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274 DUTCHESS COUNTY.
localities.1 Piiy Plains, (p.v.,) near the center of the town, contains a bank and 3 churches.
Pop. 382. Qammertown contains an extensive scythe factory and a dozen houses.2 Psil¬
vers Corner (p.o.) and Mount Ross are hamlets. The first settlements were probably
made about 1740.3 A Moravian mission was established among the Indians at Shekomeko, 2 mi.
s. of Pine Plains, in Sept. 1740.3 There are 7 churches in town.4
PEE AS ANT VAEEEY—was formed from Clinton, Jan. 26, 1821. It is an interior town,
lying w. of the center of the co. Its surface is a' rolling and hilly upland. Barnes and Dennis
Hills, in the n. w., are the highest points. "Wappingers Creek flows s. w. through near the center;
Sprout Creek takes its rise in a pond in the s. w. part. Slate crops out along the hills, and a vein
of marble has lately been discovered. The soil is a clayey and gravelly loam. Pleasant Val¬
ley, (p.v.,) in the s. w. part, was incorp. April 15, 1814; it contains a cotton factory5 and 4
churches. Pop. 500.6 Salt Point, (p.v.,) on Wappingers Creek, contains a grist and plaster
mill and 17 houses. Washington Hollow, (p.v.,) on the line of Washington, contains a
church, cotton factory,7 and 16 houses. Crum Elt»OW is a p. o. The first church (Presb.)
was formed in 1765 ; Kev. Wheeler Case, the first pastor, was installed Nov. 12 of the same year.
There are 5 churches in town.8
POUGHKEEPSIE9—was formed as a town March 7,17,88. The city of Poughkeepsie was
taken off March 28, 1854. It lies upon the Hudson, s. of the center of the co. Its surface is
mostly a rolling upland. Wappingers Creek, forming the e. boundary, and Fall Kil, flowing s.
through Poughkeepsie City, each furnish a considerable amount of water power. The soil is
clayey in the w. and a sandy and gravelly loam in the remaining parts. Slew Hamtourgla,
(p.v.,) on the Hudson, in the extreme s. angle, contains 2 churches. It is a R. R. station, and is
connected by a ferry with Marlborough, Orange co. Pop. 339. Oltaiamiigville, opposite Wap¬
pingers Falls, contains a gristmill, 2 churches, and 50 houses. Mancliester, (Manchester Bridge
p. o.,) on the line of La Grange, contains about a dozen houses.10 lloefidaie, in the n. e. corner,
contains 2 cotton factories and 15 houses. Locust Glen is a p. o. The first settlements were
made by the Dutch, about 1700.11 There are 4 churches in town; 2 M. E., Presb., and It. C.
POUGHKEEPSIE CITY—was formed from Pough¬
keepsie, and incorp. as a village March 27, 1799, and as a city
March 28,1854. It is situated upon the Hudson, a little s. of the
center of the w. border of the co. The ground gradually rises
from the river to a table land, 150 to 200 ft. high, upon which
most of the city is built, and about 1 mi. back into a hill 500 ft.
high.12 Fall Kil, a small stream, flows in a tortuous channel
through the city, affording a limited amount of water power.
The city is finely laid out on the bluff overlooking the Hudson;
and, besides the co. buildings, it contains 4 banks, 1 savings'*
bank, 18 churches, and many other fine public and private
buildings. Its location gives to the city commercial advantages
which are fully improved. During the summer daily lines of steamers run to New York and to
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followed by several of their Indian converts. The mission was
visited by Count Zinzendorf and Bishop David Nitschman soon
after its location in this town. During the last 2 years, 62 native
converts were baptized and admitted to the church. Gottlieb
Buettner, one ot the missionaries, died in Feb. 1745, at this
place.—Heckewelder’s Hist. Morav. Missions, 20; Doc. Mist. IV. Y.,
III. 1014; Davis’s Shekomeko, p. 29.
3 Bap., M. E., Presb., Prot. E., and Friends.
6 This factory was built in 1815, by John Gibbons. It con¬
tains 80 looms, and gives employment to 75 hands.
7 The charter of this village is a dead letter, as no election has
taken place in 10 years. The village records are lost.
8 This factory gives employment to about 40 hands.
9 2 M. E., Friends, Prot. E., and Presb.
10 Poughkeepsie Precinct was formed Dec. 16,1737. In early
documents the name is spelled in a variety of ways, as “ Picipsi”
and “Pokipsi.” The original name is said to have been Apo-
keep-sink, signifying “deep water.”
11 A cotton factory was formerly in operation here. In 1849 it
was changed to a paper mill, which was run until 1857.
12 Near the s. line of the city is a house built before the Revo¬
lution and formerly owned by Philip Livingston. It still bears
the marks of balls fired by the British. The dwelling of Gov.
Geo. Clinton, still standing, 6 mi. below the city, is now owned
by Philip S. Van Rensselaer. Prof. S. F. B. Morse, the inventor
of the electric telegraph, resides 2 mi. S. of the city.
13 About 1 mi. n. of this hill is another of about the same ele- |
1
Upon draining Hoag Pond, 1J mi. s. e. of Pine Plains Village,
a very deep bed of marl, covering 6 or 8 acres, was found. Marl
is also found in Buttermilk Pond.
2
Harris’s Scythe Factory gives employment to 50 hands, and
turns out about 2000 dozen scythes per annum.
3
i This mission was commenced in Sept. 1740, by Henry Ranch,
4
and on the 22d of Feb. 1742, the first 3 Indian converts were
5
baptized. Before the end of the year, 26 more were converted,
6
and a place of worship was erected. This little community had
7
not become fully settled before its quiet was disturbed by the
8
intrusion of an armed force under the orders of the sheriff, at
9
the instigation of intolerant and bigoted neighbors; and, al¬
10
though neither arms nor any thing else were found that could
11
be construed into hostile designs against the Government, the
missionaries were seized and brought before the Governor and
Council at New York, under charge of being in the interests of
12
the French and of endeavoring to seduce the Indians from their
alliance with the English. Upon refusing to take the oath of
allegiance, they were reprimanded and discharged. Their ene¬
mies, well knowing their conscientious scruples in regard to
oaths, in 1744 obtained the passage of an act “for securing his
majesty’s government in New York,” by which an oath of alle¬
giance was made obligatory. Ratner than do violence to their
consciences, the missionaries removed to Bethlehem, Penn.,
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