CHAPTER IX
THE INDIANS AND HUNTING STORIESThe Indians make but a small figure in the early history of New Paltz. There is no account of their having ever troubled the inhabitants a particle. This was because the Paltz people had honestly paid for the land and treated the Indians kindly. The last remains of the red men in this locality are said to have lived in a little village on the south bank of the Plattekill, where it empties into the Wallkill. Many arrow heads, both of the kind used in hunting and in war, have been picked up in that locality. The Normal School grounds were an Indian burying ground. An Indian skeleton, with large beads, obtained no doubt from some Dutch trader, was dug up near Mr. Low's brick yard when the railroad was in process of construction.
In the sale of the patent the red men reserved a tract called Ah Qua, southeast of Perrine's Bridge, on account of supposed mineral wealth.
Old stories relate that at butchering time they would visit the farmers' yards to select bits of the entrails of the slaughtered animals.
The few remaining at that time went off with Sir William Johnson, the Tory leader in the Revolutionary war. Now and then one would come around with baskets to sell. Once a member of such a company was drowned in the Wallkill, at Libertyville. Then they came no more, saying that the drowned man "spooked" them. One of the last of the Indians was called Tottoi. He would make maple sugar and trade it off for bread. When he died he was wrapped in a coffin of bark and buried by Daniel and Levi Van Wagenen. Probably the last visit of the Indians to this place was about 1820, when two of them came to the reservation at Ah Qua. It is related that at one time Indians came near Dashville and cut some timber for baskets. Some of the people started to drive them away, but Ezekiel Eltinge said "let them alone; they have the right." His remark was no doubt on account of the reservation at Ah Qua.
The Indians kept up the custom of holding kint-a-koys at Ah Qua after the whites had settled around. They would sing and feast as well as dance, and borrow vessels in which to prepare the food for these occasions. No matter how clean these vessels were when borrowed the Indians would wash them. The exact spot on which these kint-a-koys were held was about a half a mile southeast of the Bontecoe school- house, where the house and garden of the late Abm. Freer were located. The Indian title to the reservation at Ah Qua was probably never extinguished, but finally the tract was sold for taxes and in that way became the property of the whites.
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CHAPTER XLII
THE VAN WAGENEN FAMILY AT NEW PALTZThe first Van Wagenen at New Paltz was Petrus Van Wagenen, whose father Archa resided at Creek Locks (called by the old people Wagondahl) in a house near the residence of the late Washington LeFevre.
Petrus married, at Kingston, June 15, 1760, Sarah Low, daughter of Simeon Low of New Paltz village. In the marriage record on the church book Petrus is set down as residing at Wagondale and his wife as residing at New Paltz. They probably took up their residence at New Paltz immediately after the marriage. Petrus' house, one mile northeast of the village, is still standing, but has not been occupied for many years. Part of the eastern wall has tumbled down. It is the most picturesque ruin anywhere in the vicinity of New Paltz, and the artist's brush of Mr. A. Scott Cox has placed it on canvass in a very attractive manner. It stands in a field about half a mile northwest of Put Corners.
In the tax list of 1765 Petrus is assessed 8£ 10s. In 1767 he, with other New Paltz people of Dutch descent transferred his membership from the church at Kingston to the newly-organized Conferentia church at New Paltz, which had just erected a house of worship about two miles from the village on the west side of the Wallkill. Petrus lived to the extraordinary age of 92 years. He was by trade a stone mason. His name appears as one of the enlisted men in the Third Ulster County Regiment in the Revolutionary war.
Petrus and his wife had a large family of children. The following are recorded on the church book at Kingston as being baptized from 1761 to 1766: Jonathan, Daniel, Ezekiel, Levi. The following are recorded on the church book at New Paltz as being baptized from 1766 to 1778: Catharine, Lucas, Maria, Aert (in English Archa) and Sarah.
In the Revolutionary war Daniel and Levi served in the stockade at Wawarsing and Daniel was in the stockade when it was attacked by Tories and Indians. Daniel left three sons, all of whom went west. Archa wrote his name Archa P. He married, in 1800, Maria Freer. They lived for a time in the old homestead and for a time on what is now the Abner DuBois farm at Middletown. Archa P. served in the war of 1812 in the 92d Regiment, Heavy Artillery. He was on Lake Ontario and in the fight at Lake Mills in Canada. He received 160 acres of land for his services in war, but it was afterwards sold for taxes. Archa P. left two sons, Jonas, who resided at Plutarch, and Alexander; also one daughter, Magdalen, who married Jacob Bedford.
Lucas Van Wagenen, son of Petrus, married Cornelia Markle. They lived in the house still standing just south of the present church-yard; at least Mrs. Van Wagenen lived there after her husband's death, which occurred in 1811, at the age of 41. The children of Lucas and Cornelia Van Wagenen were Benjamin, born in 1796; Jonathan, born in 1798; Janetje, born in 1800; Maria, born in 1803. We have no account of any of these children except Benjamin and one daughter, who married James Mitchell of Shawangunk. Benjamin married Catharine, daughter of Judge Jonathan DuBois of Springtown. They lived in the building now the Huguenot bank. Benjamin Van Wagenen was a very prominent citizen of our village in his day. There was no lawyer in New Paltz until long after that time and the legal business required in the place was done by Benj. Van. Wagenen.