READER: Before you commence the perusal of the following History, allow me to say that, if you wish to avoid disappointment, you will please bear in mind that it has not been written with the object of presenting to your view a brilliant piece of composition, or of absorbing your attention with the interest of a fascinating romance. No deep-laid plot of mystery or ideal love pervades its pages to lure you on from line to line-from beginning to end. It has been intended rather as a true record of past events -of statistics connected therewith-of old traditions that have survived the touch of time,-and in short, of the records and incidents that go towards forming a HISTORY OF THE Minisink REGION, the first-settled portion of Orange County. To many these will prove of barren interest; and I deem it proper to say to you that this work has been written more for the purpose of supplying a void in our local history-more to preserve the details (now fast sinking into oblivion) of our ancestors' struggles with labor and inconvenience, coupled with the wiles of a savage foe, while rearing their humble cabins, when "His echoing axe the settler swung," in the wilderness two centuries ago;-more to review their actions and remember their deeds and sufferings in the glorious war of the Revolution, and their prosperity since-than to please the idle fancy for a moment, and then be thrown aside forgotten. It is intended as a book useful for reference to the scholar-to those who like to sit by the fireside of an evening and review the doings of the olden time; and as a foundation perhaps for some future historian to build an abler work upon. If it shall accomplish but a part of this, my labor will have been rewarded. And, reader, if it should gain your approval by furnishing needed information, or by causing some weary hour to glide smoothly away; if, when the dark hours that visit all of us are upon you-when disappointments, and troubles, and treacherous friends, enshroud your path, and you wish to banish gloomy thoughts-if, then, the comparison of your petty grievances with the gigantic ones overcome by the energy and perseverance of our forefathers, when miles separated neighbors and friends, when the war-whoop of the merciless Indian blended of an evening with the dreary howl of the wolf, and when, if a father left his home in the morning he knew not but his return at night might find it a smoldering ruin, and his wife and children mangled corpses or in a cruel captivity; if this comparison shall inspire you with new courage to contend in the "world's great din of battle,❞—pleased shall I be to record you upon my list of friends, and feel thankful for the time spent in placing the narration before you. I make no apology for the simplicity of language that clothes the incidents narrated. I am aware that many will think themselves better informed in matters of early history, and perhaps far better able to dispose of the task of preparing them for publication, than myself. But until they avail themselves of their knowledge and talents, and do better, I shall present my humble work for your consideration, hoping it may find what appreciation its merit deserves. SLATE HILL, N. Y., 1867. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. A HISTORY OF THE MINISINK REGION. CHAPTER I. ORIGIN OF THE NAME, AND FIRST RECORDED VISIT OF A WHITE MAN. To arrive at a proper commencing point in the history of the localities included in the limits of the region formerly known as the Minisink, it will be necessary to look back to the time when the hard-headed Peter Stuyvesant bore rule over his mimic kingdom of the New Netherlands, and sat in rigid state among the few rude habitations lying in peaceful serenity at the mouth of the Hudson since grown in countless numbers and regal splendor, as the proud city of New York; to the time when John Rising, Governor of the Colony of Swedes at the mouth of the Delaware, was taking upon himself a degree of importance that interfered sadly with the plans of the worthy Peter, and threatened to shipwreck his fondest hopes of conquest in that quarter. His windy manifesto, full of big Dutch words long drawn out by his valiant secretary, declaring the aforesaid Colony of New Sweden to be within the limits of his |