Town Of Glen

History

Historical Background and Development Patterns

The earliest inhabitants of the Town of Glen were Algonquin and Mohawk Indians. The Mohawk Indians were the strongest and most powerful tribe of the Iroquois Nation, with villages scattered throughout the Mohawk Valley. They controlled the area from Albany west to the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, and north to the St. Lawrence River. The French Jesuit Missionaries attempted to convert the Mohawks to Christianity as early as 1642, but their efforts were largely unsuccessful. Auries Creek was named in memory of an Indian Warrior known as "Aaron", or "Aurie" in Dutch. It is believed that his hut on the east side of the creek sheltered the last Mohawk Indians in the area.

There were several important Indian castles in the Town of Glen. The most famous is the lower Mohawk Indian Castle of Ossernenon, now the site of the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs at Auriesville. It was the site of the martyrdom of three French Jesuit missionaries by the Mohawk Indians. It was also the birthplace of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, daughter of an Algonquin Christian mother and a Mohawk Indian Chief. Gandawague was a lower Mohawk Castle of the Turtle Clan located about one mile west of present day Auriesville. Andagoron was a middle Mohawk Castle of the Bear Clan located on a hilltop about two miles west of Fultonville. Gandawague and Andagoron were both destroyed in De Tracey's raid of 1666.

In the early 1700s, white settlers received patents from the British crown for land in the present Town of Glen. The Meebee (Mabie) brothers are believed to be the first permanent white settlers. They obtained a patent in 1705 for land near Cadaughrita, a bluff on the Schoharie Creek, known by the Indian word for "perpendicular wall." In 1722, John Scott, commander at Fort Hunter, received a patent for 1,500 acres between Aurie's Creek and present day Fultonville. His son was granted a patent for 1,100 acres in 1725. Peter Quackenboss, one of three brothers who emigrated from Holland to New York, settled on Captain Scott's land. His son David married Scott's daughter, Anne. Their son, John Quackenboss, born in 1725, was believed to be the first white child born on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fort Hunter and Canajoharie. Other major land patents included the Ten Eyck patents, 1,500 acres in 1726 and 185 acres in 1761, and the Visger patent, 900 acres in 1726. Two very large patents were granted in 1737. Corry's patent granted 25,400 acres to William Corry, George Clark and others, and the Aurieskill patent, granted 10,000 acres to James DeLancey and four others.

Pioneer settlers included sixteen Irish families who came in 1740 under the patronage of Sir William Johnson. They settled on land along Irish Creek that was part of the Corry patent, near present day Round Barn and Lang Roads. They abandoned the settlement and returned to Ireland several years later after disturbances between Indians of New York and Canada. Richard Hoff, Marcus Hand, John Ostrom and Mattias Mount settled in the Town prior to the Revolution. Cornelius Conover and his son Isaac built a block house for protection from the Indians. A few years before the Revolutionary War Abraham Quackenboss built a brick store on his farm, two miles south of the site of Fultonville. This became a trading post for Indian tribes in the vicinity and flourished until the outbreak of the war. After the war, John Rossa opened a store in the Quackenboss residence. Prominent settlers in the last years of the century included J. R. Van Evera, John Van Derveer, John Edwards, and John H. Voorhees.

In 1796 the first bridge was erected over the Schoharie Creek at Fort Hunter by Major Isaac De Puy. The route on the south side of the Mohawk River was the principal road through the Valley at that time and was known as the "South Shore" or "Military Road." This bridge was later used as a toll bridge upon completion of the Erie Canal.

During the French and Indian Wars, and later during the Revolutionary War, the Mohawk Valley region was the scene of repeated invasions, attacks and battles. During the French and Indian War the Algonquin allied with the French against the Iroquois. During the Revolution, the Iroquois Indians maintained their alliance with the Tories. Many of the settlements in Glen suffered severely at the hands of vengeful Tories and Indians in 1780. Lithograph 1. Canal Store at Auriesville

Auriesville was the first collection of houses in the Town of sufficient importance to deserve the name of village. Robert Dunbar opened a store in the village around 1797. Jeremiah Smith also established a store, distillery and ashery, and purchased grain and produce from local farmers. John C. Van Alstine traded in Auriesville in the early 1800s. Aurie's Creek provided excellent water power for milling purposes. Peter Quackenboss erected a saw and grist mill on the creek at the close of the Revolution, and serviced farmers from miles around. A post office was established in 1824. Two hotels, a store, blacksmith shop and school were listed in a 1870 description. Lithograph 2. Van Horne Farm near Mill Point

Mill Point was another early settlement and business center. Francis Saltz and "Boss" Putman purchased the Shucksburg Patent of 1,200 acres along the Schoharie. Abram Rulifson built a grist mill at Mill Point which he sold to Simon and Peter Mabee around 1797. They enlarged it to include a saw-mill, fulling mill, carding machine and woolen factory, and later sold it to Joel Faulkner. Samuel, Henry and Jacob Van Dorn established a store at the turn of the century, which they sold to Corelius Hoff and John Hand. The success of these businesses was dependent upon a series of bridges built over the temperamental Schoharie Creek, which were swept away in 1800, 1804 and 1812. Stone remnants of bridge supports are still visible along the Schoharie Creek south of Mill Point.

The Hamlet of Glen was settled during the closing years of the revolution and became the center of business life in the Town. It was originally known as the Five Corners or Voorheesville, named after local storekeeper Peter Voorhees. The first store in the hamlet was established in 1797 by John Smith. Jacob Saunders Glen was a prominent citizen and shopkeeper who owned 10,000 acres, part of the DeLancey Patent that became available after the Revolutionary War. Using clay from his farm, he constructed a kiln and built a two story brick store and house in the hamlet in 1818. Upon his death in 1859, his niece's husband, J.V.S. Edwards, became owner and proprietor of both the house and store. The store also housed the first post office in the Town, established in 1823 under postmaster Cornelius H. Putman, and the first phone company. Jacob Saunders Glen Edwards, the son of J.V.S. Edwards, founded the Glen Telephone Company in 1879, with a single line linking the store to Fonda and Fultonville. From 1891 until his death in 1898, he expanded the system to serve Fonda, Fultonville, Auriesville, Rural Grove, Johnstown and Gloversville.

The Hand family built a two story clapboard store in the 1840s, which has remained in commercial use almost continuously since then. The first Dutch Reformed Church was organized in 1795. Members originally planned to build a log church in the settlement of Log Town, but it was actually constructed in the hamlet in 1814. This building was purchased by J.V.S. Edwards in 1842, and moved to his farm as a storehouse. Another church building was erected on the site. When this burned in 1875, the present brick structure was built. Some followers of the Dutch Reformed Church split off into the True Reformed Church and erected a clapboard church building in 1831, which still stands. By the late 1800s the hamlet also contained two hotels, a cigar manufactory, steam saw and grist-mill, tannery, wagon shop, blacksmith and cheese factory. The hamlet thrived as a business center until the West Shore Rail Road attracted most of the trade to the waterfront area in the 1880s. Lithograph 3. Blacksmith Shop and Cottage Hotel Lithograph 4. Village of Fultonville, L.R.Burleigh, Troy, New York, 1889

The Village of Fultonville was the most recent settlement in the Town. John Evart Van Epps settled on 900 acres of marshy land along the Mohawk River, known as "Van Epps Swamp" during the Revolution. There was little development until the first John Starin established an inn and tavern on the banks of the Mohawk in 1795, and later built a store in 1810. The first low wooden bridge across the Mohawk River, connecting to Caughnawaga, was built in 181. This was washed away and replaced by a covered bridge in 1823.

In preparation for the arrival of the Erie Canal, John’s son Myndert Starin and Thomas Robinson bought a large tract of land in 1822. This became the site of the village of Fultonville, named for steamboat inventor Robert Fulton. They laid the foundation for the village, laying out streets and building a store, distillery, blacksmith shop, flour, paper and saw mills, a dry dock and boatyard. When the canal opened in 1825, a full-fledged village was ready to take advantage of it. Fultonville prospered as a center of trade in the region, handling freight for Caughnawaga (Fonda), Johnstown and northern Montgomery County.

The Village was incorporated in 1848. During the Gay Nineties, Donaldson Hall boasted the largest dance floor between Schenectady and Utica and featured famed orchestras of the period.

In 1848, Myndart’s son John H. Starin, who was the village postmaster, pharmacist, and a keen observer of canal trade, moved to New York City. He assembled a fleet of 176 steam tugs and assorted craft, established the Staten Island Ferry, and a steamboat line in New Haven. He returned home to Fultonville as the "Commodore" in 1874. He erected a palatial estate at the eastern end of the Village called “Prospect Hill� and purchased 600 acres of land for a model farm. He organized a silk mill and the Fultonville National Bank, and served as a community and industrial leader. Lithograph 5. “Prospect Hill� at the Starin Estate Lithograph 6. Starin Stock Farm

The area that today encompasses the Towns of Glen, Charleston and Florida, was originally known as the Mohawk district. It was designated as the Town of Mohawk in 1788. It was split in 1793, with the territory east of the Schoharie Creek became Florida, and the area west became Charleston. The Town of Glen was officially formed in April 1823 from the Town of Charleston and named after Jacob Saunders Glen. The first Town of Glen census showed 3,678 residents in 1840. There was a steady downward trend in population until the turn of the century.

The Mohawk River and water level route through Valley facilitated the path of settlement westward. Before white settlers arrived in the area in the early 17th century, Native Americans had used the Mohawk corridor as a principal route for centuries. During the Revolution, troop movements through the Valley introduced many soldiers to the fertile lands of central New York, and many returned to settle after the war. With the increase in settlement came the need for improved roads.

The stagecoach period began in 1790 with trips from Albany to Johnstown and Canajoharie, which were extended to Utica in 1792. In 1800, a road was built from Schenectady to Utica and the Mohawk Turnpike Company was incorporated. In the same year, the Great Western Turnpike was improved from Albany to Syracuse as stagecoach service ended through the area. The Utica and Schenectady Railroad connected Amsterdam with distant points in 1836. The Erie Canal system was expanded in 1841, and construction of the Barge Canal system further improved the canal in 1903.

In most portions of the Town the soil is a fertile loam mixed with clay, well suited for farming. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Town developed as a farming community with an integral supportive mixture of small-scale commercial and industrial establishments such as inns and mills. In the early years, farmers devoted themselves primarily to dairying, which created an accompanying industry of cheese manufacturing. Lithograph 7. John D. Schuyler Farm Lithograph 8. Richard Winne Farm Lithograph 9. Peter Van Evera Farm Lithograph 10. Glen Steam, Grist and Saw Mills

Like most farming communities in the northeast, in recent years the Town has seen a decrease in farming and an increase in vacant agricultural land. There has also been an increase in single family houses built on this former farm land. The Town of Glen remains primarily an agricultural community with a strong mixture of local industries and retail businesses.

History obtained from the Town of Glen Comprehensive Plan, 2000 Lithographs obtained from FW Beers, Illustrated History of Montgomery and Fulton County. FW Beers & Company, 1878.