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

The Story of Old Fort Plain and the Middle Mohawk Valley
by Nelson Greene
O'Connor Brothers Publishers, Fort Plain, NY 1915

CHAPTER II.
1784-1838-People and Life in the Mohawk Valley-Dress-The Revolutionary Houses-The Mohawk Dutch-English Becomes the Popular Tongue-Rev. Taylor's Journey in 1802-Valley Sports-Doubleday's Invention of Baseball-Last of the Mohawks in the Valley-The Iroquois Population in 1890 and the Mohawks in Canada.

The history of the Mohawk valley from 1784 to 1838 is one of great development and progress. Immigration poured Into and through the valley, and consequently steps were taken for the bettering of transportation facilities, in the improvement of Mohawk river navigation and of the highways and in the building of bridges. The clearing of the land made the forest recede far back from the river except in scattered woods, and, toward the end of this important period, the valley began to assume its present day aspect. Settlements were made farther and farther away from the Mohawk and rough highways to them were opened up. Logging was an important industry. Towns began to spring up along the course of the river or to develop from the hamlets and little villages already there located. Manufacturing began and factories were established. Schools and churches were built everywhere. Newspapers were started and the whole complicated fabric of modern civilization was woven from the crude materials of a frontier civilization. Human life in the valley changed from its early strong simplicity to that of today, with its advantages and disadvantages. Albany was the metropolis for Central New York, while Schenectady was the most important town in the valley until the close of this period when Utica outstripped it. The cities and villages of the present were, almost without exception, in existence at the end of this time. Johnstown continued the county seat during this half century. Toward the close of this chapter of the valley history came the epochal events of the construction of the Erie canal and the railroad, the latter of which may be said to end this historical period and usher in that of today.

The steam engine had been perfected in England early in the eighteenth century but it was not in general use in the Mohawk valley until the nineteenth century. Water power was generally utilized for manufacturing purposes and this is the reason of the early growth of factory towns like Little Falls and Amsterdam, which used the power of the Mohawk and the Chuctanunda. Almost every stream, with sufficient fall and volume of water, had its power utilized. The principal water courses in western Montgomery county, used for milling and manufacturing purposes were Zimmerman's creek in St. Johnsvllle, Caroga and Knayderack (Schenck's Hollow) in Palatine, Yatesville (Randall) and Flat Creek (Sprakers) in Root, Canajoharie in Canajoharie and the Otsquago in Minden.

This period also marked the passing of slavery in the Mohawk valley, it being finally abolished in the state of New York in 1827. This would have ordinarily occasioned disturbance in valley labor conditions as some farmers had had a score of black slaves. The emancipation had probably been discounted and many slaves had been previously voluntarily freed by their masters. It is remarkable, considering the evidently large number of slaves here a century ago, that the colored population of the valley is no larger today than it is.

The time was also one in which the apprentice system nourished and orphan children, and others, were frequently bound out as apprentices until they attained their majority, being virtually under the control of their guardians (except in cases where the legal ties were dissolved by law) until the minors attained their majority.

In a general way this was a period of great evolution, in which was finally produced the valley as we know it today. The life of the people of the Mohawk country is here considered, with reference to their dress (a matter of undoubted importance historically) their home and daily lire, their character and changing language and their pastimes and sports. When history is truly written we shall all see the people's life of the past days pictured as well as the movements of the chief actors in the great and changing drama.

The river traffic, highway and canal building, and other items of the life of this period, are dealt with in later chapters. These include churches, militia, war of 1812, bridges, railroad building and other valley features of the years from 1784 to 1838.

The period from 1784 to about 1800, which is partly considered in this chapter, was one of great transition in the dress of the people. Its most distinguishing mark in that respect was the adoption, for general use of trousers or pantaloons, which supplanted the "small clothes" dress of men about the beginning of the nineteenth century. Mrs. John Adams, wife of the later president who was then minister to England, commented, in 1784, in one of her interesting letters, on the fact that dress and fashion seemed less regarded in London than in the American cities. True, to the majority of Tryon county people, fashionable dress was of little concern as this was a frontier and farming country, but rich apparel was no stranger to them, having been seen at civil and military functions in Johnstown and other valley points and at Schenectady and Albany. The advent of Washington's staff in his tour of the valley and stops at Fort Plain and Fort Herkimer in 1783 must have been a brilliant spectacle, which undoubtedly brought out all the good clothes in Tryon county. Gen. Washington was most punctilious and careful in matters of dress, his attitude, in his own words, being that "orderly and handsome dress was imperative for men in office and authority, that they and the nation should stand well in the eyes of other peoples, that they should impress the simpler of their own folk."

Robert W. Chambers, the well known novelist, is a resident of Fulton county, living at Broadalbin in what was the Mohawk district of Tryon. His novel "Cardigan" deals, in its early pages, with life at Johnson Hall. It suggests that, at the military and civic functions at the Tryon county seat, the dignitaries, officials, officers and their ladies there assembled must have rivalled the rainbow in the kaleidoscopic brilliancy of their rich attire. In 1780 when John Hancock was inaugurated governor of Massachusetts he wore a scarlet velvet suit which is still preserved in the Boston State House. His dress "on an important occasion when he desired to make an impression and yet not to appear over-carefully dressed," was thus described by a contemporary: "He wore a red velvet cap within which was one of fine linen, the last turned up two or three inches over the lower edge of the velvet. He also wore a blue damask gown, lined with velvet, a white stock, a white satin embroidered waistcoat, black satin small clothes, white silk stockings and red morocco slippers." Many of the portraits and descriptions in Mrs. Earle's "Two Centuries of Costume in America" bring vividly before us the life of the time and its American people. Tasteful and beautiful are many of the gowns of the fine ladles of the time, some of whom are radiantly lovely themselves. The men pictured therein show frequently strong well-modeled features of an American type which today is found only occasionally. Readers interested in this and the colonial period should study Mrs. Alice Morse Earle's "Home Life in Colonial Days," which gives a vivid insight into the life of both times.

Cleanliness was a not uncommon virtue of the Americans of that day. Dr. Younglove was the Palatine physician who was a surgeon with Herkimer's regiment. As we have seen he was captured by the British at Oriskany and taken to Canada. One of his chief complaints, during his early captivity, was as to the lack of soap and other means of keeping clean. English travelers of the time commented on the general neatness and cleanliness of American women, which would suggest a not similar condition existing in Europe. These same foreigners of the time found grounds for criticism In the riot of extravagance of dress and living which pervaded the "upper" classes of society in the American cities. The Count de Rochembeau asserted that the wives of American merchants and bankers were clad to the top of the French fashions and another French critic deplored it as a great misfortune that, in republics, women should sacrifice so much time to "trifles." Franklin warned his countrymen against this wave of reckless expenditure and Washington, who in his younger years was most careful about his rich and correct dress, later wore, as an example, home-reared and native made cloth. His wife was attired in domestic products, and we find her knitting and netting, weaving cloth at home, using up old materials.

In the few growing villages along the Mohawk and among a comparatively small number of well-to-do families in Tryon county this passion for rich attire probably existed, but the Mohawk valley Dutchman and his household needed none of Franklin's warnings against extravagance. While a few families of means and luxurious tastes affected the rich fashions of the day, the mass of the valley people dressed simply, as farmer folk generally do the world over. The short working skirt for women probably persisted and the change from breeches to trousers but little affected the Mohawk farmer, for the buckskin leggings of the frontier were nothing but a form of trousers and nether garments reaching below the knee had always been worn by workingmen and farm laborers, and by gentlemen for rough and ready wear. For farm laborers, these were frequently of coarse tow and were called "tongs," "skilts," overalls, pantaloons or trousers. One writer, speaking of farm workers and their "pants" of a period prior to the Revolution, says: "They were checked shirts and a sort of brown trousers known as skilts. These were short, reaching just below the knee and very large, being a full half yard broad at the bottom; and, without braces or gallows, were kept up by the hips, sailor fashion." Mrs. Earle says: "It is plain that these skilts or tongs were the universal wear of farmers in hot weather. Tight breeches were ill adapted for farm work."

Trousers, or pantaloons, were evidently also the country dress or rough and ready wear of eighteenth century gentlemen. Young Major Andre was reputed one of the dandies of the British army in America but, at the time of his capture (perhaps in the disguise of a patriot country merchant) he wore "a round hat, crimson coat (such as was worn by English and American gentlemen) with pantaloons and vest of buff nankeen," and riding boots. President John Adams also makes mention of his wearing "trousers" about his farm. It is also probable that trousers or pantaloons were worn by soldiers during the Revolution, at least by the Continental militiamen. During the pursuit of Ross and Butler up West Canada creek in October, 1781 (as stated in a previous chapter), it is said the American soldiers took off their "pantaloons" to ford the icy creeks. This is on the authority of one of their number. The word "pantaloons," however, as used here may refer to either breeches or trousers.

Women's costume in 1784 varied from the plain, simple, somewhat full skirted dress of the housewife to the thousand frivolities of the fashionable society of the American cities. Velvets, silks, and laces in every variety of brilliant color were used by both men and women. About 1800 came the change to the simpler dress for men of today, although for full dress occasions knee breeches continued to be worn by some men until about 1830, and a few old gentlemen clung to this fashion of their youth even after that period.

Visitors to New York city, who are interested in the life of the people at the period covered by this chapter, will find the Governor's room in the City Hall a most interesting place. Here are portraits of many state notables from the early days of the colony until the middle of the nineteenth century, affording a vivid insight into the life and changes of those times. Three of Fort Plain's distinguished visitors are present-Washington, Governor Clinton and President Van Buren. Horatio Seymour of Utica and Joseph C. Yates of Schenectady, Mohawk valley governors, are also here, as is Bouck, the Schoharie governor. Washington and Clinton are depicted in buff and blue continental regimentals, perhaps of the very style they wore during their Mohawk valley trip and Fort Plain visit of 1783. Most interesting is the study of the changing costume of these dignitaries. Colonial and Revolutionary military dress was frequently a resplendent affair and so continued to be until after the war of 1812. Morgan Lewis, who was governor of the state 1804-7, is shown here, in a portrait of 1808, in a uniform of yellow and black with a maroon sash, Wellington boots, highly decorated long sabre, and white gloves. He has a military coat of black velvet, edged with gold braid and lined with crimson satin.

Governor Joseph C. Yates is represented in a superb full-length portrait painted by the New York artist, John Vanderlyn, in 1827. He is depicted in black full dress, with knee breeches, black stockings and pumps. Governor Yates was a member of the well known Yates family of Schenectady and Yates county is named for him. He was born in 1768 and died in 1837, and was a founder of Union college, first mayor of Schenectady in 1798, and governor 1823-6.

Governor Dewitt Clinton was also painted in 1827 in the same style costume with the addition of a black cloak with a red lining; Both Yates and Clinton, although past middle age, make a brave showing in this attire and it seems incredible that men of taste and fashion should have dropped such a dignified and stately full dress for that which Martin Van Buren wears in a portrait dated 1830. Here we have the dress suit of the nineteenth century with a few differences of cut and the funny pantaloons which make malformations of Van Buren's legs compared with the underpinning of Yates and Clinton. And so went out the knee breeches and entered the era of the stove-pipe hat. Students of such things say man's dress both reflects the spirit of the times and also influences it. Truly it seems to have indeed done so and particularly at the end of this post-Revolutionary period of fifty years. While the costume of 1913 may not be as resplendent as that of 1784, it has features of comfort lacking at the earlier time. In America the wearing of underclothes is now well-nigh universal and these garments were unknown, except in winter, in Revolutionary days. Underwear manufacture is a feature of Mohawk valley industry.

Valley homes and life after the war are vividly pictured in the following from "Beer's History (1878)." This was written of the town of Florida, but applies equally to the other Montgomery county towns as well:

"With the opening of the nineteenth century we seem to come a long step toward the present. It seems a great milestone in history, dividing a fading past from the fresher present. The long, doubtful struggle with England had resulted in a dearly bought, dearly prized peace, with its beautiful victories. Local tradition has not yet lost the memory of the suffering that followed the infamous raid of Butler and Brant through this neighborhood in 1780; and still treasures tales of hairbreadth escapes of families that found darksome homes in the cellars of their burned dwellings, of the tearful hushing of children, lest their voices should betray the places of concealment, of the hiding of plate and valuables, tea kettles freighted with spoons being hid in such haste as to defy future unearthing. * '" But at last 'the land had rest.' The red man, once sovereign lord, had disappeared; the powerful Johnson family was exiled, its homes sequestered and in other hands. Sturdy toil and earnest labor won their due return and thrift and competency were everywhere attested by hospitable homes and well stored barns. Albany was the main market for the products, wheat forming the most considerable item. School houses and churches now dotted the landscape, and busy grist and saw mills perched on many streams. The Dutch [and German] language was much spoken, but many Connecticut and New England settlers never acquired it, and theirs [eventually] became the common tongue.

"Not alone have the 'blazed' or marked trees and saplings, which indicated the lines of roads or farm boundaries, long since decayed, but 'block house' and log cabin have also disappeared, and it may be doubted if five specimens of these early homes can now be found within the bounds of Florida. Yet still there live those who can remember the old-fashioned houses. Says Mr. David Cady:

"We have seen the type and warmed ourselves at the great hospitable fireplace, with crane, pothooks and trammels, occupying nearly the side of the room; while outer doors were so opposed that a horse might draw in the huge log by one entrance, leaving by the other. Strange, too, to our childish eyes, were the curious chimnies of tree limbs encrusted with mortar. The wide fireplace was universal; the huge brick oven Indispensable. Stoves were not, though an occasional Franklin was possessed. The turkey was oft cooked suspended before the crackling fire; the corn baked in the low coal-covered bake kettle, the potatoes roasted beneath the ashes, and apples upon a ledge of bricks; nuts and cider were in store in every house. As refinement progressed and wealth advanced, from the fireside wall extended a square cornice, perhaps six feet deep by ten feet wide, from which depended a brave valance of gay printed chintz or snowy linen, perchance decked with mazy net work and tassled fringe, wrought by the cunning hand of the mistress or her daughter. These too have we seen. Possibly the household thrift of the last [eighteenth] century was not greater than that of the present time, but its field of exertion was vastly different. The hum of the great and the buzz of the little spinning wheel were heard in every home. By the great wheels the fleecy rolls of wool, often hand carded, were turned into the firm yarns that by the motions of deft fingers grew into warm stockings and mittens, or by the stout and clumsy loom became gay coverlet of scarlet, or blue and, white, or the graver 'press cloth' for garb of women and children, or the butternut or brown or black homespun of men's wear. The little wheel mainly drew from twirling distaff the thread that should make the 'fine, twined linen,' the glory and pride of mistress or maid, who could show her handiwork in piles of sheets, tablecloths and garments. Upon these, too, was often lavished garniture of curious needlework, hemstitch, and herring-bone and lacestitch. Plaid linseys and linen wear were, too, fields for taste to disport in, while the patient and careful toil must not go unchronicled that from the wrecks of old and worn out clothes produced wondrous resurrection in the 'hit-or-miss' or striped rag carpet, an accessory of so much comfort, so great endurance, and often so great beauty.

"Horseback was the most common style of traveling. The well-sweep or bubbling spring supplied the clear, cold water. Such was the then, we know the now. In modes of life. In dress and equipage, in social and political habits, in locomotion, in comforts, in commerce, one needs not to draw the contrast; more wide or striking It scarce could be."

Mr. Cady has most pleasingly described the old log cabin homes, but we must remember that much that he details of them was also true of the stone and brick houses which were built up along the Mohawk, almost from the first advent of the white settlers. The century or more following the initial settlements was marked by the erection of strong, well-made houses and barns, which might well be adapted for present day construction. When stone was easily obtainable, as in the Palatine and parts 'of the Canajoharie districts, fine, solid, comfortable farm dwellings were built which seem to reflect the simple, solid, honest character of the Mohawk valley men of German and Dutch ancestry of the time. While the "Mohawk Dutchman" has been criticised, justly or unjustly, for penury, lack of enterprise and progressiveness and other tailings, he seems to have possessed the sterling virtues of horse sense, justice, honesty, toleration, self restraint and, greatest of all, pertinacity. All these qualities are so well exemplified in the greatest American of the time-Washington-of a different blood. These same traits seem to reflect themselves in the structures built by the men of the Mohawk from 1784 to 1838. There are many examples lining the river's course on both highways and in the villages. The Frey house (1800) in Palatine Bridge is an example of the stone construction, while the Groff house (typical of that fine old Schenectady Dutch style) and the public library (1835) on Willett street, Fort Plain, are examples respectively of brick and wood building of the period under consideration. The old Paris store or "Bleecker house," in Fort Plain, Is another interesting specimen of early valley building. The reason the middle and upper Mohawk valley have so few pre-Revolutionary buildings is that these were destroyed in the raids from 1778 to 1782.

These same human qualities enumerated have continued to make the "Mohawk Dutch" such an important part of the valley's population, probably the largest element even at this day.

It has been authoritatively stated that the Teutonic is the largest single racial factor in our country. It has never been exploited like the Puritan strain has in history and literature but it is none the less important on that account. Wherever the Teutonic race settled it did its work well as did other peoples of America. Of its original locations, the Dutch settlements of New Jersey and the Hudson and Mohawk valleys and the German settlements of Pennsylvania and the Hudson, Mohawk and Schoharie valleys are of prime historical importance. As has been previously mentioned, these two elements (the Dutch and the German) were much intermingled and always have been.

At the beginning of the Revolution, it may be roughly estimated, that, in the entire valley, one-half the population was of German blood, one-quarter of Holland descent (including populous Schenectady county) and one-quarter of other racial elements, or in other words, three-quarters "Mohawk Dutch." This supposition is borne out somewhat by the "Oriskany roster" and similar records of the time. After the Revolution, with growing immigration, the Teutonic element somewhat decreased, but the majority of the families of a great part of the valley possess some strain of this sterling blood. And the spirit of toleration and restraint inherited from these early Teutonic settlers is a valued heritage of the valley people of today. Possibly the Holland Dutch element was greater than in the foregoing estimate. There is no means of accurately telling, but the guess may stand for Tryon county alone.

There were then present other equally sterling racial elements, notably Irish, Scotch, Welsh and English, but these were not of such numerical strength as the Teutonic in the formative period of the valley and did not consequently affect the course of life and events to the same extent as did the latter, so generally predominant in the early years. Today the British element (Inclusive of the four peoples mentioned) is present in much greater proportion than in colonial and Revolutionary times. However in the towns of Montgomery county, aside from the city of Amsterdam, the opinion is worth venturing that the old "Mohawk Dutch" stock still constitutes a majority of the population. This is particularly true of the country sections and of the five western towns. In the list of premium winners at the Fort Plain street fair of 1912, two-thirds of the names published were of this typical valley, original Teutonic stock. The foregoing racial discourse will have served its purpose if it indicates that we must consider New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania history (and that of other great regions where non-British elements largely located) in an entirely different light from that of the Puritan settlements of New England or the cavalier's Virginia and Maryland. These latter (especially New England) seem to have been historically exploited to the slighting of other equally important colonial centers of life. This country is not a second England, or even an enlarged New England, but a new nation, made up of many elements, although dominated by one great cohesive national idea, and largely differing in racial ancestry in different areas. Historically these race and national elements must be duly considered to give a clear understanding of certain periods, but we are today all Americans-and Americans alone-regardless of the original stock from which we sprang.

The period under consideration marked the passing of German In the western and Dutch in the eastern valley as the predominant tongues. The change was gradual. Dominies, who, at the close of the war preached, in the churches, several sermons in German or Dutch (or both) to one in English, after 1800 were discoursing more in the latter than in the former tongues. German and Dutch were still spoken in 1838 but then English had long been the popular language. The old "Mohawk Dutch" still lingers as a subsidiary speech to a limited extent.

For the most part the men of this period (from 1784 to 1838) led lives of hard work in the open air, and were consequently sturdy. Factory life was a negligible quantity, even toward the end of this time, and the town population was small in comparison with the people who were on the farms. Agricultural conditions and work gradually improved and approached the more advanced methods of the present, although doubtless not specialized as now. In most sections, the farming population, at the end of this period, was larger than it Is at the present time (1913). The country was what might be called a natural country and human life was consequently natural and not lived under such artificial conditions as now. The great health-giving and soil-preserving forest still occupied considerable stretches of country and furnished hunting and fishing for the male population. There were farms, forests and watercourses and no huge cities, with their big factories and indoor life, to tend toward the deterioration of the valley's people.

With none of the present-day agricultural machinery, such as the reaper and thresher, the men of that day were compelled to do themselves the hard work of the farms and also of the towns. Consequently they had sturdy bodies, and so did the women and their children, as well-and no people can have a better asset. The women were probably generally good housewives, who gave their daughters thorough training in the work of the household, and who took the same pride in a well-kept house as their husbands did in a well-managed, productive farm. Aimless discontent seems to have been markedly absent and the women of the time were evidently lacking in sexless prudery and priggishness. The natural ardors of youth seem not to have been then considered evidences of depravity, and early marriages and large families were the rule. There was no need of sending the little child, of that day, to kindergarten for pretty nearly every farm and town house was a kindergarten in itself. It is said that never, in any nation's history, has there been such a record of population increase as in the American states from their settlement up to the time of the great Invasion of foreign immigrants about 1840, when this natural national growth began to slacken and approach the present (1913) stationary position among the purely American element of the population (let us say among families who settled here prior to 1840). If this trend should unfortunately continue the Revolutionary American stock is bound to die out or become at most a negligible national quantity.

It is not to be Inferred from the foregoing that 1784 or 1838 is superior to 1913 as a period of human life. In comfort, sanitation, kindliness and toleration we are ahead of the earlier time. Both times have something that each lack by themselves.

During the time of this chapter, the tavern continued, as before and during the Revolution, a center of social and political life. Here were held dances, banquets, meetings and elections. "Trainings" of the militia and horse races brought out the people as at present county fairs. An agricultural association was formed In Johnstown and county fairs were held there about the middle of this period.

The work and government of the valley, after the conflict for Independence, were in the hands of the patriot Revolutionary warriors. They assumed the direction of county affairs, without change-the form of government of old Tryon being much like that of the Montgomery count;- which it became. Later the sons and grandsons of Revolutionary sires took up their share of work and politics and at the close of this after-war period (in 1838) there must have been but comparatively few of the men of '76 left. Rev. John Taylor's journal of 1802, written during his journey up the Mohawk valley, gives us a sketch of the people and country hereabouts at that interesting time, also an insight into the crude farming methods then prevailing. Parts of his diary relating to this section are as follows:

"July 23. 1802-Tripes (alias Tribes) Hill, in the town of Amsterdam, county of Montgomery. * * * This place appears to be a perfect Babel as to language. But very few of the people, I believe, would be able to pronounce Shibboleth. The articulation, even of New England people, is injured by their being intermingled with the Dutch, Irish and Scotch. The character of the Dutch people, even on first acquaintance, appears to be that of kindness and justice. As to religion, they know but little about it, and are extremely superstitious. They are influenced very much by dreams and apparitions. The most intelligent of them seem to be under the influence of tear from that cause. The High Dutch have some singular customs with regard to their dead. When a person dies, nothing will Influence ye connections, nor any other person, unless essentially necessary, to touch the body. When the funeral is appointed, none attend but such as are Invited. When the corpse is placed in the street a tune is sung by a choir of persons appointed for the purpose-and continue singing until they arrive at the grave; and after the body is deposited, they have some remarks made, return to ye house and In general get drunk. 12 men are bearers or carriers-and they have no relief. No will is opened or debt paid until six weeks from ye time of death.

"27th-Left Amsterdam and traveled 5 miles to Johnstown-a very pleasant village-containing one Dutch Presbyterian ch. and an Episcopalian. The village is tolerably well built. It is a county town-lies about 4 miles from the River and contains about 600 inhabitants. In this town there is a jail, court house and academy. About %,ths of a mile from the center of the town we find the buildings erected by Sir "William Johnson." Mr. Taylor also continues as follows:

"Johnstown, west of Amsterdam on the Mohawk-extent [the town] 11 by 8 miles. It contains one Scotch Presbyterian congregation, who have an elegant meeting house, Simon Hosack Pastor of the Ch., a Gent. of learning and piety, educated at Edinburgh. This is a very respectable congregation. The town contains an Episcopal congregation, who have an elegant stone church with organs. John Urquhart, curate. Congregation not numerous. There is also in this town one reformed Dutch ch. Mr. Van Horn, an excellent character, pastor. A respectable congregation. Further there is one large Presbyterian congregation-vacant-the people [of this congregation] principally from New England.

"Palatine, west of Johnstown and Mayfield; extent 15 by 12 miles [then depleted in size from 1772]. A place called Stone Arabia is in this town and contains one Lutheran Ch. and one Dutch reformed Ch. Mr. Lubauch is minister of the latter and Mr. Crotz of the former. Four miles west of Stone Arabia, in the same town of Palatine, is a reformed Lutheran Ch. to whom Mr. Crotz preaches part of the time.

"After leaving this town [Johnstown] I passed about ten miles in a heavy timbered country with but few inhabitants. The soil, however, appears in general to be excellent. The country Is a little more uneven than it is back In Amsterdam. After traveling ten miles in a tolerable road, I came to Stonearabe (or Robby as the Dutch pronounce it). This is a parish of Palatine and is composed principally of High Dutch or Germans. Passing on 4 miles, came upon the river in another parish of Palatine, a snug little village with a handsome stone ch. [Palatine Church]. Having traveled a number of miles back of the river, I find that there is a great similarity in the soil, but some difference in the timber. From Johnstown to Stone Arabia, the timber is beech and maple, with some hemlocks. In Stone Arabia the timber is walnut and butternut. The fields of wheat are numerous and the crop in general is excellent. In everything but wheat the husbandry appears to be bad. The land for Indian corn, it is evident from appearance is not properly plowed-they plow very shallow. Neither is the corn tended-it is in general full of weeds and grass and looks miserably. Rie is large. Flax does not appear to be good. Whether this is owing to the season or the soil, I know not. Pease appear to flourish-so do oats; but the soil, I believe, is too hard and clayey for potatoes-they look very sickly. I perceive as yet, but one great defect in the morals of the people-they are too much addicted to drink. The back part of Montgomery [now Fulton] county consists of some pine plains; but in general the lumber is beach and maple. A good grass and wheat country."

Like many after war times, the close of the Revolution ushered in an era of recklessness and license. Gambling, extravagance, horse-racing. drunkenness and dueling were forms of its evidence. The duel was a recognized and tolerated method for the settlement of private grievances at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Roseboom-Kane affair at Canajoharie is treated in a later chapter relative to that town. Another duel caused great public excitement in New York city and state in the first year of the nineteenth century. The principals were Philip Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, and George J. Backer, who had come to New York from his home in the town of Palatine a few years before. The latter was the son of Judge Backer of Palatine and a nephew of General Herkimer. Backer studied law, was admitted to the bar and became associated in a law firm with Brockholst Livingston, after his arrival in the city. He was a friend and admirer of Aaron Burr and a Jeffersonian in politics. Party feeling ran very high and Backer became embroiled with the Federalists of which party Alexander Hamilton was a national and state leader. In 1801 Backer delivered the Fourth of July oration in New York city, and seems to have thereby incurred the enmity of the Hamiltons and their party. Nov. 20, 1801, Backer and his fiancee (a Miss Livingston) occupied a box at the John St. theatre, and he was there insulted by Philip Hamilton (then in his twentieth year), son of Alexander Hamilton, and by young Hamilton's friend Price. The talk between them, in Backer presence, ran somewhat as follows: "How did you like Backer's sour krout oration on the Fourth of July?" The answer placed it in a very low scale. "What will you give for a printed copy of it?" "About a sixpence" was the reply. "Don't you think the Mohawk Dutchman is a greater man than Washington?" "Yes, far greater," ate., etc. Backer resented this abuse and a duel with Price followed at noon, Sunday, November 22, at Powle's Hook. Four shots were exchanged between the principals without result, when the seconds intervened. A second duel with young Hamilton took place the following day, Monday, November 23, at three in the afternoon at the same place, in which Backer shot Hamilton through the body at the first fire and the unfortunate young man died the next day. It is a curious commentary upon the position dueling occupied, in the estimation of men of the time, that Alexander Hamilton held no grievance against the slayer of his son, and Joseph Herkimer of Little Falls, observed to a friend that he "never witnessed more especial compliments or respectful greetings pass between lawyers than did between Gen. Hamilton and Backer after his son's death." Backer died in 1803 of consumption and Alexander Hamilton was himself killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. George J. Backer was a prominent militiaman and volunteer fireman of New York city at the time of his early death.

Among the valley sports, after as before the Revolution, the chief seem to have been horse racing, foot racing and ball.

We have the following somewhat amusing anecdote concerning the meddling of the clergy with the sports of the people. At a race on the Sand Flats at Fonda, the German minister of Stone Arabia thought it his duty to protest against race track gambling, which was the cause of much iniquity, so he rode there in his chaise with that intent. Arriving at the grounds he had barely commenced his protest against the evils of the race course, when a wag, who knew the parson's horse had been in a former similar race, rode up saying: "Dominie, you have a fine horse there" and, touching both horses smartly with his whip, shouted "Go!" and both animals and drivers started off toward the minister's home at a racing clip. Several voices were heard shouting, "Go it, dominie, we'll bet on your horse." Before the reverend gentleman could pull up his nag both horses had sped a long way and the Stone Arabia clergyman, realizing the force of his remarks had been unavoidably broken, kept on to his home and was never again seen at a race course.

Trivial as certain, of these accounts and anecdotes may appear they give us an Insight and understanding of the people's character and dally life in the early days of the valley, which no citation of mere events and figures, however correct, can picture. They bring up visions like looking on a camera obscura, filled with the moving figures and backed by the unfamiliar scenes of a day long passed.

Here Is appended a hand bill of races In Palatine forty years after the Revolutionary period. However the character of the pre-Revolutionary races was, without doubt, similar and it will give us an idea of what was the major sport and recreation of our valley ancestors:

"Second Day's Purse, $50- "To be given to the jockey rider, running two mile heats, winning two heats out of three; free for any horse, mare or gelding in the United States. "The third day a new SADDLE and BRIDLE, to be given to the jockey rider running one mile heats, winning two heats out of three; free for any three-year-old colt in the United States.

"Likewise on the last day, a BEAVER HAT. worth $10, to be given to the jockey footman running round the course in the shortest time. To start at four o'clock, p. m., on the last day's running.

"On the first Tuesday In November next, races will commence on the flats of George Waggoner in Palatine. The purses as above, except the hat. "October 4, 1819. "A SPORTSMAN."

The foot race did not take place as a Palatine contestant was sick, and a purse of $30 was made up for a quarter-mile foot race. William Moyer, a tailor, and John K. Diell represented the town of Canajoharie and one Waggoner and an unknown man were the champions of Palatine. The tap of a drum started them, as was usual then, and Diell won the sprint by six feet. The time was 58 seconds, which was very fast considering the track and the fact that there were no spiked shoes in those days.

In 1824 a footrace took place In the village of Canajoharie for a purse of $1,000, the runners being David Spraker of Palatine and Joseph White of Cherry Valley. The distance of ten rods was marked oft on Montgomery street and the contestants were started by David F. Sacia. Spraker won the prize and the race by three feet. This race was a topic of general conversation for a halt century afterward.

Games of ball had been popular sport with the soldiers of the Revolution. We read that the garrison was playing ball when Fort Schuyler took fire. This was probably then as later the game of "town ball." There were four bases in that game, but, instead of touching the runner to put him out, the rule required that he must be hit with a thrown ball. There were no basemen. This game survives, in the rules of our national sport, in that a base runner who is hit by a batted ball is out.

The modern game of baseball was invented by a schoolboy of the old Canajoharie district, Abner Doubleday, who originated it at Green's school in Cooperstown, during the Harrison presidential campaign of 1840. This is so near to the time dealt with in this chapter that it Is given place here, particularly as Cooperstown was for years so closely connected with Fort Plain, the latter village being its outlet to the Mohawk valley, by way of the Otsquago, all the towns along which route made Fort Plain their trade center, particularly before the days of the railroads.

In 1840, a great crowd had gathered at Cooperstown for a picnic and political meeting, during the excitement of this famous campaign. Of course the boys of the neighborhood of the school mentioned were present in large numbers. Young Doubleday (who later became a U. S. army general) had been working for some time on a game, based on "town ball," for the boys to play at the picnic. American boys of that time were vastly interested in all games requiring agility, quick thinking and athletic prowess and Doubleday's game took hold like wildfire. The New York Evening World, in June, 1908, had the following regarding this truly historic event:

"Young Doubleday was also fond of town ball, but he saw the opportunity to make the game more scientific and for several nights he worked on a new set of rules and a diagram of the field.

"When the boys assembled that afternoon Doubleday gathered them around and explained as well as he could, the points of the new game. He decided that there must be four bases ninety feet apart, and the boys immediately began to refer to the game as 'baseball,' The name stuck.

"The rules made by Gen. Doubleday specified that the ball should be made of rubber and yarn and covered with leather. It must weigh about five ounces and must not be more than nine inches in circumference. The weight of the ball and the size of the hand were taken into consideration in determining these measurements. The bat was to be of round wood, and to be used with both hands. In town ball the bat was frequently used with one hand.

"The next thing for the inventor was to determine the distance between the bases. After several experiments it was found that a man would have to hustle to run 42 [walking] paces or about 90 feet before a ball of those dimensions could be returned after having been driven to the outfield. Thus it was that 90 feet was fixed as the distance between the bases. A proof of Doubleday's wonderful judgment is the fact that, to this day, the ball is 'five ounces, 9 inch' and the distance between the bases is 90 feet. The underlying principles of baseball have not been changed one iota since 1840.

"The batters immediately began to study means by which they could drive the ball so as to easily make the 90 feet. But there were two sides to that proposition and the fielders learned to handle the ball faster so as to affect the batsmen. The American boy is naturally inventive and for 70 years he has worked, both at the bat and in the field, to overcome the problem which was created by Doubleday's measurements. That constant effort has made baseball the great national pastime of America."

All American boys should take pride in the fact that the leading athletic game of North America was invented and virtually perfected by a Cooperstown schoolboy.

The Mohawk valley has produced a number of ballplayers of exceptional ability. A St. Johnsville man is today (1913) with the New York National League team as an outfielder and a Palatine (Nelliston) native is manager of the Brooklyn National League team, after a long and successful career as shortstop with three championship league teams- New York, Brooklyn and Chicago. This player, W. F. Dahlen, started his career on the famous old Institute (C. L. I.) school team of Fort Plain.

General Abner Doubleday was born at Ballston Springs, Saratoga county, June 26, 1819; graduated at West Point in 1842. He became a captain of the U. S. army in 1855 and was one of the garrison of Fort Sumter in 1861. He was made a brigadier-general of volunteers Feb., 1862, and a major general in Nov., 1862. Doubleday was in the battles of Manassas, South Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg commanded the First Corps in the first day's battle after the death of Gen. Reynolds. He was breveted a major-general of the U. S. army and became colonel of infantry in 1867; retired 1873; died 1893. Gen. Doubleday published "Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie" (1876), and "Chancellorsville and Gettysburg" (1882).

The historical time covered In this chapter witnessed the complete disappearance of the Mohawk Iroquois from his old valley hunting grounds. At the close of the Revolution a few friendly or neutral Mohawks and a small number of individuals of other tribes remained along the river. There was a violent but natural prejudice against all Indians, on the part of the white population, which caused many of these natives to move to Canada or other friendly neighborhoods. By 1840, it is probable that the last of these remaining valley savages had died out. As has been previously noted the majority of the Mohawks left the valley with the Johnson family, at the beginning of Revolutionary hostilities, and settled in Canada, on the Grand river. Here they were granted lands and many of them have become prosperous farmers. The Mohawks and Oneidas have increased greatly in number and prospered while other Iroquois tribes have diminished.

According to the U. S. census of 1890 the total Iroquois population of North America was 45,000, a large proportion of the Indian inhabitants. This included, besides the Six Nations, the Cherokees who numbered 28,000 and is the largest tribe of Iroquois blood, numbering twice as many individuals as the New York state Iroquois or the Six Nations. The Wyandots, also of the same American Indian stock, numbered 689. In the census of 1890, the Mohawk population includes those of that tribe living at Caughnawaga and Lake of Two Mountain, Quebec, and at Grand River, Ontario, and the Mohawk, Oneida and Huron mixed-bloods living at St. Regis, and those living on other reservations. The great majority are, of course, resident in Canada. In 1890 the numbers of the Six Nations were as follows: Mohawks, 6,656; Oneidas, 3,129; Senecas, 3,055; Cayugas, 1,301; Onondagas, 890; Tuskaroras, 733. Total, 15,664. This is about what the New York state Iroquois population was at the time of the Dutch settlement. From a small tribe the Mohawks have risen to the greatest in numbers, while the Senecas, once the first, and numbering as many as the other five tribes combined, have shrunk so that they now are third in rank in population. The success of the Mohawks on their Canadian lands would suggest that the Indian, under proper conditions, can make a place for himself in civilized society.

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