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ULSTER COUNTY.
is raised to some extent. Fruit growing is becoming an important branch of business. Manu¬
factures of sole leather and lumber are located in the western towns,1 and water-lime in the eastern.
The commerce, carried on by means of the river and canal, is large, and is constantly increasing.
The co. seat is located at Kingston.2 The courthouse is a fine stone edifice, situated upon Wall
St.3 The jail is a stone building in rear of the courthouse. It is well arranged and furnished and
is kept in good order.4 The clerk’s office is in a fireproof one story building on the corner of
Fair and Main Sts.5 The poorhouse is located upon a farm of 140 acres, on the s. line of New
Paltz, 16 mi. s. w. of Kingston. It is poorly constructed, not ventilated at all, and is entirely unfit
for the purposes for which it is used. The average number of inmates is 175, supported at a weekly
cost of $1.25 each. A school is taught 6 months in the year.6 The farm yields a revenue of $500.
The Delaware & Hudson Canal is the only important work of internal improvement in the co.
It extends from Rondout, on the Hudson, up Rondout and Sandburgh Creeks, through Kingston,
Rosendale, Marbletown, Rochester, and Wawarsing. It opens a direct communication between the
coal mines of Penn, and the Hudson. The Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. was incorp. April 23,
1823, and the canal was finished in 1828.7
One daily and 7 weekly newspapers are now published in‘the co.6
The Dutch established a trading post upon the present site of Rondout in 1614, and probably a
few Dutch families settled in the immediate vicinity soon after. This early settlement was broken
up by Indian hostilities, and a new one was commenced between 1630 and ’40. This was again
attacked by the Indians, and in 1655 was abandoned. Before 1660, settlers had again located at
Kingston and vicinity. In 1660. a treaty had been concluded with the Indians; and the people were
so unsuspicious of danger that they left open the gates to their fort both day and night. June 7,
1663, the Indians came into the fort at Wiltwyck in great numbers, apparently to trade, while the
greater part of the people were engaged in their usual avocations out of doors. At a given signal
the Indians commenced the work of destruction. Recovering from their first panic, the whites
rallied, under the leadership of Thomas Chambers, and finally drove the Indians out of the fort;
18 whites were killed, and 42 were carried away prisoners. The out settlements were all destroyed.
A destructive war ensued, in which the Ulster Indians were nearly exterminated. During this war
the valley of the Wall Kil was discovered, and soon after the peace of 1663 it was occupied by a
colony of French Huguenots.7 The settlements gradually extended along the valleys of Esopus,
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The Plebeian and Ulster Co. Advertiser.
The Ulster Sentinel was published at Kingston about 1826-28
by Charles G. De Witt.
The Ulster Republican was commenced at Kingston
in 1828 by S. Curtiss, jr. It is now published by Hom-
mell & Lounsbery. -
The Ulster Palladium was commenced at Saugerties in 1828 by
P. J. Fish and C. Frary. Its name was subsequently
changed to
The Ulster Palladium and Manufacturers’ Journal.
The National Pioneer was published at Milton in 1830 by Ban’I
S. Tuthill.
The Ulster Star was commenced at Saugerties in Jan. 1833, by
Wm. Cully.
The Ulster County Whig was commenced at Kingston in 1835
by Wallace & Brown.
The Kingston Democratic Journal was com¬
menced in 1837 by Wm. H. Romeyn, its present publisher.
The Political Reformer was commenced at Kingston in 1840 by
H. M. Romeyn.
The Ulster Huguenot was commenced at Kingston in 1843 by
J. Cully and T. F. Baldwin.
The Hickory Democrat was issued at Kingston, as a campaign
paper, in 1844.
The Ulster Democrat was commenced at Kingston in
1846 by A. A. Bensall. It is now published by S. R.
Harlow.
The Kingston Dally Chronicle is issued fromjhe
same office.
The Ulster Telegraph was commenced at Saugerties in 1846 by
Solomon S. Hommell. Its name , was subsequently
changed to
The Saugerties Telegraph, Elting&Rosepaugh, pubs.
The Rondout Freeman, started in 1859,' is now issued
by Vanrauren & Gildersleeve.
The Rondout Courier was commenced in 1847. It is
now published by J. P. Hageman.
The Ellenville Journal was commenced in 1847. It
is now published by O. A. Campbell.
The People’s Press is published at Kingston by Daniel
Bradbury.
9 After the peace of 1660 the Director General of New Nether*
lands shippefi 11 Indians prisoners to Curasoa to be sold as
slaves. This outrage led to the attack made in 1663, and the
bloody war that followed. Nine days after the retreat of the
Indians from the attack upon Wiltwyck, in June, 1663, a rein- |
1
The principal tanneries are in Shandaken, Olive, Woodstock,
Denning, Hardenburgh, and Wawarsing.
2
A courthouse and jail were built soon after the incorp. of the
co., and an appropriation was made for their repair July 21,1715.
These buildings proving inadequate, an act of General Assembly,
passed Oct. 14,1732, allowed the old buildings and lot to be sold
and new buildings to be erected. Repairs were authorized in
1745, 1750, 1765, and 1773; and in 1775 a further sum was
granted to complete them. The courthouse and jail were
burned by the British Oct. 16,1777, and a lottery was granted 6
months after to raise £2,000 to rebuild them. By act of March
19,1778, the sheriff’s mileage was directed to be computed from
the house of Mrs. Ann DuBoise,an innkeeper in New Paltz.
3
s The first county officers under State government were Levi
Pauling, First Judge; Egbert Dumond, Sheriff; and Joseph
Gasherie, Surrogate.
4
The Senate Committee in 1857 report this jail as one of the
5
Dutchess and Ulster , cos. were incorp. at the same time, and
were united for about 30 years. The records of Dutchess co. for
that period are found in the Ulster co. clerk’s office.
6
The New TorTc Journal and Advertiser—published by John
Holt, and which was removed from NewYork to Pough¬
keepsie in 1776 in consequence of British occupation—
was published at Kingston from July to Oct. 1777.
7
The Farmers’ Register was commenced at Kingston in 1792 by
Nicholas Power and Wm. Copp.
The Rising Sun was commenced at Kingston in 1793 by Wm.
Copp and Sam’l S. Freer.
The Ulster Gazette was commenced at Kingston in 1798 by Sam’l
S. and A. Freer.
The Plebeian was commenced at Kingston in Nov. 1805, by
Jesse Buell, who continued as editor until 1813. In 1827
its name was changed to
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