Until after the conquest of New York by the English in 1664 Holland methods of government, with a local government for each town, prevailed. The next year the English introduced courts and sheriffs. In 1682 Thomas Dongan was appointed governor, with directions to organize a council of not more than ten "eminent inhabitants," and issue writs for the election by freeholders of a general assembly, the members of which should consult with the governor and his council as to what laws were necessary for the good government of the province. The first meeting of the first general assembly was in New York in 1683, and it passed fourteen acts, which were assented to by the governor and his council. One of them established twelve counties, as follows: New York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Richmond, Westchester, Albany, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Duke's and Cornwall.
Except Orange, to be in the care of New York, and Ulster, to be in the care of Dutchess, the counties were to be entitled to representation in future general assemblies. Another act established town courts to be held for the trial of minor cases each month; county courts and courts of sessions, to be held quarterly or half-yearly; a general court of oyer and terminer, with original and appellate power, to be held twice a year in each county; and a court of chancery, or supreme court, composed of the governor and his council, for which the governor was empowered to deputize a chancellor to act in his place.
This was the system of administering justice eight years. Then, in 1691, Courts of Justices of Peace were organized in each town, and Courts of Common Pleas for each county. In 1701 an act was passed requiring justices of the peace in each county to meet once a year at a Court of Sessions, to examine and allow necessary charges against the county and its towns.
There were supervisors, assessors and collectors in each town from the first, and in 1691 the freeholders of each town were empowered to choose three surveyors to lay out and look after highways and fences, and also to ordain laws and rules for the improvement of village, pasturage and other lands.
Such were the laws which directed the early administration of government in Orange County.
For many years previous to 1701 Orange County shared in serious corruptions and frauds which were prevalent in the province. The Assembly which convened in 1698 was so turbulent and brought so much confusion into its councils that Governor Bellomont, who succeeded Governor Fletcher that year, dissolved it and ordered a new election, taking care that the untrustworthy sheriffs of his predecessor were retired from the management. Protests were made to the King, but without avail. The Governor had been clothed with power to correct abuses, to veto any law, and "to adjourn, prorogue and dissolve the Assembly." The new Assembly, which consisted of seven Englishmen and fourteen Dutchmen, instituted some important reforms. It nullified grants to large tracts of lands, regulated election methods, and provided punishments for frauds. Unfortunately Governor Bellomont died in 1701, before some of his plans could be carried into effect, and Lord Cornbury was appointed as his successor, and acquired the distinction of being "the worst of all the Governors under the English crown." He was notoriously ill-mannered, dishonest, rapacious, and openly vicious. The Assembly refused grants of money which he asked for, and asserted the rights of the people, declaring that they could not "be justly divested of their property without their consent." Thus began in New York the preliminary struggle which brought on the Revolution, ending in the establishment of the Republic, in which the representatives of Orange earnestly assisted.
The first sessions of the Court of Common Pleas and of justices of the peace as a Board of Supervisors were held in Orangetown in April, 1703. The court justices were William Merritt and John Merritt. The supervisors were William and John Merritt, Cornelius Cypher, Tunis Van Ronton, Thomas Burroughs and Michael Hawdon. The sheriff was John Perry, the clerk was William Haddleston, and the constable was Conradt Hanson. Orange and Ulster County people were then required to do their surrogate business in New York. This was continued until 1751, when the Court of Common Pleas of the county was empowered to take proof of wills and grant letters of administration. The Court of Common Pleas was an institution of the county until 1847, when the County Court was substituted. The Supreme Court began holding sessions in Orange in 1704, and was succeeded by Circuit Courts established under the Constitution of 1821, as these were by the judicial system of 1846, consisting of a Supreme Court, Circuit Court, and Court of Oyer and Terminer. Surrogate's Courts were not established until 1854. In 1727 the original county was divided into two court districts, and the sessions were held alternately in Orangetown and Goshen, the former being the shire town. Not until 1798 was Goshen made the shire town, when the sessions alternated between Goshen and Newburgh, an arrangement which still continues.
The first public buildings for the original county were constructed at Orangetown in 1703. In 1740 a building of wood and stone for court house and jail was erected in Goshen, at a cost of 100 pounds, and was torn down about 1776. a new stone court-house having been erected in 1773 to take its place, at a cost of 1,400 pounds. The old Orange court-house had been replaced by a new structure in 1704, and some years afterward was destroyed by fire. The Goshen building came into the present county when it was reorganized under the Act of 1775. It was two stories high, with a court-room on the second floor, and on the first a sheriff's office and dwelling, and a dungeon for prisoners. During the Revolution Tories and war prisoners were confined in it, one of them being John Hett Smith, arrested for complicity in Arnold's treason, and who managed to escape. A third story was added to this building about 1800, and on the new floor were a main jail room, a dungeon with one grated window which could be completely darkened, and three other rooms for the county clerk, surrogate and jailer respectively. Above were a cupola and bell. Court-houses were erected in Goshen and Newburgh in 1842, by authority of an act of the Legislature, the Newburgh building at a cost of $17,000 and the Goshen building at a cost of $13,000. The latter structure has been completely remodeled lately, and is now a fine, up-to-date building. The county clerk's office in Goshen—a one-story brick building—was constructed in 1851. and the building there for the surrogate and supervisors in 1874, at a cost of $7,400.
The county house for the poor, four miles south of Goshen, was built in 1830 at a cost of $11,000 for the building and $1,000 for 128 acres of land. The building has since been improved and is now 50 by 100 feet and 3-1/2 stories high. In 1848 a building for the insane was added, which is 30 by 50 feet, and in 1865 a separate building for colored people was erected. In 1875 another building for the chronic insane was erected, the cost of which was $20,000, and its dimensions 80 by 40 feet and 4-1/2 stories high. The farm has been increased to 263 acres, 200 of which are tillable, and has been provided with the requisite outbuildings.
In the section of Orange County taken from Ulster the first two companies of militia were organized before 1738. The regiment to which they were attached consisted of nine companies, located as follows: Kingston 3, Marbletown 1, Wallkill 1, Hurley 1, Rochester 1, New Paltz 1, Highlands 1.
The regimental officers were: Colonel, A. Gaasbeck Chambers; lieutenant-colonel, Wessel Ten Broeck; major, Coenradt F. Elmendorf; quartermaster, Cornelius Elmendorf.
The following lists give the names of the officers and privates in the territory which is now a part of Orange County:
Foot Company of the Highlands.
Officers: Captain, Thomas Ellison; ensign, John Young; sergeants, David Davids, Moses Gariston, P. McCloghery; corporals, Jacobus Bruyn, James Stringham; Jonah Hazard; clerk, Charles Clinton.
The names of the privates were as follows:
Total, 85.
Joseph Chadwick
Company of the Wallkill.
Officers: Captain, John Bayard; lieutenant, William Borland; ensign, William Kelso; sergeant, John Newkirk; corporal, John Miller.
The names of the privates were as follows:
Total, 114.
The following, found in the records of the original County of Orange, is entitled "A List of Officers Belonging to the Regiment of Foot Militia in the County of Orange, in the Province of New York," and is dated June 20, 1738:
Officers of Foot Militia.
Colonel, Vincent Mathews; lieutenant-colonel, Solomon Carpenter; major, George Remsen; adjutant, Michael Jackson; quartermaster, James Thompson.
First Company: Captain, Ram. Remsen; lieutenant, Cornelius Smith; ensign, Ebenezer Smith. Three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, sixty-three private men. In all, 73.
Second Company: Captain, Samuel Odell; lieutenant, Henry Cuyper; ensign, Benjamin Allison. Three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, fifty-eight private men. In all, 68.
Third Company: Captain, John Holly; lieutenant, Michael Dunning; ensign, Sol. Carpenter, Jr. Three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, one hundred and eleven private men. In all, 121.
Fourth Company: Captain, Jacobus Swartwout; lieutenant, Johannes Westbrook; ensign, Johannes Westbrook, Jr. Three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, fifty-five private men. In all, 65.
Fifth Company: Captain, Nathaniel Du Bois: lieutenant, David Southerland; ensign, Isaac Hennion. Three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, sixty-three private men. In all, 73.
Sixth Company: Captain, Abraham Haring, Jr.; lieutenant, Garret Beanvelt; ensign, John Haring. Three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, sixty-two private men. In all, 72.
Seventh Company: Captain, Jacob Vanderbilt; lieutenant, Andrew Onderdonk; ensign, Aaron Smith. Three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, fifty private men. In all, 60.
Troop of Horse: Captain, Henry Youngs; lieutenant, William Mapes; cornet, Michael Jackson. Two sergeants, two corporals, one trumpeter, fifty-two private men. In all, 60.
Total officers and soldiers, 595; sub-officers, 56 foot.
In 1756 the Ulster regiment was divided into two regiments. Kingston was included in the northern one, and the southern was embraced in the precincts of Highlands, Wallkill and Shawangunk. These regiments took part in the French and Indian War.
In September, 1773, the officers of the Southern Regiment were: Colonel, Thomas Ellison; lieutenant-colonel, Charles Clinton; major, Cadwallader Colden, Jr.; adjutant, Johannes Jansen.
In 1775 the New York Provincial Congress passed a law for organizing militia which provided that counties, cities and precincts should be divided, so that a company might be formed in each district to consist of about 85 men, including officers, between the ages of 16 and 50 years; that these should be formed into regiments of from five to ten companies each; that the regiments should be classed in six brigades, under a brigadier-general and brigade major, and the entire force should be commanded by a major-general.
The Fourth Brigade when formed consisted of five Orange County regiments, the colonels of which were William Allison of Goshen, Jesse Woodhull of Cornwall, John Hathorn of Warwick, A. Hawkes Hay of Orangetown, and Abraham Lent of Haverstraw. The four Ulster County regiments were commanded by Johannes Hardenberg of Kingston, James Clinton of New Windsor, Lee Pawling of Marbletown, and Jonathan Hasbrouck of Newburgh.
Colonel Allison's regimental district consisted of Goshen and the western part of Orange County. Colonel Hathorn's of Warwick and the southern section, Colonel Woodhulls of Cornwall (then including Monroe and Blooming Grove), Colonel Hasbrouck's of Newburgh, Marlborough and Shawangunk, and Colonel Clinton's of Windsor, Montgomery, Crawford and Wallkill. The other four regiments belonged to territory now outside of the county.
Colonel Allison's Regiment.
William Allison, colonel; Benjamin Tusten, lieutenant-colonel.
Goshen Company, 1775: George Thompson, captain; Joseph Wood and Coe Gale, lieutenants; Daniel Everett, Jr., ensign. In 1776 Lieutenant Coe and Ensign Everett were transferred to a minute company, and in their places William Thompson was appointed second lieutenant and Phineas Case, ensign.
Wawayanda Company, 1775: William Blair, captain; Thomas Wisner and Thomas Sayne, Jr., lieutenants; Richard Johnson, ensign.
Drowned Lands Company, 1775: Samuel Jones, Jr., captain; Peter Gale and Jacob Dunning, lieutenants; Samuel Webb, ensign.
Chester Company, 1775: John Jackson, captain; John Wood and James Miller, lieutenants; James Parshal, ensign.
Pochuck Company, 1775: Ebenezer Owen, captain; Increase Holly and John Bronson, lieutenants; David Rogers, ensign. In 1776: Increase Holly, captain; David Rogers and James Wright, lieutenants; Charles Knapp, ensign.
Wallkill Company, 1775: Gilbert Bradner, captain; Joshua Davis and James Dolson, lieutenants; Daniel Finch, ensign.
Minisink Company, 1775: Moses Kortright, captain: Jolin Van Tile and Johannes Decker, lieutenants; Ephraim Medaugh, ensign. In 1777 Martinus Decker became second lieutenantviceJohannes Decker.
Colonel Hathorn's Regiment.
John Hathorn, colonel.
Warwick Company, 1775: Charles Beardsley, captain; Richard Welling and Samuel Lobdell, lieutenants; John Price, ensign. In 1776 John Minthorn became captain in place of Beardsley, deceased; Nathaniel Ketcham and George Vance, lieutenants; John Benedict, ensign.
Pond Company, 1775: Henry Wisner, Jr., captain; Abraham Dolson, Jr., and Peter Bartholf, lieutenants; Matthew Dolson, ensign. In 1776: Abraham Dolson, Jr., captain; Peter Bartholf and John Hopper, lieutenants; Mathias Dolson, ensign. In 1777: Peter Bartholf, captain; John De Bow and Anthony Finn, lieutenants; Joseph Jewell, ensign.
Sterling Company, 1776: John Norman, captain; Solomon Finch and William Fitzgerald, lieutenants; Elisha Bennett, ensign. In 1777: Henry Townsend, captain; William Fitzgerald and Elisha Bennett, lieutenants; Joseph Conkling, ensign.
Florida Company, 1775: Nathaniel Elmer, captain; John Popino, Jr., and John Sayre, lieutenants; Richard Bailey, ensign. In 1776: John Kennedy, lieutenant,vicePopino. In 1777: John Sayre, captain; John Kennedy and Richard Bailey, lieutenants; John Wood, ensign.
Wantage Company, 1775: Daniel Rosekrans, captain; Janus Clark and Jacob Gale, lieutenants; Samuel Cole, ensign.
Colonel Wooodhull's Regiment.
Jesse Woodhull, colonel; Elihu Marvin, lieutenant-colonel; Nathaniel Strong and Zachariah Du Bois, majors: William Moffat, adjutant; Nathaniel Satterly, quartermaster.
Oxford Company, 1775: Archibald Little, captain; Birdseye Youngs and Thomas Horton, lieutenants; Nathan Marvin, ensign. In 1777: Thomas Horton, captain; Josiah Seeley, first lieutenant; Nathan Marvin, second lieutenant; Barnabas Horton, Jr., ensign.
Clove Company, 1775: Jonathan Tuthill, captain; John Brewster, Jr., and Samuel Strong, lieutenants; Francis Brewster, ensign.
Bethlehem Company, 1775: Christopher Van Duzer, captain; William Roe and Obadiah Smith, lieutenants; Isaac Tobias, ensign. In 1776: Gilbert Weeks, ensign.
Upper Clove Company, 1775: Garrett Miller, captain; Asa Buck and William Horton, lieutenants; Aaron Miller, ensign.
Woodbury Clove Company, 1775: Francis Smith, captain; Thomas Smith and Alexander Galloway, lieutenants; John McManus, ensign. In 1776: John McManus, second lieutenant; Thomas Lammoreux, ensign.
Southwest Company, 1775: Stephen Slote, captain; George Galloway and John Brown, lieutenants; David Rogers, ensign.
Blooming Grove Company, 1775: Silas Pierson, captain; Joshua Brown and David Reeve, lieutenants; Phineas Heard, ensign.
Light Horse Company, 1776: Ebenezer Woodhull, captain; James Sayre, lieutenant; William Heard, cornet; Azariah Martin, second master.
Colonel Hasbrouck's Regiment.
Jonathan Hasbrouck, colonel; Johannes Hardenburgh, Jr., lieutenant-colonel; Johannes Jansen, Jr., and Lewis Du Bois, majors; Abraham Schoonmaker, adjutant; Isaac Belknap, quartermaster.
Clark's Newburgh Company, June 8, 1788: Samuel Clark, captain; James Denton and Martin Wygant, lieutenants; Munson Ward, ensign; William Albertson, Isaac Brown, Ebenezer Gidney and Hope Mills, sergeants; Hugh Stevenson, Isaac Demott, John Simson and William Palmer, corporals; Sol Buckingham, drummer.
Conklin's Newburgh Company, May 4, 1778: Jacob Conklin, captain; Jacob Lawrence and David Guion, lieutenants; John Crowell, ensign; Robert Erwin, Robert Ross, John Lawrence and Abraham Strickland, sergeants; Jacob Strickland, corporal; Abraham Smith, drummer.
Smith's Newburgh Company, April 24, 1779: Arthur Smith, captain; Isaac Fowler and John Foster, lieutenants; William Conklin, John Kniffin, James Clark and Reuben Holmes, sergeants; William Smith, William Michael and Samuel Griggs, corporals.
Colonel Clinton's Regiment.
James Clinton, colonel; James McClaughry, lieutenant-colonel; Jacob Newkirk and Moses Phillips, majors; George Denniston, adjutant; Alexander Trimble, quartermaster.
Eastern New Windsor Company, 1775: John Belknap, captain; Silas Wood and Edward Falls, lieutenants; James Stickney, ensign.
Western New Windsor Company, 1776: James Humphrey, captain; James Karnaghan, second lieutenant; Richard Wood, ensign.
New Windsor Village Company, 1775: John Nicoll, captain; Francis Mandeville and Hezekiah White, lieutenants; Leonard D. Nicoll, ensign.
First Hanover Company, 1775: Matthew Felter, captain; Henry Smith and Johannes Newkirk, Jr., lieutenants; William Crist, ensign.
Second Hanover Company, 1775: William Jackson, captain; Arthur Parks and James McBride, lieutenants; Andrew Neeley, ensign.
Third Hanover Company, 1775: Cadwallader C. Colden, captain; James Milligan and John Hunter, lieutenants; Matthew Hunter, ensign.
Fourth Hanover Company, 1775: John J. Graham, captain; Samuel Barkley and Joseph Crawford, lieutenants; James McCurdy, ensign.
Fifth Hanover Company, 1775: John Gillespie, captain; Jason Wilkins and Robert Hunter, Jr., lieutenants; Samuel Gillespie, ensign.
First Wallkill Company, 1775: Samuel Watkins, captain; David Crawford and Stephen Harlow, lieutenants; Henry Smith, ensign.
Second Wallkill Company, 1775: William Faulkner, Jr., captain; Edward McNeal and John Wilkins, lieutenants; John Faulkner, ensign.
Third Wallkill Company, 1775: Isaiah Velie, captain; Israel Wickham and John Dunning, lieutenants; Jonathan Owen, ensign.
Fourth Wallkill Company, 1775: William Denniston, captain; Benjamin Velie and Joseph Gillet, lieutenants; David Corwin, Jr., ensign.
Of the Hanover companies the First had been known as Captain Newkirk's Company, the Second as Captain Goldsmith's, the Third as Captain Colden's, the Fourth as Captain Crage's, and the Fifth as Captain Galatian's.
Of Wallkill companies the First was located on the east side of the Wallkill, the Second on the west side, between the Wallkill and Little Shawangunk Kill, the Third south of the Second, between the Wallkill and the Little Shawangunk, and the fourth northwest of Little Shawangunk Kill.
During the service of these organizations in the War of the Revolution there were many changes in the commands. They were home guards. In case of alarm, invasion or insurrection, the companies were instructed to march and oppose the enemy, and immediately send an express to the commander of the regiment or brigade, who was to control their movements.
Under a law passed by the Continental Congress in May, 1775, three companies of minute men were raised in the southern district of Ulster, with the following officers:
Newburgh Minute Company: Uriah Drake, captain; Jacob Lawrence and William Ervin, lieutenants; Thomas Dunn, ensign.
New Windsor Minute Company: Samuel Logan, captain; John Robinson, ensign; David Mandeville and John Scofield, sergeants.
Hanover Minute Company: Peter Hill, captain; James Latta and Nathaniel Hill, lieutenants; William Goodyear, ensign.
These companies and one organized in Marlborough formed a regiment which was officered as follows:
Thomas Palmer, colonel; Thomas Johnston, Jr., lieutenant-colonel; Arthur Parks, first major; Samuel Logan, second major; Isaac Belknap, quartermaster.
Another regiment was formed from two companies organized in Goshen and Cornwall, with the following officers:
Cornwall Minute Company: Thomas Moffat, captain; Seth Marvin and James Little, lieutenants; Nathan Strong, ensign, who was succeeded by William Bradley.
Goshen Minute Company: Moses Hetfield, captain; Cole Gale and Daniel Everett, lieutenants. Later James Butler and William Barker were chosen lieutenants and William Carpenter ensign.
The officers of the regiment were:
Isaac Nicoll, colonel; Gilbert Cooper, lieutenant-colonel; Henry V. Verbeyck, first major; Hezekiah Howell, Jr., second major; Ebenezer Woodhull, adjutant; Nehemiah Carpenter, quartermaster.
Both of these regiments of minute men were on duty in the Highlands in 1775-6; but the system did not work satisfactorily, and in June, 1776, Congress repealed the law.
Three drafts were made in 1776 to reinforce the army—in June, July and September. Under the first draft Orange County sent three companies and Ulster four to the vicinity of New York City, as a part of General John Morin Scott's Brigade. The second draft took one-fourth of the militia under Colonels Nicoll and Pauling, constituting a brigade under General George Clinton. By the third sixty-two men were drawn from Colonel Hasbrouck's Regiment, and were a part of 600 men which reinforced the garrisons at Forts Clinton and Montgomery.
In July, 1776, companies of rangers were organized for the protection of the frontiers, and three of them were raised in Ulster County, under Captains Isaac Belknap of Newburgh, Jacob De Witt of Deer Park, and Elias Hasbrouck of Kingston.
Of the four "Continental" Regiments organized in 1775 to serve six months, the one commanded by Colonel James Clinton was largely composed of Orange and Ulster County men. Orange furnished two companies—Captain Daniel Denton's of Goshen and Captain John Nicholson's of New Windsor. The four regiments were in the expedition to Canada in 1775.
Under a call by Congress of January 8, 1776, for troops to reinforce the army in Canada, New York furnished one battalion. A second call was made on January 19, under which New York was required to furnish four.
Samuel Brandt
The French and Indian War was the result of rivalry between France and England for the possession of disputed territories in North America, and the Indians along the Delaware and other frontiers became allies of the French because they believed they had been cheated by the English and Dutch colonists, and were stimulated to hostility against them by French agents.
In 1754 England directed her colonies to oppose with arms the encroachments of the French, although the two nations were then at peace, and obedience to this command from the crown brought on the cruel war of 1755. In February of that year New York voted 40,000 pounds sterling to defray war expenses, and ordered a levy of 800 men to co-operate with troops of other colonies in the impending struggle. The law also declared that slaves were liable to military duty, and if over 14 years of age they were forbidden to be found more than a mile from their master's residence without his certificate of permission, and "if one of them were so found any white person might kill him without being liable to prosecution."
Along the Delaware River the Indians had been complaining that the whites appropriated lands which they had not bought, and by getting them drunk had defrauded them of the purchase money for their lands and their furs. These complaints led the Pennsylvania proprietaries to call a council, with the head chiefs of the Six Nations as arbitrators, and by bribing these chiefs with presents they obtained from them a decision which obliged the Delawares, then wards of the Senecas, to give up their lands and move to Wyoming. Soon whites followed them and bought in fraudulent ways their Wyoming lands. This angered the Senecas, and they drove away their chief who had aided the whites, and bade the Delawares defend their homes. The eastern and western chiefs met at Allegheny, rehearsed their grievances, and resolved on vengeance. The bloody scenes that followed have seldom been surpassed in barbarous cruelty and cunning, and the ravages of the Minsis were mostly confined to the western frontiers of Orange and Ulster Counties within the limits of the original Minisink patent.
The settlers of the Minisink observed that the Indians there, including squads who had been friendly, had suddenly disappeared, and the few that remained said they had gone west to join hostile tribes. Foreseeing trouble, some of the settlers sent their wives and children to places of comparative safety, and a well-settled region on the west side of the Wallkill, eight by fifteen miles in extent, was abandoned, some of the residents moving to the east side and others far away. Before they moved seven men and one woman had been killed by the Indians. In 1756, pending negotiations for peace, four men and two women were killed in the Minisink. Three of the men went into the harvest field with their guns and laid them down, when concealed Indians seized them, shot the men dead and scalped them. At Fort Westfall, which the Indians tried to capture by surprise, there was a fight in which several Indians and seven soldiers were killed. A large party of Indians attacked the upper fort at Neversink, which was well garrisoned, but the fort took fire from a burning barn near it, and its inmates had to leave. Only one of them escaped the Indian bullets and tomahawks, and among the killed was the wife of the captain, who was absent. Only a colored woman, hidden from view by the smoke, escaped. The captain returned a day or two afterwards, and took an oath of vengeance by the grave of his wife. A man named Owen was killed by strolling Indians in Asa Dolsen's meadow in the northwestern part of present Wawayanda, and Dolsen immediately moved to Goshen. David Cooley lived near him, and his wife was shot dead as she was walking from her house to an outdoor oven. In 1758, on the New Jersey frontier, one day, when Nicholas Cole was absent from home, thirteen Indians rushed in, tomahawked and scalped his two daughters and a son-in-law, and carried off his wife and a young son. When Cole returned the Indians were followed and frightened, and allowed the wife and boy to escape. In June of the same year a sergeant and several men went from Wawarsing block-house to Minisink, and not returning, a large party went in search of them and found seven killed and scalped, and three wounded, and that a woman and four children had been carried off. About this time a house containing seventeen persons was beset by Indians and all of them were killed. They carried off a little son of Mr. Westfall in Minisink, and he never saw his father again, but when the latter died, he came back with an interpreter after his inheritance. The persuasions and pecuniary offers of his mother could not induce him to abandon his life in the wilderness.
It was in 1758 that Governor Hardy caused a series of block-houses to be erected along the western frontier, which were a protection for the whites and a restraint to the Indians. In the latter part of that year negotiations with the head chief of the Delawares, Teedyusking, stopped hostilities for a time. The Minsis were paid for their lands in the Minisink, and the titles of the proprietaries were referred to the Government for adjustment. But subsequently "the Indian allies of the French" held the frontier in terror until after the fall of Montreal and Quebec, when all of French Canada was transferred to British authority.
In an address before the Newburgh Historical Society in 1885, E. M. Ruttenber said:
"In common with its associate regiments in Orange and Ulster, Colonel Ellison's Regiment had no little service in the French and Indian War of 1756, on the western frontier of the county, where the Minsis were scattering firebrands and death in their rebellion against the domination of the Six Nations, and for the recovery of the lands in the Minisink patent, of which they had been defrauded, and in 1757 marched to Fort Edward to aid Sir William Johnston. How great was the service performed or by whom personally we may never know. The depredations of the Minsis were terrible; the settlements west of the Wallkill were perpetually harassed, and many of them broken up; men were killed in the fields and in their houses; women and children became the victims of the scalping knife."
Colonel Ellison wrote in 1757:
"It is but too well known by the late numerous murders committed on our borders that the County of Ulster and the north end of Orange have become the only frontier part of the province left unguarded and exposed to the cruel incursions of the Indian enemy, and the inhabitants of these parts have been obliged to perform very hard military duty for these two years past, in ranging the woods and guarding the frontiers, these two counties keeping out almost constantly from fifty to one hundred men—sometimes by false detachments of the militia, and at other times by voluntary subscriptions—nay, often two hundred men, which has been an insupportable burden on the people, and yet all the militia of these parts are ordered to march to Fort Edward, while the officers had no orders to guard the frontier."
Mention may be made here of a famous character of the Minisink. whose unequaled career of revenge against Indians began during the French and Indian War. His name was Thomas Quick. His father was kind and hospitable to the Indians, and was shot dead while at work in his field by some of them whom he had entertained. Thomas, who was near him, and was then almost a youth, managed to escape. Over his father's grave he took an oath to avenge his death, and afterward to kill Indians became the passion of his life. It was said that he shot eighty-seven of them, the last one being the chief murderer of his father. He went by the name of "the Indian slayer." He was marvelously alert and cunning, escaped all of the many efforts of Indians to kill him, and finally died of old age. A monument has been erected to his memory in Milford, Pa.
The most interesting period of our national history was its beginnings in protests against oppressive demands and acts by the mother country, followed by a revolutionary resort to arms, and in these beginnings Orange County took a conspicuous part.
The non-importation resolutions adopted by the Continental Congress in 1774 drew the line of issue between Great Britain and her North American colonies, which started the war for independence. Perhaps their most significant feature was a call for the organization of committees of safety in every city, county, precinct and town. In the original County of Orange the people had held a convention in Goshen, which sent a delegate, Henry Wisner, to Congress, who voted for and signed the non-importation resolutions; and in the towns of Newburgh, New Windsor, Hanover, Wallkill and Goshen an opposition pamphlet which had been scattered broadcast was publicly burned and the desired committees of safety promptly selected. On April 29, 1774, the committee in New York drew up a pledge and sent it to all the counties and towns for signatures. The pledge was as follows:
"Persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend, under God, on the firm union of its inhabitants in a vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety; and convinced of the necessity of preventing anarchy and confusion which attend the dissolution of the powers of government, we, the freemen, freeholders and inhabitants of ____ do, in the most solemn manner, resolve never to become slaves; and do associate, under all the ties of religion, honor, and love of our country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution whatever measures are recommended by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention, for the purpose of preserving our Constitution, and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on constitutional principles (which we most ardently desire) can be obtained; and that we will in all things follow the advice of our General Committee respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individuals and property."
Fort in Port Jervis
When the signed pledges were returned to the Provincial Convention in New York it invested the committees of safety with power to appoint assessors and collectors, and these, with the committees, were directed to assess, raise and collect the quotas required for the support of the home government, and empowered to enforce collection from defaulters by "distress upon their goods and chattels." They might also arrest persons inimical to the measures which had been or might be taken. These powers were afterward enlarged by Congress, and the committees empowered to suppress the enemies of the revolutionary government. Legislative duties devolved upon the Provincial Convention until 1777, when the first Constitution of New York was adopted, and meanwhile the committees of safety attended to the execution of its laws. Methods differed somewhat in different counties. In Orange the precincts chose committees, and these constituted the county committee. A signature to the pledge formulated by Congress was regarded as evidence of loyalty to the revolutionary cause.
In the precinct lists of the Orange County signers of the pledge the signatures in Goshen embraced the present towns of Goshen, Chester, Warwick, Wawayanda, Greenville, and a part of Blooming Grove; in Mamakating those of Mt. Hope and Deer Park; Cornwall and Highlands were included in Cornwall; in Monroe parts of Blooming Grove and the present county of Rockland; in Newburgh, New Windsor and Wallkill with Newburgh. The signatures by precincts were as follows:
Precinct of Newburgh.