Page 19
History of Orange County
Towns of Goshen, Hamptonburgh and Chester
Page 19
     We have not space to enumerate the early settlers and point to their localities, and must content ourselves by saying that along all the old roads leading out of or through the village plot towards Montgomery, Florida, Warwick, Chester and New Windsor, early settlements were made in quick succession, and the population increased rapidly.  This is evident from the facts that the church was organized in 1721, and the court house built, probably, in 1738.  On the records of the General Assembly we find this entry:

Court House.-”Oct. 20, 1737. Ordered, That Mr. Tarbosch be added to
the committee appointed to consider of the Bill entitled, “an act to enable the Justices of the Peace in that part of Orange county being to the northward of the Highlands, to build a Court House and Goal for the said county at Goshen.”

     The Governor's assent was given to the bill on the 16th of December, 1731, and it became a law.
     As we do not profess in our outline notes of history, to observe the unities of time, place and circumstance with the accuracy of a play writer, we may as well say here, as elsewhere, all we have to state in relation to this hall of justice.

 In Assembly Of New York, October 24, 1754.
     “Mr. Gale, according to leave, brought in the following bill, which was passed:-An act to raise a sum of money, not exceeding £100, on the freeholders and inhabitants of that part of Orange County which lies to the Northward of the mountains, for making an addition to the Court House in Goshen.”

     At this time, and until 1773, the building was of wood and stood, somewhere about in the vicinity of the hotel kept formerly by Dr. Seward, now by Mr. Smiley.  In that year it was built of stone, two stories high, on a new location, where it stood till taken down a few years since, to give place to the present beautiful and convenient brick edifice.
     In about 1801 2 a third story was added, and while running up the corners, a bottle of rum was to be the reward of the individual who should build up his first and best.  Jesse Wood, Esq., of Warwick, then an apprentice, won the bottle.
     When this building was erected and finished in 1773, a patriot incident occurred, which we will relate; and as there are two versions of it, we will give them both.
One is, that when the building was completed, the king's arms were placed upon it in some conspicuous location, but on the same night they were torn down from their elevated position and never saw the light of a second day.
     The other is, that on finishing the building, a question arose, where the king's arms should be placed-one party wanting them hung in one place and the other in another.  One old patriot standing by, who had as yet taken no active part in the matter, said “ Give me the arms, and I will place them where no one will object to.”  He received the bauble, and holding it against the side of the building, with a blow from a hammer broke it into fragments.- We are ashamed of having forgotten the name of this individual, for it would have immortalized one page of our paper.  We believe, however, it was Mr. Wisner, an ingrained Whig, the ancestor of those of that name in the county.- Such contempt of the emblems of royalty in open day, at that early period, was certainly ominous of future danger, and foreshadowed the results of the Revolution.
     Chester.-The village now known by this name was settled as early as 1751 by John Yelverton, previously mentioned, but at what time it received the name we are uninformed.- Some of the early settlers were probably from the city of Chester, England.  The etymology of the name is given in the introduction, as derived from the Saxon Ceaster, meaning camp or castle-the same as the Latin Castrum, a camp.
     John Beers owned about 120 acres, and in 1751 sold to James Ensign, who sold to Yelverton.  This land descended to his grandson Abijah Yelverton, the father of Anthony Yelverton, Esq. of Chester, now about 80 years of age, and from whom we procured our notes of this locality and vicinity.  The present village is on this 120 acres, and some of the original purchase is in possession of the descendents of John Yelverton.
     The family was originally from Wales, and as it was early in the county, and honorably connected with the first settlement of the old town of Goshen, we will name his descendents.  When John came, he was accompanied by a brother and a sister, and his children were John, Anthony, Thomas, James and several daughters who married very respectably.

One daughter married Mr. Carpenter of Goshen
     One     do     do     Howell      do;
     One     do     do     Marvin     Oxford ;
     One     do     do     Carman.
     John     the Second     had but one child, Abijah.
Abijah's children were John, Anthony and Abijah.
Thomas' children were James, William and Elizabeth.

     This family came from England to Long Island, from there to New Windsor, and from there to Goshen and Chester.  At the time they settled at Chester, there was but a foot path through the woods to Goshen, and they had to go, with all the early settlers of the eastern portion of the county, to Madam Brett's mill.
     John Yelverton, the first settler, was a carpenter.
     Capt. Nathaniel Roe located a mile and a half south, on a farm now owned by his grand son, Jesse Roe.  Nathaniel had two sons, Nathaniel and William, and Jesse is the son of Nathaniel.  His brother William owns the old Seely farm at Graycourt. Daniel, a son of William, lives near Sugarloaf.
     Mr. Vail located near this place quite early, the academy is on the lands he owned.
Peter Townsand also-his sons were William, Peter and Isaac. His daughter Ann married Solomon Townsand, and Sarah, Dr. Anthony Davis.
     John Jackson located north of Yelverton, and Fletcher Woodhull married his only daughter.
Joseph Drake was among the earliest in this vicinity, he owned the farm of 200 acres where Joseph G. now lives.
     Golvill Carpenter settled on the lands now owned by his son Jesse. He had two sons, Daniel and Jesse.
     Hector St. John must not be forgotten in our short and rambling notes of early settlement.  He came from France, and lived where Hezekiah Moffat, Esq. lived and died.  During the war of the Revolution he returned to France, took one son with him, and after the war returned to the country, and was appointed Consul for New York.  The other son and daughter were left in the country, sent to the east and educated.  Frances, the daughter, married a Frenchman by the name of Otto, and went to France.  There he was created Count Otto, and sent as Minister to the court of Vienna.  During the French Revolution they were reduced to poverty, and Frances suffered every possible privation.  We do not know the name of the mother of these children.  What a strange and fickle genius apparently guards the lives of some individuals, one is taken from poverty to wealth, another dashed from riches and ease to want and hard labor, a third, from the lowest grade in society to adorn the highest circle.