ANCIENT FAMILIES OF THE PEENPACK NEIGHBORHOOD. (continued 2)

Now, although we and our forefathers received a mere trifle of the bad effects of liquors in this respect, yet the constitution of some of us must have been injured by their use. I, myself, have experienced the bad effects therefrom in respect to my own constitution, which at one time became so weak against its effects that if I drank so as to feel the least alteration from its influence it hurt me. This, however, was not the case with many others; some hard drinking men who came here among us remained healthy and lived to be old. Whether such would or would not have arrived to an older age without the use of liquor is uncertain.

Our diets continued to be the same as has been mentioned for some years after the Revolutionary War ended; but the diets of mush, &c., which were eaten with milk, began to be abandoned after different kinds of teas and coffee began to be used, and, after becoming generally used, the milk diets were in a manner wholly abandoned. In these drinks a little milk and sugar was put; molasses also was very plentifully used, and with this, sugar and other articles, many palatable, different kinds of sweet cakes, pies, &c., were made; also, different kinds of spices became fashionable for adding agreeable flavors to some diets. Now, all these are eatables and drinks which we did not have in our early days. In addition to all these we now have different kinds of preserves made with sugar, molasses, and different sorts of fruit, berries, &c., and some other diets we did not have.

After tea and coffee had been used for some time, they were preferred by the young people to the milk diet; but some of the older class, who had been habituated to eating buttermilk pop, mush and milk, and other diets, often chose to have these in preference to tea or coffee. Such are the effects of habit.

As to our industry and labors for the support of our families and to make advancement, they continued during our lives to be about the same on an average as those of our parents, in which some were more persevering and others less than their respective parents.

The inhabitants of the lower neighborhood who were contemporary with our parents, and those who were the same with ourselves, have also continued and progressed in about the same manner as we and our parents have done in the habits of life mentioned.

After our manner of living changed, we were from time to time afflicted with ailments and diseases which all have continued to suffer at times, more or less, until the present time; but of late years have not had such mortal distempers in this vicinity as some we had at certain previous periods.

PHYSICAL STRENGTH OF FIRST GENERATION.

The first generation of the sons of the four families were reputed to have been strong men. It was said that the three eldest sons of Jacob Cuddeback, Benjamin, William and James, could carry 12 skipple wheat (9 bushels), by putting it into four three-skipple sacks, and, placing one under each arm and taking hold with each hand of the top of the others, could, on a barn floor, in this manner carry it from one end of the barn to the other; and that Anthony Swartwout's two sons, Samuel and James, could do the same, and that Harmanus Van Inwegen's son Gerardus, who was a smaller man, could carry it a few steps. Abraham Cuddeback, youngest son of his father, could not do it, nor Peter Gumaer's son Peter, so that only two out of eight were unable to carry it. From which the difference of their bodily strength, and that of those now on the stage of action becomes apparent.

The degeneracy of the inhabitants of this neighborhood has not been confined to them alone, but has extended from here down the Neversink and Delaware rivers throughout the Holland Dutch settlements; also from this neighborhood to Kingston. In the lower neighborhood in this town formerly were men as stout as those mentioned. It was said that one man in it could add one more bag of wheat and hold it with his teeth, and carry 15 skipple wheat (11-1/4 bushels).

Among the first generation along the Delaware river in the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, were men of equal strength with those mentioned, but not generally as strong. Such was also the case in respect to the inhabitants from here to Kingston.

The second generation of the four families did not arrive to as great bodily strength as the first, but still were strong men. All of them, excepting three, were men whose stature averaged about six feet, and their average weight was near 200 lbs. when in prime of life. Two of the three, who were of shorter stature, averaged about the same weight. I have seen the smallest, lightest and weakest man of their whole number with only the use of one hand, take a short three skipple sack, filled with rye, from the ground and put it on his shoulder. There were twelve of these men, and nine of them had families. These had 36 sons, who were all inferior in bodily strength to their respective fathers, and were all smaller and lighter men, excepting a few of the sons of Cornelius Van Inwegen, who were taller and may have been heavier than their fathers, and nearly or quite as strong. All the others were inferior to their fathers, and some much weaker in strength. Such a change in the bodily characteristics of these sons from that of their fathers must have proceeded from their different habits during the time of their respective growths, in which there was some difference, both in respect to diet and other attendants. The first (being the second generation) during their growth had for their eatables bread of unbolted wheat meal and meat soups, thickened with such meal, and they had a great proportion of wild meat of animals, fowls and fishes, which were yet plentiful here at that time. These diets their children did not have during the time of their growth, excepting a meal of fresh wild meat sometimes. They had rye bread and pork and beef, preserved with salt. This meat was generally used for dinner, together with some potatoes, turnips, and other kinds of roots and vegetables. Bread and butter, mush and milk, and other milk diets potatoes, turnips, and other roots and vegetables, were plentiful here during the growth of the first as well as the second of those two classes of people. Now, in addition to the change mentioned, there was another of a different nature, which must have affected in a small degree the growth of the first, and in a great degree that of the latter. This was the effect of the French and Revolutionary wars, in each of which a fort was built at the house of Gumaer, and his neighbors all collected in it, which had the effect of creating more impure air in it than when occupied by one family. This, in the first war, could not hurt the constitutions of the children as much as in the next, because its duration was shorter, and most of them were sent from here to relatives in other places, and there were not as many in the fort as in the last war when the number in it of all classes was about 100 from the time the fort was built in 1777 until the war ended. The walls of the house, both in the rooms below and on the chamber, were all lined with beds, and although the inmates of the house remained healthy, yet the collection of so many people in it, and their beds and bedding, must have created much impure air, especially in the night when the doors were shut and all were in it, whereby the constitutions of the children must have become weakened and their growth retarded, so as to have remained both weaker and smaller than what they would have been if the war had not occurred. This stagnation of growth, which caused the third generation to remain inferior in strength to their respective fathers, did not continue to debilitate in the same ratio, the fourth class, but these arrived to about or nearly the same strength of body as that of their fathers. In relation to health, however, there has been a gradual decline, and people have now become more subject to disease in this town than in former times.

The Holland Dutch, who settled throughout this valley, must have had sound and strong constitutions, which their children inherited unimpaired, and the manner in which they were brought up and lived during the time of their growth in this valley must have been very conducive to sustain health and promote strength.

CHARACTERS.

There are certain predominating characteristics in families which, in some cases, will remain in their descendants from generation to generation for a great length of time, and some of those of the first pioneers have thus continued in some degree in their line of descent up to the present time; and where intermarriages have occurred, of such different characters, they have generally become united in the children and, in some cases, this union resulted in better characters than that of either of the originals, and in others, worse.

In respect to the characteristics of five sons of the first families who remained in the Peenpack neighborhood, I will here give a short narration, to wit:

Major James Swartwout was a large, heavy, strong, portly and likely man, of a noble and dignified appearance, very suitable for a military officer, and was possessed of a spirit as noble as his appearance. He was very witty, jocose and humorous in conversation (these were Swartwout family traits), and he was too liberal and easy in his business affairs to accumulate property, in consequence of which he became much involved. He was generally consulted in matters of difficulty, in respect to which I will relate one instance, to wit:

At a certain time after the fall of a light snow, the members of a certain family who were neighbors to him, discovered apparently the tracks of a person on the roof of the house where no person could walk, which extended from one end of the roof to the other end. This alarmed the family, who thought it ominous of some calamity which would happen to them, and after some conversation respecting it, concluded it was best to send for Major Swartwout, to see what he would think of it. They accordingly got him there, who, on viewing it, concluded in his mind that it had been done by some person, and mistrusted a slave of the family, who kept near them to hear what would be said respecting it. He stepped up to the black man and accused him of doing it, which was denied. The Major told him he had done it and that if he did not own it he would give him a flogging, and still denying, the Major took a gad and gave him two or three whippings before he would own it, and after owning it the Major told him if he would tell how he did it he would let him go. He said he took a long pole and fastened a shoe to the end and therewith made the tracks. This eased the family of their fearful apprehensions.

William Cuddeback was a man of somewhat over six feet stature, coarse-boned, muscular and lean. He was strong and very nimble, and could outrun many young men after he was fifty years old. In the French war, after his hair had begun to turn gray, he outran a soldier who thought himself swift. He was very talkative and witty, and I think from what information I have had in relation to him, that he never had his equal in this town for humorous discourse and a display of wit properly and suitably applied. He was characterised as a wise man in his time. Argument was his hobby, and, as there was much of it in his time in relation to the Scriptures, he, although uneducated, became so versed therein that when among strangers he was often thought to be a well read man. He was a disbeliever in the superstitious notions which many people in his time had in relation to witchcraft, &c., and would often tell very laughable occurrences in respect thereto. He was somewhat slack in his business concerns and careless in paying attention to the same, but he always had help enough to manage the business of his farm.

Peter Gumaer was a man of about five feet ten inches stature. During the time of my acquaintance with him he was fleshy and fat, and in his younger days was a very persevering business man. He never was a hard working nor an idle man himself, but all his children and slaves performed a great amount of labor. His family produced a greater amount of farmer's productions than any other farmer within 20 or 30 miles distance from his residence, and he had all the necessary fixtures for his different branches of business in the best manner of his time. He would not suffer idleness in his family, and was inimical to it in others. He was a man of good judgment and of an honest and independent principle.

Gerardus Van Inwegen [FN] {tn} was a man of about five feet eight or nine inches stature. He was lean, bony, muscular and strong, and had much of the Swartwout jocose and humorous disposition. He was the only son of his father, and was brought up without work, and in his neighborhood became fond of hunting, and did much of it in company with the white and Indian boys of the neighborhood, and in early life became a very skillful hunter and took great delight in it. He continued to follow it through life, and killed more deer, bears and other wild animals and wild fowls than any other man of his time in this vicinity, whereby he not only obtained a very plentiful supply of those meats for his own family, but contributed liberally to those of Cuddeback and Gumaer, his neighbors, and enjoyed a very happy life. He was much addicted to playing tricks on people, and, when any of them happened to be offensive, he could generally end the matter in good humor. (It appears those ancients generally were well calculated to extinguish those offensive occurrences and restore friendship, by means of which they maintained friendly relations with each other and with the Indians.)

[FN] Brother of Hannah, wife of Anthony Van Etten, page 59.

{Transcribers note: the footnote is hand written}

At a certain time he put a mean, dirty trick on a company of squaws and their children, which they discovered in going to a certain place, and immediately laid it to Gerardus, and, on their return, stopped at his house and accused him of it. He asked what made them think he had done it. They told him no other man in the neighborhood would do such a nasty trick; that he was worse than a hog and they would have satisfaction for that trick. After some altercation respecting it, he got a pail of cider and gave them as much as they would drink, which cheered them all up and they went off in good humor, laughing at those who fared the worse.

Samuel Swartwout was reputed to have been a very strong man, and naturally easy and very good natured, not easily provoked to anger nor easily scared. He, by hunting and trapping, obtained a supply of meat and some other necessaries for his family. He had a valuable farm, but had no help to work it. Laborers could not be hired. After Depuy married his daughter he brought some slaves from his father's, and, with these, Depuy worked the farm and produced much wheat and other grain. Swartwout was on very friendly terms with the Indians, and when he removed from the residence of his father, he settled, as has been mentioned, among a collection of Indians.

In order to give some idea of Swartwout's boldness and of having been so characterized, I will relate a certain transaction, to wit: A certain Indian in his time had made a false face of a very frightful appearance, which was obtained from him by two or three of the young men. It was said that when it was put before a man's face and a bear skin wrapped around his body, the appearance in the night was very terrifying. They gave the man so dressed the name of Santa Claus. On a certain winter evening this Santa Claus went round among the families and frightened the members of four of them by this imprudent exhibition. After this they concluded to try if they could not scare the fearless Swartwout. Santa Claus went and entered his house. Swartwout sat before the fire, and, on seeing him, rose from his chair, took hold of it, and put himself in a position to strike. Santa Claus, fearing the blow, said, "Uncle Samuel, don't strike." Swartwout told him to go out of the house, or he would split his brains, and added, "If you are the devil, or from the devil, go to where you belong."

These five men and their fathers had to encounter many difficulties to retain the possession of nearly half the land they claimed under the patent against Jersey claimants, and it appears they were well qualified in all respects to counteract them. An account of this is contained in Eager's history.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FEW INDIVIDUALS OF THE SECOND GENERATION.

Capt. Abraham Cuddeback was a man of six feet stature and over 200 lbs. weight. He was strong and athletic, and could with ease jump a five-railed post or rail fence. He was very handsomely built, and in all respects a very good looking man. He possessed a great mechanical genius, dexterity and good judgment. When quite young, seeing how shoemakers and weavers performed their work, he commenced and did the shoe-making and weaving for his father's family, and became the best shoemaker and the best and quickest weaver before he was a man grown of any in this vicinity. In the time of the French war his father sent him to Old Paltz, where, and in Rochester, he followed weaving and had no equal in those places. After that war ended the people here generally were destitute of fanning mills, and cleaned their grain with hand fans. He had seen one at Gumaer's and may have seen a few at the Old Paltz. He undertook and made one for his father or himself, and afterwards made several; one for my father, which was done in a good and handsome workmanlike manner, with which was cleaned all the grain of those in the fort at my father's during the Revolutionary War, and thereafter all his own grain during his life. Before the commencement of that war a Mr. John Williams had given him some instruction for laying out the frame work of a house and barn, from which he considered himself enabled to do the carpenter work of such buildings, and did the carpenter work of a house and one or two barns before the war commenced, and after it ended a house and barn for himself and two or three other barns. After the war ended, he made a turning bench, repaired the old spinning-wheels in the neighborhood, turned spools, clevises, &c., for rigging the same. Before the war commenced, the wagons here had all been obtained from Rochester, in Ulster county, some of which were nearly worn out at its end, and a few years thereafter he undertook to contrive how to make a wagon. He said the greatest puzzle he had in mechanical work was to study out rules to make the wheels (of which he was entirely ignorant), but, after thinking over it, he discovered by what means he could make the same. After this he made wagons in a good and workmanlike manner, and in as good style as those which had been obtained from Rochester. He afterwards made pleasure sleighs according to the Kingston fashion of his time, of which there were only one or two old ones in this neighborhood as good and handsome as those which in his time, had been made at Kingston, except painting, which he did not do. He made the best ploughs, and all kinds of farming utensils, of any which were made in his time in this part of our country. He was the greatest marksman at shooting with a rifle and one of the best hunters. And, notwithstanding all these acquisitions and the attention he paid to his farm, he was one of the greatest idlers in the neighborhood, and did often for the sake of conversation visit his neighbors, and when in company of the best informed, would generally introduce subjects to create argument, either in accordance with his own views or contrary thereto, so as to produce argumentation in which he delighted and was the best means of discovering the natural and acquired abilities of his opponent. He said he knew the mental abilities and natural characteristics of nearly all the men who were contemporary with him for a distance of 20 miles down the Neversink and Delaware rivers, and 40 miles toward Kingston. In his time Marbletown was the general market place for the inhabitants in this valley throughout the distance mentioned, and their travel to and from market made a great intercourse of those people, whereby they acquired a general acquaintance with each other. In respect to which I will relate an occurrence. In the commencement of the Revolutionary War, John Westbrook, who lived about 20 miles distant from Cuddeback's residence, was elected captain of a company of militia, and, in saluting him, he was blinded by the discharge of one of the guns, and remained blind. About 15 years thereafter, Jacob Cuddeback, son of Capt. Cuddeback, went to Mr. Westbrook's, and, after speaking to him, asked Mr. Westbrook if he knew him. He said he did not, but the voice was that of Capt. Cuddeback, which he still remembered, and judged from the resemblance of the voice of the son to that of the father, though they had not been together during that time.

In addition to what has been said respecting his mechanical acquirements, he became a workman in the business of tailoring. In the commencement of the war there were no men tailors in this town, and he first cut for himself; in sewing his daughter assisted him, and thereafter sometimes cut for others; and in the winters, when all were collected in the fort, he and his daughter did so much at it, especially in cutting and making up of deerskin leather, that he became a good workman and had not his equal here before a Mr. Mather, a tailor by trade, came into the fort.

It was said that at a certain time he and his wife took each a pound of frolic flax to spin, which she refused to do for him. He said he would do it himself and beat her. She was one of the quickest spinsters in the neighborhood and thought that impossible, and one morning both commenced on a strife, and he did beat her. At the frolic they exhibited their yarn, and his was adjudged as good as hers. While spinning she lost a little time to suckle a child. If he had ever spun any it must have been when he was a boy. He had not his equal in this town cradling grain. It was said that a few others in their ordinary way of cutting might have been equal to him, but whenever he undertook to race with a man, he made a reserve that his competitor should cut as large a swath as himself and as good, which no one could do, and cut as fast as he could.

At a certain time in going with my compass and chain to take the distance across the Neversink river, to determine how long a bridge it would require to reach across it, at a place where it was contemplated to build it, I met Cuddeback, who asked me where I was going to survey. I told him to take the distance across the river, to ascertain how long a bridge it would require to reach across it. He asked me if that could be done. I told him I could do it. This appeared to be new to him and somewhat mysterious. A few days afterwards I saw him again, when he told me that he had discovered how the distance could be taken across the river, and informed me of the manner in which it could be done. He differed some from one of the theories by which it was sometimes done, but embraced the same principle and was as correct to ascertain the distance as that theory generally practiced where the land is level.

Having been commissioned captain of a company Of militia at or before the commencement of the Revolutionary War, he had many duties to perform during the same in that official capacity; for which, as well as a mechanic, he had very suitable abilities. He was bold, sagacious, prudent, and tenacious of his honor; he also was humane to those in his power. The following were some of his military services, to wit:

He was first stationed at Fort Montgomery to command the men of his company, who from time to time had to take turns to serve as militia soldiers in that fort; and, previous to the attack of the fort, on the day it was made, he was sent with a company across the river to prevent the enemy from loosening the chain which had been put across it. This chain ran through the centre of three successive logs, fastened round it to prevent it from sinking, and was put there to prevent the English ships from running up the river. On those logs the company crossed the river and watched at the end of the chain until sometime in the night after the fort had been taken, when, from some unknown cause, the men became frightened and ran. He followed them a short distance, but could not find any of them. He staid there till morning, and was alone to defend the premises. After daylight he took a distant view of the English shipping; had an invitation to come on board, with a promise of good usage. He went home.

At Cochecton, 40 miles distant through the woods from this neighborhood, some families continued to live, and for their own safety kept in friendship with the Indians as long as they dared. In the first instance when danger began to be apprehended of attacks from the enemy, the Committee of Safety sometimes sent Captain Cuddeback with a few men to Cochecton to procure what information he could relative to the Indians, to discover whether there was any danger here of being attacked by them. In these scouts he had to be cautious to evade as much as possible the sight of the Indians, and entered that place secretly in the night, where at one or two houses he made secret inquiry respecting the Indians, and in the same night left the place and returned back, and, in going and returning, tried to discover signs of Indians. After two or three such scouts the Indians made an attack, in 1777, on the family of a Mr. Sprague, and next year on the family of a Mr. Brooks, some of whom they killed and others were taken prisoners. These attacks made the Committee act with vigilance. Persons suspected of being inimical to their country's cause were apprehended and tried. One or more of those at Cochecton were complained of, whom the Captain, with a few men, fetched from that place. In one instance he had trouble to save his prisoner from the revengeful abuse of a Mr. Brooks, one of the family who had suffered from the enemy as mentioned. The prisoner, to reward the Captain for interfering in his favor, presented him with a very handsome powder-horn and bullet pouch. These were used by the Captain during the war and thereafter, together with one of the best of rifles.

When the enemy in 1778 invaded the Peenpack neighborhood, the Captain resided at the Gumaer fort and had the command of the men in it. In the first instance he ordered all the pitchforks in the barn to be brought into the fort to prevent its being scaled, and directed the women to put on the spare coats and hats in the house, and each of them to take a pitchfork or other stick and put it on her shoulder. After being so equipped to appear like soldiers, he paraded all the men and the women back of the house and fort in single file, and, after the enemy came in sight, he ordered the drum to be beaten and marched them to the front side of the fort, where they all passed into it in view of the enemy, after which he ordered all the women and children to go into the cellar. Anna Swartwout, a large, robust woman, widow of Major Swartwout, asked permission to stay with the men in the fort to assist them, which was granted. She took one of the pitchforks to help defend the scaling of the fort, in case it should be undertaken. The enemy passed round the east side in open file at a distance out of gunshot; a few guns, however, were fired, but ammunition was scarce and reserved for actual engagement; balls were run the same day. As the enemy passed to where the barn intervened between them and the fort, the Captain and Jacob D. Gumaer went into it to prevent its being set on fire by them. Some of the enemy in passing along the river came to a woman, who had fled, and told her to go and tell the women in the fort that hundreds of Indians would be there before night, and if they wanted to save themselves they must leave the fort. This being done made a great scare among them, and some made ready to go out of it. The Captain ordered them all to stay in it, to which they quietly submitted. After the enemy had passed towards Fort De Witt, a little smoke was seen to rise on the roof of Cornelius Van Inwegen's house, which was about 60 or 70 rods distant from the fort. The Captain and Thomas White went and extinguished the fire, which had just begun to burn. It was said by certain Tories, who returned after the war ended, that the enemy had such a good feast of victuals and cider at this house that they concluded not to burn it. The fire must have originated from the act of a single individual, or the burning of the barn. At Fort De Witt the enemy took a station on a hill, in woods, within gunshot of the fort, and fired several volleys against the wall of the house and picket fort. After a few volleys were fired, Benjamin Cuddeback, a brother of the Captain, challenged the enemy to show themselves, and, although they were out of sight, he, with a long Esopus gun, heavily loaded, returned some shots whereby they became about as much exposed to his firing as the inmates of the fort were to their firing. In returning they passed on the west of the other fort where they tried to catch some of my father's horses, which his black man Jack happened to see, who stepped out of the fort and shot, which started both horses and the enemy so as to let the horses go. A fire was returned at Jack, and the Captain pulled him back into the fort. The enemy left, took some of the best horses, plundered and burnt houses and other buildings, and that day went out of the neighborhood.

In July, 1779, after the lower neighborhood had been invaded by the enemy, and a corps of militia from Goshen and its vicinity who had volunteered to pursue the enemy arrived in that neighborhood, Capt. Cuddeback and some others out of this town joined in the pursuit, in which the officers, after having proceeded to a distance from the neighborhood into the woods, began to have their consultations in respect to continuing or returning, also in respect to the best place to attack the enemy, in case of undertaking it. The opinions of Captain Tyler and Captain Cuddeback, who were acquainted with the path and woods, were had. Tyler proposed to make the attack where the enemy had to cross the Delaware river, and Cuddeback to make it in the night, where the enemy should lodge for their night's rest; there to fall on them unawares, drive them from their prisoners and plunder, recover these and return homeward with them in the night.

Very reasonable objections were made to both these plans by the superior officers; but, in case of attack Tyler's plan was preferred by the officers generally, and was urged, as is well known, by very improper means.

In the battle, Cuddeback, with a dress of the color of the leaves, one of the best rifles and other equipments, and a very great marksman, was one of the most important fighting men of the corps, and remained on the fighting ground until after the retreat had commenced, and until he saw he had to run to save his life, when he ran a short distance to one side of the course (the mass of men ran) where he squat down, cocked his rifle and kept ready to shoot any Indian who should happen to look at him, where he remained undiscovered by those who passed him until a large Indian, came slowly walking and looking round, at last turned his face towards him when he shot and again ran, and in coming to steep rocks he slid down the same on his back; and when he came to a good place to hide he again hid and laid down. Here he remained until dark, and from thence in the night started for home.

The militia soldiers, like the Indians, fought from behind trees, stumps, rocks, etc. John Wallace, one of Cuddeback's militia company, kept near his Captain at the different stations to which he was from time to time removed by his superior officers. At one of which Wallace received a slight wound, and in the flight made his escape but became separated from Cuddeback, and in returning home hunted through the woods and killed three deer. After Cuddeback had been home three days, Wallace unexpectedly arrived with three deer skins on his back, to the great joy of his wife and two children.

Cuddeback commended Col. Tusten very highly, and said he felt sorry for him when he was wounded; that when the retreat commenced he was called to where the Col. and other wounded officers and men were collected in the safest place, and was solicited to try and stop the retreat, but that was impossible; it had become too general. He had to leave them to their fate, or become a sufferer together with them, and made his escape as mentioned. The retreat was caused by a hideous shouting, yelling and firing of guns, which had been undertaken by the Indians as a last resort to put their opponents to flight; and it happened to have the desired effect. Until this occurrence, the men who suffered much in different ways from heat, warm clothing, want of water and wounds, wonderfully sustained themselves for militia soldiers against an enemy who had very great advantages in all respects.

Cuddeback, in his domestic concerns, had a great share of indulgence towards his family and domestics, but was uncommonly severe in reproof if any of his children happened to do an act of which he much disapproved, although these never were of a criminal nature. He had an uncommon gift to stigmatize and reprove a bad action.

Benjamin De Puy, Esquire, was a man of about six feet stature, not as bony, muscular, and strong as the descendants of the first settlers. He was a persevering business man, but after he had been a few years in this neighborhood he became too fleshy and fat to perform any labor on his farm himself, but still paid a very strict attention to his farming business, the labor of which he managed to have done by his slaves, and sons after they became able to work. He became a Justice of the Peace here of the former county of Ulster, and served many years in that office before, in, and after the war. He also served many years as a Supervisor of the old town of Mamakating. In the commencement of the war he was one of the Committee of Safety. He was the greatest supporter of religious worship in the Mahackamack congregation. He was tender and humane to his wife, children and slaves, and provided a very plentiful living for all of them, in respect to diet and the necessities of life, even to excess. He had a strong memory and retained much of what had transpired throughout this valley from here to Kingston.

De Puy was a heavy load on a horse and had about as good luck as Alexander the Great had in obtaining a suitable riding horse for him. This great conqueror had one to carry him safely in his great battles and extensive conquests, and De Puy had one which carried him safely for many years and on many bad roads until age rendered him unable to continue his services. The former built a city and named it Bucephala, after the name of his great war horse "Bucephalus," and the latter continued to feed and nourish his horse as long as it lived, and even sometimes with bread. I happened to come to his house at one time just after he had given his horse some bread. He then told me that this horse had never fallen with him in all his travels. He related to me that at a certain time he and some other gentlemen went on a very rough, stony road along Basha's Kill in great haste to arrive in time at a certain meeting; that some of the horses did often stumble, and in one or two instances fell, and that his horse traveled over it without making a single blunder. All his travels on this horse must have amounted to some thousands of miles distance. About one half of his farm was between one and two miles distant from his house, and whenever his laborers worked on those lands he generally went to them on this horse once or twice a day. He had to go every year twice or oftener to Esopus, 50 miles distant, to perform his official duties and to many other places where his civil and church offices called him. The horse was strongly built for carrying, had a slow, easy pace, and was very kind. The continual exercise De Puy had on his horse and sometimes in the wagon and sleigh for doing his business at the mill, stores, blacksmith's, &c., had a tendency to keep him healthy, yet he had a few short, hard sicknesses, but continued to live to a good old age, and in the last part of his life sold the part of his farm which he had retained and was removed by his sons to the town of Owasco, where, and in that part of New York, all his sons and daughters, excepting two, had previously settled and there his mortal life was ended.

Philip Swartwout was a large, strong man, upwards of six feet in stature, portly and likely. Captain Cuddeback, who had seen General Washington at Fort Montgomery, said he had never seen a man who resembled Washington as much as Esquire Swartwout; the features of his face, his eyes, forehead, size and form of his body, all he said, had a great resemblance to those of Washington.

Swartwout in his business transactions was very persevering and honest. In his public acts he was also honest and persevering to obtain the objects of justice between individuals, and also to promote the welfare of the public. He was a Justice of the Peace of the former county of Ulster before the Revolutionary War commenced, and in its commencement became one of the Committee of Safety. After the decease of his father, August 21st, 1756, he became heir to his estate, which consisted of a good farm, but was so much encumbered by the debts of his father, that he concluded to let the creditors take it. These were relatives of his, who resided at Rochester, in Ulster county. They advised Swartwout to take the farm and they would give him his own time to pay the debts, in consequence of which he obligated himself to pay the debts and took the farm. His oldest boys must have been about 10 or 12 years old at this time. He had one man slave and an insane man lived with him, who remained in the family during life. With this help he commenced to work the farm, and, after his son James became old enough to learn the blacksmith trade, he built a shop, got a blacksmith who, together with James, pursued that business, and the father, with his other sons and slave, worked the farm and made money last, so that he paid all his debts, and had money standing out at interest when the war commenced.

Swartwout, as well as De Puy, was a great supporter of religious worship, and paid a strict attention to the preaching of the gospel.

Anthony Van Etten, Esquire, was from Rochester or its vicinity, where he had received a good education for his time. His visage and bodily form and size were said to have resembled his youngest son Anthony Van Etten, who was a man of about 5 feet 10 inches stature, and about 160 lbs. weight. He was a blacksmith by trade and became married to Hannah Decker, daughter of Thomas Decker, in 1750, and obtained from him a piece of land, on which he built a house and shop, and entered into the business of his trade, and got an apprentice to assist him. He soon received a great amount of work from the farmers and made money fast. He built the stone house in which his son, Captain Henry Van Etten, formerly lived, and as he became enabled, bought land and obtained the old Van Etten farm, which consisted of some of the best land in this town. He and Esq. Swartwout, who were contemporary, both commenced business with small means, and became the most thriving business men in this town. Van Etten became a Justice of the Peace of the old county of Orange at an early period of his residence in this town, in which he officiated to the end of his life in 1778. His widow survived him many years. She was a short, strong woman of a good constitution, an affectionate mother and agreeable neighbor, sociable and much addicted to humorous conversation, and often told funny occurrences of former times. [FN]

[FN] Anthony Van Etten, was a son of Jacob Van Etten, and Antie Westbrook, who were married at Kingston, Ulster county, New York, April 22d, 1719, they both being residents of that county at the time. They had a large family and came with them to the Delaware valley about 1730, taking up a residence at Namenoch, opposite the island in the Delaware now so called, on the New Jersey side. Their oldest daughter Magdelena, married Rev. Johan. Casp. Fryenmuth. From their sons are descended the various Van Etten families of Orange county, N. Y., Pike county, Pa., and Sussex county, N. J.

Anthony was born about 1726 at Napenoch, Ulster county, and baptized at Kingston Ref. D. Church, June 12, 1726, At the time of his marriage, August 3d, 1750, he resided at Namenoch, but thereafter with his wife located in what is now the town of Deerpark.

The baptismal records of the Maghachemech Church furnish the names of most of their large family of children as follows:

Thomas, bap. Sept. 8, 1751; Antie, bap. Jan. 14, 1753; Janneke, bap. April 28, 1754; Margarieta, bap. Feb. 13, 1756; Levi, bap. Feb. 12, 1758; Alida, bap. Aug. 19, 1759; Hendricus, bap. June 14, 1761; Blandina, bap. Sept. 4, 1763; Maria, bap. Nov. 11, 1765; Thomas, bap. Oct. 16, 1768; Jacob, 1774; Anthony, bap. Oct. 29, 1780.

Of their sons, Levi married Grannetje Westbrook, and from them are descended most of the families now in Deerpark. Anthony, Jr., married Jemmia Cuddeback, and located in central New York. A. V. E., Jr.

Cornelius Van Inwegen was a man of about 5 feet 8 inches stature, and about 170 or 180 pounds weight. In his boyhood, after he was able to handle a gun, he became very fond of hunting, and he and Capt. Cuddeback, when boys, generally hunted together, and both became well skilled therein; which the latter partially quit when he arrived to manhood, but Van Inwegen continued to follow it through life and killed more deer, bears, and other wild animals and wild fowls, than any other individual of this town ever did since he became a hunter. No family in the neighborhood enjoyed as plentiful a supply of the best of wild meats as his family, and, being liberal therewith, he often contributed some to my father's family and to Capt. Cuddeback's, who were his nearest neighbors. The numerous skins of deers which he acquired were valuable for himself and family, and for all his neighbors. In his time the men and boys all wore short leather breeches of deerskin, and some of the men had leather coats to put on in dry weather to perform rough and dirty work, and in the latter part of his life some individuals wore leather frocks in which to perform such work. Moccasins of deerskin leather were also much worn in winter. Deerskin leather was valuable for the inhabitants of this town in the time of the war, in consequence of the inconvenience of manufacturing cloth during that time. In those cheap times, when rye and corn were only four shillings a bushel, a good buckskin was allowed to be worth from twenty shillings to three dollars before dressed.

Now, these characters, which differed very widely, were all necessary for the general welfare of the community. The other inhabitants of the second generation, and their contemporaries in the lower neighborhood as well as those mentioned, were useful members of society, and each did more or less contribute towards the welfare of others. They were generally an industrious, honest, prudent and economizing people, who obtained their living by the sweat of their brow, and had to manage their business suitable to their circumstances and means of procuring a livelihood.

Men in a state of nature, like the wild animals, generally live on the spontaneous productions of the earth, and each has to procure its own food after the parent's help becomes unnecessary. The first settlers here were nearly in the same self-procuring situation, and only had a few manufactured implements in advance of the naked-handed Indians.

By the introduction of scientific knowledge men have become dependent on each other, and thereby enabled advantageously to cultivate the earth and provide for a very numerous population, and also create enjoyments far beyond what the unimproved races of mankind can realize. The numerous branches of mechanical and scientific works and occupations employ millions of people, who obtain a living thereby. Each of these produce materials and literary works whereby others become interested, all of which create an extensive social intercourse which reaches all the civilized and manufacturing nations of the earth; and, even in a small degree, some of the unimproved races of mankind.

All this beautiful order among men, for which they are formed, suitable in body and mind, if the same could be sustained without imposition and unerring conduct in all respects, might render man very happy, but destruction has been the fate of the ancient civilized nations who had, in a greater or less degree, become an improved and scientific people, and good reasons must have existed for producing this extinguishment.

In the year 1792, I was constable and collector of the old town of Mamakating, in Ulster county, which then extended from the old county line near the present dwelling house of Philip Swartwout, Esquire, and son, about 20 miles northeasterly, and from Shawangunk Kill northwesterly about forty-five miles to or beyond Cochecton, and included part of the present towns of Deerpark, Mount Hope, Mamakating, Forestburgh, Lumberland and Cochecton. The town was divided into two collector's districts, of which mine was the largest, and the amount of tax I had to collect was 15 L. O s. 6 d., ($37.56).

The highest taxpayer on the list was Esquire De Puy, whose tax was seven shillings, ten pence, one farthing, and the whole number of persons taxed in my district, 45 miles long and part of it about 12 miles wide, was 182. From this neighborhood to Cochecton, (40 miles distant) there was only a foot path through the woods on which I traveled on foot and carried a knapsack, in consequence of the scarcity of horse feed and provisions along it. Rafting masts, spars, logs, and a few boards had previously commenced. The timber at that time was principally got from the sides of the mountains and hills bordering on the river, under great disadvantages, for want of teams and a road, until one was made with the State funds from the residence or grist mill of Captain William Rose to Cochecton, about the year 1803. After this the lumber business increased rapidly and became very great, whereby the inhabitants of this town became greatly benefited, both by the market it made for their produce and the money some individuals made by that business. At the close of the war Orange County was very thinly settled, and most of the land unimproved.

Low as the taxes were in 1792, I found several unable to pay a few pence, and thereby lost about the amount of my fees.

GREAT CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, TRAVEL AND IMPROVEMENTS OF EVERY KIND.

We of the third generation of the first four families and our contemporaries in the lower neighborhood, have passed through a period of time in which greater improvements have been made in our country than ever has been made within such a space of time in any country. Its equal, probably, will never again occur; yet we know not to what state of improvement men will arrive.

The arts and sciences have been stretched far beyond their former bounds, and gigantic and minor productions have been brought to view by the labor and ingenuity our countrymen have displayed, and great are the benefits mankind have derived from their labors.

Some rulers of nations and great generals of ancient times have been highly honored for acts of murder and plunder to aggrandize themselves, who, instead of rendering benefits, were a nuisance in the world. Not so with our scientific men. They crave not the loud applause of the multitude, but their general welfare and their labors have created benefits far beyond what we can calculate, and all are more or less benefited from the results of their labors.

We have been spectators of the great changes mentioned and have seen the time when the red men were yet among us, and were often refreshed and cheered by their white neighbors with something to eat and a drink of cider; and the time, when they disappeared and a great revolution commenced, and the effects of the war it created, the restoration of peace and the times when the constitutions of the several States, and of the United States, were, from time to time, formed and become established, and the effects of the laws which have from time to time been passed under those constitutions, and the great benefits which have resulted therefrom; also the career of our first and greatest statesmen, who exerted their powers for the good of their country.

And here let us not forget that in the days of our boyhood we have seen the time in which the military forces of our country, under great sufferings and privations, nobly sustained their country's cause to obtain an independent government, and have been spectators of its achievement and the great results which have emanated therefrom; in respect to which I will here give a very faint view of what has transpired in relation to the improvements our countrymen have made during the time of our life's journey, to wit:

We have seen the time of the commencement of the printing of newspapers in this part of our country after the war ended, and the rapid increase and vast extent to which that important business has arrived, whereby every citizen with small means can now have information of the acts of our legislatures and more than he can read of what continually transpires both in our own and other countries.

We have seen the time when schools were in their infancy in this part of our country, their progress and the vast extent to which they became multiplied, even so that almost every citizen of this State, and generally of the other states, has the opportunity of having his children educated according to and even beyond his pecuniary means. We have seen the time when there was not a minister of the gospel, lawyer or physician, within 20 miles distance from our present town, and have seen the continual increase of those professional men until every town in our county had more or less of them, and the increase of education, so that it reached nearly all the citizens, few of whom do not acquire enough to read and write, and a very great proportion have reached the higher branches of learning, and become fitted for all the different business transactions of our country.

We have been spectators of the time when all transportation on the Hudson river was done in vessels, whose speed depended on the winds which impelled them, and of the time when the ingenuity of Fulton, with the help of Chancellor Livingston, produced a steamboat wherewith the Hudson river was navigated, and, when thereafter others from time to time were built, until all the navigable waters with such boats in our country were therewith navigated, and even the Atlantic Ocean crossed to and from England and other places, and the time when other machineries began to be impelled by steam power and their increase until thousands got into operation.

We have been travelers on the early rough and stony roads in Orange County and have seen the first construction of turnpikes in our county, and the great improvement of our highways, and at last have beheld the gigantic works of canals and railroads, on which the value of millions of property is annually transported to and from all parts of our country, and thousands of people are continually enjoying the easy and speedy travel thereby furnished.

We have been co-operators with our respective parents in producing all the articles of food and raiment for our own subsistence, and when we wanted a few articles we could not make, such as salt, iron, &c., we had to travel to the store of Nathaniel Owen, 22 miles distant or to the store of Cornelius Wynkoop, 40 miles distant, to procure the same. After this the ingenuity of some of our citizens produced machinery for manufacturing all the cloth we wanted for our use with much less cost and labor than what we could formerly manufacture the same; and these are now so abundantly transported into all parts of our country, that our little town of Deerpark now has more stores in it than the whole county of Orange had at the close of the Revolutionary War, and probably as many as there were in both the counties of Orange and Ulster. These goods, by an exchange of commodities for the same, can now be procured so much easier than formerly that our former apparatus for manufacturing flax, wool and cotton into cloth has become useless. And these stores now contain such a variety of articles, that as a certain man once said "Many necessaries unnecessary."

We have taken wheat, rye and corn to New Windsor and Newburgh when these were very small places and when Goshen was a very small village, and have passed through the time in which all the other villages in Orange County had their origin and growth and in which the whole country west of the valley in which we reside, has become numerously populated throughout its present settled parts, in which many handsome and magnificent villages and cities have been built and now adorn those parts which, in our early days, were a vast wilderness.

We have seen the time when news traveled from the printing presses to us on horseback, and when the same became conveyed in light one and two horse wagons, and in progressing, stage wagons and steam boats became the swiftest carrier of news, and after the meridian of our lives the swiftest traveler ever before known came into operation, in which news, passengers and different commodities were conveyed to and from distant parts of our country, and in the last part of our life's journey originated the wonderful discovery of giving instantaneous information of any matter or occurrence for any distance to which telegraph wires can be extended.

We have been farmers and inured to all the different kinds of labor thereunto appertaining. We have in early life ploughed with wooden ploughs, to which a wrought share and coulter were fastened, sowed all our grain by hand, harrowed the ground with square iron teeth harrows, cut all our grain with scythe and cradle, threshed all our grain with hand flails, mowed all our grass with scythes, and raked our hay together with hand rakes, and commenced tillage when the soil of our river lands was reduced to its lowest state of nutrition since the time their cultivation was first commenced. In progressing from the beginning of our business transactions, we became ploughers with patent ploughs, constructed of wood and iron castings, on which many improvements were, from time to time, made and have passed through the time of the introduction of different kinds of cultivators to cultivate ploughed ground, and of sowing machines, reaping machines, threshing machines of different kinds, and different kinds of horse power to impel the same, mowing machines to cut grass, and different kinds of horse rakes to gather hay, and different kinds of corn shellers, cutting benches, churning machines, &c., &c. We have observed a slow improvement of the lands in this town, which commenced about the year 1810, and progressed very slow at first, but increased in rapidity until the present time, 1858, and lands in this town now produce about double what they did in their lowest state of cultivation. We have seen the time when society here was in the lowest and most degraded state in which it has ever been in this valley, and have seen its rise and progress from that state to its present good and moral behavior.

Now all these works, which are of inestimable benefit, are only a small part of the discoveries and improvements made by our countrymen in our time of life. We do not claim to have stood alone as observers, not that other countries have been idlers in respect to inventions and improvements, but that all our contemporaries, both in our own and other countries, have passed through a period of time which has produced greater and more wonderful discoveries than that of any other like term of years.

Our travel on this great highway of research is yet rapidly advancing, and to what extent men will arrive is best known to the Great Architect who fills the universe with his works.

In consequence of the improvements mentioned and the great prosperity of our country, we also became spectators of their results in our manner of living, and although we have comparatively with others remained in humble walks of life, yet we have made great strides from our early habits, which, in the days of our youth, were governed by destitution and want of means to expand and gratify our desires. The greatest complaint, however, in those anterior times, was the burden of labor which all had to endure with greater or less perseverance, much of which has now been done away with by means of machinery.

Some years after the war ended the inhabitants of this town began to make money, and were enabled to live in a different style from that of their former habits, and articles of fancy were introduced. The acquisition of these progressed slow at first but increased as people advanced in property and became enabled to procure the objects of their desires, and the different luxuries thus introduced among us have continued to become more numerous until the present time.

By contrasting the manner of living of our parents with that of the present time, we behold the vast change made in a term of about half a century. When our manner of living became changed diseases began to afflict us, and these, as well as our habits of life, have continued to increase, which, together with the great addition of our population, now generates diseases which give employment to the physicians who reside among us.

SCARCITY OF PHYSICIANS IN FORMER TIMES.

The services of men of their profession rarely reached this valley in former times. At Goshen was one or more regular physicians in the time of the war, and in the State of New Jersey, about 20 miles distant from this neighborhood, was another. The latter sometimes attended Peter Gumaer, my grandfather, who was stricken with palsy near the time the war commenced, and he and Doctor Sweezy, from Goshen, attended to heal the wounds which Cornelius Swartwout received when the Indians invaded this neighborhood.

In the latter part of the war, and for some years after it ended, there lived an old man by the name of Bennet, on the east side of Shawangunk mountain in the present town of Mount Hope, who in his youth had studied medicine, but abandoned it before he became qualified to practice. He, however, was sometimes called on to attend the sick. He was poor and kept no drugs or medicines, but when called on would go and see what the ailment of the sick person was, and then go out and collect such roots and herbs as he judged best to cure the disease, which he used according to the dictates of his judgment. After people in our neighborhood began to be afflicted with diseases, and when it was considered necessary to have the attendance of a physician, this Doctor Bennet was employed; and he generally was quite successful in his practice. He several times cured a young man of colic, to which he was subject. This he performed by giving him an emetic, and after it had operated he gave him a physic.

It appears that the constitutions of people become adapted to the climate in which they reside, and to such habits of life as they from generation to generation continue to pursue, and a change of these will affect persons more or less. This is evident from what is known in relation to the different races of mankind, some of whom live very different from others, and the exchange of some, whose food differs very widely, would be mortal to many of one or both of those races who should make the exchange.

Eight of us, all descendants of the four families, now all residents of the lower neighborhood, excepting myself, remain yet travelers on the last part of life's journey towards that change which all flesh has to undergo to answer the purposes of the Creator.

BIRDS, REPTILES AND ANIMALS.

Among all the changes mentioned, some of us have been spectators of nearly an extinction of birds in our valley and its vicinity, many different kinds of which formerly visited us in the spring of the year and continued with us during the summer and a part of the fall months. Their active flights from place to place and from tree to tree, and their musical voices of different sounds enlivened and cheered our lonely valley. These all had to be active to gratify their cravings of what was necessary to sustain life. Some wandered along streams of water to procure their food; some hovered high in the air of the atmosphere, from which they surveyed the lands and waters below them to discover the objects they craved for food, from which elevation the hawk would sometimes dart swiftly downward among a flock of birds and catch and make a prey of one of them, as well as of his objects on the ground. The fish-hawk hovered over the waters, the chicken-hawk over the landscapes to entrap their prey. The owl made his excursions in the night to seek his food, and each of the different tribes of birds possessed its own means of obtaining a living. Many of the worms and insects on the ground, and of those small insects which impregnated the air of the atmosphere, became a prey of birds.

Among the different tribes of birds which visited us were the following, to wit: Blackbirds of different kinds, crows, robins, swallows of different kinds, nightingales, snipe of different kinds, killdeers, cranes of different kinds, hawks of different kinds, owls of different kinds, turtle doves, whippoorwills, wrens of different kinds, bluebirds, partridges, quails, wood-peckers, eagles, snow birds, and a few other kinds.

The pleasing enjoyments of all species of birds are evidences of the goodness of their Creator; and the adaptation of all kinds of living creatures whatever to their respective modes of life, are evidences of a preexisting plan for the formation of each, and the manner in which each shall be furnished and receive whatever is necessary for its preservation during life.

Snakes have also become nearly extinguished in this valley within the last half century, previous to which there were yet some rattlesnakes, pilots, blacksnakes, sissing adders, gartersnakes, greensnakes, and milk-snakes, and toads and frogs are not as numerous now as in former times.

Now, although some of these reptiles may appear to us as unnecessary nuisances, yet they undoubtedly have answered certain good purposes in their sphere of being. A few persons of this neighborhood have suffered from the bites of poisonous snakes, but remedies were here known in former times which saved the lives of those who were bitten. Their number within my knowledge was six.

There was a singular occurrence in Rochester, in Ulster county, in former times, to wit: At an early period of the settlement of that place, a certain man in time of harvest in going with a wagon, with shelvings on it, to fetch a load of grain, and, passing near a rattlesnake in the grain field, stopped his team, and, with a fork which had a very long handle, wherewith as he stood in the wagon he reached the snake and began to tease it and soon saw that it began to swell, and being anxious to see to what size it would expand itself, he continued to tease it until its body became swollen to a very large size, when it made a spring and passed over wagon and shelvings without touching any of it and came down on the ground on the other side of the wagon, and, in passing over it, the man very narrowly escaped being bitten in his face by the snake as he stood in the wagon. Such an occurrence was a good warning against trying such experiments.

Another occurrence of anterior times will show the effect of hunger, in the last stage of life, of a certain hawk.

At a certain time when Gerardus Van Inwegen and Abraham Cuddeback were catching pigeons with a net, a hawk came and lit on a fence near them, and continued there watching the pigeons until they had made some hauls; and all the ado they made to spring the net, run to it, kill and carry the pigeons, &c., did not scare the hawk so as to drive him from his place, but from his action appeared to want a pigeon. This caused Van Inwegen to try the following experiment to catch him. He took a pigeon in his hand and held it at arm's length before him towards the hawk, and walked slowly towards him, and when the pigeon got within his reach he took hold of it to eat it, when Van Inwegen caught the hawk and found him to be old and starved, and had become unable to procure his food.

Different opinions have existed in relation to the government of the actions of animals, birds and other creatures. In respect to which, it is difficult in many cases to determine whether certain of their actions are governed by the dictates of mind, to answer certain purposes, or by an impression on their natures to cause their actions without design. The cravings of food and other bodily desires emanate from the nature created in their bodies. The way and manner of each species to procure its food are dictates of the mind, in which some, if not all, display as much tact and correctness to obtain their objects as the mind of man could direct in their respective bodily capacities. The fear of an enemy, or of danger from any cause, is a dictate of the mind and affects the body, and both will unite their efforts to defend or escape the danger the means of which the mind directs, and the body performs accordingly thereto.

The fox, the ground-hog and some other creatures dig holes in the ground, sometimes under and between rocks, in which to hide and escape from being caught by an enemy, and for a safe place to rest and sleep. The squirrels will seek places in hollow trees for their safety. The bears, which were here in former times, when cold weather commenced in November or December retired from the open woods into those which were thickly timbered with hemlock, and there sought and made places under rocks and roots of trees in which to lay up all winter, and continued in their respective places without eating all winter and remained fat. Hunters from this neighborhood sometimes went there in former times, in February or March when warm weather commenced, and found them with their dogs, and killed them in their holes, in which some were confined by the frost of the ground and were fat.

The beaver performs the greatest work of the animal species, which comprehends a more extensive source of enjoyments than what any other creatures have achieved, all of which appears to be a preconcerted plan of their own to obtain the results of their labors, but still may be, as some have thought, an instinct of their natures to do it without design. A company of beavers will unite, select the best place to build a dam across a stream of water where they can overflow the greatest extent of ground by damming the stream, and the company will all engage in the work cutting down brush and saplings with their teeth and bringing the same to the place selected for a dam, and there place them in the stream so as to form a dam, for which they make use of mud, clay and ground, to intermix with the brush, so as to confine in the dam both brush, ground, &c., and also to make it tight. After this work is all completed, a male and female will unite and dig a hole in the side of a bank, which the water will not overflow in times of freshets, and commence to dig it under water and raise gradually until they get into dry ground above the surface level of the water in times of freshets, where they make a place in which to lay, repose and sleep in safety, where wolves, dogs and enemies of every kind cannot find them. The pond also becomes a safe place for them, in which they can have their sportive exercises and furnish them with food. There was in ancient times a beaver-dam in this town near the bridge across Basha's Kill, on the land of Abraham Cuddeback, Esq., which dammed the water so as to overflow a large tract of bog meadow land above the bridge. There also was a beaver-dam across the Old Dam Brook, on the land of Abraham J. Cuddeback, Esq., which also overflowed a tract of swamp and bog meadow land. There undoubtedly have been others in ancient times in this town. These were the two best places in this part of the town for Beaver dams, and were on streams not subject to freeze much.

It appears evident that the genius and natural activity of some animals and birds is greater than that of others, and that all possess thought, memory, discernment, and many of the passions and affections like those of human beings; and have a degree of speech in which, by articulate sounds, they can inform each other of danger from an enemy, of the finding of food, calling each other to come and partake of it, or forbidding it; and no doubt a great part of the different species of animals and birds, especially the latter, have more of an extensive language, to communicate to and with each of their respective tribes, than what man can discover. When a man happens to come unawares near to a partridge with young ones, she will give immediate warning to her brood to run and hide, and if the man pursues them, or comes near to them, she will approach to him and flutter as though she was unable to get out of his way, to entice the man to follow her, but will keep at such a distance from him that he cannot catch her; and in this manner she will lead the man away from her young in pursuit of herself, until he leaves them and her fear ceases, when she will return to the brood, call them to her, and attend to them in her usual way. Other birds also have their ways and means of causing their young ones to run and hide for fear of an enemy, and to entice him away from the place where the young chickens are hid. All animals will save and defend their young offspring to the utmost of their power, in which they generally make use of the best means they possess.

FOURTH GENERATION.

The fourth and a part of the fifth generations, descendants from four of the first settlers in the Peenpack neighborhood, are now on the stage of action, and those who have remained in Deerpark now own nearly all the valuable land for agricultural purposes in it; and, like their grandfathers, have generally stuck to the soil for their living. Yet a part of these two generations are now in other pursuits of life, embracing a great part of all the occupations which are followed in this part of our country. The former generally became transactors of business between the years 1810 and 1830. These, and their contemporaries in our country, are within reach of nearly all the acquisitions which have been mentioned, and can procure such portions thereof as their means and abilities will admit, and which furnishes them with a vast amount of enjoyment of which their ancestry were destitute, and also are a source of many evils which they escaped by not having the means of their production. Now, in consequence of those changes, it requires more circumspection now than in former times to travel life's journey, from the existence of many by-roads, the worst of which are sometimes most enticing; and these have obscured our way through life, and created difficulties in selecting the best course for the enjoyment of our additional acquisitions, without burdening ourselves with the evils which emanate from an erroneous choice.

When men become enabled to have a great variety of food and drink it becomes necessary to know which are of a healthy character and which are pernicious thereto, so as to enable them to make a choice for its preservation in cases where that becomes the object, in preference to risking future evil consequences. So also when men are enabled to have all the desirable enjoyments of ease and comfortable dwellings, it is necessary for them to know how to occupy these without injuring their health, and also to have a knowledge of whatever has a tendency to promote or impair it. Much information relative thereto can be acquired from the writings of those who have studied and practiced the art of healing and preserving health.

Doctor Fowler of the city of New York has for some years published a monthly water cure journal, in which he has treated extensively of the effects of water in curing diseases and preserving health, by using it in a proper manner to answer its different purposes. He has also treated on the bad effects of some of the habits of the people of our country and the consequences thereof. He also from time to time published a variety of articles relative to the causes of diseases and means of avoiding the same, &c. Doctor Nichols and wife, Mary S. Gove Nichols, formerly of the city of New York and afterwards residents of Cincinnati, also published a similar monthly journal for a few years. From such works much interesting matter for the benefit of mankind can be acquired, and more than people generally are willing to practice.

The physicians, by much study and practice, have become very skillful in overcoming and curing disease, and more dependence is now had on their services for prolonging life than on any other means for that purpose.

Important as the preservation of health is to mankind, few appear to be willing to use means for preserving it, some of which are irksome and others counteract the cravings of nature. These latter differ widely in persons, and consequently are easier overcome by some than others. Many men of strong constitutions, in healthy employments, have little need of being strictly temperate, or to use extraordinary means to preserve health.

The three first verses of the XXIII chapter of the Proverbs of Solomon are very applicable in respect to making choice of a great variety of food and drink such as Rulers of his time furnished.

Now as man is composed of both body and a comprehensive and intelligent mind, which latter is subject to pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, it is necessary to use our best means for the welfare of both; and as a large field is opened by the acquisitions mentioned, for the enjoyment of the mind as well as of the body, and also a large field for speculative objects, many of which are of a pernicious character, it becomes necessary to select such as will promote happiness and to shun those which are attended with dangerous consequences, both in respect to suffering corporeal punishment and the torments of a guilty conscience.

The most perfect course of life creates the easiest journey, but a perfect guidance in all respects is beyond the comprehension of man, and would not be fully pursued even if understood. Our country is filled with preachers to expound the laws of God and dictate the walks of life, yet men err to such a degree from a perfect life as to make it necessary to have many codes of civil law, and a great number of civil officers versed therein to prevent imposition and sustain the rights of man.

A perfect life of the mass of men in all respects would create the greatest happiness. It has been prophesied that a time will arrive when men will become blessed with a happy state of existence, when wars will cease and peace prevail. In respect of which, if we take a view of what has transpired in the world, it appears that mankind have made a great advance since the commencement of our historical revelations from a rude and barbarous state towards that of civilization, and from the numerous, cruel and terrible warfares of ancient times to a greater prevalence of peace and much less cruelty in warfare. Yet the world of mankind still remains at a vast distance from such a happy state as might exist if all men were disposed to act for the welfare of all, and had discernment to use the best means for obtaining it. But we still remain fallible in both those respects, and if ever we are to have the enjoyment of such a happy state it must be yet far in advance, and it probably is best to progress slowly and become fitted by degrees for such a change.

RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.

I have understood that there were religious reading meetings in the Peenpack neighborhood before the Rev. Fryenmoet commenced his ministerial services.

When measures were first taken by the inhabitants along the Neversink and Delaware rivers, for a distance of about 45 or 50 miles down the same, to procure a preacher for the people throughout that distance, there was not a man in its vicinity qualified to preach the Gospel, and, in consequence of this district then being sparsely inhabited, the people united and formed four congregations, to procure the services of one preacher, and agreed with John Casparus Fryenmoet, a young man from Switzerland who had previously studied for the ministry, to furnish him with money to go to Amsterdam in Holland, finish his education and become ordained, after which he was to serve them as their preacher. The sum they gave him for that purpose was 125 L. 12 s. 6 d., equal to $314.06. He went, obtained his education and became authorized to preach the gospel, returned and commenced to preach for the four congregations in June 1741; but no agreement had yet been made in relation to his salary and other matters which were necessary to be agreed on, and before any agreement was made Fryenmoet received a call from Rochester. It appears, however, that he declined that call, and an agreement was entered into between him and the church officers of Minisink and Mahackemeck congregations, the 7th of January, 1742, whereby it was stipulated that each of those congregations should pay Fryenmoet 20 L., equal to $50. A like sum paid by each of the other congregations made the amount of his salary $200; besides this he was to have 100 skipple of oats for horse feed, of which each congregation was to furnish 25 skipple. In February, 1745, the four congregations agreed to pay each 17 L. 10 s. for the purpose of building a house for Fryenmoet.

It appears from the church records that John Casparus Fryenmoet, born in Switzerland, with Eleanor Van Etten, born in Nytsfield, were married with a license from Governor Morris, in New Jersey, by Justice Abraham Van Camp, the 23d of July, 1742. The church records contain the rules and regulations of the church made at different times, which, in some respects, were different from those of the present time, among which were the two following, to wit: Church Wardens before officiating had to bind themselves in writing to remain subject to the Classis of Amsterdam. Persons intending to be married had to make out a certificate of their intended marriage and deliver it to the minister, who for three successive Sundays, at the close of service, read the certificate and at the same time gave notice that if any legal objections to the marriage existed, they should be made in due time and place.

This last continued to be practiced during Van Benschoten's services.

These records are in the Holland Dutch tongue. It appears that Fryenmoet's services ended in 1755 when his services became impracticable in consequence of the French war, whereby this frontier settlement became much exposed to Indian warfare, and he removed to Kinderhook, N. Y., where he preached for 21 years and where he died in 1778. He was represented as a man of short stature, handsome and eloquent.

One hundred and ten communicant members were received into the church whilst Fryenmoet officiated, within the congregations of Minisink and Mahackemeck, about 36 of whom resided in the present town of Deerpark. Of the latter the following from time to time alternately served as members of the Mahackemeck consistory:

Jacobus Swartwout, Anthony Van Etten,

Thomas Decker, Johannis Westbrook,

Johannis Decker, Solomon Koykendall,

Gerardus Van Inwegen, Josias Cole,

Peter Gumaer, Benjamin Depuy,

William Cole, Philip Swartwout,

Peter Kuykendall.

In the year 1760 the Rev. Thomas Romeyn commenced his ministerial services for the congregations mentioned, and continued until the year 1772, during which time a general attendance was given to his preaching, and reading meetings were had and attended also on those Sundays when there was no preaching in this congregation. This practice continued during the time of the successive ministers, until preaching was had every Sunday in our church. (Mr. Romeyn on leaving here settled in Canghnawaga, Montgomery County, N. Y., where after 21 years of ministerial labor he died in 1794.)

Within the time of Romeyn's services a schism occurred in the Dutch church, in consequence of the subordinate state of the church to the Classis of Amsterdam, in Holland, in respect to ordaining ministers there, &c., which having become burdensome to many who had to go there to become authorized to preach the gospel, measures were taken to have a Classis established in this country for that purpose. This created two parties, one of which, termed Conferentie, was in favor of continuing according to former practice, and the other, termed Coetus, were advocates of a Classis formed in this country to examine and ordain men to preach the gospel. Of the former, Romeyn was a moderate adherent, probably in consequence of his ordination in Holland, yet the people of his congregations generally attended to his preaching and were not as violent partisans as many people were in some other parts of our country; and it is probable his services would have continued, if a few of the most influential ruling members of his church, who were of the Coetus party, had not projected means to end his services in the year mentioned.

From this time, a term of thirteen years elapsed in which these congregations had no regular preacher, but probably had a few supplies before the Revolutionary War commenced, during its continuance, and after it ended.

In the year 1785 the Rev. Elias Van Benschoten entered on his ministerial services for the three congregations of Mahackemeck, Minisink and Walpack, in each of which he preached every third Sunday, in both the Dutch and English languages and generally performed half in each tongue; and required of the young people as their duty, to commit to memory in the English tongue the Heidelberg catechism, in such portions as he directed to be answered at each time of his preaching in the congregation, either on the same Sunday or on one of the days of the same week, at which time he gave explanations of that portion of the catechism. He retired in 1795, [FN] and removed to a farm or tract of land he had purchased, situated east of the Shawangunk mountain, in the northerly part of New Jersey, on which he made great improvements and granted it to Mr. Cooper, a nephew of his by marriage, subject to payment by installments, and his money he bestowed for educating youths for the ministry, &c. ($17,000 given to the General Synod of Reformed Dutch Church for this purpose in 1814.)

[FN] Mr. V. B. moved to his farm in the Clove near Deckertown, N. J., in 1792, where he preached to the church organized under his ministry. He likewise preached occasionally to the churches in this valley until 1799. He died at the Clove in 1815.

Van Benschoten was a man well calculated for the rudeness of the time in which he officiated in those congregations.

After Van Benschoten's services were ended, a term of about four years elapsed before another regular preacher served this congregation. In, or about the winter of 1803 and 1804, the Rev. John Demarest commenced his services for the congregations mentioned and performed one-half of his preaching in the Dutch tongue, and the other half in English. He continued until about the year 1806. [FN] After this a term of about ten or eleven years elapsed in which no regular preacher officiated in this congregation, but supplies were sometimes had.

[FN] Mr. Demarest died in New York city in 1837.

On the 25th of January, 1817, the Rev. Cornelius C. Elting was installed pastor of the two congregations, Mahackemeck and Minisink, and performed his services in the English language. He died the 24th of October, 1843. [FN]

[FN] Mr. Elting is the only minister of this Church who has died during the pastorate of the Church.

All religious services have since been performed in the English tongue in our congregation. Within the term of his services a new church was built in Port Jervis, after which the name of "Mahackemeck Church" was altered by an act of the Legislature, in 1838, to that of "The Reformed Dutch Church of Deerpark." The materials of the old church were removed after the new one was finished, and the spot where the first and second churches had stood during a term of about one century, from the time the first was erected until the last was taken down, became vacant, and the ancient and latter occupants who formerly repaired to it for the worship of their Creator now generally sleep in their graves.

On the 29th of February, 1844, the Rev. George P. Van Wyck was ordained and installed pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church of Deerpark, unconnected with the congregation of Minisink, and his services were generally had every Sunday in this church, which he continued until in May, 1852. [FN-1] On February 22d, 1853, the Rev. Hiram Slauson was installed pastor, and continued his services until in October 1857. [FN-2]

[FN-1] Mr. Van Wyck is now (1889) living at Washington, D. C.

[FN-2] Mr. Slauson is still (1889) living at Whitehall, N. Y.

In the year 1853 the church edifice at Cuddebackville was built at a cost of $2,500, principally borne by the inhabitants of that place and its vicinity. A church was organized March 12th, 1854, (by a committee of the Classis of Orange) consisting of thirteen members, twelve of whom were received from the Reformed Dutch Church of Deerpark, and one from the Episcopal Church of Middletown. The Rev. Henry Morris was installed as the first pastor of this church the third Tuesday of September, 1855. [FN]

[FN] Mr. Morris remained pastor of this Church until 1861 when he removed to Port Jervis, and subsequently, in 1867, to Binghamton, N. Y., where he died, in 1881, at 78 years of age.

On the first Sabbath in February, 1858, the Rev. Samuel W. Mills commenced his pastoral services for the Dutch Reformed Church at Port Jervis. [FN]

[FN] Mr. Mills continued pastor until Nov. 1871.

As we now generally have preaching every Sabbath, our reading meetings have been discontinued. The exercises of those meetings were prayer by one of the communicant members, and singing before and after reading a sermon from a book of sermons.

The greatest supporters of those meetings were Benjamin Depuy, Esq., within his time of action, and afterwards Joel Whitlock. In the early part of Depuy's life he, and sometimes Jacob K. Dewitt, performed the reading in Dutch, but in the latter part of his life and afterwards it was done in the English language and continued to be done in that tongue.

Since the construction of the Delaware and Hudson canal and the New York and Erie railroad this town has received an additional population, who have built up the large and flourishing village of Port Jervis. These are from different parts of our country and from different countries in Europe and are of different religious denominations.

The greatest proportion of these are of English origin, and some of them are the most opulent in it. This village, commenced about the year 1828, now contains six churches, all of which are generally occupied every Sunday for religious worship, to wit: A Dutch Reformed as mentioned, and a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian and a Roman Catholic, (and now in 1890 a German Lutheran). The different opinions of men in religion and politics have always had a tendency to create enmity; but as men have become enlightened, those causes have gradually ceased to have such violent effects as in former times, especially in religion. The members' of the different denominations in our town now harmonize in their business transactions, and their different opinions in religion do not effect their social intercourse in other respects. But in politics we must always expect to have times of great contention, if we continue to have the liberty of speaking our respective sentiments, for people will always disagree, both honestly and dishonestly in respect to certain matters which will, from time to time be introduced for legislative action and determination; and our inability to judge correctly in relation to all the numerous matters which will continually occur for such decision, together with many selfish views, will always cause strife in our political affairs, and these will continue to have a great effect in opening the eyes of the people in relation to our political matters.

In religion it is probable that the different denominations will generally continue to become freed from that enmity which formerly existed in consequence of their religious opinions, the folly of which is now apparent to the best informed part of mankind. The use of force and arms in former times to compel men to unite or keep united with certain religious sects, had a tendency to produce hypocrisy, for self preservation, but not to alter men's opinions. Convincing proofs are the only means to alter erroneous opinions, but the great evil of ancient times consisted in organizing men to answer selfish purposes by religious and political subjugation; the most numerous and powerful of each of these becoming united, created a power to tyrannize over their opposers.

The acts of men which have emanated from the influence of serving God have been directed in many different ways, some of which have been very erroneous and contrary to the spirit of Christianity, although transacted by its professors. Such have been all the instigators of wars for selfish purposes, without a just cause, and all unjust impositions for whatever objects.