Page 11
History of Orange County
Towns of Goshen, Hamptonburgh and Chester
Page 11
The Indians were dispatched to drive up the cows, for “baughten time was near my Joe.” As the settlement was the joint work of the parties, the preparation of the evening meal, after the excitements and labor of the day, was no exception; for each one seemed alive to the occasion, and anxious to try his inexperience upon a subject so desperate and difficult to get up, with the limited means at their command. The workmen over rejoiced at the early completion of the building, proclaimed aloud that they must have something “choice and rare to handsel the new wigwam.” As the work progressed, all were actively and zealously engaged. Some untied the sacks of flour, ham, crackers, &c., determined that the meal should be as extensive as their provisions would admit. Others opened the beds and unrolled the bedding, to discover the secret deposit of china and other brittle wares. Wood bowls and trenchers were called into requisition, and the small tin plates set round in order on the table to garnish it and be used as coffee cups. The grains of coffee were roasting, the ham frying, the cakes baking, the potatoes boiling. Small rolls of brown sugar were produced, found secreted in the coffee pot; knives and forks rolled up in the bed clothes; salt, pepper, spites and ribbons in an iron pot; soap and candles in a leather wallet, &c. While preparations indoors were in this stage of forward execution, the Indians drove up the cows which added their noisy presence to the exciting scene, and some one drew off their milk. As the various articles of an eatable or table character were found among the piles of small luggage, they received their appropriate destination, by being transferred according to the taste of the agent to the moveable log table. In the midst of this animated arrangement and preparation of the table, the bounty and true excellence of which an epicurian or real gormand might have envied, two of the Indians were outside of the door, who being quick of sight and hearing, espied two persons on horseback approaching from the south. Not knowing the persons of the visitors, nor the character of the mission, they ran off like wild deer to meet them and learn who they were, when lo! they proved to be Christopher and Madam Denn. The first inquiry was, “where is Sarah, and is she well?” the answer was, “well,” and the Indians leading the way, they rode on to the cabin door. In the meantime, Sarah, though deeply busied in the domestic arrangements of her new dwelling, thought she heard a known voice, which came to her soft as a whisper from an elf of the forest; but thinking herself deceived, moved not from her employment. In an instant, however, hearing her name more distinctly pronounced, she ran to the door, beheld her parental guardians, and at the moment, overwhelmed with joy and surprise at the phantom or reality, fell in a swoon at the post of the doorway.
Though blessed with great energy and vigor of character, and a flow of spirits equal to most females, they all fled from her on this occasion, and left her lifeless at the feet of her friends. But Nature, a wise physician and kind restorer, quickly rallied the maiden at the fountain of life, and in a few moments Sarah arose up fall upon the breast of her mother; and there, like a child in the transports of joy, hugged and wept, and wept and laughed again. The scene was so novel and unexpected, that even the stolid and self-possessed sons of the forest were excited, and looked upon it as if touched in their feelings. Instances, we believe, are not wanting, in which the Indians, especially the females, usually found in a state of high civilization and refinement. When the feelings of the parties were restored to a proper tone, Madam Denn inquired of Sarah, how she had been and her success in getting there, which were answered with truth and promptitude, referring her at the same time, to the new cabin they had erected, and to the half prepared provisions for the evening meal, which she begged leave to complete for the comfort of Mr. and Madam Denn.