History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 36: Mohawk Valley History from 1713 to 1744., continued ...
Another prominent Mohawk River trader, Johan Jost Herkimer, in 1740, built a large stone house, store, and storehouse on the German Flats at "Kouari."
(Mohawk, Ok-wa-ri, meaning "bear.")
This important river and highway neighborhood and trading post was already known as "Herkimer's", the name later being applied to the Fort Herkimer of the great French and Indian war (1756-1760) and the Fort Herkimer of the Revolution (1775-1783).
Herkimer's house was the center of the British Fort Herkimer.
It was destroyed about 1835 in the enlargement of the Erie Canal.
In 1743, Dominie Ehle was followed, in his ministry to a number of Reformed churches along the Mohawk and the Schoharie rivers, by Rev. Johannes Schuyler, who succeeded him at Stone Arabia and elsewhere and who served a pastorate of eight years from 1743 to 1751.
The oldest building standing in Schoharie County is the original St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Schoharie.
It was built in 1743 as a church and parsonage and occupied as such until 1751.
Although it is a small structure and more of a house than a church yet it is the oldest church building now standing in the Mohawk Valley, antedating St. George's Episcopal Church of Schenectady by nearly twenty years.
It is well worthy of preservation.
Peace had now reigned between France and England for over thirty years.
In this time the English colonies in America, the Province of New York and the Mohawk Valley had all grown and developed more than in any similar period in the history of America.
It was a fatal peace for France, because the English colonies had become so mighty that it was now but a question of time when they would overwhelm the scanty population of New France.
It also was a fatal peace for Great Britain because her colonies had outgrown her paltry and coercive colonial policy.
It was now only a matter of years before they would rebel against English political misgovernment, military bungling, and governmental tyranny.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 36: Mohawk Valley History from 1713 to 1744., concluded ...
In this period the Mohawk Valley had developed from a thin line of settlers and one little walled town, to a community stretching for nearly one hundred miles along the Mohawk River, from the Hudson to Dutch Hill, west of present Frankfort.
There was a growing community of pioneer farmers in the Schoharie Valley and a little colony of Scotch and Irish settlers back of the "Brimstone Hills," now known as the Cherry Valley Mountains.
Dutch, Palatines, Scotch, Irish and English settlers now probably numbered nearly four thousand souls in the Mohawk Valley.
There were churches, schools, stores, mills, blacksmith shops, boatyards and taverns along both the Mohawk and the Schoharie rivers.
There was a city of nearly a thousand people at Schenectady, and there were hamlets or little towns at Caughnawaga, present Fort Plain, Fort Herkimer, Herkimer, at Middleburg, and Schoharie on the Schoharie and at Cherry Valley in the Cherry Valley Mountains.
There was a strong body of militia in the Valley of the Mohawk, of which Colonel William Johnson assumed command in 1746.
In general, there was a line of civilized society along the lower Schoharie River and the middle and lower Mohawk River, and yet it was but a thin line of civilization which closely hugged the banks of these two rivers.
The wilderness hemmed in the farms even along the Mohawk's course and practically surrounded the clearings of the bold settlers who ventured to establish homes back from the main roads of the white man.
Life along the Mohawk and the Schoharie was still the life of the pioneer, living in a great wilderness, when, in 1744 the policies of European courts again embroiled the French and English colonists of America.
The following two chapters cover the settlement of Cherry Valley and that of William Johnson (later Sir William Johnson), at present Amsterdam.
The third succeeding chapter relates to the Mohawk Valley in connection with King George's war, of the years from 1744 to 1748.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 36: Mohawk Valley History from 1713 to 1744., concluded ...
In this period the Mohawk Valley had developed from a thin line of settlers and one little walled town, to a community stretching for nearly one hundred miles along the Mohawk River, from the Hudson to Dutch Hill, west of present Frankfort.
There was a growing community of pioneer farmers in the Schoharie Valley and a little colony of Scotch and Irish settlers back of the "Brimstone Hills," now known as the Cherry Valley Mountains.
Dutch, Palatines, Scotch, Irish and English settlers now probably numbered nearly four thousand souls in the Mohawk Valley.
There were churches, schools, stores, mills, blacksmith shops, boatyards and taverns along both the Mohawk and the Schoharie rivers.
There was a city of nearly a thousand people at Schenectady, and there were hamlets or little towns at Caughnawaga, present Fort Plain, Fort Herkimer, Herkimer, at Middleburg, and Schoharie on the Schoharie and at Cherry Valley in the Cherry Valley Mountains.
There was a strong body of militia in the Valley of the Mohawk, of which Colonel William Johnson assumed command in 1746.
In general, there was a line of civilized society along the lower Schoharie River and the middle and lower Mohawk River, and yet it was but a thin line of civilization which closely hugged the banks of these two rivers.
The wilderness hemmed in the farms even along the Mohawk's course and practically surrounded the clearings of the bold settlers who ventured to establish homes back from the main roads of the white man.
Life along the Mohawk and the Schoharie was still the life of the pioneer, living in a great wilderness, when, in 1744 the policies of European courts again embroiled the French and English colonists of America.
The following two chapters cover the settlement of Cherry Valley and that of William Johnson (later Sir William Johnson), at present Amsterdam.
The third succeeding chapter relates to the Mohawk Valley in connection with King George's war, of the years from 1744 to 1748.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 37: Settlement of Cherry Valley — 1740.
1740, Settlement of Cherry Valley by John Lindsay and family — A Scotch-Irish frontier village on the Susquehanna — Mohawk divide — Rev. Samuel Dunlop's Cherry Valley school — Settlement of Springfield, Mud or Summit Lake, Little Lakes, and the headwaters of the Susquehanna — The old England district.
The settlement of Cherry Valley in 1740 marked an important step in the progress of civilization in the Mohawk Valley.
Its outlet trails and roads led to the settlements on the Mohawk or the Schoharie rivers and it is thus not only associated in a historical sense but in a topographical and commercial way, with the watershed of the Mohawk River.
John Lindsay "a Scotch gentleman of substance," in 1736, secured a patent for 3,000 acres in the present town of Danube, Herkimer County, in partnership with Philip Livingston.
He also had land interests elsewhere.
In August, 1738, Lindsay secured a patent for 1,965 acres of land and Jacob Roseboom, Leonard Gansevoort and Sybrant Van Schaick, on the same day, secured another patent of 1,750 acres alongside that of Lindsay.
These lands were mainly situated in the present town of Cherry Valley, Otsego County.
When consolidated these tracts became known as the Cherry Valley patent, which with that of Schenectady of 1684, Stone Arabia of 1723, and Burnetsfield (German Flats) of 1725, are the most important in the history of the Mohawk Valley because they represent the location of considerable bodies of settlers in our River's watershed or on its southern border.
On May 24, 1739, John Lindsay obtained a patent for 500 acres on the Cherry Valley Creek, not included in the previous grants.
Simms says:
"The headwaters of the Cherry Valley Creek — one of the sources of the Susquehanna — ran through these lands."
"The Canajoharie Creek also rises near the former creek and flows in an opposite direction to the Mohawk."
"On the latter stream, only two or three miles from Cherry Valley, is a gorge in which is a waterfall, called on the De Witt map of 1790, by the Indian name of Tu-ay-on-na-ron-wa Fall."
"But a short distance from this little cascade, Lieut. Matthew Wormuth was killed in 1778, as will be shown."
"In modern times, this little cascade has been called Te-ka-har-o-wa, but on what authority I cannot say."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 37: Settlement of Cherry Valley — 1740.
1740, Settlement of Cherry Valley by John Lindsay and family — A Scotch-Irish frontier village on the Susquehanna — Mohawk divide — Rev. Samuel Dunlop's Cherry Valley school — Settlement of Springfield, Mud or Summit Lake, Little Lakes, and the headwaters of the Susquehanna — The old England district.
The settlement of Cherry Valley in 1740 marked an important step in the progress of civilization in the Mohawk Valley.
Its outlet trails and roads led to the settlements on the Mohawk or the Schoharie rivers and it is thus not only associated in a historical sense but in a topographical and commercial way, with the watershed of the Mohawk River.
John Lindsay "a Scotch gentleman of substance," in 1736, secured a patent for 3,000 acres in the present town of Danube, Herkimer County, in partnership with Philip Livingston.
He also had land interests elsewhere.
In August, 1738, Lindsay secured a patent for 1,965 acres of land and Jacob Roseboom, Leonard Gansevoort and Sybrant Van Schaick, on the same day, secured another patent of 1,750 acres alongside that of Lindsay.
These lands were mainly situated in the present town of Cherry Valley, Otsego County.
When consolidated these tracts became known as the Cherry Valley patent, which with that of Schenectady of 1684, Stone Arabia of 1723, and Burnetsfield (German Flats) of 1725, are the most important in the history of the Mohawk Valley because they represent the location of considerable bodies of settlers in our River's watershed or on its southern border.
On May 24, 1739, John Lindsay obtained a patent for 500 acres on the Cherry Valley Creek, not included in the previous grants.
Simms says:
"The headwaters of the Cherry Valley Creek — one of the sources of the Susquehanna — ran through these lands."
"The Canajoharie Creek also rises near the former creek and flows in an opposite direction to the Mohawk."
"On the latter stream, only two or three miles from Cherry Valley, is a gorge in which is a waterfall, called on the De Witt map of 1790, by the Indian name of Tu-ay-on-na-ron-wa Fall."
"But a short distance from this little cascade, Lieut. Matthew Wormuth was killed in 1778, as will be shown."
"In modern times, this little cascade has been called Te-ka-har-o-wa, but on what authority I cannot say."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 37: Settlement of Cherry Valley — 1740., continued ...
Campbell's "Annals of Tryon County," [i.e., William W. Campbell, Annals of Tryon County; or, The Border Warfare of New York, During the Revolution] is a basis for these facts, as it is indeed for most of the subsequent history of Cherry Valley, which was the home of Judge Campbell, the author.
The following condensation of Campbell's account is taken from Simms' "Frontiersmen of New York":
"Thinking a life among the wild cherries would be romantic and pleasant, in 1739, Mr. Lindsay obtained an assignment from his three partners to the largest Cherry Valley tract for himself and Governor Clarke, who, as governor, had first granted it — and they had it surveyed and laid out in lots."
"In the spring of 1740, Mr. Lindsay removed his family from New York City upon one of the best farms in his Cherry Valley purchase, and the locality became known as Lindsay's Bush."
"There may have been here and there a settler within a few miles of him; but if any such there were nearer than those contiguous to the Mohawk Valley, a dozen miles distant, it is now unknown."
"On going into their country and upon their hunting grounds, Mr. Lindsay — as did all similar adventurers — found it necessary to cultivate the friendship of the Indians."
"A family from refined life, isolating itself in the woods among Indians and wild beasts, could reasonably have expected to find only a life of very severe romance, and such an one proved that of the Lindsay family the first season; for in the winter following its arrival, not having made ample provision for its wants, it became straitened for food; and there being a great depth of snow on the ground, its necessities were only to be relieved by the kindness of an Indian, who, upon snow-shoes, went to the Mohawk River settlements and returned with a supply of necessities upon his back."
"Thus were the whites often befriended in successful homes and colonies by the natives, whose lands and country they were slowly but surely robbing them of."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 37: Settlement of Cherry Valley — 1740., continued ...
Campbell's "Annals of Tryon County," [i.e., William W. Campbell, Annals of Tryon County; or, The Border Warfare of New York, During the Revolution] is a basis for these facts, as it is indeed for most of the subsequent history of Cherry Valley, which was the home of Judge Campbell, the author.
The following condensation of Campbell's account is taken from Simms' "Frontiersmen of New York":
"Thinking a life among the wild cherries would be romantic and pleasant, in 1739, Mr. Lindsay obtained an assignment from his three partners to the largest Cherry Valley tract for himself and Governor Clarke, who, as governor, had first granted it — and they had it surveyed and laid out in lots."
"In the spring of 1740, Mr. Lindsay removed his family from New York City upon one of the best farms in his Cherry Valley purchase, and the locality became known as Lindsay's Bush."
"There may have been here and there a settler within a few miles of him; but if any such there were nearer than those contiguous to the Mohawk Valley, a dozen miles distant, it is now unknown."
"On going into their country and upon their hunting grounds, Mr. Lindsay — as did all similar adventurers — found it necessary to cultivate the friendship of the Indians."
"A family from refined life, isolating itself in the woods among Indians and wild beasts, could reasonably have expected to find only a life of very severe romance, and such an one proved that of the Lindsay family the first season; for in the winter following its arrival, not having made ample provision for its wants, it became straitened for food; and there being a great depth of snow on the ground, its necessities were only to be relieved by the kindness of an Indian, who, upon snow-shoes, went to the Mohawk River settlements and returned with a supply of necessities upon his back."
"Thus were the whites often befriended in successful homes and colonies by the natives, whose lands and country they were slowly but surely robbing them of."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 37: Settlement of Cherry Valley — 1740., concluded ...
"In the spring of 1741, Mr. Lindsay made the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, of New York, the gift of a good farm to settle upon his tract, which he accepted, and used his influence to induce others to go with him, among whom were David Ramsey, William Callt, James Campbell and William Dickson — known at the time as Scotch-Irish — in all about thirty souls."
"Mr. Dunlop, who was from the Emerald Isle, returned thither after a short residence at Cherry Valley, to fulfill a marriage contract, and returning with his wife, he became a permanent settler, and the first minister of that place."
"He was a liberally educated man, and taught the first grammar school, as believed, to the westward of Albany; and among his pupils were not a few from the Mohawk Valley settlements, some of whom were representative men in the Revolution."
"Among the settlers making accessions within a few years to the Cherry Valley settlement — so named, because of its numerous wild cherry trees — was John Wells, of New York, an Irishman, who later in life became a justice of the peace, and a very useful citizen."
"Mr. Lindsay, knowing little about farming, and his family, no doubt, tiring of a forest life, at the end of a few years abandoned his sylvan enterprise and returned to New York."
"For the credit of the Cherry Valley colonists, I may observe that hardly were they comfortably established ere they erected a school house and a church — both of the pioneer's building material, unhewn logs."
"The Cherry Valley colony increased, though not rapidly, in numbers for the next thirty years, in the latter part of which period, other small settlements were made in its neighborhood."
"One of them, in the present town of Middlefield, was known at the beginning of the Revolution as Newtown Martin, so called after Peter Martin, an owner of land there."
"The late Mrs. Matthias Becker, the mother of Mrs. William Haslet, of Fort Plain, and the late Jeremiah Martin, of Glen, were the children of this Martin, who was a Montreal tradesman at the beginning of hostilities, when this settlement was broken up."
"In 1762, five families settled in Springfield, being those of John Kelley, Richard Ferguson, and James Young, in the eastern part of the town, and those of Gustavus Klumph and Jacob Tygart (Dygert) at the head of the lake."
"Dygert had two sons, John and Jacob, captured at the destruction of Cherry Valley."
"The last two were, no doubt, Germans from the Mohawk Valley."
"A Spalsbury family, and that of Capt. Thomas Davy, are also known to have become residents of the town before the Revolution, and the latter, with others from Springfield, was in the sanguinary field of Oriskany, where he was killed, leaving three sons, James, Jeremiah, and Harvey."
"Other families are known to have located near Mud Lake, and in other parts of the town, at the period named."
"Several families are said to have pushed out as far westward as the Little Lakes — now in Warren, though then called Springfield — and it is not improbable that the family of George Knouts was of the number."
"Settlements were also successfully planted several years before the Revolution in Unadilla, Otego, Laurens, Butternuts, Harpersfield, and in what are now several other townships."
"On the organization of Tryon County, all the settlements named to the west and southwest of Cherry Valley, except Harpersfield, became known as the Old England District; hence we may infer that a majority of those pioneers spoke the English language."
"Cherry Valley and Harpersfield were embraced in the Canajoharie district."
The history of Cherry Valley in the Revolution is largely covered in that of the Mohawk Valley in subsequent chapters.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 37: Settlement of Cherry Valley — 1740., concluded ...
"In the spring of 1741, Mr. Lindsay made the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, of New York, the gift of a good farm to settle upon his tract, which he accepted, and used his influence to induce others to go with him, among whom were David Ramsey, William Callt, James Campbell and William Dickson — known at the time as Scotch-Irish — in all about thirty souls."
"Mr. Dunlop, who was from the Emerald Isle, returned thither after a short residence at Cherry Valley, to fulfill a marriage contract, and returning with his wife, he became a permanent settler, and the first minister of that place."
"He was a liberally educated man, and taught the first grammar school, as believed, to the westward of Albany; and among his pupils were not a few from the Mohawk Valley settlements, some of whom were representative men in the Revolution."
"Among the settlers making accessions within a few years to the Cherry Valley settlement — so named, because of its numerous wild cherry trees — was John Wells, of New York, an Irishman, who later in life became a justice of the peace, and a very useful citizen."
"Mr. Lindsay, knowing little about farming, and his family, no doubt, tiring of a forest life, at the end of a few years abandoned his sylvan enterprise and returned to New York."
"For the credit of the Cherry Valley colonists, I may observe that hardly were they comfortably established ere they erected a school house and a church — both of the pioneer's building material, unhewn logs."
"The Cherry Valley colony increased, though not rapidly, in numbers for the next thirty years, in the latter part of which period, other small settlements were made in its neighborhood."
"One of them, in the present town of Middlefield, was known at the beginning of the Revolution as Newtown Martin, so called after Peter Martin, an owner of land there."
"The late Mrs. Matthias Becker, the mother of Mrs. William Haslet, of Fort Plain, and the late Jeremiah Martin, of Glen, were the children of this Martin, who was a Montreal tradesman at the beginning of hostilities, when this settlement was broken up."
"In 1762, five families settled in Springfield, being those of John Kelley, Richard Ferguson, and James Young, in the eastern part of the town, and those of Gustavus Klumph and Jacob Tygart (Dygert) at the head of the lake."
"Dygert had two sons, John and Jacob, captured at the destruction of Cherry Valley."
"The last two were, no doubt, Germans from the Mohawk Valley."
"A Spalsbury family, and that of Capt. Thomas Davy, are also known to have become residents of the town before the Revolution, and the latter, with others from Springfield, was in the sanguinary field of Oriskany, where he was killed, leaving three sons, James, Jeremiah, and Harvey."
"Other families are known to have located near Mud Lake, and in other parts of the town, at the period named."
"Several families are said to have pushed out as far westward as the Little Lakes — now in Warren, though then called Springfield — and it is not improbable that the family of George Knouts was of the number."
"Settlements were also successfully planted several years before the Revolution in Unadilla, Otego, Laurens, Butternuts, Harpersfield, and in what are now several other townships."
"On the organization of Tryon County, all the settlements named to the west and southwest of Cherry Valley, except Harpersfield, became known as the Old England District; hence we may infer that a majority of those pioneers spoke the English language."
"Cherry Valley and Harpersfield were embraced in the Canajoharie district."
The history of Cherry Valley in the Revolution is largely covered in that of the Mohawk Valley in subsequent chapters.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 39: Battle of Beukendaal.
Schenectady militia ambushed by Canadian Indians — twenty slain, thirteen made prisoners and many wounded — Only battle of the Old French War in the Mohawk Valley.
The battle of Beukendaal occurred on July 18, 1748.
It was the only battle of King George's war, which took place in the Mohawk Valley or the Albany-Schenectady district.
This bloody affray is sometimes referred to as a massacre, but, while it began as an ambuscade, it developed into a combat between armed forces and had all the character of a small battle.
It was fought at a locality called Beukendaal, about three miles west of Schenectady, at the old De Graff house, only the cellar of which now remains.
Beukendaal is Dutch for "Beechdale", and it was so called from the number of beech trees growing there.
While the enemy was driven off the Schenectady militia suffered a great loss for so small a force.
A raiding party of French and Indians, under the command of Le Sieur Chevalier de Repentighy, entered the township of Glenville, Schenectady County, on the morning of July 18, 1748.
Captain Daniel Toll with his favorite negro servant Ryckert and Dirk Van Vorst went in search of some stray horses at Beukendaal, a locality about three miles from Schenectady.
They soon heard, as they supposed, the trampling of horses; but, on nearer approach, the sound they mistook for that made by horses' hoofs on the clayey ground, proceeded from the quoits, with which some Indian boys were playing.
Mr. Toll discovered his danger too late and fell pierced by the bullets of the French savages.
Van Vorst was wounded and made a prisoner.
Ryckert, more fortunate, took to his heels and fled.
He reached Schenectady in safety and told the dreadful news of the death of his master and the presence of the enemy.
Albert Van Slyck, one of the militiamen, says that the Schenectady militia went forward to the fight in four small bodies, which was the cause of their great losses.
The first party consisted of Lieutenant John Darling, commander of the New England garrison of Schenectady, with some of his men, five or six "young lads" and Daniel Van Slyck, brother of Albert.
The second party was led by "Ackes" (Jacques) Van Slyck.
When the first party came up they were surprised to see "a man resembling Mr. Toll sitting near a fence in an adjoining field and a crow flying up and down before him."
"On coming nearer, they discovered it to be the corpse of Mr. Toll, with a crow attached to a string."
This was a lure to draw the advance party into an ambush.
The hidden enemy fired a volley and most of the Americans were shot down and killed, while several were captured.
Ackes Van Slyck and his party came up and took refuge in the De Graff house where they tore the clapboards off from under the eaves from which position they fired on the enemy and successfully defended themselves.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 39: Battle of Beukendaal.
Schenectady militia ambushed by Canadian Indians — twenty slain, thirteen made prisoners and many wounded — Only battle of the Old French War in the Mohawk Valley.
The battle of Beukendaal occurred on July 18, 1748.
It was the only battle of King George's war, which took place in the Mohawk Valley or the Albany-Schenectady district.
This bloody affray is sometimes referred to as a massacre, but, while it began as an ambuscade, it developed into a combat between armed forces and had all the character of a small battle.
It was fought at a locality called Beukendaal, about three miles west of Schenectady, at the old De Graff house, only the cellar of which now remains.
Beukendaal is Dutch for "Beechdale", and it was so called from the number of beech trees growing there.
While the enemy was driven off the Schenectady militia suffered a great loss for so small a force.
A raiding party of French and Indians, under the command of Le Sieur Chevalier de Repentighy, entered the township of Glenville, Schenectady County, on the morning of July 18, 1748.
Captain Daniel Toll with his favorite negro servant Ryckert and Dirk Van Vorst went in search of some stray horses at Beukendaal, a locality about three miles from Schenectady.
They soon heard, as they supposed, the trampling of horses; but, on nearer approach, the sound they mistook for that made by horses' hoofs on the clayey ground, proceeded from the quoits, with which some Indian boys were playing.
Mr. Toll discovered his danger too late and fell pierced by the bullets of the French savages.
Van Vorst was wounded and made a prisoner.
Ryckert, more fortunate, took to his heels and fled.
He reached Schenectady in safety and told the dreadful news of the death of his master and the presence of the enemy.
Albert Van Slyck, one of the militiamen, says that the Schenectady militia went forward to the fight in four small bodies, which was the cause of their great losses.
The first party consisted of Lieutenant John Darling, commander of the New England garrison of Schenectady, with some of his men, five or six "young lads" and Daniel Van Slyck, brother of Albert.
The second party was led by "Ackes" (Jacques) Van Slyck.
When the first party came up they were surprised to see "a man resembling Mr. Toll sitting near a fence in an adjoining field and a crow flying up and down before him."
"On coming nearer, they discovered it to be the corpse of Mr. Toll, with a crow attached to a string."
This was a lure to draw the advance party into an ambush.
The hidden enemy fired a volley and most of the Americans were shot down and killed, while several were captured.
Ackes Van Slyck and his party came up and took refuge in the De Graff house where they tore the clapboards off from under the eaves from which position they fired on the enemy and successfully defended themselves.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 39: Battle of Beukendaal., continued ...
Adrian Van Slyck now came on the scene with a party of New York levies.
They were fired upon.
Van Slyck was killed and his men immediately turned around and ran back to Schenectady.
Albert Van Slyck and Jacob Glen came up with a fourth company which reinforced the little band of defenders of the De Graff house.
Their fire became too hot for the raiders who now turned and fled into the woods, leaving the militiamen holding the field, surrounded by their dead and dying.
Dirk Van Vorst, who had been captured when Captain Toll was killed, was left in charge of two Indian boys when the fight began.
The young red men tied Van Vorst to a tree, so that they could go and watch the battle.
Dirk then managed to get his hand into his pocket, took out his knife, cut his bonds and escaped.
The American loss at the battle of Beukendaal was 20 killed, a number wounded and 13 made prisoner.
Twelve of the killed were militiamen and eight were of the garrison of New England soldiers.
Seven prisoners were Schenectady militiamen and six were soldiers of the garrison.
The loss of the enemy is not given in any of the accounts, but it is probable that it was small.
About 70 Schenectady militiamen and soldiers were in the fight, probably not counting the levies who ran away.
The enemy is supposed to have numbered over 100 Indians and some French.
Albert Van Slyck wrote to Col. William Johnson that "it grieves me, I not being Commander, that when we went, Garret Van Antwerp would suffer no more to accompany the party."
The survivors brought their dead and wounded back to Schenectady, where the twenty dead men were laid out in a barn.
The news of the battle was sent to Albany by a mounted messenger, who reached there in the evening.
Lieutenant Chew, with 100 English and 200 Indians, marched to Schenectady, but the enemy was then too far on the way to Canada to be overtaken.
So far as known, the names of the Americans slain at Beukendaal, were as follows:
John A. Bradt, Johannes Marinus, Peter Vrooman, Daniel Van Antwerpen, Cornelis Viele, Jr., Nicolaas DeGraaf, Adrian Van Slyck, Jacob Glen, Jr., Adam Conde, J. P. Antwerpen, Frans Van der Bogart, Capt. Daniel Toll, Lt. John Darling and seven of his garrison soldiers.
The known wounded were, Ryer Wemp, Robinson, Wilson, Dirk Van Vorst; and there were probably a number of others.
The prisoners were, John Phelps, Lewis Groot, Johannes Seyer Vrooman, Frank Connor, Harman Veeder, Isaac Truax, Albert John Vedder and six soldiers of the garrison.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 39: Battle of Beukendaal., continued ...
Adrian Van Slyck now came on the scene with a party of New York levies.
They were fired upon.
Van Slyck was killed and his men immediately turned around and ran back to Schenectady.
Albert Van Slyck and Jacob Glen came up with a fourth company which reinforced the little band of defenders of the De Graff house.
Their fire became too hot for the raiders who now turned and fled into the woods, leaving the militiamen holding the field, surrounded by their dead and dying.
Dirk Van Vorst, who had been captured when Captain Toll was killed, was left in charge of two Indian boys when the fight began.
The young red men tied Van Vorst to a tree, so that they could go and watch the battle.
Dirk then managed to get his hand into his pocket, took out his knife, cut his bonds and escaped.
The American loss at the battle of Beukendaal was 20 killed, a number wounded and 13 made prisoner.
Twelve of the killed were militiamen and eight were of the garrison of New England soldiers.
Seven prisoners were Schenectady militiamen and six were soldiers of the garrison.
The loss of the enemy is not given in any of the accounts, but it is probable that it was small.
About 70 Schenectady militiamen and soldiers were in the fight, probably not counting the levies who ran away.
The enemy is supposed to have numbered over 100 Indians and some French.
Albert Van Slyck wrote to Col. William Johnson that "it grieves me, I not being Commander, that when we went, Garret Van Antwerp would suffer no more to accompany the party."
The survivors brought their dead and wounded back to Schenectady, where the twenty dead men were laid out in a barn.
The news of the battle was sent to Albany by a mounted messenger, who reached there in the evening.
Lieutenant Chew, with 100 English and 200 Indians, marched to Schenectady, but the enemy was then too far on the way to Canada to be overtaken.
So far as known, the names of the Americans slain at Beukendaal, were as follows:
John A. Bradt, Johannes Marinus, Peter Vrooman, Daniel Van Antwerpen, Cornelis Viele, Jr., Nicolaas DeGraaf, Adrian Van Slyck, Jacob Glen, Jr., Adam Conde, J. P. Antwerpen, Frans Van der Bogart, Capt. Daniel Toll, Lt. John Darling and seven of his garrison soldiers.
The known wounded were, Ryer Wemp, Robinson, Wilson, Dirk Van Vorst; and there were probably a number of others.
The prisoners were, John Phelps, Lewis Groot, Johannes Seyer Vrooman, Frank Connor, Harman Veeder, Isaac Truax, Albert John Vedder and six soldiers of the garrison.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 39: Battle of Beukendaal., concluded ...
Pearson's Schenectady Patent has an interesting account of the exchange of prisoners taken from among the inhabitants of Schenectady by Canadian French and Indians, during the Old French war.
It is as follows:
"At the close of hostilities, Governor Clinton sent Lieut. Stoddert to Montreal to arrange for an exchange of prisoners."
"With Capt. Anthony Van Schaick, he went into the Indian country to recover the captives, but with indifferent success."
"Among those who returned with Lieut. Stoddert, were Capt. Anthony Van Schaick, John Vrooman, Peter Vasborough (Vosburgh), Albert Vedder and Francis Connor."
"Efforts were made to induce others to return but without success."
"Of these were: Rachel Quackenbos, Simon Fort and Philip Phillipse."
"Rachel Quackenbos abjured the English religion and Lieutenant Stoddert could not induce her to return."
"Fort and Phillipse also desired to remain with the [Canadian] Iroquois."
"The former belonged by adoption to a sister of a chief named Agonareche."
"She refused to give him up at any price."
"Captain Van Schaick offered six hundred livres for Fort, without succeeding in obtaining him."
"On the contrary, so determined was his squaw owner to retain him, she said she would obey the French commandant and deliver him up, but that she and her husband would follow him and he should not reach home alive."
"Lieut. Stoddert left Canada on the 28th June, 1750, with twenty-four prisoners."
The foregoing circumstances were typical of all the French and Indian wars and our later Revolution.
Prisoners made by the Indians, in the American settlements, frequently preferred to remain in the free and easy life of the Indian villages, rather than return to the drudgery and toil of the towns and farms settled by the English and the Dutch, or their descendants.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 39: Battle of Beukendaal., concluded ...
Pearson's Schenectady Patent has an interesting account of the exchange of prisoners taken from among the inhabitants of Schenectady by Canadian French and Indians, during the Old French war.
It is as follows:
"At the close of hostilities, Governor Clinton sent Lieut. Stoddert to Montreal to arrange for an exchange of prisoners."
"With Capt. Anthony Van Schaick, he went into the Indian country to recover the captives, but with indifferent success."
"Among those who returned with Lieut. Stoddert, were Capt. Anthony Van Schaick, John Vrooman, Peter Vasborough (Vosburgh), Albert Vedder and Francis Connor."
"Efforts were made to induce others to return but without success."
"Of these were: Rachel Quackenbos, Simon Fort and Philip Phillipse."
"Rachel Quackenbos abjured the English religion and Lieutenant Stoddert could not induce her to return."
"Fort and Phillipse also desired to remain with the [Canadian] Iroquois."
"The former belonged by adoption to a sister of a chief named Agonareche."
"She refused to give him up at any price."
"Captain Van Schaick offered six hundred livres for Fort, without succeeding in obtaining him."
"On the contrary, so determined was his squaw owner to retain him, she said she would obey the French commandant and deliver him up, but that she and her husband would follow him and he should not reach home alive."
"Lieut. Stoddert left Canada on the 28th June, 1750, with twenty-four prisoners."
The foregoing circumstances were typical of all the French and Indian wars and our later Revolution.
Prisoners made by the Indians, in the American settlements, frequently preferred to remain in the free and easy life of the Indian villages, rather than return to the drudgery and toil of the towns and farms settled by the English and the Dutch, or their descendants.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 40: Agriculture in Albany County — 1740-1750.
Kalm's visit to Cohoes Falls in 1749; to Colonel Johnson in 1750 — William Smith's description of Schenectady and the Mohawk Valley in 1756.
In July, 1750, Peter Kalm, the celebrated Swedish naturalist, passed through the Mohawk Valley on his way to Oswego.
He stopped at Mount Johnson where he was the guest of Colonel Johnson, who treated his visitor with a helpful kindness and consideration.
Kalm appreciated these attentions as was shown in a warm letter to the Colonel which he wrote from Oswego, under date of August 7, 1750.
The foreign scientist was then on his way to Niagara Falls.
Kalm wrote a description of the Cohoes Falls and of Albany, and its surrounding country, which is interesting to us in that it embodied many features peculiar to the Mohawk Valley, although the description ostensibly is only that of Albany and its immediate vicinity.
However, we know that it describes as well, the Mohawk Valley, because he speaks of the Palatine German settlements, which he passed in his travels at Stone Arabia and German Flats, and there were no Palatine German settlements nearer Albany than Schoharie.
Kalm came to America in 1748 and made journeys to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and French Canada, in 1748, 1749, and 1750.
He made exhaustive researches into the flora and fauna of America and kept a journal of his tour, which probably was elaborated for publication.
Kalm was very critical of the Albany people of Dutch blood, although he makes exceptions to his criticisms and there probably was some strong foundation for his objections to their grasping commercialism.
Similar criticisms of these people were frequent, which is somewhat offset by Mrs. Grant's flattering estimate of them, in her "Memoirs of an American Lady."
Kalm's description of Dutch life and habits holds good for the Americans of Low Dutch descent in Schenectady and other parts of the Mohawk Valley.
He also covers their farming methods and, all in all, the Swedish scientist's picture of life at Albany and along the Mohawk is one of the best we have of the eighteenth century in the Province of New York.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 40: Agriculture in Albany County — 1740-1750.
Kalm's visit to Cohoes Falls in 1749; to Colonel Johnson in 1750 — William Smith's description of Schenectady and the Mohawk Valley in 1756.
In July, 1750, Peter Kalm, the celebrated Swedish naturalist, passed through the Mohawk Valley on his way to Oswego.
He stopped at Mount Johnson where he was the guest of Colonel Johnson, who treated his visitor with a helpful kindness and consideration.
Kalm appreciated these attentions as was shown in a warm letter to the Colonel which he wrote from Oswego, under date of August 7, 1750.
The foreign scientist was then on his way to Niagara Falls.
Kalm wrote a description of the Cohoes Falls and of Albany, and its surrounding country, which is interesting to us in that it embodied many features peculiar to the Mohawk Valley, although the description ostensibly is only that of Albany and its immediate vicinity.
However, we know that it describes as well, the Mohawk Valley, because he speaks of the Palatine German settlements, which he passed in his travels at Stone Arabia and German Flats, and there were no Palatine German settlements nearer Albany than Schoharie.
Kalm came to America in 1748 and made journeys to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and French Canada, in 1748, 1749, and 1750.
He made exhaustive researches into the flora and fauna of America and kept a journal of his tour, which probably was elaborated for publication.
Kalm was very critical of the Albany people of Dutch blood, although he makes exceptions to his criticisms and there probably was some strong foundation for his objections to their grasping commercialism.
Similar criticisms of these people were frequent, which is somewhat offset by Mrs. Grant's flattering estimate of them, in her "Memoirs of an American Lady."
Kalm's description of Dutch life and habits holds good for the Americans of Low Dutch descent in Schenectady and other parts of the Mohawk Valley.
He also covers their farming methods and, all in all, the Swedish scientist's picture of life at Albany and along the Mohawk is one of the best we have of the eighteenth century in the Province of New York.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 40: Agriculture in Albany County — 1740-1750., continued ...
Early in the eighteenth century Albany County and the Mohawk Valley began to take on importance as one of the greatest wheat raising regions in the English Colonies.
At the beginning of the Old French war, in 1744, the section mentioned had become the great granary of America, with Albany as the grain market of the country.
In this regard it had a national importance as a seat of food supply for the Colonial and Revolutionary American armies and the mills along the Mohawk and the Schoharie and about Albany made history, almost as much as our fighters against France and our warriors of the Revolution.
Kalm has an interesting mention of this phase of his Albany-Mohawk Valley description.
Peter Kalm visited Cohoes Falls, June 22, 1749, on his way to Montreal from Albany.
His description of it coincides closely with its present form, with the exception that he does not mention the large rock which has been brought into prominence by erosion and which lies to the north of the center of the face of the falls.
This may have been formed to a large extent in the two centuries which have elapsed since the Swedish visitor stood in the spray of the falls, then diminished by the summer droughts.
It has been the general opinion that the Mohawk in 1749 carried a much greater volume of water than today, when a great part of the river's watershed has been denuded of the virgin forest which then covered ninety-five per cent. of its surface.
However, Kalm described the falls as having a very small flow at a time in summer, when the midsummer drought would ordinarily not have yet reduced the river's waters.
The author took a picture of the Cohoes Falls in July at a time when four-fifths of its water was running into the penstocks of the Cohoes Power & Light Co. and the flow here shown is far greater than that described by Kalm.
This work has presented a description of Cohoes Falls by Dominie Megapolensis, written in 1646.
Kalm's account of this truly great natural wonder of our Valley is interesting as that of a keen and scientific observer of nature.
Kalm's visit to Cohoes Falls in 1749 is described by him as follows:
"June the 22d."
"This morning I followed one of our guides to the water-fall near Cohoes, in the River Mohawk, before it falls into the River Hudson."
"This falls is about three English miles from the place where I passed the night."
"The country till the fall is a plain, and only hilly about the fall itself."
"The wood is cleared in most places and the ground cultivated and interspersed with farm houses."
"The Cohoes Falls is one of the greatest in North America."
"It is on the river Mohawk, before it unites with the river Hudson."
"Above and below the falls, the sides and bottom of the river consist of hard rock."
"The river is three hundred yards broad here."
"At the fall, there is a rock crossways in the river, running everywhere equally high and crossing in a straight line with the side which forms the fall."
"It represents, as it were, a wall towards the lower side, which is not quite perpendicular, wanting about four yards."
"The height of this wall, over which the water rolls, appeared to me about twenty or twenty-four yards."
* * *
"There was very little water in the river at present, and it only ran over the fall in a few places."
"In such places where the water had rolled down before, it had cut deep holes below into the rock, sometimes to the depth of two or three fathoms."
"The bed of the river, below the fall, was of rock and quite dry, there being only a channel in the middle fourteen feet broad and a fathom or somewhat more deep, through which the water passed which came over the fall."
"We saw a number of holes in the rock, below the fall, which bore a perfect resemblance to those in Sweden, which we call 'Giant's Pots' or 'Mountain Kettles'."
"They differed in size; there being large deep ones and small, shallow ones."
"We had clear uninterrupted sunshine, not a cloud above the horizon and no wind at all."
"However, close to this fall, where the water was in such a small quantity, there was a continual drizzling rain, occasioned by the vapors, which rose from the water during its fall and were carried about by the wind."
"Therefore, in coming within a musket-shot of the fall against the wind, our cloaths were wetted at once, as from a rain."
"The whirlpools, which were in the water below the fall, contained several kinds of fish; and they were caught by some people who amused themselves with angling."
"The rocks hereabouts consist of the same black stone which forms the hills about Albany."
"When exposed to the air, it is apt to shiver into horizontal flakes, as slate does."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 40: Agriculture in Albany County — 1740-1750., continued ...
Early in the eighteenth century Albany County and the Mohawk Valley began to take on importance as one of the greatest wheat raising regions in the English Colonies.
At the beginning of the Old French war, in 1744, the section mentioned had become the great granary of America, with Albany as the grain market of the country.
In this regard it had a national importance as a seat of food supply for the Colonial and Revolutionary American armies and the mills along the Mohawk and the Schoharie and about Albany made history, almost as much as our fighters against France and our warriors of the Revolution.
Kalm has an interesting mention of this phase of his Albany-Mohawk Valley description.
Peter Kalm visited Cohoes Falls, June 22, 1749, on his way to Montreal from Albany.
His description of it coincides closely with its present form, with the exception that he does not mention the large rock which has been brought into prominence by erosion and which lies to the north of the center of the face of the falls.
This may have been formed to a large extent in the two centuries which have elapsed since the Swedish visitor stood in the spray of the falls, then diminished by the summer droughts.
It has been the general opinion that the Mohawk in 1749 carried a much greater volume of water than today, when a great part of the river's watershed has been denuded of the virgin forest which then covered ninety-five per cent. of its surface.
However, Kalm described the falls as having a very small flow at a time in summer, when the midsummer drought would ordinarily not have yet reduced the river's waters.
The author took a picture of the Cohoes Falls in July at a time when four-fifths of its water was running into the penstocks of the Cohoes Power & Light Co. and the flow here shown is far greater than that described by Kalm.
This work has presented a description of Cohoes Falls by Dominie Megapolensis, written in 1646.
Kalm's account of this truly great natural wonder of our Valley is interesting as that of a keen and scientific observer of nature.
Kalm's visit to Cohoes Falls in 1749 is described by him as follows:
"June the 22d."
"This morning I followed one of our guides to the water-fall near Cohoes, in the River Mohawk, before it falls into the River Hudson."
"This falls is about three English miles from the place where I passed the night."
"The country till the fall is a plain, and only hilly about the fall itself."
"The wood is cleared in most places and the ground cultivated and interspersed with farm houses."
"The Cohoes Falls is one of the greatest in North America."
"It is on the river Mohawk, before it unites with the river Hudson."
"Above and below the falls, the sides and bottom of the river consist of hard rock."
"The river is three hundred yards broad here."
"At the fall, there is a rock crossways in the river, running everywhere equally high and crossing in a straight line with the side which forms the fall."
"It represents, as it were, a wall towards the lower side, which is not quite perpendicular, wanting about four yards."
"The height of this wall, over which the water rolls, appeared to me about twenty or twenty-four yards."
* * *
"There was very little water in the river at present, and it only ran over the fall in a few places."
"In such places where the water had rolled down before, it had cut deep holes below into the rock, sometimes to the depth of two or three fathoms."
"The bed of the river, below the fall, was of rock and quite dry, there being only a channel in the middle fourteen feet broad and a fathom or somewhat more deep, through which the water passed which came over the fall."
"We saw a number of holes in the rock, below the fall, which bore a perfect resemblance to those in Sweden, which we call 'Giant's Pots' or 'Mountain Kettles'."
"They differed in size; there being large deep ones and small, shallow ones."
"We had clear uninterrupted sunshine, not a cloud above the horizon and no wind at all."
"However, close to this fall, where the water was in such a small quantity, there was a continual drizzling rain, occasioned by the vapors, which rose from the water during its fall and were carried about by the wind."
"Therefore, in coming within a musket-shot of the fall against the wind, our cloaths were wetted at once, as from a rain."
"The whirlpools, which were in the water below the fall, contained several kinds of fish; and they were caught by some people who amused themselves with angling."
"The rocks hereabouts consist of the same black stone which forms the hills about Albany."
"When exposed to the air, it is apt to shiver into horizontal flakes, as slate does."
TO BE CONTINUED ...