Legends of the Shawangunk, by Philip H. Smith

Published: Pawling, NY: Smith & Co., 1887

Note: Despite the name of the book there is to much genealogy and history
to put it in the Folk-Lore section
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                                 LEGENDS

                                 OF THE

                                SHAWANGUNK

                             AND ITS ENVIRONS,

                                 INCLUDING

                HISTORICAL SKETCHES, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES,

              AND THRILLING BORDER INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES

                      RELATING TO THOSE PORTIONS OF

               THE COUNTIES OF ORANGE, ULSTER AND SULLIVAN

                      LYING IN THE SHAWANGUNK REGION.

                              ILLUSTRATED BY

            NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND PEN SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR.

                            BY PHILIP H. SMITH,

                                 AUTHOR OF
               "ACADIA: A LOST CHAPTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY";
                         "THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS:
                or, VERMONT AND THE NEW YORK LAND JOBBERS";
                       "HISTORY OF DUTCHESS COUNTY";
                   "THE STATESMEN OF PODUNK"; ETC., ETC.

                      SMITH & COMPANY, PAWLING, N. Y.
                                   1887

                             COPYRIGHT, 1887
                           BY PHILIP H. SMITH

                    THE PUBLISHERS' PRINTING COMPANY
                       157 AND 159 WILLIAM STREET
                                NEW YORK


PREFACE

WHEN for the first time an Old World traveler is permitted to behold an
American landscape in Autumn, he is transported at the array of gorgeous
hues of which he had formed no conception. Nowhere does Nature take on a
brighter livery than in the vicinity of the Shawangunk; and there needs
but the rendering of its history into story by a Scott or a Cooper to
immortalize the locality. Here, beneath the effulgent rays of the October
sun, there burns, not one bush, but thousands, as with fire, yet are not
consumed; and here the maple, the sumac, the Virginia creeper, and the
expanses of golden-rod and purple asters flood the forests and fields with
their matchless coloring.

It requires no great effort of the fancy to picture the bark canoes of the
aboriginals still plying upon the bosoms of the many romantic lakes, or
swiftly coursing along the beautiful streams that, like sinuous bands of
silver, wind among the verdant meadows. One would be pardoned for being
deceived into the belief that the smoke from an embowered cottage arose
from the embers of an Indian wigwam; and the traveler half expects to meet
troops of goblin warriors, as in the Moorish legend, painted and equipped
for battle, silently threading the forest over the Indian trails yet
clearly traceable through the mountain fastnesses.

Does the reader desire details of the more tragic sort? Then lend your
attention while are told tales of midnight marauders, both white and red,
who fell upon unsuspecting and unprotected families along the frontier;
listen while scenes are depicted of by-gone times, when the silence of
night was wont to be broken by the screams of affrighted women and
children, as the murderous tomahawk was brandished over its victims, and
when scalps reeking with gore were borne away in triumph. Every locality
in the Shawangunk region has its legend of Indian atrocity, or its story
of Revolutionary barbarity: the chain of

iv 
 
stone forts yet standing along the river valleys bear testimony to the
general insecurity of life in those troublous times.

Or if the reader delights in tales of adventures with the wild animals of
the forest, of encounters with the nomadic bear, the ferocious panther, or
the prowling wolf, and all the exciting experiences of a woodland life, it
is hoped the hunting stories of the Shawangunk will constitute a source of
thrilling interest.

It may be that he who has leisure and inclination to scan this volume is
of a philosophic turn of mind, and would prefer to trace a reflex of the
religious sectarianisms and feudal customs of the Old World in the
unsettled society of the New. For such a one the history of Robert
Chambers and the Baronetcy of Fox Hall, the story of Lewis Du Bois the
Walloon, and the narrative of the Hardenburgh war, all of which are
considered at length in these pages, will afford abundant material for
reflection.

Then, too, the more humble but no less heroic virtues of the pioneer
settler, enduring the hardships and privations of a frontier life to the
end that he might carve for himself a home in the wilderness-such will
form a theme no less fruitful and interesting.

It is the usual thing for history to deal exclusively with great events.
The conduct of armies, the description of battles, and a record of matters
involving the interest of the many, are the topics which absorb the
attention of the historian, while the individual experiences in the every-
day life of the common people are lost sight of altogether. The knowledge
that a battle was fought is of less value than a knowledge of the causes
that led to it and the issues resulting from it; and how can one
understand the causes except he enter into sympathy with the masses
involved; or how can he sympathize unless he is familiar with their
individual sufferings, and with their manner of life and mode of thinking?

We know that the battle of Monmouth was fought, the number and disposition
of the contending forces at what time and by whom the charges were made;
the repulses and all the details of the action are matters of record; but
the individual experiences and home life of the sterling patriots in the
lower ranks that participated in the fight are topics yet undeveloped. In
the preparation of this volume the end is kept in view of supplying this
deficiency, and thus, in a measure, supplementing the more pretentious
histories.

The most fascinating chapters of the past are those so remote that well-

v

established fact and dim tradition become so blended that one can hardly
be distinguished from the other. It may be asserted that history then
loses its value as an educator, as it no longer stands a truthful
transcript of the human character. But we should not forget that there
can be no more interesting and valuable study of the general character and
standing of a community than a research into its current beliefs and
traditions even though the subjects should partake of the nature of myths
and fables. The poems of Ossian possess a rare value in that they
delineate the habits and experiences of the people of ancient Ireland and
Scotland centuries beyond the limit of so-called authentic history; the
same may be said of the works of Homer, however wild and chimerical the
stories may appear. It has been said that the most conscientious history
is but the development or maintenance of a theory. No man ever witnessed
a battle unbiased; it is to this biased source that the historian turns
for his facts; these facts are liable to undergo a still further change in
the crucible of his pet theory, and the public must accept the result.

Compare the works of English writers on the causes and conduct of the war
of 1812 with the versions of the same war by American authors, and, but
for the names and dates, one would hardly recognize the same event.
But let not the matter-of-fact reader be dismayed. Though the term
"legend" has been made use of in the present volume, no narrative has been
inserted without the authority of contemporaneous history, or well-
authenticated tradition.

"Legend" has a less repulsive sound to the superficial reader than
"history;" while the genuine student will readily discern and accept a
means of instruction under whatever guise it is found. For a like reason
each topic is complete in itself, thus doing away with the necessity of a
consecutive reading of the book. Inasmuch as the vicinity of the
Shawangunk is attracting the attention of the public as a desirable place
in which to spend the summer, it has been thought a work of this kind,
possessing the value of history and the charm of romance, would be
acceptable.

While there is much that is here found in print for the first time, all
available published sources have been laid under contribution in its
compilation. Ancient records have been rigidly searched with a view of
obtaining such facts not only as were new to the public, but such as would
be of general interest. The aim has been to make a book as attractive to
a citizen of a distant locality as to a resident of the Shawangunk region,
and by a judicious selection of

vi 
 
topics and a careful revision of the text, to expunge whatever may have
been of a local and common-place nature.

Several standard local works have been freely quoted, and many of their
interesting features embodied in this volume. Of this class we make
mention of Stickney's History of Minisink; the Bevier pamphlet, from which
is obtained much that is valuable of the Revolutionary history of Ulster;
Eager's History of Orange County; Quinlan's Life of Tom Quick, etc. These
books are now out of print, and some of them command fabulous prices, such
is the demand for them. The matter contained in these favorite works may
possess a value in the present dress above that of new facts. We make an
especial acknowledgment of the courtesy of E. F. Quinlan, M. D., and also
of Hon. George M. Beebe, both of Monticello, N.Y., who kindly consented to
our use of the writings of James Eldridge Quinlan, the author of Tom Quick
and of the History of Sullivan county. Mr. Quinlan possessed within
himself the rare combination of indefatigable research and a pure and
forcible diction that claimed the attention of the reader; and his efforts
are justly regarded as a standard authority on the subjects of which he
has treated. Space would fail were we to mention all the favors and
facilities afforded us in the works of research. Not the least of the
results hoped for in the production of this volume is that this romantic
and interesting region may, through its instrumentality, come to be better
known to the outside world. We shall always treasure the reminiscences of
a summer spent in climbing the mountains, sailing over the lakes, and
tracing out the Indian trails in the forests, in our search for the rare
and quaint in the annals of the Shawangunk.


CONTENTS

The Shawangunk and its Environs .................. 1

The Delawares .................................... 7

The First Esopus War ............................ 15

The Second Esopus War ........................... 25

The Esopus Mutiny ............................... 30

The War with the Jerseymen ...................... 32

The Mastodon .................................... 36

Catherine DuBois ................................ 40

Greycourt Inn ................................... 45

Minisink Battle ................................. 49

Brant and the School-girls ...................... 57

Claudius Smith .................................. 60

Edward Roblin ................................... 65

Lieutenant Burt ................................. 68

The DuBois Homestead ............................ 70

Massacre at Fantinekill ......................... 72

Burning of Wawarsing ............................ 76

Kortright's Expedition .......................... 87

Anderson and Osterhout .......................... 89

Polly Tidd ...................................... 91

Captivity of Mrs. Coleman ....................... 95

Phebe Reynolds and the Tories ................... 99

Miss Land's Midnight Journey ................... 102

The Tories after the Revolution ................ 105

Tom Quick, the Indian Slayer ................... 108

viii

Tom Quick and the Indian Muskwink .............. 112

Tom Quick and the Buck with Seven Skins ........ 114

Tom Quick's Indian Exploits .................... 116

Indian Stratagem to Slay Tom Quick ............. 118

The Savages plan Tom Quick's Capture ........... 120

Early Settlers of the Shawangunk Region ........ 122

A Border Alarm ................................. 129

Sam's Point, or the Big Nose of Aioskawasting .. 132

"Gross" Hardenburgh ............................ 135

Little Jessie Mitteer and the Bear-trap ........ 140

A Rival of Israel Putnam ....................... 143

Panther Hunting at Long Pond ................... 144

Bear Hunt on the Mongaup River ................. 146

Casualty on Blue Mountain ...................... 149

Nelson Crocker and the Panthers ................ 150

The Disappointed Groom ......................... 152

New Paltz ...................................... 154

Needderduytse Taal te Schawankonk .............. 157

The Traps ...................................... 159

Shanks Ben ..................................... 162

Facts and Fancies .............................. 165