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The Anti-Rent War
On Blenheim Hill
: '
\ >
AN EPISODE OF THE 40's
A HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT

GRO'WING OUT OF THE PATROON SYSTEM IN THE
EASTERN PART OF NEW^ YORK
By
ALBERT CHAMPLIN MAYHAM

Professor of History in the Cortland Summer School, Author of a Topical Outline in United
States History
Illustrated
1906
Published by FREDERICK L. FRAZEE
JEFFERSON. N. Y.
?.
Copyright, 1906,
By ALBERT CHAMPLIN MAYHAM.
^^7ta^£.cyf^
DEDICATED
TO ALL BLENHEIM HILL FOLK
IN GENERAL
AND ONE THOMAS PEASLEE
IN PARTICULAR
XTbiS Hn&enture made the twenty-eighth DAY of June in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and two BETWEEN Lucus Elmendorf of
Kingston, in the County of Ulster and State of New York, of the first part, and
Daniel Wallace the Second of Blenheim, in the County of Schoharie of the
part, WITNESSETH
second * * * * ALL that certain
FARM piece or parcel of land containing ninety-five acres and an half TO
HAVE AND TO HOLD forever, saving and reserving all Mill seats with two
Acres of Land adjoining the same and exclusive rights of erecting millsand
mill dams thereon, and also all mines, minerals, and ores * * #
* * * the yearly rent forever of fifteen bushels and an half of good
sweet Merchantable Winter Wheat on the first day of January yearly to be de-
livered in the town of Kingston aforesaid or at some other place equally near
the said premises above granted as shall be annually appointed by the party of
the first part his heirs or assigns in and upon the first day of July of each year.
* * * * * If it shall so happen, that the rent above reserv-
ed, or any part thereof, shall be behind or unpaid by and for the space of sixty
days, then in every such case it shall and may be lawful to and for the said
party of the first part, his heirs and assigns or any of them, at the option of the
said party of the first part, either to prosecute for the recovery of the same in
some court of record, or in person, or by his or their servant or servants, bail-
iff or bailiffs, into the whole or any part of the premises to enter, and there to
distrain, and the distress so taken to lead, drive or carry away, and the same to
#****#
expose to sale at public vendue, and out of the monies therefrom arising, to de-
duct the rent then due and in arrear, together with the costs of distress and
sale.
AND PROVIDED FURTHER if it any time happen that no suffi-
shall at
cient distress can be found upon the premises to satisfy such rent due and in
arrears, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said party of the first part,
into the said hereby granted premises to re-enter, and the same as in the es-
tate to have again, re-possess and enjoy; and the said party of the second part,
his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, and all others, thereout and
from thence UTTERLY TO EXPEL, PUT OUT AND AMOVE.
Lucus Elmendorf
Daniel Wallace the Second
Sealed and delivered ~^
in the presence of i
James Brown
Daniel Broodhead Junr
Preface.
Land tenures have been at the bottom of a large part of the social and econ-
omic troubles in all ages. The Licinian laws of Rome (367 B. C.) provided
that no person should hold more than five hundred jugera. (A jugerum was
about half an acre). By the time of Tiberius Gracchus this law had long since
become a dead letter. The Agrarian law advocated by him (133 B. C.) pro-
posed to take away from the great proprietors (the greater part of Italy was
then owned by two thousand persons) all the lands they were occupying over
and above the amount named in the old Licinian law. The lands thus resumed
by the state were to be allotted in small holdings to poor citizens and made in-
alienable. The aim was simply to put the people into possession of their own.
Holders of these lands, long in undisputed enjoyment, had come to look upon
them as absolutely their own. Money-lenders who had made loans upon them
opposed all efforts to disturb the spurious titles.
This new land law effected a great amelioration of the distress among the
poor, and large districts that had been almost depopulated, again became cov-
ered with cottages of sturdy peasants. Italy seemed in a fair way of being re-
deemed from the curse which the monopolization of the soil by the rich had
brought upon it. But history repeats itself. In the fifth century after Christ,
as in the time of Tiberius Gracchus, the great masses who tilled the soil had
not a clod that they could call their own.
The same conditions prevailed in France before the Revolution. The nobil-
ity with its 80,000 families, pensioners of the king, ornaments of the court, liv-
ing in riotous luxury, held one-fifth of the lands of France and paid scarcely any
taxes, while the bulk of the population, some 25,000,000 persons, lived by hard
labor and lived in want. Whenever the peasant's property changed hands, the
lord stepped in to claim his fine. On
the roads and at the bridges the lord
claimed his tolls. At the markets and fairs the lord claimed his dues and sold
to the peasant the right to sell to others the produce of his farm. The peasant
must grind his wheat at the lord's mill and crush the grapes in the lord's wine-
press. The lord alone could fish in the stream which flowed through the peas-
ant's farm, or shoot the ruined the peasant's crops. The lord alone
game which
could hunt over the peasant's land and deer and big game, preserved for the
sport of princes, wandered unchecked, devouring the fields and vineyards of the
poor people, and woe be to the peasant who dared to interfere with their free-
dom. For six months in the year the farmers were compelled to watch all
night in order to save their vines and harvests from destruction. When the lord
was done with Church stepped in to take its tithe for spiritual
the peasant, the
purposes, a reminder of how much he owed for the guardianship of his soul.
Such conditions brought on the great conflict which destroyed in part the an-
cient society of Europe and replaced it by a more simple system, based as far
as possible on equality of rights.
In all nations and in all ages, any people that prosper must own the soil and
live close to it. History repeats itself because man does not change. The
same laws obtain today that have been in operation throughout eternity. The
same causes work out the same results. Our fathers and grandfathers, sixty
years ago, read the history of Rome and of France and stood for their own
right to the soil on Blenheim Hill. The purpose of this history is to set forth
the struggles of a noble generation for the legal possession of what was theirs
by natural right. I am not conscious of approaching the subject with a bias in
favor of either landlords or tenants, though both my grandfathers belonged to
the anti-rent party and I was to the manor born. I have tried to summarize
the economic and political aspects of the agitation that I might have more
space for the story of what the people thought and felt and did.
In the preparation of this book 1am greatly indebted to Prof. Thomas Peas-
lee and Almerin Martin, Stamford; Dr. R. Hubbell and Dr. A. W. Clark, Jef-
ferson; M. V. B. Hager and Freegift Patchin, Blenheim; Hon. S. L. Mayham
and Prof. S. Sias, Schoharie; Hon. John R. Sage, Des Moines, and W. H.
Gallup, Boone, Iowa; Rev. Joel Warner, Kenesaw, Neb.; Isaac Peaslee,
Georgetown, Cal., and many others. My thanks are especially due to the pub-
lisher, Mr, Frederick L. Frazee. Not only has he taken great pains in printing
the story from week to week in his newspaper. The Jefferson Courier and Scho-
harie County Chronicle, but he is to be congratulated on the excellent appear-
ance of the book itself, the first turned out by his printery.
I am conscious that the style of the book indicates its method of preparation.
Chapters have been written at odd times, —
at the noon hour and at midnight,
in the study, on trains, and among the hills. Copy has been sent to the printer
without revision and in no case have Iseen a single proof-sheet.
A. C. M.
Warwick, N.Y
October, 1906
6
CONTENTS.
Paqk
I. NeVs from Rensselaerwick 1 2
II. Writs of Ejectment 1
in. The Itinerant Preacher 19

IV. First Conflict with the Posse 22
V. Development Land Tenures
of 25
VI. The Brimstone Church 28
VII. Platform of the Anti-Rent Society 31
VIII. Fink's Tavern 34
IX. The Great Summit Meeting 37
X. "Down with the Rent!" 40
XI. Riot 43
XII. A Divided House 46
XIII. The Wigwam • 49
"
XIV. "Run, the Posse is Coming! 52
XV. An Indian Shot 55
XVI. Boy Prisoners 58
xvii. "I Guess Not, By Hokey-Nettie" 61
XVIII. Murder 64
XIX. End of the War 68
XX. Reaction 71
XXI. Articles of Agreement 74
XXII. The Letter of a Landlord 77
XXIII. Memories Differ 80
XXIV. After Sixty Years 83
XXV. The Manor House 87
GOV. WILLIAM C. BOUCK,
Schoharie County's Only Governor.
The Anti-Rent War.
CHAPTER I.
' 'HE ANTI-RENT agitation which occupied the public mind in the state of
*I New York during the seven years from 1839 to 1846 was a momentous
question with the citizens of Blenheim Hill. The hardships of earlier
days had passed away. The log houses were snug and comfortable, barns shel-
tered numerous sheep and' cows, and every yeoman owned an ox-team. There
was plenty in every household and the spacious fireplaces filled the little homes
with warmth and good cheer. A generation of strong men was coming to the
fore.
Let us survey the Backbone in the early spring of 1839. Henry Mahamwas
an old man now and paid the most tax in District No. 18. His son John was
in the prime of life and the leading man in the community. The Brimstone
meeting house was finished and paid for in full. Rev. F. W. Sizer and Rev.
Wm. Lull occupied the high box pulpit. Thomas Peasiee was 57, strong in the
Methodist faith and settled in his determination to pass the remainder of his
days on Blenheim Hill. Benjamin P- Curtis, at 45, had come to be regarded
as the head man in the congregation. Thomas Sheldon Peasiee was 33, Milo
Wood 36. Col. John R. Sage 29, Giles S. Champlin 26, Daniel Sage 23, and
John A. Clark 21 and newly married. Every household had its spinning wheel
and nearly every one Its little home-made red cradle and among the babies in
the latter were Joel Warner, Lucinda Champlin, Isaac Peasiee, and Matilda
Sage.
13 THE ANTI-RENT WAR.
Spring began in March by tlie almanac but the snow was still three feet deep
in the sugar camps and along the highways. Already the farmers were planning
for the season's work. Wheat had commenced to fail for in the earlier days
when a wheat rent payable in Albany had been the price of a farm, the settlers
had cropped the most easily tilled land year by year until the soil no longer pro-
duced an average crop. Now, however, payment in kind at Albany has been
commuted and a money rent, payable in Blenheim, arranged in lieu of it.
But whence the rent? The farmers of Blenheim Hill had scarcely given the
matter a thought prior to that spring of .1839. The new landlord, Mr. John A.
King Jamaica, Long Island, had been frequently among the tenants, treating
of
them with liberality and fairness and the old and troublesome arrears had been
adjusted and settled on terms and conditions which all admitted liberal and sat-
isfactory. Surely the people were prosperous and happy. But rent day sug-
gested a fundamental question and the presence of the agent of John A. King
caused the thinking men of the community to get back to first principles. Ben-
jamin P. Curtis had played the fife and drum in the war of 1812, a war waged
for free trade and sailors' rights. Benjamin P. Curtis and John Mayham met
upon the highway one day in the spring- of 1839 and stopped to chat together as
they let their oxen drink from the spring near which Utsayantha spent a few
happy weeks in 1695, the spring which Sheldon Paaslee curbed for the public
good.
"Good morning Benjamin," "back from Duanes-
said the keen Irish farmer,
"
burg are you? What is the best word from the Helderberg country?
"Good morning John," replied the Yankee, "wait till gee a little and your
1
oxen can come nearer to the spring. News in plenty there is from Albany. Old
Stephen Van Rensselaer died on the 26th of January and left debts to the
amount of $400,000. But it is not his creditors who are worried. His tenants
are in arrears to fully that amount and the old man has ordered all this back rent
to be applied on the payment of his own debts."
"Strange, Benjamin, strange," said the other. "We always accounted Ste-
phen Van Rensselaer a rich man. He did more to improve and settle the vast
estates which he inherited than any of his ancestors. have heard that he was
I
remiss in the colbction of rents and in case of favorite tenants, and those who
had suffered misfortune or otherwise had difficulty in meeting regular payments,
he was in the habit of allowing the rent to run on almost indefinitely."
"But this was a mistaken generousity John, unless the payments were finally
to be remitted altogether."
"Right you are Benjamin, for a good share of the $400,000 now due must be
rent of many years' standing. It will turn many a man homeless from the land.
Did not Van Rensselaer make any provision for the remission of the debt in
"
case of utter inability or of misfortune ?
"Yes, in some cases, so they say, but the tenants as a whole are waiting anx-
iously to learn just what action will be taken by his heirs and executors. Some-
how there is a general disposition to distrust the principal heir, young Stephen
THE ANTI-RENT WAR. 14
Van Rensselaer. They fear he is not the man his father was. They were talk-
ing when I holding a meeting in the township of Bern to consider what ac-
left of
tion should be taken and it is likely that they will appoint a committee of their
best men to wait upon Mr. Van Rensselaer at the manor house and find out if
possible what is to be done about the payment of back rent."
"My father was one of Van Rensselaer's tenants once, and was born upon I
his land. When my father lived in county Tyrone, in the north of Ireland, he
held a farm under the British tenure of land titles. Now he and you and and 1
all of our neighbors here hold under the Blenheim patent and must acknowledge
a landlord. It seems to me that we should own the land ourselves and pay no
rent to anyone. What right has John A. King to the farm that have carved I
out of the wilderness with my own hands? V/hat right has he to the improve-
ments which put upon it year by year ? He has never even seen the place,
I
yet Imust pay tribute to him year b) year and m> children after me and this
thing must go on, by the terms of the lease, forever."
"Well John, they are talking in just this way over on the Helderbergs and I
have been thinking about the matter ever since I got home. 1 have about made
up my mind that this rent business is all wrong. But we are bound to hear more
of it from Bern. Something is going to happen over there. The people are
talking of nothing else. saw Mr. Baker yesterday and he is going over there
I
sometime in May. He will have some interesting news when he returns,"

Only a few days later or, to be exact, on the 25th of March, 1839, Benjamin
P. Curtis, George Elliot, and Joseph Curtis, second, trustees of school district
No. 18, all made their way to the home of Isaac Ferguson, about seven in the
evening, where they found Stephen Maham waiting for them. The business of
the meeting was soon transacted. A deed was properly made out and executed,
signed by both Isaac Ferguson and his wife, Abiah, conveying to the trustees of
school district No. 18, one quarter of an acre of land on which to build a school
house. Stephen Maham signed the deed both as witness and as commissioner
and Stephen M Ferguson also witnessed the identure. The formal transaction
.
over, all hands fell to visiting and Mr. Curtis again related the news from Albany
county. All were deeply interested, not only because the farms of Blenheim
were lease land but for the further reason tha,t many Blenheim Hill families had
near relatives on the Helderbergs who were likely to suffer through the acts of
Van Rensselaer.
Mr. Baker went over in May and there was news enough to be sure. A well
attended mass meeting had been held only a few days after Mr. Curtis' visit in
the early spring and on the 22d of May a committee of tenants called upon young
Stephen Van Rensselaer. He refused to receive them, to speak to them, or to
acknowledge their presence in any way. Though he was sitting in his office when
the committee entered, he retired into an inner office where he held a long and
confidential conversation with his agent, Mr. D. B. Lansing. The latter at length
came out and reported to the committee that Mr. Van Rensselaer would later
communicate with them in writing. Here the matter rested.
Haying was advanced on Blenheim Hill in the summer of 1839 before
well
anything farther was heard from the Helderberg country. Then there came a
report that Stephen Van Rensselaer had addressed a letter to Mr. Van Dusen,
the chairman of the committee that had visited him on the 22d of May, in
which he declined selling his lands on any terms, and made no advances toward
settling. The effect of this letter was to create a wide-spread feeling of antag-
onism and a general determination to resist the 'collection of all arrearages,
should an attempt be made to apply the law. The men of the Backbone dis-
cussed these matters fully during the weeks of harvest and again awaited news
from Bern, Westerlo, and Renssslaerville.
CHAPTER II.
T ATE in the summer 839, Stephen VanRensselaer as executor of the estate

^ of 1
of Stephen VanRensselaer, deceased, applied to the Supreme Court for

writs of ejectment and oi fim facidH against certain tenants in the town-
ships of Bern, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville, in Albany county. These writs
were made returnable on the first Monday of January, 1840. Amos Adams, an
undersheriff attempted the service of the first of these writs on the 28th of Aug-
,
ust, 1839. The news was carried quickly to Blenheim Hill. Haying was in
progress and two men were at work in a small meadow now owned by G. S.
Champlin and located just south of the field known as the Sage pasture. It
was nearing six o'clock. A
footman was seen on the road down by the mud
bridge.
"By shot John," said the younger of the two men as he glanced toward the
highway without slacking his speed, "there comes Henry Cornell on his way
back from Albany. He ha's walked every step of the wa} today and will be home
before sundown, too, if we do not stop him."
"A little rest will do us all good just now Giles," replied the other, "and friend
Cornell will have news from over east. It is time to stop work anyway for I
have my chores to do yet after I get home," and the two farmers made their
way to the road as Mr. Cornell came along. After the usual greeting, the trav-
eler did not wait to be asked for news but volunteered:
"I tell you boys th^re is going to be trouble over in Albany county and it is al-
ready well under way. Sheriff Archer sent a deputy out from Albany day before
yesterday to serve a writ on a man named Hungerford in one of those cases
that young Steve VanRensselaer is bringing against his tenants. Hungerford
showed fight and told the undersheriff to get right back to Albany and not try to
serve any more pspars. The fact is the people all through there have made up
their minds that none of those writs shall be served and there is one thing about
it, if the sheriff trys to send any one arrund to serve those papers that man is
going to get hurt. The under-sheriff did serve several writs and then stayed
over night at the Rensselaerville tavern. The landlord was a little uneasy and
locked the bam up tight but yesterday morning the sheriff's horse was found
with his mane and tail sheared off, the harness was all taken apart, and the
wheels on the wagon changed. The under-sheriff took the hint and started back
to Albany right after breakfast. I tell you the men are mad around there. They
swe?r they will tar and feather the next constable that comes in sight."
The three men talked earnestly together for a quarter of an hour, after which
Mr. Cornell continued his journey down the Burnt Hill to his home on the Mine-
kill, carrying the news of the anti-renters to the little settlement in the valley.
The two men discussed the rent problem as they wrought together on' the day
of general trainings when the assembled
^militia
following. It was in the days
served to give dignity to the State. Men had respect for law. The idea of re-
sisting an officer, civil or military, was not at that time calculated to find,;
favor
on Blenheim Hill. The whole matter, so far as it was at the time understood
by the young farmers, was carefully studied. At noon time they met a younger
brother of one of them.
"Well boys," said he, "I am a Sergeant now; here, read this John," and he
handed over a sheet of paper, 8x12 inches, from v/hich the person addressed
read aloud as follows:
"State of New York.
To Mr. George H. Champlin, Geeeting:
You have been elected a Sergeant of a Company under the command
of Gapt. Giles S. Champlin in the 104th Regiment, 28th Brigade, and Sixteenth
Division of Infantry of the Militia of the State of New York: —I do therefore, in
pursuance of the statute in such case made and provided, Grant you this War-
rant. You are to obey the orders which you shall, from time to time, receive
from your superior officers, and to discharge the duty of Sergeant in said com-
pany, with fidelity, according to the laws and regulations established for the gov-
ernment and discipline of the Militia of this State,
Given under my hand at Blenheim 20Lh day of August, A. D. 1839.
this
Abel Parsons, Colonel."
"There Captain," said the reader, handing the paper back to its owner and'
addressing the man with whom he had been at work all the morning, "that
sounds like obeying orders, doesn't it? I tell you what, it might happen that
the State would call on your regiment to put down an anti-rent mob, what v/ould
"
you do?
"1 would obey sir,'' was the reply, in a tone which would likewise command
obedience. Then, dropping the military formality, Capt. Champlin continued:
"Old Hickory was not in sympathy with the tariff but when South Carolina
began to talk about nullification he let them know down there that the laws
must be obeyed. It is the same here. shall continue to pay rent until the
1
law is changed. What do you think John, will George make a good sergeant? "
This question served to bring back the attention to the newiy appointed of-
ficer, who carefully folded his warrant, which he had until than held in his hand,
and put it, with some other papers, back into his pocket.
John R. Sage mused a full minute before he answered. A comely woman,
with an infant in her arms, stepped to the kitchen door and called the men to
dinner. As all three turned to go inside, he said: "George is bound to make a
good sergeant. He is in your company. He must obey you/'
So had the people of the Backbone become in what was passing on
interested
the Helderbergs that means were found to keep in close touch with friends and
relatives there. About a month after the attempt to drive off under-sheriff
Adams, word was brought to Blenheim Hill that on September 16 had occurred
another clash between an officer and a body of angry citizens. On the nnorning
of that day a young nnan named Leonard served a writ on Paul H. Vincent, who
immediately sent a messenger to inform his neighbors that "one of the patroon's
men was out serving papers." Soon after Leonard had left the house, Vincent
rode past him on horseback and called out to him that if he valued his life he
had better return to Albany with all possible speed. At the same time alarms
were sounded in every direction. The tenants were rising.
The story of that 16th day of September has been handed down for more than
tl^ree score years in many a Blenheim Hill family. The officer did not heed
the warning given him but preceded to the house of Andrus Onderdonk and
served a writ on him and attempted to make a similar service on James Leg-
gett who refused to take the paper. Leggett, his son, and another man now
followed up the officer, threatening to kill him if he served any more papers. A
considerable crowd collected about him, shaking their fists in his face and call-
ing him names of which traitor, scoundrel, and villain were the mildest used.
At this Leonard gave up the attempt to make any further service and returned
to Bern, on his way back to Albany. Here, however, he was met by a com-
pany of men on horseback, about fifty, who prevented him from taking passage
in the mail coach to Albany, as he desired. Among the crowd were several
of those upon whom he had already served declarations, who forced him to go
with them and take back the writs. Then they set a tar barrel on fire, and
seizing Leonard, brought him to the blazing barrel and forced him to throw all
the papers in his possession into the flames. They next took him to Lawrence's
tavern and set another tar barrel on fire. Some of the more bold ones threat-
ened to throw him into the fire and did actually cut off part of his hair, but the
others interfered and prevented any further violence. After detaining him from
nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, they announced to him' that he
was discharged.
All this madea thrilling story at the stone bees and other gatherings during
the autumn of 1839 as the men of Blenheim Hill met together. On the whole
they did not approve of the acts of violence and some even went so far as to fa-
vor Stephen VanRensselaer in his course, though they were few. Benjamin P.
Curtis, slow and deliberate in matters of importance, reserved his opinion, as did
some others of the older and leading men. The time had not yet come for the
Backbone to take a decided stand but the questions at issue were being care-
fully gone over. Mr. Curtis and John Mayham held frequent conferences and
both consulted Thomas Peaslee. There were younger men waiting for a dec-
laration from this trio and as yet no declaration came. While they hesitated
the year's harvest was gathered in. The forest trees were nearly bare of leaves
when the next news came from Albany. This time an itinerant preacher on his
way to hold special services in the Brimstone meeting house brought the word.
He put up at the home of Thos. Peaslee of course and gave his version of a
riot that had occurred on October 16, a version not at all favorable to the anti-
rent cause.
CHAPTER III.
THE church
The
cy.
has always been more
are good
rich patrons.
or less in partnership with
The
clergy is conservative.
the
Reforms
aristocra-
are not generally announced from the pulpit until they have been a long tirne
working in the pews, in matters spiritual the minister may be a long ways in
advance of his flock. In temporal affairs the congregation always draws the
minister, a reluctant follower. When the anti-rent agitation began in 1839,
the preachers, almost without exception, supported Van Rensselaer and de-
nounced the tenants.
As related in the last chapter, an itinerant revivalist arrived on Blenheim
Hill towards the end of October and found a welcome in the home of Thomas
Peaslee. Aunt Eunice, dear old lady, s^pread a bountiful feast for the man of
God, in spite of her fifty-seven years. She had been feeding preachers all her
life and not a circuit rider in the country but knew her good cookery. The
dominie had fasted all the way from the Helderbergs In anticipation of a seat at
the Peaslee board and when he reached it he invoked the blessing of Jehovah
with fervent lips. Those men of the cloth in the days of VanBuren were men
of large capacity in more ways than one and the way they could eat would as-
tonish a modern housewife. On this particular occasion Aunt Eunice witnessed
the depletion of her viands with keen satisfaction, for it not only testified to her
domestic skill but she felt also that out of the same mouth which now seemed
to communicate with some bottomless receptacle, would proceed, measure for
measure, words of Gospel fire, when the minister finally stationed himself in
the pulpit of the Brimstone meeting house, after his hunger had once been ap-
peased.
Supper over. Uncle Thomas opened the Book, read a familiar chapter, and
the whole family knelt in prayer each member taking part. Ah, what a potent
factor was the family altar on the old Backbone! How many children were
taught to pray there and went on praying all their lives, keeping the Golden Rule,
and administering to the necessities of not only saints but sinners also! After
prayers that evening the conversation naturally turned to news from Albany
county, for Thomas Peaslee was born there and had lived there until 1806.
News from the old home was welcome.
Benjamin P. Curtis dropped In that evening and it was during his visit that
the dominie related the story of the riot of October 16th, after having gone
over the earlier history of the troubles.
"The sheriff came
out that morning from Albany with three assistants, in-
tending to proceed to the town of Bern to serve processes. He had traveled
about sixteen miles, when he was met in the public highway, at Reldsville, by
BRiMSiCrVE MEETING HOUSE , BLtNHEIM HILL, BUILT IN ISIS.
Old Map of Blenheim Hill

seventy-five or a hundred men who stopped him and his deputies. In the mean-
time a general alarm was sent out and men came pouring in from all direc-
tions. It was a sinfuLand excited crowd, brother Peaslee," said the good man,
deliberately peeling his third apple as though he had not already disposed of
supper enough for two, "a crowd of law-breakers, a mob. In less than an hour
it looked like a general training, there had so many men assembled. Finally
the ruffians got ri tar barrel and set it on fire in the middle of the road in front
of the sheriff and his assistants and then two fellows seized the horse and de-
clared that the officer should go no further on business for Van Rensselaer, at
which the crowd set up a general hurrah, shouting 'Down with the rent,' blow-
ing horns, and making all the noise possible. The sheriff commanded the peo-
ple to give way and let him pass to transact his official business but they utter-
ly defied him and at last he was compelled to give up and return to Albany. It
was a great outrage brother Curtis," said the minister as he accepted a plump
fried-cake from Aunt Eunice who kept a plate full near the apple pan. "It is
the devil's work," he continued as if talking to himself, but neither brother
Peaslee nor brother Curtis said amen, for in truth both were contrary minded
even then.
In the course of the revival meetings which followed, opportunity was taken
to denounce anti-rent sentiment though perhaps with no suspicion as yet that
the citizens of the Backbone were already in full sympath) with the movement,
or rather with the idea, for the leading men in private conversation did not
sanction any acts of violence. With the real issue not yet brought home to
them they were able to think of the question of rent in the abstract.
The minister continued to make it his home with Mr. and Mrs. Peaslee, al-
though he foraged about the neighborhood with an appetite that made the hardy
woodchoppers envious. One night he engaged Uncle Thomas in conversation
on the question of Van Rensselaer's claims against his tenants and drew from
him an interesting statement.
"We have landlords and tenants right here on Blenheim Hill," said Mr.
Peaslee, "and a very good kind too it seems to me. My son, Thomas S., lets
a place to John Warner. John has wood for one fire and pasture for two cows
and Sheldon furnishes a yoke of oxen and half of the tools. He also furnishes
grass to cut to the halves to winter the cows and is to half the expense on win-
tering the oxen. John has the plow land for three years and barn room for his
stock. Sheldon pays him fifty cents a rod for all the stone wall that he builds.
It is to be 4 1-2 feet wide at the bottom and 2 1-2 at the top. He gets 30
cents a rod for splitting rails and building fence six rails high with stake and
rider. Sheldon furnishes all the grass seed and half of the other seed. John
has to summer fallow five acres of sward ground for wheat and five acres for
potatoes and do all the work, including threshing, and have half of the crops.
He gathers the apples and has half, also cultivates a garden on shares. Now
there is no written contract signed between them, and the bargain comes to an
end sometime. John and his chidren will not have to go on paying rent for-
ever to Sheldon and his children. The terms of the Van Rensselaer lease may
have been all right in the beginning but that was more than two hundred years
ago. In the meantime, generations after generations have come and gone,
have worked upon the land and improved it and made it Aâlaable and the Van
Rensselaer family since 1629 has been collecting rent year by year and may
go on collecting rent forever. Sheldon lets John have this land for three years.
There is a house and barn and meadow land and plow land and pasture all- ready
for use. What is more, the two men look over the property and come to an
agreement about it themselves. Neither one is bound by a contract made two
centuries ago in Europe when Kings and companies sold land in America that
never belonged to them at ail. I am convinced," and here Thomas Peaslee
got up from his chair and began walking rapidly up and down the floor, "I am
convinced, sir, that this matter of perpetual rent is wrong, wrong, WRONG!"
and he raised his voice and brought his fist down upon the table with a mighty
thud, as he stopped short in front of the astonished dominie who had listened
attentively, eating apples and fried-cakes the while.
CHAPTER IV.
'T'HE winter of 1838-39 was very severe on Blenheim Hill. Snow lay six
*- feet deep on the level, traveling was difficult, and oxen were driven tan-
dem. Good crops followed the next summer. On the whole, the farmers of
the Backbone had probably never known, up to that time, so prosperous a year.
This is a matter of importance. There was no element of discontent to enter
into a fair and full consideration of the rent question as it was being presented
to them from time to time. When Thomas Peaslee finally declared himself in
his spirited speech to the dominie, he had weighed the matter carefully and was
in no wise influenced by outside considerations. The question had become a
public one now and the Albany newspapers reported it. Those who could afford
the Argus got the news week by week and every copy went the rounds of sev-
eral families. It would be an easy matter to turn to the files of that newspaper
and gather the progress of the anti-rent movement. Such files could be found
today in more than one kitchen-chamber on Blenheim Hill.
The sheriff, with three assistants, one of whom was Isaac Wynnee, started
on Nov. 27 to serve processes in the locality already made familiar in these
sketches. When his route became known, alarms were sounded as before, sev-
eral hundred horsemen gathered, and the attempt was again defeated. Des-
pairing of success in serving his writs with no greater force than the authority of
his official position, the sheriff then issued summons for a pos.se comitatus to
six or seven hundred citizens of the county, commanding them to report in Al-
bany at 10 a. m. on December 2. Five hundred men having reported, they
set out immediately for the disturbed districts, some on horseback, others in
carriages, others on foot, and all unarmed. Let the story of the day be told in
the words of one of the company as he sat before the glowing hearth in Thomas
Vroman's spacious kitchen while he tarried over night, the drifts in the Dela-
ware road having stopped him in his journey to the Head-of-the-river.
"When we reached Clarksville, some twelve miles from Albany, we found
about a hundred men gathered on horseback with others on foot. Iwas one of
a hundred mounted men whom the sheriff ordered to ride with him in advance
of the greater part of the posse on our way to Reidsville. I have an idea that
the sheriff wanted to see what resistance was likely to be offered and to find out
whether the whole posse would be able to get through the crowd for we heard
that many farmers had assembled there.
"When we got on the Helderbergs, about a mile from Reidsville, we met
four or five hundred men on horseback and these were soon joined by the other
hundred who had followed us from Clarksville. The crowd closed in upon us
and prevented our moving for half an hour but finally let us pass and we pushed
on to Reidsville where we found fully eighteen hundred people assembled who
entirely filled up the highway and would not allow us to pass. The sheriff went
quietly among us and told us to move at a signal from him but when it was giv-
en and we tried to force our way the mob made a rush upon us, crying 'stop
them,' and it was impossible for us to move. The men were very much excited
and nearly all carried clubs. The sheriff saw it would be useless to try to go
any further so he commanded us to turn about. We moved slowly out of the
crowd but several hundred followed us three or four miles on our way back. It
was long after dark before we reached Albany."

Thomas Vroman and his visitor talked until long past midnight on the ques-
tion of rent and resistance. During the following week he found opportunity to
relate the story of his visitor among his neighbors and again there was anxious
waiting of news from Albany county. When it came it told how the sheriff,
immediately upon his return to Albany, went directly to Governor Seward at
eleven o'clock at night and told him of the day's occurrences, and called upon
the executive for military assistance sufficient to enable him to serve the papers
in favor of Stephen VanRensselaer.
After a conference with other state officers, the Governor, on the fifth of De-
cember, sent a written reply to the sheriff's application, instructing him to ob-
tain attachments from the Supreme Court for contempt and warrants of arrest
from a justice of the peace, against several persons who had resisted him. This
he did en December 7. The Governor thereupon directed him to summon as
a posse the uniformed military corps pf the city of Albany with their arms and
equipments, which he did. On the succeeding Monday, at 4 a. m., this posse
comitatus, representing the armed power of the county, met at the arsenal.
Also, b) order of the Governor, two thousand additional men were held ready to
march should they be needed. At six o'clock the sheriff at the head of one
hundred and twenty men set out. A storm commenced soon after they left the
city and continued for twenty-four hours. The roads began to drift badly and in
the course of the day became almost impassable. Many persons who had ac-
companied the sheriff as spectators made their way back through the snow, re-
porting that several thousand men were gathering in and around Reidsville.
Much solicitude was felt for the posse and a number of citizens organized them-
selves into two volunteer companies and tendered their services to the Gover-
nor, if needed.
Meanwhile the posse, upon reaching Reidsville, found that no resistance was
offerred them but that they could get no accommodations for the night and ac-
cordingly fell back to Clarksville. A report of the day's work was sent to the
Governor and a request made for tents, blankets, and provisions. Governor
Seward then issued general orders converting the posse into a regular military
force, but the sheriff returned an urgent message asking for a stronger force.
Accordingly, on Tuesday, December 10, the Governor dispatched heavy rein-
forcements to the aid of the sheriff and at the same time Issued a proclamation
reciting the unlawful resistance to the sheriff, enjoininlng all citizens to assist
the officers of justice in performing their duty, and appealing to those who had
taken part in the recent unlawful assemblies to desist from any further tumultu-
ous gatherings. On Wednesday the sheriff and his strong military escort moved
again toward Reidsville. They were met as before by a large assemblage of
people. The troops formed in solid column and marched into the midst of the
crowd. The sheriff then made one arrest and served a number of writs.
It now became necessary to quarter the troops but the sheriff found that the
rent-resisters occupied, as before, all the barns, sheds, and public places, in or-
der to prevent the troops from securing shelter or accommodation. They were
ejected,, however, and headquarters established at Reidsvill'e, small detachments
going out with the sheriff. By Friday this officer had so far made arrests, lev-
ies, and service of writs that he reported to the Governor that troops were no
longer needed and they were ordered back to Albany, returning on Sunday
through deep snow and a blinding .storm. '
Dr. Cornell was the first man on Blenheim Hill to get a copy of a newspaper
containing Governor Seward's message to the Legislature, issued January 7,
1840, and carried it with him on his rounds, reading and discussing with his
neighbors. It was evident that, while the Governor had acted with promptness
and severity against the lawlessness, he showed great sympathy and apprecia-
tion for the abuses which were its ultimate cause. One part of the Governor's
message Dr. Cornell quoted with great favor. It said "Such tenures, intro-
:
duced before the Revolution, are regarded as inconsistent with existing institu-
tions, and have become odious to those who hold under them. They are unfav-
orable to agricultural improvement, and inconsistent with the prosperity of the
districts where they exist, and are opposed to sound policy and the genius of our
institutions."
CHAPTER V.
BEFORE considering the elenients of the early land policy of the State of
New York which gave rise to the anti-rent movement of 1839-46, a clear
knowledge of the historical development of our actual system of land tenures
becomes a matter of prime importance. There are certain cardinal facts in
the history of the English speaking people which can be readily understood by
those who lay no claim to a liberal education. In the fifth century after the
birth of Christ, there dwelt a free, liberty loving, land owning folk in the narrow
peninsula that parts the North Sea from the Baltic. They were an outlying
fragment of the English stock, the bulk of whom lay further to the south and
east between the Weser and the Rhine and stretching away to the Elbe. They
were all low German tribes, a branch of the great Teutonic family.
Land with the German race seems at a very early time to have become the
accompaniment of full freedom. The freeman was strictly the free-holder, and
the exercise of his full rights as a free member of the community to which he
belonged became inseparable from the possession of his holding in it. The vil-
lages were separated by strips of forest or waste. Each family of freeman held
its own allotment of corn-land and fallow. Woodland and pasture were undi-
vided and every free villager had the right of turning into it his cattle or his
swine. The meadow-land lay in like manner open and undivided from hay har-
vest until spring. It was only when grass began to grow afresh that the com-
mon meadow was fenced off into grass-fields, one for each household in the
village; and when hay-harvest was over fence and division were at an end again.
The Roman historian Tacitus, said of the early Germans: "A fine, un-
mixed, and independent race, unlike any other people, with stern blue eyes, rud-
dy hair, of large and robust frames, but with a strength which only appears when
roused to sudden effort. They will be slaves of no man. Fierce and cruel in
war, they are content, when the war is over to la) aside the sword and spear,
and to plow their fields and to cultivate their lands in peace and quiet."
In 449 the vanguard of the English reached the Island of England. By 827
they had given their name to the land and had brought thither their domestic,
their social, and their political institutions. No sooner, however, had the En-
glish become united and securely established in their adopted country than pi-
ratical Danes swarmed upon their coasts, planting themselves at various points
and waging perpetual war upon the English. For two hundred years the two
races struggled for the mastery and finally the Danes won, placing Canute the ^
Great upon the English throne in 1017. The two peoples were alike in parent
stock, in language, in religion, laws, and customs, and they easily assimiliated.
The Danish line lasted only a quarter of a century, when the Saxon line of
Kings was restored.
William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England in 1066 and seized the crown.
This conquest changed the whole system of English land tenure. The English
estates were confiscated and distributed among the Norman nobles who had
formed a part of William's army, while their former Saxon or Danish owners
either found refuge in froreign lands, or, as outlaws, waged a desultory warfare
upon their Norman conquerors.
The Feudal System, already prevailing in Spain, France and Germany, a
necessary creation of the Middle Ages, was thus brought into England. After
the conqueror had parceled out the English lands among his followers, they in
like manner divided them among their dependants on the sole condition of per-
forming the duties of vassalage. In the course of time, agriculture, which had
been the main stay of the English race, became necessarily much neglected.
Large tracts of land which had formerly been carefully tilled in small holdings
were converted in pasturage for sheep, that the grain of foreign countries might
be purchased with the wool thus attained. The great mass of the people, how-
ever, who were once happy and contented freeholders, now became poverty
stricken, widespread famines were frequent, and the lower classes were some-
times obliged to live upon roots and herbs. Litttle by little this unnatural sys-
tem of land holding gave way and the old English customs were revived until,
with the restoration of Charles il in 1660, the aboHtion of the tenure of lands
by Knight's service removed the last relic of the Feudal system.
It seems strange indeed that, at a time when serfdom was disappearing in
the old world, a powerful company of Dutch merchants in Holland should be
planning to introduce all the characteristic features of the system into the New,
and the case is rendered all the more remarkable when we remem.ber that the
project was conceived three centuries after the hated institution had been cast
out from the Netherlands.
Holland, by accident of discovery in 1609, became possessed of the best sec-
tion of the Atlantic coast. The abundance of fur-bearing animals stimulated
the commercial zeal of the Dutch and the merchants of Amsterdam soon had
trading posts established at the mouth of the Hudson. A brisk trade sprang up
between the Dutch and the Indians, muskets and amunition finding a ready ex-
change for good peltries. Not until 1623 did the first party of permanent colo-
nists arrive at Manhattan and very soon cattle, horses, sheep and swine were
imported and agriculture had its birth in the New Netherland. Farmers were
slow, however, to leave the rich lands of Holland and to encourage permanent
homes the West India Company in 629 issued its famous Charter of Privi-
1
leges and Exemptions which operated directly to bring on the anti-rent agitation
more than two centuries later. A careful study of this charter is of prime im-
portance in connection with the history of the struggle between landlords and ten-
ants which grew out of it. The men of Blenheim Hill began to read it as they
discussed the news from Albany county in the winter of 1839-40. Sheldon
Peaslee neglected his Latin and Greek for a time that he might become well
versed in history. Others, who knew no language save their own, learned the
Privileges and Exemptions by heart.
Briefly, the charter offered to any member company who should with-
of the
in four years, bring to New Netherland fifty adults and establish them along the
Hudson, a liberal grant of land to be called a manor. The owner or "patroon"
was full proprietor, with exclusive rights, chief magistrate of the manorial courts,
in short, brd of the manor.
To secure tenants, settlers ware to be exempt from taxation for ten years but
they were under bond to stay in one place and develop its resources: The pa-
troon bore the expanse of building houses and barns and provided cattle, seeds
and tools. In return for this outlay ha recaived a fixed rent payable in stock or
produce and was also entitled to share in the increase of cattle and crops. He
might also buy tha remainder, for the farmer must not sell to other parties with-
out first offering to tha patroon. Tha tenant must grind his grain at the pa-
troon's mill and had no right to hunt or fish on tha estate. There was neither
freedom nor dignity in the position of tenant on one of these estates.
In size, the manors might have a frontage on the Hudson of 16 miles if all
on one shore, or eight on both, running back as far as the patroon wished. Such
was the beginning of the great estates in eastern New York. The system, some-
what modified, was continued under the English rule, which began in 664. The 1
Blanheim patent was granted to John Weatherhead and ethers, Nov. 28, 1769.
It included a tract of 40,000 acres, nearly square, west of the Schoharie river,
its southwest corner being Utsayantha Lake. At the time of the anti-rent war
this tract was owned by John A. King, afterward governor of the State.
It is interesting to note, in passing, that the Blenheim Hill community was
made up of representatives of the various peoples mentioned in this chapter.
The Peaslees and Mayhams are Celtic, — original Briton former
stock, the
Welch and the latter Caledonians. Clark, Wood,
Curtis, Cornell, Kenyon, all
are Saxon. Hubbell is Danish. Sage and Champlin are Norman and came
with the conqueror into England. Shaver, Vroman, Warner, and Decker all
migrated from the Rhine, the last clans to leave the fatherland. Many other fami-
lies could be included in these divisions. Whatever the line, it was all the
same. Back of these men were morethan two thousand years of land holding^;
in fee simple. Now that they bagan to study the problem, looked at in any light,
the idea of living upon and improving lands which they could not own
began to
seem to them atrocious.
HON. STEPHEN L. MAYHAM,
Judge of the Supreme Court, bom and reared on
Blenheim Hill.
CHAPTER VL ^
C YSTEMS of land tenure greatly influence the economic development of a

^ country. Any scheme which perpetuates large estates and makes difficult
the growth of small holdings, keeps the mass of the agricultural population in a
position of dependence. Before the revolution, great plantations were com-
mon at the south while small farms had always been the rule in New England.
The Dutch manors in New York developed an aristocracy which was not equall-
ed any where else in America. Rensselaerwyck included all the land for a dis-
tance of twenty-four miles along both sides of the Hudson and the same dis-
tance back into the country on each side. Other great estates were created
under English rule and with most of these grants the idea of social station ac-
companying the possession of land was uppermost. Blenheim was granted
sixty-five years after the battle fought in Bavaria during the war of the Spanish
succession. John Weatherhead may have been a son of an officer who took
part in that famous victory or connected in some way with the Marlborough
family. At the time the patent was issued (1769) probably every acre of the
40,000 was covered with virgin forest. Settlements were not made until some
years after the revolution. Man) of the first comers were squatters, knowing
little and caring less of John Weatherhead, his heirs or assigns. The pioneers
were mostly from New
England and extremely poor. Land was plenty and
capital scarce. Farms could be purchased on long terms of payment or on
perpetual leases with an annual rent payable in wheat delivered at Albany. Lit-
tle consideration was given to land titles at a time when the question of food
and shelter overshadowed all others. As the years went on and the land was
cleared, the matter of ownership' forced istelf upon the people. The pioneer
with an ax had become the prosperous farmer surrounded by all the property
which his industry had won from the soil. Already the perpetual lease was
driving families away from Blenheim Hill, westward to the Phelps and Gorhanr.
purchase or elsewhere. Men began to feel that after all they were only ten-
ants.
InMay, 1840, the Legislature passed an act to provide for the settlement
of the anti-rent difficulties. Early in June a meeting was held in the Brim-
stone church one evening to get at the sentiment of the community, for the
Governor had appointed commissioners to confer with tenants and the citizens
of the Backbone desired to be heard. Dr. Cornell had proposed the call and
nearly every man neighborhood responded.
in the They entered the church
and took their seats with the same solemnity exhibited at the weekly prayer
meeting. It was an unnecessary formality for Thomas Peaslee to call them to
order before he explained the purpose of the gathering. For two hours these
farmers talked of their grievances, observing the rules of a deliberative body.
The speeches were moderate In tone for the most part, although Lyman Root,
the one-armed shoemaker, was outspoken against the landlords and hinted at
tar and feathers. At length, when no more speakers volunteered, the chairman
fixinghls eye upon a man in the audience, who had remained silent said:
"There is one here tonight whose words will carry much weight If he will declare
himself. It Is not the purpose of this meeting to force an expression of
opinion
from anyone, yet we should know whera every man stand ;.*\ At this there were
calls for the man to whom the moderator referred and he ilowly arose. He
was tall, six feet, of stalwart frame, broad shoulders, a daep chest, a large head,
a man of commanding presence. He spoke in a (!:lear deep voice, with the
hesitation of a farmer but with the force and earnestness of a statesman.
"Mr. chairman, there is not a man here who djes not know where I stand,
and, when the crisis comes, every min knows how 1 will act. Issue will not
be joined this year nor next. There has already been too much violence on
the part of the anti-renters, and too strong an appeal to arms on the part of the
patroons. Justice cannot be secured at the hands of a mob nor can oppres-
sion be made permanent under the guise of law and by the aid of the state mi-
litia. We cannot question the validity of the patroons' titles, much as we may
decry the methods by which they were secured. Such as date back to the
Dutch period were provisionally confirmed to the proprietors when the English
came In control and so by successive temporary orders until 1685, when a for-
mal grant was issued by the British government through Governor Dongan. in
1704 Queen Anne confirmed the grants and defined the qult-rent:i to the crown.
Finally, the first state constitution, adopted at Kingston In 1777, declared that
all grants of land made within the State by the King of Great Britain, or p'';r-
sons acting under his authority, prior to the Revolution, should 3tand. The
title to Rensselaerwyck Is as valid as law can make It. The title to Blenheim
is likewise so. The terms of our leases can and will be enforced. We can
abandon these farms if necessary, and a manor without tenants would be of lit-
tle use to the landlord. That John A. King came into possession of Blenheim
for a valuable consideration and that his title Is good are facts which we need
not discuss at all, but who cleared this land and whose labor has made it a re-
gion of productive farms? Only a generation back, here lay a rough mountain
forest. A King on the other side of the Atlantic had conveyed It by deed to a
British subject who never cut one tree In the great woods or laid one stone
upon another. Men with bare hands came here, men with mouths to feed and
backs to warm. The labor of one generation has been expended here. Homes
have been built, fields cleared, and the resources of the country developed.
Neither the King's hand nor the landlord's hand did any of this work. My
hands have done some of it. Your hands have done much of it. All these
years we have been carrying wheat to Albany In payment of rent and the mor-
land we clear the more wheat we carry. Will this payment cease thir, yâr, or
next year, or the year after? Will this rxjil that we have dug from under the:;e
stones belong to us some day? Go home and read your lease and answer.
Something must be done to change these conditions if we are to prosper as
individuals, orif this community is to prosper as a whole. Rent must not be
increased. We cannot pay more than we are now paying. Very likely this is
also true on other estates, particularly in Albany county where the riots have
occurred. I cannot see how anything can come from the law just passed by
the Legislature. The landlords have too strong a case at law and the tenants//
too good a case in equity to effect an easy settlement. In the conflict which is'l
forcing itself upon us, 1 shall vote and act on the side of the men who have
made every rod of this land and who own not a single rod of it."
When the speaker ceased the old church rang with applause and no man
present approved the speech more than did the moderator. It gave the anti-
renters, however, something to disagree over for Dr. Cornell had contended that
the land grants were invalid and probably most of .the men present were like
minded yet they saw in the words of the speaker a determination to combat all
that was wrong in the system and it was that spirit of resistance after all that
made the anti-rent movement formidable.
While the Legislative committee was at work trying to adjust the differences
between Stephen VanRensselaer and his tenants, there was an active discus-
sion of the issue going on among all holders of lease land throughout eastern
New York. Nothing ever came directly from the committee's work and the ^
Legislature took no further action in the matter for several >ears. In the mean-
time disorder had revived and continued in the western half of the old Rens-
selaer Monor and spread to the leasehold districts east of the Hudson. Anti-
rent societies now sprang up which in time became powerful organizations.
.
They originated, as did the riots, in Albany county, and spread over the whole
leasehold district, from Columbia on the east to Delaware on the west.
CHAPTER VII.
T^HE first Blenheim Hill was formed in 1843 and the

anti-rent society on
' leading men of the community were enrolled as members.
- Meetings
were held regularly in the Brimstone church, greatly to the disgust of the do-
minie, who preached against the desecration. The good churchmen, however,
from Thomas Peaslee down, all favored the movement. At a well attended
meeting held one evening soon after the preliminary organization had been
made, John Mayham read the following declaration of principles which may be
taken to fairly represent the claims and purposes of the anti-renters.
Platform of the Anti-rent Society.
I. Unequal taxation is unjust. By the present system the tenants on the
Patroon lands are required to pay all taxes on such lands for the support of both
county and state. This taxing them for lands owned by somebody else, they
hold to be an unjust and exorbitant demand.
II. The patroon has full power under the law to collect rent, while the ten-
ant has no power to contest that right. They consider this a great moral wrong.
III. Th? tenint system has an improper bearing on the elective franchise,
through fear of incurring the displeasure of the Patroon.
IV. Tenants are frequently ejected from their farms for non-payment of
rent, when there is personal property enough on the premises to pay it.
V. If the tenant, through misfortune, is unable to live up to every require-
ment same may be forfeited at the will of the landlord.
of his lease, the
VI. It may
be claimed that tha Patroon has these rights under the law and
that the tenant has bound himself. Be it replied that the leases were In a man-
ner forced upon all families who now live upon leased premises in manner fol-
lowing: At first, when the country was new, the Patroon was very good and in-
dulgent, to such as would settle on his manor, sometimes giving the use of the
land seven years for nothing, with the promise of a good and Indulgent lease at
the end of that time. During this period considerable Improvements were sure
to be mad 3 upon the land. But now comes the pinch. A lease is made out
and the renter sees at once that it is in a considerable degree subversive of his
own natural rights as a free citizen. What can he do? He must either ac-
cept it, or lose seven years' labor.
VII. We
demand the enactment of such laws as will enable the tenants to
purchase the land of the Patroons at a fair consideration, and, if it be neces-
sary, we call for an amendment to the State Constitution that will forever
put
an end to the Patroon system.
Dr. Cornell objected to the platform upon the ground that It differed materl-
'r-My from those adopted in the Hudson river counties, in that it omitted alto-
gether the vital point at issue and upon his motion the following plank was pro-
posed in place of the last read.
Vll. "The renters hold that the land they occupy is their own, on account
of what is called iQgal possession: that Is, being actually on the land, and by en-
closing while the Patroon's possession is by proxy only.
it, But if it is neither
the Patroon's nor the rentees' then they hold that the manor belongs to the
State, as they abjure the okims of the pretended owners altogether. Under
the idea of statute prohibitions, it is known that men cannot sell their lives, their
liberties, their children, their wives, nor their servants. A man
cannot burn
his own house, nor even abuse a dumb beast, although the animal may be his
own. He cannot sell has vote, nor buy one at elections. The statute- of prohi-
bition goes against all frauds and usurpations of every nature; on which account
it is believed that tihese leases ought to be shorn of their hateful traits of an-
cient feud ..lism, by the shears of legislative authority, and the tenants confirm-
ed in the holding and enjoyment of the farms they now own and occupy."
A heated discussion followed and divided the anti-renters into two factions,
one seeing clearly that the law was on the side of the landlord and that it must
be changed; the other believing that the landlords had no right, under the law,
to the possession of the land. Dr. Cornell went frequently to Catskill, Albany,
and other Hudson river towns and he had heard the radical debates that had
been held in all that country. He loved right and hated wrong and it angered
him to have it allowed that the Patroons held thêir lands by a clear title. He
knew that much property, owned by Tories, had been confiscated after the Rev-
olution, and to his mind the old grants made by the King were null and void. It
was not an altogether unreasonable proposition. Many of the best men among
the anti-renters believed it thoroughly. Men who had applauded Cornelius Ma-
ham when he advanced the opposite view at the first anti-rent meeting held in
the Brimstone church, came to his house in the days that followed to argue the
case with him. But Thomas Peaslee and Thomas Vroman had taken the same
view of the case and by the time that Blenheim Hill could boast of an Anti-rent
society, a clear majority held that way. The platform had been drawn in ac-
cordance with this view and the seven planks as presented were, by a close
vote, madethe official declaration of the society.
**Well," said Dr. Cornell, when the vote was announced, **I want to make one
motion that will carry here tonight. 1 move that at our next meeting we get
together in the afternoon and have a pole-raising. I want to see a flag floating
"
here bearing the words: 'Down with the Rent.'
The motion received a dozen seconds from various parts of the church and
was carried with a rush. The tallest and straightest pole that could be found
was accordingly raised a week later, just a few rods east of the church on the
corner where the cross-road ran north to the Curtis farm. Sixty years after,
some workmen repairing the highway at that point came upon the old stump of
the famous anti-rent pole, deeply and firmly embedded in the earth. Dr. Cor-
nell saw to it that the defiant flag was kept floating from the pole.
The anti-rent associations which had become general throughout the patroon
estates in 1844 included the nnost nnodarate and respectable citizens .of the
counties affected and their action was restricted to perfectly legal measures,
such as suits at law, sending represent-itives to the legislative committees, pre-
senting petitions, publishing matter baaring upon the questions at issue, and
making nominations for political officas. The "Indian" bands organized in con-
nection with these associations were composed of tho younger and more reck-
less men who saw in this phase of the movement an opportunity for much of
that rough sport which was keenly enjoyed by the yeoman of two generations
bick. Once under way, the disguise offered a protection under which men
committed acts of violence that otherwise would not have been ventured on.
Three tribes of "Indians" were organized among the tenants on the Blenheim
patent. The chiefs were Christopher Decker of Blenheim Hill, called Black
Hawk; Henry A. Cleveland of Dutch Hill, called Red Jacket; and John Mc-
Entyre of Gilboa, called Tacumseh. The principal rendezvous of all three
tribes was on the back farm* of Thomas S. Peaslee where they frequently as-
sembled for drill and discipline.
The prudence of the three chiefs and the substantial character of the braves
prevented any rash acts such as characterized the tribes along the Hudson and
in Delaware county. They were bound by strict by-laws, one of which provided
that no physical injury should be inflicted on an officer charged with the service
of legal papers, and only one instance of actual interference with officers oc-
curred within the territorial limits of the three tribes.
CHAPTER VIII.
TN the spring of 1844 Gen. John S. Brown, then sheriff of Schoharie county,
* and Tobias Bouck, under-sheriff, came to the village of North Blenheim
armed with what were then called writs of ejectment against a large number of
tenants in the towns of Blenheim, Jefferson and Fulton. Arriving in the af-
ternoon they put up at the popular tavern kept by Wm. Fink where they were
royally entertained by the proprietor. During the evening several "up-renters,"
residing on the flats in the vicinity of the village, called to pay their respects
and the flowing bowl passed freely. The officers became loud and boastful.
Bouck, who was a powerful man in the full vigor of middle life, declared that if
interfered with or attacked by "Indians" he would unmask them and lodge them
in the county jail. As the evening wore on, the visiting neighbors left the
tavern one by one and the two officers settled down to a quiet smoke in front of
the blazing hickory logs in the old fashioned fire place.
In the meantime the whole Hill country was astir. No sooner had Brown
and Bouck arrived at Blenheim in the afternoon than a fleet runner, Almerin
Martin, was dispatched to notify Black Hawk. He sped up the steep mountain
side with the swiftness of a deer, reaching the Perry settlement with scarce
breath enough to tell the news. Here Stephen Perry caught the message and
dashed away to the west, reaching the Decker homestead just in time to inter-
cept Christopher Decker as he was about to set out for the sugar camp. The
oxen were immediately left for his sister Sally to unyoke and returi. to the stable.
A lad, Charley Soper, was dispatched into the house for two tin horns. Taking
one horn himself, Mr. Decker said to the boy: "Take your horn Charley and
run to the hilltop where you can make Bill Champlin hear. Blow till you get
an answer. Don't waste any time on Giles Champlin. He is as good as an
"up~renter" already. Now go."
Young Soper knew the meaning such orders and lost no time.
of Decker
and Perry started immediately through the fields leading to the "camp," blow-
ing the horn at intervals as they ran. Soon the horns were sounding on every
side and within an hour from the arrival of Brown and Bouck at the Blenheim
Inn, men were starting from the remote settlements on Dutch Hill and Blen-
heim Ridge, making their way through the snow towards the Peaslee farm.
Two hundred Indians had assembled by nightfall. It was decided, however,
that a much smaller force would be sufficient to deal with the sheriff and his
deputy and a company of fifty started out under the command of Black Hawk,
the others returning to their homes. On their way they met a second messenger
who detailed the situation at the tavern. There was no hurry now and the band
did not approach the house until after ten in the evening. With all the stealthi-
ness and ctiution of the native red men and looking not unlike real Indians in
their disguise, the anti-renters surrounded the hotel. Having discovered that
Brown and Bouck had not yet retired, the band collected in a body, the bar
room door opened and in rushed fifty strong men with Black Hawk at their
head. Instantly all was confusion. Sheriff Bouck sprang behind the bar, and
swinging an axe-handle, threatened to kill any man who dared to approach him.
Stephen Perry, a man of phenominal strength, bounded over the bar and grap-
pled with Bouck. In a fierce struggle Perry wrenched the weapon from the
sheriff and threw him bodily over the bar where he was at once seized by a
number of braves, thrown upon the floor with great violence and held there un-
til he asked for his release, promising to desist from further resistance. In the
meantime Brown had been more easily secured.
At the command of the chief, both men were now brought before him, a con-
siderable space in the room accorded them, and they were permitted to stand
free. Addressing them, Black Hawk said:
"Have no fear for your personal safety. Do just as I tell you and no harm
will befall you. Remove your slippers."
The sheriffs complied and stood in their stocking feet.
"Put on your boots."
Again they objected. Then addressing the landlord, the chief said:
"Captain Fink, bring these men their overcoats and help them to put them
on,"
It being evident that the Indians contemplated carrying the officers away from
the tavern, Gen. Brown protested.

"Silence!" commanded the chief.
The prisoners were then marched, under strong guard, out of the hotel and
placed in a large lumber sleigh with ample protection of robes and blankets.
They were then driven up the West Kill road to the saw mill of Fredus Baldwin
where the band halted and proceeded to kindle a large fire. The Indians then
formed in a large circle around the burning pine stumps, the two prisoners,
with Black Hawk and Yellow Jacket (Jesse M. Cornell) within the ring. The
chief then gave his orders again:
"Take from your pockets all papers of every description and lay them upon
the ground."
Both men now entered a protest and began to speak of the illegal proceed-
ings being enacted.
"Silence!" thundered the chief. Then, to his braves, he said:
"Give the war whoop of your tribe."
A most unearthly yell rent the air and echoed far out in the surrounding
forest beyond the shadows of the great light that made
every object clearly visi-
ble for rods around. The men then took from their pockets several packages
of papers and threw them at the chief's feet. Yellow Jacket gathered them
up and examined them carefully. All such as related to the collection of rents
were, by the order or the chief, thrown into the fire. This being accomplished,
GEN. JOHN L. BROWN,
Sheriff of Schoharie County During Anti-Rent War.
a second blood-curdling war-whoop burst upon the night and several Indians
called out, "Tar and feather them." There were among the young braves some
of the greatest dare-devils in the country, Stephen and Tom Curtis, Bill Vro-
—
man, the Cornell boys, fine, manly fellows, all of them, but bound to have fun
and absolutely fearless. The boastings of Bouck had made them anxious to
apply the tar and a goodly suppl) had been provided. The two officers would
have received harsh treatment had not Sheldeon Peaslee stepped forward with
a characteristic speech: "We have gone far enough tonight. These men have
complied with your demands and should be released. Might does not make
right. They have atoned for their boasting. They have discovered that the men
of Blenheim Hill are not afraid of them and that we have here a score who
can handle them singly. They have promised to serve no more papers and to
.
keep away from us in the future. That is all we want. Take them back to the
tavern now and let them go." Not a voice was raised to oppose these earnest
words and the sheriffs were escorted to the sleigh and returned to Fink's hotel,
where they arrived before daybreak.
The scene of this incident is the most lonely spot in the town. At that
time Fredus Baldwin owned 1800 acres. He with two brothers, came from
Tennessee. Rachel, the wife of Fredus, was an "up-renter," believing in obey-
ing and upholding the laws of the country. Her husband and sons were anti-
rent sympathizers. She persisted in blowing her ram's horn at meal time in
spite of the protests of the Indians. That ram's horn is now preserved at the
Old Stone Fort at Schoharie. The next morning after the Indians' visit this
lady discovered th? foot prints, the smouldering fire, and the discarded tar-buck-
et. Her imagination did not rest and she read the male members of her family
a lecture on law and order which would have done credit to a patroon.
This bold, high-handed, forcible and organized resistance of the officers of
the law produced a profound sensation on Blenheim Hill, in Schoharie county,
and throughout the state, for Sheriff Brown reported the v/hole proceeding lo
the Governor and the affair was widely heralded. Up to this time the anti-rent
party had, to all outward appearances, been fairly well united, although the
speech of Cornelius Maham at the first public meeting in the Brimstone church
had started a faction admitting that the rents were legal and opposed to violat-
ing the law in any way. Some of these men, though they attended the anti-
rent meetings and were identified with the organization, were opposed to its
methods. They had not taken to wearing disguises and, in consequence, were
called "up-renters." The time came, during the following year, when they
manifested a strong fighting spirit themselves, but now they were loud in de-
nouncing the "outrage" as they called the night's work on the West Kill.
CHAPTER IX.
'T'HE contention over the capture of Brown and Bouck became so strong that
• a public meeting was called to assemble on Blenheim Ridge. The date
fixed was at the time of a general training and the meeting was held in the
open air on the "green." A large platform had been erected near the road at
the foot of the slope., Red Jacket, who was a good orator, spoke at length,
counseling moderation. The principal address was made by "The Prophet,"
an agitator from Columbia county, of whom more will be heard later. Thos.
Peaslee took the platform and called upon his listeners to live within the law.
He was followed by Lyman Root who advised less moderation and more re-
sistance, evidently to the liking of the crowd, for he was greeted with a deafen-
ing war whoop when he closed. The excitement was becoming Intense. Wm.
Maham made his way to the platform and waved his hand for silence. The
tumult ceased and he began to speak. He had not proceeded far when it be-
came evident that the anti-renters were not in a mood
hear his radical de-
to
nunciation of the practice of wearing a disguise. Their attitude nerved him to
still fiercer speech and he declared: "Any man who wears a mask is a cow-
ard."
Instantly a hundred guns were leveled at him. Stepping to the front of the
platform he stripped open his homespun shirt and exposed his bare breast.
"Here is my heart. Shoot if you dare! repeat that any man who wears
I
a disguise is a coward."
The climax had been reached. Not a shot was fired and the guns dropped.
This meeting on the Ridge was a small affair compared with the great gath-
ering that assembled two weeks later at Summit when 1500 "Indians" were
present and as many more anti-rent sympathizers who did not weflr a disguise.
It was the largest anti-rent meeting ever held in Schoharie county and one of
the largest in the State. The three Blenheim tribes were present to a man and
Henry A. Cleveland made a stirring address. The whole temper of the crowd
was belligerent, reflecting, to a large extent the temper of that community.
There had been friction between officers and citizens at Summit from the
beginning of the agitation. Geo. H. Ferguson acted as signal man for the an-
ti-renters. Whenever a constable or sheriff appeared, Ferguson would go to
the east window of his shop, located in Lake's store, and blow a blast upon his
bugle. In a few minutes horns were tooting on every side and within half
an
hour Indians could be seen popping out of the woods in every directioii. If the
officers attempted to serve any papers they were immediately driven away
from
the locality, the Indians sometimes following them for miles until they were
well on their way back to Schoharie. If the officers proceeded too slowly, their
—

speed would be increased by the whistle of bullets about their heads.
The day of the Summit meeting was chosen by the sheriff and his deputies
to visit the town, keeping well away from the Four Corners, however. The of-
ficers encountered John F. Sawyer dressed as an Indian and riding alone on
his way to the village. A fight ensued in which Sawyer was shot in the hand,
losing two fingers. He finallytook refuge in a house but the officers located
him. He jumped through a window and made his way to the residence of one
Harvey Boughton where he secreted himself several days. Sawyer was after-
ward elected sheriff of Schoharie county.
Not long after the Summit meeting, another was held at Morseville in the
town of Jefferson. Here eighty yoke of cattle were driven in, each bringing a
load of anti-renters. Great preparations were made for this meeting, flags and
banners were everywhere displayed, and great enthusiasm prevailed. The In-
.
dians were out in full disguise. The Allan boys of Summit made many false
faces and bright dresses. The Franklin brothers of South Jefferson were pres-
ent andâng many anti-rent songs of their own composition. They attended
all these gatherings far and near, and their songs were very popular. One of
them ran. like this:
The moon was shining silver bright,
The sheriff came at dead of night.
High on a hill an Indian true.
And on his horn this blast he blew,
Chorus:
Get out of the way, big Bill Snyder,
We'll tar you coat and feather your hide, sir.
Billran and ran till he reached the wood,

And then with horror still he stood,
For he saw an Indian tall and grim.
And heard a tin horn not a rod from him.
Chorus.
Billthought he heard the sound of a gun.

He cried in fright, "Oh my race is run!
Better that I had never been born
Than come within sound of that big horn."
Chorus.
Next day the body of Bill was found,

His writs were scattered all over the ground,
And by his side a jug of rum,
Told how Bill to his end had come.
Chorus.
The anti-rent agitation west'vard into Delaware county, the first
now spread
public meeting being held at Roxbury with headquarters at the public house
kept by Thomas Keater. Several Blenheim Hill Indians attended in full uni-
form and a number of the younger men of Roxbury put on the disguise for the
first time that day. The first open act of hostility was perpetrated soon after
this meeting, on July 6, upon the premises of John B. Gould who had incurred
the displeasure of the Indians by refusing to desist from blowing a horn as a sig-
nal to call his workmen to dinner. That day Mr. Gould, as usual, blew his
horn at noon when five Indians, armed for fight, presented themselves at his
door and demanded that he obey the authority of the anti-rent association. An
angry discussion ensued and the Indians left. On the following Tuesday they
appeared again. The story of what followed is graphically told by Jay Gould in
his History of Delaware county:
"The sun had just arrived at the meridian, when a favorable opportunity pre-
senting itself, the signal whoop was given, and the savage horde sprang
from their hiding places, and with demonlike yells rushed up and surrounded
Mr. Gould, who was standing with his little son in front of the house. We were
that son, and how tsright a picture is still retained upon the memory, of the
frightful appearance they presented as they surrounded that parent with fifteen
guns pointed within a few feet of his head, while the chief stood over him with
fierce gesticulations, and sword drawn. Oh, the agony of my youthful mind, as
I expected every moment to behold him prostrated a lifeless corpse upon the
ground. His doting care and parental love had endeared him to his family.
But he stood his ground firmly; he never yielded an inch. Conscious of right,
he shrank from no sense of fear, and finall> when a few neighbors had gathered
,
together, a second time they were driven from the premises without the accom-
plishment of their object. The Indians marched off the premises and down the
road in single file. About three miles below they overtook and tarred and
feathered Hiram More."
About this time bands of Indians several times assaulted the sheriff of Col-
umbia county, took his papers from him and burned them and finally they were
held responsible for two murders at Smoky Hollow, a little place about six
miles from Hudson. Two chiefs, "Big Thunder" and "Little Thunder," were
arrested and lodged in jail. A movement on the part of the anti-renters to res-
cue these prisoners led to the calling out of the militia by Governor Bouck
which prevented any outbreak. The general excitement throughout the Patroon
district became intense, and the most bitter feeling existed between the up-
renters and the Indians everywhere.
—
CHAPTER X.
i^N the 10th ofAugust a large anti-rent meeting was held at West Sand
^^ Lake. A fortnight later Joseph Perry and Randall Clark discussed the
account of this gathering as printed in the Albany Atlas while a heavy thunder
shower had driven them from the harvest field.
"Gov. Bouck is really on the side of the tenants." said Mr. Perry.
"Bouck is a politician," replied Mr. Clark who was too strong a Whig to ad-
mit virtue in a Democrat. *'He has done no more than Seward did. The
anti-rent vote will do him little good this fall anwyay, my way of thinking, for
the Barnburners are likely to control the state convention and if they do Silas
Wright will be the Democratic candidate."
"Gov. Bouck is a shrewd man," Mr. Perry answered, "and would like to
1
see him nominated again. He did not damage his case any at West Sand
Lake the other day."
The conference to which Joseph Perry referred was the most important one
held that year and in the old ^les of the Atlas may be found the following ac-
count from a correspondent.
"West Sand Lake, Aug. 10, 1844.
Editor of the Atlas:— It having been generally understood that Gov. Bouck
was to visit us today, in accordance with an arrangement with a committee of
the tenants, there was according a large turnout of probably some 2000 of the
tenantry. A flag was raised, having on it the representation of an Indian with
the motto
DOWN WITH THE RENT.
And one of the windows of a tavern was placed a transparency represent-
in
ing another "native'' with the motto
— "The land is mine saith the Lord."
About 50 of the celebrated though anomalous tribe of Indians, who have
1
been the instrument of ail the trouble, were also in attendance. These sava-
ges presented a most comical and grotesque appearance, and certainly looked
anything but ferocious, or ferociously inclined. They wore masks, in most cases
of glazed muslin, with appurtures for sight and breathing, covering the head and
neck entirely, and blouses of calico, decorated with colored patches, furs, etc.,
and from their ears hung large brass rings, while a few had strings of beads
hanging from their noses. The chiefs, as they were termed, were more pro-
fusely decorated, and by way of distinction bore long spears. They were va-
riously armed, some carrying swords, knives, bits of scythes, and threatening
looking cheese knives, others clubs and muskets, while sll had pistols in their
belts. The language spoken was our common vernacular, mouthed with a
strange intonation, with an occasional sprinkle of Dutch. "Natives," was the
term applied by their chiefs in addressing them, although they were probably di-
vided into several tribes as I heard one leader designated as the "Tuscarora
chief."
About half past ten o'clock the approach of the executive of the State was
announced by discharges of a cannon. His excellency was escorted by a com-
mittee to the hjuse of Burton A. Thomas, where the conference were waiting
for him.
The conference which lasted two or three hours, retired
Indians,, during the
to the woods, the people in the meanwhile in the village gathering into knots
discussing anti-rent matters and the probable result of the conference.
At about 2 o'clock the Governor and committee retired to dinner, when the
church bell was rung, and the people assembled in front of the church. Mr.
Gregorys, one of the committee of conference, then mounted the stand and ad-
dressed them. He detailed the particulars of the interview with Gov. Bouck.
He stated that he had proposed to the Governor that the question as to the
title should be left to the Governors of ,<iny three of the New England states
(Connecticut excepted) for their examination and decision. To this Governor
Bouck demurred for the reason that they were common men like himself, with
one excepton, that of Gov. Briggs of Massachusetts, who was a lawyer, and
therefore were not a whit more competent to decide. He also said that the
Governor had informed them that he directed the sheriff of the county not to
serve any process without consulting the Attorney General and the Justice of
the Supreme Court. He concluded with an earnest exhortation to stand firm
on the ground they had taken, and continue to resist any attempt to enforce
the pa) ment of their rents by all possible means. No matter what is done he
said, they must refuse the payment of rent, and must rely on their arms the —
arms of the law, which was as much on their side as on that of the opponents.
The orator added that he was informed the Attorney Cfenenl had given it as his
opinion that the sheriff had not exerted his entire power vested In him, and that
until he had done so, the State Executive could do nothing In the m.^tter.
When came galloping furiously into
the speaker had concluded, the Indians
the village under another discharge from the six-pounder; One of them was
unfortunately thrown from his horse, and trampled upon by thosa who followed.
Upon picking him up he was found to be much Injured and he was carried into
a neighboring house, where he died In about an hour after. His n.ime was
Coss.
While the Indians were attending to their wounded comrade, the Governor
was escorted to the church where he was greeted. While engaged in shaking
hands with the people the Indians formed in a circle surrounding the Governor
and people. This was against the express wishes of the Governor and upon the
chief manifesting a desire to greet him he Immediately left the ground. The
Indians then dispersed, as did most of the people, and the Governor left for
Albany."
Harvest was not over when news came from Roxbury that Timothy Corbin
had been tarred and feathered on general training day while assisting the sheriff
in the service of official papers. The sheriff's papers were also talcen and des-
troyed. There were those among the Blenheim Hill Indians who were anxious-
ly waiting to go on the war path again. The tales that came in from other lo-
calities filled them with restlessness. An opportunity soon presented itself.
Tobias Houghtailing, a constable living on the Ridge had made himself very
obnoxious by serving papers for Colbia Reed and it was decided to capture him.
About twenty of the younger braves set out one morning in full disguise. They
stopped at the home of Giles Champlin on the way and demanded a bucket of
tar, which was refused.
"Don't waste any words with him," said one Indian to his companions, "I
know where the tar bucket is and will get it myself. If he interferes we'll give
him some of it/'
The tar was secured and the Indians moved on. They did not find the con-
stable aid towards evening started for home. A halt was made, however, and
the band stole back after nightfall. They found Houghtailing and marched him
out near the Ruliffson homestead. There the chief put it to vote whether they
should tar and feather the officer. All in favor weie to pass over to the right
side of the road. Two stalwart Indians pulled Houghtailing over on the right
side whereupon the chief declared that the vote was unanimous and the coat
of tar and feathers was applied accordingly.
"Tell Colbia Reed that Giles Champlin paid for the tar," said one of the In-
dians as they released the constable, but that dignitary was too much interested
in his own escape to heed the command. A gauntlet had been suggested while
the coat was being given and the Indians arranged themselves in two lines but
the sight of the officer provoked so much laughter that not a club was raised as
he shot through the center and disappeared in the darkness.
—
CHAPTER XI.
would be a matter of absorbing interest to go into State and National poli-

IT
tics in 1844 as the men of Blenheim Hill saw and understood the issue,
but the story is too long. The Whigs nominated Clay for President in May at
Baltimore and VanBuren expected the Democrats to nominate him later in the
month in the same city. He had a majority of the delegates but could not
gain the required two-thirds, and Polk was nominated. There were many
"Hunkers" among the Democrats on Blenheim Hill, men who followed Van
Buren and opposed the annexation of Texas. The State convention was held Sep-
tember 4, and the "Barnburners" defeated the anti-Texas men and nominated
Silas Wright for governor. The Whigs nominated Filmore on September 1 1.
The Schoharie county Anti-Rent convention was held at Peter A. Borst's in

Fulton on Wednesday. September 25. Seven out of the twelve towns in the
county were represented. James Griffin of Middleburgh was chairman of the
convention and Thomas Ferguson of Summit, secretary. Blenheim supported
Thomas Peaslee for the nomination for Member of Assembly. Henry Tibbits
and Saymour Boughton were nominated for Members, Schoharie at that time
having two representatives in the Assembly.
Snow came early on Blenheim Hill in the autumn of 1844. The ground was
white in the last days of September. Not only was the season thus cut short
but crops had not been up to the average and now, as the farmers commenced
to dig their potatoes, they found them almost a total failure. An old copy of
the Schoharie Republican says: "Farmers of this county will suffer greatly
from the disease or rot of the potatoes. Some fields are not worth digging
others yield a half a crop, and occasionally a field that is but very little injured.
The disease prevails extensively."
An Albany Argus of the same
date says: "We understand that this disease
has extended into the towns of this couuty, particularly in the Helderberg region.
The most extraordinary circumstance about the rot is, that there is no telling
the cause. The finest looking fields are suddenly and at once stricken down;
and it therefore supposed that an insect stings the top of the potato plant, and
is
thus infuses the poison into the seed.
Wheat had already commenced to fail on Blenheim Hill, and now the loss of
the potato crop proved a serious blow to the farmers and the burden of rent day
was brought home to them as never before. A
short hay crop with snow in
September made the outlook still more dubious. There was talk of "going
west" and an exodus began which lasted for a decade and took from the Back-
bone some of its best blood. The route lay first to Cattaraugus county and
finally extended to Wisconsin.
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The Ridge Street, now known as South Gilboa.

Seen 3 of excitinor incidents in anti-rent days.
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Blenheim Hill Home of John A. Clark in Anti-Rent Times.

The election in 1844 canne on. Silas Wright was chosen governor by 10,000
votes, Polk carried New York and was elected President. Clay lost the Anti-
Rent vote in New York and with it lost the presidency. The Anti-Rent party
carried seven counties. In his first message to the legislature. Gov. Wright
discussed the anti-rent nnovennent and the disorders that occurred. Early in the
session of the Legislature, on Jan. 25, 845, an act was passed to prevent persons
1
appearing disguised and armed and, being approved by the Governor, became
a law. It was directed at the ai.ti-rent Indians and intended to break up that
part of the organization.
While this bill was being discussed and before it became a law, a largely at-
tended and very representative anti-rent meeting was held at Berne, Albany
county, on January 15. John Mayham was present as a delegate from Blen-
heim and made one of the principal speeches. Resolutions were passed calling
upon all anti-renters to stand together politically but condemning acts of law-
lessness. A report of the meeting and copy of the resolutions were carried to
Albany in the hope that the Legislature would not pass the proposed bill for it
wgs felt that such a law would arouse the anger of the extreme wing of the anti-
rent party. This is just what happened.
The first violation of the new law to receive attention came in a few days in
the town of Roxbury. The Delaware county grand jury found an indictment
against D. W. Squires and an order for his arrest was placed in the hands of
under sheriff Osman N. Steele who proceeded to Roxbury on February 1, and 1
in conformity with the new law, warned out a sufficient number of persons to
co-operate with him in the performance of his duty. The sheriff and his party
arrived at the Squires house in the middle of the night, forced an entrance,
and found the object of their search concealed between the straw-tick and
feather-bed on which his wife and his mother were sleeping.
Squires was arrested and taken to the Delhi jail the next day. It was report-
ed that he was engaged in tarring Corbin during the previous summer and forci-
bly taking the papers from Sheriff More at the same time. Anticipating trouble,
the sheriff ordered Captain North to proceed to Delhi with his company and
hold themselves fn readiness to obey orders. On the afternoon of the 13th,
companies had arrived from Franklin, Meredith and Walton.
The arrest of Mr. Squires who was the chief "Big Thunder" among the In-
dians, created intense excitement. The sheriff thought it prudent not to call
out any more companies for those from the three towns named were the only
ones in Delaware county in which the anti-renters were not in the majority. No
attempt was made to free Big Thunder and nothing further worthy of note oc-
curred until March 1 1, when under sheriff Steele was himself captured and held
a prisoner at Andes, a village about ten miles from Delhi.
Steele was able to dispatch a messenger to Delhi who eluded the Indians and
carried the following letter:
"Andes, March 1 1, 1845.
To the Sheriff: Sir, — We left Andes yesterday about five o'clock, for Delhi,
but were stopped on the road, and compelled to return to this place. We
are
now at Hunting's. The house is now surrounded b> men in disguise, about one
hundred strong. They intend, as near as can ascertain, to take my papers,
I
tarand feather me, and pass me over to the Middietown tribe. I shall never
be able to reach home unless you come over with all the force you can raise.
Let every man come armed, and determined to do his duty or die on the spot.
Lose no time but get here as soon as possible.
Yours,
O. W. STEELE.
9 o'clock A. M."
Steele and another officer. Charles Parker, took refuge in the garret, where,
being well armed, they were enabled to keep the Indians at bay. The messen-
ger with all possible speed hastened to Delhi where Steele's letter was made
public by the sheriff. Steps were at once taken to send relief and in an incredibly
short time the sheriff and his posse were marching through the snow, slush and
—
mud from Delhi to Andes. It was a motley array lawyers, physicians, mer-
chants, tradesmen, mechanics, and citizens, on foot, on horseback, in carriages,
and all well armed with almost every conceivable weapon of war. As they
neared Andes the news of their coming was carried in advance of them and
the Indians quickly dispersed, leaving Steele and Edgerton unharmed, though
they gladly welcomed the rescuing party and accompanied them back to Delhi.
News of this affair reached the Head-the-River on the evening of the 1 1th
and was carried to Blenheim Hill the following day.
"By hokey-nettie," said Jacob Shaver, when he heard the story, "if theposse
ever comes here we'll give 'em tar, every dum man of 'em."
"They might catch you Jake, and put you in jail." said his wife Lucretia.
"I guess not by hokey-nettie, Lettie. I can outrun all the dum horses they
can get together. Besides, if Bill Vroman, and Steve Perry and Tom Curtis
should ever get after 'em, all the rest of us would have to do would be to rub on
the tar and stick on the feathers."
The time came, that summer, when Jacob Shafer found it necessary to
match his speed agairst the posse's swiftest horses.
:
CHAPTER XII.
'T'HE exciting news from Delaware county caused the citizens of Blenheim
• Hill to hold a meeting of special importance at the Brimstone church
within a few days. Further trouble was expected in Roxbury and at other
points over the county line and many of the more conservative men felt that
the Blenheim Hill Indians ought not to be connected with the disorders. The
radicals, however, openly sym.pathized with the Delaware Indians and were anx-
ious to help them while a few "up-renters" were growing bolder in denouncing
the whole Indian movement. It was expected that the meeting would be a
stormy one and so it proved. It was preceded by a monster parade of Indians
dressed in calico and disguised with leather faces. There were a number of
"up-renters" present, men who took the part of the landlords openly, or, in a
few instances, those who passed as neutral but reported to the landlords every
movement of their anti-rent neighbors. The "up-renters" called themselves
the law and order party while the Indians used the shorter name of Tory to des-
ignate all such. The epithet of Tory on the one hand and "outlaw" on the
other passed freely at the meeting. Men of the law and order faction who de-
nounced the Indians, however, had only to wait until the following summer to
witness a drunken posse ride through their fields of standing grain, throw their
fences down, shoot their neighbors, and insult their wives and daughters in their
own homes.
One speakers at the meeting was Amos Loper who lived over on
of the first
the Ridge. Tradition has preserved the following extracts from his address
"The anti-renters in all parts of the various manors are growing stronger and
becoming more united. There must be a remedy for these evils or else our
government is not based upon just principles. Here almost the entire commu-
nity must suffer from the averice and cupidity of a few land aristocrats with a
very doubtful tenure to the land they claim. This remnant of Feudalism will
never grow less troublesome and the sooner the true remedy is applied, the bet-
ter. I say, 'down with the rent,' and the way to win is to resist payment and to
attempts at collecting rents.
resist all It is open robbery to allow the continu-
ance of manorism. Talk about law and order The law is on our side and s-o
!
is most of the order and so it will continue."
Thomas Peaslee did not have to be urged to take the floor nor was his voice
strange to the old Brimstone church. He said :
"1 am proud to boast that this community is united, almost as one man, in
dispelling the dark and demoralizing influence of these legalized and judicial
robbers. I believe the day is almost at hand when constitutional rights will be
equally enjoyed by all men. Honest men, men with pure motives, are in this
:

anti rent movement. It the solemn and imperative duty of every true patriot,
is
of his country, who loves truth and justice and human

every man who loves
rights, to come foward and help put down this miserable clique of landlords who
live by robbing the yeomanry of our country. The people are sovereign here
and we intend to use the means and secure the power which the Constitution
and God Almighty have granted us."
Benjamin P. Curtis followed Thomas Peaslee, as he often did in prayer
meeting. At the outset he had told his neighbors that he must take time to
pray over the matter before he could take part in such a conflict. He evidently
prayed to good purpose, for he was a loyal supporter of the anti-renters and his
oldest boys were leaders in the Indian bands. He spoke earnestly, with deliber-
ation, and with telling effect
"How comes it that the landlords are entitled to this land? Suppose there
were some sort of contracts entered into a half century or more ago. In the
course of events and by natural changes they have become void. They are not
now what were agreed upon at all. When the old wheat rents were made no
one thought that the land would refuse to raise wheat after a term of years.
Suppose it had been a potato rent. Would it have been fair to have given a
fixed number of bushels last fall when
the potatoes all rotted in the field? The
terms of the contract should change with the season. Let me remind you too,
how the tenants are treated. The sheriffs of the various counties call out a set
of bullies who march about the country, arrest men and drag them to jail with-
out knowing or caring whether they are guilty or innocent. It is no longer safe
for a farmer to go to Albany or to show himself in any of the larger towns
Vhere the patroons control the officers of the law. Let us show the landlords
that we are united and determined to have our rights, asking nothing but what
is our due."
The more pertinent questions of wearing disguises, suppressing the blowing of

horns, and the use of tar and feathers were not touched upon by these speak-
ers, such matters being reserved for the wigwam councils that were held in a
little clearing in the woods west of Sheldon Peaslee's residence on the lands of
Dr. Hilton on the site of an old charcoal pit made by Dick Hilton. There were
up-renters present, however, who started a discussion of these subjects and
Giles Champlin attempted to advocate the allowing of dinner horns to be blown
as formerly, showing that it was a great inconvenience to many not to be al-
lowed to use the horns in calling men to meals. He was interrupted by some
one calling out, "Colbia Reed pats you on the back and you talk like a Tor> for
him," to which the speaker retorted, *'I pay my rent and obey the law.
a right to blow a horn
— I have
" but cries of "Tory," "One of Colbia Reed's Tories,"

and "Down with the rent," discouraged the speaker and he sat down. The
facts were that Giles Champlin was prospering in a small way in spite of the
land system. He was religiously prompt in the payment of rent and in meeting
other obligations and Colbia Reed h^d befriended him time and again. The
monied man of the town admired the growing young farmer who in turn res-
pected and venerated the landlord. But when this tenant attempted to say any-
thing in favor of a patroon at an anti-rent meeting he brought down upon him-
self the wrath or his neighbors. While he was called an "up-renter." no one
ever accused him of being an "informer." He would not have acted in har-
mony with some of the men who made up the Blenheim Hill tribe of Indians in
any event for his Norman blood had lost none of its combativeness, and perhaps
that was one reason why he opposed their acts. He stood loyally with the ten-
ants when it came to voting and even opposed Colbia Reed in politics.
There were other speakers at the meeting, the general temper of which was
stoutly opposed to landlordism, even to the extent of upholding the Delaware
tribes in their recent work. A report of the gathering, and the tone of the
speeches, reached Delhi and Schoharie and was also reported in Columbia
county when Dr. Cornell next rode his cream colored nag over the river to see
his many patients there. "Old News Carrier" the landlords called him and he
rather enjoyed the distinction for he was heart and soul in the anti-rent cause.
Some of the tenants on Blenheim Hill were cautious and not always firm in
their support of the movement. Lyman Root's loyalty was sometimes ques-
tioned, though he was probably true to the Indians. James K. Porn was an
"up-renter" who always kept his wits about him whenever a stranger appeared,
prepared to talk on either side as the case might demand. He owned a little
patch of ground by no means the best on the Backbone. On the day following
the meeting he was at work alone on his land when two travelers came along
and engaged him in conversation. The landscape at that place was not prom-
ising and James' humble cottage did not bespeak prosperity.
"Do you own this farm?'* one of the strangers asked.
"No/* replied the shrewd yeoman who knew that even his law and order
principles would not save him if they were officers, "1 am not such a fool
as you think."
CHAPTER XIII.
THEheim anti-renters of Dutch Hillwere frequently at the wigwam of the Blen-

Hill Indians although they had a camping ground of their own about
three quarters of a mile north of Eminence village on lands of the Harders not
far from where four towns corner. Red Jacket was a famous chief whose
identity baffled the officers for the character was assumed by both Henry Cleve-
land and Jesse M. Cornell. Among the braves were the Flosses, Harders, Fel-
ters, and Tompkins. These men were all present at the camp on the Hilton
farm when the next news from Roxbury was discussed.
Early on the morning of March 14, deputy sheriff Steel-e and E. S. Edger-
ton started by different routes from Delhi to Roxbury to make arrests as that
town was considered the most turbulent part of the anti-rent district in Dela-
ware county. Upon reaching the village a party of one hundred and thirty In-
dians, well armed, was discovered and immediately charged upon by the offi-
cers who had with them a mounted posse numbering forty men. A skirmish
ensued during which shots were exchanged but the Indians were routed and fled
to the woods, eight of the number being captured in a hard hand to hand fight.
One of the prisoners proved to be a constable of the town. The party now
started for Delhi, picking up four more prisoners at Bloomville and lodging all
in the county jail. That night horns could be heard in every direction among
the mountains about Delhi and a large number of Indians assembled but the
jail was stronghly guarded and no attempt was made to rescue the prisoners,
four of whom, Burrill, Tompkins, Osterhout, and Knapp were subsequently con-
victed and sentenced to Sing Sing for two years but all were pardoned by Gov.
Wright before the expiration of their terms.
The news of the Roxbury raid added fuel to the flame, not only in that town
but throughout the disturbed districts. Events were rapidly approaching a crisis
which each side felt would be decisive. There came days and weeks and
even months of waiting however before Law and Right met in mortal combat.
School began in May at the little school-house west of the Brimstone church.
The boys on their way to and from school saluted the anti-rent flag that still
waved from the liberty pole on the corner east of the church. One morning a
second pole, about twenty feet high, appeared near the first and nailed to the
top of it was a board on which was painted a British flag. It had been placed
there by Sam Root, a notorious Tory, who lived with his brother, Lyman P.
Root, the shoemaker, and his wife, Mary Ann. The sight of this hated em-
blem was more than young America could stand. Among the youngsters were
Isaac Peaslee, the Warner boys, the Curtis boys, and others who usually met
on the turn of the road. They pelted the flag with stones and knocked it down.
Sam replaced it a few times but the boys
lost no time in tearing it away and
the old anti-rent flag finally waved alone again.
During the same month over in Columbia county the sheriff, while walking
along the road with two assistants upon his return from executing a writ of po-
session, was deliberately fired upon from the cover of some bushes near the
road and himself and one of his assistants severely though not dangerously
wounded. The perpetrators of this assault were never discovered.
On the 4th cf June, John Allen, the agent of Charlotte D. Verplanck, ob-
tained of Justice Peter P. Wright a warrant for the arrest of IVIoses Earle of
Andes against whom a debt of $64 was claimed as arrears of rent. A
levy was
made and the sale attempted, but as the neighbors and other attendants of the
sale seemed to have made an agreement not to bid on any of the property, in
fact, to "boycott" the sheriff, the sale was finally postponed to one o'clock in
the afternoon of the seventh of August.
All through the summer the coming sale on the Earle farm was earnestly dis-
cussed. Under-sheriff Steele had become the object of special hatred on the
part of the anti-renters as he had been prominent inthe whole course of the dif-
ficulties and was instrumental in causing the greater number of the arrests, be-
ing much more aggressive than sheriff More. It was expected that many In-
dians would attend the sale, not only from the various towns in Delaware coun-
ty, but from adjoining counties as well. Many a housewife on Blenheim Hill
plied the needle diligently in making a calico dress for some one or mere mem-
bers of her family to be worn as a disguise when the various tribes should
gather at Andes. The matter was gone over carefully at more than one wig-
wam meeting in the Hilton woods and men could be seen crossing the fields in
ever} direction at nightfall, making their way to the camp for drill and consul-
tation. The officers were informed of these preparations and determined to
start a counter action. Sheriff More of Delaware acting with Sheriff John S.
Brown of Schoharie in this matter. These officers, believing that the most for-
midable band of Indians would hail from Blenheim Hill, it was determined to
invade the Backbone with strong forces a few days before the sale and arrest
Dr. John Cornell, B. P. Curtis, and Thomas Peaslee who had come to be
regarded as the most active anti-renters who supported the Indians in that
community. If these men could be secured it was thought that the tribe would
very likely make no effort to send help to Andes, especially if a strong force
should be assembled to effect the capture of -'Old News Carrier," Ben Curtis
and the "Old Chief," as the three Blenheim Hill worthies were known to the
officers and the landlords. Sheriff Brown was anxious to visit the neighbor-
hood again at the head of a posse for he still smarted under the disgrace at
Baldwin's mill. It was arranged to start a posse on the mornning of August 4
from Gilboa, and Broome Center, while a third company v/as to proceed up the
Schoharie valley, picking up recruits on the road. The several detachments
were on their way earl) but the tin horns heralded their coming. From house
to house up and down the Schoharie valley the horns blew until they echoed
over the Mine Kill and encircled Blenheim Hill. The farnners knew that some-
thing unusual was happening or about to happen, just what they could not tell.
They sent the shrill message on, however, and early got responses from Dutch
Hill, the answering horns being heard over the Neuterbark.
The general alarm purported ill and the men hurried to the camping ground,
awaiting the arrival of some runner who should give definite information. Mean-
while the invading forces came on through the hot August sun and toiled up the
steep mountain sides leading to the Backbone's summit. The posse for the
most part was composed of landlords, their sons, dependents, and hirelings,
though some had been impressed with no liking for the work in hand. Before
the first messengers had brought in a full report
division reached the Hill, of
their coming so that the tenants understood their danger and were prepared to
meet it.
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A Blenheim Hill Scene.

CHAPTER XIV.
C HERIFF BROWN and under-sheriff Bouck had started from Schoharie
^ lateon Sunday afternoon and made their way up the Schoharie valley by
moonlight, increasing their posse by impressment as they proceeded. A watch
was kept out down along the rocks below Blenheim and they approached the
narrows with fear and trembling. Every rock and tree and shrub assumed the
form of some stalwart Indian and many a sturdy Dutchman was in momentary
fear of being shot. Four lumber wagons conveyed the well armed band of citi-
zens under command of the sheriff. When they reached Blenheim village it
was midnight. Almerin Martin, a youth of nineteen, had met them at the foot
of the bear's ladder and hastened on ahead to conceal himself in the burying
ground above the rocks in the lower village. He stood with one hand on a
tombstone as the wagons halted in the road below, and heard the sheriff order
out a guard. The hair on the young man's head fairly lifted his hat and he
concluded it was high time to get away. Keeping well up above the rocks and
following a path that he knew, he hastened with all possible speed to the upper
village and aroused Freegift P. Martin who carried the news to Alvin Martin at
the old toUgate on the Jefferson road. Alvin ran up Darling Hollow to Charles
Goodenough's. In the meantime horns aroused alike the anti-renters and the
posse and as the latter advanced some were praying, some were swearing, and
others singing, according as each thought would be the most effective way to
keep off an Indian attack. When the teams had advanced a very little ways
above the upper village the men refused to go further that night and compelled
the sheriff to return to Fink's tavern where they thought they would be com-
paratively safe until morning.
When the start was made the next morning as many as could do so procured
horses. They were met at the foot of Blenheim Hill by a mounted posse from
Gilboa. No sooner had they left the valley than an Indian scout kindled a sig-
nal fire along the banks of the Schoharie at a spot where the same could be
seen from a few rods from John Mayham's log house where, he kept a boy
watching. The message having been thus quickly sent and received, it was in
like manner carried forward to the camp in the Hilton woods as well as to Dutch
Hill and points beyond.
Coming up the valley from that direction, John Mayham's residence was
reached first. In the meadow back of the house a halt was made and a plan
of action decided upon. The place was searched but no men could be found.
On the opposite side hill where stood one of the barns, a long ways from the
house, a man was seen to come out of a door and make for the woods. It
was Stephen Mayham, a brother of John. Several of the posse fired at the
retreating Indian but the distance was so great that he was not shot.
Having thus commenced hostilities, it was decided to leave the horses for the
present and proceed in solid column to the residence of Thomas Peaslee, a
half mile above, whose capture was greatly desired by the officers. Just be-
yond the log house, John Mayham had sixteen acres of standing rye, all ready
for the harvest. Into this field the posse turned their horses to trample down
and destroy the grain and the sixty animals thus let loose accomplished the
work during the day. It was the beginning of a fortnight's work of lawlessness
on the part of the men cLiming to be in the service of the State, the begin-
ning of a reign of terror on Blenheim Hill.
From John Mayham's the posse proceeded up the course of a little stream to
the home of Sheldon Peaslee. It will be recalled that their coming had been
heralded early in the morning and a council c::illed. It was decided to begin
drawing rye from the back side hill, keeping a watchman out. Accordingl). the
oxen were yoked and hitched to the wagon and the men proceeded to the field.
The rye was in shock. There were thirteen acres, surrounded on three sides
by a heavy growth of timber. Sheldon Peaslee did picket duty himsf 1' that
morning. Among the men at work in the field were Smith Peaslee, E. Bab-
cock, William Clark, D. W. Griggs, Jule Conklin, John Warner, and Charles
Scudder. Isaac Peaslee, a little lad of seven, was with the men to ride the old
mare Sal, hitched ahead of the oxen. One load had been put on the wagon
and all were ready to go to the barn when the watch called out:
"Run, the posse Is coming."
The men all started for the woods excepting Smith Peaslee who rem.ilnod
to take the oxen from the wagon and chain them to a stump and help Ike on
the old mare and start him for the barn. The little lad had proceeded up the
steep hillside towards home only a few hundred yards when he met the posse,
armed to the teeth. They immediately stopped him and asked for informa-
tion concerning the men seen running into the woods but the boy could not be
induced to disclose the names of the men or tell where they were going. When
an opportunity offered he slipped off the horse's back and made tracks for the
house as fast as his little bare feet would carry him.
At the Peaslee home a number of large boys had assembled, Isaac's brother
Joseph, Tom Curtis, John Sage, Smith Curtis, and Elliot Retd. The boys
were standing nesr the house discussing the situation when two men were seen
coming up through the fields from the direction of John Mayham's farm. They
were the advance guard. Both had guns on their shoulders and came up di-
rectly to the place where the boys were standing. Just at that moment Smith
Peaslee left the house and started for the barn, carrying a basket of food for
the men in the woods. The two men saw him and asked the boys who he was.
Tom Curtis told them that he was a stranger. The men knew better and im-
mediately gave chase. Smith saw them coming, wheeled around the corner
of the barn within five hundred feet of them and started for the woods like a
deer, still carrying the priceless basket. The men saw he could far outstrip
them. Both raised their guns and fired with the result that he v/as hit in the
back just above the hip. He did not shclcen his speed however and was soon
lost in the woods where he made his way to the camp and dropped exhausted.
The boys all saw the shooting as did also Mrs. Peashe who was standing in
the door of the house at the time. She recognized the men who did the shoot-
ing, one of whom belonged
a prominent and wealthy family residing in the
to
south part of the town. She kept the knowledge to herself, hewever, ^nd Smith
Peaslee never knew who shot him. It was a cowardly act, with no warrant of
law, but was in keeping with the general conduct of the posse while on that raid.
Very likely sheri:f Brown and under-sheriff Bouck did not sanction such acts,
nor were all the men composing the posse guilty of such lawlessness. On the
whole however, the invading force was little better than a drunken mob, com-
mittii g excesses that the Indians themselves had never dreamed of and sparing
neither age, sex, nor condition, taking into custody boys who were guilty of no
crime whatever and capturing men who had never worn a disguise nor violated
a law.
CHAPTER XV.
WHEN Smithdead
fell in a
Peaslee rushed into camp vith his basket of provision and
faint it was thought at first that the cause was haste and
excitement. In making an effort to revive him, blood was discovered upon his
clothing and soon it became evident to all present that he had been shot. His
clothing was quickly removed, the wound cleansed and the bleeding checked.
"This is an outrage," said John Mayham, the first to express an opinion.
"It is a damned outrage," said Dave Griggs, correcting the first speaker and
at thesame time reaching for his gun.
"Somebody will have to answer for this," he continued, grasping the weapon.
A dozen men got possession of their arms, angered beyond control. The
wounded man now regained consciousness and was able to give some account
of the shooting and also of the probable location of the posse.
"Don't waste any more time here boys," broke in Harry Wood, "come with
me. They have commenced the shooting. We
will give them all they want
of it."
"And let'sbe mighty quick about it" put in Minard Veley, at the same time
attending to the priming of his gun.
Sheldon Peaslee saw that the excited men meant to go In quest of the posse
and give them battle on the spot. He saw also the full consequences of such
a procedure for he knew that the men about him would shoot to kill. Once
again his cool headedness was to save his neighbors.
"Hold boys." said he, "Murder will not help matters. If they come and
attack us here, shoot to kill, but let them alone now." ^
"Yes," said Thomas Peaslee, in what was the most momentous cripis of his
life, "The Almighty will avenge this deed. Stay your hand: Guard the camp
well and if you are fired upon it will be time to defend yourselves. What say
you John?"
"We will have the State troops here and the Devil to pay generally if we
are not careful," replied John Ma}ham. "Let the posse do the shooting and
we will keep out of the way. This thing cannot last. There is no law that will
uphold a sheriff or his posse in such work as we have witnessed here today."
"Leave the work to me," said Smith Peaslee, "If ever I find who shot me
I will shoot him like a dog." The hot Peaslee blood was up and if ever Smith
Peaslee had known the man, he would have kept his word. As a matter of
fact, Mrs. Peaslee kept the. secret well and in after years the man who fired the
gun was frequently a guest at the home of the man he shot. He, too, knew of
the threat, and he, too, guarded the secret. Now, after more than sixty years,
the name may stand in this history. In the last days of June, 1906, the writer
spent a: fortnight going over the territory which was the scene of these stirring
events.: The sight of the old camp in the 'HiHon woods is very clearily marked.
It is a -circular- space some thirty feet .in circumference. The cattle seek out
the clover there and keep the little space cropped short. There is a spring of
clear cokl water notiar away. .Following down towards the east the old house
where Sheldon Peaslee lived, and where the shooting occurred, is falling into
.-decay, all excepting the cellar wall, which is as.;good today as when the stones
.
were placed. Near by is the cluster of old orchard trees and, in the Madjoining
pasture, the clump, of spice, a shrub found nowhere else in this part of the State.
It has been growing here for nearly a century. In the woods, too. .the vireo
sings, a shy, sweet voiced songster, its clear pecuiliar note filling the whole
,
forest. On to the east is the thirteen arce lot, now in grass, where the sixty
horses belonging to the posse trampled down the standing rye. The foundation
-stones of John Mayham's log house still remain and the waters of the Scho-
harie are still seen away down through the mountains. Over on the Delaware
Toad, the historian found an aged man, in his eightieth year, who went back in
memory to the days of '45 and recounted the stirring incidents. This venera-
i)leman, Wm. Vroman, saw the anti-rent war on Blenheim Hill in its entirety.
He was one of the prisoners captured and carried away to Gilboa andheld there
under -tiie inquisition. It was a pleasure to. him to go over the old_ days and
posterity will owe him its blessing therefor. His father, Thomas Vroman,
'Long Toni," and "Santa Anna" of the Indian days, was one of the staunchest
anti-renters in the community. When, in the interview, this .patriarch, with
white hair and beard was questioned about the shooting of Smith Peaslee, he
gave the story vividly for he was present when it happened.
"And. who did the shooting?" inquired the historian.
"Well sir," said he, with a keen twinkle in his eye, "it has generally been
believed that Roman Gleason fired the gun."
Shortly after the shooting the main body of the posse came up with the ad-
vanced guard and were advised of what had happened. Under-sheriff Bouck
protested against the unwarranted use of fire arms and a somewhat spirited dis-
cussion ensued in which mutiny was threatened, for a number of men who had
been forced into the ranks at Blenheim and below declared that they would not
be compelled to come up on Blenheim Hill and shoot men down in the fields.
"The sheriff gives no such orders," said Bouck.
"The damn rebels ought to be shot," put in an "up-renter" from Gilboa and
there were others from that locality who were like mii.ded.
Sheriff Brown then ordered the posse to move forward to the residence of
Thomas Peaslee and as that worthy could not be found they proceeded to the
Brimstone church ai^l encamped within its walls.
From the church predatory parties were sent out in various directions, spread-
ing terror among the women and children. The posse kept clear of the woods
where the Indian camp was located although they must have known something
of its whereabouts. The fact was that even the bravest among them had no
desire to come range of the Indian stronghold.
in close The report that Smith
Peaslee had been shot was soon made into a story that he had been killed and
as the message gained distance it was changed to include his brother Sheldon
and his father Thomas. The excitement became intense not only among the
people of Blenheim Hill and other localities but in the raaks of the posse as
well and a boy captive produced consternation in the Brimstone church by re-
vealing there that he was a messenger sent to bring word from Dutch Hill that
Red Jacket was on his way over at the head of a thousand armed Indians. Sher-
iff Brown did not credit the story but it was only by the show of authority that
he could keep the posse from breaking cover and taking leg bail for Blenheim
and Gilboa.
A runner had been sent to Dutch Hill however and a strong force was col-
lecting there. Horns and signal fires thoroughly aroused the whole territory
and every Indian was astir throughout Blenheim, Fulton, Jefferson, and Sum-
mit.
When Abe Spickerman got tidings of the raid and of the shooting he swore
as only a Dutchman can. Those of the present generation who remember the
old gentleman and recall the impediment in speech which made it difficult for
even his friends to understand him, will know how useless it would be to at-
tempt to quote him in print. But what he lacked in clearness he more than
made up in earnestness and if he could have had his way the whole Fulton tribe
would have advanced upon Blenheim Hill at double quick and utterly annihilat-
ed the sheriff and his posse. Abe Spickerman was an anti-renter, heart and
soul.
—
CHAPTER XVI.
r\R. CORNELL, the "old news carrier," as the up-renters called him, was
-"-^ away Columbia
far in county when the posse reached the Hill on the 4th
of August. A detatchment visited his home however. Two of his little child-
ren, John and had raised a pole from one corner of the corn-house and
Bettie,
from it floated a little flag that the children had made. This emblem of anti-
rentism caught the eye of the commander of the posse and he ordered "six of
his best men" to dismount and tear down the rebel ensign. ^This order was
given with a strong oath and at that moment Mrs. Cornell appeared at the door.
"By all means send six of your best men. Two of my little children made the
flag and put it up themselves. It will surely need six strong men to tear it down."
Bettie and John in the meantime had fled into the house and taken refuge
on a bed in the recess. The older boys hid in the barn. A thorough search was
made of the premises, including every room in the house. When they came
to the bed one of the men said to Mrs. Cornell:
"Get those damn brats off of that bed.- You have got them there to con-
ceal the old man. We will find him between the ticks."
The children were roughly pulled from the bed and the coverings thrown upon
the floor but no man was found. The boys in the barn were discovered and
brought out in front of the house. Again Mrs. Cornell came to the door and
addressed the men:
"You have no right to touch those boys. Let them alone."
"We had just as soon shoot them as not," said the commander, "and we
are going to make them prisoners."
"Come here Sime," said his mother, speaking to one of the boys.
"He can't come," said a member of the posse.
want him to get his coat," said Mrs. Cornell, at which he was per-
"1 only
mitted to enter the house. The boy thought his mother intended to aid him to
escape and he slipped away and entered a hallway at which two men sprang by
Mrs. Cornell and grabbed the boy again, pulling him back into the room. As
they did so one of them fell full length upon the floor for he was drunk.
"Call your men off and get them sober," said Mrs. Cornell to the command-
er, "before you give over some young boys into their charge. This whole pro-
ceeding is a disgrace. If my husband were here"
"Your husband is here, broke in the commander, "and he is the man we

are after."
"Why don't you search the place thoroughly then," said the good lady.
"There one building down yonder that you have missed." pointing at the same
is
time towards a small structure about four feet square standing some six or eight
rods from the house. Four or five men, not sober enough to comprehend
where they were going, made a rush for the place and forced their way in-
side, only to return swearing for Mrs. Cornell had sent them on a fool's errand.
Convinced at last that Dr. Cornell could not be found, the posse prepared to
move on and take the boys with them.
"Do not be afraid boys," said Mrs. Cornell as they moved away, "these men
dare not hurt you."
The prisoners were conducted to the Brimstone church and placed under
guard there.
meantime other detachments of the posse were operating at various
In the
places on the Hill. The men, of course, were all in hiding, even the up-renters,
for the officers treated all alike now and visited every home in search of ten-
ants, no matter what their attidude had been on the question of rent. Mrs. B.
P- Curtis had seen a number of horsemen pass through the fields near her house
and sent her young son Jacob to see if they had left the bars down so that the
cattle could get out of the pasture. The boy crept cautiously along the wall to
a big cherry tree in the corner of a field of oats and wheat. There he came
suddenly upon the posse. As he jumped over the fence they raised their guns
and commanded him to stop, threatening to shoot him. He paid no attention
to their orders but dashed away through the standing wheat, making for the
woods. He ran so fast that he lost both shoes but kept up the pace until he
reached the house where he found his brother Orrin and his sister Marie alone,
their mother having gone to a neighbors. Very soon Elizabeth Elliot came
down from the hill and said the posse was coming that way. The boys hid in
the cellar behind some potato barrels. The posse entered the house and in-
quired for the inmates. Miss Elliot was a truthful old maid and told them that,
besides the little girl and herself, there was no one else in the house excepting
two small boys hiding in the cellar. The boys heard this and concluded to re-
treat to the barn where they climbed upon the mow and dove under the hay.
The posse, not being able to find them, left the place, and the boys got down
from the mow and ran through the lots in the direction of the Elliot farm. They
encountered the posse again near the Maham place and hid behind the fence
but a file of men with loaded guns and fixed bayonets came upon them and took
them prisoners, carrying them to Elliot's barn.
Orrin could not be induced to talk at all and Jacob answered the questions
put to them, which related to the identification of Indians. Finally one of the
posse, a dark featured man with straight black hair, said: "I have been dressed
as an Indian myself."
••You would not have to dress much," said the boy, "you look near enough
like an Indian now to pass for one in our tribe."
"Not so saucy boy, or we will put you in jail," responded the man and the
boy was scared into silence.
Abbie EUiot now came to the barn and gave the men a tongue-lashing, which
was richly deserved. Finally, after being unable to get any information from
Harry Wood. Thomas Sheldon Peaslee.
Giles S. Champlin. Col. John R. Sage.

the boys, they were released on account of their age, the youngest being only
eight or nine and the other only a year or two older.
These boys might have imparted some interesting information, however, had
they chosen to do so for they were acquainted with many of the secrets of the
Indians. An older brother, Dorris. dressed as a squaw and given to all sorts
of pranks, had carried the tar-bucket on more than one night raid and the father
was one of the most trusted advisers at the council fires. An uncle, Josiah
Curtis, father-in-law of Sheldon Peasiee, was likewise an Indian whose name
struck terror to the heart of every member of the posse. He was a small man,
weighing about 120 pounds, but could whip anything in the country. He had
been known to turn a hand spring, kick a mai with both feet full in the face
and land upon his body as he fell. He could catch a man by the ankles and
throw him flat upon his back. Two members of the posse brought him to bay
that day. He had them both whipped in less than two minutes and then, start-
ing on a run in the direction of a dozen more who were spectators some six or
eight rods away, they, profiting by the experience of their companions, took
flight to a man.
Jo Curtis could catch a chipmunk anywhere on a rail fence and was the wizard
of all stone bees and logging camps. One time at Albany he whipped the bully
of the city on the street in the sight of two policemen who afterward camiO to
him and insisted upon paying his hotel bill as a consideration for the good ser-
vices rendered
CHAPTER XVil.
POR the two or three days the members of the posse directed their efforts
first
•^ to the capture of Dr. Cornell, Thomas Peaslee, B. P. Curtis and Thomas
Vroman but without success. They gathered in some twenty boys however,
and kept them prisoners in the Brimstone church. Finally a number of men
came and gave themselves up, chiefly to get inside the church and see that no
harm came to the boys who were held there. A few *'up-renters" had remain-
ed at home and kept at work, thinking they would not be molested but these
soon got word that the sheriff was no respecter of persons and that safety lay
only in flight. Uncle Ben Kenyon took to the woods like an ordinary Indian
when his arrestwas attempted. A company of mounted men visited the home
of Giles S. Champlin while he was at a spring some thirty rods away after two
pails of water. His wife stepped to the door and gave a lusty blast on a horn
as a danger signal and he left the pails at the spring and ran eastward, never
stopping until he was safe on the Q)uarry mountain, a mile away. From his
station in a tall hemlock he could see the bayonets glisten as the posse sur-
rounded his house and searched the place. It was then that he experienced a
change of heart, and as he often said afterwards, he felt like a fighting Indian
while in the tree-top. The feeling grew on him, too, as he remained on the
mountain several days living on blackberries, not daring to go home until he
saw the signal smoke which finally told him that there was no more danger. He
was a good enough Indian after that and never again attempted to champion
the cause of a landlord. In fact, long ye.-irs after, it became known- that both
Giles Champlin and John Mayham "wore the calico" at the great Summit
meeting and also upon other occasions away from home, though neither of them
ever put on the disguise on Blenheim Hill.
By the middle of the week the posse h^d a number of prisoners under gunrd
in the old church and preparations v/ere made to take them to Gilboa. Mrs.
John Warner, more br?ve perhaps than women in general, appeared at the
church and demanded the release of her boys. No attention was paid to her
but the good woman entered the church and told the boys to come with her.
Then, defying the gusrd, she walked boldly out again and actually brought the
boys home with her.
After sever.-il days in hiding, Jacob Shaver found his curiosity getting the bet-
ter of him and on the morning when the posse and prisoners were to start for
Gilboa he crawled up along the wall south of the church in order that he might
see what was happening. Slowly and cautiously he made his way until near the
road and only a few rods from the church. Then, as he raised his head a little
above the wall to get a good view of the proceedings, a member of the posse
int AiNii-KblNll WAR. 62
saw him and gave the alarm, A
general shout followed at which Jake, either
through fright or for some other reason, leaped upon the wall and stood' in
full
view. The proceeding was so unexpected that for a moment the officers were
bewildered. Just then Jake took off his hat and, swinging it high above his
head, gave a most unearthly yell. The war-hoop aroused the sheriff to his
duty and he commanded his men to take the rebel. Jake was so near the
posse that he heard the order distinctly. Some two dozen or more mounted
men started immediately in his direction, the foremost shouting to him
to sur-
render.
'M guess not by hokey-nettie," shouted the now thoroughly frightened Indian
and, again swinging his hat ai.d giving one more deafening yell, he sprang from
the wall and bounded away through the meadow, the horsemen after him at full
speed. Jake made directly for the tall swale grass and forest of cat-tails grow-
ing only a few rods away and reached the swamp ahead of the horses. Once
among the bogs he was safe, for the horses sank to their knees, stumbled and
fell, throwing their riders in every direction. In fact, the posse had started with
such speed and so suddenly did they find themselves unhorsed that Jake easil)
made his escape while the men who were after him were a struggling mass
trying to free themselves from the treacherous mire. Jake, however, never
slackened his speed. On the contrary, once out of the cat-tails he ran all the
harder down through the pines and over among the maples in Wm. Champlin's
sap-bush. Nor did this distance satisfy him for he continued on over the burnt
hill and approached his home from the south-east with as much precaution as
a hunted fox. Arriving at last in the presence of his faithful wife, who met him
with open arms, he exclaimed:
"By hokey-nettie Lettie, they didn't get me, sfirten they didn't. My good
legs saved me this time."
The posse made one capture that morning however. Coming back swearing
from the swamp, someone called out:
"There gees another damned rebel." A man was seen making through the
fields at the top of his speed. The horsemen took after him, this time over
dry ground. The Indian ran with all possible speed until he reached a brush
fence when, ostrich like, he thrust his head into the thick brush and lay perfectly
still. The officers were upon him in an instant but the sight of him made them
pause and convulsed them with laughter. After making him the subject of con-
siderable banter one man finally proded him with a bayonet at which he with-
drew his head from the brush pile and said in most humble terms:
"Gentlemen, I am as innocent as a lamb."
The posse carried him to the church, in spite of his innocence. Here he
pleaded to be taken to his home that he might acquaint his wife of his plight.
The request was granted and a squad conducted him to the house, only a short
distance away.
"Mary Ann let's repent," were the first words that greeted the frightened
woman. And so far as was possible, this captured Indian did repent and readily
he knew about the Indians which did not happen to be much
told the sheriff all
for while he had been a prominent speaker among them advocating tar and
feathers when others used much milder language, they had never let him into
the secrets of the tribe for they expected him to show the white feather. The
posse held him however and carried him away to Gilboa.
were all released from the church and the older prisoners
Finally the boys
taken to Gilboa. This was towards the last of the week. In the meantime
great events were happening in Delaware county and anothei posse from Delhi
started for Blenheim Hill, But we must follow the prisoners. Among them
were William Vroman, John, Philo, and Daniel Sage, Lyman Root, and Ed-
ward Wood. When they reached Gilboa they were confined in the tavern
kept by Ira B. Rose. Oscar Howard and David Howard were stationed as
guards over them. Then began a mock trial in the self-instituted court held by
Gilbert R. Gumming, a young lawyer then practicing law in that village. The
whole proceedings were illegal and aroused the greatest indignation. Some of
the prisoners, among them John R. Sage, were at once released through the
efforts of Luman Reed. The others, without counsel, were put through an ex-
amination. The questioning of William Vroman proved especially interesting.
When at last the disgusted lawyer threatened to put him in jail unless he an-
swered, he received this startling information:
"You cannot get to Schoharie yourself. There are a thousand Indians in the
mountains and along the rocks between Gilboa and Fulton and they will kill you
as sure as the Almighty."
Towards the last of the week the anti-renters dispatched A. C. Morehouse to
Cobleskill to obtain counsel, being anxious to secure either Thomas Smith or
Jedediah Miller. Before, however, this narrative continues the account of Mr.
Morehouse's night journey and the subsequent fate of the prisoners at Gilboa,
it will be necessary to go back to that fatal Thursday at Andes and relate
what was transpiring there, the day fixed on
for the sale the farm of Moses
Earle.
CHAPTER XVIII.
TT will be remembered that the adjourned sale on the premises of Moses

^ Earle in Andes was to take place at one o'clock on Monday, Aug. 7, 1845.
Sheriff More and Peter P.Wright arrived at the Earle farm about ten o'clock
in the forenoon of that day where a number of men had already assembled. Mr.
Wright accompanied the sheriff for the purpose of bidding on the property, that
a sale might be made. They went at once to see Mr. Earle and proposed a
settlement but he told the sherriff to go on and sell as he was determined to
fight the case to the end. The sherriff reminded Mr, Earle that he had offered
to settle but Mr. Earle said he had since changed his mind. It was evident
that a large crowd was expected for sheep were being killed and dressed and
other preparations were being made to provide entertainment for many people.
This caused the sheriff to apprehend difficulty.
At eleven o'clock a company of six Indians, fully disguised and armed, were
seen to cross the road from the north above the house and pass through the lot
where the cattle that had been levied upon were, and enter the woods near the
pasture where the sale was to take place.
"Command every spectator to assist in arresting those men," said Mr.
Wright to the sheriff and that officer did so. In the course of a quarter of an
hour another small band of Indians passed into the woods. At noon a company
of fifty Indians came out of the woods on the east side of the pasture and passed
in single file to the woods on the south side where the others had congregated.
At the same time fourteen more came off the side hill on the north side of the
road and were passing in the direction of the others when Mr. Wright went up
the road some forty rods east of the house and came within a few rods of them
as they crossed the road and entered the pasture. Here they halted at the
command of their chief and stood looking at Mr. Wright who was standing in
the road. Some little conversation took place between the Indians and Mr.
Wright when they finally passed on and he returned to the house.
Less than an hour later the Indians were observed coming out of the road
on the south of the pasture. They marched in single file and came up near
the bars some twenty rods east of the house, on the south side of the
fifteen or
road where they formed in sections of four each and passed through the bars,
forming in single line in the road, the lower end reachii.g opposite Mr. Earle's
house. Mr. Wright was standing at the bars as the Indians passed. There
were now fully one hundred of them, all armed, some with rifles, others with
muskets, while many carried in addition small pistols, tomahawks, and bags of
feathers. Mr. Wright started down the line when he met a chief who, raising
his sword, commanded him to stand back.
you or any of your tribe," said Mr. Wright
"I will not stand back one inch for
whereupon the chief placed his sword against Mr. Wright's breast and again
ordered him back.
Placing his hand upon his pistol, Mr. Wright said: "Withdraw your sword
or I will make a hole through you."
"Shooting is a game two can play," said the chief, dropping his sword and
grasping his pistol.
"Lay hand on me and will kill you. 1 am acting within the law and am
I
here about my business. I do not fear you nor any of your tribe. Yoii are all
a pack of outlaws and cowards and you ought all to be in States prison. You all
know that you are breaking the law," said Mr. Wright in a loud voice.
"Damn the law, we mean to break it," said the chief.
"1 know who you are and will send you to prison," said Mr. Wright.
"You can't swear to me," replied the chief.
"Do you mean to bid on these cattle?" asked the chief.
"I came for that Durpose."
"Then you will go home feet foremost in a wagon."
"I shall bid on get a chance."
this stock if I
"And you know what happen to you if you do."

will
Just at that time a pail of whiskey was brought out of Mr. Earle's house and
carried along the line from which the Indians drank. Horns were blown and
accessions were made to the Indian ranks. About half an hour later officers
Steele and Edgerton came in sight, riding on horseback. It was two o'clock.
The Indiansmarched forward against the stone wall on the north side of the
road and about-faced. The sheriff announced that he would proceed with the
sale and started for the pasture to drive up the stock. The chief then called
for a dozen volunteers to accompany him to the lot in order to see that the
sheriff did not sell the property down in the lot.
The sheriff, with some difficulty, drove the stock up near the bars but the
Indians prevented their being taken into the road. The line of Indians by the
wall then marched into the pasture and formed a hollow square around the bars,
enclosing the cattle and the sherfff. Steele, Edgerton, and Wright were stand-
ing by the bars when Steele proposed to drive the cattle into the road. His
right to do so was questioned by one of the anti-renters named Brisbane.
"We have a right to sell anywhere on the premises," said Steele, "and want
the cattle in the road for the convenience of the bidders."
"The notice of sale defines the place of sale," said Brisbane, "and it is not
in the highway."
Steele and Edgerton then rode down to the barn to examine a notice that
was posted on the door. The Indians, supposing that these officers had started
for home, ran into the road to head them off. Steele and Edgerton returned to
the bars and the Indians went back into the field, Wright then went to the
sheriff and said to him that unless the Indians would permit the properi} to be
driven into the road he had best adjourn the sale. The sheriff replied that he
thought he could get the cattle into the road all right. Brisbane and the sher-
iff continued to discuss the matter when Wright attempted to approach the
sheriff. A platoon of Indians guarded the bars and forbid him to pass, and rais-
ing a gun and threatening to shoot him if he did so. Holding his cane in both
hands, he placed it against the breast of the Indian who had threatened him
and forced a passage into the lot, the Indians at the bars closing in behind him.
Steele and Edgerton, appreciating his dang?r, rode into the lot about two
lengths of their horses and Wright stood near the horses' heads. The file of
Indians at the bars fell back, forming a semi-circle around the three men.
Steele then commanded the Indians to give way, as he intended to aid More in
driving out the stock. Steele now displayed great anger and expressed his de-
termination of getting the cattle into the road at all hazards, at the same time
drawing his pistol. The chief then gave ths command:
"Shoot the horses, shoot the horses!"
Someone among the Indians called out:
"Shoot him, damn him, shoot him."
The spectators at the bars moved away and thirty or forty rifles were point-
ed at the three men. Steele and Edgerton then, as officers of the law, com-
manded the peace, and Edgerton, in a loud voice, called upon every citizen
present to assist in preserving the peace. A volley pf rifles was then fired,
Edgerton's horse was killed and Steele was wounded in the arm. Steele then
fired into the crowd and his shot was answered by a second volley which came
like a shower upon him, killing his horse, and he fell bleeding to the ground,
three balls having pierced his body.
Sheriff More called out:
"For God's sake men, desist. You have done enough.'*
Edgerton £.nd Young ran and lifted Steele and asked him how badly he was
hurt.
"Two have passed through me," said the dying man, "and my bowels are
balls
all shot to pieces." The two men carried him into Mr. Earle's home. He lived
for five or six hours, enduring the most excruciating pain. While lying upon
his bed in the agonies of death. Steele told Mr. Earle that if he had paid his
rent the shooting would not have occurred. Earle replied that he would not pay
it if it cost forty lives.
The Indians remained upon the ground but a very short time after the shoot-
ing and no further attempt was made at opening the sale. A
messenger was
despatched for Mrs. Steele, who arrived just before the death of her husband
which occurred early in the evening,
The death of Steele produced the greatest excitement and on the day follow-
ing, Friday, couriers were dispatched to Albany to confer with the
Governor. A
posse was hurried Roxbury to arrest Warren P- Scudder who had acted as
into
chief at the sale on the day that Steele was shot. Men came pouring into
Delhi to tender their services in searching for those who had been
present in
disguise at the time of the murder and many companies were sent out
in va-
rious directions, one of which proceeded to- Blenheim Hill. week drew
As the
to a close the prisoners were still being held at Gilboa, the Backbone Indians
were arranging an important meeting, A. C. Morehouse was making his way to
Cobleskill after counsel, and the wildest stories were in circulation.
Ble^nheim Hill Church.
Peaslee Homestead.
CHAPTER XIX.
VJ^HEN the posse finally departed from Blenheim Hill with their prisoners,
'^ as related in a previous chapter, the men in hiding appeared again and
counseled together. The interior of the Brimstone church was a perfect wreck,
rendered so by members of the posse who had encamped therein. The anti-rent
pole had been cut down by order of Jake Allen, the commander from Gilboa.
Scarcely a farm in the community had escaped the destructive work of the of-
ficers of the law. It was decided to get togather at the old church on Satur-
day and one of the first things to
be done would be the raising of another anti-
rent pole. Two walnuts were secured and spliced. James VanDusen mak-
fine
ing the iron bands which held them together.
Early Saturday forenoon several hundred men assembled, many is disguise,
with Thomas Vroman as Santa Anna acting as chief. Very soon the tall hick-
ory pole stood upright and firmly fixed in the earth and another and larger
flag waved from the top, still proclaiming the sentiments of the people: DOWN
WITH THE RENT. Thomas Peaslee and John Mayham addressed the
multitude, dwelling on the outrages committed by the posse and suggesting
plans to secure the release of their neighbors held in custody at Gilboa. Prob-
ably many of the men present expected that the Indians were to march that
day to Gilboa and release the prisoners and most of them were anxious to do
so. As yet no word had been received from Andes and nothing was known about
the results of the attempted sale on Thursday, the shooting of Steele, or his
death on Thursday night. It was known however that A. C. Morehouse had
started the night before for Cobleskill after counsel but it was feared that even
if he succeeded in getting a lawyer the attorney would be arrested as David
Smith had been when he volunteered to defend the prisoners. The sentiment
of the meeting strongly favored going to Gilboa but just before a final vote was
taken a horseman was seen galloping eastward on the Delaware road. His
message was quickly delivered. It told of the shooting and death of Steele, of
the search being made for Scudder, and of the probable coming, that day, of a
posse from Delhi. This news created the greatest excitement. The idea of
going to Gilboa was at once abandoned and a hurried agreement was reached
to hold no further meetings, each anti-renter to act alone thereafter. The com-
pany ver) quickly dispersed and in the course of the day some of the released
prisoners arrived home from Gilboa. among them Lyman Root. It was fortu-
nate that the shoemaker reached home that day for he had important work to
do that night.
Warren P. Scudder, after the shooting of Steele, returned to his homê in
Roxbury, and the next day worked at plowing as though nothing had happened.
Towards night a messenger appeared and warned him to flee, telling him that
the oificers knew that he had acted as chief at the sale on the day previous.
He immediately left his work and consulted with his father who advised him to
make his way if possible to Blenheim Hill where he would find friends. His
escape that night was prevented by the speedy appearance of officers from Del-
hi. A hiding place had already been provided on the Scudder farm and here
the man remained secluded for a day while the officers made a thorough search
of the place, remaining until Saturday morning. When evening came, Scud-
der started alone for Blenheim Hill and made his way thither with no difficulty,
reaching Lyman Root's before midnight. The shoemaker was aroused, took
in the fugative and tapped his boots by candle light, after which he conducted
Scudder to the home of Thomas Vroman who hid him away safely in his barn.
By this time the escape of Scudder was causing the authorities of Delaware
county considerable uneasiness and bands of men were out searching the coun-
try in every direction.
When the news Steele reached Gilboa the up-renters were
of the shooting of
furious and even threatened to hang the prisoners from Blenheim Hill. The
posse made preparations to return to the Backbone and arrest the remainder of
the male inhabitants, provided they could be captured. The preacher, Moses
Pendal, was particularly wrought up in the matter and spent Sunday collecting*
guns and loading them for the posse to carry on their second raid after Blen-
heim Hill Indians. This dominie had held revival meetings in the Brimstone
church and had been fed and supported by the very men whose blood he now
proposed to spill. This was more than Bill Vroman could stand and he pro-
ceeded to speak his mind freely to the minister.
"You infernal blackleg," said the irate prisoner, "stand here and load gui.s
to shoot the very men who have put food into your mouth and clothes upon your
back. Let the report of what you are doing once get back to Blenheim Hill
and the men there will capture you and hang you from the high box pulpit in
the old Brimstone church from which you have so often preached to them
about the hell you will inhabit."
Keeping the prisoners quiet was no easy matter, for those held were all men
disposed to make things lively. The house was crowded, the posse making it
their headquarters as well as a prison, and by Sunday a goodly number of guests
were ill with a common August ailment which poor whiskey did not alleviate.
But that day Dr. Cornell came riding into Gilboa on his good cream nag, re-
turning from Columbia county. The sheriff ordered his arrest because he was
one of the chief characters among the Blenheim Hill Indians whose 'capture
had been greatly desired. Just now, however, the sheriff was anxious to se-
cure his professional services and he was requested to prescribe for the sick
men without delay. The science of medicine in 1845 differed somewhat from
that of the present day though physicians still sometimes believe in a thorough
clensing of the system. That was Dr. Cornell's strong point. We are bound
to believe that the Doctor acted strictly within the lines of his usual practice in
those cases and with uniformly good results. Every member of the posse
who took his medicine, and some fifty men did so, lived the strenuous life for a
day or two, but with ultimate good results, for all soon recovered.
Lon Morehouse made his way on horseback Friday night, inquiring the di-
rections with great caution, getting off the road more than once, and hearing
all sorts of stories then afloat. He finally reached Cobleskill and secured a
lawyer, making his journey homeward on Monday, through Jefferson, arriving
at Blenheim that night.
On Monday, August 11, the Delhi posse, three hundred strong, under the
command of officer Boughton, came from Roxbury through Moresville, now
Grand Gorge, up to Blenheim Ridge and from there to Blenheim Hill. They
halted on the Ridge to capture Ames Loper, a prominent Indian, but he got
away from them. Perry Lane, now in his eightieth year, recalls the chase.
He was raking oats in a field through which Loper ran at high speed with sev-
eral members of the posse in full pursuit. He escaped to the woods and the
posse went on to Blenheim Hill without him.
The coming of this large force to the Backbone frightened the people greatly
but the officers and men conducted themselves like gentlemen. No outrages
were committed though the search for Scudder was continued for several days.
The Gilboa posse returned early in the week, bearing the guns that the domi-
nie had loaded, but they did not use them. A number more prisoners were
taken, some to be carried to Gilboa, others to Schoharie, and a few to Delhi,
The men from Delhi and from Gilboa also, in visiting the farmhouses, would
frequently find the places entirely deserted, even by the women and children.
Sometimes meals would be ready on the table but no one in sight. In such
cases the men usually helped themselves, even visiting cellars and cupboards
in search of eatables. They also seized hay and grain from the barns for their
horses, but there was no more wanton destruction of property as there had been
during the previous week.
Thomas Smith, then one of the leading lawyers of Cobleskill, reached Gilboa
early in the week and took up the defense of the prisoners. He dissolved the
illegal, self-constituted court, set the prisoners free, and threatened the military
guards with State prison. He also notified the invading force from Delaware
county that they had exceeded their authority and the Delaware posse retreat-
ed. The sheriff of Schoharie county dismissed his men, and the war on Blen-
heim Hill was over, though Scudder was all the time concealed in Thomas
Vroman's barn. His escape from there and subsequent events in the Steele
tragedy will be made the subject of the next chapter.
CHAPTER XX.
"WT'ARREN P. SCUDDER lay concealed in Thomas Vroman's barn on
^^ Blenheim Hill for several days while the officers of Delaware and
other counties were searching everywhere for him. Finally he was taken to
the deserted camp in the Hilton woods and kept there about a fortnight, the
Peaslees providing him with food. About the 1st of September he was con-
ducted one night to the home of Henry Cleveland on Dutch Hill. Here he had
an interview with Cornelius Maham, then a resident of that community, who
advised him not to tarry in that locality. The next night he was taken to the
home of Jay Tompkins on Rossman Hill and from there made his way to Can-
ada. After an absence of several years, Scudder returned to Delaware county
where he was at once arrested but was never brought to trial.
On August 27, 1845, Governor Silas Wright issued a proclamation declaring
Delaware county in a state of insurrection. Adjutant General Farrington of
Oswego proceeded to Delhi and took command of two companies of volunteers,
forming them into a battalion of light infantry. Their officers were: captain,
Benjamin T. Cook, Franklin; lieutenant, William Buckingham, Harpersfield;
ensign, Angus McDonald, Jr., Stamford. Of the second company: captain,
John R. Baldwin, Stamford; lieutenant, Thomas E. Marvine, Walton; ensign,
Palmer L. Burrows, Tompkins.
Officers and soldiers now scoured the country arresting suspects and in the
course of a few weeks the Delhi jail was full of anti-renters awaiting trial. Fi-
nally the number became so large that two log prison pens were hastily con-
structed and filled with men.
On September 8, the Sessions Court of Delaware county convened and in
the course of the next two weeks indictments were found against two hundred
and forty-two persons. The Circuit Court met on September 22, Judge Par-
ker presiding. The trials were long and would be tedious in recital. Two of
the prisoners, John Van Steenburgh and Edward 'Conner, were convicted of
murder, four were sentenced to State prison for life, and about a dozen more
for a term of >ears. There was no evidence to show that either Van Steen-
burgh or O 'Conner were actually guilty of the killing of Steele. No one knew
and no one could know who fired the shots that caused his death. The convic-
tions were in a measure political ones, though the trials were fair and the ver-
dicts within the law. Judge Parker, in passing sentence upon the prisoners,
stated that they were among the two hundred disguised and armed men present
when Steele was shot and that they were thus clearly guilty of murder under
the law, even if they did not fire. Both men were accordingly sentenced to be
hung on November 29, 1845. Governor Wright commuted the sentences of
Wood Homestead.
Ttark Homestead.
the two condemned men to imprisonment for life and later Governor John
Young pardoned them, together v/ith all other snti-renters under sentence.
Soon after the discharge of the Blenheim Hill prisoners held at Gilboa, as
related in the last chapter, the landlords and their agents proposed a settlement
whereby those tenants v/ho desired were permitted to buy the soil at a nominal
price per acre and most of the farms on the Backbone were speedily released
from feudal tenure. A few farms, however, continued under the old arrange-
ment and even to this day there is here and there a small tract of lease land.
Toreturn to the exciting d-^ys ot August. The funeral of Steele was attend-
ed by two thousand people, and meetings were held simultaneously at various
places In Delaware and sdjoining counties at which speeches were made and
resolutions passed condemning the lawlessness of the Indians and deprecating
all forms of resistance to the laws. At the Stamford meeting A. M. Babcock
presided. Isaac D. Cornwall, Charles Griffin, Calvin C. Covil, Joshua Draper,
Hiram Fredenburgh, £.nd Adam Grant were appointed a committee to draft
resolutions to express their indignation and extei d sympathy. On December 22
the Governor revoked his insurrection proclamation and the militia was dis-
charged from active service. Subsequently, at the village of Delhi, a monu-
ment was erected to Steele as a faithful officer who had fallen while in the ful-
filment of his duty.
By the end of 845 a reaction set in and that part of the anti-rent contest
1
which had been characterized by violent opposition to law and by general disor-
der, was at an end. It still remained a living question, however, in the courts,
in the legislature, in the constitutional convention, and in the State at large.

In the heated contest for the governorship in 1846, John Young, the Whig
candidate, is said to have pledged himself to pardon all the anti-renters .who
were in prison. The him loyally and and he was elect-
anti-renters supported
ed, though the remaining candidates on the Democratic ticket were elected.
On January 27, 1847, in lessthan one m.onth after his inauguration. Governor
Young issued a proclamation stating that he held petitions from more than
1 1 ,000 persons
asking the pardon of the men convicted of offences growing out
of the so-called anti-rent excitement. He reviewed the whole series of occur-
rances and stated his belief that the spirit of lawlessness had entirely passed
away, and that, as the offences were political in their nature, the ends of the
law had been fully subserved by the imprisonment of its subjects for a period
which had already extended to two years. He then preceded to declare par-
don to the eighteen still remaining in State prisons, and restored the greater
number of them to citizenship.
1845 the most vigorously contested measure was
In the legislative session of
the proposal to hold a State coavention in the following year to form a new con-
stitution. The anti-renters of course favored this action, as they had more to
hope from a fundamental change in the laws with regard to the tenure of land
than from mere legislative enactments. To this end, petitions were laid before
the legislature bearing 25,000 signatures, and representing fifteen counties.
John Mayham ofBlenheim Hill w?.s one of the nnost active men in this matter,
taking up his residence in Albany for a time and appearing before the legisla-
tive committees again and again. It was largely through his influence, and by
the help of the anti-rent m.tmbers of the legisUture, that the constitutional con-
vention bill was passed, and when the convention met in 1846 the general feel-
ing was in favor of some modification of the law in the direction of the views
of the anti-renters.
annual message of January, 1846, Governor Young reviewed the his-
In his
tory of the anti-rent difficulties and recommended the passage of several meas-
ures. These were first, that distress for rent, in the case of leases made in
:
the future, should be abolished ; secondly, that the landlord should be taxed on
that part of his income derived from rent ; and thirdly, that the duration of the
time of all leases to be made in the future should be restricted to a small num-
ber of years. These recommendations, which had for the most part appeared
before previous legislatures but reported adversely, were now referred to com-
mittees of the two houses, that of the assembly being under the able chairman-
ship of Samuel J. Tilden of Columbia county. To the committees were also
referred the various petitions of the tenants. Hearings were given to counsel
of the proprietors of Rensselaer Manor and to representatives of the tenants
from Schoharie, Delaware, Albany, Schenectady, Montgomery, and Greene.
The committees also examined a large number of deeds, leases, and other
sources of information. The report of the Assembly Committee was made
March 28, 1846 and, from its thorough and broad-minded character, is worthy
of detailed consideration. It foreshadowed the open and honest statesmanship
of Samuel J. Tilden, destined to become one of the foremost public men in his
State and in the Nation.
:
CHAPTER XXI.
TN the report of the Assembly committee, made March 28, 1846, strong men-
•' tion was made unfavorable influences of leasehold tenures and res-
of the
traints upon alienation. The abolition of distress for rent, and the limitation of
the period of leases to be made in the future, were recommended.
When the constitutional convention of 1846 assembled the anti-rent element
was strong enough to secure the following
"The people of this State, in their right of sovereignty, are deemed to pos-
sess the original and ultimate property in and to all lands within the jurisdiction
of the State, and all lands the title to which shall fail from a defect of heirs,
shall revert or esch,eat to the people."
"AH feudal tenures of every description, with all their incidents, are declared
to be abolished, saving, however, all rents and services certain which at any
time heretofore have been lawfully created or reserved."
"AH lands within this State are declared to be allodial, so that, subject only
to the liability to escheat, the entire and absolute property is vested in the
owners, according to the nature of their respective estates."
"No grant or lease of agricultural land for a longer period than twelve years,
hereafter made, in which shall be reserved any rent or service of any kind,
shall be void."
"All fines, quarter sales, or other like restraints upon alienation, reserved in
any grant of land hereafter to be made, shall be void,"
During and subsequent to the anti-rent agitation, a great proportion of the
lands affected became the absolute property of their occupants through pur-
chase. connection the following document is of two-fold interest.
In this It
outlines the probable terms of settlement between John A. King and the ten-
ants of Blenheim and it also gives the names of many of the men who were
active in the anti-rent times.
We the Undersigned, Lessees of John A. King, Esq., do hereby

mutually agree each with the other and each for himself as fol-
lows, viz:
First, That we will offer to the said John A. King the sum of
Twenty-five thousand dollars in consideration for a conveyance in

full
Warrantee of all his right, title and interest in the lands known as the
Blenheim and Baffington Patents containing Fifteen thousand four
hundred and ninety acres or at the same rate be the same more or
less.
Second, That we will individually pay our proportions of the said
sum Twenty-five thousand dollars in the manner following
of Those
:
lessees in occupancy of land at a Rent charge of Twenty cents per

acre to pay at the rate of one dollar eighty-seven and a half cents per
acre. Those in occupancy of land at a rent charge of Fifteen cents
per acre to pay at the rate of one dollar and fifty-five cents per acre.
And those in occupancy of land at a rent charge of Twelve and a
half cents per acre to pay at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents per
acre.
Third, We
do further agree to select a Committee to act as our
duly authorized agents to enter into a Contract with the said King for
the sale and purchase of his said lands on the terms above mention-
ed it being hereby expressly stipulated and agreed that in case the
said King accepts our proposition as above stated he shall upon pay-
ment of the sums due from us individually under such contract exe-
cute to each of us a Warrantee Deed of such lands as we may pur-
chase at the rate above mentioned.
And we do further agree that every lessee who shall pay to the
said King, his due proportion of the said purchase money as above
mentioned, on or before the 15th day of November, A. D., 1847,
shall be exonerated from all liabilities or charges arising under this
agreement upon payment of a sum of money to the said committee,
equal to an assessment of Five per cent upon the purchase money
paid by each lessee. And in case any lessee shall pay a sum less
than his due proportion, for the purpose of extending his time of pay-
ment, he shall pay five per cent to the said committee on the amount
so paid and ten per cent upon the amount remaining unpaid, provided
that no such term of payment shall extend over three years from the
said 15th November.
And hereby understood and agreed that this article
it is of agree-
ment shall be of no effect unless subscribed by a majority of all the
tenants of the said Blenheim and Baffington Patents.
Dated January 6, 1847.
Henry Simons John Mayham
Soloman Franklin R. W. Ruliffson
Reuben Franklin S. C. Cole
George Franklin Thomas S. Peaslee
Wm. B. Champlin J. R. Sage
Henry N. Maynard G. S. Champlin
Christopher Kniskern Daniel Sage 2d
Joshua Tompkins John B. Vroman
William P. Champlin Charles Maham
George H. Champlin Christopher Decker
Hiram Huftaling Thomas Peaslee
Harmon Ruliffson Jr George W. Martin
Milo Wood W. Atchinson
J.
Daniel Sage Let Perry
Edward Wood Peleg Simmons
Caleb Hastings Wm. Mayham
Luther Hastings David Smith
Thomas Vroman William Vroman
David Reed William Jump
H. Goodenough William Jump Jr
John Beach John Perry
Peter Brady Stephen Perry
Owen Smith William Perry
John M. Haines Orrin Clark
John Franklin David Baley
Abnson Topping Robert Baley
J. White Cornelius Baley
Seth Brown Thomas Lines
Clark Franklin John Cornell
Zeke Brockway Lewis Shelmandine
Ames Peter I. Decker
Jesse M. Cornell Selar Decker
Peter I. Harder David J. Proper
Jacob H. Miller David Proper
Abram H. Foot Henry Cleveland
Benjamin Vandusen Henry Gardner
Abraham Pindar Henry Ploss
Henry H. Myers Winthrop Dyer
Elam Gallup B. P. Curtis
Patrick Gallacher David Craton
William H. Lyon Casper Martin
Philo Johnson Lemuel D. Pierce
Stephen G. Champlin Benjamin Frazee
John Hendrick Jacob R; Hubbell
Mathias Benjamin Johnathan Winnie
Samuel L. Eggleston
CHAPTER XXII.
THE following letter, though of a date prior to that of the

in the last chapter, and, in fact, earlier
agreement given
by a year than the actual conflict
on Blenheim be read with greater interest in the light of the history
Hill, will
already given. It was issued in the form of a circular and distributed generally
among the tenants on the Blenheim patent.

Jamaica, L. 1,, July, 1844.
Sir :
—
Early in April last, I was informed of your fixed purpose to
refuse and resist the payment of Rent to me; and soon afterwards of
your having met in large numbers, in different parts of the Patent of
Blenheim, for the purpose of forming yourselves into an Anti-Rent
Society; and as the most effective mode of carrying out your deliber-
ate intentions in this respect, that you had proceeded to pass resolu-
tions, denying the validity of my title; refusing to pay any more Rent;
raising money to defray all expenses and costs, to which, as a conse-
quence of such determination yoii might be subjected; and requiring
also, that a certain number of your members should disguise them-
selves as Indians, who, by threats of personal violence, should pre-
vent my agent, or the Officers of the Law, from collecting the Rent,
respectively due from you. Whatever grievance, if any, others may
—
have whatever grounds of complaint, well or ill-founded, may exist
as to the tenure, by which others hold Lease-land —certain 1 am,
you, at least, have none. Since this property came into my posses-
sion on which you live, and from whose soil is drawn, not only your
own support, but the small Rent stipulated tj be paid by you for the
use and occupatioi. of the same, you have been treated with a liber-
ality and fairness, which should rather have strengthened the rela-
tions which exist between us, than have furnished the ground for the
denial of my and the state of feeling and excitement, and the
Title,
refusal to pay, which now so extensively prevails among you. nei-I
ther know, nor do care to know, who, and what they are, that have
I
thus caused you to swerve from your free and self-incurred obliga-
tions to pay Rent for the Lands you have leased of me —
Lands,
which have been in my possession, and in the possession of those
from whom. derive my Title, since the year 1788
I —
Lands, which
when they became mine, about the year 1830, for a full and valuable
consideration, were greatly in arrears for Rent, were, in many in-
stances, subject to a Wheat Rent, and that payable in Albany, at a
great distance from the residence of you all. I came among you, as
soon as these Lands were mine; I saw you, heard your story, settled
with each of you upon terms and conditions, which you admitted
were liberal and satisfactory. From time to time for many years. I
have been among you; and never, without those feelings of pride and
confidence, which was the result of the relations which existed be-
tween us. My great aim and desire were, to render you contented
and happy, and I thought I had done so. Nor was this all; as church-
es were estabhshed among you, 1 gave to each denomination annual-
ly a contribution towards its support And when you complained,
that it was hard to carry the Wheat to Albany, in payment of your
Rent, and that it could no longer be raised in Blenheim; I agreed to
commute that payment in kind at Albany, for a Money Rent payable
in Blenheim; and alco to receive a certain sum in Cash per acre, as
a commutation for the Wheat Rent; and forever after fifteen cents
an acre in lieu of it. I offered, also, when you wera all agreed to
—
purchase the right, of soil, to sell to you at fair prices thus remov-
ing all ground of objection to the payment of Rent under a durable
Lease. In short, in all ways, and upon every occasion when we have
met together, and through my Agrnt, who has lived among you for
many years, and has always possessed your and my entire confidence,
1 have ever made it my duty to consult, so far as I could, the welfare,
convenience, and ability of you all. You may judge \hep. of the ex-
treme surprise and regret, with which I received the >îtelligence of
your determination to withhold the payments of your Rents, and of
your combination to resist the collection of the same at all hazards.
The first great principle of the moral law is, to do as you would be
done by. Now, supposed the case reversed, and you the owner of
the land, and I, by voluntary agreement, the Lessee of the same,
bound to pay rent for its use and occupation; your means of support-
ing your family, and assisting your children, dependent upon, and de-
rived from this property, lawfully yours, —what
would you think, or
how would you act, if seduced from my duty and my engagements, by
the counsel of evil friends and advisers. 1 should first deny your Title,
and then, as a natural consequence, refuse to pay Rent to you your —
— —
honest due your lawful demand what would be your course, under
such circumstances, for the orotection of your property, for the col-
lection of your Rents ? had dealt harshly with you; if had ex-
If I
I
acted the last farthing; if had shown, by my conduct and actions,

—
I
that there was nothing in common between us there might, perhaps,

have been some reason for your listening to the advice of evil coun-
sellors, to the influence and example of wrong-doers
on other Patents.
Such a state of things you know, and know, has never existed be-
I
tween us. Hence then. repeat, you may judge of my surprise and
I
regret,on hearing of the proceedings in which you have been engag-
ed— and I now, after having left you full time for reflection, and a
safe snd quiet return to your obligations, make this appeal to you as
men, as citizens bound by every legal and moral tie, to fulfil your
—
agreements to cast off the evil counsellors, the interested leaders,
who have drawn you from the quiet path of duty, and of voluntary
contract, to enter upon that of contention, violence, and ultimate de-
defeat and submission, —
choose you, then, while it is yet time, be-
tween him, who has ever so far proved himself your friend, and those,
who, in an evil moment, and for interested and selfish purposes, have
wrought upon your feelings by false statements, to do, what you have
already done, and still propose to accomplish, desire you to reflect
I
—
upon what have stated to be assured that there is no ground, not
I
the slightest, for the charge that my Title is defective and which, —
you at least, are prevented from questioning. I have foreborne, and
may yet for a while forbear, to enforce the collection of my Rents by
Law, and if need be, by the power of the County. Yet, you must re-
member, that forbearance has and that if you persist in
its limits;
your refusal to fulfil your obligations, I shall be compelled to appeal
to the Law, for the vindication of my rights, and the enjoyment of
my property. must defend and protect my interest in Blenheim,
I
purchased for a large sum of money. Your denial of my title, and

refusal to pay rent, leave me no other course, —
and when that appeal
is ones made, the Law, and it alone, must be. the umpire between us.
—
The decision of this question rests with you should it still continue
to be adverse to my rights, shall as surely and as firmly rely upon a
I
jury of my countrymen, as have heretofore reposed confidence upon

I
yDur good will and fidelity to your engagements. If you wish to see
me. am ready to come among you, whenever you shall inform my

I
Agent, that you are prepared to receive me. In the mean time, pon-
der well, and reflect calmly upon the state of things which now exists
— —
between us which cannot last tread back your steps comply with —
your contracts —
be just to me, be just to yourselves.
Yours, &c.,
JOHN A. KING,
DR. RICHTMYER HUBBELL.
Native of Blenheim Hill and present owner of about fifteen hundred
acres of Blenheim Hill Anti-Rent soil.
CHAPTER XXIII.
'T'HERE are many little incidents connected with the anti-rent war that have
* come to light in the course of the preparation of this history but too late
to be incorporated in proper chronological order. They have a part in the story
and will.be read with interest. It should also be stated that men who have been
interviewed do not remember events alike nor do printed authorities agree.
Isaac Peaslee of Georgetown, California is positive that the raid on Blenheim
Hill was made on Monday, August 4, 1845. It is certain that Steele was shot
on Thursday, August 7. Several men say the raid was not made until after
Steele was shot, among them Henry De Money, now 81 years old, who was a
member of the Delhi posse. Perry Lane, in his eightieth year, says Amos
Loper was not captured by the posse but escaped by fast running. George Mon-
fort, nearly as old, is positive that Amos Loper was surprised and taken prison-
er while at work in his shop. The general opinion is that Brown and Bouck
were carried to Baldwin's mill on the West Kill. Mary Rockerfeller, 84 years
old, says they were taken up the North Road and made to burn their papers in
a field back of David Reed's.
The story of the capture ofBrown and Bouck at Fink's tavern is told in
many ways. There is no agreement as to who threw Bouck over the bar, some
claiming that it was a young man named Sage, barely 20 years of age. Wil-
liam Vroman, who was not interviewed until after that chapter appeared in
print,says the story as told is correct in every particular.
Rev. A. C. Morehouse, in his autobiography, says Scudder reached Lyman
Root's on Blenheim Hill on the evening of the day following the shooting of
Steele and infers that he went from there immediately to Dutch Hill, and from
there to Rossman Hill where Jay Tompkins carried him to Westerlo, Albany
county. There friends kept him secreted for months in a cave. This is very
clearly a mistake. Scudder remained on Blenheim Hill for several weeks after
the shooting according to the testimony of a number of men still living who saw
him there and knew of his being cared for by Thomas Vroman and the Peaslees.
Morehouse is very evidently mixed in his story of the raid also. He says
that Brown and Bouck were captured in July, 1845, and that a posse was or-
ganized at Schoharie right after that to arrest those who had participated in the
violent treatment of the sheriffs. This might easily bring the raid on August 4,
1845. but the most positive testimony places the capture of Brown and Bouck
in the winter time. Judge Stephen L. Mayham says it occurred in the spring
of 1844, and that the two men were carried to Baldwin's mill in a sleigh. He
is probably the only living witness to the event. He was a schoolboy at the
time, boarding at Fink's tavern.

Morehouse must be right in his account of- his journey to Cobleskill after
counsel but he seems to be wrong in stating that the prisoners held at Gilboa
were released on Friday upon parole to report on the following Monday. Wil-
liam Vroman, 80 years old and of sound mind and memory, who was one of the
prisoners, is positive that they were not released. Again, the Morehouse ac-
count states that the Western tribe (Blenheim Hill) of Indians held a council
of war on the day before he took his journey to Cobleskill and decided, after
heated discussion, to make no more opposition to the landlords. The day of
this meeting seems to be Friday, which must have been August 8. This would
be very likely, provided the news of the shooting of Steele reached Blenheim
Hill on that day, the day following his death. But it is quite evident that no
word was received there until Saturday morning and it is also probable that
Amos Loper conducted Scudder from the Ridge to Lyman Root's house on
Saturday night. It must be, also, that Morehouse is mistaken when he says
Jay Tompkins was absent from home when he called there on his way to Co-
bleskill, having gone to conduct Scudder to Westerlo. William Vroman is pos-
itive that there was a pole-raising near the Brimstone church on Saturday,
August 9, and that news of the Steele tragedy came from the Hesd-of-the- Riv-
er that forenoon.
Morehouse again says that, having lost his way and gone eight miles beyond
Cobleskill, while eating breakfast at the hotel he found the greatest excitement,
hearing that the Schoharie and Delhi posse had surprised a company of Indians
on Blenheim Hill, shot a Methodist local preacher, and many more stories that
he knew to be false. This was very likely on Sunday, August 10. The shoot-
ing must have been that of Smith Peaslee but that was certainly done by the
Gilboa posse and before the shooting of Steele or the coming of the posse from
Delhi.
Morehouse returned from Cobleskill on Monday by the way of Jefferson, he
being a captain of the militia and compelled to appear at general training at
that village on that day, but he says the officers were so few at Jefferson, on
account of the great excitement, that those present were all relieved snd dis-
missed. On hisiway to North Blenheim he must have gone down the North
Road. He says he discovered two hundred citizens in a field near the road,
three miles from his home, very likely near the Hilton place. They recognized
him and shouted to him that Smith, the Cobleskill lawyer, had come. The
purpose of this meeting of anti-renters is not clear and Morehouse says nothing
more about it. Both the Schoharie and Delhi posse were searching the coun-
try at that time. These two hundred men must have known of Steele's death
and it was extremely dangerous for a company of tenants to be assembled.
Morehouse says of the action of Thomas Smith, the Cobleskill lawyer who
went to Gilboa to effect the release of the Blenheim Hill prisoners "His ener-
:
getic manner of presenting the many mistakes of the authorities in arresting

and confining those who were doing nothing at most but fleeing from the excit-
ed posse, who, in their new and supposed authority, had exercised what might
be properly termed mob law, so impressed them that a compromise was effect-
ed, the prisoners all released, and a peaceful state of things comparatively
reigned in Schoharie county."
Judge Mayham writes : "On the arrival of Mr. Smith, he at once broke up
the illegal self constituted tribunal assuming to try these prisoners without au-
thority of law. He also dissolved the military guards by giving them notice
that unless they immediately released all prisoners held in custody by them,
that they and their officers, sheriffs, constables, etc., would be prosecuted for
false imprisonment. The invaders from Delaware county at once beat a hasty
retreat and the posse from Schoharie followed their example and all of the
prisoners found themselves at liberty to return to their homes."
The Delhi posse took David Reed prisoner when he was sick in bed. They
thought he was feigning illness. He v/as placed upon a horse and started for
Delhi. When they reached Dr. Hilton's residence the Doctor came out and
ordered the officers to release the prisoner. He then took the sick man into
his own house and cared for him until he recovered. This incident, related by
a granddaughter of David Reed, would indicate that the Delaware posse took
their prisoners to Delhi, a very likely proceeding, although most other authori-
ties agree in saying that all prisoners taken on Blenheim Hill were carried to
Gilboa.
In Chapter VII it is stated, on good authority, that John McEntyre of Gilboa
was an Indian chief called Tecumseh. William Vroman declares this is posi-
tively an error, that McEntyre was an out and out up-renter and generally hated
by the Indians. It is more than sixty years since the stirring days of the anti-
rent war, and there is little wonder thit all memories do not agree.
CHAPTER XXIV.
T^HE war has been told. The next chapter, dealing
story of the anti-rent
' with the old manor-house in Blenheinn, will complete the history. There
yet remains a few reminiscences and these are given here. The testimony of
eye witnesses is the best evidence. Few men and women remain who partici-
pated in the conflict and anything they say should be recorded.
Martin Van Buren Hager of North Blenheim, seventy-eight years old, re-
members the capture of Brown and Bouck well. He says Bouck floored sev-
eral strong men before he was overpowered. He also says that the two sheriffs
were made to walk to Baldwin's mill in their stocking feet. During the night
when the posse was at Fink's tavern, word came that the woods were full of In-
dians. The excited men rushed from the inn in their night clothes and began
to shoot promisciously in the darkness. Mr. Hager remembers Jay Tompkins
well. He was an athlete. He could put one hand on the top rail of a high
fence and clear it at a bound. He would often stand on one foot in the bar-
room of the old tavern, kick the ceiling and come back on the same foot.
George H. Ferguson of Richmondville says:>
"The Summit Indians belonged to Red Jacket's tribe. After the shooting of
Steele 1 had several suits and disguises which 1 hid in the side hill on premises
owned by J. B. Wharton. So far as 1 know they are there yet. Scudder was
kept for a long time by Jay Tompkins about two miles from Sapbush Hollow.
Jeremiah Colliton's wife, who lived with her husband on a farm in Summit, was
an up-renter. She persisted in blowing her horn to call the help to meals. One
noontime she blew the horn as usual and the men not responding, she went out
behind the woods to blow the horn again. In her absence a dozen Indians mad^
a raid upon her house, ate the good dinner she had prepared, and carried away
all the eatables from the cellar and pantry."
Mrs. N. K. Hoagland of Schenevus writes:

"1 am a woman now seventy years of age and can very vividly remembsrthe
time of the anti-rent war. 1 was then at my father's home, John J. Warner
on Blenheim a young girl in my early 'teens.'
Hill, How distinctly I can re-
member the day and the scene when a large number of these up-rent men call-
ed the posse came to my father's house to further their cause, and the course
mother took with them. She talked to them kindly and told them what the
war was for and how unjust the rent was. She explained how they could not
pay the rent demanded and support their family. She told them they were will-
ing to pay a reasonable amount but the rent they demanded was too much and
they had no right to exact such an exorbitant sum. She also told them she did
believe they could show good title to the land from which they were collecting
rent.' Father was a prisoner in the Brimstone church on this day,which will
explain why mother did the talking. It seems they did not know what they
were making war over. One of the men said to mother 'Is that what we were
:
sent here for? 1pay rent myself and do not believe it right to do so.' Several
others expressed the same sentiment and said they had been warned out to
fight and they thought they had to do it. They thanked mother for explaining
to them the true conditions of the affair. The Brimstone church at that time
was full of men they had made prisoners. They captured every man they could
find who would not say 'up with the rent.' My father was a prisoner in the old
church and was .taken later to Schoharie where he v/as kept a prisoner for a
week. They captured, also, my brother John and made him a prisoner in the
church. Upon mother learning of this she started for the church with some
bread and pie. The scene at the church brought tears to her eyes and it also
roiled her Dutch blood. 'John,' she demanded, 'you come home with me.' A
man by the name of Jake Allen spoke up and said 'No, he can't go home with
:
you. Do you think we are going to be effected by the tears of women and
children? Mother then said 'You cannot hold that young boy here; you have
'
:
no right to do so.' Taking her boy by the hand saying 'John, you come home
with me,' she bade her dear husband good by and returned to her home. Many
of the posse were not in sympathy with the cause and would not try to capture
a man even though they said, 'Down with the rent,' for they were in sympathy
with them. The war did not last long after this but made a great amount of
trouble and expense for the community. The Brimstone church was a perfect
wreck inside when the trouble ceased. To repair it at this time was a heavy
burden on the people. Most of the farmers bought the claims of the land-hold-
ers after the disturbance v/as over."
Isaac Peaslee of Georgetown, California, says: "Smith Peaslee used to go
with his basket to feed Scudder when he was hiding on Blenheim Hill. He
would go down through that little piece of timber south-east of the old Wick-
ham spring. That route may have been for a guise on the way to the wigwam
which was three hundred yards north-west from the spring. The two pieces of
timber were not far apart and the space between grown up to brush. The Delhi
posse, when on the Hill, were stationed around the house of Thomas Peaslee,
then occupied by John J. Warner. An anti-renter came up the back way, the
posse saw him and gave chase. He ran for the fence east of the house, a high
stone wall five feet wide. The man scaled it but a member of the posse on
horseback, coming to the wall at full speed, was thrown over the fence, landing
several feet down the embankment. His party carried him up to the house and
it was thought his neck was broken. He was put into a wagon and taken to
Delhi. do not remember whether he lived or not.
I
There were thirty prison-
ers taken to Gilboa. Taking all in all, the anti-rent war vas a good thing for
Blenheim Hill and the country interested. It brought the landlords to a settle-
ment and men who went through the conflict were the first to respond to the
call for troops in '61. If the anti-rent war had happened after the Civil War it
would have been a war of blood. The gang of hoodlums that accompanied the
militia would have been wiped off the face of the earth at the first blast of the
old tin horn.
Charles Fredenburg of Worcester in memory goes back to boyhood days and
says "My father was Hiram Fr-edenburg and we lived on Blenheim Ridge dur-
:
ing the anti-rent struggle. Father was agent for Russell Forsyth, owner of the
Van Rensselaer patent. One day 1 saw from six to ten horsemen pass my fa-
ther's house, and I followed them. They stopped at Amos Loper's shoe shop
and dismounted, and I was present when they arrested Loper. Can remember
that two of the men were
Ezra Syples and Jacob M. Allen. They surprised
Loper by sending a farmer to see if he was iit home and the messenger was to
wave a handkerchief if he was there which the mounted m.en could see from
their position opposite Colby Re3d's store. They made the arrest. In regard
to Scudder being conducted to Blenheim Hill, it was done Sunday evening after
church services. remember a man came in haste to myfather's house and
I
said : 'Scudder is coming through Get an officer and arrest him

I
!
' In the
afternoon Thomas Vroman went to Moresville with his sorrel horses, riding one
and leading the other. In less than an hour after the man came to our house
Thomas Vroman rode by on his return in company with a man which proved to
be Scudder. saw the^ myself. McEntyre, am quite sure, was not an In-
I I
dian chief. Amos Loper had a family of boys and there were six boys in my
father's family. Loper's boys wer3 'anti-renters' and we called our side 'the
law and order party.' We
had many disputes and often would come together
and a bloody nose was a frequent result. Our side would make rhymes and we
would sing them, and then we would have to run or fight. We didn't run."
John R. Sage of Des Moines, Iowa, writes: "I was too young during that
period to take an active part, though old enough to yell like an Indian for the
good cause, and I tramped many miles to attend liberty-pole raisings and see
the great parades of whole regiments of young and old men dressed in calico
and disguised with leather faces. It was a period of tremendous excitement,
and the marvel is that there was no armed conflict and bloodshed on the Hill.
I was about seven when the anti-renters organized in the old church. My
father and older brothers were there, and remember some of the talk in our
I
family about the big meeting. recall of my father telling of Benjamin Cur-
I
tis' remark that he must pi ay over the matter before taking a part in the conflict.
Among the most effective speakers at the pole raisings and big meetings were
Thomas Peaslee, John Mayham and Amos Loper (my uncle by marriage),
who resided in the village of South Blenheim, now South Gilboa. At one of the
4th of July celebrations at Summit, heard a thrilling anti-rent speech by Hon.
I
Ira Harris of Albany, afterwards U. S. Senator, recall the fact that by agree-
i
ment among the anti-rent farmers the dinner horns were not to be used during
the 'war,' except as a signal of the approach of some officer, or posse, to make
arrests or serve writs of ejectment. The up-renters, or opponents of the ten-
ants, refused to comply and used their dinner horns in the old way at meal
time. This caused the 'Indian' boys some amusement for a time. They
dressed up and responded to the dinner calls in a manner that was not alto-
gether according to the usage of polite society, clearing of the tables *sans-
ceremouy.* All's well that ends well. The outcome of that conflict was good,
and in that case the end justified the means."
CHAPTER XXV.
"yvriTH the purchase of the soil, the tenants on the Blenheim patent and on
^^ others of the patroon estates became the absolute owners of the land.
Judge Mayham says "John A. King magnanimously offerred to sell his lease-
:
hold interests to the tenants for the sum at which his rent was capitalized and
his offer was followed by other landlords. This proposition was accepted by
most of the tenants who thus became the owners of the fee of their farms."
These purchases were made at different times and on various conditions but in
general the price paid was very low.
The men who came into possession of these farms during the decade follow--'
ing the Mexican war, forged ahead wonderfully and in a few years became inde-
pendent, as that term is understood and applied in rural communities. That the
anti-rent war contributed directly to this result, there can be no doubt. The
people were thoroughly aroused and for several years kept constantly on the
alert. This infused energy. When at last they won the battle they set to work
with a will and their efforts were rewarded. Thirty years after the close of the
conflict, Sheldon Peaslee and Giles S. Chsmplin were each keeping fifty cows
and each worth $20,000. They started as tenants with bare hands. Every
acre of Blenheim Hill land came to be occupied by its owner and every farmer
prospered.
Any system of land tenure must be judged by itsresuhs covering a long pe-
riod of years. Many Blenheim Hill farms have again reverted to tenants from
year to year or have been abandoned altogether. The assessed valuation will
barely reach $10 per acre. Evidences of decadence are on every hand. A few
homesteads retain their former show of good husbandry but the region as a
whole is desolate. Il the light of present conditions it has been suggested that
the old lease-hold system was after all the best. This must remain a question
for the theorist. The social and economic history of the last quarter of a cen-
tury has not yet been written; is not, in fact, yet understood. The- men who
prospered on Blenheim Hill began in the clearings when the woods came to the
door step and rye grew taller than the blackened stumps. The fields they made,
the homes they established, had no charms and little value in the eyes of their
children's children. The younger generation went out from a good land to face
new conditions. It is doubtful if the old system of a small annual rent, or any
system of holding, would re-people the old Backbone.
It must be admitted, however, that there were some good features about the
patroon tenures. The best house ever built in Blenheim was erected early in
the last century by Judge Lansing, one of the early landlords. It is a grand old
mansion today, owned and occupied by Willard Spring, a son of Olney J. Spring.
Manor House.
The John Mayham House.— Built during the Anti-Rent War.

The situation is particularly striking, on a bluff overlooking the
Schoharie and
fronting the steep and wooded side of Blenheim Judge Jacob Sutherland
Hill.
resided there and so also did Judge Rosseter, the latter about 1842. When
Sheldon Peaslee. Giles S. Champlin, and John R. Sage were boys, a daughter
of Judge Sutherland taught a Sunday school at the great manor-house, gather-
ing in the children for miles around. This work was of great and lasting bene-
fit and seems to have been only one of the many ways in which the resident
landlords and their families devoted themselves to the Interests of the tenants.
It may be that such efforts resulted in a number of the boys becoming lawyers,
physicians, and clergymen of distinction.

Life at the old manor-house, in the 40's and earlier, must have been charac-
terized by pomp and luxury. Everything about the old mansion speaks of grand-
eur, — the great cellars, basement kitchens, and store-rooms; the spacious re-
ception and banquet halls, the grand parlors; the many chambers all provided
with open fire-places. Rent day was an education in itself when the tenants
were invited to be entertained and to make merry. There surely was a charm
about the old life that has altogether disappeared.
The story of the anti-rent war as herein narrated has been written after many
interviews with men connected with the events described, a careful examina-
tion of original documents, papers, and records, a study of family traditions, and
a review of the very limited number of books and sketches heretofore written
on the subject. Of the latter source of information it may be said that a few
authors have contributed something to the available accounts of the war, but all
such are fragmentary essays, hidden away, for the most part, in isolated chap-
ters in forgotten old books. The present published serially in the
narrative,
Jefferson Courier and Schoharie County Chronicle from April 6 to October 1 1,
1906, is the first and only complete history of the conflict ever written. The
story forms an episode in the author's larger history of Blenheim Hill, a work
covering the whole period of the life of that community from the settlement of
the Blenheim patent to the present time.
In conclusion, a short recapitulation of the salient features of the anti-rent
agitation may be briefly stated. times a large proportion of the farm-
In colonial
ing land of New York came into the ownership of a few great proprietors. On
these lands the leasehold system grew up, a product partly of the feudal ideas
of the great land-owners, partly of the poverty of the farmers as a class. The
lands, when first settled by tenants, were in general entirely unimproved, and
the farmers who cleared them felt, with evident justice, that it was they who
had created the flourishing country which had taken the place of the early wil-
derness. The poverty and misfortune of individual tenants, and the growing
wealth and independence of the landlords as a class, tended to create dissatisfac-
tion, especially when the proprietors, about 1840, attempted a more rigorous
enforcement of their contract rights. United resistance on the part of tenants
followed. Anti-rent associations were formed, and finally disorder and lawless-
ness, strife in the courts, at the polls, and in the legislature ensued. Portions
of the state were declared
in insurrection and the militia called out. The anti-
rent party held the balance of power at the polls for several years and for a time
dominated state politics. The demands of the tenants culminated in the chang-
es made in the constitution of 1846. The objects of the movement were es-
sentially just and highly desirable, the men engaged in the agitation were sin-
cere, and the results were advantageous.

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-IK

.i.'-.i-i-,' /:!' fit-

Cutttell i;ntwwitg phmg

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the Cornell University Library.

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the United States on the use of the text.

AN EPISODE OF THE 40's

A HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT

ALBERT CHAMPLIN MAYHAM

II. Writs of Ejectment 1

in. The Itinerant Preacher 19

sometime in May. He will have some interesting news when he returns,"

T ATE in the summer 839, Stephen VanRensselaer as executor of the estate

of Stephen VanRensselaer, deceased, applied to the Supreme Court for

Old Map of Blenheim Hill

was long after dark before we reached Albany."

C YSTEMS of land tenure greatly influence the economic development of a

T^HE first Blenheim Hill was formed in 1843 and the

the tavern, Gen. Brown protested.

THE ANTI-RENT WAR. 38

Billran and ran till he reached the wood,

Billthought he heard the sound of a gun.

Next day the body of Bill was found,

would be a matter of absorbing interest to go into State and National poli-

The Schoharie county Anti-Rent convention was held at Peter A. Borst's in

The Ridge Street, now known as South Gilboa.

Blenheim Hill Home of John A. Clark in Anti-Rent Times.

is most of the order and so it will continue."

47 THE ANTI-RENT WAR.

of his country, who loves truth and justice and human

The more pertinent questions of wearing disguises, suppressing the blowing of

" but cries of "Tory," "One of Colbia Reed's Tories,"

THEheim anti-renters of Dutch Hillwere frequently at the wigwam of the Blen-

A Blenheim Hill Scene.

"Your husband is here, broke in the commander, "and he is the man we

Giles S. Champlin. Col. John R. Sage.

TT will be remembered that the adjourned sale on the premises of Moses

"And you know what happen to you if you do."

in the legislature, in the constitutional convention, and in the State at large.

We the Undersigned, Lessees of John A. King, Esq., do hereby

Twenty-five thousand dollars in consideration for a conveyance in

lessees in occupancy of land at a Rent charge of Twenty cents per

THE following letter, though of a date prior to that of the

among the tenants on the Blenheim patent.

acted the last farthing; if had shown, by my conduct and actions,

that there was nothing in common between us there might, perhaps,

purchased for a large sum of money. Your denial of my title, and

jury of my countrymen, as have heretofore reposed confidence upon

me. am ready to come among you, whenever you shall inform my

time, boarding at Fink's tavern.

getic manner of presenting the many mistakes of the authorities in arresting

Mrs. N. K. Hoagland of Schenevus writes:

said : 'Scudder is coming through Get an officer and arrest him

The John Mayham House.— Built during the Anti-Rent War.

physicians, and clergymen of distinction.

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