The early occupation of land in the province of New York remote from the Hudson River…
(Note: Not yet edited/formatted.)
…was effected by certain colonists in order that they might
enjoy the advantage of bartering with the Indians for the skins of fur-bearing
animals in localities contiguous to the hunting and trapping grounds of the
At such places these enterprising frontiersmen were farther removed
from the observation and competition of the agents of the fur-merchants, called
by the French runners of the woods (co2i7-riers dv bois), and by the Dutch
bosk-loopcrs present who, by promises of numerous gifts and compensatory goods, had
for many years enticed the Indians to carry their beaver, otter, mink, and other
skins to the peltry dealers’ stores at Albany, Kingston, or New York.
In the ninth decade of the seventeenth century, the western part of the
territory of Orange County, New York, was. so vaguely known under the descriptive name of IMinncssinck” or the Land of Bacham v (^Minnessinck
ofle 7 Latidt van BacJuim), that a person unacquainted with the county’s
later geographical area would fail to comprehend with any clearness the situa
tion of that part of the South or Delaware River which was then regarded as
forming its western limit. As described in the act of Assembly of November
1683, erecting it, Orange County stretched from the Hudson River along
the
“
bounds of East and West Jersey,” and extended
“
westward into the
woods as far as Delaware River.” The same want of comprehension would
exist regarding the situation of the southern boundary of Orange County, for
at that time the northern limits of East Jersey were still undetermined.
As delineated on the map of New Netherland made in 1656 (page 64),
the Zondt Rivicr (the Delaware) had its rise in the country of “Afin/icssiuc/c,”
or the Land of Bacham,
“
and had represented
the Great Esopus River
(Groo/c Esopus Rivicr), as a tributary, but which, as now better known as
Esopus Creek, did not flow into the Delaware, but into the Hudson. This
frontier region, which had obtained the name of liMinnessiuc/c” (Zinc-Mines)
before the occupation by the Dutch of that part of the territory of New France, is mentioned in a letter written in Amsterdam, Holland, on April 22, 1659, by the Commissioners of the Delaware Colony to Vice-Director Jacob Alrichs, who speak of Claes de Ruyter, an early colonist, as having dwelt there with the ” Indians. We have indirectly heard that there is a great probability of minerals being discovered in New Netherland, and even some copper ore, which has come from there, has also been shown to us. In order, then, to inquire further about it, we have examined Claes de Ruyter, an old and experienced inhabitant of that country, from whom we have learned thus much, that the reported copper mine does not lie on the South River, but that a crystal mountain was situated between that colony and the Manhattans, whereof he himself had brought divers pieces and specimens ; furthermore, that the acknowledged gold mine was apparently there, for he, having kept house some time with the Indians living high up the river (“the Delaware], and about Bachom’s Land, had under stood from them that quicksilver was to be found there. Of the truth of this matter we can say nothing, but this is generally believed for a certainty, that minerals are to be had there. You are therefore hereby recommended to inquire into the matter there, and, ifpossible, to employ for that purpose the aforesaid de Ruyter, who is returning to New Netherland, in order that you may be able to ascertain the truth of the report. In such case, you are not to neglect sending us specimens, both of the ore and the other, to be tested here, which we shall then, at the proper time, anxiously expect.” l The diversion of the “peltry trade” from Kingston and Albany by the Jersey frontiersmen cultivating farms along the west and north branches of the Delaware River was regarded by Governor Thomas Dongan as highly detri mental to the interests of the fur-merchants having stores in the two places. In a report to the committee of the Lords of Trade, dated February 22, 1687, he advised the construction of a fort near the confluence of the Delaware and Neversink (Maghaghkemeck) rivers, designated on “a chorographical map of ~ the province of New York,” made in 1 779, as the site of the fort of the Jersey colony, at ” Mohockamack Fork,” where the agents of the New York fur-traders might more successfully compete with those of East Jersey for the beaver and other skins possessed by the Indians hunting and trapping along the western frontiers of Orange and Ulster counties. 3 t> 1 Holland Documents, vol. xvi., p. 80. New Yorkcolonial manuscripts, vol.ii.,p. 63. 2 A chorographical map of the province of New York, compiled from actual surveys deposited in the patent office at New York, by order of his Excellency Major-General William Tryon, by Claude Joseph Sauthier, Ksqr. London, January i, 1779. 3 Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, vol. iii.,p. 575. Documentary history of the state ofNew York. Bvo cd., vol. ii.,p. 155. OKA\(,I, COUM\, AS SHOWN ON S\ UI11 1I-.r’s .MAT Ol’ ’11IK l’KO\!.\C’E ()!• NEW YORK, IN 1779. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. 141 The hamlet of Marblctown, seven miles southwest of Kingston, was, at that time, in that locality, the farthest settlement west of the Hudson River. It was on the highway called the Mine Road, running a hundred miles or more southwesterly from Kingston to and along the Delaware River, where, near Paaquarry Flat, are still to be seen cavities suggestive of long-abandoned mines. The first New York colonist to cultivate a farm in the western section of Orange County was William Titsort, one of the inhabitants of Schenectady, who escaped from that village when it was burned by the French on the night Some of the chiefs of the Minnessinck Indians, having of February 8, 1690. made his acquaintance and learned that he was a blacksmith, and desiring the services of one to keep their guns in repair, induced him to reside in their country by giving him a quantity of land, at a place called by them Schaikacck amick, for which he obtained from them a deed, on June 3, 1700. The first person to acquire by letters-patent land lying along the Delaware River contiguous to the mouth of the Neversink River, was Captain Arent Schuyler, to whom Governor Benjamin Fletcher, on May 20, 1697, granted the right and title to ” a certain tract of land, in the Minnessinck’s country, called by the native Indians Sankhekeneck, otherwise Maghawaem ; as also of a certain parcell of meadow or vly, called by the said Indians Warinsagskmeck, situate, lyeing, and being upon a certain river called by the Indians and known by the name of Minnessincks, before a certain island called Menagnock, which is adjacent or near unto a certain tract of land called by the said natives Maofhacrhemeck.” ] Information concerning the fertility and eligibility of the last-named tract, lying north of the Delaware River and stretching along the west side of the Neversink River, having been conveyed to Thomas Swartwout and his brothers Anthony and Barnardus, Jacques Caudebecq, Pierre Guimar, Jan Tysen, and David Jamison, they entered into an agreement, in 1696, to apply as copartners for letters-patent whereby to be invested with the tenure of it. Thomas, the eldest son of Roeloff Swartwout, born inBeverswijck, probably in 1660, had married, about 1682, Lysbeth, daughter of Jacobus Janse and Josijna Gordinier. He was a highly esteemed yeoman of Ulster County, and had zealously participated in the advancement of the interests of the hamlet of Hurley, where he resided. Anthony, born in Wiltwijck and baptized there on May tr, 1664, had married, in 1695, Janetje, daughter of Jacobus Coobes. Barnardus, also born at Wiltwijck,and baptized there on April 26, 1673, was stillunmarried. 1 Book of patents in the office of the secretary of the state of New York, 7, pp. 71, 72. 142 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES Jacques Caudebecq, a native of Normandy, France, a Huguenot refugee, had settled at Kingston, about the year 1689, where, on September 1, that year, he took the oath of allegiance to King William and Queen Mary, with other inhabitants of Ulster County. On October 21, 1695, he married, in the city of New York, Margareta, daughter of Benjamin Provoost, who had been constituted one of the trustees of Kingston, on May 19, 1687, under letters patent granted by Governor Thomas Dongan. 1 Pierre Guimar, a native of Moize, in Saintonge, France, also a Huguenot refugee, son of Pierre and Anne D’Amour Guimar, had sailed from Holland in the same ship with Jacques Caudebecq, and had also settled at Kingston, where, on September r, 1689, he attested his loyalty to King William and Queen Mary by taking the oath of allegiance. On April [8, 1692, he was united in marriage, at New Paltz, to Hester, daughter of Jean and Anne D’Oyaux Hasbroucq. 2 Jan Tysen, a Dutch colonist, living at Wiltwijck as early as 1666, had mar ried, on October 15, 1668, Madeline, daughter of Matthieu and Madeline Jorisen Blanshan, from Artois, France, who had settled at Esopus in 1660. On April 30, 1699, he was holding, in Kingston, the office of a justice of the peace. 3 David Jamison, a Scotchman, residing in the city of New York, who had been appointed, on October 12, 1691, clerk of the colonial Court of Chancery, became, in 1697, deputy-secretary of the colonial government. On May 7, 1692, he had married, in the city of New York, Maria Hardenbroeck. The seven co-partners, in order to facilitate the purchase of the land from the Indian proprietors, made an agreement with certain other colonists, evi dently associated with Arent Schuyler in buying from them the tract about to be granted to him by letters-patent, to join them in indemnifying the native owners for it and the second tract. This is clearly disclosed in the following covenant : ” Be it known by these presents that, before us, the underwritten, are agreed, viz.: Thomas Swartwout and company, who have obtained a grant fromhis excellency and council to buy Maghaghkemeck ofthe Indians, and Gerrit Aertsen, Jacob Aertsen, and Conradt Elmendorf, for them| selves] and com pany, who have obtained a grant to buy Great and Little Minnessinck of the 1 The children of Jacques ois ; Rachel, baptized in Kingston, March 24, 1700; Mary, baptized in Kingston, January 24, 1703; Elizabeth, born March 22, 1705, baptized in Kingston, March 24, 1706; Pierre, born November 15, 1708. The willof Pierre Guimar, senior, is dated September 24, 1726. •!The children of Jan and Madeline Blanshan Tysen were : Margareta, baptized in Kingston, Octo ber 15, 1668, and Matthys, also baptized there, June 18, 1671. THE SWART WOUT CHRONICLES. 143 Indians from his excellency, el eel., that they both mix their grants together, and that the land that is specified in both grants, be jointly bought and paid for ; vis. :for Thomas Swartwout and company seven shares, and, for Gcrrit Aertsen and company twenty shares, and that what money has been expended in obtaining the said grants, or otherwise paid, shall in no way be brought into the common account, but all what has already been paid to the Indians by any of the said parties, on account of said land, when the Indians owned the same, it must be allowed and paid for in twenty-seven shares ; as also that Thomas Swartwout and company shall have and enjoy as a prerogative, without giving any particular satisfaction for the same, seventy-seven morgens of land out of the land of Manjoar, the Indian, but that lots shall be cast for the same, and what lot falls to the said Thomas Swartwout and company shall be the prop erty of the said Thomas Swartwout and company as soon as the land shall be bought of the Indians. In King’s Town, the third day of June, T696. ” “Henry Beekman, Johannis Wyncoop, Derik Schepmoes, William De Myer.” 1 As soon as the land was purchased, Thomas Swartwout and his co-partners obtained letters-patent for the tract called Maghaghkemeck. Inasmuch as the legal instrument comprises a wordy amplification of the subject-matter too expanded to be presented here in its entirety, an epitome of it may serve the reader for a satisfactory comprehension of its important and descriptive par ticulars : ” William the third, by the grace of God, king of England, Scotland, ffrance, and ” Ireland, defender ofthe faith, el eel. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting : ” Whereas our loving subjects Jacob Codebec, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swartwout, Barnardus Swartwout, Jan Tys, Peter Gimar, and David Jamison have by their peticon presented unto his Excellency Col1 . Benjamin fflectcher, our captain-generall and governour-in-chiefe of our province of New York, in America, el eel., prayed our grant and confirma con of a certaine quantity of land, for which they had lycence to pur chase from the Indians, at a place called Maghaghkemeck, being the quantity of twelve hundred acres, beginning at the bounds of the land called Nepenack [and extending] to a small runn of water, called by the Indians’ name As sawaghkemeck, and so alongst said run of water and the land of Mansjoor, the Indian, which request we being willing to grant, know yee, that of our spcciall 1 Laws and Acts of the General Assembly. Bradford, pp. 208, 209. 144 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. grace, ccrtainc knowledge, and mere mocon, we have given, granted, ratifyed, and confirmed, and by these presents do, for us, our heirs, and successours, give, grant, ratifyc, and confirme unto the said Jacob Codebec, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swartwout, Barnardus Swartvvout, Jan Tys, Peter Gimar, and David Jamison, the quantity of twelve hundred acres within the limites and bounds aforesaid, where most convenient for them, * * * *
[they]
yielding, rendering, and paying therefore unto us, our heirs, and successours, at our city of New Yorke, on the feast-day of the Annunciacon of our blessed Virgin Mary, for the first seven years next ensueing, twenty shillings yearly currt. money of New Yorke, and thereafter forever the annual] rent of forty shillings like money. * * * * ” In testimony whereof we have caused the great scale of our province of New Yorke aforesaid to be hereunto affixed. ” Witnesse our trusty and welbeloved Col1 . Benjamin ffletcher, captain-gen erall and governour-in-chiefe of our province o^ New Yorke and the territoryes depending thereon in America, and vice-admirall of the same, our lieut. and commander-in-chiefe of the militia and of all the forces, by sea and land, within our colony of Connecticut and of all the fforts and places of strength within the same. “Incouncil, at New Yorke, the fourteenth day of October, in the ninth year of our reigne, annoy Domini, 1697. ” ” By his excellencyes command. Ben. ffletcher. ” David Jamison, “D.Sec’ry.” 1 On dividing the land purchased from the Indians according to the agree ment of June 3, 1696, Gerrit Aertsen and company were unwilling that Thomas Swartwout and company should have, as had been stipulated, seventy-seven morgens or one hundred and fifty-four acres ” out of the land of Manjoar, the Indian,” and at the same time objected to the restriction which excluded them from occupying any other part of the purchased land except Great and Little Minnessinck. Under the pretext that the land described in the letters-patent granted the two companies was too ambiguously defined and would occasion differences between them as well as law-suits, and further, by asserting that the letters-patent of Thomas Swartwout and company had been surreptitiously obtained, they attempted to beguile the Earl of Bellamont, Governor Fletcher’s successor, and the members of the General Assembly to 1 Book of patents, in the office of the secretary of the state ofNew York. 7, pp. 167-169. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. 145 pass a billputting them in possession of a part of the land acquired by Thomas Swartwout and his associates. Having- knowledge of these undertakings, Thomas Swartwout and his co-partners succeeded in having the stipulations of the agreement of June 3, 1696, inserted in a bill which was passed by the General Assembly, on November t, 1700, entitled “An Act for [a| confirma tion of a certain agreement made by Thomas Swartwout and company of the one part and Gerrit Aertsen and company of the other part.” 1 A clause of considerable historical importance forms a part of the bill. It sets forth the enjoinment that no provision of the act nor any particular of the letters-patent granted Thomas Swartwout and his associates should be con strued to debar William Titsort, his heirs or assigns, from occupying the land given and conveyed to him by the Indians. Another tract of land contiguous to the territory granted to Thomas Swart wout and his associates and that given to Arent Schuyler was conveyed by letters-patent associates, to Matthew Ling, Ebenezer Willson, John Bridges, and their on August 28, 1704. Described as “lying and being in Orange and Ulster counties,” New York, the tract nevertheless extended into East Jersey along the east side of the Delaware River, beyond the mouth of the ” Neversink River, to the south end of Great Minnessinck Island : Beginning att a certain place in Ulster County aforesd, called [the] hunting house or Yagh YagerJ House, lying to the northeast of the land called Bashes Land [the Land of Bacham], thence to runn west by north until itt meet with the ffish killor maine branch of Delaware River, thence to runn southerly to the south end of Great Minisincks Island, thence due south to the land lately granted to the above-named John Bridges and company, and so along that patent as it runs northward and the patent of Captain John Evans and thence to the place itt first began.” From it was excepted “a certain tract of Land called by ye native Indians Sankhekeneck, otherwise Maghawaem, and a certain parcell of meadow called Warinsao-skmeck, which land and meadow containes one thou sand acres and no more, formerly granted to Arent Schuyler by patent bearing date the twentieth day of May in the yeare of our Lord one thousand six hun dred ninety and seven, and alsoe one other tract of land called Maghaghke meck, being twelve hundred acres, and beginning att the western bounds of the land called Nepenack to a small runn of water called by the Indian name Assawagkkemeck, formerly granted to Thomas Swartwout and David Jamison and others by patent bearing date the fourteenth day of October in the sd year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and ninety-seven.” 2 Itis highly probable that no part of Maghaghkemeck was occupied by any 1Laws and acts of the General Assembly, pp. 208, 209. Bradford. ~ Book of patents 7, pp. 266-270, in the office of the secretary of the state of New York. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES of the patentees 1697. 147 until after the granting of the letters-patent on October 14, Those who settled upon the tract were evidently Thomas and Anthony Swartwout, Jacques Caudebecq, and Pierre Guimar who, with the members of their families, numbered at that time nineteen souls. Anthony Swartwout having died in 1700, his widow Jannetje, married, on January 19, 1701, Hermanus Barentsen van Nijmegan (Inwegan) who, it would seem, took charge of the family’s land at Maghaghkemeck. Barnardus Swartwout did not accompany his brothers Thomas and Anthony, but re mained at Hurley until 1721, when he became a settler of Dutchess County. As delineated on a map made by Jacob Hoornbeck, and copied by Peter E. Gumaer (a descendant of Pierre Guimar), on May 9, 1854, the twelve hundred acres of the tract called Maghaghkemeck stretched along the west side of the Neversink River, and the Bashes Killfrom a point about one and one-fifth miles north of the confluence of these two streams to another point about four and eight-tenths miles south of the first point, or about three miles north of the con fluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers. The middle section of the tract was about three-fifths of a mile wide, being bounded on the east by the Neversink River. The northern section alonet» the Bashes Kill was about one-fifth of a mile wide ; the southern terminating” in an acute ano-le on the Neversink River. A controversy between the governments of East Jersey and New York soon arose regarding the location of the points on the Hudson and Delaware rivers to which the boundary line separating the two provinces extended. As related by Stickney, in his history of the Minisink region, both “agreed on a point on the Hudson River, in latitude 41 degrees, but the New York men insisted that the line should reach the Delaware at the southern extremity of what is called Big Minisink Island, and the Jerseymen as stoutly contended that it should touch the Delaware a little south of where Cochecton now stands, thus leaving a [section of] territory in dispute several miles wide at the west end and tapering to a point at the east. This included a good part of the Minisink [or MinnessinckJ region.” 1 ” ” As a large part of the territory embraced in the Minisink patent lay along the east side of the Delaware River, between the mouth of the Neversink ” River and a point opposite the south end of Big Minisink Island,” now in Sussex County, New Jersey, it is evident that the government of the province of New Yorkhad no right to grant tenure to land lying in the province ofEast Jersey. This part of the patent, says Snell, in his history of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, ” covered the two largest and most fertile 1 A history of the Minisink region. By Charles E. Stickney. 1867, p. 48. 148 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. islands of the Delaware River, with the adjoining flats along the Jersey shore ; Mashipacoug Island, lying between Carpenter’s Point [at the mouth of the Neversink River] and the Brick House, and Minisink Island lying below the Brick House. The two islands alone contain 1,000 acres of cultivated land, and together, with the shore flats and grazing lands, between the extremes named, more than 10,000 acres. ” The settlement first made [there ] was located opposite the lower end ofthe island * * * * upon the higher portion of Minisink flats, just at the foot of the ridge on the south running parallel with the river. This settlement took * * * * Johannes Westbrook settled upon one side the name of Minisink. of the small stream (forming the present boundary between the townships of Montague and Sandyston) and Daniel Westfall (said to be his son-in-law) upon the opposite bank. * * * * Others settled above and still others below ; the first settlers all placing their dwellings near the old Esopus or Mine Road. ‘ * * * * The Westbrook family was represented by three brothers, John, Cornelius, and Anthony, who located at Minisink after 1700.” “The proprietors under the Jersey government,” as Stickney further re lates, “parceled out the land in tracts to different persons, and these came on to assume possession. The Minisink people having enjoyed possession for a long time refused to agree to this [occupation of their land] and determined to maintain their claims. Recriminations and retaliations followed and a general border warfare took place. Numbers of Minisink people were taken prisoners and lodged in the jails of New Jersey, and a state of alarm and clanger pre vailed. The men went constantly armed, prepared to defend themselves to the last extremity, and keeping a constant lookout for the appearance of their med ‘ dlesome foes.” 2 Desiring to have verifiable evidence that their land lay within the bounds of the province of New York, Thomas Swartwout and his co-partners petitioned the General Assembly to take immediate action for the establishment of a boundary between New York and East Jersey. On November 1, 1700, the members of the House of Representatives collectively sent a petition to his Excellency Richard the Earl of Bellamont, governor of the province, setting forth this request of the settlers in the ” Minnessinck” valley : “Whereas, some differences do arise between the county of Orange, within this province, and the province of East- New Jersey, [we] therefore humbly pray your excellency to take into your consideration the settling of the bounds between the province and the said province of East-New Jersey.” 1 History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey. Compiled by James P. Snell. 1881, p. -?62. AHistory of the Minisink region. By Charles S. Stickney. 1867, pp. 48, 49. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. 149 Inasmuch as no boundary between the two provinces was definitely estab lished and marked by monuments until 1774, frequent contentions, as already remarked, embroiled the settlers claiming- tenure of” land lying contiguous to the mouth of the Neversink River. The same indefinite knowledge regarding the position of the boundary line between Orange and Ulster counties existed. In order to define the situation of Maghaghkemeck and that of Great and Little Minisink, the General Assem bly, in 1701, enacted that that part of Orange County should be annexed immediately to the county of Ulster until the bounds between the two counties should be settled, and that in the interval the freeholders of the three districts should cast their votes for representatives in the County of Ulster “as if they actually lived in the said county.” It may further be remarked that the first boundary line separating the two counties extended across the territory of the present town of Deerpark not far south of the village of Huguenot to a point on “the northwardmost branch” of the Delaware River, near Spar rowbush. The position of the original line is shown on Sauthier’s map, on page 140. 1 Among the names of tax-payers in Ulster County, listed on January 26, 715, are those of Thomas Swartwout, Harmanus Barentsen van Inwegen (Nijmegen), Jacques Caudebecq, Pierre Guimar, and Jacobus Swartwout of Maghaghkemeck. On the death of Thomas Swartwout, about the year 1723, Samuel, his son, took charge of the family property. When Jesijntje, his sister, married Jan van Vliet,junior, on March 11, 1725, she was given the portion which she had inherited. Barnardus, the son of Anthony Swartwout, having attained his majority, also received his portion of his deceased father’s land. As disclosed by the records of Orange County, the following persons were freeholders at Maghaghkemeck on July 7, 1728: Samuel Swartwout, Barnardus Swartwout, Jan van Vliet, junior, Harmanus Barentsen van Inwegen, Pierre Guimar, and Jacques Caudebecq. Jacobus, the third son of Thomas Swartwout, early displayed admirable evidences of courage and force of character. Before he was eighteen years of age and prior to the year 17 10, when the frontier settlements, during Queen Anne’s war (1702-13), were exposed to all the horrors of Indian cruelty and ruthlessness, he commanded as captain a company of Orange County militia. In 1715, his name and that ofhis father were enrolled as those of other mem bers of the militia company commanded by Captain Johannes Vernooy in the Ulster County regiment, of which Jacob Rutsen was colonel. His youngest brother, Samuel, is known as serving in 1738 as a corporal in the Rochester foot company of Ulster County militia, commanded by Captain Cornelius Hoorn 150 beck. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. His cousin Jacobus, the second son of Antoni Swartwout, was also distinguished for intrepidity and military ability. He, in 1738, was captain of the fourth company of foot-militia in the Orange County regiment commanded by Colonel Vincent Mathews. The strong influence he wielded over the warriors of the Wolf and the Turkey tribes of Cochecton Indians led shortly thereafter to his promotion to the majorship of the regiment. 1 Evidences of an intended descent by the French Indians upon the western borders during the winter of 1745-46, caused Governor George Clinton, on December 11, 1745, to lay before the provincial council several letters which he had received from the frontiers relating to their defence and the appar ent designs of the enemy. In the consideration of the important information contained in these communications, the provincial authorities did not fail to consequence recognize Major Swartwout’s valuable services at Maghaghkemeck, and as a passed the following resolution: “That Major Swartwout should be commended for his diligence, and be admonished to have the militia in readiness at all events and to give the governor early advice of the de signs of the enemy.” 2 The Cochecton Indians having in the fall of 1745 withdrawn themselves from Orange County to their hunting-houses west of it, Colonel Thomas De Kay, Major Jacobus Swartwout, and Ensign Coleman, in company with Adam Wisner, an interpreter, and two Indians, visited them there, on December 21, that year, in order to learn why they had removed themselves from the county where they usually traded and hunted. Their sole reason, which they frankly told, was that, having seen the settlers going about armed, they became sus picious that some harm was intended them, and had therefore betaken them selves to their hunting-houses. upon them. Colonel De Kay at once allayed their fears by informing them that Governor Clinton, apprehending a sudden descent upon the frontiers by the French and their savage allies, had ordered the settlers to go armed in order to protect themselves should the enemy come unexpectedly As an assurance of their fidelity, the pleased Indians promised to send, ifthe weather permitted, a delegation of their chiefs to Goshen to renew their former covenants of friendship and brotherhood. On January 3, 1746, this engagement was kept by them, on which day, a sachem in company with twelve or more warriors of the two tribes made their appearance in Go shen, bringing with them a belt of wampum. Having, in the presence of a number of prominent settlers, chained themselves about an hour to Colonel 1 Second annual report of the State Historian of the state of New York. Hugh Hastings, State Historian. 1897, pp. 435, 558, 559, 574, 610. 2 Abstract of the evidence in the books of the Lords of Trade relating to New York ; New York B. N., p. 174. entries. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. 151 De Kay as a token ofbeing again united to the English inbonds of amity and alliance, they gave him the belt of wampum, which he was to convey to Gov ernor Clinton.1 To the farming land at Maghaghkemeck which had descended to him from his father, Major Jacobus Swartwout, on October 28, 1741, added by purchase that inherited by his brother Roeloff. On the same day, he bought ofhis uncle Barnardus, then settled at Poughkeepsie, ” all that fulllot, number one, which fell unto him, the said Barnardus Swartwout, by the second division of the twelve hundred acres.” 1° 1737> tne Rev. Georg Wilhelm Mancius organized the first four Dutch Re ” ” formed congregations known in the valley of the Minnessinck : the Machacke mech (^Maghaghkemeck), the Menissinck (Minnessinck), the Waipeck, and the Smithfield. The first house of worship of the Machackcmcch congrega tion, a log structure, was built about a half mile east of the site of Port Jervis, in the town of Deerpark, Orange County, New York, and a half mile north east of the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers, and on the Mine Road ; that of the second congregation was built at Menissinck, about eight miles south of the Machackemech church, in East Jersey, on the Mine Road; that of the third society stood about sixteen miles farther south in East Jersey, and that of the fourth congregation southwest of the one at Walpeck, at Smith field, on the west side of the Delaware River, now in Monroe County, Penn sylvania. The Reverend Georg Wilhelm Mancius served the four congregations from 1737 to 1740, and, in June, 1741, was succeeded by the Reverend John Casparus Fryenmoet. As some ofthe settlers were unwillingto contribute to the minis ter’s salary, the following resolution was passed by the consistory of the Ma chackemech society, on August 23, T737 : ”That everyone dwelling among us requiring the services of the minister shall pay for the baptism of a child six shillings, and those who live without our bounds shall pay for the baptism of a child three shillings.” On December 6, 174 r, “it was approved and re ” solved by the consistory” of the Machackemech Church “that persons who” should desire to have their marriage recorded ” to the clerk and three shillings to the church.” ” sistory ” resolved that persons ” pay three shillings should On that day also, the con ” desiring to enter into the state of marriage should have their purpose published by the minister and be married by him, or, with the consent of the minister, by one of his majesty’s justices of the peace.” On February 4, 1745, the following appointments were made for the sacra 1New York colonial manuscripts. Clinton. 1745-1747, vol. lxxv.,p. 19. Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, vol. vi.;p. 648. 152 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. ment of the Lord’s Supper (AvondmaaC) : ” On the incoming Easter (Paasc/i dag) at Menissinck ; in June at Smithfield ; in September at Machackemech, and on Christmas (Kers-dag) at Walpeck.” On the same day it was resolved that the four congregations should severally contribute yearly £\j 10s, or collectively £yo for the minister’s salary, and one hundred schepels (seventy-five bushels) of oats for his horse. Besides providing their pastor witha suitable dwelling-house, the churches, excepting that of Smithfield, were to provide him with a sufficient quantity of firewood every year. At a consistory meeting, held at Namenack, on March 31, 1746, the boundaries of the churches of Walpeck and Menissinck, were thus established: ” On the Jersey side the church of Walpeck should ex tend to the house of Abram Kermers, and on the Pennsylvania side the church of Menissinck should extend to” the house o{Samuel Schammers.” 1 Major Jacobus Swartwout, upon a satisfactory confession of faith and life,” was received, on April 16, 1747, a member of the Reformed Church at Machack emeck. On April 21, he was elected, and, on May 10, the same year, in stalled an elder of the society. The prominent part taken by him in the controversies and contentions aris ing among the settlers of the valley of “the Minnessinck” respecting rights of tenure to lands claimed by them, although it obtained for him enviable dis tinction, was nevertheless hazardously won by indomitable persistency and a fearless disregard of many afflictive consequences. 2 On July 8, 1755, ne was commissioned a justice of the peace and thereby became an assistant judge in the inferior Court of Common Pleas. 3 He made his last willand testament on October 4, 1754, and died, on August 21,1756, on his farm, which bore the name of Sandeohquon, and to which his youngest son, Philip, ultimately fell heir. The rivalry of the English and the French for the possession of North America, inaugurated, in 1754, the French and Indian War, which for nine years familiarized the people of the provinces with frightful scenes of bloodshed and barbarity. The disaffection of different tribes of Indians previously friendly to the settlers livingalong the frontiers of the colonies frequently manifested it self in murders and massacres of a most horrifying character. The first intimation which the Minisink settlers had of the hostile spirit of the savages of that locality, as Stickney relates, “was the disappearance of the Indians from their neighborhood. Those of them who had been on the most 1 Translation of the original records of the Reformed Dutch Church at Machackemech (Dccrpark). By Rev. J. B. Ten Eyck. 1877, pp. 3, 4, 7, 8, 11. 3 New York colonial manuscripts, in the General Library of the state of New York, vol. lxxii.,p. 24; vol. lxiii.,pp. ioB-iii,113; vol. lxiv., p. 152; vol. Ixxix.,pp. 85-89; vol. lxxviii.,p. 71 ; vol. lxxxvii.,pp. 12, 141 ; vol. Ixxxix.,p. 69. l! Record of commissions, liber iii.,pp. 90, 91, inthe General Library of the state ofNew York. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. worst. 153 friendly terms with the whites were suddenly missed, and the few Indians that remained told them that they had gone to join the hostile tribes near Cochec ton and farther west. The settlers knew enough of Indian character to foresee the ordeal to which they were to be subjected and began to prepare for the The women and children were first sent to places of safety, Old Paltz, Rochester, and Wawarsing, in Ulster County, and to Goshcn, in Orange County, at all of which places the majority of them had relatives by marriage or otherwise, for they knew the fury of the Indians would be vented alike on the strong and the helpless.” 1 There were settlers likewise living in exposed localities south of Minisink whom the frontier Indians there regarded as inimical to their welfare. Anthony Swartwout, a son of Barnardus, and a nephew of Major Jacobus Swartwout, four-and-thirty years old, was cultivating a farm lying not many miles distant from the church at Walpeck, and now in Stillwater township, in Sussex County, New Jersey, and bordering upon the pond now known by the name of Swart wood Lake. His wife, Magdalena Decker, had borne him two sons and three daughters, two of whom, as willbe related, were the frightened witnesses of the killing of their parents by a party of Indians in 1755. Five savages, belonoino- to one of the neighboring tribes which had become disaffected toward the English and had withdrawn from its hunting and trap ping grounds in that part of East Jersey and had gone into Pennsylvania, se cretly returned, in 1755, to wreak their resentment upon Anthony Swartwout, Richard Hunt, and a settler, surnamed Marker, who had incurred their ill-will. Finding Richard Hunt absent from home and only his brother Thomas and a negro at his house, who had barred the windows and doors against them, the savages so terrified the two inmates by undertaking to burn the building that they speedily surrendered themselves to the wilybarbarians. Unsuspecting the presence of any hostile Indians in the neighborhood, Mrs. Swartwout, intent upon accomplishing her daily dairy-tasks, passed from the backdoor of the homestead to go to the milk-house near a runlet of water. Being seen by the Indians ambushed at the barn, she was shot and killed. Her husband, hearing the report of a gun, looked from a window of the house and saw the prostrate body of his wife and the Indians running toward it. Greatly shocked, he quickly barred the doors and windows, and withhis ride in hand stood ready to defend himself and his crying children. While holding the savages at bay between the house and barn, he exacted from them a promise that they would neither harm him nor his children should he yield himself a prisoner to them. Permitted by them to bear the lifeless 1History of the Minisink region. By Charles E. Stickney, pp. 60, 61. 154 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. form of his scalped wife within doors and lay the bloody corpse upon a bed, he and his weeping children were conducted by their captors from the house ; he going first with his wrists bound together behind his back with strong thongs of deerskin, and the sobbing” children following; him in front of the urging; savages. t) Itis said that the Indians would not have violated their pledge to himhad not a certain settler named Benjamin Springer met them, who wishing to gratify his enmity toward Anthony Swartwout, persuaded them to killhim. Therefore, as is related, the Indians tied him to a tree, tomahawked him, and left his body to the birds and beasts of prey. His two children were taken to the Indian town, Shawnee, now Plymouth, on the Susquehanna River, on the opposite side of that stream, and five miles below the site of the city of Wilkesbarre, in Pennsylvania. Itis further related that Benjamin Springer was arrested and confined in the jail of Essex County. Judge Allinson, commenting on the “act for the-trial of Benjamin Springer,” passed by the General Assembly of the province of New Jersey, October 22, 1757, authorizing his trial to take place in Morris County, ” itbeing apprehended that the incursions of the Indians and the commotions thereby occasioned rendered it difficult if not dangerous to hold a Court of ” Oyer and Terminer in Essex County, remarks: ” On the positive testimony of Swartwout’ s son, and the contradictions in the prisoner’s own story, after a full and fair hearing, at which an eminent counsellor charitably attended in his behalf, he was convicted to the satisfaction of most or all present, and was executed in Morris. He declared himself innocent of the crime, and, on the return of Thomas Hunt and the negro, who had been taken [prisoners] a few miles distant |from Anthony Swartwout’s house] by the same party of Indians that captivated Swartwout’s family (with which party, it was proved at the trial, Springer was, and that he killed Swartwout), it appearing by the declarations that they did not see Springer until they got to the Indian town, some [ were] inclined to believe he might not have been guilty. Thus, the question seemed obscured. It is, however, agreed that his trial was delib erate and impartial, and many still think his life was forfeited to the laws of * his country.” The pond, on the banks of which Anthony Swartwout was killed, in time acquired the name of Swartwood Lake, and, in 1852, the village of New Paterson, near it, and also in the township of Stillwater, in Sussex Coun ty, New Jersey, was given the name of Swartwood, in order to facilitate the 1Historyof Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey. ByJames T. Sncll, pp. 617, 618, 38. Acts of the General Assembly of the province of New Jersey from April 17, 1702, to January 14, 1776. By Samuel Allinson. Burlington, 1776, pp. 214-215. THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. 155 delivery of letters there and thereby avoid having- those directed to New Paterson go wrongly to Paterson as had frequently happened. The necessity of having defensible places ofrefuge for the settlers’ along the western frontier of New York becoming more and more apparent to the provincial authorities, Governor Charles Hardy, on January 13, 1756, trans mitted to the General Assembly a message calling its attention to the need of the frontier settlements and advising& the construction of a number of block houses along the remote borders of Orange and Ulster counties from Ma ghaghkemeck northward. At that time, Philip, the third son of Major Jacobus Swartwout, was resid ing with his wife and three small children in a log farm-house, standing on the east side of the Mine Road, immediately east of the site of the village of Huguenot, where an unused well still marks the locality of his early home. On February 23, that year, a band of depredating Indians made a sudden de scent upon the settlers at Maghaghkemeck, and left many evidences of their barbarity and rapacity to be viewed thereafter by those who had fortunately escaped massacre and captivity. Intelligence of this distressing affliction hav ing been conveyed to Governor Hardy, he, on March 2, sent to the General Assembly a message in which he particularized some of the afflictive acts of the ” savaees : t> On Tuesday last, about noon, a party consisting of thirty or forty Indians attacked and burnt the house of Philip Swartwout, in Ulster County, murdered five of the people, took a woman prisoner, and destroyed the cattle. * * * ‘”” ” Itherefore earnestly recommend to you to make provision for support ing a sufficient force to drive off the enemy, and pursue them even to the places of their residence or retreat, and thus reduce them to the necessity of desiring peace.” l Many of the sorrowful and impoverishing afflictions which the French and Indian War brought upon the people of the frontier settlements are still un chronicled, and many of the harrowing particulars which tradition long recalled to remembrance have now been forgotten. The capitulation of the city of Quebec, on September 18, 1759, an d the surrender of Montreal to the British forces before it, on September 8, 1760, finally closed the sanguinary struggle of France and England for the possession of North America.
1 English manuscripts in the General Library of the state ofNew York at Albany, vol.Ixxxii.,pp.