IN THIS ISSUE - Columbia County Historical Society - · PDF filemuseum that includes exhibition galleries and an exten- ... articles in this issue will center on ... try to the Algonkian

Volume 1 Number ThreeVolume 1 Number Three Published by the Columbia County Historical SocietyPublished by the Columbia County Historical Society

IN THIS ISSUE:

Mohicans OnceProspered Here

PAGE 6

The Selling of theMohican Lands

PAGE 7

The Legend of Spook RockPAGE 8

Arrow Points & Stone ToolsPAGE 9

The Austerlitz CannibalPAGE 10

News of theColumbia CountyHistorical Society

PAGE 12

History Around the CountyPAGE 16

Collections HighlightsPAGE 18

The Celestial Bear ofthe Mohawk People

PAGE 19

Columbia CountyHistorical SocietyEvents Calendar

PAGE 23

�

WINTER 2003

The Indians of Columbia County PAGE 3

Etow Oh Koam, King of the River Nation (called Nicholas) – By Verelst, London 1710

Columbia County Histor ica l Society www.cchsny.org

2

COLUMBIA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYBOARD OF DIRECTORS

STAFFSharon S. Palmer Executive Director

Helen M. McLallen CuratorRuth Ellen Berninger Educator

COLUMBIA COUNTY HISTORY & HERITAGEEDITORIAL BOARD

EditorHenry N. Eyre, Jr.

“Jim”

Around the CountyJulia Philip

Editorial CommitteeArthur Baker, George N. Biggs, III,Albert S. Callan,Joan K. Davidson, Mimi Forer, James P. Hamilton,

Stephan M. Mandel,Will Swift, Susan Gerwe Tripp,David William Voorhees

Design and ProductionRon Toelke

Ron Toelke Associates

Columbia County History & Heritage is published bythe Columbia County Historical Society and is mailedto all members of record at the time of publication.Copies may be obtained, as available, at $2.00 percopy from the Society offices at the Columbia CountyMuseum, 5 Albany Avenue, Kinderhook, New York,12106; 518-758-9265; www.cchsny.org

Hours:Monday,Wednesday,Friday 10:00 a.m.– 4:00 p.m.,Saturday 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Ifeel very fortunate to be writing as your President atthis time. Fortunate to be following in this office thetenure of Susan Gerwe Tripp, whose dedication, intel-lect and professionalism greatly benefited our Society.Fortunate to be at the helm at a time when we have

garnered several very significant grants that not only bring usbadly needed funds (and the challenge of raising more fundsto match them), but also validate the thorough and scholarlyapproach we have taken to the restoration of our properties.Fortunate to be here upon the launching, against greatodds, of a successful and ongoing development campaignunder the chairmanship of Nick Biggs. And fortunate to bewriting in the third issue of this well-received publication,so ably edited by Jim Eyre and designed by Ron Toelke. Mostof all, it is my great good fortune to be working with aDirector whose commitment knows no hours, with adedicated, enthusiastic staff, with a board that is fullyengaged and a membership (now at an all-time high) thatprovides loyal support and a wonderful cadre of volunteers.

But it is my sad duty to report a great loss to the Societysince our last issue. On November 4, 2002, Harry van Dykedied. A former President, longtime board member and ever-generous supporter, Harry initiated our annual scholarshipaward,which we are renaming in his honor.We grieve his lossand are inspired by his memory to complete the work thatwas so important to him.

You will read in the following pages of the most importantgrants we have received since the last issue of this magazinewent to press. I have already mentioned the matching fundsrequirement for the restoration grants. Some of this money isalready in hand, thanks to our development efforts. Muchmore still needs to be raised. It is our pre-eminent task tocomplete this fundraising so that we can receive the grantmoney and do the work so urgently needed to preserve ourarchitectural treasures.

Another matter of great urgency to the Society is expand-ing the cadre of volunteers I spoke of above. Only by doing

CountyColumbia HERITAGEHISTORY&

Our Mission

The Columbia County Historical Society is aprivate, not-for-profit organization dedicated tothe preservation and interpretation of the history and

culture of Columbia County for its residents andvisitors.

It is the Society’s goal to encourage understanding,knowledge, and preservation of the county’s heritagethrough the acquisition and conservation of historiclands, buildings, objects and documents, and the sponsor-ship of research, publications, exhibitions, and education-al programming. To help achieve its mission, the Societyowns, maintains, and interprets to the public, buildingsand collections of historical significance, and operates amuseum that includes exhibition galleries and an exten-sive research library.

Stephan M. MandelPresident

John B. CarrollVice Presidents

Woodruff L.TuttleTreasurer

Russell PomeranzAssistant Treasurer

Beth O’ConnorSecretary

David William VoorheesAssistant Secretary

Arthur BakerGeorge N. Biggs, III

Albert CallanNancy Clark

David CrawfordJoan K. DavidsonHenry N. Eyre, Jr.

Mimi ForerJohn Hannam

Willis HartshornTimothy Husband

Brian KellyJulia Philip

Richard RyanSamuel O.J. Spivy

Colin Stair

Continued on page 13

A Message from the President

Columbia County Histor y & Heritage Winter 2003

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By Jim EyreThe emphasis of this and otherarticles in this issue will center onthe early developmental stages ofthe Indians in Columbia Countyup to the time of the settlementsby the Dutch. In this first articlewe are presenting a composite ofinformation taken and adaptedfrom writings by Ted Filli, Jr.,Claverack Town Historian; the lateKen Mynter, of Claverack andformer professor at The Universityof Rochester; Dominick C. Lizzi,Valatie Village Historian; StephenK. Comer, Doctoral Student inMohican Studies, SUNY Albany;Shirley W. Dunn, author of“Mohicans and Their Land1609–1730,” and “the MohicanWorld, 1680–1730.”

20,000 years ago theHudson Valley was cov-ered with an ice sheet

5000 feet thick. As the icemasses advanced and retreat-ed, they carved out our pres-ent day landscape. It was thenthat the rock shelters andplains along Spook RockRoad, Hudson, New York,later to become ideal Indiancampsites, took their shape.It took another 9000 years forthe ice to wane and the cli-mate to change to near pres-ent-day conditions. In theplace of the ice, tall forests ofhemlock, spruce and oakappeared, and verdant openplains sprang forth from therich soils left behind.

By the year 7000 B.C. car-bon tests have proven thatpeople were living and hunt-

ing in the area. Hard as it is tobelieve, this was before thebuilding of the pyramids andat about the same time asNeolithic and Stone Age manwas prevalent in Europe.

These first people werenomads and are referred to asPaleoindian.They are believedto be descendants of Asiatictribes who came to NorthAmerica via the Bering Straitsand along the coastlines onsmall rafts following theshores in a series of migra-tions. They expanded south-ward through Canada andeastward through the centralpart of what is now the UnitedStates until they reached our

Hudson Valley. These firstvisitors to Columbia Countywere hunters and gatherersmost likely following themigrations of birds and gameanimals up north as far asAlbany and even Lake Georgein the summer and then backdown into Pennsylvania andother points south in the win-ter months. Their weaponswere Stone Age in nature.Most were spears tipped withwhat we now call projectilepoints hefted onto them.These projectile points arenot to be confused witharrowheads. The bow andarrow did not come into useuntil about 700–900 A.D.

There is little doubt thatthese people provided ances-try to the Algonkian languagegroup which extended fromwhat is now Manhattan toMaine and who were kin tothe Mohicans or (Mahikans)that were to eventually inhab-it Columbia County.

When the Paleo periodended about 7500 years agoand time entered what isknown as the Archaic Period,the Hudson Valley area hadbecome more peopled withsmall groups. Though still atime of hunting and gatheringthey settled along creeksmoving their campsites upand down them as needed.One grouping was the Proto-Mohicans who occupied sitesalong Spook Rock in the win-ter and moved to the shoresof the Hudson in the summer.The natural setting of SpookRock, its tall trees and rockshelters, gave protection tothe campsites located in andabout them, both from thecold and the hot sun, andmade the area extremely pop-ular. The nearby Becraftescarpment also providedshelter against the cold north-westerly winds. Material find-ings show that groups ofIndians may have returned tothese shelters several timesduring a single year, as someof the objects uncoveredwere not of the sort to bemoved about easily

There is no evidence thatthe Spook Rock sheltersthemselves were occupied

The Indians ofColumbia CountyWhere They Came From and What They Were

A late 19th-century painting of Henry Hudson and the shipHalf Moon encountering local Indians along the Hudson River.


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during the Early ArchaicPeriod. However, many EarlyArchaic items have beenfound at open field campsitesalong Spook Rock Road andat the Becraft escarpmentabove. Found in these campsand shelters along with peri-od projectile points wereknives, scrapers, and hammerstones attesting to hunter andgatherer subsistence activi-ties. The knives and scraperswould have been importantin the butchering and skin-ning of animals.When an ani-mal was killed, such as a deeror a bear, none of the beastwas wasted. Skins were usedfor clothing. Bones werecarved into tools. Fats weresaved and recycled for manyuses,while the meat providedtheir most important food.Different size hammer stoneshave been found, and theirvarious uses ranged from flintknapping to cracking openbones to obtain marrow.Many of the tools and pointsfound in the area were madefrom chert (unrefined flint)taken from above the Becraftescarpment. The chert waschipped away using streamcobbles from the Claverackand Taconic Creeks.The quar-ry that the Indians createdthere was forgotten and onlyrecently uncovered. In sum-mer months mussels werecollected and fish werespeared and trapped from therivers and streams. Berriesand acorns were gathered.The acorns were stored orground into a meal, rich in fatand calories, and used to helpsurvive the long winters.

This same semi-nomadicway of life persistedunchanged for 7500 yearswith the Archaic period grad-ually coming to an end about3000 years ago. Thereafter,though hunting and gather-ing were still primary func-tions, a more settled lifestyleemerged. This new period,

called the Woodland Stagewould last beyond the arrivalof Henry Hudson and

through the early years ofDutch settlement.

It is during the WoodlandStage that the manufacture anduse of pottery began. Duringthe Late Archaic period somevessels had been made ofsteatite (soapstone). Thesecontainers were extraordinari-ly heavy, square, flat-bottomedvessels and were used forcooking. In the succeedingWoodland Stage baked potterywas, at first, crude and thickand is called Vinette 1. As thepottery became better made itbecame thinner and incorpo-rated painted decoration.Quite a variety of pottery fromthis period has been foundat Spook Rock and in theshelters.

Hunting gave way to agreater dependence uponagriculture. A slash and burnmethod was used to expandthe growth of wild fruit bear-ing plants. The planting ofcrops did not occur untillate in the Woodland Stage.Isolation gave way toincreased travel and trade.A prime method of transporta-tion was by canoe. Canoeswere not bark covered, butmade of water resistant cedarlogs, first core burned, andthen hewn and shaped withprimitive tools. Some of thesecanoes could carry 20 people.The bow and arrow first seenin the Late Woodland Period

(about 700–900 B.C.) nowcomplemented the spear mak-ing hunting more efficient.

By the time the Dutcharrived in 1609, and theirsettlements began in 1624,villages were scatteredthroughout a very largeMohican nation in whichour Columbia County areawas included. In the countyIndian villages were locatedat the heads of streams eachconsisting of about 50 people.There were no large-scale set-tlements. However, there wasa principal village called“Potcoke” by the Dutch locat-ed near the present site ofClaverack on Claverack Creek.The total population in themid-Hudson Valley at the timeapproximated 3,000–5,000.Some villages were protectedby wooden stockades andsome inter-relationships exist-ed with other villages withina 10–20 mile radius. Therewere no territorial or proper-ty boundaries as land owner-ship was an unknown concept.

Buildings were extremelyefficient for the time. Polesize saplings were thrust intothe ground and lashed togeth-er with a tough inner barkcord from basswood. Theywere spaced in parallel rowsto create longhouses or in acircle for round storage hous-es, wigwams, sweathouses, orsmokehouse construction. Tothese saplings split poleswere then fastened up thesides to create a framework

which was bent to form adomed shaped roof withopenings left at the center forsmoke to escape from interi-or cooking fires. Large piecesof flattened bark were placedin overlapping layers on theframework and secured withthe bark cord to provide awatertight exterior siding.Sometimes several familieswould occupy the same long-house, living side by side,each to their own cookingfire. Polygamy was practicedbut birth rates were low. Aswas true of most societies ofthat era, infant mortality wasmost probably high.

Indians who settled alongthe county creeks were accus-tomed to moving their vil-lages up and down them onceevery 5–10 years.There werepractical reasons for suchaction. Sanitation was the pri-mary one, or secondly thesupply of firewood becameused up. The Indians neverchopped the trees for fire-wood. They used whateverfell to the ground. Only whenthey cleared land for settling,did they disturb the naturalhabitat. Another importantreason for site relocationwould be the depletion of fishand game. A group mightreturn to reuse abandonedsites after an extended periodof time and following nature’scleansing and replenishing.

The boundaries of thethen vast Mohican nationenjoy varying descriptions.Locations of tribes withmutual kin may have extend-ed north as far as Maine, asfar south as Manhattan, westto possibly Schenectady andeast to the Connecticut River.There were 13 known tribesin the North East, each withits’ own dialect. Dialects weremuch different and hardto understand due to lackof communication betweentribes.They called themselvesMuh-hi-kun-nuk meaning

They called themselvesMuh-hi-kun-nuk meaning

“Great Ocean People”and they used the name,

Mah-hi-kanni-tuk,for the Hudson River.


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“Great Ocean People” andthey used the name, Mah-hi-kanni-tuk, for the HudsonRiver.

Their government wasessentially democratic in style.A tribe, in council, elected aprincipal Sachem. Then thevillages elected their ownSachem with both men andwomen voting. The villageSachems acted as counselorsto the principal Sachem.Each village Sachem wouldappoint Runners (who car-ried important messages toother villages), Town Criers,Wampum Keepers, and WarLeaders. The remaining menwere warriors.

The Indians from the earli-est times considered them-selves in a manner connectedwith certain animals.The “ideaof a supposed family connec-tion” went back to religiousbeliefs about Indian originsunder the Earth.Each clan ani-mal had somehow benefitedthe Indian race. Members ofthe Turtle tribe believed theirrelation, the great Tortoise,supported their land on hisback, and was superiorbecause he could live in boththe water and on the land.The Turkey tribe believedtheir animal connection, theTurkey, had merit because heremained nearby (possibly asa sustaining food supply).Andthe Wolf tribe believed theirrelation, the Wolf, was a bene-factor of the Indians becausehe supplied the deer meatfound by an ancestor whofirst emerged from the under-ground.

There was no need forelaborate housing and fur-nishings, for these were ahardy people whose liveswere spent mostly outdoors.At the time the Dutch arrived,they were still hunters, fish-ers and gatherers of a greatvariety of natural foods.However, by then they werealso cultivating large gardens

of corn, beans, squash, mel-ons, and pumpkins.

There was a natural anduncomplaining division oflabor between sexes, anddiscrimination by sex wasunknown. Men and boyswere the hunters and trap-pers while women wereadept in tanning skins for usein clothes adding fur frompelts for winter wear.Fish andgame were smoked and cornparched,ground and stored inunderground pits or dried on

the cob and hung in the wig-wam to dry.The women main-tained the crops but alsohelped with hunting and fish-ing when needed.They, com-paratively free from mostdiseases, until the arrival ofthe Europeans. Native plantswere gathered and used formedicinal purposes. Up tothe time the white manarrived, this was the waythey were. �

Spook Rock

Map of the Mohican Territory –Mid-Hudson and vicinity –period 1650–1750, from anarticle by Ken Mynter. SpookRock, its modern name, isidentified for clarification(see article on page 8).


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MOHICANSONCE PROSPERED HERE

Taken from an article byDominic C. Lizzi, in theIndependent, 11/17/1996 issue.

They have all disap-peared now. The trailsthey walked have gone.

No markers honor their bur-ial grounds. The woods aresilent to their battle cries.

Their children no longerrun in the meadows ofColumbia County. TheMohicans, the area’s originalinhabitants, have no triballands here.

They warmly welcomedHenry Hudson and his crewof his ship Halfmoon onSeptember 15 and 16, 1609.The explorer was on the riverwhich bears his name justnorth of Germantown. Hefound a “very loving peopleand very old men”. Theybrought on board “Indiancorn,pumpkins,and tobacco.”

At Castleton, further upthe river, the Mohicanscontinued to be friendly.They killed two pigeons andskinned “a fat dog” for theDutch to eat, and they broketheir bows and arrows toshow they would do noharm. The Dutch found thatthese natives had highlyvalued furs, particularlybeaver furs and a willingnessto trade. They also found theMohicans a strong nation,which controlled the upperreaches of the river whichthey called the Mohicanituk,“the continually flowingwater.”

The Mohicans belonged tothe Algonkian language groupand were kin to those of the

same tongue from Manhattanto Maine.

Their western neighborswere the Mohawks, ancientenemies. The Mohawks weremembers of the powerful fivenation Iroquois Confeder-ation. Frequent warfare brokeout over hunting and fishing.

From 1630 on, the Dutchsettlers at Fort Orange(Albany) and across the riveron the Van Rensselaer patron-ship attempted to keep peacewith the Mohicans. The VanRensselaer family ownedmuch of present dayAlbany, Rensselaer,Greene, Columbiaand Dutchesscounties. Theyunderstood theneed for goodrelations withthe Indians inorder to tradeand obtain theirland.

There werefew Europeansettlers andmany Indians.Estimates of the

Mohican population at thetime of contact have variedfrom 3,000–8000. Settlementsof Indians were discoveredin areas of present dayCastleton, Cohoes, Claver-ack, Ghent, and Brainard.

The Mohicans divided intofamilies and clans.The Turtle,Wolf, Bear and Turkey werethe major designations.Longhouses with roundedroofs were used in the vil-lages, and sometimes held upto 18 families. The Sachemwas the local leader. General

councils of Sachemswere assembled at

stated intervalsand during timesof war.

C h a r l e sShattenkirk, alocal authority,states, “the Mo-hicans oftencamped onlevel land nearstreams.” Herecently found1,500 year oldarrow headsnear his home

along the Kinderhook. Theartifacts have been verified byarchaeologists from the NewYork State Museum.

The fertile soil along thestreams in the Hudson-Berkshire corridor was idealfor farming. The Indianwomen grew corn, beans,pumpkins and tobacco. Bushburning was a common prac-tice; woods and fields wereset on fire to clear and fertil-ize them.

Deer, hare, foxes, otter,bear and other fur bearingspecies were hunted by themen. The beaver was highlytreasured for food, fur andmedical purposes. They usedthe bounty of nature toclothe themselves, and bothsexes were very modest.

The Dutch introducedwool blankets and cloth.Quickly, they became themost popular trade items.White and light gray were themost favored colors. Red wasnot desired because it wasthought bad for hunting.

As the wars with theMohawks intensified, villageswere often surrounded by logstockades. Initially Mohicansdesired cloth, socks, knives,hatchets, axes, kettles, pipes,fishhooks and hoes from theEuropeans. Later guns, leadand powder became mostprized.

Hard spirits, usually brandyand beer,were a major agencyof the Mohicans deteriora-tion. The Indians had neverused alcohol and becameintoxicated quickly. Provid-ing liquor to the Indians was

Palisaded Mohican villages provided protection in time of war.The twi illustrations above are from the book, The Mohicans andTheir Land 1609–1730 by Shirley W. Dunn.

Etowohkoam, a Mohicansachem whose village wasalong Kinderhook Creek.His daughter later marriedan Indian at Stockbridge,Massachusetts.


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not considered problematic,quite the opposite. Althoughdecried periodically byEuropean government offi-cials, it was an important pol-icy arm for trading withnative population and obtain-ing Indian land.

Cultural differences causedconflicts over land owner-ship. Indians believed thatunused land, even thoughsold, reverted back to them.They also believed that theykept hunting and fishingrights on sold land. And,as the availability of fursdeclined, the Mohicans soldmore land in order to acquirewanted European goods.

Bitter wars with theMohawks in the 17th centuryreduced the Mohican popula-tion. Eventually, the Mohawksgained the upper hand.Alcohol had devastated

many and European diseases,particularly smallpox, furtherreduced their numbers It wasnot long before they could nolonger maintain their positionin Rensselaer and Columbiacounties.

By the mid-1700s theTribe, having been forced tosell most of its land, movedeastward to establish villagesalong the Housatonic Valleyin Connecticut and withthe help of missionaries atCopake and Stockbridge,Massachusetts, beginning aprocess of Europeanizationand Christianization. Euro-peans quickly moved into thecleared areas and startedfarms. Only a few Indianswere left behind, those whohad European spouses, andsome who stayed to work onthe settlers’ farms. �

Detail of c.1656 map of New Netherland shows Indian communi-ties on the Roelof Jansen Kill as well as a Dutch location titledOude Ree, or ‘Old Anchorage’, south of Fort Orange. Henry Hudsonadvanced up the river to about this point. From the book, TheMohicans and Their Land 1609–1730 by Shirley W. Dunn.

By Jim Eyre – with information taken from The Mohicans andTheir Land 1609–1730 by Shirley W. Dunn

From 1647 onward through 1734 there are manyrecorded sales of land in Columbia County and otherparts of the Mohican nation, first to the Dutch and

then to the English. .It was not unusual that these sales were sometimes in

conflict with each other.This was true for many reasons.Perhaps the most significant one was that the Indiansbelieved that land sold reverted back to them if notoccupied or farmed. Secondly, all the Indians who mayhave had some claim to a piece of land may not have beensignatory to its deed of sale. Or, in some cases, a previousIndian landowner could be seduced by an unscrupulousbuyer into selling the same piece of land again.

A good example of the confusion and conflict broughtabout by these sales involved the Rensselaerswyck prop-erties in Columbia County. One of the most significantsales in the county was one by an Indian Sachem,Pamitepiet (also called Keesiewey) to Brant ArentSlichtenhorst, Director of the colony of Rensselaerswyckon May 24, 1649.The purchase was on behalf of the VanRensselaer family,and the deed was signed in the presenceof Skiwias (also called Aepjen), Chief of the Mohicannation, with other Mohicans attending.

The deed for this land, now in the collection of theBrooklyn Historical Society, describes it as: “Land atKlaverack, Potomhasik, Patkook, and Stichsooch, ten flatsalong the River and Kill beyond the Klaverack, tien pointseylant (Ten Points Island), and so far landward as theyown.” The boundaries of this large piece of land encom-passed much of Columbia County. The Claverack in thedeed, from which the land extended inland, was near thepresent City of Hudson. Ten Points Island is present dayRogers Island.

The payment for this land by the Van Rensselaers was:10 fathoms of cloth, 10 kettles, 10 axes, 10 adzes, 10swords, 10 hand sewant (strung beads), 10 knives and1 firelock gun.

Then on June 25, 1662, thirteen years later, the sameSachem Keesiewey sold to Jans Francen Van Hoesen, for500 guilders in beavers, a parcel of land described as:“inthe Klaverack… extending from the little creek of JanHendrickse, alias red hair, to the land of Slichtenhorst, inwhich parcel of land are comprehended three of theklavers (cliffs north of the present City of Hudson), on thesouth side of said red hair, and extending towards the

The Sellingof the

Mohican Lands

Continued on page 8


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Taken from an article by Ruth A. Sickles in the CCHS Bulletin ,January 1941. By Jim Eyre

In every part of Columbia County, various relics ofIndian days have been found — arrowheads, cornpestles, and even Indian skeletons. More fascinating,

however, than these remnants of a past civilization is thecharming story, the legend of Spook Rock, which studentsof Claverack love to relate to their friends.

The chief of a tribe of Mohican Indians had his wigwamon Beacraft Mountain, a short distance from the village ofClaverack. This chief had a lovely daughter, whose loverwas the son of an enemy chieftain of a neighboring tribe.One evening as the tribe slept, this beautiful Indian maidensped swiftly over the trail to meet her lover on a hugerock overhanging a small creek.

Obedience to parents was one of the sacred Indianbeliefs, and of course the happy couple were rudelyviolating this ancient Indian precept. As the Great Spiritlooked down, he became very angry. He was, indeed, soindignant that he sent thunder crashing over their headsand lightning playing over the rocks. In the midst of thistumult the lovers clung to each other. When suddenly, aswift bolt of lightning struck the great boulder, whichcrashed down to the stream below, carrying the loverswith it.

After that, the storm was over. Stars began to appearagain in the dark sky, but the great rock had found a newresting place for all the years to come. The Great Spirithad had his revenge.Tradition alleges that the only thingthat remained to tell of the tragic tale was one tiny Indianmoccasin. �

Snow-capped Spook Rock (on left), as seen along SpookRock Road; the Claverack Creek (not shown) runs alongsidethe road on the right.Winter shelter for the Indians was provided by the overhanging rocks.

The Legend ofSPOOK ROCK

wood about one hour’s travel until beyond the great kil (theKinderhook), and further, of such magnitude as the grantorshave bounded it by the woods and kils….” This grant over-lapped parts of the Van Rensselaer purchase of 1649 and natu-rally caused a great dispute after the patents were issued.

In the Appendix of her book, Mohicans and Their Land1609–1730, author Shirley W. Dunn reports on 107 transac-tions. Further deeds for land were given by the Mohicans asthe eighteenth century progressed leading to more confusionand more disputes.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Mohicansshould read Shirley W. Dunn’s books, the Mohicans and TheirLand 1609–1730 and The Mohican World 1680–1750. Bothof these books are available for sale at our store at theColumbia County Museum in Kinderhook. �

Continued from page 7

AN INDIAN CALENDARFOR COLUMBIA COUNTY

Indians went through long periods of change from thetime of their arrival in Columbia County to the settle-ment of the Dutch. In fact, they total almost 14,000 years.Then, in about 150 years or less they were gone.

PALEO INDIAN 11000 – 8000 B.C.

EARLY ARCHAIC 8000 – 6000 B.C.

MIDDLE ARCHAIC 6000 – 4000 B.C.

LATE ARCHAIC 4000 – 1300 B.C.

TRANSITIONAL 1300 – 1000 B.C.

EARLY WOODLAND 1000 – A.D. 1.

MIDDLE WOODLAND A.D. 1 – 700 A.D.

LATE WOODLAND 700 – 1600 A.D.

DUTCH SETTLEMENT 1624 – 1664 A.D.

ENGLISH SETTLEMENT 1664 A.D. – ONWARD

INDIANS LEAVE 1736 A.D.


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The three projectile points (8500–8000 B.C.)below are from the Paleo Period and werefound in Columbia County. The two flutedpoints to the near right are attributed to localIndians while the third one is a Folsom pro-jectile point native to the Great Plains. Foundin Claverack it illustrates the connection withwestern Indians through trade. The eightpieces below the projectile points are Paleostone tools.

From the Collection of Ted Filli, Jr.

Arrow points and stone toolsThe Otter Creek projectile points below (4000–3000 B.C.) date from the Mid to Late-Archaic Period.The larger point in the centerwas found in Missouri.The similarities in style again illustrate the kinship and influence of Western Indians.Projectile points whichwere used on spears should be distinguished from arrowheads which are generally smaller in size.The bow and arrow (700–900A.D) did not appear until the Late Woodland Period.

From the Collection of Ted Filli, Jr.


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Agold mine in ColumbiaCounty,a stock scheme,fraud, murder, butch-

ery, allegations of cannibal-ism, flight, and claims ofinsanity — all were part andparcel of the case of ThePeople of the State of NewYork v. Oscar F. Beckwith. Asportrayed in the rather sensa-tional account of the crime(some six days after it wasdiscovered, in the ChathamCourier on Wednesday,January 18, 1882), this was“One of the most horribleand revolting murders evercommitted in ColumbiaCounty… The atrocity of(which) was heightened bythe fact that the bloodthirstyand fiendish instincts of themurderer led him to attemptthe concealment of the crimeby chopping up the body ofhis victim and cremating aportion of it in his cookstove.” The World, publishedin New York City, onMarch 5, 1885 announced thearrest of Beckwith somethree years later in an articleheadlined “BUTCHERY ANDCANNIBALISM, Arrest of aHermit Wood Chopper ofColumbia County After aLong Search.”

BACKGROUNDAt the time of the murder onJanuary 10, 1882, OscarBeckwith, who was age 71,lived in a shanty outsideof Austerlitz in ColumbiaCounty on a parcel that hehad acquired some yearspreviously. Beckwith hadbecome convinced that therewas gold on the property andhad enlisted the assistance ofSimon A.Vandercook, the vic-tim of the murder, to helphim develop a mine. As a

result, Vandercook and sever-al others formed the Auster-litz Mining Company, whichissued stock. Beckwith deed-ed to the company his prop-erty for which he received aone-third interest in the cor-poration. He was supposedto be paid some $500 for hisland but there is no evidence

of his having received themoney, only stock in the com-pany, which, as it turned out,was essentially worthless.

The mine was workedunder the supervision ofVandercook, who employedothers to do the actual min-ing. Some 1,900 pounds ofrock were removed and sentdown to Chatham to beshipped by rail to Newark,New Jersey, to be assayed. Onthe journey to the train,Beckwith preceded the loadof ore on horseback and triedto sell stock in the mine toanyone he came across. It wasultimately determined thatthe ore contained minimalamounts of gold and eventu-ally Vandercook ceased work-

ing the mine. However,Vandercook proceeded to selloff the wood on the propertypreviously owned by Beck-with and pocketed the pro-ceeds.

Beckwith continued tofeel that the mine was valu-able but was frustrated in thatthe owners of the two-thirds

interest refused to developthe mine.Also, he felt cheatedout of the value of his shareof the wood on the property.

THE CRIME, FLIGHTAND ARREST

The following description ofthe crime, flight and arrest ofOscar Beckwith is based pri-marily on the testimony ofthe prosecution witnesses atthe second trial of Mr.Beckwith. However, the tran-scripts of the testimony of thedefense witnesses as well asthe closing arguments andinstructions to the jury at thesecond trial have not beenlocated.Yet, the prosecution’scase in and of itself probablyaccurately reflects the facts

surrounding the crime.On January 10, 1882,

the date of the murder,Vandercook was seen inmid-morning going up toBeckwith’s shanty. He wasnever seen again. Around4:30 P.M. that same day,Beckwith came down to thehouse of Harrison Calkins, aneighbor, where the victim,Vandercook, boarded. Hespoke briefly with Calkins’wife in the presence of herdaughter. Both observed thathe was in an agitated statewith a ruddy complexion tohis face. He told them thatVandercook had gone awaywith someone he met on themountain and that theyshould keep his belongingsuntil he returned. Beckwiththen left and went back upthe hill to his shanty.

Later that evening,Harrison Calkins went up toBeckwith’s shanty. As heapproached it, he smelledsomething burning. When heentered the shanty, he testi-fied that he “…noticed thatthe top of the stove was allred and the other parts ofit was red hot.” He testifiedthat he heard sizzling noisesin the stove and askedBeckwith what he wasburning. Beckwith repliedthat “…he had some porkrinds that he had thrownin the stove.” Beckwith alsotold Calkins, according tothe latter’s testimony, that“…Vandercook had gone offwith a man to get up a stockcompany… (that) Vandercooktold him (Beckwith) to tellme (Calkins) he was goingoff with this man (and) totake care of his things thingsuntil he (Vandercook) gotback; he (Beckwith) said that

…this crime was“One of the most horrible

and revolting murdersever committed in

Columbia County…”

� “Austerlitz Cannibal?”

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he (Vandercook) would be back aboutthe first of March.” Beckwith was notseen again until he was arrested somethree years later.

It was not until January 12 that sever-al men went back up to Beckwith’sshanty,broke in the door, and discoveredthe evidence of the murder. In thebunkroom at the rear of the shanty, theydiscovered under a coat that appearedlike one that Vandercook wore theremains of the victim, cut up into stovelengths. In the pocket of the coat werebills made out to Vandercook by a mer-chant in Great Barrington. Some of thebody parts were found to be missing —the head, the left hand and the two feet.Calkins testified that Vandercook wasmissing a thumb on his left hand and hada scar on his foot.The absence of thesebody parts would have made direct iden-tification of the remains as those ofVandercook almost impossible.

A basket was also found in Beckwith’sshanty, which contained the entrails andheart of the victim. Inside the stove theydiscovered fragments of bones thatappeared to be part of a skull, fingersand toes. In the shanty they also foundtwo axes, one of which had some hairs,ostensibly human, on it. The other was“greasy” and covered in blood.

On January 13 an inquest was held.As part of this inquest, the coroner laidout and pieced together the body partsfound in the bunkroom. A physician,who attended the inquest, testified thathe observed that the victim had a stabwound entering the body from behind,just below the right shoulder blade. Hestated that the knife was thrust down-ward and forward and the blade wentabout one inch into the lung, but that

the wound, though dangerous, wouldnot have necessarily been fatal. He testi-fied that the knife had also penetratedthe coat and other clothing of the vic-tim. After the inquest, the body partswere placed in a barrel and taken awayby the coroner.

Beckwith was indicted in absentia onJanuary 19,1882 for the crime of murderin the first degree, a capital crime.Beckwith, who fled the scene of thecrime on the day of the murder, eludedhis captors for a little over three yearsuntil arrested February 20, 1885 inCanada, some 230 miles north ofToronto. He was subsequently returnedto Hudson for trial.

THE JUDICIAL PROCESSBeckwith was tried, was found guilty ofmurder in the first degree in November1885 and initially was sentenced to behanged on January 8, 1886. He appealed

to the General Term of the SupremeCourt of New York, which affirmed thejudgment of the lower court and revisedthe sentence to be carried out on July 2,1886. Upon appeal to the Court ofAppeals, the judgments of the two lowercourts were affirmed and execution wasre-set for December 16, 1886. Recordsof the initial trial and the appeals havenot been found and may have been lostin a fire at the Columbia CountyCourthouse in Hudson in 1907.

On November 10, 1886, Beckwith’scounsel submitted a motion for a newtrial based on newly discovered evi-dence. In this motion, counsel shedsome light as to the defense at the firsttrial. In item 6 of his motion, Beckwith’scounsel stated that Beckwith tookthe stand in the first trial and testifiedas follows:

“Vandercook burst in his cabin door,which was fastened against him by a but-ton, by violence, refused to go out whenordered by defendant to do so, butknocked defendant down and then withgreat violence attacked him with a dan-gerous weapon, to wit, a stick of fire-wood, and threatened to knock defen-dant’s brains out. And, that a struggleensued in which Vandercook ‘grabbedhim by the throat’ and ‘stopped hiswind’. ‘That he could not live in thatsituation five minutes’, that he ‘consid-ered he was fighting for his life’,and that under the circumstances heconsidered he had a right to killVandercook.”

Counsel then went on to argue that ifthese facts were true, Beckwith at thevery least should have been found guiltyof a lesser crime than murder in the firstContinued on page 20

A cut of Oscar Beckwith representing himas he appeared when captured, printed inthe Albany Journal, March 1, 1888


12

News of the Columbia County Historical Society

It is with the greatest sadness that the Board of Directorsand all of the staff of Columbia County Historical Societynote the passing of their friend, past Board President and

benefactor Harry Arthur van Dyke. Harry died at his home,“Forth House”, in Livingston, New York, on November 4,2002, after a brief battle with liver cancer. He was 76 yearsold. In addition to serving so ably as President, he gave con-tinuing counsel and service as a very active member ofour Board up to the time of his death.He was thefounder of our annual scholarship to deserv-ing Columbia County Seniors for excel-lence in the study of history. We haverenamed the scholarship in hishonor.

During an outstanding career asan architect Harry was noted forhis restoration work on historicproperties both in ColumbiaCounty and New York City.He graduated from AlbanyHigh School in 1944 and fromRensselaer Polytechnic Institutewith a B.A. in architecture in 1949.His architectural career began withWurster, Bernhardt and Emmons inSan Francisco, California. He laterworked for two of our country’s mostfamous architectural firms, that of EdwardDurell Stone and Raymond Lowey Associates,both in New York City, before entering into private

practice in New York City, Massachusetts and ColumbiaCounty. He was the architect for the Methodist Church inPort Ewen, New York, and, more recently, for housing for theelderly in Tivoli.

In 1978 he received the Albert S. Bard Citation of Merit inArchitecture for his addition to the Frick Collection in NewYork City. He was, however, best known locally for his sensi-

tive work on historic properties in Columbia County.Perhaps because he was a descendant of

Hendrick van Dyck, who immigrated to NewAmsterdam in 1642, Mr. van Dyke had a

particular interest in the early historyof the Hudson River Valley. He was a

member of the Holland Society ofNew York, the St. Nicholas Societyof New York, the Dutch SettlersSociety of Albany, the UniversityClub of Albany, and theEdgewood Club of Tivoli. In addi-tion to the Columbia CountyHistorical Society, Mr. van Dykewas also on the board of several

organizations, including the NewYork Eye and Ear Infirmary and

International House in New YorkCity.Mr.van Dyke is survived by his partner

of 26 years, David W. Johnson, and by abrother, Robert van Dyke of Alamagordo, New

Mexico.We shall miss him, and remember him fondly.

HARRY ARTHUR VAN DYKEBy David W.Voorhees

By Sharon S. Palmer, Executive Director CCHS

The Society is proud to announceits most recent grant awards sinceour last publication.

Our 1737 Luykas Van Alen Househas received a federal Save America’sTreasures grant in the amount of$175,000 and a New York StateEnvironmental Protection Fund grant for$75,500 to restore the roofing system,repoint much of the brickwork, conductarcheological work around the perime-ter of the structure, and regrade the landto slope away from the house. TheSociety is one of only six sites in NewYork State and one of eighty nationwideto receive the prestigious Save America’sTreasures funding.

Private funding, as well as fundingfrom foundations and other grantingagencies, is being sought to match thesegrants. Preserving this National HistoricLandmark while maintaining its histori-cal integrity is challenging, but essentialif it is to continue to survive and to teachus about our county’s history and cul-ture. Thousands have learned of ourearly Dutch heritage at the Van AlenHouse. With this major restoration proj-ect we will be able to learn more aboutDutch architecture and building tech-niques as the work progresses.

New York State Council on the Artshas awarded the Society $16,000 for aneducation project in collaboration withOlana and Clermont State Historic Sites,

Martin Van Buren National Historic Site,and Shaker Museum & Library. An articleabout this project is in our Fall, 2002publication. The Columbia CountyEducator’s Forum, spearheaded by oureducator, Ruth Ellen Berninger, is con-ducting the planning and implementa-tion phases of this project throughoutthe winter and spring months.

The Society greatly appreciates thesegrant awards as well as the private dona-tions that have been received to helpmatch them. We anticipate an excitingyear of preservation and education withso many projects ahead of us! Please callor write to the Society office if you areinterested in more information or wishto contribute to any of our projects. �

Society Receives Major Grants


13


THE SOCIETYNEEDS YOU

The Columbia County Historical Societydepends upon volunteers to help it in itsmany endeavors. We are seeking individuals with experience and interest in any ofthe following areas to contact the Society and volunteer their time and effort. Don’thesitate to contact us even if you think that your background is not suitable.We can explore with you our needs and your interests to determine how best youcan help us.

If you are skilled in typing and/or inputtingmaterials into computers, you couldhelp us manage and catalogue our collection. Museum or archival experience wouldbe helpful. Please call Helen McLallen, Curator, at 758-9265. She will be happy todiscuss in more detail the type of assistance needed and what is required.

We need people who have an interest in either writing or presenting educa-tional programs to help the staff Educator in this important outreach effort. Ifyou have an interest in developing such programs or working with students, pleasecontact Ruth Ellen Berninger, Educator, at 758-9265.

Finally, the Society can use help handling a wide variety of tasks in itslibrary and office at the Museum in Kinderhook. If you would like to assistus in these areas, please call Sharon Palmer, Executive Director, at the telephonenumber shown above.

Columbia County History & Heritage is interestedin hearing from you — if you have articles, pictures, orother items about Columbia County history and culturalheritage suitable for publication, please let us know.The Editorial Board will review all submissions, and allsubmissions considered for publication are subject toediting.We regret that we cannot guarantee publication.

Want to advertise your business in ColumbiaCounty History & Heritage? Call 518-758-9265for more information.

so can we hope to continue our ambitious schedule of com-munity events and educational programs, museum exhibitionsand growing our collections.We especially need volunteers inthe Museum office to aid in computer input. If you have anyskill at all in this area, no matter how basic, any time at all togive,no matter how little,your help will be deeply appreciated.

This issue of Columbia County History & Heritage isdedicated to the earliest residents of the county. We go backto prehistory to begin the tale of Native Americans populatingour hills, valleys, streamsides, lakes and riverbanks. We aregrateful to Ted Filli, Jr., Ruth Piwonka, Shirley W. Dunn,Dominick Lizzi, Stephen Comer, Rod Blackburn, and so manyothers that have helped us in this important endeavor.

Stephan M. MandelPresidentBoard of Directors


The Society’s Board ofDirectors and staff welcomeCarla Lesh as registrar/assis-tant educator. Carla is aPh.D. candidate at SUNYAlbany in American History.Beginning in February shewill be working on curatorialprojects and education pro-grams.

She has previously workedat The Martin Van Buren

National Historic Site, theNew York State Museum,and the Huguenot HistoricalSociety. She has experience asan interpreter with schoolprograms and with processingand organizing manuscriptand object collections. Shecurrently serves as Presidentof the Marlborough HistoricalSociety. We all look forwardto working with her.

CORRECTION: In the article “The Depots Largeand Small” in the Fall 2002 issue, please note the follow-ing:The Stuyvesant station was actually built in 1880.Lincoln’s funeral train did not stop in Stuyvesant. It waslisted on the printed schedule of stations that the trainwould pass in its slow journey north.

Society Welcomes Carla Lesh


14

The Columbia CountyHistorical Society an-nounced its second

annual “COLUMBIA COUNTYPRESERVATION HERITAGEAWARDS” at its annualmeeting on October 19,2002. The recipients werehonored at the ColumbiaCounty Museum, where theyreceived certificates for theirefforts to preserve local histo-ry.The winners included twohistorical organizations, twohistorians and two elemen-tary school teachers from allreaches of Columbia County.A $1,000 scholarship wasalso awarded to a deservingColumbia County high schoolsenior studying history.

Steve Sorman accepted theSociety’s Preservation Awardfor the Ancram PreservationGroup.This volunteer organi-zation is actively involved inthe restoration of the Simon’sGeneral Store, a circa 1870building and a cornerstone inthe hamlet of Ancram. Sincethey acquired the store in2000 and received state fund-ing, the group has continuedto raise funds to keep theproject moving forward.

Norma Edsall, president ofthe Austerlitz HistoricalSociety, accepted the Preser-vation Award for the organiza-tion’s ambitious project

called “Old Austerlitz HistoricSite.”This recreation of an his-toric village has started withthe Morey-Devereaux House,donated by Thomas andDebra Henson and currentlybeing erected on its new sitein Austerlitz. Norma recog-nized Robert Herron andRichard Mugler who are alsospearheading this effort andwho, with many other volun-teers, have organized commu-nity events and fundraisers tomake “Old Austerlitz”a success.

Donna Beaudry andJanice Fingar, elementaryschool teachers at the MartinVan Buren School inKinderhook, received theirPreservation Awards for theirenthusiasm and leadership inthe study of local history.They have long been aninspiration to their 3rd and4th grade students as theytake them on field trips to his-toric sites and guide them inthe creation of a museum intheir classrooms each year.They have participated in the

Society’s varied programs andadded their own interestingprojects on local history.

Canaan Town Historian,Anna Mary Dunton, accept-ed the Society’s PreservationAward for her consuming pas-sion for the study and sharingof local and regional history.She has served as town histo-rian since 1962, started theCanaan Historical Society, andtransformed the PresbyterianChurch in Canaan Center intothe Meeting House Museum.Her long-time friend and 40-year member of the CanaanHistorical Society, JohnNickles, recognized her con-tribution of many years andnominated her for this award.

Nominated by the currentStuyvesant Town Historian,Juanita Knott, PriscillaFrisbee received the Preser-vation Award for her 22 yearsas the former Stuyvesant his-torian and her long-time con-tribution to the preservationof county history. She estab-lished research files of docu-

ments and photographs thatare now housed at the newStuyvesant Town Hall; shephotographed Stuyvesantlandmarks, community cele-brations, and New York Statehistorical markers for thearchives; and she researchedand wrote A Brief History ofthe Town of Stuyvesant andFriends of the Family: Butler-Van Buren.

The Columbia CountyHistorical Society celebratesall of these contributions tothe preservation of our coun-ty’s history and congratulatesthe winners of the 2002Columbia County PreservationHeritage Awards.

The Society encouragesColumbia County historyenthusiasts to watch forthose students, organizations,municipalities, individuals,and groups who are preserv-ing our beautiful naturaland built environments. TheColumbia County PreservationHeritage Awards allow theSociety to achieve its missionto promote an awarenessof county history amongstits residents and visitors.Nominations will be acceptednext summer at the Society’soffice at the Columbia CountyMuseum. For more informa-tion please call the Society at518-758-9265.


PRESERVATIONAWARDS

ANNOUNCEDBy Sharon S. Palmer, Executive Director CCHS

By Ruth Piwonka andRoderic H. Blackburnand designed by Winston PotterThis is a book review adapted from “CountyArt Book Gets new Life” by Lawrence Hovish,The Independent, November 8, 2002

By Jim Eyre

It is not often that a book on a singlecounty, by county authors, gets a thirdprinting.This, in itself, attests to the quality

of content.“There are treasures for everyonein this book,”says Black Dome Press publisherand owner Debbie Allen. “It is fun, and alsoenjoyable on a basic level.” The 160 pagebook published with the Columbia CountyHistorical Society, contains hundreds of pic-tures of Columbia County’s art, commercialand residential architecture, and geographyfrom the 17th century through the 20th.

Mr. Blackburn, the book’s co-author,says,“Ruth Piwonka and I did this book backin the 1970s when we were both involved

with the histor-ical society.Shewas director,and I was pres-ident, and weboth realizedthat the lastupdate on thecounty was 100years old.” He

says it took about two years to put togetherand it has always been well received.

“My motivation was real estate,” he says.“People were inaccurately dating and describ-ing houses and were on average about 40years off.” The book is now sought by new-comers to the county to research existinghomes or to study architectural styles for theconstruction of new homes. In fact, there is abig interest in the book today, and the Societyhad a long list of people waiting for thisnew printing.

According to Columbia Count HistoricalExecutive, Sharon Palmer, there have been nochanges to the content since the second print-ing, when more information was added inhonor of the book’s 20th anniversary.However it does sport a new cover designedby Ron Toelke, another Columbia Countyresident, who owns Ron Toelke Associates inChatham, specializing in graphic design andprint publication locally, regionally and nation-ally. It’s a detail from a large painting inthe historical society’s collection titledSalting Sheep. All agree that the new coveris the highlight of the third printing.“It willprobably sell twice as fast now, mostly dueto the new cover,’ Mr. Blackburn says.

The book is available for purchase atthe Columbia County Museum shop inKinderhook. Every county living room shouldhave a copy. �

Book Review:

A VISIBLE HERITAGE

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Raymond J. Andrews, ahigh school senior at LasalleInstitute was awarded the 2002Columbia County HistoricalSociety’s $1,000 Scholarship tobe applied to his 2003-2004tuition at the college he choosesto attend. R. J. lives with his fam-ily in Valatie and has a life-longinterest in the study of local andregional history. He has conduct-ed classroom presentations asan 18th century re-enactor toIchabod Crane and Lasalle stu-dents; participated in 18th cen-tury military encampments anddemonstrations of civilian life atthe Society’s Van Alen House,Lindenwald, and Clermont;acted as student counselor at theSociety’s Historic Day Camp;andassisted the Friends of Linden-wald at their 19th century craftfair. R. J.’s scholastic achieve-ments are many and the Societyis proud to award the 2002Scholarship to such a deservingstudent. �


16

History Around the County

By Julia Philip

Our Town Histor ians

Each of the five townsand sixteen townshipsof Columbia County has

a Town Historian, althoughthey are often not wellknown except in their owncommunities.

Mary Howell, CountyHistorian since 1944 and alsoHistorian for Livingston,believes this may change thisspring as three towns in thesouthern end of the countybegin plans for a joint exhibi-tion with the ColumbiaCounty Historical Society.With the working title,“Uses of the Land,” theexhibit will focus on theindustries and agriculture ofClermont, Germantown andLivingston. The exhibit willbe displayed at the HistoricalSociety’s Museum in Kinder-hook. Anne Poleschner ofClermont, and MargueriteRiter of Germantown are theother Town Historians whowill take part in the event.Helen McLallen, the HistoricalSociety’s Curator, and RuthEllen Berninger, the Society’sEducator, will assist in select-ing and mounting the materi-als for the exhibit.

The Society hopes that thisfirst exhibit will encourageother Town Historians toparticipate in a series ofexhibitions that will illustratethe diverse resources ofColumbia County.

Town Historians shouldnot be confused with localhistorical societies of whichthere are nine in ColumbiaCounty. Town Historians arelocal government officials,mandated by law andappointed by the town super-visor or village mayor. Mostreceive no pay beyond mod-

est amounts for postage oroffice supplies. They areexpected to make annualreports in January to the StateDepartment of Education.

In 1919 New York becamethe first state to establish theoffice of local historian. ThatYear the “Historian’s Law”passed the State Legislatureand was signed by GovernorAlfred E. Smith. It called forthe designation of an histori-an for each city, town andvillage of the state who couldrespond to requests for infor-mation on the history of thelocality. Since the law did notspecify a salary for the job,little interest was shown atfirst. By 1920 there were only735 appointments for wellover 1500 positions.

The first task assigned tothe local historians was toassist the State Historian in astudy of New York’s role inWorld War I. Again there wasno provision for funding theproject and voluntary cooper-ation was necessary. Theproject continued for overten years. These new localhistorians became the mainresource for completing theproject, interviewing veteransand making summaries ofservice records of those whoserved from their communi-ties. The role of CountyHistorian was added later toact as local coordinator underthe State Historian.

In 1927 Town Historianswere asked to assist in a newproject, the Historic MarkersProgram. There was a con-cern that the markers be his-torically accurate, and TownHistorians were asked to veri-fy the texts proposed for allthe markers in their areas.

During World War II localhistorians were called uponagain to work with publicofficers to collect and pre-

serve military and civilianmobilization records thatwere being generated in vir-tually every community inthe state and across thenation.

Finally, the most importantchallenge for Town Historianswas to assist local govern-ments in preparation for thecountry’s Bi-Centennial cele-brations in 1976.

Columbia County’s His-torians vary in their interestsas much as one area of thecounty varies from another.The towns along the HudsonRiver have early Dutch andPalatine histories, and someof those Town Historians cantrace their families back tothe settlers of the late seven-teenth century. Some havespecial interests in theAmerican Indians,particularlythe Mohicans who livedthroughout New York. Otherswho represent towns in thenortheast of the county focustheir interests on the earlyShaker settlements. Othersare interested in the railroadsand trolley lines that crossedthe county. Some do gene-alogical searches, and mosthave collections of docu-ments and records that areused by individuals interestedin finding their family roots. �

TOWN AND CITYHISTORIANS

ANCRAMClara Van Tassel329-0632

AUSTERLITZSally Light392-4270

CANAANAnna Mary Dunton781-4801

CHATHAMKathryn Burgess794-7512

CHATHAM VILLAGELInda Conway392-5377

CLAVERACKTed Filli, Jr.851-6834

CLERMONTAnne Poleschner537-6604

COPAKEGloria Lyons325-5877

GALLATINDelores Weaver537-4315

GERMANTOWNMarguerite Riter537-3600

GHENTCalvin Pitcher392-2127

GREENPORT

David Hart

828-4656

HILLSDALE

None at this time

HUDSON CITY

Patricia Fenoff

828-0034

KINDERHOOKRuth Piwonka

758-7605

LIVINGSTONMary Howell828-2969

(Also County Historian)

NEW LEBANON

Kevin Feurst766-5071

PHILMONT

Charles Nichols672-7032

STOCKPORTViola Williams

828-9172

STUYVESANT

Juanita Knott

758-6752

TAGHKANICNancy Griffiths851-9789

VALATIEDominick Lizzi758-1656

AND A HAPPENINGIN HUDSON:

The year 2003 marks the twohundredth anniversary of thebirth of Alexander JacksonDavis, premier Americanarchitect of the mid-19th cen-tury.Within Columbia Countythere is an extremely fineexample of this noted archi-tect’s work: the Plumb-Bronson House located onthe grounds of the HudsonCorrectional Facility in theCity of Hudson. HistoricHudson, the preservationorganization that has takenup the cause of preservingand restoring this grandHudson River estate, will becelebrating the bicentennialof A.J. Davis’s birth with twoevents at the house in lateJune: a gala evening onSaturday, June 21, and anopen house on Sunday, June22. For more informationabout the Plumb-BronsonHouse and bicentennialcelebration, you may contactHistoric Hudson at 518-828-1785. �

Columbia CountyRe-Grant Program

Year 2002 Grants Awarded

The Columbia CountyHistorical Society hasannounced the follow-

ing awards for projects beingconducted by historians andhistorical agencies through-out the county. Thanks tofunding in the amount of$1,500 from the ColumbiaCounty Board of Supervisors,the following applicationswere awarded funds.

• Gloria M. Lyons, CopakeTown Historian: $125 towardthe purchase of archival mate-rials to preserve local docu-ments relating to the Town ofCopake.

• Nancy Griffith,TaghkanicTown Historian: $125 to beapplied toward the purchaseof archival storage materialsto preserve items relating tothe history of the Town ofTaghkanic.

• David Hart, President,Greenport Historical Society:$125 for the purchase of anarchival cleaning system,labels, and supplies to pre-serve an historic slide collec-tion recently acquired bytheir Society.

• Juanita Knott, StuyvesantTown Historian: $125 to beused for the production of a

bulletin board and shadowbox as exhibit aids to pro-mote the town’s history.

• Robert G. Leary, Presi-dent, Riders Mills HistoricalAssociation: $225 for the pur-chase of archival materialsneeded to preserve historicbooks and documents relat-ing to the Riders MillsSchoolhouse.

• Marguerite Riter, Ger-mantown Town Historian:$125 for the purchase ofarchival storage materials forthe town’s collection of docu-ments relating to the historyof Germantown.

• Dominick Lizzi,Village ofValatie Historian: $400toward the development of awalking tour of Prospect HillCemetery, including a pam-phlet, grave markers, andresearch.

• Dolores Weaver, GallatinTown Historian: $125 towardthe purchase of archival stor-age materials to hold newspa-per clippings, photographs,and other historical docu-ments relating to Gallatin’shistory, preserving them forfuture generations.

• Patricia Fenoff, HudsonHistorian: $125 toward thepurchase of archival materialsto store the city’s historicalrecords now in her posses-sion as well as at City Hall. �


17

History Around the County

The following notes are to correct some unintended errorsin our article about the Austerlitz Historical Society andits Old Austerlitz Historic Site which appeared in ourFall 2002 issue:• Thomas Henson should be Thomas F.

and Debra L. Hanson.• J.Walter Kelley should be J.M. Kelly, Ltd.• John Borotta should be John Buratto.• Preservation Architects should be

Preservation Architecture.• Robert Herron — ‘has donated 55 acres and three of the

houses to the historic site’ — should be ‘has donated

3 acres to the Society on which the Society has recon-structed a small house and a granary.’

• The Morey Devereaux House, which is currently beingreconstructed, is also on this parcel. Mr. Herron hasestablished a trust through which his current home, theSauers-Kellogg House, the Varney House, where he grewup, and a reconstructed barn will become an integral partof Old Austerlitz.An additional 52 acres will also becomeavailable for Society use at that time.

• The Varney House has not been deeded to the Society. Itis currently used by the Society for small meetings and asan office.

A C L A R I F I C A T I O N

By Helen M. McLallen, CuratorColumbia County Historical Society

Rare 18th-century bark casks at the Van Alen House

Among the Society’s collections is a pair of 18th-centurybark barrels, or casks, which were found in the 1960sin the attic of the Columbia County home built for

Johannes Van Alen in the 1760s. Johannes Van Alen was the sec-ond son of Luykas Van Alen, in whose house the barrels arenow exhibited. The Luykas Van Alen House in Kinderhook isowned and maintained by the Society and is open to thepublic during the summer months.

The casks are large,approximately 40" high and 46" in diam-eter. Each is made from a single large sheet of smooth innerbark formed into a cylinder. Theedges were overlapped and lacedtogether through holes punchedinto the bark. Remnants of a twist-ed vegetable fiber cord remain.They have no obvious evidence fora bottom or base.The deteriorationof their lacing had deprived themof structural support, and theydeveloped horizontal splits alongthe grain. The Society had themconserved in 1996.Objects conser-vator Heidi Miksch workedon them on site at the VanAlen House. She realignedthe split edges, workinggradually over a period ofweeks, then gluing thesplits together. The caskswere then relaced with acompatible modern cord.

A Native-American con-tainer form, it is probablethat bark casks were adopt-ed by Euro-Americansbecause of their usefulness

and durability. Bark casks of varying sizes were used to storedried corn, smoked fish, beans, dried fruit, and other posses-sions. References to their use occur as early as Champlain’sdescriptions of them in 1616 and continue through the19th century. Father J. F. Lafitau described in 1724 “great barkcasks in tun shape, five to six feet high, where they put theirmaize when it is shelled.”An example is illustrated in Lewis H.Morgan’s classic Report on the Fabrics, Inventions,Implements and Utensils of the Iroquois (1851).

Arthur C. Parker, of the New York State Museum, commis-sioned a smaller elm bark cask, now in the New York StateMuseum’s collections, from the Seneca in 1909 as an essentialartifact to interpret Iroquois culture.No other extant examples

of casks as large as the ColumbiaCounty Historical Society’s areknown to Native-American spe-cialists, although documentary evi-dence indicates they were com-monly used by Eastern Woodlandscultures. Little documentation oftheir use by Euro-Americans hasbeen located. Whether theSociety’s examples were made byNative-Americans or by Euro-Americans copying native tech-

niques is not known,nor can they be preciselydated aside from their18th-century context.Their presence in theJohannes Van Alen houseattic, however, is anintriguing illustration ofthe intersection betweenNative-American and Euro-American cultures inColumbia County. �


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Highlights from the Society’s Collections

Bark casks after and during conservation treatment.

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By Stephan K. Comer, Doctoral Student at SUNY Albany, specializingin Mohican Studies, and the only enrolled Mohican tribal memberliving within the original tribal territoty.

T he Mohican Indians, also known as the Stockbridge-Munsee, the Original People of Columbia County, paida heavy penalty for Europeanizing, eventually moving

from their aboriginal homelands to Wisconsin.They lost virtu-ally all of their ancient customs and beliefs along the way.Although they have been returning periodically to their ances-tral area for the last half-century, they have discovered to theirdisappointment that relatively little was recorded about them.Thus, great gaps still exist in their cultural patrimony. Anoutstanding exception to this state of affairs is their BearSacrifice Ceremony, ably explained in a 1945 publication byanthropologist Frank Speck, who drew his knowledge fromMunsee-Mohican informants at the Six Nations Reserve inOntario, Canada. The culturally conservative mixed band ofMunsee (Delaware) and Mohicans had migrated to Canadaabout the same time that the main body of the Tribe estab-lished themselves at Stockbridge, MA, thus they were ableto practice much of their ancestral culture until the mid 19thcentury.

In a monograph entitled The Celestial Bear Comes DownTo Earth, Speck describes their mid-Winter festival as an elab-orate ceremony that involved singing, dancing, recitation ofvisions, and the ritual killing and eating of a bear who was toact as a spiritual emissary to the Celestial Bear, the chief of theBear people. Amazingly, this ceremony echoes similar mythsand rites once (and in some places still) practiced around theArctic Circle by cultures that have never had contact with oneanother. Of even greater import is the (unproven) possiblitythat all these myth/ritual complexes derived from a so-called‘Bear Cult’ that originated 20,000 years ago with Early Homosapiens in what is now Europe.

The Mohican people are fortunate to have access to thisimportant component of their heritage.The tale goes roughlyas follows:

In the sky is a Great Bear, an eternal Bear, the Chief of all theearthly bears, to whom respect must be paid before he will

allow his people to be killed.The Great Bear is eternally theobject of a hunt, and as he twists around in the northern skyhe is continually followed by three hunters. They manage tokill him in the Fall.We know this because the leaves turn redwith his blood and the snow is the fat which falls from hisdead body. But the Celestial Bear never truly dies. He lies in hisden through the Winter and rises up every Spring, and thehunt begins once again.

The way to honor the Great Bear is to show respect to hispeople.When an earthly bear is killed, it must be summonedfrom its den with respect, dispatched with a hand-heldweapon, ritually skinned, and its pelt tied around the sacredworld-tree post. When the flesh is cooked, all present musteat, and none may leave until all the meat has been consumed.The bones must be kept from the dogs and burned in a fire.The skull will be decorated and set high in the branch of atree. From there the earthly bear will be entreated to fly to theheavens and tell the Great Bear that all is well between thebear people and the human people.Then the Great Bear willallow his people to be taken, and things will go on as theywere meant to be.

Speck’s primary informant, Nekatcit, told the story of a sin-gle ceremony, perhaps the last one, which took place about1850.The following is a condensed version of that story:

An old woman had a dream about where the bear wouldbe found to celebrate the annual Bear Sacrifice ceremony.Twelve men were sent to capture it.They rapped on the treewhere the bear was sleeping and called for it to come out.The bear came out and was escorted to the Big House. Butwhen it came to a creek it refused to go any further and laydown on the ground instead. The chief was summoned tokill the reluctant bear.Then it was carried to the Big House,skinned, and cooked. After the people were finished eatingit the chief stood in the middle of the floor and said, “Gohome, don’t get caught up in petty matters, don’t cheatother people, be good to one another.”Then all the peoplewent home.

Although the Mohican people no longer celebrate the BearCeremony, they still have the story of the Great Bear whichbelonged to their ancestors. And the Celestial Bear still goesaround and around in the northern sky. �

THE CELESTIAL BEAROF THE MOHICAN PEOPLE

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degree. He also noted in hismotion that Beckwith’s claimof self-defense was not con-tradicted in any way duringthe trial, nor could it be cor-roborated except by circum-stance. Counsel then wenton to state that “…to havefurnished to the jury corrobo-rating facts with which tocompare the testimony ofdefendant would have beengenerally to defendant’sadvantage at said trial.”

In the motion, Beckwith’scounsel then noted thatwhile on the stand in his firsttrial, Beckwith had testifiedthat he had reason to believethat Vandercook had attempt-ed to take his life by poisonand that this testimony mayexplain the intent withwhich the attack was madeon his client and throw lighton the “…alleged necessitywhich may have existed fordefendant to take the life ofVandercook.”

Attached to the motionwas a deposition by Giles S.Hulette, a physician, who atthe time of the murder waspracticing medicine in GreatBarrington and knew Vander-cook and Harrison Calkins. Inhis deposition Hulette statedthat he first became aware ofthe trial after having read anaccount of it and that thishad triggered a recollection

on his part.“In the course of my treat-

ment of Calkins at varioustimes the matter of a goldmine in which Calkins,Beckwith and Vandercookwere interested were dis-cussed. Calkins and Vander-cook both stated to me onseveral occasions that themine in their opinion was arich one, that they expectedto form a stock company anddevelop it, …that Beckwithwas the only obstacle in theirway to do this,and that if they‘could get rid of him’, theyshould go on and do it.”

Hulette further deposedthat “…Vandercook, either ontwo or three occasions con-sulted him on the subject ofpoisons, the nature andeffects of the different kinds.”

Based on the foregoing, anew trial was granted whichbegan on February 4, 1887.Much of this article is basedon the complete transcript ofthe testimony of the prosecu-tion witnesses at that trial.However, a diligent searchhas failed to locate the tran-scripts of the defense wit-

nesses’ testimony, the argu-ments by the prosecution anddefense and the instructionsgiven to the jury by the judge.Therefore, it is unknown as towhether or not Huletteappeared at the trial and testi-fied and what, if any, weightwas given to such testimonyor deposition. It should benoted that Harrison Calkinsdid file a deposition statingthat he had never had aninterest in the mining compa-ny, that he had no recollec-tion of any such conversa-tions alluded to in the Hulettedeposition, that he neverheard of any conversation inwhich was stated that he andVandercook ever intended toform a stock company, or thatBeckwith was an obstacle totheir plans, and that if theycould get rid of him theycould proceed to work themine. In his deposition, how-ever, Calkins never denieddirectly the fact asserted byHulette in his deposition thatVandercook had talked toHulette about poisons, onlythat he never heard such con-versations.

The jury in the second trialagain found Beckwith guiltyof murder in the first degree.He was then sentenced tohang on March 24, 1887.Beckwith did appeal to boththe General Term and to theCourt of Appeals once again,but both courts affirmed thejudgment of the lower court.This resulted in the executionof his sentence being furtherdelayed.

In January 1887, a sanityhearing was held, the tran-script of which was reviewedfor this article.At this hearinga number of “experts” testi-fied as to their examinationsof Beckwith, some opiningthat he was sane, others thathe was insane. It is clear fromthe transcript of their testi-mony that at the very leastBeckwith was eccentric, thathe may have been delusionalin that he felt that he wasthe victim of a plot by thefreemasons, and that hiscounsel was a mason and waspart of this plot. In addition,there was testimony present-ed at the hearing of insanityin Beckwith’s immediatefamily.Yet, the commissionersin their report of January 26,1887 found that Beckwithwas sane.

Also, in response to a peti-tion for clemency by reasonof mental incompetencymade to Governor Hill ofNew York, experts on insanity

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The jury in the second trialagain found Beckwith guilty of

murder in the first degree



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again examined Beckwith onFebruary 27, 1888, three daysbefore the date of his execu-tion. However, Governor Hillon the next day refused tocommute the sentence to lifeimprisonment.

All appeals having beenexhausted, Beckwith wasfinally sentenced to die onMarch 1, 1888. The sentencewas carried out on that day atthe Hudson jail. At the timeBeckwith was just nine daysshort of his 78th birthday.

Throughout the entireprocess, Beckwith wasaggressively defended by LeviLongley who was courtappointed counsel.Yet, at theend of Longley’s Herculeanefforts on behalf of Beckwith,for which he probably re-ceived little, if any, compensa-tion, Beckwith turned on himas being part of the freema-sonry plot against him andclaimed that he failed toproperly represent him.

WHY WASBECKWITH HANGED?

The case is fascinating, notso much because of the grislynature of the crime, but forthe many questions it raises.First and foremost, contraryto the reporting in some pub-lications and as was believedby some at the time, therewas no evidence of cannibal-ism presented by the prose-cution, at least according tothe transcript of the prosecu-tion witnesses’ testimony.Based on the statements ofthese persons, the only logi-cal conclusion is thatBeckwith was trying to con-ceal the crime by burning thevictim’s remains in his stove.Yet, there is no doubt that thecrime was of a sensationalnature and probably created asense of revulsion among thepeople in the surroundingarea. This aura surroundingthe crime might account forthe fact that Beckwith was

indicted for the crime of mur-der in the first degree, a capi-tal crime, and not for murderin the second degree.

The evidence presentedby the prosecution witnessesas to motive, premeditationand intent on the part ofBeckwith to kill Vandercookappears to be somewhatweak and subject to reason-able doubt. As to motive,there was no doubt thatBeckwith had reason to feelthat he had been cheated byVandercook. Yet, in both thedirect and cross-examinationof these witnesses, there isconflicting testimony as towhether or not they hadquarreled or had “bad blood”between them. Some prose-cution witnesses actuallytestified that Beckwith andVandercook appeared to beon amicable terms with eachother.

The primary evidence asto premeditation and intenton the part of Beckwith tokill Vandercook comes fromtwo prosecution witnesses.These testified at the secondtrial that Beckwith hadapproached them sometimebefore the actual murder tohelp him get rid ofVandercook. However, therewere no witnesses to theseconversations, so this testimo-ny was essentially uncorrobo-rated. More importantly,neither agreed to go alongwith the scheme and general-ly dismissed the requests asthe ranting of an eccentricold man.As testified to by oneof these persons, Beckwithnot only sought assistance toget rid of Vandercook, he alsosolicited him to do the samewith Harrison Calkins, thebrother of the person provid-ing this testimony. He laterstated that he did not thinkenough of the threat to warnhis brother.Without the testi-mony of these two witnesses,which was not supported by

any other evidence, there isno other showing in the pros-ecution’s case that Beckwitheither planned to or intendedto kill Vandercook.

Finally, there is Beckwith’stestimony as to the strugglewith Vandercook, which ledto the murder. His assertionof self-defense at the leastshould have raised some rea-sonable doubt as to whetheror not the murder was pre-meditated and intended, evenif it did not satisfy the jurythat it was in fact self-defense.Also, there is no evidence, atleast in the prosecution’scase, as to why Vandercookwent up to Beckwith’s shantyon the day of the murder.It may have been thatVandercook did intend toharm Beckwith in some way.Assuming the evidence ofVandercook’s interest in poi-sons was introduced at thesecond trial and was givenweight, coupled with the factthat Beckwith at the time didthink that someone was try-ing to poison him, thesewould lend some credence toBeckwith’s claim of self-defense. On the other hand,there is the testimony thatthe victim was stabbed frombehind in the back.This prob-ably gave both juries prob-lems with Beckwith’s asser-tion of self-defense.

Without strong evidenceof premeditation and intent,one can only wonder why

both juries did ultimately findBeckwith guilty of murder inthe first degree,which verdictresulted in his being hanged.As reported in the Troy Timeson February 24, 1888, co-counsel at the sanity hearingfor Beckwith stated that:“As Ilook at the case, there is noevidence of premeditation;not enough to make it safe tohang Beckwith. I believe he isa crank, and he ought to belocked up for life, but I don’tthink he should be hanged onthe testimony of this case.”Yet, until the full transcript ofeither or both trials are dis-covered, one can only raisequestions and speculate onwhat led the juries who triedhim and the courts whoaffirmed their judgmentsto conclude that OscarBeckwith, the incorrectlynamed “Austerlitz Cannibal,”should be hanged for thiscrime.

AFTERWORDThe author of this articlewishes to thank DickCartwright who collaboratedin developing this story andwhose assistance was invalu-able in uncovering the factson which it is based. �


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Columbia County Historical Society Calendar of Events

Please note in your calendarsthe following events anddates.For additional informa-tion regarding these, pleasecall the Society’s office at(518) 758-9265 or visit ourwebsite at www.cchsny.org.

Sunday, March 2nd In our continuing seriesof Monthie Slide Programs:Slides of Livingston, 3:00 p.m.Location to be announcedor call the Society at 518-758-9265.

Sunday, March 23rd Monthie Slide Program, 3:00p.m. Slides of Germantownand Clermont. Location to beannounced or call theSociety at 518-758-9265.

Sunday, Apri l 6th Monthie Slide Program,3:00 p.m. Slides ofKinderhook. Locaction tobe announced or call theSociety at 518-758-9265.

Saturday, May 24th Opening Day at the 1737Van Alen House, Rte. 9H,Kinderhook, and the c1820 James VanderpoelHouse, Rte. 9 Kinderhook.Hours:Thursdays-Saturdays11-5; Sundays 1-5.

Saturday, June 7th KinderCrafter Fair on thegrounds of the JamesVanderpoel House, BroadStreet, Village of Kinderhook.10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.rain or shine. Sponsored bythe Kinderhook Businessand Professional Association.Crafts, music, food, fun for allages. 518-758-9265.

Saturday, June 14th First Columbians ChampagneReception and AntiquesFestival Preview. 5:00 to7:30 p.m. on the grounds ofthe Luykas Van Alen House,Route 9H, Kinderhook.Admission. 518-758-9265.Hors d’oeuvres, champagne,music, silent auction.Over 70 antiques dealersoffering treasures for sale.

Sunday, June 15th31st Annual Van Alen HouseAntiques Festival on thegrounds of the LuykasVan Alen House, Route 9H,Kinderhook. 10:00 a.m. to4:00 p.m. Admission. Rainor shine. Over 70 antiquesdealers offering treasuresfor sale.

Saturday, December6th to Sunday,December 14thGallery of Wreaths andHoliday Craft Boutique at theColumbia County Museum,5 Albany Ave., Kinderhook.Monday-Saturday 10:00 a.m.to 4:00 p.m.; Sunday 12:00

to 4:00 p.m. Display of hand-crafted wreaths by individu-als, businesses, organizations,and florists.Wreaths are upfor silent auction. Holidaycrafts are for sale.

Fr iday,December 12thCandlelight Night in theVillage of Kinderhook.6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Sponsoredby the Kinderhook Businessand Professional Association.Businesses open withrefreshments, music, wagonrides, a visit from Santa, andthe Greens Show at theVanderpoel House.

Fr iday, December12th to Sunday,December 14th Greens Show at the c1820James Vanderpoel House,Broad St., Kinderhook.Friday and Sunday 12:00 –4:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Historichouse decorated for theholidays by local gardenclubs and flower shops. �

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For updated information about events and other activites of theColumbia County Historical Society, please visit our website at www.cchsny.org

The Sachem pictured on our cover is the Mohican,Etowohkoam, whose village was located on KinderhookCreek. He was one of four Indian chiefs to visit the EnglishQueen Anne in 1710.

While there they posed to have their portraits painted byJohn Verelst, a noted artist.They were dressed in new blanketsand tunic length shirts, probably of linen, and wore Europeanswords. Iron hatchets lay nearby.These items were all typicalof trade goods and gift items. The tatooed Indians also woreleather moccasins, woven belts and head-bands, and bran-dished native weapons, a romantic blending of Europeantrade goods and native items.

Etowohkoam is holding his war club, and behind his rightfoot a turtle is shown representing his clan symbol. Membersof the Turtle clan believed their relation, the great tortoise,supported their land on his back, and was superior becausehe could live both in the water and on land.

Jim Eyre.

Unlike the other names [of the chiefs], this name is notIroquoian, it is Algonkian, the language family to which theMohican Indians belong. In the 17th and 18th centuries thesewere commonly known as ‘River Indians’ because they livedon the Hudson River around Albany. Although at war withthe Mohawks off and on during the 17th century,by 1710 theywere cooperating in the common goal of defeating France.Thus it was not inappropriate for a Mohican to join this groupgoing to London.

Nicholas’s native name, E Tow Oh Koam, may bespeak hisorigin as well, for it means “two parts” or “two sides,” or “bothsides”as in both sides of the river which would relate to wherethe Mohicans lived. His totem is the turtle which is the clan ofthe chiefs among the Mohicans, thus he may have been a chief,but there is no independent confirmation of this.

Roderic Blackburn

ABOUT THE FRONT COVER“Etow Oh Koam, King of the River Nation – 1710” (called Nicholas), by John Verelst, London, 1710.

Mezzotint engraving, 36" x 253/8" x Collection of the Public Archives, Canada.

Documents

IN THIS ISSUE - Columbia County Historical Society - · PDF filemuseum that includes exhibition galleries and an exten- ... articles in this issue will center on ... try to the Algonkian