History of Cherry Valley From 1740 to 1898, by John Sawyer

Published: Cherry Valley, NY, Gazette Print, 1898

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No village in the United States has had so remarkable a history as Cherry Valley; nor has any played so important a part in all the various epochs of the country's history. Indeed it may be said that a careful student might trace through it the life of the country. with all its varied changes: the hardships and struggles of the colonial times; the sufferings and agonies of the revolutionary period; the trials and toils of an impoverished people commencing life over again in the infant republic; the beginning of the emigration from New England and its gradual increase until it became almost a universal exodus from the older states of the east to the new territories of the west; the building up of the villages on the great routes of this travel until they rivalled in their wealth and influence the old commercial towns of New England and eastern New York; their gradual decline through the building of the canals and railroads, which diverted from them their great sources of revenue; and following this the final destruction of their prosperity and influence by the loss of their young men, who have, in recent years, so generally sought the growing country to the west, or the large cities in the east, as offering greater opportunities for advancement. It is not, however, the fact that Cherry Valley played a part in all of these various

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epochs that makes its history remarkable, but that it played so important a part, and presents in so marked a manner the importance of the country village in the early life of the country and its great decadence in later times. For, passing by its colonial history, when as the home of the first English church and the first classical school west of the Hudson, and by reason of the prominent part it performed in the revolution, it was recognized as the leading settlement west of Schenectady, we find it for forty years after the close of that war the leading commercial center and for half a century the wealthiest and most influential village in the state west of the Hudson. But more remarkable still, although its population during this time never exceeded one thousand people, it was the home of a greater number of men of prominence and ability and of more skilled mechanics than any other place in the state, excepting only New York.

This work was originally intended to cover only the colonial and revolutionary periods, and was adapted more especially for younger readers. After that portion of it was in type it was concluded to continue it down to the present time. The author somewhat regrets that he did not write it on a broader plan, with more attention to the general influence of the place and less to local detail. Such a course would have been likely to have attracted greater attention, from the outside world, to the importance of the Cherry Valley of the past, but it would necessarily have detracted from its local interest.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER
I ....... The Early Settlement ..... 1
II ...... The Early Days of the Revolution ..... 8
III ..... Cherry Valley at the time of the Massacre ..... 14
IV ...... The Massacre ..... 22
V ....... Various Facts Connected with the Massacre ..... 31
VI ...... Final Destruction of the Settlement ..... 37
VII ..... The Re-settlement of Cherry Valley. Washington's Visit ..... 42
VIII .... Early Church Societies ..... 45
IX ...... Early Taverns ..... 50
X ....... Formation of Town and County ..... 53
XI ...... From 1795 to 1800 ..... 56
XII ..... Cherry Valley at the Beginning of the Present Century ..... 62
XIII .... Witchcraft. Slaves. Early Customs, Sports etc. ..... 69
XIV ..... Incorporation of the Village ..... 77
XV ...... From 1815 to 1825 ..... 81
XVI ..... The Men who Made Cherry Valley Famous ..... 90
XVII .... 1825 to 1835 ..... 105
XVIII ... 1835 to 1850 ..... 112
XIX ..... 1850 to 1870 ..... 120
XX ...... 1870 to 1898 ..... 130
REMINISCENCES ..... 140