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HAM'S MILLS TAGHKANIC COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK By Capt. Franklin Ellis 225 1878
Ham' Mills are located on Copake creek, in the western part of
the town of Taghkanic, on the Hudson and Salisbury turnpike, and about midway
between West Taghkanic and Glenco mills. About 1825, William Gardner came to
this location and built a carding-mill, which was subsequently used as a
fulling-mill and grist-mill, and was known as
"Gardner's Mills." In 1850, Peter P. Ham, a practical
mechanic and mill-wright, purchased the premises,
and two years later built the present grist and flouring-mill, which is a
two-story building, thirty-two by forty-two feet, and has a capacity of
twenty-five barrels of flour per day. This mill is now used chiefly for
general custom work. In 1868, Mr. Ham erected a
three-story building, thirty-two by thirty-six feet, for a flouring-mill, and
used it as such for some time, but in 1872 this building was converted into a
hub-factory and general wood-working shop, furnished with a full complement
of the most approved and appropriate machinery. In this mill are made
annually from three thousand to four thousand sets of carriage and
wagon-hubs, of all styles and sizes. These hubs are made of the best
red-elm timber, large quantities of which are purchased yearly from farmers
in this vicinity, and the annual product amounts to about $10,000. In 1877, Mr. Ham erected another
building, twenty-two by eighty feet, for a saw-mill,
and immediately put in an improved mill, with a forty-eight-inch circular
saw. This mill has a capacity of four thousand feet per day, and does a large amount of sawing of every
description. Mr. Ham also has a cider-mill on the
premises, which makes from eight hundred to one thousand barrels of cider per
year. The power to run this extensive
machinery is furnished by three iron turbine water-wheels,
having an aggregate of eighty-five horse-power. Mr. Ham is an ingenious mechanic, and
an industrious and skillful workman, and richly deserves the extensive
patronage with which his business enterprise is favored far and near. This town
was the scene of much violent excitement during the anti-rent troubles of
1844, and although no actual conflict of arms occurred, for a long time the
people were so greatly stirred up that such an event seemed imminent.
In the month of November a meeting was held, at
which the "Taghkanic Mutual Association" was formed. John I.
Johnson, president; James M. Strever, George I.
Rossman, Peter Poucher, Samuel A. Tanner, and
George I. Finkle, vice-presidents; Philip B. Miller, treasurer; Anthony Poucher, recording secretary; and John Bain and James M. Strever, executive committee, were the officers of the
association. The meetings were held principally at the house of James Yager, at Taghkanic, and the members generally appeared
in fantastic disguises, made of bright-colored calico, with their faces
painted in Indian style or screened by hideous masks. After the killing of W. H. Rifenburgh, at a meeting at Smoky Hollow, in Claverack,
wiser counsel began to prevail, and hot blood was cooled by the appreciation
of the true tendencies of the movement. The association was abandoned,
and the opponents of the rent system adopted other and better means to
accomplish their aims. It was during this time of turmoil
that the destruction of buildings by fire and the killing of animals by shot or
poison marked the bitter feelings engendered by the mischievous harangues to
which the anti-renters were treated by the demagogue speakers. The
buildings on the Livingston property at New Forge were several times
unsuccessfully fired, and two stacks of hay in near proximity were burned to
ashes. A large barn owned by Lapham & Miller, of West Taghkanic,
was burned, and an unsuccessful attempt was made on the barn of Mr. Stephen
Ham, about a mile east of West Taghkanic. Two attempts were made to
burn the buildings of Robert H. Bush, who had in some manner incurred the
bitter hatred of the reckless incendiaries; and at one of these times a guard
was stationed to watch the house-door while the fire was being started, with
instructions to shoot down whoever appeared to put a stop to the nefarious
operations. No one appeared, however, and the infernal machine which
they depended upon to set the fire going became smothered by its own smoke. The incendiaries employed to do this
work were Alexander Decker and Perez Allen. Allen, upon their being
arrested, turned State's evidence, and was released. Decker was put
upon "jail limits," and suddenly disappeared. It is generally
believed that he was spirited away by person connected with the anti-renters,
against whom he was able to give damaging evidence, and that he was foully
murdered to insure his silence. The Finkle family were the most
conspicuous among the anti-renters of this section. Joseph W. Finkle
and his sons were very troublesome, and had numerous
conflicts with the officers of the law who were sent to serve legal processes
upon them. In these encounters they invariably came off victorious,
secured and burned the papers, and in some cases caused the officers to beat
a precipitate retreat and pursued them for some miles. At one time the
sheriff's posse, composed of a force of New York city roughs, who were
employed for the express purpose of conquering these hitherto invincible Finkles, came to the house and were admitted to the room
where the family was. As soon as the business of the visitors became
known a fierce fight began, and in a short space of time the New Yorkers were
whipped and put to flight. Three of the young Finkles
were afterwards convicted of perjury, and sentenced
to Sing Sing prison. During their
imprisonment the father died, and was buried in the
Lyall cemetery in the town of Copake. On the unpretending monument that
marks his resting-place is the following inscription: "In memory of Joseph W. Finkle, died Sept. 7, 1849, aged 76 years, 11 months, & 16 days, whose death was caused through perpetual grief by the false imprisonment of three of his sons, Peter Finkle, Calvin Finkle, John I. Finkle, who ware all three falsely condemned & sentenced for a term of years to Singsing prison, in order to quail thare noble spirits, blight their patriotic zeal, constrain them to renounce thare honest integrity of honesty, & submit to oppression, frauds, & fudal sistoms." ::HOME::TAGHKANIC INDEX::
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