James Edward Wells
On April 18, 1748, an act was passed by the General Assembly providing that "for the time to come, all elections of representatives of the County of Orange to serve in the present or any future General Assembly shall begin and be first opened at the court house in Orange Town, or at the court house or some other convenient place in the town of Goshen."
About this time settlers who had dealings with the sheriff began to find considerable fault with the manner in which mileage charges were computed. On April 8, 1748, an act was passed providing that for all writs and process papers served on inhabitants on the north side of the mountain range called the Highlands, mileage should be computed by the sheriff from the court house in Goshen, and for all papers served on the south side from the court house in Orange Town. The preamble to this act fully explained the situation. It stated: "Whereas the County of Orange is very extensive in length, and by reason of a ridge of mountains across the same, and for the better accommodation of inhabitants, it was found necessary to have two court houses, the one at Goshen on the north, and the other at Orange Town on the south thereof; yet by the sheriff having his residence sometimes at the one and sometimes at the other extreme of the said county, the computation of his fees for mileage in the service of writs hath hitherto been made from the place of the sheriff's abode, which has been found to be very inconvenient and burdensome to the parties concerned."
Military Matters.
When the French and Indian War began in 1756 the men of Goshen were continually under arms. The old Journal of the Assembly relates the services of Captain George De Kay as express between Goshen and Minisink. It mentions as his guards Peter Carter, David Benjamin, Philip Reid and Francis Armstrong. It tells also of the payment of nearly 100 pounds to Colonel Vincent Mathews for furnishing guides to regulars posted at Goshen from October, 1757, to February, 1758, and refers to the work of Colonels Clinton and De Kay in laying out block houses for the settlers' defense. Mention is also made of the payment of 56 pounds to Samuel Gale for provisions furnished troops on the frontiers near Goshen; and of reimbursing Colonel Benj. Tusten, Captain Daniel Case and Captain J. Bull for money advanced in building block houses Nos. 1 and 2 on the western frontier in January, 1757.
In 1763, Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden appealed to the General Assembly for troops to relieve the militia on the borders of Orange and Ulster which were infested by the enemy. At this time the town of Goshen extended from the Hudson to New Jersey. In 1764 a bill was passed dividing the precinct of Goshen into two precincts, to be called Goshen and Cornwall. After this division Cornwall embraced the present towns of Cornwall, Monroe and Blooming Grove, while Goshen included the present town of Warwick.
During the years prior to the Revolution when the colonists were growing desperate under the exactions of King George, patriotism and valor were manifested to a marked degree in Goshen. On June 8, 1775, over 360 men signed the Revolutionary pledge at Goshen and the name of Henry Wisner headed the list. The Reverend Nathan Ker, an ardent patriot, and the fourth pastor of the Goshen Presbyterian Church, who came to Goshen in the fall of 1766, and remained until his death, December 14, 1804, on one occasion is said to have dismissed his congregation in the midst of a Sunday service to prepare food for a troop of horse that had halted on the way to Philadelphia. Once General George Washington, riding eastward on the Florida road towards his headquarters at Newburgh, stopped with his staff to chat awhile with the children at the old school house near the stone quarry.
NOTABLE EARLY RESIDENTS.
Many of the old families of Goshen to-day are descendants of the patriots who fought in the colonial service and whose names appear on the roster of the Goshen regiment at the battles of Long Island and White Plains, at the struggle in the Highlands, and the capture of Fort Montgomery, as well as in the memorable slaughter of Minisink.
Frederick W. Duvard
The highway between Goshen and Florida, over which Washington rode, is a historic thoroughfare and in Revolutionary days was lined with the homes of famous men. Goshen was then the stronghold of the Whigs. In a stone house nearly opposite the present Sayer homestead, lived Moses Hatfield, a captain, afterwards a major, in the Goshen regiment, who was taken prisoner at a night assault on what is now Randall's Island, on September 23, 1776, and was kept a captive until 1778.
A little further along the way lived Henry Wisner, the elder. He and his son of the same name were makers of powder for the Continental Army at Phillipsburg, between the highway as it now stands and the grist mill near by. Traces of the old raceway and mill can still be seen. Another on the opposite side of the stream, and one at Craigville, operated in conjunction with John Carpenter, were also erected by Henry Wisner. The Sons of the Revolution arranged some years ago to mark the site of the Phillipsburg powder mill by an historical tablet.
Henry Wisner stood foremost among those who advocated the independence of the colonies. He represented Orange County in the Continental Congress which declared that "these States are, and of right ought to be, free." His son Gabriel, hardly past his majority, was slain in the slaughter of Minisink. On the 16th of August, 1774, Henry Wisner was chosen as one of the delegates to represent Orange County in the Continental Congress held in Philadelphia in September of that year. The election was by the committee of the county held at the house of Stephen Slot and the purpose was for the delegate to attend at Philadelphia "to consult on proper measures to be taken for procuring the redress of our grievances."
A question was raised as to the regularity of this election and a meeting of the inhabitants of the precincts of Goshen and Cornwall was held at Chester on September 3, 1774, at which Henry Wisner was chosen to go to Philadelphia "in order to meet the rest of the delegates and consult on proper measures to be taken with respect to the claims made by the British Parliament of taxing America in all cases whatsoever."
William Wickham was a prominent citizen of Goshen, and his attitude was one of extreme loyalty to the crown. With other adherents of the king he attempted to set aside the election of Wisner. The correspondence, which still exists, shows that political feeling was very bitter. The scheme came to naught and Wisner took his seat. In April, 1776, he was elected by a convention held at New York City, as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in which he took part, leaving it for the purpose of manufacturing powder for Washington's tattered army.
Mr. Wisner's signature may still be found in the list at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. He continued in Congress until the memorable 2nd of July, 1776, when the "Resolution of Independency" {sic} was passed. He was heartily in favor of the measure and remained for the purpose of casting his vote for its final passage, had the Provincial Congress of New York given such instructions to its delegates. Tradition affirms that he actually did vote for the "independency" that day. He was not present to sign the Declaration. He had proposed in Congress "a method for the manufacture of saltpeter and gunpowder" which had been approved, and in agreement with which he was requested or appointed to build works and prepare powder for the "Army of the North." To do this he left Philadelphia on the third of July and applied himself to the making of powder. For three years, and until his mill was burned and his fortune exhausted, he continued to supply powder to the American forts and thus beyond any man in the Continental Congress of 1776 contributed to his country's triumph.
On the square at St. James' Place in the village of Goshen stands a monument of native Pochuck granite erected to the memory of Henry Wisner by his great granddaughter, Mrs. Frances Wisner Murray, widow of Ambrose Spencer Murray, of Goshen. The monument was dedicated on July 22, 1897, by Dr. John H. Thompson, who presided and Harrison W. Nenny, Esq., who made the dedicatory address.
Adjoining the residence of Henry Wisner, and separated from it by what is now known as Steward's lane, was the home of John Steward, an ardent patriot. He was one of two brothers, John and Walter Stewart, or Steward, the name having been spelled both ways, who came from Ireland to New England about 1740. Walter settled in Rhode Island, where he started a snuff-mill and became the father of Gilbert Stuart, the noted portrait painter, whose unfinished picture of Washington is the likeness that the world knows best to-day. Gilbert after reaching manhood, wrote his name Stuart, because by reason of the fact that his ancestry was by tradition connected with the Jacobite cause, he had a great admiration for "Bonny Prince Charlie."
E. R. Varcoe, D.D.S.
The tradition was that, at the time of one of the early Jacobite risings, a nurse in charge of two young children appeared in Belfast, Ireland. They came from Scotland and the woman immediately on arriving fell ill of small-pox and died refusing to tell anything about the children except that their names were John and Walter Stewart, and that they were the sons of a man of rank who would soon come for them. She had with her no money but some fine jewels, no one ever came to claim the children, but as it is recorded in history that some Jacobite families are known to have been exterminated in their bloody and unfortunate battles, this may have been the fate of the relatives of these boys, too young to tell anything about themselves. They were brought up by a man, appointed their guardian. He treated them harshly and as soon as grown they left him and came to try their fortune in a new land. John first acquired some property in Boston, which he left in his will to his son Nathan, but soon came to Goshen and settled there, buying in 1744 eighty acres of land, "and the houses thereon" from William Jayne. From this it appears that the Steward house may have been erected previous to 1744, but "houses thereon" may have been a mere legal term, and the house was probably built by John Steward. It is certain, however, that it has been standing since 1744. He bought more land, about 120 acres in all, at a later date. To farming John Steward joined the occupation of blacksmith, erecting a little to the left of his house a forge, which was in operation as early as 1758, the family having still in their possession, a deed of sale bearing that date of a slave named Tite, warranted to be a good blacksmith. Later at this forge, John Steward II, during the Revolutionary war made sabers and bayonets for the Continental Army.
John Steward I, married Elizabeth Bradner, the daughter of Rev. John Bradner, first settled clergyman in Goshen. As John Bradner was the father of nine children, viz., Calvin, John, Benoni, Gilbert, Susanna, Mary, Sarah, Christian and Elizabeth, and to him many families in Orange County trace their descent, the following may be thought worthy of record. When a young divinity student in Edinburgh, Scotland, John Bradner was employed by a gentleman called Colvill, a Huguenot refugee, as a tutor to his sons. His daughter Christiana shared her brothers' studies and she and the tutor fell in love with each other, but Colvill thought the tutor no match for his daughter, and told her if she married him he would never speak to her again. She put love before duty and having married John Bradner they sailed for America. The voyage occupied six months. Violent storms in which the ship nearly foundered were encountered. These Mrs. Bradner thought were sent by Heaven to punish her for her disregard of her father's wishes. Rev. John Bradner received the degree M.A. from the University of Edinburgh, February 23rd, 1712, was licensed to preach March, 1714, ordained May 6, 1715, pastor of Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, Cape May, N. J., before being called to the church in Goshen, 1721. He died 1732. His widow died 1759. She was well educated in the classics and assisted in preparing her son, Rev. Benoni, for Princeton College. He graduated 1755, was settled in Jamaica, L. I., 1760, and two years after was called to Church Nine Partners, Dutchess County. There is now in the possession of Mrs. M. H. C. Gardner, of Middletown, a piece of a quilt brought from Scotland by Mrs. John Bradner. The colors of the design, birds, fruit and flowers, are as bright as though it was new. John Steward I had eight children and their mother used to relate with pride that never once during their infancy or childhood was she obliged by reason of the illness of one of them to strike a light during the night. John Steward I died in 1770, of a fever then epidemic. In his will he left to his widow, as long as she remained his widow, the use of the best room and the "salon" room. The small adjoining room, now a store closet, was her prayer closet, where she used to retire to pray, as was the good custom of those times.
Her eldest son, John Steward II, although holding no commission in the Continental Army was an ardent patriot, mention being made inRivington's New York Gazette,the Tory organ, that "rebellion in Orange County was continually fomented by those two firebrands, Squire Steward and Old Wisner," the latter being Henry Wisner, member of the Continental Congress and John Steward's friend and neighbor.
John Steward II, who was thirty years younger than Henry Wisner, was a justice of the peace, and a number of Hessian prisoners passing southward through Goshen, probably after the battle of Saratoga, were quartered over night at his house. The common soldiers slept in the barn, but the officers, of whom there were several, were accommodated in the house and on leaving the next morning told Mrs. Steward that the coffee made by her black cook was the best they had tasted since leaving Germany.
General Alfred Neafie
In a house that stood about 100 feet east of the present residence of Campbell Steward, Esq., lived General Reuben Hopkins, whose son, Hanibal, married Elizabeth Steward, daughter of John Steward II. General Hopkins's portrait and his appointment as attorney-at-law dated 1771 and signed by Lord Dunmore, now hang on the walls of the Steward house, which contains other objects of interest, among which may be mentioned an original broadside of the Declaration of Independence addressed to John Steward, Esq., his commission as Major No. 1 of the regiment of militia in the County of Orange, signed by Geo. Clinton in 1798, and a bag of old counterfeit silver Spanish dollars. A band of counterfeiters was arrested in Orange County about the time of the Revolution and they were tried at Goshen, their judges, among whom was Judge Steward, keeping some of the coins as curiosities. In the house can also be seen a small stone hammer presented to the wife of John Steward I, as a token of friendship by a member of a band of Indians who, at the time Steward settled in Goshen, and for some years after, lived in a hickory grove at the rear of his house. His family always made a point of maintaining friendly relations with their savage neighbors, and were never troubled by them, although once during the French and Indian War on an alarm being given that Indians on the war path were approaching Goshen, the family fled to the cedar swamp. It is said that on leaving they looked back for what they feared might be a last look at their house, but the alarm proved a false one. Goshen was spared an Indian massacre and they returned to find their house still standing. The main body of the house, with some minor alterations, is the same to-day as it was in those old Indian days, its cedar shingles, oak beams and large stone chimneys seeming still sound and strong. The house being too small for modern requirements, two wings have been added at different times and the chimney tops rebuilt, but care has been taken to preserve as far as possible every antique feature of the house in its original condition.
During Revolutionary days the inhabitants of Orange County were terrorized by the depredations of Claudius Smith, a notorious outlaw, and his gang of ruffians, who were known as cowboys. Smith was indicted on three charges, one of which was the murder of Major Strong. Rewards were offered by Governor Clinton, and Smith was taken captive at Smithtown, L. I., by Major Brush. He was given into the custody of Colonel Isaac Nichol, sheriff of Orange County, and on January 22, 1779, was publicly executed at the west corner of church park in Goshen, with two other criminals, De La Alar, a burglar, and Gordon, a horse thief. On the gallows near the same spot forty years later two others were publicly put to death for murder.
BATTLE OF MINISINK.
On July 22, 1779, occurred the battle of Minisink, in which the Goshen regiment, under Colonel Tusten, met almost complete annihilation at the hands of nearly 500 Indians and Tories under Joseph Brant, the half-breed chieftain, who was known as Thayendanegea, the Scourge, and held a colonel's commission from George III. The Goshen regiment marched against Brant's forces to avenge a raid made by Brant upon the settlers near Minisink on the 20th of the month. They were joined by a small reinforcement, under Colonel Hathorn, of the Warwick regiment, and the latter assumed command. While marching along the west bank of the Delaware at nine o'clock on the morning of July 22, the Indians were discovered about three-quarters of a mile away and Colonel Hathorn hastened his command in pursuit. Brant, taking advantage of intervening woods and hills made a detour which enabled him to gain the rear of the attacking party, and in the battle which followed the savages completely routed the small force that opposed them. The colonists had little ammunition and this was soon exhausted. A part of them fled, and more were killed in flight than in battle. Colonel Tusten, who was a skillful surgeon, dressed the wounds of his men, and refused to abandon them, staying on the field until he fell. Of the eighty men in the engagement, 44 were killed outright and others died later of their wounds.
Colonel Benjamin Tusten, who was a physician and surgeon by profession, came originally from Southold, L. I., in 1746, at the age of three years. His parents located on the banks of the Otterkill on the patent granted to Elizabeth Denn. His father, Benjamin Tusten, was appointed one of the judges of the courts of the county and also a colonel in the Orange County regiment of militia. The son, Benjamin, was sent to an academy at Jamaica, L. I., and at the age of nineteen returned to Goshen and studied medicine with Doctor Thomas Wiskham. He afterwards studied in Newark, N. J., and New York City, returning in 1769 to practice medicine in Goshen, where two other physicians, Doctor John Gale and Doctor Pierson, had already located. He was very successful and was widely known as a surgeon. He married Miss Brown, by whom he had two sons and three daughters. In 1777 he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Goshen regiment of militia under General Allison, and in 1778 was appointed surrogate of Orange County, which office he held when he lost his life at Minisink.
Alexander C. Sutherland
Captain John Wood, of Colonel Tusten's regiment, was captured in the battle of Minisink, his life being spared by Brant, who in the thick of the battle, thought he saw Wood give a masonic sign. Wood was taken captive and transported to Canada. He left a journal of events following the battle which throws considerable light on the life and character of Brant.
On July 22, 1822, by the influence of Dr. David R. Arnell of Goshen, a monument was erected in the village to the memory of the men who fell at Minisink. It was set up over the bones of the patriots which had been gathered from the battlefield forty-three years after the massacre. On July 22, 1862. a more pretentious monument was dedicated and unveiled, provision for the cost of the same having been made in the will of Dr. Merritt H. Cash, of Minisink.
Goshen village was originally laid out in four lots of eighty acres each. Its original boundaries are not definitely known, as a disastrous fire in 1843 destroyed the town clerk's office, burning up the map of the town and village lots, together with deeds dating from 1714. After these records had been destroyed a new charter was granted on April 18, 1843, fixing the boundaries of the village, which remained under this charter until 1878, when it was abandoned and the village reorganized under the general act. Goshen was incorporated a town on March 28, 1809.
At one time Orange County embraced nearly all the southern part of New York, bordering on the Hudson River. Courts were then held at Orange Town, now in Rockland County. In 1827 they were removed to Goshen. In 1839 the board of supervisors made application to the Legislature to erect a new court house at Goshen. There was considerable opposition from the southern end of the county, which was anxious to secure increased judicial conveniences. As a result, the Legislature effected a compromise, making Goshen and Newburgh joint capitals, and in April, 1841, passed an act authorizing the building of a court house and jail at Goshen and a court house and cells at Newburgh.
IN THE CIVIL WAR.
On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln issued a call for 300,000 volunteers, and Governor Morgan appointed a military committee for Orange County. Hon. Ambrose S. Murray was the Goshen member. As a result of this call the 124th Regiment, afterwards famed as the "Orange Blossoms" was organized. During the period of organization it was encamped at Goshen, where Murray avenue is now located. Enlistments came rapidly and by August 23 it was ready for the field.
The military committee recommended A. Van Home Ellis, of New Windsor, for colonel of the regiment and he accepted the commission. Henry S. Murray was made captain of Co. B, which was composed of Goshen men. On August 26, 1862, the regiment was presented with a stand of colors by the women of Orange County. Hon. Charles H. Winfield made the presentation speech. Afterwards, on behalf of the women of Wawayanda, Miss Charlotte E. Coulter presented the regiment with a pair of embroidered silk guidons.
On-Friday, September 5, the regiment was mustered in and on the following day departed for the front. It fought in many engagements from Manassas Gap to Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and was disbanded at Washington's headquarters in Newburgh, June 16, 1865, leaving a record of 208 service dead and 609 casualties in action.
When the Civil War was at its height and drafts were necessary to supply the depleted ranks of the Union Army, one interesting incident took place at Goshen. The provost marshal general had ordered a draft for the Eleventh District, comprising the counties of Orange and Sullivan, calling for 1,932 men, with 50% added, making a total of 2,898. This draft was to begin at Goshen on Wednesday morning, October 7, 1863. Trouble was feared by certain of the leading citizens, and they asked that troops be sent to the village to prevent rioting. Accordingly on Tuesday evening, October 6, the Fifth Wisconsin Volunteers, under Colonel Allen, arrived in town. The regiment, which originally numbered 1,300, had been reduced by hard service to 450 men. They made their camp on the elevation which is now Prospect avenue, and during the night, trained their cannon to cover the points where crowds would gather in case of rioting. The drawing began on Wednesday and lasted until Saturday and there was no serious disorder. The names were drawn from the wheel by Gabriel Coleman, an aged blind man of the village. Orange County's quota was 2,131, and Sullivan's 767. Goshen furnished 62, of whom three were colored men.
D. Jackson Steward
A table of military statistics compiled just before the close of the war showed that Goshen had furnished men as follows at the Government's call: 30 men in 1861; 113 men in 1862; 104 men in 1863; 51 men in 1864.
On Thursday, September 5, 1907, there was dedicated at Goshen a monument to the service dead of the 124th Regiment. The monument, which weighs nineteen tons, is a bronze figure, "The Standard Bearer," designed by Theo. Alice Ruggles Kitson, a noted sculptress. The figure, eighteen feet in height, stands upon a pedestal of Stony Creek granite, fourteen feet high. The monument was presented to the people of Orange County by Hon. Thomas W. Bradley, of Walden, N. Y., Member of Congress from the Twentieth New York District, in memory of his comrades who died in the service of their country. Mr. Bradley enlisted as a private in the "Orange Blossoms," was promoted to captain, and brevetted major for meritorious service, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, when he volunteered in response to a call, and alone, in the face of a heavy fire of musketry and canister, went across the field of battle and procured ammunition for his comrades.
The presentation was made by Colonel Charles H. Weygant, who commanded the regiment after the commander, Colonel F. M. Cummins, fell wounded. It was accepted for the people by Mr. John J. E. Harrison, chairman of the board of supervisors, a veteran of Co. B, 56th Regiment, U. S. V., who was wounded at Devon's Neck, S. C., December 7, 1864, and who rendered before and after that time valiant service in the Union's cause. It was accepted also by Captain Robert B. Hock, who was the village president, and was then serving his eighteenth consecutive term in that office. He also had been a soldier with a long and honorable record. He enlisted in the regular army as a bugler, some years before the war, and was assigned to the Tenth U. S. Infantry, and sent to Fort Snelling, Minn. He took part in many expeditions against the Mormons, under General Albert Sidney Johnson, afterwards the confederate general killed at Shiloh. Mr. Hock was later sent to the scene of the Mount Meadow massacre and fought in the battle of Ash Hollow under General Hardy. In 1860 he was a pony express rider when Denver was only a tented village. After Fort Sumter was fired on, his old commander General Tracy, asked him to drill recruits at Staten Island. He did this and later performed the same service at Washington. In 1861 he was commissioned lieutenant of Co. E, 12th New York Cavalry, and in 1863 was made captain of Co. F. He was on the Burnside expedition, at Ball's Bluff and in the second battle of Bull Run. On April 17, 1864, he was taken prisoner at Plymouth, N. C., and confined for three weeks in Andersonville, four months at Macon, one month at Savannah, and one month at Charleston. With six brother officers he escaped from prison at Columbia, S. C, and was tracked by bloodhounds. All the others were recaptured, but he, after suffering terribly by privation and exposure, reached the Union lines and was cared for by the Third Tennessee, until able to report to General Dix in New York. In 1865 in a skirmish with General Bragg's troops his horse was shot from under him, and he was caught by Bragg's men and sent to Danville, Va. He made a break for liberty and escaped to the brush, rejoining the Union forces just before Lee's surrender. At Bentonville, in a cavalry charge, his horse was killed and he was thrown among the rebel infantry and captured. The same night he escaped, covering himself with dead leaves, and reporting at his company headquarters in the morning. His comrade in rebel prisons, Lieutenant A. Cooper, dedicated a book of his experiences to Captain Hock.
Charles E. Stickney
The number of acres of land in the town assessed in 1865, was 18,287, at a valuation of $385,600. Personal property $49,850. The number of acres assessed in 1907 is 17,829 at a valuation of $269,485. Personal property, $19,850. A loss in 42 years of 458 acres of land, $116,115 in assessed valuation of real estate, and of $30,000 assessed personal property. The town expenses (town audits) were $619.37, besides $807 for roads and bridges.
In 1855 the town had a population of 1,218. Ten years later it had a population of 1,147; while in 1905 it had only 672 inhabitants, a loss of nearly half compared with its first-named census.
The name was undoubtedly suggested by the beautiful green summer verdure the eastern part of the town exhibits, lying to the sun on the eastern declivity of Shawangunk mountain.
Its boundaries are: Beginning at the corner of the town of Wawayanda line with that of Mount Hope, thence almost due west along the Mount Hope line to that of the town of Deer Park; thence along the Deer Park town line southwest to the New Jersey State line; thence easterly along the said State line to the corner of the Minisink town line; thence northeasterly along the Minisink town line to a point on Castle High Hill near South Centerville; thence northwesterly along the town of Wawayanda town line to a corner; thence northeasterly by north along the said line to the place of beginning.
The first town meeting was held at the house of Jonathan Wood, in Bushville, March 28th, 1854. Bushville then was a village of some importance, but since the near advent of railroads its trade has gone to other places.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The oldest village in the town is no doubt the settlement at Smith's Corners. It was situated on the road which leads along the eastern slope of the Shawangunk mountain from Coleville, N. J., to Otisville, and in early times was a place of some business. Elijah Smith was its founder about the close of the Revolution. Joseph Smith, justice of the peace (see Minisink civil list), in 1813 was a noted man in his day. After the Goshen and Minisink turnpike road was built, and later when (about 1820) a mail route was established through there, the post-office was located at a store which stood where the village of Greenville now is. The post-office was named Minisink, because there was somewhere in the State a post-office already known as Greenville, and this was the nearest post-office to the real Minisink west of the mountain. Two churches, a store and a hotel are located there. The village of Smith's Corner has this year of 1907 been made convenient to travel on account of the new macadam road just built throughout it from Slate Hill to Carpenter's Point.
Lake Maretange, upon which one of the great land patents (Evans) cornered in Colonial days, is now known as Binnewater Pond. It covers about twenty acres of land, and is now so filled with aquatic growths and mud that it has less than half of its original extent. It was once reported to be of great depth. It in early times was famous for its excellent fishing. Its original name was undoubtedly an Indian one. The name Binnewater is a corruption of the German Beninwasser (Inland water). Boudinot creek is its outlet.
The great swamps which once stretched north and east of Smith's Corners were known to early records as "Pakadasink Swamp." They have been largely cleared, drained, and are coming rapidly under cultivation. The Shawangunk Kill whose Indian name was the same as that of the swamp, "Pakadasink" or "Peakadasink," originates from springs in the swamps, and flows northward along the base of the Shawangunk mountain toward Ulster County.
Rutger's creek originates in the watershed south of Greenville village.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Jonathan Wood, justice of the peace as early as 1796, and Timothy Wood (see civil list) resided in Bushville in this town.
John W. Eaton (see civil list) is a descendant of Robert, who came to the town, shortly after the Revolution. Robert had sons, John, William, Robert, and Samuel. There was also an Alexander in the town of about the same generation as Robert's sons, who had a son Thomas. John, the eldest son of Robert, had two sons, Gabriel and Daniel H. The latter during the later years of his life, owned the former David Moore farm now owned by William Creeden, in Wawayanda, where he died. Gabriel, during the later years of his life retired from active life to Unionville, where he owned property and where he died. There seems to have been a James Eaton in the town contemporary with Robert. Their farms constituted what was called Eatontown.
Charles Durland of Long Island settled near Bushville in this town prior to 1800, and it is probable that Moses came into the town soon after he did. Moses lived and died in the town, but Charles bought land, about a mile and a half south of Ridgeberry, where he made a permanent settlement and died there. Thomas T., Steward T., Daniel and Addison were sons of Charles. Steward T. and Daniel became residents of Greenville (see civil list). Garret, John and George A. Durland, descendants of Moses, also resided in Greenville. George A. and Steward T. were justices of the peace for many terms in the town (see civil list). Addison settled near Westtown where he died. Thomas T. Durland succeeded to the old homestead near Ridgeberry, and later in life bought the former Phineas Howell farm near Slate Hill, where he died. His widow (whose father, George Jackson, in his lifetime owned the farms now owned by William Ralston, of the lower road) and son George, and daughters Alice L. and Etta H., now reside on the Slate Hill homestead; while a son, Charles, resides in Middletown and a daughter, Elizabeth Van Orden, lives in Pompton Lakes.
John, Joseph and Hiram Manning were early settlers in the town. Joseph's children were Joseph, Jr., John, Isaac, Richard, Walter, Benjamin, Mrs. Isaac Finch, Mrs. E. Hurlbut, Mrs. John Ferguson. Hiram Manning at one time owned the grist, saw and cider mills at Millsburg. His son, John R. Manning, resides in Gardnersville in Wawayanda, and the latter's son, Hiram, Jr., is in business in Johnsons.
Abraham Elston was a very early settler in the town and many of his descendants are still in it.
Harvey H., Alfred, W. L. and W. W. Clark (see civil list) were descendants of the David Clark mentioned in a sketch of the family in the town of Minisink.
Under an old school law teachers were formerly licensed by town superintendents which prevailed up to 1856. Geo. A. Durland held the office of superintendent for some time. Samuel S. Graham was elected to the position in 1856, but the law was repealed that year and he was never sworn into office.
CHURCHES.
The Baptist Church of Greenvillewas incorporated January 27th, 1816, and was supplied by the pastors of Brookfield church until July 31st, 1822, when the church was dedicated as a separate one. It was constituted by thirty-one members. Elder Zelotes Grenell preached the sermon, August 3d. That year twenty-three more members were set off from the Brookfield church to it. Elder Henry Ball was pastor for eleven years. Elder D. Bennet supplied it from Unionville for four years. W. H. Jurton, D. Benett, C. Brinkerhoff and Joseph Haughwout supplied it to 1848. Rev. Stephen Case became pastor of it in May, 1848, and continued there to his death in 1895. It was said of him that he married and buried probably more Orange and Sussex County people than any other minister has. He was a son of John and Mary (Mead) Case. The father is alleged to have come from New England, while his mother was a daughter of Ebenezer Mead of near Waterloo Mills in Minisink. John and Mary (Mead) Case had four sons, Joseph M., E. Inman, John B. and Stephen.
Joseph M. was justice of the peace from 1850 to 1874 in Minisink and held other offices (see civil list). The Case homestead was on the ridge west of Westtown where John died in 1844 and Rev. Ralph Bull preached the funeral sermon. His wife died in 1847. Joseph M. was unmarried. E. Inman died in 1888. He had five sons and one daughter, John, Jr., Joseph, Ira L., Jefferson, Anson and Amelia. Ira L., became a resident of Middletown and was elected school commissioner of the second district of Orange County for a term. John B. studied for the ministry and became a clergyman of much influence. He died in 1886. He had seven children: John B., Jr., Stephen J., Joseph M., Tisdale, Joshua I., Sarah and Flora.
Stephen, son of John, after his primary studies were over, attended and graduated at Madison University in 1840. He began preaching the next year, and supplied the pulpit of the Orange Baptist Church six months. Then he preached for three years in what was called the Broadway Baptist Church, which we incline to think was located near Wykertown in Wantage township, N. J., probably the one built by Job Cosad. In May, 1848, he became pastor of the Mount Salem and Greenville churches. He was then about thirty years old, and he labored there for over sixty years until his death. He was survived by three sons: John E., Joshua, Jr. and Joseph M. Joshua, Jr., is a famous auctioneer residing in Unionville.
The Methodist Church of Greenvillewas incorporated December 23rd, 1850. There had been preaching for about twenty years before that by ministers of the M. E. denomination. The church edifice was built before the church was incorporated. Rev. Henry Litts, who died a few years ago in Deckertown, was pastor there for some time, succeeding Revs. Andrews, Grace and Rusling.
Besides the cemeteries connected with the churches, there are a number of family burial places in the town; notably those of the Manning, Seybolt, Seeley, Courtright, Vanbuskirk, Mulock, Remey and Jenks families.
MISCELLANEOUS.
During the Civil War the town issued in August, 1864, bonds for $25,159; they were all paid by February 11th, 1871.
Its officials have from the formation of the town proved worthy men. It has been universally Democratic by a small majority.
Nathaniel Reeves Quick, justice of the peace from 1868 to 1873, was a tall pleasant man, a descendant of the Quick family of Pennsylvania. He was well posted on the history of the famous Tom Quick, who was a member of the same family. The traditions which Mr. Quick, of Greenville, had instilled into his mind from accounts handed down to him by his grandfather, no doubt truthful, were not altogether complimentary to the old Indian hunter. His grandfather said (told by Nathaniel R. himself), that Tom, when hard pressed for something to eat, would come to his house and stay till the good housewife would absolutely refuse to cook for him any longer, and his grandfather would inform Tom that he must either go to work or leave. That, he said, always started him, for if there was anything in this world that Tom hated it was to work. Then he would shoulder his gun and tramp off in the forest for two or three months before he ventured to show himself again at the house. In truth, his grandfather did not put much dependence on the stories told by Tom of his adventures, because he thought Tom was merely whiling the time away with something to wheedle him with, in fact, a sort of "stand off" for lodging.
The old Goshen and Minisink turnpike road of the last century, crossing Shawangunk Mountain just west of Greenville village, was changed by the State to a macadam road constructed or, nearly so, in 1907. It takes a new route across the mountain and has greatly reduced the grade. The Goshen end of the road to Dolsentown was completed a few years ago, and the one from Dolsentown through Wawayanda and Minisink to the State line about two years ago. The new road through Greenville connects with the Wawayanda line at Slate Hill.
Of the Tory element in the town during the Revolution, it is traditionally remembered that Brant is said to have, after his first raid in 1778, contemplated a more extensive one. For that purpose he came to Greenville secretly to get information of the surroundings. He hid himself in the Pakadasink swamp below Smith's Corners, and explored the vicinity by night. Certain Tories of the neighborhood were suspected at the time of furnishing food to some tramp in the swamp, and one of them was caught returning from the swamp where he had been to take a portion of a sheep which he had killed, as it was later found out. Excitement ran high at once and a party visited his premises and found that he had slaughtered a sheep and had taken a part of it to the swamp to feed a hidden Tory as was supposed. A committee improvised a fife and drum corps, wrapped the bloody sheepskin about him, and marched him at the point of a bayonet on foot to Goshen followed by the music of the fife and drum.
This was on a broiling hot day in summer, and, as may well be supposed, that march of sixteen miles, bothered as he was by the flies and the jokes of the people they met, made the victim very uncomfortable. Later when Brant swooped down on Minisink in 1779, he did not cross the mountain into the Greenville neighborhood as the settlers then thought he intended to do at first. Then they ascertained the kind of a tramp that the Tory had been furnishing with mutton in Pakadasink swamp, and rejoiced to think that their prompt action in treating their Tory neighbor to that arrest probably saved their homes from the invasion planned.
Before the days of railroads the people who lived in these neighborhoods generally went to Newburgh, and if they desired to go to New York took from thence passage on a sailing vessel for that place. Sometimes the passage occupied three or four days between those two cities, dependent on the weather. In windy weather the sloops often had to anchor under some protecting high shore, and in dark nights they generally anchored until daylight. A disaster which made a great sensation throughout the county and elsewhere, happened November 24th, 1824, to a sloop of this kind, near Pollopel's Island, in lower Newburgh bay. The sloopNeptunewas on its way up the river under command of its first deck hand, John Decker, the captain (Halstead) having been left in New York sick. About twenty tons of plaster were in its hold and about twenty more tons piled on deck, together with eight or ten tons of other goods. There was a strong wind prevailing and the boat was coming up near the island with a double reef in the mainsail and all precautions taken for safety, when there came a sudden blast of wind which caused the sloop to dip and the plaster on deck to shift its weight. This shifting of the deck plaster caused the sloop to dip so violently that the water came pouring into the scuttle of the forecastle, and into the cabin where some ten or twelve women and a number of children were gathered. Besides the crew about twenty-six male passengers were on the deck. Instead of righting, the boat went right down without further warning. All in the cabin were drowned. It was about noon, and several boats that saw the sloop go down hurried to the scene, and were so successful as to rescue seventeen of the passengers.
Joshua Mulock, of Minisink (now Greenville) was one of the men on deck, and he said that when he first heard the women and children scream in the cabin, he tried to break a grating in the deck to let them out and the boat went down so quick that it carried a part of his vest with it which caught fast. That held him and he went down under the boat. Luckily his vest tore loose, and he floated out from under the boat and came to the surface, where he was rescued. Jesse Green from present Greenville, and a man named Carey from present Wawayanda neighborhood, were also saved. Among those drowned were John Greenleaf, George Evertson, Matilda Helms and William Kelly and child from Minisink. The next year the bodies of Matilda Helms and Mr. Greenleaf were found among others at Cold Spring some distance down the river. They were buried by the coroner of Putnam County. The sloop was afterwards raised by its owners.
Next to the battle of Minisink this disaster furnished the greatest sensation of those early times. Mr. Mulock was a great humorist. On one occasion, a Mr. and Mrs. Lee, of Greenville, made Mr. and Mrs. Mulock an evening visit. When the visitors were seated in their wagon ready to start for home, one of them said to their host and hostess, "Now you must come and see us as soon as you can." "We'll promise to do so, sure!" said Mr. Mulock.
When Mr. and Mrs. Lee had arrived home, and she was in the house with a lighted candle looking at the clock and wondering how they came to stay until after midnight, and he was returning from the stables where he had placed the horse, they were surprised to hear a wagon driving up to the door. How much greater was their surprise when they both went to the gate to see who it was, and saw there Mr. and Mrs. Mulock. "You told us," said the former, "that we must come and see you as soon as we could, and here we are." Then after a laugh at Mr. and Mrs. Lee's apparent discomfiture, they went home, and told the joke round about to their friends. We give it to illustrate the jollity of those times.
From the years 1836 to 1854 the post office regulations for the three towns, under the name of Minisink, were a mail delivery Tuesdays and Fridays of each week. The mail was carried by a contractor, who left Goshen on those days in the morning in a one horse sulky or gig which easily carried the driver and mail bags. He came across the Wallkill at Pellet's Island to Ridgeberry; thence to Westtown, Unionville, Minisink (Greenville) and back through Bushville, South Centerville, Brookfield, Slate Hill, Denton and to Goshen. The trip was made in one day. Sometimes the carrier would have a young woman on the seat with him which invariably made him late and caused lots of grumbling among the people waiting for the mail. Few letters were received, and the only newspapers taken generally were the Goshen Democrat and Independent Republican, of Goshen. Not a daily paper then found its way in this region except at intervals. The rates of postage were, up to 1845, for a letter of a single sheet, not exceeding thirty miles, six cents; over thirty and not exceeding eighty miles, ten cents; over eighty and not over 150, twelve and one-half cents; over 150 and not over 400 miles, eighteen and three-quarter cents; over 400 miles, twenty-five cents. If the letter had two sheets of paper it was charged double, and if three sheets, triple rates; for each newspaper carried not over 100 miles, one cent; to any office in the State where printed, one cent; otherwise over 100 miles, one and a half cents. Pamphlets 100 miles, one and a half cents a sheet; over 100 miles, two and a half cents a sheet; if not published periodically, four and six cents a sheet, as to distance. Everything else was paid at letter postage at a quarter ounce rate. The letters then were sent without envelopes, folded so as to conceal the writing, and sealed with wax usually. The postage was collected on delivery. In 1854 the rates were reduced considerably, but all other features retained. In 1855, the writer, then a boy, was left temporarily in charge of the post-office at Slate Hill, which then paid the postmaster, a storekeeper, about $10 a year percentage. He then kept a store and the keeper of the office was considered a help to the store trade. A woman came in and asked if there was a letter for her. There was. She asked how much postage was due on it. There was eighteen cents. Then she asked to look at it. The verdant young man handed it to her. She opened it, glanced over the contents, then handed it back, saying, "I won't take it. There's nothing in it worth the money." The postmaster when informed of the incident later, said, "Boy, next time don't you hand out the letter till they hand over the money."
In 1852 the postage was reduced and a little later envelopes came in fashion. The Middletown, Unionville and Watergap Railroad was completed from Middletown to Unionville, June 2nd, 1868. That changed mail arrangements throughout the three towns. Slate Hill, Johnsons, Westtown and Unionville got a daily mail. Waterloo Mills, Denton and Bushville were abandoned, and Ridgeberry and South Centerville were supplied from Slate Hill. The railroad is now known as the New York, Susquehanna & Western, under control of the Erie. The increase in the amount of mail matter handled has been wonderful, and the offices which once had their mail matter carried on a two-wheel sulky twice a week easily, would now require a team of horses and a big wagon to move it every day.
The 4th and 5th days of January, 1835, were remarkably cold days and that winter was a terribly severe one. We have no thermometer records for our three towns of those days, but in New York City it was 5 degrees, in Newark 13 and Elizabethtown 18 degrees below zero for both days. In 1857 the 23rd of January was a remarkably cold day, the thermometer standing at 23 below in the early morning, 17 at noon, and 12 at night, when it began to snow and a deep snow came.
Orange County gave 3,541 votes for Van Buren and 2,242 for Harrison for President in 1836.
The local option law in our three towns has resulted in a continual no-license majority for about twenty-five years in Wawayanda; occasional no-license in Greenville and Minisink. The result of the election in 1907 gave no-license a majority in Minisink.
In ancient times elections were held in the spring for local officers, and in the fall for county, State and national officers. All the officers in the State are now elected in November on one day. In 1837, the States held election: Maine, 2nd Monday of September; Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, 1st Monday in August; Delaware, 1st Tuesday of October; Louisiana, 1st Monday of July; Tennessee and North Carolina, 1st Thursday in August; Vermont, 1st Tuesday in September; Georgia and Maryland, 1st Monday in October; New York, 1st Monday in November; Massachusetts, 2nd Monday in November; New Hampshire, 2nd Tuesday in March; Virginia and Connecticut in April; Rhode Island in August; South Carolina, 2nd Monday in October.
During the first early years of our history, where farmers kept large dairies, they made butter, which was the mainstay of their farming. They used a tread-wheel about twelve feet in diameter set at a steep incline, on one side of which a horse or bull climbed to furnish the power for churning. Similar dairies used sheep or calves. About 1834 to 1840 (tradition) George F. Reeve, of near Middletown, invented an endless chain-power on which a good-sized dog would furnish as much power as an animal twice as large.
Lights for many years were furnished of dip tallow candles. These were made by melting a wash boiler full of tallow, into which six candle-wicks hung on a stick were dipped and hung on a rack to cool. Enough sticks were used so that by the time the last one was dipped the first one was cool enough to dip again, and so the process was continued until the candles had accumulated enough tallow to be of the right size. Whenever the tallow in the boiler began to get low hot water was added to make the tallow float to the top of the boiler. When beeves were killed in the fall the good housewives were careful to dip candles for a whole year's supply. About 1852 camphene began to be used for lights, and in some instances alcohol and some other dangerous compounds. About 1860 the use of kerosene came into family and public lighting, and is still the great illuminant.
In 1777 a real estate ownership of one hundred pounds value was a necessary qualification for a voter who desired to vote for a Governor, Senator and Assemblyman, while only twenty pounds worth of real estate was requisite in order to qualify a person to vote for a representative in Congress. For town officials and resolutions all male citizens were allowed to vote, and this was generally done at town meetings viva voce, or by division to the right and left. A Governor then held office three years and had to be a real estate owner. Senators held office four years and had to be owners of one hundred pounds worth of real estate. Judges were appointed by the Governor and council and held office during good behavior, but were disqualified when sixty years old. They could be removed by the Governor when requested by a two-thirds vote of the legislature. Clergymen were then excluded from holding office, and from the legislature. In 1821 a new State constitution was framed and the property qualifications removed. Ballots were then introduced generally in town elections.