Ulster County, New York

“ Along the mountain lines are a few lofty peaks, and there are many isolated hills and rocky precipices. Parts of its boundaries are the Hudson River on the northeast, the Delaware and Mongaup Rivers on the west, and the Shawangunk Kill on the northwest. Near the center the Wallkill winds along its rich valley into Ulster County, and thence into the Hudson. Its principal tributary on the northwest is Rutgers Creek—which also has several tributaries—and others are Monhagen Creek, Mechanicstown Creek and Shawangunk Kill. ”

“ NEW YORK, Ulster County, Saugerties vicinity, Wynkoop House, NY 32 (09/07/84)
NEW YORK, Ulster County, Saugerties, Loerzel Beer Hall, 213 Partition St. (09/07/84)
NEW YORK, Westchester County, Ossining, Scarborough Historic District, U.S. 9 (09/07/84)
OREGON, Clackamas County, West Linn, Walden, Nicholas O., House, 1847 SE 5th Ave. ”

“ When sixteen years old he drove a team from Ward's Bridge to Valley Forge with a load of corn for Washington's army. Dickerson built a saw mill on a small stream near there which was operated successfully for a time and then fell into decay. The portion of the Wallkill valley in this town was the site of the earliest settlement. These old pioneers consisted of Germans, Hollanders and Huguenots. Many of them came from the older settlements in Ulster County, and others were directly from their native land. ”

“ New York. The state of New York shall contain twenty-eight collection districts, as follow: The first shall consist of the counties of Suffolk, Queens, and Kings; the second of the city and county of New York; the third of the county of Westchester; the fourth of Duchess county; the fifth of the counties of Orange and Rockland; the sixth of the counties of Ulster and Sullivan; the seventh of the county of Schoharie; the eighth of the county of Columbia; the ninth of the county of Rensselaer; the tenth of the county of Washington ”

“ Mr. Dewitt C. Osborn was the first master. There are now 151 members. Grange No. 916 was organized at Montgomery, February 11, 1902, with thirteen charter members. George Van Alst was the first master. The present membership is 148, and Harry Tweddle is master. The following additional Granges in the county were organized in the order indicated by the number of each:
The Patrons' Fire Insurance Company of Orange and Ulster counties, has issued policies to the amount of $3,600,000, and it is said to have saved the policy holders $250,000 in the past four years. ”

“ The farms, though mainly in Ulster County, are highly cultivated and operated under the most modern methods.
HISTORIC HOMES.
The Colden house, on the Montgomery and Newburgh State road, at Coldenham, was built in 1765 by Cadwallader Colden, Jr. His father, Dr. Cadwallader Colden settled in Coldenham in 1728 on his patent of 3,000 acres of land—he was the surveyor general of the province for eleven years, lieutenant governor for thirteen years and acting governor in 1761, 1763, 1769 and 1774. ”

“ The supervisors were William and John Merritt, Cornelius Cypher, Tunis Van Ronton, Thomas Burroughs and Michael Hawdon. The sheriff was John Perry, the clerk was William Haddleston, and the constable was Conradt Hanson. Orange and Ulster County people were then required to do their surrogate business in New York. This was continued until 1751, when the Court of Common Pleas of the county was empowered to take proof of wills and grant letters of administration. The Court of Common Pleas was an institution of the county until 1847, when the County Court was substituted. ”

“ There are always over 100 young men and boys in the institution, and a large corps of capable teachers. The discipline is secured more by rewards than punishments. The pupils, when visiting the village, are always quiet and gentlemanly. Officers from West Point train them in military tactics, and it is marvelous what a proficiency they attain in a few months.
CHAPTER XIV. TOWN OF CRAWFORD. By J. Erskine Ward.
This triangular township, some eighteen or twenty miles west of the Hudson River, is in the northwest corner of Orange County, bordering upon the counties of Sullivan and Ulster. ”

“ The post-office was originally known as Crawford, and Arthur Slott was probably the first postmaster. The name of the village was bestowed on account of the dense growth of pine trees which formerly covered that entire tract of land. The opening of the railway was of course a great event for Pine Bush and had much to do with its subsequent development and progress. Mr. A. R. Taylor, a leading business man, came from Ulsterville in 1848 and proved a most progressive citizen, opening many new stores and taking an active part in all village improvements. ”

“ The New York State Branch now has twelve sub-divisions. Since the April number of the Bulletin, four new sub-divisions have been organized, namely: Chautauqua County, Columbia County, Duchess County and New York County. It is probable that organization will be effected soon in Chemung, Oswego and St. Lawrence Counties. Work is now progressing and organization is under consideration in seven other Counties, namely: Broome, Greene, Orange, Nassau, Suffolk, Tompkins and Jefferson. ”

“ A member of the city commission in Jersey City has recently caused to be passed in the legislature a bill providing for a vote on consolidation of municipalities in Hudson County on a sort of borough plan. In Cincinnati the question of consolidation of the city with Hamilton County was recently opened, apparently for the first time, in newspaper discussions. In the 1916 New York legislature there was under discussion a bill extending control of the board of estimate and apportionment in New York City over the employees of the five counties within the city. ”

“ The narratives of the lives of men and their acts constitute all there is of history. If it be true that all that our county shows in the way of growth and development, is entirely due to the men and women who originally peopled this region, and worthily performed those parts allotted to them in the general scheme of life, during their existence here, it is equally true that their successors who still abide with us, took up the burden where it fell from the hands of the fathers, and most signally continued the work, and carried it forward to success. ”

“ Except in counties in the city of New York and except as authorized in section one of article nine of this constitution, registers in counties having registers shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties once in every three years and whenever the occurring of vacancies shall require; the sheriff and the clerk of each county shall be chosen by the electors once in every three or four years as the legislature shall direct. Sheriffs shall hold no other office. They may be required by law to renew their security, from time to time ”

“ And Monroe County, with a citizen population of 571,029, since not having more than 6% of the State's total citizen population, will have the same number of senators under the new apportionment, three, as Nassau County, although it has less than half that county's population. New York City's 20 senators will represent an average citizen population of 360,193 while the 15 multicounty senatorial districts to be created upstate will have an average of only 207,528 citizens per district. ”

“ The justices of the peace, for services in courts of sessions, shall be paid a per diem allowance out of the county treasury. In counties having a population exceeding forty thousand, the legislature may provide for the election of a separate officer to perform the duties of the office of surrogate. The legislature may confer equity jurisdiction in special cases upon the county judge. Inferior local courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction may be established by the legislature in cities ”

“ A land abounding in snakes comes nearer its true meaning in our study of the Minsi language.
Unionville village, assumed to be derived from the union of good feelings following the settlement of the line between the States of New York and New Jersey, is near that line, and is believed to have been settled about 1738. It now has three stores, two hotels, coal and feed stores, a system of waterworks owned by a private company, three churches, and other places of business. It was incorporated as a village in 1871, September 26th. Isaac Swift was the first president. ”

“ His place has been preëmpted by the hanger-on and the wire-puller to whom charity means the dispensing of favors to “deserving” workers of all political faiths. In this sense the county is a very humane institution, and a very open-handed one. It serves well such local officials as the overseer of the poor in an up-state New York county who presented this remarkable annual report to his superior ”

“ The county is the basic unit of area for apportionment purposes, except that two sparsely populated counties, Fulton and Hamilton, are treated as one. New York uses citizen population instead of total population, excluding aliens from consideration, for purposes of legislative apportionment. The number of assemblymen is fixed at 150, while the size of the Senate is prescribed as not less than 50 and may vary with each apportionment. [7] All members of both houses of the New York Legislature are elected for two-year terms only, in even-numbered years. ”

“ This is one of the younger towns of Orange County, only those of Tuxedo and Woodbury having been born later. It is, in fact, only about thirty-five years old. But for scenic beauty and native charm it easily outranks every other town in this county, if not all others on the Hudson River. The fame of the Hudson River Highlands is worldwide, and it is in this little town that the culmination of this native grandeur and picturesque beauty is reached. No one who has ever sailed up or down the Hudson, and who has not, will spend a moment wondering why this township was thus named. ”

“ In the western part of the county, in what is now the town of Deerpark, the first settlers were Dutch and Huguenot families, who came from Kingston and New Paltz. In the eastern part the settlers came up the Hudson River and consisted almost entirely of English speaking people from New York and the Long Island towns. In fact, so close was the association with New York, that for some years the New York reports included Orange and our county had no independent county government. ”

“ Newburgh, the chief city of Orange County, with a population of nearly 27,000, is also the largest commercial city on the Hudson between New York and Albany. It is located on the side hill of a bay, 57 miles from the river's mouth, has a deep and spacious harbor, with good docks, and its scenic views and contiguous territory are peculiarly attractive. The inviting bay and river are in front, and the mountains southward and westward have been characterized as "Nature's arm thrown lovingly about us." ”

“ Possibly it is because Orange County labors under the misfortune of being a half-shire county—a calamity to any bar for the reason, besides many others, that it effectually destroys the possibility of having a suitable court house—that a spirit of comradeship among its lawyers has never grown up. It is noticeable that in counties where the legal interests converge in one central county seat the brotherly spirit is more active. ”

“ No law establishing the district court for an entire county shall become effective unless approved at a general election on the question of the approval of such law by a majority of the votes cast thereon by the electors within the area of any cities in the county considered as one unit and by a majority of the votes cast thereon by the electors within the area outside of cities in the county considered as one unit. ”

“ No town, except a town having more than a full ratio of apportionment, and no block in a city inclosed by streets or public ways, shall be divided in the formation of senate districts; nor shall any district contain a greater excess in population over an adjoining district in the same county, than the population of a town or block therein adjoining such district. Counties, towns or blocks which, from their location, may be included in either of two districts, shall be so placed as to make said districts most nearly equal in number of inhabitants, excluding aliens. ”

“ August term, 1821, in the case of Udall vs. the Trustees of Brooklyn, the Supreme Court of this State decided that Kings County, of which the village of Brooklyn is part, includes all the wharves, docks, and other artificial erections in the East River, opposite to the City of New-York, though west of the natural low water mark on the Nassau or Long-Island shore; and the jurisdiction of the village extends to the actual line of low water, whether formed by natural or artificial means. ”

“ What the state government actually does when it regulates or supervises is to hold up the county official to standards of performance. This is the proper work of officers or boards in the administrative branch. It relates not to what the county shall do as a matter of broad policy, but how the county shall redeem its obligation in matters of routine, detail and technique. The state agency may have only the power to “visit and inspect,” like the New York State Board of Charities, or it may, like the Comptroller of the same state, actually impose forms of procedure. ”