F 
 129 
 
 Ql2S5 
 
 QUAKER HILL 
 SERIES 
 
 X I . Ubomas Uaber anb 
 Ebwarb Sbove — 
 a IRemintscence. 
 
 FY 
 
 REV BENJAMIN SHOVF 
 
Class. 
 Book. 
 
 Fi?..g 
 
 
AMY TABER SHOVE 
 
 l.KCKXDARY OF QUAKER HIM, 
 
THOMAS TABER 
 
 AND 
 
 EDWARD SHOVE. 
 
 A REMINISCENCE. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. BENJAMIN SHOVE. 
 
 IV 
 
 READ AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 
 
 QUAKER HILL CONFERENCE, AUGUST THE 
 
 FIFTEENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND 
 
 THREE. 
 
 Published by the Quaker Hill Conference Association 
 
 Quaker Hill, New York 
 
 1903 
 
Publications 
 
 Op the Quaker Hill Conference Association 
 
 A Critical Study of the Bible, by Rev. Newton M. 
 Hall of Springfield, Mass. 
 
 The Relation of the Church at Home to the 
 Church Abroad, by Rev. George William Knox, D. D.. of 
 New York. 
 
 A Tenable Theory of Biblical Inspiration, by 
 Prof. Irving Francis Wood of Northampton, Mass. 
 
 The Book Farmer, by Edward H. Jenkins, Ph. D., of 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 
 LOCAL HISTORY SERIES 
 
 David Irish— A Memoir, by his daughter, Mrs. Phoebe 
 T. Wanzer of Quaker Hill, N. Y. 
 
 Quaker Hill in the Eighteenth Century, by Rev. 
 Warren H. Wilson of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 Quaker Hill in the Nineteenth Century, by Rev. 
 Warren H. Wilson of Brooklyn. N. Y. 
 
 Hiram B. Jones and His School, by Rev. Edward L. 
 Chichester of Quaker Hill, N. Y. 
 
 Richard Osborn— A Reminiscence, by Margaret B. 
 Monahan of Quaker Hill, N, Y. 
 
 Albert J. Akin— A Tribute, by Rev. Warren H. Wilson 
 of Brooklyn. N. Y, 
 
 Ancient Homes and Early Days at Quaker Hill, 
 by Amanda Akin Stearns of Quaker Hill, N. Y, 
 
 Thomas Taber and Edward Shove— A Reminiscence 
 —by Rev. Benjamin Shove of New York, 
 
 Any one of these publications may be had by addressing 
 the Secretary, Rev. Edward L. Chichester. 
 
 Quaker Hill, N. Y. 
 
 Price Ten Cents. Twelve Cents Postpaid. 
 
 Gift 
 
 Pub 1 '-' 
 
 3 i 
 
THOMAS TABER AND 
 
 EDWARD SHOVE- 
 
 A REMINISCENCE. 
 
 Thomas Taber and Edward Shove are 
 the subjects of my theme upon this 
 occasion. They were my paternal great- 
 grandfathers, and early settlers in this 
 neighborhood. 
 
 Here, at the beginning, I desire to ex- 
 press my gratitude to the Executive 
 Committee of the Quaker Hill Conference 
 Association for this opportunity to repre- 
 sent them at this session of their 
 organization. 
 
 To me this Old Meeting House is a 
 hallowed Sanctuary. As I think of my an- 
 cestors and their immediate posterity, who 
 worshipped here so many years ago, my 
 entire being is swayed with ineffable 
 emotions. I seem to see their forms, 
 listen to their voices, and the sound of 
 their feet as they tread these floors. It 
 may be that my venerated grandmother 
 commenced her public ministry for the 
 dear Lord under this roof. 
 5 
 
But I must close these tender reflections. 
 I arn reminded that the time limit demands 
 the sacrifice of all imaginative rhetoric on 
 the altar of plain facts. 
 
 o 
 
 I — Thomas Taber. 
 
 With pleasure, I acknowledge my great 
 obligations to Martha A. Taber of Pawling, 
 for valuable assistance in the preparation 
 of this part of my subject. She has 
 proved herself a thorough and expert 
 genealogist, not only in tracing the lines of 
 her descent in this country, but, also, that 
 of our great-grandmother, Anna Theresa 
 Taber, through several families of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Thomas was the fourth in line of descent 
 from Philip — the first known immigrant in 
 this country of that name. We find him 
 in Watertown in 1614, where he was 
 made a freeman for a worthy, public 
 deed. His record proves him to have 
 been a man of ability and energy. He 
 was one of the first settlers of Yarmouth. 
 He was a member of the earliest Assembly 
 of Plymouth in 1639-40; and, later, a 
 representative of Providence. 
 
 In the line of descent from him there 
 were two other Philips, and then, William, 
 6 
 
the father of Thomas, who was born, June 
 22, 1732, probably at Dartmouth, as that 
 was his Massachusetts home. 
 
 Thomas married Anna Theresa, daugh- 
 ter of George and Deborah (Searles) Pierce. 
 
 The first Pierce to settle in this country 
 was Richard. He came on the ship 
 Lyon, commanded, and said to be owned, 
 by his brother, Capt. William Pierce. 
 
 As the Tabers and Pierces were so 
 contiguous to the Mayflower families, it is 
 not strange that there were frequent 
 intermarriages between them. Their lines 
 are traced into the families of Rogers, 
 Cooks, and John and Priscilla Alden. 
 
 We are not able to give the exact time 
 of his settlement on Quaker Hill. It may, 
 however, be approximated by the deed of 
 his farm. According to its contents, it 
 was given in " 1760, in the 33 year of the 
 reign of our Sovereign Lord, George the 
 Second, by the grace of God, King of 
 Great Britain, France and Ireland." The 
 grantor was Thomas Brain of Jamaica, 
 Long Island; the grantee was Thomas 
 Taber of Dartmouth, Bristol Co., Pro- 
 vince of Mass. Their removal is likely to 
 have been during the year, 1760. 
 
 I learn through William H. Taber, a 
 great-grandson of Thomas, and the present 
 7 
 
owner of the farm, that it originally 
 contained 379 acres, being a residue of the 
 50,000 acres surrendered by Connecticut 
 to New York. William H. Taber is now 
 in possession of 260 acres of this farm. It 
 has never been outside of the family since 
 its purchase by the pioneer Taber, nearly 
 one hundred and fifty years ago. It de- 
 scended successively to Jeremiah, William 
 and then to William H. 
 
 On this homestead Thomas and Theresa 
 reared their family of ten children — three 
 sons and seven daughters. Most of them 
 were Friends. They intermarried with the 
 Akins, Ferrises, Russels and others. Their 
 descendants were numerous. Some of 
 them went to other sections of our great 
 country. Others have remained here and 
 have been efficient factors in the production 
 of the splendid moral tone pervading this 
 community. It is a pleasant thought to 
 contemplate that Albert J. Akin, whose 
 long and worthy life is specially honored 
 by this Conference, and some of the Taber 
 posterity have a common ancestor in the 
 pioneer Akin of this locality. 
 
 Some of the Tabers have wrought in 
 
 public as well as private life. I am credibly 
 
 informed that Thomas Taber, the pioneer, 
 
 as a Judge, took the oath of allegiance in 
 
 8 
 
Poughkeepsie, on the accession of George 
 the Third. In my childhood I often heard 
 his son, William, called Judge Taber. He 
 held that honorable position in Dutchess 
 County. He was also a Representative in 
 the State Legislature. William's son, 
 Thomas, formerly of Chestnut Ridge, was 
 a representative in the National Congress. 
 
 Thomas Taber died Sept. 18, 1783, 51 
 years of age, antedating the death of his 
 wife eighteen years. Together they are 
 interred in a neat family burial ground on 
 the old Homestead, surrounded by the 
 graves of several of their descendants. His 
 will was made September^ 1783, fourteen 
 days prior to his death. 
 
 His will manifests a man of acute fore- 
 sight and minute detail in business. After 
 providing very liberally for his sons, Wil- 
 liam and Jeremiah, who were also appoint- 
 ed executors, the other son and married 
 daughters having been previously cared for, 
 the needs of the widow and the five minor 
 daughters are considered. Their wants are 
 so fully anticipated and specifically provided 
 for as seemingly to obviate all future anxiety 
 or care on their part. Then, at the mar- 
 riage of each daughter, her outfit was 
 particularized from the " two cows," " ten 
 sheep," •' fiddle-back chairs," and " chany 
 9 
 
dishes/' to the " dozen tin teaspoons " and 
 "two bed cords," even the "one great 
 wheel " and the "one foot wheel" were 
 not forgotten. 
 
 To me the most interesting part of his 
 will is in this item : " 1 give and bequeath 
 to my negro man, Jethro, his freedom." 
 He was possessed of too much love for 
 manhood, irrespective of race or color, to 
 leave him as an asset to be disposed of as a 
 chattel. Here, upon this magnificent Hill, 
 was the dawning of that brighter day to 
 come, a little over three-quarters of a cen- 
 tury in the future, when Abraham Lincoln's 
 Proclamation would liberate the last son 
 and daughter of the African race in bondage 
 in this great American Republic. The 
 sentiments advocated on this lofty summit 
 by the fathers and mothers and emphasized 
 in their actions were harbingers of a higher 
 and better civilization on this American soil. 
 
 From my childhood I had supposed that 
 Thomas Taber was a Quaker, as it was the 
 sect of so many of his children and their 
 posterity. But some of his Baptist descen- 
 dants in this township present a counter 
 claim. The evidence given is of such a 
 character that, while I am not fully con- 
 vinced that he was a Baptist, yet I must 
 10 
 
confess that my belief that he was a Quaker 
 is somewhat shattered. But Baptist or 
 Quaker, or neither, this liberation of his 
 bondsman allies him so closely to the spirit 
 and teaching of Christ that I have the 
 strongest confidence in the genuineness of 
 his Christianity and it has greatly increased 
 my admiration of his character. 
 
 II— EDWARD SHOVE. 
 
 This Edward was third in line of descent 
 from Rev. George Shove, the third Congre- 
 gationalist pastor of Taunton, Mass. He 
 was ordained and settled there in 1665, 
 and served till his death in 1687. He also 
 during that time conducted a very pros- 
 perous school, numbering at times as high 
 as eighty pupils and of such a grade as to 
 prepare students for Cambridge. 
 
 He was thrice married. His first wife 
 was Hopestill, a daughter of the noted Rev. 
 Samuel Newman. His second wife was 
 Hannah, daughter of Rev. Thomas Walley 
 — his third was Widow Farrell of Taunton. 
 His only son, from his marriage with Han- 
 nah Walley, was named Edward. He be- 
 came an influential man in Massachusetts 
 Colony. The inventory of his personal 
 estate, after death, reveals a law library. 
 11 
 
His name is also attached to many transfers 
 of real estate and other documents as attor- 
 ney in Taunton, showing his profession as 
 a lawyer. He represented the town of 
 Dighton in the Colonial Assembly from 
 1728 to 1733. June, 1732, he was chair- 
 man of the General Court of Massachusetts. 
 He married Lydia Dayton, a granddaugh- 
 ter of Rev.Wm.Witherell. There were born 
 of this union George and Mary, twins, 
 Lydia, Ruth, Elizabeth, Theophilus, Ed- 
 ward, Hannah and Nathaniel. I give their 
 names because I found them on the Monthly 
 Records at the Old Swanzey Meeting-house 
 near Fall River, Mass. As far as I can 
 learn, from this family originated the Qua- 
 ker branch of the Shoves. For three gen- 
 erations it bore abundant fruitage. 
 
 What a mighty power must have been 
 manifested in wrenching this branch from 
 the old Puritan tree, through the pores of 
 which flowed the blood of three Puritan 
 preachers! Certainly it was cyclonic in 
 effect, while the operation was effected 
 through Quaker quietude and gentleness. 
 
 George — the twin of Mary — was the 
 father of Edward, the subject of this paper. 
 The maiden name of his mother was Sarah 
 Chase. He was born in 1736 in Dighton, 
 Mass., and was twice married. His first 
 12 
 
wife was Ruth Cleamens of the same town. 
 Intent of marriage was made and consent 
 given at the Swanzey Meeting-house. Two 
 of his paternal uncles, Theophlius and Ed- 
 ward, were appointed a committee to see 
 that the ceremony "should be decently 
 performed according to the custom of the 
 society," The bans were consummated 
 at the Freetown Meeting-house. The cer- 
 tificate of marriage is still in the possession 
 of one of the descendants. It states the 
 date to have been the "fourth day of the 
 eleventh month, called November, Anno 
 Domino, 1757." It bears the signature of 
 twenty -four witnesses. Among them, 
 with the name of a married sister, Sarah 
 Purrington, there are thirteen Shoves. The 
 names of his widowed mother, two sisters 
 and one brother are included, also his uncle, 
 Theophilus, and uncle's wife, Philadelphia 
 Osborn Shove. Of this marriage there was 
 at least one son, George, who died in early 
 manhood. Edward's second marriage was 
 with Sarah Deuel. I possess these items 
 from the Oblong and Nine Partners Rec- 
 ords : "Edward Shove of Oblong, inten- 
 tion of marriage to Sarah, daughter of Ben- 
 jamin and Sarah Deuel. 16th day, 1 ith mo., 
 1769; married 27th day, 12th mo., 1769. 
 There were born of this marriage twelve 
 
 13 
 
children. Benjamin, the oldest, born 1770, 
 was my grandfather. 
 
 Edward settled in the valley at the north 
 end of Quaker Hill. There he reared his 
 family and lived out his days. The near- 
 est I can approximate the time of his advent 
 to this locality is by the dates of his two 
 marriages — the one in Dighton, 1757, the 
 one at Oblong, 1769. During one of the 
 intervening years he made his home in 
 this section, and engaged in tanning, 
 shoemaking and farming. In my boyhood 
 I frequently saw the old, abandoned vats 
 near the saw mill, then owned by his 
 grandson, George Shove. I judge at that 
 time this neighborhood was a business 
 center of considerable importance. Beside 
 the tanning and shoemaking, there is evi- 
 dence that a store was maintained there for 
 several years by Benjamin and Silas Deuel. 
 I have several times seen a Bill of Merchan- 
 dise purchased by " Benjamin & Silas Deuel, 
 both of Dutchess County, N. Y., of Edward 
 & William Laight, merchants of New York 
 city. The amount of purchase was ^200." 
 The date of the transaction was Feb. 25th, 
 year of the Independence of the United 
 States of America, in the year of our Lord, 
 One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Eighty- 
 five. There is also an old account book, 
 14 
 
which was used in this store, at the old 
 homestead of Edward Shove, Jr., now in 
 possession of a grandson, Melville Shove, 
 at Mount Vision, Otsego County, N. Y. 
 
 My grandfather was a clerk in this store, 
 according to a tradition in the family. 
 George, his brother, was in some way con- 
 nected with the business. The last pay- 
 ment on the New York bill is acknowledged 
 by indorsement on it as having been re- 
 ceived by his hand. It was the second 
 payment thus acknowledged on the bill. I 
 am not acquainted with the conditions 
 which caused this transfer of business to 
 other centers. 
 
 -o- 
 
 III— UNITY OF THE TABER AND 
 SHOVE FAMILIES. 
 
 We now have these families settled on 
 their homesteads — one on the top of the 
 hill, the other at its foot. The high alti- 
 tude of the one, the low of the other, do 
 not isolate them. Confidence and friend- 
 ship prevail. The continuity of their for- 
 mer homes in Massachusetts may have had 
 an influence on this state of amity and so- 
 ciability. They might have been friends 
 in those earlier years. The Quakerism, 
 15 
 
dominating one entire family and a part of 
 the other, would be a strong bond of unity. 
 
 There is also confidence and helpfulness 
 manifested, in a business way, at a time 
 when one wants his special friends by his 
 side. When Thomas Taber is near death, 
 and makes his will, Edward Shove is one 
 of the three witnesses, and the only one 
 who appears to testify in the Probate 
 Court. When Anna Theresa Taber thinks 
 proper to make her will, Edward Shove and 
 Edward Shove, Jr., are the witnesses. 
 
 Then there was a girl on the top of the 
 hill, budding into a splendid womanhood, 
 named Amy ; and there was a boy at the 
 bottom of the hill, developing into man- 
 hood, named Benjamin. They were sure to 
 meet on meeting days, and extend and 
 receive the usual compliments of the oc- 
 casion. Then there came a time when a 
 heart tenderness gleamed from the eyes and 
 pulsated in the handshaking as they uttered 
 the words " thou " and " thee," and the one 
 word growing so hard to pronounce at 
 parting, "farewell!" As time rushes on, 
 the hill seems to lose its steepness and 
 length from the home at the bottom of the 
 hill to the home at its top, whether the the 
 young gentleman is on horseback or afoot, 
 16 
 
A little further on there comes the plight- 
 ing of hearts and hands for life. 
 
 I am quite sure that human hearts are the 
 same the world over; that the same tender 
 emotions of love beat in the hearts of young 
 people who wear the brown or the drab 
 dresses, plainly made, as in those who are 
 garbed in the fashionable attire of the 
 people of the world. It is not at all sur- 
 prising if ''the stream of true love does 
 not always run smoothly," among young 
 Quakers as well as other young people, as 
 hearts of the same nature are liable to the 
 same suspicions of mind and fluctuations 
 of emotions. There is likely to be some 
 retarded undercurrent and ripples on the 
 surface. There might be some shore fric- 
 tion causing rough and unpleasant edges 
 to the banks. There may be some little at- 
 tention to another, inspiring hopes when 
 not intended, and provoking anxieties 
 without cause. 
 
 There is in my possession from my 
 grandfather's desk, as a part of my inher- 
 itance, a letter in verse, paper yellow and 
 writing dim with age, from a young lady 
 of Dover, whose name will not find a place 
 in this paper. With maiden modesty and 
 saddened undertone she breathes her ten- 
 der sentiments and disappointment. At 
 
 n 
 
the close of the poem she makes this re- 
 quest: " Please give my love to Amy Ta- 
 ber when thee sees her ! " 
 
 It is evident that the Quaker virtue of 
 forgiveness controlled the poetess, if there 
 were occasion for its exercise. 
 
 IV— THE WEDDING. 
 
 The time approached when there was a 
 marriage which cemented the two families 
 into a closer bond of union. There were 
 two incidents connected with the wedding 
 worthy of note. 
 
 The first one was full of perplexity and 
 confusion to the wedding party and of un- 
 doubted roguish hilarity to another. The 
 ceremony was at the Taber homestead. 
 The wedding feast was baked in an out- 
 door oven. The table was set with the 
 finest linen and rarest plate ; but when the 
 waiters went for the contents of the oven, 
 lo ! they were not there. Even in that 
 Quaker community, so strict in the propri- 
 eties of life, as well as moral living, there 
 must have been some reprobate boys of 
 daring spirit who appropriated the tooth- 
 some viands, and hied away to some seclud- 
 18 
 
ed spot for a sumptuous feast. One can 
 readily imagine the unspeakable mortifica- 
 tion and enraged hunger of the party in- 
 side the house, and the festive hilarity of 
 the young rascals outside. I once read of 
 a very profane man who would emphasize 
 every pleasure with an oath, and when 
 angered, O! how he would swear. One 
 day he was drawing sand. Coming to a 
 long and steep hill he left the wagon and 
 walked by the side of his team. By some 
 means the hind board lost its position, and 
 while he walked the sand ran out. Reach- 
 ing the summit of the hill, and turning to 
 get into the wagon he saw it was empty* 
 and the hill sanded from the bottom to the 
 top. He opened his mouth wide for his 
 best effort of profanity, but the volley did 
 not come. At last he exclaimed, ''It's no 
 use to try. I can't find words fit for the 
 occasion." These Quakers of pure hearts 
 and clean lips would not swear. O no ! 
 they were clear above such a sin. But if 
 they had searched their mental vocabulary 
 all through, they would have failed to find 
 words "fit for the occasion." 
 
 The second incident was far more serious 
 in results. The consummation of the bans 
 was not in the beautiful and impressive 
 custom and formula of the Friends. The 
 
 19 
 
ceremony was an infraction of their rules, 
 and the young couple were disciplined. A 
 part of the atonement was a confession of 
 sorrow. Grandmother, like a good Qua- 
 keress, condoned her offense in this way 
 and was forgiven. Grandfather's stubborn 
 heart rebelled, and he declared "1 am not 
 sorry, and I will not falsify by saying I am," 
 and was disowned. Although Grandfather 
 in every other respect was as good a Friend 
 as ever, he never resumed his membership 
 until the rule was modified, and then his 
 name was again enrolled by his request. 
 
 But consider the consequences of his loss 
 of membership. All his children except 
 the youngest, his daughter Eliza, were 
 born outside of the Society. She married 
 a Methodist class leader. So, as a result of 
 this undenominational marriage, nine of his 
 children and all of his forty grandchildren 
 were deprived of their birthright member- 
 ship. Who can compute the results of this 
 event as they consider the "what might 
 have been " of an alternative course of 
 procedure, or how many Quaker mem- 
 bers and preachers otherwise might have 
 been born into the society from this family ? 
 
 20 
 
V— THE SHOVE HOMESTEAD. 
 
 Edward Shove died in his Oblong home- 
 stead Noveber 15, 1809. Before his death 
 a part of his farm was set off to one of 
 his heirs, which is now occupied by one of 
 his great-grandsons, Henry Shove. The 
 remainder was transferred to his son, Ed- 
 ward, Jr., with the care of his widow. 
 Near the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury his sons, Benjamin, Jonathan and 
 Brice, with his daughter, Ruth Hoag, 
 moved into Otsego County and established 
 homes. Others migrated into other sec- 
 tions. 
 
 Soon after the death of his father Ed- 
 ward, Jr., sold the farm and followed those 
 who had gone to Otsego. The widowed 
 nether, over seventy years old, rode a pony 
 to her new home, which, for years, was a 
 great pet in the family. 
 
 By these removals the larger portion of 
 Edward Shove's posterity was taken from 
 this locality. Still there are representatives 
 of his family residing here: prominent 
 among them is Mrs. Henry A. Holmes of 
 Pawling. Edward, Jr., sold his part of 
 the farm to his brother-in-law, John Hoag. 
 From him it passed to his son, William J. 
 Hoag. It is now owned by Mr. Lyman 
 21 
 
Brown. As the farm came from a Hoagto 
 the Shoves and from them to another Hoag, 
 it probably was in the possession of the 
 two families nearly one hundred and fifty 
 years. 
 
 o 
 
 VI— GRANDMOTHER'S LEGENDS. 
 
 My grandmother Shove was born, reared 
 and married on the Taber homestead. She 
 had a majestic physique, was strong- 
 minded, with a retentive and ready mem- 
 ory. She was also an interesting conver- 
 sationalist, with an occasional Cape Cod 
 provincialism, as "darter" for daughter; 
 " cratur " for creature. It was her delight 
 to amuse her grandchildren with stories of 
 her girlhood days. To me the most inter- 
 esting were those relating to the encamp- 
 ment of the Continental army in her father's 
 neighborhood during the Revolutionary 
 War. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Wilson has clearly demonstrat- 
 ed that the army was encamped on Quaker 
 Hill in 1778. Grandmother was then five 
 years old, and of suitable age to remember 
 events then transpiring in the neighbor- 
 hood. Some of the most distinct and last- 
 ing memories of my life are connected with 
 incidents occurring when I was four years 
 
 22 
 
old; and those incidents were not as spec- 
 tacular and thrilling as those surrounding 
 her at that time. Then let it be recollected 
 that, in her childhood, there were not 
 so many things to be remembered as 
 now. In those ancestral times there were 
 no daily newspapers, morning and even- 
 ing, bringing their many columns of news 
 from every part of the civilized globe; 
 so the most we read to-day is forgot- 
 ten to-morrow. All that these ancestors 
 had, with which to tax their memories, 
 were the happenings of the family or neigh- 
 borhood, or an occasional letter brought by 
 a friend or the infrequent mails. Grand- 
 mother was a living witness, rehearsing in 
 her ripe old age the occurrences of her 
 childhood. She was, moreover, a Qua- 
 keress preacher. I believed her as I be- 
 lieve my Bible. When some persons have 
 said that the Continental Army and General 
 Washington were never there, I have al- 
 ways answered, " I know they were, for 
 my grandmother told me they were." 
 
 The incident given by Mr. Wilson of the 
 discovery of the Cowboys in the attic of 
 the Old Meeting-house by the young peo- 
 ple, she was wont to relate, almost word 
 for word, abating the romance of the 
 young lady and the British officer. 
 
I was most interested in the story that 
 her father's house was headquarters of one 
 of General Washington's officers. For that 
 reason it was guarded. She slept with her 
 mother. As she saw the glitter of the 
 guard's burnished bayonet in the moon- 
 beams through the window, as he passed 
 to and fro, she would cuddle behind her 
 mother, and shut the fearful vision from her 
 sight and try to forget it in sleep. In my 
 youthful, patriotic enthusiasm, though a 
 Quaker boy, I thought it was a family 
 honor rather than a reproach, to have a 
 Continental officer quartered in my great- 
 grandfather's home. 
 
 Another story was far more frightful to 
 us children. She had a sister, Meriba, sev- 
 eral years her senior. The latter was ath- 
 letic and brave. Once a party of Cowboys 
 came to rob the house during the absence 
 of the men folks. There was a kettle of 
 water over the fire. Meriba seized it, and 
 with a dipper in hand, followed them from 
 room to room, with the threat if they took 
 a single thing she would scald them. As 
 they had too much manhood to fire upon 
 a woman, she fairly drove them, empty 
 handed, from the house. Then, we chil- 
 dren, would make the house echo with our 
 cheers over the heroism of Aunt Meriba. 
 24 
 
Then came the cheese story. Her moth- 
 er had a fine reputation as a cheese maker. 
 She announced that she would give a 
 cheese to the first general officer who 
 should visit the neighborhood, One day, 
 being summoned to the door, she was 
 greatly surprised to find a servant of Gen. 
 Washington, with a note from him claim- 
 ing, under the conditions of the promise, 
 the cheese. Of course it was sent, and the 
 General had an opportunity to test her skill 
 in that domestic art. It is hoped that her 
 reputation did not suffer in his estimation. 
 What a choice piece of paper that note 
 from the great Washington would be, had 
 it been preserved in the family ! How of- 
 ten an event, at the the time of its occur- 
 rence seemingly ordinary and trifling, in a 
 century is replete with historic value. 
 
 One more incident will close these 
 legends. It was told me by a cousin of 
 mine who bears grandmother's name. It 
 is given on her authority, as I do not re- 
 member hearing it from my grandmother's 
 lips. 
 
 Some years years after the close of the 
 war, when peace and plenty were smiling 
 over the land, a poor man came to the 
 house and begged for some corn. Jere- 
 miah Taber, grandmother's brother, who 
 25 
 
had charge of the business, recognizing 
 him as one of the Cowboys of war times, 
 in a stern manner asked the man, "why 
 don't you go to the crib and help yourself, 
 as you used to do ? " The poor man was 
 crestfallen. Finally, the Quaker's love 
 principle conquered the old animosity ; 
 Jeremiah went with him to the crib, and, 
 filling the sack, sent the man home with a 
 thankful heart. Doubtless the event made 
 both better and happier men. 
 
 A few months ago these legends were 
 published in the " Pawling Chronicle." A 
 short time after I received a letter from Mr. 
 Lewis S. Patrick, of Marinette, Wisconsin, 
 a stranger to me. As it is corroborative of 
 two of these legends, I take the liberty of 
 quoting a part of it. He writes : 
 
 "My letter has for its object to help you 
 in your cheese story. Some two or three 
 years ago, while in Washington, I went to 
 the Treasury Department where I saw the 
 account of Washington's personal expens- 
 es while he was at Fredericksburgh. Un- 
 der date of Nov. 6, 1778, occurs this item: 
 ' To cash paid servant for bringing cheese 
 from Mr. Taber's, 16 shillings.' 
 
 "Again : the map in the Quaker Hill 
 History which you have, — referring to Rev, 
 Mr. Wilson's book — came from a photo- 
 26 
 
graph I had made of the original map. 
 You will notice, near the top of it, Mr. Ta- 
 ber's name. I feel very certain the place 
 indicated is where Wm. H. Taber lives at 
 the present time; I have no doubt that some 
 one belonging to the army was there, or 
 the name would not have appeared on 
 the original map." 
 
 Again: "I like your idea about the 
 ground where the soldiers are buried. 
 There is no question but that Washington 
 was in that vicinity in 1778." 
 
 -o- 
 
 VII— MONUMENTAL GROUND. 
 
 There is no doubt, at the present time, 
 about Quaker Hill and its vicinity being 
 historical ground. Why not make it a 
 " monumental ground ? " 
 
 Through all historical times great battle 
 fields have been marked and honored spots. 
 Many of them bear monuments to com- 
 memorate the struggles there occurring, 
 where valor did its best, to win. In too 
 many instances the only motive of these 
 battles was conquest for greed or glory. 
 
 In the throes of our Revolutionary strug- 
 gle a nation was born, consecrated to civil 
 equality and liberty of every native and 
 
 27 
 
adopted citizen under its flag. No other 
 nation, in all the earth, has made such rapid 
 strides to greatness and power since its 
 birth. No other nation has been truer to 
 its baptismal vows. If, at any time, the 
 government wanders from the first princi- 
 ples of its national creed, these granite 
 shafts, which indicate the location of these 
 combats for universal freedom, recall it to 
 the duty of a new dedication to the cause 
 for which the fathers suffered and died. 
 
 It matters not whether slain on battle- 
 fields, or died in hospital, a patriot's life was 
 surrendered for the holy cause. For this 
 reason the locations of encampments and 
 hospitals should be diligently sought out 
 and enshrined. In such neighborhoods 
 are legends, transmitted through family 
 records and traditions, which should be 
 preserved and immortalized. 
 
 Quaker Hill is an honored locality, not 
 only for its lofty altitude, scenic beauty, 
 moral stamina of its Quaker ancestors and 
 their worthy descendants, but for the en- 
 campment of the army under General 
 Washington in 1778. The Old Meeting- 
 house, consecrated to the worship of God, 
 in accordance with the faith and practice of 
 its builders, was, also, devoted to a merci- 
 ful purpose, and, therefore Christly, when 
 28 
 
it sheltered the sick and dying soldiers. 
 
 Had Christ, in those days of suffering 
 which tried men's souls, from the exalted 
 seat of His enthronement, spoken to the 
 benefactors of those soldiers who had 
 found an asylum in His own sanctuary, 
 what would He have said ? Let Him an- 
 swer for himself. " Inasmuch as ye have 
 done it to one of the least of these My 
 children, ye have done it unto Me." 
 
 The sacred ground where these soldiers 
 lie, who gave their lives for freedom and 
 country, ought to be secured from obscur- 
 ity, and its solemn significance handed 
 down to the latest posterity. Worthy men 
 have adorned and enriched Quaker Hill with 
 splendid buildings. Are there not others 
 who will arise and perform a nobler deed 
 by erecting a suitable monument on the 
 burial ground of these fallen heroes ? It 
 would be a just tribute to dead patriots by 
 living ones. 
 
 In these times patriotic women, as well 
 as men, are placing memorial tablets and 
 monuments on nearly every Revolutionary 
 historic spot that can be found. What a 
 splendid work in this line is being done by 
 the Daughters of the Revolution ! Why 
 not thus honor this spot ? It would stim- 
 ulate the posterity of Quaker Hill ancestors, 
 29 
 
scattered through this great Republic, to 
 become pilgrims to their ancestral home, 
 and before its sacred shrine, renew alle- 
 giance to God and country. 
 
 Then, Quaker Hill will live in the future 
 as well as in the past. Religion and pat- 
 riotism, united in holy wedlock, will send 
 out from this sublime summit an influence 
 throughout this immense Republic, from 
 the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, from the 
 glaciers of Alaska to the sunny plains of 
 the Southland, helping not only to preserve, 
 but to perfect and perpetuate the freest and 
 purest government that ever blessed the 
 human race. 
 
 30 
 
APPENDIX — WILL OF 
 THOMAS TABER. 
 
 In the Name of God, Amen, I, Thomas Taber 
 of the Oblong in the County of Dutchess and 
 State of New York, being in perfect mind and 
 memory, do think fit to make a distribution of 
 my outward estate by will in the following man- 
 ner, viz. : 
 
 Imprimis — It is my will that all my just debts 
 and funeral charges first of all be paid out of my 
 moneys by my executors here after mentioned. 
 
 Item — I give and bequeath unto my well beloved 
 wife, Anne Therase Taber, two feather beds and 
 furniture for said beds, and two bedsteads and 
 two bed cords, and one- third part of all my 
 household goods excepting beds and bedding ; and 
 six hundred weight of pork that is good, and the 
 fat that comes out of said pork; and seven hund- 
 red weight of good beef, with the tallow that 
 comes out of said beef; and salt enough to salt 
 said pork and beef with ; and thirty bushels of 
 wheat and twenty five bushels of indian corn and 
 two bushels of good turnips and four bushels of 
 good potatoes, and six barrels of cider put into the 
 cellar, and apples to use in the summer, and 
 twenty five bushels of winter apples to be brought 
 into the cellar or where she shall order; and forty 
 weight of sheep wool and eighty weight flax and 
 two hundred weight of cheese and forty weight of 
 butter; and ten dunghill fowls and two turkeys 
 keept and to have the eggs and increase of the said 
 fowls. All the above articals of provisions that I 
 have given my wife are to be yearly and every 
 year so long as my five youngest daughters live 
 with her, and when either of them shall leave her 
 
 31 
 
the above provision is to be diminished according 
 to the number that leave her. Also I give her a 
 good garden, to be kept well-fenced and dug up 
 sufficient to raise her sauce in ; and fire wood at 
 the door cut fit for the fire or fire-places; and one 
 good horse provided and kept well winter and 
 summer, and a woman's saddle and bridle, and 
 said horse is to be kept shod, and two good cows 
 provided and kept in the summer and one in the 
 winter to give her milk ; and I give her the use of 
 new south part of my house and a sufficient priv 
 ilege in the cellar: and twelve pounds in money 
 yearly as long as my five youngest daughters live 
 with her. and after they all leave her six pounds 
 a year yearly. All these legacies that I have given 
 my wife are to be paid and performed by my ex- 
 ecutors hereafter mentioned, as long as she shall 
 remain my widow and no longer, which they are 
 to do equally, and all that I have given to my wife 
 are in lieu of her rights of dowry and power of 
 thirds. 
 
 Item— I give to my son. Nathaniel Taber, ten 
 shillings in money and a suit of clothes, to be paid 
 by my executors hereafter mentioned. 
 
 Item — I give and bequeath to my two sons, Jer 
 miah and Willia m Taber, all of my farm of land 
 and buildings thereon, together with all my mon- 
 ey and obligations for money, and stock and all 
 my outdoor movables that I haven't already given 
 away and don't hereafter give away, provided they 
 pay all the legacies mentioned for them to pay 
 equally and all which I give to them is to be divi- 
 ded equally between them, which is given to them 
 and their heirs and assigns forever. 
 
 Item— I give and bequeath to my daughter, 
 Meribe Hazerd, a living with my two sons, Wil- 
 liam and Jeremiah, as long as she don't live with 
 her husband, nor keep with him or frequent his 
 company, and if her husband should die and she 
 should marry again, then I give her one half as 
 much as I give to my younger daughters with 
 what I have already lent her, and also I give her 
 fiye dollars in money over and above what is above 
 given her. 
 
 Item— I give and bequeath to my five daughters, 
 
 32 
 
Antheracy, Ruth, Saloma, Amy and Mary Taber, 
 the following articals, to each of them, viz. : two 
 good feather beds, six pairs of linen sheets, five 
 carsey blankets, two coverlids, one good piece of 
 calico for a set of curtains, two pairs of bolster 
 cases, six pairs of pillow cases, six fiddle-backed 
 chairs and six common chairs, one high case of 
 drawers, one large oval table, one small oval table, 
 one square table, one great wheel, one foot wheel, 
 two pails, one tub, one churn, one brass kettle 
 to hold four pails full, one large iron pot, one 
 small ditto, one iron kettle to hold one pail full 
 and a half, one frying pan, one copper tea ket 
 tie, two large pewter platters, one small ditto, 
 three pint basons, three quart basons, one dozen 
 of pewter plates, six pewter porringers, four ta 
 ble clothes, two large and two small, eight towels 
 all of huckaback, one looking-glass of fifty shil- 
 lings price, one block tin teapot, one set of china 
 tea dishes, one dozen earthen plates, one case of 
 knives and forks, two bedsteads, two bed cords, 
 six milk pans, six beaker glasses, one pair of 
 tongs and a slice, two smoothing irons, one 
 chest with a draw in it, six block tin spoons, one 
 tramel, two cows, ten sheep ; they are to take all 
 the house stuff that I haven't already given away 
 towards what I have above mentioned for them , 
 to have, which is to be paid to them by my exec- 
 utors hereinafter mentioned, and if my wife 
 should die or marry away before my daughters 
 should, then they are to have the same privi ledge 
 in the house and of fire wood and to be supplied 
 at the executors' table with all necessary conven 
 iences for them and to be found with shoes by the 
 executors as long as they remain single. 
 
 Item — I give and bequeath to my grandson, 
 Thomas Taber Ferris, son of my daughter, Hannah 
 Ferris, deceased, ten shillings, and also I give to 
 my granddaughter, Hannah Ferris, rive shillings 
 besides what I gave her mother. 
 
 Item — I give and bequeath to my negro man, 
 Jethro, his freedom. 
 
 Item — I do hereby nominate, constitute and 
 appoint my well beloved sons, William Taber and 
 
 33 
 
Jeremiah Taber, my only and lawful executors to 
 this my last Will and Testament, notifying and 
 confirming this and no other to be my last Will and 
 Testament, hereby disa lowing and making void 
 all former wills or gifts whatsoever. In witness 
 whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed 
 my seal this fourth day of September in ye year 
 of our Lord one thousand seven hundred eighty 
 and three . THOMAS TABER. 
 
 Signed, sealed published and delivered 
 by the said Thomas Taber to be his last 
 Will and Testament, in the presence of 
 
 Abraham Thomas 
 
 Benjamin Deuel, 
 
 Edward Shove. 
 Probated in the City of New York Dec. 23. 1783. 
 
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 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1