The history of the Town of Tusten until 1900

Before the first white settlement, the Delaware River Valley was inhabited by the Lenni Indians, an Indian nation formed of many tribes, clans, and families. The three main tribes were translated as the Turkey, Turtle, and Wolf tribes, with the Wolf tribe of the Minsi being predominant in this area between the Delaware and Hudson Rivers. The arch enemy of the LENAPE was the IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY or SIX NATIONS which had initially been formed some 300 years before in 1450. (During the French & Indian War with Britain 1754 to 1763, this confederation backed the French, who lost, then in the American Revolution they backed the British, who also lost).The IROQUOIS, having depleted their lands of furs, were well armed by the Dutch traders, and had stolen other Indian lands from Albany to Ohio before the Dutch had been run out of the territory by England in 1675.

Earliest white explorers to the river valley were said to be Dutch traders who had come down river via the Hudson and Mohawk rivers , and Swedes who had reportedly sailed upriver in 1638 on the water they called the New Swedeland Stream. These adventurers had been traders and no settlements by them are recorded.

Ten Mile River, or Tusten, as it is now known, was settled according to various sources in 1757, by Connecticut area residents under the auspices of the Delaware Company, a trading business. At the same time, one or two settlers were near present day Narrowsburg, with a larger settlement at Cushetunk, in the present day Milanville - Cochecton area.

During this same time, TEEDYUSCUNG, a great Indian statesman and veteran of many Indian conflicts was the acknowledged leader of 10,000 LENAPE tribes. Baptized in 1750 by the Moravian missionaries at Cushetunk, he was also known by his Anglican names of GULIAN and HONEST JOHN. In 1763, he was living in what is now the Wyoming, Pennsylvania, area where the ruling council stayed. On the night of April 13^th or 19^th, 1763, he was burned to death in his cabin. Having made numerous enemies over the years, some called his death an assassination by Indian enemies, while some blamed white settlers, and others attributed it to alcohol. Regardless, his son , CAPTAIN BULL, blamed the white man and set out to avenge his father’s death. One of his primary targets was the Cushetunk Settlement, which he planned to reach via the Lackawaxen River. At this time, Cushetunk was a threatening white settlement of 30 log homes, a blockhouse, a sawmill and a gristmill. Traveling up the Delaware River from the Lackawaxen, BULL encountered the small settlement at the Ten Mile River and killed an estimated 22 people, burning every structure present and leaving no survivors.

BULL and his war party continued North toward Cushetunk. At this time the first officially recognized resident of Big Eddy, or what was later to become Narrowsburg, was HELKIAH WILLIS, who lived with his family in a cabin on the Pennsylvania side of the river. One August (?) day, his two sons were winnowing buckwheat when they espied the Indian party coming up river. The boys ran to tell their father, who, because of their past exhibitions of laziness and lying, was somewhat skeptical, figuring they were just telling a tale to get out of work. The boys were adamant, so WILLIS and two others, MOSES THOMAS and EZRA WITTERS went to investigate. Reportedly, they encountered the Indians eating turnips in a turnip patch but were immediately detected themselves. Shots were fired with THOMAS being killed outright, and WILLIS was so badly wounded that he was soon overtaken and killed. [One written account places this skirmish near the site of the current Methodist church on Lake Erie, but lacks detail as to how this is known and does not mention a crossing of the river]. WITTERS, through great skill and good fortune, was able to make it back to the Cushetunk blockhouse and give warning. Runners were sent North and South to sound the alarm and get help for the imminent attack. One of those sent South to the Minisink Settlement near present day Port Jervis, was MOSES THOMAS II, whose father had been killed. The Indians soon arrived but did not attack due to WITTERS’ ingenuity. He used several voices, it is told, to make the blockhouse sound heavily defended, which made the Indians wary of approaching it. Under the cover of darkness however, one of the brave braves attempted to ignite a pile of hay, which was stored against the blockhouse, but WITTERS shot him for his trouble. After retrieving the body, the Indians engaged in a verbal harangue during the night, and eventually left, retreating to the South.

The lads who had been sent south to the Minisink Settlement, both reportedly under 11 years old, made it safely and a rescue party canoed upriver to bury the dead and take the living to safer environs, and it was at this juncture that one more tragedy took place. This was occasioned by the fact that there was room in the canoes for all but one, who, it was decided must be left behind. This misfortune fell to a mother who had an "idiot daughter". The mother was forcibly placed into a canoe and they sailed off with her moaning and the girl crying on the beach. Upon their eventual return, the girl’s bones were found near the blockhouse and buried.

The next notable Indian conflict occurred 16 years later at Minisink Ford. During this interim, not much is written about settlers in the Tusten area. The Battle of Minisink of course, occurred during the Revolutionary War, and it is important to us because of BENJAMIN TUSTEN, who died there and became our Town’s namesake. TUSTEN was a Goshen, NY physician, who was also the son of a prominent physician. He was also a Colonel in the Orange County militia. Locally, TUSTEN had been well known for his practice of inoculating people against disease, a medical practice not commonly undertaken in those days, and for his generosity in providing housing for the sick. While Col. TUSTEN was peacefully practicing his profession in Goshen, a Mohawk warrior who had been well educated in Britain, was plying his own trade. TAYADANEEGA (also written Thayendanegea), holding a Colonel’s rank in the British army, was a master at psychological warfare and headed a small army of Indians and Tories (Loyalists), and had gained a reputation for ruthless attacks against American colonists in Pennsylvania and New York. Although the Iroquois Six Nation Confederacy had opted to remain neutral at the outbreak of the Revolution, it was at the urging of TAYADANEEGA that they entered the war in 1777 on the side of the British. We know this warrior better by his Anglican name, JOSEPH BRANT.

On July 19, 1779, as part of a series of raids in this area, BRANT’s group crossed the Delaware River at Lackawaxen, leaving a rear guard on the west side of the river. Their goal was to re-provision themselves with an attack on the settlement of Maghaghkamic, or Minisink, in the Port Jervis area. This was accomplished the following day with several colonists being killed, buildings burned, and captives taken. BRANT’s compassionate decision to spare some of the settlers allowed them to make their way to Goshen and alert the authorities there.

On July 21, 1779, 149 members of the militia responded to Col. TUSTEN’s call. After some discussion, Tusten felt it prudent that they wait for reinforcements before pursuing their quarry, but a Major MEEKER gave an impassioned speech, challenging cowards to remain behind and for brave men to go forth. This swayed the group and they headed west to their destiny.

The following day (July 22), they were joined by a smaller militia from Warwick, New York, under the command of a Col. HATHORN, who was senior to Tusten and took over command of the combined army. In the vicinity of present day Barryville, the Indians were sighted, moving slowly because of captives and stolen livestock, and Col. HATHORN decided to take a trail along the ridgeline and ambush the Indians as they tried to cross the Delaware. Little did he realize that they too had been spotted. When the terrain allowed the Indians to go out of sight, BRANT, anticipating HATHORN’s intent, moved his warriors up present day Dry Brook, knowing that the soldiers would have to cross a ravine in that area. Written accounts vary as to what happened next, but the final results were the same. One popular story goes that BRANT offered the militia a chance to surrender on the terms that no harm would befall them. While he was talking, a militiaman’s musket discharged, either by intent or accident, passing through BRANT’s belt, and the Battle of Minisink began. According to the Americans’ version, the militiamen held out valiantly from 10 AM until sundown, plagued by lack of water and ammunition, before the Indians were able to break through their ranks and massacre those who still remained alive. The dead included Col. BENJAMIN TUSTEN, our township’s namesake, MOSES THOMAS II, whose father had been killed in the previously related Narrowsburg raid in 1763, and Major BELEZEEL TYLER, a scout from Cochecton. Ironically, Major MEEKER, whose strong oratory had caused the militia to set out without reinforcements, survived the ordeal by being at the end of the column and escaping.

BRANT’s memoirs offer a slightly different version of the battle. He wrote that his group was attacked by the "rebels" while crossing the river. Sizing up the situation, they scattered into the woods while he took some men and went around to the rear of the enemy, to where they had retreated at the top of a rocky hill. Instead of an all day battle, BRANT reports that in 4 hours they took "40 odd scalps", which he estimates was half of the enemy force, plus they took a Captain as captive. He listed his own losses at 3 men.

The bones of the militiamen lay where they had fallen for 43 years before they were retrieved and interred in a common grave in Goshen. Their deaths, however, were avenged within a month of the battle, when Gen. JOHN SULLIVAN, for whom our county is named, began a campaign of retribution in Central and Western New York. Attacking the IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY on their own grounds, he conducted his own massacres under the battle cry of "Civilization or Death to All American Savages". Men, women, and children were slaughtered, their crops and dwellings burned, and their orchards cut down. Many of those who escaped immediate death during the campaign that summer either starved or froze to death that winter. Another tragic consequence of this 1779 campaign was that two tribes of the Confederacy who had remained neutral, the ONEIDA and the TUSCARORA, were beset upon by the others and destroyed.

From 1743 until 1798, the land that would be named in Col. TUSTEN’s honor was part of the Town of Mamakating, Ulster County. In fact, for a period of 101 years, until 1769, it had been part of the territory claimed by New Jersey, a claim that extended northward to present day Cochecton. In 1798, what is now Tusten became part of the Town of Lumberland, Orange County. At this time, Lumberland Township extended north to the Delaware County line, east to the Mongaup River, and northeast to the Town of Rochester, Ulster County. When Sullivan County was formed in March 1809, our township was still encompassed by what was then Lumberland.

It is generally held that the first white settler on the New York side of the river was BENJAMIN HOMANS, who came here around 1770. This locality initially bore his name in the form of Homan’s Eddy. Names of other early settlers included the Dexter, Van Winkle, Thomas, Cole, Decker, Corwin, Goldsmith, Cuddeback, and Dunn families among others.

There was also a family named WICKHAM who owned a good deal of our present village, then sold the land to the DUNN family, who had moved here en masse from New Jersey. In these late 18th and early 19th Century times there were cabins on the Flats, then referred to as the "Lower Place", about three near the present Lake Erie, the "Middle Place", and a couple farther north in the "Upper Place".

The family of THOMAS DUNN formed the first cemetery in what is now the Glen Cove Cemetery, and the oldest marked stones are still there, as is a historical marker. The DUNN family also has the dubious distinction of being the only recorded slave holders in our community. It is written that WILLIAM DUNN, returning from New York City, stopped in Cuddebackville, and was entreated by a slave mother to buy her 4 year old son because she was unable to provide properly for him, but wanted him close enough to visit on occasion, which was not uncommon. The lad was purchased and named JAMES B. DUNN. Upon reaching adulthood in 1827, JAMES was declared a free man and settled on the lower part of the Flats where he was still living when JAMES QUINLAN published his History of Sullivan County in 1873. Locally, up until the 1960's at least, Black Jim’s Farm was often referred to as that area near the former Tusten dump along the railroad right of way. (The existence of "Black Jim" is confirmed by an entry in a ledger from the Hankins Family General Store, which operated in the community of Tusten from the early 1800’s into the twentieth century. A transaction record dated January 14,1829 refers to "Black James Dunn", with subsequent entries referring to James Dunn, or simply "black man", settling the account of William Dunn)

Having mentioned the railroad, it would be remiss not to discuss the early modes of transportation in the area. Initially the river may have been a hindrance to travel except by canoe, but as the population increased, so did river commerce, which became tied to that growth. Naturally, rafting of lumber became an industry , which gave rise to hotels that provided places of food and rest. Rope and later cable ferries plied the river at choice locations, which included one at Ten Mile River, which had been resettled and was now a prospering community.

In 1810 a charter was granted to the Narrowsburg Bridge Company and a 25' wide bridge was built across the narrows. This, of course, was a toll bridge and the rates of passage were steep for those days; 37 ½ cents for a one horse wagon, $1 for 4 horses, and 6 cents by foot, in an age when a laborer earned $1 for a full day’s work. Because of this high tariff, people crossed by other means, including wading across the river wherever practical. Other records, which appear to be more reliable, indicate that this charter did not occur until 1830, with the first bridge being built in 1832, and the tolls being somewhat less costly. Whenever built, the bridge became part of a transportation system, which included the Mount Hope – Lumberland Turnpike, chartered in 1812 with Narrowsburg resident ABRAHAM CUDDEBACK as Director. This thoroughfare ran from Orange County to Honesdale, and consisted of a plank road in many places. Ice and high water apparently took out at least two bridges before 1848 saw a covered bridge 250' long and 35' above the low water mark. This in turn was replaced by an iron structure built 54 years later by the Oswego Bridge Company in 1899, which lasted until the present interstate bridge was completed in 1953. It was not until January 12, 1927 that the bridge became toll free after being purchased by the New York-Pennsylvania Joint Bridge Commission for $55,000.

Many changes also occurred during the early 19th century in our community. Although Narrowsburgh appeared on a map as early as 1829, it was still known as Big Eddy and a post office by that name opened on the Pennsylvania side on 6/06/1837. On 9/19/1840, this post office was closed and reopened the same day across the river in Narrowsburgh. ABRAHAM CUDDEBACK, who built the Narrowsburg Hotel (currently Narrowsburgh Inn and formerly Century Hotel) that same year, is credited with having been instrumental in getting the change made. It was not until 11/23/1893 however, that Narrowsburg became the official post office name. Mr. CUDDEBACK had also purchased land along the river at the bridge approach and then got the charter to build the bridge in March 1834.

With growth in the area, the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors met on Nov 17, 1853, and passed legislation creating the townships of Tusten and Highland from Lumberland by a two-thirds vote of the Board. Tusten was formed from Lots 71 & 72 of Great Lot 18 of the Hardenburgh Patent. As legislated, the first official town meeting was held on Tuesday, March 7, 1854, at the home of JONATHAN HAWKS located at the foot of present day Mile Hill. The meeting was presided over by JOHN S. HUGHES, WILLIAM H. MAPES, and JAMES R. HANKINS with another Lumberland resident, CHARLES S. WOODWARD, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, serving as clerk. As the fledgling town government was set up, WOODWARD was voted as the first Tusten Supervisor, serving for one term.

Even before the Town as formed, however, the Erie Railroad contributed greatly to its development. After being first proposed in 1829, the railroad did not receive its incorporation until 1832, at which time a survey was begun by future New York Governor DEWITT CLINTON. In 1835, financial difficulties arose, requiring re-organization of the company. As originally proposed, the railway was going to run from Hoboken to Port Jervis, then to Monticello, not hitting the Delaware River Valley until the Callicoon area. Owing to concessions made in the re-organization, the Delaware Division of the railway was changed to enter Pennsylvania just north of Sparrowbush and return to New York at Tusten, which resulted in Narrowsburg being on the line.

Although the Erie brought greater prominence to the village, it also brought changes. During the course of 1847, the roadbed had reached Narrowsburg and with it came many German and Irish immigrant laborers. On December 11^th of that year, owing to reduced wages and probably increased prices of goods, inn keeper JOHN VERSCHAU was attacked by about 100 workers who ransacked his house, destroyed property, and burned a building. Seventeen German workers were arrested and sent to jail in Monticello. Ten of those were found guilty and received sentences of 90 days in jail and $50 fines.

Later the next summer, in 1848, the locomotive Piermont (some sources cite Piedmont), was disassembled at Piermont, NY and loaded onto a vessel, from which it traveled up the Hudson River to Rondout in Ulster County. It was then shipped via canal to Lackawaxen where it was re-assembled and used on the expanding Erie line to distribute rails and ties. The first appearance of this engine run by engineer WILLIAM VAN DE GRAFF caused quite a commotion. The story is told how he allowed the curious to climb upon the machine to look at it, and then at the opportune time blew the whistle. This caused the inquisitive folk to jump, slide, and push themselves from the beast and run for their lives, much to the amusement of the driver. That fall, the railroad was finished as far as Narrowsburg and it is recorded that the locomotive ELEAZER LORD brought the first passenger train into town. By year’s end, there were two trains coming through on a daily basis. During the Erie’s early years, Narrowsburg was in consideration for becoming the connection point between two of the railroad’s Divisions. Because it was doubted that sufficient land existed, and local property owners, having greedily sensed a windfall, inflated values of available land, the Erie opted for Port Jervis to fulfill that need, and did establish a roundhouse and large rail yard in that city.

The diversity of people employed by the railroad also impacted on the religious needs of the area’s residents. The Baptist Church, which served Tusten residents was organized in 1840 and the church built in 1856. Methodists had been holding services on the Flats at the home of COMMODORE C. MURRAY (this was his name and not a military title) since the late 1830's and in 1856 their church was built on a donated lot on the upper part of Irish Hill. This church was moved to its present day site on Lake Street in 1879 on land donated by COMMODORE MURRAY.

To serve the German and Irish Catholics, masses were held at the home of HENRY BUCH, about one mile east of town. With an increase in the size of the congregation, services were moved to the upper floor of a tannery building near Deep Hollow Brook ( now Hunts Corners). The first Catholic church was built in 1862 on lands of WALTER LILLIE, at the top of present day School Street. In 1878 a new church was built on Bridge Street on the land of JOHN ENGLEMANN. By 1925 this structure proved too small,, so a lot was purchased from MICHAEL T. CLARK and the present ST. Francis Xavier was built there.

Like the Baptists, the Lutherans did not roam the countryside with their houses of worship. Following the formation of their congregation in 1869, the cornerstone of St. Paul’s was laid on August 25th, and it was no longer necessary for the Lutherans to have services at the Methodist church. Services were conducted exclusively in the German language until 1910, at which time one service was given in English. Up until the 1930's however, occasional German services were still given.

Schools were also several throughout the Township. In the 1840's, one was established across the river in Atco, Pa., and another in town on Kirk Road. It was not until 1928 that the Narrowsburg Central School District was formed, replacing schools in Narrowsburg, Lava, Tusten, New Weiden, Beaver Brook, and Nobody’s Switch. High school was at one time held in the old Catholic church building on Bridge Street while the two room elementary school was on the present day playground facing School St. The new school building in 1929 consisted of 12 rooms and the first graduation class was held in 1931. In 1938, the District absorbed Lake Huntington, Cochecton, and Cochecton Center schools. The "new" addition was built in 1951.

Both Narrowsburg and Tusten prospered and grew from the mid to late 1800's. Tusten’s economy was tied heavily to the lumbering and stone quarrying businesses. At its fullest development, Tusten had a saw mill, a grist mill, two stores owned by the CRAWFORD and HANKINS families, a tavern, a school, and the aforementioned Baptist church. One of Tusten’s most enduring structures, the stone arch bridge, was built by WILLIAM HANKINS in 1896, and is still in use today. A cable ferry and stone docks delivered goods across the river and back from the railroad. Tusten even had its own post office located in the Hankins Store on Crawford Road, which still stands as a private home. This same structure also served as a stopping place for raftsmen up until the 1880's, when that industry had faded out. With the depletion of lumber resources and less call for quarried stone, Tusten began to decline, and by the 1920's was not the prosperous place it had once been. In its waning days, a plan called the Minisink Company was launched in 1911, which might have resulted in Tusten out populating Narrowsburg had the plan come to fruition. This proposal called for development of a two mile stretch of river front property from Crawford Road up to the Number Nine Bridge, encompassing Davis Lake and Rock Lake. The bungalow sized lots were plotted on streets , which included a new railway station on the Pennsylvania side, two bridges across the river, and a main thoroughfare between the two lakes. The advertisements of the time extolled the fresh air of the countryside, reporting to prospective buyers that "relics of Dutch colonists and Indians are still being found upon the property", and further touted that the area was accessible by "numerous highways well graded and in well kept condition". For whatever reasons, the development plan failed and the land was sold to the Boy Scouts of America in 1927.

Narrowsburg, as early as 1862, due to the railroad and the rafting trade, boasted three hotels, two churches, five stores, 3 blacksmith shops, a carpenter shop, a harness shop, an undertaker, and a ½ mile trotting course. The railway station had been built in 1850, and as Narrowsburg was a designated dining stop, several "eating houses" made good livings until the Erie, not to lose out, put dining cars on its trains in the late 1880's.

Other communities in Tusten also thrived, albeit on a smaller scale, with their own schools and post offices until overtaken by growth or consolidation. Beaver Brook was one of these, as was Lava, which had previously been called "Bloomingdale", a popular spot for summer boarders and home of the J. KOEHLER Brewery (1875). One written account of how Lava got its name states that in an attempt to get its own post office in 1886, LOUIS KELZ (grandfather of RON BODENS) and JOHN ROPKE originally applied for a short simple name of "Java", but received notice that it was already taken. Moving down the alphabet, they picked Lava, which was subsequently approved.

Although fires were common back in those days of candles, kerosene lamps, and wood frame buildings, two fires of note are recorded in our earlier times. On Sunday, August 18, 1866, a train struck eight tank cars filled with oil, which were parked on a siding where Narrowsburg Feed and Grain stands today. The oil ignited, spilling liquid flame onto the pond below and engulfing several buildings. One of these was the home occupied by the CHARLES WILLIAMS family. WILLIAMS’ wife SARAH and their maid escaped to safety by jumping from a porch roof. WILLIAMS tried to make his way down some stairs from the second floor while carrying both his daughters, ROSA, age 5, and JENNIEVEVE, age unknown, dropping one of them. The children, severely burned, lingered for eight days before they died. Mr. WILLIAMS died on the day of the fire; ironically, his wife gave birth to a baby that same day.

A second larger fire occurred December 17, 1893 on Main Street, burning two hotels , the Arlington and the Delaware (1875 atlas), out buildings, barns, a grain mill, stores and houses. For all the danger presented by these blazes, it was not until 1902 that the Narrowsburg Fire Department was formed.

In 1918, the railroad station built in 1850 burned and the now gone freight station, which many of us remember as the train station, was converted for dual use as station and freight storage.

In June 1911, the State Legislature passed funding for the Delaware River Highway, State Route 3A, to be built from Port Jervis to Hancock. It was not until August 1939 that this highway was dedicated as Route 97.

Please see the accompanying article for the history of Tusten from 1900 to present.

Arthur J. Hawker

Town of Tusten Historian