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CHRONICLES 
 
 OF 
 
 MONROE 
 
 IN THE OLDEN TIME 
 
 TOWN AND VILLAGE 
 
 ORANGE COUNTY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 BY 
 
 KEY. DANIEL NILES FREELAND 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE DE VINNE PRESS 
 
 1898 
 
Copyright, 1898, by 
 Daniel Niles F reel and. 
 
a^p totmtt tielobcti pari^ljioner^ of 
 
 a^ontoc, l^etD foirfe, 
 
 anti manp otljer hinti fticnb^ of tlje toton anb biilage of 
 
 tl^at name, hot^ libing anti beats, 
 
 i^ tJji^ modest boluitie 
 
 2Debicatcb, 
 
 Ji( «s a ^o/(;e^ of grateful appreciation of many kindnesses 
 received hy both me and mine, and intended to preserve, 
 for the entertainment and instruction of their children, 
 the memory of the history, incidents and sayings of by- 
 gone age and generation. When I came to Monroe fifty 
 years since, I found then living many venerable people, 
 remarkable for intelligence and clearness of memory, their 
 range of vision extending almost to the War of the Revo- 
 lution. Finding also I was standing on historic ground, 
 the thought entered my mind to gather up some of the 
 conversations and experiences of these aged ones before 
 they should be called to the land ^^from whose bourn no 
 traveller returns.'''' From their lips much of the mate- 
 rial was gathered. It was first a lecture, the very ink 
 of which had almost faded out. But an urgent request 
 la 
 
having come from many sources that the material might 
 have more permanent form^ I have consented to give it 
 to the many-fingered printing-press ; and although '"'' of 
 snaking many hooks there is no end^^ I ash the indul- 
 gent attention of those more partictdarly interested in 
 stich a work. For more recent material I have been in- 
 debted to a number of living friends, to tvhom I tender 
 most hearty thanks. In my personal reminiscences I 
 have studiously avoided intrusion into the sanctities of 
 private life ; if alluding to faults, only presenting them 
 as a background to virtues ; if mentioning humorous in- 
 cidents, they are thrown in as a pungent spicery to make 
 the menu more palatable, and playfully present the 
 
 features of the Ancient Past. 
 
 THE ATJTHOE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication. 
 Introduction. 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 I. The Cheesecock Patent 1 
 
 II. The Field Book and Survey 11 
 
 HI. Distribution of the Lands. Maps of Lots . 17 
 
 IV. Indians and Indian Nomenclature 20 
 
 V. Physical Features 25 
 
 VI. Organization of the County of Orange and 
 
 Town of Monroe 33 
 
 VII. The Early Settlement of the Town .... 38 
 
 VIII. War of the Revolution 44 
 
 IX. The Story of Claudius Smith 56 
 
 X. The Dawn of Peace 63 
 
 XI. Home-building in the Olden Time 66 
 
 XII. The Iron Industry of Monroe 74 
 
 XIII. The Milk Business 78 
 
 XIV. Industries of the Home and Farm 81 
 
 XV. The Dress of the Olden Time 91 
 
 XVI. Courtship and Marriage 96 
 
 XVII. Mills and Smithy 100 
 
 XVIII. Innkeeping 106 
 
 XIX. Merchandizing 110 
 
 XX. Schools and Education 116 
 
 XXI. Physic and Physicians 125 
 
 vii 
 
CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 XXII. Lawyeks and Litigation 132 
 
 XXIII. Chueches and Clergy 137 
 
 XXIV. The Cause of Temperance 156 
 
 XXV. Hunting and Fishing 160 
 
 XXVI. Militia Training 169 
 
 xxvii. The Singing School „ 172 
 
 XXVIII. The Debating Society 177 
 
 XXIX. Love of Liberty and Patriotism 180 
 
 XXX. Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic . 184 
 
 XXXI. Early Roads 215 
 
 XXXII. Erie Railway 219 
 
 XXXIII. Appearance of the Old Village 229 
 
 xxxiv. Landmarks of Monroe 237 
 
 XXXV. Recent Occurrences . 243 
 
 vili 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 XT" A YIN Gr noticed that other parts of the county 
 J-J- of Orange have received marked attention, and 
 had their historians and investigators, while the town 
 and village of Monroe seem to have heen passed by, 
 we have thought it would he of interest and some- 
 what of the nature of a return for hospitalities re- 
 ceived in said town, to investigate its early records 
 and traditions and throw them into the form of a 
 historic monograph for future preservation and study. 
 The importance of this is evident from the fact that 
 the old people are rapidly passing away, and unless 
 some one should volunteer to gather up what they 
 remember, they soon will have been gathered to the 
 grave, "where there is no device nor knowledge." 
 After a few years the opportunity will have gone 
 irrecoverably. He, therefore, who has been cotem- 
 porary with some of these aged ones is conferring a 
 favor on the future in obtaining their reminiscences 
 and giving them permanent form. The fact that so 
 much must be derived from tradition, and that the 
 historical documents and data are so meager and scat- 
 
tered, makes the task no easy one. When others have 
 preceded us, they have chosen to dwell upon the mis- 
 deeds of its famous marauder, rather than upon the 
 achievements of its better citizens ; and the rudeness 
 of its early population ; and its rocks rather than its 
 progress in wealth, cultiu*e and all the elements of 
 modern life. So they have conveyed a false impres- 
 sion of its character and resources, until, indeed, 
 some of its own people have been inchned, in view of 
 our contemplated task, to say, " Can any good thing 
 come out of Monroe ? " Our answer is of old, " Come 
 and see." We purpose now to take compass, chain and 
 knapsack, and endeavor to find some of the ancient 
 landmarks, run some of the old courses and gather 
 up such information concerning Monroe as will tend 
 to reproduce, for the instruction of the present genera- 
 tion, its topography, its ancient manners and such 
 historical incidents as will exhibit its progress to the 
 present day. 
 
 When the first survey was made, Charles Clinton 
 noted in his Field Book that the needle pointed to the 
 wealth of minerals which its very rocks contained. 
 So its wealth, historical, archaeological, social, ethical 
 and religious, attracts the needle of our affection, ex- 
 citing our interest and study after years of absence. 
 And now we propose as a labor of love to take com- 
 pass and chain, and revisit the Highlands and Valleys, 
 or Cloves as they were called, reviving personal remi- 
 niscences, verifying historical incidents and bringing 
 to record the results of some original investigations. 
 
CHRONICLES OF 
 MONROE IN THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CHEESECOCK PATENT. 
 
 WHEN King John demanded of certain nobles of 
 England by what authority they held theii' lands, 
 they laid their hands on the hilts of their swords. 
 But when any old settler of the town of Monroe was 
 asked a similar question, he answered as promptly, 
 and with as much of right, " By the grant of Queen 
 Anne, in the document called the Cheesecock 
 Patent." But if questioned further as to the reason 
 for the name, and who procured the Patent, and 
 when and how the lands were surveyed and dis- 
 tributed, he could give little information. When we 
 asked the question fifty years ago, Why is so singular 
 a name given to that instrument ? we were told a cer- 
 tain English Lord Cheesecock was active in its pro- 
 curement. But in looking over books of heraldry and 
 English history, we could find no such name, either 
 among the nobility or the common people. We 
 then tried to solve the mystery by connecting it with 
 some dairy product or cheese cook or expert, but it 
 failed to furnish a solution. Then we fancied that 
 
2 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 the lay of the land might afford a clue, in the frequent 
 occurrence of rounded knolls like Woodcock, Pedlar 
 and numerous similar formations in this region, which 
 might be likened to haycocks or even rolls of cheese. 
 But that required too much imagination for the mat- 
 ter-of-fact people who were trying to find a home in 
 the wilderness where they could have hberty to wor- 
 ship God and found a new commonwealth. We then 
 turned to the document itself, and found that it grants 
 a certain tract of upland and meadow. Now in the 
 Algonquin tongue the name for upland was Chis^ up — 
 limik^ land, and there it is the Highland Patent. 
 The term " patent " or " letters patent " was applied to 
 a document issued by an authorized party, granting 
 an exclusive right to a tract of land or other property 
 for a term of years. The sovereigns of England were 
 accustomed to issue such letters patent to favorites 
 and friends, parceling out and conferring the lands 
 the government had acquired on this continent, as if 
 feudal lords of the soil. As these lands were imper- 
 fectly surveyed and were acquired some from the In- 
 dians and some from the Dutch government, it is not 
 strange that there should be confusion in the boun- 
 daries and conflict in the grants. This very patent 
 to which we refer was the occasion of no small liti- 
 gation, while the grant on the northeast of it, the Cap- 
 tain Evans patent, had to be recalled. 
 
 During the governorship of the colony of New 
 York by Edward Hyde, under the title of Lord Corn- 
 bury, his rapacity and prodigality led him to give out 
 the public domain with a lavish hand. It was through 
 him, and probably at his instance, that the Cheesecock 
 Patent was granted by Queen Anne. A copy of it is 
 in the office of the Secretary of the Province of New 
 
The Cheesecock Patent. 3 
 
 York, in the Book of Patents begun a. d. 1695, folio 
 353-355, recorded at the request of Wilham Smith 
 and Co., the 2d day of June, a. d. 1736. 
 
 The following is the text of that remarkable docu- 
 ment — a facsimile of its abbreviations, capitals and 
 other peculiarities : 
 
 Anne by the Grace of England, Scotland, ffrance and Ireland 
 Queen Defend'' of the faith &c. To all to whom these Presents 
 may in any wise Concerne Sendeth Greeting, Whereas our Loving 
 Subjects Anne Bridges, Hendrick Ten Eyck, Dirick Vandenburg, 
 John Cholwell, Christopher Denne, Lancaster Symes and John 
 Merritt, by their humble petition Prsented to our Right, trusty 
 and well beloved Cousin Edward Viscount Cornbury, Captain 
 General and Governour in Cheif in and over our Province of New 
 Yorke and Territories Depending thereon in America and Vice 
 Admiral of the same &c. in Council Have Pray'd our Grant and 
 Confirmation of a Certain Tract of upLand and Meadow Scituate 
 Lying and being in the County of Orange Called Cheesecocks be 
 Bounded to the Northward by the Patented Lands of Captain 
 John Evans and the Patent of Doctor Bridges and Company to 
 the Westward : by the said Bridges &c^ and the West side of the 
 high hills, called the high Lands to the Southward by the Patented 
 lands of Mr. Daniell Honan and Michaell Howden and to the East- 
 ward by the Christian Patented Lands of Haverstraw and Hud- 
 son's River the which Petition wee being minded to Grant KNOW 
 YEE that of our Especiall Grace Certain Knowledge and meer mo- 
 tion wee have Given Granted Ratified and Confirmed and in and 
 by these P'sents for ourselves our Heires and Successors Doe Give 
 Grant Ratify and Confirm unto the sd Anne Bridges, Hendrick 
 Tenicke, Dirick Vandenburg, John Cholwell, Christopher Denne, 
 Lancaster Symes and John Merritt all and Singular the Tract of 
 Upland and Meadow above mentioned and all and Singular the 
 Hereditaments and Appurtenances thereunto belonging within 
 the Bounds and Limitts above in these presents mentioned and 
 Expressed together with all woods and under woods Trees Timber 
 feedings Pastures Meadows Marshes Swamps Ponds Pooles Waters 
 Watercourses Rivers Rivoletts Runs and Streams of Water ffishing 
 fouling hunting hawking Mines and Mineralls Standing growing 
 lyeing and being or to be used had and enjoyed within the Bounds 
 
4 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 and Limmitts aforesd. and all other Profitts benefitts Privledges 
 Liberty s Advantages Hereditaments & Appurtenances whatsoever 
 unto sd. Land and Premises or any Part or Parceil thereof belong- 
 ing or in any wise appertaining in Seven Equal Parts to be Divided 
 (Except allways and Reserved out of this our Present Grant all 
 Gold and Silver mines.) 
 
 To Have and to hold One seventh part of the Tract of Land and 
 premises aforesaid with the Appurtenances hereby Granted or 
 meant mentioned or intended to be hereby Granted as aforesaid 
 unto the sd. Anne Bridges her Heires and Assigns forever to the 
 only proper use and behoof of the sd. Anne Bridges her Heires 
 and Assigns forever one other Seaventh part thereof to the sd. 
 Hendrick Tenicke his Heires and Assigns forever to the only 
 proper use and behoof of the sd. Hendrick Tenicke his Heires and 
 assigns forever one other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd Dirick 
 Van den burgh his Heires and assigns for Ever to the only Proper 
 use and behoof of the said Dirick Vandenburgh his Heires and 
 assigns forever one other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd John 
 Choi well his Heires and assigns forever to the only proper use and 
 behoof of the sd John Cholwell his Heires and assigns forever one 
 other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd Christopher Denne his 
 Heires and assigns forever to the only Proper use and behoof of 
 the sd Christopher Denne his Heires and assigns for Ever one 
 other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd Lancaster Symes his 
 Heires and assigns for ever to the only proper use and behoof of 
 the sd Lancaster Symes his Heires and assigns forever and one 
 other Seaventh part thereof unto the sd John Merritt his Heires 
 and Assigns forever to the only proper use and behoof of the sd 
 John Merritt his Heires and Assigns forever (Except as is herein 
 before Excepted) TO BE HOLDEN of us our Heires and Suc- 
 cessors in free and comon Soccage as of our Mannor of east Green- 
 wich in the County of Kent within our Kingdome of England 
 Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every year frome hence- 
 forth unto us our Heires and Succsso" at our Custome house at 
 New Yorke to our Collector upon the feast day of the Annuncia- 
 tion of the blessed Virgin Mary (Commonly Called Lady Day) 
 the Rent or Sume of twenty ShiUiugs Currant Money of our 
 Provincee of New York Provided always and these p'sents are 
 upon this Condition that if no Improvement be already had or 
 made upon the sd Land and p'misses hereby Granted nor any Part 
 or Parceil thereof that then and in such case they the sd Anne 
 
Tlie Cheesecock Patent. 5 
 
 Bridges Hendrick Tenicke Dirick Vandenburgh John Cholw'^ 
 Christopher Denne Lancaster Symes and John Merritt theire 
 Heires and Assigns some or one of them shall within the time and 
 Space of three Years now next following from and after the Date 
 hereof Settle Clear & make Improvement of and upon the sd 
 Lands and Premisses hereby Granted or of and upon some part or 
 parcel thereof in Testimony whereof we have Caused these our 
 Letters to be made Patents and the scale of our Province of New 
 York to our sd Letters Patents to be Affixed and the same to be 
 Recorded in our Secretarys Office of our sd Province Wittnesse 
 our Right Trusty and welbeloved Cousin Edward Viscount Corn- 
 bury our Captain Generall and Grovernour in Cheif in and over 
 our sd Province of New Yorke and Territorryes Depending thereon 
 in America and Vice Admirall of the same &c in Council at our 
 Fort in New Yorke the twenty-fifth Day of March in the Sixt 
 Yeare of our Reigns Annoq Dm 1707 
 
 Geo Clarke. 
 
 I do hereby Certify the foregoing to be a true Copy of the 
 Original Record Compared there with By me 
 
 Lewis A Scott Secretary. 
 
 The only terms in the document that need explana- 
 tion are "free and common socage." Socage, we 
 learn, was a legal term derived from the feudal system. 
 It was the fee or consideration upon the rendering of 
 which rights and privileges in land were granted. 
 There were two kinds of socage — free, or common, and 
 villein. The former was a certain fee in money or 
 honorable service ; the latter a certain service that 
 might be base or menial. The socage of the Cheese- 
 cock letters patent was twenty shillings current 
 money, to be paid yearly as prescribed. A manorial 
 grant hke that at Pelham Manor to Lord Pell was 
 without socage, making him lord of the manor with 
 absolute control. The heirs of the old Cheesecock 
 patent, if not originally, yet soon afterward, became 
 lords of the soil by the right not merely of pick and 
 shovel, but of their good rifles and swords. 
 
6 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 The original of this patent cannot at present be 
 traced. It is in possession either of some of the 
 heirs, or may be among the records of the Court of 
 Chancery, where so many of its disputed points had 
 to be settled. It must have contained the signatures 
 of the Indians from whom the land at first had to be 
 purchased. The late Peter Townsend stated that he 
 saw the original, and that the Indian signatures were 
 attached to it, with their totems. They were these : 
 
 Meeingomack, his O mark. 
 Sqawgus Ugh qiad, her 4 mark. 
 Tephanick, his 'mark. 
 Onickotop, his >^ ^ mark. 
 Ajoaqueae, his / -/ mark. 
 
 These appear on a copy in possession of G. R. 
 Conklin, who has it in deeds of lots 2 and 5 of the 
 Cheesecock Patent. 
 
 Now there was also a seal attached to the patent. 
 The old seal of Wilham and Mary, according to cus- 
 tom, had been defaced and a new seal brought out to 
 the Grovernor of the Province of New York by Colonel 
 Nott of Virginia, in 1705. This seal is that of Queen 
 Anne. A copy of it has been furnished us, by the 
 courtesy of William Cowie, counselor in things ar- 
 tistic, and a drawing* executed by the American Bank 
 Note Company is given in this volume. 
 
 * See title-page. 
 
The Cheesecock Patent. 7 
 
 The reverse is inscribed: Anna Dei. Gra. Mag. 
 Brit. Fran, et Hib. Regina, Fid. Defen. Nov. Eb. Sig. 
 (Anna, by the grace of Grod, of Grreat Britain, France 
 and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith. Seal of 
 the province of New York.) On the obverse are the 
 arms of the Stuarts — namely, the usual insignia of 
 Great Britain, with a Greek cross and the legend 
 Semper eadem ("Always the same") below. 
 
 The first step toward the securing of this patent 
 was taken in December 13, 1702, when a convention 
 was made with certain Indian proprietors to secure 
 possession of the land. Their names were Maringo- 
 mack, Skawgus Ughquad, Topainick, Onickotapp, and 
 Aighquahaeroe. They were Indians of the Minsies 
 subtribe, whose totem was the wolf. They were a 
 branch of the Lenni-Lenape and part of the Algon- 
 quin nation. They had their villages and tribe or- 
 ganizations and territorial possessions. The several 
 subtribes were known by their totems, such as WoK, 
 Turkey, Turtle, painted on their wigwams and blan- 
 kets. The chiefs of one of these subtribes agreed in 
 the presence of William Merritt, Esq., one of her 
 Majesty's justices of the peace for Orange County. 
 The document is addressed to all Christian people. 
 " Know ye that we — then are mentioned their names 
 — native Indians, proprietors of a certain tract of 
 land and meadow, situate, being and lying in the 
 county of Orange, called Cheesecocks, bounded to the 
 North by the Patent lately granted unto Captain John 
 Evans ; to the West by the high hills of the High- 
 lands ; to the South by Honan's Patent ; to the East 
 by the lands of Haverstraw and Hudson's River, for 
 a certain sum of money and goods to us in hand paid 
 at and before the ensealing and delivery of those 
 
8 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 presents, by Doctor John Bridges, Hendrick Ten 
 Eyck, Dirick Vandenburg, John Cholwell, Christo- 
 pher Denne, Lancaster Synies and John Merritt. 
 The receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge our- 
 selves therewith fully contented and paid. We have 
 given, granted, bargained, sold and confirmed, and do 
 by these presents give, grant, bargain, sell and con- 
 firm, for us and our Heirs forever unto the above 
 named Doctor John Bridges, Hendrick Ten Eyck, 
 Dirick Vandenburg, John Cholwell, Chiistopher 
 Denne, Lancaster Symes and John Merritt, all that 
 certain parcel of land, etc., bounded as above men- 
 tioned. To have and to hold the said, before recited 
 Tract, of upland and meadow unto the said Doctor 
 John Bridges, etc., their heirs and assigns, to the sole 
 and only j)roper use and benefit and behoof of the 
 same." 
 
 This document differs in its terms from the former 
 only in specifying what is included in these general 
 gifts, namely : " Together with all woods, underwoods, 
 trees, timbers, floodings, pastui'es, meadows, marshes, 
 swamps, pools, ponds, waters, water courses, rivers, 
 rivulets, runs and streams of water," etc. This docu- 
 ment was signed and sealed at Haverstraw, on the 
 twelfth day of June, 1701. In addition to the signa- 
 tures of the first-named Indians is appended that of 
 Toparonick (his mark). It was also sealed and de 
 hvered in the presence of Andrew Myer, Ida Myer, 
 and Nonowitt (his mark). 
 
 "Then appeared before me, William Merritt, Esq., 
 one of her Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said 
 County, the within named Andrew Myer, and Ida 
 Myer, two of the witnesses to the within Deed, and 
 declared upon the Holy Evangelist, that they saw the 
 
The Cheesecock Patent 9 
 
 witliin Indians seal and deliver the within instru- 
 ment as their voluntary act and deed." 
 
 Again it will be noticed that it was " a certain tract 
 of upland and meadow," not mountain alone, as some 
 rival claimants would contend. The boundaries ap- 
 pear quite indefinite. It is bounded on all sides by 
 other patented lands, the only natural boundary 
 designated being the west side of the Highlands. 
 What is meant by these was for a time a subject of 
 dispute. Some of the neighboring patentees would 
 insist that these Highlands were the East Mountains 
 stretching from the Clove to Haverstraw, and that 
 the patent ceased where the western slope of these 
 mountains merged into said Clove. But when the 
 viewers looked down on the rich valleys stretching 
 north and south, and saw mountain ranges bound- 
 ing them on the west, they put a larger construction 
 on the language of the patent, and made it include 
 these Highlands as well. They had this in their 
 favor, that it was a tract of " upland and meadow," 
 and this embraced both. How far west they would 
 have pushed their claim we know not ; but no doubt 
 they would have claimed the western slope of Sugar- 
 loaf and Bellvale Mountains, if it had not been that 
 they met with a point of resistance in a certain Dr. 
 Bridges and the Wawayanda patentees. They were 
 just as ambitious of pushing their claim eastward as 
 the proprietors of the Cheesecock were of extending 
 their claim westward. In after years, when settlers 
 flowed in, disputes ran high with regard to the titles 
 to the lands. A tribunal then had to be appointed, 
 which sat at Greycourt or Greycoat Inn (so called be- 
 cause of its sign of a colonial soldier in coat of gray). 
 This tribunal conceded to the proprietors of this 
 2 
 
10 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 patent their right to the tract from Groosepond Moun- 
 tain and the Great Beaver Meadow, which was Grey- 
 court Meadow, to the Highlands, inclusive, as far as 
 the Haverstraw boundary and the Jersey line. 
 
 The patent required this land to be occupied within 
 the space of three years. We know nothing of its 
 history until the year 1735. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE FIELD BOOK AND SUEVEY. 
 
 A SURVEYOR named Charles Clinton was em- 
 ployed to survey the lands under the patent. 
 This gentleman had emigrated with his family, a short 
 time previously, to the vicinity of New Windsor. 
 He was afterward known as Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Clinton. His sons were Greorge and James Clinton. 
 His grandson was De Witt Clinton, an eminent 
 statesman and governor of the State of New York. 
 
 When Charles Clinton commenced his survey on 
 the river, Haverstraw village seems to have been al- 
 ready begun. For when he started out he warned 
 its inhabitants to show him their boundary, for the 
 eastern boundary he was to find was that of the Chris- 
 tian patented lands of Haverstraw. These people 
 seemed to have rather confused ideas of their own 
 limits, and, like others, were inclined to push their 
 claims as far as possible. But he terminated the dis- 
 pute by making Monetcong Creek his base, and com- 
 menced running his courses toward the northwest. 
 
 He divided the mountain into great lots running 
 parallel with the northwest hne, and numbered them 
 from one to seven. These contained five or six thou- 
 sand acres apiece. The mountains south he divided 
 into lots running at right angles with the former, and 
 
 11 
 
12 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 running to the Jersey line. The smooth land in the 
 valley was subdivided into smaller lots containing 
 150 acres apiece. He carefully recorded his surveys 
 in a field book, and kept a sort of journal of each 
 day's labors and incidents, sometimes mentioning 
 the state of the weather — a storm, for instance ; his 
 stopping to repair a wigwam ; his having to dispense 
 with horse and carry his provisions on his back. 
 Most of the time he had an assistant or two ; but at 
 one time was without a chain-bearer, when he paced 
 the ground with his watch in his hand, reckoning a 
 minute equal to two chains. He was very exact and 
 careful in his surveys, considering the nature of the 
 ground he had to traverse. He proves his work from 
 time to time, correcting errors. At one place he al- 
 lows a link in each chain on account of the uneven- 
 ness of the ground, calculating it will measure that 
 much less when the land is cleared. 
 
 In surveying large lot No. 3, he says : " I selected 
 an object in a very thick beaver dam, took a tree a 
 considerable distance forward, and in my way went 
 to a tree that I observed to be in the line. I set the 
 compass again, being in some doubt about the tree I 
 had taken, and when the needle settled I could not 
 take my former tree. I then took a back sight to the 
 station I had left, and my compass would not agree 
 to it. Then returned to the said first station and set 
 there again. Found the same tree I had formerly 
 taken to be in the hne according to the position of the 
 needle, by which (I inferred) there was something at 
 or near that station that attracted the needle. Here 
 set the compass a piece forward and took a back sight 
 and found a variation of 10°. Went again back to 
 said first station and set the compass a few yards for- 
 
The Field Booh and Survey. 13 
 
 ward in the line, and found I had there but 6° varia- 
 tion ; and a piece further I found I had but 2°. I 
 could not find either iron ore or lodestone near this 
 place, nor many rocks. It appeared a plain ridge. 
 This is the first place I observed that minerals or ore 
 in the earth will attract the needle. Dr. Golden hav- 
 ing sent his son with me to make remarks on this 
 curiosity (accounts of which I have given you), there- 
 fore will take no further notice of it here." 
 
 This same fact he records in connection with other 
 parts of the survey, in one instance mentioning that 
 he ran the line by guess rather than by the needle. He 
 speaks of iron discovered by the Indians near where 
 the O'Neill and Mount Basha mines are at present. 
 Lot No. 18, where the Grreenwood Iron Works are, 
 he designates as suitable for iron works. At Tucseto 
 he calls attention to the fall of the watercourses and 
 their suitableness for manufacturing pui'poses, but 
 cautions in one place against raising the water too 
 high, for fear of spoihng a fine swamp suitable for 
 meadow. "When such lowlands were the only re- 
 source for forage, they were considered of a value far 
 beyond what they are estimated at present unless 
 carefully drained and cultivated. 
 
 When he is surveying lots 68 and 69 he speaks of a 
 high mountain which he calls Mount Bashon, and the 
 pond near by, but he does not name the pond. Mom- 
 basha may be only a corruption of Mount Bashon. 
 The Long Pond he names as such. The body of 
 water north of it he calls the Pond with a round 
 island in it ; so that it is more properly Round Isl- 
 and Pond. The pond commonly called Duckcedar is 
 Tuxseto on the earliest map of the region. The 
 origin of the name is probably Indian. 
 
14 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Bald Hill, near the present village of Monroe, is so 
 called in the Field Book, probably from some outcrop 
 of slate rock on its side, free from timber, giving it 
 the appearance of baldness. 
 
 Lot 43, containing 276 acres, was situated " on a 
 sudden bend of the ' Ramerpo.' " It contained " 100 
 acres of barren and very bad stony land in ye N. E. 
 side of it, and in ye N. W. end. The rest of it is 
 good land. There is some low land and good swamp 
 in some places upon ye River. I take it to be equal 
 to any other middling lot, for it has plowland and 
 meadowland sufficient for a settlement." This and 
 lot No. 16 are the site of the present village of Mon- 
 roe, while the bend of the Ramapo has been enlarged 
 into the village mill-pond. 
 
 Over on the ridge not far from Hazard's Pond he 
 came to land which he pronounced very poor. He 
 was seeking some tract suitable for a parsonage. But 
 one evening he broke off, dissatisfied, and said he 
 should seek for land somewhere else. Shortly after- 
 ward he happened upon a piece which he numbered 
 24, a lot of 150 acres, which he selects for a parson- 
 age, and calls it " a choice good lot." This was held 
 by the Presbyterian Church in this place as a glebe 
 until the year 1804, when it was exchanged for a part 
 of lot 16 at the village of Monroe, containing 58 
 acres. 
 
 A few additional extracts from the Field Book will 
 not be uninteresting. For the selection of many of 
 these items I am indebted to the courtesy of Civil 
 Engineer Fred. J. Knight. 
 
 Page 306, Clinton says : " Being all abused by the 
 rain, he built a wigwam." 
 
 Page 301, he mentions his first observation of the 
 
The Field Booh and Survey. 15 
 
 influence of iron ore on the needle. This was in lot 
 4, one of the large mountain lots, afterward Green- 
 wood. He finds similar traces of iron in lots 9 and 10. 
 
 Page 321, he refers to a meadow which had been 
 "dammed by beavers." When he came to lot 54 he 
 found a negro named Solomon Peterson, who had 
 built a hut there. Here, near a swamp, he had cleared 
 a piece of land. The entire lot comprised 263 acres, 
 and on it were two free negro settlements. (See page 
 269, lot 54.) This is the Samuel Webb place. 
 
 In surveying lot 61, he came upon the cabin of 
 Casper, a free negro, settled here by Hendrick Nan- 
 derlinden near a heap of stones, in a cleared field, near 
 a brook named Paskak. Page 222, on lot 62, he comes 
 on the settlement of Ari King, purchased from this 
 same Nanderlinden, and with improvements made by 
 the latter. This is the Jeptha Clark place, and 61 is 
 the Samuel Bull place. In running the line at lot 69, 
 he came upon the stone house and cleared land of 
 Abraham Hoppers. These lands he formerly pur- 
 chased from Dr. Johnston. "I did not run the hne 
 lest he should stop us, by what we were informed of 
 others. Therefore to avoid an unnecessary quarrel we 
 did not mark it." This lot is in what is known as 
 Dutch Hollow. The small stream through it was 
 called Saddle River. Through it ran the road from 
 Goshen to Ramapo. 
 
 He mentions an Indian settlement on lot 52, the 
 place of the late Dr. G. M. Roe, where peach and pear 
 trees were seen. On page 234 he alludes to corn- 
 fields. Several times he took refuge in wigwams, 
 which also he repaired. Indian paths are mentioned, 
 some indistinct, crossing the Clove to Wawayanda, 
 Haverstraw and Ramapo. In lot 64, easterly from 
 
16 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Tiine. 
 
 Bull's mills, was another Indian settlement. He lodged 
 at wigwams near Sugarloaf. On pages 338 to 345 
 lie speaks of the road from Groshen to Stirling, and 
 on page 34 of a path from Hazard's to Ramapo, 
 " scarce noticeable it is so seldom used." 
 
 The surveyor laid out the tract in fourteen large 
 lots, containing about 5000 acres apiece, and 106 
 smaller lots containing 150 acres. A part of these 
 lots was included in the county of Rockland when 
 that county was organized. Lot 43, on a bend of the 
 Ramapo, which he speaks of as barren, is the site of 
 the village of Monroe. 
 
 Lot 44 was the Letts farm, in which was a round 
 island with a hassocky point running down to it. 
 
 Lot 61, the S. S. Bull farm, contained a pond 
 which he designates as Second Pond. Mombasha 
 is simply the pond near Mount Bashon. Lot 35 is 
 the D. V. Howell place, on which was a great Bald 
 Hill well timbered on the northwest side, while the 
 rest was barren. This was the late glebe of the Pres- 
 byterian Church. The first lot set apart for that pur- 
 pose was the farm of the late Andrew YanValer, 
 which was so stony in one spot that an Irishman 
 declared the old de'il was carrying stones in his apron 
 and spilled them out to spite the deacon. 
 
 The copy of the Field Book from which these ex- 
 tracts have been made was the property of the late 
 David Lynch. It is now owned by Major T. B. 
 Brooks. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 DISTEEBUTION OF THE LANDS. MAPS OF LOTS. 
 
 AFTER the survey the lands were allotted to the 
 JTV. members of the company owning the patent. 
 We find different names from those of the original 
 patentees. Now they are reduced to six, and are as 
 follows: John Chambers, Philip Livingston, John 
 McEvers, Catherine Symes (wife probably of Lan- 
 caster Symes), William Smith and James Alexander. 
 Chambers and Livingston were members of the Legis- 
 lative Council, as was also William Smith, who was at 
 one time Chief Justice, and then Governor of the State, 
 in 1701. The family seat is in the neighborhood of 
 Haverstraw. James Alexander was also called Lord 
 Stirling because of a claim upon an earldom and 
 estates of that name in Scotland. He owned a beau- 
 tiful estate at Ringwood, was one of the company 
 forming the Stirling Iron Company, and was father 
 of Lord Stirling, who took such an active part as a 
 general officer in our War of Independence. 
 
 We would remark in passing that the map-makers 
 of the county have not done this town nor themselves 
 justice in their attempts to represent the boundaries 
 of the patent. In the map published in 1859 by 
 Corey and Bachman of Philadelphia was the first 
 serious mistake. The surveyor seems to have mis- 
 3 17 
 
18 Chronicles of Moiiroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 taken the scale of the old map of the patentees. He 
 started out by making his lots too large on the east, 
 which had the effect of pushing them all bodily the 
 distance of about two lots or more too far to the 
 west. When he came to lay his map of the patent 
 on his map of the town, " the bed was shorter than 
 that he could stretch himself on it, and the covering 
 narrower than that he could wrap himself in it." 
 The result was that he had to omit the whole tier of 
 lots that touch the foot of Sugarloaf and Groosepond 
 Mountains, while he was forced to change the entire 
 shape of others. Hence the map is useless so far as 
 finding the location of lots and patent lines is con- 
 cerned, and is in constant conflict with all the ancient 
 deeds and surveys of the place. The atlas of Orange 
 County published by Baskin and Burr of Newburg 
 repeats the errors, and unfortunately puts them in 
 more permanent form. It is hoped that some one of 
 Monroe's own sons will some day make the needful 
 correction and produce a map of the town worthy of 
 its ancient reputation. 
 
 The map published in this volume is a beginning 
 of better things. It is a facsimile of the handiwork 
 of Civil Engineer Fred. J. Knight, made expressly for 
 this work. 
 
 In glancing over the old maps and noticing the dis- 
 tribution of the lots, we find that a large proportion 
 of them, some forty-five, are marked with the name of 
 William Smith. He bought the Cholwell and the 
 Ten Eyck portions, each being the one half of a 
 seventh of the patent, and still another similar por- 
 tion audited to J. Berger and wife. This circum- 
 stance explains the origin of the name given to that 
 part of the tract, namely, Smith's Clove, Upper and 
 
Distribution of the Lands. Maps of Lots. 19 
 
 Lower. It is an error to suppose that it derived its 
 name from the famous cowboy of that name who put 
 the bar sinister on its fair escutcheon. 
 
 At the time the survey was made, other parts of 
 the county of Orange had been cleared, and a numer- 
 ous population was flowing in upon them. In 1731, 
 which was a few years earlier, there were 1969 persons 
 in the county. New Windsor was occupied about that 
 time, Newburg was laid out in 1719, while Christo- 
 pher Denne, one of the Cheesecock patentees, located 
 a residence for himself on the Otterkill as early as 
 1712, and sent Sarah Wells, an adopted daughter, 
 under the care of three friendly Indians and several 
 young carpenters, with cows and dogs and imple- 
 ments, upon a sloop, by way of the river, to New 
 Windsor, to proceed across the country to his settle- 
 ment. He and his wife started the next day, and 
 came by way of the E-amapo, at whose falls he 
 stopped, reaching the Otterkill one day later than 
 Sarah Wells and her escort. Shortly after she met 
 with a young English mason named William Bull, 
 from Wolverhampton, to whom she was married at 
 Greycourt Inn, by Friends' ceremony. They after- 
 ward located on a tract of land purchased from Chris- 
 topher Denne, on the Wawayanda Patent, built a 
 stone house still standing, and called the place Hamp- 
 ton burgh. Here they raised a family of twelve chil- 
 dren, from whom sprang the several branches of the 
 Bull family which settled in different parts of Monroe 
 and Chester, and helped develop the wealth, enter- 
 prise and intelligence of those towns. 
 
CHAPTEE lY. 
 
 INDIANS AND INDIAN NOMENCLATUEE. 
 
 AT the time of the survey this section of country 
 XJl was a wilderness inhabited by the aborigines 
 and a few white men who seem to have squatted 
 upon the land. Clinton several times mentions his 
 meeting with the settlements and wigwams of the 
 former. He took refuge more than once in wigwams, 
 some of which were deserted, which he repaired. He 
 found a settlement upon the Dr. G. M. Roe place, on 
 which were growing peach and apple trees. Another 
 settlement was at Sugarloaf , where he spent a night. 
 These Indians were friendly. Hendrick Hudson 
 found them so when his little ship, the Half Moon, 
 ascended the Hudson River, until his crew gave them 
 fire-water, and quarrels occurred, and then war. They 
 danced their war-dance, or hintehaue, on the top of 
 Shawangunk or Dans Kammer. After several mas- 
 sacres of the whites about Kingston, the Indians were 
 subdued and a treaty of peace was made. 
 
 The Indians of this region were of the Algonquin 
 family, the Lenni-Lenape or Delaware tribe, and the 
 Minsies subtribe. The dominion of the Delawares 
 extended from Kingston to Georgia, south, and from 
 the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Their castle was at 
 Philadelphia. North of Kingston were the Six Tribes. 
 East of the North River were the Mohegans, also a 
 
 20 
 
Indians and Indian Nomenclature, 21 
 
 branch of tlie Algonquins. Their language was a very 
 perfect one, although unwritten. Rev. George Eliot 
 was the first to reduce it to writing. He found it 
 difficult, because he desired to inculcate Christian and 
 moral ideas, and had to build up his words of many 
 syllables to clothe them, especially in translating the 
 Scriptures. Thus, to express repentance it required 
 nine syllables, and sinful lusts could be appeased with 
 no less than thirty-three letters. 
 
 The Algonquins had musical ears and softened the 
 gutturals and harsh consonants into such euphonious 
 words as Wyoming, Wissahickon, Minisink, Manhat- 
 tan, Monongahela, Mamakating. They had stronger 
 expressions for the rugged features of nature, as 
 Schunemunk, Shawangunk. It is of interest to trace 
 the meaning of some of these Indian names ; for, like 
 other geographical names, they sometimes reveal a 
 bit of history, ethnography or sociology. Thus, Wyo- 
 ming means " broad fields " ; Coxsackie means " owl 
 hooting"; Minisink, " many islands " ; Seawanhaka, 
 " place of wampum-making " ; Manhattan, " bad chan- 
 nel," referring to the East River; Shawangunk is 
 " white man's mountain." Shunam was a contemp- 
 tuous expression for the white man ; Schunemunk 
 signified " the mount of the signal-fires," because the 
 Indians had a castle or pahsaded fort on the east 
 end. Onk always means " high land," and auk and 
 haka signify " place," while pogh signifies " stream " or 
 "river" : thus, Potomac is the "river of the tomahawk." 
 Ramer is "many"; hence Ramer-po is "the many- 
 watered." 
 
 Mombasha has been one of the moot points in 
 Monroe history ever since the first survey. Clinton 
 gives us no help, for he simply mentions a pond with 
 
22 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 a high mountain near by, which latter he designates 
 Mount Bashon. Most historians so call the pond or 
 lake. Even the Heine Club accepts that designation. 
 Mombasha then becomes a corruption. But we re- 
 mind the advocates of this theory that Dr. Eager 
 mentions the burial of an Indian brave at Mombacus 
 somewhere in this vicinity. A learned German 
 schoolmaster translated the word, " King of Min- 
 erals." Ruttenber makes basha mean " death," and 
 derives the name from a battle or a cemetery. Some- 
 times we have leaned to the opinion that the female 
 sachem Basha Bashika, whose name is given to a 
 kill or stream further west, may have been the Debo- 
 rah of this region. But further researches give as 
 its meaning, "the ensign of bloody battle," mom 
 meaning " pain, agony," and basha, " the ensign of 
 battle." See " Dictionary of the Delaware Language," 
 by M. S. Henry, in Franklin Library, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 Tuxedo is another obscure name. The vulgar pro- 
 nunciation is Duckcedar. Dr. Eager claims this is 
 correct, and the vulgar have corrupted it into Tux- 
 edo. He says it was so named because of the ducks 
 and cedars that abound there. Others suppose it to 
 be of Spanish origin, like Toledo, even claiming there 
 is an estate on Long Island with similar name. But 
 the difficulty is, there was no Spanish settler in the 
 region. Clinton calls it " Tucseto," and so do the 
 earlier maps. Let us try oui' Indian measuring-line 
 upon it. Tuck, in Algonquin, and even in Chinook 
 jargon, means "freshwater." Thus the North River 
 was called Mohicanrdtuck, the "flowing water of the 
 Mohegans." Pawtuxet is applied to the falls of the 
 Merrimac, and means "leaping fresh water." The 
 terminal in Tuxedo we regard as a verbal one, and 
 
Indians and Indian Nomenclature. 23 
 
 means "flowing," so that Tuxedo, according to onr 
 theory, is the "lake of clear flowing water" : rightly 
 named because of the cascade by which the water 
 entered it, and the natural fall mentioned by Clinton 
 by which it left it. Clinton speaks of its fine water- 
 power, and a valuable meadow that must not be over- 
 flowed by raising the water too high. 
 
 The term " Cheesecock," applied to the patent, 
 yields even more satisfactory results if regarded as 
 an Algonquin word. Residents of Monroe once 
 imagined it was borrowed from some English Lord 
 Cheesecock, but there was no record of any such 
 person. When we apply our etymological test to it, 
 it gives a different result. Chis in Algonquin is 
 "high," and kauk is "land." Thus, Pas kauk is 
 "burnt land"; Montauk is "the land of the oaks"; 
 Mount Kis ko or kauk is " the mountain of upland." 
 So Cheese cock, or better, Chis kauk, is the Patent of 
 the Highland, as its very contents demonstrate. 
 
 The Indians of this tract were generally disposed 
 to be friendly, so long as the white man kept his 
 word with them ; and we read of no complaint under 
 the Cheesecock Patent ; but under the Minisink 
 Patent the Indians were not paid for their lands 
 which early began to be settled. Wrongs under the 
 Penn Treaty exasperated this same tribe, the Min- 
 sies or Lenape, who had their fort at Philadelphia. 
 Hence the incursions upon the frontier settlements 
 along the Susquehanna and Delaware up to Port 
 Jervis and beyond. Minisink suffered terribly. 
 Homes were burned, women and children butchered, 
 cattle driven away, till the region was nearly depop- 
 ulated. Block-houses were built to protect the few 
 who were brave enough to resist. At the close of 
 
24 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 the French and Indian War the Indians were paci- 
 fied by paying them for their lands, and they re- 
 mained friendly until the Revolutionary War, when 
 the Tories stirred them up, and the English sent 
 agents among them to engage their arms against the 
 patriotic frontiersmen. During the years 1778 and 
 1779 the whole frontier was ablaze with the flames 
 of war. The Tory element gave it peculiar horror, 
 because neighbor betrayed neighbor, and even brother 
 a brother. Brant and his Tory alhes had their 
 camp at Oghkawaga, now Binghamton. They per- 
 petrated the twin massacres of Wyoming and Mini- 
 sink, deeds of cruelty burned into the memory of the 
 nation. The latter of these raids aroused the whole 
 region about Minisink, and an expedition was 
 promptly fitted out to punish the savages. They 
 were under the command of Colonel Hathorn and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Tusten. The brave band plunged 
 into the forest as far as the mouth of the Lacka- 
 waxen, and there fell into an ambush prepared by 
 Brant and the Tories. The Spartan band fought 
 bravely till ammunition failed, when the scene closed 
 with a butchery from which only about thirty es- 
 caped. This was the historic battle of Minisink, 
 commemorated by a monument at Goshen containing 
 the names of the brave martyrs of Liberty. The 
 date of the battle was July 22, 1779. 
 
 Monroe, being situated so far from the frontier, did 
 not suffer directly from these incursions of the In- 
 dians. The strain upon Monroe and drain of men 
 was in the direction of the Highlands, where the 
 fiercest struggle was with the flower of the English 
 army, which was doing its utmost to control the navi- 
 gation of the Hudson. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 PHYSICAL FEATUEES. 
 
 BEFORE we speak of tlie early settlement of this 
 tract, it is well to glance at some of its physical 
 features, and see what inducements it held out to 
 settlers, and how they were hkely to shape their des- 
 tiny ; for the very character of a people depends upon 
 their environment. The hues of the Patent were so 
 indeterminate on account of the contiguity of other 
 patents, that they had to be settled by arbitration, 
 both on the northwest and along the Jersey line, 
 where a "gore line" was claimed reaching to Tuxedo. 
 But when these lines were adjusted it left the town 
 nearly the shape of a trapezoid. The three rectangu- 
 lar sides impinged, on the southeast, upon Rockland ; 
 on the northwest, upon Cornwall, and Highland on 
 the north, touching Blooming Grove, and on the west 
 Warwick, the apex just reaching the Jersey line. 
 The tract consists of "upland and meadow," as the 
 Patent describes it. The valley of the Ramapo en- 
 ters on the south — the only direct route on this side 
 of the Highlands near the river to the north. The 
 valley widens at Grreenwood, and divides into two, 
 called "Cloves" — the Upper and Lower Smith's 
 Clove. These are hemmed in by lofty mountains : 
 Highlands to the southeast; Schunemunk to the north- 
 4 25 
 
26 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 west ; Bellvale Mountain on the west ; and Southfield 
 Mountains on the south. These valleys swell up into 
 knolls and ridges with noble prospects and inviting 
 sites for homes and hamlets. The mountains break 
 from ridges to single peaks between which nestle vales 
 as quiet and restful as many in Scotland. Indeed, the 
 region has been called the Trosachs of America, be- 
 cause so hke the same in Scotland. 
 
 In travelling through this region, scenery of sur- 
 passing beauty strikes the eye of the tourist ; and if 
 he be an artist, he wiU. want to place his easel or use 
 his kodak. But his aesthetic taste will not seldom 
 revolt at the uncanny names which the early settlers 
 gave to lakes beautiful as Windermere or Loch 
 Katrine. The entire water system of the town is 
 remarkable. The Indian Ramapo, or " many waters," 
 well expressed the fact. The stream of that name 
 rises in the Round Island Pond, a most beautiful 
 sheet of water, where the Indian youth raced their 
 canoes to win their dusky brides ; but now the re- 
 sort of their fair successors from every part of the 
 county. The wooded island called Chestnut Island, 
 and the sunny sloping shores, offer sites for cottages 
 and villas of rare beauty. This spot is really the water- 
 shed of the level portion of the town ; for the Long 
 Pond, or Walton Lake, as it has been more euphoni- 
 ously called, lies but a few feet away, and yet sends its 
 waters through Craigville and Chester, furnishing a 
 mill-seat for the former, and domestic supply of 
 water for the latter, and then empties into Murderer's 
 Creek, now Moodna, and so reaches the Hudson far 
 away from the water of its neighbor, the Ramapo. 
 This latter furnishes seats for many mills and fur- 
 naces, so great is its fall. It receives the waters of 
 
Physical Features. 27 
 
 Mombaslia at Southfield, where it affords valuable 
 mill-power. This lake is about two miles from Mon- 
 roe village. While it is picturesque in surroundings, 
 it presents the remarkable phenomenon of floating 
 islands which break away of their own accord and 
 carry their masses of tangled bushes wherever the 
 wind steers them. The abundance of fish in this and 
 other lakes invites the disciple of Izaak Walton to 
 cast his line and lot here. 
 
 A club-house has been built on the border of this 
 lake, making it a very popular resort. Mr. Geo. 
 R. Conklin has bought a number of acres in this 
 vicinity, and is building beautiful cottages, so that it 
 is becoming quite a villa. Water-works are built 
 here, for the water of this lake supphes the village of 
 Monroe. A fine road has also been laid out, which will 
 connect this lake with its rival the Tuxedo, and make 
 one of the most picturesque driveways in the country. 
 
 Another confluent of the Ramapo is Wild Cat 
 Brook. It brings down the waters of the mountains 
 below Southfield, over the rockiest of beds, and 
 rushes out near the site of the old saw- works. It is 
 full of speckled beauties, and has given us more than 
 one enjoyable outing. Tuxedo Lake is another source 
 of supply of this remarkable river. Charles Clinton 
 refers to it in his Field Book, speaking of a fine marsh 
 in the neighborhood, and the fitness of the lake to 
 furnish power, but advises not to raise the water too 
 high and spoil the marsh or meadow. He calls it 
 Tucseto. 
 
 After passing through various forms of spelling 
 and definition, from the vulgar Duckcedar of Eager 
 to the fanciful Truxillo of Ruttenber, it has settled 
 down to that of Tuxedo, which is the lake of fresh 
 
28 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 sparkling water, full of fish, with picturesque rocky 
 shores adapted to just what it has been made, a park 
 for residences and every rural and athletic sport. 
 It was laid out by Pierre Lorillard in 1885, who 
 fenced it in and stocked it with deer and wild boar, 
 and other game, making it, with its villas, club-house, 
 and chm^ch, one of the most beautiful parks on the 
 Atlantic slope. 
 
 But we have not begun to exhaust the lake system 
 of Monroe in the mention of these lakes; for the 
 whole region of the Highlands is covered with them. 
 Wherever you drive or walk, they burst upon your 
 view suddenly on a mountam-top, in a forest or dell, 
 where least expected. From Summit Lake up in the 
 northeast corner, there is a continuous chain of lakes 
 all the way down past Grreenwood to the Ramapo, 
 where most of them empty. There are Two Ponds, 
 Echo, Carr, Cedar, Niggar, Cranberry, Slaughters, and 
 others, till we are lost amid their commonplace names. 
 They belong to a limestone region, the waters of 
 which have dissolved out the mineral and left these 
 picturesque basins, beside which mountaineers love 
 to dwell, and sportsmen to camp. 
 
 Poplopens Pond is named after a warrior of that 
 name, who had his castle on its banks. The pond flows 
 through a creek of that name, and empties through 
 Buttermilk or Highland Falls into the Hudson. 
 Woodbury Creek rises in Hazard's Pond, now Crom- 
 well Lake, on the banks of which is a fine hotel kept 
 by Oliver Cromwell — a most delightful resort. The 
 stream furnishes the power for the tannery and grist- 
 mill at Highland Mills, fiows past Woodbury and 
 joins the Moodna made famous by N. P. Willis' resi- 
 dence and writings. 
 
Physical Features. 29 
 
 The geology of Monroe has an important bearing 
 upon its settlement and history. It is one of the 
 principles of physical geography that the physical 
 features of a country largely influence its morals. 
 People of effeminate tastes gravitate toward warm 
 alluvions hke the valley of the Jordan, hut the men 
 of grit choose more elevated plateaus, where there 
 are flints, sand, lime and iron. Such regions furnish 
 the master minds and heroes of the world. Provi- 
 dence destined this region to be the abode of no 
 mean race. The more mountainous portions of the 
 town would be classified with the azoic period of 
 the world's construction ; the rocks being mostly of 
 the primary class. The Highlands are part of the 
 great Appalachian range which forms the eastern 
 framework of the continent — the earliest with the 
 Rockies to be lifted out of the primeval ocean. 
 Monroe is literally old Monroe, 
 
 " Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun. " 
 
 The materials of these rocks are mingled in dif- 
 ferent proportions: feldspar, mica, quartz; yielding 
 hornblende, gneiss, syenite and granite. Sometimes 
 these materials have scorned admixture, and pushing 
 all rivals aside, have been heaved up and congealed, a 
 splendid crystalline column, as is the case in a remark- 
 able instance with quartz. Beds and veins of iron, 
 magnetic, specular, crystallized and even granular, 
 have also been laid down along with these rocks; 
 iron adapted to every purpose, from malleable cast- 
 ing, for a door-latch, to the sheet-anchor of an iron- 
 clad, or a twelve-inch rifled gun. Beds of limestone 
 were also stored in close proximity to these deposits 
 of iron, while sand for moulding and fire-clay were 
 
30 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 within easy reach. But where is the fuel ? Timber 
 of best grades abounds, but wasteful man demands 
 something more economical. It was the hope of 
 some that coal would be found in some of these 
 strata. A premium offered by the State stimulated 
 the search; but nothing was found beyond a little 
 lignite, after opening a shaft on Pedlar Hill. The 
 sandstone of that locahty is the floor of the coal- 
 measures. Schunemunk is of like fomiation. On 
 the southwest are coarse conglomerates, which be- 
 come more and more fine toward the eastern extrem- 
 ity; at one spot presenting an upheaved mass of 
 graywacke, as if nature would give an object lesson in 
 quarrying. 
 
 Still further east, where the mountain spreads out 
 into a wide plateau, a rocky acropohs lifts its rugged 
 head, composed of coarse conglomerate. On the sur- 
 face of this great stone page nature, with iceberg or 
 glacier, has scratched long lines, which the scientist 
 interprets as the record of prehistoric time. In some 
 instances the flints in this stone pudding are cut 
 directly in half. On the lichens that blacken its 
 sides, giving the spot the name of Black Rocks, are 
 scratched the names of those who have scaled these 
 heights, and left their monogram on the stone page and 
 some of their ashes " in Memory's sacred urn." As 
 we descend Schunemunk on the south, we see the 
 moraines of glaciers fringed with boulders, the hghter 
 of which can be traced far down the vaUeys, inter- 
 mingled with shell rock, oolite and even with Labra- 
 dor spar, showing that some time in the hoary past, 
 when this planet was fitting up for man's abode, ice 
 and flood swept over these vales and the mountain- 
 tops were covered. These will account for the de- 
 posits of clay, sand, gravel and hmestone. But heat. 
 
Physical Features. 81 
 
 as the third factor, was necessary to metamorphose 
 many of these and give ns the beautiful crystals of 
 iron, serpentine, quartz and calc, all of which invite 
 the student of nature. It boasts also some rare min- 
 erals, as brucite, xanthite and spinelles, fine shell 
 impressions, pyrites. One mineral, not found else- 
 where, has been named monroeite. Silver was dis- 
 covered near the Haverstraw border very early and 
 worked; but as no evidence of it has transpired 
 except the abandoned shaft, it may be set down as a 
 failure. Utility has rather been the motto in laying 
 out Monroe. Here are rocks of every material from 
 granite to statuary marble, and every tint from Pa- 
 rian whiteness, through shades of gray, green, pink, 
 red, to the blackest porphyry. Mica, asbestos and 
 slate abound. Even slate pencils of talc were found 
 on the slopes of Bald Hill by the school-boys of a 
 former generation. 
 
 A quarry of mica has recently been opened near 
 Mombasha by the Mombasha Mica Company, from 
 which fine sheets of the mineral are obtained, prom- 
 ising Monroe a new source of wealth. Perhaps it 
 might surprise a stranger to see even the Houser 
 ironstone put to a useful purpose ; but inasmuch as 
 it bids defiance to juvenile jack-knives, it has been 
 found useful for school-house material. There was 
 no lack of good timber in this region for coahng, 
 fuel, building, or even hoop-poles. These last were 
 long called "Clove wheat." But let us not suppose 
 that it was adapted only to the growth of timber. 
 
 The forests were full of trees yielding an abundance 
 of beech nuts, chestnuts and hickory nuts, with vines 
 twining over tree and rock, purple with wild grapes, 
 hedgerow and bush offering their tribute of luscious 
 berries. These forests swarmed with red deer, moose 
 
32 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 and squirrel, with flocks of wild turkeys, partridge, 
 pheasant and woodcock; and the lakes and streams 
 were ahve with salmon, trout, pickerel and catfish. 
 Thus it was "a goodly land" from the beginning; 
 offering to the settler at least subsistence at his arrival, 
 even in midwinter, with promise of good in abeyance, 
 to cater to both taste and profit. 
 
 Soils of great fertility were laid down here ; yes, 
 brought from distant hills to furnish slope and 
 meadow. Here are alluvions of great depth and good 
 grain-lands ; but what the town is best adapted for is 
 grazing. The grasses, like those of the Blue Grass 
 region of Kentucky, contain just those elements 
 which yield fattening and milk-producing quahties. 
 Had the mountains of Monroe been only a mass of 
 rock, like some parts of Scotland, they might have 
 been abandoned to the heather and become great 
 solitary sheep-walks ; or if they had been only pic- 
 turesque vales and quiet nooks, there would have 
 been a temptation to some lord of the manor to 
 make it his park and comitry-seat. Heaven had a 
 better destiny in store for it : hence mingled rocks 
 and soils so as to invite the plow, scooped out the 
 water-courses to attract the loom and forge, hid away 
 such materials as would bring hither the herdman 
 and artisan, the abhorrence of lordly pretension and 
 elegant leisure. Monroe, from its very physical con- 
 stitution, was predestined to be the home of honest 
 toil and frugal industry. In the vicinity of what was 
 to be the greatest city of the New World, and on the 
 route of its best approaches from west and north, 
 wealth and prosperity ought to be its sure reward, 
 and doubtless will when the wisdom of men is able to 
 master the situation. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OEGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY OF OEANGE AND TOWN 
 
 OF MONEOE. 
 
 HAVINGr taken an eagle's view of the land, before 
 we proceed further it is in order to speak of 
 the organization of the county, which preceded that 
 of the town. Orange County was organized in the 
 year 1683, under the reign of Wilham, Prince of 
 Orange, from whom it takes its name. It then em- 
 braced all of Rockland and part of Ulster County. 
 These were first set off in 1691. 
 
 The precinct of Goshen was erected in 1714. In 
 1764 it was divided into Cornwall, Blooming Grove, 
 and Cheesecocks. In 1801 the form and title was 
 changed from precinct to town. The name of 
 Cheesecocks was exchanged for Southfield. On the 
 6th of April, 1808, it was resolved to drop the name 
 of Southfield and take the honorable and historic 
 name of Monroe. This was done in honor of James 
 Monroe, who, having achieved distinction in the War 
 of the Revolution, where he served as aid to Lord 
 Stirling, had been honored by the government 
 with high diplomatic commissions, and still further 
 was chosen by the people to the Presidential chair. 
 For such distinguished public services his many ad- 
 mirers in this vicinity deemed it fit to honor him 
 5 33 
 
34 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 still further by naming this historic town after him, 
 and under a name of which it has ever been proud it 
 has won its place in history. The first town meet- 
 ing was held while yet called Cheesecocks, in May, 
 1799. James D. Secor was chosen clerk, and Michael 
 Hays, supervisor. All the institutions of the town 
 were put in operation in 1808. 
 
 The following is the Ust of supervisors : 
 
 Michael Hay. 
 
 Moses Cunningham (6 years). 
 John Coffey (2 years). 
 Abraham Letts (8 years). 
 John McGtAerah (1 year). 
 James Cromwell (1 year). 
 James Caimpbell, Jr. (1 year). 
 James Weygant (9 years). 
 EoBERT Fowler (1 year). 
 Hudson McFarlan (16 years). 
 Charles Townsend (2 years). 
 Lewis H. Eoe (1 year). 
 Morgan Shuitt (33 years).* 
 Chauncey B. Knight in 1864. 
 Edward Seaman (3 years). 
 John G. Earl (1 year). 
 Joseph Rake (2 years). 
 Charles T. Knight (5 years). 
 C. Fred. Lamont (13 years). 
 
 In the year 1863 a movement was set afoot to 
 divide the old town of Monroe into three towns. A 
 
 * Served from 1849-1881. This, we believe, is the longest consecutive 
 period for which any man held an elective office in this State. 
 
Organization of- Orange and Monroe. 35 
 
 petition was sent to the Board of Supervisors, which 
 was granted at its annual meeting. The names of 
 the new towns were, respectively, Monroe, Highland, 
 and Southfield. Monroe held its new town meeting 
 March 22, 1864, electing Chauncey B. Knight as 
 supervisor, and a full set of officers. Highland did 
 hkewise, choosing its old favorite Morgan Shuitt, 
 with others. The town of Southfield organized in 
 like manner, Josiah Paterson having been elected 
 supervisor; hut the records of the proceedings, for 
 some unaccountable reason, are not in the archives 
 of the town of Monroe. This whole piece of pohti- 
 cal surgery was at length disapproved, and the dis- 
 jecta membra were brought together and reunited be- 
 fore they had grown cold. In 1865 the legislature 
 was asked to overrule the action of the Town Board, 
 and restore the old town to its pristine glory. 
 
 But notwithstanding the lessons of the past, we 
 must chronicle a similar triple subdivision at a more 
 recent date. 
 
 In December, 1889, the Board of Supervisors, upon 
 representation of the diverse interests of different 
 parts of the town, resolved to redivide the same into 
 three parts. Three new towns were erected — named, 
 respectively, Monroe, Woodbury, and Tuxedo. The 
 hues were run so as to give Monroe 1150 acres; 
 Woodbury, 23,000 ; Tuxedo, 50,000. The first super- 
 visor of Tuxedo is J. Spencer Ford ; the first super- 
 visor of the new town of Woodbury is John A. Pat- 
 erson; and the first supervisor of Monroe is C. F. 
 Lamont ; the second, elected in 1897, is Greorge K. 
 Smith. 
 
 Before we drop this subject it is well to remember 
 a few additional facts, namely : that the first subdi- 
 
36 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 vision of the town was made in war times, when it 
 was desirable to get control of a majority in the 
 Board of Supervisors, and it was so carved with a 
 view to that end. The plan failed, so that in a short 
 time even its advocates desired the reuniting of the 
 fragments. When the desire returned in 1889 to 
 divide again, the reason now given was that the 
 town was too large and its interests were too diverse 
 for harmonious government. 
 
 The Board of Supervisors resolved that the town 
 should be divided on the old hnes, only that the names 
 of Highland and Tuxedo should be substituted for 
 Woodbury and Southfield. This was duly passed 
 upon by the legislature and signed by the governor. 
 Now the boundary hne between Monroe and Tuxedo 
 had not been clearly determined by careful survey, 
 or at least had not been marked by monuments. 
 Hence when the Heine Club desired to construct a 
 road from Mombasha, where they were constructing 
 a park, to Southfield, it became a practical question, 
 says Mr. A. B. Hulse, how much of this road must be 
 paid for by each town. Hence a question as to the 
 division hne. The men who were with the 1863 sur- 
 veyor said "it crossed Mombasha Pond, but they 
 did not know where." In this emergency, when war 
 seemed imminent, Mr. Fred. J. Knight, the surveyor, 
 came forward and established the line. He pointed 
 out that the hne of 1863 must have been a trial or 
 random line, the true line never having been run. 
 This decided the matter, and to one of her loyal sons 
 was Monroe indebted for the saving of fair Mom- 
 basha to the territory of his native town, " to which," 
 says our informant, " Nature intended it should be- 
 long." But the mountains in which Monroe once 
 
Organisation of Orange and Monroe. 37 
 
 gloried have been rent from her mantle and turned 
 over to her sister towns. Sic transit gloria ! 
 
 The town, thus shorn of its ancient proportions, 
 enters upon a new epoch of history, which it is hoped 
 will be as worth chronicling by some future historian 
 nourished on its own soil as has been the past. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE EAELY SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 
 
 WHILE the emigrants from England and Holland 
 were locating along tlie Wallkill, the valley of 
 Mamakating and the Neversink, clearing farms, build- 
 ing homes, villages and churches, the rough moun- 
 tain slopes and cloves were passed by and remained 
 a wilderness, undisturbed by white men, except, per- 
 haps, by some Indian trader or trapper, some lover of 
 adventure or traveller, who found that the valley of 
 the Ramapo was the natural and nearest route to 
 Manhattan Island. In course of time, as early as 
 1742, came a few settlers who staked out their 
 claims and set up their log cabins. These settlers 
 were not the mere overflow of more thickly popu- 
 lated parts of the county, but many of them immi- 
 grants from abroad, by the way of Connecticut and 
 Long Island. Among these were such names as 
 John, David, and Hophni Smith, John Belcher, 
 Robert Brock, Henry Cock, John Bull, Solomon 
 Townsend, A. Cunningham, David Compton, Solo- 
 mon Cromwell, Joseph Davis, John Earl, Alexander 
 Gralloway, Wilham Fitzgerald, Ehjah Green, Samuel 
 Knight, Henry Mapes, Daniel Miller, Joseph Pat- 
 erson, Alfred Cooper, James Wilkes, and Jas. Secor. 
 Others could be mentioned, but these are the most 
 
 38 
 
The Early Settlement of the Town. 39 
 
 familiar. Some of their name occupy the ancestral 
 acres, but most of the original estates are now held 
 by another generation, who, though just as ancient 
 and honorable in ancestry, yet have come into the 
 town later. The reason why the lands of the Patent 
 were not sooner taken up was that the original pat- 
 entees, being wealthy, did not care to dispose of their 
 lands. Some were held by the same famihes till 
 after the Revolution. The desire was to hold a pa- 
 troon relation to the settlers hke the Van Rensselaer 
 patentees in the more northern part of the State. 
 Having no motive to sell, and no disposition to come 
 and settle themselves, squatters soon came in and 
 gave it an une viable reputation. Such neighbor- 
 hoods naturally attract the lawless and desperate. 
 The broken nature of the country, the numerous 
 caves and inaccessible cliffs,Vould afford safe hiding- 
 places for desperadoes and their plunder. But this 
 condition of things could remain only until the more 
 orderly organized themselves into a community, and 
 brought law as well as pubhc opinion to bear upon 
 them. The oncoming of the Revolutionary War de- 
 layed the reformation of morals and the estabHsh- 
 ment of order. The career of Claudius Smith, the 
 notorious cowboy, gave an unsavory reputation to 
 the Clove ; and the recent " History of Orange Coun- 
 ty" even goes so far as to attribute its name to him, 
 whereas it is well known that it received its name 
 long before, from Wilham Smith, one of the original 
 patentees. As an illustration of the reputation which 
 it had early acquired among its neighbors, it is related 
 that when a tramp settler appeared before a Dutch 
 justice over in Warwick, and was warned to leave the 
 town, he asked, " Where, then, shall I go ? " The jus- 
 
40 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 tice answered promptly, " Vy, go to Schmit's Clove." 
 From the natm'e of the case there would be frequent 
 disputes over the ownership of land and trespasses 
 of cattle, so that lawsuits were of constant occur- 
 rence. Then there were horse races and trainings, 
 accompanied with drinking-bouts, and often rude 
 wi'estlings and more serious combats. One of the 
 matrons spoke of a flat rock near the village, where 
 some of these rude contests occiuTed, when a new- 
 comer would leap from his horse and make the chips 
 fly like a whirligig. As these were days of travel in 
 primitive style, by saddle and stage, there were many 
 public houses encouraging social drinking and treat- 
 ing. Loungers were always hanging around, and 
 neighbors dropping in to hear the news from the 
 city or seat of war; hence there was abundance of 
 idleness and dissipation. On one convivial occasion 
 the revellers literally raised the roof of a well-known 
 tavern, and tried to tear it from its place. But, as is 
 often the case, these wild carousals were not the work 
 of those at home. They naturally attracted those of 
 like tastes from abroad, and these, feehng less re- 
 straint, would go to greater lengths. One of the old 
 men said " the boys of Sugar Loaf came over to have 
 a lark with the Monroe boys, and we had a good 
 time, but we were the hardest of the lot." Liquor 
 was largely accountable for this condition of things. 
 It was sold at every corner grocery. Their old ledgers 
 to-day bear testimony to the excess to which the 
 traffic was carried. The accounts of the common 
 laboring man show how much of his hard earnings 
 went for hquor. At first it was rum which came by 
 way of the West Indies. Whisky followed when the 
 orchards began to bear. There was a still on the 
 
The Early Settlement of the Town. 41 
 
 Still Brook, near the old village; but the chief 
 source of supply was Blooming Grove, where were 
 many distilleries. The brown jug and demijohn trav- 
 elled back and forth on that road around Pedlar Hill, 
 which might account for its crookedness, and give it 
 the name of the "jug-u-lar vein." The late John 
 Brooks, one of the earliest advocates of total absti- 
 nence, went over to that town and delivered a lecture 
 on the subject. He said they resented it as an im- 
 pertinence. It is well known that neighboring towns 
 were accustomed to look down on the Clove and call 
 it the " Kitchen of the County." It is related that a 
 young couple signified their intention to take up a 
 tract of land in Monroe, rather than remain on the 
 old homestead, with its fertile fields. When the 
 old folks could not prevail upon the young couple to 
 change their purpose, they said : " Well, go to the 
 Clove and Hve on rye bread the rest of your hfe." 
 It was one of time's sweetest revenges when the 
 farm they took became a model farm, and the young 
 wife became the boasted bread-baker whose wheaten 
 loaves ehcited the inquiry : " How do you mix your 
 bread to have it always hght ? " "I mix it with 
 judgment," was her reply. We cite attention to the 
 jog in the northwest boundary of the town. It re- 
 minds us of the wart on the nose of old Oliver Crom- 
 well, the Protector, and, by the way, progenitor, if 
 we may credit their tradition, of families of that name 
 in Monroe. The artist wanted to omit the wart in 
 his portrait, but he forbade the omission. 
 
 The jog originated in a desire on the part of 
 
 dwellers on the summit of Schunemunk to attend 
 
 town meeting in the more convenient valley on the 
 
 southeast. As soon as the town was organized and 
 
 6 
 
42 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 requisite officers appointed, the wheels of business 
 were set in motion. The first subjects of legislation 
 were the offering of bounties for the slaughter of 
 wolves and other predacious animals which infested 
 the wilderness and annoyed the early pioneers. Ear- 
 marks were recognized to be placed on stock ; for as 
 soon as swamps and forest were cleared herding and 
 stock-raising were introduced. Then troubles came 
 from the herdmen of neighboring towns allowing 
 their cattle to trespass on the newly cleared pastur- 
 ages ; to prevent which, stringent measures were 
 threatened, if not enforced. 
 
 In such conditions of society, litigations would 
 naturally spring up. Not merely would there be diffi- 
 culties concerning the ownership of stock, but trou- 
 bles about boundaries of farms and wood lots, pastures 
 and marshes; for these last were most desirable 
 ranges before the plow and more recent grasses had 
 changed the face of nature. But towering above 
 these petty lawsuits, which constituted the entertain- 
 ment of the early settlers, were the disputes over the 
 Patent lines. We have already alluded to the lavish 
 and careless manner in which those lands were given 
 to favorites by royalty. The same lands were some- 
 times given twice, the lines overlapping. So much 
 trouble came about the Evans Patent on the northeast 
 that the Patent had to be recalled. Troubles arose 
 over the Kakiat Patent and the New Jersey State 
 line ; that commonwealth claiming a gore line that ex- 
 tended up as far as Tuxedo. Then the Wawayanda 
 Patent lines were as indefinite as the Cheesecock. 
 Naturally this interested all along the borders, and 
 aroused such animosity that it became a border war- 
 fare. Commissioners were appointed, and through 
 
Tlie Early Settlement of the Toivn. 43 
 
 the offices of Aaron Burr, who sat with the commis- 
 sion at Grreycourt in 1801 and helped settle the 
 question, the present zigzag line was fixed as the 
 western boundary between Monroe and Warwick ; 
 while Carpenter's Island in the Delaware was made 
 the northwest extremity of New Jersey, where it is 
 marked with a monument which has three sides, one 
 toward New York, another toward Pennsylvania, and 
 the third toward New Jersey. The other extremity 
 of the last-named State's boundary is a bolt in a rock 
 on the Hudson, directly southeast. The line is 
 marked by monuments of square stone every few 
 paces. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WAE OF THE KEVOLUTION. 
 
 BUT, pending these boundary disputes, a more seri- 
 ous question disturbed the pioneers of Monroe — 
 the question of national independence. Before the 
 Declaration of Independence the control of the navi- 
 gation of the Hudson was regarded as a most wise 
 strategic measure. Parhament ordered it kept open 
 to their forces, and sent Sir Henry Clinton with a 
 powerful fleet to keep open communication with Can- 
 ada. Congress also resolved upon measures for the 
 obstruction of the river even as early as 1775. The 
 Provincial Legislature concurred and appointed a 
 secret commission. This latter suggested the erec- 
 tion of forts at the mouth of Poplopens Creek, and 
 the stretching of a boom and chain across the river 
 to Anthony's Nose. Forts Montgomery and Chnton 
 were built, the latter being on the south side of the 
 creek and hence in Monroe; a chain was also con- 
 structed with a boom and put in place as suggested. 
 It may be of interest to inquire as to the origin of 
 this chain. The " Encyclopedia of American Biogra- 
 phy " gives credit for the construction of the " famous 
 chain " over the Hudson to Samuel Wheeler, an emi- 
 nent blacksmith of Philadelphia, who, it represents, 
 
 44 
 
War of the Revolution. 45 
 
 was recommended by General Mifflin in answer to an 
 express wish of General Washington for a person to 
 make such a chain. Mifflin said there was such a 
 man in his command, hut he could not do the work 
 there, but could at his forge at Philadelphia. At the 
 Wecaco forge, it is said, the famous chain was made 
 and transported across the State of New Jersey and 
 up the west bank of the Hudson to Fort CUnton, 
 where it, together with a boom, was stretched across 
 the river a half-mile to the promontory opposite. 
 Now here are two improbabilities : 
 
 First. That an order should be given for such a 
 work so far away, when there were iron- works within 
 easy reach : viz.. Forest of Dean, Stirhng, New Wind- 
 sor, and Poughkeepsie. 
 
 Second. That such a weight of iron in such 
 shape should be exposed to the risk of passing the 
 enemy's lines — a risk greatly enhanced by the vigi- 
 lance of Tory spies and cowboys all along the route. 
 It could have weighed scarcely less than 150 tons. 
 It would have taken fifty ox-teams upwards of five 
 days to accomplish it. 
 
 We get a clue to the construction of that chain in 
 Colonel Boynton's " History of West Point." He tells 
 us that a part of it was sent from Lake Champlain, 
 where it had been used to obstruct the river Sorel. 
 The balance was made at the Kemble forge, of iron 
 from the mines of Livingston Manor. Thence it was 
 floated down and stretched across the river from the 
 mouth of the creek that separated Forts Montgomery 
 and Clinton. 
 
 These forts were under command of Governor 
 George and General James Clinton. The garrison 
 consisted of about 600, mostly untrained militia. 
 
46 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 They were the yeomanry of the neighborhood, who 
 were mustered as minute-men to defend their own 
 mountain citadels. When the exigencies of home or 
 harvest required, they were permitted to exchange 
 the sword for the plowshare. A system of beacons 
 and signal-fires was agreed upon to call these brave 
 men to their post, and the moment they saw the 
 signal on yonder hills, leaving plow in mid-furrow 
 and bidding adieu to those at home, shouldering gun 
 and knapsack, they joined the hardy band ascending 
 the mountain path. 
 
 In October, 1777, Sir Henry Clinton manoeuvered 
 his fleet and forces so as to deceive General Putnam. 
 Not so Grovernor Chnton, who hastily adjourned the 
 legislature, mustered the militia, and occupied the 
 two forts just mentioned. The crafty Briton landed 
 his forces on the east side of the river, then hastily 
 transported them across to Stony Point, where he 
 landed about 4000 men. At daybreak on October 
 6, the advance-guard, consisting of 500 regulars 
 and 400 Tories, under Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, 
 marched around Dimderberg to the foot of Bear 
 Mountain; while the main column of 1200, under 
 General Vaughan, moved to a position on the right. 
 General Tryon, with the rear-guard, remained in a 
 valley where the force separated. A small force was 
 sent out from the forts to meet the enemy with a 
 single cannon, but were easily dispersed. Campbell's 
 advance attacked Fort Montgomery on the rear, and 
 Vaughan swept down on Fort Clinton. The resist- 
 ance was of the bravest character ; but the garrison 
 was not sufficient to guard such long lines of defense. 
 Surrender was refused, whereupon a bloody scene 
 occurred. Some prisoners were taken, but, hopeless 
 
War of the Revolution. 47 
 
 of resisting sucli an overwhelming force, the re- 
 mainder escaped and made their way to the camp at 
 New Windsor. Among those who escaped were the 
 governor and his brother James Chnton, the latter 
 wounded by a bayonet. The attacking force lost few 
 men, among whom, however, was Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Campbell. 
 
 Another memorable hero of that engagement was 
 Colonel Wilham Allison, ancestor of Monroe fami- 
 lies. He was commander of the Groshen regiment, 
 sharing that honor with Colonel Tusten, and taking 
 command alternately. It was Colonel Tusten's turn 
 when the battle of Minisink was fought, where he 
 fell. But it was Colonel Allison's turn when the 
 Enghsh moved to attack Fort Montgomery. His aids 
 were Captains WoodhuU, Tuthill, and his own son 
 Lieutenant Micah Allison. When it was known that 
 the British troops were moving up the river, he 
 threw out the signals to summon the yeomanry from 
 the surrounding country, among whom were the 
 minute-men of Monroe. In the fierce conflict that 
 ensued Colonel William Allison was among the hun- 
 dred or more prisoners taken, who were imprisoned 
 some in the old sugar-house, others upon a prison 
 ship, the horrors of which will never be forgotten. 
 Which was the place of the colonel's confinement 
 does not appear, but a letter is in possession of Mrs. 
 C. B. Knight, written from Long Island while he was 
 a prisoner under parole. A commission is also in 
 existence making him brigadier-general, signed by 
 Grovernor G-eorge Clinton, and dated 1782, a facsim- 
 ile of which is in the history of the Alhson family. 
 His son Lieutenant Allison was among the killed, 
 and no doubt was cast with the rest in a small 
 
48 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 pond in the town of Monroe, and close at hand, where 
 then- remains presented a most pitiful spectacle and 
 illustration of the horrors of war. We may state in 
 passing that Colonel Allison had two daughters, 
 Mary and Sarah. The former was married to Dr. 
 "William Elmer and the latter to Sheriff W. D. 
 Thompson. Dr. Elmer, of Monroe, traces his de- 
 scent from the former, and Mrs. Chauncey B. Knight 
 from the latter. The Allisons of Chester spring 
 from a collateral branch. After the engagement the 
 chain was taken up by the enemy, a garrison was 
 placed in the forts, and the name of Fort Clinton was 
 changed to Fort Vaughan. The British commander 
 then sailed up the river to Kingston, which he 
 burned. But, hearing of the defeat of Burgoyne, 
 he beat a hasty retreat down the river, withdrawing 
 all his forces from the fastnesses of the Highlands. 
 
 Soon occurs another incident of interest to the 
 denizens qf this old town. We refer to the construc- 
 tion of the second chain. The importance of ob- 
 structing the river became still more apparent now, 
 because of the ease with which the enemy's fleet had 
 passed the former obstructions and the havoc that 
 had been made with mills, towns and forts, so that 
 Albany was the only city Ijring between them and 
 Canada. It was apparent, also, that more formidable 
 means must be devised. General Hughes first wrote 
 to General Gates, November, 1777, stating that he, 
 with the Clintons and an engineer, had visited the 
 fortifications on the river, and had decided that forts 
 be erected at " the West Point," and that a chain and 
 chevaux de frise be stretched across to Constitution 
 Island. It was followed by a correspondence between 
 Governor Clinton and Generals Gates, Putnam and 
 
War of the Revolution. 49 
 
 the commander-in-chief. The last so emphasized the 
 necessity as to pronounce it of infinite importance. 
 Accordingly measures were taken to fortify West 
 Point, and that was selected as the place best fitted 
 to stretch a chain and boom, because the river was 
 narrowest at that point and could be swept by artil- 
 lery on the shore. And still further it had the ad- 
 vantage of being situated at a sharp bend of the river 
 where the vessels would lose the wind and their 
 momentum, and be compelled to tack. Radiere was 
 designated to engineer the fortifications and Deputy 
 Quartermaster-Greneral Hugh Hughes to superintend 
 the chain. 
 
 General Putnam, who had command, in a letter to 
 Greneral Washington referred to the former chain as 
 made of " bad iron." With this hint, General Hughes 
 repaired to the firm of Noble, Townsend & Co., whose 
 iron- works were situated at Stirhng, on a lake of the 
 same name, just over the border of Monroe in the 
 town of Warwick. This extensive plant consisted of 
 23,000 acres of land, a furnace, forge and anchory. 
 These were established in 1752, before the foundation 
 of the government, and had the honor of making the 
 anchors for the first United States frigate. Deputy 
 Quartermaster-General Hugh Hughes visited Stirling 
 February 2, 1778. The traditions of the Townsend 
 family are that the visit was made on Sunday morn- 
 ing and the visitor arrived in a heavy snow-storm. 
 The order was given and the work instantly started. 
 Articles of agreement were drawn, in which the said 
 Noble, Townsend & Co. agree to furnish, on or before 
 April 1 ensuing, a chain, an iron chain * of the f ollow- 
 
 * The links of the chain, as seen at Glen Island, N. Y., measure 45 inches 
 in length, 12 inches in breadth, the bar iron being 4:% inches square. 
 
 7 
 
50 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 ing length and quality : that is, in length five hundred 
 yards, each hnk to be about two feet long, of the 
 best Stirling ii*on, two inches and one quarter square, 
 or as near thereto as possible, with a swivel to every 
 hundred feet, and a clevis to every thousand feet, in 
 the same manner as those of the former chain. 
 Twelve tons of anchors of sizes needed were in- 
 cluded. For this work the United States government 
 stipulated, through its agent, to pay at the rate of 
 forty pounds for every ton delivered. In case there 
 should occur some variation in the value of the 
 money, they were to be paid 400 pounds sterhng for 
 the chain. For six weeks, night and day, seven fires 
 were kept at forging and ten at welding. Sixty men 
 were granted furlough from the army to assist in the 
 work. The work was completed within the time 
 contracted for. The chain was divided into sections 
 of ten links each, loaded on ox-carts and hauled to 
 New Windsor, where it was dehvered to Captain 
 Machin to be put together at his forge, thirty miles 
 from Stirling, but the roads part of the way were 
 doubtless very rough. Besides, the weight of the 
 chain, which was one hundred and thirty-six tons, 
 made the task of transportation a formidable one. 
 From the bill of Captain Machin it consisted of iron 
 ''wrought into booms, bolts, chains, swivels and 
 bands." The several parts were put together and 
 floated down the river; the boom on April 7, the 
 chain on the 16th, and all was in place on the 30th. 
 General Heath, who properly belongs to Monroe, 
 wrote a description of the chain and its adjustment ; 
 stating that it was fastened to poles about sixteen feet 
 long, sharpened at the end, with a collar cut in the 
 middle, and secured to the chain by staples. Anchors 
 
War of the Revolution. 51 
 
 were fastened at proper distances to keep it from 
 swaying, and great bolts held it to the rocks at either 
 end. He says the chain was fixed with great dex- 
 terity by 280 men, without accident. The boom was 
 placed in front, and consisted of logs put together 
 with lighter links and placed horizontally, so as to 
 break the force of a sailing vessel before it could 
 reach the chain. According to this same wi-iter, it is 
 evident that the structure was swung around in the 
 winter, to protect it from injury by the ice. Now this 
 was the chain that General Arnold was said to have 
 weakened, by removing a link, at the time of his at- 
 tempt to betray West Point into the hands of Major 
 Andre. But how he could have removed it for pre- 
 tended need of repair, without suspicion and without 
 destroying its integrity, no one can divine. Of his 
 treachery, however, there is no question. 
 
 Benedict Arnold had been a very brave officer, and 
 for valuable services had received many honors. But 
 some disappointments had soured his temper and un- 
 dermined his patriotism. The temptation was pre- 
 sented and the opportunity came. Sir Henry Clinton 
 wanted West Point, the Gibraltar of America, and 
 conceived the idea of resorting to bribery, the force 
 of arms having failed. The time was favorable. 
 Both sides were weary of the strife. Congress was 
 divided ; the treasury empty ; the money depreciated ; 
 the brave men unpaid. A deep cloud rested on the 
 cause, which even the aid of France did but partially 
 alleviate. Then it was Arnold opened a secret cor- 
 respondence with Major Andre, Adjutant-General of 
 the British army. The former wrote under the name 
 of Gustavus ; the latter under that of John Ander- 
 son. It was discovered that Gustavus was no less 
 
52 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 than tlie distinguished commander of West Point, to 
 which post he managed to secure his appointment in 
 order to carry out his traitorous scheme. Arnold 
 made his headquarters at the Beverly Robinson 
 House, which stands on the east side of the river, 
 about two miles south of West Point. In Arnold's 
 letter of August 30, 1780, the transaction is attempted 
 to be disguised under the guise of a business venture 
 in tobacco to be exchanged for ready money; but 
 some difference in regard to the goods, and delay in 
 obtaining the kind, would postpone the arrangement 
 some days. The money for which this Judas was to 
 betray his country, according to this letter, was 300 
 pounds sterling. After a number of notes it was ar- 
 ranged that Arnold should meet Anderson at Dobbs 
 Ferry ; but a strange course of Providence frustrated 
 the plan. Nothing daunted, Arnold laid another 
 plan, which came near succeeding. Anderson, or 
 Andre, with Robinson, sailed up the river in the 
 British ship Vulture^ to a point near the house of 
 Joshua Hett Smith, which is still standing, situate 
 two miles from Stony Point. This Smith was son 
 of one of the proprietors of the Cheesecock Pat- 
 ent. He was a man of education and refinement, 
 hospitable, and largely trusted by the officers in the 
 patriot army. 
 
 According to his journal, he had a brother in the 
 Clove who lived about three miles from the pubhc 
 road. This brother is supposed to have been the 
 father, Claudius Smith, the famous cowboy. How- 
 ever this may have been, certain it is, both were in 
 sympathy in their opposition to the cause of inde- 
 pendence. Their methods were very diverse, but the 
 animus was the same. 
 
War of the Revolution. 53 
 
 The house of Joshua Hett Smith was chosen for 
 the trysting-place of the conspirators. Robinson 
 wrote to Arnold, under pretext of anxiety about his 
 property, arranging the meeting. Washington came 
 with his staff to King's Ferry, met Arnold, who talked 
 about the Vulture, which was in sight, and also showed 
 Robinson's letter. The commander frowned on the 
 proposal ; yet the traitor took not the warning, but 
 rushed on his fate. After a futile attempt to meet 
 Andre at Dobbs Ferry, he succeeded in his scheme 
 on the night of September 21, 1779. Smith had sent 
 his family to Fishkill. Then, with two of his ten- 
 ants as boatmen, with muffled oars he was rowed to 
 the Vulture. Meanwhile Arnold, with Smith's negro 
 servant, both on horseback, rode to a clump of fir 
 trees, about two miles distant on the shore. Smith 
 brought Andre to the spot, and here the two plotted 
 till daybreak. Afraid of detection, the boatmen re- 
 fused to convey the British officer to his ship ; hence 
 he and Arnold were compelled to seek concealment 
 in Smith's house. After breakfast the firing of artil- 
 lery was heard from the shore opposite, and from the 
 window the Vulture was seen to swing out and drop 
 down the river. The plotters remained in conceal- 
 ment and close confinement all day. At evening 
 Arnold returned in his barge to the Robinson House, 
 while Smith and Andre crossed to the east side of 
 the river, to try and reach New York. Smith parted 
 from him on the first night and joined his family at 
 Fishkill. Andre took the river road, disguised in the 
 clothes of Smith. When about a half-mile from 
 Tarrytown three brave pickets sprang out upon him 
 and ordered him to halt. Upon careful search of his 
 person, they found documents, in Arnold's handwrit- 
 
54 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 ing, giving full details of the disposition of forces 
 about West Point. Neither persuasion nor money 
 moved his brave captors. The commander of the 
 post was incUned to send the papers and prisoner to 
 Arnold; but by a strange dispensation of Providence 
 the letter failed to reach the hands of Arnold, who 
 was quietly awaiting developments. Meanwhile Wash- 
 ington was on his way from Hartford to meet Eocham- 
 beau. He spent Sunday evening with Joshua Hett 
 Smith's family at Fishkill, and rode in the morning to 
 the Robinson House to breakfast with General Arnold 
 and his family. While seated at table with his host 
 and his family, a messenger arrived with the missing 
 note to Arnold. With coolness he arose with an 
 apology, and repaired to one of the chambers, in- 
 formed his wife of his misfortune, kissed his sleeping 
 infant, and left the house suddenly, as if to cross by 
 his barge to his post ; but instead he was rowed by 
 his boatswain to the Vulture, which was at anchor 
 below. Washington was surprised that he had not 
 been at the Point, and crossed to the Robinson 
 House, where Lafayette and Knox handed him the 
 papers concerning Andre. Convinced of Arnold's 
 treachery, he exclaimed," Who, then, can we trust ? " 
 That night every garrison and picket was put on the 
 alert. Joshua Hett Smith was arrested, and, together 
 with Andre, was confined at West Point. Both were 
 sent to Tappan and tried. Smith was handed over 
 to the civil authorities, but Andre was condemned to 
 be executed as a spy. While his candor and amia- 
 bility commended him to the mercy of the com- 
 mander-in-chief, who would gladly have spared him, 
 yet the condition of the army and the country con- 
 stituted the military necessity that seemed to demand 
 
War of the Revolution. 55 
 
 the execution of this truly brave officer. He was 
 executed at Tappan, on October 2, 1780. 
 
 Smith was sent to Goshen and confined in the jail ; 
 but afterward escaped, went to England, returned, 
 and died in New York. 
 
 Arnold also fled to England. He was seen after- 
 wards by an American party, to whom an English- 
 man said : " He is the only American who has not a 
 friend in his own native land." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE STORY OF CLAUDIUS SMITH. 
 
 NOW while these events were occurring in the 
 Highlands, against the dark background was 
 projected another figure that did not lend one re- 
 heving tint or hne. We refer to Claudius Smith, the 
 notorious cowboy. That title was apphed to ma- 
 rauders who robbed farmers and others of their stock 
 and valuables, and drove the former to the British 
 headquarters, at this time at New York. They 
 worked in gangs and robbed the loyal Americans far 
 and near. The valley of the Ramapo was theii' favor- 
 ite stalking-ground, because of its lonely solitudes 
 and caves. Now Claudius was the Robin Hood of 
 this gang. He was of English parentage, coming 
 into Monroe from Southold, L. I., with his father. It 
 is supposed that he was related to Joshua Hett 
 Smith, of whom we have been writing. His father, 
 David Smith, lived off the village road, on what has 
 been known as the John Goff place. His wife is said 
 to have been Jerusha Rumsey; and whatever may 
 have been her pohtical sympathies, she shows her 
 disapproval of her son's career in his quotation of 
 her words on the gallows, when he kicked off his 
 shoes : " Claudius, you will die some day Hke the 
 
 56 
 
 1 
 
The Story of Claudius Smith. 57 
 
 trooper's horse." His father was buried in the old 
 part of the cemetery on the lane, and on the old red 
 tombstone are inscribed these lines : 
 
 " Here lies the body of David Smith 
 
 " Esq'r whose alms he 
 
 " has Dispersed abroad his 
 
 " works and faith is still before his God his name 
 
 " Shall Long on earth remain 
 
 ^' while envies Sinners freat in vain 
 
 " My advice is to both Old and Young 
 
 " to make their calling and Election 
 
 '' sure and to work out their own 
 
 " Salvation with fear and trembling* 
 
 " the Deceased composed this 
 
 " work some time before his Death " 
 
 Born in April 15 in the Year of 
 
 1701 Died in Year 1787 
 
 The above is a facsimile of this quaint epitaph, for 
 the elucidation of which we are indebted to a friend 
 who to the zeal for the " ancient past " in Monroe 
 adds the patience of Old Mortality. He says the 
 capital letters and spelling are exactly the same as 
 on the tombstone. It is interesting as a sample of 
 the learning of the day and the orthodoxy of the old 
 man. The allusion to his "alms Dispersed abroad" 
 savors of the trumpet of the Pharisee. But we for- 
 bear, lest we should be classed with " envies Sinners " 
 who " freat in vain." 
 
 As the son of such a father, better things might 
 have been expected of Claudius. But his environ- 
 ment was one of lawlessness. Then he embraced the 
 Tory principle of resistance of the will of the people 
 as expressed in the Declaration of Independence ; 
 adhering like many others to the cause of the so- 
 8 
 
58 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 called "good King George." While the patriots 
 were fighting for liberty with Briton and his Indian 
 allies, Claudius and his gang were raiding their 
 farms and homes in the Clove. He was a man of 
 stalwart frame, and proud of his stature and strength. 
 On some pubhc occasion, said the late J. Harvey Bull, 
 he boastfully said, " Here I stand like a pillar of old 
 St. Paul's Church, and I defy any man to move me." 
 Whereupon Ben Havens replied, " I will remove the 
 pillar with my sledge-hammer fist," suiting the action 
 to the word. Claudius lived in a cabin made of 
 plank set perpendicular and hidden in the brush that 
 skirted the roads that crossed opposite to Cunning- 
 ham's mill and what afterwards was the late John 
 Knight's garden. Part of the foundation was plowed 
 up by the latter, and bits of crockery were found. It 
 was a suitable den for the laying of his plots and mak- 
 ing his forays upon the neighborhood and hiding his 
 plunder. Other lawless characters joined his gang, 
 and with them those who claimed to be loyalists 
 sympathized and lent their aid. He had three sons 
 who inherited his cruelty and became his confeder- 
 ates in crime. These rough outlaws would rob their 
 neighbors of their cattle and drive them down the 
 Ramapo valley to Suffern, where they would dis- 
 pose of them to the British army whose outposts 
 were established there. Hence they were called cow- 
 boys. But they were not content to rob from the 
 fields, but broke into dwellings at night or while the 
 men were absent on military duty, terrified the women, 
 and stole food or money if they could find it. Some 
 of his apologists have asserted he stole from the rich 
 and gave to the poor. But it is characteristic of 
 that class of villains that they try thus to atone for 
 
The Story of Claiidlus Smith. 59 
 
 their Heaven-daring crimes. Even Captain Kidd was 
 " the gentlest man that ever cut a throat or scuttled 
 ship." 
 
 The rough nature of the country favored these 
 marauders. The mountains, and specially the Rama- 
 po, were full of caves and dens where they could con- 
 ceal both themselves and their plunder. There was 
 such a cave near Man-of-War Rock ; another, near 
 Indian Kill, which the daughters of the late Peter 
 Townsend called Libalcad, composed of the initial 
 syllables of their respective names. Another hiding- 
 place was somewhere between Monroe and Blooming 
 Grove. The flues of the old Elmer Earl House were 
 another place of concealment. Here in later years a 
 mechanic was driven to madness by the cruel joke of 
 companions, who hoisted a pumpkin cut to represent 
 the face of the outlaw and illuminated by a candle, 
 after the young man had retired for sleep. 
 
 Claudius displayed great cunning and adroitness in 
 his depredations. Like Ishmael, " his hand was against 
 every man and every man's hand against him." Some- 
 times he would seek to cripple a neighbor, perhaps 
 on some petty pretext, as when he carried off the still- 
 cap from the distillery of Mr. Bell on the Still Brook. 
 Again, he would break in on the slumbers of some 
 family whose head was absent in the trenches, insult 
 the women, and rob the house of food or treasure and 
 carry off poultry or cattle, as his fancy or need dic- 
 tated. When he had gathered a sufficient number of 
 cattle and sheep in one of his hiding-places, in the 
 shadows of evening he would drive them down the 
 Ramapo pass to Suffern, where the British army had 
 its outposts. He and his band would skulk back 
 again and spend the proceeds in some of his dens, the 
 
60 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 caves or cabins of confederates, in revelry and feast- 
 ing. But snch a career could not continue long. His 
 very success in crime encouraged him to greater 
 deeds of cruelty. While making a raid in Blooming 
 Grove with his band, he entered the house of Major 
 Nathanael Strong ; and when that brave soldier re- 
 sisted the ruffian, Claudius deliberately shot him. 
 This was the culmination of his career. The crime 
 enraged the community, and led Governor Clinton to 
 put a price on his head. He now became an outlaw, 
 and was hunted down like a wolf. His brothers and 
 companions were included in the same ban. He was 
 hunted out of the country, fleeing to Long Island, 
 hiding away where he thought himself unknown. 
 But the feet of an avenging Nemesis were soon on his 
 track. Major Brush, of Orange County, hearing of 
 his hiding-place, raised a band and found him at Oys- 
 ter Bay, where he arrested him, took him over to Con- 
 necticut, from whence, by a requisition from Governor 
 Clinton, he was brought and dehvered to the sheriff 
 of Orange County, at Goshen, who ordered him 
 chained to the floor of the jail for safe-keeping. He 
 was afterwards tried at the com't-house at Goshen, 
 January 13, 1779, and executed on the 22d, with five 
 of his companions. It is worthy of mention that a 
 sermon was preached at the scaffold by the pastor of 
 the Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Ezra Fisk, D.D., in 
 the presence of 50,000 spectators. His text was 
 Numbers xxxii, 23 : "Be sure your sin will find you 
 out." 
 
 The sermon was very solemn, and from the unu- 
 sual circumstances was calculated to make an indeh- 
 ble impression. He was buried in the grounds of the 
 Presbyterian Church, in the southwest corner, that 
 
The Story of Claudius Smith. 61 
 
 being regarded as a sort of public property. Within 
 the memory of some hving, a citizen of Groshen who 
 was lame and walked with a crutch broke through, 
 his crutch or cane penetrating the neglected grave. 
 This led to the taking up of the bones, which were 
 stowed in a shop near by. My informant relates that 
 a citizen applied to a well-known blacksmith to make 
 him a carving-knife. The knife was made, but he 
 had no buckhorn for a handle. A happy thought 
 struck him. He went to the spot where the bones 
 of the famous marauder lay neglected, and took a 
 thigh bone and worked out a handle for the carving- 
 knife. A startling instance of poetical irony! Vig- 
 orous means were taken to exterminate the gang after 
 Claudius' death. One of his followers was shot on 
 Schunemunk; one left his bones whitening over on 
 the East Mountain, above the Ramapo. His son 
 Richard fled to Nova Scotia. 
 
 Efforts were made by the credulous to find the 
 treasure of the robber; but, hke that of Captain Kidd, 
 it never materialized. Indeed the people had nothing 
 but Continental money, and but little of that. To 
 illustrate its depreciation, it is related that one of the 
 farmers sold a cosset lamb about this time for 500 
 Continental dollars to a foraging party. 
 
 The disorder and terrorism caused by Tory and 
 cowboy led the commander-in-chief to send detach- 
 ments from the army to guard the roads through the 
 Clove. A cavalry camp was established at Highland 
 Mills, on the Morgan Shuitt farm; another at Monroe, 
 near the bridge, on the D. Knight property. It was 
 on the west side of the stage road, the second lot 
 from the homestead now the residence of Clarence 
 Knight, 
 
62 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 The following are the epitaphs of two noted Revo- 
 lutionary attaches buried near Ringwood, New Jersey, 
 in the Ramapo Valley : 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 ROBERT ERSKINE, F. R. S. 
 
 geographer and surveyor-general to the army of 
 
 The United States. 
 
 Son of the Rev. Ralph Erskine 
 
 Late Minister at Dumfernline in Scotland. 
 
 born 
 
 September 7, 1735. 
 
 died 
 
 October 2nd, 1780. 
 
 Aged 45 Years 
 
 And 25 Days. 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 ROBERT MONTEITH 
 
 Clerk to Robert Erskine, Esq. 
 
 born 
 At Dumfernline in Scotland, 
 died 
 December 2nd, 1778, Aged 33 Years. 
 
 I am indebted to Mr. Mahlon J. Brooks for these 
 inscriptions. He says that the graves are side by 
 side. The stones are laid flat, on brick-work about 
 two feet high, covering the whole grave. The letter- 
 ing of the two stones is very plain, except the names 
 of the two places in Scotland. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DAWN OF PEACE. 
 
 AFTER such a storm there is always a ground 
 -^jL swell. It was some time before the bitter feel- 
 ings engendered by the contest were allayed. We 
 must not forget that the War of the Revolution was 
 really a civil war. It occurred among subjects of the 
 same government, and was a movement to throw off 
 allegiance to a king and set up a new form of govern- 
 ment. Such a radical question not merely separated 
 neighbors, but divided families. It became an inter- 
 necine war, and that is proverbially bitter. The 
 cruelty of it is illustrated by the career of Clau- 
 dius Smith. Now even this had a sequel after he 
 was executed. Some of the gang who had been in 
 hiding determined to avenge on neighbors their 
 leader's death. They selected Henry Reynolds, a 
 Friend, as the object of their vengeance, because he 
 had been active in giving information against him. 
 He Hved in the stone house now standing by the 
 brook on the Gignoux place. 
 
 They came at midnight and surrounded the house, 
 which the inmates barred. Finding they could not break 
 in, they climbed on the roof and tried to descend the 
 chimney. But one of the ladies opened a pillow and 
 poured the feathers on the fire, which was too much 
 
 63 
 
64 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 for them. They then retired, but returned again 
 when Mr. Reynolds was at home. They entered, pre- 
 tending they were commissioned to look for deserters. 
 They took Mr. Reynolds, tied him to the lug pole, 
 and hung him in the chimney while they searched for 
 treasure. But his daughter Phoebe cut him down. 
 Then they caught him again and suspended him. 
 They also cut him with their swords and knives, leav- 
 ing him for dead. His daughter cut him down again, 
 and, assisted by other members of the family, dressed 
 his wounds and saved his hfe. He hved to a good 
 old age (eighty-three years), and showed his scars as 
 honorable mementos of the encounter. The plucky 
 daughter also gave the alarm to the neighbors, who 
 pursued the miscreants, wounding one and shooting 
 another. One, named Kelley, was found dead on East 
 Mountain, and on him were the clothes of Friend 
 Reynolds. 
 
 The brave daughter Phoebe was married afterwards 
 to Jeremiah Drake and removed to Sullivan County, 
 where she reared a family, and is mentioned, with an 
 account of her adventures with great interest, in 
 Quinlan's " History " of that county. 
 
 The proclamation of peace was hailed by every true 
 patriot and reflecting mind with sincere joy. It is 
 recorded of Peter Townsend, then a young man, that 
 he rode on horseback all the way to New York to see 
 the British fleet evacuate the harbor. Warm wel- 
 comes awaited the return of the brave soldiers 
 to their homes. But these they did not find in a 
 prosperous condition. Buildings had been burned, 
 cattle stolen, fences thrown down, and fields and 
 gardens overgrown with brush and weeds. But the 
 Anglo-Saxon is not one who sits down in despair, 
 
Tlie Dawn of Peace. 65 
 
 but lias wonderful recuperative energy. He betakes 
 himself at once to rebuild. He starts again the plow. 
 His axe rings through the forest. He lays out new 
 roads and projects new enterprises, looking with hope 
 for their realization in the future. He has had 
 enough of war and ruffianism. He believes in the 
 regeneration of society, encourages home building, 
 immigration, the setting up of the school, the organi- 
 zation of the church and all those institutions that 
 belong to a well-ordered society. He crowds out the 
 lawless, who retire to the mountains. The disloyal 
 find it uncomfortable to remain, and some move to 
 other parts, or learn to hide their pedigree or hold 
 their tongue. 
 
 Now come in most of the modern families who 
 engrafted upon the old form a new society, the foun- 
 dation of Monroe of the present. 
 
 It is an interesting matter of history that James 
 and Charles Webb came fi'om Goshen in 1798 and 
 bought each 300 acres on opposite sides of Mombasha, 
 dividing it through the middle. Their father was 
 Samuel Webb, who was seven feet in height. He 
 was killed in the Minisink war by the Indians, who 
 boasted they had killed the biggest man in the settle- 
 ment. His brother was also very tall, measuring 
 more than six and a half feet. Samuel Webb, Jr., 
 was the son of Charles, succeeding him in ownership 
 of lands in the east side. He had also a sawmill 
 below the outlet where was an old road soon to be 
 reopened to afford a beautiful drive about the lake 
 and to connect with that from Tuxedo. Cyrenius 
 and the late J. Madison are the sons of Samuel Webb, 
 and they or their heirs still occupy the same tract, 
 now for a hundred years in possession of the family. 
 9 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HOME BUILDING IN THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 THE log cabin is the prototype of the homes of 
 Monroe. Under these thatched roofs rich and 
 poor ahke rested. By these rude firesides the best 
 of her sons learned theu' first lessons of hfe. In one, 
 it is said, the Father of his Country did not disdain to 
 rest. But it was not long before an evolution began. 
 Soon the sawmill arrives, and lumber is drawn for a 
 " lean-to." Then there is a stoop, with rude benches, 
 where the family receive neighbors, crack nuts, and 
 tell the news. But soon comes an honest pride. The 
 log cabin must go. A neighbor of more means has 
 started with a frame house, and so the cabin is con- 
 verted into a stable, and in its place rises the dry- 
 goods box, which is topped out with gambrel roof and 
 two-story piazza; this again passes through a white 
 elephant period, or "Crazy Jane," at last efflorescing 
 into a Queen Anne with all the modern improvements. 
 Some, however, " to the manner born," conceived, 
 more in accord with the fitness of environment, that 
 in a country of granite rocks stone is the proper ma- 
 terial for the homestead ; hence persons like Harvey 
 Bull, John Brooks, and Dr. Carpenter built their 
 stone mansions, at once enduring monuments of their 
 sturdy good sense and taste. One of these gentlemen 
 
 66 
 
Home Building in the Olden Time. 67 
 
 would point to some of the stones of the corner and 
 tell the story of their quarrying with loving pride. 
 But let us look outside on garden and farm. Would 
 you know what it cost of toil to subdue a little piece 
 of ground for garden, we call to remembrance a small 
 piece cultivated by Phineas Brooks opposite the 
 Grranite House. Year after year the old man toiled, 
 throwing out the stone till he had a huge pile, enough 
 to macadamize rods of road; and still there was 
 plenty. Asking Sammy Gregory to explain their 
 origin, he said, " He guessed they growed." But we 
 need not smile, for one of the old fumace-men at 
 Southfield remembered " when Tom Jones' mountain 
 was no bigger than a coal-basket." These pioneers 
 had to content themselves with the simplest and 
 coarsest esculents of the garden, and the humblest 
 modes of taking care of them. It was related of one 
 of the careful dames that she took her turnips to bed 
 with her to keep them from freezing, finding them 
 but poor bed-fellows. The dirt-cellar was soon thought 
 out, and became a necessity. The Hessian had gone 
 home, leaving behind only his curse, the wild daisy. 
 But his cauliflower and sprouts and Antwerp berries 
 were a better legacy. The love-apple developed into 
 the tomato. The black-bog Irish potato found a 
 friend in the Rev, E. P. Roe, who gave us the perfec- 
 tion of tubers. And since that the cornucopia of the 
 world has been pouring in seeds of plants and flowers 
 from the uttermost parts of the earth. The puckery 
 crab-apple of the Indians has been superseded by the 
 Newtown pippins, dominies, and seek-no-furthers of 
 the orchards. Deacon Van Yaler used to say, " Never 
 plant a shade tree when a fruit tree will do as well." 
 His farm was an orchard, and when, nearly eighty 
 
68 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 years of age, a neighbor laughed at liim for continu- 
 ing to plant and graft, lie said : "I not merely expect 
 to gather fruit from these trees, but to pick from this 
 ladder which I am making." And he did. 
 
 If it was so hard to make a garden, what must it 
 have been to clear a farm? The sturdy woodsman 
 would soon clear up the timber; but the rocks and 
 boulders with which every rood was strewn were 
 enough to appal any but one of these hardy sons of 
 toil ; particularly when we remember the rudeness 
 of their appliances : the pick, the crow-bar, hammer, 
 wedge, the gunpowder, the oxen, and stone-boat. 
 No dynamite, no stump and rock extractor. But co- 
 operative industry was the order of the times. Stone- 
 bees were made, and neighbor came to the assistance 
 of neighbor. 
 
 The good dame did her part in the kitchen, turning 
 out the pot-pie and other appetizing productions of 
 hands well taught in the culinary art. At such times 
 the best stories were told. Toasts were drunk in the 
 old-fashioned cider, for as yet total abstinence was in 
 its cradle. With mirth and jollity the rocks were 
 torn up as by giants; the stones " snaked" towards 
 the limits of the outlined fields, to be broken up on 
 the morrow by the fence-builder, who would rear 
 them into the characteristic fences of the town. Mr. 
 John Brooks buried the stones on his farm in great 
 holes dug for the purpose. But let us hear him tell 
 the story of his labors : 
 
 '"Twas thus by honest toil 
 I smoothed the rugged soil, 
 For forty years or more, 
 TiU orchard, grass and grain 
 Spread o'er the barren plain, 
 
Home Building in the Olden Time, 69 
 
 Where nothing grew before. 
 By powder, picks and sledges, 
 By levers, bars and wedges, 
 By prying, splitting, mauling, 
 I brought the rocks to reason. 
 As rebels were from treason. 
 And j&tted them for handling j 
 In fences rough and strong, 
 In fields square and some oblong. 
 
 Then took they proper station. 
 As they came struggling through 
 
 The rubbish of creation. 
 As each redeemed spot, 
 Grew to a garden plot, 
 
 A longer breath I drew, 
 Took courage from the past. 
 And prayed that I might last 
 
 To put the hard task through. 
 And now in fact 'tis done 
 As I planned when I begun. 
 
 And tho' 'tis true that I 
 Shall ne'er receive the gains, 
 The needful for my pains. 
 
 These fields shall never die. 
 Whate'er shall be my fate. 
 E'en up to death's dark gate, 
 
 Thro' health, wealth, want or pain. 
 The fame I fought for most 
 Will be this honest boast, 
 
 I have not lived in vain ! " 
 
 John Brooks. 
 
 How well expressed! Let the young men who 
 have entered into possession of these ancestral acres 
 learn what they cost, and not he ashamed of the 
 farmer's profession, — for such it is, — nor ever turn 
 away in scorn from the homestead farm even, although 
 the moss covers the roof and the cricket steals in by 
 the hearth. 
 
 The implements of the farm were very rude at first. 
 
70 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 For example, the plow used was what was called the 
 " hog plow." It had a rough beam, with share of 
 wood shod with iron that had to be taken to the 
 smithy to be sharpened. It was followed by the Eng- 
 lish plow, which had a movable coulter that would cut 
 the sod and lay it over a curvilinear mould-board in 
 even f lu'rows. What would one of those gray fathers 
 have said had he been told that his grandson would 
 ride behind a spanking team upon a sulky plow of 
 steel, over a carpet-hke sod, and lay it smooth as a 
 floor, and another follow after, dropping corn from a 
 patent planter, to be covered also by machinery ? This 
 was that same maize which they had received from 
 the Indians, who taught them to plant it when the 
 oak leaves were as big as squirrels' ears, and to go to 
 the brook and bring two shiners for each hill of corn. 
 " Succotash" was an Indian term, as was " kintakaue"; 
 and after eating the one the other helped digest it. 
 This was the elementary lesson of that primitive time. 
 But sagacity early discovered that Monroe soil 
 was best adapted for grazing; hence attention was 
 turned to pasture fields. But no cultivated grasses 
 were known till comparatively recent times. Meadows 
 and marshes were relied upon to furnish forage and 
 hay. The hay cut with the scythe was raked by 
 hand, forked upon poles, and carried out or stacked 
 up, till winter brought frozen ground that would 
 bear up team and wain. Mr. Samuel Webb could 
 recollect when the first Timothy Hurd grass seed and 
 red clover were introduced. It was an era in agri- 
 cultui'al history — a revolution. The marsh is out- 
 shone by the meadow, and the milch cow and sleek 
 steers are seen grazing over the clovered plain. The 
 wooden hay-fork and home-made rake give way to 
 
Home Building in the Olden Time. 71 
 
 better tools. But for many years scythe, sickle and 
 the clumsy cradle held the field before anything better 
 was thought of. The present generation can remem- 
 ber when the carpenter left his bench, the clerk the 
 counter, and the smith his anvil, to take part in the 
 labors of the hay and harvest field. The country 
 was one vast hive of industry. There was turning 
 the grindstone, the boy's spectre, which kept saying, 
 " Beware of the man who has an axe to grind" ; and 
 whettings that filled the air with clear metallic strains ; 
 hanging of scythes, which Webster regarded as suc- 
 cessfully done when he hung it in a tree ; then the 
 march of the peaceful procession across the field, 
 with even step and graceful sweep as well timed as 
 an aria in Handel's " Seasons." 
 
 Then came the httle army with hand-rakes draw- 
 ing hay or grain into windrows, to be followed by 
 binders if grain, or tossing into hay-cocks or mowing 
 away if hay. All this had to be done by hand, with 
 rude tools and slow ox-teams. It made weeks of 
 frolic and hard work for field hands and wives and 
 daughters ; for all were interested, and not seldom 
 could be seen the fair hands of Ruth bearing, if not 
 the sheaves, at least the basket of lunch for the tired 
 reapers. But how all is changed now ! First came 
 the horse-rake ; then the mowing-machine. The last 
 came in 1854. It was the Ketcham machine, cum- 
 brous and heavy, galling the necks of the horses, and 
 unwilhng to back down when it struck stump or 
 rock. This gave way to lighter and more convenient 
 inventions, the acme being reached when the reaper 
 and binder came into the field. Then, when the horse 
 hay-hfter and mower followed, the burden of farm- 
 ing was also lifted, and the problem of gathering the 
 
72 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 crops with few hands was solved. Indeed, if snch 
 improved machinery had not been introduced, much 
 of the crops during the Civil War must have been 
 ungathered. 
 
 Vehicles passed through similar evolution. First, 
 the cart ; then the wagon without springs ; then the 
 spring seat. In these rude, lumbering things they 
 even went to church. Chairs were set in them when 
 a number rode. On one occasion, when at a later 
 period the custom was repeated, after the load had 
 been deposited at the church door one of the little 
 girls in the congregation, seeing the wagon and chaii's 
 pass the window, observed that " some one was mov- 
 ing." One of our older citizens remembered distinctly 
 the time when the first springs were introduced and 
 the gossip they occasioned. 
 
 Oxen also constituted the earliest beasts of burden. 
 They snaked out the stumps on week-days, and took 
 the family to church on Smiday. Moonlight rides in 
 the one-horse open sleigh were then undreamed of. 
 The patient ox was better adapted to the slow work 
 of subduing the wilderness. Experiences with them 
 were sometimes odd: as when a green son of the 
 Emerald Isle yoked a pair of steers facing each other, 
 and said, "Did yees ever see the loike?" or when 
 John Fowler's cattle stepped on a large snapping- 
 turtle ; and on another occasion, when he left them 
 yoked to feed near a fence while he went to dinner, 
 and found one of them choked down by a large black- 
 snake. He cut the throat of the ox and di'essed the 
 carcass. Attention was largely paid at first to the 
 raising of cattle for market, but this gradually gave 
 way to the dairy business, and the development of 
 the best milch cow has been the aim and effort since. 
 
Home Building in the Olden Time. 73 
 
 The scrubby native animal with crumpled born bad 
 to give way for tbe coming of tbe Holstein, Jersey, 
 Alderney, and lastly tbe chef d''muvre, according to 
 one of our best cattle-raisers, tbe belted stock. Fifty 
 years ago tbe butter-producing quality was tbe aim, 
 wben tbe very bank-notes of Orange County took on 
 a butter bue. But in 1841, wben tbe Erie Railroad 
 was constructed and sent its first train into tbis 
 region, keen eyes saw tbe advantage of sending milk 
 to tbe great city ; and ever since tbe Monroe farmers 
 bave turned tbeir attention to milk. 
 
 10 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE IRON INDUSTRY OF MONROE. 
 
 THE surveyor Clintou calls attention to lot No. 
 3, which he caUs " the great iron lot." Twenty 
 thousand acres in this vicinity were sold by James 
 Alexander, Lord StMing, to a London company who 
 established the Stirling Iron Works in 1752. The 
 anchory and forge were built over the line in War- 
 wick, but the mines are largely in Monroe. When 
 owned by Messrs. Noble and Townsend the great 
 chain was forged, as we have ah'eady described. The 
 Forest of Dean Furnace was started before the Revo- 
 lution, but the fall of Fort Montgomery forced it to 
 close, and now it is an unsightly ruin. Queensboro 
 continued till the War of 1812, when it extinguished 
 its fires. The Augusta works were established in 
 1783 by Solomon Townsend, for the manufacture of 
 bar u'on and anchors; but the plant was removed 
 elsewhere, leaving a picturesque ruin on the banks of 
 the Ramapo. Greenwood Iron Works were estab- 
 hshed in 1811. At the opening there was a proces- 
 sion, each workman bearing the tool of his branch of 
 work. Songs were sung, toasts drunk, speeches made, 
 an ox roasted, and dinner served. Messrs. Robert 
 and Peter P. Parrott were the owners. This furnace 
 
 74 
 
The Iron Industry of Monroe. 75 
 
 fui'nished the iron from which most of the cannon 
 used by the government during the late Civil War 
 were made. Now the fires of this historic furnace 
 have been extinguished; the well-known and respected 
 manager, Mr. P. P. Parrott, is dead; the property has 
 passed into other hands, the scene of toil turned into 
 a park, and its name changed to Arden. 
 
 Southfield Iron Works came into the possession of 
 Messrs. William and Peter Townsend in 1827, and 
 have had a memorable record. For seventy years the 
 fires glowed and the huge engine puffed, the molten 
 stream poured forth, and weird figures moved in the 
 lurid firehght, while on every hand were signs of 
 thrift and labor. How sweetly came the sound of 
 tinkling bells across the valley, as the cows of the cot- 
 tagers returned from the mountain pastures ; and how 
 restful the notes of the whippoorwill in the gloam- 
 ing, when around the old homestead played the grand- 
 children of that old couple who knew so well how to 
 "welcome the coming and speed the parting guest "! 
 But the scene is all changed now. Some of the fam- 
 ily return to spend the summers, but the fires of the 
 furnace are out, the long breath of the engine is no 
 longer heard, the teams are released, the men dis- 
 charged, and their honored employer and his benevo- 
 lent wife are resting on the cliff yonder, whither 
 sturdy hands, not without tears, carried them a few 
 years since. 
 
 The scene was a very different one some sixty 
 years ago, when the iron industries of the country 
 flourished, as will be seen from the following lines 
 from the fertile pen of our town poet, the late John 
 Brooks, who was employed as clerk and storekeeper 
 for the Stirling Company about the year 1832 : 
 
76 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 " Mr. Peter Townsend : 
 
 I send you by our lazy brawny, 
 Chuckle-head and a Montawney, 
 Eighty-four bars well-wrought and strong, 
 Two tons, one hundred fourteen pounds ; 
 Send us some Indian and some flour 
 Immediately, if in your power. 
 Send us some shoes, we're out of leather ; 
 We can't go barefoot this cold weather. 
 Bill Babcock wants a pair ; also his wife ; 
 'Tis twelves both wear. 
 Some of our dames do scold and pout. 
 Because our tea does not hold out — 
 Three and a half pounds allowed per week ; 
 For I'm so dumb I've not yet found 
 The art of making from three pound 
 Just sixteen quarters. Must I serve 
 The first that come, just like the rest ? 
 Or will you send a little more ? 
 Three and a half and sometimes four. 
 Send me the news, for I want to know 
 How Adams and Old Hickory go. 
 Some of us will want some money 
 For training ; therefore I'll just dun ye. 
 Two shillings each will pay stage fare, 
 And as much more will keep us there. 
 But send as much as you can spare. 
 The coaling jobs go on right well; 
 But on the forge there lays a spell. 
 And where 'twill end no one can teU ; 
 Tho' now she thumps away like Sheol. 
 Now when you and your better haK 
 Are reading this, 'twiU make you laugh. 
 'Tis childish verse wrote with pot-hooks 
 And trammels. I remain. 
 
 Yours, John Brooks." 
 
 Now if these lines have little merit on the score 
 of rhetoric, they are worthy of preservation as 
 giving a pictui'e of the times, and of some of the ens- 
 
The Iron Industry of Monroe. 11 
 
 toms in that mining region. Supplies were furnished 
 the families from the company's store. Estimates 
 were made on the basis of three and one half pounds 
 of tea to a family. But as the clerk had not learned 
 the art of making sixteen quarters from three pounds, 
 it was obvious that he must have some more tea, or 
 there must be an unequal distribution. Other touches 
 of humor will be appreciated by those who were fa- 
 miliar with the author and his times. 
 
 The last generation witnessed much greater activity 
 in the iron industry than the present. The time was 
 when the mines near by were all worked, the smoke 
 of furnaces mingled with that of cabins in the moun- 
 tains, teams toiled along the roads from Bull Hill, 
 Forshee, Rye, Hogancamp,0'Neal and Frederick mines. 
 But, owing to several causes, a change has come over 
 the scene. The exhaustion of timber, the necessity 
 of using costlier fuel and of penetrating deeper for 
 the ore, have all conspired to produce the present con- 
 dition. When foreign supplies are exhausted and 
 tariffs are better adjusted, the iron-men will again 
 look to these hills, and with better machinery take 
 out the rich metal which the magnet indicates is still 
 stored there. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 THE MILK BUSINESS. 
 
 THE all-absorbing business of Monroe is producing 
 and selling milk. We may say there was a pre- 
 destination for it in the very composition of the soil 
 and in the situation. But it did not materialize until 
 the Erie Railway was organized and laid to Monroe. 
 
 The first train ran through in 1841. It created a 
 great sensation at the time, as we describe elsewhere, 
 and opened up a new channel of industry not merely 
 for the town, but the county also. Hitherto the 
 county was famous for butter. Shortly after the 
 opening of the road, Mr. John Milton Bull conceived 
 the idea of utilizing the new means of transportation 
 for the benefit of the farmer, by shipping his milk to 
 New York. It was soon caught up and put in prac- 
 tice. John Milton, Jesse and Ira Bull, in the spring 
 of 1842 started the enterprise. When the business 
 was in its infancy we are told that varied receptacles 
 were employed, such as cans, churns, and tubs. 
 
 Cloths were placed under the covers to prevent 
 leakage. The early cans had no handles or flanged 
 lids, but were carried by a bail. We are also told 
 that the brakemen bolted upon bringing the empty 
 cans back, because they were so hard to handle. The 
 farmers were their own collectors. The price began, 
 
 78 
 
The Milk Business. 79 
 
 as we are informed from the books of a farmer, with, 
 one and three quarter cents per quart for summer and 
 two for winter; but went up to four, five, six, and 
 even seven cents during the late war. At first the milk 
 was cooled in troughs, sometimes lowered into wells. 
 The supply of milk was small, so that farmers would 
 borrow and lend or club together. The scarcity of 
 ice rendered it difficult to keep the milk; hence it 
 was shipped twice a day. All kinds of business re- 
 ceived an impulse. New needs were created. Milk- 
 wagons, cans, milk-houses and cooling-tubs, ice- 
 houses and ponds, better cows, better barns and 
 stables, different feeds and new methods of farming, 
 all were in demand. The big churn was out of use, 
 the churning-machine dilapidated, the dog dead, and 
 the very piggery deserted. " Yes," said one old gen- 
 tleman who had been used to the old regime, and who 
 was vexed that a storm or accident had thrown hun- 
 dreds of quarts of milk on his hands and the good- 
 wife could find no means of disposing of it, "we 
 want a new kind of woman." 
 
 It brought a new age, if not a new kind of woman. 
 For ever since the labor of the milking-yard, the 
 handhng of heavy cans has fallen upon men ; while 
 she is released to attend to her own realm in home 
 and social life. After the introduction of this new 
 business it was found it was not without its own 
 irregularities. Now it was a combination of middle- 
 men, then an over-supply, again a cut in price on 
 milk or feed ; then an increase in competition from 
 the opening of new roads and widening areas of milk 
 supply. But the great obstacle to the prosperity of 
 the farming community has been the uniform rate of 
 shipment by the railway companies for long and 
 
80 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 short distances. A gleam of hope shines in from a 
 recent decision of the Supreme Court, bringing the 
 interstate commerce regulations to hear on the case. 
 To remedy some of the difficulties above referred to, 
 creameries were instituted. Monroe and Turners 
 were early in the field. The Farmers' Creamery, or 
 Monroe Dairy Association, has shown what farmer 
 managers can achieve in conducting a cooperative 
 business. The two other creameries, one for the col- 
 lection of milk, the other for the manufacture of 
 fine cheeses, are built on the lake, and another is 
 conducted at Satterly town by the Neuenswander 
 brothers. 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 INDUSTEIES OF THE HOME AND FAEM. 
 
 OUR sketch would be imperfect if we did not 
 advert to the industries of the home. In the 
 early days of farming, the farm was expected to yield 
 nearly all things needed for subsistence, clothing, 
 and comfort, and the housewife was expected to 
 adapt them to the needs of the household. As in 
 Bible times, " she looketh well to the ways of her 
 household. She riseth while it is yet night and 
 giveth meat to her household. She seeketh wool 
 and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. She 
 layeth her hands to the spindle ; her hands hold the 
 distaff. She is not afraid of the snow for her house- 
 hold, for all her household are clothed in double gar- 
 ments." How true in every particular except the 
 spindle and distaff ! But its more advanced sister is 
 there in the flax and woollen spinning-wheel. All the 
 linen used for bed, table or clothing was the product 
 of her hands ; sometimes from the hetchelling to the 
 final bleaching. So with the wool. She carded and 
 spun and knit, and sometimes wove. The very name 
 " wife" was derived from weaving, she being the woof; 
 while spinster was from the art of spinning, and was 
 then an honorable name for married and unmarried 
 alike. How the needles flew in those days, verifying 
 
 11 81 
 
82 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 their supposed derivation, ' ' ne — idle " ! The travelhng 
 tailor would "whip the cat" from house to house 
 statedly, to help make up or cut the garments for the 
 men. Such despatch could sometimes be reached in 
 those days, that it is said that the wool was on the 
 sheep one Sunday morning, when marriage banns 
 were published, and on the next Sunday, when the 
 couple were to be joined, the same was on the bride- 
 groom. The hides raised on the farm came home in 
 shoe leather. Then the travelhng cobbler came around 
 and shod the family, from father down. The father 
 sometimes tried his hand at cobbling, and on one 
 occasion had not time to trim the sole of his boy's 
 shoe before school, where he called forth the derisive 
 remark, " They be big enough for oxen." But the 
 cuisine must not be overlooked. When we consider 
 the conveniences, it was a marvel. The huge, clumsy 
 fireplace, with its crane and pot-hooks, its hearth and 
 oaken bench, its glowing coals and steaming vessels, 
 was always an object of unique interest. 
 
 Before the Dutch oven came, the fowl was hung- 
 up by a cord before the fire, and the frying-pan, with 
 its long handle, was propped up by a stick. The oven 
 received special care in construction and manage- 
 ment. It must be heated with good chestnut oven- 
 wood; carefully brushed out when the proper tem- 
 perature was reached ; no ashes must chng to the loaf 
 of bread or cake. What experience and care were 
 required ! Yet out of that oven would come a mar- 
 vellous supply of most delicious brown loaves and 
 cake, sometimes six kinds from the same dough. She 
 was an alchemist, and if she had not found the phi- 
 losopher's stone, she certainly out of that stone shrine 
 of hers brought some masterpieces which the old 
 
Industries of the Home and Farm. 83 
 
 men never ceased to praise : pumpkin loaf, succo- 
 tash, crackling, apple pot pie, venison steaks, short- 
 cake, oily koeks, crullers, Sally Lunn, and her chef 
 d^oBuvre, black fruit-cake, the glory of the wedding 
 feast. 
 
 The housewife had to manufacture so many things 
 from the very foundation. Her yeast she must ob- 
 tain from her own hop- vine, or borrow it from a 
 neighbor over on the turnpike, whose skill is perpetu- 
 ated in the name. Her sweetening comes from the 
 maple-trees, and, at her will, becomes either molas- 
 ses or sugar. Her cider can be converted into vine- 
 gar if she wishes, supplying the place of mother to it. 
 Cider apple-sauce supplied the place of sweetmeats. 
 Her kitchen is a laboratory. Tins shine like silver ; 
 tubs are scoured to marvellous whiteness; churns and 
 butter- tray are sweet as a heifer's breath; and her 
 broom, the work of her old man, constitutes her 
 sceptre, which all have in sacred awe. 
 
 Rock-oil had not been struck as yet. Spermaceti 
 was a luxury too expensive for common use. Illu- 
 minating material must be found on the farm. Beef- 
 tallow was utilized. Candles were made by twisting 
 a cotton wick and dipping in melted tallow until 
 they were of sufficient size. These primitive hghts 
 were dim and dirty, requiring the snuffers and fre- 
 quent attention. They were used in church and 
 home. By them, the family read and the minister 
 wrote his sermon. He gave notice of evening service 
 " at early candlehght." The thief in the candle and 
 the flickering flame in the socket were often an ob- 
 ject lesson for hun in his dimly hghted chapel. 
 
 Characteristic features of the hearth in those days 
 were the andirons, innocent of spot; the shovel. 
 
84 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 tongs, and bellows ; the crane, with its row of pot- 
 hooks, so often cited by the schoolmaster as a com- 
 parison for the writing-lesson. Building the fire on 
 such a hearth is a fine art, the very test of a good 
 prospective wife. Back log and top log must be there, 
 and kindhngs rightly laid. The old man may insist 
 upon bringing in the first over the highly pohshed 
 floor with the pony; then there is a small hurricane 
 about his ears, for the ancient housewife, as the mod- 
 em, " went," as was said, " for the last dirt." The 
 wood in order, she will soon have it lit, even if she 
 has to take the axe herself and make better kind- 
 lings. Where is the fire to come from ? If she has no 
 embers from last night, carefully covered up, she must 
 either go to a neighbor's to borrow, or she must draw 
 on some home device. 
 
 There were no matches sixty years ago. Fhnt and 
 tinder-box were necessary articles of furniture. The 
 tinder was of home manufacture — no other than 
 scorched rags. When these were not at hand, the 
 fldnt-lock gun, hanging over the mantle, was taken 
 down to give a spark. An old lady described to the 
 writer her experience in an effort of that kind, when 
 she pointed the gun up the chimney, fired it, and was 
 thrown on her back by the recoil, her grandsons 
 having loaded it with shot without her knowledge. 
 One was mischievous enough to say, " Lay still, 
 granny ; there are three more loads in it." 
 
 Now upon the glowing hearth the skilled housewife 
 will prepare most of her simple repast. The potatoes 
 and roasting ears are pushed into the coals ; the grid- 
 dle is hung on the crane ; the tea-kettle sings a merry 
 song; the baby is crowing in the cradle, ready to 
 spring into the sinewy arms of the bronzed son of 
 
Industries of the Home and Farm. 85 
 
 toil when lie comes in from the fields or milking-yard ; 
 then when the group gathers about the humble board, 
 parents and rosy-cheeked, sun-kissed boys and girls, — 
 for fashion has not entered there to curse with child- 
 lessness, — when that group is formed and grace is 
 said, Heaven smiles, and out of the Oracle come the 
 words, " Thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. 
 Happy shalt thou be. It shall be well with thee. 
 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, thy children as 
 olive-plants around thy table." 
 
 Come with me to the spring-house, where the milk 
 is conveyed from the milking-yard. Everything is 
 scrupulously clean about the spot. The dames of 
 that day, although not all Wesleyans, remembered 
 John Wesley's aphorism that " cleanliness is akin to 
 godliness." Even the cat and dog had to respect 
 such religion, and wait until the milk was strained, 
 before they received their share. The milk was 
 strained to the last hair ; for the process of setting 
 the milk, skimming the cream, and handling the par- 
 ticles of butter is sure to bring any lurking speck to 
 light. What a sight are those shining pans, filled 
 with the creamy fiuid, set afloat in the silvery pebble- 
 paved spring ! What a curiosity it would be now to 
 see the big churn operated by a machine with in- 
 clined wheel and lever, the motive-power being a 
 huge dog or a sheep ! We knew of a minister visit- 
 ing in a neighboring town, who had never seen the 
 hke, spring from his bed upon hearing the thud of the 
 dasher against the floor and the bleat of the impatient 
 sheep, and actually get out of the window to inquire 
 what it meant, intimating that he thought it some 
 new device of the adversary. The labor of the churn 
 was periodic and not hght, as even the dog learned 
 
86 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 and would manage to have an engagement elsewhere 
 on that day. A dog with a log chained to his neck, 
 going for parts unknown, was not an uncommon 
 sight. At such times we have seen the wheel mounted 
 by an Irish boy, and sometimes a girl; the jolly 
 face peering out through a hole made for it over the 
 machine. 
 
 The parlor of the housewife is dainty, with its 
 quaint furniture, first efforts of the family in art, 
 vases of bachelors' buttons, dried immortelles, a hor- 
 net's nest, birds' eggs, sea-shells, fragments of coral, 
 and curios picked up on sea or land, — a place so 
 sacred that it is opened only for a wedding or birth- 
 day party. Her bedroom is not less neat, with its 
 canopied bedstead, valance, small pillows and feather- 
 bed, all of hve goose feathers ; and she knows it, for 
 did she not pluck the geese herself ? The covering of 
 that bed is her own handiwork; the wool of the 
 blankets she spun, the hnen she drew from the 
 distaff, the counterpane of blue and white, with her 
 own name woven into it, she carried to the weaver's 
 herself, and every thread in it she had handled. If 
 there is a quilt, you cannot count the pieces ; but she 
 will tell you the history of every one. But come and 
 see her jewels. Like Cornelia, you must wait till 
 they come in from school or field. They are a splen- 
 did lot, assorted sizes and sexes. GTirls counted in 
 that age as well as boys. They are not a pale, nervous 
 crowd, made up by the French tailor and modiste. 
 They are dressed in hnsey-woolsey or calico and 
 homespun ; and yet they have their simple pleasures, 
 content because they know not the glamour of 
 modem fashionable folly. An occasional spinning- 
 bee, or a husking frolic, or a straw ride, with 
 
Industries of the Home and Farm. 87 
 
 merry corapanions, was enough for them. The 
 mother, however, must make a trip to New York 
 once in a while, to eke out supphes which she can- 
 not find on the farm or at the country store. She 
 wants some Bohea, Merrimac prints, a bit of silk or 
 ribbon, an outfit for the daughter ; and she cannot 
 step on the cars or steamboat, but must ride to Corn- 
 wall and take a sloop. She takes butter and eggs to 
 trade with. She must take mattress and bed-clothes, 
 also provisions. The captain will allow her to boil 
 her kettle over his fire, but otherwise she must care 
 for herself. Neighbors would go in company, and 
 often more than a week would be consumed in sight- 
 seeing and bargaining. Amusing incidents occurred 
 on some of these trips. On one occasion a neighbor 
 was taking a coop of hve chickens by sloop to market. 
 The rats invaded his coops and killed the poultry, 
 whereupon he was very loud in his denunciation, and 
 threatened to scuttle the boat and send the whole con- 
 cern to Davy Jones's locker if the loss was not made up 
 to him. On another of these trips the sloop was 
 becalmed, and the captain said that the women had 
 knit up all his wind. They were pretty sure to widen 
 the realm of experience and thought ; for there were 
 few books and papers then — a Bible, catechism, some 
 old volume of sermons, a novel, and an almanac 
 would comprise the family library. But the trip 
 would bring a book, a new fashion, or some new re- 
 cipe. The Navarino bonnet came in that way, and 
 the pillow-sleeves and the hoops. But it was not 
 till the railroad was laid that modern fashions and 
 conveniences were adopted. Fifty years ago there 
 were but one piano and one pipe-organ in the village. 
 A sewing-machine came about the same time as the 
 
88 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 mowing-machine. It was rade, and soon got out of 
 order. It was handed over to the minister to repair ; 
 for in those days it was said, " What he did not know 
 was not worth knowing." He paid himself for his 
 work by making with it a pair of overalls, and every 
 seam gave way, it being one-threaded. What rapid 
 strides of improvement since ! A house now without 
 a Singer or a Domestic, a piano or an organ, a 
 steam-heater and a bath-room with hot and cold 
 water, is an exception about Monroe. 
 
 If the farmer's wife was such a model of adapta- 
 tion to her sphere, her husband must be no less so. 
 Since 
 
 *' Adam delv'd and Eve span/' 
 
 farming has been not merely one of the most honor- 
 able of vocations, but has required the most of both 
 physical and mental energy. It is not commonly 
 thought so, because in many countries the farmer 
 class are oppressed and so burdened that they have 
 no opportunity to educate themselves or their fami- 
 lies. Then, again. Nature is so beneficent that often 
 a very dull person may be able to " tickle the earth 
 with a hoe and make it laugh a harvest." But here 
 especially there is room for the exercise of the largest 
 intelligence, and the best there is in man. The 
 farmer has to do with soils and fertihzers ; he must 
 bring some knowledge of chemistry to bear on this 
 department. So must he know of plant life, its laws 
 and enemies. He has to do with cattle and other farm 
 stock ; he must be a herdman, and know not merely 
 how to care for these in health, but also in sickness. 
 Then he must be a carpenter, and be able to repair 
 his tools and vehicles, and in these days be a machin- 
 
Industries of the Home and Farm. 89 
 
 ist, for the implements and appliances of the farm 
 are such now that one must know how to manage a 
 lathe, a windmill, a steam-engine, and sometimes a 
 dynamo. Farming is not the dull round of crass igno- 
 rance, or the amusement of elegant leisure. It is 
 worthy the name of a profession. To do it well de- 
 mands a technical education. But some will acquire 
 this without the aid of the college. An observing mind 
 on the farm will gather up facts, elaborate them by 
 experience, and make his deductions so wisely that 
 even the college-bred is compelled to come to him for 
 help. Monroe had a remarkable illustration in one 
 of its sons, the late John H. Knight, who was chosen 
 to take charge of the New Jersey State Farm, under 
 the superintendence of Professor Cook of Rutgers 
 College. John managed that farm for this institu- 
 tion for years with great success, his experimental 
 knowledge being necessary to verify and illustrate 
 the theories and deductions of the books and the 
 class room. 
 
 Mr. Knight returned to his native town to give his 
 neighbors the benefit of the knowledge he had ac- 
 quired, and still further aided the interests of this 
 dairy region by introducing a fine breed of cattle, 
 namely, the belted, or Dutch, breed, realizing what 
 the Monroe farmer has been always studying to find 
 — the ideal milch cow. 
 
 It will be of value to some of our readers to present 
 certain facts in regard to the belted cattle just re- 
 ferred to. I am indebted for the following communi- 
 cation to the Hon. A. B. Hulse : 
 
 "The Hurd Register of the Dutch Belted Cattle Association 
 states as follows : The original Dutch name, still used in Holland, 
 is Lakenfeld cattle ; laken being a sheet to be wound around the 
 
 12 
 
90 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 body of the animal. Their breeding dates back to the seventeenth 
 century, when cattle interests in Holland were in the most thrifty 
 condition, and this type and color, being established by scientific 
 breeding, decidedly the highest attainment ever reached in the 
 science of breeding. The historian Motley has well said, * These 
 are the most wonderful cattle in the world.'" 
 
 They were controlled by the nobihty of Holland, 
 and they are "up to the present time keeping them 
 pure. They are not inclined to sell or part with them. 
 They have a broad band or belt around their body, in 
 white, while the rest of the body is black, making a 
 very beautiful and imposing contrast. They are 
 above the average size, commonly known as business 
 size. The early importers in the United States were 
 D. H. Haight of Groshen, New York, who made three 
 importations ; the Hon. H. Coleman ; and P. T. Bar- 
 num, our national showman. The Haight importa- 
 tions were carefully bred on a farm in Orange County, 
 New York. The noted Holbert and Knight herds 
 were also estabhshed from this importation by careful 
 selection. These famous herds comprise the founda- 
 tion of most of the thoroughbreds in America. Some 
 of the finest specimens of this noted breed, now in 
 this country, are descendants of the late John Knight's 
 herd. He was not an importer, but a breeder of some 
 of the finest specimens of these cattle ever bred in 
 this country. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE DEESS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 THE men wore at the close of the Revolution 
 cocked hat, corded knee-breeches, with stockings 
 and low shoes. These were adorned with buckles at 
 knee and ankle. The wealthy had them of silver, 
 with quaint inscriptions, such as : 
 
 " When money 's low the ring must go ; 
 If that won't do, the buckles too." 
 
 The neckwear was a collar and high black silk or 
 satin stock, that held the head up very prim. The hair 
 was tied in a queue. This, when worn by the school- 
 master, was always a point inviting attack from the 
 average small boy. The vest was flowery, long, and 
 flanked with wide pockets, in which was the inevitable 
 snuff-box, which was constantly offered in compU- 
 ment, and tapped before the delicious powder was ap- 
 plied to the nose. The coat had high collar, and the 
 top-coat long skirts with broad pocket-flaps. One of 
 the elderly ladies said that she remembered seeing one 
 of these old men in such a dress, and as he was a man 
 both of wealth and fine physique, with silver buckles 
 and sometimes a silk dressing-gown, she was much 
 impressed by him. The boy was the man in minia- 
 ture, with modifications ; in many instances the father 
 and older brothers made over. He was a happy boy 
 who was shaken down into his own buckskin trousers 
 to wear the same till they were ready to be cut up 
 
 91 
 
92 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 for foot-ball or top-cord. The summer boy belonged 
 to the barefoot reghnent. It was his dehght to shed 
 his shoes with the first blue-bkd, even though he had 
 to warm his feet on the ground where the cows had 
 lain, inviting her ladyship to rise for his accommoda- 
 tion. A city lady once expressed pity for such a boy, 
 and was about to offer him money to buy shoes, sup- 
 posing it was caused by poverty, but was checked by 
 the remark that he was no waif, but the son of one 
 of the best famihes in Monroe. 
 
 The clothes were usually made in the house, the 
 goods woven sometimes and dyed. Butternut-chips 
 and oak-balls and indigo formed the httle stock of 
 dye-stuffs and gave sufficient variety of tint. The 
 travelling tailor would come at set times with his 
 goose and lap-board, and make up the clothes of the 
 men folks, as they were called. 'Nijah Barton was 
 the travelling newspaper and poet of the time. He 
 would sing of 
 
 " The old brown overcoat and apple-tree buttons." 
 
 For even the buttons were often home-made. The 
 shoes were made by the travelling shoemaker, who 
 came with lap-stone and last. He was a true disciple 
 of St. Crispin, and knew well how to fit the boy with 
 his Monroe ties, and the young man with his first 
 high boots. Copper-toes and patent-leathers were 
 alike unknown then. This sort of trade itineracy 
 was called " whipping the cat." The shoemaker was 
 as full of story and humor as his itinerant co-laborer. 
 
 " Rap, rap, rap ! 
 And he shook his paper cap ; 
 WhUe his lap-stone on his knees 
 Echoed back his ecstacies. " 
 
The Dress of the Olden Time. 93 
 
 The dress of the fairer part of creation we approach 
 with more of self-distrust, — probably may show our- 
 selves as much mystified and perplexed as was Mark 
 Twain when he exchanged satchels with a young 
 lady, and opened hers at his hotel, supposing it was 
 his own. 
 
 " We dressed," said one good dame, " not as we 
 would, but as we could." The working, e very-day 
 garb was a short gown and skirt; a check apron for the 
 kitchen, and a white one if a neighbor happened in. 
 The big chintz sunbonnet was always at hand, to slip 
 on if there was an errand out in the sunlight; for 
 there was the same care then as now to guard the 
 complexion from tan and freckles, particularly on the 
 part of the younger women. " The young girls wore 
 flats," said a dame of seventy, " and we tied them 
 down over our faces, and carried umbrellas to screen 
 us from the sun." No such famiharity from Dan Sol 
 or any of the mascuhne persuasion was permitted till 
 their preordained alter ego came along. One old 
 man said, " I sat up with her to feed some httle pigs 
 that had lost their mother, and when it got kind of 
 tedious I just kissed her because I thought it had 
 never been offered her before." It must always be 
 remembered that the pink sunbonnet shaded eyes as 
 bright and cheeks as soft and fair, with hands as 
 white and hearts that beat beneath the plain white 
 kerchief as warm as any to-day. Then also was 
 there the same love of dress, the same fickleness of 
 fashion. The old attics reveal to-day some of the 
 quaint articles of costume with which the fair dames 
 appeared on state occasions. Here is an enormous 
 bonnet of straw, that would be as unwelcome at the 
 play as some of the modern plumed aureolas. A 
 
94 Chrofdcles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 pair of buckram frames tell the story of pillow- 
 sleeves, big as those a missionary's wife found to 
 contain stuff enough to make her child a dress. 
 Then there were gowns of textures oft as dehcate 
 and tasteful, if not as rich and costly, as now, just as 
 varied in pattern and often far more elaborate in 
 adornment; for much of the lace and other trim- 
 ming was made by their own deft hands, which were 
 seldom idle. It is a mistake to suppose that all the 
 artistic fabrics and forms are modern. Silk-weavers 
 seek the antique for beauty of pattern, and costumers 
 revert to Dolly Varden, Mother Hubbard, Marie-An- 
 toinette, and Madame Pompadour when they want 
 to bring out something to astonish. 
 
 Now and then a bridal dress has survived the 
 wreck of time, recalling a sentiment which in all 
 ages brings out the best that is in human nature. 
 The veil and wreath were then, as now, the bride's pre- 
 rogative. Perhaps a dainty slipper appears, filled once 
 by some fairy foot that perchance has lost its light- 
 ness. But how it once tripped down the stair, amid 
 the shower of rice, that night she went out a young 
 bride! Among these treasures is a tortoise-shell 
 comb, around which the hair was piled in wondrous 
 folds of rich profusion. One little curl of gray re- 
 mains on a remembered face, a relic of former beauty 
 not all yet faded. The engagement rings seldom 
 were of diamond, but a plain circlet of gold, on 
 which sometimes was inscribed the couplet : 
 
 " I hope in time 
 You may be mine." 
 
 The wedding-ring did not often convey a large 
 amount of worldly goods, but it was not the fickle 
 
The Dress of the Olden Time. 95 
 
 bauble of fashion to be shifted with every change of 
 fortune, but taken for better and for worse. The 
 miniatures of the olden time reveal many striking 
 forms and beautiful faces. Perhaps the artist flat- 
 tered them. There were no sun-pictures to bring 
 out the imperfections as in more recent days. But 
 life then was just as real as now, having hke virtues 
 and vices, foibles and follies, cares and pleasures. As 
 we look upon those who have survived them, we are 
 looking as it were upon veterans who have come 
 through many a conflict, or upon craft that have 
 weathered many a storm. We may smile at their 
 weaknesses and quaint ways, but let us think how it 
 will be with ourselves when the next generation 
 shall be retrospecting our age ; bringing out from 
 the attic our old hats and gowns, our stovepipe hats 
 and flower-garden bonnets of all the colors of the 
 rainbow, our stiff collars and pointed shoes. Some 
 day the college professor will show to the students 
 our clumsy steam-engines and dynamos, and the pop- 
 ular lecturer will set the house in a roar with a de- 
 scription of a modern girl whirling through the ave- 
 nues on a bicycle, in bloomer costume. Our boasted 
 triumphs will seem child's play to the twentieth- 
 century savant. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 COURTSHIP AND MAERIAGE. 
 
 W 
 
 E have read in an old album at Monroe the 
 hnes : 
 
 " In vain may old folks scold and watch. 
 And barricade the house ; 
 For surely Love the girls will catch, 
 As cats do catch the mouse." 
 
 — Experience. 
 
 We must not forget that these wrinkled faces and 
 stooping forms were not always thus. A gleaming 
 eye, a snowy curl, some rehc, ribbon, or jewel, re- 
 mind us that there was beauty then, and tender hearts, 
 and hearts to love as well. There were quiet lanes, 
 and narrow bridges over babbling brooks, where was 
 " only room for twa." And bits of romance would 
 find their way even into lives amid these rugged 
 rocks and humble homes. The big fireplace — what a 
 spot to woo and dream and forecast the future ! The 
 very mode of building the fire was an index of the 
 skill of the hands ; the manner in which it burned 
 an omen of the success of the future wife. The re- 
 plenishment of the fuel and the stirring of the coals 
 gave frequent occasion for mutual help and coopera- 
 tion. The very crackle of the chestnut logs gave a 
 name to the pleasant pastime. When the fire ceased 
 
 96 
 
Courtship and Marriage. 97 
 
 to need attention, the youth would get out his jack- 
 knife and whittle ; and if the old man should look in, 
 it would be to see if the whittling ultimated in any 
 useful end. Thus he was carving his own destiny. 
 And the maid would ply her needles and " widden or 
 narrow," take up or drop a stitch, and give her answer 
 to the burning question, according to the form it 
 took, either sock or mitten. Rival lovers would try 
 to sit one another out. A fine horse and buggy or 
 cutter would give opportunity to promote the lover's 
 scheme. With what vim they sang : 
 
 " Jingle, bells ; jingle, bells ; jingle all the way : 
 Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh ! " 
 
 Often it would result in a ride to the parson's, or 
 in a message to bring the parson to her door. 
 
 "I want you to marry me to this 'ere gal," said a 
 swain to the minister. " But you seem to have two ; 
 I can marry you only to one." " Oh, well, come into 
 the parlor and I will tell you which one." The 
 choice was made ; the knot tied. Both knelt with 
 their backs to the man of Grod, the groom disclosing 
 a huge pair of brogans from his overcoat pocket. 
 The ceremony over, he said : " I came away without 
 my pocket-book ; I will settle to-morrow." It is need- 
 less to say to-morrow never came. 
 
 The same minister rode out to a log cabin in the 
 woods, for a similar purpose, and was met at the 
 door by the groom, who was anxious to have the con- 
 tract made as binding as the law allows, and addressed 
 him thus: "Did you bring one of them things! — 
 them, ah — certif 'cat's ! " 
 
 He was assured everything was prepared to per- 
 form the ceremony aright. After some confusion as 
 13 
 
98 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 to their relative places and the proper' answers to be 
 given, they were tied together. Then from the lips 
 of paterfamihas came the query : " Sam, did you 
 settle?" Sam settled; and as the dominie called for 
 his horse, it was said to him : " We would like to 
 have you stay to tea, because we have tea things, but 
 you are in a hurry." The next day they expressed 
 regret that he did not stay, for they had two kinds of 
 cake : gingerbread and biscuit. 
 
 The marriage ceremony was seldom performed in 
 the church at that day, at least in Monroe, but 
 mostly at the home of the bride, or at the house of 
 minister or justice of the peace. When the marriage 
 took place at home, it was an event that excited the 
 whole neighborhood. There were dressmaking and 
 brewing, baking, and general furbishing for weeks. 
 Cook-books and patterns ready cut and marked could 
 not be bought then. The experienced talent of the 
 parish was called in, and many an original trousseau 
 and novel delicacy was the outcome. .When the 
 bride could make her own attire, and her mother 
 cook the entire menu, that was something to boast of. 
 One such feast we recollect, in which there were 
 nine courses, all of home production. 
 
 A wedding party was the scene of great merri- 
 ment, seldom of intemperance. The music was fur- 
 nished by native talent. One of the old dancing- 
 masters was of so serious a turn that he would 
 practise on his viohn and read his Bible at the same 
 time. While a wedding was at its highest, the rude 
 boys would come and serenade the couple with horn 
 and tin pan, which they called "riding skmibleton." 
 Sometimes they proceeded to great extremes, such as 
 placing a stone on top of the chimney, or snatching 
 
Courtship and Marriage. 99 
 
 food from the stove. A sharp lesson was adminis- 
 tered to them once, when the doctor offered them 
 wine in which tartar emetic had been placed. A 
 very sick crowd was laid out on fence and wood-pile. 
 On another occasion they fired a gun just as the 
 ceremony was in progress. The bride nearly fainted. 
 This time the perpetrators were arrested and fined. 
 And yet weddings and skimbletons continue as of 
 yore. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MILLS AND SMITHY. 
 
 THE flour and feed mill was needed almost as soon 
 as the country began to be settled. The primi- 
 tive mill was a private one, consisting of a rude, hol- 
 low stone with a rounded one for pestle. With these 
 the com was pounded as the settlers could learn from 
 their Indian neighbors. The bolting was done with 
 a fan, as in Scripture times. Samp and hominy were 
 the common food at first. But soon there would be 
 a longing on the part of some goodwife for some 
 wheat or rye flour to try her hand upon. We are 
 informed of one of the early settlers who walked to 
 the river and brought home a bag of flour on his 
 back. But it was not long before a flour and grist 
 miU was built in the Clove. In the old records it 
 bears the name of Cunningham's Mill. It was built 
 by some one of the Smith family, for the deeds show 
 that Hophni Smith sold the property to Abner Cun- 
 ningham for £480 in 1788. The latter sold in 1806 
 to Nicholas Knight, yeoman of Smith's Clove. The 
 deed mentions the stone arch of the bridge, a white- 
 oak bush as a monument, the raceway and mill, with 
 house, in lot No. 43 of the Cheesecock Patent. 
 The stump of a white-oak tree is on the south side of 
 the highway to-day. 
 
 100 
 
Mills and Smithy. 101 
 
 The machinery of this mill was mostly of wood. 
 The bolting was done by hand. An old musket was 
 found in the mill, which Daniel Knight undertook to 
 take apart, when the load exploded and injured his 
 eyesight. He was conducting a customer down to 
 the basement when the old man fell. Mr. Knight 
 said: "Did you miss the steps?" He replied: "I 
 missed the top one, but I hit all the rest." A saw- 
 mill stood a little west of the grist-mill, and most of 
 the timber of the neighborhood was sawed there. 
 The old dam gave way in a freshet while owned by 
 Daniel and Jeremiah Knight, but was rebuilt with 
 greater strength. 
 
 When it came into possession of Chauncey B. 
 Knight the mill was entirely renovated. The wooden 
 machinery was taken out, and the latest improve- 
 ments, even a new wheel, introduced. But the 
 water-power was soon found to be inadequate to the 
 increased dimension of the wheel and heavier ma- 
 chinery, especially in a dry time. This led its owner 
 to build a steam-mill in the village near the depot, 
 which has done its work for more than a quarter of 
 a century, and under the management of Messrs. 
 Chas. Knight and G-eo. R. Conklin is doing yeoman 
 service to-day. The scene now is very different from 
 the mill scenes of seventy years ago, when the 
 farmer's boy came on an ambling nag, with a bag of 
 grain divided for a saddle, and the plethoric ends 
 swinging on either side. The dusty miller, after nag- 
 ging him, helps unload and swing the grist within 
 his dusty domain, and then proceeds to toll it before it 
 is emptied into the hopper. Now the farmer drives up 
 with sturdy team, weighs it on the platform scale, 
 himself with it, and straightway loads a ton or two 
 
102 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 of reed, weighs, drives off and fills his bins at home, 
 from which he feeds his splendid herd with the inde- 
 pendence of a lord of the manor. 
 
 It is related that a portly yeoman expressed some 
 surprise that his loaded wagon weighed so much 
 more than he expected. " Oh ! " said his httle grand- 
 son, " Grandpa, yon forget yon were in the wagon, 
 and weighed yourself." 
 
 Another well-remembered mill near Monroe village 
 was the old fulling-mill. It stood on the bank of 
 the Outlet Brook, near the mill-pond. It was the 
 property of Nicholas and afterwards of Daniel Knight. 
 The history of its acquisition is worthy of record. 
 According to the deed, Philadelphia Cock sold to 
 Nicholas Knight her one-half dower right in the 
 property — the fulling-mill- and house and 181 acres 
 of land — for the consideration of five shillings. No 
 doubt there must have been some unexplained encum- 
 brance assumed by the purchaser. 
 
 Now this mill, after running many years, was over- 
 hauled and put in order by the late Horace Hall. 
 Although he had no previous experience, he repaired 
 it and acquired therefrom a reputation for hke work 
 throughout the neighborhood. He lived to tell of it 
 until recently, when he died, September 8, 1892, in his 
 eighty-fourth year. 
 
 It is often asked by the present generation. Of 
 what use is a fulhng-mill, and what is the process 
 of fuUing? 
 
 The wool, after shearing and washing, was brought 
 hither by the good dame who had no conveniences at 
 home, nor sufficient skiU, and was further cleansed, 
 bleached, and carded by great cylindrical cards into 
 rolls. It was then ready for spinning, and skilled 
 
Mills and Smithy. 103 
 
 housewives preferred to do this with their own deft 
 hands, spinning-wheels being necessary furniture 
 of every well-regulated household. But sometimes 
 circumstances rendered it expedient to have the 
 subsequent processes finished at the mill. It was 
 then woven into cloth or blankets, rolls of flan- 
 nel, or coverlets, which were then put into troughs with 
 fuller's earth or suds and soaked and pounded, then 
 hung on frames with tenter-hooks and dried. When 
 it had been thus cleansed and shrunk, it was folded 
 and laid on an iron table, with a heavy iron plate laid 
 on the cloth, while a powerful screw pressed the 
 plates together until the material had every drop of 
 moisture pressed out of it and was ready for the 
 draper and tailor. 
 
 This was an important industry in the early days, 
 when the shears and knitting-needles were common 
 implements, and great factories and merchant tailors 
 were unknown. 
 
 The old house that belonged to the fulling-mill is 
 still standing, just beyond the road across the pond. 
 That road was not there in the days of the mill, but 
 was built about 1858. 
 
 The Seamanville mill is an old one. It belonged 
 to Daniel Miller, who is remembered as the person 
 who gave the land on which the old Presbyterian 
 church stood, and the present bui'ial-ground. It had 
 been owned and operated many years by Charles 
 Turner, son of the late Peter Turner. The mill had 
 the reputation of grinding very fine flour. There 
 were a sawmill and distillery on the Still Brook, some 
 of the timbers of which, or the dam^ can still be seen. 
 So at Turners there was an old sawmill, and after- 
 wards a grist-mill. 
 
104 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Highland Mills and Tannery have been in posses- 
 sion of the Cromwell family many years, and have 
 given name and business to the Lower Clove. 
 
 Other mills might be mentioned, as, for instance, 
 the fishing-rod and tackle factory of the Messrs. 
 Hall, and the iron bedstead factory at Sonthfield. 
 Few parts of the country are more favored than this 
 old town with water-power and desirable mill-seats. 
 
 The blacksmith was an important individual in a 
 rural community, even in very early times. The 
 plow had to be shod, tools had to be made; for 
 there were no great factories in those days to turn 
 out tools by steam. The country smith made the 
 hoes and coulters and axes, often the carving-knife and 
 chisel. In such a stony country the horses and even 
 the oxen must be shod. The shop stood by some 
 cross-road to catch customers, and was a mere shanty, 
 but the resort of many a traveller and neighbor. 
 They come with broken wagons and shoeless horses, 
 and as they stand under the grimy shed about the 
 glimmering forge their voices are heard above the 
 ringing anvils and the puffing bellows. Not seldom 
 are important questions of town politics and social 
 ethics settled here. One of Rogers' groups repre- 
 sents the sturdy smith illustrating a siege in which 
 he took part, the parallels of approach- being drawn 
 in the scales and dust at the foot of his anvil. 
 
 We remember that when our village geologist visited 
 the shop of William Hudson he discoursed learnedly 
 about oxygen and hydi'Ogen. But the man of the 
 leathern apron said, " He need not talk to me about 
 his oxygen and cowdrogen, for I do not believe in 
 them." But he did know how to make an ax or 
 adz, and Hudson's tools were the best in the market. 
 
Mills and Smithy. 105 
 
 He could also shape and temper a penknife blade. 
 He had never heard of the spectroscope, yet he 
 would watch the play of color when he was forging 
 an axe, as the color changed from straw to pink and 
 pink to blue, and when the desired tint was reached 
 out he would snatch it and plunge it into oil or water, 
 and produce a choice tool, while he did not pretend 
 to any scientific explanation of the process. He 
 died of apoplexy, in the height of his usefulness. 
 
 Cortland Rumsey, of Turners, was another skilled 
 workman of the forge. He could repair even so deli- 
 cate an instrument as a watch. 
 
 He also, like many others, felt the hand of 
 Death, before whom the strong bow themselves, while 
 the fairest wither like the flowers of spring touched 
 by the frost. 
 
 14 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 INNKEEPING. 
 
 AMONGr the earliest avocations was that of keep- 
 jl\. ing houses of piibUc entertainment. Their 
 evolution has been the reverse of some others. The 
 ancient caravansary became a hostelry ; that, a cof- 
 fee-house ; then a tavern ; and that a saloon, where 
 only liquors are drunk and drunkards made. At 
 that stage the publican becomes the synonym of sin- 
 ner. But in the early settlement of the country, or 
 before it was settled, and when modes of travel were 
 primitive, there was a necessity for houses of enter- 
 tainment where the traveller could stop and rest his 
 beast and refresh himself. If there was a bar, it 
 was because every one used liquor freely, not even 
 excepting the minister. People travelled then on 
 horseback, or by private conveyance, or by stage- 
 coach, which had its regular routes, canying, besides 
 passengers, the United States mail. Wherever it 
 was convenient for such to stop for rest or change 
 of teams, a hostelry would spring up. All the way 
 from New York, on the great stage route, were such 
 places of entertainment. The Clove was a good 
 day's journey from the city. Starting from Hoboken 
 in the morning, travellers would find it convenient to 
 rest, after fifty miles, at Monroe village ; hence the 
 importance of its hotels. There was one at the old 
 or upper village very early. This old hostelry, ac- 
 
 106 
 
Innheeping. 107 
 
 cording to Homo, was presided over at different 
 times by Brewster Tuthill, Isaac Van Duzer, Peter 
 Ball, Daniel Vail, Sylvester G-regory, and Hophni 
 Smith. Town meetings and elections were held at 
 the old tavern, and many were the questions outside 
 the ballot-box which were settled in blood between the 
 athletes of the Upper and Lower Cloves and South- 
 field. It would be deemed a very tame election in 
 which three or foiu* of these contests did not occur. 
 It had, for a sign, two men ; some said it represented 
 Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton shaking hands, 
 something that modern bruisers do before they fight, 
 but it is more likely it was the landlord welcoming his 
 guest. When Monroe moved to its present site the 
 hotel went with it, and was kept in the Wilham Sea- 
 man house. Here the old stage would rumble up 
 with the sound of bugle, and while the obsequious 
 landlord would help out the dust-covered passenger, 
 boots would snatch bandbox and bundle, horses 
 would be changed, the mails be dehvered, and the 
 whole place be agog. All are curious to see the 
 strangers and learn the news. There are some 
 anxious faces, parents inquiring after absent sons, 
 friends asking in regard to an accident or battle, 
 lovers looking for letters; but the scene takes on 
 more humorous coloring as Jehu jokes with the 
 boys, or flirts with the barmaid ; or the old bar-room 
 loungers come up to be treated by some politician 
 seeking votes. John Van Buren came thus to 
 Monroe, and apologized for pubhc drinking to the 
 tavern loungers, much to their amusement. The 
 Monroe Hotel was first kept by De Witt McGarrah ; 
 afterwards, at the newer site, by John Goff. It was 
 here, in 1854, at a Fourth of July celebration, that the 
 
108 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 toast was given, " The Monroe doctrine, the doctrine 
 of Monroe." 
 
 Another hotel stood where the Grranite House now 
 is. This was kept by the father of David Lynch. 
 It had a sign painted by a wandering artist, repre- 
 senting on one side a high-stepping horse, elegantly 
 caparisoned, and ridden by a neatly dressed rider, 
 who, on the air proceeding from his mouth, says, 
 " Am going to law." On the reverse is the same 
 horse, spavined and starved, while the man walks be- 
 side, saying, "I have been to law." It probably told the 
 experience of mine host, as of many others. This 
 sign was such a curiosity that visitors were usually 
 taken thither to see this work of an old master. 
 
 There was another hotel at the other end of the 
 village, to intercept the traveller from the other di- 
 rection. It stood where Alfred Carpenter's house 
 stands. It is related that the lazy landlord would 
 send a boy to lead a traveller's horse up and down 
 the scrub-oaks when he wanted him curried. There 
 were plenty of such curry-combs in those parts then. 
 It is also related that a lady and her daughter were 
 riding from church on horseback ; they took refuge 
 from a shower under the hotel shed; when the 
 young lady looked down upon her white dress, what 
 was her disgust to see it covered with fleas ! We 
 are glad to say substantial dwellings and happy 
 homes occupy all these sites now. Other routes 
 through the Clove had places of entertainment well 
 known at the time ; such, for instance, as the hotels 
 of John Coffey, George Wilkes, John Galloway, and 
 M. Dickerman. 
 
 These were on the lower road, the grand route to 
 Newburg and the river towns. Through this beau- 
 tiful valley rumbled the Albany coaches, carrying 
 
Innheeping. 109 
 
 many a celebrity of the State, army, and society. 
 But now all is changed, the splendid trains of the 
 Erie Railway sweeping back and forth, bearing 
 freight and passengers, like the countless corpuscles 
 of an artery, to the great life centres beyond. Nor 
 would a history of public entertainment be complete 
 without mention of Peter Turner, who had the fore- 
 sight to perceive that the Erie Road would have to 
 pass through the Clove, and would need an eating- 
 station within fifty miles of New York ; hence his 
 choice of the location now called by his name. Here 
 he had a sawmill first, then erected a grist-mill ; 
 afterwards he built the hotel at the bottom of the 
 hill. His restaurant was well known by every trav- 
 eller, and was famed for its coffee and crullers. This 
 afterwards developed into the splendid Orange Hotel, 
 which was under railroad management, the moving 
 spirit of which was the late James Turner, son of 
 Peter Turner. This fine structure was burned, and 
 the old hotel and restaurant recovered their ancient 
 and unrivalled fame. 
 
 The late George Goff informed me that his father, 
 Michael Groff, kept a house of entertainment on the 
 old Bloomingdale road, just out of New York, before 
 he moved to Central Valley ; and that Thomas Addis 
 Emmet, the Irish patriot, when banished, was enter- 
 tained by him. The best rooms were given up to 
 him and his suite. Mine host and his family took 
 the rooms over the stables. George Goff was born 
 during the time, " hke his Master," as he used to say, 
 "in a stable." Michael Goff afterwards removed to 
 Central Valley, where his son John Goff was born, 
 who bought the hotel at Monroe, one of the best- 
 known in the county. He married Phoebe, the sister 
 of Peter Turner, but left no children to succeed him 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MEECHANDIZING. 
 
 ANOTHER occupation early in vogue was that of 
 -^jL mercliandizing ; first the peddler came through, 
 hke Harvey Birch, with his pack of wares. He 
 would spread out his trinkets and gaudy kerchiefs 
 to captivate the servant, with tapes and needles, a 
 tablecloth or dress pattern, for mistress, a jackknife 
 for the boy, or " specs " for the old man. There was 
 more of respectabihty about it then. Indeed, in the 
 old country the peddler was the Christian colpor- 
 teur, conveying secretly the sacred classics to Swiss 
 chalets nesthng in deep glens or on dizzy crags. The 
 coming of the travelhng merchant was always wel- 
 come, and was rewarded with rest and refreshment. 
 But as wants multiply, something more permanent 
 and expensive is needed ; hence the country store. 
 Look in on its bewildering variety of goods. You 
 can hardly get in, for the boxes and samples of vege- 
 tables and fruits. Your progress is impeded within 
 by cases of shoes and enormous boots. There are 
 showcases containing all sorts of ribbons, laces, em- 
 broideries, with all those little dainty things called 
 notions by the fairer part of creation. Vis-a-vis with 
 them is another, catering to coarser tastes : full of pipes 
 
 110 
 
Merchandizing. Ill 
 
 and snuff -boxes, cigars and tobacco, colored sticks of 
 candy and bull's-eyes. Gaudy prints adorn the coun- 
 ters on one side, while the shelves are plethoric with 
 textures to suit every age and taste, from overalls 
 for father to pinafore for " sis " ; from a lawn for the 
 bride to a scarf for the dominie. In battle array, on 
 the other side, are all sorts of hardware, from a 
 sickle to a razor, a monkey-wrench to a carpet- tack. 
 Further on are gi'oceries, wet and dry : tea, coffee, 
 molasses, vinegar, starch, candles, sugar, bacon, cod- 
 fish, and mackerel. Overhead are all descriptions 
 of tinware and bits of sheet-iron for stovepipe, for 
 the merchant must do some of the work of the tinker. 
 Harness and saddles and horse-blankets are for sale 
 till the harness-maker comes. Then there are seeds 
 and bulbs and plants ; often hay and feed. What a 
 medley of smells, particularly in the cellar, where are 
 the cheese and butter, fish and pork, and oils for 
 paint or illumination! 
 
 The store is an attractive place in a country vil- 
 lage. Women come to shop, but men love to sit on 
 the barrels and talk and smoke, or eat crackers and 
 cheese. All the petty happenings of the village are 
 brought to hght and discussed. One old man de- 
 clared that he could not stub his toe behind the barn, 
 or his old cat have kittens, but some one would re- 
 port it. 
 
 When Mr. Goff fell into his well, he bet that before 
 he was dry some one would report it. 
 
 When political campaigns were rife, discussions 
 would run high, and sharp words be spoken. On 
 one occasion two neighbors were discussing some 
 
 question ; one of them said : " You lie under a 
 
 mistake." At first the other was ready for a blow ; 
 
112 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 but when he heard the entire sentence he relented, 
 saying : " Next time I want you to put your words a 
 httle closer together." We recollect a man from the 
 mountain coming in and asking if the merchant had 
 any superb cheese. Just then a young man burst 
 into a laugh. " Who is he ? " said the irate customer. 
 When informed he said : " He is a pusillanimous 
 poor creetur'." A young druggist came to town and 
 started business. He was inchned to be somewhat 
 stilted in phraseology, and would talk of things in 
 juxtaposition. Stepping into a store where the late 
 Matthew B. Swezey was busy, he inquired what he 
 was doing. He replied : " I am extracting the sugar 
 from this barrel, and it is so contiguous to the bot- 
 tom of the barrel, I am rather ambiguous whether I 
 can extricate it." A pebble was handed me by one 
 who had read a little of Lyell or Hitchcock, and an 
 answer desired as to its nature. I described it as a 
 water- washed pebble of milky quartz, veined with 
 graywacke. "You 're mistaken," said he; "it is the 
 petrified fruit of the Lepidodendron." One of the 
 merchants had sent up a pattern of rather gaudy vel- 
 veteen to the house of a Friend, for what was called 
 a waistcoat. Next day his wife returned it, with the 
 remark that it was not comely, as it was " all vanity 
 and moss." " I want some Merrimac calico," said a 
 lady. Several pieces were exhibited. She astonished 
 the salesman by saying : " You call it Merrimac, but 
 I '11 guarantee it was made in this country." One even- 
 ing, when a store was closed, the frequenters of the 
 store brought out a pack of cards and began to play. 
 They were regarded then with such holy horror, that 
 they were played clandestinely, as the very work of 
 the devil. On the occasion referred to the minister 
 
Merchandizing. 113 
 
 visited the store rather late. Seeing a light, he en- 
 tered, when, lo ! the contraband was out of sight, nor 
 would have been suspected, had not one of the old 
 gentlemen naively said : " Well, you nearly ketched 
 the boys playing kiards ! " 
 
 The early groceryman sold hquor from his store. 
 Before the temperance reform it was customary so 
 to do. Nor was it a small part of their trade. Then 
 it was considered necessary to take a drop of some- 
 thing for every ailment and almost every stage of 
 duty. The nurse must wash the baby in it ; the old 
 man must take it for his nightcap. The harvesters 
 must have it in the field. The goodwif e must have a 
 little to keep off the megrims, and even the minis- 
 ter did not refuse what he called spiritual refresh- 
 ment. It is not strange to find, upon looking over 
 some of the old books, the frequent repetition of 
 such items as " N. E. Rum, Apple-jack, Brandy and 
 Cider." These, with tobacco, were the largest pur- 
 chases of some of the mountaineers and miners. 
 Whenever there was a little balance over, it used to be 
 said that they took it out in these poisons. But time 
 has wrought a change for the better, and a corner 
 grocery for the sale of liquor belongs to the regions 
 of barbarism or caricature. 
 
 The first store in Monroe was at the upper village, 
 and was kept by Timothy Little, who married a 
 daughter of Rev. Mr. Baldwin. His successors were 
 Griffen and Yyle, with Matthew B. Swezey for clerk. 
 When business forsook the upper village and settled 
 around the present site, John McGrarrah built the 
 hotel for his son De Witt, and a storehouse for 
 himself. 
 
 It is an interesting fact in regard to the father of 
 15 
 
114 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 John McGrarrah and great-grandfatlier of Messrs. 
 Theodore and Eugene, that he was a member of the 
 State legislature when the Erie Canal bill was before 
 that body, and that he voted for the bill. But for 
 that enlightened act he was burned in ef&gy by his 
 political opponents ! 
 
 On the opposite corner was the store of Matthew 
 B. Swezey, who sold out to Chauncey B. Knight, 
 the former continuing as his clerk. 
 
 Grates W. McGarrah built a store at the further 
 end of the village, where, in 1843, he conducted busi- 
 ness till 1847, when he died, much respected as a 
 merchant and beloved by friends. 
 
 Henry Bertholf succeeded him, and he was suc- 
 ceeded by the sons of Mr. Gates McGrarrah, Theodore 
 and Eugene, who conducted the store in partnership 
 for many years ; it at last closing out with the latter, 
 February, 1896. 
 
 Chauncey B. Knight built the brick store on the 
 railroad corner in 1853, and occupied it until 1858, 
 when he moved across the track and entered upon the 
 railroad business. William S. Howell succeeded him. 
 He took Jesse Strong in partnership. Manning F. 
 Ten Eyck and Horace Swezey were clerks. B. 
 F. Montanye succeeded. Afterward the store was 
 burned, and two handsome brick stores took its place, 
 one built by Geo. B,eed, the other by G. W. Conk- 
 lin. These became, respectively, a drug-store and a 
 store for general merchandise. The drug-store was 
 burned, but has since been rebuilt, making altogether 
 a noble block. 
 
 In the latter building are offices and lodge-rooms, 
 toilet-room, and water-power for different uses. The 
 department store of Paddlef ord & Co. is on the main 
 floor. 
 
Merchandizing. 115 
 
 Tlie moving spirit of this last enterprise is Geo. R. 
 Conklin, who with Chas. T. Knight has a feed-store 
 and steam-mill opposite, where from that centre they 
 manage branch estabUshments at Chester, Groshen, 
 Warwick, and Vernon in a neighboring State ; while 
 they advise with two of Monroe's sons in like busi- 
 ness at Florida, N. Y. Thus this little village has 
 wide-awake business men and appliances. Gilbert 
 Carpenter, also on the diagonal corner, not to be out- 
 done, has placed in his feed-store a telephone ex- 
 change plant by which a dozen neighbors can not 
 merely send orders, but converse privately together, 
 even playing over a piece of music or detailing a bit 
 of domestic news. Soon he expects to extend his 
 hne so as to take in the wide, wide world. 
 
 William Bertholf has his tin and stove store, but 
 from it also go out the wires of the Postal Telegraph, 
 operated by his brother Frank. 
 
 Thus Monroe is true to its antecedents, and follows 
 up the footprints and spirit of the scientific minds of 
 the olden time. 
 
 Henry Mapes dealt out drugs for many years, but 
 has taken up business of a nature more grave. 
 
 John Gregory is worthy of mention. He is the 
 only surviving merchant of the ancient past. He is 
 upwards of eighty years of age, and conducted the har- 
 ness business more than fifty years ago in the upper 
 part of the village. About 1870 he built a fine store 
 and dwelling nearer the railroad, and there has re- 
 sided since. His son Lester has changed the busi- 
 ness, but his venerable father now alone wends his 
 way to post-offi.ce and church, to find in this last, 
 as of yore, the rest that comes to the weary. We 
 could speak of others, younger, but they must wait 
 until some new historian is born. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 
 
 THE earliest mention of a school in Monroe is of 
 one held in the Presbyterian Church building at 
 Seamanville. After that a log school-house was 
 built just west of the church. John Brooks went 
 to school here. Kinney McManus was the master, 
 and he was a weaver by trade. He knew how to ply 
 the shuttle of education as well, and fasten at least 
 the three R's into the texture of the child mind. 
 Here oui' poet and philosopher got his first start in 
 education. The stone school-house followed, built 
 of Houser iron-stone, a peculiar rock of this vicinage, 
 well adapted for the purpose, because the irrepres- 
 sible jackknife could make no impression upon it. 
 Hiram Dean, or Danes, is remembered by some when 
 a dreadful wen had di'iven him into retirement to a 
 little cabin on Ryder Hill. He was a man of limited 
 education, but a good penman. John Brooks was 
 one of the teachers there ; also his brother Fletcher. 
 The former prided himself, next to scholarship, upon 
 the art of making a quill pen. James Cromwell and 
 John also wielded the sceptre here; also Simpson 
 and O'Strander, David Lynch and Andrew Van 
 Valer, McCullough and Brewster Tuthill. These 
 were followed by Murray, of whom the wits said : 
 
 116 
 
Schools and Education. 117 
 
 "Nothing was made in vain, since Murray could 
 sing." 
 
 The teacher of that day, said one of them," ferruled 
 the scholars, mended pens, set copies, and made his ink 
 of white-oak bark, at the close of the school." He 
 boarded around, and collected his own dues — namely, 
 $12 a month. The school-house was heated by a 
 fireplace. An incident is remembered of the cotton 
 clothing of a little girl taking fire, after which the 
 teacher requested the parents to dress their children 
 in woolen clothes. The text-books were the Eng- 
 hsh " Reader," DaboU's " Arithmetic " and " Colum- 
 bian Orator," and Murray's " Grammar." We have 
 forgotten to mention that he said the teacher would 
 sometimes thresh out several shocks of rye, to eke 
 out a UveHhood and keep his hand in good trim for 
 disciphne. 
 
 Education at that day was compulsory in a differ- 
 ent sense from the present. The master's sceptre 
 was the ferrule, — a rod bound at the end with a ring 
 of iron, — hence called a ferrule, from ferrum^ iron. 
 
 The iron-stone of the school-house was significant, 
 and a type of the ages. Here the hues of Goldsmith 
 well apply : 
 
 " There, in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule, 
 The village master taught his little school. 
 A man severe he was, and stern to view ; 
 I knew him well, and every truant knew. " 
 
 Playing truant was not uncommon in days when 
 education was made so dreary, and was punished 
 with severity. The swimming-pool, the orchard and 
 the woods offered great temptations to the little pris- 
 oners. On the other hand, the hill and toboggan- 
 
118 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 slide and the ball-game had their counter attractions, 
 and many a jolly carnival had the boys and girls to- 
 gether, raising shouts that made the very welkin ring. 
 
 Among them were scholars who caught a gUmpse 
 of the value of education, and prized the book more 
 than the ball. Despite the obstacles that lie along 
 the path of learning, nevertheless, they scaled its 
 heights and enrolled their names in the Temple of 
 Fame. The teacher often had as thorny a road as 
 the scholar. When he had to board out his little 
 stipend he sometimes had hard fare. One we knew 
 was forced to take up his quarters in a log barn, and 
 was tormented all night long by the serenading of the 
 cats that haunted the place. Some made themselves 
 at home anywhere, careful, however, to select the 
 good places, where they were quick to find the apple- 
 bin, nut-closet, and cider-barrel. 
 
 Nor was he slow to learn the good qualities of the 
 farmer's daughter, and by and by come and claim 
 her for his bride. 
 
 When the district grew larger there was a demand 
 for more room. Then they rose up and built a new 
 school-house, a few rods further south. This time 
 they chose wood for the material. They set it on 
 the roadside, far from the temptation of brook or 
 orchard, and where the milk- wagon could easily pick 
 them up at the close of school. They put a belfry on 
 it, but hung no bell. The oaken benches of the old 
 school-house were exchanged for seats and desks 
 suited to the sizes of the children. But the ABC 
 was still often driven in like nails, as the children 
 sung, and one of the pupils who was polished off 
 there testifies. 
 
 But mental, like vital, force is invincible, and out 
 
Schools and Education. 119 
 
 of this institute, as one of the teachers dignified it, 
 graduated a goodly company who have done brave 
 work in many walks of life. A remnant of these 
 call themselves " the old school," and deUght to meet 
 occasionally and recall the episodes of school life 
 over the historic cup "that cheers but not inebri- 
 ates." The teachers of this day, too, were strong, 
 enthusiastic, and made the best of the imperfect ap- 
 pliances and methods of the time. At the head we 
 place the name of Brewster Tuthill, a man of strong 
 individuahty and iron will, who would brook no 
 drones in his little hive. 
 
 Among the many who taught in that school-house 
 was one who, in the judgment of one of his pupils, 
 excelled them all. This was the Rev. John J. Thomp- 
 son, pastor of the Presbyterian church. He taught 
 five days in the week, and preached on the Sabbath. 
 His pupil says : " As a teacher he could not be ex- 
 celled; as a man, noble, pure, unselfish, living only 
 for the good of others. He was the type of a perfect 
 Christian gentleman." 
 
 Daniel Hallock held the post for a number of 
 years, — a man severe, but skilled to rule. Neil Camp- 
 bell brought the fervor of the " canny Scot " to his 
 task, loved his profession, and let his benevolent 
 heart and hand reach to the poor during the plague 
 of the cholera. He exchanged the teacher's vocation 
 for that of merchant, married one of his pupils, and 
 died early. Mr. Hawkhurst made companions of his 
 pupils, took part in their skirmishes and sports, yet 
 maintained all the dignity and authority of the 
 master, and so was reckoned a successful teacher. 
 He afterwards entered the ministry of the Methodist 
 Church. 
 
120 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Our friend George K. Smith brought the experi- 
 ence of the farm into school hfe and estabhshed a 
 reputation as a skilful instructor, securing for him- 
 self the position of school commissioner, which he 
 held for a number of years. He was playfully called 
 Harvey Birch, because during the later years of peda- 
 gogic life " the law of love outlived the rusted rod." 
 With him teaching was not a stepping-stone to some- 
 thing more lucrative, but he pursued his profession 
 till he entered the shade of honorable retirement and 
 cheery companionship, in a beautiful home near the 
 scene of his toils. 
 
 Mr. Baker will also be remembered among the 
 teachers of this time, from the circumstance of the 
 change of his name to Knickerbocker, by the State 
 legislature, for personal reasons. 
 
 After a while (1857) the district outgrows the yel- 
 low school-house, and the demand comes for more 
 room. Then occurs one of those disturbances of the 
 public mind which always attends the discussion of 
 the question of a new school-house. Some want the 
 old enlarged; others want the old rebuilt on the 
 same site. Villagers want it in the village; some 
 are afraid of the gardens and the noise, and would 
 see it as far away as possible. The stone-age people 
 want it of stone; the wooden, of wood. A compro- 
 mise was effected after a stormy time. A lot was 
 bought from the Presbyterian Church, on condition 
 of building a fence between the lots. The posts 
 were set, nothing further done. The lower story of 
 the building was built of stone, to please the stone- 
 age people, and the upper story of wood, to satisfy 
 the others. The abecedarians were under the care 
 of a lady teacher below, and the grammar classes 
 
Schools and Education. 121 
 
 were upstairs, under the care of a male teacher, who 
 was also principal. The method of education takes 
 a stride forward now. It is more analytical. As 
 one of the teachers said, " I teach my scholars to tear 
 sentences all to pieces and get at their construction 
 and meaning." It is now more of a system of edu- 
 cation, drawing from the mind what it knows. In 
 other words, it is taught how to think, the point at 
 which true learning begins. A wide-awake teacher 
 named Kane marked this period of transition from 
 the old to the new. Mr. Robert F. Todd succeeded 
 him. He was a most thorough educator and dis- 
 ciplinarian. He married Miss Louisa McGrarrah, 
 entered mercantile business, and has since died. 
 Mr. Greorge N. Greene was a teacher much beloved. 
 One of his favorite phrases for the profession was 
 that of " mental gunnery," or " teaching the young 
 idea how to shoot." He married Miss Mary Ann 
 Seaman, and entered a partnership with her father, 
 WiUiam Seaman, in mercantile business in the village. 
 
 Myron D. Stewart succeeded Mr. Greene, and left 
 a good record both as a man and teacher. He pos- 
 sessed considerable individuality, mental force and 
 magnetism. He was a good disciplinarian, and yet 
 his scholars loved him. His patriotism was very 
 marked during the troublous times of the Civil War. 
 He was called to be principal of one of the Middle- 
 town, N. Y., schools, where he died at his post at an 
 early age, and loftiest tributes were paid his memory 
 by pupils and comrades of his profession as well as 
 his pastors. 
 
 Then a candidate for the school, although a grad- 
 uate of Yale, was refused, on account of his juvenile 
 appearance ; Mr. Kirby was chosen, although he was 
 16 
 
122 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 still more youtMul. He disappointed none. He, 
 after years of service here, was made professor at 
 Cornell, and sometime was geologist to the Emperor 
 of Brazil. 
 
 Mr. Owen enlivened his instructions with the pop- 
 ular college songs, and stepped from the birch to the 
 quill, becoming editor of the " Fishkill Journal." 
 
 Mr. M. N. Kane was one of the most thorough and 
 efficient of these teachers, a great enthusiast in his 
 school work, and winning the encomiums of many pa- 
 trons. He afterwards studied law and entered upon 
 a large law practice in this village and in Warwick. He 
 showed his appreciation of Monroe by wedding one 
 of the former pupils of the school. Miss Emma Boyd. 
 Mr. Arthur Knox followed his example by marrying 
 Miss Sarah Charlton, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Frank Charlton. He, too, did excellent work as prin- 
 cipal of Monroe Academy. He afterwards studied 
 law, but preferred the profession of teaching, which 
 he has followed at the city of Binghamton, N. Y., 
 with honor and success. 
 
 Mr. N. B. Chase was very highly esteemed as an 
 accomplished teacher. After his term here he took 
 charge of a school at Cornwall, N. Y., where his long 
 continuance shows rare staying quahties. 
 
 Mr. J. D. Brownell was a scholar of winning mod- 
 esty but high scholarship. He afterwards taught at 
 Chester, N. Y., and turned his attention to the study 
 of medicine, and is reported to have a good practice 
 in Brooklyn. 
 
 Mr. A. Magoris must not be forgotten. After a 
 splendid record as teacher, he studied medicine and 
 became a specialist in his profession, giving atten- 
 tion especially to the ear and eye. His office is at 
 Binghamton, N. Y. 
 
Schools and Education. 123 
 
 The Academy had also many lady teachers who 
 are held in high esteem — namely, Miss Mary Ann 
 Seaman, afterwards Green; Miss Elizabeth Boyd, 
 afterwards Still ; Miss Elizabeth Webb, afterwards 
 McGarrah ; Miss Elsie Currington, afterwards Smith ; 
 Miss Mary E. Knight, afterwards Conkhn ; Miss Carrie 
 Conkhn ; and Miss Sarah Howell, who held her posi- 
 tion as principal of the primary department for an 
 unexampled term of years, thus showing her ability 
 not merely to be content, but to please. Many are 
 the graduates of the school to-day who hold her in 
 loving remembrance, and are grateful to her for 
 teaching them not merely how to navigate the sea of 
 science, but to honor the needle in the home hfe. 
 She emulated the example of Dorcas in having her 
 class make up comforts for the poor. She thus 
 showed that she had the right view of education, 
 namely, not merely teaching the three R's, but char- 
 acter-building, fitting them for this workaday world 
 of want and suffering. 
 
 Now, in the year 1884, after the usual agitation, it 
 was resolved to abandon the old stone and wooden 
 structure and build a new one out on Main street, 
 on the breezy hill north of the village. The new 
 building is of comely architecture, commodious, well 
 equipped with convenient class and assembly rooms, 
 handsome furniture, and every appliance necessary 
 for the present improved methods of education. It 
 is well lighted, heated, and ventilated. It has been 
 elevated to the rank of a Union Graded Academy, 
 and attracts pupils from surrounding districts. Its 
 principal, Eichenberg, is one who achieved distinc- 
 tion in one of the schools of the old town, namely, 
 Turners, and therefore may be supposed to be almost 
 " to the manner born." He has an accomphshed staff 
 
124 Chronicles of Moyiroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 of lady educators, worthy successors of those re- 
 cently mentioned, keeping up the reputation of Mon- 
 roe for a desire to reach a high standard of education. 
 An interesting ceremony of dedication was held, in 
 which the clergy and prominent citizens took part. 
 
 One of the speakers said, " Let us call it the Tem- 
 ple of the Wingless Victory ; for as at Athens it was 
 said, Wisdom is now come to stay, and laid aside her 
 wings. And so they built to her the little temple 
 that hears that name on Mars Hill." 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PHYSIC AND PHYSICIANS. 
 
 THE Indians had their medicine-men, a strange 
 mixture of empiricism and superstition. They 
 did know the virtues of many herbs, and so far as 
 this part of their pharmacopoeia was concerned, the 
 practice based upon it was of value in the absence of 
 more scientific knowledge. When the white man 
 came, he had the same need, and even more, for the 
 healing art. Bringing no physician with him, and 
 remote from any, he would have recourse to the 
 Indian to learn the names and uses of the herbs 
 about him, and, if observing, would bring to his aid 
 old remembered remedies, the nostrums of his ances- 
 tors, and add a few discoveries or experiences of 
 his own. Thus there would arise some men, and 
 oftener women, who would be a sort of authority in 
 cases of sickness or disease. The remedies and methods 
 of some of these self-constituted doctors were often 
 absurd and nauseating. One old dame cured burns 
 with powwowing over the patient. Another applied 
 a carrot poultice. Fish-worms dissolved in whisky 
 was their sovereign remedy for fever and ague, but 
 the patient preferred to bait his fish-hook with the 
 worms and take the whisky straight. White-oak 
 
 125 
 
126 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 bark peeled upwards from the south side of the tree 
 was given as an emetic, and peeled downward as 
 a cathartic. Tansy, feverfew and catnip were favor- 
 ite remedies of nearly every housewife, while hem- 
 lock seed was sown by one at every corner, the 
 minister getting a double portion. Picra was given 
 every spring as a tonic. It came to be associated 
 with the Shorter Catechism, because often adminis- 
 tered together, the result being that both were put 
 in the same category. It was some time before the 
 educated physician came in, and when he did he 
 had no little prejudice to contend with. He often 
 found, instead of taking, they were ready to give 
 advice. It was not unusual for the physician to 
 find his prescriptions superseded by the nostrums 
 of some grandam, or himself bowed out to make 
 way for some charlatan, with his pain-killers and 
 magic madstone and wizard oil. It was a common 
 prejudice to regard the art of healing as a matter 
 of empirical craft, rather than of scientific study 
 and investigation. To some it was claimed it was 
 a divine gift, and, if a seventh son of a seventh 
 son, a touch was sufficient to heal even scrofula. 
 These people knew more than all the doctors. It 
 was enough for one of these magicians to hold a hair 
 of a distant patient to diagnose the disease and pre- 
 scribe unerrmg remedies. The mountebank once 
 declared officially that quinine would eat away the 
 bones if taken as prescribed by the regular prac- 
 titioner. But there were often well-intended inter- 
 ferences, by visitors or members of the patient's fam- 
 ily, which were exceedingly exasperating at times. 
 On one occasion one of the disciples of ^sculapius 
 was portioning out a powder for a patient, when a 
 
Physic and Physicians. 127 
 
 kind-hearted little woman put her hand on the doc- 
 tor's shoulder, and said, "Now, doctor, don't give him 
 anything ha'sh." He sprang to his feet indignantly, 
 and said, " Who is doing this ? " In the olden time 
 the physician carried his remedies in his saddle-bags, 
 for he had to go on horseback to many places. 
 When gigs and phaetons came in use, one had his 
 made very narrow so that no one could ask to ride. 
 Nevertheless, a lady asked if she could ride with him 
 to her home. He told her to get in, while he leaped 
 up behind and stood on the axle, holding the hues 
 over the top. The pay was small at first. There is 
 on the town books a charge of fifty cents for a "bleed" 
 by Dr. J. R. Andrews. The profession was regarded 
 as a benevolent one by some, who forgot that the 
 physician, besides having obtained his knowledge at 
 large cost, had a family to support and must keep 
 up with the literature and procure the best apph- 
 ances of the art. But, notwithstanding, many of his 
 visits were gratuitous. He generously included the 
 clergy and their families in his gratuitous list. 
 
 The earhest physician in the town of whom we 
 have any knowledge was Dr. Baker, and of him we 
 know little more than that he resided in the hamlet 
 to which he gave the name of Bakertown. 
 
 The next in the memory of the old people was Dr. 
 A. Gates White. He lived on the property now 
 owned by the Brooks family. He exchanged it for 
 the parsonage lot of the Cheesecock Patent, then 
 owned by the Presbyterian Church, known later as 
 the Van Yaler Farm. He was regarded as a physi- 
 cian of no mean skill, and was a man of such high 
 character that his patients were willing to name 
 their children after him. 
 
128 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Dr. Joseph R. Andrews was the third in order of the 
 physicians of the olden time. He was born in the 
 town of East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecti- 
 cut, in 1778. He came to Monroe to practise soon 
 after entering upon his profession, and married Juha, 
 daughter of Nehemiah Clark and sister of Mrs. 
 Stephen Bull and Nathanael and Henry Clark, well- 
 known citizens of Monroe and Oxford. The doctor 
 was quite tall, and when we knew him was erect in 
 hearing, benevolent in countenance, with abundance 
 of long, silvery hair. He visited his patients on 
 horseback, with his medicines in a saddle-bag, a true 
 physician of the old school. He was very highly es- 
 teemed both as a physician and a citizen. He was 
 honored with the offi.ce of justice of the peace for 
 years. He died October 18, 1849, aged seventy-one 
 years. He survived his wife but a few weeks ; her 
 death occurring August 30 of the same year. Their 
 children were Fannie (Mrs. Elijah Smith), Sarah, 
 Ehzabeth, Andrew, and Joseph. His epitaph, "De- 
 parted worth," is no false praise. 
 
 Dr. Ethan B. Carpenter was graduated at the Uni- 
 versity of the State of New York and the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons in the year 1833. He prac- 
 tised for six or seven years in Monroe. He retired 
 from practice for five years, engaging in mercantile 
 business at Elmira, New York. He then returned to 
 his native town and engaged in farming, becoming an 
 enthusiast in this new vocation. He was honored 
 with an election to the State legislature, occupying 
 a seat in the Assembly during the winter of 1852-53. 
 He was a man of intellect, strong character, and de- 
 cided convictions. He was a warm politician of the 
 Jeffersonian school, wielding the power of a leader 
 
Physic and Physicians. 129 
 
 over his constituency. As a practitioner he was re- 
 garded as eminently sagacious, and was frequently 
 called in council long after he had retired from prac- 
 tice. 
 
 Dr. John C. Boyd was the only son of Rev. John 
 and Margaret Gaston Boyd. He was born in Mon- 
 ticello, New York, December 2, 1819. After his 
 school education in the village he was matriculated 
 at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. Before 
 finishing his course, he entered Jefferson Medical 
 College at Philadelphia. He was graduated March 
 1, 1841. He entered upon practice at Monroe, where 
 he pursued his profession until the infirmities of age 
 compelled him to retire ; and even when too feeble to 
 drive any distance, his old patrons would have no 
 other, having such confidence in his skill. Dr. Boyd 
 was a physician of rare gifts and qualifications for 
 the opportunities of his day ; keeping himself well in- 
 formed in all the fresh discoveries and advances of 
 his profession. He was studious, a constant reader 
 of the medical journals, and a member of the Medi- 
 cal Society of Orange County, in which he took great 
 interest. His constitutional temperament rendered 
 him sometimes brusque, but it was usually toward 
 those who put some real or fancied slight upon his 
 professional etiquette. Those who knew him best 
 found in him a warm friend, a cheery visitor, a faith- 
 ful family physician of the old school, painstaking, 
 and not merely sympathetic, but, when a case was 
 critical, deeply anxious, watching the issue with 
 a woman's tenderness. His field of practice was 
 a wide and hard one, taking in the mountain and 
 mining region, to cover which required many a 
 weary drive over snow-clad hills and weary vigils in 
 17 
 
130 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 many a humble cabin. He was the warm friend of 
 the Church, being a generous contributor of the 
 Presbyterian Church, of which, late in life, he be- 
 came a member. He placed the clergy of all denom- 
 inations on his free list, and most assiduous were his 
 attentions to them and their families. He died De- 
 cember 8, 1892, in the seventy-third year of his age. 
 
 Dr. Emmet Seward Elmer was the son of Henry 
 D. and Juha Ann Elmer, and was born at Unionville, 
 Orange County, New York, December 30, 1849, 
 After attending the schools in his own native village, 
 he studied at Mount Retirement Seminary in New 
 Jersey; then at Chester Academy, New York. In 
 1872 he was graduated from Ann Arbor Medical 
 College. In 1874-75 he attended medical lectures 
 in New York City, and was house physician in the 
 hospital on Blackwell's Island for a time. His 
 studies all the while were kept up either at Bellevue 
 or the College of Physicians and Surgeons. About 
 1877 he settled in Monroe. He was highly esteemed 
 by his fellow-practitioners and patients. His love 
 for the microscope and readiness to explain its use 
 greatly interested the young. October 18, 1887, he 
 was married to Miss Sarah, daughter of Morgan 
 Shuitt, Esq., and removed to Central Valley, where 
 he pursued his practice till his death, October 26, 
 1893, in the forty-fourth year of his age. He was 
 brother of the E-ev. Oscar Elmer, to whom we are in- 
 debted for these facts. 
 
 Dr. Frank Gignoux was the son of Claude Gri- 
 gnoux, a silk- weaver of Lyons, France. His mother's 
 maiden name was Adele Christina, an English lady. 
 The ancestors of the family were Huguenots, but his 
 father was a Catholic. Several of his forefathers 
 
Physic and Physicians. 131 
 
 were soldiers, and one was rewarded for bravery 
 at the battle of Waterloo, fighting on the side of 
 Napoleon. 
 
 The doctor was a nephew of Regis Grignoux, an 
 artist of note. His father emigrated to Staten Island, 
 New York, where the doctor was born. He was edu- 
 cated at St. Mary's College, Maryland, where he was 
 a diligent student, judging from the numerous testi- 
 monials of scholarship in possession of the family. He 
 was graduated from the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons under Dr. Willard H. Parker, who pro- 
 nounced him a most promising young surgeon, 
 having unusual steadiness of nerve for a surgical 
 operation. After the usual hospital practice he 
 served as surgeon in the Army of the Potomac, the 
 battle of Antietam furnishing his first experience of 
 the realities of war. He married the only daughter 
 and settled on the homestead of Judge Miles Hughes, 
 in the upper village of Monroe. Here he devoted the 
 most of his time to farming, but was always ready 
 for consultation with brother physicians, who were 
 glad to avail themselves of his skill in surgery. He 
 died October 1, 1883, aged forty-two years. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 LAWYEES AND LITIGATION. 
 
 WE have already alluded to the fact that Monroe 
 in its early history was the scene of no httle 
 litigation, for the reason that the boundaries of the 
 Patent and the subdivisions of it were ill defined and 
 poorly surveyed. Lines overlapped ; monument trees 
 and stones, the simple landmarks, were hkely to be 
 removed innocently. With poor fences and inclo- 
 sures, cattle would stray and trespass and so enhance 
 the causes of dispute. 
 
 It used to be said, " It required more gumption to 
 cross Broadway, New York, than to be a country jus- 
 tice." But men that had not merely crossed Broadway, 
 but battled with the milkmen of Hester Street and 
 followed up the tricks of middlemen, brought to the 
 tribunal of justice in a country town no little shrewd- 
 ness and common sense. They were not chosen, 
 many at least, because of party influence, but be- 
 cause they were men who possessed more than average 
 sagacity to understand some of the plain principles 
 of law, and also how to apply the equities in its ad- 
 ministration. The cases that came before them were 
 usually petty cases of disorder or theft, some dispute 
 over trespass or an estray in which often a little good 
 sense coupled with good advice could adjust the affair 
 
 132 
 
Lawyers and Litigation. 133 
 
 without cost to court or loss to client. A litigious, 
 grasping justice had it in his power to stir up jealousy 
 between neighbors and keep the community in a 
 state of chronic war, or could pour oil on troubled 
 waters and still the tempest of strife by a few strokes 
 of magisterial common sense. Monroe was blest 
 with some such justices of the peace. But of others 
 in the olden time we have heard the complaint that 
 they loved to encourage htigation, and kept neighbor 
 in feud with neighbor, and so were accountable for 
 much of the unrest of the early times in Monroe. 
 
 One might have thought from the lesson taught by 
 the sign in front of the Lynch tavern, — the badly 
 dilapidated horseman and his pitiful confession, "I 
 have been to law," — that lawsuits would be very un- 
 common ; but, on the contrary, they were very numer- 
 ous. In early days, when there were few excitements 
 and amusements, a lawsuit, a horse-race or a funeral 
 was a time of general concourse. Lawsuits were 
 commonly held at the country tavern, and the tavern- 
 keeper found it more of a harvest than the counsel 
 or the court. Of course at times there were very 
 serious questions to be settled, but as a general thing 
 much of the litigation was petty and ought to have 
 been settled by arbitration. We have heard a case 
 referred to a justice in which the parties were joint 
 tenants of a bit of land on which they raised poultry 
 and were in dispute as to the broods of turkeys and 
 chickens. Their classification of the httle and the 
 big httle ones gave the justice a harder example than 
 he had with his own corn when the hail beat it down, 
 and he said : "I am in doubt whether I had better 
 amputate or sphnter up." Another justice had a 
 perplexing case submitted to him for decision. An 
 
134 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Irish lady had a dog that thought himself a high 
 commoner and ranged around among the gardens of 
 Dubhn at his own sweet will. Dimng these preda- 
 tory excursions he unearthed some of the tubers of a 
 brother Hibernian and disturbed the order of his 
 garden beds. Exasperated, he caught the trespasser 
 just as the milk-train had hauled up at the station, 
 when the happy thought struck him to put the pris- 
 oner in an empty car, close the door and send him on 
 to parts beyond. When this became known to the 
 owner of the dog, she had him arraigned before Squire 
 Seaman. Never was a man of the law so perplexed 
 to classify the alleged crime. The Irishman pleaded 
 he just thought a ride would be good for the "baste," 
 and he put him in the empty car to take a ride to 
 Oxford. It was not maiming nor assault, not trover 
 nor trespass, petit larceny nor grand. As soon as the 
 justice could obtain silence, — for both wanted to plead 
 at the same time, — he dismissed the case. Another 
 memorable instance along this line was the Dorking 
 case. A kind-hearted neighbor had procured from 
 us a dozen fine Dorking fowls, remarkable for their 
 pure white plumage and the presence of a fifth toe in 
 place of a spur. One of those pettiest of felons, a 
 chicken-thief, came one night, forced the lock of the 
 hen-house and bagged the whole lot. Suspicion fas- 
 tened upon a neighbor of unsavory reputation ; search 
 was made at his house, where white feathers gave 
 him away, while inquiry at Turner's restaurant fur- 
 nished indisputable evidence in the feet of fowls 
 five-toed attached to birds bought recently from the 
 suspected party. He was arraigned and tried before 
 the justice. A five-toed chicken foot was shown in 
 court, together with a hst of the latest quotations of 
 
Laivyers and Litigation. 135 
 
 the fancy poultry-market. Dorkings at that date 
 were marked at from eleven to twelve dollars per 
 pair. This brought the pecuniary claim to over fifty 
 dollars ; and as the breaking of the lock was an in- 
 dictable offense, the court pronounced the prisoner 
 guilty of bui'glary and grand larceny, and gave him 
 the full penalty of the law, namely, six years in the 
 penitentiary. Such exemplary damages put a pause 
 to chicken thievery for a while. It is matter of 
 record that the tender-hearted prosecutor relented 
 toward the prisoner and after two years procured his 
 pardon. But the generosity of his benefactor was 
 rewarded by the culprit stealing a fine colt from 
 Peter Townsend, Esq., for which he was sent up to 
 serve out his full sentence. 
 
 Monroe has had its roll of lawyers as well as phy- 
 sicians. The persons who conducted cases before the 
 justices were often lay practitioners who, having 
 read Blackstone and the Revised Statutes, brought 
 no little shrewdness and common sense to bear in 
 elucidating points of law and evidence. If a pro- 
 fessional ventured to enter the arena, he would be 
 handled without gloves, particularly if it were a jury 
 trial. It is a common observation that the man of books 
 is outwitted by the child of nature and experience. 
 
 We remember an instance in which the help of a 
 neighboring lawyer was sought, and while the man 
 of learning was making up the res gestm, he happened 
 to apologize to his client for a smoky chimney, and 
 wish he would go up and investigate the cause. 
 When he had so done a bill was handed him for 
 counsel fees, whereupon his witty client said, " I, too, 
 have a charge of hke amount for advice about the 
 chimney." 
 
136 Chronicles of Moyiroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Thomas L. Carpenter, son of Dr. Ethan B. Car- 
 penter, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 
 1868. He practised in New York and in the West. 
 He is now connected with the Postal Telegraph and 
 Cable Company of New York City. 
 
 John Charlton, son of Mr. Frank Charlton, of this 
 village, was graduated at the New York Law School, 
 has been admitted to the bar and is employed in the 
 law office of Henry W. Taft, Esq. 
 
 Robert M. Grignoux and Claude, his brother, were 
 the sons of Dr. Frank Gignoux ; were born in Mon- 
 roe; graduated at Yale University; studied, the former 
 at Yale and the latter at the New York Law Acad- 
 emy, and after admission to the bar practised for a 
 time at Monroe, but soon removed to the city, where 
 they have an office on Nassau and Cedar streets. New 
 York. They are reported to have a large practice. 
 
 Fred. Hulse, son of Jesse Hulse and Ruth Webb, 
 studied law at the New York Law School, and 
 distinguished himself by his studiousness, winning 
 both honors and premiums. 
 
 Mr. M. N. Kane, although not a native of Monroe, 
 deserves to be enrolled with its sons, having taught 
 in its school and married one of its fair daughters, 
 Miss Emma Boyd. He has a beautiful home in 
 Warwick, and a law office there and in Monroe. He 
 has the honor to be corporation counsel of the latter. 
 
 To the legal roster must be added the name of 
 Lewis R. Conklin, son of Geo. R. Conklin and Isa- 
 bella Roberts. He studied at Exeter Academy, New 
 Hampshire, at Yale College, and at the New York Law 
 School. He enters his profession with high aspira- 
 tions and bright promise of success. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 CHUECHES AND CLEEGY. 
 
 THE cliurclies and clergy of the olden time are 
 worthy of notice. Provision was made in the 
 Patent, or rather in the survey under the Patent, for 
 religious worship ; the surveyor, no doubt carrying 
 out the instructions of the patentees, sought out a 
 lot for a parsonage, and rejected one as too poor, set- 
 tling upon lot 24. This is the present Peter Bush farm. 
 A log hut was built here, beside a spring, probably 
 for the minister ; but the spot was too remote from 
 business centers for a church. The Presbyterians 
 were the first to enter the field. The first sermon 
 known to have been preached in this vicinity was 
 dehvered by Silas Constant, then a hcentiate, under 
 the care of Morris and Orange, known as an inde- 
 pendent presbytery. He was stationed at Blooming 
 drove, and according to his own journal was accus- 
 tomed to preach at the Clove. He began his work 
 April 20, 1783, and was ordained September 25, 1784. 
 About the former date he delivered a sermon to a 
 congregation assembled under an apple-tree standing 
 in the southeast corner of the orchard of the late 
 Robert Fowler, Esq. The tree, shattered and broken, 
 still remains; but the generation who knelt and 
 prayed there, together with the preacher, have long 
 18 137 
 
138 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 since entered on their rest. The fruit borne by this 
 tree is of delicious quahty, subacid, flushed, and ten- 
 der as a strawberry. Being nameless and unclassi- 
 fied, it has been christened the Presbyterian apple. 
 It is perpetuated in grafts in several Monroe or- 
 chards. This first sermon was not without its fruits, 
 for the people arose immediately to build. Daniel 
 Miller, mill-owner at Seamanville, gave a lot of about 
 two acres near by, for church and burial-ground. It 
 has been considerably diminished since by encroach- 
 ments. Timber was cut, probably on the spot, for 
 the meeting-house, as it was called. Neighbors of all 
 denominations were called out to the raising. Ne- 
 hemiah Clark was among the number. When the 
 neighbors stopped for him on their way to the scene 
 of operation, he had just been made happy by the 
 birth of a daughter. Whether he went on to share 
 in the natal joy of the parish, deponent saith not. 
 We only know that she was afterwards married to 
 Stephen Bull, and was known by a large circle of 
 friends as Aunt Betsy BuU. The family Bible con- 
 tains the record : " Ehzabeth Clark was born the 
 5th month, 28th day, 1783." This was the day the 
 first church building was erected in the old Town 
 of Cheesecock. The building was not inclosed till 
 long afterward. The preacher preached from the 
 carpenter's bench and the people sat on the siUs. 
 School was held in it during the week, and neighbor 
 Sutherland's sheep would take refuge in it by night. 
 The congregation was not organized till May 17, 
 1784, by Rev. Amzi Lewis, of Florida, and Rev. Silas 
 Constant, at the house of Mr. John Bell of Baker- 
 town. The name taken was " The First Presbyterian 
 Congregation of Cheesecocks." Archibald Cunning- 
 
Churches and Clergy. 139 
 
 ham and William Miller, Jr., were chosen deacons. 
 Afterward, say the minutes, " the church agreed to 
 have a stated meeting, monthly, for business, conver- 
 sation, and prayer." The names of those composing 
 the church were : Archibald Cunningham and wife ; 
 "William Miller, Jr., and wife ; John Miller and wife ; 
 Thos. Davenport ; Thos. Davenport, Jr., and wife ; 
 Samuel Hall and wife ; Jas. Lewis and wife ; Jane B., 
 wife of Timothy Smith ; Mrs. Jonathan Archer ; — a 
 little handful of corn whose fruit has since begun to 
 shake like Lebanon. This religious movement was 
 the result of an act of the legislature granting hb- 
 erty of worship and regulating the organization of 
 congregations, passed April, 1784. There were de- 
 vout souls in the httle flock, who deplored the low 
 state of religion in the community, and the desolate 
 condition of the congregation. Among them was 
 good Mrs. Archer. Falling one day over the rude 
 timbers, the people rose up and resolved to finish the 
 building. They put in windows, door, floor, square 
 pews, gallery, pulpit, and sounding-board. It was 
 treated to two coats of paint, one in front, white, the 
 other red, in the rear. But it was done so badly 
 that one old man said he " could have thrown the 
 paint on from a cup and done better." The sermons 
 in those days were very long doctrinal discourses, 
 with an intermission at noon, when the people 
 lunched among the graves of the churchyard. The 
 dominie would take the opportunity to answer in- 
 quiries, converse with the children, for there was no 
 Sunday-school, thus becoming acquainted with the 
 wants of his flock. We do not know whether to 
 wonder more over the endurance of the minister, or 
 the patience of the people. One old gentleman, it 
 
140 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 is said, got tired, and going out, said, " I will go home 
 and get my dinner, and if you are not through when 
 I get back, I will hear you through." 
 
 It is related of one of the younger men that he 
 would sit with his back to the minister in the old 
 square pew and take a nap. One Sunday he had 
 driven a pair of colts before his sleigh to the church 
 with his sister. He had much trouble in tying them 
 under the old trees. Just as the minister was about 
 closing, his sister trod on his toe to awaken him, and 
 he, dreaming it was his colts stepping on his foot, 
 sprang to his feet and exclaimed, " Whoa, whoa!" 
 
 The music of those days was of a primitive order, 
 like everything else. The precentor stood up and 
 gave the pitch with his pitch-pipe, and the choir 
 joined in. The tunes were marvellous with their 
 fugues and trills, while the doleful minors, particu- 
 larly on a communion occasion, made the service 
 seem like a funeral. One Sunday, when the choir 
 had chosen a lively air, one old man said it sounded 
 hke "picking up chips." When an attempt was 
 made to bring in a cello, a deacon took it and threw 
 it out on the grass. When, later on, a melodeon was 
 brought in, a stern Scotchman arose and bare witness 
 against the profanation by walking out and slamming 
 the door. But we must not get the impression that 
 there were no skilled musicians or sweet singers then. 
 Deacon Van Valer built several pipe-organs, and his 
 daughters could all play and sing. They and Wm.Y. 
 Mapes' daughters, with some others, under the lead- 
 ership of the late Virgil Y. Thompson, poured from 
 the gallery of that old church strains of music com- 
 pared with which " Italian trills are tame." But now 
 
 " They are gone, all gone from their mountain home, 
 And their song is not heard o'er the hills to roam." 
 
Churches and Clergy. 141 
 
 There were no stoves in the sanctuary then. The 
 matrons had their small foot- stoves, which they filled, 
 with coals and took with them. They were intended 
 for the feet, but were sometimes held in the lap. The 
 rest of the congregation must be kept warm by the ser- 
 mon. The sanctuary was also without hghts. When 
 there was an evening service, tallow candles were 
 taken and snuffed, — if there were no snuffers present, 
 with the fingers, a feat some prided themselves upon, 
 effecting it without burning the hand. What dis- 
 comforts, the young will say : to walk half a mile, 
 with no overshoes, through slush and zero weather, 
 to sit in a cold church and listen to an hour's dis- 
 course on some abstruse point of theology or exege- 
 sis. But there was many a weary soul comforted in 
 that old house of Grod, and not a few of the young 
 as well as the old brought into the fold of God. One 
 aged mother was received by baptism at her home 
 when eighty years of age, and five generations were 
 present. Seed was sown early and late, and none can 
 tell " which shall prosper, whether this or that." 
 
 This old structure stood unaltered till about 1840, 
 when a movement was started to remove to the vil- 
 lage, then feeling the boom of the coming railway. 
 One party strongly advocated such a move. Others, 
 interested in building up Seamanville, desired it 
 should remain where it was, claiming all that was 
 needed was a renovation. These latter prevailed. 
 The square seats were taken out, the sounding-board 
 removed, the pulpit remodelled, and a stove put in. 
 Thus it remained for another decade. Meanwhile the 
 other party went out and joined with the Methodists 
 in organizing the Methodist Church of Monroe. 
 
 The Presbyterian congregation was not incorpo- 
 rated until April 13, 1804, when the Court of Com- 
 
142 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 mon Pleas granted application for the same. Samuel 
 Gregory, Gilbert King, Samuel Webb, George R. 
 Fowler, James Smith and Isaac Bull were the first 
 trustees. The court also granted permission to lease 
 to A. Gates White, as long as wood grows and water 
 flows, parsonage lot No. 24 in the Cheesecock Patent, 
 containing 150 acres, for the consideration of one 
 tenth part of a cent if demanded. Then the trustees 
 purchased for a suitable residence for their pastor. 
 Rev. Howell Powell, 58 acres of land from A. Gates 
 White, situated on the east side of the stage road in 
 the village, said White to pay the sum of £200, 
 without interest, for one year; afterwards interest 
 annually, till all was paid. Thus the farm on the 
 road to Turners was exchanged for the John Brooks 
 place, and here the early pastors lived. This was 
 afterwards exchanged for a tract of 35 acres nearer the 
 church. If the former was a stone quarry, the latter 
 was mostly a narrow strip between two farms and 
 stretching across the summit of Bald Hill. It had 
 the advantage of elevation, from which the pastor 
 could literally oversee his flock ; but by reason of 
 situation it was anything but a fruitful hill. The 
 dominie was informed by one of his parishioners 
 during a haying froHc that " he saw the last grass- 
 hopper departing over the hill." After eighteen years 
 of happy residence there, this was sold and the present 
 glebe was bought, and on it was erected the com- 
 modious manse. 
 
 It may be of interest to note that the incorporation 
 was once permitted to lapse, through default of elec- 
 tion of trustees. Application was made to Commis- 
 sioner Francis Letts for the renewal of the charter, 
 which was granted January 23, 1822. 
 
Churches and Clergy. 143 
 
 The salary for the first seventy years amounted to 
 about 300 dollars per annum in cash, the use of parson- 
 age and glebe, together with an annual donation visit. 
 
 This last was a pecuhar institution, but adopted 
 then by most feeble rural congregations. On a cer- 
 tain eve, the community were invited to the manse 
 to pay their respects to the minister and his family. 
 They would come, young and old, laden with gifts, 
 from a quarter of beef, or a load of wood, to a pair of 
 slippers for the minister, or a tidy for his wife. A 
 sumptuous table was spread by the hands of the 
 ladies, and all sat down to eat. We have read of the 
 astonishment of some ministers to find that the men 
 ate up all the women brought, and the mixed multi- 
 tude turned his house into bedlam, rummaged the 
 bureaus, tumbled the beds and made the raven over 
 the study door utter his melancholy " Nevermore." 
 
 We never saw it thus in Monroe. The refinement 
 of its people made such a scene impossible. Those 
 who have given the world the laughable pictures 
 from which the general impression has been formed 
 of the rudeness of the occasions must have lived 
 among an uncultured people. With us the gifts were 
 generous ; leaving larder, bin, barn and woodpile full. 
 
 While the large proportion of the gifts were in 
 hard cash, it was never reckoned as an equivalent of 
 salary. Instead of rudeness, we experienced the most 
 tender consideration and loving ministries, not merely 
 in seasons of joy, but much more of sorrow. When 
 the death angel entered the parsonage, kindher hands 
 never came to minister in the name of Jesus, brav- 
 ing even the deadly breath of contagion. The record 
 of such deeds is written in the book of God's re- 
 membrance. 
 
144 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 A Christian lady, Mrs. Jonathan Witherbee, now 
 gone to her rest, related the following incident : 
 When I was a child I wanted to attend a donation 
 visit at the manse. Her father, mother, and elder 
 sister were going. "Why cannot I go?" she said. 
 " Because every one carries a gift," said her mother, 
 " and yon have none prepared." Whereupon she at 
 once sat down and secretly knit a pair of stockings 
 for the pastor's daughter. Then, after the family 
 had driven to the scene of festivity, she came on 
 horseback, bringing her unique gift, doubly precious 
 because the free-will offering of her own childish 
 hands. Truly it could be said, " She hath done what 
 she could." 
 
 An eye that can sweep the horizon of the past 
 must discern a marked progress in the intellectual, 
 moral and spiritual condition of society. We have 
 seen how much of intemperance and immorahty fol- 
 lowed the War of the Revolution. Then, too, the 
 atheism of the French Revolution had scattered its 
 seeds everywhere. The Druid Society of Newburg, 
 which so boldly profaned the most sacred things, ex- 
 erted a baleful influence upon the growing Christian 
 institutions. It were not strange if these winged 
 seeds found lodgment in the fertile soil of Monroe. 
 This will account for the slow progress of the church 
 in early times. The ministers of that day fomid that 
 while they slept " the enemy sowed tares." But they 
 were men of faith, good deeds and full of the Holy 
 Ghost. Their very difficulties drew out the very 
 best that was in them. So far as we have studied 
 them, they were men of blameless lives, judged, as 
 they must be, by their time. Social customs were 
 tolerated then that are tabooed now by all good 
 
Churches and Clergy. 145 
 
 people. Judged by the moral standards of the time, 
 they were men of lofty purpose and high integrity, 
 far-reaching authority and influence. 
 
 Two sermons still extant demonstrate that one at 
 least, the Rev. Simeon Jones, who preached more 
 than a century ago, was a man of clear intellect, logi- 
 cal power and large acquaintance with Holy Scripture. 
 
 These men understood their commission to be to 
 preach the Word. The acute speculations of to-day 
 had not eaten out their faith. They bravely asked, 
 "What saith the Scripture?" And so left not the 
 flock to wander in the mazes of doubt, but pointed to 
 heaven and led the way. Thus grew up around 
 them many a noble character. Listen to one. 
 When some one rudely asked, " Granny, what busi- 
 ness have you and I to be stajdng here to cough and 
 suffer?" she meekly replied, " Because it is the will 
 of my Heavenly Father." We congratulated one 
 aged mother upon the bestowment of her name on a 
 grandchild, and asked if she were not proud of it. She 
 said, " I have nothing to be proud of, but much to be 
 thankful for." A venerable man dechned the offer 
 of certain rehgious books, on the ground that they 
 were not original, but all plagiarized from one book 
 which he already possessed, — his Bible. 
 
 Thus while all the former ministers are gone to their 
 rest, their works follow them. They need no letters of 
 commendation. They could say, "Ye are our epistle." 
 
 The following is the full list of ministers who have 
 served the church, namely : 
 
 The Reverend Silas Constant, 1783-. 
 
 " Simeon R. Jones, served one year. 
 
 " David Baldwin, served four years. 
 
 19 
 
146 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 The Reverend Howell Powell, 1804-1806. 
 
 PoRTEE, served 18 months. 
 
 James H. Thomas, 1814-1816. 
 John White, 1823-1824. 
 HosEA Ball, 1824-1826. 
 John Boyd, 1826-1834. 
 John Jay Thompson, 1836-1846. 
 Daniel N. Feeeland, 1847-1881. 
 Thomas Thomas, 1882-. 
 
 The Sunday-school was organized in October, 
 1819. 
 
 The church in the village was dedicated February 
 15, 1853. Sermon preached by Rev. Wm. D. Snod- 
 grass, D.D., from Ecc. v : 1, — " Keep thy foot when 
 thou goest to the house of God." 
 
 Rev. Hosea Ball was born May 11, 1792 ; married 
 Sarah Helms of Southfield, New York, September 12, 
 1817 ; studied theology with the Rev. Silas Con- 
 stant ; came to Monroe in 1824 and supplied the 
 Presbyterian church for two years, during which 
 there was no little religious interest under his min- 
 istry. He organized the Sabbath-school while min- 
 istering here. He preached at the old chui'ch at 
 Seamanville, and during his residence in Monroe 
 taught school at Buttermilk Falls five days of the 
 week. He was settled also at Greenburg and 
 Dobbs Ferry, in Westchester County. The latter 
 portion of his life was spent on his estate near South- 
 field, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising, 
 but was often called upon to preach and solemnize 
 marriages among the peasantry, by whom he was 
 highly respected. His sermons and other papers 
 full of interest are in possession of his daughters. 
 
Churches and Clergy. 147 
 
 residing in the village of Monroe, and show him to 
 have been a man of earnestness in his profession and 
 possessed of no mean talent. He died January 1, 
 1876. 
 
 Rev. John Boyd was born December 14, 1762 ; 
 died at Monroe, 1842. He was married to Margaret 
 Gaston, April 10, 1806, by William Boyd, his brother. 
 He was graduated at Dickinson College, Carhsle, 
 Pennsylvania, May 7, 1788 ; licensed to preach the 
 Gospel, December 21, 1791, at Chamberstown ; was or- 
 dained and installed, April, 1794, at Carlisle ; preached 
 at Tuscarora and Falling Water, Virginia, from Octo- 
 ber, 1794, to 1801, for £100 Pennsylvania currency for 
 two thirds of his time ; preached as supply for two 
 years; called to Newton and Hardwick, Sussex 
 County, New Jersey, April 13, 1803, for the sum of 
 $250 at each place ; resigned 1811. He preached at 
 different places, mostly in New Jersey, until the year 
 1820, when he went to Monticello, where he preached 
 until 1826, when he came to Monroe. He served 
 this church as pastor until 1834, when he retired and 
 dwelt among his congregation, honored and beloved 
 until the day of his death. His children were Mary, 
 unmarried ; Elizabeth, married to Mr. Frank Wood- 
 hull; Margaret, married to Mr. Thompson of Ha- 
 gerstown, Virginia; Matilda; and John Cumming, who 
 was a twin. He became an eminent physician. The 
 daughters are remembered with their mother, Mrs. 
 Margaret Boyd, as ladies of unusual charms of person 
 and manner. The family lived at the manse on the 
 site of the Brooks mansion till Mr. Boyd built the 
 late homestead in 1823, which was occupied until 
 the death of Mrs. Dr. Boyd in 1896. 
 
 Rev. John Jay Thompson was born in Goshen, 
 
148 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 New York, and studied theology with the Rev. Ezra 
 Fisk, D.D. He married Sarah, sister of Nathanael 
 "Webb, Esq., elder of the Presbyterian Church, and a 
 well-known teacher and editor. The first settlement 
 of the Rev. Mr. Thompson was at Centreville, Grreene 
 County, New York, whence he removed to Monroe in 
 1836. He served the church with great devotion 
 and fidelity until 1846. Dui'ing a portion of the 
 time he taught in the public school, where he won 
 the affection of the pupils by his gentleness and 
 scholarship. The esteem in which he is still held 
 illustrates the poet's line, " The law of love outlasts 
 the rusted rod." Removing from Monroe, he taught 
 at Bloomingburg, New York, several years, and died 
 June 12, 1849. His funeral sermon was preached 
 by the Rev. E. D. O. Prime, from the text, " The 
 righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart," — 
 Isa. Ivii : 1. It was a beautiful tribute to a faithful 
 servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mrs. Thompson 
 died March 10, 1888. She spent most of the time in 
 Monroe, where she was a true " mother in Israel," de- 
 voted to every good work. Their children were : 
 Mary, wife of C. B. Knight ; Sarah, wife of Mr. Stick- 
 ney ; Grace, wife of David Felter ; Julia Carohne, 
 editor of "Woman's Work for Women," who died in 
 Philadelphia; J. Howard, who died at Port Byron, 
 New York; Benjamin W., whose biography appears 
 elsewhere, and Margaret Boyd, wife of Rev. C. B. 
 Newton, of Lahore, India. 
 
 The Rev. Daniel Niles Freeland was born in Phila- 
 delphia, May 15, 1825. His ancestry on his mother's 
 side were early identified with the history of that city 
 and of the American colonies. His great-grandfa- 
 ther was with Washington during the darkest hours 
 
Churches and Clergy. 149 
 
 of the Revolution, at Valley Forge and the crossing 
 of the Delaware, and his brother was editor of " Niles' 
 Register," the journal published at Baltimore that 
 rendered notable service in supporting the cause 
 of freedom. Another grandfather, Daniel Goodman, 
 was one of the founders and an officer of the Second 
 Presbyterian Church in the days of Whitefield, from 
 whose ministry it sprung. 
 
 He attended the preparatory of the University of 
 Pennsylvania under Rev. S. W. Crawford, D.D., and 
 was specially prepared for college by the late Henry 
 D. Grregory, afterwards Vice-President of Grirard Col- 
 lege. He entered the university in 1840, and gradu- 
 ated in 1844. He entered Princeton Theological Sem- 
 inary in the same year and graduated in 1847. He was 
 called to the Monroe Presbyterian Chui'ch in the fall, 
 and was ordained and installed pastor on March 9, 
 1848, by the Presbytery of Hudson. 
 
 The sermon was preached by the Rev. H. Milne, of 
 Milf ord, Pennsylvania. The charge to the pastor was 
 given by the Rev. John Newton Boyd ; the charge to 
 the people by the Rev. Robert McCartee, D. D., of 
 Groshen, New York. 
 
 On the 21st of September, 1848, he was married by 
 the Rev. C. C. Cuyler, D. D., to Mary E., the second 
 daughter of Robert Burwell, of Philadelphia. 
 
 He served this church for thirty-four years, being 
 called from it to a pastorate at Pelham Manor, a new 
 enterprise on the Sound. He served this church as 
 pastor for eight years, when, his health failing, he re- 
 signed and entered on a service as stated supply to 
 the churches of Hawthorne and Waldo in Florida. 
 After six years in this field, his sight failing, he re- 
 turned North, resigned active ministerial work and 
 
150 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 entered private life, living among Ws children, in whose 
 Christian homes he enjoys a serene ojd age. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Thomas, the twelfth minister and 
 third pastor, was horn at Averuqueron, Wales. After 
 the usual common-school education, he was prepared 
 for college at Whitestown, near Utica, New York. 
 
 He was matriculated at Union College, Ohio, and 
 graduated in 1877. He entered Alleghany Theologi- 
 cal Seminary, taking a one year's course, completing 
 his studies at Union Theological Seminary, New York, 
 taking a two years' course. He received the degree 
 of A. M. from the New York University. He was 
 ordained and installed at Wilkesharre, Pennsylvania, 
 where he preached seven years. He was called to 
 Monroe in 1882, where he was installed pastor of the 
 Presbyterian church, and after sixteen years of effi- 
 cient service remains intrenched in the love and loyalty 
 of his people. He married Miss Lillie Taylor, daugh- 
 ter of John Taylor, an elder of this church. 
 
 A bright cluster of olive plants gather about their 
 table, and are full of promise for the future. 
 
 The new Presbyterian church was built in the vil- 
 lage, and the old white meeting-house, at Seaman ville, 
 was abandoned to the moles and the bats. The latter 
 had hterally taken possession of the attic. The occa- 
 sional appearance of one in the room below was a sign 
 for general inattention to the sermon, particularly on 
 the part of the small boy. The evil one seems to pre- 
 fer that form to that of an angel of light. A swarm of 
 bees usurped part of their domicile one Sunday. They 
 had ahghted just under the eaves of the rear of the 
 church the day before. During the service they sent 
 their warriors into the auditorium to investigate the 
 situation. They did not ahght on the hps of the min- 
 
Churches and Clergy, 151 
 
 ister, but among his locks, warning him to unwonted 
 earnestness, too. Even the hum of the busy workers 
 failed to produce drowsiness with the habitual sleeper. 
 The dominie thought to balance the account with the 
 bees next day, but found that a neighbor, Austin 
 Miller, had scratched his name on the red siding, 
 which, according to the bee-hunter's code, gave him 
 claim to honey and swarm. So transient are the sweets 
 as well as the glory of the world ! 
 
 Such of the material of the old building as was 
 available was used in fitting up the basement of the 
 new. The frame was sold to Nicholas Cock and Sons 
 and was moved to Cornwall, for a wagon-maker's shop. 
 The piece of ground left was literally God's acre. 
 For seventy years it had been a cemetery. 
 
 " Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree shade, 
 
 Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, 
 Each in his narrow cell forever laid, 
 The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." 
 
 Mingling with them are the ashes of one of the pas- 
 tors, of two pastors' wives, and the children of four. 
 
 For years this beautiful piece of ground was un- 
 fenced, trespassed upon by wandering cattle and 
 made a potter's field for paupers. One of the pastors, 
 shocked at such a condition of things, circulated a 
 paper and obtained subscriptions for the building of 
 a fence. The stone wall was built by the late Henry 
 Hunter. The granite pillars were procured from the 
 Pierson Granite Works at Ramapo. Iron gates were 
 purchased and put in place to guard the sanctity of 
 the ground. Intrusted with such an heirloom, it be- 
 comes the sacred duty of the congregation to guard 
 and keep it in neatness and order, in memory of those 
 " who are not dead, only gone before." 
 
152 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 A bell was presented by Mr. Lewis H. Roe, of Port 
 Henry, New York, in memory of Ms father, Genest 
 M. Roe, M. D., wlio for many years was ruling elder 
 in that church. The bell weighed one thousand 
 pounds, and cost four hundred and fifty dollars. The 
 inscription on the bell is "Blessed is the people that 
 know the joyful sounds." It was hung in the belfry 
 May, 1873. A handsome communion service was pre- 
 sented by a summer visitor and worshiper, Mr. James 
 K. Dunham, who was also an officer of the Broadway 
 Tabernacle under the pastorate of Rev. Wm. M. Tay- 
 lor, D.D. The pulpit Bible was the gift of Mrs. Han- 
 nah N. Freeland, of Philadelphia, mother of the pas- 
 tor of that name. The following have served in the 
 eldership of this church : 
 
 Aechibald Cunningham, John Taylor, 
 
 Samuel Gregory, J. Warren Helme, 
 
 Andrew Van Yaler, S. C. Yan Yliet, Jr., 
 
 Genest M. Roe, M.D., Joseph Youngs, 
 
 David Smith, George R. Conklin, 
 
 John K. Roe, Eugene McGarrah. 
 
 Messrs. Young, Conklin and McGarrah are the 
 present board. 
 
 The Methodists very early held rehgious services in 
 the town. They worshipped in the old mill of Nich- 
 olas Knight, in a room where stood an ancient spin- 
 ning-wheel, says my informant. Its thread and 
 spindle were not inapt reminders of the brittle thread 
 of hfe and destiny. Sometimes they met on Forshee 
 Hill. They did not erect a church until 1840. It was 
 dedicated in the winter of 1841. 
 
 The public mind at that time, as well as business, 
 awoke after a long depression into new life. The 
 
Churches and Clergy. 153 
 
 Erie Railway was organized a short time before, and 
 the track was laid to Monroe. This changed its site 
 from the upper to that of the present village. The 
 Methodists were quick to discern the advantage of 
 their present location. 
 
 It started from the first with a numerous and ear- 
 nest membership. The blessing of the Spirit of Grod 
 has made the church largely instrumental in pro- 
 moting the spiritual welfare of the place, and has 
 contributed many a lively stone to the temple 
 not made with hands. It has given also several 
 of its sons to the ministry, as Greorge Ezray and 
 Seely Tuthill; while several of its clergy, as Rev. 
 Messrs. Hoyt and Hearn, have bequeathed their 
 work to their sons, well remembered here. That 
 church also has had many worthy names on its roll, 
 such as David Bull and Franklin Bull, Walter Roberts, 
 Nathan Strong, Elisha Stevens, Samuel Cooley, and 
 Peter Ball. The church edifice, very plain at first, 
 was remodelled under the pastorate of Rev. D. 
 McCartney, struck with lightning imder that of Rev. 
 Mr. Hearn, and is now a model of beauty and conve- 
 nience. The congregation owns a fine manse in the 
 village. 
 
 When first organized, Monroe was included in a 
 circuit embracing Vail's G-ate and other points. The 
 clergy filled a number of appointments and some- 
 times made their residence elsewhere. Usually there 
 were two incumbents to supply the circuit. 
 
 The following are the names of some of the older 
 and best-remembered ministers : Revs. T. F. R. 
 Mercein, N. Humphreys, J. M. Hawkhurst, R. A. 
 Shurter, J. Millard, D.B. Tm-ner, W. Blake, E.Dennis- 
 ton, M. M. Curtis, U. Messeter, S. H. Saxe, D. D. Gil- 
 20 
 
154 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 lespie, J. W. B. Wood, R. M. Roberts, D. McCartney, 
 Z. N. Lewis, George Hearn. Some of the more re- 
 cent appointments are Revs. J. B. Hoyt, E. Heroy, 
 and Gr. W. Downs. 
 
 The Society of Friends also early held religious 
 service in the vicinity, first at the house of James 
 Cromwell, for about ten years. The Blooming Grove 
 house was built 1815, that in the Clove about 1780, 
 rebuilt 1820. The separation took place in 1828 
 when the orthodox severed from the other portion 
 and built a house for themselves. While their num- 
 bers have diminished in the neighborhood of Mon- 
 roe, their young people having entered other com- 
 munions, they still retain their strength in the lower 
 part of the town, where their simple virtues and 
 piety exert a beneficent influence on society. 
 
 The Episcopal congregation in Monroe at first 
 worshipped in the Presbyterian, and then in the 
 Methodist Church, building a house of worship in 
 1869, when it was dedicated by the Right Rev. 
 Henry Potter, D.D., and placed under the care of the 
 Rev. Chas. Babcock, rector at Greenwood and after- 
 terwards Professor of Architecture at Cornell Uni- 
 versity. He was succeeded by the Rev. Henry M. 
 Dows, who served the church for many years, and 
 left a record for scholarship, earnestness, and piety. 
 Its corporate name is Grace Protestant Episcopal 
 Church of Monroe. Its present rector is the Rev. A. 
 H. Ormsbee. The congregation from small begin- 
 nings is pushing its way among older churches, show- 
 ing notable zeal and desii'e to build up society in the 
 knowledge and life of the Saviour of the world. 
 
 The Roman Catholics have long held services in 
 the town, but for many years in private houses or 
 
Churches and Clergy. 155 
 
 halls. At length they purchased the house built by 
 John Jenkins in the village. This they fitted 
 up as a chapel. They gave it the name of the 
 Church of St. Mary's. In 1896 this was removed 
 and a beautiful house of worship was built and con- 
 secrated by Archbishop Corrigan, with the name of 
 the Church of the Sacred Heart. 
 
 The church is an ornament to the village, and 
 much is hoped from it in training those of that de- 
 nomination in the ways of truth and uprightness. 
 
 Its priesthood have been Fathers Byrnes and 
 Hughes. Fathers Hannigan and Ward officiate at 
 present. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE CAUSE OF TEMPEEANCE. 
 
 THE temperance cause has had earnest champions 
 in Monroe. We have stated that John Brooks 
 dehvered a temperance lecture in Blooming Grove 
 when he was a young man, long before the Washing- 
 tonians or any of the modern reforms were thought 
 of. The venerable man said some resented it, be- 
 cause they regarded it as personal. There were 
 many stills at that time in that town. But Monroe 
 was not without at least one, on the Still Brook, kept 
 by a Mr. Bell. It was not regarded as inconsistent for 
 a Deacon Griles to have a distillery, or a minister of 
 the Grospel to accept a glass of wine from the side- 
 board of a parishioner. We have heard of one divine 
 who would repair to the house of a good deacon after 
 morning service and take what was called " a wee bit " 
 to brace Mm up for the second, or afternoon, service ; 
 and of another who was accustomed to send away 
 his demijohn for what was supposed to be molasses. 
 When the messenger brought it home on a stormy 
 evening, he was asked if he would not step in and have 
 something to keep out the cold. He said, " No, I thank 
 you ; I took a little of the molasses out of the jug." 
 It was not unusual to have such spii'itual refresh- 
 ment at funerals and even ordinations. Bills are ex- 
 
 156 
 
TJie Cause of Temperance. 157 
 
 tant — although, happily, not in the archives of a 
 Monroe church — which contain, among the items of 
 expense for such an occasion, a gallon of old Jamaica 
 spirits. What wonder there should be scenes un- 
 worthy such occasions, and cases of intemperance 
 calhng for the censure of the church ! With such 
 examples in high places, it were not strange if the 
 youth grew up to regard such indulgence as not 
 merely pleasant, but manly. One of the young men 
 said he was startled, on his way from college, to hear 
 the name of his own father quoted in the bar-room 
 in justification of social drinking. But that was a 
 feature of the time. Conscience had not awakened 
 to the enormity of the evil. And yet even then 
 there were those who, like the sons of Rechab, 
 frowned upon it, and did what they could to stay the 
 evil. 
 
 For the last sixty years the pastors in the town 
 have been earnest advocates of temperance. It was 
 always advocated on a Scripture basis that " Wine is 
 a mocker, strong drink is raging, at last it stingeth 
 like a serpent, and bitethlike an adder." On one oc- 
 casion Rev. Cyrus D. Foss, then Methodist Episcopal 
 pastor at Chester, New York, afterwards bishop, de- 
 livered a memorable sermon in the Presbyterian 
 church, from the text, " Every tree that the Lord 
 hath not planted shall be plucked up," in which he 
 compared the tree of intemperance to the deadly 
 upas, poisonous in root, branch, blossom, and fruit. 
 
 A reform club was organized about twenty years 
 since that flourished for a time, winning many from 
 the saloons ; and in a pleasant reading-room, fur- 
 nished with books and games, and having discussions 
 every week, much good was done. But it was al- 
 
158 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 lowed to languish and at length come to an end. 
 Yet good came out of it, and some who were reformed 
 stood firm. 
 
 The ladies of Monroe have always felt a deep inter- 
 est in the temperance cause, and well they may, for 
 it is usually woman that feels the heaviest weight 
 of the curse, when she sees the strong arm of hus- 
 band palsied, or the boy for whom she has prayed 
 caught in the irresistible threads of the octopus 
 of drink. They have encouraged speakers and 
 attended meetings and bidden every effort to bar 
 the current that has sometimes threatened to 
 destroy all that is fair and promising. They have 
 now an organization of their own, a branch of 
 that society instituted by the late Miss Frances E. 
 Willard, the W. C. T. U., and it is hoped it may save 
 many a victim and throw up such a barrier against 
 the saloon as shall be mightier than a wall of granite. 
 A sanitarium for the application of the "gold cure" 
 has been planted just beyond our border; while we 
 welcome it as a humanitarian institution, it is sad 
 there should be such a need. The true gold cure is 
 the old jnotto,^^ Ohsta principiis^^ ("Resist beginnings"), 
 and the still higher one, " Touch not, taste not, handle 
 not." 
 
 An incident of the reform club is worth relating. 
 Some of the leading laity and older clergy had been 
 very active, when one of the former playfully said : 
 " We have heard from the old stagers, now let the 
 young colts have a chance," meaning the young men. 
 
 This brought out the happy rejoinder from the 
 Rev. George Hearn: "Yes, put up the old horses 
 that have pulled you over the hard, dusty road, and 
 bring out the young team and show up their points. 
 
The Cause of Temperance. 159 
 
 Hitch them up, while the passengers rest awhile. The 
 driver takes the reins, the bugle sounds. The colts 
 prance and curve their necks and switch their long 
 tails, but the coach does not move. The driver 
 uses the whip, the hostlers take them by the bit, but 
 they refuse to move in the direction wanted. ' Take 
 them out,' says the driver. ' Give me the old stagers 
 for work.' When they are hitched and the signal is 
 given, off goes the stage amid the cheers of all inside 
 or out." Quite true of other enterprises that advance 
 only when the willing take hold. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 HUNTING AND FISHING. 
 
 EVERY nation and people have their recreations. 
 Such are characteristic of the time and locahty. 
 Hunting and fishing are among the most primitive, 
 becoming ahnost part of the necessary toil. The 
 early settler feels a twofold pressure : that of clearing 
 the forest of dangerous animals, and, being remote from 
 market, the need of getting supplies for his table 
 from forest and stream. Rifle and rod are his indis- 
 pensable companions. Then there was plenty of 
 game. The Dutch navigators declared they saw, from 
 the Half Moon as they sailed up the Hudson, in the 
 forest, hons, unicorns, and other fabulous beasts. 
 The fire-water they drank probably confused their 
 vision and their zoology, as is not unusual. One of 
 the old people said he had seen in the meadow, just 
 above Grreenwood, tracks of panther and bear, where 
 they crossed from one mountain to another, and those 
 of wild turkeys as thick as chicken tracks about the 
 hen-yard. Clinton mentions the presence of beavers 
 and their work in constructing their dam. One well- 
 known citizen tells of being pursued by a wolf when 
 sent for the cattle on East Mountain. That leap and 
 that howl, and his wild ride over the rocks, he never 
 forgot. A party were going up to a certain fortune- 
 
 160 
 
Hunting and Fishing. 161 
 
 teller's on Rye Hill when a bear met them. They 
 suddenly lost their faith in the supernatural, leaving 
 the witch of Endor to study the stars alone that night 
 and wonder why the heavens were so unpropitious. 
 Ursa Major sometimes put in an appearance in these 
 terrestrial parts, if we may credit the story of the 
 Prim Swamp bear-hunt of a later day. It seems the 
 report was circulated in the village that a bear was 
 seen in the swamp beyond the village, whereupon 
 every huntsman was abroad with gun and pitchfork. 
 A goodly number of dogs and boys followed. A 
 Frenchman called Chevaux de Frise volunteered to go 
 in and drive the animal from his lair. Like the boy 
 Putnam, into the den he crept, then fell back, fol- 
 lowed by the growling beast. Instantly the pack of 
 dogs rushed in. As he wheeled, the little Frenchman 
 grabbed the bear by the long hair on his haunches ; 
 then followed, said my informant, one of the wildest 
 battles ever seen. The dogs yelped, the bear growled, 
 the Gallic hunter was swung right and left in a wild 
 tussle. One old man cried, " Hold him ! hold him ! " 
 then threw away his gun and fled. When the bear pre- 
 sented a vulnerable side where he could be shot with- 
 out injury to his brave antagonist, Mr. David Knight 
 drew a bead on him and laid Bruin low. 
 
 Panther and wild-cat would often steal down from 
 the mountains where they denned and seize a shoat or 
 calf, when the whole neighborhood would tiu'n out to 
 hunt them to their lair. Even the women were good 
 shots, and knew how to defend their poultry-yards 
 from possum and hawk. Sly Reynard would occasion- 
 ally depredate upon the harem of the old gray goose, 
 perhaps kilhng the " very one she was saving to make 
 a feather bed " ; then there would be a fox-chase in 
 21 
 
162 Chfvnicles of Monroe in the Oldest Time. 
 
 earnest, — no "pnrp and anise-seed affair," but a wild 
 tear around Pedlar Hill and Woodcock, resulting in the 
 trophy of a red or a silver pelt. Deer were not infre- 
 quent in the forests at quite a late period. In hunting 
 these beautiful animals, it is related of one that he was 
 so excited upon seeing a splendid buck approach, that 
 he snatched his ramrod and stuck it into a log and 
 dropped his rifle, being too excited to fire. Another 
 was posted on one of the shores of Mombasha to watch 
 for a deer, while others would drive him into the lake 
 from the other side. As a fine buck came swimming 
 toward the former huntsman, he attempted to seize 
 him by the horns, when the agile beast lifted him on 
 his antlers and tossed him headlong into the thicket, 
 with his suit nearly torn from his body. Such were 
 some of the sports and hair-breadth escapes of those 
 stalwart men and women of old Monroe. 
 
 It is not singular that Izaak Walton should have 
 many disciples in this region. For, as we have seen, 
 there was much water there. The lakes and brooks 
 were stocked with fish even when the Indian roamed 
 the forest. He speared the salmon, as he leaped 
 the falls of the Ramapo, and from his birch 
 canoe enticed perch and pike to ingenious snares. 
 The surveyor speaks of a trout-brook, near Sugar- 
 loaf, where was an Indian settlement ; so that these 
 speckled beauties antedated the white man. Pick- 
 erel and black and rock bass were an importa- 
 tion of recent date. When Mr. Jonah Brooks caught 
 his first four-pound bass, he insisted upon going 
 home, because it was glory enough for one day. With 
 what devotion many followed this apostolic avocation, 
 even the dominie, of whom a wag said he always 
 knew when his barrel of pork w^as out, for he would 
 see him with his rod on his shoulder ! 
 
Hunting and Fishing. 163 
 
 What a joy to plunge into the soHtude and whip 
 some wild stream, wading, climbing over slippery- 
 rocks, and skittering a gaudy fly over riffle or pool! 
 There one gets at the very heart of Nature, and if 
 he have a knowledge of the gentle art and golden 
 patience, he is not likely to come home unrewarded. 
 A fishing fever usually was of days' duration : one 
 the preparation, in which the bait of minnows or 
 crickets were captured, or flies made. We say 
 made, for Mr. Townsend captured a splendid trout 
 with a fly made of a yellow envelope and a bit of 
 red sealing-wax. It was a grotesque sight to see 
 several gentlemen on their knees in some bit of stubble 
 chasing crickets and grasshoppers. The collection 
 of rents, and sowing of tares by the housewives in 
 consequence, was a standing joke. The bait must 
 be preserved ahve, and if it were minnows, they were 
 placed in the spring. Then, long before dayUght, the 
 jolly party would be off. All day long they would 
 toil, often returning with the spoils of the beautiful 
 lakes which afford young and old so much of in- 
 nocent enjoyment. Sometimes there were amusing 
 experiences. Mr. John Goff slipped in while fishing 
 through the ice. He took out his pocket-knife and 
 cut ridges in the ice to grip with his fingers. But 
 they slipped. He then induced his dog to bring his 
 mittens, which lay on the ice. These he let freeze 
 in the ridges, and thereby he pulled himself out. 
 
 Allen Knight hooked a big turtle at Mombasha. He 
 was weak and sickly at that time, and found the huge 
 terrapin too much for him. 
 
 As he was about taking a plunge, Mr. H. J. Bertholf 
 caught him by the waist, then Mr. C. B. Knight re- 
 inforced the rescuing party, and all came ashore to- 
 gether, not omitting the rebellious hardshell. Two 
 
164 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 dominies had fished all day and taken nothing. A 
 fisherman called for help ; his boat was full of water. 
 He had caught one of these snappish creatures, and 
 was holding him down with his oar. The dominies 
 offered help. " Why don't you tie him ? " asked one. 
 " I never heard of tying a snapping-turtle," he re- 
 sponded. Then the man of the cloth showed him 
 how to put his anchor-rope in his mouth for a bridle, 
 and when his head was drawn in, draw the rope 
 under the shell and tie a flat knot over his tail, and he 
 was secure. 
 
 " Well," said the other dominie, " this is a great note, 
 that a dominie should teach an old fisherman how to 
 tie a turtle." " Well," responded the fellow, " what 
 these dominies don't know, there 's no use knowing." 
 Then he filled their empty basket with fish. We can 
 vouch for the truth of this. For the next we rely on 
 tradition : that a drunken fisherman was drowned one 
 Sunday. When he was fished out, and his wife sent 
 for, her lament was in the memorable words : " Poor 
 Joe, he went fishing fifty times on Sunday, and never 
 got di'owned before." 
 
 The fishing advantages of Monroe, and the many 
 sports of the woods and streams, always make it an 
 attractive spot. How many congenial spirits it brings 
 together for innocent amusement, and what advan- 
 tages it offers for summer visitors and permanent 
 residents ! Cottages and club-houses are springing 
 up at present on crest and lakeside, but there are still 
 some shaded nooks where the lover of nature can 
 fill his fernery or trout-basket unmolested by the world 
 of fashion and folly. 
 
 The people of the olden time had other amusements 
 beside fishing and hunting. They had stone-bees and 
 
Hunting and Fishing. 165 
 
 raisings. The women had apple-cuttings, qniltings 
 and spinning-froHcs. The yarn or flax would be given 
 out, and at an appointed time and place the material 
 would be returned, and there would be a feast, possi- 
 bly a dance of the stately minuet or Virginia reel. 
 Corn-huskings were not uncommon in bringing young 
 and old together in innocent frolic, resulting in many 
 a wedding. Horse-racing was a favorite sport, de- 
 fended on the ground of improving the stock of 
 horses. The lane was the race-course. But it was 
 found that racing-day attracted such a motley crowd, 
 and was attended with so much drunkenness and dis- 
 order, that pubHc opinion at length suppressed it. 
 
 Snakes of different species have abounded, as might 
 be expected in such a stony region. Not merely the 
 harmless garter and saucy milk snake that gUdes in 
 and out of the milk-house, and the insinuating black 
 snake that robs the robin's nest, but the deadly rat- 
 tler and copperhead. These two last, like their moral 
 counterparts, the thief and the murderer, den together, 
 leading some to suppose that they are merely male 
 and female. But the close student of nature puts 
 them in different classes. They both ahke are hated, 
 and reahze the truth of the divine promise, "I will 
 put enmity betwixt thee and her seed." One of our 
 ladies chmbed to a nook on the East Mountain, where 
 she was accustomed to go to read and sew. Suddenly 
 she found herself in the midst of a circle of rattle- 
 snakes, which had come out of their dens to sun them- 
 selves. Heads were erect, tongues flaming and rattles 
 ringing out alarm and defiance all about her. There 
 was little chance for retreat. Plucky maid ! She picked 
 up stones that lay around in abundance, she pelted 
 them right and left, till she made a way by which she 
 
166 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 could make a safe retreat, and lived to recount to lier 
 children her adventure and di'aw the lessons of life 
 it clearly taught. Often these and their congeners, 
 the pilots, would be thrown up with a forkful of hay 
 upon the hay- wagon, when the low meadows were the 
 scene of such labors. It was not an easy question to 
 settle which were the safer post, that of pitcher or 
 loader. A fight with a lively rattler at such a time 
 was excelled only by a scrimmage with a nest of hor- 
 nets or yellow- jackets. 
 
 Not many years since a rattlesnake was killed in 
 Mrs. Carpenter's garden in the village. One of our 
 savants begged the carcass to experiment with and 
 test it as an article of food. He had eaten alhgator 
 and couter in Florida, and assuming that all things 
 are given for a useful purpose, whether fish, flesh, or 
 fowl for food, he was determined to carry out his 
 theory. After considerable difficulty he persuaded 
 his sister to cook some of the rattler. He tasted it 
 and said, " It has a wild-gamy flavor." He then took 
 some on a httle dish to the good lady in whose garden 
 it was killed. When he offered her the present, she said, 
 
 "B , set that dish on the end of the piazza. Thee 
 
 has enough rattlesnake to supply all the village." It 
 is needless to say that this experiment was not a suc- 
 cess in adding this new dish to the cuisine of Monroe. 
 
 Rabbit-hunting was more of a pleasure to those 
 who participated in it than to the farmer; for, as the 
 game took refuge not seldom in the stone fences, rods 
 of fence w^ere often torn down, costing $1.50 a rod, to 
 capture a poor little rabbit worth but a shilhng. 
 
 Bee-hunting and bee-raising were sources of amuse- 
 ment to some. The skilled bee-hunter knew how to 
 follow the honey-makers to their improvised hives in 
 
Hunting and Fishing. 167 
 
 trees and old buildings, showing skill in follow- 
 ing them, and knew how to capture their stores 
 without the sound of trump or shout of battle like 
 the Japanese warriors. But a common method of 
 bringing an escaping swarm to a halt was to summon 
 the whole household, and, armed with pans and stove- 
 pipe, fill the air with horrible discords, enough to rend 
 the ears of the listener and bring every musical ear to 
 surrender. The watchful apiary seldom had to resort 
 to such methods, because a swarm always alights near 
 by before it starts to its more distant destination. 
 Then there were some, like the late Nathanael Thomp- 
 son, who could handle them with perfect ease, uncar- 
 ing if ever receiving a sting. Others were not so 
 successful in their management. One of the minis- 
 ters loved bee-culture, but had constant difficulty with 
 them. They used to swarm when he was absent, or 
 on Sunday when he was occupied. One evening he 
 sent for a neighbor to help him hive a swarm in an 
 apple tree. The skip was washed with hickory leaves 
 and made ready. Then the swarm was coaxed reluc- 
 tantly into the hive. But a number of stragglers 
 alighted upon the persons of the operators. The 
 neighbor found some inside his trousers, and played 
 some fantastic tricks before the windows of the par- 
 sonage, where ladies were assembling for a prayer- 
 meeting. The dominie carried some bees on his 
 clothes into the meeting, where the sting of one 
 chided his dullness, and the presence of others kept all 
 awake. 
 
 Hornets and bumblebees, so called, were a great 
 annoyance in the harvest-field, particularly the low 
 meadows. We have seen a general stampede from 
 these wild marauders. One old mower, however, loved 
 
168 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 to fight them, and woiild beg that they be left undis- 
 turbed till evening, when he could have the pleasure 
 of burning them out. In resisting one of these fiery 
 Uttle animals, he gave himself such a rap on his knee 
 that he had to leave the field. His employer, the 
 dominie, too, carried to the pulpit a swollen eye as 
 the result of a similar encounter. 
 
CHAPTEE XXYI. 
 
 MILITIA TRAINING. 
 
 IT may not be improper to include militia training 
 among the amusements of the time, although it 
 had a more serious intent. Under the old militia law 
 all able-bodied men over eighteen years of age were 
 required at stated times to assemble for military drill. 
 The militia of the three towns, Monroe, Cornwall and 
 Blooming Grrove, formed the ninety-first regiment of 
 the nineteenth brigade, fifth division of the army. In 
 this town there were three ununiformed companies, 
 yclept barefoot companies, and one uniformed com- 
 pany. The latter were dressed in a neat suit of white 
 and gray, with hat adorned with red and white feathers. 
 The officers were in gayer uniform and cocked hats. 
 The ununiformed appeared as fancy or necessity dic- 
 tated. They were required to provide their own 
 weapons ; and such a variety of dress and weapons, 
 from an old flint-lock musket to a hickory cudgel, has 
 scarce been seen since the days of Sir John Falstaff. 
 There were company drills, officer parades and general 
 training. The last was supposed to embrace all the 
 virtues of the others, while it absorbed the greatest 
 attention. For days there would be a brushing of 
 feathers, burnishing of old muskets, and pipe-claying 
 of belts. On the gala day might be seen the multitude 
 22 169 
 
170 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time, 
 
 wending their way to the campus on the flat. Motley 
 groups of all classes, conditions and color, of men, 
 women and children, in all sorts of vehicles, or on 
 foot, in all their holiday apparel, were seen hastening 
 to the proud spectacle, each afraid it would be over 
 before he should get there. Strategic places are 
 chosen, booths set up for the sale of gingerbread, 
 card cake and beer, the volunteer commissariat of the 
 citizen army. Soon the brave soldiers are seen with 
 homespun suits and motley weapons, and the band 
 at their head, and their gaily caparisoned officers on 
 their proud horses, as fully ahve as their riders to the 
 glories of the pageant. The word of command is given, 
 the line is formed, or attempted to be formed ; for it 
 is difficult to get some of those barefeet in line, and 
 some of those shillalahs to ground at the proper 
 moment, and keep the eyes right from wandering to 
 the groups of the fair or the tables of the commis- 
 sary. But when arranged to suit a military eye, they 
 go through all the evolutions of the field, with drum, 
 fife, flag and guidon, proud of the service they were 
 rendering their country. Of course, in such voliin- 
 teer soldiering, composed of such a motley throng, 
 there would often be scenes of merriment. It was 
 related of one of the officers that he was very impa- 
 tient of any breach of order, and would charge down 
 upon a noisy group and snatch the loudest from the 
 field and drop him in the graveyard near by. Nor 
 were the officers exempt from being the target of wit, 
 for it is still told that one of these forgot the manual 
 and ordered his men to haughey around a mud-pud- 
 dle. The drummer of this regiment was Greorge 
 Mapes, a member of an old family remarkable for 
 musical gifts. Greorge excelled them all, and was the 
 
Militia Training. 171 
 
 pride of Monroe. He was said to have had a trial 
 match with the drum-major at West Point, and to 
 have compelled the strutting man of the bearskin 
 hat to throw up his baton in despair. Little is said 
 about the fifing. Perhaps it was not so essential as 
 the drum, or possibly it may have been nothing to 
 brag of, as was the case later on, when the fifer said, 
 "If I come to a note I cannot play, I do not 
 play it"; this giving it a Wagnerian effect. Under 
 such inspiring strains the column would march and 
 counter-march, charge and retreat, till the sun would 
 sink in the west, when the order of dismissal would 
 pass along the line, and then would ensue such a 
 stampede and intermingling of the motley throng, 
 soldier and civilian each breaking for home, glad 
 when this mimic war was over. But while it seemed 
 a burlesque, it served to keep the old military spirit 
 ahve; and even after the law was repealed which 
 appointed public militia trainings, the martial flame 
 was kept alive which broke forth in sober reality 
 during the Rebellion, and impelled some of Monroe's 
 best and bravest sons to go to the front and jeopardize 
 their lives for Liberty and Union. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE SINGING SCHOOL. 
 
 THE country singing school was another source of 
 amusement. Far back in the history of the 
 town, it was the custom to engage a singing-master 
 to drill the young folks in music. That divine art 
 was needed then, as now, to beautify home and social 
 hie; and where there was no instrument in the 
 churches, it was essential not only to be able to sing, 
 but to read music. Hence the winter class in music 
 was a desideratum. A Yankee singing-master would 
 come into the county with his violin and establish 
 classes in every neighborhood. Congenial souls and 
 harmonious voices would interchange visits, thus 
 promoting neighborliness and wider musical culture. 
 It is a well-known fact in ethnology that certain 
 tribes and families are musical, while others are inca- 
 pable of distinguishing musical tones. Grottschalk's 
 " Last Hope " to some is little better than a Chinese 
 march in which there are no semitones. The man 
 who has no music in his soul, if not always "fit 
 for treasons," certainly loses much of the sweetness 
 of hfe. Monroe had its full share of good voices, or 
 the possibilities of such. For singers are both born 
 and made ; that is, voices which in the rough seem 
 very unmusical, can be taken and trained and pohshed 
 
 172 
 
TJie Singing School. 173 
 
 so as to yield satisfactory results. This work of find- 
 ing and training both voice and ear was the task of 
 the singing-master. When the raw material pre- 
 sented itself for the first time, and was put through 
 the elementary principles, it were enough to discour- 
 age and distract the cultured ear ; but the same voice 
 by and by will sound the deep diapason, or sigh 
 through the semitones, with marvellous skill. The 
 singing-master needed to have a stock of good-nature 
 and patience. The law of the survival of the fittest 
 prevails here, as elsewhere in nature. The early 
 forms and nomenclature made the task of master and 
 pupil hard then. The former talked of breves and 
 semibreves, crotchets and quavers, semi- and even 
 demisemiquavers. The parts were divided into so 
 many classes that it was difficult for one to tell whether 
 the voice was fitted for air, or second soprano, or 
 counter, alto or tenor, baritone or bass. With all 
 these fine distinctions, there were voices that could 
 not be classified; the only alternative being to be 
 asked to desist. Some wiseacre tried to simplify the 
 art by inventing the buckwheat notes ; thus trying 
 to aid the ear by the eye. But the system yielded 
 no better results, and hence was soon abandoned, hke 
 many labor-saving expedients in education. There 
 must be a certain amount of toil to acquire any 
 treasure in the school of life. The prizes in music 
 are at the goal of the stadium. But we fancy the 
 race was needlessly hard in those days. Probably 
 taste and fashion had much to do with it. Glance at 
 the old tunes used in church : Devizes, Russia, Invita- 
 tion, with its fugues, the gloomy minors, China and 
 Windham, associated not merely with the funeral, 
 but also with the communion. The numerous trills 
 
174 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 required great flexibility of voice, and the intricate 
 fugues as great accuracy of time. But the pupils were 
 catechized upon dynamics and rhythm, and exercised 
 in appoggiaturas. Sweeping up and down the gamut, 
 vaulting over bars, and holding breath at rests, they 
 acquired the skill to meet the difficulties of that 
 divine science. One of their favorite exercises was 
 the round, and they swung " Old John Cross," beat- 
 ing in the ABC till they were as dizzy as the school- 
 boy whirling under the rod, and shouted " Scotland's 
 Burning" with cries of "Fire!" sufficient to arouse 
 the whole village. If they shed tears over some piti- 
 ful minor, they were all in good humor again over 
 " Cousin Jedediah." Now they try some old Grego- 
 rian chant, and then are asking, " Don't you hear the 
 ripe fruit falling ? " They try some sweet strain of 
 Mendelssohn, and even aspire to the intricacy and 
 grandeur of the " Grand Hallelujah." All through the 
 Civil War they sang the " Star Spangled Banner," 
 "Rally Round the Flag," " Tenting on the Old Camp 
 Ground," and other patriotic songs, not merely train- 
 ing their voices, but firing their spirit of patriotism 
 at home, while brothers and fathers were maintain- 
 ing the honor of the old flag in the field. 
 
 These singing-school exercises usually culminated 
 in a concert in which the whole musical talent of the 
 place would be laid under contribution, neighboring 
 help called in, and a grand programme would be given 
 with instrument and voice. Although the strains 
 have died away, the memory remains of solos, duets, 
 and choruses, grave and gay, from the "Little farm 
 well tilled" to the oratorio of " Esther," with its intri- 
 cate variety of action and personality. Sometimes the 
 convention would come, and then the whole county 
 would send its best voices to be trained by some spe- 
 
Tlie Singing School. 175 
 
 cialist like Professor Palmer or Perkins in a wliole 
 week of song. 
 
 The earliest mentioned teacher of singing in Monroe 
 was Professor Converse. He was the father of Pro- 
 fessor Charles Converse, the composer. The father 
 was very popular in the olden time, and regarded as 
 the model of a singing teacher, painstaking, tactful, 
 and patient. Andrew Van Valer rendered good ser- 
 vice to the cause of music. He and his daughters 
 for a long time took the lead in the music of the 
 church. He built four organs, a piano, with violin 
 and cello. He was a man of remarkable energy, de- 
 cision, versatile talent and robust piety. He died at 
 Watkins, New York, March 14, 1882, aged ninety- 
 four. His was a fruitful old age. 
 
 Professor I. B. Swezey was engaged many succes- 
 sive years in teaching music in Monroe. Notwith- 
 standiDg his peculiar theory and phrases about the 
 shock of the glottis and tacting tones, he gave such 
 attention to voice-culture as to develop some excellent 
 singers. 
 
 Professor L. L. Ross also was a favorite. He had 
 a choice collection of humorous songs, several of 
 which were original, and were often encored ; such as 
 " The little brown jug, with its glug, glug, glug," 
 " How many might have gone to Washington if it had 
 not been for you," and " The httle farm well tilled." 
 " The little wife well willed " was another favorite, 
 and struck a responsive chord in many a heart. Pro- 
 fessor Ross's work culminated in bringing out the 
 oratorio of " Esther" with no little success. 
 
 Out of all this devotion to the art grew a choral 
 society which flourished for many years, and gave 
 concerts every winter, which formed a most delight- 
 ful social amusement. The leader in this was Mr, 
 
176 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Eugene McGarrah, who to his large acquaintance 
 with music, vocal and instrumental, added exquisite 
 taste, and by his sincere love of its highest forms 
 enthused others and so gave the pubhc many a musi- 
 cal treat. Above and beyond his companions, facile 
 princeps, he sought to educate them up to his stan- 
 dard, and we believe not without a degree of success. 
 Several musical compositions have proceeded from 
 his pen — among them an original Te Deum and some 
 church tunes. 
 
 Others who were among the sturdy supporters of 
 the singing school were Henry Mapes and wife, the 
 Misses Boyd, the Thompson brothers, and many 
 others whose names we have not space to recall. 
 
 The musical entertainments of Monroe were often 
 indebted to performers from other towns, among 
 whom were Professor John Marvin, Jesse Strong and 
 Wilham Howell. We mention with special emphasis 
 the name of Samuel Marvin, brother of John. His 
 bass voice was of wonderful depth and richness. He 
 was often present to inspii'e with his manly face and 
 genial manner, to help swell the anthem or take his 
 part in duet or solo. He was called, in the freshness 
 of his manhood, to go up higher and take his part in 
 that grand "Hallelujah" whose voices are like those 
 of many waters. He died March 23, 1881, aged forty- 
 two years, six months, eleven days. 
 
 Other sweet singers who have made the walls of 
 the old meeting-house ring, and thrilled many a tired 
 toiler in the home, are among the white-robed choris- 
 ters, while some who loved and survived are saying : 
 
 " Oh for the touch of a vanish'd hand, 
 And the sound of a voice that is still ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE DEBATING SOCIETY. 
 
 ANOTHER source of amusement was the Debating 
 /A Society. There is a period in intellectual de- 
 velopment when it is awaking from sleep and, toss- 
 ing off its environment, wants to try its nascent 
 powers. As soon as a community gets leisure from 
 the toil of settlement, it aspires to grapple with other 
 problems. It has its renaissance, or revival, of 
 reason. Like a child with a new knife, it desires to 
 try its edge on everything alike, even the old heir- 
 looms, family portraits and furniture. With it the 
 results of experience, the institutions of the past and 
 even the deductions of science and philosophy are to 
 be tested, and hence are brought to the crucible and 
 scales. Milton says, " Let all the winds of doctrine 
 loose." Truth has nothing to fear, so it be untram- 
 meled. Even with respect to great established faiths 
 there is always room for discussion, and an inspec- 
 tion of the sohd foundations on which they rest 
 tends often to confirm and convert the traditional 
 faith into the faith that is the substance or demon- 
 stration of " things not seen." 
 
 Monroe had its waking up in the forties, when en- 
 terprise in the shape of the iron horse came snorting 
 up the Ramapo. New families were coming in, new 
 enterprises starting. They caught a glimpse of the 
 23 177 
 
178 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Milky Way, and concluded to stir the star-dust with 
 their chariot wheels. The society met in the shop of 
 John Jenkins, where minerals, magnets, hooks and 
 curios confronted the members. The moving spirits 
 were John Brooks, Dr. Ethan B. Carpenter, Alfred P. 
 Hulse, Brewster Tuthill, David Lynch, Ahner Howell, 
 John Jenkins, Greorge Goff, James Cromwell, Jonah 
 Brooks and Ehenezer Earl. Judge White and Matthew 
 Howell, of Blooming Grove, would sometimes come 
 over and take a hand in the contest. The meetings 
 were conducted with parliamentary precision and 
 were largely attended. The questions discussed took 
 a wide range, embracing subjects political, meta- 
 physical, moral and theological. In these tourna- 
 ments many a spear was broken, many a proud 
 knight in the armor of sophistry put hors de comhat. 
 
 A brave matador would leap into the ring only to 
 find himself on the horns of a dilemma. Some self- 
 confident debater would broach some Utopian theory, 
 or tangle himself in some casuistical knot, when a 
 sall}^ of wit would bring him to his senses. One of 
 the exciting questions discussed was " Is married life 
 more conducive to human happiness than single?" 
 One of the older men argued that it would be more 
 so if there was as much care taken in selecting part- 
 ners as was exercised in the improvement of stock. 
 Just here some wise woman spoke out and said, 
 " Then they would not take you." But all their 
 theories were as thistledown, for each followed the 
 bent of his inclination, looked up his missing rib and 
 took his place in the more serious battle of life. 
 
 When the next generation came on the stage, there 
 was a desire to repeat the experiment of a debating 
 society. This met in the basement of the Presby- 
 
Tlie Debating Society. 179 
 
 terian churcli. Some of the old war-horses, such as 
 Alfred Hulse and Dr. E. B. Carpenter, survived to 
 help on the enterprise. To these were added A. B. 
 Hulse, Theo. McGrarrah, Job Mapes, Geo. Ezray, 
 Chauncey Newkirk, Roe Pilgrim, Joseph Andrews, 
 Henry Mapes, Samuel Bull, Geo. K. Smith and the 
 author. The interval from 1854 to 1859 was full of 
 exciting political and economic questions, and these 
 were debated with no httle zeal and seriousness. 
 There was no time for the hackneyed questions of 
 such societies when the country was seething with 
 the problems of the Missouri Compromise, the Fugi- 
 tive Slave Law, and the extension of slavery into 
 free temtory. These and other serious questions 
 were debated with great earnestness, and much in- 
 struction was elicited. But as the issues approached 
 the momentous period when the appeal was taken 
 from the forum to the iSeld, the society closed. The 
 tendency of these discussions some were inclined to 
 regard as evil, because of assaults upon estabhshed 
 faiths. But, when buttressed in truth, such assaults 
 are as futile as the waves against a rock of adamant; 
 while the exercise of investigation and discussion, 
 even though it strike a rock, is salutary, helping to 
 mental discipline and character-building. It is our 
 opinion that these contests tended to awaken talent 
 and fit some of its members for the legislature, legal 
 profession and editorial chair. 
 
 A village library grew out of the first Debating 
 Society, but it had only an ephemeral existence ; and 
 a reading circle from the last. Both have merged into 
 the Christian Endeavor and Epworth League, and it 
 is hoped they may be longer lived, founded as they 
 are on a religious basis. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 LOVE OF LIBEETY AND PATEIOTISM. 
 
 MONROE was forward in every good cause. Its 
 people, male and female, were liberty-loving, 
 patriotic, and aspiring after higher planes of order and 
 right. This was well illustrated in the wish of one of 
 its aged men that he could hve to see constitutional 
 hberty established throughout the world. As far 
 back as 1808 the Fourth of July was observed in a 
 public manner. A procession, civic and military, was 
 formed at the upper village. Seventeen young 
 girls, dressed in white, rode in procession to the old 
 church, Mr. Moffat heading the column, carrying a 
 hberty-cap. Our informant, Mrs. Daniel Knight, said 
 she rode beside Miss Gralloway. The bonnets they 
 wore stood out like a wheat-fan, and were tied down 
 over their ears. The oration was delivered by her 
 brother, Mr. John Brooks. In the evening there was 
 a feast and merrymaking. 
 
 The next occasion of patriotic interest was the 
 celebration of Oreek independence in the year 1832. 
 That brave people had succeeded in breaking the 
 yoke of the unspeakable Turk, and every lover of 
 liberty and classic fame sympathized with the strug- 
 gling Greeks. The Rev. John White was the moving 
 spirit in Monroe. He aroused the people to con- 
 
 180 
 
Love of Liberty and Patriotism. 181 
 
 tribute, and considerable money was raised to aid the 
 cause. A grand public meeting was held at the old 
 historic church. Navarino bonnets, in honor of the 
 decisive battle, were worn by all the ladies. The 
 frame was of pasteboard, covered with ribbons and 
 flowers to suit the taste. One of the old men de- 
 clared that when he saw a woman dressed in one of 
 them, it looked like a canoe coming. 
 
 A second Fourth of July celebration was held in 
 Monroe in 1855. A procession was formed, with Mr. 
 John Jenkins as marshal, dressed in an officer's uni- 
 form of the olden times. It proceeded to the new 
 Presbyterian church in the village, where an oration 
 was delivered by Charles Winfield, Esq., in the presence 
 of a large assembly. Refreshments were served by 
 the ladies in the unfinished basement. A pubhc ban- 
 quet was given at Groff's Hotel, at which speeches 
 were made, and the famous toast given, " The Mon- 
 roe doctrine, the doctrine of Monroe." 
 
 Another occasion worthy of mention was the ob- 
 servance of Centennial year — 1876. It was celebrated 
 by an entertainment at the Presbyterian parsonage, 
 consisting of an exhibit of relics of the ancient past, 
 and an old-time supper at which the ladies appeared 
 in Lady Washington caps and antique costumes. It 
 was astonishing what an array of old things were 
 brought out from garret and bureau. There were 
 spinning-wheels for flax and wool, cards and combs, 
 hatchel and break, brass candlesticks and snuff- 
 dishes, andirons and bellows, a clock of the reign of 
 Louis Xiy, finger-rings and brooches, old silver and 
 china, samplers and needlework, a M^arming-pan, foot- 
 stove and old tinder-box and flint. Mrs. Dr. Gignoux 
 contributed fine old miniatures of the family, and 
 
182 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden lime. 
 
 Mrs. Alfred Hulse loaned the wardrobe of little Miss 
 Nancy Brewster, a dwarf relative of her family, who 
 was presented to General Washington, and received 
 by him with marked favor. She was scarcely over 
 three feet high ; her slipper would fit a child of five 
 or six years. This entire entertainment seemed to 
 materialize the olden time with its modes of life, and 
 bring the gray fathers and mothers, with their quaint 
 attire and industries, in moving panorama before us. 
 
 This brings us to consider another illustration of 
 the love of liberty and patriotism on the part of these 
 people. As years rolled on, the institution of slavery 
 came to be regarded more and more as a stain on the 
 escutcheon of the country, as well as a blot on civili- 
 zation. The question had been thoroughly discussed 
 in the debating societies of the town, and although 
 there were strong minds in favor of the constitutional 
 recognition of it, yet sympathy would always lean to 
 the side of the oppressed. The reading of Mrs. 
 Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin "and Helper's volume 
 on slavery kept alive the excitement. This cul- 
 minated in the firing on Fort Sumter. The Sunday 
 when the news arrived the whole community was set 
 ablaze. Flags were hoisted, groups of anxious men 
 assembled, and plans and possibilities were discussed. 
 When troops were ordered from West Point, and 
 marched across the East Mountain and boarded the 
 train with their cannon at Turners, the excitement 
 reached its highest pitch. Then men enlisted in ear- 
 nest. Monroe contributed the noblest of its sons. 
 
 This, of course, enhsted the profoundest love of 
 mothers and sisters. One mother wished she had 
 more sons to give. The ladies and children met to 
 work in aid of the noble organizations which were 
 
Love of Ltbertij and Patriotism. 183 
 
 looking after the welfare of the brave boys in the 
 field. The school children scraped hnt. The young 
 people met and peeled fruit, dried and baiTeled it. 
 Old hnen and soft flannel were contributed ; in short, 
 everything that could minister to the sick or wounded. 
 More than a thousand dollars' worth of useful articles 
 were sent. And when the slaves began to come in, 
 after the Emancipation Proclamation was published, 
 supplies were sent to them ; one good dame begging 
 the outworn glasses, and putting them in the cases 
 as helps to learn to read. After the victory at Grettys- 
 bui'g there was a wild demonstration on the street. 
 The Parrott gun which the patriotic had bought by 
 subscription was brought out and hauled along the 
 street, one of the prominent citizens mounting it amid 
 wild huzzas. Afterwards it was fired. But the most 
 satisfactory demonstration was when peace was pro- 
 claimed. Then the whole village was illuminated. 
 The event was celebrated by patriotic sermons and 
 anthems of thanksgiving. 
 
 The recent war with Spain called out some of this 
 latent patriotism, and the sympathies of the best 
 people were with the administration in the endeavor 
 to deliver the Spanish colonies from her inhuman and 
 tyrannical government. Flags were displayed, the 
 national colors were worn by the citizens of the place, 
 and the greatest enthusiasm was manifested when 
 news of the illustrious victories of our army and navy 
 arrived. Monroe was represented at the front by at 
 least one volunteer — namely, Henry Brewster Car- 
 penter, son of Ethan B. Carpenter, Jr. He was a 
 member of Company F, 71st New York ; he returned 
 from Cuba, and died of fever in his native village, 
 September 12, 1898. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES, MILITAEY AKD CIVIC. 
 
 AMONG those who went to the war was John For- 
 JTjl. shee, horn November 20, 1836, son of Barnard 
 and EUza Forshee. After studying medicine and 
 serving as surgeon at the Sailors' Snug Harbor and 
 on the Panama Steamship Line, he enhsted in the 
 Army of the Potomac. He was appointed assistant 
 surgeon of the 66th New York, and then surgeon 
 in the 11th New York, with the rank of major. 
 He was in all the battles of the Peninsula under Gen. 
 McCleUan. There, amid the marshes and during the 
 forced march, he was taken with dysentery and came 
 home to die. Among his last words were : " Who is 
 in command ? " He died November 25, 1862, amid 
 the gentlest of ministries from a loving mother and 
 sisters. " After life's fitful fever he sleeps well." 
 
 Another young man of great promise who went to 
 the war was J. Howard Brooks. He was the second 
 son of John and Sarah Brooks. After his brother T. 
 Benton had enlisted, he joined him in the field with 
 Serrell's Topographical Engineers, operating in Ten- 
 nessee and Kentucky. Afterwards he entered the ser- 
 vice, and was with a company of sappers and miners 
 at Petersburg, where he was shot while on the in- 
 trenchments. He died a few hours afterward, dui'ing 
 which he expressed the warmest yearning for his aged 
 
 184 
 
Biographical Sketches^ Military and Civic. 185 
 
 father and mother and sister at home. His death 
 occurred August 9, 1864, aged twenty-four years, six 
 months, two days. 
 
 The following lines are selected from a poem full 
 of the deepest pathos, penned by his venerable father : 
 
 He loved his dear country, and prompt at her calling 
 He laid all his home joys and fond hopes aside. 
 
 He sought the front ranks, and there, bravely falling, 
 A patriot brave and a martyr he died. 
 
 For the last time on earth on that manly stature, 
 On that comely form and face, we have gazed ; 
 
 On that fair ensemble, and that noble nature, 
 
 Which all who knew him and all who saw, praised. 
 
 We look for his coming when past the cars rattle ; 
 
 We turn with fond look to the opening door j 
 Alas ! he comes not, he has fallen in battle. 
 
 Except in our dreams, we shall see him no more. 
 
 Then farewell to comfort while here we shall languish ; 
 
 My hopes all lie buried with him that has died. 
 My lot is to weep, my life is but anguish, 
 
 Until I find rest in a grave by his side. 
 
 A neat monument was erected to this brave young 
 soldier, a number of patriotic citizens taking this 
 method of showing their sympathy for his memory 
 and the cause in which he fell. On the occasion 
 of its erection, General Thomas Francis Meagher 
 uttered the sentiment : " Great cities have their ar- 
 chitectural piles and mausoleums, but the true mon- 
 uments of a rural community are her brave sons." 
 
 Major Thomas Benton Brooks says : "I had the 
 
 good fortune to be born in Monroe, N. Y. (June 19, 
 
 1836), and, better still, to be the son of Sarah S. 
 
 Ketchum and John Brooks. As if this were not good 
 
 24 
 
186 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 luck enoTigli for one person, the most intimate friend of 
 my boyhood was my cousin, the late John H. Knight, 
 whose superior, on the whole, I have never known." 
 Benton received his early education in the district 
 school, and it was most carefully supplemented at 
 home. His first matriculation in the school of use- 
 fulness was in assisting his father on his farm of fif- 
 teen acres. He describes him as "an old-fashioned 
 farmer of small means, who sometimes gathered his 
 grain with a sickle, and cleaned it with the wind." At 
 the age of thirteen he drove a yoke of big Devon oxen 
 hauling sand, lime and stones for the " Granite House," 
 which was erected for a homestead in 1849. The task 
 which particularly tried the young farmer was the 
 picking and burying of small stones on this emphati- 
 cally stony farm. He also assisted his father in the 
 work of surveying, and exercised his ingenuity in in- 
 venting an instrument for the measurement of angles. 
 With this goniometer, assisted by his young com- 
 panions, he triangulated and mapped Knight's mill- 
 pond, loving it better than any other sheet of water he 
 ever knew 'twixt the Grolden Gate and Golden Horn. 
 When about sixteen years of age he taught the dis- 
 trict school in Eagle Yalley for three months, for the 
 marvellous sum of ten dollars, " boarding round." 
 
 About this time the surveying party of a proposed 
 railroad from New York to Oswego came up the 
 Ramapo Valley, which he joined as axeman. After 
 cutting his hand so badly that he could not swing the 
 axe he was promoted to be chainman, and then rod- 
 man. The projected road having fallen through, he 
 entered the service of the Erie Company, and was 
 first leveller and then transit-man while the double 
 track was being constructed. 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 187 
 
 From this he stepped to the position of assistant to 
 the city surveyor of Paterson, N. J., at a salary of sixty 
 dollars a month. About 1853 the Topographical and 
 Geological Surveys of New Jersey were organized un- 
 der Dr. Kitchell. Mr. Brooks applied for a position, 
 but was offered nothing better than the place of axe- 
 man at half the salary he was getting. 
 
 Though advised against it, he accepted the position. 
 It was part of his duty to carry the heavy, awkward 
 plane-table for the surveyor, and in doing this he had 
 a chance to learn the use of the instrument by watch- 
 ing the work closely. Plane-tables were at that time 
 scarcely introduced into this country, and were used 
 only on the Coast Survey, and there chiefly by for- 
 eigners. In this case the surveyor was an Austrian 
 who was so dissipated that he soon became unfit to 
 do the work. Within a few months Mr. Brooks suc- 
 ceeded him as topographer, with geological duties, at 
 sixty-five dollars per month, and retained the position 
 until the work so injured his eyes that he had to give 
 it up. The next winter found him in Florida, where 
 he obtained work, first as linear land-surveyor, and 
 then as " ordinary seaman," pulhngan oar or the chain 
 and recording observations for a United States Coast 
 Survey party working on the Gulf of Mexico. He be- 
 lieved he knew more about the use of the plane-table 
 than did the chief of the party, who, however, did 
 not seem to think so. Confidence in his own ability 
 to "work his way up" always marked his career. 
 
 When the survey was finished he added an ex- 
 perience to his life of which he often speaks as 
 having been valuable and delightful. He shipped as 
 " landsman " on a cotton-ship and " worked his pas- 
 sage" home. There "I got my first taste of salt 
 
188 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 water," he says, " and made the acquaintance of Jack 
 Tar, with whom I have been on good terms ever 
 since." 
 
 By this time he had come to the conclusion that 
 surveying and engineering is a profession, and not a 
 trade as was at that time beheved by many. He 
 entered the then recently organized School of En- 
 gineering of Union College. A part of the two years' 
 course he was instructor in field-work, and graduated 
 in 1858 as civil engineer, taking the highest marks. 
 The degree of M. A. was conferred upon him a few 
 years later. It was the wish of his friend and pre- 
 ceptor. Professor Grillespie, that Mr. Brooks should 
 succeed him as head of the Engineering Department 
 of Union College ; and had Mr. Brooks been willing, 
 he could undoubtedly have had the position. 
 
 Diu'ing his college vacations he made a topographi- 
 cal survey of the "Augusta tract," owned by the 
 Lorillards and now the site of Tuxedo Park. He 
 was assisted by his brother John Howard and his 
 cousin Fletcher B. Brooks. This was followed by 
 surveys of the great Stirling estate, and later by that 
 of the large mountain iron and forest properties then 
 known as the Greenwood and Ramapo, and others ex- 
 tending along the Ramapo Valley from Monroe to 
 Suffern, and from Greenwood Lake to near the Hud- 
 son River. During this period he spent a winter 
 (1858-59) in Philadelphia, attending lectures at the 
 embryo School of Mines of the University of Penn- 
 sylvania, where he received his strong bent for the 
 study of rocks imder the instruction of the poet-geol- 
 ogist Prof. J. Peter Lesley, teacher and founder of 
 Topographical Geology. This brings us to the period 
 of the War of the Rebelhon. 
 
Biographical Sketches^ Military and Civic. 189 
 
 After the disastrous battle of Bull Run lie resolved 
 to enlist, and did so as private in the 1st New York 
 Volunteer Regiment of Engineers, Company A. He 
 recruited a part of his own company in the mountains 
 where he was best known, and from the number of 
 those with whom his professional work had acquainted 
 him, and excellent soldiers they were. 
 
 The records of the New York Commandery of the 
 Loyal Legion, of which he is a companion, summa- 
 rize his services thus : 
 
 Brevet-Col. Thomas Benton Brooks, U. S. Y., was 
 mustered into the service as 1st Lieutenant, Com- 
 pany A, of 1st New York Volunteer Engineers (Col. 
 Serrell's), September 10, 1861. Promoted to Captain, 
 and later Aide-de-camp, with rank of Major, August 
 17, 1863; resigned October 6, 1864. Brevetted Lieut.- 
 Col. U. S. Volunteer Engineers, March 13, 1865, for 
 " distinguished services at the siege of Fort Pulaski, 
 Georgia"; Brevet-Col. for " gallant conduct during the 
 operations against Charleston, S. C, and meritorious 
 services during the war." He had part in Dupont's 
 expedition against Fort Royal, S. C. Served most of 
 the war on the staff of Major-Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, 
 including operations on Folly and Morris Islands, 
 S. C. ; was assistant engineer in the siege of Charles- 
 ton, S. C, and reduction of Fort Wagner; served 
 temporarily on the staff of Major-Gen. B. F. Butler, 
 and was wounded at Drury's Bluff, Va., May, 1864. 
 He was on cavalry duty with Gen. Gillmore against 
 Confederate Gens. Morgan and Duke in Kentucky ; 
 served as topographical engineer temporarily on the 
 staff of Major-Gen. S. C. Carter in East Tennessee, 
 also that of Major-Gen. A. E. Burnside. After the 
 capture of Fort Wagner, S. C, he received the Sum- 
 
190 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 ter medal. His reports are embodied in Gillmore's 
 " Siege of Fort Pulaski and Siege of Charleston." 
 
 " He is one of the most noteworthy cases, of which 
 there were so many, of extraordinary military capacity 
 suddenly developed in young men whose training 
 had heretofore been exclusively in civil pursuits." 
 (John Hay, " Life of Lincoln," Vol. YII, p. 483.) 
 Gren. Peter S. Michie, of West Point, in an address to 
 the " Veteran Association of the Department of the 
 South," says of him (see Brooklyn Proceedings, 1893, 
 p. 27) : 
 
 " Unquestionably the central engineer in the siege 
 of Fort Wagner, defending Charleston, is our gallant 
 comrade Col. Brooks. Ordinary language cannot do 
 justice to his self-sacrificing devotion in the dan- 
 gerous and difficult service to which he was assigned, 
 nor to the full measure of his manhood in its success- 
 ful performance. Endowed with an active mind and 
 extraordinary energy, with vigorous physical powers, 
 these were continually drawn upon until he had almost 
 reached the limit of human endurance. He was a 
 most indefatigable worker, peculiarly fertile in ex- 
 pedients and in emergencies, indifferent to personal 
 danger when duty demanded it, and in every respect 
 an inspiration to the whole command." 
 
 While serving at the siege of Petersburg, Va., his only 
 brother, Lieut. John Howard Brooks, also of the New 
 York Volunteer Engineers, fell while on duty in the 
 trenches August 9, 1864. He was a gallant, accom- 
 plished young officer who would have risen to distinc- 
 tion in the army or in civil life. After this event, at 
 the request of his parents. Col. Brooks resigned and re- 
 sumed the practice of his profession. His first work 
 was on the Geological Survey of New Jersey, this 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 191 
 
 time -under liis valued friend Prof. Cook. While at 
 work in the iron regions about Ringwood he became 
 acquainted with Abram S. Hewitt, Peter Cooper and 
 his son Edward, who owned the Ringwood estate. 
 Through these gentlemen he was offered a position 
 with the Trenton Iron Company, and had for a time 
 general charge of the iron mines, acting also as pay- 
 master. About this time he filled for a short time a 
 similar position with the Grreenwood Iron Company, 
 under its late owner, Peter P. Parrott. He laid out 
 the "new road" from the O'Neal mine to Greenwood 
 furnace. Messrs. Cooper and Hewitt induced him to 
 go to the iron regions of Lake Superior in the 
 interests of the Iron Cliff Company, which owned a 
 vast property near Marquette, Mich., with head- 
 quarters at Negaunee. The Hon. Samuel J. Tilden 
 was president of the company. Col. Brooks was 
 made vice-president and manager. He remained 
 three years with this company, surveying, buying, 
 building and running charcoal furnaces and opening 
 mines. 
 
 He married, January, 1867, his schoolmate Hannah 
 Hulse, daughter of Albert P. Hulse and Harriet Tut- 
 hill. Their children were Howard (died at Munich, 
 Germany) ; Stella, wife of Rufus S. Woodward; Alfred, 
 assistant geologist on the United States Survey, now 
 (1897) on leave of absence to attend the International 
 Geological Congress in Russia; Hildegard, born in 
 Dresden, reclaimed for her country by the Union flag 
 which was hung over her cradle ; and Mary Potter. 
 
 He now entered on private work as prospector and 
 mining engineer. Soon after he took charge of the 
 Economic State Survey in the iron region of the 
 Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 
 
192 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 In 1873 he took his family abroad for several years. 
 Though broken in health, he took much unfinished 
 State work with him. In London and Dresden he 
 completed his reports on the Michigan and Wisconsin 
 iron regions, returning several times to America on 
 professional duties. Fred. J. Knight was with him in 
 the field and in Dresden, assisting him in topographi- 
 cal, magnetic, and geological work. At this time he 
 was made a fellow of the Gleological Society of Lon- 
 don, and corresponding member of the Geological So- 
 ciety of Edinburgh. 
 
 In 1876 he brought his family to Monroe for a 
 winter, and then moved to Balmville, north of New- 
 burg, New York, where he bought "Glen Hathaway" 
 on the Hudson. He said of the place : "It is a httle 
 Cosmos. I have never seen another seventeen acres 
 with more varied attractions." 
 
 When his wife's serious illness and his own failing 
 health no longer permitted him to continue his pro- 
 fessional duties, he turned his attention to farming. 
 He bought Oak Grove Farm in New Windsor, and 
 moved there in 1883, soon after the death of his wife. 
 When he became obliged to spend the winters in the 
 South for his health, he interested himself in stock- 
 raising in southwest Georgia. With his friend and 
 business associate. Professor Pumpelly, he bought, or, 
 rather, built up, by several purchases, Roseland plan- 
 tation, eight and one half square miles, in Decatur 
 County, Georgia. Their idea that the best use to 
 make of the worn-out cotton and forest lands of the 
 South is to turn them into pasture was at that time 
 a new one. He still finds log-cabin life in the Piney 
 Woods healthful, delightful, and economical, charac- 
 terized as it is by the pleasure of riding and driving. 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 193 
 
 by the cheer of the sunny chmate, and of the " light- 
 wood " fires on the hearth. 
 
 In 1887 he married Miss Martha Giesler, a Prussian 
 lady, and in 1889 the whole family went abroad for 
 two years, for the education of the children. The 
 major, being a true Cincinnatus, takes time to write 
 articles for the pubhc journals, giving the world the 
 benefit of his scientific and practical observations and 
 experiences through a life of varied and remarkable 
 activity. Had he not broken down in health before 
 middle age, he might have achieved great things. 
 
 Benjamin W. Thompson was the second son of the 
 Rev. John J. Thompson, pastor of the Presbyterian 
 church of Monroe, New York. He was born in 
 Middletown, New York, in 1833. After school-days 
 he entered the employ of his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 Chauncey B. Knight. His health failing, he went to 
 Florida, and engaged as tutor in the family of Col. 
 P. L. Dancy, State Engineer, residing on his planta- 
 tion at Orange Mills, on the St. John's River. Here 
 he remained one year, when, his health having been 
 restored by the soft air and out-of-door exercise, he 
 removed to Jacksonville in the same State, and en- 
 tered the store of Mr. Little as clerk. In August, 
 1856, when the yellow fever broke out and a large 
 proportion of the people fled, he, with a number 
 of other devoted young men, offered his services to 
 the alcalde of the city to nurse the sick. He re- 
 mained on duty at Camp Detention until the plague 
 subsided. A vacancy occurring in the branch house 
 at Pernandina, Plorida, Mr. Thompson was chosen to 
 fill it ; but, pending the negotiations, he discovered 
 that the firm included the sale of liquor in their 
 business. To this his conscience would not allow his 
 25 
 
194 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 consent. When they yielded to his conscientious 
 scruples, dropping both the sale of liquor and Sunday 
 traffic, he entered the firro, and did a flourishing busi- 
 ness under the style of Elhs, Macdonough and 
 Thompson. 
 
 About this time Mr. Thompson became interested 
 in the building of a Presbyterian church at Fer- 
 nandina, of which he was chosen elder and Sunday- 
 school superintendent. His sister, Miss Caroline 
 Thompson, came South, and while engaged in teach- 
 ing became his companion and most efficient co- 
 laborer. 
 
 His health becoming impaired, he resigned his 
 business and rested awhile ; but as soon as his 
 strength would admit, he started business again with 
 J. D. Gould, of Delhi, New York, in Fernandina. 
 
 In January, 1861, the legislature passed the Or- 
 dinance of Secession, when a new epoch commenced 
 in the hfe of Mr. Thompson and his sister. At once 
 active military operations were begun. Every able- 
 bodied man over nineteen years of age was required 
 to report for daily drill, unless enrolled in some mih- 
 tary company. As the latter seemed to offer less 
 annoyance, he, with other Northern men, joined such 
 a company. But he soon discovered he had fallen 
 into a trap ; for the order was pubhshed that such 
 companies must enter the service of the State, under 
 penalty of confiscation of goods. Now came the 
 crisis. A reign of terror prevailed after the fall of 
 Sumter, which made it expedient for Northern peo- 
 ple to flee. Mr. Thompson disposed of his goods, and 
 with his sister and several others ran the gauntlet 
 amid great perils, reaching the Northern hues in 
 safety. He now went to Port Byron, New York, 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 195 
 
 where his brother Howard resided, and there piir- 
 chased the " Port Byron Gazette," which he edited 
 with success till he felt it was his duty to enter the 
 service of the country whose cause he pleaded so 
 earnestly. In ten days he recruited a full company, 
 and was chosen its captain. This was Company F 
 of the 111th New York. His regiment was ordered 
 to Harper's Ferry, where, after a short engagement, 
 the whole command was surrendered by Glen. Miles, 
 pending which, the general was shot. Captain Thomp- 
 son was sent with these troops to Chicago, to be held 
 until exchanged. When this exchange was effected 
 they were armed anew and shipped to Annapolis, 
 where his command was joined to the Army of the 
 Potomac. When General Lee invaded Pennsylvania, 
 June, 1863, Captain Thompson made that memorable 
 forced march to Gettysburg, during which so many 
 brave boys succumbed to fatigue. Such a march 
 puts every military virtue to the test. Captain 
 Thompson fell out, after a day's march of thirty-three 
 miles ; but on the eve of the 1st of July he reported 
 for duty, and took his position at the head of his 
 company, now drawn up at the foot of Seminary 
 Hill, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Here they re- 
 ceived the fire of the rebels under General Lee, and 
 Captain Thompson described it as a keen blade of 
 flame sweeping the entire crest of the hill above 
 them. A shell exploded against the very rock behind 
 which his men were lying down, wounding him se- 
 verely. Yet he fought through the entire battle from 
 exposed positions, and with no other rations than 
 such as could be obtained from the haversacks of 
 dead rebels. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th he could muster but ten 
 
196 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time, 
 
 able-bodied men, and bis own feet were so swollen 
 tbat be bad to go into bospital for treatment. As 
 soon as recovered, be reported again for duty. He 
 was now promoted to tbe rank of major. At bis own 
 request, be was appointed to tbe command of tbe 32d 
 United States colored troops. His regiment was or- 
 dered to Cbarleston, wbere it was located at Hilton 
 Head. Here be met tbe lady. Miss Adeltba Twitcbell, 
 wbo was engaged in teacbing, wbom be afterward 
 married. 
 
 Major Tbompson was soon promoted to tbe post 
 and rank of provost-marsbal at Hilton Head, and 
 tbereafter provost-marsbal-general of tbe Depart- 
 ment of tbe Soutb, by General Gillmore. He was 
 made also flag-of -truce officer, witb tbe rank of 
 lieutenant-colonel. Tbis important position brougbt 
 under bis control many Confederate officers and civil 
 officials of bigb rank, governors, and even Jefferson 
 Davis bimself. Prisoners, rebel and Union, were at 
 bis disposal. He organized tbe expedition sent to 
 meet tbe prisoners liberated from Andersonville, wbo 
 were marcbing, or, ratber, dragging tbemselves, to- 
 ward Jacksonville. He sent out a train-load of sup- 
 plies to meet tbem, and wben met, according to bis 
 description, tbey were tbe most forlorn crowd tbat 
 civilized warfare ever witnessed : baggard, starved, 
 diseased, covered witb vermin, gaunt, witb staring 
 eyes as of famisbed beasts ratber tban men. Many 
 died before tbe train met tbem, and otbers before tbey 
 could be conveyed to a place of comfort. We need 
 not say witb wbat assiduous attention, sympatby, and 
 care Colonel Tbompson ministered to tbem. He was 
 tempted to try a little of military irony upon Jefferson 
 Davis and otber rebel leaders by putting tbem for a 
 
Biographical Sketches^ Military and Civic. 197 
 
 while on hardtack, that they might taste some of the 
 rigor to which many a brave Union soldier was sub- 
 jected. 
 
 In the summer of 1865 his regiment was mustered 
 out of service, when he retked to private life. He 
 removed to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and there 
 married Miss Twitchell, whom he had met while in 
 command at Charleston. He had charge of Dodge's 
 Mills for a time, then became cashier of the bank- 
 ing-house of Taylor, Weed and Co. He was also 
 secretary of the Fire Insurance Company. He was 
 appointed Indian agent by the United States Gov- 
 ernment, during which he endeavored to correct some 
 of those abuses which Greneral Grant so strongly 
 condemned. But when a Democratic administration 
 came in, he was superseded by a political appointee. 
 He has since been engaged in commercial business in 
 Minneapolis, and in an enterprise having as its object 
 the redemption of a large tract of land in one of the 
 Northwestern States, by turning the stream of a river 
 over the barren tract. 
 
 Alfred Preston Hulse was the son of Jesse Hulse, 
 of Blooming Grove, where he was born February 4, 
 1805. He was sent to the country district-school, 
 which in those days was very primitive. Its text- 
 books were Daboll's " Arithmetic," Murray's " Gram- 
 mar," and the "English Reader." Yet these, well 
 instilled, have laid the foundation of many a scholar 
 and noble character. Daniel Webster had httle be- 
 yond these and "Poor Richard's Almanack" with 
 which to start upon his intellectual life. But a few 
 simple tools such as a jackknife do wonders in the 
 hand of a boy of brains, and that was what young 
 Hulse must have been. He certainly knew how to 
 
198 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 make good use of tlie few educational tools placed in 
 Ms hands, often sometimes better than a fortune. 
 He soon graduated from the oaken bench and carved 
 desk to the plow and team. This continued his edu- 
 cation along practical lines, and fortified him with 
 good health. He early married Harriet Tuthill of the 
 same town, a lineal descendant of the old Puritan 
 elder Brewster. When they united their fortunes to 
 fight the battle of hfe, his father insisted they should 
 settle on the ancestral farm. But the ambitious 
 young man disdained to depend upon other human 
 arm than his own. Looking beyond his own beauti- 
 ful valley, he saw there was good land in the Clove, 
 and at once resolved to go thither. His father, in- 
 dignant, said : " Well, go there, then, and eat rye 
 bread the rest of your days." They went, and, pur- 
 chasing the farm between Monroe and Turners, known 
 as the Archer farm, there they hung the crane, and 
 reared their family of two boys and four girls. Mr. 
 Hulse was endowed with a mind of remarkable 
 power, quick in penetration, inchned to rapid gen- 
 eralization and deduction of principles and axioms, 
 which he enunciated with Emersonian terseness. He 
 was an inexhaustible reader, purchasing new books 
 on his favorite topics regardless of cost ; and during 
 his noon spells would lie on the floor, drinking from 
 such artesian wells as Comte's " Positive Philoso- 
 phy" or Carlyle's "Hero Worship." He was impa- 
 tient of authority and established faiths ; he sought 
 to investigate for himself and formulate his own faith 
 and philosophy. This naturally threw him into an- 
 tagonism with conservative minds ; but he was a gen- 
 erous debater, a good neighbor, a patriotic citizen, loyal 
 to his country in its struggles, faithful, accounting 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 199 
 
 for his personal property when the government had 
 need of funds. He was one of Monroe's representa- 
 tive men. His home, plain in its furnishings, was 
 one of unusual attraction for the brightness of its 
 conversation, its overflowing good humor, and un- 
 bounded hospitality. Mrs. Hulse was always ready 
 with her kindly offices where there was sickness or 
 want ; and was that good housekeeper whose bread 
 had the reputation of being always light, to whom a 
 neighbor said : " With what do you mix your bread?" 
 She replied : " I always mix it with judgment." Mr. 
 Hulse died February 26, 1887, and Mrs. Hulse, De- 
 cember 27, 1884. 
 
 John H. Knight was born on the old homestead 
 November 23, 1827. He was the son of Daniel C. 
 Knight and Catherine Brooks. From his earliest 
 boyhood he was remarkable for a thirst for know- 
 ledge, and stands as an example of that sort of genius 
 which consists in application. He did not enjoy the 
 advantages of what is termed a liberal education, but 
 was sent to the common school of the district in 
 which he always lived. In the words of a friend : 
 " Long before he arrived at manhood he had read 
 every book of travels, biography, natural history, 
 fiction, and science that was in the old district-school 
 hbrary, and many others of hke character, which he 
 obtained from other som'ces." He considered his 
 own native town a field worthy of his study, spending 
 many leisure hours in investigating its fauna and 
 flora till he became an authority on such subjects. 
 He was an original investigator, disdaining authorities, 
 preferring to gather the data himself, and draw his 
 own conclusions on every subject to which he turned 
 his attention. But while clear and decided in his own 
 
200 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 convictions, lie was modest in their annunciation, 
 always manifesting a spirit of charity and hberality 
 toward those of others. He was an ideal agriculturist? 
 enthusiastic in his vocation, practical, bringing all his 
 energies to bear to make it honorable and get from it 
 the best results. After bringing the home farm to a 
 high degree of productiveness, he took up other pieces 
 of land in the vicinage, and made gardens of them. 
 This gave employment to large numbers of field- 
 hands, whom he paid hberally, and from whom he 
 exacted no more than was just. Their tears to-day 
 bespeak the esteem in which he was held. His sin- 
 gular success along these lines led to his selection to 
 take charge of the model farm of the State of New 
 Jersey, under the care of Rutgers College, situated 
 near New Brunswick, from 1865 to 1868. Here, with 
 Professor Cook hstening to his suggestions, he was 
 able to make experiments with manures, soils, seeds, 
 and implements on a hberal scale, and furnish data of 
 scientific value, not merely for himself, but for every 
 farmer throughout the country. This appointment 
 did not unfit him for the quiet or the thrift of the 
 home agriculture upon his return to Monroe, for he 
 devoted himself to the development of the ideal 
 milch cow, which he believed he found in his beauti- 
 ful Netherland, or belted, stock. Throughout his life 
 he was always studious of what would promote the 
 best interests of his fellow-men, unselfish to a fault. 
 He was genial and bright, a good conversationalist, 
 a man of sound judgment, of strict integrity, tem- 
 perate, and always on the side of good morals. He 
 was married February 13, 1861, to Millicent, daughter 
 of Weeks Seely, of Oxford, New York. He was 
 brother of Chauncey B. Knight and of Mrs. J. Henry 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 201 
 
 Bertholf. He died March 3, 1883, lamented by all 
 who knew him, an irreparable loss to the whole com- 
 munity in which he lived, as well as to the farming 
 interest he so well represented. 
 
 From local causes, such as bold mountain scenery, 
 with noble landscapes, wide fields for enterprise and 
 skill, and, still further, with such a grand history of 
 men and events forming the background, it does not 
 surprise us that Monroe should have been the home 
 of no httle varied talent. It has had farmers and 
 gardeners and dairymen, who were on the alert for 
 every improvement in their vocation. Were there 
 better seed, feed, or appliances, tools or machinery, 
 there were those always ready to adopt them. John 
 K. Roe and Alfred P. Hulse were the first to intro- 
 duce the mowing-machine. Monroe was early in 
 the field to adopt the plan of soiling and of storing 
 ensilage. The Paterson brothers were the leaders 
 in the last improvement. Horse-forks and elevators 
 to unload hay had early advocates, while model barns 
 and stables have been the outgrowth of no httle dis- 
 cussion and experiment. Monroe has had its inven- 
 tors and original investigators. J. Milton Bull was 
 the first to suggest the milk business. Benjamin Bull 
 invented the platform scale and cutting-box. David 
 Mapes invented, as he thought, a perpetual motion 
 which was ingenious, but lacked continuance. John 
 Jenkins found a new mineral among our hills, and 
 named it Monroeite. He also discovered the use of 
 calc-spar for lamp-stands and other ornaments. 
 Bailey Cooley was sanguine over the supposed discov- 
 ery of coal. A trace was found, but not enough to 
 claim the State premium. Carving a ham suggested 
 to John Boyce the imitation of the femoral socket in 
 26 
 
202 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 the construction of a shaft-clip. John Miller in- 
 vented the automatic coupler, and constructed a huh- 
 borer and a hand sawmill. Charles Clinton invented 
 a movable cork for horseshoes, and a cannon com- 
 posed of hoops and staves, also a shell and steam-en- 
 gine ; A. B. Hulse, a safety railway frog for switches ; 
 John Bouton, a self-locking window-fastener. But 
 even where there was no original inventive genius, 
 Monroe has been rich in sound practical talent among 
 her mechanics, merchants, and artisans. 
 
 Professional artists she does not boast, but some 
 choice amateurs have graced her annals. Poetry is 
 one of the arts that flourish on such a rocky soil. 
 Painting and sculpture wait for a more advanced 
 civilization. Poetry is indigenous to virgin soils and 
 mountainous regions. David drew additional inspira- 
 tion from the hills of Bethlehem and the mountains 
 round about Jerusalem. Homer was the blind poet 
 of Scio's rocky isle. Burns and Scott were under the 
 spell of snow-clad Ben Nevis and the crags of lofty 
 Ben Lomond. Joseph Rodman Drake composed his 
 "Culprit Fay" hastily one summer day, amid the 
 Highlands of the Hudson. We are not surprised that 
 Monroe, therefore, should have those who, having 
 tasted of Clove water and bathed in old Mombasha, 
 should plume their wings and try the flights of poetry. 
 Ebenezer Earl sometimes wrote verses. We recol- 
 lect one political satire. 
 
 Mr. WiUiam Van Duzer, the son of Samuel and 
 Ursula Van Duzer, was born in Monroe, and spent his 
 early years here ; but most of his life was spent in 
 New York City, or at the Capitol, where he was engaged 
 in one of the departments of the Federal government. 
 He found leisure to write at least one poem, which is 
 
Biographical Sketches^ Military and Civic. 203 
 
 full of pathos and sentiment. It seems to have been 
 written at different periods of his hfe, which it di- 
 vides up into twelfths : twice six, three times six, till 
 twelve times six is reached, which probably closed 
 his life and song. He was characterized by urbanity 
 and a fund of humor. His memory was well stored 
 with reminiscences of the olden times in Monroe. 
 
 Miss Kate Arnell was much beloved as a writer of 
 occasional verses, which were held in high esteem, as 
 she also was, among the generation gone by. 
 
 John Lamont, father of Charles Lamont, Esq., and 
 grandfather of Fred. Lamont, supervisor of Monroe 
 for many years, had a portfolio full of verses which 
 had the ring of the heather and braes of the home of 
 Burns and Scott. One of his, entitled " All Things 
 are Falling," was full of deep philosophy and solemn 
 truth. 
 
 Among the most prominent of the older literati of 
 Monroe was Mr. John Brooks. His father emigrated 
 from Blagg's Clove and settled in the village of Mon- 
 roe, where he made weavers' shuttles of apple-tree 
 wood. 
 
 John was born in 1784. He went to school at the 
 log school-house kept by McManus near the old 
 Presbyterian church at Seamanville. Afterwards he 
 taught in the stone school-house above the village. 
 He was appointed one of the justices of the peace by 
 Grovernor De Witt Clinton in 1819, and the name of 
 8. S. Seward is attached to his commission. He was 
 storekeeper for the Stirhng Iron Company in 1832. 
 He was sent to represent Orange County in the sixty- 
 eighth session of the New York Assembly at Albany, 
 which commenced January 7, 1845. 
 
 He belonged to the liberal wing of the Democratic 
 
204 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 party, and claimed that he had his political creed 
 straight from Thomas Jefferson. He took an active 
 part in the debates of that legislative body. An im- 
 portant measure was the amendment of the State 
 constitution, toward the adoption of which he con- 
 tributed an influential part. After his return he built 
 the Granite House, where he spent the remainder of 
 his life in farming, surveying and reading until his 
 death. He was a man of varied gifts, thrifty, honest, 
 industrious and hard-working. He was well read in 
 books, but was well acquainted with nature and men. 
 He was a good debater and an interesting conversa- 
 tionalist, his utterances being the fruit of long years 
 of observation and experience in different walks of 
 life. He was an ardent patriot and lover of liberty, 
 giving two of his sons to the cause of his country. 
 On his death-bed he expressed his desire to live only 
 that he might see constitutional government estab- 
 lished throughout the world. 
 
 The loss of his younger son in battle at the siege 
 of Richmond much impaired his vigor of body and 
 mind. He died November 17, 1871, in the eighty- 
 seventh year of his age. 
 
 We have already quoted one or two of his poems. 
 We will now add another, more modern than they, 
 but no less crisp and epigrammatic. It was written 
 at Escanaba, while on a visit to his son Benton, who 
 was employed as overseer at the iron-works at that 
 place. 
 
 " We have plenty of books on all art and science, 
 From pigmies and punsters quite up to giants 
 Who think they have found all nature's reasons, 
 Uncaring how guilty they might be of treasons, 
 Or change in indestructible forces, 
 
Biographical Sketches^ Military and Civic. 205 
 
 Tracing her out through all her dim courses; 
 Which forces, like matter with which they unite, 
 May change ad infinitum^ themselves infinite ; 
 That all the imponderables of earth, air and ocean 
 Are found out at last to be nothing but motion ; 
 That they are covenanted one to another, 
 And may be transmuted each into other. 
 
 They chop metaphysics in so learned a way, 
 You cannot understand one half that they say — 
 'Tis doubtful, I think, if even do they." 
 
 — ESCANABA. 
 
 The rest of the poem is of pohtical cast, referring 
 to the exciting questions of the day, and would not 
 interest. 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Brooks, his wife, was no less remark- 
 ahle as a woman and mother. While busy with 
 her housekeeping she took charge of the education of 
 her children, having them read and study beside her, 
 while her deft hands were busy with needle and 
 bread-tray. She was a careful reader, alive to all the 
 questions of the day, and knew how to impart what 
 she read to her children. She was a consistent mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, industrious, 
 energetic, patriotic. When she had lost a son in the 
 service of his country, she wished she had more sons 
 to give to the cause of freedom. 
 
 Monroe had other prominent men in the past 
 whose names are worthy of mention, such as Robert 
 Fowler, Esq., a man of refinement and culture and 
 fine presence, a justice of the peace and member of 
 the Assembly. 
 
 Miles Hughes, Esq., brother of Col. Samuel Hughes, 
 was a prominent public man who occupied positions 
 of trust. He was much respected. 
 
206 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Hudson McFarland was a citizen of Southfield, 
 where for many years he was a pohtical leader. He 
 is remembered as a man of large brain and sagacity, 
 who filled a number of official positions. 
 
 Peter Townsend, son of Peter and grandson of 
 Solomon Townsend, was, like his ancestors, one of 
 the iron kings who developed the mineral and busi- 
 ness wealth of the old town. He was a man of large 
 capacity and application to the industry to which he 
 was devoted, generous to his employees, and with a 
 fund of good humor ; while his hospitahty, adminis- 
 tered by his charming wife, Mrs. Caroline Parrish 
 Townsend, was boundless. It was a sad day when 
 their rugged workmen carried them out and laid them 
 to rest on the cliff on the old homestead at Southfield. 
 
 Peter P. Parrott was another of the iron kings. 
 He was brother of Robert Parrott, of Cold Spring, 
 N. Y., who was associated with him in the iron busi- 
 ness. Under the supervision of the former, the iron 
 was taken from Monroe mines, smelted at the furnace 
 at Greenwood and shipped to the works at Cold 
 Spring, and during the Civil War was manufactured 
 into the celebrated Parrott guns, the method of mak- 
 ing and reinforcing which was their own invention. 
 They introduced also the manufacture of mineral 
 cotton, used for fireproof packing and filling. The 
 slag, while incandescent, was made to flow in the cur- 
 rent of air from the blowers, and was scattered hke 
 snow-flakes to lodge and cool in a large chamber. 
 He said at that time there were only two others hke 
 it in the world. 
 
 Mr. Peter P. Parrott was a man of remarkable 
 cheerfulness, geniahty and energy. He had been a 
 whaling captain in early hfe, and long retained his 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 207 
 
 fondness for the freedom and adventure of that kind 
 of life. His conversation was bright, his manner most 
 cordial toward neighbor and employee. His home 
 was situated above a lovely glen, looking down upon 
 lake, forest and garden, teams passing and furnace 
 engines throbbing and sending out their pillars of 
 fire and smoke; and here, with a bright family circle 
 about him, he seemed the very favorite of fortune. 
 But the fall in the price of iron and the cost of trans- 
 porting fuel rendered it necessary to close the works ; 
 and now the whole place, from Wilkes' almost to 
 Southfield, has been converted into a park, under the 
 name of Arden, the family name of Mrs. Peter Par- 
 rott. A beautiful Episcopal church and rectory re- 
 main as mementos of the taste and character of the 
 former owners and controlling spirits of the place. 
 
 Morgan Shuitt, Esq., was for many years one of the 
 most prominent citizens of Central Valley, where he 
 exerted a controlling influence in its politics and 
 public affairs. It is enough to state concerning him 
 that he was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 
 1849, and was reelected to that post each year there- 
 after until 1881, having served thirty-three consecu- 
 tive years, the longest term of service of any elec- 
 tive officer in the State. 
 
 Mr. Shuitt was a born leader of men. He had the 
 rare honor of having accorded to him both ability and 
 honesty by his political opponents. He is another 
 of the shining marks that have been a target for the 
 King of Terrors. 
 
 Peter Tiu'ner was a leading citizen of Turners. He 
 and his wife came from Buttermilk Palls, and founded 
 the hamlet bearing their name very early in the cen- 
 tury. He started a sawmill and then a grist-mill. 
 
208 Chronicles of Monroe m the Olden Time. 
 
 He said the people then were so disorderly that he 
 had to mark out a line about the premises beyond 
 which he forbade them to intrude. He soon built 
 the hotel at the foot of the hill. When the Erie 
 Company was organized he saw what a favorable 
 location he possessed for an eating-station on the 
 railroad. He then built the restaurant, and after- 
 wards had an interest in the Orange Hotel. He was 
 a successful manager, and gave his house the reputa- 
 tion of setting a good table. His son James suc- 
 ceeded him, and was regarded as the prince of 
 providers. 
 
 Elmore Earl was highly esteemed in the same ham- 
 let, and for many years exercised the office of justice 
 of the peace. He was honest and capable, leaving 
 behind him a good record for fidehty. 
 
 The roll of worthy sons would be incomplete with- 
 out the name of Chauncey B. Knight. He was the 
 eldest son of the late Daniel and Catherine Knight, 
 both prominent in the memory of the present genera- 
 tion. His parents belonged to a long-hved family, 
 but he was called away in the very midst of his days 
 of usefulness. He was bom on the homestead in the 
 village, and received his education at the district- 
 school. He was lame in early life, using a crutch, 
 yet was able to hold his own in the sports of his com- 
 panions. He turned his attention to mercantile pur- 
 suits, and entered into partnership with Gates W. 
 McGrarrah in 1845, at the corner of Church and Main 
 streets, for the sale of general merchandise. In 1846 
 the latter built a store near the depot, and dissolved 
 the partnership with Mr. Knight. The latter then 
 continued the business on his own account, with 
 Matthew B. Swezey as clerk. In 1849 he built the 
 
Biographical Sketches^ Military and Civic. 209 
 
 brick store opposite the railroad station, and removed 
 his business thither. In 1851 he was appointed sta- 
 tion agent by the Erie Company, when, in connec- 
 tion with it, he turned his attention to the lumber and 
 coal trade, together with that of flour and feed. He 
 renovated the old mill, putting in a new overshot 
 wheel, with other improvements. When the wheel 
 was found inadequate, he built the steam-mill and the 
 present office. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster, 
 retaining the office till the day of his death. In 1864 
 he was elected supervisor of the town, retaining the 
 office till the town was consolidated. He formed a 
 partnership with Greorge R. Conklin for the sale of 
 flour, feed, coal and lumber in 1863, which continued 
 harmonious till it was dissolved by death. He was a 
 trustee of the Presbyterian church for upwards of 
 thirty years ; also its treasurer, taking great interest 
 in the management of its temporahties. 
 
 In 1846 he married Mary, eldest daughter of the 
 late Rev. John Jay Thompson, and his children were 
 five — namely, Chai'les T., his successor in flour and 
 feed at Monroe; Fred. J., civil engineer; Henry B., 
 merchant at Goshen; Caroline T., wife of Rev. O. 
 Elmer, of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Mary T., wife of 
 George R. Conkhn, head of several branches of busi- 
 ness centering at Monroe. 
 
 Mr. Knight was a man of integrity, honest in busi- 
 ness, a kind father, a friend of the wage-earner, a 
 patriot, and a man of affairs, to whom many looked 
 for counsel in different walks of hfe. He was a man 
 of public spirit, to whom the village of Monroe was 
 largely indebted for many improvements. He at- 
 tached his friends very strongly to him, having that 
 rare quality of bonhomie that makes one a welcome 
 27 
 
210 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 companion in business or recreation. He was fond 
 of the manly sports of field and stream ; and those 
 who shared these recreations with him will never 
 forget his untiring patience and his genial conversa- 
 tion at the camp-fire or on the trail. 
 
 He died July 24, 1880, much lamented by friends 
 and business men, who came from distant parts of 
 the county to testify their regard for him. His 
 memory is tenderly cherished by those — of whom the 
 writer is one — who have been indebted to him and his 
 goodwife, who was his inspiration in every good 
 work, for hospitality shown and shelter given when 
 the whirligig of time had made them waifs on its 
 stream. 
 
 His home was often called the Home of the 
 Friendless, so often it offered shelter to relative 
 and neighbor. It was one of those Monroe homes 
 whose latch-string always hung out. 
 
 To this sjrmposium of worthy sons we might invite 
 many other spirits. Some still in the flesh are hardly 
 less memorable. But there would be a manifest want 
 of symmetry, and even justice, if we passed without 
 notice the f au'er portion of Monroe, namely, her daugh- 
 ters. They have contributed to its reputation and 
 helped shape its destiny in a quiet way not less than 
 its sons. They have not filled professors' chairs, nor 
 been appointed to the Coast Sui'vey, been made super- 
 visors or sent to the legislature, but they have in- 
 structed those who have filled all these positions. 
 They have not yet been made electors to State or 
 Federal offices, but we have seen them at the polls, 
 with refreshments, to induce an honest, temperate 
 vote. They have not been called to bear arms, but 
 they have been called to give up their sons to their 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 211 
 
 country, and provide comfort and aid for the wounded 
 and dying. In humblest homes we have seen the un- 
 folding of beautiful and heroic character silently and 
 fragrantly as some night-blooming cereus. We have 
 noted in humblest sphere some " nameless in worthy 
 deeds who awoke to find them fame." But Monroe 
 has had some ladies of remarkable individuahty of 
 character and talent, who, if their environment had 
 been more incisive, would have written their names 
 on the scrolls of fame. They were, like some of the 
 flowers of everglade and canon, hid from the mad- 
 ding crowd, but worthy of a place in princely conser- 
 vatory. And yet, perhaps, the humility of their sur- 
 roundings gave them their mission and enabled them 
 to play their very part in the great economy of hf e. 
 We have known mothers who had jewels of which 
 they were as proud as Cornelia ; one busy with needle 
 and distaff, yet teaching her children at her side ; a 
 skilled housekeeper in touch with the literature and 
 journalism of the day ; one that could wield the brush, 
 another the pen, another that could minister to the 
 mind diseased, another whose very smile brought 
 sunshine to the sick-room. One is the mistress of a 
 Presbyterian manse far out toward sunset, another 
 of a Baptist parsonage in the blue-grass region, an- 
 other a city physician, another a musical professor 
 and teacher. Lawyers, editors, physicians, teachers, 
 as well as ministers, have come to our old town to find 
 their wives ; and all, we fancy, for the reason that they 
 knew a good thing when they found it. Now, as 
 reference has been made elsewhere to a number of 
 these worthy dames, it remains for us but to sketch 
 one or two. 
 
 One, in particular, comes to our notice because re- 
 
212 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 cently deceased, and so prominently known, namely, 
 Mrs. Rev. Charles B. Newton. She was the youngest 
 daughter of the Rev. John Jay Thompson, pastor of 
 the Presbyterian church of Monroe. She was born 
 in this town, and was named after Mrs. Margaret 
 Boyd, wife of Rev. John Boyd, and a lady of most 
 estimable character. Maggie's early education began 
 in Monroe, and was continued in Bloomingburg, New 
 York, whither her parents removed after her father's 
 resignation of the Monroe church. The death of her 
 father in 1849 broke up their home, and sent mother 
 and children to find homes with relatives. Strong char- 
 acters, hke steel, are tempered by furnace fire. Mrs. 
 Thompson and Maggie found it so. For a while they 
 leaned on the arm of the oldest son, J. Howard 
 Thompson, but he was removed by death, at Port 
 Byron, New York. Then the younger son, Benjamin, 
 was their dependence while their residence was at 
 Monroe, where they made their home with the oldest 
 daughter, Mrs. Chauncey B. Knight. Now she enters 
 upon the profession of teaching. Her first charge in 
 this town is the Long Pond school. Here she en- 
 deared herself greatly to pupils and patrons. 
 
 Her younger brother, Benjamin, having enhsted in 
 the service of his country during the Civil War, and 
 returned with honors as Colonel Thompson, Maggie 
 went to reside with him at Williamsport, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 While residing here, the zenana work in India was 
 attracting the attention of Christian women through- 
 out the world, and Maggie gave it her warmest sym- 
 pathy. She felt she had a call to this special work. 
 
 The Ladies' Union Missionary Society, hearing of 
 her interest, offered her an appointment, but she pre- 
 
Biographical Sketches, Military and Civic. 213 
 
 f erred to go out under the auspices of her own churcli, 
 and accordingly received an appointment to the field 
 of northern India by the Board of Foreign Missions 
 of the Presbyterian Church. She embarked in Octo- 
 ber, 1869, and had as her companions Miss Sarah 
 Morrison and Messrs. Tracy and Kelso. She spent 
 her time on shipboard studying the language, and 
 after a tedious voyage she reached her destination. 
 Dehra Doon was her first field, where she had charge 
 of a girls' school. Here she became acquainted with 
 the Rev. Charles B. Newton, of Lodiana Presbytery, 
 to whom she was married. Still she continued her 
 missionary labors, and was a true helpmeet to her 
 husband in his work of teaching and itinerating. 
 Her letters at this time to friends and schools at 
 home reveal her deep love for the work to which she 
 had devoted herseK. Dehra Doon and Woodstock 
 were household words with the children at Monroe. 
 
 At her instance, Muriam Gurdyal, a Hindu child, 
 was taken under the care of the Monroe Presbyterian 
 Sabbath-school, and she afterwards attained distinc- 
 tion as a trained nurse. 
 
 Mrs. Newton was the joyful mother of six boys and 
 one girl. Several of these accompanied their mother 
 to this country and received part of their education 
 in Monroe. It is with pleasure we recount their inten- 
 tion to devote themselves to the same blessed work in 
 India, while they have left behind pleasant memories 
 of their noble character and bearing. Mrs. Newton's 
 health broke down under the enervating climate and 
 work, and after trying the hill country she was com- 
 pelled a second time to return to this country. While 
 here she was untiring in efforts to awaken a deeper 
 interest in the cause of missions, so that she gained 
 
214 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 strength slowly. At length she felt she must return 
 to her husband and little gM left behind in that far- 
 off land. She obtained consent of her physician at 
 last, and returned in the spring of 1897. She hved 
 but a few weeks after her arrival, falling asleep peace- 
 fully after twenty-eight years of missionary service, 
 at Landour, Northern India, June 20, 1897. She met 
 death with all that sweet cheerfulness for which she 
 was preeminent, and breathing out her life in prayer 
 and song, she lay down to rest, " and her works do 
 follow her." Mrs. Newton's sister, Miss Juha Caro- 
 Une Thompson, was also devoted to foreign missions, 
 and although not called to go to the field, did most 
 efficient work in editing the missionary journal 
 termed " Woman's Work for Women." Previous to 
 that she had been an efficient teacher in Monroe, and 
 accompanied her brother, as we have stated elsewhere, 
 to Florida, and taught there, and shared in his remark- 
 able trials and escape from the South at the breaking 
 out of the Civil War. Her health broke down under 
 her hterary labors, and quite early she was called to 
 her reward. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 EAELY EOADS. 
 
 THE earliest roads about Monroe were mere Indian 
 trails. These were the most natural and easy 
 routes from one trading post or village to another. 
 They did not, like the modern traveler, seek the most 
 level and easy way, but usually the most direct, even 
 though it carried them over rugged hills or through 
 dense forests. They had little to transport, and that 
 mostly on foot, so that they did not need wide road- 
 beds or even very solid ground. They could find 
 their way by the faintest footprints, broken twigs or 
 leaves, such as a white man would not notice. Clin- 
 ton mentions such dim paths several times in his 
 Field Book. While surveying on the Isaac Thomp- 
 son farm at Turners, he crossed the Indian path to 
 Ramapo. 
 
 Another such path extended from Sugarloaf and 
 Belvale, where was an Indian settlement, to the Clove, 
 where he mentions another on the Dr. Roe place. 
 Another crossed the East Mountain to Haverstraw. 
 
 But when the white man came he required more 
 substantial roads and traversable routes. He could 
 not find his way by such obscure indications as these 
 children of nature ; hence blazed the way through 
 the forest. Then he began to remove obstructions 
 
 215 
 
216 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 that wheeled conveyances might take the place of 
 travel on foot and horseback ; hence he sought more 
 level routes. We have stated that other parts of the 
 county had begun to be settled before the time of 
 Clinton's survey. These people must find their way 
 to the river and great city, hence a road was early 
 made from Goshen to the valley of the Ramapo, over 
 the East Mountain to the river and through New 
 Jersey to the city. Clinton crossed the Goshen road 
 to Stirling, near the Indian settlement at Sugarloaf, 
 where he spent a night in a wigwam. He refers to 
 another road which crossed Schunemunk and, from 
 his allusions, can be traced over Bloom Hill to Dick- 
 erman, thence over East Mountain to the river at 
 Haverstraw. As lots were taken up and white settle- 
 ments established, roads would soon be in demand, 
 and when the demands of peace were slow the exi- 
 gencies of war forced new routes and new construc- 
 tions. Thus there was a military road constructed 
 further inland and more hidden than the road down 
 the valley of the Ramapo, which was infested with 
 cowboys and watched by English cavahy. This old 
 Revolutionary road passed west of Tuxedo up among 
 the defiles of the mountains stretching from New 
 Jersey to Monroe, and military trains with ordnance 
 and ammunition were transported during these stormy 
 days continually by this route from one part of the 
 field to another. 
 
 These early roads were rude in construction. There 
 was little attempt at engineering. They were simply 
 cut through forest, over hills, a few of the worst ob- 
 structions removed, ditches and water turns never 
 thought of. Hence travel in those days was travail. 
 Vehicles and teams would be mired and pries were 
 
Early Roads. 217 
 
 needed to lift the struggling stage-coach out of the 
 terrible ruts and sloughs. A facetious stage-di'iver 
 said sometimes the only way he could see to drive 
 his team was by the ears of his horses sticking out 
 of the mud. 
 
 This condition of roads led to the construction of 
 turnpikes along the great mail and passenger routes. 
 The first turnpike of which we read in Orange 
 County was one from the house of Moses Cunning- 
 ham, which was near Knight's mill at Monroe, to the 
 intersection of the Stirling road near the house of 
 Stephen Sloat. It was charted in 1800. This was 
 extended to Suffern and to Hoboken. It also was 
 stretched northwardly to Groshen and called the 
 Groshen turnpike. Its gates were standing fifty years 
 ago at James Ball's and near Southfield. At Chester 
 it intersected the turnpike from Warwick. At Goshen 
 it merged into the Newburg turnpike, and there, de- 
 flecting northward, it became the grand highway on 
 that side of the river to Albany. First the upper, 
 then the lower. Clove, lay thus in this route, and 
 through these favored sections was most of the land 
 revealed between the whole of the State west of the 
 river to New York. The section through the village 
 was more crooked than now. It was shaped like a 
 letter S, curving back of Gr. R. Conklin's and coming 
 out at Alfred Carpenter's. Not far from here the 
 coach was once robbed by footpads. At the mill it 
 passed up over Forshee hill to Southfield. The road 
 to Seamanville kept well up on Howell's hill to the 
 church. It passed over the dam to Barton's hill to 
 Turners. The lane was a private road, used as a 
 race-course sixty years ago. 
 
 There has been great progress in road-building in 
 28 
 
218 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 the last few years. The introduction of improved 
 conveyances, the demands of milk transportation, and 
 now the coming of the bicycle have all contributed 
 to make road commissioner and pathmaster mend 
 their ways and encourage the construction of better 
 highways. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY. 
 
 THIS railway has been so closely identified with 
 the interests of this town that it may not be 
 amiss to give a short sketch of its history. Some 
 parts of it read like a romance. 
 
 The first idea out of which it was evolved was the 
 need to connect the inland lakes with the seaboard. 
 Such communication was necessary both for com- 
 mercial and military reasons. Governor De Witt 
 Clinton was the first to suggest the building of a 
 canal. The Erie Canal was built and finished in 1825, 
 and the grandson of the surveyor of the Cheesecock 
 Patent has the credit of it. 
 
 But the application of steam to land carriage hav- 
 ing soon been demonstrated a success, some ingenious 
 mind conceived the idea of binding eastern and west- 
 ern New York by a railroad. The first experiment 
 in this State was a short line from Albany to Schenec- 
 tady. The late John B. Groff described a trip on the 
 road, in which the conductor had to get out and 
 sweep off the track with brooms, a light snow having 
 obstructed the train. The late W. D. Snodgrass, 
 D.D., also, in his jubilee address stated that he was 
 going to Presbytery at Schenectady. Some of the 
 brethren chose to go by steam. He took the stage- 
 coach, and arrived there first. Out of this small be- 
 
 219 
 
220 Chronicles of Monroe m the Olden Time. 
 
 ginning developed the great New York Central and 
 Hudson River Railroad. 
 
 But long before this was constructed, for it grew 
 in sections, and was consolidated from them, Erie 
 was conceived as a unit — one grand, comprehensive, 
 broad-gauge railway along the southern tier of coun- 
 ties from the Hudson to Dunkirk on Lake Erie. 
 
 The first charter was granted in 1832 by the State 
 of New York. Its first president was EUezer Lord ; 
 its chief engineer, Henry Seymour. 
 
 The estmiated cost of this enterprise was three 
 millions of dollars, a large sum for that day. 
 
 The projected route was starting from New York 
 to cross by ferry to Hoboken, then laying a track 
 through New Jersey to strike New York at Suffern, 
 and then take the westward route to the lake. But 
 their project met with an obstacle at the very outset. 
 The State of New Jersey was unwilling to grant such 
 a franchise to a foreign company without the pay- 
 ment of heavy royalty. This was declined ; hence the 
 route had to be changed and steamboat transporta- 
 tion adopted as far as Piermont. This involved un- 
 expected cost, especially the construction of a long 
 pier to accommodate the boats bringing freight and 
 passengers up the river. 
 
 The fii'st report showed an expenditure of six mil- 
 lions. Means and credit were now exhausted. Sub- 
 scription books were opened, but means were not 
 forthcoming. The company was forced to suspend. 
 In the settlement proposed the State was willing to 
 release its loan of three millions if the stockholders 
 would give up half their stock. This gave great dis- 
 satisfaction to farmers of Orange County, who were 
 large shareholders. But there was no alternative. 
 
Erie Railway. 221 
 
 The company is reorganized under the name of the 
 New York and Erie, and takes a new start. It has 
 comparatively an easy task through Rockland County, 
 but when it strikes Monroe, Orange County, its toils 
 begin. It strikes a rugged mountain region, through 
 which a stream pursues its sinuous way, now on one 
 side of the rock road-bed, again on the other. 
 
 The engineers took advantage of the water-level, 
 but found they had many bridges to be provided for. 
 Two of Monroe's sons took their first lessons here, 
 namely, Phineas H. Thompson, who was track- 
 master, and T. B. Brooks, who was employed with 
 the engineer corps. 
 
 The first train reached Monroe in 1841. It was a 
 construction train. It created a great sensation, 
 some meeting it at Seamanville, the young girls leav- 
 ing the milking-yards in sunbonnets and aprons. 
 They climbed on the sides of the engine when it 
 stopped. " We were permitted to ride to the village," 
 said our lady informant, "and we got our clothes 
 greased, but it was one of the great events of our 
 lives." After it reached the village of Monroe the 
 hands ran the engine on the switch and reversed it. 
 They then repaired to the hotel of Mr. John Groff for 
 a meal. The boys then, true to instinct, climbed on 
 board and commenced monkeying with the brakes 
 and lever. They soon found out how to open the 
 throttle, which they did. But they did not learn 
 how to use the lever. The engine soon began to 
 move off slowly down the track. They tried to stop 
 it, but failed to reverse the engine. They tried their 
 best to overcome the mischief by throwing wood and 
 rails before the monster, but on it kept till near Sea- 
 manville, when the engine hands, scenting trouble. 
 
222 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 ran down the track, put on the brakes and stopped 
 the runaway ; hut not a hoy was in sight, or there 
 would have been more pungent memories of the 
 escapade. 
 
 In 1847 the road-bed had reached Middletown, and 
 by 1848 it had crossed the mountain to Port Jervis. 
 
 Beyond Port Jervis the work becomes far more 
 difficult. The cutting of rock ledges along the Dela- 
 ware, the spanning of gorges by bridges, the crossing 
 of lowlands by viaducts, demanded the highest efforts 
 of science, yet in 1851 the track was completed to 
 Dunkirk, and the last spike of the single wide-gauge 
 track of the New York and Erie Railway was driven. 
 
 All this while the steamboats conveyed the pas- 
 sengers to Piermont, where they were transferred to 
 the trains of the road. We remember at this time 
 an incident of Conductor Ayres, who, hearing the com- 
 plaint of an old lady that she had left her umbrella 
 on the boat, — " Never mind," said he, " I will tele- 
 graph for it." He touched the bell-rope overhead, 
 went forward and soon returned with the lost article. 
 " La ! what can't the telegraph do!" was her exclama- 
 tion. Concessions having been obtained from the 
 State of New Jersey, the track was laid through that 
 State to Suffern. The steamboats to Piermont were 
 taken off in 1852. The road, with its single track, 
 covered 470 miles. In 1860, when its double track 
 had been laid, it covered 773 miles ; and now, with its 
 numerous branches, 2087, a most wonderful network 
 covering many States, gathering the wealth of the 
 richest regions of our fair land, and illustrating not 
 merely the engineering skill of the country, but giv- 
 ing employment to the largest capital and the high- 
 est talent of any single enterprise of the kind. It 
 
Erie Railway. 223 
 
 gathers and brings the wealth of the continent and 
 pours it into the lap of the metropolitan city of the 
 country. When it taps Orange County it becomes a 
 " milky way," milhons of gallons of milk, with other 
 dairy products, being transported over its track to 
 swell the wealth and supply the wants of Greater New 
 York. What began in a milk-train of two or three cars 
 conducted by Joseph Northrup, has become one of 
 the longest and most profitable trains on the road. 
 
 In the earlier period of the history of Erie, its affairs 
 were honestly managed, and prosperity dawned on 
 the road. But after the opening of the Civil War, 
 when speculation created a sort of fever, the road fell 
 into bad hands. James Fisk, Jr., and Jay Grould 
 managed to get control ; the one becoming president, 
 the other controller. They held one fourth of the 
 30,000 shares, a large proportion of which were 
 fraudulent. They now began to manipulate the 
 market after the fashion of Wall street. To further 
 their schemes, they put on excursion trains, promised 
 new depots, and gave the appearance of unlimited 
 credit. Then were built the Grand Opera House on 
 Twenty-third street and the Orange Hotel at Turners. 
 Fisk managed to secure control of the Fall River line 
 of steamboats. These he fitted up with palatial splen- 
 dor, and on them entertained his friends with great 
 excui'sions. He dressed in the splendid garb of an offi- 
 cer, and would stand at the gang-plank and receive 
 his guests with the magnificence of an admiral. He 
 had the ambition and avarice of a Nero and all his 
 unscrupulousness. He soon reached out and, with the 
 aid of a party of roughs, seized the Albany and Sus- 
 quehanna road. About this time an Orange County 
 farmer went to hear Christy's minstrels, and Christy, 
 
224 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 satirizing Fisk, said, " When I want a partner I shall 
 choose one who can steal a railroad." A new rival — 
 Cornelius Yanderbilt — appears in the field. The old 
 financier, however, finds the new King of Erie too 
 much for him. As fast as he buys stock, Fisk and 
 Grould manufacture it. At last the victim is gorged, 
 an interview follows between him and his rivals, 
 the old man swoons, his tormenters are alarmed, 
 and the matter is compromised and hushed up. 
 
 The career of Fisk culminated in the affair of Black 
 Friday, September 24, 1869. A plot had been formed 
 to make a corner in gold. He got control of six mil- 
 lions. There were but twenty milhons afloat outside 
 of the United States Treasury. Fisk on that morning 
 went into the gold-room in his shirt-sleeves, and pro- 
 claimed himself the Napoleon of the street, offering 
 to bet 50,000 dollars in gold that gold would go up to 
 two hundred before night. No one viewing the scene 
 can forget the consternation created, nor the fierce 
 conflict of bulls and bears that ensued. Fisk himself 
 had to flee for refuge to the Erie rooms at the Opera 
 House, where he rallied his roughs, who defended 
 him with shot-guns. Terrible was the upheaval. 
 Credit was shaken from cope to base. Adjustments 
 were called for. Even the conspirators called a halt. 
 In the settlement it is a curious fact that, according 
 to Professor Andrews, $4,500,000 of debt was un- 
 loaded upon Erie, merely by the change of two letters 
 — Tr. (treasurer) for J. G. (J. Gould). 
 
 But these high-handed proceedings at last came to 
 an end. The highest legal talent was employed — no 
 less than David Dudley Field, Esq., and Charles 
 Francis Adams, Esq. Tweed, Fisk, and others were 
 indicted for malversation of funds. Tweed fled at 
 
Erie Railway. 225 
 
 night and embarked on an outgoing vessel, but was 
 overtaken, brought back and died in prison. Fisk 
 stood his trial, but when asked, " What became of the 
 funds," he insolently replied, "They have gone up the 
 spout, where the woodbine twineth." Before punish- 
 ment could be meted legally he was shot by a rival, 
 Edward S. Stokes, at the entrance of the Hoffman 
 House. Thus ended one of the most remarkable 
 episodes in the history of " wicked and unreasonable 
 men," from whom the great apostle prays we may be 
 delivered. 
 
 It goes without saying that these transactions de- 
 pressed the credit of the road and brought Erie to 
 bottom prices. Said the Rev. James Wood about 
 this time, while preaching over Oxford Depot, and 
 being disturbed by Sunday trains, " This is the great 
 New York and Erie Road, stock seven cents on the 
 dollar." 
 
 The impossibility of overtaking the debt sent the 
 road, in 1875, a second time into the hands of a re- 
 ceiver. Out of this dilemma it emerges on April 27, 
 1878, reorganized with the new name New York, Lake 
 Erie and Western Railroad. But this name, like 
 some that aristocracy give to childi'en, tired them to 
 write, so the company, after another reorganization 
 in 1893, came out with the more simple and sensible 
 sobriquet of the Erie Railway. With that may it 
 go down to history, and its prestige never grow less! 
 
 An incident of some historical interest occurred in 
 the summer of 1850. The late J. Henry Bertholf 
 was waiting at Turners station, when the superin- 
 tendent, Mr. Charles Minot, arrived on a passenger- 
 train. An express was then due, but was behind 
 time. It was the law of the road for west-bound 
 29 
 
226 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 trains to lay off till the east-bound reported. Seeing 
 what delays this occasioned, Mr. Minot entered the 
 telegraph office and startled the operator by com- 
 manding him to wii'e the operator at Port Jervis to 
 hold the express till he should arrive. After proper 
 verification he went out and ordered the conductor to 
 proceed ; he refused, and was immediately discharged. 
 Then the engineer was ordered to pull out, but he 
 would not take the risk ; whereupon Mr. Minot 
 pulled him from his cab, and gave him suitable marks 
 of his displeasure. Then he leaped on the engine, 
 and ran it to Port Jervis, and found the other had 
 not yet reached Lackawaxen. This is said to have 
 been the first instance of the kind, and was the be- 
 ginning of the system so universally adopted of run- 
 ning and du*ecting trains by telegraph. 
 
 The gradients of the Erie road are of interest, in- 
 asmuch as they indicate the relative levels of Monroe 
 and some of the neighboring villages. We are in- 
 debted to Mr. John B. BerthoK for the following 
 facts. From a profile furnished by him represent- 
 ing topographical surveys of that road, we learn 
 that the grade begins at Jersey City, with five feet 
 above tide- water. Then it runs with httle variation 
 to Hackensack Junction, where it begins to rise. Its 
 first ascent is by a grade of 46 feet to the mile to 
 Rutherford; there it falls back to Passaic Bridge, 
 starts again, and mounts 111 feet to Paterson. It 
 dips again to Hawthorne ; then starts again, and con- 
 tinues to rise to Monroe by a gradient of 42 feet to 
 the mile. This gives Monroe a level of 606 feet 
 above tide-water at the station. This is 147 feet 
 above Chester, 150 above Goshen, 44 above Middle- 
 town. The grade from Monroe to Oxford is by a 
 
Erie Railway. 227 
 
 descent of 59 feet to the mile, exceeded only by the 
 ascent, to Otisville, of 60 feet to the mile. The sum- 
 mit of the east division is just beyond Otisville, and 
 is 901 feet above tide-water. 
 
 The summit of the Susquehanna division is 1373 
 feet above tide-water. On the western division at 
 Tip Top it is 1783 feet above. 
 
 Its heaviest gradients are exceeded by those of the 
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and very greatly by 
 some of the English roads. 
 
 The Erie road, while opening up so much of busi- 
 ness to Monroe, has had the earnest cooperation and 
 loyalty of its best citizens. It has also enlisted some 
 of its best manhood. Take an instance or two : 
 Phineas H. Thompson, son of Phineas Thompson, of 
 Turners, commenced railroading for the company, in 
 the spring of 1841, as a track boss, from Turners to 
 Monroe. After that he was promoted to be conductor 
 of an express-train running from Jersey City to El- 
 mira, now the No. 1. This position he held with 
 honor till the autumn of 1860, when, his health fail- 
 ing, he resigned; and soon after, exhausted by the 
 incessant care and responsibility of his position, he 
 died. He had the reputation of strict fidelity to his 
 trust. 
 
 Virgil Y. Thompson also early devoted himself to 
 a like vocation, starting in about 1850 ; and was soon 
 promoted to be conductor of an express-train. He 
 early wore out in the service of the company, and, 
 hke his brother, died in the prime of life. 
 
 Brewster Mapes, son of Job Mapes, of Monroe vil- 
 lage, turned his attention to railroading, and is re- 
 membered as a very popular conductor of passenger- 
 trains. After years of service on the road, his 
 
228 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 comrades report liim as enjoying otium cum dig. as 
 postmaster at Cherry Hill, New Jersey. 
 
 The company has had the services of many other 
 citizens of the old town in some of its varied depart- 
 ments — constructive, telegraphic, baggage, or pas- 
 senger. We need but mention the names of S. W. 
 Miller, section superintendent ; Daniel Bertholf , elohn 
 Bertholf, Wilham Boyd, — all in important positions 
 in the telegraph service ; Wilham H. Smith, Peter T. 
 Smith, in the baggage department ; while Chas. W. 
 Rumsey, of Turners, is superintendent of the Erie 
 ferries. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 APPEAEANCE OF THE OLD VILLAGE. 
 
 WE have already stated that the first site of the 
 village of Monroe was on the stage road, about 
 half a mile south. When the Erie road was laid out 
 through the Clove, there was a movement to meet it 
 and secure the advantages of business it offered. 
 But there were some buildings on the present site 
 before that. Nicholas Knight had bought lands 
 of Hophni Smith, Andrew Van Valer, and David 
 Knight, as far back as 1808, and built where Clarence 
 Knight hves. This we mention as the first house in 
 the southern part of the village. Next this was the 
 storehouse of McCullough and Lynch. This, when 
 altered to a dwelling, was the residence of Mrs. Mary 
 Conklin. Next was the site of the cabin of Claudius 
 Smith, the siding being of plank, set perpendicularly. 
 
 Opposite was the mill, originally Cunningham's 
 mill. It was bought by Nicholas Knight, and for 
 ninety years has been in possession of the family. 
 On the south side of Mill street, west, was the resi- 
 dence of Daniel, and later his brother, Jeremiah 
 Knight. 
 
 Returning to Main street, the first house on the 
 hill going north was the miller's house. We are told 
 the father of John Brooks lived there and plied his 
 trade of making shuttles sixty years ago. 
 
 229 
 
230 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 Next was the Letts property, now tlie residence of 
 Henry Ryder, blacksmith. This originally was a low, 
 double house where a private school was taught by 
 Miss Sarah Thompson and Miss Mary Stickney. 
 Next was the office of Dr. E. B. Carpenter, adjoining 
 which was his house. It was afterwards the harness- 
 shop and residence of John Gregory. Next to it was 
 the dwelling of Job Mapes, the village tailor. His 
 son Brewster was for many years a conductor on the 
 Erie road. Phineas Brooks lived about this spot, 
 and Oscar, his son, had a shoe-making shop adjoin- 
 ing. The shop of John Jenkins stood where the 
 Catholic church now is. His shop contained the 
 village library and minerals, photographic and under- 
 taker's goods, for he was a multi-gifted man. His 
 shop was burned in the fifties, and replaced by a 
 cobblestone house, once the residence of the late 
 J. K. Roe. 
 
 The Jenkins residence was saved, and is now the 
 home of Henry Mapes. Next were the shop and out- 
 buildings of John Boyce. The latter were burned 
 on New Year's eve, 1875. 
 
 Next was the residence of Albertson Newman, 
 father of Mrs. Mary Davy, who, then an infant, was 
 thrown out of the window into a snow-bank dmdng a 
 fire. This was the winter of 1835. The house was 
 rebuilt by Jeremiah and Daniel Knight. The Pres- 
 byterian manse now occupies the site. Next was a 
 fine orchard planted by Andrew Yan Yaler. Then 
 the tannery house, now the Methodist Episcopal 
 manse. Next, the residence of the late Grates W. 
 McGarrah. Some distance to the north was the 
 Uttle tin-shop of C. Newkirk. Daniel Fuller's was 
 next, then the store of the Misses McGrarrah, Aunt 
 
Appearance of the Old Village. 231 
 
 Hannah and Nellie, interesting relics of the ancient 
 past. Next was the store of Mr. G. W. McGarrah, 
 built in 1843. 
 
 The brick store was not in existence then, but a 
 gravel bank occupied the comer opposite the railroad. 
 Over the road was the garden of John Gregory. From 
 that almost to Alfred Carpenter's there was nothing 
 but rocks and scrub-oaks, except a little garden where 
 the C. B. Knight residence stands, cultivated by 
 Phineas Brooks, the stones taken from which were 
 enough to macadamize rods of road. 
 
 A log cabin stood beyond, north of the road, occu- 
 pied by one Hall, who had, it was said, twelve 
 daughters. At the site of Alfred Carpenter's house 
 was a tavern kept by James Mapes. On the south 
 side of the stage road were rocks and scrub till we 
 reach the Lynch tavern, with its quaint sign. Here 
 John Brooks built a Uttle stone house on which is 
 this inscription : 
 
 o Highland Cement 
 
 2 
 
 ^ Beach Sand 
 
 1830 
 J. B. 
 
 This small house has an arched entrance for wagon, 
 and five rooms, none of which are on the same level. 
 The Granite House was built by the late John 
 Brooks about the year 1850. Here both he and his 
 wife lived, reared their family and died, leaving it 
 and its well-tilled fields a monument of their thrift 
 and sturdy industry. 
 
232 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 The former property once belonged to the Presby- 
 terian Church and was occupied as a parsonage. Rev. 
 Messrs. Howell and J. Boyd resided here. Next 
 was the httle house, still standing, occupied by a 
 chairmaker. Then came the house of Mrs. Harvey 
 Shove. The Joshua Mapes property, shop and house 
 followed. Next, the Railroad Hotel, kept by A. Stick- 
 ney. Over the track was the Dr. Joseph R. Andrews 
 orchard and house. The latter was built in 1811. 
 Beyond his barn stood a large black oak which was 
 struck by lightning as Mrs. Andrews lay on her death- 
 bed. Back in the lot was an old house once occu- 
 pied by Nathan Mapes, who had seven sons and one 
 daughter. The names of the sons were James, John, 
 Jonathan, Joshua, Julius, Joel and George, all men of 
 marked traits of character. The last was an accom- 
 plished drummer. 
 
 A little house occupied by T. Early remains next 
 the Andrews property. There was nothing on the 
 Presbyterian Church lot. Next was the residence 
 of Dr. Ezray; next, the dwelhng of Mrs. Scobey, 
 daughter of Mr. Van Valer; next, an old tavern, 
 quite near the road. M. B. Swezey lived and died 
 here. Wm. Seaman bought it and set it back. 
 Next, a tailor shop kept by Job Mapes. Up-stairs 
 was a little, low room where prayer-meetings were 
 held. Next, the store of Matthew B. Swezey. In 
 the middle of Church street was a large hickory tree, 
 once a liberty-pole. Over the street was the store of 
 John McGarrah. His hotel stood next. John Groff 
 occupied it fifty years ago. Back in the lot were 
 the ruins of the old David Smith log house. David 
 Webb lived on the hill toward the brook, and Thos. 
 Jenkins at the foot of the hill. 
 
Appearance of the Old Village. 233 
 
 Church street was the old Dunderberg road, cut 
 through in 1814. A half -century ago there were no 
 buildings on it but the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 the Dr. J. C. Boyd homestead and the old Van Duzer 
 gable house, for a while the residence of Rev. J. J. 
 Thompson. Still further east were the Juhus Mapes 
 homestead and the Presbyterian manse. 
 
 Now such was old Monroe. What a change a 
 few years have made ! Now the single street has 
 ramified to many, the weather-boarded dwellings 
 have been superseded by handsome cottages; solid 
 brick warehouses and blocks take the place of stuffy 
 shops and stragghng stores ; while mills, creameries, 
 and academy and churches contrive to make it one 
 of the most wide-awake villages of the county. 
 Think of it : two newspapers claim and use the 
 prestige of its name ! — " The Monroe Herald," pub- 
 lished by Jas. J. McNally, Esq., of Groshen, and 
 " The Monroe Times," edited by Eugene D. Stokem, 
 Esq., of Central Valley. Monroe village also boasts 
 a Meyers ballot machine, an ingenious affair that 
 makes voting and counting easy to the intelligent, 
 but by the ignorant is as much dreaded as the old 
 iron instrument of torture called " the Virgin." 
 
 But we must not omit old Centreville of fifty years 
 ago, now Turners. Then it was a little cross-road 
 village, with a handful of houses clustering about a 
 blacksmith shop, public-house, mill and school-house. 
 
 This last contained one low, square room, three 
 sides occupied by desks on which a generation had 
 graved its hieroglyphs. The center was a parallelo- 
 gram of oaken benches drawn up around an old rusty 
 box-stove on which many a chestnut was roasted. 
 A high desk with narrow seat was the throne from 
 30 
 
234 Chronicles of Monroe in the Oldest Time. 
 
 which the monarch of this petty empire dispensed the 
 mysteries of learning and enforced them with the 
 rod. Here also on Sabbath evenings the neighboring 
 clergy preached, for there was no church edifice at 
 Turners then. None of the older people can forget 
 the fervor of the Rev. Mr. Hermance, or of the 
 present writer as he stood with three tallow candles 
 before him and a pair of snuffers to trim the little 
 farthing rush-lights while he sought to win to the 
 higher life some of those restless youth to whom the 
 whistle of the New York express was far more 
 attractive than the silver trumpet of Sinai and 
 Calvary. Turners now has a flourishing Method- 
 ist Episcopal church, Sunday-school and Epworth 
 League, which together are making their influence 
 felt upon the moral education of the community. 
 For many years there was a sanitarium here, under 
 the management of Dr. Gillette. His daughter, Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Meyers, has succeeded him in his profes- 
 sion, and enjoys a well-earned reputation. 
 
 The Orange Hotel, built in 1864, was for a time an 
 ornament to the place, but was destroyed by fire on 
 the night of December 26, 1873, restoring the custom 
 to the old restaurant established by the late Peter 
 Turner sixty years ago. His hotel is standing, and 
 still retains the memory and prestige of good cheer 
 and skilful management by both host and hostess in 
 the early days of railroad travel. 
 
 The Creamery of Turners, under the management 
 of its farmers, flourished for many years. A rival 
 creamery is in process of building, under the auspices 
 of the Erie Company, on the shore of the mill-stream. 
 
 Southfield is another of the villages of the old 
 town. It was formerly called Monroe Works. The 
 
Appearance of the Old Village. 235 
 
 nucleus of the place was the iron-works of Townsend 
 Noble & Co. The elder Peter Townsend, whose 
 family-seat was at Chester, Orange County, built a 
 mansion here in the midst of a large tract of land 
 owned by him. A nail-factory was established on 
 the railroad, which was operated for a time. This 
 has been followed by a shoddy-mill, and since by an 
 iron-bedstead factory. The hotel of the late John 
 Coffey was at Southfield. It has a flourishing Metho- 
 dist church and Sunday-school. 
 
 About a mile east of Turners is another and much 
 younger village, namely, that of Central Valley. It 
 is about half-way between Tuxedo and Woodbury. 
 It is situated in the midst of beautiful scenery, flanked 
 by the Highlands on the east and foot-hills on the 
 west, in a clove, or narrow valley, stretching fifteen or 
 twenty miles in length. The nucleus of this village 
 was a celebrated boarding-school kept by Professor 
 Cornell. Here many Cuban youths were educated. 
 Then was started an Institute Hall, where lectures 
 and religious services were conducted. Boarding- 
 houses sprang up as soon as this region came to be 
 better known. These created a demand for stores 
 and a post-office. Now there is a flourishing Methodist 
 Episcopal church, with all the institutions that belong 
 to it. A grand sanitarium has been opened by Dr. 
 Ferguson, which has already attained eminence for its 
 professional skill and efficient nursing. 
 
 The Summit Lake House, kept by Elisha Stock- 
 bridge on the East Mountain, is a very popular resort. 
 Situated on the banks of a beautiful lake, and on the 
 very mountain-top, it offers attractions to the sports- 
 man and the lover of sylvan solitude and communion 
 with nature. 
 
236 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 A couple of miles further north is another village 
 of the old town. It was once called Orange, but now 
 is called Highland Mills. The water of Cromwell Lake 
 flows through this part of the valley. Its hydraulic 
 power early marked it for a mill-seat. A grist-miU 
 was built here many years since, owned by the Town- 
 send family ; also a tannery which bore their name, 
 but was operated for many years by Joshua T. Crom- 
 well. The late WilHam Vail was postmaster many 
 years ; also Morgan Shuitt, and since Peter Lent. A 
 Friends' meeting-house was early built in the vicinity ; 
 also a Methodist church. The fishing-line factory of 
 Henry Hall & Sons was removed hither from Wood- 
 bury. Hill Crest House, with its cottages, is a popular 
 resort of city people ; also the Cromwell Lake House, 
 kept by Oliver Cromwell, a lineal descendant of the 
 old Protector, a favorite retreat of the lover of quiet 
 and rest. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIY. 
 
 LANDMAEKS OF MONEOE. 
 
 AMONG the ancient landmarks of the old town 
 - was a Balm of Gilead tree, which stood on the 
 farm of James Smith. It has this bit of history : it 
 was brought as a riding- whip by a young lady from 
 Connecticut some sixty years ago, and was planted 
 by her upon alighting here. It was recently blown 
 down by a storm. Many of two generations ago sat 
 in its shadow, and their children played there. 
 
 Man-of-War Rock is always associated with the old 
 town of Monroe. It is a great mass of rock, lying in 
 the middle of the old Ramapo turnpike, about three 
 miles from Southfield. It is not a boulder technically 
 so called, but a mass torn from the adjacent moun- 
 tain by some convulsion of nature in prehistoric times. 
 Its outUne somewhat resembles an old-fashioned 
 wooden war-ship; hence its name. 
 
 The famous mule, sheep and rabbit tracks, accord- 
 ing to Major T. B. Brooks, are on the road from 
 Arden, or Greenwood, to Haverstraw, and near the 
 town line. They consist of impressions in relief, as 
 if made by the animals designated by the name. But 
 the antiquity of the bed-rock forbids the possibilit}^ 
 of the existence of such animals at the period when 
 the rocks were laid down. The lining of the tracks 
 
 237 
 
238 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 with iron gives probability to the supposition that 
 they have been nodules of bog-iron ore which have 
 formed by percolation, while fluid, into crevices of the 
 older rock. Then these in turn have been dissolved 
 out by exposure to the weather, while the harder 
 rock remains intact. A square block of stone stands 
 near the spot, resting upon four smaller stones resem- 
 bling an altar. The spot was visited by Major Brooks 
 and Professor Peter Lesley, of the University of Penn- 
 sylvania, several years since, and they came to the 
 conclusion that it was no altar, but an erratic boulder 
 resting upon stones of different periods accidentally 
 placed. This scientific investigation explodes the 
 romantic speculations, if not superstitions, which have 
 gathered around this strange phenomenon. 
 
 Another curiosity of the old town is the Natural 
 Bridge. Ruttenber, in his " History of Orange 
 County," describes it as follows : " The waters of 
 Hound Pond, in making connection with Long Pond, 
 flow under a natural bridge, the breadth of which is 
 fifty feet, and its length up and down stream seventy- 
 five or eighty feet. It is used as a bridge, and one 
 may ride over it and not be aware of it. There is no 
 daylight under it. The stream on the upper side 
 passes into a cave and is lost to sight until it emerges 
 from another cave on the other side." Wilhs de- 
 scribes it as " a massive porch covering the last stair 
 of a staircase by which a mountain stream descends 
 into a mountain lake." It differs in situation only, 
 however, says Ruttenber, from the subterranean pas- 
 sage of the outlet of Washington Lake. There is no 
 httle obscurity both in the geography and the rhetoric 
 of this description, but the mystery is cleared up by 
 one of Monroe's enterprising sons, Civil Engineer 
 
Landmarks of Monroe. 239 
 
 Frederick J. Knight, who writes : " I have been at 
 the Natural Bridge, and find that it is at the south 
 end of Poplopens Pond, on the inlet, not the outlet." 
 And this is the bridge that Ruttenber referred to and 
 quoted from Willis. There is no natural bridge on 
 the stream from Round to Long Pond, as mentioned 
 by Ruttenber. The bridge is about seventy-five feet 
 long, perhaps twenty to twenty-five feet above the 
 water, and has a large cave at each end, daylight not 
 being visible through it. An old road now seldom 
 used passes over it. 
 
 As Monroe is the lake region of the county, we can- 
 not but mention its beautiful lakes as features, if not 
 landmarks. A mile and a half brings us to Round 
 Pond and its lovely island. Here are boats and bath- 
 ing-houses, opportunities for fishing and rowing. A 
 few rods south we can sail upon or fish in Walton 
 Lake. Over the farms further south we look upon 
 the lovely surface of Mombasha. Here we may cross 
 to the Lucky Rocks and take a five-pound bass or a 
 twelve-pound terrapin, gather pitcher-plant from one 
 of its floating islands, or enjoy a fish-fry with the 
 Hain Club. We order our buggy and drive down the 
 new boulevard to Tuxedo, the Loch Katrine of this 
 region. Here we feast our eyes on club-house, cot- 
 tage and lawn, or plunge into the thicket and catch a 
 glimpse of deer, a covey of partridge, or even hear the 
 challenge of a wild boar. If we are not careful, how- 
 ever, and venture a little poaching, we will have the 
 gamekeeper down upon us, and we have to read Sir 
 Walter or study our Shakspere in the lockup. Other 
 lakes are not far away : Sterhng, full of splendid bass ; 
 Greenwood Lake, the Windermere of old Orange. 
 How often we have dropped a hne here at early day! 
 
240 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 What sails and picnics we have had ! We wonder if 
 these lakes will not some day produce a Wordsworth 
 or Rogers, Scott or Coleridge. 
 
 The disciple of Izaak Walton kens of a famous 
 trout-brook, mentioned by Clinton in the Field Book, 
 running through Dutch Hollow and past the door of 
 the late Charles Fitzgerald, Esq., who welcomed those 
 who knew how to throw the fly and skilfully take 
 the speckled beauties from their haunts. Such also 
 knew of other streams in the mountains where the 
 hermit-trout dwell and will rise only to the expert 
 fisherman. The famous Ramapo has many a riffle 
 and cascade where the Indian once speared the sal- 
 mon-trout. The lover of nature can find a fine cas- 
 cade at Augusta, where the river leaps and rushes 
 down a steep of some ninety feet. The antiquary as 
 well as the artist also can find a striking ruin there — 
 the archway of the old iron-works and anchory of 
 Townsend & Co. There are many famous springs 
 about Monroe that gave the Clove water the reputation 
 of making its lover wish no other. Pity it did not con- 
 quer a thnst for stronger drinks ! Chalybeate springs 
 abound in the iron region. A remarkably cold spring 
 is seen on the J. K. Roe place. A fine spring jets from 
 the Cromwell Lake, which has been inclosed for use at 
 the hotel. The Seven Springs Mountain House, on 
 the crest of Schunemuuk, boasts of as many hving 
 springs out of the flinty rock. But some would be 
 disappointed if we forgot the mill-pond on which the 
 village stands. It has been the scene of many adven- 
 tures, and the center of much local history. Claudius 
 Smith probably looked upon it. Washington's dra- 
 goons gave their horses drink from it. One of the 
 old men of the village fell in while getting ice. An- 
 
Landmarks of Monroe. 241 
 
 other, showing how he did it, repeated the immersion. 
 A facetious citizen floated a decoy duck out on the 
 water and di'ew the fire of the sportsman. It was 
 probably the 1st of April. Once the frogs bred in 
 such quantities that they spread over the whole coun- 
 try like the plague in Egypt. Once the dam gave 
 way, affording the boys a grand fishing hohday. 
 What a carnival the ice would present in winter, and 
 what pleasure in rowing and swimming in summer ! 
 No landmark of old Monroe is as dear as the old mill- 
 pond. One of the clergy gave it the romantic name 
 of "the Turtle's Dehght." 
 
 It may interest to state that it was a favorite say- 
 ing that with the freezing of the mill-pond canal 
 navigation closed ; with the freezing of Round Pond 
 the North River froze to Newburg ; but not till 
 Long Pond froze did the river close below Newburg. 
 
 " As the mountains were round about Jerusalem," 
 so are the mountains round about Monroe. On the 
 east are the Highlands, like the mountains of Moab, 
 seen whenever its citizens look toward sunrise. Ten 
 miles of rock ridges, with many a peak, defend them 
 on that side. Only one or two passes give access in 
 that dii'ection — one over Bull Hill, the other up to the 
 Stockbridge Hotel. Either of these could easily be 
 defended against an enemy. On the south are For- 
 shee Hill and the Southfield Mountains. On the west, 
 the Bel vale Mountains and Sugarloaf, standing like 
 a sentinel, overlooking the valley below. Schune- 
 munk guards the northwest. It has a bastion on the 
 eastern corner. High Point is a weather signal-tower 
 to the observing. When it wears its night-cap late 
 in the morning, it indicates falling weather ; when 
 the cap is early doffed, it betokens a serene day. The 
 31 
 
242 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 black rocks loom up from the mountain-top, and from 
 their summit a wonderful scene presents itself. The 
 eye sweeps the entire horizon, taking in the Catskills, 
 Butter Hill, the Fishkill Hills, BuU and Pine Hills, 
 Mount Bashan, Sugarloaf, Belvale and Groose Pond 
 Mountains, with lakes, farms, mines, mills and vil- 
 lages galore. The Devil's Race-course lies on the 
 northern slope of old Schunemunk, but the visitor 
 needs none of his counsel or company, for he who 
 climbs these steeps can find sweeter communion 
 nearer to the heart of nature. 
 
 One other landmark is Bald Hill, very dear to us 
 because at its foot we first hung the crane. Here we 
 toiled and studied, and here the sunshine fingers in 
 our memory longest and our children fell asleep. It 
 is the Acropolis of the village. Here the Monroevian 
 will make his last stand, if the Spaniard or any future 
 foe should overrun the land. From a little pond at 
 its base the bones of a mastodon were recently dug 
 by the late Martin Konnight. The mammoth was 
 once the monarch of the Ramapo, and probably these 
 old hills and forests echoed with his roar. But he 
 passed away like his successor, the Indian, and some 
 day some strange race may be moralizing over the 
 ruins of oui' grandeur. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 EECENT OCCUREENCES. 
 
 SEVERAL disastrous fires have occurred from time 
 to time, which have greatly affected both the ap- 
 pearance, business and very poUtical status of the 
 village of Monroe. While the burning of the shop of 
 John Jenkins led to the erection of the first grout 
 building, and the burning of the Boyce shops on the 
 night of December 31, 1875, removed unsightly build- 
 ings and gave the Presbyterian manse a new barn, 
 the fire that occurred on the night of November 2, 
 1873, led to still more important results. It broke 
 out in the flour and feed store of Carpenter & Webb, 
 spreading to adjoining buildings, which were re- 
 placed by better. On this occasion word was sent to 
 the fire department of Groshen, to which a ready re- 
 sponse was made and relief sent. 
 
 The difficulty in procuring water from wells for 
 such an emergency opened the eyes of the citizens as 
 to the need of a better water-supply. Public meet- 
 ings were held, at which several propositions were 
 made and discussed, one of which was to bring the 
 water of Round Pond into the village. But the chief 
 difficulty was that such a measure could not be car- 
 ried out without incorporating. This excited strong 
 opposition on the part of larger owners of real estate, 
 and was soon abandoned. 
 
 243 
 
244 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 On the night of March 17, 1895, another fire started 
 not far from the former, and hurned its way north 
 and east to Lake and Main streets, consuming the 
 stores of Messrs. Jacqmein, Reed, Bouton,and WeUing, 
 together with the large brick double store of the late 
 C. B. Knight. This was built in 1849, and had just 
 been refitted with plate-glass windows and other 
 improvements. Thus this whole corner was swept 
 away except the frame store of Mr. Eugene McGarrah. 
 
 But great as was the loss of property, it resulted in 
 the public good. For not merely were handsome 
 buildings erected in their place, but a public nuisance 
 was gotten rid of, namely, the corner sometimes 
 called Cape Horn. At the junction of Main and 
 Lake streets was a sloping sidewalk where several 
 accidents occurred. Here the wife of a citizen broke 
 her thigh. One of the clergy was passing when 
 it was slippery, and some wag exclaimed : " The 
 wicked stand in slippery places." He quickly re- 
 sponded, " Yes, you may ; but I cannot." Another of 
 the cloth was passing when an urchin came out of 
 the brick store with a jug of molasses. The boy's 
 feet slipped, and the jug was broken. Between the 
 molasses and the ice the dominie caught a fall that 
 added long-remembered sweetness to his cup. 
 
 Then the public road encroached on the prop- 
 erty of the railroad, and when the corner was rebuilt 
 the company required the owners to draw the side- 
 walk many feet back, giving now a handsome frontage 
 to the new stores. 
 
 The proposition to incorporate the village now be- 
 gan in earnest, having its origin in the necessity to 
 provide better means to fight the destructive element 
 fire. Accordingly, after some discussion a census of 
 
Recent Occurrences. 245 
 
 the population was taken, and, still further, a survey 
 of territory in the vicinage, made by Engineer Fred- 
 erick J. Knight. A population of 781 was found 
 residing on the area contemplated. This was in 
 May, 1894. 
 
 The general boundary chosen is a Hne drawn from 
 the farm of Gilbert Smith to the farm of Franklin 
 Mapes, thence to Seamanville, including the old 
 burying-ground, the Forshee and Wm. Y. Mapes 
 farms, and around the John Knight farm to the point 
 of beginning. The territory is one mile and 263 
 thousandths of a mile square. At a public meeting 
 held July 31, 1894, a vote was taken, and 111 were 
 found in favor and 45 opposed to the measure. Upon 
 this decision the necessary steps were taken towards 
 incorporation. 
 
 The village election was held August 21, 1894. 
 Henry Mapes was chosen President ; J. Lester Greg- 
 ory, Treasurer ; Frank Griffen, Collector ; Gilbert 
 Carpenter, Henry Morehouse and George R. Conkhn, 
 Trustees. August 28, 1894, the trustees organized a 
 Board of Water Commissioners, with Gilbert Carpen- 
 ter, President; G. R. Conklin, Secretary; Henry 
 Mapes, Treasurer; Alexander Potter, of New York, 
 Engineer-in-chief; Frederick J. Knight, of Monroe, 
 Assistant. 
 
 Under the dii'ection of this board, the water of 
 Mombasha Lake was brought to supply this village. 
 
 The water-works were built, and the water was 
 turned into the main October 10, 1895. The fall is 
 245 feet at the railroad station. One foot in Mom- 
 basha gives 108,000,000 gallons. Consumption fii'st 
 year, 17,000,000 gallons. 
 
 The following hues were composed by the Honor- 
 31a 
 
246 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 able A. B. Hulse, suggested by the completion of the 
 system of water- works bringing tlie water of Mom- 
 baslia Lake to Monroe, and published originally in the 
 "Independent Republican" : 
 
 All hail, all hail, this glorious day ! 
 Mombasha's here, she's come to stay ; 
 Beneath, above, around Monroe 
 Her pure and crystal waters flow. 
 
 Her misty sprays and dashing streams 
 Are sparkling in the bright sunbeams, 
 While silently, unseen, below 
 Her mighty currents tlirob and flow. 
 
 As Moses with his wondrous rod 
 Smote Horeb's rock before his God, 
 So did our Village Fathers smite 
 With rods of steel and dynamite 
 The rocks that bound Mombasha's shores, 
 And brought her waters to our doors. 
 
 We'll drink none but thy waters pure, 
 Then longer will our years endure ; 
 In founts drawn from thy waters, too. 
 We'll bathe, and thus our youth renew. 
 
 Our lawns no longer will be seen 
 Dry, crisped, but dressed in living green. 
 Like gems of emerald they'll appear. 
 And beauty fill our heart with cheer. 
 
 The fire-fiend, most dreaded foe, 
 
 Who, when least looked for, strikes his blow. 
 
 Is ever hanging o'er our head — 
 
 A constant fear, a constant dread. 
 
 At noon, midday, at night's dark hour. 
 Will here be broken in his power. 
 He'll have to beat a quick retreat, 
 And lay his sceptre at her feet. 
 
Recent Occurrences. 247 
 
 How many, many blessings more 
 Mombasha still may have in store, 
 I cannot tell ; I only know 
 She'll shower them all upon Monroe. 
 
 Now let us all our glasses fill 
 
 With Basha's water with right good-will ; 
 
 In union drink with one accord 
 
 The good health of our Village Board. 
 
 We know the path you had to tread. 
 No roses lined the way it led ; 
 But toil, anxiety and care 
 In measure full you had to bear. 
 
 Now, here's to you and your good health ; 
 May you be blessed with more than wealth. 
 Here's to the triumphs you have won. 
 God bless you all ! Well done, well done ! 
 
 — Homo. 
 
 Mombasha Lake is three miles from Monroe village 
 and two hundred and forty-nine feet above the level 
 where the Erie Railroad crosses Main street. Its 
 waters are extremely pure and crystal-like, and con- 
 tain the slightest trace of iron, — not enough to affect 
 the taste, but just enough to render them wholesome 
 and health-giving. 
 
 The village election of March, 1898, resulted in the 
 choice of Ananias B. Hulse, President ; Theodore 
 Clark and Sanford S. Lewis, Trustees ; Henry Mapes, 
 Treasurer; Ezra Welling, Collector; Edward H. 
 Seaman, Police Justice. 
 
 By ordinance the names of the streets of the vil- 
 lage have been changed and finally fixed. Among 
 them are such historic ones as Ramapo and Schune- 
 munk. But the climax was reached when one on 
 the outskirts was called Freeland street, — for what 
 
248 Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time. 
 
 reason we cannot divine, except that fifty years ago 
 it was full of snow-banks and " thank-'e-ma'ams," and, 
 like its namesake, there was room for improvement. 
 For time, that stern old conjurer that wrinkles and 
 fmTows our faces, ofttimes takes the kinks out of 
 roads, adorns the face of nature with vines and 
 mosses, and has even made the Rotten Row of the 
 city of London into the abode of aristocracy. 
 
 And now, as our task draws toward a conclusion, 
 we may say it has been a pleasant one, truly a labor 
 of love. While it has been a symposium, with the 
 company of those who have gone before and left their 
 footsteps on the sands of time, we have had before 
 us the present generation, especially the youth of 
 Monroe ; seeking to impress upon them the lessons 
 which the noble history of their town, the folk-lore, 
 and the natural advantages of its situation have for 
 them. If they will look out on the superb mountain- 
 girt plain, what a field there is for growth! But let 
 them eliminate from it everything that would put 
 the bar sinister upon its fair escutcheon. While 
 loving their native hills with all a Switzer's patriotism, 
 let them climb to the mountain-tops and look to the 
 wide, wide world beyond, and help with honest toil 
 to solve some of its great problems of labor, liberty 
 and fraternity. What the age wants are men of in- 
 tegrity, administering every trust conscientiously, 
 " faithful in little, faithful in much." Pursuing the 
 good of man and the glory of God, we bid adieu to 
 our readers with a few lines found in our portfolio : 
 
 Where the Highlands plant their feet, 
 
 On the clover plains below, 
 Nestles a hamlet neat — 
 
 The village of Monroe. 
 
Recent Occurrences. 249 
 
 What time the sunlight gleams 
 
 On silvery Ramapo 
 Reflected in her streams 
 
 Is picturesque Monroe. 
 
 Beside the long-drawn street 
 
 The graceful maples grow, 
 And lights and shadows meet 
 
 On our pathway in Monroe. 
 
 The anvil doth resound ; 
 
 The mill-wheel echoes low; 
 And wheels of industry spin round 
 
 In wide-awake Monroe. 
 
 By academic walks 
 
 The children come and go ; 
 By fireside list the talks 
 
 Of old folks in Monroe. 
 
 Her church bells sound the lay, 
 
 That young and old may know 
 The life, the truth, the way 
 
 To the hills beyond Monroe. 
 
 On her with lavish hand 
 
 May Heaven brave gifts bestow, 
 And choicest benison command 
 
 On the good folks of Monroe ! 
 — Nil. 
 
'!l I ij M