Page 23
History of Orange County
Town of Montgomery
Page 23
When the time came to be ready and off, some of the friends and neighbors in Ulster, who were opposed to their removal, refused to assist in conveying them to their new location, but said they would be ready at all times to move them back. The removal, however, proceeded, and was conducted on horseback, as they had neither side board nor piano forte to transport. Their way was along the path of the deer and the huntsman. Without accident they arrived at the land of promise, and deposited their rude and scanty articles of housekeeping in a shanty constructed of two crotches, a pole thereon, and other timbers reaching from that and resting upon the ground. In this open hut which would have murdered outright any high born dame in Orange in our day, they resided a whole year. The situation was airy and cool in summer and winter, upon the crown of the hill upon the bank of the Walkill, on the road from Montgomery to Goshen, and afterwards occupied by the old square stone house, taken down a few years since by his grandson Mr. William Miller, deceased. At the foot of the hill is one of the most glorious springs that ever gushed from the earth. The location is now owned by his great-grandson Mr. Elmer Miller.
In settling on this spot they planted their shanty directly in the vicinity of the natives, and side by side the Indian wigwams, which were on the flat immediately below, with whom they lived on terms of friendship.
Their first summer crops, corn, potatoes, pumpkins and water melons, were raised on a spot cleared by the Indians, which being low on the margin of the stream, and annually overflowed by it, was made rich with the sediment deposited by the water and needed little cultivation. The crops came fully up to Miller’s most sanguine expectations, and he stood pleasantly justified in the partial eyes of Jemima. The fruits of the season ingathered, the new settlers could not do less than pay a filial visit to their friends and kin in Ulster; and not only tell of their success and joyful prospects, but exhibit the fruits their own hands had produced from the earth. During the journey an incident, perfectly trifling in itself at this day, yet as it has come down to us through the lapse of 125 years, and at the time was looked upon as a pleasant joke, and was calculated to light up the grave and thoughtful minds of the settlers, with permission of the reader we relate it.
To satisfy the discontented in Ulster, and prove to his friends his judicious selection of lands, Miller placed two water melons in a bag and loaded them upon his horse, determined to have it in his power to say—”Judge of my lands by their produce.” On their way, they stopped at old Mr. Bruyn’s in Shawangunk to refresh themselves and rest their horses. Bruyn was fond of a joke, and would perpetrate an innocent trick upon his best friend if he could make a little fun and sport out of it. While at his house, through the instrumentality of his negro, he substituted two pumpkins for the melons, which he carefully laid by to be restored when the exchange should be discovered. The guests departed and made their way to Mr. Elting’s near the Paltze. This individual had been very friendly to the parties, and assisted them to move to their new location in the spring. On arriving at his house the horses were unladened for the night, the travellers received and entertained. When the subjects of land, quality, products, etc., were being mentioned and discussed, Miller had his bags and melons brought in for exhibition. On untying the string and turning them out, lo! the melons had most mysteriously changed into two beautiful yellow pumpkins of about the same size. Miller stood confounded for a moment, but Elting knowing that they had stopped at Bruyn’s, instantly exclaimed that “old Bruyn or the devil had been the enchanter.”
Here we leave Mr. Miller among his early friends to remark that the issue of his marriage with Jemima was one child, whose name was John, the father of Johannes Miller; of the last generation, and the principal subject of this item of our paper. After her death he married Sarah Bull, the widow of William Bull of Hamptonburgh, remarkable for her great age and the number of her descendents. As Mrs. Bull was between sixty and seventy years old at the time of this marriage, it bore no fruit. Johannes Miller, the first settler, died in 1782, aged about ninety years.
After our extended notice of this early settler, we proceed to observe that his son John Miller was twice married. His first wife was Miss Esther Bull, the oldest daughter of William and Sarah Bull, of the old stone house in Hamptonburgh, the daughter of his father’s second wife by a former marriage, as above stated. The issue of this marriage was Peggy, Jemima, Johannes and William. His second wife was Miss Anne Weller, daughter of Henry Weller. The issue of the marriage were Henry, David, Levi, Jonathan and Katy.— His death was caused by an accident in 1774, the particulars of which are not known. He was found dead in the Walkill, in the vicinity of his father’s residence. The supposition of the family was that he was drowned in an attempt to swim his horse across the Walkill, though himself an expert swimmer. It is not known whether he or his father built the old stone house. He was the first town clerk in 1768, and held the office for several years.