{Transcriber's Note: Comments surrounded by braces "{}" are by the transcriber. Those surrounded by brackets "[]" or parentheses "()" are by the original, anonymous editor except that the transcriber has changed footnote symbols to the notation "[FN]" and moved all footnotes so they immediately follow the paragraphs referencing them.}

{go to Table of Contents}

PREFACE.

Having been solicited by certain individuals of the first settlers in the neighborhood of my residence, in the town of Deerpark, for a written information in relation to their respective ancestry, both of those who now reside in this town and of those residing in other parts of our country, and feeling desirous to gratify their wishes and save from oblivion the knowledge I possess relative to their forefathers, I have thought proper to make out a small work of the same and get it printed, so that all who shall be desirous of such information can obtain the same, which undoubtedly must be a great satisfaction to many who have not had the opportunity of becoming informed in relation thereto, especially the descendants of those whose parents at an early day of the settlement of our western country emigrated into it. The general topics of conversation have changed much in this vicinity within my time of life. At the termination of the Revolutionary war this change commenced. The attention of the young people was generally directed towards the passing scenes of their time, and they remained ignorant of what had transpired during the lives of their forefathers. In the early part of my life some of the old people, whenever they came together, generally introduced the occurrences of former times, in relation to the ancient inhabitants of this valley, who inhabited it for a distance of eighty miles. From these discourses and my own observations and researches, I have become enabled to write this history. Capt. Cuddeback, Esq., Depuy and my own mother were the greatest historians. Of what had materially transpired throughout this valley from the first and last of these I have had my greatest source of information.

INTRODUCTION.

The most interesting subjects in relation to the town of Deerpark are contained in Eager's "History of Orange County." These are not embraced in this work, excepting a few articles for making a connection of certain matters therein contained, with additional materials herein introduced.

All mankind generally are desirous to possess a knowledge of their ancestry their characters, occupations, manner and circumstances of life, the lineal descent of the most anterior of them, the different scenes through which the successive generations have passed, &c. All of which is embraced in this small work, as far as my information and knowledge in relation thereto extends; and, being an old man, and having in early life had great opportunities to become informed in respect to the early settlement of this town and of the people, who, from time to time settled in it, and their descendants from generation to generation, down to the parentage of the fourth of those who first settled in Peenpack, and of the third who settled in the lower neighborhood. I, myself, have also been a spectator of the transpiring occurrences from the commencement of the Revolutionary war until the present time.

Very different have been the scenes of life through which the successive generations have passed, and, considering myself to possess the greatest fund of knowledge relating to the same, I have viewed it as incumbent on me to write this history and save from oblivion the matter therein contained, in such manner as the incompetency of my abilities will admit, which, even if not in the best manner, still comprehend the substance I deemed necessary to be embodied in it, with much diffidence, however, in respect to some parts of the same, in which I have been too lavish in introducing unnecessary matter. But as this work is only intended for the present and future descendants of the first pioneers in the district of the present town of Deerpark, I have thought proper to enter some minute matters to inform the readers how their forefathers have progressed through life. They came here poor and ventured their lives among the Indians to enjoy the lands they took in possession and afterwards bought.

The materials furnished in this work are the following: My views relative to an alteration supposed to have, in very remote times, occurred in this valley and created the formation of it, so as our forefathers found it; also the time they settled here and the inhabitants who then occupied it; their manner of life and means of supporting themselves, and other different matters and conjectures in relation to them; also the wild animals, fowls and fishes which were in this part of the country; the names of the first seven settlers, and the time they procured a patent for the land they intended to occupy; also the names of those who first settled in the lower neighborhood, and, as near as can be ascertained, the time they settled there and the places where all of both neighborhoods severally located; also the names of their respective descendants to the third generation of the Peenpack neighborhood, their marriages and manner of living, and the ages to which they respectively arrived, as near as I could ascertain the same. Also certain matters in relation to a late emigration into this town of inhabitants who have built up the village of Port Jervis, which commenced about the year 1827; the great diminution of birds, snakes, frogs and toads, within the last thirty years; also the commencement and continuance from time to time of religious worship, and the first introduction of Justices of the Peace, &c.; the anterior prices of farmers' productions, and of wages, together with some speculative and interesting matters in relation to the same.

Note.—There were some members of families in both neighborhoods whose names I did not know, and have left blanks for the same, so that the purchaser of a book can write the names of his respective relatives, omitted in the blanks left for that purpose.

[The committee on publication have supplied these names, so far as they have been able, and have included them in brackets in their proper places.]

The "History of Deerpark" was written by Mr. Gumaer between the years of 1858 and 1862 from materials collected by him during many years of close observation and after much diligence and painstaking in the collection of facts derived from frequent intercourse with others. It is safe to say that no other person in the town of Deerpark, within the last fifteen years, has been so well qualified by the possession of historical facts and other considerations to write its history as was Mr. Gumaer. Samuel W. Eager, in his history of Orange county, published in 1846 and 1847, says that he is more indebted to Mr. Gumaer than to any one person in the county for his "good will and assistance" in preparing his history. This work, prepared with so much care, has been very generously donated by his son, Peter L. Gumaer, to the Minisink Valley Historical Society, who have deemed it of sufficient value to publish, and appointed a committee to superintend its publication. This committee have found it necessary to make a few changes in the correction of dates, which have been found to be erroneous, as also in a few instances in the names of persons and of places occupied by them. Where blanks have been left by the author in the names of families, to which he alludes in his introduction, the committee have endeavored to fill them, so far as they have been able, from church records and other sources. Where any blanks remain unfilled, or where there may be any errors in the filling up, or in the original, the committee will esteem it a favor to be informed of the same. The changes that have been thus made are indicated either by the names being enclosed in brackets or by explanatory notes at the bottom of the page. As the history was written about thirty years ago, Mr. Gumaer designates particular places by their then owners and occupants. As these have, in many instances, undergone changes by death and removal, the committee have added notes indicating the present owners and occupants. With these exceptions and an occasional word or two, the history is published as originally written.

The committee close this statement with a brief sketch of the author:

Peter E. Gumaer was born in the town of Deerpark, at or near Fort Gumaer, May 28, 1771, and died December 18, 1869, at the age of 98 years, 6 months and 20 days. His parents were Ezekiel Gumaer and Naomi Low. He was a descendant of the French Huguenots, who fled from France at the time of their persecution. His father, being a farmer, he inherited the business and also learned the art of surveying, which he followed for more than fifty years. He surveyed most of the lands in the town of Deerpark, and also of adjoining towns. He was plain and unassuming in manner and deportment, much attached to his home and family, and, during his whole lifetime, lived in the town of Deerpark, having never visited the city of New York. In his principles he was regarded as a man of great integrity, always manifesting a conscientious regard for right, and nothing but strict and exact justice would satisfy him. His habits of living were extremely temperate, using but little animal food and no stimulants, except tea. He was a man of great industry, never idle and never seeking pleasure or enjoyment outside of business or study. He was of a literary turn of mind, and devoted as much of his time to reading and study as his pursuits would allow. He took great delight in the study of astronomy and philosophy. He was especially interested in Sir Isaac Newton's theory of the motions of the heavenly bodies, and said if it was correct, perpetual motion was possible and sought for a long time to demonstrate it practically. In 1851 he published a small volume upon astronomy. During his life he held many positions of public trust, which were filled with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. It is said that among the many instruments of writing drawn by him not one was ever broken in a court of law, nor were any of his surveys of land found to be incorrect.

He held in high esteem his ancestry, whose remains are buried in the Gumaer Cemetery, and a few years previous to his death, as a token of regard for them, he erected monuments to their memory with appropriate inscriptions.

In his early life it was customary for the ministers in the Reformed Dutch Church, which he attended, to preach in the Holland (Dutch) and English languages on alternate Sabbaths, and so familiar was he with the former that upon returning home he was at a loss to say, when asked, in which language the services had been held. A bit of romance has been related concerning his marriage. It is said that when he was a young man he visited the house of his future mother-in-law, and that she had a little child in the cradle which she was rocking, and that she said to him: "Peter, I want you to rock the cradle, and when this child growls up to be a young woman you may have her for a wife." It so proved that he married this same child that he had thus rocked in the cradle.

The names and ages of Mr. Gumaer's children are as follows:

Morgan, born January 27th, 1815, and died July 5th, 1855.

Ezekiel P., born May 10th, 1817, and died June 25th, 1877.

Jacob C. E., born October 18th, 1820, living at Ovid, Mich.

Peter L., born January 29th, 1827, living at Guymard, N. Y.

Naomi, born January 20th, 1830, and died May 2d, 1862.

Andrew J., born November 4th, 1833, living at Guymard, N. Y.

Esther Harriet, born August 30th, 1835, living at Brooklyn, N. Y., widow of Isaac Mulock.

HISTORY OF DEERPARK.

---

GEOGRAPHICAL FORMATION OF THE VALLEY.

Before entering into a detail relative to the settlement of this town by Europeans, the causes of their emigration from the fatherland, their manner of life in this then wilderness part of our country, &c., &c., I will give my views of what I consider to have been anteriorly the geographical face of this district of territory, its productions and its native inhabitants.

The present form of the surface of the earth teaches us that there has been a time when it was in many places very different from what it is at this day. This appears to be the case wherever there are rivers and streams of water; and we have reason to think that many lakes and ponds have been drained by the action of streams of water issuing therefrom. It must be the case that there was a time when the surface of the ground in the valley along the Neversink and Delaware rivers in this town, together with that part of it which extends southwest to the gap of the mountain, where the Delaware passes through it, and northeast to the North river, &c., laid below the bottom of a lake of water. This opinion has been formed previous to my contemplations respecting it. Eager gives some account of this in his "History of Orange County," pages 407 and 408, and sufficiently establishes the fact from Indian tradition, &c.

Not only does the gap of the mountain, where the river passes through it, exhibit strong reasons of a passage being worn through it by the action of the water of a lake in this valley, but the knolls and low hills in this valley show that they have undergone much washing of water; and, what appears somewhat mysterious, hills thirty and forty feet higher than the surface of the river flats are all composed of ground, gravel, sand and such smooth stones as are in the bottoms of rivers, from which it appears that not only the surface of those hills, but that all the materials of which they are composed, have for some length of time been water-washed. We find in them some places of clear sand, not mixed with the other materials mentioned, such as is in river sand banks; from which we have reason to conjecture that after the water received a passage through the mountain it created a current in the lake towards it, and as that passage enlarged and wore down, the water in the lake drew off and the current of its stream increased and washed the highest parts of its bottom down into the hollows, where the water was deep, and thereby run down gradually large bodies of water-washed stones, gravel, sand and ground from the highest elevations of the bottom surface into its lowest parts, many of which have remained where they have been carried by the waters, and the adjoining ground, which first was highest, has run down the stream and continued to be moved down until a gradual descent of the rivers was formed, on a bottom of smooth water-washed stones, gravel and sand, which now lie at different depths below the surface of the river flats, viz.: from about four to seven and eight feet below that of the lands along the Neversink river, and at greater depths along the surface of the Delaware river flats.

After a river bottom was formed where the flats now are, the stream creating meandering channels through those river bottom flats would contain the water of the rivers when low, but in freshets, overflow the flat bottoms, whereby in every freshet a part of the ground which the water carried down in such times, lodged on the surface of those flats, which, continuing to accumulate in this way for a great length of time, raised the surface so high that the freshets did not overflow it, unless partially in uncommon high water; and as the waters became more and more confined in stationary channels, the bottoms of these wore down by the action and weight of the water. In this manner undoubtedly was formed the soil of our river lands. In the vicinity of the gap of the Shawangunk mountain, through which the New York & Erie Railroad passes, are indications in some places on the east side of the mountain of the surface of the ground having in a very remote period of time been under water, when I contemplate it ran through this gap into the valley west of the mountain into a lake which has been mentioned.

All rivers and streams have formed the grade of their bottoms from their summits toward the ocean according to their magnitude, and the original formation of the respective districts of country through which they pass.

The river flats, amounting to about three or four thousand acres, was nearly all the land in this town which the first pioneers considered to be of any value for agricultural purposes, the residue being generally mountainous, rough, stony land, was by them considered to be of no value for farming purposes.

PLENTIFUL SUPPLY OF GAME, FISH, FRUIT, ETC.

This district of territory which the small town of Deerpark now embraces, when the Indians were its sole proprietors, was a very plentiful place for Indian life when first discovered by Europeans. The fiats, covered with a tall grass from four to six feet high, and the same and surrounding woods, often burned over, abounded with numerous deer, bears, raccoons, and many smaller animals suitable for the sustenance of men, also with turkeys, ducks, partridges and other birds suitable for man's diet. Generally in the spring of the year vast numbers of pigeons passed over here to the northeast, vast flocks of which generally lighted on the trees and ground to get food, which gave opportunities of killing some of them. The rivers and brooks teemed with different kinds of fishes, such as trout, pike, chubs, suckers, sunfish, catfish and eels, and numerous shad in the spring season in both the Delaware and the Neversink rivers, in the latter of which they ran up about five miles, which distance then generally was deep water and extended to where David Swartwout now lives; [FN] these fish were caught by bush seines, and in the Delaware river were also many rockfish, which were taken in the fall of the year by means of eel-weirs and bush seines, some of which were the largest fish in this part of that river. Also, there were, and still are, different kinds of nuts, such as white walnuts, hickory nuts, chestnuts, butternuts, hazelnuts; also various kinds of fruit and berries, to wit: large and small grapes, plums, black and red wild cherries, huckleberries, strawberries, black and red raspberries, blackberries of two or more kinds, and wintergreen berries. Such was this district of country and its productions when our forefathers came here, so that they could obtain a plentiful supply of the best of wild meats of animals, fowls and fishes, and, by the cultivation of small portions of their lands, they could obtain a supply of grain, roots and other vegetables. They could not do much at farming before the children of these first families became able to assist in that business. At this early period of their settlement they pounded their grain for such bread, cakes and soups as they made in those times, for doing which they procured pounding stones from the Indians, who manufactured them, and made or obtained from the Indians pounding blocks from one and a half to two and a half feet long, and about ten inches in diameter, in one end of which a suitable round cavity was burned in which to pound their grain, coarse salt, &c. The Indians manufactured both the stones and blocks in good style.

---

[FN] Now (1889) the residence of Peter D. Swartwout.

Jacob Cuddeback built a small mill on a spring brook near his residence. How it answered the purpose of grinding is not known. One of the stones in my possession (now broken) was about two feet in diameter and about two inches thick. It was found in a cellar of an old house which stood near Cuddeback's first residence.

The animals, fowls and fishes probably did not diminish whilst the Indians were the only inhabitants of this part of the country. The increase of these people was slow. A married couple generally did not have more than two or three children, in consequence of which they did not become more thickly populated than to consume only a small proportion of the abundance of wild meat this part of the country continued to produce, and they, not having the means we have to kill and get the wild animals, fowls and fishes, often suffered in consequence of not being enabled to kill as many as they wanted for their support. The most dexterous of them could generally get a plentiful supply, but those who were inactive had sometimes to be assisted by the others, especially in the cold season of the year.

INDIANS.

When we take a view of the difference between the acquirements of the Indian race of people and those of our own nation, and the European and other enlightened nations of the world, we behold an endless acquisition which the industry and perseverance of the latter have brought into their possession, whilst the former have scarcely made a remove from a state of infancy in respect to improvements. This we cannot so much ascribe to their mental abilities as to their indolence and distaste of the pursuits of our people, preferring their own mode of life to that of ours. They were in a state of great destitution before their intercourse with Europeans for want of such materials as they were enabled to procure after Europeans settled among them, from whom they could obtain such materials as were necessary for their livelihood, guns, traps, hatchets, knives, blankets, and other articles of which they stood in need, whereby their condition of life was much improved; and these advantages which they derived and which their descendants still continue to obtain as mentioned, were, and continue to be of greater benefit to these people than the territories which they abandoned; for they now have the means of obtaining a more comfortable living than what they had before Europeans came into this country. Yet we must admit that it was a disagreeable and melancholy trial for them to leave their native places; but for these sacrifices they have received and continue to receive a good reward, of which they would have remained destitute if they had remained alone in this country. It is the lot of mankind to undergo such changes. Thousands of foreigners and our own citizens are continually migrating from place to place to advance their interest and better their condition in life. Before Europeans came into this country, stone, wood and clay were the only materials of which they manufactured any implements for their use; and stone axes, bows and arrows were the most valuable articles they manufactured. The stone axe was made of a solid stone, about six inches long and two thick, one end round and the other flattened with a rounding towards its edge, which was made as sharp as the nature of the stone would bear for its intended use. With these they would get bark from trees to cover their wigwams, and made other shelters under which to evade the inclemency of storms of snow and rain, night air, &c.; also to get bark for canoes, and girdle trees to kill them, so that the bark and limbs would fall for fuel. And with these axes in a slow operation they could cut and split small saplings for bows, and with these and other sharp stones and bones could scrape them off to a required thickness. Arrow heads (generally called harpoons in this section) were made of different kinds of flint stones, from three to about four inches long, one inch wide at the large end, and tapering from that to the small end. They were flat and rounding towards each side for sharpening the edges; a notch was worked into each side of the big end to fasten it into the arrow. These appear to have been made by knocking off small scales, whereby their surfaces, were left uneven.

It was said that they had manufactured pots of clay for cooking, and that a few remains of these had been found, in a broken condition, and that they made eel-pots of with and caught therein eels and fish by setting them in the mouths of eel-weirs, which consisted of wings of stones thrown up in rivers and streams of water. The stone axes, bows and arrows were of great value to the naked-handed Indians. With the latter it was said that they could even kill a deer by making the bow very stiff and laying down with it in the tall grass which grew on the flats near to a deer-path, would, when a deer approached to pass, place both feet against the bow and with both hands draw the string or cord of the bow and shoot the deer as it passed, so as to kill it. It was said they made use of a sharp flint stone to skin it.

Now, although the improvements the natives of this country had made during their existence in it was very trifling, yet they had attained to about all that was in their reach in the circumstances under which they labored, and had come to the borders of a gigantic step which was necessary to be made for entering into a field of improvements similar to that of the enlightened nations of the world.

MANUFACTURE OF IMPLEMENTS OF IRON AND STEEL.

This step is the manufacturing of iron from the ore, and iron and steel utensils. The most ingenious of our own race of people would be puzzled to get into operation any works to answer that purpose, naked-handed as those people were, and in their state of ignorance when alone in this country. This discovery of manufacturing iron and steel utensils is the most useful to mankind of any ever made. Without the manufacture of iron, or some other metal which would have answered the same purpose, mankind must all have remained in that low, naked-handed and unimproved state in which the Indians were found in this country. The production of this metal by the original cause of all things, and its manufacture, are indispensable for the whole business of mankind. The blacksmith and manufacturer of iron and steel stand at the head of all other mechanics. If the productions of the former were to pass out of existence, that of the latter would inevitably become extinct and the farmer would have to abandon the cultivation of the earth, and the wheels of all the hydraulic works and manufacturing machineries whatever would cease to move. The oceans, seas, lakes and rivers would become unburdened of the ships and vessels passing thereon; the rattling of cars on the railroads would stop their music, and the still voice of the telegraph would cease to whisper its news. The consequence of all of which would be starvation and a miserable life of such as should survive to witness such a terrible catastrophe.

From all of which we are taught the great blessing we have derived in being suitably formed for its manufacture, and the construction of innumerable articles for our use and advantage, new inventions of which are continually exhibited.

Dr. Franklin, a lover of science and friend of man, in the latter part of his life said, that after a century from the time of his decease he would like to revisit the earth to see what improvements would be made in that time. If he now, after a shorter period, should be reinstated on earth in his former capacity, he undoubtedly would be astonished at the vast mechanical improvements made in our country since his time, and his philanthropy would receive the very pleasing satisfaction of having himself made a discovery from which has originated one of the most wonderful discoveries ever made, viz.: to convey intelligence instantaneously over any distance on our globe.

Now, although the Indians still remain disposed to pursue their own habits of life, yet it appears obvious that the time will come when it will be necessary for their descendants to become an improved and educated people and to get a livelihood by agriculture, manufacture and literature; for they, as well as ourselves, are susceptible of such improvements. Their habits of life, continued from generation to generation for a very great length of time, seem to have become so seated in their minds that all the entreaties which the white people have from time to time made to abandon their present mode of life and pursue that of ours, has had but little effect on the great body of Indians to lead them out of the long accustomed habits of their ancestry.

As they were scattered over all parts of this country before Europeans came into it, and, as their increase has been slow, it is evident that their origin in it must have been in a very remote period of time. They generally were most numerous where the animals, fowls and fishes on which they lived were most plentiful, which was in the vicinity of rivers and streams of water, lakes and ponds; and, in consequence of living chiefly on those natural productions and their destitution of the means to get a sufficient supply of these, made it necessary for them to scatter thinly over this part of our country for procuring a competency for their subsistence. It was said they raised corn and beans in very small quantities.

We have accounts of the South American Indians manufacturing vessels and trinkets of gold before Europeans came into it, in such parts of that country and its islands where that metal was plenty. This would have been easily done with the use of stones, as the same is very ductile.

FIRST SETTLERS.

In the year 1690, as near as can be determined, Jacob Cuddeback, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swartwout, Bernardus Swartwout, Peter Gumaer, John Tyse and David Jamison, [FN-1] settled in the present town of Deerpark, in the County of Orange and State of New York, on and near a handsome knoll or hill contiguous to a spring brook and a spring of living water, in the central part of the Peenpack flats. [FN-2] This spring still remains near its first location, but not as flush as formerly. The upper surface of this hill is flat, and its elevation about 20 feet higher than the lowland surrounding it. The Indian name, "Peenpack," was, by certain of the ancient people, said to be significant of this hill and spring.

---

[FN-1] Tyse and Jamison, it appears from other sources of information, did not become permanent settlers here. Jamison was from Scotland, and, from 1697 to 1714, served either as Vestryman or Warden in Trinity Church, New York, where he was Recorder of the city in 1712, and Attorney-General of the Province of New York in 1720. Tyse (Tyson) lived at Kingston.

[FN-2] About three-fourths of a mile south of the old stone house, which stands near A. E. Godeffroy's dwelling, all of which was formerly owned by Peter E. Gumaer and family. Fort Gumaer was located on the south end of this knoll, on which spot now stands the frame dwelling owned by A. J. Gumaer, of Guymard, and occupied by a tenant.

Peter Gumaer located himself at the southwest end of the hill, John Tyse between that and the spring brook, Bernardus Swartwout on the easterly brow of the hill, a few rods westerly of the spring, where the cellar now remains; Thomas Swartwout on the central part of the hill, opposite the spring, where the cavity of his cellar remains; Jacob Cuddeback a few rods northeast of the northeast end of the hill, on the low ground, where has been a cavity of his cellar, now leveled; Anthony Swartwout, where the house formerly of Cornelius Van Inwegen stood, a few rods northeast of Cuddeback's place of residence, and David Jamison, somewhere near this last location. Here these few families had advantageously located themselves for material assistance to repel Indian attacks, in case they should happen, and also for all of them to get water out of the spring for their drink in hot weather. The most distant of those residences was not over thirty rods from it.

Eager, in making researches for a history of Orange County, found this settlement to be the earliest of any in it. [FN-1] The liberty of settling here was probably obtained from the Indians by purchase; for it appears that these settlers were and remained at peace with them and on friendly terms until the commencement of the French war. As the neighborhood in time extended about four miles in length, it continued to bear that name, although there were several localities within that distance which had other Indian names; one at my present residence; one at the Neversink river, near the aqueduct of the canal; one at the present residence of Col. Peter P. Swartwout, [FN-2] and two between that and the first Peenpack locality. In these several places resided small collections of Indians near living springs and streams of water.

---

[FN-1] Since then it has been ascertained that there was an earlier settlement in the county near New Windsor, at what is known as Plum Point. In 1684, Patrick McGregorie, his brother-in-law David Toshuck, who subscribed his name "Laird of Minivard," and twenty-five others principally Scotch Presbyterians, purchased a tract of 4,000 acres, embracing lands on both sides of Murderer's creek. Here, on Couwanham's Hill, so-called from its aboriginal owner, but now known as Plum Point, McGregorie built his cabin, and in the same vicinity were those of his associates, William Chambers, William Sutherland and one Collum, while on the north side of the creek David Toshuck and his servant Daniel Maskrig established a trading post. (See Ruttenber's History of Orange County, p. 21, 22)

[FN-2] Now (1889) owned and occupied by Benjamin Swartwout.

When this place was first settled, it was about 25 or 30 miles distant from the nearest settlement of white people, which latter was on the road from here to Kingston. Two of the first pioneers, Cuddeback and Gumaer, were from France and of families who were in comfortable circumstances of life, which appears evident from what has been said by them in relation thereto, and from the fact that they had been brought up without doing any manual labor. It was said that their hands were so soft and tender when they first came into America that they blistered and bled when they first labored for a living in this country. The family of Cuddeback were in a trading business, in which Cuddeback had served as clerk. It was said the family of Gumaer were rich and in possession of large bills of exchange, for which they could not get money before he had to flee to escape persecution or death. From a certificate of his, in the French language, in relation to his church membership and character, dated the 20th of April, 1686, it appears that he then was in France and about 20 years of age. In 1685, the edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV., King of France, whereby the Huguenots became unprotected by the laws of that country and exposed to the vengeance of the Catholics, who were the most numerous and powerful class of people in that country, and, after they became unrestrained, exercised their power to torture and murder the former, and to plunder and destroy their property, which caused a flight of thousands of them from France into other countries, in which the two individuals mentioned made their escape from it.

The name Cuddeback, as now written and Codeback as written in the patent, must both differ from the original orthography. Cuddeback has said that his name was that of a certain city in France. On examining an ancient gazetteer I find the orthography of one city in that country to be "Caudebec," which, in the French tongue, has the same oral sound as that of Codeback in the English tongue.

The Rev. Henry Morris, of Cuddebackville, has furnished me with some historical accounts from Malte Brun's Universal Geography, Vol. 6, being the following notice of Caudebec:

"Caudebec was formerly the capitol of Caux, a small country in which agriculture has attained to a high degree of perfection, where every house, surrounded by trees of different sorts, contributes to adorn the different sites; indeed, the country, watered by the Seine from Havre to Rouen, may vie with the vaunted banks of the Seine. Caudebec was a flourishing town before the revocation of the edict of Nantes; it was almost ruined in consequence of that impolitic measure, and, although it possesses a convenient harbor, the population does not exceed three thousand souls. It is situated in the district of Yvetot, a small town of which the lords before the reign of Louis XI. were styled kings by their vassals."

Morris further states that "Caudebec is situated in the department of the Lower Seine, in which are the following towns: Lillebonne, Rouen, Elbeuf, Gournay and Aumale," and judges that it lies on the river Seine between Paris and the English Channel, and belongs to that part of France that anciently was called Normandy.

I feel very thankful for this information. It reminds me of certain occurrences which attended Cuddeback and Gumaer at the time of their flight from France, and all in connection gives me reason to think that both of them resided in the capital mentioned.

Caudebec said that the vessel in which he escaped from his country had many wheat bread passengers on it, who, after a few days' sailing, began to complain of their fare on the vessel, and that they could not live on the diet furnished, when the same consisted of plenty of bread, meat, beans, and other vegetables, and such eatables as were generally had on ships, but were inferior to such as they had been habituated to. As for himself, he said he thought he could do well enough on such victuals, but, he said, before they arrived at their place of destination, provisions became scarce and they began to have good reason to complain. From which, it appears, that their voyage must have been retarded by contrary winds, or a circuitous route, to avoid being taken by their enemies. I have also understood that Gumaer lived in a city, and, when his enemies sought for him, he was reading in a garden, where he was informed of his enemies searching for him and he fled to the top of one of the houses, where he hid. Now, as it appears that this city was a flourishing place before it became reduced by the persecutions mentioned and suffered much in consequence of the same, and, as one of those two individuals bore the name of the town, it appears very probable that the passengers in the vessel mentioned were all from this capital.

I have been informed that Caudebec sometimes related the manner in which the Protestants, or Huguenots, were tortured and murdered, one of which I still remember, but consider it too shocking to our feelings to embrace it in this work, being worse, in my view, than the vile Nero's project of employing dogs to kill Christians. These innocent people in the early days of Christianity suffered great persecutions from those who were inimical to their professions and doctrines. It seems strange that after their doctrine became popular, the greatest proportion of those who embraced it in France became as cruel as the monster Nero, who had the power to exhibit to the world his thirst for imposing on mankind the numerous cruelties he caused to be inflicted. He became so destitute of the feelings of humanity that he caused even his own mother to be put to death to satisfy an unnatural curiosity. Also the great moralist, Seneca, who had been his tutor, did not escape his jealous disposition, but was put to death according to his orders. All his impositions for self present gratification will remain an everlasting stain on his character of the blackest dye, and the sufferings he caused to be endured must have affected thousands of his subjects.

Now, all these acts are only as a drop of water in a bucket to like acts unnecessarily imposed from time to time on the Roman people and other nations, by ruling characters of Roman dominions.

What shall we think of mankind, who, for self-exaltation, have so overcome all those tender feelings implanted in their natures as to kill, murder and plunder each other without any just cause, but merely to satisfy the cravings of men who were a curse to the world? I do not know of any species of creatures on the globe who have acted as cruel as human beings have done in this respect. And by taking a view of the sins of the ancient nations, who have been destroyed, it appears that good reason existed for their destruction, and that all the animal tribes have yielded more to the government and laws of their Creator than mankind.

The name Gumaer, as now written, was on the certificate written "Guimar." In another writing, which gave Gumaer the right of citizenship in the English territories, it was written "Guymard." This writing was also found among the papers formerly of Peter Gumaer, Jr., now (1858) in possession of his son-in-law, Solomon Van Etten, Esq. It is probable that the names Gomar, Guymard and Guimar, in France, originated from one of those names, the last of which is the name of a certain town within the French territories. I have never seen the handwriting of Cuddeback or Gumaer. The children of the first families were not educated, in consequence of which, when it became necessary to write their names in their business transactions, &c., the same was done in the Dutch tongue, without any other guide than that of the oral sound, which of the latter name had become somewhat broader among the Dutch than what it was originally; and the French sound of "mar" was altered in the Dutch sound of "maer," which is the same as that of "maur" in the English tongue.

A hasty flight of these two individuals prevented them from being furnished with sufficient funds for a livelihood, in consequence of which it was concluded that two sisters of Cuddeback, who were to leave France afterwards and meet them at their place of destination (which, the writer has understood, was to be England, but it may have been in Holland), were to bring money for setting up a business of trade. It is probable that there was an intended marriage of Gumaer with one of those sisters. They did not arrive at the appointed time, and, after all hope of their coming was given up, these two young men embarked for America and landed in the State of Maryland, which passage exhausted all their money, and here they began to experience the want of it. After a short stay, they came into the State of New York, where both entered into a state of matrimony, Cuddeback with a daughter of Benjamin Provost, who was in a trading business either in the city of New York or somewhere in the vicinity of the Hudson river, whereby he became related to some Swartwout families, which probably led to an association of Cuddeback, the three Swartwouts and other companions to move into this part of the country. Peter, son of the first Gumaer, has said that his son Elias took after the Deyo family, which leads us to infer that Gumaer's wife was of a Deyo family.

The name of the father of the three Swartwouts is not known, but we have reason to believe it was Gerardus, as this is a name which has been given to at least one member of each Swartwout generation from the first in this neighborhood to the present; and also in the family of Harmanus Van Inwegen, whose wife was a Swartwout, and the name of their only son was Gerardus, which name has also continued in his family descendants to the present time. The name Jacobus (James) and the name Samuel, are Swartwout names, and have continued in those families to the present time. In the early part of the settlement here, there were two Swartwouts who sometimes came over here from the east side of the Hudson river (probably from Dutchess or Westchester counties) to see their relatives here. The name of one of them was Jacobus (James), and he was generally called Dickke Jacobus (Thick James), in consequence of his bodily thickness. It was said he was uncommonly broad and thick around his shoulders and breast, and unusually strong. It is probable that the Swartwouts in this place either came from the city of New York or from one of the counties on the east side of the Hudson river, and that their ancestry emigrated from Holland into this country at an early period of its settlement for advancing their interests.

Cuddeback, Gumaer and one of the Swartwouts were the only three of the first settlers who remained in the present town of Deerpark, and they became the owners of the land granted by the patent; and having become too weak to defend their possessions against Jersey claimants, they let Harmanus Van Inwegen have some of their lands to come and reside here and help defend their possessions. He was a bold, strong and resolute man, on whom much reliance was placed. He was originally from Holland, and in the early part of his life had been a seafaring man. At a certain time he was at the house of Cuddeback, and on hearing him read that part of history which relates to Hindoo women suffering themselves to be burned, after the death of their husbands, in case of being the survivors, said that his own eyes had seen what he (Cuddeback) was reading, and mentioned the place of the occurrence and manner in which it was transacted. Van Inwegen had married a sister of the three Swartwouts.

It is somewhat uncertain which of the three Swartwouts remained in this neighborhood, but as the seats of Bernardus and Thomas became vacated, and Anthony's continued to be occupied by Van Inwegen after Samuel and James Swartwout removed more distantly from the neighborhood first settled, I will make use of his name as the father of the two latter. Another reason is that the seats of Bernardus and Thomas became possessed by the second Peter Gumaer. He bought the rights of two Swartwouts.

It is not known what became of the families of Tyse and Jamison, nor where the two Swartwouts went, who removed from here. There are Swartwouts down the Delaware river, in the State of Pennsylvania, or New Jersey, among whom the name of Bernardus has been kept up. These probably are descendants of Bernardus who settled here. There also are Swartwouts on the Susquehanna. These may be descendants of Thomas Swartwout.

After the seven first settlers had resided here a few years, they sent Jacob Cuddeback to the Governor of the New York Colony to obtain a patent to cover as much land as they intended to occupy, which was granted the 14th of October, 1697, for 1,200 acres land to Jacob Cuddeback, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swartwout, Bernardus Swartwout, Jan Tyse, Peter Germar and David Jamison, who, as near as can be determined, continued to be the only settlers of white people in this part of the country for a term of more than 20 years. The strongest evidence of this is that the children of the first settlers between this place and the Delaware river were contemporary with the grandchildren of the first settlers, and that some of the children of the first pioneers were among the first settlers of both the lands between this place and the Delaware river, and a few miles down the same in the north part of New Jersey. One daughter of Jacob Cuddeback, one of Van Inwegen, one of Swartwout, and a sister of the second Peter Gumaer's wife, were among the first settlers between this place and the Delaware; and one son and four daughters of Cuddeback were among the first in the north of New Jersey.

There were two neighborhoods in this town, one of which, formerly known by the name of Peenpack neighborhood, extended southwest to the old county line, formerly between Orange and Ulster counties, and the other extended from that line southwest to the Delaware river, and was in the first instance designated "over the river neighborhood," in consequence of its population then being principally on the east side of the river, but after the increase of inhabitants on the west side of the river the whole district was generally termed "the lower neighborhood."