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Dating back to its formation under a colonial law of 1683, Orange is one of the oldest of the counties in the State. It was reestablished in 1788, and had its boundaries finally determined April 3, I80I. In 1799, Rockland was set off, and five towns from Ulster added. Newburgh and Goshen were jointly the shire villages. The County was divided at this time into the towns of Blooming Grove, Chesekook, Deer Park, Goshen, Minisink, Montgomery, New Windsor, Newburgh, Wallkill and Warwick. The County has an area of nearly half a million square acres; fronts on both the Hudson and Delaware, and is bounded on the south and west by the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Sullivan and Ulster counties supply the west and north lines, the Hudson the east.
Few sections of New York can equal the district in the variety and picturesqueness of terrain. The most and best of the Hudson highlands, with Storm King, Cro'Nest and Bear Mountain dominating the landscape, is one of its natural beauties. The central part is one wide range of rolling surface, broken by deep valleys; on the west are the Shawangunk mountains. There are valleys in which the richest bottom lands have been cultivated for more than two centuries, such as the Neversink. Lakes are to be seen in profusion, some of the best roads making them accessible to all. Even the swamp lands, such as those in the "Drowned Lands," have both charm and utility, since drainage has been used in their development. The geology is as interesting as the topography, although minerals of commercial value are few.
Of the part played by the County in the history of the State and Nation, it is well to recall that this section was intimately associated with some of the crucial events of the Revolution. Not only was there a continuous movement of troops through the region, for West Point was on the County's frontier, but near the close, the last cantonment of the war was in Orange, and Washington passed the greater part of his time here. When the army went into winter headquarters at Little Britain in 1782, with the end of the war in sight, there grew the idea that a republic was an impossibility as a form of government, and Washington was suggested as the king of a limited monarchy. He was a resident of the County when such an offer was made to him by Colonel Nicola. The stern rejection of the idea is well known, and in his utterance he assured the establishment of a free government.
Cities & Towns of Orange County
Newburgh, the principal city of Orange County, is also the largest industrial place between New York City and Albany. Its location on the high west bank of the Hudson, of which magnificent views may be had from almost any part of the city, early attracted settlers, who soon put it in a foremost place as the commercial center of a great timber and farm region, and the main shipping point for the lumber and produce. The site of the city was on the lands bought by Governor Dongan, in 1664, from the Indians, and sold by him to Capt. John Evans thirty years later. A group of the Palatines, who had been sent to this country by Queen Anne, fifty-three in all, settled here in 1708. The district was then known as "The Globe," or the "Parish of Quassaick," and was quickly improved by the Germans with houses, church and farms. They never were permanent in their settlement or effect on the character of the locality, and, when the Dutch and English drifted in later, the name was changed to Newburgh, 1752, which also indicated the change in the a peoples who resided there. It must not be forgotten that seventy years after the coming of the Palatines, the future city consisted only of a "tavern, a score of houses, with three boats owned in town making occasional trips to New York."
The Revolution was now at its height, the one tavern had been made the headquarters of Lafayette, and the Has- brouck house was later to shelter Washington. The little hamlet suf fered all the anticipations of destruction and loot, which, however, never came to pass. Although like all the settlements of the colonies, the cessation of the war left it sadly depleted and poor; its natural advantages had not been wiped out, or even weakened, and the precinct rapidly filled with new families. In 1790 there was a population of 2,365. There now began to be a semblance of order about the village. Streets were laid out, docks built, and the first regular store opened. With no competition by canal or railroad, Newburgh played an important role as the transportation center of the district on both sides of the Hudson. Mills there had been from the first, but manufacturing had been frowned upon by England, who wanted the colonies to import from it their supplies. Ship building was one of the early occupations, but after the war all manner of factories started.
On March 25, 1800, the village of Newburgh was incorporated. A turnpike was constructed a few years later to, and through, Sullivan County, which not only joined the back country with Newburgh, but later, with connecting roads, gave "The shortest and most expeditious stage route from the village to Buffalo," sixty-five hours. In 1830, the river and land trade of the village rose to great heights, but after this the Erie Canal made itself felt, and only a few years later the Delaware and Hudson Canal did even greater harm. Then the Erie Railroad from Goshen to Piermont diverted even more trade, and was the straw that broke the camel's back. The monopoly of transportation, as far as Newburgh was concerned, was ended. Fortunately, manufacturing more than took the place of the losses, and the 1870 population of the city was above 17,000. It was now a city, for it had been so chartered in 1865.
The history of Newburgh in these modern days has been that of a quiet, steady growth, with emphasis laid on the improvement of the municipality, from the standpoint of beauty, convenience and facilities for industry and commerce. It is the mercantile center of a surrounding set of villages, with a population three times its own. In 1920 there were more than a hundred factories, employing 5,389, manufacturing products to the value, annually, of $30,000,000.
Middletown, incorporated in 1888, covering an acreage of 2,330, is the second largest city of Orange County. It is also the one most centrally located, being among the fertile rolling rural township of Wallkill. Not to a river, but to the railroads, does the place owe its growth, there now being three which pass through it. Distant from New York City only sixty-seven miles, it is in some respects almost a suburb of the Metropolis, and is one of the largest of those places that supply the great city with food supplies, particularly milk. As a city of homes, scenic and healthful location, energy and enterprise, Middletown is not surpassed by any of the places in the county.
When the site of the city had its first house is uncertain, but it seems likely that it was about 1743-45. John Green had purchased land of the DeLancey patent, including the site of the present city. Later he donated a lot for a church, and when the farmers from all around came to raise the frame of the Congregational Church on it, the question of a name for the locality was considered. "What shall it be? There is Dolsontown on the south; Goshen on the east; Scotchtown on the north; and Shawangunk on the west. We will call it Middletown, it being in the center." In 1829 the name was changed to South Middletown, there being another place of the same title north of Newburgh, but in 1849 the prefix was eliminated. This was just after the incorporation of the village April 7, 1848.
The building of the Erie Railroad seems to have been the main factor in the expansion of the village. This road, built on the installment plan, in the county at least, first laid a section to Monroe, then to Chester, then to Goshen, and finally induced by the raising of large sums of money, to Middletown. This was followed by a large influx of people and factories. Middletown has never had any period of inflation, its growth being continuous and steady. In 1807, the population was 45; in 1838, 433; ten years later, 1,360; a decade saw these figures doubled; in 1888, when made a city, the residents numbered 12,000 ; in 1920, 18,420. Some of the old concerns that made he name of the city honored and well known, were those making saws, files, hats, leather and carpet bags. The Ontario and Western Railroad, in more recent times, located their repair shops in the municipality. There are now, 1920, a total of seventy-eight manufacturing plants doing business in the city, with employees to the number of 2,162, turning out products valued at $9,803, 344. There are large wholesale mercantile companies in the city, and a full list of charitable, benevolent and educational institutions.
Port Jervis, the third city of the county, is located in the far west section of Orange on the Delaware River. Its settlement grew out of the selection of this spot, in 1826, as an outlet of the projected Delaware and Hudson Canal. The name given the hamlet was in honor of John B. Jervis, who superintended the construction of the canal. Its position as the midway point on that waterway between Kingston and Honesdale, Pennsylvania, gave it an advantage that the residents were prompt to use. It was in the early days one of the most important of the lumber and coal points, and one of the places where supplies were bought. The completion of the Erie road to Port Jervis on the first day of 1848, gave a new impetus to the expansion of the village; as the head of the Delaware division, and the establishment of large car shops at the place, was, and has continued to be, one of the greatest factors in the prosperity of the city.
In 1853, Port Jervis was incorporated as a village, and on June 26, 1907, it was made a city. The population according to the 1920 census, was 10,171. There were, in this same year, seventy-eight industrial establishments, employing more than 2,000, with products to the annual value of $8,242,515.
TOWNS
Industry - To obviate the repetition of the industry of each town in the county, it may be stated that dairying so dominates the agriculture of the rural sections as to constitute the principal occupation of practically all the divisions. The terrain and the character of the average soils, proximity to a metropolitan market, all conspire to make milk the best one product of Orange farms. Fruits were until recent years a very important crop, and there is a tendency to rehabilitate horticulture. Vegetables are grown in quantity. But the value of the dairy cattle is $7,332,829, and of dairy products nearly $7,000,000 annually, showing the dominance of this one phase of agriculture. All remaining farm crops fail to equal the value of milk, and the greater part of these crops is used in the caring for the cow. Orange County can, and does, grow nearly all the plants and fruits that are grown in the temperate zone; it has found, however, that dairying is the more profitable, or the best suited to its conditions.
Blooming Grove, one of the older towns, with an area of 21,759 acres, lies northwest of the center of the county. It was formed from Cornwall, March 23, 1799, and included part of Hamptonburgh until 1830, and part of Chester until 1845. The first settler seems to have been Vincent Matthews, who built a mill at Salisbury in 1721. Blooming Grove village was the principal center when the town was organized; it now is only a small group of houses and a church. Washingtonville, started later, is now one of the choicest villages of the county. Craigville, on the falls of Greycourt Creek, was once an important mill town, with three dams supplying power. Oxford is a pleasant hamlet.
Chester, an interior town, with more than 17,000 acres of fine dairy land, has some of the higher summits of the Highlands. The King's Highway, the natural avenue between Newburgh and New Jersey,crosses the town. The famed Glenmere Lake is one of the scenic features. The town was organized in 1845, from Goshen, Warwick, Blooming Grove and Monroe. John Yelverton (1721), is the first known settler in the district. The first postoffice was established on a part of the present main village, Chester, in 1794. It was at this village that the first effort was made to ship milk as far as New York City, 1842; the beginning of the principal rural industry of the county. Chester was incorporated in 1892, with a population of 1,400, which is also the number of its residents today. Besides being a shipping point for milk, it manufactures quantities of cheese, milk, sugar and other lacteal products. Greycourt, successively East and West Junction, and Chesterville, received its present title from the nearby Greycourt meadows. The hamlet of Sugar Loaf is one of the oldest communities in Orange, dating from 1738.
Cornwall, in the heart of the Hudson Highlands, was a part of the Governor Dongan tract, purchased in 1685. A year prior to this a Scotchman, named McGregorie, had located with several families, being the pioneers of the district. The region is full of beautiful estates, summer hotels, and vacation colonies. Idlewild is one of the oldest and most famous, started by N. P. Willis, in 1851. The town was also the home of E. P. Roe. Cornwall Landing was, from Revolutionary days, the great river outlet for the cattle and the produce of a wide back country, and in more recent times, one of the fruit and berry supply stations for the "City." Canterbury village was, probably, the first district to be worthy of being called a hamlet. Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, incorporated in March, 1885, is the principal village of the township, with a present population of about 1,800.
Crawford, a triangular township in the northwest corner of the county, has an area of 24,769, and was formed from Montgomery, March 4, 1823. The name was derived from a numerous family who were among the first to locate in the region. The history of the town is so intimately connected with Montgomery that it is impossible to state when, or by whom, the district was first settled. The date 1740, and the names Weller or Snyder, are as near as one may come. Among the villages of the town ship are: Hopewell, a farm hamlet; Bullville, formerly Searsburgh, important until the railroad took away its trade; Thompson's Ridge, a milk shipping point; Collabar, or Callaburg, and Pine Bush.
Deer Park, in the extreme west angle of the county, has an area of 37,120 acres, the second largest in the county. Three States meet at a point on its boundary. In a legislative act of 1701, the section is mentioned, but formal organization dates from 1798; Port Jervis was a part of the town at its formation. Arent Schuyler visited the region in 1684, and William Tietsoort (Titsworth) after living here some time, tried, in 1698, to buy the land on which he was located. The town attained prominence when it became the subject of a long controversy between New York and New Jersey over the boundary line, which was not settled until 1874. The proximity of the city of Port Jervis has prevented the growth of any large villages. Westbrookville, Port Orange, Cuddebackville, Rose Point and Gumears, are all small hamlets. Carpenter's Point, the site of the first postoffice, and a former rival of Port Jervis, is now a rural village, located near "Tri State Rock." Other hamlets are: Sparrowbush, Bushkill, Quarryhill, Shin Hollow, Paradise, Honesville and Bolton.
Goshen, "the promised land," was first known by the name in 1714, but had its boundaries established in 1788. It then included a part of Hamptonburgh until 1830, and Chester until 1845. Although the settling of this region was planned as early as 1664, the first name recorded as actually locating, is that of Christopher Denn, who came, in 1712, and built his home near the Otterkill. The Goshen section soon became one of the most populous of the county, a census of 1738 showing 319 males above the age of ten. Goshen village, the county seat, has always dominated the section to the exclusion of other settlements. It is located on the main line of the Erie and the terminus of two other roads. It is the principal shipping point for milk from the large and fertile surrounding dairy section, and the home of many who are in business in New York, sixty miles away. Its broad streets, excellent municipal utilities, fine homes and public buildings are the admiration of the visitor. It was incorporated 1809, and had, in 1920, a population of 2,803.
Greenville, with an assessed acreage of 18,287, derives its name from the beautiful colors of the grass covered sides of Shawangunk Mountain, near which it is located, in the western part of the county. It was formed in 1854, and the first town meeting was held in the then important village of Eushville on March 28. The oldest hamlet of the township is Smith Corners, founded by Elijah Smith, just after the close of the Revolution. Minisink, or Greenville, is now the principal settlement, a quiet rural village, away from the railroad, in the center of a dairy land valley.
Hamptonburg was formed in 1830, from Montgomery, Goshen and Blooming Grove. A patent signed in 1703 covered this region and Christopher Denn was one of the patentees. A girl, whom his family had cared for, Sarah Wells, is one of the principal names in Hamptonburg history, particularly as the wife of William Bull. Denn located on his tract shortly after acquiring it, and Bull became a neighbor in the early years of the eighteenth century. Bull gave the present name to the region and town. Campbell Hall, now the principal settlement, owes its prominence to its location near the junction of four railroads. Burnside is the only other hamlet.
Highlands, with the most extensive frontage on the Hudson, beginning at Cro'Nest, has an area of 15,514 acres, was formed in 1873, almost the youngest of the townships. Its name is appropriate, for some of the finest of the Hudson mountains are located in the town, and the section back from the river has a delightful variety of scenic beauty. The region did not invite early settlement, and it is probable that John Moore, a patentee, was the earliest to locate, 1725. The principal village of the township is West Point, famed as the seat of the Nation's Military Academy, established between 1778 and 1780. West Grove is a hamlet of early founding.
Minisink, one of the original towns, organized March 7,1788, has lost territory since, in the formation of Deer Park in 1798, Calhoun in 1825, Wawayanda in 1849, and Greenville in 1853. It is located in the western part of the county, near the dividing lines between two States. The first settlers were probably Inman Walling, 1725-30, and John Whitaker, although there are traditions of pioneers of an earlier date. A strictly rural section, Minisink has many hamlets, the most of which are holdovers of an early industrial period. Among these are: Millsburg, Unionville, Westtown, Johnsons, Gardnersville and Waterloo Mills.
Monroe, a precinct in 1764, with the name, Chesecock, until 1801, when it changed to Southfield; on April 6, 1808, it took the present title. In 1863, the town was divided into Monroe, Highlands and Southfield; two years later the parts were joined, only to be separated in 1889 in the forming of the town of Monroe, Woodbury and Tuxedo. Monroe's acreage is now 11,500, and is a favorite resort for the people of New York. Monroe village, beautifully located in a pass on the crest of the hills, is a modern, thriving town. Incorporated in 1894, it had a population in 1920, of 1,527. Turner village, started as a settlement around the railroad restaurant of Peter Turner, is now the center of a hundred estates of the wealthy from the large cities.
Montgomery, in the northern part of the county, has an area of 30,578 acres. The town was organized under the name Hanover, in 1774 changing to the present name in 1782, and seven years later was designated a town. Henry Wileman, in 1712, patented 3,000 acres and settled on them shortly after, the first white permanent settler of the town. Montgomery village, incorporated in 1810, is one of the oldest. Walden, begun with the usual mill before the Revolution, is really a monument to a Mr. Walden, a retired New York merchant. Incorporated in 1855, its 1920 population was 5,493. It is the seat of several industries, those making milk products being the more numerous. St. Andrews, Coldenham and Allards, are hamlets. Maybrook is an important railroad junction and village.
Mount Hope, in the west angle of the county, has an area of only 16,104 acres. The Shawangunk mountains and river are the dominating features of the landscape. Formed, in 1825, from Wallkill and Deer Park, the record of its first settler must be found among the pioneers of these towns. John Finch came in 1733, but probably was not the first comer. The village of Mount Hope is charmingly located. Otisville, settled in 1816, is the seat of the Otisville Sanatorium of New York. Finchville and Guymard are hamlets.
Newburgh, town, established in 1762, by the division of the precinct Highlands, included Marlborough until 1772. The area is 26,882 acres; settlements: Balmville, Orange Lake and Quassick. See "City of Newburgh" for early history. New Windsor, lying south of the city of Newburgh, was settled by Scotch families in 1685. It was the home of many eminent men, including George Clinton, Governor of the State for eighteen years, and VicePresident of the United States in 1804; and DeWitt Clinton, his son, among others. New Windsor was the most important of the early villages until Newburgh displaced it. Moodna, Vail's Gate, Little Britain and Rocklet are hamlets.
Tuxedo, in the southeast corner of Orange, with an area of 27,839 acres, was not organized until 1864 from Monroe, and was not permanently organized as Tuxedo until 1889. Titles are derived from the Chesecock patent, and the first settlement was made by an unknown named "Howard" probably prior to 1760. Tuxedo Park, consisting of 7,000 acres, came into the possession of the Lorillard family in 1812, but not developed until after the advent of a railroad in 1841, which had a station here known as "Wood Pile." The lake was stocked with bass in 1860, 5,000 acres fenced as a game preserve, and in 1885 the famous Tuxedo Club and village founded.
Wallkill, the second largest of the towns, with an area of 38,030 acres, was organized as a precinct in 1743, and as a town in 1772. The earliest patenting of lands was in 1724, but settlement of the district seems to have delayed until atter 1761. With the erection of Middletown, the only large settlement of the town was taken. Circleville, Howells, Scotchtown, and Mechanicstown are small hamlets.
Warwick, with the largest area, 61,763 acres, was erected from the precinct of Goshen in 1788, and named after the plantation of Benjamin Ashe, one of the original patentees. A deed made to Lawrence Dacker, in 1719, probably indicates him as the pioneer of the region. This large town has a number of pleasant villages and resorts. Warwick village, settled about 1764, and the present largest (population, 1920, 2,420), was incorporated in 1867, and again later under the law of 1901. It is a residential rather than industrial place. New Milford is the center of a rich farming section. Pine Island is still but a hamlet. Greenwood Lake and Sterling, formerly the seat of the largest iron industry in the county, are now best known as a summer resort. Little York, Amity, Bellvale, Edenville and Florida are all pleasant hamlets, dating from Revolutionary times.
Wawayanda was formed from Minisink, in 1849 Its assessment area is 19,667 acres, and one of its remarkable natural features is the "Drowned Lands," some 40,000 acres of swamp and water. The first permanent settlement was on the west shore and head of these lands, by Peter Wallings, subsequent to the Revolution. Of the present settlements of the township, mention may be made of: New Hampton, which was known as Phillipses, when it had a great woolen factory; Denton, Centerville, Slate Hill and Ridgebury.
Woodbury, with an area of 23,839 acres, was one of the three towns into which Monroe was divided in 1863 and 1889. Settlement began in the long valley which divides the town prior to the Revolution, Solomon Cromwell and Jonathan Hallock probably being among the first. Central Valley village, a noted summer resort, is the most populous of the present settlements. Highland Mills is the center for the surrounding summer visitors. Woodbury Falls is a hamlet resort.
The Concise History of Orange County, reprinted from "Southeastern New York" by Zimm, et al.
We have followed the saga of Orange County, tracing that story back to the days when the red man roamed undisturbed in his native forest. We have seen him resenting the intrusion of the European when he sought to restrict the physical rights and freedom of action of the savage; we have noted also, with the coming of increasing numbers of white men, how the Indians gradually withdrew to more distant sections of their primeval domain, and how finally they allied themselves with forces to augment their strength. We have seen how in desperation, struggling for freedom and scope, they joined in alliances first with France, then with England, to stem the oncoming tides of aggression, and of how they themselves became the uncompromising aggressors, inflicting with terrific blows measures of retaliation upon innocent victims living in back settlements of the county.
Unless one is familiar with the precarious adventures, the hair-breadth escapes, the cruel atrocities resulting from the scalping knife of the treacherous Indian, sometimes goaded on by faithless Tories, who often aimed to surpass the red man in his conscienceless leanings to inflict pain, rapine, and even murder, one can gain but little conception of life on the fringes of civilization anterior to and during our American Revolutionary War as the early settlers of Orange County experienced them.
We have seen that the county early became a territory eagerly sought by those who wanted to control her land and assets more than any desire on their part to people it. So early as 1684, the Governor of the Province, Colonel Thomas Dongan, purchased from its original owners, the Indians, two large tracts of land comprising territory now included in three counties, Ulster, Orange, and Rockland; when this tract of land fell into the hands of Captain John Evans, some years later, to which he gave the high-sounding name of "The Lordship and Manor of Fletcherdon," to honor his friend and benefactor, Governor Fletcher, he claimed that it extended from New Paltz to Stony Point, and for thirty miles inland.
We have noted also that Captain Evans was not permitted by the English Government to retain this vast amount of territory, and that later it was divided into smaller sections with patent rights, and that with the MacGregorie migration upon the Moodna (Murderer's Creek) and his company of Presbyterian emigrants from Scotland, we have the first white settlement within the range of the present boundary of the county of Orange.
Much important local history occurred in this immediate region, not to mention one of its leading traditions: indeed, the very name of Murderer's Creek is said to be derived from the fact that an Indian massacre took place upon its borders. Near to its outlet into the Hudson a family of the name of Stacy had established itself in a log house by special permission of the local Indians with whom Stacy was on most friendly terms because he had been useful to them in a number of ways. Besides Stacy and his wife were two small children, a boy and a girl.
A warm friendship had sprung up between an old Indian, Naoman by name, who made frequent visits to the Stacy cabin. One day, in the absence of Stacy, Naoman came to the hut, lighted his long stem pipe, and sat down without uttering a word. Mrs. Stacy asked him if he were ill. He sighed, but said nothing, and soon departed. The following day he returned in the same mood; after this had been repeated several times and Stacy had been consulted by his wife, it was decided that she would ask him the reason for his strange manner, because both parties professed to be friends. Finally the story came out from him reluctantly. The Indian was the white man's enemy, and white-face women were not good in keeping secrets; if he told her it would cost him his life. But she promised to keep the secret whatever happened. The Indians were planning to kill all the white people within the section because of a grudge inspired by some grievance, and because of their mutual friendship Naoman wanted the Stacys to flee to safety, which they attempted to do, only to be overtaken on the river as they were nearing the Fishkill shore; they were brought back, and a council was held to ascertain how the Stacys came to know the plans of the Indians.
The prisoners were examined with Naoman's consent, he acting as the interpreter. Throughout the ordeal, with mounting threat that they and their children would be massacred, the Stacys true to their word would not betray their informant. Even when Naoman himself ventured to have them name the Indian who informed them of the approaching capture, not a word was spoken by either. The agony of the mother was intense as she appealingly looked up into the face of the old Indian, who gravely sat nearby smoking his pipe. A pause ensued as they waited for some sign that one or the other of the Stacys would speak. Two stalwart Indians with raised tomahawks stood above the children ready to sacrifice them, as they pleaded not to be killed. Out of the silence came the round deep tones of Naoman crying, "Stop." All eyes were now turned in his direction as he said: "White woman, thou hast kept thy word with me to the last moment. I am the traitor. I have eaten of the salt, warmed myself at the fire, shared the kindness of these Christian white people, and it was I that told them of their danger. I am an old man, my days are numbered, like a withered, leafless, branchless trunk, cut me down if you will. I am ready."
With these words he stepped down from the banks of the stream where he had sat, concealed his face with his mantle of skins, and as the tomahawk was raised fell lifeless at the feet of the white woman. This confession on the part of Naoman, however, did not save the lives of the Stacys and others; all perished by the stream which did for years, and still does, in spite of Nathaniel Parker Willis more musical appellation of Moodna, go by the name of Murderer's Creek.
As this part of the present county of Orange was the first to be inhabited, it is not strange that it should bear so prominent a part in the period of the Revolutionary War many years later, for in the neighborhood of the Moodna ran the direct road to the last encampment grounds of Washington's army, and on old Forge Hill Road, through its deep gorges and hilly paths, walked the soldiers of liberty. The John Ellison house, army headquarters of Generals Knox, Greene, and Gates, is still standing, in addition to other dwellings in the neighborhood of Colonial and Revolutionary fame. The onrushing current of the Moodna, threading its way to the Hudson below, passes many a historic site written high on the scrolls of the country's history.
It is interesting to observe that settlements did not spring up in immediately adjacent territory; for the next section of the county to be populated was to the extreme west of the Hudson in the vicinity of the Delaware River. This section to this day is replete with Indian legends, many of which have been collected and published in book form.
Scalping parties were freer to effect their diabolical design in these more restricted outposts where the inhabitants were few and far between, and when scalps were, during the war, taken to Canada and sold; it may be noted here that a person of color was generally left unharmed by the Indian. Two theories have been advanced for this: one, that the Negro was regarded by the Indian as of inferior race; the other, that no bounty was paid by the British for black scalps, thus making the barter purely a mercenary transaction.
Thus the county as a whole has its Revolutionary traditions, its thrilling tales of adventure, its sacred historic shrines, the portrayals of which have descended from parent to child down the years. Many of them are recorded in local history of the cities, towns and villages in the county, in contemporary letters and diaries and in military orderly books of the period. The county is rich in these data, but has fared less conspicuously, for example, than the valley of the Mohawk. What has come to public notice, however, makes for dramatic reading, and establishes beyond conjecture the fortitude, the simplicity, the genuineness of the men and women, pioneers in the best sense of the term, who lived and wrought that their children might be free to live and work untrammeled by the dictation of a foreign power. Freedom to govern by majority rule ultimately became their objective.
It must not be forgotten that while the Revolutionary War was in progress, in the counties of the State, and Orange and her neighbors were no exception to the rule, there were destructive forces, of no mean consequence, attempting to discourage and to thwart the patriotic motives and ardent efforts of the colonists, and that many of these insidious designs were prosecuted clandestinely, persistently, and vigorously, thus greatly adding to the difficulty of creating a republic, and on the other hand, that Loyalists, of whom there were many, were by no means always treated judiciously, nor fairly.
In the last phase of the war, upon ground which has been included in Orange County since 1788, was located the last cantonment of the Revolutionary Army. Here, from October 28, 1782, to June 23, 1783, thousands of Washington's troops were quartered. The period looms up in history as a most significant one, a period which historians have quite generally strangely neglected. General Washington, quartered in the old stone Hasbrouck house, a quarter of a mile south of the settlement of Newburgh, to which he had come on April 1,1782, accompanied by Lady Washington, taking frequent rides to the camp ground three and a half to four miles to the southwest in the town of New Windsor, was perfectly aware of the general unrest among the officers at camp concerning the failure of Congress to meet its obligations on the pay question.
He had not been two months in Newburgh before he had concrete evidence of the symptoms of unrest by the receipt of a letter from Colonel Lewis Nicola, who chanced at the time to be quartered across the river at Fishkill, to which he had responded in no uncertain terms; a letter, moreover, the receipt of which was unknown to the public in Washington's lifetime, save by those of his immediate official family, who were pledged to secrecy. This was eight months before the army came up the Hudson from the east side of the river around Verplanck's Point and created the camp upon ground in old Ulster (now Orange) County at present known as Temple Hill.
But time only increased the tension which had been lying dormant. It was now the spring of 1783. The Continental troops numbered between seven and eight thousand. Among the officers there evolved and spread a dangerous current of discontent which with some included the Commander-in-Chief as well, due to a lack of positive action by Congress, and to his (Washington's) conservative attitude. Forcing the issue, with sundry schemes held feasible, if necessary, it was at last brought out into the open by a most unmilitary procedure, that of calling a meeting of the officers at the Temple without consulting the Commander-in-Chief, then at his headquarters only a few miles away. When General Washington belatedly was advised of the situation he at once took matters into his own hands and postponed the meeting four days. It was the fifteenth day of March, 1783. At noon the officers assembled in the Temple, which had primarily been erected for religious services, but which proved to be an army center. How sweeping his influence and how supreme his leadership is attested by the result. Here, facing a doubtful audience, because of the acute circumstances, Washington by a dramatic and compelling appeal, tinctured by firm speech, and reinforced by his own intrepid and fairminded character, mastered the situation, and brought a restoration of faith and loyalty in the justice of their cause for which they together had battled their way to freedom. In that dark hour, and none for the moment seemed darker, through the capable handling by a prudent and sagacious leader, the embryonic Republic of the United States of America was spiritually reborn.
A movement was started ten years ago to make of this spot where the Temple stood and where other momentous Revolutionary events occurred, a national shrine, by erecting a replica of the Temple and in founding a school for the study of diplomacy and international law in memory of those stalwart men who fought and lived so fearlessly and died that their descendants might live and reap the fruitage of a republican form of government, the seed of which they sowed, and which we should further zealously cultivate, guard and preserve unimpaired. In this national memorial Orange County, especially, should take a leading part, for duty and achievement were crowned upon her soil, and it will be an ill day when either is forgotten.
The Revolutionary period in the county ultimately gave way to a struggle of a different nature. Where the settlers' cabins were distances apart, and bereft of channels of communication, the county began slowly at first to be united by improved roads over which stagecoaches passed carrying passengers and the mails; better roads and the construction of railroads eventually displaced the stagecoach, so that freight and produce from one place to another brought the northern and southern, the western and eastern ends of the county into closer commercial communication. We no longer have the so-called back settlements to defend nor have we contingencies to divert us from cultivating our resources. The county has steadily become a more thickly populated territory, in which business enterprises have expanded and professional standards have broadened. When we look back to the census of 1702 we find that the numerical growth of the county during the century succeeding the discovery, exclusive of MacGregorie settlement, was recorded as forty-nine men between the ages of sixteen and sixty; five men above sixty; forty married women and widows; fifty-seven male children and eighty-four maids and girls; thirteen Negroes, seven Negresses, and thirteen Negro children, or a total of 268. In 1800 the population of the new county of Orange stood at 44,175. The last census of 1940 brought the population of the county to 140,113.
But it is not to population, nor to wealth, nor to business enterprise, but to culture, to education and to spiritual values that we must look if we are to continue to be a county proud of our best traditions and worthy of our aspiring future. Thus, the wide acres of a century ago, and their forests cleared by the industry of the hardy pioneer with his generally wholesome outlook upon life, have been converted into cultivated and up-to-date farms with homes whose accessories would astonish our forefathers. Accessible to well-constructed highways, schools, churches, hospitals, movie houses and lines of travel, the farmer today with his car and radio has all the comforts of his city brother, and still maintains his independent course of living.
While only three cities are credited to Orange County, villages and towns vie with each other in the maintenance of social and economic prestige. Yet the rural communities far exceed in number the more populated centers, and to these the county looks for its productive resources. Garden products, small fruit farms and large dairies have made Orange County one of outstanding prominence in these fields of endeavor.
But what of the future? To whom can we look to lead the way? It cannot come through the channel of politics, for politics as practiced by the average politician is based upon unabashed selfishness, and citizens generally are so unconcerned or at least not willing to voice their critical sentiments in an effective manner, that the ambitious politician has only to fight it out with other ambitious politicians, with too little thought in regard to legislation which would redound wholly to the interest not only of constituents but of the people generally. I have before me, as I write, private letters written from Albany in 1820 to a public official of Orange County, and by their perusal the game of politics is about on a level where it always has been, if not in the old days having been a little lower.
No, our spirits should not be tied to the past, merely because we speak of the past as the good old days. In many respects they were not so good as the present day with all the reasons for improvement thrown in, especially in county government, where reform so sorely is needed.
Libraries in the county have continually increased the number of their volumes and readers, and today there are five historical societies in the county, which during the past few years have grown in influence, in the accumulation of relics and rare documents, not to mention property which some of them have acquired, either through purchase or by gift. Such centers speak well for the future of the county, every one of which throughout the State should have a county historian which at present the County Board of Supervisors has the right to appoint. Much of valuable data in the way of old manuscripts, letters and other source material have in the past been destroyed because no one took an interest in rescuing them and in placing them where they might be preserved in the interest of local history. But the average Board of County Supervisors appears to have little interest in such matters and less vision, and so the assembling of such data is left to individuals who appreciate the value and rich assets of such historical material, but who have not generally the means of cataloguing them.
While any number of separate histories dealing with the cities and towns of Orange County have been published, only four general histories of the county have appeared and each of these more or less has been restricted to its own narrow field of operation. For example, the first history of the county was by Samuel W. Eager, issued in 1846-47. As he himself wrote it was aimed to be only an outline of the history of Orange County. It was a most worthy attempt, however, to put on record information which otherwise undoubtedly would have been lost. But interested parties endeavoring to get their names and records to the notice of the historians are not always apt to be impartial. Mr. Eager worked largely without source material at hand, and errors naturally crept into his work. The time of this publication worked both to an advantage and to a disadvantage, the first that he was near enough to the Revolutionary days to be able to draw upon the memory of those who participated in that struggle; secondly, it worked to a disadvantage because documentary evidence was not available; and when men undertake to recall the past, age is seldom conducive to the impartation of accurate knowledge.
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(Albany: 1860; repr. with supplements 1984); and in New York Marriage Bonds, 1753-1783, comp. Kenneth Scott (New York: 1972).
