Claudius Smith; or the Orange County Tories
page 6

     Some of Smith's associates were even greater criminals than himself.  His son James was hung at Goshen soon after his own execution; his eldest son, William, was subsequently shot in the mountains, and the body never was buried but became the food of wolves and crows, where the bones lay bleaching for years afterward.
     The following facts, gathered from a newspaper printed in 1779, will serve to give a little more of the history of this family:
     “We hear from Goshen that a horrible murder was committed near the Sterling Iron Works on the night of Saturday, the 26th of March, by a party of villains, five or six in number, the principal of whom was Richard Smith, the oldest surviving son of the late Claudius Smith, of infamous memory.  These bloody miscreants it seems that night intended to murder two men who had shown some activity in apprehending those robbers who infested the neighborhood.
     “They first went to the house of John Clark, near the iron works, whom they dragged from his house and then shot him. Some remains of life being observed in him, one of them said He is not dead enough yet,' and shot him through the arm again, and then left him.  He lived some hours after, and gave some account of their names and behavior.  They then went to the house of a neighbor, who, hearing some noise they made on approaching, got up and stood on his defense, with his gun loaded and bayonet fixed, in a corner of his little log cabin.  They burst open the door, but seeing him stand with his gun, they were afraid to enter, and thought proper to march off.  The following was pinned to Clark's coat  “A WARNING TO THE REBELS.-YOU are hereby warned at your peril to desist from hanging any more friends to government as you did Claudius Smith. You are likewise warned to use James Smith, James Fluelling, and  William Cole well, and ease them of their irons, for we are determined to hang six for one, for the blood of the innocent cries aloud for vengeance. Your noted friend Captain Williams and his crew of robbers and murderers we have got in our power, and the blood of Claudius Smith shall be repaid.  There are particular companies of us that belong to Col. Butler's army, Indians as well as white men, and particularly numbers from New York, that are resolved to be avenged on you for your cruelty and murder.  We are to remind you that you are the beginners and aggressors, for by your cruel oppressions and bloody actions you drive us to it. This is the first, and we are determined to pursue in on your heads and leaders to the last till the whole of you are murdered."
     But this son of Claudius did not possess the qualities of leadership displayed by his father, and the clan was finally broken up by the people of Monroe, assisted by some troops from Washington's army.  Richard Smith took refuge in Canada; others fled to parts unknown, and thus ended the highwayman's profession in Orange county.  Many localities of the vicinity will long be remembered from their association with the deeds of blood and crime that made the clan famous.  Their retreats in the mountains can be readily found to this day by the curious.
     That the Tories buried much valuable booty in these mountains may be inferred from the circumstance that about the year 1805 some of Smith's descendants came from Canada, and searched for the property according to directions that had been handed down to them.  They found a lot of muskets, but nothing else.  About the year 1824, descendants of  Edward Roblin, another of the gang, came from Canada with written directions, and explored the country with no better results.  Search was made in a certain spring where it was said valuable silver plate had been secreted, but nothing of value was found. Perhaps the other members of the band found the depository, and, unknown to Smith and Roblin, appropriated the property.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
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