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History of Orange County

Town of Minisink

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Centreville.-A small village in the centre of the town from east to west, and hence its name, with the addition of the Latin Villa, a village. It is called Racine from Mr. John Racine, who resides there, keeps store, and has a grist, saw, plaster and clover mill, turning lathe, etc. It is on the Wawayanda creek or outlet of the two ponds in the north part of the town. The place was also formerly called Wells' Corner.

Slate Hill is a small collection of houses pleasantly situated on a slate ridge, and surrounded by a beautiful agricultural district. It was formerly called Brookfield, from the fact that Mud brook gracefully wound round the base of the hill. A farmer frequently names his fields from local or physical circumstances-such as Hill field, Bush field, Stone field, etc.

Westtown.-This is an old place, and was at the time the most westerly village in the town, and is situate at the junction of Rutger's creek with the outlet of two ponds.

Minisink Village is a small settlement in the extreme westerly part of the town, at the foot of Shawangunk mountain. It is of recent origin and named after the town.

Unionville.-This is two and a half miles west of Westtown, on the east side of Rutger's Creek. The tradition is that on the disputed territory, an account of which we have given, a few houses had been erected before the question of ownership was settled, and that afterwards, to commemorate the friendly adjustment of that vexed point, the locality was named Unionville.

Bushville is in the west part of the town-a small cluster of houses, principally owned by Jonathan Wood, Esq. and is of recent origin. The village began its growth while the land in the vicinity was still covered with bushes, and hence the name.

Rutger's Place.-This is the residence of Dr. Cash, and is in the central part of the town. The name is an English corruption of Rutkys, the Indian name of a small stream on the bank of which Rutger's Place is situate. The Doctor, to preserve the Indian name, bestowed it upon his residence.

The streams of this town are generally small and not numerous. Besides the Walkill, there is Rutky's creek, Bandegot, Shawangunk kill, Wawayanda, and a few others.

There are two ponds in the north part of the town which run into each other and form Wawayanda creek, which in its course to the Walkill furnishes all, or nearly all, the hydraulic power in the town.

Jogee Hill.-This elevation is in the vicinity of the residence of Mr. Stephen W. Fullerton. The hill in some parts is quite steep, but not rocky, and is susceptible of cultivation.- The base and the lands around it are light and sandy, and the locality bears evidence of having been covered by water at an early day, as previously intimated. A tribe of Indians resided south of and in the vicinity of this hill. Since these lands have been cultivated, abundance of Indian arrow heads have been found. At the early settlement small images of various kinds were also found at this locality. Within a few days, a field south of and adjoining the hill was ploughed up, and many arrow heads were found; and what is remarkable, the Indians must have manufactured them there, as some were found partly finished, and the flakes or chips shivered off in the operation were also found. The flint out of which the heads were made is not found in this town, nor at any locality in the state, as far as we know. Indeed, we are not informed where this flint is found in any large or small masses. The instrument with which the heads were made is conjectural. Stone would not answer the purpose, and they had no iron, and we are forced to conjecture that they used flint to manufacture articles out of flint.

After this tribe had broken up and had left the town, two Indians, the last of the race as it were, in this locality, remained. One lived at the hill just mentioned, and one upon the west bank of the Walkill, several miles distant. Shortly before the war of the Revolution, some Indians visited them from a distance, and when they returned the two solitary Indians left with them. These were the two last residents seen in the town. In remembrance of the one whose wigwam was at the hill, the citizens, to perpetuate the name of its last native occupant, called it Jogee, after the name of the Indian.

We have seen an Indian iron tomahawk, either found or obtained from an Indian in this locality, which was presented to the Historical Assocation of Newburgh by Mrs. Stephen F. Fullerton-the whole of which is a ripe, the pole being the bowl of the pipe, and the smoke was drawn through a hole in the handle.

AGRICULTURAL PREMIUMS.
1820.	Peter Hulbert,	Second best Flax,	$5.00
	Wilmot Moore,	Best Calf,	5.00
	Asa Dolsan,	Best Bull,	15.00
1821.	Charles Durland,	Greatest quantity of flax, one acre,	10.00
	Wilmot Moore,	Best Bull,	15.00
	do do	Best Calf,	5.00
	do do	Second best Calf,	3.00
	Nathan Hulse,	Best piece of Linen,	6.00
1822.	Nathan Hulse,	Best farm in the town,	10.00
	Benjamin Dunning,	Second best Potatoes,	4.00
	Charles Dunning,	Best Flax,	10.00
	Wilmot Moore,	Best Bull,	10.00
1823.	James Hulse,	Best Four Calves,	6.00
	do do	Best two year old Heifers,	4.00
	Asa Dolsan,	Second best Heifers	3.00
	Henry W. Denton,	Third do do	2.00
	do do	Second best piece of Dressed Cloth,	5.00
	Nathan Hulse,	Best improved Farm,	25.00

Mortality..-Many will recollect that during the summer of 1825 the dysentary was very prevalent in Minisink and vicinity; but few families escaped this distressing malady, and but few who were not called upon to weep over friends who had fallen victims to that fatal disease. Among the afflicting dispensations, we recollect none more distressing than the mortality in the family of Hulet Clark. The deaths in sixteen days were:

Samuel J. Clark,

James M. Clark,

Bertha Clark,

Alfred Clark,

Henry Clark,

Mary Clark,

aged

7 years,

3 do

9 do

10 do

5 do

33 do

August

Sept'ber

17, 1825.

18, do.

20, do.

22, do.

24, do.

2, do.

Duncan Hulse--On Thursday the 15th of March, 1827, Mr. Duncan Hulse of the town of Minisink, and his nephew Milton Howell, a young man of twenty years of age, left home in order to spend a day or two in their favorite diversion of hunting and shooting game. Not returning as soon as was expected, their friends became alarmed for their safety, and went is search of them. Day after day passed with increased anxiety and fearful apprehensions (knowing that Mr. Hulse had a considerable sum of money with him) until Wednesday, when they were both found dead. Mr. Hulse was lying on his face, stretched out in a canoe, which was stuck fast between two bogs in the Walkill, and his money gone, but with no marks of violence about him. Afterwards the body of Mr. Howell was found lying in a similar posture on the bottom of the kill-the water being on twelve or eighteen inches deep, and the money or notes, 7 or 800 dollars found with them. It is thought they got belated in the kill, and found much difficulty in reaching the shore in the dark-the canoe sticking fast in the bogs--that they both got chilled and perished with the cold. Mr. Howell probably remained with the canoe until his uncle was dead-then taking his money and papers endeavored to reach shore by swimming wading and perished in the attempt; or perhaps the pocket book might have been given to Howe for safe keeping while hunting or previous to Hulse's death. Truly we know not what a day may bring forth.--Index.

The persons who signed the Revolutionary Association 1775, which we have previously given, were:

J. Westbrook, jun.

Wilhelmus Westfall,

Johannes Decker, jr.,

Benjamin Cox,

Moses Kortright,

Jacob Quick,

John Prys,

Jacobus Harraken,

Timothy Wood,

Benjamin Wood,

Levi Decker,

G. Bradcock,

Samuel Davis,

Nicholas Slyter,

James Carpenter,

Reuben Jones,

Daniel St. John,

Esee Bronson.

Petrus Cole,

Aldert Osterhoudt,

Isaac Uptegrove,

A. Van Etten,

Johannes Westbrook,

Solomon Cuykendal,

John Bennett,

Simon Westfall,

Martinas Decker,

Petrus Cuykendal,

Isaac Davis,

Benjamin Boorman,

Sylvester Cortright,

George Quick,

Nehemiah Pattison,

Jacobus Schoonhoven,

Jacobus Davis,

A. C. Van Aken,

Jacobus Vanfleit, jr.,

Jacobus Vanfleit,

Wilhelmus Cole,

Thomas Hart,

Levi Van Etten,

Petrus Decker,

John Van Tuyle,

Daniel Cole,

Asa Astly,

S. Cuykendal, jr.,

Benjamin Corsan,

Daniel Kortright,

Martinas Decker, jr.,

Joel Westbrook,

Ephraim Middagh,

A. C. Van Aken,

We should have been pleased if we could have placed before the reader a greater number of the names of the early settlers, but on examining the office of the town clerk to make extracts from the old town records, and find who were in the town and in office, etc. at its organization, we were disappointed, as no minutes of town proceedings were found previous to 1826. This fact shows great negligence somewhere, and by it the early record history of the town is lost, perhaps beyond the hope of recovery. We do not wish to censure, but really regret that it is so on our own account.