The History of

The History of

Orange County

Orange County

New York

NYC

EDITED BY
RUSSEL HEADLEY

EDITED BY RUSSEL HEADLEY

PUBLISHED BY
VAN DRUSEN AND ELMS
MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK
1909

PUBLISHED BY
VAN DRUSEN AND ELMS
MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK
1909

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

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

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

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

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

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

The leisure entailed from the long relief from active duty which ensued after going into camp, afforded ample opportunity for both the officers and men of the army to discuss this question in all its bearings. It must be borne in mind that republics were not much in favor at that period, while the incompetent and discreditable manner in which Congress had conducted the national affairs for years, had created profound distrust and widespread discontent. Under the circumstances it is not so surprising that, believing nothing but chaos and ruin would be the lot of the country should the form of government then in force be continued, the army should have finally declared for a limited monarchy, and desired Washington as king.

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

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

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

The editor would be wanting in gratitude did he fail to acknowledge his obligations to the well-known writer, the late Mr. Edward M. Ruttenber. The whole historical field comprising that period prior to the Revolutionary era, has been so carefully gleaned over by that indefatigable and accurate historiographer, that there remains little or nothing that is new, to reward any subsequent investigator into the history of that era, and therefore all who include that epoch in any sketch, must perforce draw largely from the store of valuable materials gathered by him. The editor also desires to return his sincere thanks to our numerous contributors, for their cheerful assistance, and especially for the painstaking care exhibited by them in the preparation of those articles which appear herein, and whose excellence constitutes the chief merit of this work.

That the efforts of myself and associates have fallen short of the high standard we had set up for ourselves at the inception of our labors, we are well aware; but we do at least claim, that we have in some material degree, contributed in this volume to the "rescuing from oblivion and preserving the services which others have performed for God and country and fellow men." If the public by its verdict allows this claim to stand, our reward will be ample and we shall rest well content.

Russel Headley.

Dated, July 14, 1908.

[Adams, Bailey, Caldwell, Dales, Eager, Fabrikoid, Gaffney, Hadden, Iseman, Jackson, Kells, Lain, McCarty, Neafie, O'Connor, Paddleford, Quaid, Ramage, Sanford, Taft, Vail, Wade, Yagel, Zint—added by Transcriber]

Orange was one of the earliest counties of the State, dating back to 1683. when it was organized by a colony law. It was also one of those formed by a general act of organization in 1788, when it included the present county of Rockland, and was described as extending from the limits of East and West Jersey on the west side of the Hudson River along the river to Murderer's Creek, or the bounds of Ulster County, and westward into the woods as far as Delaware River—that is, all that part of the state south of an easterly and westerly line from the mouth of Murderer's Creek to the Delaware River or northerly line of Pennsylvania. In 1797 Rockland county was set off from it, and five towns from Ulster were added. Its boundaries were definitely fixed by an act of the New York legislature adopted April 3rd, 1801. The previous act of April 5th, 1797, provided that five towns, then a part of the County of Ulster, should be annexed to the county of Orange, and that the courts should hold their sessions alternately at Newburgh and Goshen. Two days afterward another act was passed defining the boundary lines of the towns composing the newly constructed county, and naming them as follows: Blooming Grove, Chesekook, Deer Park, Goshen, Minisink, Montgomery, New Windsor, Newburgh, Wallkill and Warwick. There were subsequent changes, and the following is a list of the present towns, with the years of their erection, and the territories from which they were taken:

Blooming Grove, 1799, taken from Cornwall; Cornwall, 1788, as New Cornwall, and changed to Cornwall in 1797; Chester, 1845, taken from Goshen, Warwick, Monroe and Blooming Grove; Crawford, 1823, taken from Montgomery; Deer Park, 1798, as a part of Ulster County and taken from Mamakating; Goshen, 1788; Hamptonburgh, 1830, taken from Wallkill, Goshen, Montgomery, Blooming Grove and New Windsor; Monroe, 1799, taken from Cornwall, original name Chesekook, changed to Southfield in 1802, and to Monroe in 1808, and divided in 1890 into Woodbury and Tuxedo; Montgomery, 1788; Mount Hope, 1825, taken from Wallkill, Deer Park and Minisink, original name Calhoun; Newburgh, 1788; New Windsor, 1788; Wallkill, 1788; Minisink, 1788.

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

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

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

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

Next to Rockland County are Highlands, Woodbury and Tuxedo.

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

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

In the interior are the towns of Wawayanda, Goshen, Hamptonburgh, Blooming Grove, Chester and Monroe.

The post offices of the county as distributed in the several towns are named as follows:

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

Chester: Chester, Greycourt, Sugar Loaf.

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

Crawford: Bullville, Pine Bush, Thompson Ridge.

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

Goshen: Goshen.

Greenville: Greenville.

Hamptonburgh: Campbell Hall, Burnside.

Highlands: Highland Falls, Fort Montgomery, West Point.

Middletown: Middletown.

Minisink: Minisink, Johnson, Westtown, Unionville.

Monroe: Monroe, Turner.

Montgomery: Walden, Montgomery, Maybrook.

Mount Hope: Otisville, Guymard.

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

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

Tuxedo: Arden, Southfields, Tuxedo Park.

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

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

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

Woodbury: Woodbury Falls, Highland Mills, Central Valley.

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

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

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

In 1801 a general law dividing the State into counties fixed the then somewhat undefined boundaries of Orange, and another law adopted the same year fixed the boundaries of its towns as they now are, with the exception of Woodbury and Tuxedo, into which Monroe was separated in 1890.

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

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

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

Hendrick Hudson, from whom the magnificent Hudson River takes its name, has given us in his journal the first information about the tribes at its mouth and along its shores. Sailing from Amsterdam in the ship Half-Moon in 1609, he first landed near Portland, [fn] Me., on July 19th. Thence he sailed south to Chesapeake Bay, thence north to Delaware Bay, and thence to Sandy Hook, anchoring, probably off Coney Island, September 3d. Here and on the New Jersey coast Indians came to the ship in canoes, and bartered green corn and dried currants for knives, beads and articles of clothing. He wrote that they behaved well, but when he sent out a boat on the 6th to explore the Narrows, his men were attacked by twenty-six natives in two canoes, who killed one of his crew with an arrow and wounded two others. On September 11th he sailed through the Narrows and found a good protected harbor. Here his ship was again visited by many natives, who brought Indian corn, tobacco and oysters for barter, and displayed copper pipes, copper ornaments, and earthen pots for cooking.

[fn] To avoid circumlocution present names will be generally used to indicate localities.

Hudson started on his voyage up the river September 12th, and began his return September 22d. His ship stopped near the present city of Hudson, but he proceeded much farther in a small boat—as far, it is supposed, as Albany. About 25 miles below Albany an aged chief entertained him hospitablv, and the Indians offered in barter tobacco and beaver skins. Here the Indians of the Hudson, and probably of all North America, first tested the white man's liquor. Hudson gave them some to see how they would act under its influence. Only one drank enough to become intoxicated, and when he fell down in a stupor the others were alarmed, but after he became sober the next day their alarm ceased, and they manifested a friendly spirit. This was on the east side of the river. Below the Highlands on the west side the natives were of a different disposition, and shot arrows at the crew from points of land. For this they were punished by Hudson's men, who returned their fire and killed about a dozen of them. Hudson's journal says that above the Highlands "they found a very loving people and very old men, and were well used." One of his anchoring places had been the bay at Newburgh, and here he wrote prophetically: "This is a very pleasant place to build a town on," and the handsome and prosperous City of Newburgh shows that he judged well. At this point many more Indians boarded the ship, and did a brisk business in exchanging skins for knives and ornamental trifles.

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

Hudson wrote that some of the Indians whom he met along the river wore mantles of feathers and good furs, and that women came to the ship with hemp, having red copper tobacco pipes and copper neck ornaments. Verrazano, who sailed along the North American coast 33 years after Hudson's expedition, said the Indians were dressed out in feathers of birds of various colors. He mentioned "two kings" who came aboard his ship in Narragansett Bay as "more beautiful in stature than can possibly be described," and characterized them as types of their race. One wore a deerskin around his body artificially wrought in damask colors. His hair was tied back in knots, and around his neck was a chain with stones of different colors. The natives who accompanied the chiefs were of middle stature, broad across the breast, strong in the arms and well formed. A little later Roger Williams was welcomed as a friend by an old chief, Canonnieus, and his nephew, and he described the Indians who accompanied them as of larger size than the whites, with tawny complexions, sharp faces, black hair, and mild, pleasant expressions. The women were graceful and beautiful, with fine countenances, and of modest appearance and manner. They wore no clothing, except ornamental deer skins, like those of the men, but some had rich lynx skins on their arms, and various ornaments on their heads composed of braids of hair which hung upon their breasts. These Indians were generous in their disposition, "giving away whatever they had."

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

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

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

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

"When they were discovered the race had wrought out unaided a development far in advance of any of the old barbaric races of Europe. They were still in the age of stone, but entering upon the age of iron. Their implements were mainly of stone and flint and bone, yet they had learned the art of making copper pipes and ornaments. This would rank their civilization about with that of the Germans in the days of Tacitus (about the year 200 A.D.). They had, unaided by the civilization of Europe, made great progress. They had learned to weave cloth out of wild hemp and other grasses, and to extract dyes from vegetable substances; how to make earthen pots and kettles; how to make large water casks from the bark of trees, as well as the lightest and fleetest canoes; had passed from the cave to the dwelling house; had established the family relation and democratic forms of government; their wives were the most faithful, their young women the most brilliant in paint and garments and robes of furs; they carved figures on stone, and wrote the story of their lives in hieroglyphics, of which some of the finest specimens in America are preserved in the senate house in Kingston; and most remarkable of all, and that which carries back their chronology to a period that cannot be defined, they had developed spoken languages that were rich in grammatical forms, differing radically from any of the ancient and modern languages of the old hemisphere, languages which were surely ingenious, and of which it was said by the most expert philologists of Europe that they were among 'the most expressive languages, dead or living.' . . . They were savages or barbarians, as you may please to call them, men who wrote their vengeance in many scenes of blood, the recital of which around the firesides of the pioneers became more terrifying by repetition; nevertheless they were representatives of a race whose civilization, though it was 1200 years behind our own, had no faults greater than were found in the races from which we boast our lineage."

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

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

These somewhat contradictory views of the Indian race seem to be a little too sweeping on both sides, they being neither so good nor so bad as represented. The native Indians have been both kind and cruel to one another and the whites. Their instincts are not unlike those of civilized peoples, but there are less control and restraint in savagery than civilization. Their tribal differences of conduct towards the whites depended less upon natural disposition than leadership and provocations. Vindictiveness towards real or fancied enemies seems to have prevailed everywhere among the North American tribes, and this was undoubtedly increased towards the whites by the latter's aggressions and by the former's indulgence in the intoxicants furnished them by their white neighbors. But cruelty is ingrained in the barbarian character almost everywhere, and often is manifested in communities called civilized. The tortures of the middle ages in the name of religion were as painful as those inflicted in the eighteenth century by our Indians, and both seem almost impossible to the philanthropist of to-day. Not until minds have been softened by such teachings as those of the Founder of Christianity, and extremes of bigotry have given place to tolerance and charity, is the natural disposition of the average man to give pain to antagonists dissipated.

There has been no more intellectual nation among the aborigines of America than the Senecas of Western New York—the most original and determined of the confederated Iroquois—but its warriors were cruel like the others, and their squaws often assisted the men in torturing their captives. When Boyd and Parker were captured in the Genesee Valley in the Sullivan campaign of 1779, Brant, the famous half-breed chief, assured them that they would not be injured, yet left them in the hands of Little Beard, another chief, to do with as he would, and the prolonged tortures to which he and his savage companions subjected them were horrible. After they had been stripped and tied to trees, and tomahawks were thrown so as to just graze their heads, Parker was unintentionally hit so that his head was severed from his body, but Boyd was made to suffer lingering miseries. His ears were cut off, his mouth enlarged with knives and his severed nose thrust into it, pieces of flesh were cut from his shoulders and other parts of his body, an incision was made in his abdomen and an intestine fastened to the tree, when he was scourged to make him move around it, and finally as he neared death, was decapitated, and his head raised on a pole.

Similar tortures were not uncommon among both the Iroquois and Algonquins when they made captives of the whites.

Returning to the Lenni-Lenape of the Hudson River's western lands, there is in Eager's history an account by a Delaware Indian of the reception and welcome by the Indians of the first Europeans who came to their country—on York Island—which is here condensed.

Some Indians out fishing at a place where the sea widens saw something remarkably large floating on the water at a great distance, which caused much wondering speculation among them. The sight caused great excitement, and as it approached news was sent to scattered chiefs. They fancied that it was a great house in which the Mannitto (Great Spirit) was coming to visit them. Meat for sacrifices and victuals were prepared. Conjurors were set to work, and runners were sent out. The latter soon reported that it was a great house full of human beings. When it came near it stopped, and a canoe came from it containing men, one elegantly dressed in red. This man saluted them with a friendly countenance, and, lost in admiration, the Indians returned his salute. They saw that he glittered with gold lace and had a white skin. He poured something from a gourd into a cup, drank from it, filled it again, and handed it to a chief. It is passed around, and the chiefs smell of it, but do not drink. At last a resolute chief jumps up and harangues the others, saying that they ought to drink, as the Mannitto had done, and he would dare to drink, although it might kill him, as it was better that one man should be destroyed than that a whole nation should die. Then he drank, soon began to stagger, and finally fell to the ground. He fell asleep, and his companions thinking that he was dead, began to bemoan his fate. But he awoke, and declared that he had never before felt so happy as when he drank from the white man's cup. He asked for more, which was given him, and the whole assembly imitated him and became intoxicated. After they became sober they were given presents of beads, axes, hoes and stockings. Then the Dutch made them understand that they would not stay, but would come again in a year, bring more presents, and would then want a little land. They returned the next season, began cultivating the grounds and kept bargaining for more land until the Indians began to believe that they would soon want all the country.

The scenes thus described by the Delaware Indian were probably soon after the voyage of discovery by Hendrick Hudson.

The Esopus Indians, according to early records, represented four sub-tribes—the Amangaricken, Kettyspowy, Mahon and Katatawis. In 1677 their chief deeded a large tract of land lying along the Hudson in Ulster and Orange Counties and extending back to the Rochester hills, to the English Government. The tract cannot be clearly defined. Previous negotiations and fighting led to this transfer. In 1663 Wildwijk (Kingston), where an infant colony had been started, was set on fire, and the colonists were attacked and murdered in their homes with axes, tomahawks and guns. They finally rallied and drove the Indians away, but not until twenty-five of them had been killed and forty-five made prisoners. The New Village, as it was called, was annihilated, and of the Old Village twelve houses were burned. When Peter Stuyvesant heard of the calamity he sent a company of soldiers from New Amsterdam to assist the settlers. They were commanded by Captain Martin Kregier, arrived at Wildwijk July 4, and a few days afterward Kregier had a conference with five Mohawk and Mohican chiefs who came from Fort Orange. He induced them to release some of their captives, but his negotiations with the Warranawonkongs were less successful. They were the proprietors of lands in the vicinity of Newburgh, and for some distance above and below the Lenni-Lenape confederacy. They would not agree to terms of peace unless the Dutch would pay for the land called the Groot Plat or Great Plot and add presents within ten days. Kregier would not agree to this, and on July 25th followed them to their castle. They abandoned it, and fled to the Shawangunk Mountains, taking their captives with them. They were followed, and again retreated. Kregier burned their palisaded castle, cut down their cornfields and destroyed about a hundred pits full of corn and beans which were a part of the harvest of the previous year. Then Kregier returned to Wildwijk and guarded the settlers while they harvested their grain. He resumed offensive operations in September, sending out about fifty men to reduce a new castle which the Indians were building "about four hours beyond the one burned." The Indians were surprised, but fought fiercely as they retreated, killing and wounding three of the Dutch soldiers. Thirteen Indians were taken prisoners and twenty-three Dutch captives released. The Indians fled to the mountains, the uncompleted fort was destroyed, and the soldiers carried away much spoil. Another force was sent to the same place October 1st, when the Indians retreated southward, and the Dutch completed the work of destruction, including crops and wigwams around the fort. Later the Indians solicited peace and an armistice was granted. They had suffered severely, and felt crushed, and their allies, the Waoranecks, were also subdued, although their territory had not been invaded. "The embers of their forest worship, which had for ages been lighted on the Dans Kamer, were extinguished forever." In the following May of 1664 they sought and executed a treaty with the Dutch at Fort Amsterdam, whereby the lands claimed and conquered by the Dutch were to remain the property of the conquerors, and the Indians were not to approach the Dutch settlements with arms. The ratification of the treaty was celebrated, and thus was closed the struggle of the Indians for the possession of their lands on the western slope of the Hudson from the Catskills to the ocean. The Minsis remained in the western part of Orange and some adjoining territory, and in 1692 and 1694 were strengthened by additions of large colonies of Shawanoes. For nearly a hundred years after the treaty there was but little trouble between the Indians and the settlers of Orange County.

The incursions during the French and Indian and the Revolutionary Wars properly belong to the military chapter of this history.

There is a tradition, supported by some evidence, that the first settlement of Orange County was in the old Minisink territory along the Delaware River. Although the supposed settlement was mostly in Pennsylvania, the reported excavations, roads and other work of the settlers were mostly in Orange County. The story of the tradition, and evidence that it has a basis of fact, are given in a letter by Samuel Preston, Esq., dated Stockport, June 6, 1828, which is published in Samuel W. Eager's county history of 1846-7, and reproduced in Charles E. Stickney's history of the Minisink region of 1867. Eager says the letter "will throw light upon the point of early settlement in the Minisink country," and Stickney assumes that its second-hand statements are substantially true. But Ruttenber and Clark's more complete history of the county, published in 1881, discredits them. The essential parts of Preston's letter are here condensed.

He was deputed by John Lukens, surveyor general, to go into Northampton County on his first surveying tour, and received from him, by way of instruction, a narrative respecting the settlements of Minisink on the Delaware above the Kittany and Blue Mountain. This stated that John Lukens and Nicholas Scull—the latter a famous surveyor, and the former his apprentice—were sent to the Minisink region in 1730 for the government of Philadelphia; that the Minisink flats were then all settled by Hollanders; that they found there a grove of apple trees much larger than any near Philadelphia, and that they came to the conclusion that the first settlement of Hollanders in Minisink was many years older than William Penn's charter. Samuel Depuis, who was living there, told them that there was a good road to Esopus, near Kingston, about a hundred miles from the Mine holes, which was called the Mine road. Preston was charged by Lukens to learn more particulars about this Mine road, and obtained some from Nicholas Depuis, son of Samuel, who was living in great affluence in a spacious stone house. He had known the Mine road well, and before a boat channel was opened to Foul Rift, used to drive on it several times every winter with loads of wheat and cider to buy salt and other necessaries, as did also his neighbors. He repeated stories without dates that he had heard from older people. They said that in some former age a company of miners came there from Holland; that they worked two mines, and were very rich; that they built the Mine road with great labor, and hauled their ore over it; that they bought the improvements of the native Indians, the most of whom moved to the Susquehanna.

In 1789 Preston began to build a house in the Minisink and obtained more evidence from Gen. James Clinton, the father of Gov. Dewitt Clinton, and Christopher Tappan, Recorder of Ulster County, who came there on a surveying expedition. They both knew the Mine holes and the Mine road, and were of the opinion that they were worked while New York belonged to Holland, which was previous to 1664. Preston did not learn what kind of ore the mines produced, but concluded that it was silver. He went to the Paaquarry Mine holes, and found the mouths caved full and overgrown with bushes, but giving evidence of a great deal of labor done there in some former time.

Ruttenber and Clark's history, as stated, discredit the tradition regarding the early settlement of the Minisink by Hollanders, as accepted by Clinton, Tappan, Depuis, Preston and others. It represents the Mine road to be simply an enlargement of an old Indian trail, and the mines to have been of copper and located in what is now the town of Warren, Sussex County, N. J. It says that the Dutch at Esopus during the war of 1660-63 had little knowledge of the country, even east of the Shawangunk, and that if the Minisink was penetrated at a much earlier period it was by way of the Delaware River. The historian discusses the subject further, and concludes that the first settler of the Minisink was William Tietsort, a blacksmith from Schenectady, who barely escaped the slaughter at that place in 1689, and went to the Minisink country from Esopus, by invitation of friendly Indians, and purchased lands of them in October, 1689. "There is little doubt that he was the first settler on the western border," says the history.

But Stickney, after recapitulating the traditions and evidence of the early settlement of the region, says: "Here generations lived the fleeting span of life in blissful ignorance of any outer or happier world beside, and were alike unknown outside the boundaries of their own domain until some wanderer chanced to come across their settlement, and went on his way, thereafter to remember with gratitude and envy the affluence and comfort that marked their rough but happy homes."

If Tietsort was the first white settler of the Minisink, Arent Schuyler was probably the second, as he settled there in 1697, having been granted a patent of 1,000 acres of its lands by Governor Fletcher. The governor had sent him there three years before to ascertain whether the French in Canada had been trying to bribe the Indians to engage in a war of extermination against the New Yorkers from their fastnesses in the Shawangunk Mountains.

The earliest land transfers and titles were so thoroughly investigated by Ruttenber and Clark that we cannot do better, perhaps, than condense mostly from their history.

Warranawonkong chiefs transferred to Governor Stuyvesant the Groot Plat or Great Plot, as it was called, in which Kingston is now situated. These lands are said to be the first for which Europeans received a title from the Indians, and are somewhat indefinitely described in the treaty with them of 1665 to which reference has been made. They were conquered by Captain Kreiger in 1663, and embraced three townships in southwestern Ulster. Chronology next takes us to the extreme south of Orange County. Here Balthazar De Hart and his brother Jacob, purchased of the Indians "the Christian patent lands of Haverstraw." They were on the south side of the Highlands and extended from the Hudson westward to the mountains. On the presumption that they were included in the boundaries of New Jersey, the Harts soon transferred them to Nicholas Depues and Peter Jacobs Marius, and purchased another tract north of them in 1671, which was bounded by the Hudson River on the east and the mountains on the south. This became the property of Jacobs. They also purchased a tract north of the previous purchase, and including a part of it, which was called Abequerenoy, and passed from them to Hendrick Ryker.

On the north a Huguenot, Louis Du Bois, with some friends who had been driven from France by religious persecution, located first at Esopus in 1660; and in September, 1667, after purchase from the Indians, twelve of them became patentees of a tract of 36,000 acres lying north of the Redonte Creek, as the Warranawonkong was then called. The patent was obtained from Governor Andros in the names of Louis Du Bois, Christian Doyan, Abraham Hasbroucq, Andre Le Febvre, Jean Hasbroucq, Pierre Doyan, Louis Beviere, Anthony Crespel, Abraham Du Bois, Hayne Frere, Isaac Du Bois and Simon Le Febvre, "their heirs and others." Nine families immediately settled on the land and founded New Paltz.

Between Haverstraw and New Paltz Patrick Mac Gregorie, David Fosbruck, his brother-in-law, and twenty-five others, who were mostly Scotch Presbyterians, occupied lands at the mouth of the Waoraneck, and Mac Gregorie purchased for them 4,000 acres on both sides of Murderer's Creek, on which they settled. Mac Gregorie built his cabin on Plum Point, then called Conwanham's Hill, and the cabins of his associates were in the vicinity, and on the south side of the creek David Toshuck, the brother-in-law, who subscribed himself "Laird of Minivard," established a trading post. "Within the bounds of the present county of Orange this was the first European settlement," says the historian, but the precise date is not given. Stickney thinks the year was 1684, but it was probably a little earlier, as about that time Mac Gregorie entered into the military service of the State without perfecting his patent, mistakenly trusting Governor Dongan to protect his interests, who, in 1684, obtained from three Indian owners their title to a tract extending from New Paltz along the Hudson to Murderer's Kill, thence westward to the foot of the high hills, and thence southwesterly along the hills and the river Peakadasank to a pond; and the same year added by deed from several Indians another large tract of the land called Haverstraw. These lands included a part of those which the Indians had previously sold to Mac Gregorie, and others which they had sold to Stephanus Van Cortlandt. The latter had preserved his deed, and succeeded in obtaining a patent attaching them to his manor across the river. Mac Gregorie was killed in the Leslie revolution of 1691. Governor Dongan sold his two purchases to John Evans in 1694, and the latter then proceeded to dispossess Mac Gregorie's widow and her family of their home, when he granted only leases to them and the other Scotch settlers. After some years, however, the Mac Gregorie heirs, in consideration of their original claim, obtained a patent of the Plum Point farm and a mountain tract.

The fourth and largest settlement was made adjoining "the Christian patented lands of Haverstraw" by emigrants from Holland, mostly of the Reformed Dutch Church. They were granted a township patent in March, 1686, under the name of the town of Orange. There were sixteen trustees of this grant, which began at the mouth of the Tappan Creek, extended north to Greenbush, and thence easterly and southerly back to Tappan Creek. The center of the township was Tappan, where a church was organized. The trustees of the grant were Claessen Cuyper, Daniel De Clercke, Peter Harnich, Gerritt Stenmetts, John De Kries, Sr., John De Kries, Jr., Claes Maunde, John Stratemaker, Staaes De Groot, Aream Lammatees, Lamont Ariannius, Huybert Gerryts, Johannes Gerryts, Ede Van Vorst, Cornelius Lammerts.

A vast tract of land immediately west of Haverstraw was conveyed to Daniel Honan and Michael Hawdon, January 25, 1696. Adjoining this on the south were certain tracts containing 2,000 acres which were granted to Samuel Bayard. The Indian deed for this and other purchases was covered by Lucas Tenhoven and embraced 100,000 acres, for which no patent was issued.

Between the Haverstraw lands and the township of Orange was the rocky bluff known as Verdrietig Hook, including Rockland Lake, which became the subject of controversy between the John Hutchins Company and Jarvis Marshal & Company, both parties having obtained deeds, but that of the latter proved to be of prior date (Sept. 27, 1694). A few years later, in 1708, a patent was issued to Lancaster Syrus, Robert Walters and Hendrick Ten Eyck, covering the vacant river point described as beginning at the south bounds of Haverstraw, extending west to Welch's island, thence southerly to the lower end of the island, thence east to the creek running from the pond of Verdrietig Hook, and thence north to the place of beginning, "except the grant of Honan & Hawdon."

Ruttenber and Clark's history states that the indicated foregoing patents covered the entire district from the New Jersey line to New Paltz and west to the line of the Shawangunk Mountains.

Here is the proper place for some statements made by David Barclay in his paper on Balmville read before the Newburgh Historical Society in 1899. He said that Captain John Evans in 1694 obtained from Colonel Fletcher, then Governor of New York, a patent for a tract of land on the west shore of the Hudson, extending from Stony Point to the south line of New Paltz, and westward to the Shawangunk Mountains, including two-thirds of Orange County and parts of Ulster and Rockland Counties, and estimated to contain 650,000 acres. The only settlement thereon at that time was that of Major Gregorie's heirs and followers at Murderer's Creek in the present towns of Cornwall and New Windsor. The patent was afterward annulled by an act of the assembly, which was confirmed, and the title reverted to the crown. Included in these lands must have been those unjustly transferred to Evans in 1694 by Governor Dongan "under the title of the lordship of the manor of Fletcherdom." Ruttenber says that the Evans patents, with others, were for a long time a disturbing element, and were entirely undefined except in general terms.

Near the close of the 17th century there was active competition in the extinguishment {sic} of the Indian titles and obtaining patents, and several patents were granted. Three of them, to associations, were issued at the following dates: Chesekook, December 30, 1702; Wawayanda, March 5, 1703; Minisink, August 28, 1704.

The Chesekook patent was included in a purchase from five Indian proprietors to Dr. John Bridges, Henry Ten Eyck, Derick Vandenburgh, John Cholwell, Christopher Dean, Lancaster Syms and John Merritt. The Wawayanda patent was a purchase from twelve Indians by the same parties, and five more, namely, Daniel Honan, Philip Rokeby, Benjamin Aske, Peter Mathews and Cornelius Christianse. The Minisink patent was to Mathew Ling, Ebenezer Wilson, Philip French, Derick Vandenburgh, Stephen De Lancey, Philip Rokeby, John Corbett, Daniel Honan, Caleb Cooper, William Sharpass, Robert Milward, Thomas Wearham, Lancaster Syms, John Pearson, Benjamin Aske, Petrus Bayard, John Cholwell, Peter Fanconier, Henry Swift, Hendrick Ten Eyck, Jarvis Marshall, Ann Bridges, George Clark.

This last purchase was of parts of Orange and Ulster Counties, beginning in Ulster at Hunting House, on the northeast of Bashe's land, running thence north to the Fishkill River, thence southerly to the south end of Great Minisink Island, thence south to the land granted John Bridges & Company (Wawayanda), and along that patent northward and along the patent of John Evans to the place of beginning. There is no record that the purchasers received a deed from the Indians, and it was reported, probably correctly, that when Depuis obtained the Minisink lands from the Indians, he got them drunk and never paid them the money agreed upon—treatment which they resented for a long time afterward in hostility to the white settlers.

The Chesekook patent was bounded north by the patent line of Evans, west by Highland Hills, south by Honan and Hawdon's patent, and east by "the lands of the bounds of Haverstraw and the Hudson."

The Wawayanda patent was bounded eastward by "the high hills of the Highlands" and the Evans patent, north by the division line of the counties of Orange and Ulster, westward by "the high hills eastward of Minisink" and south by the division line of New York and New Jersey.

The boundary lines of the three patents were defined in such general terms that for a long time they caused trouble as to titles, and in the final adjustment the territory claimed by the Wawayanda patentees was cut off, while on the west a tract called the Minisink angle, embracing 130,000 acres, was formed.

The English government began investigating the patents of such immense tracts in 1698, and the next year caused the Evans patent to be annulled, after which the territory covered by it was conveyed in small tracts issued at different times up to 1775. These conveyances, exclusive of those outside of the present county, were as follows:

Only a small part of the Minisink patent was in the present county of Orange, but the Wawayanda and Chesekook patents were wholly within its limits, and covered its most fertile sections. The Wawayanda patent caused much trouble, and was unoccupied by settlers until 1712, when the surviving shareholders—Christopher Denne, Daniel Cromeline and Benjamin Aske—determined to make settlements thereon, and to facilitate their ends were made justices of the peace. Parties were sent out by each of them, and these began the settlements of Goshen, Warwick and Chester, where houses were soon completed and occupied. The agent who preceded Denne into the wilderness was his adopted daughter, Sarah Wells, then only 16 years old, who was accompanied only by friendly Indian guides. She married William Bull, the builder of Cromeline's house, and lived to the great age of 102 years and 15 days.

Soon after the settlement thus started in 1712 John Everett and Samuel Clowes, of Jamaica, L. I., took charge of the patent, and proved to be enterprising and efficient agents. Recorded sales to settlers and others prior to 1721, as well as to Everett and Clowes, were as follows:

By these conveyances Everett and Clowes came into possession of lands equaling four of the thirteen parts, and, as required by the terms of their deeds, laid out the township of Goshen in 1714, dividing it into farms and opening roads, and assigned 200 acres of land for the support of a minister.

Some of the first settlers—those of 1714—were: Michael Dunning Johannes Wesner, Solomon Carpenter, Abraham Finch, Samuel Seeley and John Holley.

The most prolonged and bitter contest of titles was between settlers of Orange County, mostly in the original Minisink region, and settlers of Northern New Jersey. This was continued for sixty-seven years with occasional border frays. The dispute had reference to the boundary line between New York and New Jersey. King Charles II of England in March, 1663, gave to his brother, the Duke of York, a patent of all lands "from the west side of the Connecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay." The following year in June the Duke of York granted release of all the territory now known as New Jersey to Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret. The northern line as described in this grant extended from "the northwardmost branch" of the Delaware River, "which is in latitude 41 degrees 40 minutes and crosseth over thence in a straight line to the latitude 41 degrees on Hudson's River." Sir Carteret took the east half of the province and Lord Berkley the west half. In 1673 the Dutch reconquered New York from the English, but on February 9, 1674, in a treaty of peace between the two nations, it was restored to England. Sir Carteret immediately took the precaution to have a new patent made out, which defined the boundaries in about the same general terms as before. Then came controversies as to which should be called "the northwardmost branch" of the Delaware. The point of 41 degrees on the Hudson was agreed to, but the New Yorkers insisted that the line should touch the Delaware at the southern extremity of Big Minisink island, and the Jerseymen {sic} that the point should be a little south of the present Cochecton. This difference made the disputed triangular territory several miles wide at the west end. Under the New Jersey government the land was parceled out in tracts to various persons, and when these came to take possession the men who had settled upon them long before, resolutely maintained their claims. In the border war that resulted numbers of the Minisink people were captured and confined in New Jersey prisons. The first series of engagements resulted from efforts to obtain possession of the lands of a Mr. Swartwout, who was a major in the militia of Orange County. One day the Jerseymen {sic} surprised him and put his family and household goods out doors. He went to Goshen for help, and a formidable company returning back with him, they in turn put the New Jersey occupants and their goods out of the house, and restored it to the major.

Then a spy was employed to watch the Jerseymen, and through the information which he continually furnished, their future operations were generally frustrated. About 1740 the "Jersey lines" made another attempt upon the major and his possessions, but they were anticipated and driven or frightened back, no one, however, being killed. In 1753 a Jersey raid was made to get possession of the lands of Thomas De Key, colonel of the Orange County militia and a justice of the peace. He tried to negotiate with them, and induce them to wait until the boundary question was determined, but they refused, and he then barricaded himself in his house, and threatened to shoot the first man who tried to enter, and they finally retired vowing that they would bring a larger force. The last important raid was in 1765, on a Sunday, when the Jerseymen came in considerable force resolved to capture Major and Captain Westbrook. They surrounded the church where the Westbrooks were worshiping, and when the service was over there was a fight, amid the screams and sobs of women, with fists and feet, in which the Jerseymen, being the more numerous, conquered and captured the Westbrooks. They were confined in the Jersey colony prison awhile, and then released.

In 1767 hostilities were suspended, and commissioners were appointed to run a boundary line, and soon afterward the territory was surveyed, and about equally divided between the claimants, and peace thenceforth was established between the two sections.

In 1683, when the county was organized, it did not contain more than twenty families. In 1698 a first census was ordered by Governor Bellmont, and it showed the population to consist of 20 men, 31 women, 140 children and 19 negro slaves. In 1860 the population had increased to 63,812; in 1880, it was 88,220; in 1900, 103,850; and according to the last census of 1905, our population was 108,267.

Orange County is unsurpassed by any other in the Empire State in variety of surface features and picturesque beauty of scenery. It has mountain ranges and extended ridges, streams with wide and narrow valleys, and is dotted with lakes and ponds. Along the mountain lines are a few lofty peaks, and there are many isolated hills and rocky precipices. Parts of its boundaries are the Hudson River on the northeast, the Delaware and Mongaup Rivers on the west, and the Shawangunk Kill on the northwest. Near the center the Wallkill winds along its rich valley into Ulster County, and thence into the Hudson. Its principal tributary on the northwest is Rutgers Creek—which also has several tributaries—and others are Monhagen Creek, Mechanicstown Creek and Shawangunk Kill. On the southwest it gathers in the waters of Warwick Creek—which is swollen by smaller streams in its course—and also Quaker, Rio Grande, and Tin Brook Creeks. The Otter Kill flows easterly from Chester into the Hudson. The Neversink flows from Sullivan County through the town of Deer Park, and becomes a tributary of the Hudson. The course of the Ramapo is southerly from Round Pond in Monroe to Rockland County, and it is fed by several other ponds. Other streams, large and small, are numerous.

The central portion of the county consists of rolling uplands broken by deep valleys. The most prominent of the mountain ranges are the Highlands along its eastern border. Their loftiest peak, Butter Hill, is 1,524 feet high, precipitous on the river side, and sloping on the north. Another name given to it is Storm King, because clouds occasionally gather there from different directions and concentrate in storms of rain and lightning. Cro'-nest {sic} adjoins it on the south, and is 1,418 feet above the Hudson. Bare Mountain is next, with a height of 1,350 feet. Mount Independence, with Fort Putnam on its summit, is the background of the West Point plateau. Other well known hills are in this broken range, where Arnold, the traitor, conferred with Andre, the spy, and is more intimately identified with the military history of the country than any other mountain region. It has been written of Butter Hill and Cro'-nest that "they have a charm which might induce a man to live in their shadow for no other purpose than to have them always before him, day and night, to study their ever-changing beauty."

The Shawangunk Mountains are a spur of the Alleghenies stretching northeast across the western angle of the county. They are less broken than the Highlands, and not so high as the Catskills, but of the same general formation. The western side is precipitous, but the eastern is sloping, and some of its lands are very fertile, producing sweet grasses from which much of the famous Orange County butter has been made. The peaks rise from 1,400 to 1,800 feet above tide water. This range was the original dividing line between the Wawayanda and Chesekook patents.

The Schunnemunk range is on the dividing line of the towns of Monroe and Blooming Grove and a part of that of Blooming Grove and Cornwall. An accepted descriptive phrase for the range is, "the high hills west of the Highlands." North of it, in New Windsor and Newburgh, is Muchattoes hill, west of it Woodcock hill, and southwest of the latter are Round, Mosquito, Rainer's and Peddler's hills; also Torn Rocks, which rise in two rocky peaks 200 feet high. To the southwest, in the town of Warwick, are the Bellvale Mountains, and south of these the Sterling Mountains. Several other mountainous elevations in Warwick and Woodbury punctuate this part of the county and also the border country on the west. The feet of Pochuck Mountain are in the Drowned Lands, and northerly in Warwick are Mounts Adam and Eve, with Adam looking down from his superior height upon the longer Eve. Easterly, in Chester, is Sugar Loaf Mountain, and west of this is Mount Lookout, the principal elevation of Goshen. With the further mention of Mount William and Point Peter, looking down upon Port Jervis, let us clip the long list of Orange County elevations.

Valleys connect mountains and hills. That of the Delaware River, along the border of Deer Park, is narrow and irregular, being much broken by tributaries and mountains. The most of the cultivated lands of Deer Park are along the Neversink valley. The valley of the Wallkill is wide, fertile and beautiful its bottom lands are among the best in the State, and its farmers are prosperous and thrifty. Wide flats, gradual slopes and steep declivities give variety of soil and scenery to the Otterkill valley, and much of its scenery is charming. The same may be said of its tributary, Cromeline Creek. Sugar Loaf valley extends from Sugar Loaf Mountain to the village of Warwick, taking in Wickham Pond in its course, and extending into New Jersey. Smith's Clove, extending from Highland Mills to the Ramapo valley, should be mentioned because it was the birthplace of Chief Justice William Smith, his brother, John Hett Smith, and the notorious Tories, Claudius Smith and his two sons.

One cannot travel far in Orange County in most directions without coming upon a lake or a pond, and there are dozens of them in the southeastern section. These feed its many streams, and when Eager wrote his history he said there was not one town in the county that had not water power to some extent. Beginning in the northern part of the Highlands in Cornwall the lake-and-pond system extends through the towns of Highland and Monroe to Greenwood Lake, thence west and north to Big Meadow Pond in the Highlands. Greenwood Lake, in Warwick, is the largest body of water in the county. It is about nine miles long and one wide, is partly in New Jersey, and is a feeder for the Morris Canal. Sutherland's Pond, half a mile long, southeast from Cro'-nest Mountain, has an outlet which runs into Murderer's Creek. Big Meadow Pond, in Highlands, covers about 300 acres, and its outlet pours over the rocks of Buttermilk Falls. The waters of Round Pond flow into Long Pond under a natural bridge about 80 feet wide, but the stream is lost sight of until it emerges on the other side. This is similar to the outlet of Washington Lake in New Windsor, which emerges at Trout-hole and there becomes a fall of forty feet. Sterling Lake, at the beginning of the Warwick series, covers about sixty acres, and in 1751 iron works were established at its outlet. Round Pond, in Wawayanda, is in shape what its name implies, has no visible outlet, its water is clear, pure and deep, and it is about a mile in circumference. Thompson's Pond, in the northwestern part of Warwick, covers about 100 acres, feeds Quaker's Creek, and this outlet furnishes power for mills. Orange Lake, in Newburgh, covers about 100 acres. But all the lakes and ponds of Orange are too many to be named. They are almost as interesting a feature of the county as its streams.

Orange County is richer in alluviums than any other in the State, as they cover about 40,000 acres. The "Drowned Lands," as they were formerly called, include about forty square miles, and are partly in New Jersey, but mostly in New York, extending in Orange from Cheeunk Outlet in Goshen through Wawayanda and Minisink to the New Jersey line, and covering about 17,000 acres. They contain a number of fertile islands, and thousands of acres of the waste lands have been recovered by means of an artificial outlet, which, at first a mere ditch, has been deepened and widened by the flowing water until the principal flow is through it. These recovered lands are rich and productive. They are belted by the Wallkill and three creeks, and the Wallkill's course through them is long because so crooked. The Gray Court meadows extend from near Craigville in Blooming Grove into the northern part of Chester, and embrace about 500 acres, which are nearly all under cultivation and very productive. They are drained by Cromeline Creek. The Black Meadows, in Chester and Warwick, are about 1,000 acres in extent, and Black Meadow Creek flows through them. Long Swamp, in Warwick, also contains about 1,000 acres, and is drained into New Jersey. Great Pine Swamp extends northward from Howells on the Erie railroad seven miles in the town of Wallkill, and embraces many oases and cultivated farms. There are several other scattered areas of swamp lands. In the marl and peat beds in several localities many bones of the extinct mastodon have been found, including two complete skeletons. One of the latter was taken from a bed near Coldenham in 1845, and weighed 1,995 pounds, and the other from a bed in the town of Mt. Hope, and weighed 1,700 pounds.

The topography of the county has been changed somewhat by its railroads, of which there are 250 miles, not including double trackage or trolley roads. The following places in towns extending across the county have each direct railroad communication north, east, south and west: Port Jervis, Middletown, Campbell Hall, Goshen, Chester and Newburgh. The wagon roads are numerous, generally good, and are charming arteries for carriages and automobiles.

The geology of Orange County is as varied as its topography. Along the eastern feet of the Shawangunk Mountains are Heidelberg limestones, gray and Medina sandstones, shales and grits, and the mountain rocks are mostly sandstones, shales and grits. The grits extend along the top of the range through the county and are from 60 to 150 feet thick. Heidelberg limestone extends from the Mamakating valley to the Delaware River. Grit and red rocks are on the west side of Greenwood Lake, and grit of various colors extends from Round Hill to Woodcock Mountain, and is also found in the southwest base of the Schunnemunk range and in Pine Hill. Grawacke is the rock on the southeast side of the Bellvale range in Warwick, and is found in the town of Blooming Grove in the Schunnemunk range. The Hudson River group occupies a large part of the surface of the county, and consists of slates, shales, grits, limestones, breccias and conglomerates. It extends from the Hudson River through Warwick to the Jersey line, and from the Hudson at Cornwall Landing to four miles above Newburgh. It is stratified with grawacke and grawacke slate. It forms the surface rock of the most of Goshen and Blooming Grove, and parts of Cornwall, New Windsor, Newburgh, Montgomery, Hamptonburgh, Crawford, Wallkill, Mt. Hope and Minisink. Dark Utica slate is found on the banks of the Hudson near Newburgh. Trenton limestone appears in Hamptonburgh near Mount Lookout, and this mountain is composed of Black River limestone, which is also found on Big Island in the Drowned Lands and in Minisink. There is a bed of blue limestone about a mile wide extending from the Hudson at Hampton southeasterly through Newburgh into New Windsor. It is also found in the towns of Cornwall, Blooming Grove, Warwick, Monroe and Goshen. Oolitic limestone is on Big Island, near New Milford, and on Pochunck Neck.

Slate rocks of the Taconic system are above Newburgh, and its limestone between the Highlands and Grove Pond Mountain. Its white limestone appears in Warwick, where it is in narrow ridges separated by other rocks. It is also found along the shore of the Drowned Lands at Amity, and near Fort Montgomery in the Highlands, from which it may be traced by way of Little Pond across the Ramapo. In some localities it is so white as to be translucent. Many different minerals are found in it.

The primary rocks of the county consist of gneiss, hornblende, granite, sienite, limestone, serpentine, angite and trappeau. They extend over parts of several towns, and several mountains and hills are composed of them. Granite is found at the foot of Butter Hill, sienite at Butter Hill and on the east side of Bare Mountain at West Point, gneiss along the Highlands, mica and slate north of Fort Montgomery, angite rock between West Point and Round Pond and at several points in Monroe, greenstone trap at Tuxedo Pond, granular limestone at Cro'-nest and Butter Hill. Quartz rock and hornblende are all along the Highlands and in Monroe and Warwick. Crystalline serpentine is in the white limestone in Warwick, serpolite at Amity, yellow garnet at Edenville, soapstone in Monroe. Large sheets of mica are found southwest of the Forshee iron mine in Monroe, and in this mine, which embraces an entire hill, are red garnet, brown tremoline, carbonate of copper, serpentine, cocolite and umber. In the O'Neil mine, half a mile northeast of the Forshee mine, are crystallized magnetic ore, magnetic and copper pyrites, carbonate of copper, serpentine, amianthus, asbestos, brown and rhombic spars, angite, cocolite, feldspar and mica.

There are beds of arsenical and titanium ores in Warwick and a bed of hemolite ore near Canterbury village. Magnetic oxide of iron abounds in the primitive rocks of the Highlands, and at West Point is associated with hornblende. Beds of lead have been opened at Edenville and in the towns of Mt. Hope and Deer Park, and zinc and copper ores have been found in small quantities. The Sterling iron bed in Monroe, which was opened in 1781, extends over about thirty acres, and has produced so strong an ore that it has been much used in the manufacture of cannon. There are a number of other iron mines. Searches for the traditional silver, gold, lead and tin mines have been without satisfactory results.

Many evidences of glacial action in Orange County include masses of boulders scattered in places throughout the county. These are mostly of granite and gneiss, and there is occasionally one of grawacke. The eastern slope of the Shawangunk Mountains gives evidence of the passage there of an enormous glacier, which ground the rocks into the rich soil that has been cultivated there for 200 years. Some of the county's drift deposits are valuable for casting, brick and pottery making, lithographic stones and glass.

The soil of the semicircular plateau from the Highlands of the Hudson to the Dans Kamer is mostly a mixture of gravel, sand and clay, which form a warm and fertile loam. That of the wide Wallkill valley is alluvium mixed with clay, sand and gravel and is easily worked and richly productive. So is the soil brought down from the hills in the town of Deer Park. The lands on the islands of the Drowned Lands are among the richest in the county. The alluvium of the Otterkill is a sandy and gravelly loam. In other sections of the county there is an alternating variety of soils, rich, medium and poor.

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.

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 lieutenant vice Johannes 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, vice Popino. 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.

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."

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.

Precinct of New Windsor.

Precinct of Mamakating

Precinct of Goshen.

Minisink District.

Blooming Grove District

Precinct of Cornwall.

In Newburgh precinct the "Committee of Safety and Observation," appointed January 27, 1775, consisted of Wolvert Acker, Jonathan Hasbrouck, Thomas Palmer, John Belknap, Joseph Coleman, Moses Higby, Samuel Sands, Stephen Case, Isaac Belknap, Benjamin Birdsall and John Robinson.

In New Windsor precinct the committee appointed May 6, 1775, consisted of Col. James Clinton, Capt. James McClaughry, John Nicoll, John Nicholson, Nathan Smith, Robert Boyd, Jr., Samuel Brewster, Samuel Sly, Samuel Logan. In May, 1776, the committee became: Samuel Brewster, chairman; Robert Boyd, Jr., Nathan Smith, Hugh Humphrey, George Denniston, John Nicholl, Col. James McClaughry, Samuel Arthur.

In the precinct of Mamakating, John Young, chairman of committee, certified that the pledge was signed by all the freeholders and inhabitants of the precinct, June 26, 1775.

In the precinct of Goshen the committee appointed September 14, 1775, consisted in part of Isaac Nicoll, Benjamin Gale, Moses Hetfield, Daniel Everett, James Little, Joshua Davis, with Daniel Everett as Chairman. Later the names of John Hathorn, John Jackson, Henry Wisner, John Minthornes and Nathaniel Ketchum were chairman at different times.

In the Cornwall precinct, 1775, the committee consisted of Hezekiah Howell, Archibald Little, Elihu Marvin, Nathaniel Satterly, Nathaniel Strong, Jonathan Brooks, Stephen Gilbert, Zachariah Du Bois, with Thomas Moffat as chairman.

In the precinct of Hanover no names of pledge-signers were reported, but the committee, appointed May 8, 1775, consisted of Dr. Charles Clinton, chairman; Alexander Trimble, Arthur Parks, William Jackson, Henry Smith, Jacob Newkirk, James Latta, Philip Mole, John Wilkin, James McBride, James Milliken, Samuel Barkley.

In the precinct of Wallkill there was no return of pledge-signers, but the committee, Jan. 30, 1775, consisted of Abimael Youngs, chairman; James Wilkins, Hezekiah Gale, Moses Phillips, Henry Wisner, Jr.

The county committee of Orange in 1776 had Elihu Marvin, of Cornwall, for chairman, and David Pye was deputy chairman for Haverstraw and Orangetown. Robert Boyd, of New Windsor, was chairman for Ulster County.

The Committees of Safety and Observation began immediately to gather arms, and later to arrest inimical or suspected persons and bring them to trial.

With few exceptions the inhabitants of Orange and Ulster Counties were loyal, earnest and active for the cause of Independence. In the early years of the war the militia was efficient in guarding the frontiers, constructing Highland forts and placing obstructions to navigation in the Hudson River; and two of the companies took part in the expedition to Canada of 1775. In 1776 one-fourth of the militia of the two counties was "drawn out for the defense of the State" and stationed along the Highlands. They consisted of two regiments from Orange commanded by Colonel Isaac Nicoll, and one from Ulster commanded by Colonel Levi Paulding. In December, after the British had captured New York, a more general requisition was made, and men were obliged to leave their families and stock unprovided for, which caused great disaffection for a time; but after General Washington's victory at Trenton they were permitted to return home.

In 1777 George and James Clinton were in command on the west side of the Hudson, and General Putnam on the east side. Burgoyne, with an army of 3,000 men, marching down from Canada, had reached Saratoga, and Howe, with another army, was marching to capture Philadelphia, when, about September 20, 3,000 British and Hessian soldiers arrived in New York and joined the army of Sir Henry Clinton. Thus reinforced Clinton soon started to force his way up the Hudson, and on October 6, approached Forts Montgomery and Clinton, defended by some 400 of Colonel Du Bois's Regiment and Lamb's Artillery, and about 200 militia, mostly from Orange and Ulster Counties. They made a gallant defense, but finally overwhelmed by superior numbers, were obliged to retreat, leaving behind them 300 in killed, wounded and prisoners. In Governor Clinton's report to General Washington of the fight at Fort Montgomery he said that Sir Henry Clinton commanded in person; that the enemy was repeatedly driven back by grape shot from a field-piece and the well-directed fire of musketry during their approach; that the militia retreated to the fort, when a demand to surrender was refused; and that the enemy's superior numbers finally forced the works on all sides. If expected reinforcements had reached the fort it was believed that the enemy would have been defeated. Many militiamen were in the mountains, but their communications had been cut off. There were not more than 600 men in both the forts, while the attacking army numbered 3,000. Governor Clinton escaped across the Hudson, and many of his men were bayoneted after the works were taken. Du Bois's Continental Regiment and Lamb's Artillery bore the brunt of the fight. The following other regiments were represented in small numbers; Colonel Allison's from Goshen, commanded by himself; Colonel James Clinton's from New Windsor, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James McClaughry; Colonel Harbourg's from Newburgh, commanded by Colonel Masten; Colonel Jesse Woodhull's from Cornwall, commanded by Colonel Du bois.

Sir Henry Clinton's ships moved on up the Hudson, and Putnam's and Clinton's troops followed. The British Commander caused Kingston to be burned, and here, receiving the news of Burgoyne's surrender, turned back. His army tarried a few days in the Highlands to complete the destruction of the forts, and then sailed to New York, and the militia returned home.

The Indians on the western frontier of Orange and beyond were still nursing grievances against the colonists, and were easily won over to the British side by diplomatic agents. Their depredations began again in 1777, when the family of a Mr. Sprague in the northern part of the Minisink was attacked and some of them taken prisoners. Next they killed some of the family of a Mr. Brooks, and took the rest prisoners. In 1778 the upper Minisink was invaded by about 100 Indians, under the famous warrior chief, Brandt, and on Oct. 13 they attacked two dwellings, killed three persons and destroyed much grain and stock. The settlers repaired to the forts of Gumaer's and De Witt's, and the Indians after following and firing a few times at them from a distance, went away.

The Committee of Safety for Minisink in 1778 consisted of Benjamin DePuy, Philip Swartout and Ezekiel Gumaer, and they ordered the erection of five forts, three in the upper neighborhood, and two in the lower. These could not accommodate all of the fifty families in what is now Deer Park, and many women and children were sent to the older settlements. Scouting parties were sent out under command of Captain Bezaliel Tyler, and persons suspected of aiding the Indians were imprisoned or banished. Small companies of nine months militia were obtained to garrison the forts.

The massacre of Wyoming in July, and the horrible cruelties practiced upon some of the prisoners, had caused grave apprehensions, and these were increased by the coming of Brandt and his Indians in October. Count Pulaski and his cavalry legion were sent to Minisink, and remained there during the winter of 1778-9, and Colonel Van Cortlandt's Regiment was sent to Wawarsing. In the spring Count Pulaski and his legion were ordered to South Carolina, and on July 19 Brandt, aware of the poorly defended Minisink, came with sixty-five Indian warriors and twenty-seven Tories disguised as Indians, to the lower section, now Deer Park, south of the Neversink and while the settlers were asleep set fire to several dwellings. Some of the inmates were killed as they were fleeing and others were taken prisoners. The cattle were driven off, and much booty carried to Brandt's headquarters, Grassy Brook, on the Delaware. When news of the murderous raid was received by the militia, a council was held by Lieutenant-Colonel Tusten of Colonel Allison's Goshen Regiment, Colonel John Hathorn of the Warwick Regiment, and Captain Meeker of the New Jersey militia, and contrary to Tusten's advice, it was decided to march against the Indians with such numbers of men as could be quickly brought together. Meanwhile Brandt's force had been increased to about 300 Indians, and 200 Tories painted to resemble Indians. The small band of militiamen, commanded by Colonel Hathorn, marched to the hills overlooking the Delaware near the mouth of the Lackawaxen, and then discovered Brandt and his warriors three-fourths of a mile away. Colonel Hathorn prepared to attack them, but Brandt outmaneuvered him, and cut off fifty of his men, leaving only ninety in the fight that followed. Brandt got in their rear, and hemmed them in on a rocky slope, with the advantages of position and more than five times as many men. When their ammunition was exhausted they formed in a hollow square to fight with clubbed muskets, but the square was soon broken and the men sought safety in flight. Tusten was killed by the Indians while dressing wounds of his men behind a rock, as were also seventeen wounded men with him. Others were shot or drowned in trying to swim across the Delaware. Only about thirty survived.

In Colonel Hathorn's report of the fight to Governor Clinton he says that "the enemy repeatedly advanced to from forty to one hundred yards distance and was as repeatedly repulsed"; that his men "defended the ground nearly three hours and a half and during the whole time one blaze without intermission was kept up on both sides." This was at the last stand on the slope. Hathorn's men had been firing for five hours, when, ammunition being almost exhausted, he ordered that no one fire "without having his object sure." Soon they were forced to retreat down the hill towards the river, and scattered, every man for himself. Colonel Hathorn further says:

"The Indians were under the command of Brandt, who was either killed or wounded in the action. They burnt Major Decker's house, barn and mill, James Van Vlock's house and barn, Daniel Vanoker's barn (here were two Indians killed from a little fort around the house, which was saved). Esquire Cuykindall's house and barn, Simon Westfall's house and barn, the church, Peter Cuykindall's house and barn; Martinus Decker's fort, house, barn and saw-mills, and Nehemiah Patterson's saw-mill; killed and scalped, Jeremiah Vanoker, Daniel Cole, Ephriam Ferguson and one Tavern, and took with them several prisoners, mostly children, with a great number of horses, cattle and valuable plunder. Some of the cattle we rescued and returned to the owners."

A list of the names of the killed has been preserved, and is as follows:

Killed in Minisink Fight.

There is a tradition that Joseph Brandt secretly visited the Minisink some time before his second invasion, and was cared for by a Tory, and thus became well informed of the condition of the region. Brandt was supposed to be a half-breed, with a German father, but later he was believed to be a pure Mohawk Indian. He was educated at Dartmouth College, and at the commencement of the Revolution received a British appointment as Colonel of the Six Nations. He was a Free Mason, but neither this nor a good education tamed his savage nature. Dr. Wilson said of him: "He was more cunning than the fox and fiercer than the tiger."

Detachments from Woodhull's, Allison's and Hathorn's Regiments were sent to guard the frontier, but Sullivan's expedition up the Susquehanna and to the Genesee Valley drew the attention of Brandt, and he and his Indians did not return.

The jails at Goshen and Kingston were filled with prisoners, but the local Tories continued to be troublesome, and some of them joined the British Army, while others made predatory excursions from retreats in the lower Highlands, covered by the British works at Stony Point and Fort Lee, and became a terror to the inhabitants.

The residents of this portion of the country and on down the Ramapo Valley were mostly Tories, and in this defile in that region known as the "Clove," the Tory Moody intercepted an express from Washington to Congress regarding an interview about the land and naval forces of France. This messenger was intended by Washington to be captured, and the news thus obtained caused the withdrawal of a portion of the forces under Cornwallis, rendering easier the capture of the latter at Yorktown. Claudius Smith and his sons, who had their headquarters in the Clove, were the boldest and most successful of its Tories. Smith was a large, powerful and shrewd man and while he committed many crimes and did many hazardous things, yet for a long time managed to escape capture. In October, 1778, Governor Clinton, enraged at Smith's depredations, offered a reward for his arrest and that of his two sons, Richard and James. Alarmed by this, Smith fled to Long Island, was recognized there, and seized in the night in bed. He was tried for one of his crimes at Goshen in January, 1779, and executed on the 22nd of the same month. Five of his associates were executed with him—Matthew Dolson, John Ryan, Thomas Delamar, John Gordon and Amy Angor. Retribution followed soon on all Smith's band. His son William was shot in the mountains, and his son James was probably executed in Goshen soon after his father, with James Flewelling and William Cole. Silas Gardner, however, who was tried and sentenced as a Tory, was pardoned, but the rest were slain or driven from the country. Claudius Smith commenced his depredations in the interest of the British in 1776, and first appeared on the public records, charged with stealing, in 1777. He was confined in the Kingston jail, and transferred from there to the Goshen jail, from which he escaped. He was said to be the friend of the poor, giving liberally to them of what he stole from the rich. Many exciting stories were told of his doings.

One of the most brilliant exploits of the war was the night assault on Stony Point, twelve miles below West Point, and now a State reservation in Rockland County. This was on July 16-17, 1779. It had been occupied by British troops since Clinton's expedition up the Hudson in 1777, and was regarded as almost impregnable. "Mad" Anthony Wayne headed the enterprise, and it was carried out in substantial accordance with a general plan which had been suggested by General Washington. The fort was garrisoned by 700 men, who had fifteen pieces of artillery on the heights. Their surprise was complete, and the capture quickly accomplished. The American loss was 15 killed and 83 wounded; that of the British 63 killed, 61 wounded and 575 made prisoners, only one of the garrison managing to escape. The works were destroyed and the place evacuated. In July, 1779, the British reoccupied it, and began to build defenses, but were soon withdrawn because of the coming of the French fleet, and the Americans took possession and began restoring the fortifications.

Arnold's treason was discovered Sept. 23d, 1780, and Stony Point was included in the fortifications which he intended to betray. His treason, his conference with Major Andre below Stony Point, Andre's stay at Hett Smith's house, his capture at Tarrytown and brief confinement at West Point, Arnold's flight and Andre's trial and execution, are too familiar to the readers of American history to require recapitulation here.

Notwithstanding other ostensible causes, it was really necessary to complete the independence of the United States, only partly effected by the War of the Revolution, that the War of 1812 should be begun and fought out. Great Britain claimed the right to search American ships, impress American seamen into her service, and make prizes of all American vessels going to or from France or her allies which did not clear from or touch English ports. France issued retaliatory decrees which were more damaging to America than England. They declared that its vessels which had touched English ports or submitted to be searched by an English ship should be the property of France, and that English goods, wherever found, should be subject to confiscation. Thus endangered by the policy of both nations, Congress in 1809 declared an embargo prohibiting American vessels from sailing from foreign ports, and foreign ships from carrying away American cargoes—a law which virtually suspended our commerce and exposed our merchants to the risks of bankruptcy. England gave notice to the President that her claims before stated would be adhered to, and Congress, seeing no other means of redress, formally declared war on June 18, 1812.

Orange County citizens had given expression to their views on the embargo act in March, 1800. A Republican county convention held at Goshen selected General Hathorn as its chairman, and a committee on resolutions was appointed consisting of Jonathan Fisk, Colonel John Nicholson, General Reuben Hopkins and Judge Nathan White. The resolutions reported and adopted asserted that the American embargo was "a wise and patriotic measure, imperiously demanded by the exposed condition of our seamen, shipping and trade to the audacious outrages of foreign powers." In the Federal party's county convention, held later, Daniel Niven was chairman, and its committee on resolutions consisted of John Barber, Alexander R. Thompson, Alanson Austin, John Bradner, J. N. Phillips, John Morrison, John Duer, Samuel Saver, James Storey, Solomon Sleight, John Decker and Samuel B. Stickney. The resolutions protested against the enforcement of the embargo, as "unjust, illegal and oppressive, subversive of the rights and dangerous to the liberties of the people."

But when the war came the views of many of the Federalists had changed, and they sustained the Government.

The first call for troops was made April 21, 1812, when the militia was arranged in two divisions and eight brigades, and the brigades were divided into twenty regiments. The second brigade of the first division, embracing the militia of Orange and Ulster, under Brigadier General Hopkins of Goshen, was organized as the Fourth Regiment, and its Commander was Lieutenant Colonel Andrew J. Hardenburgh of Shawangunk. In 1813 and 1814, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Belknap took the place of Lieutenant Colonel Hardenburgh. The cavalry and artillery were similarly organized.

The second call was made in July, 1813, and the third in July, 1814, when the places of rendezvous were Newburgh and New Windsor, and from these the men were moved on sloops to New York and assigned to the neighboring fortifications. They embarked Aug. 28, and returned Dec. 4, having been absent only a little more than three months.

Among the uniformed companies at that time were the following: Orange Hussars of Montgomery, Captain William Trimble (succeeded by Captain Milliken); Captain Van Orsdal's and Captain Dorcas's companies of infantry of Montgomery; Captain Kerr's company of artillery of New Windsor; Captain Butterworth's company of artillery of Newburgh; Captain Westcott's company of cavalry of Goshen; Captain Acker's company of cavalry of Newburgh and Marlborough; Captain Denniston and Captain Birdsall's companies of infantry of Newburgh.

It appears that Captain Westcott was afterwards appointed Major of the first regiment of cavalry, when Charles Lindsay was made captain of his company; Joseph H. Jackson, first lieutenant; Daniel McNeal, second lieutenant, and Stephen P. Rockefellow, cornet, all being residents of Montgomery except Major Westcott.

In the fall of 1812, Captain Denniston of the "Republican Blues" enlisted about fifty volunteers to serve one year or during the war, and they elected Jonathan Gidney captain. They formed part of a detached regiment of riflemen of which Captain Denniston became major and afterwards colonel.

A part of a company from Wallkill was included in Colonel Hardenburgh's Ulster regiment, which went to Plattsburgh and thence to Fort Hamilton, near the Canada line, for guard duty.

The following roll of a detached company in Colonel Michael Smith's regiment of infantry, mustered in in September, 1814, embraces men from both Orange and Ulster Counties:

Roll of Detached Company.

Orange County was represented in the Navy by Silas H. Stringham, Charles Ludlow and Robert C. Ludlow, among others. Robert Ludlow was on the "Constitution" when she captured the "Java," and Augustus C. Ludlow as a lieutenant distinguished himself as a hero in the action of the "Chesapeake" with the "Shannon."

After the British captured Washington in 1814, a public meeting was held in Goshen, August 30, to consider the propriety of repairing the fortifications at West Point or erecting new ones for public defense. General James W. Wilson was chairman of the meeting, and a committee to devise and report plans was composed of John Duer, Jonathan Fisk, William Ross, John W. Wilkin, George D. Wickham, James Finch, Jr., and Nathan H. White. They reported at an adjourned meeting, and recommended the following committee of defense, which was appointed:

For Minisink, John Bradner, Nathan Arnot; Deer Park, John Finch, Jr., Joseph Baird; Wallkill, Henry B. Wisner, Benjamin Woodward; Goshen, John Duer, Freegift Tuthill; Warwick, Dr. Samuel S. Seward, Jeffrey Wisner; Monroe, James D. Secor, Benjamin Cunningham; Cornwall, William A. Clark, Joseph Chandler, Jr.; Blooming Grove, Col. Selah Strong, Jeremiah Horton; Montgomery, John Blake, Jr., Johannes Miller; Newburgh, John D. Lawson, Jacob Powell; New Windsor, Joseph Morton, David Hill.

This Committee of Defense met September 7, and made Selah Strong its chairman and John Duer its secretary. It passed resolutions in harmony with those of the public meeting, and appointed the chairman, the secretary, William A. Clark, Joseph Morell and Johannes Miller a committee to tender the services of citizens in repairing the West Point fortifications. At another meeting, September 17, the committee instructed the town committees immediately to collect subscriptions of money and labor, and report them to the General Committee, and also inquire into and report the quantity of arms and ammunition which the respective towns might need.

October 25 it was reported from the Secretary of War that he would send a skillful engineer to West Point "to superintend the works and point out the sites most eligible for defense."

Little was done, however, at West Point, but military companies of exempts were organized in several towns.

The glad news of the treaty of peace, concluded in December, 1814, was celebrated in every town of the county with great enthusiasm, and included illuminations, cannon firing, speeches, toasts, and thanksgiving services in the churches.

Peace with other nations continued from the close of the War of 1812 until the war with Mexico, 1846-8. For this war New York City regiments drew a number of volunteers from Orange, but only one company was recruited in the county, and this was in Goshen, and it became Co. K of the 10th Regiment U. S. Infantry. Its captain was Alexander Wilkin and its lieutenant, Francis M. Cummins. Captain Wilkin resigned in April, 1848, and Lieutenant Cummins was promoted to the captaincy. The regiment with this company was attached to the Army of the Rio Grande under General Taylor.

The patriotic services of the people of Orange County in the four-years' Civil War of 1861-5 were as praiseworthy as those of their ancestors in the two wars with Great Britain, which founded the Republic upon a lasting basis of unparalleled prosperity and progress. It was as necessary for the continuance of that prosperity, and as a lesson of our republican experiment to the world, to defeat the efforts of the slave-holding States to rend the Union in twain, as it had been to compel the kingly power across the ocean to let us establish it. This Orange County was quick to perceive and act upon.

Its Co. B, Third Regiment of Infantry, was the first company recruited and ready for muster in the State. Recruiting for it was commenced in Newburgh immediately after the passage by the Legislature, April 16, 1861, of an act to authorize the equipment of volunteer militia for the public safety, the movement being started by Hon. Stephen W. Fullerton, Member of Assembly, and placed in charge of James A. Ramney. There were seventy-seven men enrolled when the company was mustered in for two years, May 14, 1861—less than one month from the day the first man enlisted, and it had then been ready several days for mustering in.

The following regiments and companies were recruited in Orange for the Civil War, and there were many other enlistments from the county in other regiments and in the Navy:

Infantry: Third Regiment, Co. B, 1861; 18th, Co. D and Co. H, in part, 1861; 36th, Co. B, 1861; 56th, Cos. A, B, D and E, 1861; 63d Regiment, 1864; 70th, Co. F, 1861; 87th, Co. C, 1861; 98th, Co. C, 1864; 124th Regiment, 1,047 men in 1862 and one company in 1864; 168th, 335 men, 1862; 176th, 272 men, 1862.

Mounted Rifles: First Regiment, Co. C, 1861.

Cavalry: Second Regiment, Co. B, 1861; 15th, Co. I, 146 men, 1864.

Artillery: Fifteenth Regiment, Co. M, 82 men, 1864; 7th, 70 men, 1864; 7th Independent Battery, 1861.

Militia: Nineteenth and 71st, 517 men, 1861-62.

The following are the aggregates by towns of the men furnished and accepted in the county:

April, 1861, to July, 1862.

In addition to the numbers tabulated there were in the 71st Militia four hundred and twenty-nine from Newburgh, seventy-nine from Mount Hope, five from Deer Park, two from Chester and two from Southfield.

The totals tell their own story of patriotic zeal.

Company B, Third Regiment, before referred to as the first to be recruited and ready for muster in the State, was mustered out at the end of its two years' service, but reorganized and was mustered out the second time after the close of the war, on August 28, 1865. It was in many fights, including those of Big Bethel, Fort Wagner, Bermuda Hundred, Petersburg, Fort Gilmer, Chapin's Farm, Fort Fisher and Wilmington. Its first captain, Stephen W. Fullerton, appointed April 20, 1861, died in Newburgh, September 11, 1861, and was succeeded by Ervine A. Jones, first lieutenant, September 25, 1861, who was dismissed August 16, 1862. Alexander Mann, second and then first lieutenant, was promoted to captain, June 10, 1861, and discharged August 31, 1864. Jeremiah D. Mabie, who was promoted from first sergeant to second lieutenant, and then to first lieutenant of Co. B, was made captain of Co. F, June 15, 1863, and discharged September 18, 1864. James H. Reeve was advanced from fourth sergeant to first sergeant and then to second lieutenant of Co. B, was made captain of Co. I, October 3, 1864, lost a leg at Fort Fisher, and was discharged June 26, 1865.

The Eighteenth Regiment was recruited in several counties in response to the call of President Lincoln for 75,000 volunteers. It was mustered in for two years May 17, 1861, and mustered out May 28, 1863. Co. D was recruited from Orange County and organized at Middletown, with John C. McGinnis, captain, George Barry, first lieutenant and Roswell M. Sayre, second lieutenant. The commissions of these officers date back into April. The enlistments were so many that thirty men of the company were separated to form a part of Co. H. The regiment supported a battery in the first battle of Bull Run, but was not brought into action. It was stationed and remained near Alexandria the most of the time until McClellan's Army went to the Peninsula, and took part there in the seven days' fighting. Afterward it did guard duty at various points until it was mustered out.

The following promotions of Orange County men in the 18th Regiment are on record, the dates being those of rank, some of which preceded dates of commission:

Thomas S. Lane, 2d Lieut., Nov. 6, 1861; 1st Lieut., Nov. 10, 1862; mustered out with regiment.

W. E. Carmichael, 2d Lieut., May 7, 1861; 1st Lieut., Dec. 2, 1861; resigned May 16, 1862.

Robert A. Malone, 2d Lieut., Nov. 11, 1861; Capt., Sept. 8, 1862; mustered out with regiment.

Roswell M. Sayre, 2d Lieut., April 30, 1861; 1st Lieut., Dec. 21, 1862; Capt., June 26, 1862; mustered out with regiment.

John S. King, 1st Lieut., June 26, 1862; mustered out with regiment.

George Barry, 1st Lieut., April 30, 1861; killed at Gaines Mills, June 27, 1862.

John C. McGinnis, Capt., April 30, 1861; Major, Dec. 2, 1861; Lieut. Col., Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out with regiment.

The 36th Regiment was organized in New York, and its Co. B was recruited in Orange County by John Raney of Newburgh, captain of Co. F, 19th Militia, assisted by Timothy Donoghue of the same company. The enlistments were for two years. Between May 13 and June 17, 1861, they enlisted seventy-seven men. The regiment arrived in Washington, July 14, 1861, and remained in camp until March, 1862. It was brigaded under General Couch, and attached to General Buell's Division, afterward commanded by General Keyes. It went with General McClellan's Army to the Peninsula and was in the fights at Seven Pines, Gaines Mills and Malvern Hill. Afterward it saw much active and perilous service in Virginia and Maryland. At Fredericksburg it was in General Deven's Brigade, which was the first of the left grand division to cross the Rappahannock, December 11, 1862, and covered the retreat of the army, December 15, Co. B being detailed to collect stragglers under the enemy's fire. May 3, Co. B, at Marye's Heights, captured a battery from a Mississippi brigade, and was the first to raise the colors on the heights. The regiment was a part of Sedgwick's Corps in the attack on Salem Heights. The last active service of the regiment and Co. B was in Hooker's campaign. The officers of the company were:

John A. Raney, Capt., June 15, 1861; Major, Dec. 21, 1861; resigned Oct. 15, 1862.

Timothy Donoghue, 1st Lieut., June 15, 1861; Capt., Nov. 12, 1861; mustered out with regiment, July 15, 1863.

John M. Lewis, 2d Lieut., June 15, 1864; 1st Lieut., Dec. 2, 1861; mustered out with regiment.

Charles B. Lewis, 1st Sergt., Oct. 1, 1861; 2d Lieut., Nov. 12, 1861; 1st Lieut, Aug. 20, 1862; mustered out with regiment.

FIFTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.

The 56th Regiment was formed of companies from Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Delaware Counties, Companies A, B, D and E being recruited from Orange, as were also the 7th Battery and Co. C of Mounted Rifles, afterward detached. It was a three-years' regiment, but was continued by re-enlistment, and although the companies were all mustered in between July 31st and December 10th, 1861, the regiment was not mustered out until October 17th, 1865. Its services in the army were varied and creditable throughout, and at times brilliant, and deserved the detailed record of its movements, hardships, perils and achievements in the history by John C. Fisk and William H. D. Blake, members of the regiment, which was published in 1906. It is this well-written history herein epitomized.

The 56th Regiment, first known as the Tenth Legion, was organized in July, 1861, by Charles H. Van Wyck, with headquarters at Newburgh. It consisted of ten companies of infantry, one of sharpshooters, two of artillery and two of cavalry, when it went away, but in Washington the four latter companies were detached and placed in the artillery division and cavalry corps. Its camp of rendezvous and instruction until November 6th was on a sandy plateau by the Hudson River, near New Windsor. In Washington it was made a part of the Provisional Brigade, including also the 52nd and 104th Pennsylvania, the 11th Maine and the 100th New York Regiments. The 56th New York was commanded by Colonel Charles H. Van Wyck until he was brevetted a Brigadier General. Companies A, B and E were recruited in Newburgh by Recruiting Officers Thomas S. Marvel, Charles T. Thayer and William J. Williams, respectively; Co. C of mounted rifles in Montgomery by Frederick Decker, and Co. D in Warwick by John J. Wheeler.

The instructing officer at the New Windsor camp was Charles A. Van Horne Ellis, of the 71st New York Militia, and he proved to be an efficient drill-master in regimental and company movements and the manual of arms, in which officers and men made rapid progress and became expert before leaving for the seat of war. When the regiment reached New York General Stuart L. Woodford presented to it a white silk banner in behalf of a patriotic society called "The Sons of Orange and Sullivan," and this was carried through the whole war. On arriving in Washington in November the regiment was sent to Kalorama Heights, near Georgetown, and tented there about two weeks. The weather was severe, and many of the men contracted colds, pneumonia and rheumatism from unaccustomed exposures, which also proved fatal to some of them. Afterward they camped a few weeks by Rock Creek, in the suburbs of Georgetown, and in January, 1862, went into the Carver barracks on Meridian Hill. The brigade, under General Naglee, had then become one of the best-drilled in the army, and President Lincoln and family and General Scott and daughter repeatedly came to Meridian Hill to witness its parade. It was in the grand review of 140,000 men under General McClellan which preceded the movement to the Peninsula, and on March 26th crossed the Long Bridge in Casey's division of four brigades, which marched thence to Alexandria, where on April 1st they started down the Potomac on the steamer "Constitution" for the Peninsula, reached Hampton Roads in the evening of April 2nd, and proceeded to Newport News April 3d. On this last trip the men had their first experience under fire, but the shells which the rebels shot at them from Sewell's Point fell short.

At Newport News they went into camp on a large plantation, waited for the rest of the army a few days, and marched with it to Yorktown. Here the men on picket line were almost constantly under fire, and all were kept in a fever of excitement by the roar of cannon and cracks of rifles along the whole line from river to river, day and night.

The first real baptism of fire experienced by the 56th was on April 16th, when a large force of the enemy came out and fell on the left of the division near Lee's Mills. The rebels were repulsed, and the officers commended the men of the regiment for their courage and steadiness under fire. May 5th they had more fighting experience after a swift march of the day before to the front of Fort McGruder in the suburbs of Williamsburgh. Here they took part in a charge on their enemies with fixed bayonets, which caused the latter to flee in confusion leaving many dead and wounded and about 600 prisoners. They remained in line of battle all night, standing in deep mud, and drenched by a drizzling rain. When, the next afternoon, they were each given three biscuits of hardtack it was the first food they had eaten in two days, and ended the first experience of intense gnawing hunger with the most of them. May 9th they followed the retreating rebels over roads deep with mud, exchanging shots with them day after day, sleeping on the ground at night, wading streams waist-deep sometimes, with little to eat, and much of the time only what they could jayhawk. May 19th they drove the enemy across the Chickahominy at a point opposite Richmond, and as all the bridges had been destroyed, waded the next day across the Oozy river without much opposition, and waited for the rest of the corps, which followed in three days, and crossed the river on a bridge which had meanwhile been constructed for them. During the next three days the regiment was kept on the move making reconnaissances and scouting, and scouted to within four miles of the city of Richmond.

May 28th the 56th found itself assigned with Casey's division to a position on the right of the Williamsburgh turnpike, remained on picket till sometime after the attack of the 31st and captured a number of the enemy's skirmishers. Later, when the two lines of battle were formed, it was placed to support Spratt's battery, but the battery's captain relieved it and left the division lying on the ground exposed to the plunging fire of the enemy's artillery, which killed the men "at a fearful rate." They then formed in the edge of the woods, and there fought two hours, and Colonel Van Wyck was wounded in the leg by a piece of shell. The division that day opposed a force of 30,000, and held the line. Three times the enemy charged to within reach of their bayonets, and each time was driven back. The division made one of the most bloody and obstinate fights of the war, and lost nearly half of its men, but, it was believed, saved the army of the Potomac from great disaster.

Then to Malvern Hill. On July 1 the division, after a tedious march, lay down on the hill near a large house, and there all day witnessed the cannonading of 160 Union guns, expecting every moment to be ordered to assist in the frequent fierce assaults made by the Army of Virginia in three divisions, "only to be torn in pieces and hurled back again to the cover of the woods by the awful storm of shot and shell and volleys of the infantry supports." But the brigade was not moved from its reserved position until late in the afternoon, when it was sent to the southern slope of the hill, and on the 2nd acted as rear guard of the whole retreating army, being in charge of the artillery and wagon trains. The enemy's advance attacked it at Carter's Hill, but was repulsed. The next day breastworks were thrown up, and the army rested. On July 7th the men were cheered by a visit and praise from President Lincoln. It was thought that the army would move forward and capture Richmond, but General McClellan received orders to withdraw by way of Aquia Creek and attack Richmond from the Rappahannock. The Chickahominy was crossed October 16 in weather so hot that large numbers of the officers and men dropped by the wayside exhausted, and that night when the regiment bivouacked not more than 100 men stacked arms, and hardly an officer except the mounted ones was with them. Key's corps, including the 56th Regiment, was left at Yorktown to cover the embarkation. The Peninsula campaign was ended.

General Naglee's brigade remained in and about Yorktown for sometime, doing picket duty and demolishing earthworks. On December 11 it went on a raid into Gloucester, Kings and Queens Counties, and brought back horses, mules, cattle, sheep and fowls. The brigade marched all night closely followed by the enemy, the 56th doing excellent service as the rear guard. On December 29th the brigade embarked on steamer for Morehead City, N. C., and went from there to Newbern, near which it remained two weeks. On January 8, 1863, orders were read informing the men of the 56th that their regiment had been attached to the 18th Corps, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, with General Naglee as division commander, and Colonel Davis of the 104th Pa. as the brigade commander. General Naglee, on taking leave, issued an order naming the important events in the history of the brigade in which it acted a conspicuous part, and which should be inscribed upon the regimental banners. The 56th was included in all of them.

General Naglee also characterized the work and behavior of the brigade in each of the events.

In connection with the preparations to attack Charleston the brigade went to St. Helena Island and waited there until about April 1st. Thence to woods near the shore of Edisto Harbor, where monitors and gunboats lay at anchor, and covered its landing by shelling the woods. After landing it followed the retreating enemy, and some of the men were wounded. While in camp here it was several times attacked in night forays and some of its picket men captured. Here the 56th was temporarily brigaded with that of General Howell in General Terry's division, under General Gilmore of the Tenth Corps. On July 16th, this division, 4,000 strong, was attacked by a superior force of Georgia troops, but with the aid of the gunboats they were driven off with a loss of 200 prisoners. Soon afterward the division went to Folly Island, and here, while the bombardment of Forts Wagner and Gregg was in progress, the men were engaged in arduous duties and got but little rest. August 16 they sailed to Beaufort, S. C., and went into camp, with the regiment sadly reduced in numbers and many sick. They remained there till September 3, 1864, with the exception of an expedition to John's Island in July.

In February, 1864, the regiment veteranized,{sic} the most of the men re-enlisting, and was mustered in as a veteran regiment February 29. In March it went north on a furlough and returned May 18, commanded by Colonel Tyler. During its stay at Beaufort about 400 new men had been recruited for it by officers sent north. The regiment went from Beaufort to John's Island, near Charleston, July 1st, and here became a part of J. P. Hatch's division. On July 4th it had the most trying march of the year on account of the extreme heat and the soft sand. Many of the men were sun-struck, and some of them died. The march was continued the next morning to within seven miles of Charleston, when, hearing that rebel cavalry were in their rear, they were ordered back. The next day they started again for the front, and had to do some fighting. July 9th they were attacked by the rebels in force in a dense fog. A surprise was intended, but the rebels were met with volleys of grape and canister, and were twice repulsed. On July 10th, the regiment went back to Beaufort, and the St. John's expedition passed into history. It was regarded as the most exciting and perilous scouting expedition the regiment was ever engaged in, but its object was accomplished. It remained at Beaufort until September 3, when it moved over to Morris Island and assisted in the siege of Charleston. Here the men could see every shot from their batteries that struck Fort Sumter, and the firing was kept up night and day. The heat was extreme, the whole island was covered with shifting sand, which filled eyes, ears and hair, the heavy fogs at night were like a drenching rain, and all the while they were under the fire of the rebel forts and batteries, shells from which burst over their heads; but they had the compensation of seeing their own shells burst in the city of Charleston.

Many of the men became afflicted with scurvy, and the effective force of the regiment was reduced to 600 men, one-half of whom were detailed each day and night for field duty. Otherwise their duties were severe, and in October the nights became very cold, and, being without fuel, caused them much suffering. They remained there until November 27, when they were taken to Boyd's Point, and the next morning were marched by General Potter toward Honey Hill, where they were surprised by a concealed rebel battery, and there was a bloody fight in which the 56th lost fifty men in killed and wounded, and the division 746, and they were obliged to fall back. On December 3d the brigade, after a lively skirmish, returned to its old camp, and three days later went up Broad River to Deveaux Neck, near which it had many of its men killed and wounded in a severe fight. The next day it was attacked by a large force, and there was a bloody fight in which each man fired sixty rounds and the rebels were repulsed, but resisted stubbornly and retired slowly. In this battle the 56th encountered the 5th Georgia Regiment, drove it from its position, captured its colors, and lost twenty-four men in killed and wounded.

The camp was thirty-six miles north of Savannah and seventy from Charleston. December 23d the news came that General Sherman had occupied Savannah. On the 29th Colonel Tyler was put in command of three regiments, including the 56th, and they advanced to ascertain the strength of the enemy. They encountered his picket line which resisted but fell back, and killed and wounded seventeen of Tyler's men. The camp was undisturbed until January 7th, when a rifled gun began shelling them and kept it up for a week, night and day. This was not restful, but the camp was so sandy that not more than half the percussion shells burst, and not a man was injured by them. January 15th it was discovered that the rebels had left, and our men pushed on and took possession of Fort Coosawhatchie. Here the rations were greatly improved by foraging expeditions. On the 17th they were visited by Generals Sherman and Howard. On the 29th the 56th remained at the fort while the rest of the brigade left to relieve General Sherman's forces at Poctaligo. The 56th did not join it until February 16, and afterward the brigade made a slow march to Ashley River, across which lay Charleston, arriving there February 28. The city had been evacuated after the cotton warehouses, quartermasters' stores, bridges, vessels, etc., had been burnt by order of General Hardie. March 1st the division started to pursue him, and if possible prevent him from joining General Johnston's army. It marched several days without finding any rebels, then was ordered to return and was back in Charleston on the 9th. This expedition, composed of General Potter's entire division, had marched ninety miles. It went on March 11th to the village of Mt. Pleasant, near Charleston, and remained there until April 2nd, when it went to Georgetown. Major Eliphas Smith being in command of companies A, B, C, D and E of the 56th. A and B remained in Georgetown as a part of the garrison. C was sent as guard of a transport up the Santee River, and E and D were attached to the 157th regiment, and went with it on the "Kingsville expedition." Kingsville was about 135 miles from Georgetown, and the rebels had run in there from points on Sherman's march as many as 25 locomotives and 200 cars, with large quantities of stores and ammunition. After a troublesome march, with some hard fighting, the expedition reached Kingsville April 10. On the 9th companies B and D of the 56th had gallantly charged a rebel battery, in the face of a fusillade, and captured it, but with a loss in killed and wounded of fifteen men.

The next day news was received of the fall of Petersburgh and the surrender of General Lee's army. In General Potter's order announcing it he returned "special thanks to Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael of the 157th New York and detachment of the 56th New York for the skillful and gallant manner in which they carried the enemy's battery and drove him in confusion from the field."

The locomotives and cars at Kingsville were destroyed, and the expedition marched back happy to their old camp at Mt. Pleasant. The fightings and severe hardships were ended at last.

April 14 the men witnessed the raising of the Union flag at Fort Sumter on the 4th anniversary of its surrender. Soon the regiment was united again at Summerville, and remained near there until the men were paid up. It started homeward October 6th, and was disbanded and mustered out on Hart's Island, New York Harbor, November 10th, but a number of the men whose terms had expired had been discharged on July 5th.

During its last campaign in South Carolina the distances the regiment had traversed were about as follows: Beaufort to Morris Island, seventy miles; to Coosawatchie by way of Honey Hill and Deveaux Neck, ninety miles; to Charleston, seventy miles; to Santee River and return, eighty miles; Kingsville raid, 390 miles; to Newberry by way of Orangeburg and Columbia, 166 miles; to Chester, forty-five miles; to Charleston by way of Winsboro, Columbia and Florence, 205 miles—all during the regiment's last year of service.

The regiment arrived in New York City October 20, 1865, was quartered in the Battery barracks until November 9, was paid up and discharged November 10.

From first to last there were 2,176 men and boys enlisted and assigned to the 56th regiment.

The incomplete record shows the names of forty-one killed in battle, twenty-three died of wounds; 216 died of disease; 170 wounded and recovered; 415 discharged for disability and wounds; sixty-seven transferred to other commands; five captured and paroled.

Following is a list of the engagements in which the regiment took part:

Engagements of the Fifty-sixth.

1. Siege of Yorktown, Va., April 15 to May 4, 1862.
2. Lee's Mills, Va., April 28, 1862.
3. Williamsburgh, Va., May 5, 1862.
4. Bottoms and Turkey Island Bridge, Va., May 23, 1862.
5. Savage Station, Va., May 25, 1862.
6. Fair Oaks, Va., May 31, 1862.
7. Seven Days' Battle, June 25 to July 2, 1862.
8. Railroad and Bottoms Bridge, Va., June 28 and 29, 1862.
9. White Oak Swamp Bridge, Va., June 30, 1862.
10. Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, 1862.
11. Carter's Hill, Va., July 2, 1862.
12. Woods' Cross Roads, Va., Dec. 14, 1862.
13. Seabrook Island, S. C., June 18, 1863.
14. Grimball's Landing, S. C., July 16, 1863.
15. Siege of Fort Wagner, S. C., July 18, 1863.
16. Siege of Charleston, S. C., August and September, 1863.
17. Johns Island, S. C., July 1 to 10, 1864.
18. Honey Hill, S. C., Nov. 30, 1864.
19. Coosawhatchie, S. C., Dec. 3, 1864.
20. Boyd's Point, S. C., Dec. 5, 1864.
21. Deveaux Neck, S. C., Dec. 6, 1864.
22. Deveaux Neck, S. C., Dec. 7, 1864.
23. Deveaux Neck, S. C., Dec. 9, 1864.
24. Deveaux Neck, S. C., Dec. 19, 1864.
25. Deveaux Neck, S. C., Dec. 29, 1864.
26. Manningsville, S. C., April 8, 1865.
27. Dingle's Mills, S. C., April 9, 1865.

REGIMENTAL AND COMPANY OFFICERS.

COLONELS.

Charles H. Van Wyck, and Brig. Gen., U. S. V.
Rockwell Tyler, not mustered.

LIEUTENANT-COLONELS.

James Jordan, to August S, 1862.
Frederick Decker, not mustered.
John J. Wheeler, to Feb. 11, 1864.
Rockwell Tyler, to muster out and Brevet Colonel.
Eliphas Smith, not mustered.

MAJORS.

Jacob Sharpe, to Aug. 5, 1862.
John J. Wheeler, to Dec. 15, 1862.
Rockwell Tyler, to Feb. 27, 1864.
Eliphas Smith, to Oct. 17, 1865.
James Du Bois, not mustered.

ADJUTANTS.

Eli H. Evans, to Oct. 25, 1863.
Henri B. Loomis, to muster out of regiment.

QUARTERMASTERS.

John B. Gerard, to Sept. 5, 1862.
Jesse F. Schafer. to Oct. 15, 1864, from Co. K.
Addison J. Clements, to muster out of regiment, from Co. F.

SURGEONS.

Solomon Van Etten, to Sept. 28, 1864.
George H. Fossard, Oct. 7, 1864, to July 5, 1865.
Ira S. Bradner, Sept. 19, 1865; not mustered.

ASSISTANT SURGEONS.

O. A. Carrol, Sept. 2, 1861, to May 13, 1863.
Albert S. Turner, Aug. 9, 1862, to Nov. 18, 1863.
Daniel S. Hardenburgh, Nov. 11, 1863, to April 1, 1865.
Ira S. Bradner, April 25, 1863, to muster out of regiment.
George K. Sayer, Brevet 1st Lieut., and Asst. Surg.

HOSPITAL STEWARD.

George K. Sayer, from Oct. 20, 1861, to muster out of regiment.

CHAPLAINS.

Charles Shelling, to Dec. 23, 1862.
George P. Van Wyck, Dec. 30, 1862, to muster out of regiment.

SERGEANT MAJORS.

William N. Phillips, to Jan. 18, 1862.
Demmon S. Decker, Co. F, to Feb. 9, 1862.
Francis Hines, Co. E, to Aug. 8, 1862.
John Metcalf, Co. A, to Dec. 23, 1863.
Francis Might, Co. G, to July 1, 1864.
Robert C. Roper, Co. H, to Jan. 1, 1865.
James Gowdy, Co. C, to May 18, 1865.
Frank Hotchkin, Co. F, to muster out of regiment.

QUARTERMASTER SERGEANTS.

Jesse F. Schafer, original, to Feb. 27, 1862.
Noah D. Smith, Co. H, to muster out of regiment.

COMMISSARY SERGEANTS.

Isaac Rosa, original, to April 12, 1862.
William H. Merphy, Co. K, to Nov. 20, 1864.
William H. D. Blake, Co. C, Nov. 22, 1864, to muster out of regiment.

REGIMENTAL BAND.

MUSICIANS—DRUM AND FIFE CORPS.

RECORD OF FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS—ORIGINAL

Van Wyck, Charles—Age, 37 years. Enrolled at Newburgh, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as Colonel, Sept. 4, 1861; mustered out with regiment, Oct. 17, 1865, at Charleston, S. C. Commissioned Colonel, Nov. 13, 1862, with rank from Sept. 4, 1861. Original. Brevet Brig. General, U. S. V. Brigadier General from Sept. 27, 1865; mustered out Jan. 15, 1866.

Jourdan, James—Age, 29 years. Enrolled at Brooklyn to serve 3 years, and mustered in as Lieutenant Colonel, Dec. 19, 1861; discharged, Aug. 5, 1862; prior service as Major 84th Infantry. Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, Dec. 20, 1861, with rank from Dec. 19, 1861. Original.

Sharpe, Jacob—Age, 27 years. Enrolled at Newburgh, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as Major, Sept. 3, 1861; discharged Aug. 5, 1862. Commissioned Major, June 28, 1862, with rank from Sept. 6, 1861. Original. Subsequent service in the 156th Regiment, N. Y. Infantry Vols., as Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel.

Evans, Eli H.—Age, 25 years. Enrolled, July 31, 1861, at Newburgh, to serve 3 years: mustered in as Adjutant, Sept. 1, 1861; dishonorably discharged, Oct. 1, 1863; also borne as First Lieutenant on rolls of Company A. Commissioned First Lieutenant and Adjutant, Aug. 1, 1862, with rank from Sept. 1, 1861. Original.

Gerard, John C.—Age, 32 years. Enrolled, July 21, 1861, at Newburgh, to serve 3 years; mustered in as Quartermaster, July 31, 1861; discharged Sept. 4, 1862. Commissioned First Lieutenant and Quartermaster, Aug. 7, 1862, with rank from July 31, 1861. Original.

Shelling, Charles—Age, 35 years. Enrolled at Newburgh to serve 3 years, and mustered in as Chaplain, Sept. 16, 1861; discharged, Dec. 23, 1862. Commissioned Chaplain, Aug. 7, 1862, with rank from Sept. 16, 1861. Original.

Van Wyck, George P.—Age, 35 years. Enrolled at Seabrook Island, S. C. to serve 3 years; mustered in as Chaplain, April 8, 1863; mustered out, Oct. 17, 1865, while absent with leave. Commissioned Chaplain, Dec. 30, 1862, with rank from same date, vice Charles Shelling, resigned.

Phillips, William N.—Age, 30 years. Enlisted. Sept. 19, 1861, at Newburgh, to serve 3 years; mustered in as Sergeant Major. Oct. 1, 1861; died of typhoid fever, Jan. 4, 1862, at Warren Hospital, Washington, D. C.

DISCHARGED.

James Jourdan, Aug. 5, 1862, Lieutenant Colonel.
Jacob Sharpe, Aug. 5, 1862, Major.
Eli H. Evans, Oct. 1, 1863, Adjutant.
John C. Gerard, Sept. 4, 1862, Quartermaster.
Charles Shelling, Dec. 23, 1862, Chaplain.
Frederick Decker, Nov. 23, 1862, Lieutenant Colonel.
John J. Wheeler, Feb. 11, 1864, Lieutenant Colonel.

SURGEONS, ASSISTANT SURGEONS AND HOSPITAL STEWARDS.

Bradner, Ira S.—Enrolled, April 25, 1863, at Hilton Head, S. C, to serve 3 years; mustered in as Assistant Surgeon, May 12, 1863; commissioned as Surgeon, Sept. 19, 1865; mustered out with regiment, Oct. 17, 1865, at Charleston, S. C. Commissioned Assistant Surgeon, May 4, 1863, with rank from April 25, 1863, vice O. A. Carroll, promoted in 143d Infantry; Surgeon, Sept. 19, 1865, with rank from Sept. 19, 1865, vice G. W. Fossard, resigned.

Carroll, Oscar A.—Age, 34 years. Enrolled, Sept. 2, 1861, at Newburgh, to serve 3 years; mustered in as Assistant Surgeon, Sept. 23, 1861; mustered out May 13, 1863, for promotion to Surgeon, 143d Infantry. Commissioned Assistant Surgeon, Aug. 7, 1862, with rank from Sept. 23, 1861. Original.

Fossard, George H.—Age, 25 years. Enrolled, Oct. 7, 1864, at Morris Island, S. C., to serve 3 years; mustered in as Surgeon, Nov. 5, 1864; discharged July 5, 1865; prior service as Assistant Surgeon, 146th Infantry. Commissioned Surgeon, Oct. 7, 1864, with rank from Oct. 7, 1864, vice S. Van Etten, mustered out.

Hardenberg, Daniel S.—Age, 23 years. Enrolled, Nov. 11, 1863, at Beaufort, S. C, to serve 3 years; mustered in as Assistant Surgeon, Dec. 11, 1863; discharged, April 1, 1865. Commissioned Assistant Surgeon, Nov. 13, 1863, with rank from Nov. 11, 1863, vice A. L. Turner, promoted.

Sayre, George K.—Age, 22 years. Enlisted at Newburgh, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as Hospital Steward, Oct. 20, 1861; re-enlisted as a veteran, Feb. 24, 1864; mustered out with regiment, Oct. 17, 1865, at Charleston, S. C.; also borne as Sayer. Brevetted First Lieutenant and Assistant Surgeon.

Turner, Albert S.—Age, 35 years. Enrolled at Yorktown, Va., to serve 3 years, and mustered in as Assistant Surgeon, Aug. 9, 1862; discharged, June 30, 1863, for promotion to Surgeon, 103d Infantry. Commissioned Assistant Surgeon, Aug. 29, 1862, with rank from Aug. 19, 1862.

Van Etten, Solomon—Age, 32 years. Enrolled at Newburgh, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as Surgeon, Sept. 23, 1861; mustered out, Oct. 7, 1864; also borne as Fetterman Van Etten. Commissioned Surgeon, Sept. 23, 1861, with rank from Aug. 7, 1861. Original.

MEMBERS OF BAND.

Biddle, John—Age, 23 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Canfield, George—Age, 15 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Count, Thomas H.—Age, 35 years. Enlisted at Ellenville, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Cromwell, Charles—Age, 27 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Depuy, George—Age, 29 years. Was enrolled Sept. 10, 1861, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band; discharged, Dec. 6, 1861, at Washington, D. C., by General Order, No. 91, War Department.

Harding, Elislia C.—Age, 26 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as band leader, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

King, George J.—Age, 31 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

King, Hiram T.—Age, 27 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Kirkpatrick, Joseph—Age, 25 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C. Subsequent service in the Cavalry.

Little, James, Jr.—Age 24 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Stewart, William H—Age, 24 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Nov. 1, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C. Subsequent service in the Engineer Corps, and Captain in the Regular Army.

Tuthill, Charles—Age, 24 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Van Cleft, Theodore H.—Age, 24 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Way, Richard D.—Age, 24 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Welch, Theodore H.—Age, 23 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Wheat, Robert A.—Age, 25 years. Enlisted at Middletown, to serve 3 years, and mustered in as musician in band, Sept. 21, 1861; mustered out, March 1, 1862, at Washington, D. C.

Company A.

Captains—Thomas S. Marvel, Jr., James H. F. Milton, John Metcalf.

First Lieutenants—Thomas B. Pope, Thomas Atwood, John Metcalf, Robert C. Roper.

Second Lieutenants—Peter B. Steele, Wilbur F. Still, Robert C. Roper, George R. Black, Daniel R. Franklin, Wilbur F. Still.

Company B.

Captains—Charles F. Thayer, James H. Smith, Norman Perkins, Alfred W. Loomis, Melville Sears.

First Lieutenants—Effingham Vanderburgh, Alfred W. Lomas, James J. Cox, Alphonse Richter, Edward H. Lomas, Jeremiah Strickland.

Second Lieutenants—Alfred W. Lomas, James J. Cox, Isaac Roosa, Alphonse Richter, Algernon Rose, Jesse L. Stivers, Calvin Lambert.

Company D.

Captains—John J. Wheeler, Edward Wheeler, John Connell.

First Lieutenants—Edward Wheeler, Isaac Beckett, William J. Sayre.

Second Lieutenants—Isaac Beckett, John Connell, Robert E. Halstead, Benjamin F. Clark, William J. Sayre.

Company E.

Captains—William J. Williams, Daniel D. Elting, James J. Cox.

First Lieutenants—Edgar E. Morse, Joseph A. Holmes, John L. Thompkins, Francis Hines, Meeker G. Bell.

Second Lieutenants—Meeker G. Bell, Francis Hines, Edward J. Scranton, Clement B. Newkirk.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.

The following brief story of the organization and military career of the 124th N. Y.  V. is condensed from the history of the regiment prepared by Colonel Charles H. Weygant and published in 1877.

The 124th was distinctively an Orange County regiment, as all its companies were recruited in the county under President Lincoln's call of July 1, 1862, for 300,000 three years' men. The day after this call was issued Governor Morgan made an appeal to the people of New York urging them to respond promptly to the President's wish and the country's needs. The State was immediately divided into military districts and a committee of prominent citizens was appointed for each, to superintend the work of enlistment and recommend suitable persons for the officers of the regiments to be raised. Orange and Sullivan Counties constituted one of these districts, and its military committee was composed as follows:

Hon. Robert Denniston, Blooming Grove; Hon. Andrew S. Murray, Goshen; Hugh S. Bull, Montgomery; Albert Post, Newburgh; James M. Barrett, Cornwall; Alexander Moore, Washingtonville; Morgan Shint, Monroe.

A little later the following were added to the committee: E. A. Brewster and William Fullerton, Newburgh; C. H. Winfield, Thomas Edsall and Silas Horton, Goshen; James Cromwell and William Avery, Cornwall; C. C. McQuoid, Halstead Sweet, John G. Walkin and John Cummings, Wallkill; Charles J. St. John, John Conkling, Orville J. Brown and C. M. Lawrence, Port Jervis; C. B. Newkirk, Monroe; A. S. Dodge, Mount Hope; Dorastus Brown, Greenville; A. F. Schofield, Montgomery; A. G. Owen, Blooming Grove; John Cowdrey and Thomas Welling, Warwick.

The committee recommended A. Van Home Ellis, of New Windsor, then a captain in the service, for colonel of the regiment which it was proposed to raise in Orange, and to have general charge of the recruiting. The gloomy conditions at the seat of war made enlistments slow throughout the State. Colonel Ellis, after his selection by the committee at its first meeting on June 11th, had gone to work immediately, and opened recruiting offices in every town, yet only eight men in all were enlisted in the county during the month. Then, when it was seen that the national capital was again in danger of capture, public meetings were held, private bounties were offered, money for the support of the families of volunteers were raised, and there was a general revival of patriotic enthusiasm. Although up to August 8th not more than a score of volunteers had reported at Colonel Ellis's headquarters, fifteen days later the regiment was fully organized and ready to march to the front.

The regimental officers then were: A. Van Horne Ellis, colonel; F. M. Cummins, lieutenant colonel; James Cromwell, major; John H. Thompson, surgeon; T. Scott Bradner, chaplain; Augustus Denniston, quartermaster; De Peyster Arden, adjutant; Edward Marshall, assistant surgeon; R. V. K. Montfort, 2nd assistant surgeon.

These field officers had all served honorably in the Union army, and Lieutenant-Colonel Cummins had been a commissioned officer in the Mexican War.

The members of the regiment's band were: Drum Major, ____ Hart; buglers, Wm. B. Wood, Moses P. Ross; fifes, John G. Buckley, Charles Whitehead, Arthur Haigh, Geo. W. Dimick, Henry C. Payne; drums, Robert L. Travis, A. J. Millspaugh, Geo. W. Canfield, John N. Cole, R. D. Stephens, Charles W. Bodle, Henry U. Cannon, Wm. Hamilton, Henry Hoofman, C. Van Gordon, Jehue Price, J. M. Merritt, W. Johnston, James McElroy, Samuel W. Weeden.

The captains of the several companies were: A. Charles H. Weygant; B. Henry S. Murray: C. Wm. Silliman; D. James W. Benedict: E. Wm. A. McBirney; F. Ira S. Bush; G. Isaac Nicoll; H. David Crist; I. Leander Clark; K. Wm. A. Jackson.

Delay in obtaining guns postponed the mustering in of the regiment until September 5th, and the next day it broke camp at Goshen and started for Washington. Meanwhile it had been presented by Charles H. Winfield, in behalf of the ladies of Orange, with a stand of colors. Its fine appearance in New York inspired a paragraph of praise from the Tribune, which said that the most influential families of Orange County were represented in its ranks, and that it contained "the very cream of the regimental district."

Three days afterward they were in Washington, and the first night there slept on the ground and stone block in front of the Capitol. The next day they marched to Camp Chase on Arlington Heights, and two or three days later moved to a spot which they christened Camp Ellis. Here they were attached to Platt's brigade of Whipple's division of Heintzleman's corps. The other regiments in the brigade were the 122nd Pa. (a nine months regiment), the 86th N. Y., and the 1st Ohio battery. The 124th and 86th regiments remained together during the war. The latter and the Ohio battery were already veterans.

The 124th broke camp again September 25th, went to Miners' Hill, and here the men became experienced in picket duties. Tents were struck October 16th, and the next day they started in a drizzling rain with their division to join the main army on the Maryland side of the Potomac in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry. A freight train carried them in great discomfort from Washington to Knoxville, eight miles from Harper's Ferry, and they became a part of the Army of the Potomac. October 25th they again received marching orders, and were in motion from supper time till midnight, when they bivouacked near Berlin, where a pontoon bridge was being laid. Across this they went with the entire army of 100,000 men, and were afterward halted in a muddy cornfield near Lovettsville, where they had to stay all night in rain, a cold wind and mud, and had their first realization of the sufferings of army life. The next morning thirty of the men were unfit for duty. Short marches were continued, with stops of two or three days, they being in the advance with the rest of Whipple division a part of the time, and then they looked from a peak of the Blue Ridge upon some white tents of the enemy. The object of the movement had been to cut off a force of his infantry, but it was too late and the division was ordered to retrace its steps.

At Orleans they learned that McClellan had been succeeded by Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. November 11th they marched to Waterloo, and here some of the men of Co. B, commanded by Lieutenant W. E. Weygant, were part of a detail which had a fight with the enemy's pickets and captured two prisoners. November 16th they marched to Warrenton and here became a part of General Hooker's grand division. There were now daily marches, some of the time through heavy rains and in deep mud. November 23rd, four miles from Fredericksburg, they went into camp for the first time since leaving Miner's Hill. The army waited in that vicinity for the pontoon trains, which did not arrive until December 10. Then, in pushing a pontoon bridge across the Rappahannock, many of the builders were killed by Mississippi sharpshooters. To stop this 120 cannon were placed on Stafford Heights overlooking Fredericksburg, and began firing shells into the city and among the sharpshooters. When the firing ceased two bridges spanned the river, and Union troops hurried across and soon drove the enemy out of Fredericksburg. But the great battle was yet to come, when the Confederates forced Burnside's army to withdraw to Falmouth after losing 13,000 men. Platt's brigade formed the extreme right of the line, and the 124th was one of the last regiments to recross the bridges. The next morning about half of the men answered to the surgeon's call, and nearly a hundred were placed on the sick list. General Platt resigned about Christmas time, and there was a period of drilling and picket duty by brigades. January 5th the corps was reviewed by General Burnside. January 10th new Enfield rifles came and were substituted for the old Belgians. Then, after three or four orders to march had been countermanded, a start was made through pelting rain and sleet and deepening mud. The rain and sleet froze as it fell, and the men were chilled, and experienced two nights of great suffering. General Burnside abandoned the attempt to advance. On January 26th General Hooker superseded him. The division moved a little way, and cut down trees and constructed log cabins. During February the weather was severe, but the log cabins, which had fire places, though smoky at times, made them tolerably comfortable. February 25th the 124th drove off a body of Confederate cavalry which made a dash on their picket line. There was a monotonous interval, enlivened April 7th by a grand review before President Lincoln and Generals Hooker and Sickles. The division and brigade were then attached to General Sickles's corps. Orders to march came April 28th, and the entire army was soon in motion, and the next day halted in sight of the enemy's pickets across the Rappahannock. The 124th crossed the river on a pontoon bridge with an army of 65,000 men, thirteen miles from Fredericksburg. Then came the disastrous battle of Chancellorsville, during which the 124th got into the thickest of the fight, had a fierce encounter with Iverson's brigade, and "not a man faltered," although raked by a deadly fire in which many men and a number of officers fell. Once they made a charge and retook works from which one of our batteries had been driven. The battle ended with the day, and Hooker was whipped. The Third corps lost in killed and wounded 4,000 men. It captured seven battle flags and over 1,000 prisoners. The losses of the 124th were fifty-five killed, 150 wounded and six missing. Colonel Ellis, in his official report said: "Our men fought like tigers, cheering loudly, but falling fast, the officers without exception standing up to their duty and encouraging their commands."

After Chancellorsville the 122nd Pa., having completed its nine months of service, returned home, and the brigade collapsed to between 500 and 600 men of the 86th and 124th. Colonel Ellis was now in command of the brigade, and it was selected as one of three brigades of picked regiments to accompany a large body of cavalry on a secret expedition. They Started May 6th through a thunderstorm to Beverly's Ford, where they crossed the Rappahannock. There had been a clash of cavalry, and Colonel Ellis's regiments were the first in the field. Batteries on both sides opened fire, and there were charges and counter charges, in which bullets flew thick. A body of rebels got in the rear of the 124th, but they were repulsed after a hot contest in which Co.'s A, F and D lost two killed and twenty wounded. The troops were ordered to recross the river.

The 124th did such splendid service at Chancellorsville that it was transferred to the roll of "first class, tried and to be trusted, veteran battalions," although only six weeks before it had been classed among the "untried recruits." June 9th it was part of an expedition of these veteran regiments which recrossed the Rappahannock, did some more fighting, under General Buford, and captured some of the enemy's pickets. General Pleasanton accompanied General Buford and ordered an advance in force, but he found the enemy reinforced and the troops were withdrawn after a loss of about 800 on each side. The 124th and 86th were commended as "reliable regiments" in the day's doings.

About this time the old Whipple division ceased to exist in consequence of the losses at Chancellorsville and mustering-out of several regiments. Berdan's sharpshooters and the 124th and 86th were assigned to General J. H. H. Ward's brigade of General D. B. Birney's division.

On June 14th they started on one of their longest and severest marches northward, and on June 25th crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry near Ball's Bluff. Just before it was ordered Milner Brown was assigned to the command of the regiment. They proceeded through Fredericksburg to Emmetsburg, and here on June 30th the 124th had but 264 rifles in line, so great had been the losses in battle and from disease. They were informed that General Hooker had been succeeded by General Meade. The Confederates had invaded Pennsylvania and a great battle was anticipated. A forced march was made to Gettysburg through such intense heat that many were prostrated, and when the regiment reached the high ground south of Gettysburg not more than 100 men and five or six officers appeared in the regimental line, but the next morning it was 240 strong. It was placed in the right center of the brigade, and in that decisive battle of the war distinguished itself by its steadiness and daring. For forty minutes Ward's and De Trobriand's brigades of about 3,000 men held their ground against Longstreet's entire corps. By a mere chance the whole regiment escaped capture. General Ward harangued its men on the battlefield, and said the heroic resistance they had made "was beyond anything he had ever dared to hope for." Its active part in the great three days' battle was finished on the second day, as it was not called upon to participate in the fighting of the third day, which brought defeat to Lee's army. The 124th had lost thirty-three killed, including Colonel Ellis, Major James Cromwell and Captain Isaac Nicoll, and fifty-nine wounded, including Lieutenant Colonel Cummins. A number of the severely wounded remained in the hands of the enemy several days. The regiment was now reduced to 150 men with muskets and nine commissioned officers. Some had been sent to the corps hospital. They were now temporarily commanded by Captain Charles A. Weygant of Co. A.

The pursuit of Lee began, but he was too swift for Meade, and escaped across the Potomac. After various movements on both sides of the Potomac, which was crossed July 17th, the 124th bivouacked at Manassas Gap July 22nd, in sight of the place of its first skirmish. Then the regiment had 700 rank and file, a full field staff and twenty-five line officers. Now, although about thirty convalescents had returned, it had less than 200 men in all. The corps, commanded by Major General French had been strengthened since Gettysburg by about 8,000 new troops. General Ward still commanded the division.

There were some undecisive {sic} movements and skirmishing in which the 124th participated. Lieutenant Colonel Cummins, having recovered, returned and took command of the regiment July 28th. It was soon established in camp near Sulphur Springs and remained there six weeks. September 10th, in consequence of the backward movement of Lee's army, General Meade pushed a heavy cavalry force across the Rapidan, and soon the entire army was transferred to the region between the Rapidan and Rappahannock. The 124th broke camp September 15th, and next encamped near Culpepper. October 2nd Lieutenant Colonel Cummins was given a leave of absence for five days, and left Captain Weygant in command. There were some uncertain movements, one of which followed a retrograde movement of Lee, October 19th, but he was found to be out of reach and General Meade gave up the pursuit until twenty miles of railroad could be re-built. Next came the fight at Kelly's Ford of November 7th, in which the 124th supported the 10th Massachusetts Battery, and the Confederates were defeated. Ward's division took possession of the ford and captured over 500 prisoners. The Union loss was only about fifty. Sedgwick's right wing attacked works on the bank of the Rappahannock, carried them by a brilliant coup de main, and captured 1,500 prisoners, his loss being about 300. In the march next day toward Beverly Station, with Ward's division in front, the 124th was deployed as flankers and was under fire for some time. There was no more fighting until November 27th, when the fight at Locust Grove took place, followed by that at Mine Run. The 124th took part in both, and lost one killed, eight wounded and three captured. December 1st Meade ordered a retrograde movement, and the regiment settled down to a long stay at Brandy Station and Culpepper. March 17 General Birney sent an order to Colonel Cummins stating that to equalize the brigades the 124th would be transferred to the Third Brigade. This was so displeasing that fourteen officers of the regiment petitioned General Birney to allow them to remain under Brigadier General Ward. Major General Birney replied that "the request of the officers of this gallant regiment would be fully considered," and he would try to grant it. This was done, and the 124th remained in Ward's Brigade. Meanwhile it had received considerable additions in volunteers from Orange County, although not half as many as had been mustered out and transferred to the veteran reserve corps in consequence of physical disability.

Early in March U. S. Grant had been made Lieutenant General and invested by the President with the chief command of all the armies of the United States. In the latter part of March and the month of April he caused a radical reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, and the "Old Third" became a part of the Second Corps.

An advance was ordered May 3d, and that night Birney's division struck tents and began its march. Two days afterward the memorable Battle of the Wilderness was begun. Ward's command in this battle consisted of eight infantry regiments, including the 124th and the Second U. S. Sharpshooters, constituting one of the largest brigades in the army. The leading officers of the 124th were now Colonel Cummins, Lieutenant-Colonel Weygant and Acting Major H. S. Murray. The brigade and regiment did their allotted share in the two-days' battle, but the regiment was less exposed than at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and came out with a loss of three killed and fifty-seven wounded, Colonel Cummins being among the wounded.

The battle of Spottsylvania Court House came a week later. On the 9th the 124th N. Y. and 20th Ind. Regiments were thrown out as skirmishers for General Birney's division as it marched forward. Near Po River a Confederate battery opened on them, but fired too high, and soon had to flee. In the battle the next day for a while the 124th supported a battery on the extreme right of Hancock's line, and then marched with the division towards the left, where it was soon engaged, and assisted in an unsuccessful charge on the rebel line. It was in General Hancock's famous charge of May 12th. Birney's division was in four lines, with Ward's Brigade in front, the 124th composing the right center of the first line, Lieutenant Colonel Weygant in command. When the clash came there were hand-to-hand encounters so fierce and desperate as to defy description. There was an "unparalleled struggle of eighteen hours' duration." Hancock's men captured the enemy's works, and he finally abandoned his efforts to retake them. The 124th had been so actively engaged or under fire so much that the men writing home as late as May 18th spoke of the battle as having been raging since May 4th. Its losses were fifteen killed, fifty-two wounded and two captured. Colonel Weygant was one of the wounded. After the battle the regiment was so small that it was found necessary to consolidate it into five and then into three companies, and the 124th and 86th acted together, first under Lieutenant Colonel Lansing and then Major Stafford, both of the 86th. This union lasted until they settled down in front of Petersburg.

On the evening of May 20th the movement of the army from Spottsylvania Court House began in earnest. The 124th was in various movements, and on June 1st seven of its men on picket duty were captured. In the bloody battle of Cold Harbor, June 3d, Birney's command was in reserve, and the men of the 124th were lookers-on.

Offensive operations were suspended for a time, and General Grant decided to transfer his army to the James River. On the evening of June 12th, after a march of fifty-five miles, Hancock's corps reached Wilcox Landing and was transferred to waiting steamboats. On June 15th the advance of the rest of the army was resumed, Birney's command leading the column down the Prince George Court House road towards Petersburg. The brigade encamped in a grove of pines on City Point. There were only about 100 men left in the 124th. Between May 18th and June 22nd it lost three killed, twenty-four wounded and eight captured. Every third day from the 4th to the 24th of July the remnant was on the picket line. There were no engagements, but some skirmishing.

General Birney had been assigned to the command of the Tenth Corps, and the veterans of the "Old Third" were consolidated into one division under General Mott, and General De Trobriand became commander of the brigade, which included the 124th, now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Weygant. When offensive operations were resumed on the last day of September, the regiment could muster sixteen officers and 230 fighting men, and two months later had been reinforced so that it numbered nineteen officers and 362 enlisted men, a few of whom were raw recruits. It had some active and hazardous work during the fall, before the army settled down in winter quarters. October 26 Hancock's command moved to the Weldon road, and the next day De Trobriand's brigade marched with Mott's division to Hatcher's Run, where General Eagan was having a skirmish, and preparing to force the passage of the stream. This was done, and presently De Trobriand's brigade was ordered to the front to relieve the brigade on the left of Eagan's line. In the afternoon the enemy advanced in force, and there was some furious fighting, in which the 124th brought to a halt a flanking force of dismounted cavalry with a battery of rifled guns and sent them into the edge of a neighboring wood. The battle continued, and a bullet struck Colonel Weygant in the side, so that he had to leave the field. Finally the Confederates fled. This was called the Battle of Boydton road. Three of the 124th were killed, fourteen wounded and six captured including two of the wounded. The regiment also took part in the raid of a week, beginning November 6th, to destroy the Weldon railroad, when its loss was only one killed and one wounded.

During the winter the Union lines tightened around Richmond, but apart from preparations for the spring campaign not much was done on either side. In February however, De Trobriand's brigade was in a short fight at Hatcher's Run, across which the Union line was permanently extended.

Confederate leaders did not allow Grant to open the spring campaign, and on March 26th attacked his lines, east of Petersburg, but were repulsed. The previous day the 124th was in an engagement with 500 Confederates, and in a gallant charge captured six officers and 164 men. Private George W. Tompkins shot the Confederate Commander, Colonel Troy, and carried off the battle flag of his regiment which he bore. Not a man of the 124th was injured. Private Tompkins was given a medal of honor from the Secretary of War, the thanks of Congress and a brevet commission.

The storming of Petersburg began April 2nd with all the artillery. That night the 124th and two other regiments were ordered to advance, and got into a fight in which several men were seriously wounded. The object of this move was to delay the return of some of Lee's troops, and was successful. The grand assault on the Confederate lines was made at the appointed time, and a part of De Trobriand's brigade led by the 124th moved at double-quick over one of the main roads leading into Petersburg, the Confederates fleeing before them, but wheeling and firing as they ran. Lee was quick to see the inevitable result of the assault, and ordered the evacuation of Richmond. During April 3d the 124th, which had the advance of the Second Corps, marched twenty miles, and gathered in 200 dismounted Confederate cavalrymen. On the 6th it came up with Lee's rear guard, and in the fighting of the march along Sailor's Creek up to this date the regiment lost four killed, seventeen wounded and one missing. The pursuit was resumed on the 7th, and on the 9th came the great surrender of Lee to Grant, when our "men shouted until they could shout no longer."

After the momentous event at Appomattox the 124th encamped at Burkesville Junction. In the night the men were awakened and horrified by the news that President Lincoln and Secretary Seward had been assassinated. On May 1st Meade's army took up its line of march for Washington, and came in sight of it about the middle of May. On June 5th, after participating in the grand review of the whole Union army, the 124th received its last marching orders. It reached home June 13th, and received a wonderful welcome from assembled thousands at Newburgh.

The Newburgh Daily Union published the truth when it said the next day that it "had made as noble a record as any regiment in the field." It praised Colonels Ellis, Cummins and Weygant, and said of the regiment: "Slowly they filed past; and now the people's enthusiasm burst out over all bounds. Our scanty police and watch force were swallowed up and overwhelmed, and the eager multitudes seemed as if they would throw themselves upon the soldiers. On they marched with steady and resistless step, their paces and uniforms telling of the fearful scenes they had passed through. Their battle flag, as it was borne aloft, awakened intense emotion; hardly a strip of its frayed and bullet-torn silk was left; yet it was more precious to the men and to the people than if it were made of cloth of gold."

Judge Taylor made the address of welcome, in which he said: "You are the life-guards of the nation, and we look upon you with something of the same reverence which we feel toward the fathers of our country. And we cherish the memory of those who fought, bled and died, and of those who survived the carnage of Fredericksburg, of Chancellorsville, of Beverly's Ford, of Gettysburg, of the Wilderness, of Spottsylvania, of Boydton Road, of Sailor's Creek and the many battlefields around Richmond."

The following is the official record of the commissioned officers of the 124th, in which the date of commission is followed by the date of rank:

REGIMENTAL AND COMPANY OFFICERS.

Colonels.

A. Van Horn Ellis, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; killed in action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.

Francis M. Cummins, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; discharged, Sept. 19, 1864.

Charles H. Weygant, Jan. 11, 1865; Sept. 19, 1864; not mustered.

Lieutenant Colonels.

Francis M. Cummins, Sept. 10, 1863; Aug. 16, 1862; promoted to Colonel, Oct. 10, 1863.

Charles H. Weygant, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865 (Brevet Colonel, U. S. V.)

Henry S. Murray, Jan. 11, 1865; Sept. 19, 1864; not mustered.

Majors.

James Cromwell, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; killed in action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.

Charles H. Weygant, Sept. 14, 1863; July 2, 1863; promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Oct. 10, 1863.

Henry S. Murray, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

James W. Benedict, Jan. 11, 1865: Sept. 19, 1864; not mustered.

Adjutants.

William Silliman, Sept. 10, 1862; July 16, 1862; promoted to Captain, Oct. 3, 1862.

C. Depeyster Arden, Oct. 3, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; discharged, Jan. 14, 1863.

William Brownson, Feb. 20, 1863; Dec. 31, 1863; resigned, Sept. 17, 1863.

William B. Van Houten, Oct. 10, 1863; Sept. 17, 1863; discharged, Jan. 23, 1865.

Wines E. Weygant, Jan. 31, 1865; Jan. 31, 1865; not mustered.

Quartermasters.

Augustus Denniston, Sept. 10, 1862; July 15, 1862; resigned, Jan. 14, 1863.

Henry F. Travis, Feb. 27, 1863; Jan. 14, 1863; promoted to Captain, Aug. 20, 1863.

Ellis Post, Aug. 20, 1863; April 21, 1863; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Surgeons.

John H. Thompson, Sept. 10, 1862; July 26, 1862; dismissed Nov. 25, 1864; disability removed by order of the President, Jan. 14, 1865.

John H. Thompson, Feb. 15, 1865; Feb. 15, 1865; failed to muster.

Robert V. K. Montfort, March 22, 1865; March 22, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Assistant Surgeons.

Edward G. Marshall, Sept. 10, 1862; Sept. 5, 1862; dismissed, Aug. 7, 1863.

Robert V. K. Montfort, Sept. 10, 1862; Sept. 10, 1862: promoted to surgeon, March 22, 1865.

Edward C. Fox, April 6, 1865; April 7, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Chaplain.

Thomas Scott Bradner, Oct. 21, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Captains.

Charles H. Weygant, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862; promoted to major, Sept. 14, 1863.

Charles B. Wood, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; discharged, Sept. 21, 1864.

Thomas Taft, Nov. 15, 1864; Sept. 21, 1864; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Henry S. Murray, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 14, 1862; promoted to major, Oct. 10, 1863.

William E. Mapes, Dec. 17, 1863; July 2, 1863; discharged, Dec. 15, 1864.

Robert J. Malone, Dec. 17, 1864; Sept. is, 1864; mustered out with regiment, June 3. 1865.

James Cromwell, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 15, 1862; promoted to major, Sept. 10, 1862.

William Silliman, Oct. 3, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; promoted to colonel, 26th U. S. C. T., Feb. 1, 1864.

James Finnegan, Feb. 9, 1864; Feb. 1, 1864; died of wounds, Oct. 28, 1864.

James A. Grier, Nov. 15, 1864; Oct. 27, 1864; not mustered.

James W. Benedict, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 16, 1862; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

John C. Wood, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

William A. McBurney, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 19, 1862; resigned, March 9, 1863.

Daniel Sayer, Dec. 17, 1863; March 6, 1863; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Isaac Nicoll Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; killed in action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.

James O. Denniston, Aug. 20, 1863; July 2, 1862; not mustered.

Henry P. Ramsdell, Dec. 12, 1863; Oct. 7, 1863; not mustered.

Thomas J. Quick, Dec. 17, 1863; Dec. 10, 1863; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Ira S. Bush, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, June 21, 1864.

John W. Houston, July 15, 1864; June 21, 1864; not mustered.

Edward J. Cormick, Nov. 15, 1864; Aug. 10, 1864; killed in action near Petersburg, Va., April 1, 1865.

Lander Clark, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, May 13, 1863.

Henry F. Travis, Aug. 20, 1863; April 21, 1863; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

William A. Jackson, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; killed in action near Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864.

Lewis M. Wisner, July 15, 1864; July 14, 1864; not mustered as captain.

Thomas Bradley, Nov. 15, 1864; Aug. 2, 1864; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

David Crist, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; killed in action. May 30, 1864.

Theodore M. Roberson, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

First Lieutenants.

Charles B. Wood, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862; promoted to captain, Oct. 10, 1863.

Charles T. Cressy, April 19, 1864; May 1, 1864; not mustered.

Thomas Taft, Aug. 2, 1864; July 20, 1864; promoted to captain, Nov. 15, 1864.

David U. Quick, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Wines E. Weygant, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 14, 1862; resigned, Feb. 8, 1863.

William E. Mapes, Feb. 27, 1863; Feb. 8, 1863; promoted to captain, Feb. 27, 1863.

Edward J. Cormick, March 23, 1864; March 17, 1864; promoted to captain, Nov. 15, 1864.

Abram P. Francisco, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

William Brownson, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 15, 1862; promoted to adjutant, Feb. 20, 1863.

Henry P. Ramsdell, Feb. 20, 1863; Dec. 31, 1862; discharged, Dec. 13, 1863.

Daniel Sayer, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 16, 1862; promoted to captain, Dec. 17, 1863.

John W. Houston, Dec. 17, 1862; March 6, 1863; discharged, Dec. 13, 1863.

Ebenezer Holbert, July 15, 1864; June 21, 1864; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Wm. A. Verplanck, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 10, 1862; discharged, Sept. 23, 1863.

Theodore M. Roberson, Dec. 17, 1863; Sept. 25, 1863; promoted to captain, Feb. 18, 1865.

Woodward T. Ogden, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; not mustered.

James O. Denniston, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; discharged, Oct. 17, 1863.

William H. Benjamin, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Thomas J. Quick, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; promoted to captain, Dec. 17, 1863.

James A. Grier, Dec. 24, 1863; Dec. 10, 1863; not mustered.

John B. Stanbrough, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, Nov. 12, 1862.

Isaac M. Martin, Dec. 30, 1862; Nov. 12, 1862; dismissed, May 15, 1863.

Wm. B. Van Houten, Aug. 20, 1863; May 15, 1863; promoted to adjutant, Oct. 10, 1863.

Charles Stuart, Oct. 10, 1863; Sept. 17, 1863; discharged, May 15, 1865.

James H. Roosa, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; resigned, March 7, 1863.

James Finnegan, May 26, 1863; March 7, 1863; promoted to captain, Feb. 9, 1864.

Lewis M. Wisner, Feb. 23, 1864: Feb. 1, 1864; discharged, Aug. 5, 1864.

John C. Wood, Nov. 15, 1864; Aug. 1, 1864; promoted to captain, Feb. 18, 1865.

Thomas Hart, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Henry Gowdy, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 22, 1863; died, May 11, 1864, of wounds.

John R. Hayes, Dec. 17, 1863; May 10, 1863; not mustered.

Thomas Bradley, Sept. 27, 1864; Aug. 1, 1864; promoted to captain, Nov. 15, 1864.

John S. King, Dec. 17, 1864; Sept. 15, 1864; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Second Lieutenants.

Charles T. Cressy, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862; promoted to first lieutenant, April 19, 1864.

Jonathan Birdsall, Aug. 2, 1864; July 20, 1864; killed in action near Petersburg, Va., Oct. 22, 1864.

Gabriel Tuthill, Feb. 27, 1863; Feb. 8, 1863; discharged, Feb. 23, 1864.

Henry P. Ramsdell, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 15, 1862: promoted to first lieutenant, Feb. 27, 1863.

James A. Grier, Feb. 20, 1863; Dec. 31, 1862; promoted to first lieutenant, Dec. 24, 1863.

Thomas Hart, Nov. 15, 1864; July 21, 1864; promoted to first lieutenant, Feb. 18, 1865.

John W. Houston, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 16, 1862; promoted to first lieutenant, Dec. 17, 1863.

Ebenezer Holbert, April 2, 1864; July 20, 1864: promoted to first lieutenant, July 15, 1864.

Thomas G. Mabie, Nov. 15, 1864; July 26, 1864; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Adolphus Wittenbeecher, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 19, 1862; dismissed, March 19, 1863.

Theodore M. Roberson, May 26, 1863; March 6, 1863; promoted to first lieutenant, Dec. 17, 1863.

Woodward T. Ogden, Nov. 15, 1864; July 21, 1864; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Sylvester Lawson, March 14, 1865; March 3, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

David Gibbs, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, Feb. 25, 1863.

Wm. H. Benjamin, May 26, 1863; Feb. 25. 1863; promoted to first lieutenant, Feb. 18, 1865.

Joshua V. Cole, Feb. 18. 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; not mustered.

Samuel W. Hotchkiss, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, April 2, 1864.

David U. Quick, Nov. 15, 1864; July 21, 1864; promoted to first lieutenant, Feb. 18, 1865.

Lewis T. Schultz, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment, June 3, 1865.

Isaac M. Martin, Sept. 10. 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; promoted to first lieutenant, Dec. 20, 1862.

Milnor Brown, Dec. 30, 1862; Dec. 30, 1862; killed in action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.

Charles Stuart, Aug. 20, 1863; July 2, 1863; promoted to first lieutenant, Oct. 10, 1863.

William W. Smith, April 19, 1864; Sept. 17, 1863; not mustered.

James Finnegan, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; promoted to first lieutenant, May 26, 1863.

Jacob Denton, May 26, 1863; March 7, 1863; not mustered; killed in action, May 3, 1863.

Lewis M. Wisner, Aug. 20, 1863; May 3, 1863; promoted to first lieutenant, Feb. 23, 1864.

John R. Hayes, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 22, 1862; discharged, April 8, 1864.

OTHER MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.

Company I, 71st Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., was recruited in Newburgh, mostly from Co. L, 19th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., between May 20 and 31, 1861, by Captain A. Van Horne Ellis. Governor Morgan refused to permit the company to leave the State, and thereupon Captain Ellis took it to New York on his own responsibility. It was furnished with transportation to Washington, was accepted through the influence of Secretary Seward, and mustered in for three months. It was stationed at the Washington Navy Yard, sent to Chapel Point and Point Tobacco, June 28, returned, and on July 16 was brigaded with Rhode Island and New Hampshire regiments under Colonel Burnside. It went to the Bull Run battlefield dragging two twelve-pound boat howitzers on July 4th, and returned with them. Soon it went back, arriving on the Bull Run battlefield July 21st, and in the battle fired 232 shots of shrapnel and canister. It drew out of the conflict by order at 3 P. M. with the loss of one killed and two wounded, and returned to Washington. It was soon back in Newburgh, where it was mustered out July 30th. The officers during this service were:

A. Van Horne Ellis, captain; George W. Hawkins, second lieutenant; Wm. H. Garrison, second sergeant; John McMeekin, third sergeant; James D. Hamilton, fourth sergeant; Charles Decker, first corporal; Marshal M. Van Zile, second corporal; Henry T. Travis, third sergeant; Thomas Riley, fourth sergeant.

May 28th, 1862, within seven hours, the company was again recruited for three months, and during that period was on guard duty in and around Washington. The officers were:

A. Van Horne Ellis, captain; Wm. H. Garrison, first lieutenant; James C. Taggart, second lieutenant; John W. Forsyth, first sergeant; Henry F. Travis, second sergeant; John McMeekin, third sergeant; James B. Montgomery, fourth sergeant; Thomas Riley, fifth sergeant; Robert Acheson, David M. De Witt, Wm. M. Verplanck and Edward J. Hall, corporals.

Captain Ellis afterward became colonel of the 124th, and several other members of the company became captains and lieutenants in the 124th, 56th and other regiments.

In May, 1862, the 19th regiment of militia, commanded by Colonel Wm. R. Brown, was ordered to Washington, and after recruiting its ranks, which had been depleted by volunteer enlistments, left Newburgh June 4. Arriving in Baltimore, it was ordered to Stuart Hill, and remained there until July 2nd, when two of its companies were ordered to Fort McHenrv and the rest of the regiment to Fort Marshall. On July 14 four companies were ordered to Fort Delaware, and remained there until August 10th, when they were sent to Havre de Grace to guard the railroad between there and Baltimore. The whole regiment went back to Newburgh the last of August, and was mustered out of the U. S. service September 6.

Officers during this expedition were: William J. Brown, colonel; James Low, lieutenant colonel; David Jagger, major; George Weller, quartermaster; William J. Hathaway, adjutant.

In August Colonel Brown twice offered the services of the regiment for nine months, but the offers were refused by Governor Morgan. He offered them again September 17, when they were accepted. Recruiting for it was complicated by the efforts of Colonel Isaac Wood to raise an authorized regiment of three years' men in the county at the same time, but he stopped after enlisting 272 men, who were consolidated with the 176th N. Y. V. and mustered in November 20th.

Colonel Brown continued to enroll volunteers until February 2nd, when his regiment, known as the 168th, left Newburgh with 750 men, and New York City eleven days later with 835 men. It went to Yorktown, and remained there on garrison duty during nearly its whole term of service. Once a detachment of 140 men under Captain Daniel Torbush was sent with detachments from other regiments up York and Mattapony Rivers, and the Torbush detachment was placed to guard the Richmond road. Here it was attacked by a force of Confederate cavalry, and repulsed them, killing fourteen, and losing one killed, five wounded and two captured. September 16th the regiment was sent to Bridgeport, Ala., and remained there on guard duty until October 14th, when it went back to Newburgh, and was mustered out October 31st. During its nine months of service it lost one killed, eighteen died, thirteen captured and 184 deserters. Its commissioned officers were:

The 176th regiment, with which Colonel Wood's 272 recruits were consolidated, was sent to the Department of the Gulf as a part of the Nineteenth Corps, and was in the Red River campaign in 1864, in General Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign the same year, and in Georgia and North Carolina in the early months of 1865. In the Red River campaign it did some fighting and lost many men in killed, wounded and prisoners. Of its Orange County officers, T. Henry Edsall was adjutant, Sprague K. Wood rose from sergeant to captain, and Joseph Goodsell from second lieutenant to captain.

The company of cavalry recruited in the fall of 1861 by Morris I. McCormal as a part of Colonel Van Wyck's "Tenth Legion," when it was detached from this regiment was mustered in as Co. C, First Mounted Rifles, and had ninety-five men. The company served three years. Officers were: Morris I. McCormal, captain; Charles F. Allen, first lieutenant; Arthur Hagen, second lieutenant; Ardice Robbins, orderly sergeant; C. R. Smith, quartermaster sergeant. Captain McCormal resigned in 1862, but re-entered the service in the Fifteenth Cavalry in 1863. Quartermaster Smith and Sergeants James Eaton, Frank Mills and Fred Penney were promoted to lieutenants.

Orange County was represented in the Seventh, afterward Second, regiment of Cavalry, its volunteers being mostly in Co. B, under Captain Charles E. Morton of New Windsor. Alanson Randall, U. S. A., a native of Newburgh, was colonel of the regiment from November, 1864, to the muster out, June 5, 1865. The regiment was also known as the Harris Light Cavalry.

Recruits were obtained in Orange County for the Fifteenth Cavalry in the winter of 1863-4 by Captain Morris I. McCormal of Middletown, and Lieutenant Charles H. Lyon of Newburgh.

The Fifteenth Heavy Artillery's Co. M was mostly recruited in Orange County in the winter of 1863-4. The regiment was mustered in at Fort Lyon, Va., February 3, 1864, remained there until March 27th, when it went to Beverly Station and was assigned to duty in the Artillery Reserve of the Army of the Potomac, and did creditable service in several bloody battles. When Co. M was organized its officers were: Wm. D. Dickey of Newburgh, captain; Alfred Newbatt and Julius Niebergall, first lieutenants; John Ritchie and Robert B. Keeler, second lieutenants. August 15th Captain Dickey was placed in command of the Third Battalion and Lieutenant Ritchie took command of the company, leading it through the engagements in the struggle for the Weldon railroad, in one of which it lost in killed and wounded a third of its men. For the regiment's good work here and in a previous fight at Haines' Tavern it was complimented in the general orders of Meade. Co. M was mustered out in July, 1865. It lost during its year of service three officers and ninety-five privates. The promotions were: Captain Dickey to major, Second Lieutenants Keeler and Ritchie to first lieutenants, and Sergeants Joseph M. Dickey and Riemann to second lieutenants.

This Seventeenth Independent Battery was recruited in Orange to be a part of Colonel Van Wyck's "Tenth Legion" or 56th Regiment. It arrived in Washington November 11, 1861, and was organized as an independent battery January 10, 1862. It was first assigned to Casey's, afterwards Peek's division. It also served in the Seventh Corps, then in the Second division of the Eighteenth Corps, at Bermuda Hundred a short time in the Tenth Corps, and when mustered out formed a part of the artillery brigade of the Twenty-fourth Corps. It was in the siege of Yorktown, the battles of Williamsburg, Savage's Station, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, the siege of Suffolk, and was in action at Petersburg, Dutch Gap, Fort Harrison, Hatcher's Run and Port Walthal. It was in the investment of Petersburg and Richmond. It suffered most severely at Fair Oaks. Its record was good throughout. Its commissioned officers were:

The First Regiment of Engineers, known as Serrell's, had in its ranks, it was said, 300 or 400 men from Orange County. Its detachments were mustered in between September 10, 1861, and February 12, 1862. The regiment retained its organization until June 30, 1865, when it was mustered out, but there were various changes in its composition. It was an important regiment in the engineering part of the service.

Company C of the 98th N. Y. S. V., was mostly recruited in Newburgh in the winter of 1863-4 by Captain James H. Anderson and Lieutenant J. K. R. Oakley, who had been in the 168th Regiment. They went to Riker's Island in February, 1864, and here consolidation requirements caused Co. C to consist of ninety-five Orange County men under Captain Anderson and Lieutenants Oakley and Sneed, and twenty-four were assigned to Co. I under Captain E. M. Allen. The record of the regiment was one of the best. It fought at Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. At Drury's Bluff it saved General Buller's army from a flank attack: at Cold Harbor it lost in killed and wounded 100 men; at Petersburg it charged the outer line of the enemy's works and was almost constantly under fire. Its colors were the first to be planted at Fort Harrison on September 29, 1864, and it was the first regiment to enter Richmond after the evacuation. After the surrender of Lee it was on post and garrison duty in several places, and was mustered out at Richmond August 31, 1865. Of the men who went out with Captain Anderson, thirteen were killed or died of wounds, twenty-three wounded, and five died of disease.

MONEY RAISED FOR THE WAR.

The following totals were raised by official action from town taxes, loans, state cash and bonds, for the towns named for war purposes:

Blooming Grove, $60,900; Chester, $54,192.67; Cornwall, $69,200; Crawford, $84,187.12; Deer Park, $242,981.83; Goshen, $83,233.05; Greenville, $54,016.45; Hamptonburgh, $21,000; Minisink, $57,271.62; Monroe, $160,968.65; Montgomery, $57,250; Mount Hope, $62,888.24; Newburgh, $455,637; New Windsor, $48,715,55; Wallkill, $95,100; Warwick, $201,070; Wawayanda, $51,750.

By the County: From taxes, 1864, $1,800; 1865, $90,649.50; from loans, 1864, $421,000; total, $513,449.50.

Towns and County: From taxes, 1862, $31,931; 1863, $2,000; 1864, $350,434.95; 1865, $257,581.82; from loans, 1862, $31,950; 1863, $35,318.70; 1864, $1,113,761.82; 1865, $229,278.41.

From State: Cash, $76,000; bonds, $252,000.53; interest on bonds, $3,473.51; other sources, $105.

Full total: $2,384,801.74.

The donations, cash subscriptions and draft exemption moneys, amounting to a very large sum, are not included in the foregoing figures.

This is one of the older towns of Orange County, lying somewhat northwest of the geographical center. The towns of Hamptonburgh and New Windsor are on the north, Cornwall on the east, Monroe and Woodbury on the south and Goshen and Chester on the west. It covers an area of 21,759 acres.

The title to all the territory of this town conveyed by the various original patents, upon which rests the deed of every property-holder to-day has been carefully preserved. The names and dates of the first settlers are also pretty fully recorded.

The oldest grant of land seems to be the Mompesson Patent, which is dated March 4, 1709, and confirmed May 31, 1712. This covered 1,000 acres. The next grant in order of time is that known as the Rip Van Dam patent, which is dated March 23, 1907 {sic} and covered some 3,000 acres. This was granted to Rip Van Dam, Adolph Phillips, David Provost, Jr., Lancaster Symes and Thomas Jones, each having an equal share in the tract. This is described as "beginning at a station bearing west 24 degrees north, and 85 chains from the wigwam of the Indian Maringamus," which was on the southwest bank of Murderer's Creek just across the railroad track from the Catholic Church of St. Mary. The present village of Salisbury Mills is on the east end of this patent so far as the village lies in the town. In the northeast corner of the town on the old county line is the 1,000 acre tract of Roger Van Dam which is dated June 30, 1720, although a portion of this tract extends over into the present town of New Windsor. The next patent was granted to Ann Hoagland, May 24, 1723, and it contained 2,000 acres in the western part of the town. In the southeastern part of the town, adjoining the Rip Van Dam patent, and west of the Schunnemunk Mountains was the 2,000 acre grant of Edward Blagg and Johannes Hey, dated March 28, 1726. This valley has been known ever since as Blagg's Clove. West of this was the irregular tract of 2,440 acres granted to Nathaniel Hazzard January 11, 1727. This was south of Washingtonville. Still further west was the Joseph Sackett 2,000-acre tract, to which 222 acres were afterward added on the south. This patent was dated July 7, 1736, and the tract adjoins the present village of Oxford. Sackett got another grant of 149 acres September 1, 1737, on the west.

On August 10, 1723 a patent covering 2,600 acres was granted to Richard Gerard and William Bull.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

The surface of this town is varied by the long range of Schunnemunk Mountains, forming the eastern boundary, with its level ridges reaching to the height of about 1,600 feet, and the beautiful foothills of Woodcock, Round Hill, Mosquito, Raynor and Peddler. The last two have deposits of magnetic iron ore, which mixed with the ores from other parts of the county was used in making the Parott guns during the War of the Rebellion. The cultivated land is also broken and rolling, some upon quite high hills, whose sides were not cultivated, and are covered with luxuriant blue grass pastures, and along the streams and the lower lands are beautiful natural meadows, which bring their annual tribute of hay into the barns, and add very much to the beauty of the scenery.

The Greycourt or Cromeline Creek runs from Walton Lake by the base of Goose Pond Mountain, through the Greycourt meadows and the picturesque falls at Craigville, through Farmingdale and Hulsetown, and is joined near the Hamptonburgh line by the Otterkill; near Washingtonville by the Tappan or Schunnemunk Creek, flowing from Sattterly's Mills; also by the Silver stream draining a portion of Blagg's Clove, and furnishing at the old Coleman Mills, the excellent water supply of Washingtonville. The united stream is called Murdner's or Murderer's Creek, to which N. P. Willis gave the more poetical name of "Moodna," where it entered the Hudson near Idlewild. These streams have along their bank beautiful natural meadows dotted with fine old trees, and the hill-tops are covered in places with sugar maple and chestnut trees, making in the early spring time a beautiful picture of varied green, and in the autumn a glorious variety of colors, which, together with the fine apple orchards crowning the hillsides, justifies the name of Blooming Grove.

EARLY SETTLERS.

Vincent Mathews seems to have been the first settler according to the record. He bought the Rip Van Dam Patent, August 22, 1721, and built a grist mill at the place since known as Salisbury. He named this estate "Mathewsfield." Thomas Goldsmith came next, about ten years later, and he took the Mompesson Patent. He built a house on the north bank of the Otterkill, now known as the "Walnut Grove Farm," near the present Washingtonville. Edward Blagg also settled upon this tract, known as "Blagg's Clove" about this time. Mathews sold his mill to John J. Carpenter, which was turned into a powder mill under a State contract in 1776, when under the kindling fires of patriotism the demand for powder became very active.

In 1753 Jesse Woodhull settled in Blagg's Clove, although he seems to have purchased the Richard Van Dam Patent upon which the Moffatt family afterward settled. Mr. Mathews, the original settler, was an attorney, and took an active part in the early history of the town. He sold 1,500 of his acres to Louis Du Bois, of New Paltz, who built a tavern upon it which was kept by Zachariah Du Bois in Revolutionary times.

Prior to 1764 the territory of this town was a part of the Goshen precinct. From that time to 1799 it formed a part of the town of Cornwall. The other prominent settlers of the town are believed to be included in the following list:

John Brewster, Edward, Francis, Isaac, Jesse and Nathan Brewster, Daniel Brewster, George Duryea, Richard Goldsmith, Benjamin Gregory, John Hudson, Henry Hudson, William Hudson, Archibald Little, Timothy, James and Solomon Little; James Mapes, and his sons Wines, Jesse, Robert, James, Barney, David, William and Thomas; Elihu Marvin, a member of the Committee of Safety in 1775, also judge of the county in 1778; Seth, Nathan, James, Jesse and John Marvin; Samuel Moffatt; James and Fletcher Mathews, sons of Vincent Mathews, who was a colonel in the Revolution and a leading citizen; Thomas Moffatt, member of the Committee of Safety from 1778 to 1794; Josiah, Samuel, Jacob, Stephen and Peter Reeder; Israel, Thaddeus, John, Jesse, Josiah and Samuel Seely; Bezaliel Seeley; Selah Strong, the first supervisor of the town; Major Samuel and Captain Nathan Strong; Nathaniel Satterly, member of Committee of Safety in 1775, and proprietor of Satterly's Mills in 1765; John and Selah Satterly; James, Nathaniel and John Sayer; Nathaniel Strong, member of Committee of Safety, who was shot at his door by Claudius Smith, October 6, 1778; Captain Jesse Woodhull, delegate to the first Provincial Convention, and member of the State Convention that revised the federal constitution in 1778; Abner Woodhull, George and Benjamin Whittaker; Silas, Reuben and Birdseye Young; Stephen Mathews, Gilbert, Zachariah and John Du Bois; Hezekiah, Isaiah, Stephen, Isaac, Paul, Zepheniah, Charles, Aaron, Silas and Jeremiah Howell; Benjamin and Thomas Goldsmith; David Coleman, Caleb, Joab, Asahel, Micah, Silas, Richard and Jeremiah Coleman; Thomas, John, Francis and Richard Drake; Nathaniel Coleman; Daniel Curtis; John Chandler; Henry and Oliver Davenport.

Among other family names recorded are those of Carpenter, Moffatt, Owens, Gregg and Wooley. It is said of the Woodhull family that its ancestry is distinctly traced to the individual who came to England from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066.

CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS.

The town of Blooming Grove was organized March 23, 1799, the territory being taken from the more ancient Cornwall township. The name Blooming Grove had long been in use for this part of Cornwall, being the name of the old village which was given to distinguish it from Hunting Grove, a locality then in New Windsor.

The first town meeting was held at the house of John Chandler, the first Tuesday of April, 1799. Selah Strong was then elected supervisor and Daniel Brewster town clerk. Two hundred dollars were raised for the support of the poor that year, and a $10 bounty was voted for each wolf killed within the town. Mr. Brewster served as town clerk for thirty-seven years without intermission. There was little personal politics in those times, and public office was probably regarded as a public trust.

In April, 1830, a part of the town was taken off in the formation of Hamptonburgh. In March, 1845, another small portion was set off to the town of Chester.

Charles W. Hull has been town clerk since 1874, and has just been reelected, so that his term will be nearly as long as John Brewster's.

The house of John Brewster, at which the town meetings were held, 1765 to 1799, was kept as a hotel and was said to be the homestead of the Cooper family, upon which is now situated the Blooming Grove station and post-office.

When the present town of Blooming Grove was formed, the principal center was at Blooming Grove, where the old church was erected, 1759. The first town meeting was held in the spring of 1759, at the house of John Chandler, who kept a general country store here several years previous to this, also at Edenville, near Warwick, taking in wheat and other grain which was carted to New Windsor, ground at the old mill on Quassaic Creek, and shipped to the West Indies and exchanged for sugar, molasses and other products of the tropics, which were brought back to Orange County by the Hudson River to New Windsor, and exchanged again for grain and other farm products. John Chandler purchased in 1793 a small farm, upon which his great-grandson, B. C. Sears, now resides. He was president of the Newburgh and New Windsor Turnpike Co., and of the Blooming Grove and Greycourt Turnpike Co., built by his son-in-law, Hector Craig. He was an elder in the Blooming Grove Church and a large land owner in this part of the county.

The village of Blooming Grove then consisted of the old church and the old Blooming Grove academy, built about 1810, to which many of the students came from the neighboring towns, boarding with the neighbors about. A part of it was used as a district school until 1857, when the present building was built upon the old academy site. A blacksmith-shop, kept later by Pierson Genung, a drug store, a cooper shop, the old toll-gate, the country store, and the hotel kept by Benjamin Thompson, where were held the town meetings, general trainings, etc., and the public were entertained, were on this the main thoroughfare from Warwick to New Windsor and later Newburgh. This property was conveyed to Samuel Moffatt, Jr., merchant, by the executors of Rev. Benoni Bradner, and by him to Seth Marvin in 1810, who built a store-house on a lot purchased of Charles Howell, 1810. Blooming Grove now consists only of the old church, the parsonage and the schoolhouse, and half a mile away the station, store and post-office, kept by C. C. Gerow, and the creamery owned by the Sheffield, Slawson, Decker Co.

VARIOUS RESIDENTS

In 1810, Samuel Moffatt, Jr., having sold his place in Blooming Grove, moved to a new settlement at Washingtonville, building the old corner store, now owned by George A. Owen. Across the highway Moses Ely, the father of the late Dr. Ely, of Newburgh, had a tannery, and John Jaques, then a young man, opened here a shoe-shop. The old corner store, built in the woods almost, there being only two other dwellings, (a log house owned by James Giles and the private school of Jane Sweezey), was carried on by Samuel Moffatt and his son David, either alone or as members of the firm, from 1812 to 1832; then John S. Bull, 1832-1839; Walter Halsey and Apollis Halsey, 1839-1850; and the Warners and Williams Howell, 1850 to 1890, and George A. Owen, 1890, to this date. This store has always been, and is still, a prominent landmark in Washingtonville. In 1813, Jedediah Breed came to Washingtonville from Dutchess County, and built a harness shop adjoining the dwelling house now owned by his grandson, George A. Owen, and which has been occupied as a harness shop for nearly 100 years. Here Henry F. Breed kept the Blooming Grove post-office for forty years, nearly continuously; after his death the post-office was removed to the building of Alexander Moore, where, in 1872, the name was changed from Blooming Grove to Washingtonville.

Alexander Moore and his brother-in-law, Albert G. Owen, the father of George A. Owen, carried on a furniture and paint business here from 1830 to 1850, Moore being the postmaster and Owen, supervisor and justice for many years, and a member of the Assembly, 1849-1850. This village soon grew to be important, and is now one of the finest villages of its size in Orange County, having a beautiful shaded avenue of maples and many handsome residences. There are the Presbyterian and Methodist churches, Catholic Church of St. Mary, and the beautiful Moffatt Library, given to the village by David H. Moffatt, of Denver, and erected under the careful supervision of John Newton Moffatt, having a fine collection of books and a beautiful hall which is the convenient center for much social enjoyment; the large feed mill, originally built by David H. Moffatt, the father of David H., and now carried on by the Thomas Fulton Co., together with a large coal and lumber business; a similar establishment carried on by Hector Moffatt & Son, and the very large wine vaults of the Brotherhood Wine Co., successors to the James brothers' vineyard established in 1838. The Bordens also have here a large creamery, and there is also the Farmers' Creamery, now operated by the Mutual Milk and Cream Co., making this the most important station upon the Newburgh Branch of the Erie Railroad. It is surrounded by beautiful homes and thrifty farms. Within the corporation line are the home and farm of William H. Hallock, who owns several of the old ancestral homes throughout the town, which he has improved, and still runs with great business ability; also the ancestral homes of the Brooks family, descendants of Fletcher Mathews, one of the original settlers, and also the old Nicoll homestead, now occupied by Charles Nicoll.

Northwest of Washingtonville is the old Joseph Moffatt homestead, now held by his grandsons, C. R. Shons and S. L. Moffatt, who have beautiful orchards, which, with that of Jesse Hulse, crown the beautiful hilltop and have made "Blooming Grove apples" famous both at home and abroad; also the Walnut Grove farm, upon which the first Goldsmiths settled, and made famous by Alden Goldsmith and his sons, James and John A., now in the hands of the widow of John A. and her husband, Mr. O. B. Stillman; also the home of the late Captain Thomas N. Hulse, so long and so favorably known years ago to all travelers upon the Hudson River, now the home of his niece, Mrs. James A. Knapp, daughter of Benjamin Moffatt. Two and a half miles east of the village of Washingtonville is the village of Salisbury Mills, the oldest settlement of the town, where, on the falls of Murderer's Creek, Vincent Mathews built his mill, which later was owned by Captain Richard Caldwell, by Peter Van Allen, by Isaac Oakly, and is now the Arlington paper mills, owned and operated on a very large scale by Henry Ramsdell. Here in 1803 came John Caldwell, and with him his three sons, John, Andrew J. and Richard. Richard, then a mere lad, had been at the head of a company in the Emmet Rebellion, and through the clemency of Lord Cornwallis his sentence of death was commuted to banishment for himself and his father's family. He came to Salisbury with his father, and in 1808 married a daughter of John Chandler. He had the mill and a store at Salisbury. When the war with England in 1812 became a certainty, Richard Caldwell raised the 25th Co. Infantry of soldiers, was elected their captain, and led them toward Canada, crossing Lake Champlain in open boats, in a severe storm. He divided his extra clothing with his soldiers, and contracted a severe cold, resulting in pneumonia, and he died December 11, 1812, and is buried at Champlain, near Plattsburgh. His name is perpetuated by the beautiful monument erected in Salisbury Mills by his nephew, Richard Caldwell, to his memory and the memory of those who perished with him in that ill-advised and ill-equipped expedition; also to the memory of Captain Isaac Nicoll and those who died with him, in the War of the Rebellion. Captain Richard Caldwell left two children, John R. Caldwell, long well known as a prominent citizen of New Windsor, and Mary, the wife of Marcus Sears, M.D. The old house erected by John Caldwell in 1803 is still standing, long known as the home of Andrew J. Caldwell and his son, Richard Caldwell, both of whom stood firm for righteousness and temperance. In a part of the same grounds was the home of a sister, Mrs. Chambers, now occupied by the widow of Richard Caldwell, and from which still emanates a powerful influence for good to the whole village. Also the old home of the oldest son, John Caldwell, who was a merchant in New York, and on retiring came to live with his kindred in Salisbury, was the first president of the Orange County Agricultural Society, and was much interested in keeping silk worms and actually produced silk from the mulberry trees growing on his grounds in Salisbury.

Near the village stands a part of the old stone house, the home of Major Du Bois, who was a prominent man in the War of the Revolution, as major in Colonel Woodhull's regiment, who was a prisoner for ten months in the hands of the British, and who lost his extensive lands by the depreciation of the Colonial money and his enforced absence from home; also the beautiful home of the family of Hon. Robert Denniston. The ancestor of the Denniston family was Alexander Denniston, the brother-in-law of Charles Clinton, who with many of his friends and neighbors, all being Scotch Presbyterians, and tired of the exactions and demands of the crown, emigrated from the town of Edgeworth, county of Longford, Ireland, in the early summer of 1729. After a long, tedious voyage of nearly five months, they landed on Cape Cod; thence two years later they came to Little Britain. A family legend is, that these pioneers stood upon a hilltop about two miles northeast of Washingtonville and called the land in sight to the north, Little Britain, and there they settled. Alexander had six sons, James, George, Alexander, William, John, Charles, and four daughters. They were all stern patriots devoted to their country. The father was a member of Colonel Ellison's New Windsor regiment in 1738, and on frontier service in 1755. The six sons were all members of the Third Ulster County regiment, which was called out many times during the dark days of the Revolution. Two were members of the Committee of Safety and one served in the line during the whole war. Of these sons James was the only one that settled in the town of Blooming Grove, the others settling elsewhere, New Windsor, Cornwall, etc. He purchased, in 1790, the farm one mile east of Washingtonville, which still remains in the family. He had three sons, James, Alexander, Abraham, and two daughters. He died in 1805, leaving the homestead to his son James. The latter had one son, Robert, and four daughters. Dying in 1825, the homestead was inherited by his son Robert. The latter served as an officer of the militia, was justice of the peace in his native town, judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Orange County, was elected member of the New York State Assembly in 1835, and again in 1839 and 1840, and was State senator from 1841-1847 and State comptroller in 1860 and 1861. He was very active and energetic in his endeavors to maintain the Union during the War of the Rebellion, and was chairman of the military commission in the Orange and Sullivan Counties district. He had five sons, William Scott, James Otis, Robert, Henry Martyn, Augustus, and six daughters. These sons, like their ancestors, were all interested in the war for the preservation of the Union, and served either in the army or navy. William Scott was a surgeon in the volunteer army and died of fever, July, 1862. James Otis was first lieutenant and captain, Company G, 124th N. Y. State Volunteers, July 2, 1862, to September 3, 1863, when, on account of wounds, he was mustered out. He afterwards studied theology and retired from active church work in 1905. Augustus was first lieutenant and quartermaster in the same regiment from July 15, 1862, to February 3, 1863, resigning on account of physical debility. Henry Martyn entered the pay corps of the U. S. Navy in September, 1861, and after serving over forty years, on reaching the age of sixty-two years was placed on the retired list with the rank of rear admiral. Robert served as his assistant from March, 1863, to October, 1863, resigning on account of ill health, and died August, 1864. Augustus was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1874-1875, and president of Orange County Agricultural Society, 1879, to date; also president of Highland National Bank, and resides on the old homestead, which he owns.

West of Blooming Grove about two miles is located the village of Craigville, upon the falls of the Greycourt Creek, which formerly allowed three dams, all now gone, the combined power of which, together with the fact that the stream may be replenished from Walton Lake, or Long Pond, will at some future date be of value, as it was in the past. On the upper fall was located in the early days a forge, and some of the old slag is still in evidence. In later years a saw-mill and grist-mill were erected by Hector Craig, used afterward as the first manufactory of Hornby's Oats—H. O. The machinery has been removed since to Buffalo. The second fall was utilized by James Craig and his son, Hector Craig, for a paper mill in 1790.

After the death of Hector Craig, Barrett Ames, a son-in-law of Hector Craig, who had been a cotton merchant in Mobile, and his son-in-law, E. Peet, erected here a cotton factory, which was operated successfully for a number of years, but after the death of Mr. Ames, the property passed into other hands, and the cotton factory was burned down. Later the high dam was swept away and nothing remains but the ruins and the old house, which was once surrounded by beautiful gardens and was the scene of much social life when the home of Hector Craig, Barrett Ames and Irving Van Wart, who was a son-in-law of Mr. Ames. At this home Washington Irving, an uncle of Irving Van Wart, made one of his last visits, if not his last visit, far away from Sunnyside. To this old home came James Craig, in 1790, from Paisley, Scotland, bringing with him his family. His son, Hector Craig, born in Scotland, 1775, married a daughter of John Chandler, 1796. He was a member of Congress, 1823-1825 and 1829-1830. He was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson, is said to have cast the first vote in Congress for Andrew Jackson for President, and was by him appointed surveyor of the port in 1830, and U. S. commissioner of bankruptcy in 1832. Hector Craig carried on the paper mill during his life, and also for a time the manufacture of hemp from the Chester meadows, which had been drained by act of Legislature in 1790. The old storehouse built by him is still carried on by Edwin Duryea, and the old hotel is still standing, a part of the Hornby property. The third fall, much lower, turned the mill of Uncle Silas Seaman and his son, Valentine Seaman, but is now out of use, and the property of H. S. Ramsdell. Just beyond the terminus of the Blooming Grove and Greycourt turnpike is the old Greycourt Cemetery, the burial place of many respected citizens of this and adjoining towns.

Two miles south of Craigville is situated Oxford Depot, on the Erie Railroad, with a general country store, kept formerly by Peter B. Taylor, but for many years the store and post-office have been in charge of S. C. Van Vliet, who has also served the town as supervisor, justice, etc. Here is also a creamery run by the Alexander Campbell Co. The old settlement of Satterly's Mills and the adjacent Campbell Tillotson property are now the beautiful country residence of William Crawford, a well-known New York merchant, who is doing much to improve that part of the town. Near Oxford Depot is the beautiful home of Judge Charles R. Bull, supervisor from 1899 to 1903, and associate judge of County Court, and a lineal descendant of Sarah Wells. The old-time homes of the Seelys and Marvins and the Fletcher Woodhull families, for a long time famous for their well-tilled farms, and in the old times well finished fat cattle, have passed from their hands, with the single exception of that of Courtland Marvin, still in the hands of his grand-daughter, Fannie Marvin, regent of Blooming Grove Chapter, D. A. R., and granddaughter of Fannie Woodhull Marvin, mentioned by Eager in his sketch of Claudius Smith as being used by her mother, wife of Captain Woodhull, in saving the family silver. The stone house built under the supervision of William S. Woodhull is still the property of the widow of his son, Jesse Woodhull, who was a daughter of Marcus Sears and Mary Caldwell. And the Youngs homesteads are still held by their descendants, Joseph W. Young, Mrs. Durland and the family of William B. Hunter. The Bulls in the southern part of the town near Monroe, still dwell upon the old homestead. John Brewster, the town clerk of Cornwall, 1765-1799, lived near Blooming Grove, and a part of his old homestead remains in the hands of his descendants, Thomas C. and Walter H. Brewster, who have both been supervisors of the town, and whose beautiful homes are beside the Tappan on Satterly's Creek, and near the ancestral home of Selah E. Strong, supervisor of Blooming Grove, 1875-1882, and sheriff of Orange County, 1888-1889-1890, and is now the home of his widow and their son, Sherwood Strong. This fine, old home was built by his grandfather, Selah Strong, the first supervisor of the new town of Blooming Grove, having been justice of the peace for the town of Cornwall for ten years. His father, Major Nathaniel Strong, came to this farm with the Howells and Woodhulls from Long Island, and married Hannah, daughter of Major Nathaniel Woodhull. He was a prominent citizen, a major in the Continental Army, and was murdered in his home on his farm, by the notorious Claudius Smith, October 6, 1778. This homestead adjoins that of the Strong family, now occupied by Charles F. Bull, from which came: Major Samuel Strong and Captain Nathan Strong, who was at Valley Forge with the Continental Army. The descendants of Samuel Strong now live in Blooming Grove on the Benjamin Strong farm, near the Blooming Grove church, and Charles Strong in Blagg's Clove. This homestead adjoins that of Colonel Jesse Woodhull, who settled here on 500 acres of land in 1753, aged eighteen years, a part of which still remains in the family of N. D. Woodhull. The Woodhull family were descendants from Richard Woodhull, born in North Hampton, England, 1620. Zealous for English liberty during the Protectorate, he sought freedom here. His grandson, Nathaniel, married into the Smith family, who were large proprietors of St. George's Manor, L. I. His daughter, Hannah, married Major Nathaniel Strong. His son, General Nathaniel Woodhull, remained upon the old homestead at Mastic, Long Island, and took an active part in opposing British oppression, and was killed by a British officer, September 2, 1776, tradition says because he would not say, "God save the King." Jesse settled in Blagg's Clove, and his son Richard married Hannah, daughter of Judge William Smith, of Long Island, and was the father of William Smith and Nathaniel Du Bois. William Smith was the father of William Henry Howell and Jesse Woodhull, and Nathaniel was the father of Richard and Francis Mandeville and grandfather of Nathaniel D. Woodhull, well known in Orange County as a leader of the New York milk business. Adjoining the Woodhull tract is the old Howell homestead to which Hezekiah Howell came from Long Island about 1730, and tradition says that as they came over Schunnemunk Mountain they were obliged to stand by their horses to prevent the wild turkeys from eating up their oats. He with Sylvanus White and others took up the patent of 2,000 acres called Blagg's Clove, and he married a daughter of Job Sayre in 1735. His son, Hezekiah 2d, was born here, 1741, and married Juliana, daughter of Nathaniel Woodhull, of Mastic, L. I. His son, Charles Howell, was born in 1752, married a daughter of Major Nathaniel Strong, and after her death, Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Board, and, settled near the Blooming Grove church, upon a farm of 150 acres, which still remains in the hands of the family of his son, Edmund S. Howell. He served in the Independent Corps under General George Clinton in building Fort Putnam, and was on guard after the burning of Kingston. Hezekiah Howell was the first supervisor of the old town of Cornwall, and was sheriff of Orange County during the Revolution. His son, Hezekiah 3d, married Frances, daughter of Major Tuthill, of Orange County. His grandson, Nathaniel W., graduated from Williams in the year 1853, was supervisor of Blooming Grove, 1871 and 1872, and a member of Assembly, 1863-1864. He has lived upon the old Howell homestead, and also inherited his father's farm, and has just conveyed the whole Howell tract of 700 acres to C. T. Purdy, who is as closely connected with Sheriff Howell as Nathaniel W. Sylvanus White, Jr., was born on Long Island, Southampton, and was son of Sylvanus and Phoebe Howell. They came with the Howells and Woodhulls and Strongs and Moffatts, to Blagg's Clove, and settled upon 300 acres of land. His daughter married Anselm Helme, and the family still retain the old Helme homestead, near Coleman's Mills. His son, Nathan H. White, was born in 1770, entered Columbia College at the age of eighteen, and graduated in 1781 in the same class as John Randolph of Roanoke. He taught a classical school in Montgomery for six years, and was principal of the Newburgh Academy two years. Returning to the old home in 1802, he married Frances, daughter of Hezekiah and Juliana Woodhull Howell and added 200 acres to the old homestead. He was elected first judge of Orange County, and was the friend and associate of Judges Kent, Van Ness, Platt and others; in 1806 was commissioned by Governor Morgan Lewis, captain of an Orange County Company of Militia. His son, Albert S. White, went to Indiana about 1825, was a member of Congress from Indiana two terms, and U. S. Senator contemporary with Clay, Calhoun and Webster. One daughter married Harvey Denniston, and after his death, John Nicoll, of Washingtonville, and the old White homestead is still held by her son, Charles Nicoll; and from this union of the Woodhulls with the Strongs and the Howells and from the Woodhull family came the numerous descendants who, together with the Seelys, Tuthills and Moffatts, Hulses, Hudsons, Duryeas, etc., have combined to make the old town well known, both at home and in very many distant States, as one after another has left his ancestral acres to seek a home, if not a fortune, in other parts of our native land. Those who remained at home have kept the ancestral acres up to the standard of productiveness set by their fathers, have been the supporters of the old church and of the schools, and have erected beautiful homes.

Instead of the droves of fatted cattle which slowly wended their way through the Ramapo Valley to the Christmas market in the city, and the county butter, now the Erie Railroad carries its daily freight of milk, and the accustomed leisure, the good old-fashioned all-day visits, and early teas, have given way to the daily rush to the trains, or creameries, and the more elaborate, though no more enjoyable festal occasions, with formal invitations and great preparations.

Who shall succeed these old families who have so loyally supported the Church, the State and the School? Shall their fine residences, which now crown the hilltops, with their beautiful views, and the valleys with their peaceful streams, attract the residents of the nearby cities, as the neighboring town of Monroe is doing? Or will these homes pass into the hands of those who have to labor for their daily bread, day by day, and neither the one nor the other caring for the traditions of the past, caring not for the old churches, the old burial grounds, nor anything of the past.

This question comes home to many of us, as we see the changes going on about us, and we cannot answer.

CHURCHES AND PASTORS.

The first house of worship was erected in Blooming Grove, 1759. The old church stood until 1823, when the present building was erected. The first pastor was Rev. Enos Ayres, who stood first on the roll of the first class graduated at Princeton College. He died in 1762 and was buried in the old burial ground, a part of which, including his grave and the graves of Rev. Samuel Parkhurst and Rev. Benoni Bradner, was covered by the new church building. In 1764 he was succeeded by Rev. Abner Reeve, father of the celebrated Judge Reeve, who founded the law school at Litchfield, Conn. Rev. Abner Reeve resigned about 1786. In 1786, Rev. Samuel Parkhurst came as a supply and soon died here, and his grave is also under the present church. Then followed, in 1770, Rev. Anasiah Lewis, Rev. Case, Rev. Green and Rev. Silas Constant, as stated supplies for a time. Rev. Benoni Bradner filled the pulpit from 1786 until 1892, dying in 1804. He was buried here, his stone still standing erect under the church. After his retirement Rev. Joel T. Benedict preached a few months, Rev. Noah Crane, 1803 to 1811. He was succeeded by Rev. William Rafferty, who married a daughter of John Chandler and resigned in 1815, to become president of St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland. Returning on a visit in 1830, he died here, and is buried in the old Chandler family burial ground on the old homestead now occupied by B. C. Sears. August 7, 1816, Rev. Luther Halsey was installed as pastor. The church was admitted under the care of the Presbytery, with the reservation of its form of government, and remained in the Presbytery of Hudson until 1833, but has always been in fact Congregational. Rev. Luther Halsey served the church with great acceptance. Great revivals blessed his ministry, at one time nearly one hundred being added to the church. The present church building was erected under his ministry, and frequently filled. He resigned in 1824 to accept a professorship in Nassau Hall; later became professor of theology in Allegheny, in Auburn, and in Union Seminaries. He died in Pittsburgh on November 2, 1880, aged eighty-seven years. He was succeeded at Blooming Grove by James Arbuckle, then pastor of the Eighth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, who was pastor of the church until his death, July, 1847. In 1847, Rev. Ebenezer Mason, son of the celebrated John M. Mason, D.D., of New York City, became pastor, who died here the next year. After his death the pulpit was supplied until April, 1851, when Rev. Austin Craig was called, and served this church for fourteen years, when he resigned to accept the presidency of Antioch College, Ohio, and later was president of the Biblical School at Stanfordville, Dutchess County, N. Y., where he died, but is still held in loving remembrance by many of the congregation and in the town. He was succeeded in April, 1866, by Rev. Warren Hathaway, D.D., who still occupies the pulpit. Although he has had frequent calls to what seems to have been more attractive fields of labor, he still remains loyal to his old congregation and they to him. Both Eager and Ruttenber, to whom we are indebted for part of the facts herein stated, excuse a lengthy report of this old church, because of its being one of the landmarks of the town, and it still stands for righteousness, temperance, and charity toward all those laboring for the good of their fellowmen, but the congregation is greatly changed. In the place of the Marvins, and Seelys, Moffatts and Roes, who came in large loads containing the whole families, come very few of those still left of the Woodhulls and Marvins. Although the Tuthills and the Shons, who represent the old Moffatt family, the Hulses and Hudsons, Gerows and Sears, and Howells and Brewsters, still contribute their quotas toward the congregation, there are many vacant pews, and very many who trooped up the long aisles, and listened attentively to the instructive and eloquent sermons, and visited upon the old door stones, are seen there no more. In place of the tall form of David H. Moffatt, Jr., who used to lead the choir in the old gallery, stands the handsome pipe organ erected to his father's memory by David H. Moffatt, of Denver. And the church has a fund in memory of David Wright, given by his daughter Susan Wright.

In 1830, an effort was made to start an Episcopal church in Washingtonville, but met with no success. August 21, 1851, under the leadership of Rev. Henry Belden, a Congregational church was organized, and a building erected, which was afterward sold to the Methodist congregation, incorporated 1855. The First Presbyterian Church of Washingtonville was organized 1841. Connected with the Hudson Presbytery under the charge of Rev. Henry Belden the church grew to a membership of 121, when Rev. Henry Belden was succeeded by Rev. Phineas Robinson. A church building was erected in 1847, and Rev. Luther Halsey was called to succeed him and occupied the pulpit until October, 1856. Rev. Daniel Higbee served the church from August, 1858, until his death, October, 1867. He was succeeded by John Griswold, who served until April, 1871, when he was succeeded by Rev. James B. Beaumont, 1871 to 1881, George W. Morrill from 1882 to 1884, when an effort to unite the congregations of the First and Second Churches was made, but failed. In 1886, Rev. Joseph Greenleaf was called, and died in 1888. William M. Yeoman was pastor from 1898 to October, 1902. John A. McCallum, installed 1903, resigned June 20, 1907, leaving the church without a pastor at this date. Their church property has been increased by a new parsonage, 1872, and a handsome chapel and Sunday schoolroom, to the memory of Mary Scott Denniston, the widow of Hon. Robert Denniston, erected by her children.

In 1855, Dr. Luther Halsey, having a matter of difference with the New School Assembly, did not feel he could any longer remain under its care, and many of his congregation joining with him, they formed the Old School Presbyterian Church of Washingtonville. The church was organized in 1857, a house of worship built in 1858, and a parsonage added in 1871. Dr. Luther Halsey occupied the pulpit until April, 1862, when Rev. Arthur Harlow was called and ordained and installed, September, 1863; resigned in October, 1871, and died June 19, 1883. In 1872, B. G. Benedict became stated supply until 1875, when on account of ill health he resigned and was succeeded by Rev. N. M. Sherwood, who served the church ten years, resigning in 1885 in order that his occupying the pulpit might not embarrass the effort to unite the two Presbyterian churches. This effort failing, Rev. Eugene L. Mapes was called, April, 1886; installed 1887, and resigned a year later, having received a call to the Presbyterian church of Carlisle, Pa. The church was then supplied for some time, and then sold its property, and divided the proceeds between the Foreign and Home Mission Boards of the Presbyterian Church, part of the congregation giving to the First Presbyterian Church and part to the old Blooming Grove Church, and part to Bethlehem and Little Britain.

The Blooming Grove Methodist Episcopal Church was incorporated December 3, 1855. This is now the Washingtonville Methodist Church. It was for a long time on the circuit of Monroe, Oxford, Craigville and Highland Mills, but now is associated with the church at Salisbury Mills, has a fine church property, kept in very good repair, and has recently installed electric lights in connection with other improvements.

The Catholic Church of St. Mary is near Washingtonville on the State road, the first building erected in 1872, has been of late much enlarged and beautified under the direction and by the effort of Rev. Father Tetrau, and now has a fine property consisting of the enlarged church and rectory.

The Methodist Church of Salisbury Mills was incorporated in 1854, was connected with the New Windsor circuit until 1898, when it was connected with Washingtonville. It has a convenient and finely located building.

In Salisbury, largely through the efforts of Richard Caldwell and his wife, Sarah Beattie Caldwell, the Hope Chapel, connected with the Bethlehem Presbyterian Congregation, was built, and has been an active organization ever since, and its Sunday school, supported by its founders, is large and active, and Sunday evening and other services well attended.

The Satterly Town Methodist Church was organized in 1855, a house built and services held for some time, but its supporters, withdrawing or moving from the neighborhood, the building was removed. Also about 1850 a church was erected at Craigville, for the use of that village and neighborhood, which soon passed into the hands of the Methodist organization, and was on the circuit with Washingtonville for many years, but service has for a long time been discontinued, though the building still stands in fair repair and is beautifully situated. Still another Methodist church was built about one mile south of Oxford Depot and used for the purpose of worship, but now has been turned to secular use; also near this was the Friends meeting house, now used as a dwelling.

Chester is one of the interior towns of Orange County, situated on the main line Erie Railroad, which together with the Newburgh branch, Lehigh and Hudson and Orange County Railroads, make up the chief commercial outlets to the ports on the Hudson and Delaware Rivers.

It consists of over sixteen thousand acres of fine farming land and is a noted dairy and stock farming section of the Empire State. Considerable enterprise has been shown in recent years in the culture of onions, celery and lettuce on the Greycourt meadows, which are among the most fertile of all the alluvial deposits of the country.

The title of most of the land of the township is from the famous Wawayanda patent, which covered the land deeded by the twelve native Indian proprietors, who signed a deed, March 5, 1703, for all the land from the high hills of the Hudson to the Shawangunk Mountains and the Jersey line. The highest points of vantage in Chester township, from which magnificent views may be obtained of the whole Wawayanda country, are Sugar Loaf Mountain, 1,220 feet elevation, and Goose Pond Mountain, 826 feet above the sea level. From these pinnacles may be seen the Catskills, which are much higher and further removed than the Shawangunk range of mountains.

The elevation in Chester village at Durland Square is 485 feet, and on the ridge back of the Presbyterian Church, extending toward Craigville, may be obtained extended views of a large portion of Orange County, spread out in every direction.

The H. W. Wood hills at East Chester, the T. S. Durland ridge at Greycourt, and the Guy Miller gravel hill, each have a magnificent outlook over a large scope of the country from Schunnemunk to Shawangunk. In the valleys between these ridges are the old highways following in some instances, Indian trails. It is but natural that along these roads the present village should have grown up.

The road from Newburgh through Chester to Trenton and Morristown, N. J., is often spoken of in the Clinton papers and in more recent years it has been known as the King's Highway. It has been a noted road since Colonial days, having often been used by General Washington during the Revolutionary War. It is the natural avenue for intercourse between Newburgh and New Jersey. Crossing this road at Durland's Square is the old Albany and New York stage road, which enters the town of Chester at the Goshen line and to the metropolis continues its course southward near Greycourt. Leaving this old stage road at Nanowitt Park, which has been recently donated to the town of Chester by Rev. E. T. Sanford, pastor of the North Baptist Church of New York City, is the old Indian trail, which became a popular road during the Colonial days and leads to Greenwood Lake and to the ancient Sterling Iron Works. This road was traveled by Peter Townsend, one of the owners of the Sterling Iron Works, who lived in Chester during the Revolution, and whose descendants continued to reside here for many years.

There is also the new State road, No. 600, following quite closely the old Albany and New York road, excepting the course from Monroe to Chester is changed from the east to the west side of the Erie Railroad. The famous Glenmere Lake, formerly known as Thompson's Pond, is partly in the town of Chester, and is noted for its pickerel and bass fishing. Its area is about 400 acres.

The streams of the town are known as the Otter Kill, which flows through West Chester and is joined at Lincolndale by the Cromeline Creek, which was known in Colonial days as the "River."

The Cromeline has its sources of supply near the northern headwaters of Greenwood Lake in the watershed known as "Dutch Hollow;" also from the outlet of Walton Lake, known in Colonial days as the "Little Long Pond" to distinguish it from Greenwood Lake, which in the early period of our history was known as Long Pond. Along the Cromeline Creek are the fertile meadows formerly known as the Great Beaver meadows.

Since the erection of the Cromeline house in the year 1716, which stood on the south side of the road opposite the present home of W. R. Conklin, the meadows have been known as the Greycourt meadows, from the fact that this Cromeline house was known as the Greycourt Inn. This name was also given to the cemetery, near this old inn, and when the Erie Railroad was built in 1841, this name was applied to the junction of the Erie Railroad with the Newburgh branch and the Warwick Valley, first called East and West Junction, afterwards Chesterville, and finally the euphonious name of Greycourt was decided upon as the name appropriate for the station adjoining these famous Greycourt meadows.

COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.

On the 22nd of August, 1775, the Provincial Congress of New York passed a law under which the militia of the Revolution was organized.

The several companies so formed were directed to be joined into regiments to consist of not less than five nor more than ten companies. When the organization was perfected, the companies of Orange formed the Fourth Brigade under Brigadier General George Clinton. This brigade was composed of four companies of Ulster and five of Orange County, commanded respectively by Colonel Allison, whose regimental district included Goshen, of which Chester was then a part, and the western part of the county. There were Colonel Hathorn, whose district embraced Warwick and the settlements; Colonel Woodhull, the district which is now Monroe and Blooming Grove; Colonel Hasbrouck's district, embracing Newburgh and vicinity; Colonel Clinton's of New Windsor, Montgomery and Wallkill.

During the early years of the war our people (located, as they were, not far removed from the Hudson) were almost constantly under arms or engaged in the construction of the forts of the Highlands, or preparing the obstructions to navigation through these Highlands.

The contract for the making of the last chain drawn across the Hudson at West Point, on April 30, 1778, was awarded at the home of Mr. Peter Townsend, who resided at this time in the old homestead opposite the Presbyterian Church, in Chester village, by Secretary of War, Mr. Pickering. Mr. Townsend, of the firm of Townsend & Noble, at this time was one of the owners of the Sterling furnace, where the chain was made.

During the years 1776 to 1779 our troops were very active and were kept informed by the aid of cannon firing by day and beacon fires by night. From December, 1776, to April, 1778, our militia was called out no less than twelve times and spent 292 days in the field.

At a meeting of the County Delegates called to meet at the Yelverton Inn (still standing in Chester), on September 17, 1774, Henry Wisner was elected and sent as a delegate to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, "to protest against the unjust taxation." On December 9, 1776, General Clinton was ordered to co-operate with Generals Lee and Gates to harass the enemy, who had then entered northern New Jersey. The resolution read as follows: "That all the militia of Orange and Ulster Counties be forthwith ordered to march properly armed and accoutered with four days' provision to Chester, Orange County, N. Y."

This fixes the date of the encampment of these troops on the hill where the present new modern school-house is being erected, as being about the latter part of December, 1776, or January, 1777. The encampment probably consisted of part of the four regiments, under Colonels Allison, Hathorn, Woodhull and Clinton. An order was issued on January 4, 1777, dismissing part of these troops, leaving about 300 men in the above camp for the winter.

One of the first engagements in which our Chester patriots took part, occurred at Suffern, October 3, 1777, when Major Thomas Moffatt ordered Captain Wood and twenty men to cover the pass through the mountains at this point, where they intercepted a band of Tories, with the result of one robber killed and three wounded.

Our company was engaged under Colonel Allison later on at Forts Montgomery and Clinton. While these events were transpiring on the Hudson, the western frontier was harassed by the incursions of the Indians and Tories under the leadership of the educated half-breed Brant, together with Butler the Tory. Our troops becoming alarmed by the fugitives' accounts of the massacres and burnings taking place on the frontier, Colonel Hathorn, together with Lieutenant Colonel Tusten, of Colonel Allison's Goshen Regiment, and with such numbers of the commands as could be brought together in so brief a time, proceeded at once to Minisink, on July 22, 1779, to take part in that bloody battle on this date. Several of our Chester Company were among the brave troops.

SUBSEQUENT HISTORICAL INCIDENTS.

After the Revolutionary War and until 1845, the village of Chester was a part of the township of Goshen, and had become quite an important trading center, being at the junction of the two leading State roads. Up to the time of the building of the Warwick Valley road, in 1863, now the Lehigh and Hudson, the pig iron from Wawayanda Lake forge was carted to Chester for shipment on the Erie, the butter and other farm produce from the Vernon Valley, extending as far as Newton, N. J., was also brought to this point for shipment. It was but natural that the trial to decide the boundaries of the Chesekook and Wawayanda Indian patents should have been held at this place. In the year 1785, in the barn connected with the Yelverton Inn, erected in the year 1765, still standing, in good state of preservation, and owned by Joseph Durland, some of the older inhabitants and pioneers of Orange County met with the nation's most famous lawyers, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The Wawayanda patentees were fortunate in securing these men during this trial, and many historical facts were brought out, through the witnesses sworn at this trial. In their testimony concerning what they knew about the early settlement of the country and the relations of the whites to the native Indians, the evidence was set forth. The burden of the testimony seemed to prove that Schunnemunk was not considered by the pioneers as the high hills of the Hudson. On this trial, Judge Elihu Marvin stated "that he was born in 1719 and moved in what is now known as the town of Chester in 1742. Whenever he visited Haverstraw and returned as far as the Ramapo River, it was always called beyond the High Hills of the Hudson."

Hugh Dobbin, aged seventy-six, stated "that he lived near Sugar Loaf Mountain since 1738."

Deliverance Conkling, who lived near Wickham's Pond, stated "that he was 71 years old, and has known personally Lancaster Symes, one of the Wawayanda patentees, and the pond at Goose Pond Mountain used to be called Cromeline Pond, and abounded in wild geese."

Samuel Gale was born in 1737, and testified "that the Chesekooks line had always been disputed."

William Thompson was born in 1723, was chain bearer for Colonel Clinton and usually stopped, when surveying the Chesekook patent, at Perry's near Wickham's Pond. He had talked with the Indians and remained at times in their wigwams.

Ebenezer Holly, born 1698, stated that he knew Captain Symes, Captain Aske, Christopher Denn and Daniel Cromeline. In dispute with the Indians, Governor Burnet had decided that the Indians must move off the land; among the Indians who still claimed land were Rondout, Hons and Romer. He stated that Cromeline made his first improvement at Greycourt.

John Kinner, a Chester resident, held land in this disputed tract under Mr. Wisner, Dr. Baird and Mr. Scott.

James Board, aged sixty-five, born in England in 1720, came to this country with his father, Cornelius, and brother, David, in 1730; sent by Alexander, Lord Sterling, to discover copper mines; discovered iron ore deposits at Sterling, built there a forge in 1735, and in the year of 1740 removed to Ringwood. The mountains west toward Warwick were called by that name. The Sugar Loaf Mountain was called by that name as long as he remembered.

Soon after the forge was going it was sold by Cornelius Board & Sons to Coldon & Ward.

During this trial Burr and Hamilton were guests at the old Yelverton Inn. The court adjourned to meet again at Chester, in Yelverton barn, in October, 1785, at which session it was decided that Chesekook patent should comprise all the land east of Goose Pond Mountain and the great Beaver Meadows, to the western line of Evans patent and the Hudson River.

In the early part of the nineteenth century, living in and about West Chester, were Joseph Durland, born in 1762, Benjamin Dunning, Daniel Denton, James Roe and Michael Renton. On the Florida road lived Thaddeus Seely and Major Holbert. At Chester lived Asa Vail opposite the second academy, Edmund Seely, Seth Satterly and Dr. Townsend Seely. Peter Townsend lived opposite the Presbyterian church. Isaac and William Townsend on the C. B. Wood ridge, Elmer Cooper and Dr. Dodd, Aaron Cox, the hatter, and Stephen Cooper, born in 1788; David G. Drake, born in 1760. The old Samuel Satterly house stood on the brow of the hill, nearly opposite the joining of Old New York road, near the new State road; from this point at the bridge, which was called in these early days the "Purgatory Bridge," the most popular amusement was running races. The course lay from this bridge to the oak tree, which is still standing near H. W. Wood's residence. On special days, July 4, and in the autumn, the people from miles around fairly lined the short course in numbers from three to four hundred people. In fact, nearly double the number of our whole population at that period. Purses were usually made up at such times at the course, and great horses contested. Among them were Webber's "Kentucky Whip," a great running sire from Kentucky; Tom Thumb and Saltrum. The visitation of such noted running stock to Chester was the beginning of an improvement in the racing stock of this section. This development found its climax in the birth of Hambletonian, the progenitor of the American trotter.

When the old "Hero of Chester" died in 1876, he was buried on the hill on the W. M. Rysdyck place. Since that time a granite shaft costing $3,000, has been erected, to mark the resting place of this notable sire.

About 100 years ago Isaac Kinner and Daniel Cooley lived on the western foothills of the Goose Pond Mountains.

On the Craigville road lived Dr. John Boulton, Birdseye Young, Albert Seely, Samuel Denton, Hezekiah Moffatt and Jesse Carpenter.

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

About 1721, we find John Yelverton, of New Windsor, in this section. The deed recorded, 1765, by his grandson and executor, Abijah Yelverton, who kept the Yelverton Inn, in old Chester village, conveys three parcels of land in 1721 in Goshen to John Yelverton, in trust "for a parsonage, minister's house and burying place; also to build a meeting house thereon or a public edifice for the worship of God in the way and manner of those of the Presbyterian persuasion," signed by twenty-four land owners in the different parts of the Wawayanda patent. This has reference to the Goshen Presbyterian church. During this period Chester, with the rest of this part of the county, was included in the precinct of Goshen.

Richard Edsall's survey, made in 1741, mentions William Seely and Rulof Swartwout as living in this neighborhood.

The township of Chester is well arranged for the transaction of public business, and is the practical outcome of the ambitions of a progressive century. In 1845 from the towns of Goshen, Warwick, Blooming Grove and Monroe, the township was organized with James Gray as its first supervisor, 1845.

The first deed that we find made mention of was John Beers as owning 120 acres of the Cromeline patent; he sold the same June 16, 1751, to John Ensign, who in turn sold 42-3/4 acres of the tract, on May 19, 1755, to John Yelverton, gentleman, for the sum of 97L. and 4S. current money. Upon this land the village of Chester is located.

Many familiar names of the families living in our township to-day are found on the assessment rolls of dist. No. 4, town of Goshen, of September, 1775, signed by Nathaniel Roe.

This district may be described as running from Greycourt to Satterlytown, Sugar Loaf to Summerville, to Fort Hill, with no less than 119 land owners with an assessed valuation of 370L. 8S. 17D.

Abijah Yelverton, in the year of 1783, gave an acre of ground for church purposes. The year 1797 saw the beginning of the first meeting house. In 1708 the first minister began his labors in the Presbyterian church at $75 per annum, "with the privilege of teaching to piece out his support." This meeting house stood on the high ground in the rear of the residence of Dr. S. G. Carpenter, in the old village of Chester. It was commodious for the time, with square pews, but was used without being heated. The next church was built in 1829, and was located about the center of the present cemetery at East Chester.

Our earliest district school-house stood opposite the Dr. Edmonston home in the old village. It was erected during the latter part of 1700. Another was located on the Goshen road near Dr. A. T. Sanden's residence. Long before the noise of railroads disturbed the quiet of our hamlet, the mails were brought by the old stage coach.

Chester was favorably situated for the exchange of mails, the Goshen stage running through here to meet the Newburgh and New York stage line at Southfield and the Warwick stage line, using our road to connect with the same line at Washingtonville.

The first post-office was established in Chester in 1794. Joseph Wickham being the first postmaster located at West Chester, then and now a part of Chester village, afterward it was moved to the old village and in 1842 was removed to the building opposite the present Erie Railroad tower at Chester Station. The idea of offering fresh milk from the country to the distant consumer in the city originated with a road contractor named Selleck who interested some of our leading farmers in the project and succeeded in getting a supply sent by the Erie in the spring of 1842. It was shipped in the blue pyramid churns of that day. The first shipment were about six cans per day and freight charges were by weight, twenty cents per hundred pounds. The price paid the producer was two cents per quart, placed on the cars at Chester. The farmers soon finding that there was more money to be made from milk at two cents per quart than butter at fifteen cents per pound, began sending milk to Selleck. Thus the milk business of the county was born, and in spite of the many difficulties, this business has alone been the means of building four railroads in Orange County and returned to it over $100,000,000.

In 1784 mention is made of a saw-mill on the trout brook, on the Sterling road. These mills are now known as Bull's Mills. A grist-mill was then operated on the opposite side of the stream. The old flouring mill at West Chester was established soon after the settlement was made. As late as the year 1820, an old mill stood upon the ground just above the present Chester mills. During these times they used two run of stone and never were compelled to shut down for lack of water.

Chester's first library was incorporated November 17, 1779, with seven trustees, and was verified before Judge Wickham and recorded the same year. Abijah Yelverton was the first librarian.

The war of 1861 occasioned a great demand for onions and our onion culture on the black meadows began about that time. Our average yearly production has been about 60,000 bushels. During revolutionary times a part of these meadows were cultivated for raising hemp; later on, potatoes and corn.

INCORPORATION.

The movement for both our present water supply and for the incorporation of the village first took effective shape in the year 1891, when a few public-spirited citizens of the village subscribed to a fund to be expended in a survey to determine whether the water of Little Long Pond, now known as "Walton Lake," could be brought to the village under such pressure as would make it available for fire protection. The preliminary survey was made under the direction of Joseph Board and George M. Roe. The facts were convincing that this was a most favorable project for a water supply. First, the organization of a private company was proposed, and from this developed the incorporation of our village, the citizens realizing that if we were to have a water supply it must be owned by the village. Accordingly this was done with the happy result that has made us the envy of our neighboring villages.

On October 17, 1892, Mr. Joseph Board was appointed as resident superintendent in the construction of the water works, and when the water was turned on, in exactly a year, October 17, 1893, the inhabitants of our village had the satisfaction of knowing that each length of pipe so laid had been under the inspection of our superintendent.

The village of Chester was incorporated June 23, 1892. having a population of 1,400; 125 voters favored the incorporation and only the small number of thirteen opposed the proposition. At the first caucus, held July 12, 1892, were nominated W. A. Lawrence as president; Joseph Durland, George M. Roe and Thad. S. Durland, trustees. At the first election, held July 20, 1892, the above citizens were elected to their respective offices. The village board was organized on the same date, naming Joseph Board as village clerk.

The board of water commissioners was organized August 15, 1892, with Messrs. W. A. Lawrence, Joseph Durland, George M. Roe and T. S. Durland as commissioners, and Joseph Board, clerk. A taxpayers' meeting was called September 2, 1892, to vote on the question of assessment for water-works, with the following results: Sixty-eight in favor, against seven. Contract was executed at a total cost of $53,000 at their final completion.

This water supply for the village of Chester is one of the best in the State. The source is Walton Lake, formerly known as Little Long Pond, a beautiful sheet of spring water, covering an area of 127 acres, with a storage capacity of 3-1/2 feet, each foot of water giving a supply of over 40,000,000 gallons. This supply is a gravity system. From this lake, at an elevation of 250 feet above the level of Main street, at Chester Station, giving a working pressure of 80 to 90 pounds, there was laid for water-mains, 8,197 feet of 12-in. pipe, 6,978 feet of 19-in. pipe, 14,820 feet of 8-in. pipe, 5,748 feet of 6-in. pipe, 6,312 feet of 4-in. pipe.

Since the introduction of Walton Lake water, both the Walton Hose Company and Hook and Ladder Company have been organized.

After the incorporation the present municipal brick building was erected at a cost of $5,000. In this building rooms for village officers and parlors used by the fire department are located. In connection with our fire department, there is an annual inspection at which time the Chester military band of twenty-five members, under the leadership of George W. Ball, adds greatly to the village life.

In the year 1905, the Orange and Rockland Electric Company was organized, with R. W. Smith as president, and G. M. Roe as vice-president; Zael Paddleford, secretary; Frank Durland, treasurer. This company was organized and stock subscribed for by the citizens of Chester and Monroe.

The streets of the village, which were formerly lighted by kerosene, are now illuminated by electric current, generated by this company. Our Telford streets were laid in the year 1901, at a cost of $17,000. A distance of two and one-quarter miles were constructed through the main streets of the village.

CHURCHES.

The Presbyterian Church of Chester, while it had been ministering to the spiritual needs of the community for more than a quarter of a century, effected its legal organization December 26, 1826, with David Roe, Henry Seely, James Holbert, Elnathan Satterly, Joseph Sherwood and Townsend Seely as trustees.

The present house of worship, being the third erected by this congregation, was dedicated January 4, 1854. The present chapel was added in the year 1884. The church was remodeled and memorial windows added in the year 1898. In the year 1898 the church celebrated the centennial of its existence with impressive services and the publication of an interesting history of its century of church life.

The commodious parsonage adjoining the church was erected in 1895 at a cost of about $8,000.

Methodist Episcopal Church, Sugar Loaf.—Rev. Isaac Condee was the first Methodist preacher to visit Sugar Loaf, which he did in the year 1803 or 1804, and first preached in the home of John D. Conklin.

In the fall of 1804 he organized the first class and appointed John D. Conklin, leader. It is the mother of all the Methodist churches within a radius of ten or twelve miles.

The certificate of incorporation was executed on August 6, 1809. The trustees then chosen were Henry Wisner, Jr., Joseph Beach, Andrew Cunningham, Benjamin Wells, Richard Wisner, Horace Ketchem, Elijah Stevens, John D. Conklin and Benjamin Horton.

A subscription was taken and the first church was built in year 1810. Ten years later, in the year 1820, the Sunday school was established. The parsonage was erected in the year 1832. The second church, the present building, was built in 1852, and at three separate times it has undergone repairs. Rev. J. B. Wakeley, D.D., preached the sermon at the dedication of the church in the year 1852, and following the extensive repairs to the church, made in 1872, Bishop Cyrus D. Foss preached the dedication sermon. The church celebrated the centennial of its existence in the fall of 1904, at which time many of the former pastors were present to participate in the services, when Bishop Foss was again present.

A long list of worthy men have served this church as pastors. Rev. P. N. Chase, Ph.D., is at present in charge; M. D. Stevens, superintendent of the Sunday school; Miss Alice Turfler, president of the Epworth league.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Chester was organized in the year 1837, and for some time used the academy for worship; afterwards used the "Ball Room" of Yelverton Inn. In the year 1852 the present property was purchased and the church, edifice erected in charge of the following trustees: