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21 - Mohawk Valley by W. Max Reid · Mohawk Valley

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty of the Mohawk Valley. This LibriVox recording is
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Recording by Roger Moline. The Mohawk Valley,
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  Speaker 1: Its Legends and its History by W. Max Reid, Chapter twenty.
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  Speaker 1: Canajihari the Hills of Florida. The Indian name for Canajihari
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  Speaker 1: seems to have been spelled cana Jorha, and was originally
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  Speaker 1: applied to a singular hole in the creek that enters
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  Speaker 1: the Mohawk River at that place. The Indian interpretation is
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  Speaker 1: said to be the pot that washes itself the water
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  Speaker 1: seemingly boiling as it flows from this singular hole in
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  Speaker 1: the bed of the creek. The name was also applied
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  Speaker 1: to the stream itself, and to the land south of
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  Speaker 1: the Mohawk in its vicinity, and in after years, to
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  Speaker 1: that village that grew up in its mouth after the revolution. History, however,
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  Speaker 1: have of late years confused readers by confounding the Indian
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  Speaker 1: town of Canajorha with the Canajiharry of the present day.
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  Speaker 1: All of the south side of the Mohawk from the
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  Speaker 1: nose or spur of the Mayfield Mountains which crosses the
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  Speaker 1: river near Sprakers to the Highlands at Little Falls was
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  Speaker 1: known as the land of the Canajorhas, and when the
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  Speaker 1: Canajihari Castle is spoken of, it means the Indian settlement
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  Speaker 1: in the town of Danube in Herkimer County and now
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  Speaker 1: known as Indian Castle, which was the home of Brandt
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  Speaker 1: and Hendrick and the place where Sir William Johnson assisted
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  Speaker 1: in building a church, which is called by writers the
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  Speaker 1: Church at Canajihary. The first name we find applied to
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  Speaker 1: the present village of Canajiharr is Scrambling, from a tavern
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  Speaker 1: kept by Henry Scrambling, situated on the river opposite the Frays.
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  Speaker 1: As an early chronicler records it. Smith and Wells made
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  Speaker 1: the following entry in a journal thirteenth May seventeen sixty nine.
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  Speaker 1: At Scranlands we turned off from the river pursuing a
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  Speaker 1: southwest course for Cherry Valley. The carriers tell us that
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  Speaker 1: they were paid thirty shillings a load for carrying from
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  Speaker 1: Scranlands to Otsego Lake. The creek itself is a thing
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  Speaker 1: of picturesque beauty, with its high cliffs and a cascade.
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  Speaker 1: Were the waterfalls from forty to fifty feet opposite Canajahrry
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  Speaker 1: is Palatine Bridge, a station on the New York Central Railroad.
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  Speaker 1: In the history of Montgomery County, we find the following.
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  Speaker 1: The earliest settlement in this town, and probably the first
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  Speaker 1: west of Schenectady, on the north side of the Mohawk,
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  Speaker 1: was made by Heinrich Frye, a native of Zurich, Switzerland,
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  Speaker 1: who in sixteen eighty eight left that city for America,
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  Speaker 1: bringing with him an open letter from the mayor addressed
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  Speaker 1: to whom it may concern. Upon his arrival in New
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  Speaker 1: York in sixteen eighty nine, he received from Governor Dongan
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  Speaker 1: a location ticket for one hundred acres of land on
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  Speaker 1: the Skahari Creek, but the Mohawk Valley having more attractions
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  Speaker 1: for him, he soon removed thither and settled just west
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  Speaker 1: of the present village of Palatine Bridge, where he erected
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  Speaker 1: a log cabin on a knoll near a fine spring.
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  Speaker 1: Here he laid claim to attract of three hundred acres
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  Speaker 1: of land, his only title to it, aside from possession,
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  Speaker 1: being probably obtained from the Indians. This land was subsequently
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  Speaker 1: included in the patent issued to Vancelke, from whom fry
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  Speaker 1: procured a permanent title. The old homestead has always remained
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  Speaker 1: in possession of the family and is now the property
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  Speaker 1: of S. I. Fry Esquire, who represents the sixth generation.
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  Speaker 1: The log cabin was occupied until seventeen thirty nine, when
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  Speaker 1: a substantial stone dwelling was erected. This building can be
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  Speaker 1: seen a few rods west of the village. It has
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  Speaker 1: a row of portholes on all sides, and during the
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  Speaker 1: French Wars was stockaded and occupied by several companies of troops.
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  Speaker 1: The photograph of this ancient dwelling is represented on page
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  Speaker 1: three seventy nine. A picture is also given of a
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  Speaker 1: curious old window on the Ailey House seventeen fifty two
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  Speaker 1: to nineteen hundred at Nelliston, New York. The house may
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  Speaker 1: also be seen from the car windows on the right
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  Speaker 1: hand side going west between the Fry House and Saint Johnsville.
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  Speaker 1: For many years, travelers have viewed the Valley of the
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  Speaker 1: mo from the north side of the river, passing under
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  Speaker 1: the shadow of hills that tower above them. While their
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  Speaker 1: eyes have become so familiar with the southern shore that
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  Speaker 1: they ceased to be impressed by its beauty. The West
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  Speaker 1: Shore Railroad therefore gives to the traveler the valley under
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  Speaker 1: a new aspect and opens vistas that he hardly recognizes.
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  Speaker 1: One morning in the latter part of May, I boarded
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  Speaker 1: on the West Shore Milk train en route for Indian Castle.
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  Speaker 1: A thick haze somewhat obscured the sun, and the air
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  Speaker 1: was still and warm. As the sun climbed toward the zenith,
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  Speaker 1: feathery shadows were fitfully seen as we sped along the valley,
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  Speaker 1: while the sun itself, surrounded by a hazy halo and thin,
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  Speaker 1: fleecy clouds, looked more like the full moon of a
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  Speaker 1: summer night than the brilliant, blazing orb of day. The
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  Speaker 1: hills and valleys were partly obscured by a light blue vapor,
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  Speaker 1: which revealed the gray of the rocks, but toned the
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  Speaker 1: bright green of forests and fields to olive tints. As
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  Speaker 1: we near the Nose, or rather noses just east of Spreakers,
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  Speaker 1: the river makes a sharp bend from north to south, which,
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  Speaker 1: as we sped along, opened a charming vista of the
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  Speaker 1: Mohawk and permitted us to see a long distance up
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  Speaker 1: the river between the high hills of the Noses, which
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  Speaker 1: a moment before seemed to obstruct our passage. On both
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  Speaker 1: the north and south sides of the river, the hills
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  Speaker 1: rise perpendicularly to a great height, showing a great mass
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  Speaker 1: of rock with clinging vines and shrubs, and crowned with pine,
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  Speaker 1: cedar and hemlock, whose dark foliages mingled with a lighter
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  Speaker 1: green of oak and maple. At some distance from the
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  Speaker 1: point where we enter the pass, the northern ridge falls
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  Speaker 1: into a wide ravine or short valley, running to the
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  Speaker 1: north back of the country farm. Among the rocks of
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  Speaker 1: this ravine has been established an industry, which, though it
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  Speaker 1: is said to be a monopoly, we do not care
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  Speaker 1: to have transferred to our city. I can pledge to
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  Speaker 1: you my word that the Board of Trade will have
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  Speaker 1: nothing to do with it. In that ravine lives a
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  Speaker 1: man who retails oil at two dollars an ounce. His
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  Speaker 1: harvest begins in the warm days of spring, when the
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  Speaker 1: snow is disappearing, but is of comparatively short duration. At
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  Speaker 1: that season, he dons his rubber boots and encases his
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  Speaker 1: legs in lengths of stovepipe, arms himself with a stout club,
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  Speaker 1: and invades the haunts of the rattlesnakes that infest that locality.
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  Speaker 1: You can judge of the number slain by the fact
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  Speaker 1: that during the year eighteen ninety nine he sold one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty dollars worth of rattlesnake oil at two
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  Speaker 1: dollars an ounce. The hill on the south side of
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  Speaker 1: the river is sometimes called the Little Nose, but to
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  Speaker 1: one that gazes at its rocky elevation of seven hundred
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  Speaker 1: forty feet from its base, the name seems to be
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  Speaker 1: misplaced near its top. A little distance to the south
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  Speaker 1: is the egg shaped opening of Mitchell's Cave, a cavern
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  Speaker 1: very interestingly described by Percy M. Van Epps in a
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  Speaker 1: publication called The Museum. The entrance is made by a
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  Speaker 1: perpendicular drop by means of a rope of about sixteen
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  Speaker 1: feet to an opening eleven by thirty feet and thirteen
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  Speaker 1: feet deep. From this point, by inclined plane and perpendicular descent,
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  Speaker 1: Van Epps, Van horn Hartley and others penetrated to the
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  Speaker 1: depth of two hundred and eighty feet, without finding any
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  Speaker 1: very large rooms or extensive horizontal galleries. The cave or
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  Speaker 1: cavern has the appearance of having been formed by a
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  Speaker 1: huge cleft in the mountain, and the exploration is made
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  Speaker 1: not without danger and with considerable discomfort. The name Anthony's
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  Speaker 1: Nose is applied to similar high hills in two other
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  Speaker 1: places in New York State, one on Lake George near
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  Speaker 1: Rogers Slide, and the other in the highlands on the Hudson.
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  Speaker 1: You will probably recall Washington Irving story in his Knickerbocker
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  Speaker 1: History of New York of the incident which caused the
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  Speaker 1: last name hill to be called Anthony's Nose. Peter Stuyvesant
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  Speaker 1: and his trumpeter Anthony van Collier are sailing up the
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  Speaker 1: Hudson on a voyage of discovery. Early one morning, while
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  Speaker 1: their sloop is passing the highland, Vancoyer is lounging on deck.
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  Speaker 1: The sun rising over a high hill lights up the
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  Speaker 1: large red nose of Antony. Glancing from his nose, the
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  Speaker 1: ray of sunlight strikes the water and kills a sturgeon,
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  Speaker 1: whereupon Governor Stuyvesant proclaims that the hill shall be called
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  Speaker 1: Anthony's Nose. Passing by the rocky hills and extensive flats
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  Speaker 1: of the Mohawk and many a lone fisherman, and glimpses
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  Speaker 1: of the old stone houses known as the Fry and
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  Speaker 1: Aley houses on the opposite shore. With dew milt train speed,
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  Speaker 1: we at last reached Indian Castle. We missed the usual
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  Speaker 1: crowd at the station because there are not enough people
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  Speaker 1: in the hamlet to make a crowd. The object of
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  Speaker 1: our journey being to visit the former home of the
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  Speaker 1: Indian warrior Joseph Brandt and a church built by Sir
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  Speaker 1: William Johnson in seventeen sixty three. We turned our steps
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  Speaker 1: toward the only spire that was visible, it being near
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  Speaker 1: our usual dinner hour. We accosted a lady as we
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  Speaker 1: crossed the bridge that spans the Connadowaga or Castle Creek
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  Speaker 1: and asked if there was a hotel or store in
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  Speaker 1: the place where we could procure some food. She kindly
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  Speaker 1: informed us that there were none, but volunteered the information
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  Speaker 1: that there was a canal grocery about three quarters of
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  Speaker 1: a mile away that had a license. Further inquiry elicited
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  Speaker 1: the information that we could procure the key to the
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  Speaker 1: church of mister Willis Green, who lives in a large
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  Speaker 1: white farmhouse with extensive conservatories adjoining, situated near the church edifice.
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  Speaker 1: This locality is interesting because it was the last home
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  Speaker 1: of the Cannajorhies and the upper Castle of the Mohawks
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  Speaker 1: during Sir William Johnson's residence in the valley. I feel
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  Speaker 1: somewhat in writing about the Cannajorha Castle after S. L.
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  Speaker 1: Frye of Palatine has given it his consideration for so
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  Speaker 1: many years and has written so much about it. But
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  Speaker 1: I propose writing from my standpoint of investigation, trusting that
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  Speaker 1: if I am wrong, he will correct me. As Indian
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  Speaker 1: castle is situated in Herkimer County, I also feel as
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  Speaker 1: though I was encroaching upon territory belonging to historians of
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  Speaker 1: the adjoining county, and may differ somewhat from their conclusions
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  Speaker 1: in Miss Walworth's Takakwitha is a map of ancient Indian
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  Speaker 1: villages drawn by General John S. Clark of Auburn, who
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  Speaker 1: was accompanied by mister S. L. Frye when sites of
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  Speaker 1: the villages were located. Although all other villages are represented
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  Speaker 1: as having changed their location frequently between sixteen forty two
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  Speaker 1: and seventeen hundred, the cannajor seem, according to this map,
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  Speaker 1: to have been permanently located about two miles north of
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  Speaker 1: Palatine Bridge, and that they were never located at the
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  Speaker 1: village now known as Canaja Harry. We will have to
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  Speaker 1: accept the conclusions of mister Clark and Frye, as I
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  Speaker 1: know of no better authority than they on this subject.
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  Speaker 1: The same uncertainty about the Canajer he seems apparent after
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  Speaker 1: seventeen hundred until they were settled at Indian Castle on
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  Speaker 1: the Canawadaga Creek. We know that they were there in
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  Speaker 1: seventeen fifty five when Sir William Johnson built a fort
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  Speaker 1: for them and named it Fort Hendrick, and that a
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  Speaker 1: blockhouse was their previous to that date. But I have
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  Speaker 1: not been able to ascertain the time of their removal
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  Speaker 1: to that locality. I have in my possession, however, a
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  Speaker 1: copy of an old deed which may throw a little
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  Speaker 1: light on the subject. It is a deed from the
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  Speaker 1: Indians to Jan Wemp of Fort Hunter, and describes the
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  Speaker 1: large island still in possession of his descendants. The western
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  Speaker 1: end of this island is opposite Fort Hunter. It reads
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  Speaker 1: as follows possession and demand of in and I all
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  Speaker 1: that great island lying and being in the County of
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  Speaker 1: Albany in the Maquas River, most opposite to the Indian
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  Speaker 1: Castle at Canajahari, together with as much land on the
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  Speaker 1: main on ye southwest side of said river as said
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  Speaker 1: island is in length, et cetera, et cetera. The above
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  Speaker 1: deed was dated seventeen twenty. My attention was called to
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  Speaker 1: it by the late R. A. Grider. The phrase most
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  Speaker 1: opposite to the Indian Castle at Canajahari would seem to
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  Speaker 1: indicate that it was located either to the east or
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  Speaker 1: to the west of the Great Island at Fort Hunter,
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  Speaker 1: east of the island, on the north side of the
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  Speaker 1: Mohawk River, on the high hill between Fort Johnson Creek
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  Speaker 1: and Dove Creek. Many evidences of Indian occupation have been
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  Speaker 1: found and may have been the site of the Canaja
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  Speaker 1: Harry Castle in seventeen twenty. Sir William bought this property
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  Speaker 1: in seventeen thirty nine, and probably between the two dates
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  Speaker 1: seventeen twenty and seventeen thirty nine, the Cannajor He's located
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  Speaker 1: at Indian Castle. In another deed to Jan Wemp, dated
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  Speaker 1: seventeen twenty eight, for lands in the same locality occurs
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  Speaker 1: this sentence know that for sundry good causes and lawful
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  Speaker 1: consideration in moving, but more especially for the love and
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  Speaker 1: affection we bear to our loving friends Jan Wemp and
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  Speaker 1: Cornelis van Slyke, et cetera, et cetera. This would seem
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  Speaker 1: to indicate a removal of the Indians to some other locality,
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  Speaker 1: and may have been the time that the Cannajorhis moved
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  Speaker 1: from the north to the south side of the river,
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  Speaker 1: or it may refer to the removal of an Indian
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  Speaker 1: village from the lands purchased by Jan Wemp on the mainland.
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  Speaker 1: Evidence of an Indian village is still seen on the
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  Speaker 1: hills about a thousand feet south of the Wempel residence.
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  Speaker 1: Indian Castle of today presents few evidences of former Indian occupation,
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  Speaker 1: except a few sunken graves in a cedar thicket at
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  Speaker 1: the western edge of the precipitous hill on which stands
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  Speaker 1: the old church. Mister Willis Greene, whose house stands within
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  Speaker 1: the line of the old stockade, pointed out a well
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  Speaker 1: still in use, which was said to have been in
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  Speaker 1: the center of the fortification, while back of his house
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  Speaker 1: is still to be seen. The outline of the foundation
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  Speaker 1: of the house of Joseph Brandt and King Hendrick. A
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  Speaker 1: hill on the opposite side of the Creek is probably
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  Speaker 1: the site of the old block house spoken of in
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  Speaker 1: the following letter from Sir William Johnson to Governor Delancey
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  Speaker 1: Mount Johnson, June sixth, seventeen fifty five. Sir, I returned
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  Speaker 1: last night from the Kennaja Harry Castle, having first been
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  Speaker 1: at the Mohawk Castle. At both settlements, I have fixed
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  Speaker 1: on places to build them forts. At Kohoja Harry, I
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  Speaker 1: propose it on the flat land out of gunshot from
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  Speaker 1: the hill where the old blockhouses now stand, out of
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  Speaker 1: which upon the point of the said hill, I propose
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  Speaker 1: to erect a good blockhouse. On the rear of the
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  Speaker 1: intended fort. There is a clear improved veil run out
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  Speaker 1: of more than half a mile on the left flank.
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  Speaker 1: It will be assisted by the said blockhouse on the
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  Speaker 1: point of the hill, a fire between which and the
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  Speaker 1: fort will clear the open land on that side. The
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  Speaker 1: land is all clear and cultivated in the front. On
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  Speaker 1: the right side there are a few bushes and small
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  Speaker 1: wood to clear. When all will be open on that
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  Speaker 1: side for more than half a mile. One of the
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  Speaker 1: bastions to serve for a church, et cetera, et cetera.
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  Speaker 1: I am Sir, with the utmost respect, your Honor's most
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  Speaker 1: obedient and most humble servant, William Johnson, Governor Delancey, procuring
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  Speaker 1: the key of the old church from its hiding place
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  Speaker 1: in the horse shed. I explored the old edifice, but
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  Speaker 1: did not find much of interest, as the interior has
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  Speaker 1: been modernized, except the windows, which still retained their small
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  Speaker 1: panes of glass. The entrance, which was formerly on the
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  Speaker 1: west side, has been changed to the north. I was
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  Speaker 1: told of an old bell in the steeple, which is
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  Speaker 1: fractured and useless on account of rough usage at the
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  Speaker 1: time of the Indian exodus to Canada during the Revolution,
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  Speaker 1: the Cannajorhies attempted to take the bell with them, but
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  Speaker 1: when the Whites became aware of it, they pursued and
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  Speaker 1: overtook the canoes on the Mohawk River. It is said
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  Speaker 1: that in order to save the bell from capture, it
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  Speaker 1: was thrown into the river. It was afterward recovered by
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  Speaker 1: the Whites and replaced in the belfry from which it
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  Speaker 1: had been taken, but in a damaged condition. About two
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  Speaker 1: miles west of the village, still in a good state
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  Speaker 1: of preservation, is the old brick residence of General Herkimer,
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  Speaker 1: erected in seventeen sixty four. The first bridge across the
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  Speaker 1: Mohawk of Amsterdam was erected in eighteen twenty one. This
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  Speaker 1: bridge was to consist of two spans, with abutments on
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  Speaker 1: each side of the river and a peer in the center.
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  Speaker 1: It is quite evident that the engineer who planned its
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: construction would never have been engaged to erect the Brooklyn Bridge,
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  Speaker 1: as a portion of the Amsterdam Bridge fell of its
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  Speaker 1: own weight before its completion, and the plan was changed
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  Speaker 1: and the bridge constructed with two piers instead of one.
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  Speaker 1: The foundation of the old pier in the center can
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  Speaker 1: yet be seen during the summer when the water is clear.
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  Speaker 1: This bridge was carried away by a flood in eighteen
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  Speaker 1: thirty nine, and another bridge that was immediately erected met
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  Speaker 1: a similar fate in eighteen forty two. The third stood
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  Speaker 1: firm until eighteen sixty five, when the northern span was
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  Speaker 1: carried away during the spring flood of that year. In
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  Speaker 1: the early part of the spring of eighteen sixty five,
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  Speaker 1: heavy rains had cleared the Mohawk of ice, and, continuing
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  Speaker 1: for a number of days, filled the river until it
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  Speaker 1: seemed as though the banks could hold no more. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: it overflowed into the Erie Canal and filled some of
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  Speaker 1: the levels east of Orreyesville. At that time, a new
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  Speaker 1: lattice bridge was being built across the river at Fonda,
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  Speaker 1: the heavy lattice timbers being in place, the banks of
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  Speaker 1: the canal above having been washed away, two large canal
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  Speaker 1: boats passed into the river, and, floating down, struck and
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  Speaker 1: wrecked the uncompleted structure. The morning this occurred was bright
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  Speaker 1: and beautiful with the sunlight of early spring, and many
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  Speaker 1: people were on the Amsterdam Bridge and the banks of
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  Speaker 1: the river watching the unprecedented flood, which reached within three
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  Speaker 1: feet of the bridge, a covered structure of heavy lattice
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  Speaker 1: timbers that had withstood the wear and tear and storms
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  Speaker 1: of years. The water surging by was forced in huge
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  Speaker 1: volumes up the piers and fell from their sides in
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  Speaker 1: muddy brown cascades, and seethed and boiled as it lashed
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  Speaker 1: the side of the blocks of stones, as though it
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  Speaker 1: were angry that its course should be checked by such
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  Speaker 1: a seemingly frail impediment. Inside of the structure, on beams
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  Speaker 1: and lattice was the dust of thirty years accumulation about
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  Speaker 1: ten o'clock a telegram was received that the bridge above
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  Speaker 1: had been wrecked and with two canal boats, was floating
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  Speaker 1: down the river. The great danger to the Amsterdam Bridge
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  Speaker 1: was instantly recognized, and the merchants locked their stores and
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  Speaker 1: hastened to the riverside to watch for the first appearance
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: of the impending danger. Soon in the distance could be
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: seen a black object, which, as it drew nearer, was
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: recognized as a large canal boat with cabins at each
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: end and covered deck between, and about one thousand feet
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: behind a large section of the wrecked bridge, with its
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: new timbers glistening in the sunlight. On came the boat,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: with the speed of a race horse, sitting high in
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: the furious current, and it was seen at once that
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: it could not pass under the bridge. When it was
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: about five hundred feet away, it was floating broadside with
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: the current, but as it drew nearer, the bow swung around, and,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: amid the stillness of the breathless multitude, struck the north
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: span of the bridge, about thirty feet from the pier,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: nearly head on, with a blow that made the old
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: timbers bend like a bow. The recoil seemed to force
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: the boat back. The current catching the stern, landed it
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: on the pier in its center, and was immediately forced
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: up the pier by the force of the current until
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the whole huge boat was nearly out of the water.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: There it hung balanced across the pier with every joint creaking,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: for about twenty seconds, when the bow settled to the
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: north and with deliberate majesty, plunged its whole length into
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: the stream and out of sight, came up below the bridge,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: shaking the water from its deck like a huge leviathan,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: and passed on down the river. The shout that arose
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: from the multitude was almost immediately checked at the site
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: that met the eye as it again turned westward. There,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: a short distance up the river was the span of
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: the bridge, floating slower but with the resistless force, with
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: the broken ends of the lattice sticking out in front
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: like the prongs of a grappling iron on on it
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: came straight for the injured span, which it grappled to
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: its wounded side, and, amid the creaking and groaning of
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: timbers torn asunder, was engulfed by the wrecked span without
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: any seeming diminution of speed, with its victim close locked
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: in its embrace, it floated down the river and was
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: stranded on the flats below. The wreck was hardly out
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: of sight before the second span of the Fonda Bridge
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: came down on the south side of the river with
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: a rocking motion that carried it nearly out of sight,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: and as it dipped in the water just as it
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: reached the bridge, it passed under without doing any damage
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: save tearing off a few boards as it came up
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: again below. With their accustomed energy, the village trustees took
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: measures to establish communication with their neighbors on the south side,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: and in due time an iron span was constructed, which
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: did good service until eighteen seventy six, when another disaster
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: occurred of a more serious nature. During the winter of
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy six, from causes for which nature alone was responsible,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: an immense ice gorge was formed in the shallow riff
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: near the Atlas Mill. This began early in the winter,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: and by spring had grown to such formidable proportions that
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: it seemed as though nothing but the heat of the
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: sun would ever remove it. During the month of February, however,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: a season of warm rains melted the snow and filled
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: the streams to their utmost capacity, and culminated on the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: evening of February fifteenth. With more rain and a strong
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: westerly wind. Soon the ice below the bridge began to
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: heave and groan with ever and anon a report like
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: a pistol shot, giving warning that the ice was breaking
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: up under great pressure, and it was at once feared
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: that the bridge was in great danger. Persons hurrying to
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: their homes across the bridge through the darkness reported that
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: the planks that constituted the floor of the bridge were
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: raised in front and behind them as they swiftly sped
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: from the impending danger. In those days, we had no
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: electric lights, and the glo gloom along the river bank
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: was almost impenetrable to persons standing near the bridge. It
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: was a fearful night. The roar and swish of the
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Chectanunda in the distance, the mournful hum overhead as the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: wind whistled through the wires and the iron bars of
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: the bridge, the dismal rain drops, the thick, misty blackness
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: of the night, the cracking of the ice, and the
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: fearful gorge with its overshadowing horrors in the distance were
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: enough to make a person shiver with nervous terror. About
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: ten o'clock at night, the belated spectators were aware of
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the movement of the ice and at once tried in
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: vain to pierce the impenetrable darkness that brooded over the
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: gorge in the distance. Soon an unwonted sound, like the grinding,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: crashing and rending of an irresistible body in motion was heard.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Closer came the sound, and peering with straining eyes into
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: the gloom, we saw, for an instant before fleeing to
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: a place of safety, the shadowy whiteness of a moving
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: wall towering above our heads, and heard the sound of
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: falling bricks and timbers from buildings wrecked along the bank.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: As we ran, we turned and saw the wall approach
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: the bridge, strike it, and bear it along in front
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: of it, with no more apparent effort than if it
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: had been composed of cardboard and pass on, leaving behind
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: the dismantled piers and the flood of water that was
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: already overspreading the banks of the river, and the total
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: wreck of the substantial stone and brick building of Charles
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Spolt near the bridge. If this was a fearful night,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: the morning brought a despondent day to those who had
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: suffered from the flood, from wrecked buildings and the loss
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: of the life of a child as the parents were
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: trying to escape from their threatened dwelling. The framed dwellings
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: on the north bank of the Mohawk in the rear
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: of Charles Spaltz's shop, had been moved from their foundations
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: by the gorge and were immediately surrounded by water. In
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: one of these was George Lambier, an elderly man confined
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to his bed with illness. He was removed to a
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: place of safety with difficulty. Mister Needham occupied another dwelling
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: and attempted to make his way through the water with
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: his three children clasped in his arms. One of them
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: slipped from his grasp into the water, and, in the
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: darkness and confusion, was drowned. Three other children were discovered
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: by their cries to be clinging to a bush in
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: the water. It is remembered that John F. Morris, attracted
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: by the cries of distress, dashed into the water at
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: the risk of his life, and one by one brought
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: them in safety to Florida. The town of Florida is
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: in the form of a triangle, with its base, so
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: to speak, on the Mohawk River and its apex at
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: the junction of Schenectady and Scahary Counties, a little southwest
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: of Miller's Corners. This land was formerly the part of
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: the grant of eighty six thousand acres to Walter Butler
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: and forty two others in seventeen thirty three, and afterward
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: the fourteen thousand acres of Sir Peter Warren's estate, and
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: the grants to Edward and Phyllis Harrison, Anne Wilmot Maynard
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: and Elizabeth Garen, Henry Crosby, and William Crosby Junior, the
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: last named grants extending along the borders of Schenectady County
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: from the Skehary Creek to the Mohawk River. At that
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: date seventeen thirty five, all of the country in this
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: section of the Colony of New York was called Albany County,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: and the country west of Schenectady Township was spoken of
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: as the Macas Country or the Country of the Mohawks.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty eight, the country north of the Mohawk
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: River was known as the town of Connawaga, and south
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: of the river as the town of Mohawk, Florida was
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: formed from the town or district of Mohawk March twelfth,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three, and its first town meeting was held
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: in April seventeen ninety four at the house of Ezra Murray.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: The triangular section of land spoken of was named Florida.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: It is not recorded who gave it that name or
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: why that beautiful Spanish word was selected. July twenty third,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight is the date of one of the
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: many pleasant drives which the writer has enjoyed on the
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: Florida Hills. Our road led past the Service and de
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: Graf mill in Mudge Hollow, which stands on the side
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: of the first sawmill erected at that place and owned
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: by one Andrew Frank. About the beginning of the century,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: there were two gristmills and a tannery located at this place.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: The mills were owned by A Rowland and Mudge and MacDonald,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: and the tannery by Bethule Dean, the grandfather of Luther L.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: And James Dean and the other children of John Daniel
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: and Henry Dean. Bethual Dean's name is found in the
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: early records of Amsterdam, then living near Cranesville. Later he
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: bought a farm on Yankee Hill, which passed to his
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: son John and was occupied by him at the time
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: of his death. A letter from Oliver Delancey to Sir
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: William Johnson October twenty sixth, seventeen sixty five says, I
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: have directed mister John R. Bleeker to survey Sir Peters
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Warren Patten at Chektanunda and lay them out in lots
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: of one hundred acres each. He seems to apprehend some
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: interruption from the Indians. In such case, I beg you
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: will prevent their giving any trouble. It would seem from
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: the above that the land now known as Florida, or
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: at least that portion of it near the mouth of
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: the south Checktanunda Creek, was designated by the owners of
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: the patent as Chucktanunda, while that to the east was
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: called Warrensburg or Johnson Settlement, and that Indian families were
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: located near the creek and probably cultivated the flats on
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: which the fifth ward of Amsterdam is located. Turning to
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: the left, after passing the site of the old mills,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: our road led us over the first range of hills
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: on the south bank of the Mohawk, which gave us
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: a glimpse of the valley to the north and east.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Coming to the old red brick house of John van Derveer,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: reminded that we are in the vicinity of the homes
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: of the earliest settlers, and a little further on we
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: pass farms that bear names of the pioneers of Florida,
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Rowland's Hubbs, Herrick Thayer, Luke Staley, Billington, Stuart van Sleyke Skuyler, Ferguson, McKinney,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: Ernest Schuler, mclumpha, and a host of others. And on
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: the top of a high hill midway between the homes
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: of Charles Ferguson and Fletcher Ernest, we stop on our
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: weary horse to gaze on the scene before us, and
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: are more at a loss than ever to understand why
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: this beautiful country was named Florida. It is said that
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: the name was given to the peninsula by the Spaniards
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: in allusion to the aspect of the country, the name
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: signifying florid or flowery. It is also said that Ponce
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: de Leon, who was in sir of the Fountain of Life,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: touched the mainland rich with flowers on Easter Sunday, March twelfth,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: fifteen twelve. Easter was called by the Spaniards Pascal Flores
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: the Feast of Flowers, and christened the country Florida. In
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: the grand view before me, I can see no flowers,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: nor palm trees, No live oak and cypress covered with
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: moss and mistletoe. No stately magnolia or ambitious mangrove or coconut.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: The orange, the myrtle, the jessamine, the cork tree are
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: not in sight. In place of plantations of wide leaf bananas,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: we see the tall stalks of corn and the flowering potato.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: No swamps and stagnant rivers with lazy alligators and gigantic
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: turtles basking in the sun. No birds of brilliant plumage
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: and screaming discordant notes or lazy the ne'er dowell, Negro
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: boys and olive brown maids playing in the sand. No,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: this is not the Florida of Ponce de Leons, Navaz
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: and DeSoto, but it has a beauty of its own
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: that is more attractive to the hardy northerner. As I
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: gaze from the vantage point of the high ground. South
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: of Minaville. There is in view to the west the
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: evergreen slope of Bean Hill, the highest point of land
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: in Montgomery County, with its cultivated sides bright with meadow
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: and forest, shielded from the western sun by its own
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: vast height. To the east is the state Road, opened
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: in eighteen twelve to avoid the high hill in which
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: we stand, and to make it easier to transport the
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: heavy cannon and ordnance stores to the forts and the
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: western frontier. In front of us and all around us
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: are fields of grain and meadows of clover and timothy
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: that have already bowed their heads to the reaper and more,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: leaving great patches of ivory tinted stubble, and making a
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: portion of the landscape look like a section of a
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: huge crazy quilt. Here and there are great fields dotted
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: with innumerable tiny hillocks of darker hue, each little hillock
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: disappearing as the well laden haywagon passes near and adds
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: to its load in the distance. These towering, rounded loads
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: remind one of the huge elephants, or perhaps a mastodon,
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: wandering aimlessly over the vast fields. Wheat, oats and barley
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: are still nodding their heads, waiting for the reaper. But
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: the sheaves of rye, the dot hill and plains remind
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: us that harvest is at hand. All along the road
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: we pass orchards of apple trees and clusters of minor fruits,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: houses and fences in good repair, and no deserted homes.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: The hill on which we rest might well be called
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: historic ground, as we stand in the center of a
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: mile square settled by one of the first pioneers in
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: the town of Florida. Sometime near the year seventeen sixty five,
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: one du Bois bought of Edward and Phyllis Harrison six
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: hundred and forty acres, which was part of two thousand
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: acres known as the Harrison Patent of seventeen thirty five.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: Doctor John Delamatter says Lawrence Schuler sailed from Wirtemberg for
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: New York in seventeen fifty five in company with his
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: father and two brothers, one whose name was George. The younger,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: whose name is not remembered, died in New York. Lawrence
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: and his brother George removed to Catskill, where Lawrence married
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: a woman by the name of Overbog, who had five
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: children by a previous husband and and whose maiden name
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: was Sarah du Bois, of French descent and sister of
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: the late Colonel Benjamin du Bois of Skoheri County, New York.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: It was through this wife that he probably came into
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: possession of the du Bois Miles Square, and by whom
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: he had three sons. Jacob born at Catskill in seventeen
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: sixty five, Solomon born at Catskill in seventeen sixty eight,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: John born in seventeen sixty nine, probably in Florida. Lawrence
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: Schuller was born in Germany in seventeen thirty six and
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: died February fourteenth, eighteen thirteen, aged seventy seven years. A
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: brother of Lawrence came to this country about the same
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: time and settled on the north side of the Mohawk.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: I have not been able to learn his name, but
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: as a record on a tombstone in the family plot
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: of the Schulers reads Jacob Schuler died te teen o seven,
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: aged seventy five years. The supposition is that he was
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: an older brother and probably the ancestor of the Schulers
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: who settled near Manny's Church. Lawrence had three sons, namely
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: John Solomon and Jacob. John Schuller had five sons, namely
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: d Cady Remsen, Daniel Scholott, and Jacob Solomon. Schuller had
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: four sons, William, Solomon, Dwayne, John, and Jacob. Up to
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: this time, I have only been able to ascertain the
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: genealogy of two of the sons of Lawrence Schuller Senior.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: As follows, Lawrence Schuller sons, Jacob Solomon, John Solomon sons
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: William Solomon, Dwayne, John, Jacob John sons d Cady, Daniel, Remsen, Cholot, Jacob,
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: William Solomon children, Davis W. James, Darius, theo'hile, William, Eliza, Lydia, Martha,
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: Daniel children, Freeman, Henry V. Cholot child, Darwin A. James children,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: william S, Davis william S children, Davis Sandford. It is
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: said that when the sons of Lawrence came to Man's estate,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: he divided his mile square of land, reserving two farms
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: for himself, giving the farm lately occupied by Henry V.
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Schuler to his eldest son John, and the farm adjoining
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: on the road to Mineville to his son Solomon. One
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: each to the east to his sons Lawrence and Jacob,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: and reserving the balance being two parts of the whole
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: for the homestead farm. The old homestead formerly stood in
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: the field back of the present farmhouse of Fletcher Ernest,
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: and the homestead farm comprised the two farms now owned
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: by Charles Ferguson and Fletcher Ernest. Only one of these
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: farms remains in the family, and that is the farm
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: given to John, which has descended as follows, from John
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: to Daniel to Henry V. To Darwin A. The present owner,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: son of Cholot. Solomon Schuler's farm has been transferred as follows,
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: Solomon Schuler to Rufus Herrick, Rufus Herrick to Davis Herrick,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: Davis Herrick to Charles W. Mclumpha, Charles W. Mclumpher to
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: George mclumpher, his son, the present owner. On a hill
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: we stop to rest in front of us, and about
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: midway between the house of Charles Ferguson and Fletcher Ernest,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: and directly in front of our resting place, is the
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: site of the first church in Mineville and one of
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: the first in the town of Florida. It stood in
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: the center of the church yard, which was also the
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: first cemetery in that section of the country. Off to
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: the east may be seen the square tower and white
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: building known as the Scotch Church, while in front of us,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: about a mile away but hidden from sight by a woods,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: is situated the successor of the old Church on the hill.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: From Bears's history, I take the following. Lawrence Schuler was
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: a man distinguished for good sense, tempered by a spirit
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: of piety and benevolence, and diffusing an influence of goodness
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: and liberality through his family circle as well as in
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: the neighborhood. The first Reformed Dutch church in the town
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: was erected on his lands, as was also the neighborhoods
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: school house. He contributed towards the erection and support of both.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: To this church, The Reverend Thomas Rahmain of Canawaga was
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: called to minister in seventeen eighty four, and he served
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: acceptably some years. This church continued in use until eighteen
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: o eight when another was erected at the street one
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: mile west, and only occasionally was service held in the
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: old church. Thereafter and until the frame was sold and
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: removed from its site. The burial ground around it had
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: become populous, and it now contains many ancient headstones with
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: quaint inscriptions. At the present time, this cemetery seems to
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: have gone the way of all old grave yards, and
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: is suffering from neglect to such an extent that a
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: passer by would hardly know that the simple wire fence
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: that surround it and closes the ashes of the founders
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: of Florida. The dense mass of rose and briar bushes
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: and weeds of thrifty growth have produced a thicket around
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: and over the sunken graves, almost as impenetrable as the
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: chaparral of the Flowery Peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: In fact, I was able to decipher but a very
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: few of the inscriptions on the tombstones. It seems a
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: pity that this old graveyard, probably the oldest in Florida,
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: around which hovers so many sad and tender memories, should
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: not receive enough attention from the proper authorities to render
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: these old tombstones legible. The wisdom of setting aside a
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: fund for the perpetual care of cemeteries is apparent when
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: we reflect on the condition of this old graveyard. It
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: is said that at the beginning of the last century, Cranesville, Amsterdam, Bedersburg,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: and Maineville were about the same size, with odds in
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: favor of Minaville. Very early in the settlement of the
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: last named place, some wag fastened upon it the name
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: of Yankee Street, which was afterward contracted to the street
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: by which name it was known for many years. At
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: that time, Port Jackson was without a name except Chechtanunda,
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: and contained but two or three houses, while below to
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: the east was Warrensburg, where considerable business was transacted. In
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: the latter part of the eighteenth century, Yankee Street was
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: the center or capital of Florida, where the pioneer farmers
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: went to get their supplies. From Bears's history, we make
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: the following extract. Minaville, nearest, the geographical center of the town,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: received its name in eighteen eighteen, replacing the not very
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: distinctive title the Street or its left its elegant form
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: Yankee Street, by which it was long known. It was
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: early and for many years, quite a center of country trade.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: It is prettily situated on a wide, verdant bowl whose
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: southern rim is the Shelstone and bean Hill Ranges, and
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: its northern horizon, a lower line of ridges forming a
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: woody fringe. Through it flows the winding tructanunda. The quiet
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: air of thrift and comfort that rests upon the place
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: is not unattractive, and one could find here a pleasant
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: home if seeking seclusion. The world forgetting, and by the
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: world forgot. Two churches, stores, a hotel, schoolhouse, cheese factory,
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: and several shops are comprised in the village. The Reformed Church,
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: the successor of the old Church on the Hill, was
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: built in eighteen o eight, and the Methodist Church in
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: eighteen thirty five. No wonder the stores were well patronized
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: when we read the names of the farmers who traded there,
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: some as early as seventeen eighty five. David Cady, Nathan Stanton,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: Ezra Murray, Lawrence Shuler, Daniel Schuler, Philip and Peter, Frederick,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: William and Peter Young, George and Jacob Staley, John van Dervere,
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: Peter and Jacob Howke, Elisha Cady, George Peter and Christian Service,
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Rual Life Covenhoven, Asa Waterman, John Quackenboss, Ephraim brockway Lewis, Philip, Philip, Dodi, Cornelius, Phillip,
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: William Philip, and Cornelius Phillip the Second, and a host
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: of others. But why was the place called Minaville? We
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: are told that it was named in eighteen eighteen by
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: George Smith, who occupies a prominent place in the social
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: and political annals of the town, and who was a
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: courteous and successful merchant. He married two daughters of Judge
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: David Cady and built a residence which, at the time
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: of its erection was regarded as the finest in the county.
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: He subsequently purchased and improved Fort Johnson, and dwelt there
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: until his death. He was the grandfather of George Smith,
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: Devendorf of Amsterdam, and doctor Charles A. Devendorf of Detroit, Michigan.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: It is said that he named the hamlet after General Mina,
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: a Spaniard. Why there were two Spaniard generals of that name.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: General Francis Mina, a Spanish guerrilla, harassed the French troops
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: under Napoleon and Spain, and accompanied by his nephew Xavier,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: was captured by the French during the Peninsular War and
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: detail gigined in Vincentne four years He afterward went to England,
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: and became interested in the cause of the Mexican patriots
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: and their struggle for independence. After receiving some aid in England,
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: he sailed for America in eighteen sixteen. In the United States,
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: he received sympathy and substantial aid and about two hundred
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: American volunteers at Galveston. He was reinforced by one hundred
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: more Americans, and in April eighteen seventeen he landed in
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: Mexico with five hundred men and marched direct to the capitol,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: cutting his way through such bodies of Spaniards as he met.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: He was successful in a number of engagements, but was
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: at length surprised at night, captured and put to death
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: in front of the fortress of Remedius October twenty seventh,
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: eighteen seventeen. This was the man for whom my Mille
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: was named, not because he was a Spaniard, but because
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: he was a brave man and the leader of American
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: volunteers fighting for the independence of an alien nation. And then,
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: as in our recent war in Cuba against the tyrannical Spaniards.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: In speaking of the descendants of Lawrence Schuller, I have
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: only been able to follow the male line of his family.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: I have been told that doctor John Dellomatter, uncle of
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: Missus Davis Schuller, made an attempt to make a genealogical
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: record of the Schuler family. He succeeded very well with
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: the male line, but the record of the female line,
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: with all the marriages and intermarriages, he gave up as
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: a hopeless task, and he having failed, I feel that
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: I am excusable for not undertaking it. Doctor John Delamatter
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: was born and reared in the town of Florida, and
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: became a physician of eminent for many years. He was
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: an able professor in his calling at Fairfield and at Cleveland, Ohio.
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: He died there a beloved physician for his amiable disposition,
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: gentle manners, and goodness of heart. On the highest point
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: of the first range of the Florida Hills, which the
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: French invaders in sixteen ninety three called Mountains, is a
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: tract of land formerly part of the Peter Warren Grant,
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: which is now known as the Vanderveer Farm. After the
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: War of Revolution. Between seventeen ninety and seventeen ninety one,
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: John van der Veer, a native of New Jersey but
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: of Holland, descent settled on this land then, in its
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: pristine ruggedness, Imagine if you can, the view that met
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: his eye and perhaps influenced his selection of a home
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: for his family in the Mohawk Valley over a century ago.
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: Coming in as he did from the sandy flats of
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: New Jersey, the sight must have seemed grand and beautiful.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: Immediately in front of him were the primitive forests, whose
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: tops of various shades of green and brown rolled into
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: undulating waves as they conformed to the receding slopes of
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: hills that stretched away on either side of the Mohawk River. Westward,
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: hid from view by hills and forests lay Fort Hunter,
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: whose palisades enclosed the ruined chapel of Queen Anne. Nearer
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: on the north side stood Fort Johnson and Guy Park,
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: both lately vacated by their fugitive owners. A line of
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: gray between the river and the green bank above marked
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: the Juctanunda of the Mohawk, the rock shelter along the
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: shore of the Indians following the bank of the river.
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: A little farther eastward, the northern Chucktanunda pours its foaming
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: tree turbulent tide into the river, which in the distance
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: washes the base of the cliff of pictured rocks. Still
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: gazing toward the east, he sees in the dim distance
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: the Quinakarion or Tarion of the Indians. The stream itself
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: is an avenue of commerce, and the laden bateaux of
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: the boatmen may be seen gliding along by means of
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: pole and paddle. Along the north bank are trains of
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: heavy canvas covered wagons making tedious haste with four, six
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: and perhaps ten horses, and perhaps a well filled conquered
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: coach and files of continental soldiers. If he allows his
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: gaze to span the valley, his eye rests on another
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: range of hills of equal height with his own, and
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: perhaps even then he covets the land, which, after three
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: decades became the property of a member of his fami
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: Emily John Vanderveer and his wife Katharine Conover, lived in
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: Florida over half a century, and with their sons and daughters,
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: became a family of wealth and influence. By marriage. The
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: family may be traced to the descendants of nearly all
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: the oldest and most prominent families of the present towns
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: of Florida and Amsterdam. One of his ancestors Cornelius yance Vanderveer. Cornelius,
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: son of John from the Ferry, emigrated in the ship
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: Otter in sixteen fifty nine from Alkmare in North Holland
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: to New Amsterdam now New York. He settled in Flatbush,
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: Long Island, where he was magistrate in sixteen seventy eight
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: to sixteen eighty. There he married Taintche, Catherine, daughter of
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: Yilis Giles. Demandeville, came from Yelterland and Holland to New
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: Amsterdam in sixteen fifty nine, being one of the Huguenots
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: who were so numerous among the early immigrants, and who,
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: by their knowledge of textile industries, formed so valuable an
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: addition to the early settlements in this country. Cornelius van
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: Derveer and Taintche his wife had numerous children, among them Dominicus,
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: who had several children, one of them being Tunis, who
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: was the first of the family to settle in New
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: Jersey and was the grandfather of John spoken of above,
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: and his brothers Garrett and Hendrick, all of whom located
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: in the Mohawk Valley about seventeen ninety. The New Jersey
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: family must have been exceedingly wealthy for those early days
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: of our country. As it is said that John Vanderveer,
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: the subject of this sketch, brought with him to his
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: Florida farm eighty thousand dollars in cash. The land was
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: purchased of one John Watts, a relative of the wife
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: of Sir John Johnson. John Vanderveer had eight children, five
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: sons and three daughters. Of the sons, Garrett was born
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety nine and inherited the homestead farms now
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: occupied by his descendants. John, at middle age, moved to Schenectady,
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: where he died a few years ago. Cornelius came to
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: the village of Amsterdam, and later in life was killed
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: by a premature blast in the eastern part of the village,
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: leaving a wife and three children. J Watts Vanderveer at
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: one time clerk of the county, Emily who married d P. Cory,
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: and Helena, who married Harvey Kennedy of New York. Jenny,
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: the eldest child, married Joseph Stanton, and for her second husband,
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: John Sherburn, Catherine became the wife of Peter I. Enders
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: of the daughters, Sarah married a service and for her
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: second husband, James Greenman. Henry Vanderveer married a miss Conover.
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: He died young, and his wife and son soon followed him.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: The possession of so large a sum of money as
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: eighty thousand dollars made it very easy for John Vanderveer
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: Senior to acquire land in his vicinity, and in eighteen
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: twenty two he secured of Nicholas Vedder a portion of
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: the large tract of land known as the Tunis I
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: Vanderveer Estate, being located on the first range of hills
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: north of the Mohawk River, opposite to the homestead farm.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: This land was immediately occupied by his son Tuonis I Vanderveer,
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: who continued to add to the first purchase as opportunities
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: presented themselves. End of Chapter twenty recording by Roger Malin