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SCH0H4RIE COUNTY.
highest parts are 600 to 800 ft. above the valley. The soil is principally a clayey loam.
Esperance, (p. v.,) upon the e. line, was incorp. April 21, 1832. It contains 2 churches, a
paper mill, gristmill, sawmill, and foundery. Pop. 322. Sloansville,1 (p. v.,) near the
center, contains 2 churches, 3 sawmills, and 2 gristmills. Pop. 252. The first settlements were
made by Palatinates, about 1711.2 There are 4 churches in town ; 2 Bap., Presb., and M. E,
FULTOl3—was formed from Middleburgh, April 15, 1828. It is the central town in the co.
Its surface is a hilly upland, broken by the ravines of the streams. Schoharie Creek4 flows sr.
through the e. part, receiving Panther Creek from the w. The highest summits are 1,000 ft. above
the valleys. The hills next to the creek are conical and often precipitous ; but farther w. they
assume a rounded form and are bounded by more gradual slopes. The soil is a gravelly and
clayey loam. Brealiabeen,4 (p.v.,) upon Schoharie Creek, in the s. part, contains a church,
gristmill, foundery, 2 sawmills, and 200 inhabitants. Fultonliam, (p*v.,) near the e. line
contains a church, gristmill, 2 sawmills, and 25 dwellings; and West Fulton (p.v.) a
church, sawmill, gristmill, and 16 dwellings. Watsonville is a small village, in the e. part;
and Petersburg"!! a hamlet, in the n. part. The first settlements were made by Dutch and
Palatinates, about 1711. The upper fort of the Schoharie during the Revolution was situated
upon the present site of Eultonham. The census reports 5 churches in town.6 Gov. "VVm. C.
Bouck was born in this town Jan. 7, 1786, and died here in April, 1859.
GILBOA—was formed from Blenheim and Broome, March 16, 1848. It is the central town
upon the s. border of the co. Its surface is a mountainous upland, broken by deep ravines.
Schoharie Creek7 flows n. through the center, receiving Platter Kil from the e. and Mine Kil
from the w. The streams aA bordered by steep hillsides rising to a height of 2,000 to 3,000
ft. above tide. The soil is a gravelly and clayey loam. Gilboa, (p. v.,) upon Schoharie Creek,
contains 2 churches, a private seminary, cotton factory,5 gristmill, tannery, and 566 inhabitants.
South Gilboa, (p. v.,) in the w. part, contains a church and 20 dwellings. West Gilboa,
(p. o.,) in the n. w. part, is a hamlet. MacKeys Corners, (Broome Center p. o.,) in the e. part,
contains a church and 15 dwellings. Mine S4.il Falls is a p. o. Settlement was commenced in
1764, by Matthew and Jacob Dise.6 The first preacher was Rev. Joel Peebles, settled in 1808.10
JEFFER.SOJV—was formed from Blenheim, Feb. 12, 1803. A part of Summit was taken
off in 1819. It is on the s. line of the co., near the s. w. corner. Its surface is a hilly upland,
the principal summits being about 1,000 ft. above the valleys and 2,000 ft. above tide. Mine
Ilill, in the extreme s. part, is estimated to be 3,200 ft. above tide. A high ridge extending n. e.
and s. w. through near the center forms the watershed between Delaware and Mohawk Rivers.
UtsyanthiaLake is a small sheet of water on the s. line.7 The soil is a gravelly and clayey loam..
Jeffersou, (p.v.,) near the center, contains 2 churches and 25 houses. Morseville, in the
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13,1770; Hendrick Hager’s, 900 acres, Dec. 1,1768; part of John
Butler’s, of 100 acres, and of Isaac Levy’s tract of 4,333 acres,
surveyed in July, 1770. Vrooman’s Laud Indian deeds are still
extant, one of which is dated Aug. 22, 1711. Among the early
settlers were Peter, son of Adam Vrooman. the patentee; Cor¬
nelius and Bartholomew Vrooman, Nicholas Feeck, Adam
Brown,. Teunis Vrooman, Michael Brown, Kriesler, Frere
Becker, and Stephen Young, on the w.; and William Bouck, the
patentee, with his sons Johannes F., Christian, and William,
Nicholas York, and Henry Hager, on the E.
4 This stream is called by the Indians Ken-ha-na-ga-ra. Upon
its course, in a ravine 200 feet deep worn in the Hamilton
shales, is a fine cascade, known as <! Bouck’s Falls.”
8 A German name for the rushes which grew upon the banka
of the creek at this place.
6 3 Union, Evan. Luth., and Ref. Prot. D.
7 A fall in the creek at the village was called by the Indians
De-was-e-go.
8 The Gilboa Cotton Mills Co. has a capital of $50,000, and
runs 100 looms. •
9 These two settlers joined the British and fled to Canada
during the Revolution. Among the early settlers after the war
were Richard Stanley, Joseph Desilva, Benoni Frazer, Cornelius
Lane, John Breaster, Isaac Yan Fort, Daniel Conover, and Jacob
Homer,—all from New England. Ruloff Voorhees kept the first
inn, in 1785; John Dise built the first mills, in 1764; and Jonah
Soper the first tannery, in 1800. This town embraces a part of
the Blenheim Patent, with parts of grants to Ury Richtmeyer,
David Buffington, (July, 1770,) and Scott, with a portion of
the “ State Lands.” The last named tracts comprised the lands
escheated to . the State hy failure of title, and the confiscated
estates of tories.
10 The census reports 8 churches; 4 Bap., 2 M. E., Ref. Prot.
D„ and Christian.
u This lake is 1,800 ft. ahove tide. It is often mentioned in old
documents, and was an angle in the hounds of Albany co. in colo.
uial times. It is -the source of the w. branch of the Delaware. |
1
Named from John R. Sloan, an early settler. Many years
since, near this place, hy the side of a path leading to Fort
Hunter, was a stone heap thrown up hy the Indians, who, from
a superstition among them, never failed to add a stone to the
pile whenever they passed it. The Rev. Gideon Hawley, who
passed it in 1753, relates (1 Mass. CoU. IF) that this heap had
been accumulating for ages, and that his native guide could
give. 1I0 other reason for the observance than that his father
practiced it and enjoined it upon him. He did not lilje to talk
about it; and the missionary believed that the custom was a
religious offering to the unknown God. Others state that a
tradition fixes this as the spot where a murder was committed.
The heap gave name to the “ Stone Heap Patent,” granted to
John Bowen and others Sept. 15,1770. The heap was 4 rods
long, 1 or 2 wide, and 10 to 15 ft. high, and consisted of small, flat
stones., The covetous owner many years since built the material
into a stone wall; and no trace of this curious monument of In¬
dian superstition now remains. Similar stone heaps have been
noticed in other sections of the State. The path that led hy this
pile was that taken by Sir John Johnson and his army from Scho¬
harie to the Mohawk in Oct. 1780.—Simms’s Schoharie, p. 632.
2
One of the first settlements was made at “Kneislcerns Dorf,”
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opposite the month of Cobles Kil. The place was named from
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lies. Henry and George Houck built the first gristmill. This
town comprises the whole of Jacob Henry Ten Eyck’s patent,
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This town embraces the whole of several patents and parts
of others, the principal of which are Michael Byrne’s, of 18,000
acres, granted Dec. 14,1767; John Butler’s, of about 8,000 acres;
"Wm. Bouck’s Patent, of 1,250 acres, e. of the creek, granted May
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8,1755, and another, on the w., of about the same size; Edward
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Vrooman, Aug. 26,1714; Wm. Wood’s Patent, of 2,000 acres, July
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