Benton

Three Rivers
Hudson~Mohawk~Schoharie
History From America's Most Famous Valleys

A History of Herkimer County
THE UPPER MOHAWK VALLEY,
FROM THE
EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME:
With a
BRIEF NOTICE OF THE IROQUOIS INDIAN, THE EARLY GERMAN TRIBES,
THE PALATINE IMMIGRATIONS INTO THE COLONY OF NEW YORK,
AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE PALATINE FAMILIES,
THE PATENTEES, OF BURNETSFIELD IN THE YEAR 1725.
ALSO
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE MOST PROMINENT
PUBLIC MEN OF THE COUNTY:
WITH
IMPORTANT STATISTICAL INFORMATION.

It is now one hundred and thirty-three years since the German emigrants from the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine, to escape from the iron workings of a colonial vassalage more stern, cruel and crushing, than European serfdom in its baldest and most naked form, planted themselves in the upper Mohawk valley, under the benevolent auspices of Governor William Burnet. They came to seek for themselves and their posterity homes and abiding places, where they could enjoy the fruits of their labor and eat the bread of toil, unmolested by imperial hirelings and intrusive taskmasters, and to worship the God of the living and the dead in accordance with a lowly and approving conscience: it is now nearly ninety-eight years since that portion of these people, who had seated themselves on the north side of the Mohawk, at "the German flats," now Herkimer, were unexpectedly assailed by a numerous body of French and Indians, many of them killed, their dwellings and well stored barns plundered and burned, their stock of various kinds also killed or driven off, and finally the survivors carried into captivity: it is now seventy-eight years since the Oriskany battle was fought, or, I might with propriety say, the Oriskany massacre was perpetrated, which disastrous event converted the whole valley into a house of mourning: seventy-two years since peace restored hope, quiet and safety to the desponding husbandman; small consolation to the mourning widow and the homeless orphan: sixty-four years since the county was organized, when peace with all its concomitant blessings had resumed its sway: and no one had yet been found bold or patient enough, to undertake the labor of writing out the annals of Herkimer county.

It was too late by forty years to collect and arrange the early traditional history of the valley, when the writer turned his attention to a subject he had often discussed with others, and with them regretted that the matter had been so long postponed or neglected. I have pursued my original plan and object, projected two years ago, as rapidly as other pursuits and urgent calls in other directions would allow. I have not accomplished in extenso all I designed, and it would be invidious in me to state wherein and why, I have failed. The reader familiar with the history of this state, will at once perceive, I have consulted without stint the Annals of Tryon County, Stone's Life of Brant, Schoharie County and the Border Wars of New York, the Documentary History of New York, Documents relating to the Colonial History of this state, Journals of the New York Provincial Congress, Schoolcraft's Reports on the Iroquois, Hammond's Political History of New York, and Munsell's Typographical Miscellany.

One of the strongest inducements that led me to undertake the task which I have now completed, was to correct as far as I could, some of the grave, and it seemed to me manifest errors or mistakes, which found their way into published works of supposed authenticity, in regard to General Nicholas Herkimer and his family. No author ever spoke of him, to my knowledge, as a brilliantly great man, and no one can with justice or propriety deny that he was a brave and good man; firmly devoted to the provincial cause and American freedom. If a cloud appeared in the distance to bang over him, growing out of the fact that some members of the family were hostile to the movements of the colonists, could it be any fault of his, unless lie bad the ability to control them, and failed to exert it? But let it be remembered that other members of the same family who survived the General, devoted themselves in the future progress of the war, with zeal and courage in defense of the country.

Another motive prompted me to the undertaking. Herkimer county was one of the first erected after the revolution, and while the surrounding counties, and some of them carved from the territory it once embraced, were esteemed worthy of elaborate historical notice which had been liberally patronized by the populations of those counties, it seemed strange indeed that she should so long have remained neglected and forgotten, like the illustrious individual whose name she bears, and no one of her sons, native or adopted, would venture to place her in a just position. All that portion of the book compiled from public works and documents, such as the origin of the titles to lands, the description and boundaries of the county and the towns, and the statistical and other information derived from the recent census, may be relied upon as strictly and critically accurate.

Heretofore, several, if I may not say many, of the political men of the county, have held not only reputable, but high positions in the councils of the state, and some of those, who are now dead, have left an enduring impress of their talents and exertions upon the political institutions of the state. The somewhat peculiar political characteristics, which have heretofore marked the action of a considerable majority of the voting population of the county, seemed to me a matter worthy of elaborate consideration. Why two peoples, distinct in their origin, dissimilar in tastes, habits and customs, should harmonize on a great political problem for a period of more than fifty years, and in numbers to carry almost every popular election, presented a question worthy of inquiry and solution. Animated with a strong desire to arrive at a just and proper conclusion in respect to this question, I have given, in the sequel of the book, a full statement of the facts which are believed to have drawn the German and English or New England populations into harmony.

A brief allusion to the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, found roaming over its extended surface and almost impenetrable wilds, at the first advent of the European emigrant was appropriate to the subject in hand as a necessary starting point from which to trace the authentic events of history, intended to be developed in the subsequent pages of the work. This is not the place to make an effort to reach the origin and follow the progress of a proud and brave, but a barbarous and illiterate people, whose annals can only be traced through a dark cloud of traditional mysticism, highly figurative, unnatural, and entirely improbable, when examined and compared with the providences of God, as given to us and illustrated by the written history of other branches of the human race; it has not therefore been attempted.

Although a history of the upper Mohawk valley does not necessarily embrace that of any other country or state, I have not considered a brief elucidation of German history as out of place, inasmuch as the first European settlements in the valley were made up entirely of a people of purely German origin, whose recent immigration into the colony had given no opportunity of change in habits, manners and customs, if any such change could have been effected in the adult emigrant, even if he had been a whole life time in reaching the land of promise, and had meanwhile sojourned with divers nations and people.

The particulars of this Palatine or German immigration, so far as they can now be given, are interesting, and seemed worthy of extended notice. The events which produced the movement in the heart of an old and polished European nation, and the causes which prompted these people to seek a refuge and home on the western continent, are quite as legitimate a subject of local American history, as the oft repeated relation of the exodus of the pilgrim fathers from

Persecution and religious intolerance drove the Puritan to seek an asylum from civil and ecclesiastical oppression, and to fix themselves as the planters of a new colony, on a lone and desolate shore, surrounded by an unbroken wilderness, while the same illegitimate emanations from the religion of the cross compelled the German Palatines to plant themselves in an exposed and wilderness frontier, as an outpost and vanguard, to protect and cover the older settlements in their rear from Indian assaults and depredations, and the not much less refined warfare carried on by a neighboring European colony, whose relentless cruelties, unmitigated barbarities and bigoted intolerance, they and their fathers had so often before seen, suffered and tasted.

We are not only able to name the first European settlers, the pioneers of the upper valley, but we can trace the descendants of most of them, as being still inhabitants of the county, while some of those families, from emigration or other causes have become entirely extinct, and the name is no longer known among us. Although there now are numerous descendants of the female branch of the Herkimer family in the county, it is believed there is not, at this time, one inhabitant in it bearing that name. With perhaps two or three exceptions, the chapter of biographies of the Palatine families, will attract but little interest out of or beyond a confined locality. As a whole the subject is worthy the attention and labor bestowed in getting it up. It will be noticed that several individuals of these families have held prominent official stations in the county. From the first settlement of the valley, under the Burnetsfield patent, to the outbreak of the revolution, many German settlers came into the upper valley, some from Schoharie county, and the lower valley, now Montgomery county, others from New York and the shores of the Hudson river, a few from New Jersey, and probably several of the third emigration of the Palatines, who arrived in New York in 1722. I have not been able, as yet, to learn the names of a single family of English descent, settled in the German flats district, previous to the revolution, except that of Thompson on Cosby 's manor There may have been two or three others. Much care and attention has been given to the biographical sketches of the official personages, who have been residents of and who died in the county. These sketches are not all I intended they should be in the outset nor all I would now wish them to be. I took what I believed proper measures, at an early day, to obtain precise and accurate information in regard to this subject. I did not anticipate any difficulty, and much less a failure. But my motives and objects were misconceived, or not approved of, or some of the parties to whom my circulars were addressed have exhibited an ignorance or indifference painful to think of.

I am compelled, reluctantly, to make an apology for a seeming neglect of the religious institutions of the county. I did hope to have been able to lay before the readers of this unpretending volume, a brief historical outline of the various religious organizations in the county, their foundation, progress and present condition; and took such measures at an early day, as would, 1 believed, secure this most desirable, object. I care not to indulge in a single remark further on this topic. The statistical results, taken from the late state census, which will be found in a subsequent chapter, with some extracts from the journals of two missionaries who visited the county more than fifty years ago, must content the reader on this head. I should have been most happy to have followed them with a record of the names and the results of the labors of those who then and afterwards occupied this ground and ministered to our fathers in spiritual things, and should have done it, if I could have accomplished it by any other means than the course adopted, which entirely failed. The reader unacquainted with our localities, should not conclude that the people of Herkimer county are indifferent to the grave subject which relates to their future welfare, because they find no elaborate display of churches, missionary and Bible societies organized within the county. As one reason of my failure in this respect, it may have been supposed, I was engaged in a work, the profits of which would amply repay me for the trouble and expense of collecting all the information needful to make the book perfect, interesting and valuable.

The writer, compiler and publisher of a local history, is in a condition somewhat like the Connecticut parson, whose congregation gave him a call and fixed the salary at one hundred dollars a year, one half to be paid in grain and such other necessary articles of living as they might have to spare and he might want. When he called for the payment of the balance of his salary, he was modestly told, he owed the parish fifty dollars for the rent of the parsonage and glebe. A local historian must be willing to perform any amount of labor required to make his book what he knows and wishes it should be, but if he hazards a large outlay, merely for the glory of publishing a book, his ambition will cost him dear.

The author who writes for extended glory or large profit, must bestow his talents and labor on subjects quite different from those I now have in hand. Nevertheless, if I shall be so fortunate as to meet the reasonable expectations of the people of the county, I shall have achieved all that my ambition can crave, or my most sanguine hopes have ever anticipated.

The chapter embracing the history of the several towns in the county will be found interesting, on account of the local historical matters there collected, and the statistical information condensed and arranged which will render the work highly useful as a manual. The brief notices of the early New England settlers are necessary links to conduct the reader through the early history of the county. The annals of the county would not be complete without the condensed view embraced in the chapter comprehending its political history. Whatever may have been and are the author's predilections oil the questions discussed in that chapter, he would not feel this a proper occasion to give them any undue prominence, and he is confident a candid public will acquit him of indulging in any partisanship, or the least departure from a liberal and candid recital of facts connected with the party politics of the times. I am aware that local historians have hitherto given but small space in their works to the political histories of the counties. The reasons for this omission do not seem to me quite obvious, nor is it in any respect important now to make them a subject of discussion or inquiry. The intelligent reader will, I think, find himself amply repaid for his time by a perusal of the chapter.

Tho historical works relating to the Mohawk valley, heretofore published, have necessarily been confined to the prominent and leading events of the old French and the Revolutionary wars. The minor events and leading incidents, which have marked the progress of the country, have attracted but little or no attention, and consequently have no place in the works alluded to. The author's object has been, so far as relates to the upper Mohawk valley, to supply this desideratum. The upper valley being only an outskirt of civilization and a frontier during the whole period of these two wars, would not of course attract the particular attention of writers, not familiar with all its localities,, its legends and its traditions, and the character of its population; hence we must not be surprised to observe the little regard bestowed upon the eventful transactions of that locality. The author has endeavored to cover the whole ground, and fill up all chasms.

The attainder by the state government of the adherents to the British crown, and the consequent forfeiture and confiscation of their estates has been incidentally mentioned by former writers of our history, drawn out by the fact that a large tract of valuable lands in the county had escheated to the state, by the statute attainder of Sir John Johnson. In consequence of the misapprehension of the facts in regard to the extent of this escheat, the author, in connection with the history of the land titles, has deemed it proper not only to elucidate the subject fully and minutely, but to attempt, not an apology merely, but defense, ample and elaborate, of the revolutionary patriots and fathers, who adopted and rigidly enforced the attainder act of 1779. My countrymen have more than once been charged with illiberality and cruelty in exacting the " pound of flesh," after the British king had yielded the point and confirmed the independence of his rebellious colonies. These advocates for republican munificence and generosity, seem to have forgotten the lives immolated on the altar of oppression, and the millions of money expended in defending the country against the aggressive acts of many of these same attained adherents, of loyalty; and that, if stern and inexorable justice was exacted, it was only in observance of a rule of public law sanctioned by the most refined civilization. The emancipated colonists should have been willing to mete out exact and evenhanded justice, but they were not in any view which could be taken of this question, in a condition to be generous.

Although this may be quite a proper subject for general history, and elaborate discussion by statesmen, it finds a suitable place in the humbler annals of the upper Mohawk valley, where the forfeitures have been incurred, and the law of reprisal has been enforced. While the advocates of restoration of forfeited estates are zealously engaged in finding condemnatory arguments against the Americans for not yielding the forfeiture, let them bear in mind not only the circumstances that provoked the action of the colonial authorities, but the hostile attitude of the British authorities long after the peace of 1783 was inaugurated. The frontier posts were long held, in despite of the energetic remonstrances of the United States, and in violation of the treaty of peace the western Indian tribes were instigated to acts of hostility, and rumored threats of a renewal of the war, and a speedy subjugation of the rebel colonists, did not and could not fail to influence the state governments in their action upon this question.

I take great pleasure in tendering my acknowledgments to the present Secretary of State, of this state, and A. G. Johnson, Esq., his deputy; the Hon. Abijah Beckwith, of Columbia; Hon. F. E. Spinner, of Mohawk; Ron. E. P. Hurlbutt, of Newport; Jonas Cleland, Esq., of Warren; Doct. William Mather, of Fairfield; Lauren Ford, Esq., Little Falls; Samuel Earl, Esq., Herkimer; A C. Henderson, of Norway; E. T. Cleland, Esq., county clerk; to whom I am indebted for facilities afforded in obtaining useful information, and for timely assistance in collecting materials and furnishing valuable documents. I am under obligations to several other individuals for suggestions and information, for which they have my thanks.

In committing this work to the public, the author admits, it might have been better executed by an abler pen than his, at an earlier period of the country, but he confidently hopes, however, it will be found an interesting and useful addition to our local history.

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