354, including Unionville--a gain in 50 years of 59, which may be mainly said to be in Unionville.

The first incorporated company to do business in the town was the Goshen and Westtown Turnpike Company, chartered June 1, 1812, consisting of Reuben Hopkins, Freegift Tuthill, Benjamin Strong, Stephen Jackson, James Carpenter, D. M. Westcott, "and such other persons as they shall associate with them." The purpose was to build a turnpike road from the State line to Rutger's Kill near the mill of Jones & Vancleft (at Gardnersville). Thence it ran to Pellet's round hill and the Goshen and Minisink turnpike.

The Middletown, Unionville & Watergap Railroad Company was incorporated and completed ready for business by June 10, 1868, from Unionville to Middletown. Later it was leased to the Oswego Midland Railway, and still later its 13.30 miles of track were leased by the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad Company, by which it is now operated, under Erie Railroad supervision.

MILITARY.

There appear to have been no conflicts with the Indian owners of the territory of the three towns under consideration, and its white settlers, previous to the Minisink war, or as some historians call it, "The French and Indian War" of 1754-1758. We call it the Minisink war, because the Minsi tribe, at the outset of the war between France and England, which led to the great struggle between Canada for France and the colonies of our country for England, got permission to take up the hatchet against the settlers in Pennsylvania Minisink from their (the Minsis') masters, the Six Nations, to avenge their wrongs in that region. The wrongs were alleged to be that the proprietors of Pennsylvania had cheated the Indian owners of the lands there, and there is now no doubt that the allegation was true. There was no redress to be had for an Indian wrong in those years. Teedyuscung and the leaders of the Indians issued imperative orders that the war should be confined to Pennsylvania and they were pretty generally obeyed. Occasional straggling parties of them, however, in small numbers, disobeyed orders in order to avenge some injury to some person or clan, and passed through east of Shawangunk Mountains on marauding expeditions. They were vagrant Indians who had no standing as warriors in their tribe and they perpetrated wanton murders without the knowledge or sanction of their leaders. Of this class no doubt were the ones who surprised a man named Owens at work in Dolsen's meadow, in what was then Dolsentown, now in Wawayanda, near Middletown, in 1756, and shot him. David Cooley, who is believed then to have had a settlement at what is now the Charles O. Carpenter farm near Pine Hill cemetery, about a mile south of where Dolsen was located, alarmed at the murder of Owens, moved his family to Goshen. The next spring he moved back. That summer a party of Indians, in passing by his place, shot a woman of his household who at the time was passing from the outdoor oven to the house.

A company of militia had been organized in 1738 in the county called the "Company of the Wallakill (Willinskill)"; but none of the 144 names of its members appear to belong to our territory, except it may be those of John Monell, Lieutenant William Borland, Benjamin Haines, James Monell, Johannis Crane and James Davis. John Bayard was its captain.

The murder of the widow Walling in 1758 was mentioned in the Philadelphia Gazette and in New York papers in that year and made a profound impression throughout the colonies.

In the Revolutionary War, Colonel Allison's Goshen regiment contained some names belonging to this territory. The officers of its Wawayanda company were: Captain, William Blair; lieutenants, Thomas Wisner and Thomas Sayre, Jr.; ensign, Richard Johnson; of the Drowned Lands company--captain, Samuel Jones; lieutenants, Peter Gale and Jacob Dunning; ensign, Samuel Webb; of the Pochuck company--captain, Ebenezer Owen; lieutenants, Increase Holley and John Bronson; ensign, David Rogers; of Minisink company--captain, Moses Courtright; lieutenants, John Van Tile and Johannes Decker; ensign, Ephraim Middaugh. The latter lived in the township of Wantage in 1764, where he was commissioned as an ensign of Captain Kirkendal's company by Governor William Franklin. The late S. M. Stoddard of that township had and exhibited to the writer the last named commission. Middaugh went with General Hathorn to the battle of Minisink, where he was killed.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The town of Minisink was bonded in 1869, for $75,000 to aid in extending the New York Midland Railroad from Unionville farther south. This has not been paid in full yet. The sum of $3,280 was ordered to be raised by tax on the town of Minisink by the board of supervisors on the 22nd of November, 1907, to pay principal and interest on those bonds.

The first town meeting after the town of Minisink was organized, took place at the house of John Van Tuyl, April 1, 1789. Its territory then covered the three towns, and that house supposed to be the old stone house now in Greenville, on the former Jonathan Van Tuyl farm, later the Hallock house, was a convenient place for the gathering.

August 11, 1864, the present town was bonded for $25,000 to pay bounties for volunteers in the Civil War. It was paid off, principal and interest, in eight equal installments as they fell due.

Hulet Clark bought land in Minisink in 1828 in the present town of Minisink, where he died March 31, 1857. His son, William Harvey Clark, early gave evidence of the good judgment and business ability which his future life carried out. He married Emily Robertson of Wawayanda and they lived on the old homestead near Westtown, where he died in 1907. His son, Robert H. Clark, is the present supervisor of this town, resides on the old homestead, and is establishing a business reputation as popular and able as that which distinguished his father and which will make his name long remembered in local annals.

In March, 1799, the Legislature of the State passed an act for the gradual abolition of slavery. All slaves were to become free at a certain age. As an instance of its working, there was Frank Bounty, a colored man, for whom Joseph Davis of Wawayanda had traded a pair of oxen when Frank was a young man. When the time arrived at which the law gave Frank his liberty he was called up by Mr. Davis and told that he was then a free man. Frank asked him if he could not stay on with him, but Mr. Davis said he could not, for the reason that people would then say that he was being coerced. Mr. Davis gave him some money and told him he must go and do for himself, and Frank told the Writer that was one of the saddest days of his life.

Mr. Davis also gave him the use of a house and lot in Brookfield or Slate Hill which he might, and did, enjoy for life by paying the taxes on it. It was the last house on the west side of the street in the west end of the village at that time. There he raised a large family.

Not all Negroes were so lucky. Some of them were old and worn out and their masters were glad to get rid of caring for them.

In the early history of the town in all its farming communities, the farmers raised sheep, and made a double use of them. The rams were used to churn with on the big wheel and on endless chain churning machines then used, and the wool sheared from all the sheep was carded, sometimes by hand, at other times in factories, and woven or spun into stockings, mittens, and cloth, to furnish wearing apparel. Up to 1850, butter was the chief product of the dairies in the town. Then selling milk came into general practice, and making butter, milling flour for home use, and traveling on horseback went out of fashion.

The farmers universally kept sheep, raised the wool to make the clothes for the members of the family, and at the same time used the large sheep to churn with upon a tread or sweep power. Up to 1850 butter and hogs were the chief products. It is less than 200 years since the first squatters settled in the limits of the three towns of which we write. The first customs to pass away were their friendly associations with the few Indians who clung to their old hunting grounds with death-like tenacity. Then the hostilities engendered by the helplessness of the Indians and the consequent overbearing attitude of the settlers passed by, leaving a trail of traditions and savage memories. Then followed the old logging, stone picking, mowing, husking and quilting bees or frolics in which whiskey was used as a general beverage. Then came the passing of the use of whiskey for the universal medicine and social welcome. Next passed the days when women carded the wool and spun and wove it, and knit everywhere, knit, knit, knit. Next passed the days when the young ladies worked samplers, and helped in the harvest and hay fields, and grew up vigorous, stout and healthy. Next passed the fishing with fikes {sic} and racks and the hunting for wolves and foxes. Now have arrived the days when fish and game are about extinct.

Now are the days when the farmers sell their milk and buy their butter; when they sell little else than milk and have become a great generation of buyers; when social visits are about unknown; when the old time good-natured sports and merriment are frowned upon; when men no longer meet on the streets and argue politics, but bury themselves in a newspaper on the trains or in any resting place and read, read, read; when women no longer knit and spin; when the girls no longer will do outdoor work and dreadfully dislike to do indoor work; when, instead of the big boys and girls going to school a few months in the winter season, they all go away to boarding school. In noting these and other changes which have taken place in the towns as the years have fled, it is noticeable that the people generally live better, even luxuriously, compared with former years, but are their public and domestic relations happier?

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XXI. TOWN OF MONROE

By M. N. Kane.

The territory comprising the present town of Monroe is part of the Chesekook Patent granted by Queen Anne, March 25, 1707. The Chesekook tract was surveyed by Charles Clinton, father of George and James Clinton, and grandfather of Dewitt Clinton. His field book, the original of which is in the possession of Hon. MacGrane Cox, of Southfield, N. Y. (Mr. Fred J. Knight, Civil Engineer, of Monroe, N. Y., having a copy), contains much information and many interesting incidents of the early history of this section.

The town was set off from the precinct of Goshen in 1764 and named Chesekook. This name continued until 1801, when it was changed to Southfield. On April 6th, 1808, it took the present name Monroe, in honor of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States.

In 1863, the town (like ancient Gaul), was divided into three parts by the erection of the three towns of Monroe, Highland and Southfield, which division was the same as the present towns of Monroe, Woodbury and Tuxedo, except that the then town of Monroe embraced a small portion of the present town of Woodbury.

In 1865 the three towns were dissolved and the whole original territory restored to the town of Monroe. In 1889 it again underwent the Gaelic operation resulting in the creation of the present towns of Monroe, Woodbury and Tuxedo. Monroe contains an area of 11,500 acres, Woodbury 23,000 acres and Tuxedo 50,000 acres.

The history of this town was written by Rev. Daniel Niles Freeland, who was the beloved and scholarly pastor of the Presbyterian Church from 1847 to 1881, and his volume of two hundred and fifty pages, entitled "Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Times," is a history of the town up to 1898.

LAKES AND MOUNTAINS.

Monroe has in recent years, because of its rugged beauties, its beautiful lakes and mountain scenery, its high altitude, pure water and healthfulness, and its proximity to the Metropolitan district, become a favorite resort for the people of New York and nearby cities, and has made very rapid growth. It is the lake region of the county and located on the crest of the mountain divide, the village being the highest station except Otisville on the Erie Railroad between Jersey City and Port Jervis. There are four beautiful natural lakes, located from one to three miles from the village, namely, Mombasha, having an area of 340 acres and an elevation of 860 feet, from which Monroe village gets it water supply; Walton Lake, having an area of 125 acres and an elevation of 720 feet, from which Chester obtains its water supply; Round Island Lake, ninety acres in area and 660 feet elevation, upon the eastern bluff of which Mr. W. M. Haight's beautiful Cedar Cliff Inn is located, and Cromwell Lake with an area of fifty-three acres and an elevation of 740 feet. There are a number of smaller lakes which add to the beauty of this region. Among them should be mentioned, the Mountain Lake recently built to the east of the village, with an area of twenty acres and an elevation of 550 feet, and Lake Winape, a most charming mountain lake near Mombasha Lake, with an area of eleven acres and an elevation of 760 feet, just completed by Mr. George R. Conklin. The construction of other lakes is contemplated.

The village of Monroe is in the pass on the mountain crest, the waters from the northern part of the village flowing northeast into the Hudson near Newburgh, and from the southern part of the village flowing southeast through the Ramapo, which rises in Round Island Lake, into the Passaic River.

Eager, in his early history of Orange County, with prophetic vision, saw the beauties of this section. He wrote as follows: "These are the Grampian hills of Orange. While this elevated range is severed by many deep glens and valleys, the Alpine heights hold within their rocky crests, ponds and lakes of pure water, which glitter like diamonds in the noontide sun. Rude and forbidding as this region of hills and rocks and mountain crags may at first sight appear to the eye of a superficial observer, yet, to the true lover of nature in the exhibition of her noblest works, and to the practical mind of the really utilitarian, for a thousand purposes, the whole is well arranged and unsurpassed by anything of the kind in the county. Here are found without stint or measure, granite, mica or isinglass stone, and every quality of iron ore, with other minerals, treasures of present and future wealth to the nation. As early as 1778, during the war of the Revolution, the great chain passed across the Hudson at West Point, was made from the mineral of this region. In this respect as regards quality and quantity, the county of Orange stands unrivaled by any other in the State.

"The time will come when these hills, mountains, deep glens and sparkling lakes, shall be the descriptive themes of some native bard, who like Scott or Burns, caught up in spirit and wrapped in poetic fire, will harmoniously weave them, one and all, into the thrilling lays of the lowland and mountain muse. The time will come, when these elevated heights of dreary aspect, these hills overhung and darkened with vines and forest trees, and these lakes of picturesque beauty, unknown to the common mind, decorated with the wildest garniture of nature, and visited by the wing of the wild bird, shall be associated in the minds of our children's children with all that is pastoral, pleasing and heroic. True, Monroe cannot be made equal in agricultural beauty to other more charming localities, and wave with a golden harvest; for though her hills and mountains may be denuded of their vegetable ornaments, they cannot be leveled down nor driven over by the plough-share; yet the time will come, when every nook and corner throughout the broad and variegated mass shall hold a freeman's cottage, teeming with life and highland cheer, whose tenants, honest and hardy, will sleep amidst the thunders which rock them to rest, and the lightnings that play around and gleam up their mountain dwellings."

The Rev. Mr. Freeland in writing of its mountains says: "As the mountains were round about Jerusalem," so are the mountains round about Monroe. On the east are the Highlands, like the mountains of Moab, seen whenever its citizens look toward sunrise. Ten miles of rock ridges, with many a peak, defend them on that side. Only one or two passes give access in that direction--one over Bull Hill, the other up to the Stockbridge Hotel. Either of these could easily be defended against an enemy. On the south are Forshee Hill and the Southfield Mountains. On the west, the Bellvale Mountains and Sugar Loaf, standing like a sentinel, overlooking the valley below. Schunnemunk guards the northwest. It has a bastion on the eastern corner. High Point is a weather signal-tower to the observing. When it wears its night-cap late in the morning, it indicates falling weather; when the cap is early doffed, it betokens a serene day. The black rocks loom up from the mountain-top, and from their summit a wonderful scene presents itself. The eye sweeps the entire horizon, taking in the Catskills, Butter Hill, the Fishkill Hills, Bull and Pine Hills, Mount Bashan, Sugar Loaf, Bellvale and Goose Pond Mountains, with lakes, farms, mines, mills and villages galore. The Devil's Racecourse lies on the northern slope of old Schunnemunk, but the visitor needs none of his counsel or company, for he who climbs these steeps can find sweeter communion nearer to the heart of nature.

"One other landmark is Bald Hill, very dear to us because at its foot we first hung the crane. Here we toiled and studied, and here the sunshine lingers in our memory longest and our children fell asleep. It is the Acropolis of the village."

And in writing of its valleys he says: "Soils of great fertility were laid down here; yes, brought from distant hills to furnish slope and meadow. Here are alluvions of great depth and good grain lands; but the town is best adapted to grazing. The grasses, like those of the Blue Grass region of Kentucky, contain just those elements which yield fattening and milk-producing qualities. Had the mountains of Monroe been only a mass of rock, like some parts of Scotland, they might have been abandoned to the heather and become great solitary sheep-walks; or if they had been only picturesque vales and quiet nooks, there would have been a temptation to some lord of the manor to make it his park and country-seat. Heaven had a better destiny in store for it, hence mingled rocks and soils so as to invite the plow, scooped out the water courses to attract the loom and forge, hid away such materials as would bring hither the herd-man and artisan, the abhorrence of lordly pretension and elegant leisure. Monroe, from its very physical constitution, was predestined to be the home of honest toil and frugal industry. In the vicinity of what was to be the greatest city of the New World, and on the route of its best approaches from west to north, wealth and prosperity ought to be its sure reward, and doubtless will when the wisdom of men is able to master the situation."

MONROE VILLAGE.

But the growth and development of Monroe depends not alone upon its picturesque mountains, beautiful valleys and charming lakes, which attract so many city people, who are fast dotting the available lake and mountain sites with charming villas and country homes, beautiful inns, hotels and boarding houses, for the village itself is becoming one of the most progressive and bustling of modern towns. Its growth during the past five years being much more rapid than any other village of the county.

Monroe village, incorporated in 1894, with a population of 781, now has about 1,200. The incorporation was due in a large degree to a disastrous fire occurring in November, 1892, which showed the necessity of fire protection.

On July 31, 1894, a vote on the question of incorporation was taken, resulting in favor of incorporation 111 for, and 45 against. On August 21, 1894, an election for officers was held. Henry Mapes was elected president; George R. Conklin, Gilbert Carpenter and Henry Morehouse, trustees, and J. Lester Gregory, treasurer. On August 28th the Board organized as a board of water commissioners with Gilbert Carpenter, president. At the election held November 10, 1894, to vote for waterworks, there were fifty-eight for and fifteen against the proposition. The board of water commissioners took the necessary steps to acquire water for the village, and the village of Monroe is largely indebted to this first board of water commissioners for its splendid water plant which is contributing so largely to its development.

The village purchased from the Sterling Iron & Railway Company the right to raise the dam and store additional water at Mombasha Lake. This lake affords one of the purest and finest water supplies to be found in the State. About one mile of 14 inch pipe and two miles of 10 inch pipe bring the water to the center of the village with a head of about 250 feet, and distribution is made with 8, 6 and 4 inch pipes. The water was turned on October 10, 1895. No fire has since extended beyond the building in which it originated. The cost of the works was about $46,000, which is probably about two-thirds of what it would cost at present, owing to the increased cost of labor and material. The works are now not only self-sustaining but are producing a comfortable surplus, and it is estimated that in not many years the plant will pay for itself and will then produce sufficient revenue to light and keep in repair the village streets--a splendid example of municipal ownership of public utilities.

The town of Monroe has no bonded indebtedness and the village none other than its water bonds, except that Union Free School District No. 1, which includes the village, has issued $4,375, on account of the purchase of a seven acre school site on a commanding height overlooking the village.

The Warwick, Monroe and Chester Building and Loan Association has been a potent factor in Monroe's development. It was organized in April, 1890.

Standard Lodge No. 711 F. & A. M., instituted at Chester, N. Y., June 30, 1871, was, with consent of the Grand Lodge, moved to Monroe in 1884, and has a membership of 180.

The Monroe National Bank, U. S. No. 7,563, although in its infancy, is a flourishing institution. It was chartered by the Treasury Department January 18th, 1905 and it was opened for business, March 1st, 1905.

Monroe has a very excellent fire department. The Mombasha Hose Company was organized July 24th, 1895, and the Mombasha Fire Company, April 5th, 1898.

The Orange and Rockland Electric Light and Power Company, which furnishes light and power to the villages and communities in the eastern end of the county, is located at Monroe and is now erecting a very large plant. The Newbury Foundry Company is also located here.

Monroe has a fine telephone system, an athletic association, and is now putting down cement walks in the village, and it is confidently predicted that it will be the leading center of the eastern end of the county within a short period.

A Methodist society existed in the neighborhood of Monroe prior to 1839, the M. E. Church at Oxford (near Quaker Hill) having been built some time before, but in the year above mentioned Matthew B. Sweezy deeded to the Trustees of the recently organized M. E. Church of Monroe the land upon which the church now stands. In the following year, 1840, the church was built. The first board of trustees was the following: Stephen Post, Isaac Compton, Jeremiah Knight, Thomas D. Tannery, John King, Samuel Smith and Peter Ball. Others who served the church in its early history as trustees were Jonathan Mapes, John S. Gregory, Matthew B. Sweezy, Solomon W. Esray, Townsend Mapes, Job Mapes, William Hudson, George K. Smith, William Johnston, Martin Konnight, Daniel Secord, Nathan Strong and Walter Roberts. John S. Gregory was elected trustee in 1843 and served in this capacity until his death in 1905, a period of sixty-two years.

The Rev. Mr. Bancroft is said to have been the first minister. Others who followed him were the Rev. William Van Duzen, Rev. A. C. Fields, Rev. Mr. Newmans, Rev. J. H. Hawkshurst, Rev. Mr. Blake, Rev. Mr. Croft, Rev. N. Messiter, Rev. D. D. Gillespie.

Matthew B. Sweezy was chorister for a time. There was no organ in the early days of the church, but the congregation was frequently led in singing by the violin and the violoncello, though there were some who objected to the use of so ungodly a thing as the "fiddle."

At first the Monroe church was a part of the circuit under the charge of a pastor and his assistants. This circuit in the early days comprised, besides Monroe, the churches at Highland Mills, Washingtonville, Craigville and Turner. Finally, Monroe and Turner comprised the charge, and this relationship was dissolved in 1895.

In 1875 it was voted to enlarge and repair the church, and the pastor, Rev. David McCartney, and Mr. H. H. Lawrence, were appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions for this purpose. Their efforts were successful and the church was remodeled, and stands to-day practically the same as they left it.

The church has reason to hold the memory of Mr. James Smith, Mrs. James Smith and Sara Smith, their daughter, in lasting remembrance, as they respectively left substantial legacies to the trustees of the church, to the Ladies' Aid Society, and to the Sunday school, said legacies to be held in trust for their use.

The church has a Sunday school and Epworth league. The superintendents of the Sunday school during the last twenty-five years or more have been Franklin Bull and Orville Eichenberg, the latter having held the position for the last nineteen years.

The first available records of the schools of the town of Monroe are dated January 7, 1819. These are receipts given by the trustees of several of the school districts for State moneys received from the commissioners of common schools. These moneys were for the benefit of their respective districts and were in all cases small, the apportionments ranging from eight to twenty-five dollars. At this time the town's educational interests were in the hands of three commissioners of common schools. The incumbents of these offices in the town of Monroe in 1819 were Israel Green, Lewis H. Roe and George Wilks.

In 1843 the office of town superintendent was instituted, thus doing away with the board of three commissioners of common schools. The duties of this officer were probably the same as those exercised by the board which he had taken the place of. The first person to hold this new town office was Joseph R. Andrews, who had been a member of the last board of commissioners of common schools. The office of town superintendent ceased to exist in 1857, when the office of school commissioner was created. The new official assumed the powers of licensing teachers, altering school district boundaries, etc., while the care of the school moneys from the State was given to the supervisor of the town. The office of town superintendent was held for a short time by Morgan Shuit, and afterward for a period of about ten years by Archibald Campbell, whose term was concluded in 1857, when the office was abolished.

In 1819, as they did in subsequent years, the commissioners reported the text-books in use. This list varied little for many years and was given in the following order: Webster's Spelling Book, Murray's Grammar, Johnson's Dictionary, Scott's Lessons, English Reader, American Selections, American Reader, Columbian Orator, Daball's and Dilworth's Arithmetic. Later on a new and inexperienced board of commissioners enumerates the above list with one exception, and concludes with the information, "all of which are American selections."

The commissioners of common schools in 1819 rearranged the boundaries of the school districts of the town, and recorded these boundaries somewhat definitely. The number at that time was thirteen, but since that date the number has been changed many times and their boundaries have frequently been altered.

Of the schools of the former town of Monroe four have become union schools, having high school departments, viz: Central Valley, in February, 1895; Monroe, in December, 1896; Turner, in May, 1902, and Tuxedo, in December, 1902.

District No. 1 is the district that includes the village of Monroe. Though it contains practically the territory of District No. 1, as recorded in 1819, its boundaries have been materially changed. The Rev. D. N. Freeland says, in his history of the town of Monroe, that the first mention of a school in this neighborhood is of one held in the Presbyterian church building at Seamanville. After that a log school-house was built just west of the church. The old stone school-house on the road to Mombasha followed, and this in turn gave way to another built a few rods further south. In 1857 a two-story building near the Presbyterian church was constructed and this was made to answer the purpose until 1884, when the building now in use (1907) was erected at a cost of $10,000. This building has now become too small and the people of the district have purchased, during the past year, a new site just north of the Episcopal chapel, containing nearly seven acres, at a cost of $5,000. They have also appropriated the sum of $40,000 for the erection of a suitable building, the foundations of which are at this time completed.

Of the persons serving the district in an official relation the following have rendered the longest continuous service; Henry Mapes, as clerk, thirty-four years; George R. Conklin, trustee, twenty years; A. B. Hulse, trustee, fifteen years.

The school of District No. 1 was admitted as a member of the University of the State of New York December 17, 1896, having been created a union school the preceding year. The following are the names of the trustees appearing upon the certificate of admission as petitioners: Eugene McGarrah, George R. Conklin, L. H. Marvin, Solomon Fairchild.

The present board of education is: Fletcher B. Brooks, Solomon Fairchild, Millard Mapes, Frank F. Griffin, and Clarence S. Knight. In addition to the usual work of a board of education, this board has the additional responsibility of building a modern school-house.

TURNER VILLAGE.

Many changes have to be recorded in the thriving village of Turner, in the eastern part of the town of Monroe. By common consent the name has been changed from "Turners" to "Turner," and this seems to be a most reasonable change.

No longer do the trains of the Erie Railroad Company sweep majestically into the depot, there to stand impatiently while its hungry passengers regale themselves in that famous restaurant founded by Peter Turner. The now common, every-day dining-car attached to nearly every train, has crowded out that famous business. The large brick building was destroyed by fire and the restaurant moved to the wooden building on the opposite side of the track. This property is now owned by the Ramapo Mountain Realty Company, but is fast falling into decay. One end alone is used as a depot. Below the hill stands the famous grist mill which receives its power from the village pond near by. Across the street from the mill stands the old hotel of stage coach days, now renovated into a modern hotel, known as "Silver Fox Inn." This property and the farm connected therewith are owned by the Ramapo Mountain Realty Company.

The old smithy, where Cortland Rumsey's hammer caused the anvil to ring, has long since become a business house. The village blacksmith, J. B. Hallock, has built a modern shop near by and causes the same old anvils to ring as hearty and strong as ever.

The little old stone school-house where our fathers learned their "three R's," is now a dwelling and a magnificent school-house stands on a hill overlooking the entire village. There, four learned instructors hold forth, where a few short years ago one was sufficient.

The few rambling houses that constituted the little village of a few years ago have given way to modern dwellings and business places, constituting a thriving village of some eight hundred people, all busy and prosperous.

Surrounding the village on every hillside stand the beautiful summer homes of some wealthy New Yorkers. Among these are the homes of W. R. Barr, "Stony Wolde"; Mrs. John Brower, "Blythlea"; and the homes of E. H. Harriman, Ward Brower, Farrand Brower, Max Jagerhuber, Orrin S. Wood and William L. Strout. Where once our farmers tilled the soil beautiful lawns appear. To the east, where once hunters and trappers alone journeyed, on the highest peak of the Ramapo Mountains, rises the mansion of E. H. Harriman. Inch by inch and foot by foot this great stone structure rises into view above the trees that surround it. A railway has been hewn out of the side of the mountain and a cable railroad operates cars that hoist workmen and materials to the summit.

The village maintains two churches--a Methodist Episcopal and a Catholic. Both have excellent sanctuaries and congregations of earnest, sincere, right-living people. They have done yeoman work in their territory and their influence has been widespread. Connected with the Methodist Church is a Sunday school and Epworth league.

The famous old store of Thomas Earl has been torn down and the village now has five stores. The old "Bombeetel" house still stands at the cross-roads in the center of the village and now contains the village market run by J. R. Brooks.

Time has indeed dealt kindly with Turner. The latest item to be accredited her is electricity. Nightly the village streets are brilliantly lighted and business goes on as busily as by daylight. The magic current is introduced to the houses and brings light and cheerfulness to the homes.

The old village of Centerville would scarcely recognize the village of Turner, which is but the village of Centerville under a new name.

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XXII. TOWN OF MONTGOMERY

By David A. Morrison.

This important town is in the northern part of Orange County, bordering upon Ulster. It lies between the towns of Newburgh on the east, and Crawford on the west. Each of these towns has a large tongue of land that extends much further toward the north than the territory of Montgomery, the northern bounds of which form nearly a straight line. On the south are the towns of New Windsor, Hamptonburgh and Wallkill, from which it is separated by rather irregular rectangular lines. The area of the town as shown by the last Supervisors' report, is 30,578 acres. The assessed valuation of property taxable in the town and found by the Assessors in 1906 aggregated $2,094,640. The total taxes for that year amounted to $23,953.01.

TITLES.

The territory of Montgomery is a part of the original John Evans Patent, which seems to have been set aside subsequently for various reasons. In 1714 it was in the precinct of Shawangunk, in Ulster County, where it remained until 1743. when it became part of the Wallkill precinct. At that time it embraced the following patents:

Cadwallader Colden, April 9, 1719 2,000 acres John Johnson, Jr., February 3, 1720 1,000 " Thomas Brazier, March 17, 1720 2,000 " Henry Wileman, June 30, 1712 3,000 " David Gallatian, June 4, 1719 1,000 " Edward Gatehouse, January, 1719 1,000 " James Alexander, April 9, 1719 2,000 " Archibald Kennedy, April 9, 1719 2,000 " James Smith, December 15, 1722 2,000 " Patrick McKnight, April 9, 1719 2,000 " Thomas Noxon, May 28, 1720 2,000 " Francis Harrison & Co., July 7, 1720 5,000 " Jeremiah Schuyler & Co., January 22, 1719 10,000 " Phillip Schuyler and others, July 20, 1720 8,000 " Jacobus Bruyn and Henry Wileman, April 25, 1722 2,500 " Frederick Morris and Samuel Heath, January 24, 1736. Thomas Ellison and Lawrence Roome, Nov. 12, 1750 Cadwallader Colden, Jr. and David Colden, June 20, 1761--720 A.

In 1772 Wallkill Precinct was divided and the eastern part named the precinct of Hanover. In 1782 this name was changed to the precinct of Montgomery, which was erected as the town of Montgomery in 1788. Ten years afterwards it was, with other towns, taken from Ulster County and annexed to Orange County. In 1823 the town of Montgomery was divided and the western part containing about 25,000 acres constituted and named the town of Crawford. In 1830 the southern part of Montgomery was detached to form (in part) the town of Hamptonburgh. The last alteration in its boundaries was made in 1842, when four farms containing nearly 600 acres were taken from the town of New Windsor and annexed to Montgomery.

NATURAL FEATURES.

The fertile valley of the Wallkill, which extends through the town on a northeasterly course, dividing it nearly into equal parts, is a distinguishing characteristic. For nearly a third of the way, where the stream enters Ulster County, it flows very nearly north in a straight line. Then it deflects toward the southwest to the village of Montgomery, when there is a sharp bend, which afterward turns nearly at right angles toward the east and finally leaves the town in nearly a straight course again, forming a part of the eastern boundary of the town and dividing it from Hamptonburgh. The most important tributary of the Wallkill is the Tinn Brook, which begins in the town of New Windsor, pursues a sinuous career, and finally tumbles into the Wallkill near the village of Walden. The Beaver Dam stream rises in the southeastern part of the town and flows nearly south into the Otterkill, in the town of Hamptonburgh. The source of this stream is a large spring of great depth. McKnight's Kill also rises in the southeasterly part of the town, and flows southerly into the Otterkill near Burnside. The Muddy Kill rises in the western part of the town, drains that section in a sluggish way, and ends near the village of Montgomery. The surface of the town is diversified with hills, rolling and meadow land. Comfort's Hills on the west rise from 600 to 800 feet above tide and are much the highest elevation. For adaptation to varied agriculture the town is not excelled by any other town in the county. The uplands are warm, fertile, and comparatively easy to cultivate. The meadows generally produce large crops of grass, and afford excellent pasturage. Numerous springs and small streams furnish an abundant supply of pure water. Dairying is the predominant agricultural industry.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

On the east bank of the Wallkill, on the old Rogers farm, there was an old Indian settlement. The red men had made a goodly clearing in the forest here and, tradition says, had planted fruit trees, and when the white man first set foot in this region he found full-grown bearing apple trees on this ancient clearing. An Indian settlement was found on the flat above the bridge over the Wallkill, near the old Miller stone house. Another had its wigwams on the old Christoffel (or Stuffell) Moul (Mould) farm about two miles north of Montgomery on the main highway afterwards known as the stage road from Goshen to Albany. These left for more remote regions in 1775.

Near the present village of Walden the settlement of Henry Wileman was made. His patent contained 3,000 acres, and he settled upon it very soon after its purchase in 1712. What was known as the Harrison Patent was granted May 25, 1721. This was given to the following persons: Francis Harrison, Allan Jarrat, Adolphus Phillips, George Clarke, Johanes Lansing, Henry Wileman, Jacobus Bruyn and William Sharpas. This entire tract was surveyed and a large village laid out, and deeds were given to all actual settlers. Among these the following were named: Hans Newkirk, Hendrick Newkirk, Matthias Slimmer, Peter Kysler, ____ Kraus, ____ Brandos. These ancient settlers upon this land were Palatines, and after a few years they erected a small log church within the village, the site of which is still fairly indicated by the old graveyard on the east side of the Goshen road, a short distance south of Montgomery. This old village was known as Germantown.

About a mile farther south on this patent Johannes Miller, a German, made a settlement in 1727. The next year he built a stone house where Mr. Elmer Miller afterwards lived. His grandson, Johannes Miller, was a leading citizen of the town in later years--a progressive man, prominent in promoting several important public enterprises, and especially active in the construction of the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike Road. His services towards establishing and maintaining the Montgomery Academy have always been held in grateful remembrance.

The 5,000-acre tract granted to Schuyler & Co., was first settled by Jeronimous Weller & Co., in 1721. Another grant of 10,000 acres was settled by a company consisting of Johannes Mingus, his son Jeronimous, Mattias Miltzbagh, and others whose names are not definitely known. It was agreed by this company that a tract of 100 acres would be granted to each family that would locate permanently upon it. Mingus built a mill, around which the old village of Ward's Bridge soon clustered. But Mingus lost his life in this mill by accident soon afterward, which resulted in considerable dispute over the property.

The Wallkill or Goodwill settlement is supposed to date from 1724-25. John Mackneel and Adam Graham were among the first settlers. When they came into the Precinct is not definitely known. The former owned a part of what is now known as the Downs farm; the latter settled on what is now the Parsonage farm. In 1727 Archibald, James and Robert Hunter purchased 200 acres of land, on which a house had then been built, from James Alexander, the patentee; this purchase included the Henry Suydam farm. In 1731 James Munnel settled on, or near, the Charles Miller farm, now owned by Mr. William Y. Dennison. Alexander Kidd settled on what is still known as the Kidd Homestead, about 2-1/2 miles north of the Church in 1736. Benjamin Haines came into the neighborhood in 1739, and the Rev. Joseph Houston was installed pastor of the Goodwill Church in 1740. Other early settlers were James Barkley, on the James W. Bowne farm; the Rev. Joseph Moffat, 1758; John Blake who bought 475 acres of land in 1761, part of which is owned and occupied by his great grandson, Mr. John P. M. Blake, and whose son, John Blake, Jr., was in after years, a prominent man, being supervisor sixteen years, and a member of assembly several terms, sheriff and congressman; Samuel Miller, who came from Canada previous to 1764; Peter Hill in 1767; Captain Hendrichs Van Keuren in 1768; Colonel John Nicholson; John Morrison; Gideon Pelton, and Tunis Van Arsdale, whose blacksmith shop is mentioned in the early records of the town.

Adjoining the Goodwill settlement on the east, Cadwallader Colden had been granted a patent for 2,000 acres and was settled in 1728 where Mr. George W. Pimm now resides. The locality was named Coldenham in his honor. He was one of the most prominent of the early settlers, being surveyor-general of the Province, lieutenant-governor and several limes acting governor. As a man he was esteemed for his great learning, benevolence and strict honesty. As a public officer he was distinguished for his unblemished integrity. Several buildings were erected in that vicinity by members of the Colden family, some of which are still standing.

The Neelytown section adjoins the Goodwill neighborhood on the south, and was so called from a large and influential family which appears to have been active in bringing in the early settlers, but whose name has entirely disappeared from the community, it was settled before 1726. In that year the names of John Neely and Thomas Neely appear as actual settlers. At that time Charles Booth who purchased 1,000 acres of land had built his first house near where Mr. William Conning lived in later years--his two sons, Charles and George Booth, were with him. A defective list of freeholders made in 1728 contains the name of Alexander Neely. William and Robert Neely were witnesses to a will in 1731, and the name of John Neely, Jr., is seen in an old record. William Eager with his sons, William and Thomas, came to Neelytown in 1741. He built a log house where the residence of Mr. Samuel W. Eager now stands. His second house was of stone and was situated a short distance south of the first and built before the Revolution. His descendants are very numerous and are widely scattered. Samuel W. Eager, Orange County's first historian, was one of them. Other early settlers in this section were James McCobb, who located at a very early date on the Sherwood farm, now "Nestledown"; William Jackson, James Jackson, James Houston, William Young, Captain Alexander Trimble, 1764; Patrick Barber, 1764; Captain James McBride and Rev. Robert Annan, 1765.

A settlement across the Wallkill opposite the present village of Montgomery, was made by Henry Crist, Stevanus Crist, Mathias Millspaugh and others. This land was then considered the best in the town. These Germans were a vigorous and hearty people, and they went to work boldly to cultivate the land and establish comfortable homes, with a determination to succeed. They soon began to extend their farms to the Comfort Hills slopes, and into the section now embraced in the town of Crawford. Their success attracted many representatives of the sturdy Scotch-Irish race, who joined them soon afterward. Among the more progressive pioneer settlers was Henry Crist, from whom descended many active men and women who became leading and influential citizens of the town. Jacob Crist is said to have been drowned in the Hudson River on his return from New Amsterdam with his wedding outfit. Henry Crist, the early immigrant, built near the foot of the hill east of the old Dutch church. His son, Jacob, planted his home on the hill opposite Montgomery village near the mill.

Among other early settlers were David Bookstaver, Jacob Bookstaver, Frederick Sinsabaugh, and Johannes Youngblood who bought an 800 acre tract. It is recorded of these pioneer German settlers that they were even unable to build so much as a log cabin at first, and were obliged to make excavations in the hillside in which to pass the winter. This they did in the gravelly hill east of the old Brick church. In these primitive dugouts they waited patiently for the snowdrifts to melt away in the springtime, when they might renew their labors and provide more comfortable shelter for their families.

Johannes Miller came to America in 1700, lived in Ulster County for a time, and about 1727 settled upon a portion of the Harrison patent. Frederick Shafer, a tanner by trade, was also among these old settlers, and soon established a tannery, which was afterward improved by his son Daniel.

Charles Booth purchased 1,000 acres of land in Neelytown, and this tract remained in the Booth family for a long series of years afterward. This family came into the town from Long Island, and George Booth became a leading citizen and was so regarded all through his life.

MILITARY NOTES.

In 1738 a company of militia of the Wallkill was organized under Captain John Byard, and formed part of a regiment of which A. Gaasbeck Chambers was Colonel and Wessel Ten Broeck Lieutenant-Colonel, to protect the early settlers against the incursions of the Indians. Among those whose names were enrolled in this company the following are known to have been residents of what is now the town of Montgomery: John Newkirk, sergeant; James Gillespie, Thomas Gillespie, Alexander Milligan, Alexander Kidd, Archibald Hunter, James Hunter, John Mingus, Stephanus Crist, James Munell, John Munell, George Munell, John McNeill, John McNeill, Jr., Robert Hunter, Richard Gatehouse, Joseph Sutter, Philip Milsbaugh, Cronimus Mingus, Stoffel Moul, Johannes Crans, Matthias Meltzbagh, Hendrix Newkirk, Hendrick Crist, Benjamin Hains, John Neely, Jr., Frederick Sanzabah.

In 1755 the regiment was divided into two regiments. The first embraced Kingston and the northern part of the county; the second embraced the Precincts of Highlands, Wallkill and Shawangunk, and in this form took part in the French and Indian War. The roster of officers in the second regiment included the names of the following persons who then resided in what is now the town of Montgomery: Jacob Newkirk, Captain; Cadwallader C. Colden, Captain; David Gallatin, Captain; Matthew Rea, Lieutenant.

The militia of the Revolution was organized by an act of the Provincial Convention passed August 22, 1775. Ulster County was divided into four regimental districts. The second district comprised the precincts of New Windsor, Hanover and Wallkill. At first there were twelve companies in the regiment, of which Hanover furnished five, commanded by Captain Matthew Felter, William Jackson, James Milliken, John J. Graham and John Gillespie. In 1777 the number of companies was reduced to nine, four of which were in Hanover, under Captains Felter, Milliken, Hendrik Van Keuren and James McBride.

An eminent historian said of the second regiment of Ulster County militia that "it gave, perhaps, more fighting men than were drawn from other similar organizations," and that "no other regiment of militia was more active from the beginning until the end of the war." There was fight in it from start to finish. "As a rule circumstances would not admit of the calling out of an entire company from its beat at one time; some must remain at home; but portions of this regiment were in almost constant motion, some going, others returning." From December, 1876, to April 12, 1778, less than 16 months, the militia of Hanover and adjoining precincts were called out twelve times and spent 202 days in the field.

Although the records of churches and traditions give glimpses of controversies, the inhabitants of Hanover precinct acted with great unanimity and showed an intense patriotic spirit during the War for Independence. The pledge of association, dated May 8, 1775, in which they pledged their "support to the Continental Congress in resisting the oppressive acts of the British Parliament," and in the most solemn manner resolved "never to become slaves," was signed first by Dr. Charles Clinton and received 342 signatures.

The history of the men of Montgomery in the Revolution, who they were, and what they did, if it could be written, would be a story of toils, privation and exposure of great interest to the present generation. In few sections of the State did the burden of the war bear more heavily than in the valleys of the Wallkill and the Hudson, and in no portion was it borne with more unflinching determination. But this history cannot be written. The names of many of these men and their deeds have sunk into oblivion. A few of those preserved by history and tradition, together with the places where they lived, are mentioned. To locate the places definitely the names of the owners at the present (1908), are given.

Arthur Parks lived at Ward's Bridge (now Montgomery), on what was afterwards known as the L'Hommedieu farm, now occupied by Mr. H. H. Hallett. He was a member of the Committee of Safety in 1775 and 1776, first Lieutenant in Captain William Jackson's company of militia, Major of a battalion of minute men in 1776, member of the first Provincial Convention, member of the convention that framed our first State Constitution and of the convention that amended it, and State Senator for eleven years.

Jacob Newkirk was captain under Colonel Thomas Ellison in the French and Indian War, member of the Committee of Safety, Major, and afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel of the second regiment Ulster County militia, and commanded the regiment during the years that Colonel James McClaughry was a prisoner and was recovering from his wounds received at the capture of Fort Montgomery.

Henry Smith was also a member of the Committee of Safety for the precinct and was first Lieutenant in Captain Matthew Felter's company; he lived nearly two miles north of Montgomery on the farm now owned and occupied by his descendant, Mr. James Smith.

Hugh Lindsay was a private in Colonel John Lamb's Artillery, and was taken prisoner at the capture of Fort Montgomery; he lived at Ward's Bridge and afterwards built and lived in the house on Bridge street now owned by the estate of the late Jonathan M. Morrison.

Alexander Trimble was quarter-master of the Second Ulster Regiment in the War of the Revolution, and also a member of the Committee of Safety; he lived about two miles south of Goodwill Church on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. George Van Alst.

Johannes Moul (Mould), who lived about two miles north of Montgomery, where his great-great-grandson, Mr. John D. Mould, now lives, was a sergeant in the French and Indian War, and with his son, Johannes Moul, Jr., and his brother, Christopher Moul, were privates in Colonel McClaughry's Regiment in the Revolution. These three patriots also evinced their patriotism by loaning money to the Government when it was urgently needed to equip the army for the capture of Cornwallis.

James Milliken, a member of the Committee of Safety, lived on the east side of the Wallkill, where Mr. Harvey N. Smith now resides, was captain of one of the Hanover companies, and was killed at Fort Montgomery.

Hendricus Van Keuren was a veteran of the French and Indian War, who served throughout the Revolution as Captain, and according to family tradition, gratuitously lived on what is known as the Downs farm, between Montgomery and Goodwill church.

John Nicholson was Colonel of the Third N. Y. Regiment of the Continental Line, which was brigaded under General Richard Montgomery, and took part in the assault on Quebec when the brave Montgomery was killed. The privations and exposures of that campaign were so great that with impaired health he returned to his farm, near Maybrook, which is now divided, and owned by Mr. John Wiley and Mr. William H. Jewell.

Hamilton Morrison enlisted as soon as he was old enough, and served first as a private and then as a sergeant in Captain James McBride's company, Second Ulster County Militia. He lived about a mile south of Goodwill Church on what is known as the Morrison Homestead, now owned and occupied by his grandsons, Mr. George H. Morrison and Mr. John G. Morrison.

Tunis Van Arsdale lived on the adjoining farm (now a part of the homestead), and was a blacksmith. His shop was the rendezvous of the patriots in that vicinity. He was also a private in Captain Van Keuren's company and saved his life at Fort Montgomery by slipping between the legs of a British soldier who was holding an American bayoneted against the wall of the fort, and escaped in the darkness.

John Van Arsdale, who lived with his elder brother, Tunis, enlisted in the Continental Army at the beginning of the war, and served faithfully until its close. He suffered intensely from cold and hardship in the Canada expedition, was severely wounded and taken prisoner at Fort Montgomery, languished many weary months in the "old sugar house" and in the foul hold of the "Jersey prison ship," was finally exchanged, and then braved the perils of Indian warfare in several campaigns. On November 25, 1783, he witnessed the evacuation of New York City by the British, which was the final triumph of the cause for which he and others had fought and suffered seven long years, and was present when the advancing Americans, following closely upon the retiring British, reached the Battery to perform the last formality in repossessing the city, which was to unfurl the American flag over Fort George, but found the royal ensign still floating as usual over the Fort. The British had nailed their colors to the staff and taken away the halyards. In this dilemma John Van Arsdale ascended the flag-staff, partly by ladder, but mainly by shinning, tore down the British flag and rove the new halyards by which the Star Spangled Banner was quickly run up while the assembled thousands cheered, and the artillery boomed forth a national salute. While other localities may boast of those who struck the first blow for American freedom, Montgomery may justly claim for one of her sons the glory of removing the last vestige of British authority from this country.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWN.

The town was originally organized under the name of Hanover Precinct in 1772. The present territory of Crawford was then included, the whole having been taken from the old Wallkill Precinct. In 1782 the name was changed to Montgomery Precinct, and seven years later it was finally changed to the town of Montgomery. This title was bestowed in honor of General Montgomery, who was killed in the assault upon Quebec in 1775. Major Colden was the supervisor of the old Wallkill precinct in 1768-69.

The record of the first town meeting, now on file in the town clerk's office, is of April 5, 1803. Reuben Neely was then chosen supervisor, and Arthur Parks, town clerk. There were fifty-five overseers of highways in the town that year. But the laborers were few, the system of road-working was sadly defective, as in fact it remained for nearly a hundred years afterwards, and the results were primitive and unsatisfactory, although, of course, far less was required of a public road in those days than is now demanded, and the people accepted the situation without complaint, so far as the record shows.

The following is a list of supervisors of the town to 1908: David Galatian, 1798; John Blake, 1799; Reuben Neely, 1800 to 1810; John Blake, Jr., to 1826; Samuel W. Eager, to 1833; Nathaniel P. Hill, 1834; Edward Blake, to 1839; James Galatian, to 1841; William Blake, to 1844; William Graham, to 1846; Stephen Rapalje, 1847; Joshua G. Hallock, to 1849; Lindley M. Ferris, 1850; Johannes M. Hunter, to 1852; Stephen Rapalje, to 1863; Marcus K. Hill, 1864; Stephen Rapalje, to 1873; Daniel M. Wade, to 1875; Marcus K. Hill, to 1877; Charles J. Van Alst, to 1879; Robert Young, to 1886; Andrew K. Wade, to 1889; Robert Young, 1890; Irving H. Loughran, to 1900; William H. Didsburg, to 1905; Hector W. Millspaugh, to 1907; William G. Decker, 1908.

VILLAGES.

The old village of Montgomery is on the bank of the Wallkill in the southern part of the town. It was here that Henry Crist, Stephen Crist and Matthias Millspaugh settled at an early date, on the west bank of the river. Johannes Mingus built a grist-mill there, which was afterwards sold to James Ward with 200 acres of land, upon which the village was built. Mr. Ward built a rude bridge across the Wallkill in order that his customers might reach his mill. This was really the first road bridge of any kind known in that vicinity for years afterward. In fact, the place took its name from this important structure, as well as the post-office itself, it being known as Ward's Bridge for many years.

James Clinton and William Crist, having obtained an interest in the Kennedy patent, upon which the village stands, laid out "a small town called Montgomery town," which gave the village that name. Among other early settlers there were John McFaugh, David Crist, John McKinstry, Matthew Hunter, Samuel Smith, Arthur Parks and Oolis Shulp. James Ward, the pioneer, lived in a log cabin.

The village was incorporated by a special act dated February 17, 1810. Hugh Lindsey was the first president. The first village tax aggregated $60. Two years later $100 was raised to build a market house, and in 1814, $200 was appropriated for a fire engine. But it was not until seven years later that four professional firemen were appointed. In 1880 this village tax had increased to over $1,200.

The location of Montgomery on a placid stretch of the Wallkill, with its slightly elevated banks, affording a fine natural drainage, is peculiarly healthful, and there are many attractive and commodious private residences. Among the leading manufacturing industries is the worsted mills of William Crabtree & Sons. The people of Montgomery are noted for their hospitality and public spirit. The place is surrounded by fine State roads, and ranks as one of the important historic villages of Orange County.

Walden is the most thriving and important village. It is on the Wallkill River at the high falls, by which indefinite name it was known for years. The settlement began many years before the Revolution. Of course, the first structure was the inevitable grist-mill, as in nearly every instance in this region. James Kidd built a mill at the foot of the falls on the east side of the stream, though the precise date is not definitely known. In any event, the records show that in 1768 this old mill had already fallen into the possession of Johannes Decker. In 1789 it belonged to Cadwallader Colden, Jr. The plant was afterward converted into a cotton factory.

Mr. Walden, the founder of this village, is said to have struggled manfully under adverse influences and suffered defeat at the end in his old age, causing him to retire ultimately from the scene of his labors. Leaving the refinements of city life to establish manufacturing interests in this sparsely settled region, and without adequate protection, he spent his fortune and his active energies here practically without reward. There being no railways, raw material had to be drawn in sleighs in winter to these factories.

Mr. Walden was a prosperous New York merchant. While summering in the Highlands, he extended his drive with Mrs. Walden many miles further, and came upon this charming valley of the Wallkill, through which a broad stream flowed. They saw the old mill at the very foot of the cataract, and a tiny cottage in a grove of locusts further down the stream. The old merchant perceived the wonderful possibilities of this picturesque spot, and he lost no time in developing the place. He purchased large tracts of land covering the region, closed up his extensive city business and moved here. The place grew very slowly in the earlier years, even after its incorporation in 1855. Down to 1868 the population of the village did not exceed 600 souls. Of course, the manufacturing interests had not been fully developed at that time. The people were still largely employed in trades and farm work. The New York Knife Company began business in 1856 by purchasing the cloth mills of Scofield, Capron & Gowdy.

There are two fine iron bridges over the Wallkill at this point, many handsome private residences on the heights on either side of the river, several busy factories, churches, schools, newspapers, numerous stores and shops of every kind, and there is a general aspect of thrill and progress all through the pretty village. Most of this growth is modern; nearly all the more substantial structures are less than forty years old. The act of incorporation was passed April 9, 1855, and the first village meeting was held the following week. Augustus F. Scofield was the first president, and continued six years. Previous to the incorporation of the village the fire company had been in existence some time. This organization was known as "The Walden Fire Incorporation," and it constituted the Fire Department of the village for years afterwards. In 1865 Daniel Torbush was the chief engineer, and in 1880, when the company was known as "Enterprise No. 1," the chief engineer was Granville Crist.

A new comer in Walden in 1859 says there were then only three prominent business houses, those of Marcus K. Hill, Ebenezer Knapp, and Joseph Millspaugh. It seemed to him then that about nine-tenths of the inhabitants there were named either Millspaugh or Kidd. Augustus F. Scofield was then the leading citizen of wealth and influence, having a large shawl factory. The hotels were the Eagle and the St. Nicholas, as they are at present. Scofield Hall was used for public assemblies and such eminent lecturers as John G. Saxe, Rev. Edward K. Beecher, Park Benjamin and Fanny Fern appeared there. The much loved village parson was old "Dominie" Schoonmaker, who labored there faithfully for many years. The industries of Walden were then confined to the shawl factory, the satinette factory of Giles Andrews, and the knife factory. James Todd was widely known as "the model farmer of Orange County." George Weller was a prominent resident greatly devoted to all the village interests, and his home was regarded as a scene of unbounded hospitality and good cheer.

The first introduction of gas in Walden many years ago was not a financial success, and the company abandoned the project. A public water system was introduced in 1892. Previous to that time water for fires had to be taken through long hose from the Wallkill and Tinn Brook streams. The electric fire alarm system was installed about fifteen years ago. The newspaper known as the Walden Herald was established about 1869, and the Walden Citizen is in its twentieth year.

Near the line of Newburgh, in the northeastern part of the town, is the old hamlet of St. Andrews, which was left behind in the later development of Walden with its great water-power facilities. It was named for the ancient Episcopal church there, which is now located at Walden.

Maybrook is an important railway junction, in the extreme southeast corner of the town. The population, which numbers about four hundred, is composed principally of railroad employees.

Coldenham is near the New Windsor boundary, but in the southeastern part of the town. The title came from the Colden family and the hamlet was the home of the Lieutenant Governor and acting Chief Magistrate of the New York Colony.

Allard's Corners on the northwest border, and Scott's Corners, east of Montgomery village, are other small hamlets of minor importance.

BANKS.

Le Fevre and De Garmo were the first bankers, beginning business in Walden in 1870. They continued but a short time, and in 1873 the Exchange Bank was organized with George W. Stoddard in active charge. This was merged into the Walden National Bank in 1877 and was succeeded in 1897 by the National Bank of Walden, the name of the present institution. The Walden Savings Bank, the oldest and largest financial institution in the town, began business June 1, 1872, with the following officers: Seth M. Capron, president; Thomas W. Bradley, vice-president; and Peter LeFevre, secretary and treasurer.

The Montgomery National Bank began business November 1, 1905, with the following officers: William H. Senior, president; John A. Crabtree, vice-president; E. I. Emerson, cashier. Directors: William Eager, John J. Vanderoef, John A. Crabtree, Clunks D. Wait, J. Harvey Harris, Dr. E. Ross Elliott, William F. Lodge, Harvey Tuttle, William H. Senior, Walter R. Comfort, Fred W. Tower.

INDUSTRIES.

Nearly all the soil of this town is well adapted to successful agriculture in its varied forms. While much of the land has been devoted to meadows and grass, fine crops of grain were grown, wheat especially, in the earlier years of the settlement. Fruit is also grown to a considerable extent in some localities with profit. Orchards were planted in the town nearly a hundred years ago by Robert Griffith, John Miller, Andrew Graham, Hamilton Morrison and others.

The bonding of the town in aid of the Wallkill Valley and other railway construction had a depressing effect upon the people and their property for a time, and there was much opposition to the scheme, among the farmers especially. But the advantages of the railways became apparent in a few years, and probably no one would now care to abolish the present traffic facilities afforded or longer regrets the cost.

The opening of the Wallkill Valley Railway to Montgomery, in 1866 was a most important event for the town and county.

The Walden Woolen Factory was established in 1823 by Jesse Scofield and Dr. Coburn. It was at first known as the "Franklin Company." There were frequent changes in the firm and management in the succeeding years. But for over fifty years this old plant was the most important business feature of Walden, and it had much to do with its early growth and development. The buildings were of stone and of the most durable character, and the water-power ample.

The New York Knife Company has long been regarded among the largest cutlery plants in the United States. It was organized in 1852 and operated at Matteawan, Dutchess County, until 1856, when it was moved to Walden to the building formerly used as a cotton factory. Table and pocket cutlery of every kind and quality are made in this establishment, which has achieved world-wide fame in the hardware trade, domestic and foreign. Thomas W. Bradley was long the leading spirit of the concern, being the active superintendent as well as the president of the company. He served with valor and distinction in the Civil War, and became prominent in the military affairs of the State afterwards. He also served in the State Assembly in 1875-76, and at present represents this district in Congress.

The Walden Condensed Milk Company was organized in 1864 with a proposed capital of $50,000. But it was reorganized three years later under the name of the Highland Condensed Milk Company. The enterprise was finally abandoned soon afterward and the buildings were used by the Walden Soap Works. The Walden Brickyard began operations in 1868 with James Gowdy at its head. The Walden Knife Company was established in 1870 with W. E. Gowdy as president. It is entirely devoted to pocket cutlery. In 1891 Mr. Edward Whitehead became its president, since which time the industry has forged rapidly ahead, with the annual payroll exceeding a quarter of a million dollars. The Schrade Cutlery Company was organized in 1904. It is under the direct management of George Schrade and his brother, J. Louis Schrade. The Rider-Ericsson Engine Company, manufacturers of hot air pumping engines, is also a very important industry, giving employment to 125 men. The Wooster Manufacturing Company, makers of pants and overalls, conducts an extensive and increasing business. The firm of William Crabtree & Sons, manufacturers of worsted yarns with plants in Montgomery village and Newburgh, conducts an important industry. This was established in 1880 by William Crabtree and Arthur Patchett, both now deceased. Two hundred persons are given employment by this progressive firm.

The New York Condensed Milk Company established a very extensive branch of its business just north of Walden in 1880, at an initial cost of $200,000, and the buildings and entire plant have been greatly enlarged and improved since that time. It was intended to receive the milk from 5,000 cows at the outset. John G. Borden, who became one of the most prominent and progressive men in that region in after years, was the first president of this important plant. Since his death the great enterprise, with its model farms, has been carried on most successfully by his daughters, and it is still one of the great show places of this region of the State. The farms, though mainly in Ulster County, are highly cultivated and operated under the most modern methods.

HISTORIC HOMES.

The Colden house, on the Montgomery and Newburgh State road, at Coldenham, was built in 1765 by Cadwallader Colden, Jr. His father, Dr. Cadwallader Colden settled in Coldenham in 1728 on his patent of 3,000 acres of land--he was the surveyor general of the province for eleven years, lieutenant governor for thirteen years and acting governor in 1761, 1763, 1769 and 1774. He gave to Cadwallader, Jr., on his marriage, five hundred acres of land, including the site on which this house stands. The land was all in woods, and Cadwallader, Jr., began at once to clear part of it for farming purposes; with his own hands he felled the first tree, and up-rooted the first stub. After a few years the first dwelling he erected gave place to this permanent stone structure, then, one of the finest dwellings of the period. In it he lived a useful life, esteemed by all who knew him, and in it he died mourned as a public benefactor. Some years ago an addition to the house was built in the rear, and more recently a mansard roof and other improvements were added. The date of the erection of the building, and the names of its builders, are cut on a stone in the upper front center. Its historical associations, past and present, cover a period of one hundred and seventy-five years.

The Thomas Colden mansion was built by Cadwallader Colden, Jr., for one of his sons. It is situated about a mile north of Coldenham, at Colden Hill, near what was the Newburgh and Ellenville plank road. It is a frame building with hipped-roof and is kept in excellent condition. After the death of Thomas Colden it was occupied by Cadwallader C. Colden, and more recently by Messrs. John and Joseph Kelly.

The Haines house is situated about a mile east of the Goodwill Church, and a short distance south of the highway known as the Hadden road. It was built by Benjamin Haines who came into the precinct in 1739. The year in which the house was erected is not known, but it is probably the oldest house in the town. During recent years it has been occupied only for short intervals, and the walls are crumbling. This house is known as the Old Hadden house, having been in the possession of successive generations of that family for more than one hundred years.

The Hill Brick house situated about three miles east of Montgomery on the State road was built by Nathaniel Hill in 1774 and occupied by his son, Peter, who was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. At his death the ownership and occupancy of the homestead passed to his son, Nathaniel P. Hill, who was a prominent man--was sheriff, member of congress, and filled other important positions. One of his sons, Nathaniel P., had also attained prominence as U. S. senator from Colorado.

The Van Keuren Stone house, now generally known as the Downs House, about a mile west of Goodwill church, on the road to Montgomery, was built in part by Hendricus Van Keuren in 1768, and in part by a previous owner probably John McNeal. The house is in excellent condition and is, perhaps, the oldest unchanged occupied house in the town.

The Beemer house, situated on the old Stage road from Goshen to Albany, nearly three miles north of Montgomery and about two miles west of Walden, was built by Adam Beemer in 1770. It is a framed building and has been recovered and repaired, but otherwise not materially changed. It is now in fair condition.

The Hans Youngblood house is situated on the road leading from the Searsville road north to the former site of Graham's church on the Pine Bush road. Tradition says it was built before the French and Indian War. It was used for a German school in 1761, and is not occupied at present.

The Kidd house in the extreme southeasterly part of Walden was probably built in part by Alexander Kidd, who settled there in 1736. The year it was built is not known. Alexander Kidd was among the first elders of Goodwill Church. His descendants are numerous.

SCHOOLS.

One of the ancient landmarks is the Montgomery High School, formerly known as the Montgomery Academy. This noted school is as old as our National Government. It had its inception in 1787, the year that the National Constitution was framed. It was the fourth oldest academy in the State, having been incorporated in 1791. Before 1787 the inhabitants of the village and surrounding country felt the need of a school of a high grade, and during that year erected a school building on lots reserved in part for school purposes, when the village was first surveyed and laid out. In the autumn of 1787 teachers were employed and the school opened for pupils. During 1790 steps were taken to incorporate the institution and place it under the care of the regents of the State University, as appears from the following application and petition:

"To the Regents of the University of the State of New York: Be it known that a certain tract of land pleasantly situated in the town of Montgomery, in the county of Ulster, in the center of a populous, fertile and wealthy country, hath lately been purchased, and a large and convenient building of two stories high erected and completed thereon, for the use of a public academy for the instruction of youth in the learned languages and other branches of useful knowledge, that the expense of the undertaking hath been defrayed by the free and liberal benefactions of individuals, of whom the subscribers constitute more than one-half with respect to the contributions raised and collected to found said academy, and that a gentleman of liberal education, of very competent abilities and irreproachable moral character has been procured, with a tutor, to teach in said academy.

"The subscribers, pursuant to an act of the Legislature of the State of New York entitled an act to institute a university within this State, and for other purposes, passed April 13, 1787, respectfully make the application to the regents of said University requiring that the said academy may be incorporated agreeably to the said law, and be subject to the visitation of the said regents, and they do hereby nominate Arthur Parks, Matthew Hunter, Benjamin Sears, Henry Van Keuren, Solomon Slight, Joseph Barber, James Clinton, Moses Freleigh, Daniel Bull, James Hunter, Peter Hill, David Galatian, Johannes Miller, Severyn T. Brown, Henry Smith, Ebenezer Clark and William Cross to be the first trustees of the said academy, declaring it to be their desire that the said trustees be called and distinguished by the name of the trustees of the Montgomery Academy in the County of Ulster.

"Andrew King. John McKinstry. Nathan W. Howell. James Moore. L. Sleght. William Jackson. Matthew Hunter. Matthew Gillespie. Stephen Goldsmith. David Jagger. John Nicholson. Hugh Milliken. Benjamin Sears. Andrew Graham. James Clinton. Thomas Greggs. Hamilton Morrison. Jacob Meltzberg. Gideon Pelton. Alexander Leeds. Patrick Barber. Robert Kidd. Jacob Newkirk. James Mackay. David Galatian. Thomas Barkley. William Cross. Stephen Ross. Severyn T. Bruyn. Stephen Crist. Johannes Mould. John Wilkin. Christian Rockefeller. A. M. McCord. Jacob Linderman. William Wilkin. Jacob Bookstaver. Robert Sewall. William Booth. David Miller. Alexander P. Anderson. B. Hopkins. John Clark. Samuel Boyd. James W. Wilkin. Adam J. Doll. Johannes Miller. Martimus Crist. William Weller. William Johnston. Jacob F. Bookstaver. Daniel Cahill. Henry J. Smith. John Millspaugh. Neal Diggie. Solomon Sleght. Henry Sinsabaugh. John Robinson. Henry Van Keuren. John C. Millyberg. Peter Crans. Henry Nealy. Henry Smith. Benjamin Cradit. James Jackson, Jr. Frederick Bookstaver. Philip Millspaugh. Moses Latta. John Linderman. Jacob Smedes. William Cross. John A. Newkirk. David Smith. James Hunter. James Hunter. William Crist. Jacob Pitts. Johannes Yerkes. Henry German. Christopher Moule. John Barber. George Monnell. Daniel Bull. Joseph Burrows. James M. Claghen. William Hill. John Puff. Thomas McKissock. John Pool. Alexander Dorcus. John Sears. Charles Young. John Barclay. Andrew Hart. John Scott. James Kidd. Jeremiah Smith. William Erwin. Jane Crage. John Hunter. James T. Graham. John P. Haines. John Haines. Peter Hill. Thomas Beallie. Robert Hunter. Tunis Van Arsdale. David Crist. John Dunlap. James Fitzgerald. Caleb Dill. Samuel P. Gale. Andrew Embler. William Faulkner, Jr. Jason Wilkin. James Sutton. William Faulkner. John Barber. D. G. Rogers. Jonathan Miller. James Preston. David Comfort. Cornelius Schoonmaker. Matthew M. Rowe. William Miller."

The petition was dated January 3, 1791, and the act of incorporation was passed the 23rd of April following. The school prospered and greater accommodations became necessary. In 1823 the main part of the present brick building was erected at a cost of about $5,400. Nearly two-thirds of the cost was paid by State moneys; the remaining third was raised by subscription through the activity and persistence of Johannes Miller.

The academy continued to prosper until the free school system was adopted, when it began to decline. In 1881 it was transferred by the trustees to the Board of Education of the Montgomery Union Free School, of which it is now (1908) the academical department. The following is a list of principals of the academy since it was incorporated: Rev. Alexander Miller, Nathaniel Howell, Nathan H. White, Reuben Neely, James King, Prof. Stansbury, William H. Weller, Rev. John McJimsay, Prof. Wilson, Jacob C. Tooker, twenty years, Silas S. Harmon, seven years, Rev Samuel B. Bell, D. D., Joseph M. Wilkins, three years, Robert Simpson, Daniel K. Bull, Prof. Lasher, Prof. Graham, Prof. Gunnison, Theron Little, Prof. Stevens, Prof. Beardsley, Prof. Cone, Benjamin C. Nevins, Prof. Demarest, Prof. Rouse. This famous academy reached the zenith of its prosperity under Professors Tooker and Harmon.

The town is divided into thirteen school districts and parts of districts; of these, twelve have school-houses in the town. These district schools will compare favorably with those of any other town. It appears from trustees' reports for 1907 that the whole number of children of school age (between five and eighteen), residing in the town that year was 1,337; of these 1,299 attended school. The average daily attendance of these children was 850. The number of teachers employed at the same time was thirty-four. The total cost of sustaining these schools was $25,330; of this sum $17,892 was raised by district tax. The value of school-houses and sites was $42,450. Two of the districts (Montgomery and Walden), are union free school districts. The former was established in 1881 and now (1908), employs six teachers. The first principal was Reuben Fraser. The present board of education is: Dr. E. Ross Elliott, William Eager, William H. Senior, John A. Crabtree and William S. Hanlon. The latter was organized in 1859 and now employs eighteen teachers. The Board of Education in 1908 is: Sanford Abrams, Henry E. Williams. Frank Benedict, Benjamin S. French, Harry Hollingsworth, Dewitt C. Dominick. There is one parochial school in the town.

CHURCHES.

There are many ancient churches in this town. It was a sturdy Christian people that first settled in this region. After building their grist mills and providing themselves and families with log-cabins, or other rude shelter from the storm and cold of the severe winters which then prevailed, their next thought was for the church, where they might enjoy religious worship, hear the Scripture expounded and meet together in praise and song.

The oldest and best known of these churches in those early days was the Good Will Presbyterian Church. This was established by the Scotch-Irish settlers who came into the region in 1724. The earliest records of this old church seem to have been lost. But the organization was represented in the Synod of Philadelphia in 1729 by John McNeal as commissioner. This date has, therefore, been taken for the establishment of the church, although it was doubtless in existence there some years earlier. The settlers of the region being long known as "the people of Wallkill," this church went under the name of the Wallkill Church, though incorporated under the name first mentioned. The first church structure is believed to have been erected in 1735, although there was some rude building set apart for religious worship some years before this. The building was improved and enlarged from time to time, some $8,000 having been expended upon it in this way in 1871. During the one hundred and seventy-nine years of its existence it has had but nine pastors: Rev. Joseph Houston, John Moffatt, Andrew King, Robert W. Condit, William Blain, David M. Maclise, D.D., James M. Dixon, D.D., David F. Bonner, D.D., and the present pastor, Rev. John H. Thompson, who has served the church for seventeen years.

The Reformed Church of Montgomery was founded mainly by the German element in 1732. As the population increased divisions arose in this church and several other churches were formed from it. The first house of worship was a log structure built in 1732. And it is said that the entrance of this old church was by means of a ladder placed on the outside. All these early records were kept in the Dutch language, and the services were also conducted in Dutch for the first fifty years. Then for a time each alternate Sunday the English language was used. Rev. John Michael Kern seems to have been the first settled pastor. He came in 1772 and resigned in 1776. Rev. G. W. Mancius, of the old parent Kingston Dutch Church, had been acting as a supply previous to that date, until his death in 1762. Three different church buildings have occupied the site since the old block house was taken down in 1760. The first was a frame structure erected immediately thereafter. The church contained sixty-eight pews, forty-six of which were occupied at a rental of 96L 8S. Pews for the elders and deacons were on the right and left of the old-fashioned pulpit. Among the names of the pew-holders are found those of Rockefeller, Youngblood, Mould, Decker, Weller, Robinson, etc., ancestors of many well-known families. The modern name of the church for years has been "the Brick Church of Montgomery." The present pastor is Peter Crispell.

The St. Andrew's Church at Walden, before alluded to, is another ancient religious society. This people passed through a troublous {sic} existence during the Revolution, and the parish was left vacant for some years until 1790. Finally, after emerging from a heavy debt, a new church was erected in the village of Walden in 1827. Then after many changes in rectors, another new church was decided upon in 1870. This with the parsonage cost $18,000, and in 1880 the church was finally consecrated free from debt.

The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Coldenham was organized in 1795, and a house of worship built four years later. This was replaced by a new structure in 1838. Dr. Alexander McLeod was the pastor from 1800 to 1812. The present pastor, Rev. Thomas Patton, was installed in 1893.

The Reformed Dutch Church of Berea, which came as a secession from the Goodwill Church, got its first pastor in 1823, Rev. James Ten Eyck, the congregation having been incorporated two years before. When the first little church was built it was surrounded by a forest, the timber for the building being cut from the site itself.

The First Reformed Church of Walden was incorporated in 1870, although the society was formed forty years before, and the church building was completed in 1838 at a cost of $12,000. Some $5,000 more was afterward spent upon the parsonage. Rev. M. V. Schoonmaker was the minister from 1849 to 1888. The present minister, Rev. W. W. Schomp, was installed in 1897.

The First Presbyterian Church of Montgomery was incorporated in 1832 and Rev. James O. Stokes was the first pastor. There were many changes in this pastorate in the succeeding years, and the debt piled up gradually until it reached $2,300 in 1848, a parsonage having been built meanwhile. This debt was, however, fully met that year under the pastorate of Rev. E. R. Fairchild, whose health soon failed, however. Rev. J. C. Forsyth was installed in 1875 and he continued in that field for many years.

The Methodist Church of Montgomery, was organized in 1829 with Rev. B. Howe and J. W. Lefever as priests. The "table expenses" of Mr. Howe were $100 and those of Lefever $50, which was in addition to the disciplinary allowance. A small church was built that year and a parsonage four years later.

In 1906 an Episcopal mission was established in Montgomery.

The Walden Methodist Church was incorporated in 1850. Previous to that the "classes" there were under the pastoral care of the Montgomery preachers. In fact, it was not until 1866 that the Walden Church became an independent charge. Then a parsonage was built and the church building was enlarged and improved in 1870 at a cost of $6,000. In 1893 it was removed to the east side of the church lot and remodeled.

The Church of the Holy Name in the village of Montgomery was incorporated in 1870. Rev. Hugh S. O'Hare was the pastor.

The inception of the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Walden was in 1887. Services were held in Lustig's and later in Condon's hall. The church was dedicated by Bishop Farley July 5, 1896. The officiating priests have been Rev. C. A. Meredith, Rev. P. Morris and Rev. F. C. Lenes.

Among the recent church organizations of the town is the People's Baptist Church at Maybrook, erected in 1906. No settled pastor.

Several of the old cities of the dead date back to 1725. The Wallkill Valley Cemetery Association was organized in 1865 and the first burial made May 1, 1867. This cemetery commands general admiration in the beauty and grandeur of its location. It comprises forty-one acres and the interments exceed 2,000. In 1905 Colonel Thomas Bradley erected here a bronze statue, "The Volunteer," memorial to Company H, 124th Regiment. Other burial places are Goodwill, St. Mary's, Riverside, Berea, Brick Church and Coldenham.

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XXIII. TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE

By Wickham T. Shaw.

LOCATION, AREA, ETC.

This is one of the smaller towns of Orange County and it is located in the acute angle of the western boundary line of the county formed by the indentation of Sullivan County. The territory of the town is diamond-shaped. The Shawangunk stream, which flows through the town lengthwise toward the northeast, leaves it in the apex of the angle and then forms the boundary line separating Orange from Sullivan, as well as the northwestern bounds of the towns of Wallkill and Crawford.

It is bounded on the north by Sullivan County and a very small part of the town of Wallkill, east by that town, south by the towns of Wawayanda and Greenville, and west by the town of Deer Park.

The area of the town is now placed at 16,104 acres. The assessed valuation of all the real and personal property, as reported by the assessors in 1906, was $632,075, upon which the tax levy for that year was $3,903.36. In 1880 this land was valued at $673,470, and the annual tax was $5,157.79. But it would be manifestly unfair to assume that the land is less valuable now than it was twenty-five years ago. The average town assessor in the State of New York, under the prevailing political conditions and customs, is largely a creature of circumstance, with strange vagaries in judgment, if indeed he is called upon to exercise any judgment at all under the official limitations of his position. Then, too, standards of value have greatly changed during that time.

This Mount Hope territory lies wholly north of the old county line which originally divided Orange from Ulster County.

NATURAL FEATURES.

The Shawangunk mountain range in the western border of the town is the most important topographical feature. This northern spur of the Alleghenies is known as the Blue Mountains in New Jersey and the Kittatiny Mountains in the State of Pennsylvania. Beginning in the central part of Ulster County the general trend of the range is toward the southwest for some 250 miles. There are few isolated peaks, and the greatest altitude reached is about 1,800 feet above tide. The more notable elevations of this range are Sam's Point, near Ellenville, Sky Top and Eagle's Cliff at Lake Mohonk, all of which are in Ulster County. The Indian word Shawangunk, which has been used to designate this range since the settlement of the region, signifies "great wall" in the aboriginal vernacular, which in fact seems especially appropriate as a descriptive title.

The eastern slopes of these mountains are uniform and well adapted to cultivation, even to their summits, in most instances. But on the western side they are broken and precipitous. The approach from the east has been fitly described by an old writer in the following language: "The eye rests upon fields of grain and grass, upturned furrows, the verdure of waving trees and the homes of thrifty hospitality, spread out from valley to crest, over the south and the far north, in unwearying {sic} panoramic beauty--a patchwork of gold and green, of brown and gray, of white and red."

The Shawangunk River is another dominating feature in this Mount Hope township. Rising in the adjoining town of Greenville on the south, this stream enters the Mount Hope territory near the middle of the southern boundary line and flows northeasterly through the central portion of the town, leaving the north boundary line at the apex of Sullivan County, as before stated.

The Little Shawangunk rises at Shawangunk Lake, on the eastern border of the town, flows northward along the line some four or five miles, then crosses over into the town of Wallkill, anon reentering Mount Hope in the northeast corner, and finally unites with the parent stream in the western bounds of Wallkill. There are several small tributaries which enter the Shawangunk from the west and drain the mountain slopes effectually.

This territory also presents many geological features of interest which have attracted considerable attention in past years. Here, as elsewhere in this mountain range, rich mineral deposits have been found. Lead, copper and zinc ores were discovered many years ago, and numerous mining companies have been formed in the town.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

This being one of the newer towns of the County, having been taken from the towns of Wallkill and Deer Park in 1825, the details pertaining to its early settlement are of course embodied in the history of those towns and cannot well be treated separately in this place at much length.

Among the early pioneers in this section was John Finch, who settled in what was afterward known as Finchville. The records show he was there in 1733 at least. He came from Horseneck, Conn., settling first at Goshen, where it was said in after years he was the first adult person to receive burial in the Goshen churchyard.

Jasper Writer came from Germany, and after spending a few years in Philadelphia he removed to this section and settled on what was afterward known as the Writer farm. This was probably before 1763, as he was over a hundred years old when he died in 1842.

Ashbel Cadwell was another early settler here, and his grandson, Harvey R. Cadwell, in later years became a prominent citizen of Otisville.

The Green family was also among the early settlers here. Israel Green, the pioneer, started at Middletown, and he had many children, some of whom lived in the Otisville section. Daniel Green, his brother, settled near Finchville. William Shaw must also be numbered with the well known Mount Hope pioneers, and he settled near Howells some years before the Revolution and left many worthy descendants in that region.

Stephen St. John was another enterprising and public spirited citizen of that little village. James Finch served in the militia during the Revolution for more than three months, and also in the French and Indian war in 1755 and 1756. In his youthful days he served as valet to General Abercrombie at Fort Stanwix.

Benjamin Woodward, already mentioned, came into the section in 1773 from Stonington, Conn. He served several sessions in the Legislature, was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1821, and was state senator from 1827 to 1830. His son Charles also represented his town in the Legislature in 1863 and 1864.

Joshua Corwin was another Mount Hope pioneer who came there sometime before the Revolution, coming from Southold, L. I. He had eight children, who settled on an extensive tract of land in that region.

Jacob Wiggins came very soon after the Revolution and settled two miles south of Otisville.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWN.

The act of incorporation of Mount Hope was passed in 1825, as before stated. But the new town was then named "Calhoun" in honor of the distinguished South Carolina Senator, John C. Calhoun, whose patriotic course as secretary of war during the contest with Great Britain in 1812 won him great favor with the people of this entire region. But they soon regretted this action and the honor conferred because of Calhoun's course and policy during the nullification discussions of 1831 and 1832. There was a violent revulsion of public opinion and everybody wanted to drop this now unpopular name of the town without ceremony, thus showing their open disapproval of the new policy of the Southern statesman. A public meeting was held, the old name was dropped with a heavy thud and the present title of "Mount Hope" was unanimously adopted with much enthusiasm. In response to a popular petition sent to the Legislature in 1833 a law was passed March 14 of that year discarding the old name and ratifying the new one. The plan of thus honoring a political favorite of the hour, however distinguished and popular he might be, had proved a dangerous experiment even in those eight short years, and the people were now resolved to adopt some title for their town which could not be affected by the sands of time or the progress of human events.

While all the earlier records of this town were destroyed by fire in 1848, the account of the first town meeting, which was held at the house of Joseph Conklin, April 5, 1825, is happily preserved in the books of Deer Park. Joseph Chattle and Richard Penny were the presiding justices of the peace. One hundred and fifty dollars were raised for the support of the poor for the ensuing year and $35 for the maintenance of bridges. Joseph Chattle was chosen the first supervisor and Joseph Conklin town clerk. While many of the principal officers were chosen by ballot, all the minor town officials were selected by the primitive method of raising of hands. Four constables were chosen, six fire masters, four fence viewers and forty-one highway masters. Just what the duties of the latter were can only be conjectured, as very little attention was paid to the public roads of that period or their repair, and fortunately so, perhaps, because of the primitive and defective methods in vogue. The official list of the town included also three assessors, two overseers of the poor, three commissioners of highways, three school commissioners and three school inspectors.

The first town meeting after the fire was in 1849. At that time the rather extravagant civil list of the town had been somewhat reduced in number. One hundred dollars were then raised for repairs to roads and bridges.

It is interesting to note in passing that in 1906 the sum raised for the maintenance of public roads alone in the town under the money system of road work was $2,743.33. Of this amount $933.12 was received from the State and $260 from the poll tax.

LITTLE SHAWANGUNK KILL.

Heretofore it has been said that the little Shawangunk Kill, in this town, was of such little importance that historians declined to mention it, yet this stream, lying practically all in the town, was at one time the scene of five thriving saw-mills in operation, but which have since disappeared. Yet the city of Middletown in 1890 saw a basis of great water works in this stream, and just from the line at the headwaters of this kill in the town of Wallkill, erected a reservoir which was known as Highland Lake, containing about 500,000,000 gallons of water. On April 22, 1901, just below Highland Lake and in the town of Mount Hope, the city of Middletown decided to erect another lake, and the contract was let to Charles Sundstrom of the city of Middletown, who, by the erection of what was known as Shawangunk, Greenleaf and Steward dams, impounded a large quantity of water, which was to form a part of the Middletown system.

This work was at the cost of something like $57,000, and was connected with Monhagen Lake by a twenty-inch conduit, and also a twenty-four-inch conduit was extended in a westerly direction to a point in the Shawangunk Kill, above Mount Hope, from which it was intended to take water at high times, and conduct it to what was called Shawangunk reservoir.

This reservoir when full contains over 434,000,000 gallons of water, and has an acreage of about 102 acres, on what was formerly known as the Greenleaf farm. It will be observed that Highland Lake had been erected some fourteen years, but since Shawangunk Lake was erected, litigation sprang up from the mill owners on the big Shawangunk Kill, as far north as Pine Bush, and all the farmers on the line of the little Shawangunk Kill were brought into proceedings for condemnation, and the payment of damages for the taking of this water, and this litigation, which continued some two or three years, was finally settled in the year 1907, when all water rights to both kills were finally determined, but the city of Middletown had paid in expenses and damages something like $25,000.

VILLAGES.

The village of Mount Hope is in the southwestern part of the town. This name was bestowed long before the formation of the town itself, which was evidently named after the old village. The site of the hamlet is a commanding elevation, and there is a charming view of the surrounding landscape on all sides far and near.

Benjamin Woodward and Dr. Benjamin Newkirk are credited with the establishment of the place in May, 1807. On the eighth day of that month, after the "raising bee" was over, James Finch, the old settler, called the assembly to order and made a very enthusiastic speech, during which he christened the place "Mount Hope" with proper ceremony.

Otisville was settled in 1816 by Isaac Otis, a merchant from New York, and named for him. There were but three houses on the upper street, and probably but little more than a dozen buildings comprised the entire village when the Erie Railroad was opened on November 3, 1846.

The officials of the road who arrived on the first train dined at the hotel of Ambrose W. Green, who for many years was one of the leading citizens of Otisville. At this time, 1846, Dr. Avery Cook lived and had his office near where the depot stands. Galen Otis owned the only store which stood where he later built a large square house. Ezra Coleman lived and had his wagon-making shop where Dr. Writer now lives. Samuel K. Wheat was the harness-maker, and lived where later Judson Van Duzer lived. Stanford Harding was the blacksmith, and Squire Baker had a cooper shop. Harvey R. Cadwell, a member of Assembly in 1862, owned the farm on the north, and Smith Loomis, father of Supervisor Charles Loomis, owned the farm on the western boundary of the village.

The schoolhouse in 1840 was nearly a mile south of the village on the plains, the present site of the cemetery. A church was also there. This same year Algernon Sidney Dodge, son of Benjamin Dodge, of Mount Hope, came to Otisville and leased the store of Galen Otis. Alsop Woodward Dodge, son of Algernon Sidney Dodge, now resides in Middletown, and from him we learned some of the facts contained here.

Ambrose Woodward Green, mentioned above, was born in the town of Greenville in 1813. His father was Charles S. Green, and his grandfather was Daniel Green, a soldier of the Revolution from Orange County.

Ambrose W. Green settled in Otisville in 1835, and for a time carried on the tailoring business, which he discontinued, and built the Washington Hotel, now the Greenleaf Hotel, conducting it for some time in connection with other business.

Before the Erie came to Otisville, Mr. Green owned a market wagon route to Newburgh, going twice a week by way of Bloomingburg. While Otisville remained the western terminal of the Erie, Mr. Green also owned a stage line to Forestburgh, Sullivan County, connecting with lines into Pennsylvania for Honesdale and other western points. He was interested in building the Otisville and Wurtsboro turnpike. Mr. Green sold the Washington Hotel and about 1850 built the hotel near the railroad track. While conducting this hotel, he was engaged in the lumber and coal business. From 1863 to 1870 he was extensively interested in the lead mining operations on Shawangunk Mountain. The decline in the value of lead after our Civil War caused the mines to be discontinued, and Mr. Green later sold his hotel and removed to a farm a couple of miles north of Otisville, where he died in July, 1888.

The coming of the Erie boomed Otisville for the next few years. A Methodist and a Presbyterian church were built and a little later a Catholic church. Several stores and many dwellings were erected. Market wagons came here twice a week with farmers' produce for shipment to New York. Previous to the building of the Midland Railroad hundreds of teams throughout the winter, while the Delaware and Hudson Canal was closed, came to Otisville from Sullivan and western Ulster Counties, with leather from the tanneries, and returned with the green hides for tanning. For many years, until the introduction of refrigerator cars, Otisville was the western terminal of the milk train.

George Strickland and Joel D. Northrup, residents of Otisville, were the conductors--the latter for many years. The Orange County Express for several years went no further west than Otisville. The gravel and construction train for this section, with nearly a hundred employees, had its headquarters at Otisville. Until coal was used as the fuel for the engines of the Erie, Otisville for many years was the principal point where the thousands of cords of wood were received which the Erie consumed yearly. This wood was all sawed by hand, and many men were employed. Many citizens of Otisville found various kinds of employment with the Erie during these years, and much of the prosperity of the village came from the dollars left here by the monthly pay-car of the Erie.

TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

To the historian of the future the name Otisville will be associated with one of the great sanitary advances made in this country, namely, the establishment, by a municipality, of a tuberculosis sanatorium outside the political limits of that municipality.

The establishment of such a sanatorium was first suggested in 1889. At that time, however, not even a medical sentiment was ripe for such a movement. In the succeeding fifteen years, little progress was made toward a realization of these plans, and it was not until Dr. Thomas Darlington became commissioner of health that any tangible results were achieved. He proved an aggressive and resourceful champion. With political, corporate, and private interests leagued together to prevent the city from acquiring a site, it was largely owing to the indefatigable labors of Dr. Darlington that the most determined opposition to the plan was overcome.

After carefully examining many sites, it was finally determined to establish the sanatorium at Otisville, a little village lying in the Shawangunk Mountains, and about seventy-five miles from New York City. As a southern exposure was desired, the grounds, covering an area of over 1,400 acres, were selected on the southeastern slope of one of the most picturesque and most favorably situated mountains of the entire range. The grounds have an altitude varying from about 800 feet to 1,500 feet above sea level. The sanatorium property consists of what were formerly thirteen separate farms, which were purchased at different times during the years 1905 and 1906, the health department first taking possession for the city of New York on December 1, 1905.

To avoid delay in establishing the institution on a working basis, it was deemed best to renovate and remodel the buildings on the property, and use them until such time as the needs of the sanatorium would require the erection of new ones. By July, 1906, the institution was ready to receive its first patients, and a year after that date had accommodations for about 100.

Since the sanatorium is designed for the treatment of those ill with tuberculosis in the early stages of the disease, there is only a small building for hospital accommodations. The rest of the buildings, in which the patients practically live outdoors, are portable houses and shacks. All the frills and ruffles so universally connected with the construction of public buildings have been omitted; everything has been subordinated to that which is best for the patients.

There are six portable houses, which are set on posts and can be taken apart and transferred to any location desired. The houses all measure ten by sixty feet, and are divided into five rooms. The center room, heated on cold days, is used as a bathing and dressing room, as well as a sitting room in inclement weather. Those on either side are used as bed rooms. Each room has four windows, two of which are always open and so arranged as to avoid all draughts. Each room contains one bed. The two rooms on either end are entirely open on the three sides, a fine screen only enclosing to keep out insects, etc. Heavy canvas curtains are folded in a roll outside, and can be dropped in stormy weather. These end rooms each accommodates two patients, thus making a capacity of six to each house.

In the latter part of 1906 a one-story and a two-story shack were erected for the additional accommodation of patients; and during 1907 two single-story shacks and one small house were built.

The shacks are built in the form of the letter T. The stem of the T consists of a room containing the washstands, lockers for each patient, and toilets and baths. In front of this is a sitting room, and opening from either side of this are the sleeping rooms. The latter are practically only verandas, being open in front and on the side, while for protection against storms and severe winds there is a similar provision to that used on the portable houses; that is, the curtains ordinarily rolled up are lowered, shutting off the verandas from the outside. A single-story shack accommodates twelve patients, six on each veranda. The two-story shack accommodates just double that number, being exactly alike in its two stories.

A feature of considerable importance in an institution of this kind is the manner in which the different patients are segregated. As nearly as possible patients in the same physical condition as well as those who are apt to be congenial are assigned to the same quarters.

Every patient is closely observed for about ten days after admission. The amount and frequency of rest, exercise and work is determined at all times by the condition of the patients. They are assigned to work according to their strength and capabilities. All dining-room duties, such as waiting on the table, washing dishes, and preparing vegetables, are performed by selected patients who show but slight lesions, negative sputum, and have no cough. Many of the patients are able to do farm work, and this keeps them out in the air and relieves their ennui.

In a large institution of this kind the problem of sewage disposal is not an easy matter. But by the aid of expert sanitary engineers this has been satisfactorily overcome. Thousands of feet of pipe have been laid, and an up-to-date disposal plant has been erected. The effluent from this plant will have been so purified as to be practically indistinguishable from pure water.

An abundance of pure water has also been provided, and is supplied at a high pressure to all the buildings. Fire plugs are scattered about the sanatorium grounds, and a fire-fighting system has been organized.

The sanatorium has its own dairy, for the patients are encouraged to drink considerable milk. The cow barn and the milk handling rooms in connection with this, are immaculately clean, and this condition is reflected by the milk, which is of the highest possible purity.

The one fact which stands out prominently at the sanatorium is the broad foundation on which the whole work has been planned. The work is being directed with admirable foresight, and will yield immense returns in the fight against tuberculosis in New York City. The sanatorium was established in order to provide a place for treating these consumptives of New York who are unable to pay, the large army who until now have had merely the clinics and dispensaries, but for whom country treatment is most desirable. The city maintains the patients absolutely free, the only condition being that the disease is not too far advanced.

The present capacity of the institution, about 150, is only a small fraction of what it will be five or ten years hence. Yet even these small numbers are an immense potential for good when they return to the city cured or improved, for they carry with them habits of cleanliness and personal hygiene and a knowledge of the value of fresh air, which are of incalculable value not only to them, but to all with whom they come in contact.

The present officers of the institution are: Dr. Thomas Darlington, commissioner of health; Dr. Hermann M. Biggs, general medical officer; Dr. Irving D. Williams, superintendent; Dr. Edward J. McSweenv, resident physician, and Dr. Frank P. Hauser, assistant resident physician.

RAILROADS, HAMLETS, MINES.

Erie & Jersey Railroad.--In the year 1904 a corporation was organized, known as the Erie and Jersey Railroad Company, which ostensibly was an independent line, to be built from a point on the Erie railroad west of Guymard, on a circuitous route, to the north of the present Erie railroad, to Turner. It was well understood that this road was a part of the Erie system, and was to be a double-track road, the projectors of which alleged that it would be used for freight, but as it shortened the route of the road and was a much easier grade, when completed, undoubtedly would be used by many fast express trains.

The condemnation laws of this State were not elastic enough to permit of taking property along the line of this route through the courts, and the greater part of the right of way had to be bought by the company, and fabulous prices were paid for its right of way, which was 130 feet wide. About eleven miles of this road is in the town of Mount Hope.

The Erie & Jersey Railroad Tunnel.--On August 10, 1905, Bennett & Talbott, contractors, of Greensburg, Pa., contracted with the Erie & Jersey Railroad Company to build twelve miles of railroad, eleven miles of grading, which would require about 1,500,000 cubic yards of excavation, and about 15,000 yards of concrete masonry, and one mile, three hundred and three feet of tunnel through the Shawangunk Mountains, between Guymard and Howells, N. Y. The road was to be completed within a period of two years. Work was commenced on September 4, 1905, by sinking a shaft at the center of the tunnel to a depth of 117 feet. Owing to a delay in getting the right of way, however, they were compelled to sink another shaft at the east portal of the tunnel to expedite the work, beginning on or about October 1, 1905. The west portal of the tunnel was begun on or about November 15 of the same year. The completion of the work was delayed somewhat on account of the suspension of work April, 1907. The excavation of the tunnel will now be completed on or about the first of March, 1908, while the arching will be finished some time in July, 1908. The excavation of solid rock required for this work was 180,000 cubic yards. The timber required to support the roof was 1,700,000 feet, while the amount of concrete sidewall was 8,000 cubic yards. The number of brick required was 8,000,000. The machinery used in the construction of this tunnel was two improved Style A Marion steam-shovels, known as the "45-ton." Alpha Portland cement was used for the masonry. Francis Lee Stuart was chief engineer of this work.

Finchville.--This hamlet is in the southwestern part of the town at the eastern base of the Shawangunk Mountains. It was founded by James Finch, the old settler, in whose honor the name was bestowed. But the precise date of this settlement is not accurately disclosed by the records. It was to this place that many terror-stricken women and children fled for refuge from the Mamakating Valley during the Indian troubles there.

New Vernon.--This is a small hamlet in the northern border of the town. In fact, part of it is in Sullivan County. It was named thus to distinguish it from Vernon in New Jersey. It had one church and some twenty dwellings in 1860, and has shown no very material increase in recent years.

Guymard, in the western part of the town of Mount Hope, was the culmination of the plan of the Gumaer brothers to have a railroad station nearer Gumaer's, which was on the Delaware & Hudson Canal. After the strenuous times of 1857, labor could be obtained at sixty-five cents per day, and the Gumaer brothers decided to build a road from the canal to the Erie railroad, and then the station was named Guymard.

About 1862 they concluded to extend the new road to the old turnpike on top of the mountain. While constructing that part of the road, lead was discovered. As a result of this discovery, many mines were prospected on the Shawangunk Mountain and were operated more or less from 1863 to 1870. Among these was the mine of the Guymard Lead & Zinc Co., from which several carloads of lead were shipped weekly. After the close of the Civil War the price of lead declined, and considering the crude mining methods and the cost involved, eventually the mines were abandoned.

Of the Gumaer brothers, Peter and Jackson are now living at Guymard. Chauncey Gumaer, son of Peter, having had nearly twenty-five years' mining experience in Colorado and the West, has returned and is now working the old mine at Guymard. With the improved methods of mining, he believes his new venture will prove successful.

An incident of considerable local historical interest occurred here in the spring of 1863. The mine at Guymard was being worked by its owners, when one day one George H. Servoss, an Englishman, arrived and claimed that he owned the mine and all the mineral rights in this section through a grant by Queen Anne of England. He erected a small building on the grounds and his miners began operations. The rightful owners were wild with excitement and the news was soon communicated to others interested in mining in this section at that time. A day was appointed, when between 100 and 200 men assembled and tumbled Servoss's building over into the gully below the railroad track and drove him and his miners from the mine. This was probably the last attempt of a subject of Great Britain to claim territory or granted rights in the United States which had been so definitely decided nearly a hundred years before by the ancestors of some who took part in driving this Englishman from his false claim.

A singular incident in connection was this: Ambrose W. Green, who kept a hotel at Otisville, and was much interested in mining, was one of the men who assembled and helped to drive Servoss from his claim at Guymard. Servoss came to Otisville that night and with some of his miners stopped at Mr. Green's hotel. Being convinced that Yankee blood still predominated in this section, Servoss gave up his claim. While stopping with Mr. Green he began prospecting and on June 13, 1863, leased the mineral right of Thomas Hawk of his farm situated less than a mile above Otisville. Ambrose W. Green witnessed the document and Servoss formed what was known as the Otisville Copper Mining Company, which he worked for some time. Servoss died in New York City on December 10, 1907.

The Farmers' Library was incorporated in October, 1807, just a century ago. Its first meeting was held at the home of Benjamin Woodward. The original trustees were Benjamin B. Newkirk, Benjamin Woodward, William Mulock, James Finch, Jr., Peter E. Gumaer, Daniel Green, William Shaw, Jr., Stephen Farnum and Peleg Pelton. The library was established at once and it is said to have contained a valuable collection of historical works which were doubtless the only available books for such use at that early period of library literature. This old library was maintained there some thirty years, which certainly speaks well for the people of that region at that time. The educational influences of this old library upon the young people of that section during that period are said to have been most wholesome and of incalculable value.

POINTS OF HISTORIC INTEREST.

Of course the Shawangunk Mountain range is always interesting to the geologist and historian. The pass through these mountains at Otisville is well worth visiting. It was the only break the Erie engineers could find when they laid out the railway, and they went over ten miles north of Port Jervis to utilize it.

The old Finch homestead at Finchville has long been an object of interest, although the old house itself was burned many years ago. It was here that the militia halted on their way to the fatal Minisink battlefield and took a hurried meal. Resuming their march over the mountains, it is said very few of the soldiers survived the terrible encounter and lived to recross those hills and again enjoy Mr. Finch's hospitality.

The huge bones of a noted mastodon, which awakened much popular interest at the time, were found deeply embedded in the soil on the old Allison farm, a short distance from Otisville, nearly fifty years ago. This remarkable find took the imagination back to the primitive era when these mammoth creatures roamed at will over this western continent.

INDUSTRIES.

Of course the primary and paramount interest of the people in this town from its early settlement even to the present day, has been agriculture. The cultivation of the land attracted the settlers thither and the raising of crops, together with lumbering, were the leading pursuits in which the residents engaged for over a hundred years. The sunny mountain slopes and the alluvial bottoms along the rivers were well adapted to plant growth, and the farmer obtained good results from his labor. Nearly all the ordinary crops to which the latitude and climate were suited could be grown with profit. The town had its full share in the production of the famous "Orange County butter," which was made in large quantities for a time. But for many years past, with the ample railway facilities afforded for prompt shipment, nearly all the milk produced has been shipped to New York direct and the butter-making branch of the dairy interest has been almost entirely discontinued. In fact, many of the farmers have been buying butter elsewhere for their own use, finding it more profitable to sell their milk, which of course has been produced to a far larger extent than ever before.

MILITARY HISTORY.

This town east of the mountain range was long regarded as a place of refuge for those fleeing from the frequent Indian attacks in the Mamakating Valley. Historic records contain many thrilling and pathetic incidents of this nature, and they are presented in much graphic detail, although doubtless based largely upon traditionary authority.

As to the history of Mount Hope during the Revolution, there is none, apart from the annals embraced in the records of the parent towns of Deer Park and Wallkill, from which Mount Hope was taken forty-five years after the settlement of that little dispute with a tyrannical nation over certain questions regarding human rights and personal liberty. Concerning the roll of honor, belonging to this territory in that war for independence the reader is referred to the records of Deer Park and Wallkill, found on other pages of this work.

In the War of 1812 the Wallkill Regiment was ordered out in full force, while the 128th Regiment of Sullivan was drafted into the service. This organization then included many men from this Mount Hope section. Those who served in that secondary struggle from here, mentioned in the records, are Joseph Stanton, Amzi Mapes, John Mulock, Zebulon Giffen, Frederick A. Seybolt, Richard Penny and Captain William Mulock.

During the war of the rebellion the town was of course an integral factor of the county, and it bore an honored share in that memorable struggle. The population being small the number who enlisted in the service of the government was not very large. Under the various calls of President Lincoln in 1862-1863-1864 some 330 men went forth from this town to serve their country. In addition to this, fifty-eight were drafted into the service.

At a special town meeting held August 9, 1864, and ratified on the twentieth of the same month, a tax of $37,000 was ordered for the payment of bounties at the rate of $800 per man. In February, 1865, another tax of $10,000 was authorized for a similar purpose. The town was afterward reimbursed by the Government for bounties paid to the amount of $11,400. In addition to this, voluntary subscriptions and contributions amounting to $913 were sent forward at different times. Of the Mount Hope soldiers four were reported killed in action. The record also contains the names of forty-one other men who enlisted during 1863 and 1864.

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XXIV. TOWN OF NEWBURGH

EARLY PATENTS.

While Newburgh is the most important and impressive place in Orange County, Newburgh Town, outside of the city, has its facts and points of interest.

After the annulment, in 1669, of the patent purchased of the Indians by Governor Dongan, and conveyed by him to Captain John Evans in 1684 in which patent was included the territory of the Newburgh precinct, the entire district was conveyed, between 1703 and 1705, in small patents, ten of which were in the Newburgh precinct, and a list of which is given in the chapter on Newburgh city.

All patents were conditioned upon a payment of quit-rent, sometimes in money, sometimes in wheat or other commodity.

The Palatine settlement, including a portion of the present city of Newburgh and a portion of the town, is elsewhere considered. So are the changes and troubles that followed the coming of the new Dutch and English settlers, resulting in a decision of the council which practically terminated "The Palatine Parish by Quassaick." Ruttenber says that when this decision was rendered the original members of the parish had long previously removed from it or been laid away in the quiet church-yard, and adds: "As a people they were earnest, good men and women. Wherever their neighbors of subsequent migrations are met, their record compares favorably with that of immigrants from any other country. No citizens of more substantial worth are found under the flag of this, their native land, than their descendants; no braver men were in the armies of the Revolution than Herkimer and Muhlenberg. Had they done nothing in the parish but made clearings in its forests and planted fields they would be entitled to grateful remembrance. They did more; they gave to it its first church and its first government; and in all subsequent history their descendants have had a part."

As to the other patents: The Baird patent included the settlement of Belknap's Ridge, later classed at Coldenham. It was issued to Alexander Baird, Abraham Van Vleque and Hermans Johnson, and was sold to Governor William Burnet. The Kipp patent included the district east, north and west of Orange Lake, and adjoined the Baird patent on the south. It was issued to Jacobus Kipp, John Conger, Philip Cortlandt, David Prevost, Oliver Schuyler and John Schuyler. It was divided into six parts, and these were subdivided into farms. About 1791 a company of Friends from Westchester County settled on the patent. They were Daniel, Zephaniah and Bazak Birdsall, John Sutton and John Thorne. The first purchasers on the Bradley patent are supposed to have been Johannes Snyder and John Crowell. The Wallace patent, issued to James Wallace alone, was afterwards purchased by John Penny, who sold 200 acres of it to Robert Ross, and settled, with his seven sons, upon the remainder. The Bradley patent was to Sarah, Catherine, George, Elizabeth and Mary Bradley, and was taken in their name by their father, Richard Bradley, who thus secured six tracts, of which that in Newburgh was one. The Harrison patent was to Francis Harrison, Mary Fatham, Thomas Brazier, James Graham and John Haskell. It included the present district of Middlehope, and its settlers were influential in the control of the town during its early history. The Spratt patent was in two parcels, 1,000 acres in Newburgh and 2,000 acres in Ulster. It was issued to Andrew Marschalk and John Spratt, the latter taking the Newburgh tract. This was purchased in 1760 by Joseph Gidney, and took the name of Gidneytown. The Gulch patent was to Melichor Gulch and his wife and children of the original company of Palatines. The Johnson or Jansen patent adjoined the Gulch patent, and was the first occupied land in the northwestern part of the town.

The settlement of these patents resulted in dividing the old precinct of the Highlands in 1762 into the precincts of Newburgh and New Windsor, the former embracing the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill in Ulster County with the present town and city of Newburgh, and the latter covering substantially the same territory as now.

GOVERNMENT BEGINNINGS.

The next April, 1763, Newburgh's first town meeting was held at the house of Jonathan Hasbrouck, now known as Washington's Headquarters, and these officers were chosen: Jonathan Hasbrouck, supervisor; Samuel Sands, clerk; Richard Harper, John Winfield and Samuel Wyatt, assessors; Daniel Gedney and Benjamin Woolsey, poor masters; Jonathan McCrary, John Wandel, Burras Holmes, Isaac Fowler, Muphrey Merritt and Thomas Woolsey, path masters; Nathan Purdy and Isaac Fowler, fence viewers and appraisers.

Ten years later Marlborough and Plattekill settlements were set off as New Marlborough, and left Newburgh with almost the same territory as that of the present town and city. The first supervisor of this reduced town was John Flewwelling and the first clerk was Samuel Sands.

The territory of the present town embraces 26,882 acres in the extreme northeast portion of the county. The soil along the river front for a distance of five miles is warm, productive and well cultivated. The rock formations are largely slate and lime. In 1875 its population was 3,538, and the census of 1905 places it at 4,885 persons.

Subsequent to the incorporation of the city of Newburgh, April 25, 1865, the town of Newburgh was invested with the government of its own officers. The following supervisors have been elected:

Nathaniel Barns, 1866; C. Gilbert Fowler, 1867; Nathaniel Barns, 1868 to 1870; W. A. Pressler, 1871; John W. Bushfield, 1872 to 1877; Henry P. Clauson, 1878 to 1880; W. A. Pressler, 1881 to 1885; Oliver Lozier, 1886; John W. Bushfield, 1887; Oliver Lozier, 1888 to 1801; William H. Post, 1892 to 1899; Henry P. Clauson, 1900 to 1906; Fred S. McDowell, 1907 and 1908.

EARLY PATRIOTISM.

But little need be added to what has elsewhere been sketched regarding Newburgh's part in the war for independence. Its people were prompt in patriotic response to the non-importation resolutions of the Continental Congress. It was one of the five precincts to publicly burn the pamphlet assailing those resolutions, entitled, "Free Thoughts on the Resolves of Congress," and on June 27, 1775, at a public meeting, appointed a Committee of Safety: Wolvert Acker, Jonathan Hasbrouck, Thomas Palmer, John Belknap, Joseph Coleman, Moses Higby, Samuel Sands, Stephen Case, Isaac Belknap, Benjamin Birdsall, John Robinson and others. When the pledge to support the acts of the Continental and Provincial Congress was ready 174 names were voluntarily signed to it and twenty-one of the fifty-four men who refused to sign afterward made affidavit that they also would abide by the measures of Congress and pay their quota of all expenses. Some of the thirty-three Tories who stood out were imprisoned and some were executed. The Newburgh patriots as promptly reorganized the militia of the precinct. They furnished two companies for a new regiment in September, and in December helped to constitute a regiment of minute men, and provided its colonel in the person of Thomas Palmer. They also, in 1776, organized as rangers or scouts to prevent attacks from hostile Indians. Throughout the war the citizens of Newburgh were conspicuous as volunteers in the regular army and as local militiamen in the cause of the Revolution, and were subjected to much inconvenience and many privations in consequence of the presence of other troops, as elsewhere stated. Many of them were killed and many more taken prisoners in the defense of the Highland forts, after which the poor taxes were increased from 50L to 800L and special donations were collected for those who had been deprived of their husbands or parents.

The history of Washington's doings and sayings in and near Newburgh is so familiar that they need not be repeated here.

EARLY ORGANIZATIONS.

The Benevolent Society of the County of Orange was formed in January, 1805, with the following officers: Hugh Walsh, president; Gen. John Skey Eustace, vice-president; John McAuley, treasurer; William Gardner, Secretary.

In the sketch of Newburgh village and city mention has been made of the charter provision for a Glebe fair. This fair is believed to have been held occasionally as late as 1805, as there has been found in an old newspaper notice of one to be held in October of that year, with an offer of $125 as a premium to the jockey riding the best horse on the course of Benjamin Case, $50 to another jockey riding the best horse on the following day, and $25 to the jockey riding the best filly on the third day.

The Newburgh Bible Society was organized September 9, 1818, at a meeting held in the Presbyterian Church of Newburgh village, after a discourse by Rev. James R. Wilson. The first article of the constitution declared that its "sole object shall be to encourage a wider circulation of the Scriptures, without note or comment." The following officers were elected: Jonas Story, president; Isaac Belknap and Joseph Clark, vice-presidents; Rev. John Johnston, corresponding secretary; Charles Miller, recording secretary; Benjamin J. Lewis, treasurer.

In 1823 the Newburgh Society for Aiding Missions was formed. The report said: "Its design is to be auxiliary to the cause of missions in general; its funds, at the disposal of a board of managers, are to be appropriated from time to time to such societies or other missionary objects as may seem to have the most pressing claim to assistance."

The Newburgh Sabbath School Society was organized in 1816, and the following officers are found recorded, as chosen in 1823, sixteen years afterward: Superintendents, Mrs. Agnes Van Vleeck, Mrs. Mary G. Belknap, Mrs. Harriet M. Bate, Miss Joanna Schultz; secretary, Miss Louisa Lewis; treasurer, Miss Jane Carpenter. The secretary, in her report, stated that the school then consisted of more than 300 scholars, the average attendance being 200, and that there were thirty-two classes instructed by forty-six teachers and assistants. She stated that the number of verses committed to memory during the year was 21,440 and of divine songs 8,684.

Eager reports a meeting of the Orange County Medical Society in Newburgh in October, 1823, which invited the members of the Newburgh Lyceum to attend. Medical and scientific essays were read by Drs. John M. Gough, Francis L. Beattie and Arnell, other essays by George W. Benedict and Rev. James R. Wilson, and "the merits of each underwent an able discussion."

LOCALITIES.

Just outside the legal boundary line north of the city of Newburgh is the fashionable suburb of Balmville, named after a large Balm of Gilead tree, which is estimated to be one hundred and fifty or more years old, and nearly twenty-five feet in circumference. The population is large and wealthy, inhabiting charming country seats. Continuing northward about two miles is the village of Middlehope, formerly known as Middletown. It is the center of a prosperous fruit section where many varieties of fruit originated with men foremost in pomology. North of this settlement is Cedar Hill Cemetery. The grounds are from the design of August Hepp, and are under the control of the Cedar Hill Cemetery Association, which was organized in 1870, mainly through efforts of Enoch Carter. Roseton, four miles north of Newburgh, on the banks of the Hudson, was named after John C. Rose, who established extensive brick yards here in 1883. Brick yards have multiplied in this section, and destroyed the natural attractions of a once pretty cove. The Dans Kammer, a promontory just beyond, marks the northern extremity of Newburgh Bay. Hampton, now known as Cedar Cliff Post-office, is a landing on the Hudson, adjoining the Ulster County boundary line. Savilton, formerly Rossville, is a small district eight miles northwest of Newburgh city, named from Alexander Ross. Gardnertown is a small settlement four miles northwest of the city, and was named from the old and numerous family of Gardners who settled there.

Orange Lake, now a noted summer resort, was called by the early settlers Dutch Bennin Water, and later Machen's Pond, from Captain Machen, an engineer employed by Congress in 1777 in erecting fortifications in the Highlands and stretching the huge obstructing chain across the Hudson. It was also called Big Pond as distinct from Little Pond in New Windsor. The lake covers about four hundred acres and is kept well fed by creeks and large springs. Numerous cottages dot its shores, and an amusement park is conducted under the management of the Orange County Traction Company. Extensive improvements were made in 1907, including the erection of a large theatre and other buildings.

Quassaick Creek is a fine stream entering the Hudson between Newburgh city and New Windsor, and is formed by the united waters of Orange Lake outlet and Fostertown and Gidney's Creeks. It has supplied many mills and factories with power.

King's Hill is a high boundary elevation in the northwest part of the town affording an extensive view in all directions. Bacon Hill is another, north from King's Hill, at the edge of the town. Limestone Hill is a ridge running north and south two miles northwest of the city.

Fostertown Creek, one of the tributaries of Quassaick Creek, is a small stream which rises in Ulster County and drains a narrow valley several miles in extent. Bushfield Creek also rises in Ulster and is one of the streams which feed Orange Lake.

EARLY INCIDENTS.

Among the "remarkable incidents" of early times mentioned by Eager, are the following: In 1803 the formation of a Druid society, composed, it was said, wholly of deists, whose proceedings were secret. In January, 1805, a son of Warren Scott, 14 years old, was torn in pieces by wolves in the west part of the town while feeding his father's sheep. The wolves at this time also came down and killed sheep near the village of Newburgh. In 1816 the owners of the Newburgh ferry first used a horse boat, and on August 13th of that year the boat Jason Rogers crossed the river with two horses attached to a coach and a wagon, seventeen chaises and horses, another horse and fifty passengers. In 1817 government officers inspected ninety tons of cannon made by Mr. Townsend on Chamber's Creek, and all proved good. They were the first manufactured in the State, and were of sterling ore from the town of Monroe. November 24, 1824, the schooner Neptune, on the way from New York to Newburgh, was upset and sunk, and the most of her fifty or more passengers were drowned. She had forty or fifty tons of plaster on board, and the heavy wind shifted it, which caused the accident.

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