Page 1

The interest we all take in the memories, traditions and histories, of our ancestors, presents one of the rare cases where our desires impel us in the same direction as our duty. For, as it is a pleasure to dwell on the deeds and lives of our ancestors, so too, is it a duty we owe them to treasure up their memory and to do them honor for the noble heritance they have passed down to us.

The inhabitants of Cherry Valley have especial cause for treasuring the memories of those who first, through many trials and almost incredible hardships, worked out a home for their descendants; for the early settlers who laid the foundation of this historic little village were not alone, like most of the frontiersmen of that day, sturdy toilers and men of strictest integrity, but they were also, to an unusual degree, men of honorable birth and superior education.

Page 2

How much of the great reputation that Cherry Valley acquired in later years, is to be traced back to the direct or indirect influence of these, as it were, cultured pioneers, cannot be told. But that it was the main influence up student of the history of civilization will question.

When John Lindesay, a Scotch gentleman of good birth and some distinction, settled, in 1740, in this valley, and erected his modest house on the hill where now stands the residence of Edward Phelon, he was on the furthermost western bounds of civilization. To the east the nearest settlements were those of the early Dutch colonists, along the Mohawk, and of the Palatines in the Schoharie Valley. History records no greater act of courage than that exhibited by this family, of gentle training, voluntarily seeking a home in this cold and stormy wilderness, frequented by bands of roving Indians upon whose fidelity they could never wholly rely. That they did not miserably perish during the first winter was, however, strange to say, due to the kindness of a roving Indian, who, by chance passing through the valley, stopped at their log house and found them suffering from hunger; their provisions having proven insufficient for their sustenance during the unanticipated length of the winter. The Indian on his snow shoes made repeated trips to the Mohawk settlements for provisions to carry the family through the winter.

The following year, a party of Scotch-Irish from Londonderry, New Hampshire, brought hither their

Page 3

scanty goods and settled. With them came the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, a gentleman learned in the classics as well as in the modern Literature of that day. As was commonly the case in those early times he was not only their spiritual advisor but their temporal leader as well.

Hardly were their rude houses ready for the occupancy of the settlers before the erection of a log church and school house, combined, was begun; Arid it is a fact, of which those who pride themselves on their connection with this historic village should be as proud as of its revolutionary fame, that on the hill north of Mr. Lindesay's house was erected, in the summer of 1742. the first church west of the Hudson in which the English Language was preached, and in the winter following the first classical school west of Albany was started. The feeble beginning of that famous institution, the Cherry Valley Academy, which, at the close of the last and the beginning of the present Century, rivalled in its reputation and in the number of its students the more pretentious Colleges of Union and Columbia.

The fewness of the settlers and the smallness of their worldly goods were such that they could offer tittle in payment for the services of the pastor and teacher and he was consequently obliged to eke out his humble living by husbandry. But that his pupils might not suffer too greatly from the closing of the school, during seed time and harvest, he was wont to instruct them while engaged in his pastoral

Page 4

duties, and it is related that it was a common sight to see him following the plow, on the farm now owned by Mrs. A B. Cox, while his little class trudged along by his side, scanning their Virgil and Homer. The learning acquired under such circumstances would not be likely to be easily forgotten.

It is told that when Mr. Dunlop left Ireland be was engaged to a charming young lady, conditionally on his returning to claim her as his wife within seven years. When the seven years were nearly expired he made the long journey, from Cherry Valley to Ireland, to bring her to his frontier home. His fiancee had, however, given up all hope of ever hearing from him again, and was to be married, on the day following his arrival, to another suitor. She however, welcomed her old love with open arms. married him, and with him sought a new home in the western wilds. It is a pretty romance, and few will wish to be so uncharitable as to doubt its truth.

There were seven families in the original Londonderry party, comprising about thirty persons in all, including children. The names of the heads of five of these families,--David Ramsey, William Gault, James Campbell, Patrick Davidson and William Dickson,--have come down to us.

After the name of its founder the place had been originally called Lindesay's Bush; a name doubtless too homely to suit the somewhat refined ideas of the Rev. Mr. Dunlop, for, in the year following his arrival, it was, at his suggestion, re-christened "Cherry

Page 5

Valley." The new name being derived from the fact that wild cherries were abundant in the valley.

Little has passed down, either by manuscript or tradition, of the doings of the infant settlement during the ten years following the arrival of the Loudonderry party. Mr. Lindesay, tired of the rough life and the severity of the winters, disposed of his farm, in 1744, to a Mr. John Wells; a man of rare attainments and integrity, and possessed of a natural judicial mind. He was for many years judge and jury in all disputations that arose from time to time in the neighborhood, and after its formation was one of the Judges of Tryon County.

A Saw Mill and Grist Mill were early erected, and the cleared spaces around the cabins grew in size, but the number of the settlers remained practically the same; the occasional incomers about balancing the losses by deaths and removals. The reputation of the Rev. Mr. Dunlop's primitive but thorough school had, however, extended and a number of the leading settlers along the Mohawk were accustomed to send their sons to him for instruction. They lived with him and formed a little boarding school.

In the early fifties the little settlement received an impetus from the arrival of new settlers arid from that time up to the beginning of the Revolution its growth, if slow, was steady and constant. Thus the records show that the eight families, who composed the population of the place in 1752, had increased to forty in 1765 and at the opening of the Revolution

Page 6

to over sixty. During this time a Blacksmith Shop had been opened, a little store. or trading place. started, and a second Saw Mill erected. There were the usual Indian scares and at one time a preconcerted attack of the Indians was only prevented by the unusual vigilance of the inhabitants. The Indians were always a source of dread and fear and tile husbandman invariably took ills rifle with him when going to his work.

During the last French war the danger of attacks from the Indian allies of the French became so great that fortifications were erected and a company of Rangers, under the command of the celebrated Capt. MeKean, were stationed here. Despite the many scares the place was fortunate in escaping all Indian attacks. Occasionally, however, an unfortunate settler, living on the outskirts of the little settlement, was found dead in the woods, or beside his plow having been ruthlessly murdered by some roving band of Indians; doubtless from a distance, as the neighboring Indians were on friendly terms with the settlers.

During the several French and Indian wars the exposed condition of the settlement and, the paucity of men capable of bearing arms, prevented Cherry Valley from being largely represented in the conflicts that took place, but we read in the old family manuscripts of volunteers from here being present in several battles and it is known that at least three from Cherry Valley were with Johnson on his Lake George expedition.

Page 7

The additions to the original settlers carne mainly from the New England colonies, and, after the last French war, a number of French Canadians also took up their residence here. The former were mainly Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who naturally passed by the Dutch settlements along the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys to seek a section whose people held views more similar to their own. and where they could worship in a church of their own denomination. As a consequence the little Log Church on the hill soon became too small for its steadily growing congregation, amid in 1755 a frame church was erected on the spot where the village Cemetery is now. Around the church, as was then the custom, their little burying ground was laid out, the last resting place of the many generations that have lived and died in the years that have intervened.

Soon after the close of the last French war, additions to the settlement became more frequent but the growth of the place was somewhat neutralized by the branching out and forming of new settlements by its inhabitants. Thus we find Middlefield, Otego, Laurens, Unadilla and Harpersville settled by emigrants from Cherry Valley; all small but flourishing settlements at the outbreak of the Revolution.

Page 8

The Scotch-Irish, who composed the greater portion of the population of Cherry Valley, had naturally little love for the English, and the French Canadians, who formed a smaller part, had even less. so that it was but natural that the inhabitants of this place should be among the first to protest against the attempt of the Royalists, under the leadership of the powerful Johnson family, to commit Tryon county to the English cause. This influence effected to some degree the not less patriotic but more phlegmatic Dutch of the Mohawk Valley, but it had little effect on the independent natures of the residents of the Cherry Valley hills. where the very air seemed to breathe of freedom.

The Church at Cherry Valley was early in 17Th the place appointed for one of the first meetings to protest against this action on the part of the Tories. and the fact that it could accommodate but a small fraction of those who flocked hither from all parts of the country, shows how great and deep was the interest thus early taken in the cause of freedom.

Page 9

The foremost part that Cherry Valley took in the deliberations of Tryon County, and the influence of some of its representatives, is shown by the fact that John Moore, a resident of the place, was the delegate from Tryon County to the first Provincial Congress, --of which body he was one of the Chaplains,--and a member of the State Committee of Safety. Samuel Clyde, of Cherry Valley, was the first Chairman of the Tryon County Committee of Safety.

At the General Organization of the Tryon County Militia, on August 26th, 17Th, among the Officers appointed from Cherry Valley were: Robert Wells, First-Major ; Samuel Clyde, Adjutant and Captain, and James Cannon, John Campbell, jr., and Robert Campbell, Lieutenants. On Sept. 19th, Samuel Campbell was appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the Minute Men. It is worthy of mention, as showing the scarcity of money in those early days, that the County Committee, at the time Mr. Moore was elected a delegate to the Provincial Congress, passed a resolution that the pay of the member of that body, from Tryon County, should be "Eight Shillings in New York currency and no more."

That, though Tryon County was divided nearly equally for a time between tories and patriots, the settlement of Cherry Valley was nearly unanimous in its patriotism is clearly shown by the fact that thirty-three of its inhabitants, out of a total population of only three hundred, responded to the call to arms in 1776. Probably no section of the country,

Page 10

outside of New England, sent so large a proportion of its inhabitants to join the patriot armies. The fact is even more remarkable when we consider that this settlement was the most exposed of any in the country, not only because of its nearness to the Tory settlement to the North, but also from its danger from Indian attacks on the west.

During the early days of the revolution there was little danger from either of these sources. The flight of the Johnsons and Butlers, to Canada, prevented open hostilities on the part of the tories, and the Indians had been so long on friendly terms with the settlers of the region around Cherry Valley, that. although they had signed an alliance with the British, they hesitated to engage in hostilities against them.

The battle of Oriskany, on the 6th, of August, 1777, changed the friendly feeling, or at most quiescent hostility, of the redman into deadly hatred. Thenceforth they sought only to be revenged on the settlers of Tryon county, for the death of their brethren, who had fallen in that fierce conflict. Especially were they embittered against Cherry Valley, as the home of Col. Samuel Campbell and Major Samuel Clyde, who had not only been officers high in command in that battle, but had also been especially conspicuous for their bravery and deeds of valor.

Up to this time no fortifications had been erected in Cherry Valley since the distinction of the old

Page 11

stockade of the French and Indian wars, but the certainty that Brant, the Indian Chieftain, would sooner or later incite his warriors to take vengeance on the settlement, led the inhabitants, in the late summer of the same year, (1777), to prepare a place of refuge in case of attack. They accordingly selected the house of Col. Samuel Campbell, on account of its size and elevated position, and threw up an embankment of earth and logs, enclosing the house and barns.

Hither during the summer and fall of 1777, the inhabitants of the surrounding country gathered for safety, a sort of military discipline being maintained; no one being allowed to pass outside of the fortifications without a permit. This course was made necessary by the fact that even in this stronghold of patriotism some converts to toryism were found; doubtless influenced by the British successes in the campaigns of '76 and '77. Human nature was the same in 1776 as now, and to some the desire to be on the winning side was greater than their love of country.

It is stated in the "Annals of Tryon County" that during the early summer of 1778 a premeditated attack of the Indians under Brant was prevented by a boyish parade of the younger inhabitants, who were accustomed, in imitation of their elders, to parade in front of the fortifications with paper hats and wooden guns. The Indians lying in concealment in the woods to the southeast, mistook them for real soldiers

Page 12

and, abandoning their intention of attacking the place, moved off toward the Mohawk; stopping for the night at a point nearly opposite the old Sulphur Spring. It was here that the gallant young Lieut. Matthew Wormuth met his tragic end. Lieut. Wormuth, who was the son of a wealthy resident of the Palatine district, had ridden up from the Mohawk to inform the residents of Cherry Valley that Col. Klock with a portion of his regiment would arrive the following day. Toward evening he started to return to his home, accompanied by Peter Sitz, a bearer of dispatches. The Indians hearing them approach, concealed themselves behind a large rock, and commanded them to halt. They, however, put spurs to their horses arid endeavored to escape, but a volley from the guns of the Indians killed the horse of Sitz and wounded Lieut. Wormuth, who was at once tomahawked and scalped--the "Annals" says, by Brant himself, who had long been a personal friend, but failed to recognize him in his uniform and ever after lamented his sad mistake. Sims, a later authority, denies that Brant was himself the murderer. Sitz was captured but had the presence of mind to destroy the despatches and substitute false ones, which he also carried. The death of Lieut. Wormuth was no more tragic than that of many others but his youth, fine personal appearance and agreeable manners, attracted much attention and caused his fate to be remembered when that of others was forgotten in the excitement of those stirring times.

Page 13

During the summer, stern necessity compelling the settlers to cultivate their land, it was customary for the inhabitants to form themselves into little companies and work together; a portion standing guard while others labored.

In June of this year the neighboring hamlet of Springfield was burned by the Indians and a number of the inhabitants carried into captivity.

The inhabitants of Cherry Valley had long besought the Provincial Government for protection against Indian incursions and the matter being laid before Gen. Lafayette, on his visit to Johnstown, in the Spring of 17Th, he ordered that a Fort be erected 'it Cherry Valley, and a garrison be sent for its protection. The Fort was accordingly built during the summer. It was situated in the Cemetery, near the Church, and a stockade enclosed the two buildings. A regiment under the command of Col. Ichabod Allen, was sent from Connecticut and took possession of the Fort in the Fall. Unfortunately Col. Alden had no experience in Indian warfare and underestimated the courage and ferocity of the Indian. The mere presence of the troops he judged sufficient to intimidate the red men and refused to allow the settlers to move into the stockade, even after reports were brought to him that the Indians, under their great Chieftain, Joseph Brant, were rendezvousing on the Susquehanna; where they had been joined by a body of Tories under Capt. Walter Butler, son of that Col. John Butler, who gained such an infamous notoriety from his participation in the Wyoming Massacre.

Page 14

At the time of the Massacre the Fort and the village of Cherry Valley,--if it may be called a village, comprising as it did only h If a dozen houses and a church,--was situate(i in and around the present Cemetery at the lower end of the village and at the upper end of a valley, resembling a Roman Amphitheater in shape; being, apparently, about six miles in length by one mile in width, and surrounded on all sides by gracefully sloping, wooded hills. As a strict matter of fact the valley continues to the South. until it joins the larger valley of the Susquehanna, but it turns sharply to the right where the Westford hills rise, a mile or two below the village of Roseboom, and is so hidden from view by the hills that it appears to end with them. The hills to the North of the village over-look the Mohawk Valley; the streams on that side seeking the Ocean by way of the Mohawk, while those on the South side mingle with the waters of the Susquehanna. Some older geographers have contended that the latter river has its source in the Cherry Valley hills instead of in Otsego Lake.

Page 15

On the hill at the upper end of the valley, in a direct line from the Fort stood the log house of Col. Samuel Campbell, on the site of the residence now occupied as a summer home by his great-great-grand-children; a half mile to the east and on the same level was the house and shop of James Moore, the blacksmith of the settlement, on the lands now owned by Elisha Flint, and North of him lived a Nelson family. About the same distance to the North of Col. Campbell's was the home of his father-in-law, Matthew Cannon (disputed); while at an equal distance to the West, was the home of John Campbell, now the summer home of the writer. The present Jackson Millson farm was then occupied by James Campbell.

On the road to the West, leading to Springfield. lived the Rev. Samuel Dunlop at the foot of Livingston's Glen, on the lands of Mrs A. B. Cox. There is a tradition that further up the Glen there was a sort of flax or carding mill, in which lived the family of the owner, whose name is not given. Following the Springfield road: the McClellans occupied the present Chauncey Steenburgh farm; James and William Campbell the Fred Blumenstock farm; the Coonrads, the farm now owned by Richard Bierman; the Culleys the farm now occupied by C. W. Sherman and the Shanklands the Elijah Bush farm; Cape. M'Kean lived on the James Horton place and had the M'Kowns as neighbors. The Wiggy Willsons, so called, from the fact that the head of the family

Page 16

wore a wig, to distinguish them from the other Willson family, lived in Irish Hollow.

The Wells lived on a knoll about a third of a mile South of the Fort, on the present Phelon farm, and on the hill to the West, on the farm now owned by a descendant, Capt. James D. Clyde, was the home of Major Clyde. Further on were the McKellips on the present James Wikoff farm. Down the valley to the South of the Wells lived the Gaults on the Frank Campbell farm and the Dicksons on the present Mrs. Geo. Head farm. On the opposite side of the valley, on the farm now occupied by a descendant, Louis G. Willson, lived John and James Willson, and South of them the Scotts, on the Wikoff farm.

Nearly opposite the Fort, on the East side of the valley, lived the Thompsons, on the knoll near the Sulphur Spring; further North, John Foster, on the farm now owned by E. L. Hinckley. Near the present Reservoir was the house and Saw Mill of Hugh Mitchell and, beyond, on the Marks farm, lived Patrick Davidson. Still further North, on the Dewitt C. Campbell farm, was the house of a family named Coons. John Moore, tradition says, lived on the Elisha Moore farm a little over two miles East of the village, but it seems more probable that he should have erected his house on the hill to the West, over-looking the Mohawk Valley, now owned by Wm. H. Waldron.

A further list might be given but this is sufficient

Page 17

to show the limits of the Massacre. It will be seen that the limits of what was known as the Cherry Valley settlement were, on the West and South, almost identical with the boundaries of the present town of Cherry Valley in those directions. To the East and North the boundaries were not much different than at present, but the Indians either did not reach the more distant houses, or the owners had sufficient warning so that they escaped to the Mohawk settlements.

At the time of the Massacre most of the male inhabitants of Cherry Valley, over the age of sixteen, were serving in the Continental Army, at distant points. At first thought it seems strange that the men who had lived all their lives among the indians, and knew all their wiles and strategems, and were thoroughly acquainted with their methods of warfare, should have been sent to the main armies and men unacquainted with the ways of the Indian be sent to protect a frontier settlement. It can only be explained on the theory that experience had shown that when men were left to protect their home settlements, their zeal for the cause of patriotism was likely to be lost sight of in their desire to look first after their own interests and the improvement of their farms and material prospects. In the case of Cherry Valley it was a sad mistake. Had such men as Capt. M'Kean, Col. Campbell and Col. Clyde been at home, it is safe to say, the Indians would not have found the settlement so unprepared, and

Page 18

that many of the lives lost in that horrible butchery would have been saved.

Among the men who, by their ability, prominence, or zeal for the cause of patriotism, gave honor to Cherry Valley during the Revolutionary period, the first place must be given to the Rev. Samuel Dunlop. by reason of his age, great learning and the position he had so long occupied in the settlement. His great age prevented him from taking active part in the conflict but his advice was sought by all on matters pertaining to the war, and the patriotism displayed by the inhabitants of this section was largely due to his influence.

John Moore was the most prominent resident of the place during this period, though not distinguished as a soldier, owing to his lameness. He was a delegate to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth Provincial Congresses; a member of the State Committee of Safety, and several times a Member of Assembly.

Capt. M'Kean, though not an educated man, was one of the leading men of the settlement by reason of his natural abilities and physical strength and endurance. In such times physique and agility were quite as important as mental training, and indeed were likely to give the possessor greater prominence. M'Kean was accounted one of the most skillful Indian fighters in the country. He had command of a company of Rangers in the French war, and also during the Revolution. During the war he was

Page 19

raised to the rank of Major. He was killed in the battle of Durlock, near Sharon Springs, in the summer of 1781.

Samuel Clyde, who was raised to the rank of Col., early in 1778, was one of the most prominent men and active patriots of the settlement. It is claimed that, after the death of Gen. Herkimer, the Officers wished to elect him Brigadier General in the place of Herkimer, but that he declined, on the ground that his advancement over the heads of Officers of higher rank, would cause jealousies which would be injurious to the American cause. The failure to appoint a successor to Gen. Herkimer is said to have been due to this refusal on the part of Mr. Clyde, who was then a Major. Col Clyde was a member of the State Assembly in 1777-8, and Sheriff of Montgomery County in 1785-9.

Col. Samuel Campbell was one of the leaders of the settlement in all matters--social, religious, political and military. He was a member of the Tryon County Committee of Safety and a Col. of the Tryon County Minute Men. His grand-son, the late Judge W. W. Campbell, author of the "Annals of Tryon County," states that as the highest Officer left in command, he led off the troops after the Battle of Oriskany. Col. Campbell was the intimate friend of Gov. Clinton, and numbered among his friends most of the public men of the North. As late as 1802 he was a member of Assembly from Tryon County.

James and John Willson were among the leading

Page 20

and most influential residents. The Rev. Mr. Swinnerton, in his "Historical Sketch of the Presbyterian Church of Cherry Valley," states that the former was, in 1789, High Sheriff of Albany County, which then included all this part of the country. He came here first in that year, as a surveyor, in company with Mr. Lindesay, and later on settled here. He was Commissary for the regiment stationed in the Fort.

The Wells were the social leaders of this part of the Country. John Wells, who died just previous to the Revolution, was a King's Magistrate and his son Robert Wells, was a Major in the Tryon County Militia. The entire Wells family were killed in the Massacre, except a son who was in Schenectady at the time. The latter was afterwards the famous New York lawyer--John Wells.

James Cannon, although a young man, was a very active patriot and afterwards became a man of considerable importance in Otsego County, holding several County offices.

Hugh Mitchell and Thomas Shankland, though men of inferior education and social position, were nevertheless, by reason of their activity and patriotism, men of some condsideration in the settlement. The former was, in 1775, a member of the Schenectady Committee of Safety. Thomas Spencer, the Indian interpreter, was also for a time a resident of Cherry Valley. He rendered valuable services to the Americans during the Revolution.

Page 21

There were a number of others who, by reason of their activity in the cause of Liberty, are worthy of mention, but the above list. comprises those who might be termed the "leading men" in the settlement. It is a remarkable list for a little frontier settlement of three hundred people. Not alone because of the prominence of those mentioned, in the affairs of the western part of the Province, but also for the reason that so many of them were men of excellent social standing and superior education. To the latter facts the former was doubtless due. The Dutch of the Mohawk Valley though an excellent, sturdy and honest people, were not, as a rule, an educated class, and they readily yielded precedence to the brighter and more cultivated intellects of the Cherry Valley leaders, in their councils and deliberations, notwithstanding the fact that each district was in military matters very tenacious of its rights.

It is interesting in this connection to note that many of the men who were the most prominent, during the Revolution and the years following, in the affairs of the Mohawk Valley, received their early education at Rev. Mr. Dunlop's school in Cherry Valley. The most notable of these was John Frey, for many years the most prominent resident of the Valley.

Page 22

The morning of the 11th of November, 1778, found the people lulled into fancied security. The positive assurances of Col. Alden that no attack was intended, his stationing outposts, as he asserted, not in anticipation of danger but to quiet the apprehensions of the citizens, the fact that he and several of his command slept outside the Fort, had removed the fears entertained, during the summer and fall, of an attack upon the settlement. Who can tell the shock of the awakening from this fancied security! Soon after daylight a horseman from Beaverdam rode in hot haste into the village, saying he had been fired upon by Indians. Too late Col. Alden repented of his over-confidence. His scouts and outposts had shared in his confidence of safety and in their consequent carelessness had been captured by the approaching forces.

Hard upon the heels of the rider came Butler and Brant with a savage army, twice the number of all the men, women and children in the neighborhood.

Page 23

On they came in that cold, drizzly, November morning, bringing mutilation and death, or a yet more to be dreaded captivity to the peaceful, innocent inhabitants of the little Valley. There was not time either for citizens or soldiers to reach the Fort. Col. Alden, who was at the house of Mr. Wells, and whose over-confidence was the cause of the Massacre, hastened toward his command. He was hotly pursued by an Indian, who called upon him to stop. The order not being obeyed, the savage threw his tomahawk which hit the Colonel in the head, and this put him in the power of his dusky pursuer. He was killed and scalped.

Meanwhile the bloody work had commenced in all parts of the little settlement. Many of the soldiers were either quartered among the citizens or were making them friendly visita Sixteen of them fell beneath the murderous tomahawk and fourteen were taken prisoners. Men, women, and children, were killed indiscriminately or were taken prisoners, according to the mood of the Indian or the yet more barbarous Tories. The Indian war whoop was heard in every direction, mingled with the screams of the affrighted and the cries and shrieks of the wounded and dying.

Here a husband and father was killed while endeavoring to protect his wife and children. There a mother was tomahawked while striving to guard her helpless offspring. Children's brains were knocked out before the eyes of agonized parents. Wives

Page 24

were killed while their husbands stood bound in the hands of the captors. A few reached the Fort; some tied to the woods, preferring the chances of death by cold or starvation rather than certain destruction or capture at the hands of their barbarous enemies. In a few hours the work of destruction and desolation was complete. What was at sunrise a fair and flourishing settlement, with comfortable houses, well filled barns and lowing herds, was at sunset a homeless waste, with only here and there a house, while amid the smouldering embers of the burned buildings were found the charred bones of the victims of the unholy massacre. The house of Mr. Well's was among the first attacked, the village having been entered at that point. The family were engaged in their morning devotions when the Indians entered the house. Mr. Wells was tomahawked while offering supplications at the throne of Grace. The entire family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Wells, a brother and sister, three children and three domestics, were killed. One daughter, especially beloved for her kindness of heart and many christian graces, having escaped from the house was pursued by an Indian who, as he approached her, raised his tomahawk. She begged him, in the Indian language, to spare her life. A tory, who had been a servant in her father's family, and who knew her amiable qualities, stepped between her and the savage, and asked him to spare her life, claiming she was his sister. The Indian pushed him roughly

Page 25

aside and buried his hatchet in the head of the innocent and pure hearted girl. One representative of the family was left, a boy, who was at school in Schenectady. He ultimately became a prominent lawyer in New York city One of his descendants was present at the unveiling cf the monument, erected to the memory of the victims at the Centennial of the Massacre in 1878.

The home of Rev. Mr. Dunlop, the venerable and beloved minister of the settlement, was attacked.-- His life was spared through the influence of Little Aaron, an Indian Chief, who had attended Mr. Wheelock's school in Lebanon. Mrs. Dunlop was killed and mutilated in his presence. He was taken prisoner, but was not retained. With a daughter he went to New Jersey, where he died the following year; never having recovered from the effects of the awful scenes through which he passed at the Massacre.

The home of Mr. Mitchell was the scene of great barbarity. He was himself not in the house when the attack was made, though in sight of it. Seeing the impossibility of aiding his family, and hoping that his wife and children would be spared, he concealed himself until the party left the house. He returned immediately upon their leaving but it was to find Mrs. Mitchell and three children dead and bathed in their own blood. A fourth child was not quite dead,--a little girl ten or twelve years of age. Taking her up tenderly he was endeavoring to restore

Page 26

her to consciousness when he saw another party approaching the house. He again concealed himself and from his place of concealment he saw a white man, Newberry by name, cleave with his hatchet the head of his little daughter Newberry was hung, at Canajoharie, the following summer; Mr. Mitchell's testimony having much to do with his conviction.

The Dickson's lived on a knoll about two miles below the Fort. Hearing the Indians approach Mrs. Dickson and her children climbed the precipitous hill back of their house and concealed themselves in the woods. Some time after the Indians had, apparently, all gone by, Mrs. Dickson, cautioning her children to remain in concealment, returned to the house in search of food. She was at once seized and killed by a party of Indians who had remained behind as an ambuscade. The children lay in hiding all that day and the following night. The next morning the eldest child crept to the brink of the hill and found the Indians encamped a little below their home. One of the first sights she saw was a tall pole stuck in the ground, on which were hung a large number of human scalps and conspicious over the rest was one of long fiery red hair which she knew at once had belonged to her mother. Later in the day a scouting party brought the motherless children into the Fort.

The first person killed in the Massacre was James Gault, one of the original settlers. His house was

Page 27

half a mile North of the Dicksons and was, with that exception, the first house in the settlement in that direction. They had no notice of the approach of the Indians and the entire family was captured. Mr. Gault was at once slain. The other members of the family were only retained in captivity a day or two.

Col. Samuel Campbell was from home at the time of the attack. On his return he found neither mother, wife nor children. Later he learned that Mrs. Campbell and four children had been taken prisoners. When the house was attacked it had been vigorously defended by her father, Mr. Cannon. He was finally wounded and the family captured, with the exception of one child, who was concealed by the negro nurse.

Among those who escaped captivity was the family of Col. Clyde. The Colonel was not at home, Mrs. Clyde, having learned of the attack, fled with her seven children and a negro lad, from the house before the arrival of the Indians and Tories. With the aid of the lad she succeeded in keeping the children quiet in their concealment, although the savages passed within a few feet of their hiding place. She was taKen into the Fort the following morning, as was also a daughter, ten years of age, who was seperated from her when they fled from the house.

A story is related of the escape of a family living in the Fulling mill in Livingston's Glen, which has in it a touch of humor, the only break in the record

Page 28

of the sad and awful horrors of the Massacre. Hearing the Indian outcries the mother hurried her children up the bank, on the side of the Glen. Telling them to conceal themselves in the bushes and cautioning them under no circumstances to answer any calls, no matter by whom given, she sought another hiding place and eventually reached the Fort without her children. The following morning a scouting party tried to find the children, but no answer was returned to their calls and shouts, and finally, discouraged, they sent a party after the mother. She had no better success. In vain she called them again and again. There was no response. Heart broken in the belief that the Indians had captured them she was about to return to the Fort when one of the soldiers discovered them huddled together, in fear and trembling, in a dense thicket of brush, cold and hungry, but unharmed.

As morning drew on, the prisoners were assembled together and commenced their weary march down the valley, in a pitiless November storm. They encamped about two miles from the village and, after a sleepless night, upon the dismal morning of the twelfth, again, started in their doleful way. Mrs. Cannon, on account of her age and otherwise enfeebled condition, not being able to keep up with the party, was killed and left by the wayside. A sad day's march and another sorrowful night, and then came the joyful announcement that the women and children were to be sent back, with the exception of

Page 29

he families of John Moore and Samuel Campbell, whose prominence was such that their families were carried into a long and severe captivity. An exchange was not made until near the close of the war. Among the captives was the late James Campbell. then a boy of five or six years, who died about 1870.

The Fort was attacked upon the 11th, but the assailants were repulsed. An attack was again made on the 12th, but wisely heeding the remonstrance of the cannon of the garrison the attacking party soon retired and soon after departed down the valley. Two hours after they had gone a company of Continental troops under command of Col. James Gordon, accompanied by a regiment of the Mohawk Militia under Col. Klock, arrived at the Fort, having been notified by some of the fugitives of the attack on the settlement. They were too late to do more than help in collecting the fugitives hidden in the woods and assist in burying the dead.

The charred and mutilated remains of those who had perished were collected and consigned to a common grave in the village cemetery. It was decided to abandon the settlement in which nothing was left except the Fort, the Church, and here and there a house. The cattle had been killed or driven away; the grain burned, and the vegetables destroyed by fire or frost. Most of those who survived the Massacre wended their way to the Valley of the Mohawk, where they remained until the close of the war. The Fort was occupied until the following

Page 30

summer. when the Regiment was ordered to join Clinton in the Sullivan expedition.

Page 31

The number of the Indians and Tories engaged in the Massacre at Cherry Valley has been variously estimated at from seven to eight hundred. Campbell in his "Annals" places the number at seven hundred, composed of five hundred Indians and two hundred Rangers. Another authority states that the force was about equally divided between Indians and Tories, while still another states that there were four hundred Tories engaged in the attack. As none of the authorities place the number at more than eight, or less than seven hundred, it may safely be assumed that the force numbered somewhat over seven hundred.

The circumstances leading to the attack, as given in the Annals, were as follows: Capt. Walter Butler was taken prisoner while on a visit to Tryon county, in the summer of 1775, and confined in the Albany goal. Pretending sickness, he was transferred to a private house from which he effected his escape and joined his father at Niagara. Here he procured command of a part of the regiment known as "Butler's

Page 32

Rangers" together with permission to employ the Indian forces under Brant. Burning with a desire for vengeance he at once started for Cherry Valley. On his way he met Brant who was returning to winter quarters at Niagara. The latter reluctantly consented to accompany him, Campbell states, at displeasure of being placed under the command of Butler. Others take the more charitable view that, knowing the vindictive spirit with which Butler was animated, he was fearful that the outrages which would be committed would sully his reputation for humanity, of which he was very tenacious. Strange as it may seem to the majority of people who are woefully ignorant of the true character of this remarkable man, it was doubtless fortunate for the inhabitants of Cherry Valley that he finally consented to join his forces with those of Butler. His whole effort during the Massacre seems to have been directed to protecting the women and children so far as he had the power. It is known that he endeavored, by taking a short cut, to reach the house of Mr. Wells in advance of the Senecas, the most bloodthirsty of the Indians, and to whom most of the barbarities of the Massacre are to be traced, in order that he might protect them. Unfortunately he was delayed in crossing a large plowed field and arrived too late to save the lives of this very estimable family. Another act, showing his humanity, is related in the 'Annals': "In a house which he entered, he found a women

Page 33

engaged in her usual business. "Are you thus engaged, while all your neighbors are murdered around you?" said Brant. "We are king's people," she replied. "That plea will not avail you to-day. They have murdered Mr. Wells' family, who are as dear to me as my own." "There is one Joseph Brant; if he is with the Indians he will save us." "I am Joseph Brant; but I have not the command, and I know not that I can save you; but I will do what is in my power." While speaking, several Senecas were observed approaching the house. "Get into bed and feign yourself sick," said Brant hastily.

When the Senecas came in, he told them there were no persons there, but a sick women and her children, and besought them to leave the house; which after a short conversation, they accordingly did. As soon as they were out of sight, Brant went to the end of the house, and gave a long shrill yell; soon after, a small band of Mohawks were seen crossing the adjoining field with great speed. As they came up, he addressed them--"Where is your paint? here, put my mark upon this woman and her children." As soon as it was done, he added, "You are now probably safe." She was not again molested.

Brant's greatest act of mercy was in securing the return, to their homes, of the women and children captured at the time of the Massacre. That he did not also secure the release of the Campbell and Moore families was, doubtless, owing to the fact that Walter Butler insisted on retaining them in order

Page 34

to obtain the release of his wife, who was held captive by the authorities of Tryon county, by effecting an exchange.

The number killed in the Massacre is given at forty-eight, of which sixteen were soldiers of the garrison. The captives taken, has been variously estimated at from thirty to forty. The latter were all released the second day, and returned to their homes, with the exception of Mrs. Samuel Campbell and four children, Mrs. John Moore and three daughters, Mr. Cannon, several officers and men. Among the officers captured, was Lieut. Col. Stacey, against whom Molly Brant had, for some unknown reason, a deadly hostility. In order to bring about his death, she resorted to the Indian method of dreaming. She informed Col. Butler that she dreamed she had the Yankee's head, and that she and the Indians were kicking it about the Fort. Col. Butler ordered a small keg of rum to be painted and given to her. This, for a short time appeased her, but she dreamed the second time that she had the Yankee's head, with his hat on. Col. Butler ordered another keg of rum to be given her, then told her, decidedly, that Col. Stacey should not be given up to the Indians. Col. Stacey was afterwards exchanged.

The prisoners were taken to Kanedaseago, Mrs. Campbell carrying a child of eighteen months in her arms, the entire distance. Here the families were separated, the several members being adopted into

Page 35

different Indian families. Mrs. Campbell was detained at Kanedaseago about, a year and then removed to Niagara. Arrangements having been completed for her exchange her children were again gathered together, with the exception of one boy of six or seven years. Later Mrs. Campbell found him awaiting her at Montreal, whither she was sent with her family. He had entirely forgotten his native tongue but spoke the Indian language fluently.

At about the same time, Mrs. Moore and her children were exchanged and returned to Cherry Valley, with the exception of one daughter, Jane, who had, not long after her arrival at Niagara, married a Capt. Powell, an English officer of excellent reputation, with whom she remained in Canada.

Sims, in his "Frontiersmen," relates the following anecdote, giving Brant himself as the authority:

Among those captured at Cherry Valley was a man named Vrooman, with whom Brant was acquainted. Desiring to aid him in escaping the latter, when the party was a few miles from the settlement, sent Vrooman back, about two miles, after a few strips of white bark, expecting that he would take advantage of the opportunity and escape to the Fort. Greatly to Brant's surprise and disgust, in a couple of hours, Vrooman came panting back, bringing with him the bark.

Col. John Butler, naturally sensitive of the stigma which attached to the memory of his son, by reason of the inhumanities practiced at the time of the

Page 36

Massacre, claimed that Brant's exhibition of humanity was prompted by a desire to cast discredit on Walter Butler's humanity. Brant always strenuously denied this, and pointed to his conduct at other places as evidence that he warred neither on women nor children,

Page 37

Although the greater part of the inhabitants of Cherry Valley sought more protected places of residence, immediately after the Massacre. a few hardy settlers still clung to their homes, doubtless in the belief that there was so little in the way of plunder left to repay them that the Indians would not make another attack, or perhaps, in this poverty. dreading more the seeking of new homes among a strange people than the chance of an attack from the Indians.

Only two incidents of especial moment occurred during the early winter following the Massacre. The first was the killing, by the Indians, of John Thompson, a son of Alexander Thompson, a resident of Cherry Valley, who had fled to the Mohawk at the time of the Massacre. Young Thompson, who was a promising youth of about twenty, had started to ride up from the Mohawk with a party of young men, to visit his former home. When at almost the identical spot at which Lieut. Wormuth (the early spelling of this name seems to have been Wormwood)

Page 38

was slain, they were fired upon by a party of Indians and Thompson was instantly killed. The remainder of the party escaped.

The other incident which occasioned considerable talk at the time, was the hanging of Wiggy Willson. Willson's sympathies were known to be with the tories and he was suspected by the settlers of acting as a spy on the settlement. At about the time of the killing of young Thompson, and perhaps in consequence of that act, the garrison became suspicious that the Indians contemplated another attack on the settlement. It was thought that Wiggy Willson might be able to give information regarding the intentions of the Indians. Accordingly a party, composed of settlers and soldiers, visited him and demanded that he should inform them as to the intentions of his red friends. Unfortunately for himself he could not give the desired information; doubtless for the reason that he was as ignorant of the matter as his neighbors. The latter had, however, little faith in Wiggy's sincerity, and, believing that a little "moral suasion" was needed, produced a rope and in a moment he was swinging from a convenient appletree. Leaving him thus suspended a sufficient length of time to convince him of their earnestness, and to give him a fair idea of the unpleasantness of that means of ending life, he was let down to the ground. The shock had however added neither to his knowledge nor imagination and he was again suspended in the air. This time he was

Page 39

allowed to hang so long that it was only after much labor that his blood was started in circulation. Frightened at their narrow escape from committing murder the settlers took a hasty departure, leaving the rope with Wiggy alike as a warning and a memento. The episode created a good deal of unfavorable comment at the time but it completely cured Wiggy of his tory proclivities.

Brant, when some time after lie heard of a reflection made on his cruelty, by a resident of Cherry Valley, retorted that "he had never himself made war on women or children, nor," he added with emphasis "hanged a neighbor on suspicion."

John Foster was another resident whose Toryism was more pronounced than that of Wiggy Willson. Brant himself visited him the summer preceeding the Massacre and there is little doubt but that he was in constant communication with the Indian and Tory leaders. It seems somewhat singular but apparently after the war all ill feeling between the patriots and the tories appears to have been dropped, so far at least as this settlement was concerned, Foster continued to live here many years after the close of war and was always well treated. In fact "Old Jacky Foster" became quite popular during his later years. Foster and Willson were both illiterate men.

During the following summer occured the remarkable defence and escape of Robert Shankland, of which all the Border Histories of New York speak.

Page 40

Mr. Shankland, having taken his family to the Mohawk after the Massacre, returned the following summer with his son, a boy of about 14 years, to harvest his crops. He was awakened one night by a pounding on the door of his log cabin. Getting up he found that the Indians were trying to chop through the door with their tomahawks. Taking his spear in his hand he suddenly opened the door and charged on the Indians. Surprised at the suddenness of the unexpected attack they retreated a few feet, followed by Mr. Shankland, who, in driving his spear at one of them, struck it in a log so hard that he broke the handle in trying to pull it out. Stooping down he grasped the blade, and wrenching it from the log, returned to the house without a shot being fired at him. Awakening his son he took his guns and began returning the fire which the Indians now commenced on the house, the boy loading as he fired. Despairing of accomplishing anything by this method of warfare, the Indians gathered a quantity of inflammable material, and placing it against the side of the cabin, fired it.--During the excitement attendant upon this the boy attempted to escape from the house but was captured by the Indians. He was some time afterwards released. When be grew to manhood he moved to Cooperstown and became a person of considerable importance, having been a National Elector in 1808.

Mr. Shankland kept up his firing on the Indians, until the heat became too great for him to remain

Page 41

longer in the burning building, when he bethought himself of a cellar door close up to which grew a field of hemp. Creeping through this he was fortunate enough to escape through the hemp unperceived by the Indians, who continued dancing, yelling and shooting around the house until it was burned to the ground. Then they continued on their way, happy in the thought that the bones of the supposed victim were buried in the ashes of his dwelling.

The peace of the settlement was undisturbed during the following year and confidence was beginning to return to the settlers, when, without warning, on the 24th. of April, 1780, a party of seventy-nine Indians and two tories descended on the ill-fated settlement. Eight of the settlers were killed and fourteen carried into captivity, and the settlement was this time completely wiped out of existance; the Fort, church and the few buildings left after the first incursion being burned to the ground. Thus in a few hours were the results of the labors and struggles of nearly forty years destroyed; the valley returned again into the undisputed possession of the beasts and the birds, and Cherry Valley, a few years before, the largest and most prominent of the Frontier settlements of New York, was but a name.

Page 42

The war was not fairly ended before the inhabitants, who had been scattered during the war, began to re-seek their old homes. It was truly a sad returning. No vestige of their once populous and flourishing settlement was left. Even the ruined foundations of their buildings were concealed amid the berry bushes and alders, which grew luxuriantly in the ground enriched by the ashes from their burned dwellings. The fields, once cleared with great labor, were covered over with sumach and poplar, intermingled with cherry and maple; while the fences, marking the boundaries of their farms, or forming enclosures for their cattle, had been either burned by the Indians, destroyed by roving beasts, or rotted by the elements. The settlers who, returning from their grand struggle for liberty, poor in worldly goods and broken in health, laid the second foundations of Cherry Valley had need of even braver hearts and more stern determination than those who, forty years before, had laid the original

Page 43

foundations. Their trials during the Revolution had fitted them for the task and they bravely faced the labors and hardships which awaited them. The struggle though hard was not long. So6n after peace was declared that great exodus from the Eastern States to the vast, and then unknown, West, which has continued uninterruptedly from that day to this, was begun. Lying on the main routes between the two sections, Cherry Valley, alike by the beauty of its scenery. its former fame, and the reputation of its inhabitants, attracted many of the emigrants and in a few years it was again the largest settlement south and west of the Mohawk.

In October, 1783, the settlement was honored with a visit from "the Father of his Country." Gen. Washington, accompanied by Gens. Clinton and Hand, and a number of other military officers and aides, rode up from Albany, by way of the Mohawk Valley, stopping to dine with Col. Samuel Clyde, then in command of the Fort at Canajoharie, on the 12th, and arriving at Cherry Valley the same afternoon. The distinguished party was entertained by Col. Samuel Campbell, at his newly re-built log cabin, until the following day, when they visited Otsego Lake; returning to the Mohawk by the old Continental road.

It is related in tradition that a reception was given in honor of the party, the entire settlement gathering in the main room of the cabin, and that Washington and his companions sat up until well into the

Page 44

morning, listening to the wild border ta1es vividly related by the bolder among the settlers. And we are told that Robert Shankland, standing in the middle of the room, "fought his great battle o'er," with all the earnestness and zeal that characterized the real fight.

Page 45

As their fathers, when they settled in this wilderness, whose virgin beauty had never been marred by human hands, after they had builded their humble homes, turned their thoughts towards the erection of a House to God, so the exiles returning to the settlement whose every hill and dale showed the desolating marks of human barbarity, having on the ruins of their former homes erected again their rude dwellings, places for their temporal shelter, turned their thoughts toward their spiritual welfare. On the 5th of October, 1785, at a meeting of the "ancient inhabitants,” for so the call reads, the Presbyterian Society was re-organized and Col. Samuel Clyde, John Campbell, jr., and James Willson were duly elected Trustees thereof. The names of the electors voting were as follows: Robert Shankland, Wm. Thompson, Samuel Ferguson, James Moore, jr., John Campbell, jr., Hugh Mitchell, Wm. Gault, James Cannon, Samuel Campbell, jr., Samuel Clyde, Samuel Campbell, Wm. Dickson, James Dickson, Daniel McCollum, John McKellip, Israel Wilson, Luther Rich, James Wilson, Thomas Whitaker, Benjamin Dickson and John Dunlap.

Page 46

In this list we find but two new names. The others are all those of pre-Revolutionary settlers. The two new residents voting were Thomas Whiticar and Luther Rich. The latter was a wealthy and prominent citizen and represented Otsego County in the Legislature for many years, both as Assemblyman and Senator. The list is interesting as showing that the great influx from the East had just commenced. It was, however, very rapid from this time onward, for four years later we find the old residents far outnumbered by the new comers.

Though for several years after the re-organization of the Presbyterian Society no regular Pastor was stationed here, we learn, in various ways, that the Gospel was preached at irregular intervals by visiting ministers, mainly of the Presbyterian faith, although the inhabitants, the majority of whom were of that denomination, showed their freedom from bigotry, by freely attending services held by ministers of other denominations.

As early as 1787 we find the Rev. Mr. Russell, an Episcopal clergyman, of Connecticut, making the long journey from that State to Cherry Valley, at stated intervals, and here expounding the word of God alike to Episcopalian and Presbyterian. He continued making these trips until 1794, and the records are still extant of a number of marriages solemnized by him during that time. Whether, in view of the fact that the place was not during the decade from 1795 to 1805, sufficiently populous and

Page 47

wealthy to support two ministers, there was a friendly agreement between the Episcopalians and Presbyterians to unite, or whether it was a case of "the survival of the fitest," or in plainer English of the stronger, does not appear; but that one or the other was the case is apparent from the following facts: During the time the Rev. Mr. Russell held Episcopal services there was no Presbyterian minister stationed here. Following the discontinuence of Mr. Russell's visit in 1794-5 the Presbyterians secured the regular services of the Rev. Eliphalet Nott, who continued to act as their Pastor until 1798; about the time that the celebrated Father Nash began to hold Episcopal services here. The latter continued his labors in his field until 1806, during which time the Presbyterians were without minister, except for a brief period in 1803-4.--After that time the Presbyterians evidently became again the controlling factor in the religion of the town for in 1806 the Episcopalian society went out of corporate existance, while the Presbyterians continued to grow and flourish.

The Episcopalians seem to have been organized into a regular society as early as 1797, but it was not regularly incorporated until 1803, when it was duly incorporated under the title of "Trinity Episcopal Church." The Wardens and Vestrymen elected at that time were as follows: Ephraim Hudson and Elijah Holt, Wardens; Benjamin Gilbert, James Scott, John Dutcher, John Walton, John Marshall and Cy-

Page 48

venus Stoddard, Vestrymen. Regular services were discontinued in 1806 but, as will appear later, it is probable that the corporation did not go out of legal existence until the organization of the present Society.

At some time between 1786 and 1790 the Presbyterians erected a Meeting House to supply the place of the frame Church destroyed at the time of the Massacre. At just what time the erection of this church edifice was begun is not known, nor when it was completed, but as the early Geographical Cyclopedias in speaking of Cherry Valley always mention the Church as a very "commodious and handsome building," the presumption is that the building, was begun on a more pretentious plan than the means of the parish were equal to, and that accordingly it was several years in building.

It is an interesting fact, reminding us somewhat of the early Puritans, with their odd bat necessary custom of carrying their guns to church, that when the Meeting called to re-organize the Presbyterian Church had performed its labors, another Meeting was at once held to organize a Company of Militia, or rather to re-organize the old Company which had been in existence prior to, and during, the Revolution. No difficulty was found in securing the proper officers,--the number of men in early Militia Companies seems to have been a minor consideration,-- except that no officer could be found of the rank of Major. The company therefore proceeded to ap-

Page 49

point its own Major in the person of James Thompson, a worthy man who had served with credit during the war. Although he never received any more formal commission, he lived and died "Major" Thompson, and it is related that during his later years he was exceedingly proud of having been promoted "on the field." A second Company of Militia was organized in 1799, and Cherry Valley became soon after quite a Military centre, and continued such until the opening of the Civil War.

A recruiting officer for the United States Army made his head quarters here as early as 1795. Beardsley, in his "Reminiscences," states that in 1798 the recruiting officer for "John Adams' Army", as it was called, found it necessary to punish an obstreperous recruit by having him tied to a small sapling, back of the Academy, and thoroughly flogged. The tree, now a hugh elm, still stands on Mrs. Olcott's land to the south-east of the old Academy lot.

Page 50

During the Summer of 1786 Thomas Whitaker erected a Tavern on the corner of Montgomery and Genesee streets--on the site of the old Tryon House. This is the first hotel, in this section of the country, of which we have any authenticated record. There is a tradition that there was a Tavern previous to the Revolution, on the present Moore property, opposite the Cemetery. This is quite possible, and indeed is very probable, since a settlement of three hundred people would be likely to have furnished ample support for a Tavern, in those free drinking days, but we find nothing but the presumption to attest to the truth of the traditon regarding it. A Tavern was, however, erected on this site a few years after the Revolution. This house, which was at the time the oldest building in the village, was torn down some ten or fifteen years ago.

The story is frequently told that there was a Tavern on the site of the present Raymond Eckerson house, in which Washington slept while here. This is, of course, an idle story, born in some. fertile

Page 51

imagination, but it has found many believers. The proof that Gen. Washington stayed at Col. Campbell's, while here, is unquestionable, and it is a further authenticated fact that there were no houses within the present village limits, at the time of Washington's visit. The Tavern on the Eckerson lot was built, about 1793, by Benjamin Johnson and was kept by him, and afterwards by Ezekiel Johnson, for many years. About the same time a Tavern was built, on the present site of the Central Hotel, by John Walton. Walton's Tavern was the most popular hostelry in this part of the State until William Story erected his famous Tavern, at the upper end of the village, about 1812. The latter was for many years the most famous Inn between Albany and Canandaigua and was the favorite stopping place of the leading men of the (then) West, on their way to and from the State Capital.

On the 6th day of May, 1800, Ephraim Hudson, Supervisor, and Joseph White and Elijah Holt, Justices, met as a Board of Excise at the house of John Walton and granted Licenses to the following Inn or Tavern keepers, viz: John Walton, Thomas Whitaker, Ozias Waldo, Naphtily Woodburn, Benjamin Johnson, Stephen Frink and Edward Williams, jun. These men are all certified to as being of good moral character, and it is further certified that "it is absolutely necessary for the benefit of travel that a Publick inn or Tavern be kept" at the several places mentioned. Two years later licenses were again

Page 52

granted to the above, except that John R. Whitaker had succeeded his father Thomas Whitaker, and to the following additional Inn keepers: Wm. Dickson, jun., Moses Woodburn, Daniel Clark, Elisha Flint, and Samuel Campbell, jun. Licenses were also granted to John Diell, Peter Magher and Moses Woodburn, store-keepers. This gives an excellent idea of the growth of travel, in this part of the State. during the two first years of the present Century. There is no record that there was any charge for licenses at this time. After 1812, for many years, the charge for a Hotel license was $7., and for Storekeeper's license $5.

It is somewhat remarkable that nearly all of the early Inn-keepers accumulated fortunes, although the charge for meals or lodging was only six pence and whiskey sold for three pence a glass.

Page 53

In 1791 Otsego county was formed from Montgomery county, and an effort was made by the residents to have Cherry Valley appointed the County Seat. Owing to its more central location and the influence of the Coopers, combined, if we are to believe tradition, with political manipulation which would cause a modern "machine politician" to blush. Cooperstown, then in its infancy, secured the coveted prize. Cooperstown did not, however, in many years become a rival of Cherry Valley in general importance. James Cannon was appointed the first Surrogate of the County, and it is a little remarkable that he was also the first representative from this County in the State Legislature ; holding at the same time the office of Surrogate and Member of Assembly. At the time of its formation the towns of Otsego and Cherry Valley, both formed at this time, constituted the entire County. Previous to this all this section had been included in the town of Canajoharie.

The first Supervisor of the Town of Cherry Valley was the afterwards renowned Dr. Joseph White. John Bull was the first Town Clerk. The latter held

Page 54

the office of Town Clerk for a number of years, receiving the very modest compensation of five dollars a year for his services.

It is an interesting fact, for several reasons, and especially as showing that frauds in voting, and illegal elections, are not of recent invention, that the vote of Cherry Valley at the first State election, after the formation of the town, was thrown out as illegal. The indirect result of this was the election of George Clinton as Governor, and the consequent defeat of Chief Justice Jay for that office. The reasons leading to the throwing out of the vote of this town-- which necessitated the throwing out also of the vote of the county,--may be briefly stated: The election was held in April, 1792. Benjamin Gilbert, had been appointed Sheriff on the 30th of March, but did not qualify until the 11th of May. On May 3rd, Richard R. Smith, whose term of office had nominally expired on the 18th of February, forwarded to the Secretary of the State Board of Canvassers the votes of the Town of Cherry Valley with the proper certificate signed by himself as Sheriff.

The question was at once raised by the Clinton party, acting under the advice of Aaron Burr, then one of the foremost men in the state, that Smith was not legally Sheriff his term of office having expired, and had no authority to act as such, and that therefore the returns were null and void. The Clintonians, being in the majority on the Board of Canvassers, accordingly threw out the vote of Otsego

Page 55

county. As Clinton only received 108 majority. and Otsego county gave Jay about 400, it will be seen that Cherry Valley at its first election, exerted a very decided influence in the affairs of the state though in a negative sort of a way. The contest over this incident, which was continued, in and out of the Legislature, for over a year, resulted in an attempt to impeach William Cooper, father of the novelist, then first Judge of Otsego county. Although the attempt at impeachment failed, it was shown that he had encouraged illegal voting in favor of Mr. Jay, and discouraged legal voting against him, even to the extent of threatening to use his authority as Judge against those expressing an intention of voting for Mr. Clinton. As Judge Cooper was a man of high standing in the community it shows that politics in the last Century were not as pure as some suppose them to have been.

Page 56

The decade ending with 1795 was a prosperous one for the now flourishing village. The tide of emigration was sweeping westward and the country for fifty miles beyond the borders of the county of Otsego was dotted with rude farm houses. while here and there settlements were springing nix Cherry Valley, as yet the largest village, profited by the increased emigration, not only from the trade that flowed to it from all the country to the west, but also because of the benefits derived from its being on the main thoroughfares to the regions beyond.

During this time the Academy was re-established and a commodious building, forty by sixty feet, was erected. In 1795 the Academy had about sixty students, a remarkably large number for those times and a proof of the extended reputation which it must already have acquired. It was during this time that the Rev. Soloman Spaulding, the principal of the Academy, wrote the Biblical romance, which afterwards fell into the hands of Joseph Smith, and was adopted by him as the basis of the Mormon

Page 57

Bible. Soon after this the Trustees of the Academy called for Mr. Spaulding's resignation.

In 1795 the population of Cherry Valley, which then included the present Worcester towns, Springfield and Roseboom, was little short of 3000, yet the population of the village itself, although it was still the most important village west of Schenectady, was less than 350, and contained only 36 houses. From this time on, the growth of the village was proportionately more rapid than that of the surrounding country. Business men and storekeepers rushed in to supply the growing trade of the country, while lawyers, doctors, and other professional men, sought this as a central location in which to follow their professions. More hotels were needed to accommodate the ever increasing stream of travel and blacksmiths could hardly be found in sufficient numbers to supply the demand. Shoemakers, wheel-wrights, carpenters, and artisans of various kinds, made their way here and added to the growth and prosperity of the place. The Academy, too, increased greatly in members, from 1796 to 1798, under the direction of the renowned Dr. Nott, who in later years, as President of Union College, left the stamp of his individuality on so many generations of "Old Union's," sons.

An additional impetus was given to the growth of the village by the building of the Great Albany Turnpike, the first of those great arteries which carried the stream of travel to the west, until the building of the

Page 58

Erie Canal diverted it, to the valley of the Mohawk. The charter for this road was granted in 1799 and authorized the building of a Turnpike, beginning at the city of Albany and running through various towns to a terminus at the hotel of John Walton, in the village of Cherry Valley. In 1800 a charter was granted for the building of a Turnpike from Cherry Valley to the foot of Skaneatles Lake. James Fenimore Cooper, in his Chronicles of Cooperstown, speaks of a charter being granted in 1794 for a state road running from Albany, through Cherry Valley, to Cooperstown, but we find no evidence of such a road having been built. Cooper says that it took the entire day to drive from Cooperstown to Cherry Valley in 1795, a distance of thirteen miles. At this time the journey from Cherry Valley to Albany took about five days. Twenty-five bushels of wheat was considered a load. Wheat, delivered in Albany, was worth from $1.50 to $1.75 a bushel.

In 1797, the towns of Middlefield, Springfield and Worcester, were formed from Cherry Valley, reducing its population from 3000 to 1600. This reduction in the size of the town was not, however, felt by the village since it still remained the trading centre of the new towns.

On the 8th of February, 1796, the Cherry Valley Academy was regularly incorporated under the Regents of the State of New York. The Charter, which is signed by John Jay, Chancellor of the University, and DeWitt Clinton, Secretary, names Eli Parsons,

Page 59

Luther Rich, Benjamin Rathbone, Lester Holt, Samuel Campbell, Ephraim Hudson, Ozias Waldo, C. P. Yates, William White, jr., Robert Dickson, Thomas Whitaker, Simeon Rich, Joseph White, Elijah Holt and Richard Edwards, as Trustees. An eminently respectable Board, and one that, it is to be feared, the place could not now, over a hundred years later, duplicate, either in prominence, ability, wealth or social standing.

At the close of the last Century, Cherry Valley had already become celebrated, throughout the country, as the home of many noted men, among whom were the Rev. Eliphalet Nott, afterwards the most famous College President of his day; Dr. Joseph White, then a leading member of the State Senate and later the leading physician of the State; Dr. William Campbell, afterwards State Engineer and Surveyor and a member of the Board of Regents; Judge Ephraim Hudson, a man of extended reputation for ability and worth; Gen. Elijah Holt, for many years prominent in Military circles; Isaac Seeley, one of the leading lawyers of the State; Senator Luther Rich, a prominent factor in the politics of this section of the State; Senator Robert Roseboom, a member of the Council of Appointment; Col. Samuel Campbell, of Revolutionary fame; Col. Libbeus Loomis, a prominent member of the "Cincinnatti Society;" James Cannon, the first Surrogate and first member of Assembly of the county; Benjamin Gilbert who enjoyed the unusual distinction of

Page 60

being four times Sheriff of the county; Eli Parsons, Major Lester Holt, Capt. Jerome Clark, C. P. Yates, Simeon Rich, Ephraim Hudson, Jr., Ozias Waldo, John Walton, Peter Magher, Robert Dickson, Horace Ripley, John Bull, Robert Dunlap and Thomas Whitaker all men of consideration, either because of their ability, wealth, influence, or social position. One of the "characters" of that day was an old seaman, named William Cook, who was the "Ben Pump" of Cooper's "Pioneers." All of the men mentioned were residents of Cherry Valley between 1795 and 1800.

It is worthy of note that Cherry Valley was even at this early date, a place of considerable wealth. The early tax books show that there was more personal property here than in any town west of Schenectady.

In this connection it is to be remembered that wealth is always relative. As nearly as we can judge the purchasing power of money was from four to five times greater than it now is. Thus, as has been mentioned, meals at a hotel were six pence and whiskey three pence a glass; men were paid two shillings a day, for ordinary labor, and boys a shilling. Some things were, of course, worth proportionately more, and some less, but the average shows the purchasing power of money to have been about as stated. Luxuries were generally high but the necessaries of life cost practically nothing. Wood could be had for the cutting, clothes were mainly home made, while butter, milk and meat, were worth comparatively

Page 61

nothing. Little money passed hands in ordinary transactions, especially in the farming districts. A man working for a farmer was expected to take his pay in farm produce, or in orders on store-keepers,--- which would be paid in produce. Old contracts show that the rent of a good farm, of from one to two hundred acres, was from fifteen to twenty-five dollars a year. Farms were usually rented for a term of from ten to twenty-five years. Between the amount of money in circulation, then and now, the disproportion was much greater. Although the place was noted for its wealth it is doubtful if a man in it was worth ten thousand dollars in 1800. Elisha Flint, who died in 1806, was considered a very well- to-do business man and yet his estate inventoried only $3742.88.

Page 62

In 1800 Cherry Valley, although it contained less than five hundred inhabitants, was the most important village west of Schenectady. Commercially it was in advance of that city. Buffalo and Rochester had not yet been settled and, indeed, most of the country in the western part of the State was a wilderness. A number of villages rivalled this in the number of their people, but they did not compare with it in influence or traffic. The completion of the first Great Western Turnpike brought a vast addition to its trade, which was still further increased by the building of the second and third Great Western Turnpikes; the former chartered in 1801 and the latter in 1803--both running through Cherry Valley.

Among those who took up their residence here in the early part of the Century were: Jabez D. Hammond, Levi Beardsley, James 0. Morse and James Brackett,--all of whom became men of great influence in the State, and Rev. Eli F. Cooley, a dis-

Page 63

tinguished scholar and divine. In view of the fewness of College educated men, in those days, it is worthy of note that four of these six men were College graduates: Brackett from Dartmouth, Morse from Union, Cooley from Princeton and Stewart from a Vermont College. This fact is rendered the more noticeable when we recall that at no time within the past twenty- five years have there been more than half a dozen College graduates among the residents of Cherry Valley.

The influence that Cherry Valley exerted in the early part of the present Century is shown by the fact that the State Senator from this district was usually taken from here. Thus we find Dr. Joseph White representing the district in the Senate in 1796-7-8-9; Robert Roseboom in 1800-1-2-8-4; Luther Rich in 1808-9-10-11; Jabez D. Hammond in 1818-19-20-21. The latter was also a member of Congress in 1815-16-17. Of these men White, Roseboom, and Hammond, were members of the powerful Council of Appointment, which controlled practically all the offices in the State including most of the county offices. Cherry Valley was also well represented in the Assembly. The early representatives from this town in that body were Elijah Holt, 1798, Benjamin Gilbert, 1799, Robert Roseboom, 1800, Samuel Campbell, 1802, James Moore and Luther Rich, (two from this town), 1808. Luther Rich, 1806, Rob't. Roseboom, 1807-8, Benj. Gilbert, 1810, Rob't. Roseboom, 1811-12-14, Wm.

Page 64

Campbell and Oliver Judd, 1816, (2), Wm. Campbell, 1817, John Moore 1818. About this time a fight arose between Cherry Valley and the rest of the county and it was some years before the former regained its old influence, so that for a number of years it was unrepresented in the State Legislature.

In 1806, Trinity Lodge, No. 189, F. & A. M., was organized and continued in operation until 1814, when it suspended until 1817. It was finally disbanded in 1828, and was not resurrected again until 1854, since which time it has been in successful operation. A Royal Arch Chapter was instituted in 1818. Its Charter was allowed to lapse in 1828. The Lodge was very active, in 1824, in rendering assistance to the Greeks in their struggle for freedom. A considerable amount of clothing and munition was collected and forwarded to Greece. Most of the men prominent in the history of the town, in the early part of the Century, were members of the Lodge and Chapter, including Joseph White, Delos White, Elijah Holt, Lester bIt, Abraham Roseboom, Alvin Stewart, Levi Beardsley, Jonathan Hall, Peter Magher, William Campbell, John Forester, George Clyde, Edwin Judd and Jabez D. Hammond. Some of these men were prominent in Masonic circles, notably John Forester, by whom most of early Lodges in this section of the State were instituted.

The first district school, of which we have any knowledge, was erected at the head of the lane west of the present Methodist Parsonage, early in the

Page 65

present Century. 'The expense of running the school, including the pay of the teacher, was divided per capita between the scholars, except that the trustees were authorized to exempt poor pupils from the payment of tuition and charge same against the other scholars. No public money was received by the village school until after it was re-organized as a Lancaster School in 1818.. The School district was re-organized and reduced in size in 1815. The number of the district was also' changed from 3 to 13. John R. Whitaker, Horace Ripley and Jonathan Rudd were elected Trustees of the new district. The number of scholars in attendance in that year (1815) was 121. One teacher was employed: At that time a teacher was compelled to pass an examination before the Town Inspector of Schools, before being permitted to teach. In 1818, the electors of the district voted to purchase a new site and erect a School house thereon at a cost of $1200. The building erected at that time is still occupied by the village school. The first Trustees of the Lancaster School were Joseph Clyde, Peter Magher and Oliver Judd.

That the village, early in the Century, had begun to assume a metropolitan air is shown by the fact that in 1802 a village pound was erected for the confinement of stray horses and cattle. In 1810 a new pound was erected and ordinances were passed making the owner of any gelding, mare or colt, running loose, subject to a fine of fifty cents a head, one half

Page 66

of said fine to be paid to the person driving said animals to the pound, the remainder to accrue to the village. A similar fine was charged for neat cattle running loose. Owners of stallions, running loose, were charged the large fine of twelve dollars and fifty cents. Swine, rams and geese, were seized and sold for the benefit of the town.

For many years all the monies belonging to the town or village, were loaned out, to such of the inhabitants as could furnish good sureties, at the prevailing rate of interest.

The war of 1812 attracted very little attention in Cherry Valley and aroused no enthusiasm. In fact it was generally looked upon as a political matter; the republicans favoring and the federalists opposing it. The main fact of interest connected with it, so far as this town is concerned, was the drawing of lots in the village square. All the drafted men in this section were gathered together in the square and drew lots from a hat. Those drawing blanks were dismissed; the others were enlisted. Wm. Paddock, whom older residents will remember better as "Old Billy Paddock," was then a boy of sixteen; too young to be drafted, but not too young to serve. It was a common custom for drafted men to pay some one to "stand their chance" at the "drawing." Young Paddock received ten dollars apiece from seven men for "standing their chance," and in each case drew a blank. Finally he received thirty dollars to serve in the stead of someone less fortunate

Page 67

in the military lottery and went to the war, serving through it with credit. The hundred dollars which he received on the day of the drawing, made him the envy of all his companions, and, as he often said in later life, "the richest boy in the village." Poor fellow! he was far from being the "richest man" in the village, having been supported for a number of years previous to his death, in the seventies, by the Masonic Order.

The others who served in the war of 1812, and have died within the recollection of the older generations, were Asa Glazier, Aaron VanDyke, John Dutcher, James McKellip, Samuel Davy, John Boyce, Silas Hill, Wm. Graig and James Boyle.

In 1715 [the 7 was hand-written over with an 8 in this copy of the book - WebRoots] Cherry Valley, for the second time, indirectly exercised a deciding influence on the politics of the State. Although only a coincidence, which might have happened to any town, it is a matter of local interest that this town should have twice turned the political scales of the State. The present case is one of general interest as showing how small a matter may sometimes change the politics of a great State. The election of 1815 was hotly contested by both parties and the result was exceedingly close. There were five members of Assembly elected from this county; all being republicans, with the exception of Dr. Wm. Campbell, of Cherry Valley, whose ability and personal popularity caused him to run ahead of his ticket. He was elected by ONE vote. By a singular coincidence his vote gave the Federalists

Page 68

the control of the Legislature, also by ONE vote, and the consequent control of the State, through the Council of Appointment.

Page 69

It will doubtless surprise many people to learn that, early in the Century, witchcraft was quite generally believed in among the Country people in this section. The various ailments which effected a farmer's cattle were usually laid at the door, of some old woman, who was accused of being a witch. Beardsley in his "Reminiscences" says: "Within seven miles of Cherry Valley is a valuable farm from which two acres of the best land was carved out, and conveyed, to settle a claim, for having charged a woman with witchcraft, and that by her witcheries she had destroyed his property. She still holds the property, (1852) under this witch consideration for the title, having refused to sell it back although the original owner has offered a high price for it. In the same neighborhood lived a man who was a seventh son, and has been sent for hundreds of times, to charm away, or take off the witch spell from those effected."

Slaves were common in this section prior to 1825, especially household servants. Male negroes gen-

Page 70

erally succeeded in purchasing or, in other ways. securing their freedom. Oftentimes male slaves were promised their freedom at the end of a stated period, in order to stimulate them to work more faithfully. It was necessary to record the birth of a child born of slave parents in order to entitle the owner of the parent, or parents, to its services when the child became of age. The early town records contain a copy of the certificates issued, in a number of such cases, of which the following are samples:

"On the 28th of August, 1803, a child of color was born in my house of my negro wench, she being a slave for life. The child is a male and is called Ben.
JOSEPH WHITE.
Registered 23rd March, 1804.

I. SEELYE, Town Clerk.
"On the fifth day of September, 1803, was born in my house, of my negro woman, a slave for life, a child of color. The child is a male. His name is Harry.
THOMAS WHITAKER.
Registered 2nd June, 1804., etc.

The following is a copy of a certificate relating to the freeing of slaves

"Whereas a certain negro man named Bob, formerly the slave of Capt. Peter Low, and now the slave of Abraham Roseboom, whom he has served for the term of seven years, at which time he has been promised his freedom, and whereas he is now desirous of being legally manumitted by his said master, We, the Overseers of the Poor for the Town of Cherry Valley, do hereby certify that we have received sufficient proof that he is under the age of forty-five years and of sufficient ability to provide for himself.

Dated, this 31st day of December, 1817.

JAMES CHURCH, } Overseers of
THos. THOMPSON, } the Poor.

Page 71

The above certificate is given on the express condition that the above named slave be manumitted to-morrow.
ABRAHAM Roseboom.
Rec'd and Recorded Jan, 5th, 1818.
JOSEPH B. WALTON, Town Clerk.

Sales of slaves were never common in Cherry Valley. They were usually brought by families moving here from other sections and were looked upon as a part of the household. Sales were occasionally made however, and as late as 1818 we find the publishers of the Cherry Valley GAZETTE offering "a good healthy negro girl of 18", for sale.

Lawsuits were an unending source of entertainment in the country districts. It is perhaps unnecessary to state that "the dignity of the law" was very generally ignored at them. For the convenience of the neighborhood the sessions of the "Court" were held in the evening. Before the trial opened it was considered imcumbent upon each of the contestants to "treat" the crowd. After the trial commenced the clients used their own judgement as to the amount of treating they should do; but as public opinion was likely to swing in favor of the party who was most liberal in supplying liquids, few had occasion to go dry. A jug of whiskey usually stood on the table for the especial benefit of the Justice and the lawyers. Trials generally lasted until well into the night, by which time the Court, Jury and spectators were usually in a condition to take little interest in the proceedings. Blackguardism was a strong weapon with many of the "pettifoggers" and always

Page 72

delighted the spectators. Beardsley, who was afterwards President of the State Senate, relates his experience with one of the pettifoggers, who was accustomed to win his cases by browbeating the opposing lawyer. Being prepared for the occasion, at the first attempt of his opponent to cast ridicule upon him, Beardsley, reaching across the table, seized the bully by the collar, pulled him over the table and, giving his nose a tweak, threatened him with dire punishment, if he made any further disparaging remarks. This summary proceeding completely quelled the pettifogger and took from him his only weapon of offense and defense, so that Beardsley easily won his case. In the larger villages, however, considerable dignity was maintained in the Justices' Courts and the Justices themselves were usually men of excellent judgement and some legal ability.

Some of the customs, of the early days, would seem more than passing strange in this age. It was then common to see even married women of quite well-to-do families, trudging along barefoot, carrying their shoes in their hands to avoid getting them soiled. Children always went barefoot except to church. Carriages were rarely seen, women as well as men traveling on horseback. It was no uncommon thing for a young man to take his girl on horseback with him, she riding behind, to a dance or ball--frequent amusements in those days. Fourth of July Balls were the great social event of the year. Dancing was begun before dinner and continued

Page 73

until daybreak the following morning, cakes and wine being passed around, so as not to interfere with the dancing. Fiddlers were scarce and in great demand. Brayton Allen, of Cherry Valley, was the most celebrated fiddler in this part of the country and went great distances to furnish music at dances.

Drinking was freely indulged in. When a party of men met, instead of each drinking from a seperate glass, a large bowl was mixed, from which each of the party drank in turn; the last man drinking calling for another. The carousals which were indulged in, by men of the highest standing, would shock a country community in these days.

Quoit pitching and wrestling were the most common sports indulged in by men. Every Tavern had its quoit grounds, and around them were nearly always congregated a crowd of players and spectators. A crowd changing with every arrival or departure of the almost endless string of stages, freight and emigrant wagons. Constant practice made many of the drivers and teamsters remarkably expert, and wagers over games were frequent. Some became semi- professionals and matches were made between them for large sums--sometimes as high as two or three hundred dollars. All classes engaged in the sport.

Wrestling was mainly confined to teamsters, hostlers and the rougher and lower classes, though the better part of the community freely viewed the contests, and made wagers on the results. A man named Slocum, who made Cherry Valley his headquarters

Page 74

the greater part of the time, claimed to be the champion wrestler of the state. He engaged only in contests for money. Several thousand dollars were sometimes wagered on him.

Foot races were common among the boys and young men, of all classes. The famous runners, of Cherry Valley, in the 'twenties, were Joseph White and John K. Diell. The latter will be remembered by residents of this town twenty-five years ago, as an active old man of over eighty. He was the fastest runner in this part of the country, but being a trainer and semi-professional, he was barred out of most of the races, Sims, in his "Frontiersmen," gives the following account of a foot-race, in which much interest was taken in Cherry Valley.

"The most important foot-race that ever took place in the Mohawk Valley, occurred at Canajoharie in August, 1824, between Joseph White of Cherry Valley and David Spraker of Palatine. They were both young men from the best families in the community and had just graduated from Union College. The stakes were $1,000, and the course ten rods. The race was won by Spraker by three feet. Had they run twice as far it was conceded that White would have been the winner. Spraker was trained by John K. Diell, then a school teacher in Sharon."

Hunting was a favorite pastime. The woods were full of small game, and deer were numerous up to the beginning of the second quarter of the Century. Bears, which had been numerous in the earlier days,

Page 75

had been either all killed or driven to seek more wild retreats. Beardsley speaks of having himself shot the last bear killed in this town. Evidently about 1818, although he does not give the exact date.

As early as 1804 a Hunting Club was organized. The Club met once a year,--usually the day before Christmas. The day was spent in hunting, and at night the sportsmen met at Walton's, or Story's, tavern and counted their spoils. The member having scored the greatest number of points was awarded a prize. The remainder of the night, and usually the greater part of Christmas day, was spent in celebrating the success of the "Hunt." All of the men who were prominent in the history of the town at this time were either active or honorary members of this Club. The honorary members engaged only in the festivities. The Club, in later years, was called "The Fox-hunters Club," and a record was kept, by each member, of the game shot by himself during the year.

Trout were the only fish in the brooks. According to tradition they grew to enormous size and were too plenty to be considered a very great delicacy. Many of the prominent men of the State were accustomed to make visits, of various length, at Cherry Valley to enjoy the hunting, fishing and hospitalities of the place--and incidently to discuss politics with Judges Hammond, Morse, Levi Beardsley and Alvan Stewart, then among the political leaders of the state.

Horse races were held twice a year, near the old

Page 76

Lewis place, on the road to Ft. Plain and Canajoharie. The Maple Sugar season was not only a time of money making but of pleasure as well. Nearly all the sugar consumed in the country up to 1825 was homemade, and a large amount was also sent to Albany and New York. Col. Samuel Campbell was the largest sugar maker in this part of the country in the earlier years of the Century, employing from ten to fifteen men regularly during the sap season. His "bush" extended from the upper end of the village to the present Moore farm, a distance of over a mile. Most of the boiling down was done in the open air, although some of the larger "bushes" had sugar huts, as much for the pleasure of sugar parties as for the convenience of the boilers. Pleasure parties were frequently formed, by the men of the village, and sometimes several days were spent by them in the sugar bushes; provision and drinkables, especially the latter, being taken with them. The days were spent in hunting and sleeping and the nights in drinking and story-telling. A species of forerunner of the modern "camping-out" custom.

Page 77

On the 8th of June, 1812, an ACT was passed by the Legislature regularly incorporating the village of Cherry Valley and on September 4th, of the same year, the first village election was held. William Campbell, Oliver Judd, Peter Magher, Jabez D. Hammond and Jonathan Hall were elected the first Trustees of the village. At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Trustees, Peter Magher was elected President and Levi Beardsley, Clerk. Jonathan Rudd was appointed Treasurer; Levi Beardsley, Attorney, and Horace Ripley, Overseer of Highways. Two of the trustees were appointed Fire Wardens, and were instructed to examine all fire-places, chimneys and stove pipe, in the village, with power to condemn same if defective. Resolutions were also passed requiring "each owner, or occupant, of a store, house, or shop, to keep at least two fire buckets, marked with the name of the owner, in a conspicuous place." At the second Annual Meeting of the Village, held on the 11th day of May, 1813, it was

Page 78

voted to raise One Hundred dollars for the purpose of repairing the roads and walks, and One Hundred. dollars for the purpose of "Organizing a Fire Company." The following year a further sum of One Hundred and Fifty dollars was voted for the express purpose of purchasing a Fire Engine. Fire hooks and ladders were also ordered to be purchased. It was also "Resolved, that the Treasurer be directed to loan the money now in his hands, at the lawful interest, on good securities, until called for by the Trustees of said Village."

In November, 1814, the supply of silver and copper coins had become so scarce that Bills or Notes were issued by the Village to the amount of $500. These Bills were in denominations of 1ct, 3cts, 6cts, l2 1/2cts and 25 cents, and were payable in current Bank Bills, at the office of the President of the village. A month later Bills of twenty-five and fifty cents were issued to the amount of One Thousand dollars. Several business men also issued small Bills at this time. Two years later the Trustees passed a Resolution prohibiting the issuing of small Bills.

In August, 1818, the first regular Fire Company was organized. It was composed of 20 members. George Farley was Captain; Illustrious Remington, Engineer, and Chester Judd Secretary.

Among the early ordinances was one making any person, or persons, "encouraging dog-fighting in the streets," punishable by a fine of not less than $5.--Another prohibited the blowing of horns or beating

Page 79

of drums in the street, without a permit from the Trustees. Anyone leaving wood or boxes on the sidewalk was liable to a fine of one dollar.

The following facts are given for their local interest: Church street was opened in 1816. The several streets in the village were named in 1818. There has been no change in the names since. A street was opened, in 1821, between Main and Lancaster streets. It was called "Rock Street." It is now known as "Wall street." Hay Scales were erected by the Village in 1818. They stood in front of the Bank. In 1820 the first Reservoir was built. It was "in the center of the village," wherever that may have been. We are told that it was directly back of the flay Scales. It is somewhat singular that, in 1820, Levi Beardsley was appointed Overseer of Highways. He was even at that time a man of prominence and wealth. Two attributes we do not now expect Village Highway Commissioners to possess.

The advance that the Village has made in the past eighty years is shown by the fact that the average expense of running the village from 1815 to 1825 was a little less than $100 a year. It is now somewhat over $2000 a year, although the village is a trifle smaller than it was then, (in population), and its business interests are vastly inferior in importance and numbers. At every village election, for many years, an attempt was made to increase the usual appropriation of $100 but it was invariably voted down.

Page 80

The most remarkable fact, connected with the village government, was the character of the men who held village offices during the first thirty years of its legal existance. Thus at one time we find Dr. Wm. Campbell, LL. D., Jabez D. Hammond, LL. D., both, afterwards, members of the Board of Regents, and Levi Beardsley, afterwards, President of the State Senate, among the Village Trustees. It is safe to say no village in the country ever had a trio of equal ability on its Board of Trustees. And this Board can scarcely be called an exception to the rule. Nearly every Board contained men of exceptional ability and of extended reputation.