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270 DUTCHESS COUNTY.
principal streams are Ten Mile River, Wassaic Creek, and West Brook, and their branches. A low
range of metamorphic limestone extends sr. and s. through near the center of the yalley.1 Iron ore
lias been extensively mined in the highlands w. of the valley.2 The soil is a clayey and sandy
loam. Ameniaville; (Amenia p.o.,) sr. of the center of the town, contains the Amenia
Seminary,3 3 churches, and 30 houses. It is a station upon the Harlem R. R. ,TIie City, (City
p.o.,) in the n.w. corner, contains a church and 17 houses; Wassaic, (p.v.,) a r. r. station, a
furnace, sash and blind factory, and 18 houses; Amenia Union, (p.v.,) upon the Conn. line,
2 churches, a woolen factory, and 30 houses;4 and South Amenia (p.v.) a church and 14
houses. ILeedsville (p. o.) is a hamlet near the e. border. Sharon Station, on the line
of Northeast, is a p. o. Richard Sackett purchased large tracts of the Indians in this town and in
Sharon, Conn., and settled in 1711; he failed of getting his title recognized by the crown, and died
in poverty in 1748 or ’49.5 During the Revolution a furnace and fqundery for the manufacture
of steel for the use of the army was established about 1 mi. s. of Wassaic. The site, known as
“The Steel Works,” is still covered hy coal dust and cinders. There are 7 churches in town.6
BFEKMAM—was formed as a town, March 7,1788.7 A part of “ Freedom” (now La Grange)
was taken off in 1821, and a part of Union Vale in 1827. It lies in the s.e. part of the co.,—one
corner extending to the s. border. Its surface is a hilly and broken upland. Pleasant Hill, on the
n. border, is the highest summit. Limestone and slate crop out on the summits and declivities
of nearly all the hills. The streams are small creeks and brooks tributaries of the Fishkill, and
are bordered hy wide, fertile intervales. Silver Lake is a fine body of water near the w. line.8
Iron ore is found s. of this lake.9- The soil is a productive, gravelly loam. Green Haven,
(p.v.,) near the w. border, contains 1 church and 18 dwellings; Beekman Ville, (Beekman
p.o.,) near the center, 1 church and 12 dwellings; Pongkquag' (p.v.) 2 churches and 15 dwell¬
ings ; and Beekman Furnace, on the n. line, an iron manufactory and 10 houses.10 The
first settlements are supposed to have been made about 1710; hut the early records are lost. A.
Delong located in 1716, and kept an inn at an early day. Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, Bishop of Penn.,
and Ms brother, Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of N. Y., were natives
of this town. There are 4 churches in town.11
ClilMTOM12—was formed from “ Charlotte” and Rhinebeck Precincts, March 13, 1786. Hyde
Park and Pleasant Valley were taken off in 1821. It is an interior town, lying n.w. of the center
of the co. Its surface is a rolling upland considerably broken hy hills in the n. and w. Shultz
Mts., on the n. border, and Sippe Barrack, in the w., are the highest points.13 Salt Point Creek,
the principal stream, flows s. through near the center. - Crum Elbow Creek forms a portion of the
w. boundary. Several small lakes, the principal of which is Long Pond, lie in the n. part. The
soil in the n. is a sandy loam, and in the center and s. it is a productive, slaty loam. Clinton
Hollow, (p.v.,) near the center, contains 25 houses, Clinton Corners (p.v.) 25 houses,
Scitultoville (p. o.) a gristmill and 10 houses, and Pleasant Plains (p. o.) a church and
8 houses. Bulls Head, Clinton Point, and Hibernia are p. offices. Derrick Van Vliet
located in town about 1755. There are 4 churches in town; 2 Friends,-Presb., and Prot. E.
DOfEB—was formed from Pawling, Feb. 20, 1807. It lies on the e. border of the co., s. of
the center. The e. and w. borders are occupied hy hills and mts., and the center by a deep, wide
valley. The valley, is about 400 feet ahove tide, and the summits of the hills are 300 to 500 feet
higher. Ten Mile River flows s. from the n. line to near the s. boundary, thence turns e. and dis¬
charges its waters into the Housatonic. It receives from the s. Swamp River, a stream that is
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and Elisha Kinney settled previous to 1743. After this time the
town rapidly filled up with settlers, mostly from New England.
The first mill is supposed to have been built hy John Delamater,
at Leedsville, and the first inn to have been kept hy Michael
Hopkins, near the center of the town.
6 3 Presb., 2 M. E., and 1 each Rap. and Prot. E.
7 The town embraced the land granted to Col. Henry Beekman.
Beekman Precinct was formed Dec. 16, 1737, and Pawling’s
Precinct was set off in 1768.
8 The Indian name for this lake is A-po-qua-gue, signifying
round lake.
2 Ore from this bed is extensively mined and taken to Pough¬
keepsie and Fishkill Furnace.
10 The furnace at this place is supplied with ore from Union-
vale: 700 tons of iron are annually produced.
u Bap., M. E., Prot. E., and Union.
12 Named from Geo. Clinton, first Governor.
13 A slate quarry was formerly worked at the N. extremity of
the Shultz Mts.; hut it is now abandoned. |
1
This limestone is of a bluish color, hard and brittle; and
■where it crops out it is considerably disintegrated, covering the
ground in the immediate vicinity with a white sand.
2
An ore bed J mi. w. of Ameniaville has been extensively
worked for 25 or 30 years, and thef supply of ore seems inex¬
haustible. Another ore bed has been opened 2 mi. N. w. of Was¬
saic, and another near the N. line of the town.
3
This institution has been under the charge of the M. E. de-
lomination.
4
1 church, the woolen factory, and about half of the buildings
5
are in Conn.
6
8 Mr. Sackett was connected with the Livingstons in the
7
settlement of the Palatinates at “German Camp,” (now German¬
8
town, Columbia co.) TJIric Winegar and his son, Capt. Garrett,
9
were the next families. They removed from “ German Camp”
10
in 1724 and settled on the Oblong tract. The father died in
11
1754, aged 102 years. Delamat.er settled soon after the
12
Winegars, N. w. of Amenia Union. Henry Nase, Stephen Hop¬
13
kins, Joel Gillett, Hez. King, Abm. and Joshua Paine, J. Howe,
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