Lossing, Benson John. The Hudson, from the Wilderness to the Sea. New York: Virtue & Yorston, 1866. Internet Archive identifier: hudsonfromwilder00lossi. Illustrated travel-history of the Hudson River valley by the writer and artist Benson J. Lossing, whose chapter on Teller's / Croton Point is a primary source for Senasqua place-name etymology, Sarah Teller's 1682 purchase, and the Underhill vineyard.
Book _ LX
/
(2^;^,i5^ ^yt!!^: - <s^^^^55^
>^
WRW A^nptr ■\rT'RTTT-R -vn-p qto-kt
THE HUDSON,
HE WILDERNESS TO THE SEA.
BENSON J. LOSSING.
ILLUSTRATED BY THREE HUNDRED AND SIX EKGRAVIKGS OH WOOD,
FROM DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR,
AND A FRONTISPIECE ON STEEL.
NEW YORK:
VIHTUE AND YOESTON.
filtered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866,
By VIETUE & yOESTON,
In the Clerk's Office of…
It is impossible to give in pictures so necessarily small as are
those which illustrate this Volume, an adequate idea of the beauty
and grandeur of the scenery of the Hudson River ; so, in the
choice of subjects, the judgment was governed more by considerations of utility than of mere artistic taste. Only such objects have
been delineated and described as bore relations to the history,
tradit…
Elephant Island
Lumber Dam and Sluice
Initial Letter-- The Wayside Fountain
Eapids at the Head of Harris's Lake
Sandford Lake
The Iron Dam
Adirondack Village
Departure for Tahawus
First Bridge over the Hudson
Bark Cabin at Calamity Pond
Henderson's Monument
Fall in the Opalescent Eiver
Climbing Tahawus
Spring on the Peak of Tahawus
Hospice on the Peak of Tahawus
Initial Letter-- A S…
Initial Letter-- Canal Bridge and Boat ... Canal Bridge across the Hudson above the
Saratoga Dam
Confluence of the Hudson and Batten-Kill
Di-on-on-deh-o-wa, or Great Falls of the
Batten-KiU
The Reidesel House
Cellar of Reidesel House
Eapids of the Fish Creek, at Schuylerville
The Schuyler Mansion
Scene of Burgoyne's Surrender
Gates's Head-quarters
Eope Ferry
Burgoyne's Encampment (from…
Staircase in Schuyler's Mansion 131
The State Capitol 133
Canal Basin at Albany ... 134
The Dudley Observatory 137
Greenbush Kailway Station 139
View near the Overslagh 1-12
Coxsakie 144
Fishing Station-- Sturgeon, Shad, Bass ... 14-t
View from the Promenade, Hudson 147
Athens, from the Hudson Iron Works ... 148
View at Katz-Kill Landing 149
Entrance to the Katzbergs 1.51
Rip Van Winkl…
Marlborough, from the Lime-Kilns 195
Mouth of Wappingi's Creek 196
Washington's Head-quarters at Newburgh 199
Interior of Washington's Head-quarters ... 2n0
Lite-Guard Mommient 201
Newburgh Bay 202
Fishkill Landing and Newburgh 203
Idlewild from the Brook 204
In the Glen at Idlewild 205
Upper Entrance to the Highlands 207
PAGE
At the Foot of the Stoi-m King 209
" The Powell " off the S…
View from Rossiter's Mansion 245
West Point Foundrj'
Undercliff 218
Ruins of Batter}' on Constitution Island ... 250
View at Garrison's 251
Cozzens's 252
Church of the Holy Innocents ... 253
The Road to Cozzens's Dock 254
Buttermilk Falls 2.55
Upper Cascades, Buttermilk Falls 256
Beverly Dock
Lower Entrance to the Highlands, fiom
Peek's KUl
Falls in Fort Jlontgomery Creek
Scene in Fo…
Sleigh Riding on the Hudson
Asylum for the Insane
Croton Aqueduct at Sing Sing
Elm Park in 1861
State Prison at Sing Sing
Orphan Asylum
State Prisoners
Harlem Plains
Crolon Point, from Sing Sing
View in Central Park
Rockland, or Slaughterer's Landing
The Terrace Bridge and Mall
RockhuKl Lake
A Squatter Village
Mouth of the Croton
Provoost's Tomb -Jones's Woods
Croton Dam
View near…
Soldiers' Monument in Trinity Churchyard
Andre's Monument
Seals of New Amsterdam and New York...
Paulding Manor
Dutch Mansion and Cottage in New Am-
Sunnyside ...
sterdam
Ining's Study
The Bowling Green and Fort George in 1783
The Brook at Sunnyside
The Bowling Green in 1861
The Pond, or " Mediterranean Sea "
The Battery and Castle Garden
Wolfert's Boost when Irving purchased it
Old …
T is proposed to present, in a series of sketclies
witli pen and pencil, pictures of the Hudsoa lliver, from its birth among th(^
mountains to its marriage with the ocean.
'^ff 'IM It is by far the most interesting river in
*'' ' America, considering the beauty and magnificence of its scenery, its natural, political,
and social history, the agricultural and
mineral treasures of its vicinage,…
THE HUDSON.
■u'ell assured that it is the portrait of an eminent navigator, who, in that
remarkable year in the history of England and America, one thousand six
hundred and seven, met "certains worshippeful merchants of London,"
in the parlour of a son of Sir Thomas Gresham, in Bishopsgatc Street,
and bargained concerning a proposed voyage in search of a north-east
passage to India, between …
At the middle of March, 1609, Heudrick, as the Dutch called him,
sailed from Amsterdam in a yacht of ninety tons, named the Half -Moon,
manned with a choice crew, and turned his prow, once more, toward
Nova Zembla. Again ice, and fogs, and fiei'ce tempests, disputed his
passage, and he steered westward, passed Cape Farewell, and, on the 2nd
of July, made soundings upon the banks of Newfoundla…
But when the magnitieeut liighlands, fifty miles from tlie sea, were passed,
and the stream narrowed and the water freshened, hope failed him. Eut
the indescribable beauty of the virgin land through which he was
voyaging, filled his heart and mind with exquisite pleasure ; and as
deputations of dusky men came from the courts of the forest sachems to
visit him, in wonder and awe, he seemed tra…
King James, jealous because of
the advantages which the Dutch might derive from these discoveries, kept
Hudson a long time in England ; but tlie Hollanders had all necessary
information, and very soon ships of the company and of private adventurers
were anchored in the waters of the Mahicannituck, and receiving the
wealth of the forests from the wild men who inhabited them. The
Dutchmen and …
Albany, was little kuowu to Avhite men, excepting hunters and trappers,
and a few isolated settlers ; and the knowledge of its sources among lofty
alpine ranges is one of the revelations made to the present century, and
even to the present generation. And now very few, excepting the
hunters of that region, have personal knowledge of the beauty and wild
grandeur of lake, and forest, and mounta…
Our little company, composed of the minimum in the old prescription
for a dinner-party -- not more than the Muses nor less than the Graces --
left our homes, in the pleasant rural city of Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson,
for the Avildernesss of northern New York, by a route which we are
satisfied, by experience and observation, to be the best for the tourist or
sportsman bound for the head waters…
The day was
fine, and the shores of the lake, clustered with historical associations,
presented a series of beautiful pictures ; for they were rich with forest
verdure, the harvests of a fruitful seed-time, and thrifty villages and
farmhouses. Behind these, on the east, arose the lofty ranges of the
Green Mountains, in Vermont ; and on the west were the Adirondacks of
New York, whither we we…
AVatson, Es(i., a descendant of
Governor Winslow, who came to New England in the 3IaijfIotrer), Avhoso
personal explorations and general knowledge of the region we were
about to visit, enabled him to give us information of much value in our
subsequent course. With himself and family we visited the walled banks
of the Great Au Sable, near Keeseville, and stood with wonder and awe
at the botto…
At Franklin Falls, on
the Saranac, in the midst of the wildest mountain scenery, where a few
years before a forest village had been destroyed by fire, we dined upon
trout and venison, the common food of the wilderness, and then rode on
toward the Lower Saranac Lake, at the foot of which we were destined to
leave roads, and horses, and industrial pursuits behind, and live upon the
solitary la…
Toward evening we reached the sluggish outlet of the Saranac Lakes,
and at a little before sunset our postilion reined up at Eaker's Inn, two
miles from the Lower Lake, and fifty-one from Port Kent. To the lover
and student of nature, the artist and the philosopher, the country through
w^hich we had passed, and to which only brief allusion may here be made,
is among the most inviting spots up…
In one of these was borne
our luggage, provisions, and Mr. Buckingham, and in the other
Mrs. Lossing and myself.
The Saranac Lakes are three iu uumbir, and lie on the south-eastei'u
borders of Franklin County, north of Mount Seward. They are known
as the Upper, Bound, and Lower. The latter, over which we first
voyaged, is six miles in length. From its head we passed along a winding
and narr…
A portage of an eighth of a mile, over
which the boats and luggage were carried upon a waggon, brought us to
the foot of the Upper Lake. On this dark, wild sheet of water, thirteen
miles in length, we embarked toward the close of the day, and just before
sunset reached the lodge of Corey, a hunter and guide well known in all
that region. It stood near the gravelly shore of a beautiful bay wit…
We
were alone with God and His works, far away from the abodes of men ;
and when at evening the stars came out one by one, they seemed to the
communing spirit like diamond lamps hung up in the dome of a great
cathedral, in which we had that day worshipped so purely and lovingly. It is profitable, as Eryant says, to
" Go abroad
Upon the paths of Nature, and, when all
Its voices whisper, and …
The Spectacle Ponds are beautiful sheets of water in the forest, lying
near each other, and connected by shallow streams, through which the
guides waded and dragged the boats. The outlet -- a narrow, sinuous
stream, and then shallow, because of a drought that was prevailing in all
that northern country -- is called " Stony Brook." After a course of
thrci' and a half miles tlirough wild and pi…
The leaves are long and slender, with a long, tapering base. The flowere are
large and very sliowj'. Corolla bright scarlet ; the tube slender ; segments of the lower lip oblonglanceolate ; filaments red; anthers blue ; stigma tlu-ee-lobed, and at length protruded. It grows readily
when transplanted, even in dry soil, and is frequently seen in our gardens. A picture of this plant
forms a portio…
Tr>\MS or iiir 1 1 1 rr nii,'.
and upon St. Regis Lake, north of the Saranac group, two or three
families of the beaver -- the most rare of all the tenants of these forests --
might then be found. The otter is somc^vhat abundant, but the panther
has become almost extinct ; the wolf is seldom seen, except in winter ;
and the black bear, quite abundant in the mountain ranges, was shy and
invis…
At the foot of the rapids we dined, and then walked a mile over a lofty,
thickly-wooded hill, to their head, where we re-embarked. Here our
guides first carried their boats, and it was surprising to see with what
apparent ease our Indian took the heaviest, weighing at least 160 lbs.,
and with a dog-trot bore it the whole distance, stopping only once. The
boat rests upon a- yoke, similar to tl…
The lofty mountain ranges on both sides stretched away
into the blue distance, and the slopes of one, and the peak of another,
were smoking like volcanoes, the timber being on fire. N'ear us the
groves upon the headlands, solitary trees, rich shrubbery, graceful rushes,
the clustering moose-head and water-lily, and the gorgeous cloud-pictures,
were perfectly reflected, and produced a scene su…
them, placed others against it in position like the rafters of half a roof,
one end upon the ground, and covered the whole and both sides with the
boughs of the hemlock and pine, leaving the front open. The ground
was then strewn with the delicate sprays of the hemlock and balsam,
making a sweet and pleasant bed. A few feet from the front they built
a huge fire, and prepared supper, which con…
There
we dismissed our Saranac guides, and despatched on horseback the one
who had joined us on the Spectacle
Ponds to the home of Mitchell Sabattis,
a St. Francis Indian, eighteen miles
distant, to procure his services for
our tour to the head waters of the
Hudson. Sabattis was by far the
best man in all that region to lead
the traveller to the Hudson waters,
aud the Adirondack Mountain…
The
burning hill above us presented a magnificent appearance in the gloom. The fire was in broken points over a surface of half a mile, near the
summit, and the appearance was like a city upon the lofty slope,
brilliantly illuminated. It was sad to see the fire sweeping away whole
acres of fine timber. But such scenes are frequent in that region, and
every bald and blackened hill-top in the r…
"We found Hendrick Spring in the edge of a swamp-- cold, shallow,
about five feet in diameter, shaded by trees, shrubbery, and vines, and
fringed with the delicate brake and fern. Its waters, rising within half
a mile of Long Lake, and upon the same summit level, flow southward to
the Atlantic more than three hundred miles ; while those of the latter
flow to the St. Lawrence, and reach the sa…
boats, and we quite heavy packs, but all were compelled to rest every
few minutes, for the sun was shining hotly upon us. We were nearly
an hour travelling that half mile. Thoroughly wearied, we entered one
of the boats at the first navigable point on Spring Brook, that flows from
the Hendi'ick source, and rowed leisurely down to Fountain Lake, while
THE HUDSON.
our guides returned for the r…
The sun went down while we were crossing this
portage, and finding a good place for a camp on the margin of a cold
mountain stream in the deep forest, we concluded to remain there during
the night. Our guides soon constructed a shelter with an inverted boat,
poles, and boughs, and we all slept soundly, after a day of excessive toil. In the morning avc embarked upon the beautiful Catlin Lake, a…
Emerging
from the forest, we came to a field filled with boulders and blackened
stumps, and, from the summit of a hill, we overlooked an extensive
rolling valley, heavily timbered, stretching westward to the Windfall
Mountains, and at our feet were the Clearing and the Saw-mill. The
latter stood at the head of a deep rocky gorge, down which great logs are
sent at high water. The clearing was…
Near the foot of the lake is a wooded peninsula, whose low
isthmus, being covered at high water, leave.T it an island. It is called
Elephant Island, because of the singular resemblance of some of the lime-
THE HUDSON.
stone formation that composes its bold shore to portions of that animal. The whole rock is perforated into singularly-formed caves. This, and
ELEPHANT ISLAND.
another similar s…
^N the old settlement of Pendleton, in the town of
Newcomb, Essex County, we spent our second
Sabbath. ' That settlement is between the
head of Eich's Lake and the foot of Harris's
Lake, a distance of five or six miles along their
*^^ southern shores. It derives its name from
Judge Nathaniel Pendleton, who, about fifty
years ago, made a clearing there, and built a
and grist, and saw-mill a…
That lake is a beautiful sheet of water, and along the dark, sluggish
river, above the rapids at its head, we saw the cardinal flower upon the
banks, and the rich moose-head ••' in the water, in great abundance.
* This, in the books, is called Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata of LiniiiEUs), but Ihe guides call it
moose-head. The stem is stout and cylindrical, and bears a spear-shaped leaf, so…
From a rough rocky bluff a mile below that
point, we obtained a distant view of three of the higher peaks of the
Adirondacks -- Tahawus or Mount Marcy, Mount Golden, and Mount
M'Intyre. We returned at ' evening beneath a canopy of magnificent
clouds ; aud that night was made strangely luminous by one of the most
HVllUo Ar IHL HEAD OF H\RK1S'S LAKE.
splendid displays of the Aurora Eorcalis ev…
On the way we passed the confluence of Lake
Delia with the Adirondack branch of the Hudson, reached M'Intyre's Inn
(Tahawus House, at the foot of Sandford Lake) toward noon, and at two
o'clock were at the little deserted village at the Adirondack Iron Works,
between Sandford and Henderson Lakes. "We passed near the margin of
the former a large portion of the way. It is a beautiful body of wat…
The hamlet -- consisting of sixteen dwelling-houses, furnaces,
and other edifices, and a building with a cupola, used for a school and
public worship -- was the offspring of enterprise and capital, which many
years before had combined to develop the mineral wealth of that region. That wealth was still there, and almost untouched-- for enterprise and
capital, compelled to contend with geographi…
They
slept that night at the base of the towering cliff of the Indian Pass. The next day they reached the head of a beautiful lake, which they
named " Henderson," and followed its outlet to the site of Adirondack
village. There, in a deep-shaded valley, they beheld with wonder the
"iron dam," or dyke of iron ore, stretched across a stream, which was
afterward found to be one of the main branc…
son, and David Henderson, all related by marriage ; and^Avith slight aid
from the State, they constructed a road through the wilderness, from the
Siarron [Schroon] Yalley, near Lake Champlain, to the foot of Sandford
Lake, halfway between the head of which and the beautiful Henderson
Lake Avas the " iron dam." There a settlement was commenced in 1834. A timber dam was constructed upon the iron…
a dam seventeen hundred feet in length, a saw-mill, >\arehouses, dwellings for workmen, &c. And in 1854 they completed a blast furnace near
the upper village, at the head of Sandford Lake, at an expense of
$43,000 (£8, GOO), capable of producing fourteen tons of iron a-day. They also built six heavy boats upon Sandford Lake, for the transportation
of freight, and roads at an expense of §10,000 …
An upper dam at Adirondack gave way, and a new channel for
the stream was cut, and the great dam at Tahawus, with the saw-mill,
Avas demolished by the rushing waters. All was left a desolation. Over
scores of acres at the head and- foot of Handford Lake (overflowed when
the dam was constructed) we saw white skeletons of trees which had been
killed by the flood, standing thickly, and heighteni…
Here we may
properly instruct the expectant tourist in this region in regard to such
preparation. Every arrangement should be as simple as possible. A
man needs only a stout flannel hunting shii-t, coarse and trustworthy
trousers, woollen stockings, large hea^-y boots well saturated with a composition of beeswax and tallow, a soft felt hat or a cap, and strong buckskin gloves. A Avoman needs a…
It
is a beautiful tree, often found from fifty to eighty feet in height, and the trnnk from two to three feet
in diameter. From the sap, which flows abundantly in the f>pring, delicious sj-rup and excellent sugar
are made. In the Upper Hudson region, the sap is procured by making a smaU incision with an axe, or
a hole with an augur, into the body of the tree, into which a small tube or gutter …
The guides will fish,
hunt, work, build "camps," and do all other necessary service, for a
moderate compensation and their food. It is proper here to remark that
the tourist should never enter this wilderness earlier than the middle of
August. Then the files and moscpitoes, the intolerable pests of the
Ibrests, are rapidly disappearing, and fine weather may be expt'cted. The
sportsman must g…
It was a weary journey of almost four miles (notwithstanding it lay along the track of a lane cut through the forest a few
years ago for a special purpose, of which we shall presently speak), for in
many places the soil was hidden by boulders covered with thick moss,
over which we Avere compelled to climb. Towards sunset we reached a
ideasant little lake, embosomed in the dense forest, its low…
boughs, on which his body "was carried to Adirondack village. It was
taken down Sandford Lake in a boat to Tahawus, and from thence again
carried on a bier through the wilderness, fifteen miles to the western
termination of the road from Scarron valley, then in process of construction. From thence it was conveyed to his home at Jersey City, and a few
years afterward his family erected an elega…
Upon these we supped and breakfasted. The night was
cold, and at early dawn we found the hoar-frost lying upon every leaf and
blade around us. Beautiful, indeed, was that dawning of the last day of
summer. Prom the south-west came a gentle breeze, bearing upon its
wings light vapour, that flecked the whole sky, and became roseate in hue
when tlie sun touched with purple light the summit of th…
The drought that still prevailed over northern Xew York and Xew
England had so diminished the volume of the Opalescent Kiver, that
we walked more than four miles in the bed of the stream upon boulders
which fill it. We crossed it a hundred times or more, picking our way,
and sometimes compelled to go into the woods in passing a cascade. The
stream is broken into falls and swift rapids the who…
The stones in this river vary in size, from tiny pebbles to boulders
THE HUDSON.
of a thousand tons ; the smaller ones made smooth by rolling, the larger
ones, yet angular and massive, persistently defying the rushing torrent
in its maddest career. They are composed chiefly of the beautiful
labradorite, or opalescent feldspar, which form the great mass of the
A(/anus-chion, or Black Mountain…
"We followed the Opalescent River
to the foot of the Peak of Tahawus,
on the borders of the high valley
which separates that mountain from Mount Golden, at an elevation nine
hundred feet above the highest peaks of the Cattskill range on the Lower
Hudson. There the water is very cold, the forest trees are somewhat
stunted and thickly planted, and the solitude complete. The silence was
almost…
"We dined upon
bread and butter and maple sugar, in a sunny spot in front of the cabin,
and then commenced the ascent, lea\ang our provisions and other things
at the camp, where we intended to repose for the night. The journey
upward was two miles, at an angle of forty-five degrees to the base of the
rocky pinnacle. "We had no path to follow. The guides "blazed" the
larger trees (striking of…
journey now became still more difficult, at the same time more interesting, for, as we emerged from the
forest, the magnificent panorama of
mountains that lay around us burst
upon the vision. Along steep rocky
slopes and ledges, and around and
beneath huge stones a thousand tons
in weight, some of them apparently
poised, as if ready for a sweep down
the mountain, we made our way
cautiousl…
Indeed it was a
triumph for us all, for few persons have ever attempted the ascent of that
mountain, lying in a deep wilderness, hard to penetrate, the nearest point
of even a bridle path, on the side of our approach, being ten miles from
the base of its peak. Especially difficult is it for the feet of woman to
reach the lofty summit of the Sky-piercer -- almost six thousand feet
above the s…
Within the hnt we found a piece of paper, on
which was written : -- " This hospice, erected by a party from New York,
August 19, 1858, is intended for the use and comfort of visitors to
Tahawus.-- r. S. P.-- M. C-- F. M. N." Under this was written :--
" This hospice was occupied over night of August 14, 1859, by A. G. C.
and T. E. D. Sun rose fourteen minutes to five." Under this : --
'< Tah…
Our stand-point being the highest in all that region, there was nothing
to obstruct the view. To-war-loon-dah, or Hill of Storms (Mount
Emmons), Ou-kor-lah, or Big Eye (Mount Seward), Wah-o-par-te-nie, or
White-face Mountain, and the Giant of the Valley -- all rose peerless above
the other hills around us, excepting Coldcn and M'Intyre, that stood
apparently within trumpet-call of Tahawus, as…
On every side bright lakes were gleaming, some nestling in
unbroken forests, and others with their shores sparsely dotted with clearings, from which arose the smoke from the settler's cabin. We counted
twenty-seven lakes, including Champlain -- the Indian Can-i-a-de-ri Guarim-te, or Door of the Country -- which stretched along the eastern view
one hundred and forty miles, and at a distance of a…
Lawi ence level toward the valley of the Hudson, from which it is
separated by a slightly elevated ridge. '^•- To tlie fierce Huron of Canada,
who loved to make war upon the more southern Iroquois, this lake was a
wide open door for his passage. Through it many brave men, aborigines
and Europeans, have gone to the war-paths of New York and New
England, never to return.
Standing upon Tahawus,…
It is a peninsula,
connected to tlie main by a very narrow isthmus, the extremities of wliich are at the villages of
Whitehall, on Lalce Champlain, and Fort Edward, on the Hudson, about twenty-five miles apart. The
lowest portion of that isthmus is not more tlian fifty feet above Lake Champlain, whose waters are only
ninety above the sea. This istlimus is made still narrower by the waters of W…
Again French and Indian warriors came, led by Montcalm, Dieskau, and
others [1755-1759], to drive the English from that door, and secure it
for the house of Bourbon. A little later came troops of several
nationalities, with Burgoyne at their head [1777], rushing through that
door with power, driving \imerican republicans southward, like chaff
before the wind, and sweeping victoriously down th…
Only lizards and leeches occupy
their cold waters. All is silent and solitary there. The bald eagle
sweeps over them occasionally, or perches upon a lofty pine, but the
mournful voice of the Great Loon, or Diver ( Colymhus glacialis), heard
over all the waters of northern New York and Ganada, never awakens
the echoes of these solitary lakes.* These waters lie in a high basin
between the Moun…
At three o'clock Ave reached our camp at Calamity Pond, and just
before sunset emerged from the forest into the open fields near Adirondack village, where we regaled ourselves with the bountiful fruitage of
the raspberry shrub. At Mr. Hunter's we found kind and generous
entertainment, and at an early hour the next morning we started for the
great Indian Pass, four miles distant.
Half a mile f…
them on all sides, strike into the earth for sustenance. One of the
masses presented a singular appearance ; it is of cubic form, its summit
full thirty feet from its base, and upon it was quite a grove of hemlock
and cedar trees. Around and partly under this and others lying loosely,
apparently kept from rolling by roots and vines, we were compelled to
clamber a long distance, when we reache…
"Within the memory of Sabattis, this region has been shaken by an earthquake, and no doubt its power, and the lightning, and the frost, have
hurled these masses from that impending cliff. Through these the
waters of this branch of the Hudson, bubbling from a spring not far
distant (close by a fountain of the Au Sable), lind their way. Here the
head-waters of this river commingle in the Spiing …
During the past four
days we had travelled thirty miles on foot in the tangled forest, camped
THE HUDSON.
out two nights, and seen some of nature's wildest and grandest lineaments. These mountain and lake districts, which form the wilderness of northern
New York, give to the tourist most exquisite sensations, and the physical
system appears to take in health at every pore. Invalids go in with…
The wind came from among- the mountaius in fitful gusts, thick mists
were sweeping around the peaks and through the gorges, and there were
frequent dashes of rain, sometimes falling like showers of gold, in the
sunlight that gleamed through the hroken clouds, on the morning when
we left Adirondack village. "We had hired a strong waggon, with three
spring seats, and a team of experienced horse…
shot by Sabattis on the way. That inn was upon the road, near the site
of Tahawus village, at the foot of «Sandford Lake, and was a half-way
house between Long Lake and Eoot's Inn in the Scarron valley, toward
which we were travelling. There we parted with our excellent guides,
after giving them a sincere assurance that we should recommend all
tourists and hunters, who may visit the head wate…
He is a slightly-built man, about sixty years of age. He
was the guide for the scientific corps, who made a geological reconnoissance
of that region many years before, and for a quarter of a century he had
there battled the elements and the beasts with a strong arm and unflinching will. Many of the tales of his experience are full of the wildest
THE HUDSON.
romance, and we hoped to hear the n…
"I ought, by
rights," said John, "to have waited for my two dogs, who could not have
been far off, but the cretur looked so sassy, standing tliere, that though I
had not a bullet to spare, I could not help letting into him with my
rifle." John missed his aim, and the animal gave a spring, as he was in
the act of firing, and turned instantly upon him before he could reload
his piece. So effec…
Still
the fight was unequal, as John, half buried in the snow, could make use
of but one of his hands. He shouted to his dogs, but one of them only, a
young, untrained hound, made his appearance. Emerging from a thicket
he caught sight of his master, lying apparently at the mercy of the
ravenous beast, uttered a yell of fear, and fled howling to the woods
again. "Had I had one shot left," sa…
One good, fair blow, though, with a heavy
rifle barrel, on the back of the head, finished him. The fellow gave a
kind o' quiver, stretched out his hind legs, and then he was done for. I
had the rifle stocked afterwards, but she would never shoot straight since
that fight, so I got me this pistol, which, beiug light and handy, enables
me more conveniently to carry an axe upon my long tramps, a…
For miles our track lay through
the solitary forest, its silence disturbed only by the sound of a mountain
brook, or the voices of the wind among the hills. The winding road was
closely hemmed by trees and shrubs, and sentineled by lofty pines, and
birches, and tamaracks, many of them dead, and ready to fall at the touch
of the next strong wind. Miles apart were the rude cabins of the settler…
This was the "darkness just before daylight," for we soon struck a
branch of the Scarron, rushing in cascades through a rocky ravine, along
whose banks we found an excellent road. The surrounding country was
very rugged in appearance. The rocky hills had been denuded by fire,
and everything in nature presented a strong contrast to the scene that
burst upon the vision at sunset, when, from the…
It rises in the heart of Essex County, and flowing southward into Warren
county, receiving in its course the waters of Paradox and Scarron, or
Schroon Lake, and a large group of ponds, forms a confluence, near
Warrensburg, with the main waters of the Hudson, that come down from
the Adirondack region. The name of Schroon for this branch is fixed in
the popular mind, appears in books and on map…
In the face of legal documents, common speech,
and maps, we may rightfully call it Scarron ; for the antiquity and
respectability of an error arc not valid excuses for perpetuating it.
From Root's we rode down the valley to the pleasant little village on
the western shore of Scarron Lake. We turned aside to visit the beautiful
Paradox Lake, nestled among wooded hills a short distance from the…
The gentle slopes on its western shore are
well cultivated and thickly inhabited, the result of sixty years' settlement,
but on its eastern shore are precipitous and rugged hills, which extend in
wild and picturesque succession to Lake Champlain, fifteen or twenty
miles distant. In the bosom of these hills, and several hundred feet
above the Scarron, lies Lake Pharaoh, a body of cold water su…
Within were
evidences of elegant refinement -- a valuable library, statuary, bronzes,
and some rare paintings. Among other sketches was a picture of Hale
Hall, in Lancashire, England -- the ancestral dwelling of Colonel Ireland,
who is a lineal descendant of Sir John de Ireland, a Norman baron who
accompanied William the Conqueror to England, was at the battle of
Hastings, and received from …
We passed two
quiet villages, named respectively Pottersville and Chester. The latter,
the larger of the two, is at the outlet of Loon and Friendship Lakes --
good fishing places, a few miles distant. Both villages are points upou
the State road, from which sportsmen depart for the adjacent woods and
waters. An hour's ride from either place will put them Avithin tlie
borders of the great wil…
They are composed of the stumps of large pine-trees, drawn from the soil
by machines made for the purpose, and they are so disposed in rows, their
roots interlocking, as to form an effectual barrier to the j)assage of any
animal on whose account fences arc made. ' The stumps are full of sap
(turpentine), and wc were assured, with all the confidence of experience,
that these fences would last …
A horse attached to the lever works the screw in such a manner as to
draw the stump and its roots clean from the ground. The stump fences
formed quite a picturesque feature in the landscape, and at a distance
ha-^-e the appearance of masses of deer horns.
It was toward evening when we arrived at Warrensburg, but before
sunset we had strolled over the most interesting portions of the village, …
The point where the
waters met was a lovely spot, shaded by elms and other spreading trees,
and forming a picture of beauty and repose in strong contrast with the
rugged hills around. On the north side of the valley rises the Thunder's
Nest (which appears in our little sketch), a lofty pile of rocks full eight
liundred feet in height \ and from the great bridge, three hundred feet
long, whic…
and took a somewhat circuitous route to Luzerne, that we might travel a
good road. That route, by far the most interesting for the tourist, leads
by the way of Caldwell, at the head of Lake George, through a mountainous and very picturesque country, sparsely dotted with neat farmhouses
in the intervals between the grand old hills. The road is planked, and
occasionally a fountain by the wayside…
At the same time the general changed the name of llie lake from that of
the Holy Sacrament, given it by Father Jogue, a French priest, who
reached the head of it on Corpus Christi day, to George -- not in simple
honour to his Mnjesty, then reigning monarch of England, but, as the
general said, "to assert his undoubted dominion here." The Indians
called it, Can-ai-de-ri-oit, or Tale of the Lak…
At the head of Lake George, where another
fort had been erected near the ruins of William Henry, the republicans,
in the old War for Independence, had a military depot ; and until the
surrender of Sir John Burgoyne, at Saratoga, on the Hudson, in 1777,
that lake was a minor theatre of war, where the respective adherents of
the "Continental" and "Ministerial" parties came into frequent
collis…
It
is about seventy miles from the Adirondack village, and on the borders of
the great wilderness, where game and fish abound, and for a quiet place
of summer resoi't, can hardly be surpassed. It lies at the foot of a high
blutf, down which fiows in cascades the outlet of Luzerne Lake, and leaps
into the Hwdsou, which here makes a magnificent sweep before rushing,
in narrow channel and foami…
while liurgoyue was making his way toward Albany, Colonel St„ Leger
penetrated the upper Mohawk valley, and laid siege to Fort Schuyler. On one occasion he sent Indian messengers to the Fairchilds, who took
the old trail through the Sacandaga valley, by way .of the Fish House,
owned by Sir William Johnson. AVhen they approached Tio-sa-ron-da
(Luzerne), they were discovered and pursued by a par…
in the lake, and brought to Hockwell's, on the morning of our departure,
Avhich weighed between five and six pounds. •'•
On the northern shore of Luzerne Lake, Avhere the villas of Eenjamin
C. Butler and J. Leati, Esqs. (seen in the picture), stood, was the ancient
gathering place of the Indians in cou-ncil. Here was the fork of the great
Sacandaga and Oneida trail, one branch extending to La…
THE HUDSON.
Luzerne range, stretcliing from Saratoga Springs to the western shores of
Lake George. Four miles north of the village is a hemispherical moun-
I-UZERXE LAKE.
tain, eight hundred feet in height, rocky and bald, which the Indians
called Se-non-ffe-irah, the Great Upturned Pot.
CONFLUENCE Oy 'lUE HUDSON AND S.iCANDAUA.
The Sacandaga is the largest tributary of the Mohawk, and coni…
being in possession of Beriah Talmcr and others, who there constructed
extensive works for manufacturing purposes. The water-power there,
even at the very low stage of the river, as when we visited it, has been
estimated to be equal to fifteen thousand horse-power. They had laid
out a village, with a public square and fountain, and were preparing for
industrial operations far greater than at …
Between this point and Glen's Falls, thirteen miles distant
by the nearest road, the Hudson makes a grand sweep among lofty
and rugged hills of the Luzerne range, and flows into a sandy plain a
few miles above the latter village. "We did not follow its course, but
took that nearest road, for the day was waning. Over mountains and
through valleys, catching glimpses of the river here and there,…
We had
just commenced the descent of a mountain, along whose brow lies the
dividing line between the towns of Luzerne and Queensbury, when a
sudden turn in the road revealed a deep, narrow valley far below us, with
the Hudson sweeping through it with rapid current. The sun's last rays
had loft that valley, and the shadows were deepening along the waters as
we descended to their margin. Twili…
A brief notice of the State Dam and Great Boom, just mentioned,
seems necessary.
The dam was about two and a-half miles above Glen's Falls. It had
been constructed about fifteen years before, to furnish water for the feeder
of the canal which connects the Hudson river and Lake Champlain. It
was sixteen hundred feet in length ; and the mills near it have attracted
a population sufiicicnt to c…
THE gki;at boom.
booms, assorted by the owners according to their private murks, and seut
down to Glen's Falls, Sandy Hill, or Fort Edward, to be sawed into
boards at the former places, or made into rafts at the latter, for a voyage
down the river. Heavy rains and melting snows filled the river to overflowing. The great boom snapped asunder, and the half million of logs
went rushing down the …
It can boast of no rude tower or mouldering wall, clustered
with historical associations that have been gathering around them for
centuries. It has no fine old castles, in glory or in ruins, with visions of
romance pictured in their dim shadows ; no splendid abbeys or cathedrals,
in grandeur or decay, from which emanate an aura of religious memories. Nor can it boast of mansions or ancestral h…
Prom the spot where we now stand -- the turbulent
Glen's Palls -- to the sea, the banks of the beautiful river have voices
innumerable for the ear of the patient listener ; telling of joy and woe, of
love and beauty, of noble heroism, and more noble fortitude, of glory, and
high renown, worthy of the sweetest cadences of the minstrel, the glowing
numbers of the poet, the deepest investigation…
It falls by no rule at
all : sometimes it leaps, sometimes it tumbles ; there it skips -- here it
shoots ; in one place 'tis as white as snow, and in another 'tis as green as
grass ; hereabouts, it pitches into deep hollows, that rumble and quake
the 'arth, and thereaway it ripples and sings like a brook, fashioning
whirlpools and gullies in the old stone, as if 'twere no harder than trodden …
No picture could then be made to give an adequate idea of the cascades
when the river is full, and I contented myself with making a sketch of
the scene below the bridge, at the foot of the falls, from the water-side
entrance to the cavern alluded to. A fine sepia drawing, by the late
Mr. Bartlett, which I found subsequently among some original sketches
in my possession, supplies the omission.…
Many years afterwards,
when "Wing was dead, and his son was in possession of the falls and the
adjacent lands, a convivial party assembled at table in the tavern there,
which formed the germ of the present village of nearly four thousand
inhabitants. Among them was Mr. Wing; also John Glen, a man of
fortune, who lived on the south side of the river. The wine circulated
freely, and it ruled t…
The surplus water
supplies a navigable feeder to the Champlain Canal, that connects Lake
Champlain with the Hudson. There are also several mills for slabbing
the fine black marble of that locality for the construction of chimneypieces, and for other uses. These various mills mar the natural beauty of
the scene, but their uncouth and irregular forms give picturesqueness to
the view. The bridge…
At Sandy Hill the Hudson makes a magnificent sweep, in a curve,
when changing its course from an easterly to a southerly direction ; and a
little below that village it is broken into wild cascades, which have been
named Baker's Palls. Sandy Hill, like the borough of Glen's Falls,
stands upon a high plain, and is a very beautiful village, of about thirteen
hundred inhabitants. In its centre is…
He had passed Port
Edward with an escort of sixteen men, under Lieutenant McGinnis, of
New Hampshire, and was making his way through the gloomy forest at
the bend of the Hudson, when they were attacked, overpowered, and disarmed by a party of Prench Indians, under the famous parti/an Marin. The prisoners were taken to the trunk of a fallen tree, and seated upon it
in a row. The captors then st…
As the fatal steel was about to fall upon his head, the arm of the savage
executioner was arrested by a squaw, who exclaimed, " You shan't kill
him I He's no lighter I He's iinj dog !''■ He was spared and itnbound,
and, staggering under a pack of plunder almost too heavy for him to
sustain, he was marched towards Canada, as a prisoner, the Indians bearing the scalps of his murdered fellow capt…
He
remained in Canada three years, when he returned, married his affianced,
and died in Washington County, in the year 1820, at the age of eightythree years.
liakcr's Falls are about half-way between Sandy Hill and Fort Edward. The river is about four hundred feet in width, and the entire descent of
water, in the course of a mile, is between seventy and eighty feet. As
at Glen's Falls, the co…
The direction of the railway was changed after these piers were built at
a heavy expense, and they remain as monuments of caprice, or of something still less commendable.
Fort Edward, five miles below Glen's Falls, by the river's course, was
earliest known as the great carrying place, it being the point of overland
departure for Lake Champlain, across the isthmus of five-and-twenty
miles. It …
llaccoon Skin, in Lieu and Steade of all other Eents, Services, Dues,
Dutycs, and Demands whatsoever for the said Tract of Land, and Islands,
and Premises." Governor Bellomont soon succeeded Fletcher, and, through
his influence, the legislature of the province annulled this and other
similar gra^ts, That hody, exercising ecclesiastical as "well as civil
functions, also passed a resolution, su…
The upper one was
named Fort Anne, in honour of the Queen of England ; the middle one,
of which Lydius' s house formed a part, was called Fort Nicholson, in
honour of the commander; and the lower one, just
below the mouth of the Batten-Kill, was named
Fort Saratoga. Almost fifty years later, when
a provincial army, under General Johnson, of
the Mohawk valley, and General Lyman, of
Connecti…
Tort Edward was an important military post during the whole of the
French and Indian war, -- that Seven Years' War which cost England
more than a hundred millions of pounds sterling, and laid one of the
broadest of the foundation-stones of her immense national debt. There,
on one occasion, Israel Putnam, a bold provincial partizau, and afterward
a major-general in the American revolutionary a…
The unflinching major
begged permission to remain a little longer. It was granted, and he did
not leave his post until he felt the roof beneath him giving way. It fell,
and only a few feet from the blazing mass was the magazine building, its
sides already charred with the heat. Unmindful of the peril, Putnam
placed himself between the fire and the sleeping power in the menaced
building, whic…
His head-quarters were at Fort Anne,
and General St. Clair commanded the important post of Ticonderoga. In
July, Burgoync came sweeping down the lake triumphantly. St. Clair
fled from Ticonderoga, and his army was scattered and sorely smitten in
the retreat. "When the British advanced to Skenesborough, at the head
of the lake, Schuyler retreated to Fort Edward, felling trees across the
old m…
She was visiting
a Tory friend at Fort Edward at this time, and was betrothed to a young
man of the neighbourhood, who was a subaltern in Burgoyne's army. On the approach of the invaders, her brother, who lived near, fled, with
his family, down the river, and desired Jenny to accompany them. She
preferred to stay under the protection of her Tory friend, who was a
widow, and a cousin of Genera…
The savages were unharmed, but one of the bullets mortally
wounded their fair captive. She fell and expired, as tradition relates,
near a pine-tree, which remained as a memorial of the tragedy until a
few years ago. Having lost their prisoner, they secured her scalp, and,
with her black tresses wet with her warm blood, they hastened to the
camp. The friend of Jenny had just arrived, and the l…
In a
published letter, he accused him of hiring savages to "scalp Europeans
and the descendants of Europeans;" spoke of Jenny as having been
" dressed to meet her promised husband, but met her murderers," employed by Burgoyne ; asserted that she, with several women and children,
had been taken "from the house into the woods, and there scalped and
mangled in a most shocking manner;" and allege…
When the anniversary of the tragedy approached, he would
shut himself in his room, and refuse to see his most intimate acquaintances ; and at all times his friends avoided speaking of the American
revolution in his presence. The body of Jenny was buried on her brother's
land: it was re-interred at Fort Edward in 1826, with imposing ceremonies: and again in 1852, her remains found a new resting-…
No relic of the olden time now remains at Fort Edward, excepting a
few logs of the fort on the edge of the river, some faint traces of the
embankments, and a magnificent Balm-of-Gilead tree, which stood, a
sapling, at the water-gate, when Putnam saved the magazine. It has
three huge trunks, spri'nging from the roots. One of them is more than
half decayed, having been twice riven by lightning …
* The old silver coins occasionally
found at Fort Edward are called " cobinoncy" by the people. I could not
ascertain the derivation of the name. The pictuie represents both sides of two
l)ieces in my possession, the proper size. The larger one is a cross-pistareen, of
the value of about sixteen cents; the
other is a quai-ter fraction of the same. They are irregular in form, and the
devices …
especially on its western side, affords exquisite enjoyment to the lover of
beautiful scenery and the displays of careful cultivation. The public
road follows the river-bank nearly all the way to Troy, a distance of forty
miles, and the traveller seldom loses sight of the noble stream, which is
frequently divided by islands, some cultivated, and others heavily wooded. The most important of the…
He was out with a scouting party, and was
lying alone in a batteau on the east side of the river, when he was surprised by some Indians ; he could not cross the river swiftly enough to
escape the balls of their rifles, and there was no alternative but to go
down the foaming rapids. He did not hesitate a moment. To the
astonishment of the savages, he steered directly down the current, amid
whi…
Below it are considerable
rapids ; just above it is a bridge, which has a
carriage-way for the public use, and a narrower
passage for the horses that draw the canal boats. These vessels float' safely on the usually still
water of the river, but sometimes, when the
stream is very full, the passage is attended with some difficulty, if not
danger, on account of the strong though sluggish curren…
Here we crossed the river upon the canal bridge, and rode down to the
mouth of the Batten-Kill, near where it enters the Hudson, to visit the
spot-- on the plain just above its mouth -- where the army of Burgoyne
lay encamped, before he crossed the Hudson to engage in those conflicts
at Bemis's Heights, which resulted in his discomfiture and captivity. There he established a slaughter-yard ; a…
Under a shelving black rock on the margin of the abyss
into which the waters pour, we found a good place for observation. The
spectacle was grand. For about three hundred feet above the great fall,
the stream rushes through a narrow rocky chasm, roaring and foaming ;
and then, in a still narrower space, it leaps into the dark gulf which has
been named the Devil's Caldron, in a perpendicular f…
Samuel Marshall, known as the Eeidesel House, There, eleven years
before, the writer visited an old lady, ninety-two years of age, who gave
him many interesting details of the old war in that vicinity : she died at
the age of ninety-six. This house was made famous in the annals of
Burgoyne's unfortunate campaign by a graphic account of sufferings
therein, given by the Baroness Eeidesel, wife …
Not far off my women slept, and opposite to me three English
officers, who, though wounded, were determined not to he left behind :
one of them was Captain Green, an aide-de-camp to Major-General Phillips,
a very valuable officer and most agreeable man. They each made me a
most sacred promise not to leave me behind, and, in case of sudden retreat,
that they would each of them take one of my c…
The village of Sclmylerville is pleasantly situated upon a slope on the
western margin of the Tipper Hudson valley, on the north bank of the
rish Creek (the outlet of Saratoga Lake), which there leaps to the plain
in a series of beautiful cascades, after being released from the labour of
turning several mill-wheels. These cascades or rapids commence at the
bridge where the public road crosses…
It was a stockade, weakly garrisoned, and, with the scattered
village of thirty families, of the same name, upon the plain below, was
destroyed in the autumn of 1745, by a horde of Frenchmen and Indians,
under the noted partisan Marin, whose followers, as we have seen, performed a sanguinary tragedy at Sandy Hill ten years later. They had
left Montreal for the purpose of making a foray upon so…
His
house was attacked, and in an attempt to defend it he was shot. His
body was consumed, with other persons who had escaped to the cellar,
when, after plundering the house, the savages set it on fire. That Saratoga
estate was bequeathed by the murdered owner to his nephew Philip (the'
General), who built a country mansion, elegant for the times, near the
site of the old one, and occupied i…
still preserved in its original form at the time of our visit, and surrounded
by beautiful shady trees, many of vs^hich werd^lanted by the master's
own hand. It was then the residence of George Strover, Esq., who took
pleasure in preserving it as General Schuyler left it. Even some ancient
lilac shrubs, now quite lofty trees, gnarled and unsightly, that were in
the garden of the old mansion, …
So long as the EepuLlicans remained imitetl, so long as there existed a
free communication hetween Massachusetts and Virginia, or, in other
words, between the Eastern and the Middle and Southern States, permanent
success of the British arms in America seemed questionable. The rebellion
was hydra-headed, springing into new life and vigour suddenly and
powerfully, from the inherent energies of …
The leadership of that invasion from the North was intrusted to
Lieutenant-General Sir John Burgoyne, who had won military laurels in
Portugal, had held a seat in the king's council, and was then a member
of Parliament. He arrived at Quebec in March, 1777, and in June had
collected a large force of English and German troops, Canadians, and
Indians, at the foot of Lake Champlain. At the beginn…
He had stated at Fort Edward that
he should eat his Christmas dinner in Albany, a laurelled conqueror, with
92 THE HUDSON.
the great objects of the campaign perfectly accomplished ; but now he
began to doubt.
General Schuyler had been the commander of the troops opposed to
Burgoyne until the 19th of August, when he surrendered his charge to
General Gates, a conceited officer, very much his …
A severe but indecisive battle was fought at Bemis's Heights on the
1 9th of September ; Burgoyne fell back a few miles toward his intrenched
camp, and resolved there to await the expected approach of Sir Henry
Clinton, with a large force, up the lower Hudson. Clinton was tardy,
perils were thickening, and Burgoyne resolved to make another attack
upon Gates. After a severe battle fought on th…
Our view is taken from one of the
THE HUDSON.
canal bridges, looking north-east. The Hudson is seen beyond the place
of surrender, and in the more remote distance may be observed the conical
hills which, on the previous day, had swarmed with American volunteers. "With the deKcate courtesy of a gentleman. General Gates ordered all
his army within his camp, that the vanquished might not be subm…
Colonel
Wilkinson, Gates's aide-de-camp, then introduced the two generals. Both
dismounted, and Burgoyne, raising his hat gracefully, said -- "The
fortune of war. General Gates, has made me your prisoner." The victor
promptly replied -- ''I shall always be ready to bear testimony that it
has not been through any fault of your excellency." The other officers
were then introduced in turn, and …
When I drew near the tents, a handsome man approached and
met me, took my children from the caUche, and hugged and kissed them,
which affected me almost to tears. 'You tremble,' said he, addressing
himself to me; 'be not afraid.' 'No,' I answered, ' you seem so kind
and tender to my children, it inspires me with courage.' He now led me
to the tent of General Gates, where I found Generals Burg…
I was content ; I saw all around me were
so likewise. When we had dined, he told me his residence was at Albany,
and that General Burgoyne intended to honour him as his guest, and
invited myself and children to do so likewise. I asked my husband how
I should act; he told me to accept the invitation." General Schuyler's
house at Albany yet remains, and there we shall hereafter meet the
Barone…
The vehicle was a large scow or battcau, which was
pushed by means of long poles, that reached to the bottom of the river ;
THE HUDSON.
and it was kept in its course, in defiance of the current, by ropes fore and
aft, attached by friction rollers to a stout cable stretched across the stream. There were several of these ferries between Fort Edward and Stillwater,
the one most used being that a…
He felt con-
THE HUDSON.
vinced that, -without the aid of General Clinton's co-operation in drawing
off a part of the republican army to the defence of the country below, he
should not be able to advance. Yet he wrought diligently in strengthening
his position. He erected four redoubts, one upon each of four hills, two
above and two below "Wilbur's Basin, and made lines of intrenchments
fro…
and this the keen eye and quick judgment of Colonel Morgan, commander
of a rifle corps from the south, perceived. A thought flashed through his
brain, and in an instant he prepared to execute a deadly purpose. Calling
a file of his best men around him, he said, as he pointed toward the
British right wing, which was making its way victoriously, -- " That
gallant officer is General Eraser; I ad…
About half way between "Wilbur's Basin' and Bemis's, stood, until
within twenty years, a rude building, the upper half somewhat projecting,
and every side of it battered and pierced by bullets. It was used by
Burgoyne as his quarters when he first moved forward to attack Gates,
THE HUDSON.
and there the Baron Eeiclesel had his quarters at the time of the battle of
the 7th of October. Thither…
mortal ; do not flatter me.' The ball had passed through his body, and,
unhappily for the general, he had eaten a very hearty breakfast, by which
the stomach was distended, and the ball, as the surgeon said, had passed
through it. I often heard him exclaim, with a sigh, ' 0 fatal ambition ! Poor General Burgoyne ! 0 my dear wife ! ' He was asked if he had any
request to make, to which he repli…
ignorant of the true character of the procession, kept up a constant cannonade upon the redoubt, toward which it was moving. Undismayed,
the companions of Fraser buried him just as the evening shadows came
on. Before the impressive burial services of the Anglican Church were
ended, the irregular firing ceased, and the solemn voice of a single canon,
at measured intervals, boomed along the vall…
jHE heroic Lady Ackland had listened to the thunder of
the battle in which her hushand was engaged, and
when, on the morning of the 8th, the British fell back
in confusion toward Wilbur's Basin, she, with the
other women, was obliged to take refuge among the
dead and dying, for the tents were all struck, and hardly a shed
was left standing. Then she was informed that her husband was
wounded…
I had not even a cup of wine to offer her; but I
was told she had found, from some kind and fortunate hand, a little rum
and dii'ty water. All I could furnish to her was an open boat, and a few
lines written upon dirty wet paper, to General Gates, recommending her
to his protection." *
Lady Harriet set out in an open boat on the Hudson, accompanied by
Chaplain Brudenell, her waiting-maid, an…
They started at sunset, in the midst of a violent storm of wind and rain. It was long after dark when they reached the American outposts, and
there they were detained, in a comfortable position, until orders should
be received from head-quarters. Early in the morning she received the
joyful tidings that her husband was safe. At the same time she was
treated with paternal kindness by General Ga…
On the east rise Willard's Mountain, the heights
of Bennington, the Green Mountains, and the famous Mount Tom ; and
stretching away in the blue distances towards Albany, are seen the gentle
hills and beautiful valley of the Hudson. And there the visitor may see
* Major Ackland died in November, 1778. On her return to England, a portrait of Lady Harriet,
standing in a boat, with a white handke…
At the foot of Bcmis's Heights, where the old tavern of Bemis --
famous for good wines and long pipes, a spacious ball-room and a rich
larder -- once stood, a pleasant hamlet has grown up. It is one of the
numerous offsprings of the canal. Two miles below it, at the head of
long rapids, is Stillwater, the most pleasing in situation and appearance
of all the villages in the valley of the Upper…
Lcger, who had been sent up the St. Lawrence by
Burgoyne, with instructions to cross Lake Ontario to Oswego, penetrate
THE HUDSON.
tlie Mohawk valley from that point, form an alliance with the Tories antl
Indians, and press forward to Albany with destructive energy, had actually
appeared before Port Schuyler, where the village of Eome now stands. The people of the Mohawk valley were wild with…
His political enemies had
already sown the seeds of distrust concerning his intentions ; and as he
was pacing the floor in anxious solicitude, he heard fi'om one of his
subordinate officers the half- whispered remark, " He means to weaken
the army." Never was a thought more unjust and ungenerous ! Wheeling
suddenly toward the slanderer and those around him, and unconsciously
biting into seve…
The valley, maintaining
the same average width and general aspect, becomes richer in numerous
farm-houses and more careful cultivation as we approach the cluster of
large towns whose church spires may be seen soon after leaving Mechanicsville t.nd Half-Moon, two pleasant little villages on the west bank of the
Hudson. These are in the township of Half-Moon, so called in memory
of Hcndrick Hud…
The plain and slopes have the appearance of a garden ; while
the hills on both sides present sweet pictures of mingled forest and cultivated fields, enlivened by small flocks and herds, and dotted with the
homes of a thrifty people. But the river appears solitary. Not a boat
may be seen upon it, until "Waterford is passed, for the current is too
swift for navigation. **The water in the river h…
The church spires of Troy are
also seen, and in dim blue outline, in the extreme southern horizon,
appear the higher spurs of the Katzbergs, or Catskill Mountains.
Waterford is a very pleasant town, at the confluence of the Mohawk
and Hudson rivers, and had then a little more than three thousand
inhabitants. It stands upon the level bank of the Hudson. Most of its
streets are fringed with th…
At AVaterford the ear catches the subdued roar of Cohoes Falls '^' in the
Mohawk river, three-fourths of a mile distant. That stream is the largest
tributary of the Hudson. It flows eastward, with a rapid current most
of the way, from Oneida County, in the interior of the State of New
York, through one of the richest agricultural regions in the world, for
about one hundred and thirty-five mil…
The banks of
Van Schaick's are steep, a forest of evergreens clothes a large portion of its
surface, and only a solitary barn indicates its cognizance by man.
Green Island, the larger of the three, stretches along the upper part of
Troy, and is a theatre of industry for a busy population, engaged chiefly
in manufactures, or in employments connected with railways. There
was the immense establ…
Down a steep slope of that precipice,
for about fifty feet, the proprietor has constructed a flight of steps, and
upon the top of a broad terrace at their foot he has planted a flower garden,
for the enjoyment of visitors. Around its edge, from which may be
obtained a view of the entire cataract, is a railing with seats, and there
the visitor may contemplate at ease the wild scene on every ha…
Below the fall, the water rushes over a rocky bed, in foaming rapids,
between high banks, to the plain, where the islands divide it into
channels, and through these it flows gently into the Hudson. It was a
beautiful afternoon in early spring when we visited the falls. The water
was abundant, for the snow upon the hills that border the charming
valley of the Mohawk was rapidly melting, and fi…
The classical taste which gave the name of the city
built where the dappled heifer of Ilus lay down, to this modern town,
when it was little more than a hamlet, and which dignified the irregular
hill that overlooks it with the title of Mount Ida (called Ida Hill by the
inhabitants), named this rocky peak Mount Olympus. We saw nothing
upon its *' awful summit " to remind us of the Thessalian d…
Just above the dam,
and near "Waterford, there is a communication between the canal and the
river, and many loaded boats from the former there enter the latter, pass
through the lock, and are towed, some to Troy and Albany, and others to
New York. The dam also furnishes water power to a number of mills
on the Troy shore below it, into which grain is taken from vessels lying
at the docks, by …
It was built of timbei', was closely covered, and rested upon heavy stone
piers. It crossed where formerly lay a group of beautiful little islands,
when Troy was in its infancy. They have almost disappeared, except
THE HUDSON.
the larger one, which is bisected by the bridge. Among these islands
shad and sturgeon, fish that abound in every part of the river below, were
caught in large quantit…
Town lots were laid out there in the summer of 1787, and two years
afterward the freeholders of the fembryo city, at a meeting in Albany,
resolved that "in future it should be called and known by the name of
Troy." At the same time, with the prescience of observing men, they
said -- " It may not be too sanguine to expect, at no very distant period,
to see Troy as famous for her trade and navi…
Between the second window on the left and
the door was another brick inscribed "M V H. 1752." These were
the initials of Matthias Vanderheyden. South of the window on
the right, and a little above it, was another brick inscribed " I V H.
1752." These were the initials of Jacob Vanderheyden. Matthias
occupied tliis, and the other two built houses elsewhere on the
plot. AsWey afterward kept an…
The latter was
established under the auspices of the Methodist denomination, but the
funds for the building were liberally subscribed by men of various sects. It stands upon Mount Ida, and is the most conspicuous object in a view
of the city seen from any point. In its immediate vicinity are beautiful
residences, which command extensive and interesting pictures of town
and country. In their c…
About twelve acres of land were purchased
at that point by the United States, in 1813, for arsenal purposes, and the
group of buildings seen in the sketch was erected. The grounds comprised about one hundred acres, part covered with necessary buildings and
a parade, and the remainder was under cultivation. About two hundred
yards west of the highway, the Erie Canal passed through the grounds, …
The principal operations carried on are the manufacture of lieavy artillery carnages for the sea-coast
forts, with aU the requisite implements and equipments ; carnages for siege trains and field batteries,
with their equipments and harness ; all machines used in transporting and repau-ing artillery ; ammunition of all kinds for sea-coast, siege, and field guns, and for small arms, and the repai…
There is a
house a mile and a half below the arsenal, scarcely visible from the road
because of trees and shrubbery which conceal it, and, when seen, it would
not attract special attention, excepting for the extreme plainness and
antiquated style of its architecture. A pleasant lane leads to it from the
canal, and the margin of the sloping lawn on its river front, over which
stately elms cas…
The old one was consumed
by fire in the summer of 1759, when Philip had been dead eighteen
months, and "Aunt Schuyler," his widow, whose waist he spanned with
his hands when they were married forty years before, had grown to such
enormous dimensions, that a chair was made for her special use. In
that chair she was seated, under the cherry-trees in the lane, one hot day
in August, when the em…
Over the yawning cellars of
the late mansion a broad wooden bridge was built, furnished with seats
like a portico. "This," says Mrs. Grant, "with the high walls of the
ancient house, which were a kind of screen before the new one, gave the
whole the appearance of an ancient ruin." '•'- Aunt Schuyler removed
to her house in Albany, and leased the homestead ; and, a few years
later, the presen…
the city itself, built upon hills and slopes, is more than half concealed by
the lofty trees which surround the manor house of the Van Rensselaer
family in the northern part of the city. This is one of the most
attractive town residences in the State. The mansion, erected in 1765,
and recently somewhat modified in external appearance, stands within a
park of many acres, beautified by the hand…
It was provided that every Patroon, to whom privileges and
exemptions should be granted, should, within four years after the
establishment of a colony, have there, as permanent residents, at least
fifty persons over fifteen years of age, one-fourth of whom should be
located within the first year. Such privileges were granted to Killian
Van Eensselaer, a pearl merchant of Amsterdam, and one of…
The Patroon was invested with power to administer civil and criminal
justice, in person or by deputy, within his domain, and, to some extent,
he was a sort of autocrat. These powers were abolished when the English
took possession of the province in 1664, and with it fell many of the
special privileges, but, by the English law of primogeniture, that princely
domain, farmed out to many tenants,…
Within the mansion are collected some exquisite works of
Art, and family portraits extending in regular order back to the first
Patroon. At the head of the great staircase leading from the spacious
hall to the chambers was a portion of the
illuminated window which, for one hundred and ninety years, occupied a place
in the old Dutch Church that stood in
the middle of State Street, at its inte…
gallery, and the huge stove used in heating the building was placed upon
a platform so high, that the sexton went upon it from the gallery to
kindle the fire, implying a belief in those days that heated air descended,
instead of ascending, as we are now taught by the philosophers. The
pulpit was made of carved oak, octagonal in form, and in front of it was a
bracket, on which the minister pla…
They would
slip stealthily into the church while he was there with his dim lantern,
unlock the side door, hide in some dark corner, and when the old man
was fairly seated at home, and had his pipe lighted for a last smoke, they
would ring the bell furiously. Down to the old church the sexton would
hasten, the boys would slip out at the side door before his arrival, and the
old man would retu…
The materials were imported from Holland,
-- ^bricks, tiles, iron, and wood-work, -- and were brought, with the church
bell and pulpit, in 1657, "When I was quite a lad," says a late writer,
' ' I visited the house with my mother, who was acquainted with the
father of Balthazar Lydius, the last proprietor of the mansion. To my
eyes it appeared like a palace, and I thought the pewter plates in…
I smell the blood of an Englishman.'
He was a tall, spare Dutchman, with a bullet head, sprinkled with thin
white hair in his latter years. He was fond of his pipe and his bottle,
and gloried in his celibacy, until his life was ' in the sere and yellow leaf.'
^f*f lifM-
Then he gave a pint of gin for a squaw (an Indian woman), and calling
her his wife, lived with her as such until his death.…
It was built in 1725, by Johannes Bcekraau, one of the old
burghers of that city ; and was purchased, in 1778, by one of tho Vauderheydcns of Troy, who, for many yeai's, lived tlierc in the style of the old
Dutch aristocracy. On account of its size, it was dignified with the title
of palace. It figures in Washington Irving' s story of Dolph Heyliger, iu
" Bracebridge Hall," as the residence of…
This preserves the walls from
being damaged by the rain, but it is extremely disagreeable in rainy
weather for the people in the streets, there being hardly any means for
avoiding the water from the gutters. The street doors are generally in
the middle of the houses, and on both sides are seats, on which, during
fair weather, the people spend almost the whole day, especially on those
which a…
If he wanted any help, he had to pay "exorbitant prices for their
services," and yet he says he found some exceptions among them. After
due reflection, he came to the following conclusion respecting "the
origin of the inhabitants of Albany and its neighbourhood. Whilst the
Dutch possessed this country, and intended to people it, the government
took up a pack of vagabonds, of which they intend…
Another was built on the main : it
was abandoned in 1623, and a stronger one erected in what is now
Broadway, below State Street. This was furnished witli eight cannon
loaded with stones, and was named Fort Orange, in honour of the then
Stadtholder of Holland. Down to the period of the intercolonial wars,
the settlement and the city were known as Port Orange by the French in
Canada. Families…
Out of the manor of Rensselaerwyck a strip of land, a mile wide,
extending from the Hudson at the town, thirteen miles back, was granted
to the city, but the title to all the remainder of the soil of that broad
domain was confirmed to the Patroon. "When, toward the middle of the
last century, the province was menaced by the French and Indians, a
strong quadrangular fort, built of stone, was e…
Among the most interesting of these relics of the past is the mansion
erected by General Philip Schuyler, at about the time when the Van
Rensselaer Manor House was built. It stands in the southern part of the
city, at the head of Schuyler Street, and is a very fine specimen of the
domestic architecture of the country at that period. It is entered at the
front by an octagonal vestibule, richly…
In that mansion General Schuyler and his family dispensed a princely
hospitality for almost Ibrty years. Every stranger of distinction passing
between New York and Canada, public functionaries of the province and
state visiting Albany, and resident friends and relatives, always found a
hearty welcome to bed and board under its roof. And when the British
army had surrendered to the victorious …
General
Burgoyne was struck with General Schuyler's generosity, and said to him,
* You show me great kindness, though I have done you much injury.'
* That was the fate of war,' replied the brave man, ' let us say no more
about it.'"
"The British commander was well received by Mrs. Schuyler," says
the Marquis De Chastellux, in his "Travels in America," " and lodged
in the best apartment in t…
Schuyler's mansion was the theatre of a stirring event, in the summer
of 1781. The general was then engaged in the civil service of his country,
and was at home. The war was at its height, and the person of Schuyler
was regarded as a capital prize by his Tory enemies. A plan was
conceived to seize him, and carry him a prisoner into Canada, A Tory
of his neighbourhood, named "Waltemeyer, a col…
At the close of a sultry day in August, the general and his family were
sitting in the large hall of the mansion; the servants were dispersed
about the premises ; three of the guard were asleep in the basement, and
the other three were lying upon the grass in front of the house. The
night had fallen, when a servant announced that a stranger at the back
gate wished to speak with the general. H…
Slie was flying to the
rescue of her child, when the general interposed, and prevented her. But
her third daughter (who afterwards became the wife of the last Patroon
of Eensselaerwyck) instantly rushed down stairs, snatched the still
sleeping infant from the cradle, and boi'e it off in safety. One of the
Indians hurled a sharp tomahawk at her as she ascended the stairs. It
cut her dress wit…
She died toward
the close of August, 1857, at the age of seventy-six years.
Albany was made the political metropolis of the State of ISTew York
early in the present century, when the Capitol, or State-House, was
erected. It stands upon a hill at the heat of broad, steep, busy State
Street, one hundred and thirty feet above the Hudson, and commands a
fine prospect of the whole surrounding cou…
The building
is surmounted by a dome supported by several small Ionic columns, and
bearing upon its crown a wooden statue of Themis, the goddess of justice
and law. Within it are halls for the two branches of the State legislature
(Senate and General Assembly), an executive chamber for the official use
of the Governor, an apartment for the Adjutant-General, and rooms for
the use of the highe…
The idea of such connection had occupied the minds of
sagacious men for many years, foremost among whom Avcre Elkanah
Watson, General Philip Schuyler, Christopher Colles, and Gouverneur
Morris ; and thirty years before the great work was commenced, Joel
15arlow, one of the early American poets, wrote in his Vision of
Columbus --
" He saw as widel}- spreads the imchannelled plain,
Where inla…
The business
demands upon it warranting an enlargement to seventy feet in widtli,
work with that result in view has been in progress for several years. It
flows through the entire length of the beautiful Mohawk valley, crosses
CANAL BA.SIX AT ALIiAXV.
the Mohawk Uiver several times, and enters Albany at the north end of
the city.
Near where the last aqueduct of the canal crosses the ^Mohawk…
Occuna began : " Daughter of a mighty warrior !
the Great Manitore [the Supreme God] calls me hence; he bids me hasten
into his presence ; I hear his voice in the stream ; I perceive his Spirit
in the moving of the waters. The light of his eyes danceth upon the swift
rapids."
The maiden replied : "Art thou not thyself a mighty warrior, 0
Occuna'^ Hath not thy hatchet been often bathed in the…
Occuna was dashed in pieces among the rocks, but his affianced maiden
was preserved to tell the story of her perils. Occuna, the Indian said,
"was raised high above the regions of the moon, from whence he vicw.s
with joy the prosperous hunting of the warriors ; he gives pleasant
dreams to his friends, and terrifies their enemies with dreadful omens."
And when any of his tribe passed this fata…
Albany was completed, a passage was made through this pier for ferryboats, the bridges not being sufficient for the accommodation of travellers
and freight. The pier was also soon covered with storehouses ; and when
the Harlem and Hudson River Railways (the former skirting the western
borders of Connecticut, eighteen or twenty miles east of the Hudson, and the
latter following the river shore)…
It is not within the scope of our plan of illustrating the Hudson to do
more than offer a general outline of its various features, as exhibited
in the forms of nature and the works of man. We leave to the
statistician the task of giving in detail an account of the progress of towns
and villages, in their industrial operations and the institutions of learning. AYe picture to the eye and mind on…
General Van Rensselaer, the present proprietor of the Manor House, at
Albany, presented for the purpose eight acres of land upon an eminence
north of the city. This preliminary step was followed by Mrs. Blandina
Dudley, widow of a wealthy Albany merchant, who offered twelve
thousand dollars towards the cost of erecting a building. Those having
the matter in charge resolved to call it the Dudl…
The whole establishment was to
have been placed under the supeiintcndence of the eminent Professor
Ormsby M. Mitchel, of Ohio. The Civil War broke out, and Mr. Mitchel,
animated by patriotic zeal for the salvation of his country, entered the
military service, for which he had been educated at West Point, and was
made a general officer. While in command of the "Department of the
South" at Bea…
It is f jiir and a half feet in diameter, is mounted
on the flag-staff, and is raised each day at ten minutes before twelve. The force of the fall is broken by spiral springs at the foot of the flag-staff. Another but smaller time-ball is dropped at the same instant in
Broadway, in front of the telegraph-office, and hundreds of persons may
be seen daily holding their watches at the approach of …
thousand soldiers; and their General Dearborn, the ooininander-iu-chief
of the United States army, had his quarters for some time. On tliis very
spot Abercrombie and Amherst collected their troops above a hundred
years ago, preparatory to an invasion of Canada, or, at least, the capture
of the French fortresses on Lake Champlain ; and from that same spot
went companies and regiments to the no…
Buildings of every description for the use of these railways are
there in a cluster, the most conspicuous of which is the immense manysided engine-house of the Western Road, whose great dome, covered with
bright tin, is a conspicuous object on a sunny day for scores of miles
around.
The Hudson Eivcr Railway is on the east side of the stream, and follows
its tortuous banks all the way from Alb…
Around it is a
pleasant agricultural country, and between it and
Albany, on the western shore, flows in the romantic
IS'orman's-Kill (the Indian Tawasentha, or Place of
many Dead), that comes down from the region of
the lofty Helderbergs. Upon the island in the
Hudson, at the mouth of this stream -- a noted place
of encampment and trade for the Iroquois -- the Dutch built their first
fort …
In this vicinity is the famous hidden sand-bar, called Overslagh by the
Dutch, so formidable to the navigators of this part of the river, not
because of any actual danger, but of tedious detentions caused by running
aground. Some improvements have been made. In former years the
sight of from twenty to fifty sail of river craft, fast aground on the
Overslagh at low tide, was not rare, and the …
tive from the Mohegan word is-cho-da, ** a meadow, or fire-plain." This
was anciently the seat of the council fire of the Mohcgans upon the
Hudson. They extended their villages along the eastern bank of the
stream, as high as Lanslngburgh, and their hunting grounds occupied the
entire counties of Columbia and Rensselaer. As the white settlements
crowded there, the Mohegans retired eastwardly …
The village, which was settled by Dutch and
Swedes at an early period, is upon a plain five miles from the river, with
most attractive rural surroundings. There, for more than twenty years
after his retirement from public life, the late Honourable Martin Van
Buren, a descendant of one of the early settlers, and the eighth president
of the United States, resided. His pleasant seat, embowered i…
Its appropriateness may be understood by the form of the shore, whose
banks have evidently been cut down by the rushing river currents that
sweep swiftly along between an island and the main, when the spring
freshets occur. From a high rocky bluff at the ferry, on the east side of
the river, a fine view of Coxsakie, with the blue Katzbergs as a background, may be obtained. Turning southward, t…
On both sides of the river they were pursuing their vocation
with assiduity, for "the season" lasts only about two months. The
immense reels on which they stretch and dry their nets, the rough,
uncouth costume of the fishermen, appropriate to the water and the slime,
the groups of young people who gather upon the beach to see the
" catch," form interesting and sometimes picturesque foreground…
numbers, as to make them clieap dishes for the poor man's table. They
enter the Hudson in immense numbers towards the close of March or
beginning of April, and ascend to the head of tide water to spawn. It is
while on their passage up that the greater number and best conditioned
arc caught, several hundreds being sometimes taken in a single "catch."
They generally descend the river at the clo…
Its colour is dusky above, with faint
traces of oblique bands ; belly white, and the fins tinged with reddish colour.
tr
146 THE HUDSON.
the inhabitants of that ancient town, " Sturgeonites." They vary in size
from two to eight feet in length, and in weight from 100 to 450 lbs. The "catch" commences in April, and continues until the latter end of
August. The flesh is used for food by some, a…
Never in the history of the rapid growth
of cities in America has there been a more remarkable example than that
of Hudson. AVithin three years from the time when the farm on which
it stands was purchased, and only a solitary storehouse stood ixpon the
bank of the river at the foot of the bluff", one hundi;ed and fifty dwellings,
with wharves, storehouses, workshops, barns, &c., were erected,…
Merino high and near, over the bay, whieli is cultivated to its summit,
and from whose crown the Highlands in the south, the Luzerne
Mountains, near Lake George, in the north, the Katzbergs in the west,
and the Green Mountains eastward, may be seen, blue and shadowy, and
bounding the horizon with a grand and mysterious line, while at the feet
of the observer, the city of Hudson lies like a pi…
presents many romantic little scenes, IS'ear its banks, a few miles from
Hudson, are mineral springs, now rising into celebrity, and known as the
Colnmbia Sulphur Springs. The accommodations for invalids and
l)leasure-seekers are arranged in the midst of a fine hickory grove, and
many persons spend the summer months there very delightfully, away
from the fashionable crowd. The tourist should …
The sect or society of this
singular people originated in England a little more than one hundred
years ago. Ann Lee, the young wife of a blacksmith, who had borne
several children, conceived the idea that marriage was impure and sinful. She found disciples, and after being persecuted as a fanatic for several
years, she professed to have had a direct revelation that she was the female
manifest…
The community
at jS'ew Lebanon is the most perfect of all in its arrangements, and there
the hierarchy of the "Millennial Church" reside. Their strange forms
THE HUDSON.
of -worship, consisting chiefly in singing and dancing ; their quaint
costume, their simple manners, their industry and frugality, the perfection
of all their industrial operations, their chaste and exemplary lives, and
the…
So they tooke tliem downe into the cabbin, and gave them so much wine
and aqua vitcc that they were all merrie, and one of them had his wife with
liim, which sate so modestly, as any of our countrey women would doe in
a strange place. In the end, one of them was drunke, which had been
aboord of our ship all the time tliat we had beene there : and that was
strange to them, for they could not t…
At the Oak Hill station the tourist upon the railway will leave it for a
trip to the Ivatzbergs before him, upon which may be seen, at the distance
of eight miles in an air line, the "Mountain House," the famous resort
for hundreds of people who escape from the dust of cities during the heat
of summer, Tlie river is crossed on a steam ferry-boat, and good
omnibuses convey travellers from it t…
The solemn Katzbergs, sublime
in form, and mysterious in their dim, incomprehensible, and ever-changing
aspect, almost always form a prominent feature in the landscape. In the
midst of this scenery. Cole, the eminent painter, loved to linger when the
shadows of the early morning were projected towards the mountqjn, then
bathed in purple mists ; or at evening, when these lofty hills, then dark…
Charmed with this region,
Cole made it at fii'st a summer retreat, and finally his permanent residence,
and there, in a fine old family mansion, delightfully situated to command
a full view of the Katzberg range and the intervening country, his spirit
passed from earth, while a sacred poem, created by his wealthy imagination and deep religious sentiment, was finding expression upon his easel
…
The range of the Katzbergs ^'- rises abruptly from the plain on their
eastern side, where the road that leads to the Mountain House enters
them, and follows the margin of a deep, dark glen, through which flows
a clear mountain stream seldom seen by the traveller, but heard
continually for a mile and a half, as, in swift rapids or in little cascades,
it hurries to the plain below. The road is …
other, that little can be seen beyond a few rods, except the sky above, or
glimpses of some distant summit, until the pleasant nook in the mountain
is reached, wherein the Cabin of Kip Van Winkle is nestled. After that
the course of the road is more nearly parallel with the river and the
WINKLi; S CABIN.
plain, and through frequent vistas glimpses may bo caught of the country
below, that cha…
As one stands upon the rustic bridge, in front of
the cabin, and looks down the dark glen, up to the impending cliff's, or
around in that rugged amphitheatre, the scene comes up vividly in memory,
and the "company of odd-looking personages playing at nine-pins"
reappear. "Some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives
in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches, of simi…
Nothing interrupted the stillness of the scene but
the noise of the balls, which, whenever they were rolled, echoed along the
mountains like rumbling peals of thunder."
Such was the company to whom hen-pecked Eip Van Winkle, wandering
upon the mountains on a squirrel hunt, was introduced by a mysterious
stranger carrying a keg of liquor, at autumnal twilight. And there it was
that thirsty Ri…
That his father had once seen them, in their old Dutch
dresses, playing at nine-pins in a hollow of the mountain ; and that himself
had heard, one summer afternoon, the sound of their balls, like distant
peals of thunder." Rip's veracity was vindicated ; his daughter gave him
a comfortable home ; and the grave historian of the event assures us that
the Dutch inhabitants, "even to this day, ne…
There are many delightful resting-places upon the road, soon after
leaving Rip's cabin, as we toil wearily up the mountain, where the eye
takes in a magnificent panorama of hill and valley, forest and river,
hamlet and village, and thousands of broad acres where herds graze and
the farmer gathers his crops, -- much of it dimly refined because of distance
-- a beautifully coloured map rather t…
There, too, the ]-oad is level, and the traveller rejoices in the assurance
that the toilsome journey is at an cu<l ; when, suddenly, he finds himself,
like the young pilgrim in Cole's " Yoyagc of Life," disappointed in his
MOUNTAIN HOUSE, FBOM THE KOAD,
course. The road that seemed to be leading directly to that beautiful
mansion, upon the crag just above him, turns away, like the stream tha…
There is something indescribable in the pleasure experienced during the
first hour passed upon the piazza of the Mountain House, gazing upon the
scene toward the east. That view has been described a thousand times. I shall not attempt it. Much rhetoric, and rhyme, and sentimental
platitudes have been employed in the service of description, but none have
conveyed to my mind a picture so graphic…
I saw the hills in the Hampshire Grants, the Highlands of the
river, and all that God had done, or man could do, as far as the eye could
reach -- you know that the Indians named me for my sight, ladf -- and from
the flat on the top of that mountain, I have often found the place where
Albany stands; and as for 'Sopus! the day the royal troops burnt the
town, the smoke seemed so nigh that I tho…
The aerial pictures seen from the Mountain House are sometimes
marvellous, especially during a shower in the plain, when all is sunshine
ahove, while the lightning plays and the thunder rolls far below the
dwellers upon the summits ; or after a storm, when mists are driving over
the mountains, struggling with the wind and sun, or dissolving into
invisibility in the pure air. At rare intervals…
"We, ourselves, who were expanded into Brobdignags in size, saw the gulf
into which we were to enter and be lost. I almost shuddered when my
turn came, but there was no eluding my fate ; one side of my face was
veiled, and in a moment the whole had passed like a dream. An instant
before, and we were the inhabitants of a 'gorgeous palace,' but it was
the 'baseless fabric of a vision,' and now …
The blue of the depths and distances -- clouds, mountains, and
shadows -- was such that the perception entered into our very souls. How
shall I describe the colour? It was not mazarine, because there was no
blackness in it ; it was not sunlit atmosphere, because there was no white
brightness in it ; and yet there was a sort of hidden, beaming brilliancy,
THE HUDSON.
that completely absorbed …
Larger and
darker became a spot in the magic depths, when, lo ! as in a vision, fields,
trees, fences, and the habitations of men were revealed before our eyes. For the first time something real and refined lay before us, far down in
that wonderful gulf. Far beneath heaven and us slept a speck of creation,
unlighted by the evening rays that touched us, and colourless in the
twilight obscurity…
Prom the latter, a majestic view of mountain scenery, and of the
lowlands southward, may be obtained at the price of a little fatigue, for
which full compensation is given. The Katers-Kill* lakes, lying in a
basin a short distance from the Mountain House, with all their grand
surroundings, the house itself, and the South Mountain, and the Eound
Top or Liberty Cap, form the middle ground ; whi…
But the hand
that made that ' Leap ' never made a mill ! There the water comes
crooking and winding among the rocks, first so slow that a trout might
swim in it, and then starting and running, just like any creatur that
wanted to make a far spring, till it gets to where the mountain divides
like the cleft hoof of a deer, leaving a deep hollow for the brook to
tumble into. The first pitch is …
sides of the fall, and shelves over the bottom for fifty feet ; so that when
I've been sitting at the foot of the first pitch, and my hounds have run
^.%^^ :V^
KATEES-KILL FAILS.
into the caverns behind the sheet of water, they've looked no bigger than
so many rabbits. To my judgment, lad, it's the best piece of work I've
met with in the woods ; and none know how often the hand of God is see…
"While
.'sketching the cascades, memory recux-red to other visits we had made there
in midsummer, when tlic wealth of foliage lay upon tree and shrub ; and
also to a description given us by a lady, of her visit to the falls in winter,
Avith Colo, the artist, when the frost had crystallised the spray into
gorgeous fret-work all over the rocks, and made a spcndid cylinder of
milk-white ice fro…
The tourist, if he fails to traverse the rugged gorge, should not omit
a ride from the Mountain House, down through the "Clove" to Palensvillc
THE HUDSON.
and tlie plain, a distance of about eight miles. Unpleasant as was the day
■when we last visited the mountains, we returned to Katz-Kill by that
circuitous route. After leaving the falls, we rode about three miles before
reachin"- the " Cl…
precipices upon the other, whose feet are washed by the rushing Katers-
Kill, our crooked road pursued its way, now passing a log-house, now a
pleasant cottage, and at length the ruins of a leather manufacturing village,
deserted because the bark upon the hills around, used for tanning, is
exhausted. Kear this picturesque scene, the Katers-Kill leaps into a
SCENE OX THE KATERS-KILL, NEAR PALE…
Upon the opposite side
of the creek a perpendicular wall rises many hundred feet, and then in
slight inclination the mountain towers up at least a thousand feet higher,
and forms a portion of the range known as the South Mountain. At the
mouth of this cavernous gorge lies the pretty little village of Palensville,
where we again cross the stream, and in a few moments find ourselves
upon a bea…
From the lower borders of Columbia County, opposite Katz-Kill village,
to Hyde Park, in Duchess County, a distance of thirty miles, the east
bank of the Hudson is distinguished for old and elegant country scats,
most of them owned and occupied by the descendants of wealthy
proprietors who flourished in the last century, and were connected by
blood and marriage with Robert Livingston, a Scotch…
In the year 1710 Livingston's grants were consolidated, and Hunter,
the royal governor, gave him a patent for a tract of a little more than
one hundred and sixty-two thousand acres, for which he was to pay into
the king's treasury "an annual rent of twenty-eight shillings, lawful
money of New York," a trifle over fourteen shillings sterling! This
magnificent estate was constituted a manor, wi…
About 1,800 of them settled upon the manor lands, and at a place on the
opposite shore of the river, the respective localities being known as East and West Camp. These
Germans were called Palatines, and are represented as the most enlightened people of their native land. Among them was the widow Hannah Zenger, whose son, John Peter, apprenticed to William Bradford,
the printer, became, in after…
His zeal in the
Republican cause, at the kindling of the revolution, made him an arch
rebel in the estimation of the British ministry and the officers in the
service of the crown in America; and when, in the autumn of 1777,
General Vaughan, at the head of the royal troops, went up the Hudson,
on a marauding expedition, to produce a diversion in favour of Burgoyne,
then environed by the Ameri…
The mansion is beautifully situated, and, like all
the villas in this neighbourhood, commands a fine prospect of the Katzbergs. It was described, as long ago as 1812, as "one of the most
commodious houses in the State, having a river front of 104 feet, and a
depth of 91 feet, and consisting of a main body of two stories and four
pavilions," in one of wjiich the chancellor had "a library of 4,0…
Livingston's chief honour as a man of science, and promoter of
useful interests, is derived from his aid and encouragement in eff'orts
which resulted in the entire success of steam navigation. As early as
1797, he was engaged with an Englishman named Nesbit in experiments. They built a steamboat on the Hudson river, at a place now known as
De Koven's Cove, or Bay, about half a mile below TivoH…
A boat was constructed at Brown's ship-yard, in New York, and was
completed in August, 1807, when it was propelled by its machinery to
THE HUDSON.
Hobokcn, on the Jersey shore, where John Stevens (Mr. Livingston's
brother-in-laTv) had been experimenting in the same direction for fifteen
years. That first successful steamboat was named Clermont, in compli-
IKW AT DK KOV
ment to Chancellor Li…
„ Hudson „ 5 J „ 30 „
„ Albany „ 7 „ 36 „
nil cLri ^ uM. '-yu; Fulton's new steamboat," said the same paper, on
the 5th of October, " left New York on the 2nd, at 10 o'clock,
A.M., against a strong tide, verj' rough water, and a violent gale from the north. She made a headway,
against the most sanguine expectations, and without being rocked by the waves ! "
THE HUDSON.
the war for independe…
The proprietor was a good-humoured, hospitable
man. He soon convinced the invaders of their error, supplied them
bountifully with wine and other refreshments, and made them so kindly
and cheery, that had he been the "rebel" himself, they must have spared
his property. They passed on, performed their destructive errand, partook
of the good things of Mr. Livingston's larder and wine-cellar on t…
bridge above it, yet some features of grandeur and beauty remain. The
chief business part of the village lies upon a plain with the Katzbergs for
a background, and on the high right bank of the creek, where many of
the flrst-class residences arc situated, an interesting view of the mouth of
Zaeger's Kill, or Esopus Creek, with the lighthouse, river, and the fertile
lands on the eastern shore,…
On inquiry, we found the church
to be that of the Holy Innocents, built by the proprietor of Annandale
upon his estate, for the use of the inhabitants of that region as a free
chapel. The new building was for
St. Stephen's College, designed as a
training school for those who are preparing to enter the General Theological
Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal
Cliurch, in New York city. For th…
V Adjoining Annandale on the south is Montgomery Place, the residence
of the family of the late Edward Livingston, brother of the Chancellor,
who is distinguished in the annals of his country as a leading United
States senator, the author of the penal code of the State of Louisiana, and
ambassador to France. The elegant mansion was built by the widow of
General Richard Montgomery, a companion…
The
mansion and its 400 acres passed into the possession of her brother
Edward, and there, as we have observed, members of his family now reside. Of all the fine estates along this portion of the Hudson, this is said to be
the most perfect in its beauty and arrangements. Waterfalls, picturesque
bridges, romantic glens, groves, a magnificent park, one of the most
beautiful of the ornamental ga…
Armstrong was the author of the celebrated addresses which
were privately circulated among the officers of the Continental Array lying
at Newburgh, on the Hudson, at the close of the war, and calculated to
stir up a mutiny, and even a rebellion against the civil power. The feeble
Congress had been unable for a long time to provide for the pay of the
soldiers about to be disbanded and sent hom…
He was the author of a "Life of General Montgomery," "Life of General "Wayne," and "Historical Notices of the "War
of 1812." Eokeby, where this eminent man lived and died, is delightfully
situated, in the midst of an undulating park, farther from the river than
the other villas, but commanding some interesting glimpses of it, with
more distant landscapes and mountain scenery. Among the latter …
The bricks of which
the chimney is constructed were imported
from Holland. In this house the first public
religious services in that region were held,
and it was used as a fortress in early times, against the Indians. It
now belongs to the Heermance family, descendants of early settlers
there. Beekman' s son, Henry, afterwards procured a patent from the
English government for a very extensi…
Its
character is different from that of an ordinary villa residence, being
cultivated with much care as a farm, whilst great regard is had to
improving its beauty, and developing landscape effects. The lawn and
gardens occupy thirty acres; the greenhouse, graperies, &c., are among
A A
THE HUDSON.
the most complete in this country. The park contains three hundred
acres; its surface is undul…
Garrettson was a
leader among the plain Methodists in the latter part of the last century,
when that denomination was beginning to take fast hold upon the public
mind in America, and his devoted, blameless life did much to commend
his people to a public disposed to deride them. ]
* More properly Wilder KLippc. Tliis is a Dutch word, signifying wild man's, or wild Indian's,
cliffe. The first …
Garrettson left the Church of England, in which he had
been educated, the Methodists were despised in most places. He was a
native of Maryland. Eminently conscientious, he gave liis slaves their
freedom, and entering upon his ministry, preached everywhere, on all
occasions and at all times, offending the wicked and delighting the good,
and fearless of all men, having full faith in a special P…
Probably no house in the
world has ever held within it so many Methodist preachers as this, from
the most humble of "weak vessels" up to Bishop Asbury, and other
dignitaries of the church ; for, with ample means at command, the doors
of Mr. Garrettson and his wife were ever open to all, especially to their
brethren in the ministry. ) And that generous hospitality is yet dispensed
by the daug…
A few families settled soon afterwards upon or near the site of Kingston,
and called the place Wiltwyck, or Wild Indian Town. They were soon
dispersed by the savages. Another settlement then followed ; again the
savages dispersed them. Finally, in 1660, a treaty was concluded that
seemed to promise security to the settlers. But the wrath of the Indians
became fiercely kindled against the whit…
Many^of the persecuted Huguenot families who fled from France settled
at Kingston and in its vicinity, towards the close of the seventeenth
century; and when the war for independence broke out in 1775, their
descendants were found on the side of the republicans. Kingston was
called a "nest of rebels." There, in the spring of 1777, the representatives
of the people of the State formed a state …
It is related that when the British landed at Kingston Point, some
Dutchmen were at work just below it, and were not aware of the fact
until they saw the dreaded "red-coats" near them. It was low water,
and across the flats on the river shore they fled toward the place of the
present village of Rondout as fast as their legs could carry them, not
presuming to look behind them, lest, like Lot's…
There, while Esopus
was in flames, the republicans hanged a spy, who had been caught in the
American camp near Newburgh, a few days before. He had been sent by
Sir Henry Clinton with a message to Burgoyne. "When apprehended on
suspicion, he was seen to cast something into his mouth and swallow it. An emetic was administered, and a silver bullet, hollow and elliptical in
shape, was produced. I…
Its population in 1860 was about 4,000, and the space
between it and Rondout, a mile and a half distant, was rapidly filling up
with dwellings. The two villages were already connected by gas-pipes,
and public conveyances ply between them continually.
Eondout (Ptedoubt), at the mouth of Rondout Creek, is one of the
busiest places on the river between Albany and IS'ew York. It was
formerly cal…
The greater
proportion of the able-bodied men and boys were, in some way, connected
with the coal business. Another village, the offspring of the same trade,
and of very recent origin, stands just below the mouth of the Rondout
Creek. It was built entirely by the Pennsylvania Coal Company. From
that village, laid out in 1851, and containing a population of about
1,400 souls, a large portion …
It is a simple, beautiful retreat, now consecrated in memory as the residence of a venerable novelist and poet -- the
friend and associate of Washington Irving in his early literary career-
They were associated in the conducting of an irregular periodical entitled
" Salmagundi," the principal object of which was to satirise the follies
and foibles of fashionable life. Contrary to their expecta…
The golden
sun was delicately veiled in purple exhalations, and over all the scene
silence deepened the solemnity of the thought that we were treading
paths where a child of genius had daily walked, but who had lately
turned aside to be laid to rest in the cool shadows of the tomb.
The village of Hyde Park is upon a pleasant plain, high above the
river, and half a mile from it. It received i…
On account of this the Dutch settlers called
the place Krom EUehoge, or Crooked Elbow. As is frequently the case
THE HUDSON.
18:
along the Hudson, the present name is a compound of Dutch and English,
and is called Crom Elbow.
Six miles below Hyde Park is the large rural city of Poughkeepsic,
containing about 17,000 inhabitants. The name is a modification of the
Mohegan word, Apo-keep-sincl…
The southern
bluff bears the name of Call Eock, it having been a place from which the
settlers called to the captains of sloops or single-masted vessels, when
passage in them was desired. "With this bay, or " safe harbour," is
associated an Indian legend, of which the following is the substance : --
Once some Delaware warriors came to this spot with Pequod captives. Among the latter was a you…
They eluded the vigilance of
the Huron, fled at nightfall, with swift feet, towards the Hudson, and in
the darkness, shot out upon its bosom, in a light canoe, followed by
blood-thirsty pursuers. The strong arm of the young Pequod paddled his
beloved one safely to a deep rocky nook near the mouth of the "Winnakee,
concealed her there, and with a few friendly Delawares whom he had
secured by …
There Ann Lee, the founder of the
Shaker church in America, was con-
THE \A> KLEEK HOtSr.
fined, in 1776, on a charge of complicity with the enemies of republicanism. There the legislature of
New York, when driven by the torch from Kingston, in 1777, met, and
continued during two sessions ; and there many of the members of the
State Convention in 1788, to consider the Federal Constitution, f…
Around, within an area of
twenty to thirty miles in diameter, spreads out a farming country, like a
charming picture, beautiful in every feature.
The general appearance of Poughkeepsie from the hills above Lewisburg, on the western side of the Hudson, is given in our sketch. It is
one of the most delightful places for residence in the United States. It
is centrally situated between New York t…
The most striking objects on its
surface are fleets of barges from the northern and western canals, loaded
with the products of the fields and forests, lashed or tethered together,
and towed by a steamboat. On these barges whole families sometimes
reside during the season of navigation ; and upon lines stretched over
piles of lumber, newly- washed clothes may be frequently seen fluttering
in…
But immediately
around it are gardens, conservatories, and a pleasant lawn, basking in the
sunshine, and through vistas between magnificent trees, glimpses may be
caught of the Hudson, the northern and southern ranges of mountains,
and villages that dot the western shore of the river. Here the master
dispenses a generous hospitality to friends and strangers, and with the
winning graces of a …
For this offence, when the chain and accompanying boom were
forced, and the vessels of Yaughan carried the firebrand to Esopus or
Kingston, the rebel blacksmith's mill was laid in ashes, and he was
confined in the loathsome Jersey prison-ship at New York, where he had
ample time for reflection and penitence for three weary years. Alas ! the
latter never came. He was a sinner against ministers…
There and at some places on the eastern shore,
are the chief sources of the supply of that delicious fruit for the city of
New York ; and the quantity raised is so great, that a small steamboat is
employed for the sole purpose of carrying raspberries daily to the city. These villages are upon high banks, and are scarcely visible from the
river. They have a background of rich farming lands, ter…
Here
they may be seen of all sizes and most perfect forms, from the tiny shrub
to the tall tree that shows its stem for several feet from the ground. The
most beautiful are those of six to ten feet in height, whose branches shoot
out close to the ground, forming perfect cones, and exhibiting nothing to
the eye but delicate sprays and bright green leaves. "When quite small
these shrubs may be…
It
is navigable for a mile and a half from its mouth, when it falls seventyfive feet, and furnishes power used by quite a large manufacturing village. It is usually incorrectly spelled "Wappingers. Its name is derived from
* The Arbor A^itffi is the Ihuya Occidentalis of Linnffius. It is not the genuine white cedar, although
it frequently bears that name. In New England it is often called Hackm…
They painted
themselves grotesquely, built a large fire upon this rock, and danced
around it with songs and yells, making strange contortions of face and
limbs, under the direction of their conjurors or " medicine men." They
would tumble, leap, run, and yell, when, as they said, the Devil, or Evil
Spirit, would appear in the shape of a beast of prey, or a harmless animal;
the former appariti…
That large town lies upon the
steep slope on the western shore, and presents a beautiful appearance to
the traveller by railway or steamboat, especially when it is lighted up by
the morning sun. Around that old town, the site of the oldest permanent
settlement in Orange County, are clustered many associations of the war
for independence ; for near there the Continental Army was encamped ;
th…
j^: HE house at Newbxirgh, -svhich was occupied by
c Washingtou, was built by Jonathan Hasbrouck,
in 1750, and is known by the respective names of
"Hasbrouck House" and "AVashington Headquarters." It has been the property of the State for
several years, and a sufficient annual appropriation
from the State treasury is made, to keep it, with the
grounds around, in good order. "Within it are
c…
Then an appeal to the officers
of the army Avas Avritten, and secretly disseminated, in which grievances
were set forth, and they were advised to take matters into their own
hands, and, in effect, form a military despotism if the Congress should
not speedily provide for their pay. Washington was informed of the
movement. He resolved to control, without seeming to oppose it. He
called a meeti…
of the army." This scene did not occur at head-quarters, but in a large
temporary building a few miles in the interior, near whei'e the army lay
at that time.
In the centre of the Hasbrouck House, or Head-quarters, is a large
hall, having on one side au enormous fire-place, and containing seven
doors, but only one window. Here Washington received his friends ; here
large companies dined ; an…
On a long rough table was a repast, just as little in keeping with
the refined cuisines of Paris, as the room was with its architecture. It
consisted of a large dish of meat, uncouth-looking pastry, and wine in
decanters and bottles, accompanied by glasses and silver mxigs, such as
indicated other habits and tastes than those of modern Paris. ' ' Do you
know where we now are ?" said Marbois t…
It is about six feet in height,
and is surmounted by a large recumbent wreath. On the river-front are
the words : -- " The last of the Life Guards. TJzal Knapp, boen, 1759;
DIED, 1856. Monmouth, Yalley Forge, Toektown." On the opposite
side: -- "Erected by the Newburgh Guards, Company F., 19th Regiment,
IS". Y. S. M., June, 1860." It is surrounded by a chain supported by granite
posts, and i…
Just
four months afterwards he died, and many who were at the feast were at
the burial. By permission of his family, the citizens of Newburgh, after
his body had lain in state for three days, buried him at the foot of the
flag-staff, near the old head-quarters of his chief, where he had watched
and sported three-quarters of a centui'y before. It was over that grave
the monument we have delin…
It includes the lower part of jS"ewburgh, the mouth of the Quassaic Creek,
the villages of New AVindsor, and Cornwall, the beautiful low peninsula
called Denning's Point on the left, and the higher one of Plum Point, on
the western shore, seen in the centre. Just beyond the latter is the
mouth of the Moodna, a fine clear stream that comes down from the hillcountry of Orange County. The view is…
I
travelled that road on a hot afternoon in August. The shadows were
short ; a soft breeze came up the river from the open northern door of the
Highlands, whose rugged forms were bathed in golden light. On the
land not a leaf was stirred by a zephyr. I crossed the Moodua, in
whose shallow waters the cattle were seeking cool retreats, and I was
glad to take shelter from the hot sun in the sha…
acclivity is coverecl with the primeval wood, which presents an apparently
impenetrable barrier to approach from below.
After sketching the attractive scene, I went leisurely up the deep, cool,
dai'k glen, to its narrowest point, where the brook occupies the whole
bottom of the gorge, and flows in picturesque rapids and cascades over
and^ among rugged rocks and overhanging trees and shrubbery…
He has thoroughly
" written it up." It is a fertile strip of land, quite elevated, lying at the
foot of the north-western slopes of the mountains. The grape is cultivated there with success ; and as its banks yield some of the finest brickclay in the country, it has become a celebrated brick-making place. Cornwall Landing is at the base of the Terrace near the foot of the Storm
King, and is rea…
to meet friends, or only hoping to see new faces, quite cover the wharf at
times, especially at evening.
From the Cornwall Landing an interesting view of the npper entrance
to the Highlands, between the Storm King and Breakneck Hill, may be
obtained. In our sketch, the former is seen on the right, the latter on
the left. The river is here deep and narrow. The rocky shores, composed
principal…
Such, they say, nnist have been in
former ages the "Ancient Lake of the Upper Valley of the Hudson,"
indicated by the levels and surveys of the present day, and by an
examination of the geological structure and alluvial formations of this
valley. The Indians called the range eastward of the Hudson, including
the Fishkill Mountains, Ilatteawan, or the Country of Good Fur. They
gave the same n…
The appeal was met with a sensible response,
and the directors of the Hudson River Eailway Company recognised its
fitness by naming a station at Breakneck Hill (when will a better name
for this be given?), opposite the Boter Berg, "Storm King Station." The
features of the mountain have been somewhat changed. For many years
past vast masses of stone have been quarried from its south-eastern fa…
it was regarded as a great curiosity, and an interesting feature in the
Highland scenery on the river.
Just below the Storm King, at the foot of a magnificent valley composed
of wooded slopes that come down from the high hills two or three miles
westward, is the cottage of Mr. Lamhertson, a resident of New York,
wlio has chosen that isolated spot for a summer retreat. He has only one
neighbo…
THE HUDSON.
21:
steamer Thomas Poicell, and at that hour the deep green of the foreground
was fading higher up into a mingled colour of olive and pink, and
softening into delicate purple, while the rocky summit of the Storm King
cast over the whole the reflected effulgence of a brilliant evening sunlight. In this isolated spot among the mountains, Joseph Eodman Drake, whilst
rambling alone m…
electrical clouds, which frequently gather suddenly among the Highlands
during the heats of July and August, came up from the west, obscured the
sun, hovered upon the summit of the Storm King a few minutes, and then
passed eastward, giving out only a few drops of rain where I stood, but
casting down torrents in Newburgh Bay, accompanied by shafts of forked
lightning and heavy peals of thunder…
The evening sun
was pouring a flood of light upon the scene. On the left, in shadow,
stood the Storm King, on the right was rugged Breakneck, with its
neighbour, round Little Beacon Hill, and between was Pollopell's Island,
a solitary rocky eminence, rising from the river, a mile north of them. Beyond these were seen the expanse of Newburgh Bay, the village, the
cultivated country beyond, and…
"We reached the first summit, after a fatiguing ascent of a mile and a
half. It was not the highest, yet we had a very extensive prospect of
the country around, except on the east, which was hidden by the higher
points of the mountain. At last the greatest altitude was reached, after
making our way another mile over rocky ledges, and through gorges filled
with shrub-oaks, and other bushes. Th…
Taghkanick range, with the hills of western Massachusetts and Connecticut. Almost at our feet lay Cornwall, and a little beyond were New
Windsor and Canterbury, and the whole country back of Newburgh,
made memorable by events of the war for independence. Before us lay
the old camp-grounds of the Continental Army, the spot where the
patriotism of the officers was tried to the utmost in the spri…
My right there is none to dispute,
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute."
The passing trains upon the Hudson lliver Railway, and large
steamers, and more than forty sail of vessels of all sizes, seen upon the
river at the same time, appeared almost like toys for children. Yet small
as they seemed, and diminutive as "we must have appeared from below,
sign…
With a good telescope
the city of New York may also be seen. But within the range of our
unaided vision, lay fields of action, the events of which occupy large
spaces in history. There was Philipsburg, where the Continental Army
was encamped, and almost every soldier was inoculated with the kine-pox,
to shield him from the ravages of the small-pox. The camp, for a while,
became a vast lazar-…
and the Eamapo Pass, with the solid-looking mass of the Shunnemunk
beyond Canterbury.
It was after meridian when we had finished our observations from the
lofty head of the Storm King, and sat down to lunch in the broken
shadows of a stunted pine-tree. We descended the mountain by the path
that we went up, and at Cornwall took a skiff and rowed to West Point,
making some sketches and observa…
Within a few years ignorant and credulous persons,
misled by pretended seers in the clairvoyant condition, have dug in search
of those treasures in several places near West Point ; and some, it is said,
have been ignorant and credulous enough to believe that the almost
mythical buccaneer had, by some supernatural power, mounted these rocks
to the point where the projection is seen, discovered…
,3^S we passed the foot of Cro' Nest, wo caught pleasant
glimpses of West Point, where the government of
the United States has a military school, and in a
few moments the whole outline of the promontory
and the grand ranges of hills around and beyond it,
was in full view. We landed in a sheltered cove a
little above Camp Town, the station of United
States troops and other residents at the P…
Above whose dust she carves the deathless laurel,
Wreathing the victor's sword.
"And here the young cadet, in manly beauty,
Bonie from the tents which skirt those rocky banks,
Called from life's daily drill and perilous duty
To these unbroken ranks "
The most conspicuous object in the Cemetery is the Cadet's Monument,
situated at the eastern angle. It is a short column, of castle form,
com…
Meanwhile let us turn our eyes southward, and from another
point on the margin of the Cemetery, where a lovely shaded walk invites
the strollers on warm afternoons, survey Camp Town at our feet, with
"West Point and the adjacent hills. In this view we see the Old Landingplace, the road up to the plateau, the Laboratory building?, the Siege
Battery, the Hotel, near the remains of old Fort Clint…
The afternoon
sun was falling full upon the mouldering ruin, and the chaotic mass of rocks
beneath it; while the clear blue sky and white clouds presented the
whole group, with accompanying evergreens, in the boldest relief. Making our way back, by another but more difficult path, along the foot
of the steep acclivity, we soon stood upon the broken walls of Fort
Putnam, 500 feet above the riv…
Toward the left loomed up the lofty Mount Taurus, vulgarly called Bull
Hill, at whose base, in the shadow of a towering wall of rock, and in the
THE HUDSON.
midst of grand old trees, nestles Under Cliff, then the home of Morris,
whose songs have delighted thousands in hoth hemispheres. On the
extreme left arose old Cro' Nest ; and over its right shoulder lay the
rugged range of Break Neck, d…
mountain is quite steep for many yards, and then slopes gently to the
plain ; while on its western side, a perpendicular wall of rock, fifty feet
in height, would have been presented to the enemy. Eedoubts were also
built upon other eminences in the vicinity. These 'being chiefly earth
works, have been almost obliterated by the action of storms ; and Fort
Putnam was speedily disappearing unde…
The winding road from the fort to the plain is quite steep much of the
way, but is so well wrought that carriages may safely traverse it ; and the
tourist is led by it to one of the loveliest of river and mountain views
northward from the Point, in front of the residences of Mr. Weir, the
eminent artist, and other professors employed in the Military Academy. Passing along the shaded walk in fr…
cannon were housed, and no gunners were near, yet the works appeared
formidable. They were composed of gabions, covered with turf, soft and
even as fine velvet. The battery commands one of the most pleasing views
from the Point, comprising Constitution Island, Mount Taurus, and Break
Neck on the right ; Cro' Nest and the Storm King on the left ; and ten
miles of the river, with PoUopell's Isl…
THE HUDSON.
the river at the narrowest place, just above Gee's Point (the extreme
rocky end of West Point) and Constitution Island. It was laid across a
boom of heavy logs, that floated near together. These were 1 6 feet long,
and pointed at each end, so as to offer little resistance to the tidal currents. The chain was fastened to these logs by staples, and at each shore by huge
blocks of wo…
and other buildings of the institution, with some of the officers' quarters
and professors' residences on the extreme rights The earthworks of Fort
Clinton have recently been restored, in their original form and general
proportions, exactly upon their ancient site, and present, with the
beautiful trees growing within their green banks, a very pleasant object
from every point of view. The old …
They were overtaken
by the maiden's father, who made a violent attempt to seize his daughter. The young Polo was compelled either to slay the father or abandon
the daughter. He chose the latter, and obtaining the permission of his
sovereign, he went to France, and there became a student in drawing
and military science. In Paris he was introduced to Dr. Franklin, and,
fired with a desire to ai…
After the Empress Catherine died, the Emperor Paul liberated him,
offered him command in the Russian service, and presented him with his
own sword. He declined it, saying, " T no longer need a sword, since I
have no longer a country to defend." He revisited the United States in
1797, when the Congress granted him land in consideration of his services. He afterwards lived in Switzerland, and th…
pedestal is of temple form, square, with a row of encircling stars upon its
entablature, and a cannon, like a supporting column, at each corner. It
was erected to commemorate a battle fought between a detachment of
United States troops, under Major Francis L. Dade, and a party of
Seminole Indians, in the Everglades of Florida, on the 28th of December,
1835. The detachment consisted of one hun…
The water now rises into a marble basin. Seats have
n n
THE HUDSON.
been provided for visitors, ornamental shrubs have been planted, and the
whole place wears an aspect of mingled romance and beauty. A deep
circular indentation in the rock back of the fountain was made, tradition
affirms, by a cannon-ball sent from a British ship, while the Polish
soldier was occupying his accustomed loiter…
The
subject rested until 1802, when Congress made provision by law for such |
an institution there. Yery little progress was made in the matter ixntil
the year 1812, when, by another act of Congress, a corps of engineers
and professors were organised, and the school was endowed with the most
attractive features of a literary institution, mingled with that of a
military character. From that t…
Candidates for admission arc selected by the War
Department at Washington city, and they are required to report
themselves for examination to the superintendent of the academy between
the first and twentieth day of June. None are admitted who are less
than sixteen or more than twenty-one years of age, who are less than five
feet in height, or who are deformed or otherwise unfit for military d…
The rules and regulations of the academy are very strict and
salutary, and the instruction in all departments is thorough and complete. The road from the plain to the landing at AVest Point was cut from the
steep rocky bank of the river, at a heavy expense to the government. The wharf is spacious, and there a sentinel was continually posted, with
a slate and pencil, to record the names of all p…
Following a winding road
up the east bank of the river from this point, we came to a mill, almost
hidden among the trees at the head of a dark ravine, through which flows
a clear mountain stream, called Kedron Brook, wherefore, I could not
learn, for there is no resemblance to Jerusalem or the Yalley of Jehoshaphat near. It is a portion of the beautiful estate of Ardenia, the
property of Rich…
The beautiful hues of the foliage of the maple, hickory,
chestnut, birch, sassafras, and several other kinds of
deciduous trees in the Northern and Middle Stales, seen just
before the falling of the leaf in autumn, are almost unknown
in Europe. A picture by Cropsey, one of the most eminent
of living American landscape painters, in which this peculiarity of foliage was represented, drew from o…
With what rare power !-- to where our awed soul kneels
To Him who bade these splendours light the day.
VV. C. Bensett.
Erom the summit is a grand and extensive view of the surrounding
scenery, which Dr. Dwight (afterwards President of Yale College)
described, in 1778, as " majestic, solemn, wild, and melancholy." Dwight
was then chaplain of a Connecticut regiment stationed at "West Point,
a…
Qilajor Andre, Arnold's immediate accomplice in treasonable designs,
had, in a personal interview, arranged the details of the wicked bargain,
and left for New York. Arnold believed he had arrived there in safety,
with all requisite information for Sir Henry; and that before "Washington's
return from Connecticut, whither he had gone to hold a conference with
Rochambeau and other Prench office…
Horror-stricken, the poor young creature, but one year a mother, and not
two a wife, swooned and sank senseless upon the floor. Arnold dare not
call for assistance, but kissing, with lips blasted by words of guilt and
treason, his boy, then sleeping in angel innocence and purity, he rushed
from the room, mounted a horse, hastened to the river, flung himself into
his barge, and directing the s…
deep sorrow evidently stirred his bosom. At the same time the condition
of Mrs. Arnold, who was frantic with grief and apprehension, awakened
his liveliest sympathies. "The general went up to see her," wrote
THE INDIAN FALLS.
Hamilton in describing the scene. " She upbraided him with being in a
plot to murder her child, for she was quite beside herself. One moment
she raved ; another she mel…
She was the traitor's second wife,
and the daughter of Mr. Shippen, a loyalist of Philadelphia ; and she was
only eighteen years of age at the time of her marriage to Arnold, while
he was military governor of that city, in 1778. The child abovementioned was named James Robertson Arnold. He entered the British
army, and rose to the rank of Colonel of Engineers. He was at one time
the aide-de-c…
Highlands, comprehending the site of Forts Clinton and Montgomery --
the theatre of stirring and most, important events in the war for
independence. From thence we passed along the brow of the declivity
next the river, to the mansion of Ardenia, from which one of the finest
views of "West Point may be obtained ; and then rode to Indian Brook,
passing, on the way, the ancient Philipsburg Churc…
At
every turn of the brook, from its springs to its union with the Hudson, a
pleasant subject for the painter's pencil is presented. Just below the
bridge, where the highway crosses, is one of the most charming of these
" bits." There, in the narrow ravine, over which the tree tops intertwine,
huge rocks are piled, some of them covered with feathery fern, others
with soft green mosses, and o…
Among the most
pleasing of these, in their relation to the surrounding scenery, are those
of Dr. Moore, late President of Columbia College, and Mr. De Rham, a
retired merchant. "We passed through their grounds on our way to Cold
Spring village, and Avished for space, among our sketches of the Highland
scenery, for pen and pencil pictures of charming spots upon these and the
neighbouring esta…
The first glimpse of Cold Spring village from the road is from the
northern slope of an eminence thickly sprinkled with boulders, which
commands a perfect view of the whole amphitheatre of hills, and the river
winding among them. "We turned into a rude gate on the left, and
followed a newly-beaten track to the brow of this eminence, on the
southern verge of which Eossiter, the eminent painter…
Below us we could hear the deep breathing of furnaces, and the sullen,
monotonous pulsations of trip-hammers, busily at work at the "West Point
Foundry, the most extensive and complete of the iron- works of the United
States. Following a steep, stony ravine that forms the bed of a watercourse during rain-storms, we descended to these works, which lie at the
head of a marshy cove, and at the mo…
The works then consisted of a moulding house ; i gun foundry ; tlu-ee
THE HUDSON.
honourable Gouverncur Kemble, an intimate and life-long friend of Irving
and Paulding, and a former proprietor, withdrew from active participation
in the business of the establishment several years ago, and is now
enjoying life there in elegant retirement, and dispensing a generous
hospitality. He has a gallery…
The number of hands then
employed was about 500. Sometimes 700 men were at work there. The establishment is conducted by
Bobert P. Parrott, Esq., formerly a captain of Ordnance in tlie United States Army, and the inventor of
the celebrated " Pan-ott gun," so extensively used, as among the best of the heavy ordnance, during the
late Civil War-. These, with appropriate projectiles, were manufact…
A late writer has justly said of " Undercliff " -- " It is a lovely spot --
beautiful in itself, beautiful in its surroundings, and inexpressibly
beautiful in the home affections which hallow it, and the graceful and
genial hospitality which, without pretence or ostentation, receives the
guest, and with heart in the grasp of the hand, and truth in the sparkle
of the eye, makes him feel that h…
Between Cold Spring and West Point lies a huge rocky island, noAV
connected to the main by a reedy marsh already referred to. It was
called by the Dutch navigators Martelaer's Island, and the reach in the
river between it and the Storm King, Martelaer's Rack, or Martyr's
Reach. The word martyr was used in this connection to signify contending
and struggling, as vessels coming up the river wit…
in the sketch) are yet seen the remains of a heavy battery -- a part of Fort
Constitution -- phxced there to protect the river obstructions.
At the time of my visit, Constitution Island belonged to Henry
Warner, Esq., the father of the gifted and popular writers, Susan and
Anna B. AVarner.^' They resided in a pleasant cottage, near the southern
border of the island. Its kitchen was one of the…
* " Miss Susan Warner," says Duyckiuck, in the " Cyclopsedia of American Literature," " made a
sudden step into eminence as a writer, by the publication, in 1849, of ' The Wide, Wide World,' a novel
in two volumes." Her second novel was " Queechy." She is also the author of a theological work
entitled " The Law and the Testimony." Her sister is the author of " Dollars and Cents," a novel ; and …
There, ever since the house was opened for guests
in 1849, Lieutenant-Gcneral Scott, the General-in-Chief of the American
army, had made his head- quarters during the four or five warmer months
of the year. It was a place of fashionable resort from June until October,
and at times was overflowing with guests, who filled the mansion and the
several cottages attached to it. Among the latter was…
"We remember passing
through that region before the hand of man was put forth for its redemption, and seeing the huge bouldei's -- the "wandering rocks" of the
geologist -- strewn over the surface of the earth like apples beneath
fruitful trees after an autumn storm. The change that had been wrought
was marvellous. Another was about to take place. A few weeks after
the visit here mentioned, t…
and called " The Church of the Holy Innocents." For this pious purpose
he devoted a portion of the money which he received from the United
States Government for his picture of ' The Embarkation of the Pilgrims,'
now in the Rotunda of the National Capitol. Divine service, according
to the modified ritual of the Church of England, is held there regularly,
and the seats are free to all who choos…
Altogether Cozzens's and its surrouudings form one of the most attractive
places on the Hudson to those who seek health and pleasure.
At Cozzens's Dock we procured a waterman, who took us to several
places of interest in the vicinity. The first was Buttermilk Palls, half a
mile below, on the same side of the river. Here a small stream comes
rushing down the rocks in cascades and foaming rapid…
The latter have a
grand and wild aspect when the stream is brimful, after heavy rains and
the melting of snows.
IPPEB CiSCiDts, B11TI.RMILK I ILL
On the rough plain above is the village of Buttermilk Fall, containing
over three hundred inhabitants. The country around is exceedingly
rough and picturesque, especially in the direction of Fort Montgomery,
three or four miles below ;' while on t…
Dock Gin" for sale, and that another sells " Paphian Lotion for beautifying the Hair." "VYe protest, in the name of every person of taste Avho
travels upon the river and the road, against any disfiguring of the
picturesque scenery of the Hudson Highlands, by making the out-cropping
rocks of the grand old hills play the part of those itinerants who walk the
streets of New York with enormous pla…
Here he kept his barge moored, and here he embarked
on that flight which severed him for ever from the sympathies of his
countrymen -- ay, of the world -- for those who ''accepted the treason,
despised the traitor." His six oarsmen on that occasion, unconscious of
the nature of the general's errand in such hot haste down the river, had
their muscles strengthened by a promised reward of two ga…
Coffin, Esq.), and from the lawn in
'Jir^ front of his dwelling, which commands the finest view of the
-p river and mountains in that vicinity, made the sketch of the
^ Lower Entrance to the Highlands. On the left is seen the Bonder
Berg, over and behind which Sir Henry Clinton's army marched to attack
Forts Clinton and Montgomery. On the right is Anthony's Nose, with
the site of Fort Indepe…
There, during most of the war,
was the head-quarters of important divisions of the revolutionary army,
and there the British spy was hanged, concerning whom General Putnam
* Peek's Kill Village was incorporafed in'lSlT. It is the most northerlj' place on the Hudson (being
forty-one miles from New York), where business men in the metropolis reside. It is so sheltered by
the Highlands, that it …
At Peek's Kill we procured a waterman, wliose father, then eighty-five
years of age, conveyed the writer across the King's Ferry, four or five
miles below, twelve years before. The morning was cool, and a stiff
breeze was blowing from the north. "We crossed the bay, and entered
Eort Montgomery Creek (anciently Poplopen's Kill) between the two
rocky promontories on which stood Forts Clinton an…
From the mill may be obtained a view of the promontories on each side
of the creek, and of the lofty Anthony's Nose on the eastern side of the
river, which appears in our sketch, dark and imposing, as we look toward
the east. Fort Montgomery was on the northern side of the creek, and
Fort Clinton on the southern side. They were constructed at the
beginning of the war for independence, and bec…
He
deceived General Putnam, then in command at Peek's Kill, by feints on
that side of the river, at the same time he sent detachments over the
Bonder Berg, under cover of a fog. They were piloted by a resident
Tory or loyalist, and in the afternoon of the 6th of October, and in two
divisions, fell upon the forts. The commanders of the forts had no
suspicions of the proximity of the enemy unt…
The Americans lost in
killed, wounded, and prisoners, about three hundred. The British loss
was about one hundred and forty.
The contest ended with a sublime spectacle. Above the boom and
chain the Americans had two frigates, two galleys, and an armed sloop. On the fall of the forts, the crews of these vessels spread their sails, and,
slipping their cables, attempted to escape up the river. B…
The whole was sublimely terminated by the explosions, which left all
again in darkness."
Early on the following morning, the obstructions in the river, which
had cost the Americans a quarter of a million of dollars, continental
money, were destroyed by the British fleet. Fort Constitution, opposite
West Point, was abandoned. A free passage of the Hudson being opened,
Vaughan and Wallace sail…
More than thirty thousand tons of ice are annually shipped from this
single depot. Ice is an important article of the commerce of the Hudson,
from whose surface, also, immense quantities are gathered every winter.
From the high bank above the ice depot, a very fine view of Anthony's
Nose and the Sugar Loaf in the distance may be obtained. The latter name
the reader will remember as that of th…
We crossed the river from Lake Sinnipink to Anthony's Nose, through
the point of which the Hudson Eiver Railway passes, in a tunnel over
two hundred feet in length. This is a lofty rocky promontory, whose
summit is almost thirteen hundred feet above the river, and with the
jutting point of the Donder Berg, a mile and a half below, gives the
Hudson there a double curve, and the appearance of a…
Now thus it happened,
that bright and early in the morning, the good Anthony, having washed
his burly visage, was leaning over the quarter railing of the galley,
contemplating it in the glassy wave below. Just at this moment the
illustrious sun, breaking in all his splendour from behind a high bluff of
the Highlands, did dart one of his most potent beams full upon the
refulgent nose of the s…
Down the steep rocky valley between Anthony's Nose and a summit
almost as lofty half a mile below, one of the wildest streams of this
region flows in gentle cascades in dry weather, but as a rushing torrent
during rain-storms or the time of the melting of the snows in spring. The Dutch called it Broclcen Kill, or Broken Creek, it being seen in
"bits" as it finds its way among the rocks and shr…
These are used by the serpent to give warning of its presence. Wlien
disturbed, it throws itself into a coil, vibrates its rattles, and then springing, sometimes four or five feet,
fixes its deadly fangs in its victim. It feeds on birds, rabbits, squirrels, &c.
THE HUDSON.
abounds. They are found in all parts of the Highlands, but in far less
abundance than formerly. Indeed they are now so se…
eleven propagation houses, and produced more grape and other fruit-plants
than all other establishments in the United States combined.
lona is upon the dividing line of temperature. The sea breeze stops
here, and its effects are visible upon vegetation. The season is two weeks
earlier than at Newburgh, only fourteen miles northward, above the
Highlands. It is at the lower entrance to this mou…
giving orders in Low Dutch, for the piping up of a fresh gust of wind, or
the rattling off of another thunder-clap. That sometimes he has been seen
surrounded by a crew of little imps, in broad breeches and short doublets,
tumbling head over heels in tlie rack and mist, and playing a thousand
gambols in the air, or buzzing like a swarm of flies about Anthony's Nose;
and that, at such times, t…
as if she would have rolled her mast overboard, and seemed in continual
danger, either of upsetting, or of running on shore. In this way she
drove quite through the Highlands, until she had passed Pollopel's Island,
where, it is said, the jurisdiction of the Donder Eerg potentate ceases. No sooner had she passed this bourne, than the little hat sprung up into
the air like a top, whirled up all…
Nicholas, whereupon the
goblin threw himself up in the air like a ball, and went off in a whirlwind,
carrying away with him the nightcap of the Dominic's wife, which was
discovered the next Sunday morning hanging on the weather-cock of
Esopus church steeple, at least forty miles off. Several events of this
kind having taken place, the regular skippers of the river for a long time
did not ven…
Some speculator, as the story
goes, at once conceived a scheme of fraud, for the success of which he
relied on the average ignorance and credulity of mankind. It was boldly
proclaimed, in the face of recorded history, that Captain Kidd's piratical
vessel was sunken in a storm at this spot with untold treasures on board,
and that one of his cannons had been raised. Eurthcr, that the deck of
h…
remains to tell the tale but the ruins of the coffer dam and the remains of
the pumps, which may be seen almost on* a level with the surface of the
river, at high water.
The true history of the cannon found there is, probably, that it is one
of several captured by the Americans at Stony Point, just below, in 1779. They attempted to carry the cannon on galleys (flat boats) to West Point,
Accor…
The river presented a
smooth surface of strong ice, and winter, with all its rigours, was holding
supreme rule in the realm of nature without.
It was evening when I arrived at Peek's Kill -- a cold, serene, moonlight evening. Muffled in a thick cloak, and with hands covered by stout
woollen gloves, I sallied out to transfer to paper and fix in memory the
scene upon Peck's Kill (or Peek's Kill…
The form of an iron furnace, iu deep shadow, on the southern side of the
creek, was the only token of human labour to be seen in the view, except
the cabin of the drawbridge keeper at my side.
A little north of Peek's Kill Hollow, as the valley is called by the
inhabitants, is another, lying at the bases of the rugged Highlands, called
the Canopus Hollow. It is a deep, rich, and interesting v…
had been governor of the colony of New York, and was now a brigadier
in the royal army, hated the Americans intensely. He really seemed-to
delight in expeditions of this kind, having almost destroyed Danbury, in
Connecticut, and East Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, on the borders of
Long Island Sound, in the same State. Now, after destroying the public
stores and slaughtering many cattle, he s…
The air was vocal with shouts
and laughter; and when the swift ice-boat, with sails set, gay pennon
streaming, and freighted with a dozen boys and girls, came sweeping
gracefully towards the crowd, -- after making a comet-like orbit of four or
five miles to the feet of the Bonder Berg, Bear Mountain, and Anthony's
Nose, -- there was a sudden shout, and scattering, and merry laughter,
that wo…
The rear runner is worked on a
pivot or hinge, by a tiller attached to a post that passes up through the platform, and thereby the boat is
steered. The sails and rigging are similar to the common large sail-boat. The passengers sit iiat upon
the platform, and with a good wind are moved rapidly over the ice, oftentimes at the rate of a mile in a
minute.
CHAPTEE XV.
JN" my way to Tomkins's Cov…
They cut
fissures in the ice, at right angles with the direction of the tidal currents,
eight or ten yards in length, and about two feet in width, into which
they drop their nets, sink them with weights, and stretching them to
their utmost length, suspend them by sticks that lie across the fissure. Baskets, boxes on hand-sledges, and sometimes sledges drawn by a horse,
are used in carrying th…
They are at the foot of au immense cliff of limestone, nearly 200 feet in
height, immediately behind the kilns, and extend more than half a mile
along the river. '^' The kilns were numerous, and in their management, and
the quarrying of the limestone, about 100 men were continually employed. I saw them on the brow of the wooded cliff, loosening huge masses and
sending them below, while others …
It is estimated that an acre of this limestone,
worked down to the water level, will yield 600,000 barrels of lime, upon which a mean profit of 25 cents
a barrel is the minimum Some of this limestone is black and variegated, and makes pleasing ornamental marbles. Most of it is blue.
THE HUDSON.
Many vessels are employed in caiTving away lime, limestone, and
"gravel" (pulverized limestone, not…
southern verge of the limestone cliff, near Stony Point, and there
sketched that famous, bold, rocky peninsula from the test spot where a
view of its entire length may be obtained. The whole Point is a mass of
granite rock, with patches of evergreen trees and shrubs, excepting on its
northern side (at which we are looking in the sketch), where may be seen
a black cliff of magnetic iron ore. I…
of the river, were captured from the Americans by Sir Henry Clinton, on
the 1st of June of that year. Clinton commanded the troops in person. These were conveyed by a small squadron under the command of Admiral
Collier. The garrison at Stony Point was very small, and retired towards
West Point on the approach of the British. The fort changed masters
without bloodshed. The victors pointed the g…
Situated upon a high rocky peninsula,
an island at high water, and always inaccessible dry-shod, except across
a narrow causeway, it was strongly defended by outworks and a double
row of abattis. "Upon three sides of the rock were the waters of the
Hudson, and on the fourth was a morass, deep and dangerous. The
cautious Washington considered ; when the impetuous Wayne, scorning
all obstacles…
In the
face of this terrible storm the Americans made their way, by force of
bayonet, to the centre of the works. Wayne was struck upon the head
by a musket ball that brought him upon his knees. " March on! " he
cried. "Carry me into the fort, for I will die at the head of my
column ! " The wound was not very scyere, and in an hour he had
sufficiently recovered to write the following note to…
It was sunk by a shot from the
Vulture, off Bonder Berg Point, and one of the cannon, as we have
observed, raised a few years ago by accident, was supposed to have been
brought up from the wreck of the ship of the famous Captain Kidd. Congress testified its gratitude to Wayne for his services by a vote of thanks
for his " brave, prudent, and soldierly conduct," and also ordered a gold
medal, …
There was
VEEPLANCK'S POINT, FEOJI STONY POINT LIGHTHOUSE.
no poetry in the attempts to sketch two or three of the most prominent
scenes ; and I resolved, when that task was accomplished, to abandon the
amusement until the warm sun of spring should release the waters from
their Boreal chains, clothe the earth in verdure, and invite the birds from
the balmy south to build their nests in the b…
GEASSr POINT AND 'JOHN MOUNTAIN.
the time of Arnold's treason, in 1780 ; and hero were the head-quarters of
Washington for some time in 1782. It was off this point that Henry
Hudson first anchored the JIdf-Moon after leaving Yonkers. The
Highland Indians flocked to the vessel in great numbers. One of them
was killed in an afi'ray, and this circumstance planted ^the seed of hatred
of the whit…
That whiten by night the milky way ;
There broader and burlier masses fall ;
The sullen water buries them all :
Flake after flake,
All drowned in the dark and silent lake."
The snow-shower soon passed by. The spires of Haverstraw appeared in
the distance, at the foot of the mountain, and on the right was Treason
Hill, with the famous mansion of Joshua Hett Smith, who was involved
in the od…
The
lines of Longfellow were suggested and pondered. He says, --
" I like that ancient Saxon phrase which calls
The burial-ground God's Acre ! It is just ;
It consecrates each grave within its walls,
And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust.
" Cod's Acre! Yes, that blessed name imparts
Comfort to those who in the grave have sown
The seed that they had parner'd in their hearts. Their b…
We have had
occasion to allude to it several times already.
•SMITHS IIOUSK, OX TEEASOX ' HILL.
c
Arnold was a brave soldier, but a bad man. He was wicked in boyhood, and in early manhood his conduct was marked by traits that promised ultimate disgrace. Impulsive, vindictive, and unscrupulous, he
was personally unpopular, and was seldom without a quarrel with some
of liis companions in arms. …
Fond of display, he there
entered upon a course of extravagant living that was instrumental in his
ruin.^ He made his head-quarters at the fine old mansion built by William
Penn, kept a coach and four, gave splendid dinner parties, and charmed
the gayer portions of Philadelphia society with his princely display, filis
station and the splendour of his equipage captivated the daughter of
Edwai…
»/Soon after Arnold joined the British Army, lie was sent with a considerable force npon a marauding
expecKtion up the James Eiver, in Virginia. In an action not far from Richmond, the capital, some
Americans were made prisoners. He asked one of them what his countrymen would do with him
(Arnold) if they should catch him. The prisoner instantly replied, " Bury thMeg that was wounded at
Quebec …
A year had elapsed since his accusation, and he expected a
full acquittal) But for nine months the rank weeds of treason had been
growing luxuriantly in his heart. (He saw no way to extricate himself
from debt, and retain his position in the army. Por nine months he had
been in secret correspondence with British officers in !N"ew YorkJ His
pride was now wounded, his vindictive spirit was arou…
Hitherto he had pleaded the bad
state of his wounds as an excuse for inaction ; now they healed rapidly. He appeared anxious to join his old companions in arms; and to General
Schuyler, and other influential men, then in Congress, he expressed an
ai'dent desire to be in the camp or in the field. They believed him to be
sincere, and rejoiced. They wrote cheering letters to "Washington on the
s…
He at once communicated, in his
disguised writing and commercial phraseology, under the signature of
Gusfavus, his plan to Sir Henry Clinton, through Major Andre, whom he
addressed as "John Anderson. '1 That plan we have already alluded to. Sir Henry was delighted with it, and eagerly sought to carry it out. He
was not yet fully aware of the real character behind " Gustavus," although
for sev…
A
meetiug of Arnold and Andre was arranged.^ On the morning of the
20th of August, the latter officer left New York, proceeded by land to
Dobbs's Perry, and from thence to the Vulture, where it was expected the
traitor would meet him that night. The wily general avoided the great
danger. He repaired to the house of Joshua Hett Smith, a brother to the
Tory chief justice of New York, and emplo…
Smith led the officer to a thicket near the shore,
and then, in a low whisper, introduced " John Anderson " to "Gustavus,"
who acknowledged himself to be Major-General Arnold, of the Continental
Army. J There, in the deep shadows of night, concealed from human cognizance, with no witnesses but the stars above them, they discussed the
dark plans of treason, and plotted the utter ruin of the Eep…
At that moment the sound
of a cannon came booming over Haverstraw Bay from the eastern shore ;
and within twenty minutes the Vulture was seen dropping down the river,
to avoid the shots of an American gun on Teller's Point. To the amazement of Andre, s]ic disappcaredJ Deep inquietude stirred his spirit. He
was within llie American lines, Avithout Hag or pass. If detected, he
would be called a…
lleturning from tliia historical digression, I will recur to the narrative
THE HUDSON.
of the events of a winter's day on the Hudson, only to say, that after
sketching the Lighthouse and Fog-bell structure upon Stony Point, I
hastened to the river, resumed my skates, and at twilight arrived at
Peek's Kill, in time to take the railway-car for home. I had experienced
a tedious but interesting …
Eut here the birds and the early
flowers were unseen ; the sceptre of the frost king was yet all-potent. The blue bird, the robin, and the swallow, our earliest feathered visitors
from the south, yet lingered in their southern homes. Soon the clouds
gathered and came down in warm and gentle rain ; the deep snows of
northern New York melted rapidly, and the Upper Hudson and the
Mohawk poured o…
It was a -welcome and delightful invitation to the
fields and waters, and I hastened to the lower borders of the Highland
region to resume my pen and pencil sketches of the Hudson from the
wilderness to the sea.
The air was as balmy as May on the evening of my amval at Sing
Sing, on the eastern bank of the Hudson, where the State of New York
has a large penitentiary for men and women. I stro…
extending from Teller's or Croton Point on the north, to the northern
bluff of the Palisades near Piermont. The origin of the name is to be
found in the word Sint-sinck, the title of a powerful clan of the Mohegan
CROTON AQUEDUCT AT SING SING.
or river Indians, who called this spot Os-sin-ing, from ossin, a stone, and
ing, a place -- stony place. A very appropriate name. The land in this
vic…
On the southern borders of the village of Sing Sing is a rough group
of small hills, called collectively Mount Pleasant. They are formed of
dolomitic, or white coarse-grained marble, of excellent quality and
almost inexhaustible quantity, cropping out from a thin soil in many
places. At the foot of Mount Pleasant, on the shore of the rivei', is a
large prison for men, with a number of worksho…
They were made
to work diligently all day, but in perfect silence, no recognition by word,
look, or gesture, being allowed among them. The adoption of this
system, in 1823, rendered the prison accommodation insufficient, and a
new establishment was authorised in 1824. Mount Pleasant, near Sing
Sing, was purchased, and in May, 1826, Captain Lynds, a farm agent of
the Auburn prison, proceeded …
one hundred cells, while the number of convicts was one hundred and
fifty at that time.
The ground occupied by the prisons is about ten feet above high-water
mark. The main building, in which are the cells, is four hundred and
eighty feet in length, forty-four feet in width, and five stories in height. Between the outside walls and the cells there is a space of about twelve
feet, open from fl…
A large portion of Tappan Bay, and the range of high hills
upon its western shore, were then immersed in a thin purple mist, so
frequently seen in this region on balmy afternoons in the spring and
autumn. The prison bell rang as I was turning to leave the scene, and
soon a troop of convicts, dressed* i^, the felon's garb, and accompanied by
overseers, was marched towards the prison and taken …
Fancy needlework, cheap pictures, and other
ornaments, gave some of the cells an appearance of comfort ; but the
wretchedly narrow spaces into which, in several instances, two of the
convicts are placed together at night, because of a want of more cells,
dispelled the temporary illusion that prison life was not so very uncomfortable after all. The household drudgery and cookery were performed …
When
her turn for examination came, the justice, too accustomed to the sight of
vicious persons to exercise much compassion, accosted her rudely, she
having been picked up as a sti'eet wanderer, and accused of vagrancy. She told a simple, touching story of her wrongs and misery. Only a
month before, she had been the innocent daughter of loving parents in
Connecticut. She came to the metropoli…
She was compelled to bow to
her fate, whilst the law, at that time, could not touch the author of her
degradation, who further wronged her by foulest slander, to palliate his
own wickedness. Justice was not then so kindly disposed towards the
erring and unfortunate as now. There was no Magdalen refuge for her,
and the magistrate, with almost brutal roughness, reproached her, and
sent her to …
Years passed by. A cloud appeared. She
suspected her husband to be in league with burglars and counterfeiters. She accused him inquiringly, and he confessed his guilt. She pleaded
with him most tenderly, for the sake of herself and their three babes, to
abandon his course of life. Her words were inejffectual. His vile
associates became bold. His house became the receptacle of burglars'
plunde…
Meekly she performed her
daily duties. There was a sweet sadness in her pale face. She was not
a criminal in the eye of Divine justice ; she was a victim to be pitied --
the wreck of an innocent and beautiful girl. Surely there must be something radically wrong in the constitution of our society, that permits
tender flowers to , be thus blasted and thus neglected, and become like
worthless we…
On returning to the village across the flelds northward of Mount
Pleasant, I obtained a full view of Teller's or Croton Point, which divides
Tappan from Haverstraw Bay, It is almost two miles in length, and was
called Se-nas-qua by the Indians, and by the English, Sarah's Point, in
honour of Sarah, wife of "William Teller, who purchased it of the Indians
•for a barrel of rum and twelve blanke…
Knowing how boisterous and blustering
this first spring month generally is, I took advantage of the fine weather,
and crossed Tappan Bay to Rockland Lake village (formerly Slaughter's
Landing), opposite Sing Sing, the most extensive ice-station on the river. After considerable delay, I procured a boat and oarsman -- the former very
leaky, and the latter very accommodating. The bay is here betw…
On its southeastern borders, excep ting where the village and ice-houses skirt it, are
steep, rugged shores, "Westward, a fertile country stretches away many
a niilc to rough hills and blue mountains. The lake is an ii-regular ellipse
in form, half a mile in length, and three-fourths of a mile at its greatest
width, and covers about five hundred acres. It is supplied by springs in
its own bos…
The crop averaged nearly
two hundred thousand tons a-ycar ; and during the warm season, one
hundred men were employed in conveying it to the river, and fifteen
THE HUDSON.
barges were used in transporting it to New York, for distribution there,
and exportation.
"We crossed the bay to Croton Point, visited the villa and vineyards of
MOLTH 01 THE CROTON.
Doctor XJnderhill, and then rowed up …
When near the "High Bridge," at
the old head of boat navigation, I obtained a most interesting view of the
Mouth of the Croton, including Dover Kill Island near, the railwaybridge in the distance, and the high hills on the western shore of the
Hudson in the extreme distance. The scenery thereabout is both
picturesque and beautiful, and such is its character to the very sources
of this famous …
Commissioners reported in
favour of its use, though far away; and in May, 1837, the construction of
an aqueduct from a point six miles from its mouth to the metropolis was
begun. At the head of the aqueduct a dam was constructed, for the
purpose of forming a fountain reservoir ^^ At the beginning of 1841 a
flood, produced by a protracted rain-storm and melting snows, swept
away the dam, and …
marked by culverts and arches of solid masonry, and its line may be
observed at a distance by white stone towers, about fifteen feet in height,
placed at intervals of a mile. These are ventilators of the aqueduct ;
some of them are quite ornamental, as in the case of the one at Sing Sing,
others are simple round towers, and every third one has a square base,
with a door by which a person may …
Here was the
"Croton Bridge" of revolutionary times, frequently mentioned in
connection with military movements between New York and the Highlands ; and here is now the scene of most important experiments in the
production of malleable iron from the ore, by a simple process, which, if
successful, would produce a marked change in the iron manufacture. It
is a process of deoxidizing iron ore in…
the high margin of the stream, to the Van Cortlandt Manor House,
passing the old Ferry House on the way, where a party of New York
levies, under Captain Daniel "Williams, were surprised by some British
horsemen in the winter of 1782. At the entrance gate to the mansion
grounds, at twilight, I met Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt, the present
proprietor, and accepted his cordial invitation to part…
landt (land), a term expressing the form of the ancient Duchy of Courland. Orloff emigrated to America, and settled in Xew Amsterdam (New York),
and in 1697 his son Stephen purchased the large estate on the Hudson,
afterwards known as the Yan Cortlandt Manor. By intermarriages, the
Yan Coi'tlandts are connected with nearly all of the leading families of
New York -- the Schuylers, Beekmans, Yan…
In that bay, under the she]ter of Croton Point, Hendrick Hudson
anchored the Half-Moon, on the evening of the first of October, 1609;!
and such a resort were these waters for canvas-back ducks, and other
water-fowl, that, as early as 1683, Governor Dongan came there to enjoy
the sport of fowling. There, too, great quantities of shad were caught. But its glory is departed. The flood of 1841, th…
Under that roof the illustrious "Washington
was a frequent guest when the army was in that vicinity ; and the parlour
was once honoured by the presence of the immortal Franklin. There
may be seen many mementoes of the past : the horns of a stag killed on
the manor, when deer ran wild there ; the buttons from the yager coat
worn by one of the captors of Andre ; a box made of the wood of the
M…
THE HUDSON. 315
hunting or war. In a beautiful nook, a little east of the site of the fort,
on the borders of Haunted Hollow, is the Kitcli-a-wan burying-ground. Around this locality hovers the memory of many a weird story of the
early times, when the superstitious people believed that they often saw,
in the groves and glens there, the forms of the departed red men. They
called them the Walki…
May
you have long life." He entered with her father, and the children peeped
curiously in at the door. A morsel of food and a cup of cold water was
placed upon the table, when Washington stepped forward, laid his hand
upon the board, closed his eyes, and reverently asked a blessing, their
father having, meanwhile, raised his hat from his head. "And here,"
said Mrs. Williams, pointing to a sm…
Prost, Esq., I climbed to the summit of Prickly Pear
Hill (so called from the fact that a species of cactus, called Prickly Pear,
grows there abundantly), almost five hundred feet above the river, from
which may be obtained the most extensive and interesting views in all
that region. From no point on the Hudson can be seen, at a glance, such
a cluster of historic localities, as from this emin…
to Peek's Kill, Verplanck's and Stony Points, the theatres of important
military events during the war for independence; Haverstraw, where
Arnold and And)-e had their conference ; Teller's Point, off which the
Vulture lay, and from which she received a cannonading that drove her
down the river ; King's Ferry, where Andre crossed the Hudson ; the
place of Pine's Bridge on the Croton, where he …
They yield a very fine oil.
THE HUDSON.
31:
iish, is often seen in large numbers, sporting in the summer sun. Here,
in the spring, vast numbers of shad are caught while on their "way to
spawning places in fresli-watcr coves ; and hero, at all seasons, most
delicious fish may be taken in great abundance. All things considered,
this is one of the most interesting points for a summer residence…
THE HUDSON.
The drive from Sing Sing to King's Bridge at Spuyten Duyvil Creek,
along the old post-road, is attractive at all seasons of the year, but more
especially in spring and early summer, when the trees are in leaf, because
of the ever-varying aspects of the landscape. Fine mansions and villa
residences are seen on every side, where, only a few years ago, good taste
was continually off…
He was an active and efficient worker, and the
satisfaction of his constituency was certified by their retaining him as
their representative, by re-election, twelve out of eighteen consecutive
years. He assisted in framing the present constitution of the State of
New York, in 1846, and since then has declined invitations to public
service. During the years 1859 and 1860, he visited Egypt and …
Aspinwall,
a wealthy New York merchant. Near it was the residence of General
James Watson Webb, then the veteran editor and proprietor of the New
York Courier and Inquirer, and well known, personally, and by reputation,
in both hemispheres as a gentleman of rare abilities as a journalist. At
the beginning of the Civil War, General Webb was appointed resident
minister at the court of Pedro II…
Kill, or Sleepy Haveu Creek, and the valley in the .vicinity of the old
church, through which it flowed, Slaeperigh Uol, or felecpy Hollowy the
scene of Washington Irving's famous legend of that name.
The little old churchHs a curiosity. It ■^as huilt, says an inscription
upon a small marble tablet on its front, by "Frederic Philips and
Catharine Van Cortland, his wife, in 1699," and is the o…
SLEEPY HOLLOW BEIDGE,
Crane, a Connecticut schoolmaster, instructed "tough, wrong-headed,
* " Over a deep, black part of the stream, not far from the church," says Mr. Ir\-iiig, in his " Legend
of Sleepy Hollow," " was formerly tlirown a wooden bridge ; the road that led to it, and the biidge
itself, were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it even in the daytime, but…
He found a rival in his suit in
stalwart, bony Brom Van Brunt, commonly known as Brom Bones. Jealousies arose, and the J)utchman resolved to drive the Yankee schoolmaster from the country. J
r Strange stories of ghosts in Sleepy Hollow were believed by all, and by
none more implicitly than Ichabod. The chief goblin seen there was
that of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a…
" If I can but reach that bridge,"
thought Ichabod, "I shall be safe." Just then he heard the black steed
panting and blowing close behind him ; he even fancied that he felt his
hot breath. Another convulsive kick in the ribs and old Gunpowder
sprang upon the bridge : he thundered over the resounding planks ; he
gained the opposite side ; and now Ichabod cast a look behind to see if
his purs…
Let us climb over this stile by the corner of the old church, into the
yard where so many of the pilgrims of earth are sleeping, (llere arc
mossy stones with half obliterated epitaphs, marking the graves of many
early settlers, among whom is one, upon whose monumental slab it is
recorded, that he lived until he was " one hundred and three years old,"
and had one hundred and twenty-four childr…
Upon one of these, near the centre, we read : --
WASHINGTON,
SON OF
WILLIAM AND
SAEAH S. IRVING,
DIED
NOV. 28, 1859,
AGED 76 YEARS 7 MO. J
AND 25 DAYS. '
This is the grave of the immortal Geoffrey Crayon I ^' Upon it lie
* 111 tlie Episcopal Church at Tarrylowii, ui wliicli Jlr. Irving wiis a coinniunicaiit for many years, a
small marble tablet has been placed by the vestry, with an app…
This lovely burial spot, from wliich may bo scon Sleepy Hollow, the
ancient church, the sparkling waters of the ro-can-fe-co, spreading out
into a little lake above tlie picturesque old dam at the mill of Castle
Philipse, Sleepy Hollow Haven, Tappan Bay and all its beautiful
surroundings, was chosen long ago by the illustrious author of tlie
"Sketch-Book," as his final resting-place. Forty ye…
Irving chose the plot of ground where his remains now lie, for
his family burial-place. A few years later, when the contents of the
grave and vaults in the burial-ground of the "Brick Church" in New
York, were removed, the remains of his family were taken to this spot
and interred.^ A gentleman who accompanied me to the grave, superintended the removal. Mr. Irving had directed the remains to b…
This, however, did not satisfy her ;
so the next day, when walking with me in Broadway, she espied him in
a shop ; she seized my hand, and darting in, exclaimed in her bland
Scotch, -- ' Please your excellency, here's a bairn that's called after ye ! '
General Washington then turned his benevolent face full upon me, smiled,
laid his hand upon my head, and gave me his blessing, which," added
…
This little lake
extends back almost to the bridge in the dark weird glen, and furnishes
motive power to a very ancient mill that stands close by Phjlipse Castle,
as the more ancient manor-house of the family was called. >iie first lord
. jof an extensive domain is-- thi«- -vieinity, purchased from the Sachem
^ Goharius, in 1680, and which was confirmed by royal patent the same
year, was a d…
In that family it remained until the spring of 1860
(about three quarters of a century), when Mr. StormJ the present
proprietor, purchased it^ Beekman made a large addition to the Castle. In our little picture it is seen as it appeared in the time of the Philipses. In the basement wall, near the rear of the building, may be seen a porthole in which the muzzle of a cannon was seen for full half a…
From
this hill, and its river slopes, comprehensive views may be had of some of
the most charming scenery of the lower Hudson. Prom its summit,
overlooking Sleepy Hollow, the eye commands a sweep of the Hudson
from New York to the Highlands, a distance of fifty miles, and views in
five or six counties in the States of New York and New Jersey. From the
veranda of one of the cottages in the pa…
As usual, the English retained
a part of the Dutch naine, and called it Terwe Towti, from which is derived the modern pronunciation,
Tarrj town. In the legend of " Sleepy Hollow," Mr. Irving says,--" The name was given, we are told,
in former days by the good housewives of the adjacent co\intry, from the inveterate propensity of their
husbands to linger about the village taverns on market days…
The proprietor of an acre of ground and his family may
take their morning walk or evening drive through miles of varied scenery,
without going into the public road, and with the agreeable consciousness
of being on their own premises,
f Soon after leaving the Po-can-te-co, on the way towards Tarrytown, a
TJ V
THE HUDSON.
fine monument of white Westchester marble, about twenty-five feet in
h…
"The people of "Westchester County have erected this Monument, as
well to commemorate a great event as to testify their high estimation of
that integrity and patriotism which, rejecting every temptation, rescued
THE HUDSON. 331
the United States from most imminent peril, by baffling ihe arts of a Spy
and the plots of a Traitor. Dedicated October 7, 1853J^
The land on which this monument stan…
citizens on the occasion of its dedication, November 22, 1827. [The
monument to the memory of Yan Wart is over his remains in ihe
Greenburgh Presbyterian Church, near the lovely Neperan river, a few
miles from Tarrytown. It was dedicated on the 11th of June, 18293^hcn
the assembled citizens were addressed by General Aaron Ward, of Sing
Sing. The monument was erected by the citizens of Westche…
He consented to cross the King's Ferry (from Stony to
Yerplanck's Point), and make his way back to Xew York by land. He
exchanged his military coat for a citizen's dress, placed the papers received from Arnold in his stockings under his feet, and at a little
before sunset on the evening of the 22nd of September, accompanied by
Smith and a negro servant, all mounted, made his way towards King's…
Arnold's pass was
presented, and the travellers were about to pass on, when the officer on
duty advised them to remain until morning, because of dangers on the
road. After much persuasion, Andre consented to remain, but passed a
sleepless night.^ At an early hour the party were in the saddle, and at
Pine's Bridge over the Crotou, Andre, with a lighter heart, parted company with Smith and his …
Three of these -- Paulding, Yan "Wart, and "Williams --
were under the shade of a clump of trees, near a spring on the borders of
the stream just mentioned, and now known by the name of Andre's
Brook, playing cards, when a stranger appeared on horseback, a short
distance up the road, His dress and manner were different from ordinary
travellers seen in that vicinity, and they determined to ste…
They said there were many bad people on the road, and they did not
know but he might be one of them. (He dismounted, when they took
him into a thicket, and searched him J They found nothing to confirm
their suspicions that he was not what he represented himself to be. They
then ordered him to pull off his boots, which he did without hesitation,
and they were about to allow him to dress himsel…
Andre wrote a letter to Washington, briefly but frankly detailing the
events of his mission, and concluded, after relating how he was conducted
to Smith's House, and changed his clothes, by saying, "Thus, as I have
had the honour to relate, was I betrayed (being adjutant- general of the
British army) into the vile condition of an enemy in disguise within
yo>n? posts."
\Washington ordered And…
them the same truthful statement of facts which he gave in his letter to
Washington, and remarked, "I leave them to operate with the board,
persuaded that you will do me justice." He was remanded to prison ;
and after long and careful deliberation, the board reported " That Major
Andre, adjutant-general of the British army, ought to be considered as a
spy from the enemy, and that agreeably to…
He, however, respited the prisoner for a day, and gave others
an opportunity to lay an informal proposition of that kind before Clinton. A subaltern went to the nearest British outpost with a letter from AVashington to Clinton, containing the official proceedings of the court-martial,
and Andre's letter to the Ameiican commander. That subaltern, as instructed, informed the messenger who was to b…
All hearts
were powerfully stirred by sympathy for him. The eqiiifi/ of that sentence
was not questioned by military men ; and yet, only inexorable expediency
at that hour Avlien the Eepublican cause seemed in the greatest peril,
caused the execution of the sentence in his case. The sacrifice had to be
made for the public good, and the prisoner was hung as a spy at Tappan
at noon on the 2nd …
Major Andre Avas an accomplished young man, and a clever amateur
artist. He was perfectly composed from the time that his fate was made
known to him. On the day fixed for his execution, he sketched with pen
and ink a likeness of himself sitting at a table, and gave it to the officer
of his guard, who had been kind to him. It is preserved in the Trumbull
Gallery of pictures, at Yale College, i…
On the fi'ont of the sarcophagus is a basso-relievo, in Tvhicli
is represented General Washington and his officers in a tent at the niomont
S'DEK'S MONUMENT.
when he received the report of the court of inquiry. At the same time a
messenger is seen with a flag, bearing a letter from Andre to Washington. On the opposite side is a guard of Continental soldiers, and the tree on
which Andre was hu…
Such is the sad story, in brief outline, of the
closing days of the accomplished Andi-e's life. Arnold, the traitor, was
despised even by those who accepted his treason for purposes of state ; and
his hand never afterwards touched the palm of an honourable Englishman. In his own country, he had ever occupied the " bad eminence " of arch
traitor, until the beginning of the year 1861 ; others no…
The drawing-room is a spacious apartment, occupying the whole of the south wing. It has a high ceiling,
richly groin-arched, with fan tracery or diverging ribs, springing from
and supported by columnar shafts. The ceilings of all the apartments of
the first story are highly elegant in decoration. " That of the diningroom," says Mr. Downing, "is concavo-convex in shape, with diverging
ribs 'and…
It is reached from the public road by a winding
carriage-way that passes here through rich pastures and pleasant woodlands, and then along the margin of a dell through which runs a pleasant
brook, reminding one of the merry laughter of children as it dances away
riverward, and leaps, in beautiful cascades and rapids, into a little bay a
few yards from the cottage of Sunnyside. There, more than…
and ascended the bank by a pleasant path to the shadow of a fine old
cedar, not far from the entrance gate. There I rested, and sketched the
quaint cottage half shrouded in English ivy. Its master soon appeared
in the porch, with a little fair-haired boy whom he led to the river bank
in search of daisies and buttercups. It was a pleasant picture, and yet
there was a cloud-shadow resting upon …
As I looked upon that good
man of gentle, loving nature, a bachelor of sixty-five, I thought of his
exquisite picture of a true woman, in his charming little story of " The
Wife," and wondered whether his own experience had not been in
accordance with the following beautiful passage in his ' ' Newstead
Abbey," Jin which he says: -- "An early, innocent, and unfortunate
passion, however fruitf…
A large easy-chair,
and two or three others, a writing-table with many drawers, shelves
filled with books, three small pictures, and two neat bronze candelabra,
completed the furniture of the room. It was warmed by an open grate
of coals in a black variegated marble chimney-piece. Over this were the
three small pictures. The larger represents "A literary party at Sir
Joshua Reynolds's." The …
I took the first
course of dinner with him, Avhcn I was compelled to leave to be in time
THE HUDSON. 345
for the next train of cars that would convey me home. He arose from
the table, and passed into the little drawing-room with me. At the door
he took my hand in both of his, and with a pleasant smile said, " I wish
you success in all your undertakings. God bless you."
It was the last day o…
I was too far
from home to be at the funeral, but oue of my family, very dear to me,
was in the crowd of sincere mourners at his grave, on the borders of
Sleepy Hollow. The day was a lovely one on the verge of winter, and
thousands stood reverently around, on that sunny slope, while the earth
Avas cast upon the coffin and the preacher uttered the solemn words,
" Earth to earth, ashes to ashe…
"Tradition declares," says
Mr. Irvmg in his admirable story of " Wolfert's Boost," •' that it was smuggled over from Holland in
a churn by Femmelie Van Blarcom, wife of Gooseu Garrett Van Blarcom, one of the first settlers, and
that -she took it up by night, unknown to her husband, from beside their farm-house near Rotterdam ;
being sure she should find no water equal to it in the new country-…
it abruptly, leaving only space enough for a path, and on others it
washes the feet of gentle grassy slopes. This is one of the many
charmiag pictures to be found in the landscape of Sunnyside. After
strolling along the pathways in various directions, sometimes finding
myself upon the domains of the neighbours of Sunnyside (for no fence or
hedge barriers exist between them), I made my way bac…
His own dream-life for ever share ;
"He who with England's liousehold's grace,
And with the brave romance of Sijain. Tradition's lore and Nature's face,
Imbued his visionary brain :
" Mused in Granada's old arcade
As gu^h'd the Moorish fount at noon.
With the last minstrel thoughtful stray'd,
To ruin'd shrines beneath the moon ;
"And breathed the tenderness and wit
Thus garner'd, in expre…
'■ But allow mo to speak wliat I liumbly feel,--
To a true poet-heart add the fun of Dick Steele
Throw in all of Addison, mmiis the chill ;
With the whole of that partnership's stock and good- will,
Mix well, and while stirring, hum o'er as a spell,
The fine old English Gentleman ; simmer it well. Sweeten .just to j'our own private liking, then strain. That only the finest and purest remain ;…
Around that cottage, and the adjacent lands and waters, Irving's genius
has cast an atmosphere of romance, f The old Dutch house -- one of the
oldest in all that region -- out of whuJh grew that quaint cottage, was a
part of the veritable "Wolfert's Roost -- the very dwelling wherein occurred
Katrina Yan Tassel's memorable quilting frolic, that terminated so
disastrously to Ichabod Crane, in …
Lawrence." n:t was built, the chronicler tells us, by
Wolfert Acker, a privy councillor of Peter Stuyvesant, "a worthy, but
ill-starred man, whose aim through life had been to live in peace and
quiet." He sadly failed. "It was his doom, in fact, to meet a head
wind at every turn, and be kept in a constant fume and fret by the
perverseness of mankind. Had he served on a modern jury, he would
…
Van Tassel had much trouble : his house was finally
plundered and burnt, and he was carried a prisoner to New York. When
THE HUDSON. 351
the war was over, he rebuilt the Roost, but in more modest style, as seen
in our sketch. "The Indian spring" -- the one brought from Rotterdam
-- "still welled up at the bottom of*the green bank; and the wild
brook, wild as evei', came babbling down the rav…
On one occasion, Jacob and some fellow bush-fighters peppered a
British transport that had run aground. "This," says the chronicler,
" was the last of Jacob's triumphs ; he fared like some heroic spider that
has unwittingly ensnared a hornet, to the utter ruin of its web. It was
not long after the above exploit that he fell into the hands of the enemy,
in the course of one of his forays, and …
The invaders therw pounced upon the blooming Laney Van
Tassel, the beauty of the Eoost, and endeavoured to bear her off to the
boat. But here was the real tug of war. The mother, the aunt, and the
strapping negro wench, all flew to the rescue. The struggle continued
down to the very water's edge, when a voice from the armed vessel at
anchor ordered the spoilers to desist; they relinquished th…
One of the most
picturesque of the station-houses upon the Hudson River Railway is
there, and a ferry connects the village with Piermont. Morning and
evening, when the trains depart for and arrive from Xew York, many
handsome vehicles may be seen there. This all seems like the work of
magic. Over this beautiful slope, where so few years ago the voyager
upon the Hudson saw only woodlands and …
in the midst of a charming lawn, that extends from the highway to the
Hudson, a distance of half a mile, and commands some of the finest and
most extensive views of that portion of the river. The mansion is large,
and its interior elegant. It presents many attractions to the lover of
literature and art, aside from the delightful social atmosphere with
which it is filled. There may be seen the…
* From this point the Jraveller soutliward first obtains a good view of tlie Palisades on the west side
of the river.
THE HUDSON.
visitor. It is the summer residence of Mr. Schuyler (a grandson of
General Schuyler), Mr. Hamilton's son-in-law. Near it is a more
pretentious residence belonging to Mr. Blatchford, another son-in-law of
the proprietor of " Nevis.'M Within call of these pleasant r…
Its present name is
from Dobbs, a Swede from the Delaware, one of the earliest settlers on
Philipse's Manor. The village is seated pleasantly on the river front of
the Greenburgh Hills, and is the place of summer residence for many New
York families. Here active and important military operations occurred
during the war for independence. There was no fighting here, hut in the
movement of armi…
marched to the attack at Eort Lee, and then pursued the flying Americans
under "Washington across New Jersey to the Delaware river. Here, in
1777, a division of the American army, under General Lincoln, was
encamped ; and here was the spot first appointed as the meeting-place of
Andre and Arnold. Circumstances prevented the meeting, and it was
postponed, as we have already observed. Here, in …
The
subject was freely talked over, and Greene bore from Robertson a verbal
message to "Washington, and a long explanatory and threatening letter
THE HUDSON.
from Arnold. No new facts bearing upon the case were presented, and
nothing was offered that changed the minds of the court or the commanding general. So the conference was fruitless.
The Livingston mansion, owned by Stephen Archer, a Q…
the Hudson from near Haverstraw almost to Hoboken, a distance of about
thirty-five miles. Between Piermont and Hoboken, these rocks present,
for a considerable distance, an uninterrupted, rude, columnar front, from
300 to 500 feet in height. They form a mural escarpment, columnar in appearance, yet not actually so in form. They have a steep slope of debris,
which has been crumbling from the cl…
The most
elevated of all is one nearly opposite Sing-Sing, which juts into the river
like an enormous buttress, and is a prominent object from every point on
the Hudson between New York and the Highlands. It rises 660 feet
above tide-water. The Dutch named it Verdrietigh-Hoeclc -- Grievous or
Yexations Point or Angle -- because in navigating the river they were apt
to meet suddenly, off this…
Yonkers derives its name from TonJcIieer -- Young Master or Lord -- the
common appellation for the heir of a Dutch family. It is an old
settlement, lands having been purchased here from the sachems by some
of the Dutch West India Company as early as the beginning of Peter
Stuyvesant's administration of the affairs of New Netherland.*' Here was
the Indian village of JVap-jje-cIm-mak, a name si…
n'he chief attraction at Yonkers for the antiquary is the Philipse Manor
Hall, a spacious stone edifice, that once belonged to the lords of Philipse
Manor. The older portion was built in 1682. The present front, forming
an addition, was erected in 1745, when old " Castle Philipse," at Sleepy
Hollow, was abandoned, and the Manor Hall became the favourite
dwelling of the family) Its interior co…
After the English
conquest of New Netherland, Frederick Pliilipse and others purchased a greater portion of his estate on
the Hudson and Harlem rivers.
3 A
THE HUDSON.
broad, and the staircase capacious and massive. The rooms are largo,
and the ceilings are lofty; all the rooms are wainscoted, and the chief
apartment has beautiful ornamental work upon the ceiling, in high relief,
composed …
exploring vessel, made her second anchorage after leaving New York Bay. It was toward the evening of the 12th of September, 1609 ; the explorer
had then been several days in the yiciniij oi: Man-7i(i-Jiat- fa, as the Indians
called the island on which New York stands, and had had some intercourse with the natives. " The twelfth," says " Master Ivet (Juet) of
the Lime House," who wrote Hudson's …
That event, and the assurance of the natives that the waters
northward, upon which he had gazed with wonder and delight, came
from far beyond the mountains, inspired Hudson with great hope, for it
must be remembered that his errand was the discovery of a northern
passage to India. He now doubted not that the great river upon which
he was floating flowed from ocean to ocean, and that his searc…
Forrest was induced to
visit England in 1844. He was accompanied by his wife. There he
soon became involved in a bitter dispute with the dramatic critic of the
London Examiner, and Macready the actor. This quarrel led to the
most serious results. Out of it were developed the mob and the bloodshed
of what is known, in the social history of the city of l^ew York, as the
"Astor Place lliot," an…
The whole
were under the general direction of Mother Superior Mary Angela Hughes. At Font Hill they erected an extensive and elegant pile of buildings, of
which they took possession, and wherein they opened a school, on the
MOUNT ST. VINCENT ACADEMY.
ist of September, 1859. It was much enlarged in 1865. They had, in
1860, about one hundred and fifty pupils, all boarders, to whom was
offered …
The view from the mouth of the Spyt den
Duyvel, over which the Hudson River Railway passes, loolving either
JJi^N DUiVEL CEtEK
across the river to the Palisades, as given in our sketch, or inland,
embracing bold Berrian's Neck on the left, and the wooded head of
Manhattan Island on the right, with the winding creek, the cultivated
ridge on the borders of Harlem River, and the heights of Ford…
For a short time he vapoured like an impatient
ghost upon the brink, and then bethinking himself of the urgency of his
errand (to arouse the people to arms), he took a hearty embrace of his
stone bottle, swore most valorously that he would swim across in spite of
the devil {en spijt den (hiyvel), and daringly plunged into the stream. Luckless Anthony ! Scarcely had he buffeted half way over, w…
Here an old Dutch burgher, famed for his veracity, and
who had been a witness of the fact, related to them the melancholy
affair ; with the fearful addition (to which I am slow in giving belief),
that he saw the Duyvel, in the shape of a huge moss-bonker (a species
of inferior fish) seize the sturdy Anthony by the leg, and drag him
beneath the waves. Oertain it is, the place, with the adjoini…
This creek was called
Mosli-u-la by the Indians, and the valley was ^e favourite residence of a
wavlike Mohegan tribe. Its lower portion was the scene of almost continual skirmishing during a portion of the war for independence.
THE CiiM'LKV llOLSE.
Tippett's Creek is crossed by a low bridge. A few yards beyond it is
Kingsbridge, at the head of the Harlem River, which here suddenly expands in…
Upon the heights
each side of the bridge redoubts were thrown up ; and here, in January,
1777, a bloody conflict occurred between the Americans, xmder General
Heath, and a large body of Hessian mercenaries, under General Knyphausen. The place was held alternately by the Americans and British ; and little
more than half a mile below the bridge an ancient story-and-a-half house
is yet standing,…
The tourist will find much pleasure
in a voyage from the city through the East and Harlem liivers.
The " High Bridge," or aqueduct over which the waters of the Croton
How from the main land to Manhattan Island, crosses the Island at One
Hundred and Seventy-Third Street. It is built of granite. The aqueduct
is fourteen hundred and fifty feet in length, and rests upon arches supported
by fourt…
The drive over this road is very agreeable. The winding
THE HUDSON.
avenue passes tliroiigli a narrow valley, part of the way between rugged
hills, only partially divested of the forest, and ascends to the south-eastern
slope of Mount Washington (the highest land on the island), on which
stands the village of Carmansville. f At the upper end of this village, on
the high rocky bank of the Har…
It commands a fine view of the Harlem Eiver at the High
Bridge, to the village of Harlem and beyond ; *^ also of Long Island Sound,
the villages of Astoria and Flushing, and the green fields of Long Island. Nearer are seen Harlem Plains, and the fine new bridge at Macomb's Dam. This house was built before the old war for independence, by Iloger
Morris, a fellow- soldier with Washington on the f…
Eobinson's sister, Mary
Philipse, was also a guest there, in the summer-time. Her bright eyes,
blooming cheeks, great vivacity, perfection of person, aristocratic
connexions, and prospective wealth, captivated the young Virginia
soldier. He lingered in her presence as long as duty would permit, and
would gladly have carried her with him to Virginia as his bride ; but his
extreme diffidence k…
It is about eight miles from the heart of the city,
completely embowered, and presenting a pleasing picture at every point
of view. ("This was the home of General Alexander Hamilton, one of the
founders of the Itepublic, and is one of the few " undesecrated " dwelling-
IHF GRAIiCtL.
places of the men of the last century, to be found on York Island. Near
the centre of the ground stands the ho…
It well typifies the state of South
Carolina in its past history as represented by its ruling class, which
was composed, to a great extent, of professional politicians, who were
arrogant, narrow, opposed to simple republican institutions, and longing
for an alteration in the fundamental principles of their government so as to
have political power centred in few great land and slave holders. T…
It is just within the outer lines of the entrenchments
thrown up by the Americans in 1776, and is in the midst of the theatre of
the stirring events of that year.
"Wc have now fairly entered upon Manhattan Island, inour journeyings
from the "Wilderness to the Sea, and are rapidly approaching the
commercial metropolis of the country, seated upon its southern portion,
where the waters of the H…
Before making excursions over these ways, and observing their surroundings, let us turn aside from the Kingsbridge Road, in the direction
of the Hudson, and, following a winding avenue, note some of the private
rural residences that cover the crown and slopes of old Mount "Washington,
now called Washington Heights, The villas are remarkable for the taste
displayed in their architecture, their …
Following this road a few rods farther down the heights, we reach the
station-house of the Hudson River Railway, which stands at the southern
entrance to a deep rock excavation through a point of Mount Washington,
known for a hundred years or more as Jeffrey's Hook. This point has an
interesting revolutionary history in connection with Mount Washington. At the beginning of the war, the great v…
The citadel was on the crown of Mount Washington, overlooking the
THE HUDSON.
country in every direction, and comprising within the scope of vision the
Hudson from the Highlands to the harbour of New York. The citadel,
with the outworks, covered several acres between One Hundred and
Eighty-first and One Hundred and Eighty-sixth Streets.
On the point of the chief promontory of Mount Washingto…
Eut the ruthless hand of pride, forgetful
of the past, and of all patriotic allegiance to the most cherished traditions
of American citizens, has levelled the mounds, and removed the flag-staff ;
and that spot, consecrated to the memory of valorous deeds and courageous
suffering, must now be sought for in the kitchen-garden or ornamental
grounds of some wealthy citizen, whose choice celery or…
It is one of the oldest institutions of the kind in the United
States, the act of the Legislature of New York incorporating it being dated
on the day (April 15, 1817) when the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb
at Hartford, Connecticut, was opened. The illustrious De Witt Clinton
was the first president of the association. Its progress was slow for
several years, when, in 1831, Mr. Harvey P. Peet w…
As thitherward endeavowing, and upright
Stood on my feet ; about me round I saw
Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains,
And liquid lapse of murmuring streams ; by these,
Creatures that lived, and moved, and walked, or Hew ;
Birds on the branches warbling ; all things smiled ;
with fragrance and with joy my heart o'erflowed. Myself I then perused, and limb by limb
Surveyed, and someti…
In the midst of a delightful grove of forest trees, a short distance below
ESIBENCE.
the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, is the dwelling of the late
J. J. Audubon, the eminent naturalist, where some of his family still
reside. Only a few years ago it was as secluded as any rural scene fifty
miles from the city ; now, other dwellings are in the grove, streets have
been cut through it, the subur…
Baron Cuvier said of it, -- " It is the most gigantic and
most magnificent monument that has ever been erected to Nature."
Audubon was the son of a French admiral, who settled in Louisiana, and
his whole life was devoted to his favourite pursuit. The story of that
life is a record of acts of highest heroism, and presents a most remarkable
illustration of the triumphs of perseverance.
A write…
It was not, however, a parlour, or an ordinary reception room that I entered, but
evidently a room for work. In one corner stood a painter's easel, with a
half-finished sketch of a beaver on the paper ; on the other lay the skin
of an American panther. The antlers of elks hung upon the walls,
stuffed birds of every description of gay plumage ornamented the mantelpiece, and exquisite drawings o…
"His greeting, as he entered, was at once frank and cordial, and
showed you the sincere, true man. ' How kind it is,' he said, with a
slight French accent, and in a pensive tone, ' to come to see me, and how
wise, too, to leave that crazy city ! ' He then shook me warmly by the
hand. < Do you know,' he continued, * how I wonder that men can
consent to swelter and fret their lives away amid th…
His body was laid in a modest tomb in the beautiful Trinity
Cemetery, near his dwelling. This burial-place, deeply shaded by
original forest trees and varieties that have been planted, affords a most
delightful retreat on a warm summer's day. It lies upon the slopes of
the river bank. Poot-paths and carriage-roads wind through it in all
directions, and pleasant glimpses of the Hudson may be c…
Manhattanville, situated in the chief of the four valleys that cleave the
island from the Hudson to the East River, now a pleasant suburban
village, is destined to be soon swallowed by the approaching and rapacious
town. Its site on the Hudson was originally called Harlem Cove. It
3 D
THE HUDSON.
was considered a place of strategic importance in the tvar for independence
and the war of 1812…
The main, or older
portion of the building, was erected, I believe, by the elder Dr. Post,
'^yyv'S^^^ii^^^^
CLAEEMONT.
early in the present century, as a summer residence, and named by him
Claremont. It still belongs to the Post family,. It was an elegant
country mansion, upon a most desirable spot, overlooking many leagues
of the Hudson. There, more than fifty years ago, lived Yiscount
Co…
Claremont was the residence, for awhile, of Joseph Buonaparte, ex-king
of Spain, when he first took refuge in the United States, after the battle
of "Waterloo and the downfall of the Napoleon dynasty. Here, too,
Francis James Jackson, the successor of Mr. Erskine, the British minister
at Washington at the opening of the war of 1812, resided a short time. He was familiarly known as *' Copenhage…
Beyond Seventieth Street it is still called Bloomingdale
Road -- a hard, smooth, macadamised highway, broad, devious, and
undulating, shaded the greater portion of its length, made attractive by
many elegant residences and ornamental grounds, and thronged every fine
day with fast horses and light vehicles, bearing the young and the gay of
both sexes. The stranger in New York will have the ple…
was opened in the year 1821, for the reception of patients. It may be
considered a development of the Lunatic Asylum founded in 1810. Its
establishment upon more rational principles is due to the benevolent
Thomas Eddy, a Quaker, who proposed to the governors of the old
institution a course of moral treatment more thorough and extensive than
had yet been tried.
The place selected for the asy…
A short distance below the Asylum for the Insane, on the east side of
the Blooming-dale Road, is the fine old country seat of the Apthorpe
family, called Elm Park. It is now given to the uses of mere devotees
of pleasure. Here the Germans of the city congregate in great numbers
ASYLUM FOE THE INSANE.
during hours of leisure, to drink beer, tell stories, smoke, sing, and enjoy
themselves in t…
Washington
himself had a very narrow escape here, for he left the house only a few
minutes before the advanced British column took possession of it.
Elm Park, when the accompanying sketch was made (June, 1861),
was a sort ol camp of instruction for volunteers for the army of the
Bepublic, then engaged in crushing the great rebellion, in favour of
human slavery and political and social despot…
From one
hundred and fifty to two hundred of these children of misfortune are there continually, with their physical, moral, intellectual, and spiritual wants supplied. Their home is a beautiful one. The building is of stone, and the grounds around it, sloping to the river,
comprise about fifteen acres. This institution is the child of the " Society
for the Eelicf of Poor Widows with Small Chil…
It was founded by John George Leake, who bequeathed
a large sum for the purpose. His executor, John "Watts, also made a
liberal donation for the same object, and in honour of these benefactors
the institution was named.
These comprise the chief public establishments for the unfortunate in
the city of New York, near the Hudson river. There are many others
3 E
THE HUDSON.
in the metropolis, …
The view northward, over Harlem Plains, is delightful. From the road at our feet stretch away numerous "truck"
gardens, from which the city draws vegetable supplies. On the left is
seen Manhattanville and a glimpse of the Palisades beyond the Hudson. In the centre, upon the highest visible point, is the Convent of the Sacred
Heart ; and towards the right is the Croton Aqueduct, or High Bridge, …
and Mount Washington, within which occurred most of the sanguinary
scenes in the capture of Fort Washington by the British and Hessians.
Our rocky observatory, more than a hundred feet above tide-water,
overlooking Harlem Plains, is included in the Central Park. Let us
descend from it, ride along the verge of the Plain, and go up east of
McGowan's Pass at about One Hundred and Ninth Street, w…
"We may only
convey a few hints. The park was suggested by the late A. J. Downing,
iu 1851, when Kingsland, mayor of the city, gave it his ofiicial recommendation. Within a hundred days the Legislature of the State of New
York granted the city permission to lay out a park ; and in February,
1856, 733 acres of land, in the centre of the island, was in possession of
the civic authorities for th…
Its
chief feature will be a Mall, or broad walk of gravel and grass, 208 feet
wide, and a fourth of a mile long, planted with four rows of the magnificent American elm trees, with scats and other rc(|uisites for resting and
lounging. This, as has been suggested, will be New York's great out-ofdoors Hall of Ee-union. There will be a carriage-way more than nine
miles in length, a bridle-path or …
Pleasure-boats glide over it
in summer, and in winter it is thronged with skaters.*' One portion of
the Skating-Pond is devoted exclusively to the gentler sex. These, of
nearly all ages and conditions, throng the ice whenever the skating is
good.
Open spaces are to be left for military parades, and large plats of turf
for games, such as ball and cricket, will be laid down -- about twenty
ac…
This structure will be
composed of exquisitely wrought light brown freestone, and granite.
Such is a general idea of tlie park, the construction of which was begun
at the beginning of 1858; it is expected to be completed in 1864-- a
period of only about six years. The entire cost will not fall much short
of 12,000,000 dollars. As n;any as four thousand men and several
hundred horses have bee…
Of visitors to the pond, the least number on any one day was one
hundred; the largest number on one day (Christmas) estimated at 100,000; aggregate niunber during
the season, .540,000 ; average number on skating days, 12,000."
t This brief description was written, and the accompanying sketches were made, in 1861. Tlie
great work of fashioning this Park, leaving Nature, in the growth of trees a…
undermining their castles -- for in New York, as in England, "every
man's house is his castle." These form the advanced guard of the growing
metropolis ; and so eccentric is Fortune in the distribution of her favours
in this land of general equality, that a dweller in these "suburban
cottages," -where swine and goats are seen instead of deer and blood-cattle,
may, not many years in the future…
of pleasure-seekers during the hot months of summer, and the delightful
weeks of early autumn. There, in profound retirement, in an elegant
mansion on the bank of the East River, lived David Provoost, better
PROVOOSTS TOMB-- JONES'S \YOODS.
known to the inhabitants of New York -- more than a hundred years ago --
as "Eeady-money Provoost." This title he acquired because of the
sudden increase…
Near its site, large assemblages of people listen to music,
hold festivals, dance, partake of refreshments of almost every kind, and
fill the air with the voices of mirth. The Germans, who love the open
air, go thither in large numbers ; r.nd tents wherein lager bier is sold, form
conspicuous objects in that still half sylvan retreat. There Blondiu
walked his rope at fearful heights, among th…
It is no longer dangerous
to navigators, the sunken rocks which formed the whirlpool having been
leniovcd in 1852, by submarine blasting, in which electricity was em-
Tic tilab bears 'lie fdlow injr inscriplii n : '■ Joa.nnah Rykdees, who was the mcst loving wife of
Kavi 1 Provoost. It was lier will to be interred in lliis hill. Obitus 8 Xember, 1749, aged 43 years."
"Sacrea to the memory of …
On Mill Rock, a strong block-house
was erected during the war of 1812; and on Hallett's Point, a military
work called Fort Stevens was constructed at the same time.
Near Hell-gate the Harlem River enters the East River, and not far
distant are Ward's and Randall's Islands. These belong to the corporation of New York. The former contains a spacious emigrants' hospital,
THE HUDSON.
and the lat…
The House of Eefuge is on the southern part of the
island, opposite One Hundred and Seventeenth Street. There youthful
criminals are kept free from the contaminating influence of old ofi'enders,
are taught useful trades, and are continually subjected to reforming
influences. Good homes are furnished them when they leave the institution, and in this way the children of depraved parents who have…
Andre's have been compared, was brought before General Howe at this
place soon after his arrest. He was confined during the night in the
conservatory, and the next morning, without even the form of a trial,
was handed over to Cunningham, the inhuman provost marshal, who
hanged him upon an apple-tree, under circumstances of peculiar cruelty. The act was intended to strike the minds of the Ameri…
It
was a fine old relic of New York aristocracy a hundred years ago, and
one of only three or four coaches owned in the city at that time. Such
was the prejudice against the name of coach -- a sure sign of aristocracy --
that Robert Murray, a wealthy Quaker merchant, called his "a leathern
conveniency." But the beauty of the Beekman homestead has departed ;
the ground is reticulated by stree…
Washington was
anxious to ascertain the exact position and condition of the British aiToy on Long Island, and Hale
volunteered to obtain it. He was an-ested, and consigned to Cunningham for execution. He was
refused the services of a clergj'man and the use of a Bible, and letters that he wrote during the night
to his mother and sisters were destroyed by the inhuman marshal. His last words were…
THE HUDSON.
which our sketch of Blackwcll's Ishuid was taken -- Avas a theatre of some
stirring scenes during the revolution. Until within a few years it remained in its primitive condition -- a sheltered cove with a gravelly beach,
and high rocky shores covered with trees and shrubbery. Here the
British government had a magazine of military stores, and these the Sons
of Liberty, as the early…
Eclow this point almost every relic of the
past, in Nature and Art, has been swept away by pick and powder ; and
wharves, store-houses, manufactories, and dwellings, are occupying places
where, only a few years ago, were pleasant country seats, far away from
the noise of the town. Our ride in this direction will, therefore, have no
special attractions, so let us turn towards the Hudson again,…
Its walls, in Egyptian stylo,
are of dark granite, and average forty-fonr feet in height above the
adjacent streets. Upon the top of the wall, which is reached by massive
steps, is a broad promenade, from which may be obtained very extensive
vie^vs of the city and the surrounding country. This is made secure by a
Illltl
^4\W"''%*'
FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, MADISOX PARK.
strong battlement of gran…
At the request of the Corporation of the City of New York, George P. Morris wrote the following Ode, which was sung near the fountain then
playing in the City Hall Park, by the members of the New York Sacred
Music Society : --
THE CROTON ODE.
Gashing from this living fountain,
JIusic pours a falling strain. Ad the goddess of llie mountain
Comes with all her sparkling train. From her grotto s…
Hail the wanderer from a far land !
Bind her flowing tresses up ! Crown her with a fadeless garland,
And with crystal brim the cup ;
From her haunts of deep seclusion,
Let Intemperance greet her too,
And the heat of his delusion
Sprinkle with this mountain-dew.
THE HUDSON. 411
Water leaps as if delighted,
While her conquered foes retire 1
I'alc Contagion Hies affrighted
With the baffled…
In Westchester county
it crosses twenty-five streams, from 12 to 70 feet below the line of grade,
besides numerous small brooks furnished with culverts. After crossing
the Harlem River over the high bridge already described, it passes the
Manhattan valley by an inverted siphon of iron pipes, 4, 180 feet in length,
and the Clendening valley on an aqueduct 1,900 feet. It then enters
the first …
For two miles we may pass between houses
of the most costly description, built chiefly of brown freestone, some of it
i
* The principal one of the remote sources of the Croton Eiver is a spring near the road side, not far
from the liouse of William Hoag, on Quaker Hill, in the town of Pawling. The spring is by the side of
a stone fence, with a barrel-curb, and is 1,300 feet above tide water.
…
At the intersection, and
fronting Madison Park, is the magnificent Fifth Avenue Hotel, built of
white marble, and said to be the largest and most elegant in the world. As wo look up from near the St. Germain, this immense hoixsc, six stories
in height, is seen on the left, and the trees of Madison Park on the right. In the middle distance is the "Worth House, a large private boarding
establish…
The monument was erected in 1858.
jij OWN Broadway, a few streets below the Fifth Avenue
Hotel, is Union Park, whose form is an ellipse. It
is at the head of Old Broadway, at Fourteenth Street,
■^' and is at such an elevation that the Hudson and East
Eivers may both be seen by a spectator on its
Fourteenth Street front. It is a small enclosure, with a large
fountain, and pleasantly shaded w…
This is the only public statue in the city of New York, if we except a small
sandstone one in the City Hall Park, and a marble one of William Pitt,
at the corner of Franklin Street and West Broadway, which stood at the
junction of Wall and William Streets, when the old war for independence
broke out. The latter is only a torso, the head and arms having been
broken off by the British soldiery …
"We are going to
visit the oldest living thing in the city of New York, -- an ancient peartree, at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue. It was
rXIOX PARI,
brought from Holland by Peter Stuyvcsant, the last and most renowned
of the governors of New Netherland (New York) while it belonged to the
Dutch. Stuyvesant brought the tree from Holland, and planted it in his
garden in the y…
He built a chapel, at his own cost, on
the site of St. Mark's, and in a vault within it he was buried. The slab
of brown freestone that covered it, and which now occupies a place in
the rear wall of St. Mark's, bears the following inscription: -- "lu this
vault lies Peteus Stuyvesant, late Captain-General and Commander-in-
THE HUDSON.
chief of Amsterdam, in New Netherlands, now called JSTew …
The latter is one
of the most flourishing and important
associations in New York, and numbers among its membership -- resident,
corresponding, and honorary -- many of the best minds in America and
Europe. It has a very large and valuable library, and an immense
collection of manuscripts and rare things ; also the entire collection of
Egyptian antiquities brought to the United States by the l…
He was " Peter the Headstrong " in Knickerbocker's burlesque history
of New York, -WTitten by Irving, who describes him as a man "of such immense activity and decision
of mind, that he never sought nor accepted the advice of others." . ..." A tough, sturdy, valiant,
weather-beaten, mettlesome, obstinate, leather-sided, lion-hearted, generous-spirited old governor."
t The New York Historical So…
It was incorporated in the year 1700, under the title of " The PubUc Library of New York."
Its name was changed to its present one in 1754. It contains almost 50,000 volumes.
THE HUDSON.
the k'ft, and Clinton Hall in the distance. The open area is Astor
Place.
The Bible Honse occupies a whole block or square. It belongs to the
American Bible Society. A large portion of the building is devote…
300,000 dollars. The primary object of the founder is the advancement
of science, and knowledge of the useful arts, and to this end all the
interior arrangements of the edifice were made. "When it was completed,
Mr. Cooper formally conveyed the whole property to trustees, to be
devoted to the public good.^' By his munificence, benevolence, and
wisdom displayed in this gift to his countrymen, …
Let us now ride down the Bowery, the broadest street in the city, and
lined almost wholly with small retail shops. It leads us to Franklin
Square, a small triangular space at the junction of Pearl and Cherry
Streets. This, in the " olden time," was the fashionable quarter of the
city, and was remarkable first for the great "Walton House, and a little
later as the vicinity of the residence of …
There is a large hall, with a gallerj-, designed for a free Public Exchange.
THE HUDSON.
between it and Franklin Square, it formed a front on that open space. In 1856, the Bowery was continued from Chatham Square to Franklin
Square, when this and adjacent buildings were demolished, and larger
edifices erected on their sites. There Washington held his first levees,
and there Mr. Hammond, the f…
A latelydeceased resident of "New York once informed mc, that when he was a
schoolboy and lived in "Wall Street, he was frequently rewarded for good
behaviour, by permission to "go out on Saturday afternoon to see Master
Walton's grand house." The family arms, carved in wood, remained
over the street door until 1850. It was a place of great resort for the
British officers during the war for i…
It was founded nearly fifty years ago, by two of the four brothers who
compose the firm. They are all yet (1866) actively engaged in the
management of the affairs of the house, with several of their sons, and
may be found during business hours, ever ready to extend the hand of
cordial welcome to strangers, and to give them the opportunity to see the
operation of book-making in all its departm…
On the brow of that declivity, where Tammany Hall now
stands, Jacob Leisler, "the people's governor," when James II. left the
FEANKLIN SQUAEE.
English throne and William of Orange ascended it, was hanged, having
been convicted on the false accusation of being a disloyal usurper. He was
the victim of a jealous and corrupt aristocracy, and was the first and last
man ever put to death for treas…
Paul's
Church, a chapel of Trinity Church ; where, in after years, when the
objects for which the "Sons of Liberty" had been organised were
accomplished, namely, the independence of the colonies, the Te Deum
Laudamus was sung by a vast multitude, on the occasion of the inauguration of Washington (who was present), as the first chief magistrate of the
United States. There it yet stands, on the…
The
present fine building was then commenced, and was completed in 1843. Within the burial-ground around the church, and the most conspicuous
object there, is the magnificent brown freestone monument, erected by
order of the vestry, in 1852, and dedicated as "Sacred to the Memory,"
as an inscription upon it says, " of those brave and good men who died,
whilst imprisoned in the city, for their…
On Sunday morning, one of Washington's
generals called on Dr. Inglis, and requested him to omit the violent prayer for the king and royal family. He paid no regard to it. He afterwards said to that officer, "It is in your power to shut up the churches,
but you cannot make the clergy depart from their duty." Tlie prisoners alluded to in the inscription on
the monument, were those who died in the…
His affirmative
answer, with proofs of its sincerity, was a sufficient passport. They
pryed not into private opinion or belief ; and bigotry could not take root
and flourish in a soil so inimical to its growth. The inhabitants were
industrious, thi'ifty, simple in manners and living, hospitable, neighbourly, and honest ; and all enjoyed as full a share of human happiness
as a mild despotism w…
Their charter gave them territorial
dominion, and the country, called New Netherland,
was made a county of Holland. The seal bore the
representation of a beaver rampant-- an animal very
valuable for its fur, and then abundant. The seal of
the city of New York (seen in the engraving) has
the beaver in one of its quartermgs. New Amsterdam remained in tlie possession of the Dutch until
1664, w…
Broadway, the famous street of commercial palaces, terminates at a
DUTCH MANSION AND COTTAGE IN NEW AJISTEEDAM.
shaded mall and green, called -The Battery," a name derived from
fortifications that once existed there. The first fort erected on Manhattan
Island, by the Dutch, was on the banks of the Hudson, at its mouth, in
the rear of Trinity Church. The next was built upon the site of the
Bo…
It covered a portion
of the ground occupied by the Battery of to-day. It was called Fort
hOiiccTipTajJiiJiYrr
MJiMMiiiliiB^
THE BOWLING GREEN AND FOET GEORGE IN 1783.*
George, in honour of the then reigning sovereign of England. Within its
walls were the governor's house and most of the government offices.
In the vicinity of the fort many stirring scenes were enacted when the
old war for i…
Here the boldness of
the Sons of Liberty was displayed at the opening of the revolution, by the
removal of guns from the battery in the face of a cannonade from a British
ship of war in the harbour. From here was witnessed, by a vast and
jubilant crowd, the final departure of the British army, after the peace of
1783, and the unfurling of the banner of the Republic from the flag-staff
of For…
The round heads of the iron fence-posts were
knocked off for the use of the artillery, and the leaden statue of his
Majesty was made into bullets for the use of the republican army. " His
troops," said a writer of the day, referring to the king, " will probably
have melted majesty fired at them." The pedestal of the statue, seen in
the engraving, remained in the Bowling Green some time after …
Near the Bowling Green, across Eroadway (No. 1), is the Kennedy
THE BOWLING GREEN IN ISfil.
House, where "Washington and General Lee, and afterwards Sir Henry
Clinton, Generals Eobertson and Carleton, and other British officers, had
their head-quarters. It has been recently altered by an addition to its
height. ■^'•
* This house \
with the (laiighte
as built by Captain Kennedy, of tlie Roy…
All of old New York
has been converted into one vast business mart, and there are very few
respectable residences within a mile of the Battery. At the present time
(September, 1861), it exhibits a martial display. Its green sward is
THE HUDSON.
covered with tents and barracks for the recruits of the Grand National
Array of Volunteers, and its fine old trees give grateful shade to the
newly-…
which 0 fine marble building was erected for a Custom House, and which
is now used for the purposes of a branch Mint. In the gallery, in front
of the hall, the President took the oath of office, administered by
Chancellor Livingston, in the presence of a great assemblage of people who
filled the street.
The Hudson from the Battery, northward, is lined with continuous
piers and slips, and exh…
" whilst the hoarse voices of escaping waste-steam,
and the discordant tintinnabulation of a score of bells, hurry on the
laggards by warnings of the near approach of the hour of departure. Several bells suddenly cease, when from different slips, steamboats covered
with passengers will shoot out like race-horses from their grooms, and
turning their prows northward, begin the voyage with wonder…
From every point of view
interesting landscapes meet the eye. The broad Tappan Sea is before it,
and stretching along its shores for several miles are seen the towns, and
villas, and rich farms of Westchester County. In its immediate vicinity
the huntsman and fisherman may enjoy his favourite sport. In its
southern suburbs is the spacious building of the Kockland Female
Institute, seen in ou…
freight is transferred to cars and barges. Tappantown, where Major
Andre was executed, is about two miles from Piermont.
A short distance below Piermont is Eockland, a post village of about
three hundred inhabitants, pleasantly situated on the river, and flanked
by high hills. Here the Palisades proper have their northern termination ;
and from here to Fort Lee the columnar range is almost un…
The site of the fort is on the left of the head of the
ravine, in the ascent, and is now marked by only a few mounds and a
venerable pine-tree just south of them, which tradition avers once
sheltered the tent of Washington. As the great patriot never pitched his
tent there, tradition is in error. Washington was at the fort a short time
at the middle of November, 1776, while the combined Briti…
The title of Port Washington was changed to that of Port
Knyphausen, in honour of the Hessian general who was engaged in its
capture. Port Lee was speedily approached by the British under
Cornwallis, and as speedily abandoned by the Americans. The latter fled
to the Eepublican camp at Hackensack, when Washington commenced his
famous retreat through New Jersey, from the Hudson to the Delaware,…
pleasant paths through the woods leading to vistas
through which glimpses of the city and adjacent waters arc
obtained. Hither pie-nic parties come to spend warm summer
days, where --
'■ Overhead
The braiu'hos arch, and ^hape a iileasant bower. Breaking white doud, blue sky, and sunsliiiie bright. Into iiure ivory and sapiihiro spots,
And flocks of geld ; a soft, cool emerald tint
Colours t…
He sent General Wayne, with some Pennsylvanian and M^aryland troops, horse and foot, to storm the block-house, and to drive the
THE HUDSON.
cattle within the American lines. Wayne sent the cavalry, under Major
Henry Lee, to perform the latter duty, whilst he and three Pennsylvanian
reo-iments marched against the block-house with four pieces of cannon. They made a spirited attack, but their can…
It was written
upon small folio paper. The poem is entitled
THE cow CHASE. Canto I.
To drive the kine one summer's n
The tanner* took his way ;
The calf shall rue, that is unborn,
The yumbling of that day.
And Wayne descending steers sliall know
And tauntingly deride,
And call to mind, in every low,
The tanning of his liide.
Yet IJergen cows still ruminate
Unconscious in the stall,
Wh…
Whether the wing that's doomed to fight,
Or tliat to drive the cows ;
* This is in allusion to the supposed business of General Wayne, in early life, who, it was said, was a
tanner. He was a surveyor.
t A common name for hasty-pudding, made of the meal of maize or Indian com.
t Major Harry Lee was cormuander of a corps of light horseman, and Colonel Proctor was at the liead
of a coq)s of art…
And ravish wife and daughter.
" I under cover of tli' attack.
Whilst you are all at blows. From English Neighborhood and Tinack
Will drive away the cows.
" For well you know the latter is
The serious operation,
And fighting with the refugees
Is only demonstration.''
His daring words from all the crowd
Such great applause did gain,
That every man declai-ed aloud
For serious work witli Wa…
At Irvine's nod,* 'twas fine to see
Tlie left prepared to figlit,
The while the drovers, Waj-ne and Lee,
Drew off upon the right.
Whiuli Irvine 'twas Fame don't relate,
Kor can the Muse assist hei',
Whether 'twas he that cocks a hat,
Or he that gives a glister.
For greatly one was signalised. That fouglit at Chestnut Hill,
And Canada immortalised
The vendor of the pill.
Yet the attendan…
Impending o'er their heads.
Here one bewails a brother's fate,
'1 here one a sire demands,
Cut off, alas ! before their date.
By ignominious hands.
And silver'd grandsires here appear'd
In deep distress serene,
Of reverend manners that declared
The better days they'd seen.
Oh ! cursed rebellion, these are thine,
Thine are these tales of woe ;
Shall at thy dire insatiate shrine
Blood ne…
Eode like a soldier big. And secretary Harrison,
With pen stuck in his wig.*
But, lest chieftain Washington
Should mourn them in the mumps,t
The fate of Withrington to shun,
They fought behind the stmups.
But ah! Thaddeus Posset, why
Should thy poor soul elope ? And why should Titus Hooper die,
Ah ! die-- without a rope ?
Apostate Murphy, tliou to whom
Fair Shela ne'er was cruel ;
In de…
A word about the rattle.
* Colonels Hamilton and Han-ison, of Washington's staff.
t A painful swelling of the glands, then prevalent in the Republican ami)-.
THE HUDSON.
The chief whom we beheld of late,
Near Schralenberg haranguing,
At Yan Van Poop's unconscious sat
Of Irvine's hearty banging.
Wliile valiant Lee, with courage wild,
Most bravely did oppose
Tlie tears of women and of chil…
No human lamentations,
Tlie trees you see them cutting yonder
Are all my near relations.
" And I, forlorn, implore thine aid
To free the sacred grove :
So shall thy prowess be repaid
With an immortal's love."
Now some, to prove she was a goddess I
Said this enchanting fair
Had late retired from the Bodies,*
In all the pomp of war.
That drums and merry flfes had play'd
To honour her ret…
All in a cloud of dust were seen,
The sheep, the horse, the goat.
The gentle heifer, ass obscene,
The yearling and the slioat.
And pack-horses with fowls came liy,
Befeathered on each side. Like Pegasus, the horse that I
And other poets ride.
Sublime upon the stirrups rose
The mighty Lee behind. And drove the terror-smitten cows,
Lilce chaff before the wind.
But sudden see the woods abov…
Five refugees ('tis true) were found
Stiff on the block-house floor,
But then 'tis thought the shot went round,
And in at the back door.
THE HUDSON. 447
Poor Parson Caldwell,* all in wonder,
Saw the returning train,
And mourn'd to Wayne the lack of plunder,
For them to steal again.
For 'twas his right to seize the spoil, and
To share with each commander.
As he had done at Staten Island …
I tremble as I show it. Lest this same warrio-drover, Wayne,
Should ever catch the poet.
It has been remarked as a curious coincidence, that on the day when
the last canto of the above poem was published in Rivington's Gazette,
Major Andre was arrested; and that General Wayne, so ridiculed in it,
and who is so peculiarly alluded to in the last stanza, was the commander
of the military force …
The Dutch spelt It Wlehachan, and it is
now commonly wi-itten Weehawken ; I Jiave adopted the ortliography that expresses the pure Indian
pronunciation.
THE HUDSON. 449
famous by its connection with the duelling ground where General
Alexander Hamilton, one of the founders of the Eepublic, was mortally
wounded in single combat, by Aaron Burr, then Vice-President of the
United States. They we…
This crime, added to
his known vices, made him thoroughly detested, and few men had the
courage to avow themselves his friend. A monument was erected to the
memory of Hamilton, on the spot where he fell. It was afterwards
destroyed by some marauder. The place is now a rough one, on the
margin of the river, and is marked by a rude arm-chair or sofa (seen in
our sketch, in which we are looking…
There, on a warm summer afternoon,
or a moonlit evening, might be seen scores of both sexes strolling upon
the soft grass, or sitting upon the green sward, recalling to memory many
beautiful sketches of life in the early periods of the world, given in the
volumes of the old poets. All is now changed ; the trips of Charon to
the Elysian Fields are suspended, and the grounds, stripped of many o…
At length the fierce Mohawks, bent on procuring
tribute from the weaker tribes westward of the Hudson, came sweeping
down like a gale from the north, driving great numbers of fugitives upon
the Hackcnsacks at Hobock. !N'ow was the opportunity for the Dutch. A strong body of them, with some Mohawks, crossed the Hudson at midnight, in February, 1643, fell upon the unsuspecting Indians, and before…
Our space
will allow nothing more than an outline description of it. It is a vessel
452 THE HUDSON.
seven hundred feet long (length of the Great Eastern), covered with
plates of iron so as to be absolutely bomb and round shot proof. It is to
be moved by steam engines of sufficient power to give it a momentum
that will cause it to cut a man-of-war in two, when it strikes it at the
waists. It…
This was
an important strategic point in the revolution. Here the British established a military post after taking possession of the city of JSTew York in
1776, and held it until August, 1779, when the active Major Henry Lee,
mentioned in Andre's satire of "The Cow Chase," with his legion, surprised the garrison, killed a number, and captured the fort, just before
the dawn. Now a flourishing c…
opposite the city of New York, is the large and beautiful city of Brooklyn,*
whose intimate social and business relations with the metropolis, and
connection by numerous ferries, render it a sort of suburban town. Its
growth has been wonderful. Less than sixty years ago, it contained
only a ferry-house, a few scattered dwellings, and a church. Now it
comprises an area of 16,000 acres, with an…
Near its banks was born Sarah Eapelje, the first child of European
parents that drew its earliest breath within the limits of the State of New
York.'''' Upon that aceldama of the old war for independence in the
vicinity of the Hudson, is now a dockyard of the United States Government, which covers about forty-five acres of land. "Within the enclosure
is a depository of curious things, brought …
constructed, known as the Atlantic Docks, covering forty acres, and
aftbrding within the "slips" water of sufficient depth for vessels of
largest size. There is an outside pier, three thousand feet in length, and
on the wharves are extensive warehouses of granite. These wharves
afford perfect security from depredators to vessels loading and unloading. A little below Brooklyn, and occupying a p…
456 THE HUDSON.
the grave of M 'Donald Clarke, known in New York, twenty years ago,
as the "Mad Poet." His monument is seen upon a little hillock in our
sketch of Sylvan Water, Clarke was an eccentric child of genius. He
became, in his latter years, an unhappy wanderer, with reason half
dethi'oned, a companion of want, and the victim of the world's neglect. His proud spirit disdained to ask f…
From two or three prominent points in Greenwood Cemetery fine
views of New York city and bay may be obtained, but a better comprehension of the scenery of the harbour, and adjacent shores, may be had
in a voyage down the Bay to Staten Island. f This may be accomplished
G0VEEK0E"S and liEKLUt'S LSLANDS.
many times a day, on steam ferry-boats, from the foot of "Whitehall
Street, near "The Batte…
On the right
is Bedloe's Island,* mostly occupied by Fort Wood, a heavy fortification,
erected in 1841. Near it is Ellis's Island, with a small military work,
called Fort Gibson. This was formerly named Gibbet Island, it being
then, as now, the place for the execution of pirates. These islands
belong to the United States. The forts upon them were used as prisons
for captured soldiers of the …
These country-seats usually overlook the bay. The
tourist will find an excursion over this island a delightful one.
On the northern extremity of Staten Island, the State of New York
established a quarantine as early as 1799, and maintained it until the
beginning of September, 1858, when the inhabitants of the village that
had grown up there, and of the adjacent country, who had long petitione…
On the left is the Long Island shore, with Fort
Hamilton on its high hank, and Fort Lafayette, formerly Fort Diamond,
in the stream below. The latter fort is upon Hendrick's Eeef, two
hundred yards from the Long Island shore. It was commenced in 1812,
but had not been thoroughly completed when the Civil War commenced,
although 350,000 dollars had been spent upon it. It was then capable
of ha…
It was enlarged and strengthened during the Civil War. At the beginning of the rebellion it mounted sixty heavy guns (a portion
of them en harbette), forty-eight of which bore upon the ship channel. The fort is elevated, and commands the Lower Bay from the Narrows
towards Sandy Hook. This work, with the fortifications on the opposite
shore of Staten Island, and the water battery of Fort Lafayet…
ISTear the Pavilion, at its western end, the
scene of our little sketch, the beach is very flat, and surf bathing is
perfectly safe. There crowds of bathers of both sexes, in their sometimes
grotesque dresses, may be seen every pleasant day in summer, especially
at evening, enjoying the water. Eefreshments are served at the Pavilion
near, and a day may be spent there pleasantly and profitably…
Sandy Hook is a long, low, narrow strip of sandy land, much of it
THE HUDSON.
covered with shrubs and dwarf trees. It is about five miles in length,
from the Navesink Lights to its northern extremity, whereon are two
lighthouses. It is the southern cape of Raritan Bay, and has twice been
an island, within less than a century. An inlet was cut through by the
sea during a gale in 1778, but clo…
About a mile below the pier, near the lighthouse, on the inner
shore of the Hook, once stood an elegant monument, erected to the
memory of a son of the Earl of Morton, and thirteen others, who were
cast away near there, in a snow-storm, during the revolution, and
perished. All but one were officers of a British man-of-war, wrecked
there. They were discovered, and buried in one grave. The moth…
We have looked upon almost every prominent object of
Nature and Art along the borders of the Hudson, and have communed •
profitably, I hope, with History and Tradition on the way. We have
seen every phase of material progress, from Nature in her wildest forms,
to Civilisation in its highest development. Our journey is finished-- our
observations have ceased-and here, with the yielding sand be…