Joel Kimball Diary - January 1874

Joel's trip to the "flats" would be to Westfield Flats, today's Rockland, and "Greene's" most likely the hotel there, now the location of the Rockland House. On his return home, he stopped at "the new store". Located next to the railroad depot, the building was erected in the summer and fall of 1873 and the mercantile business was established of Divine, DuBois, Parks & Co. A little over a year later, John Divine and William Parks, two of the above named partners, sold their interests to the remaining partner, Alvin Dubois, who reorganized the firm into the A.P. DuBois & Company. - Fred
 

The post office at Purvis Post Office (the community that is known as Deckertown today) along with the little general store associated with it, was operated then by post master John Decker. Because of his unusually long name, John Daniel Waniel Moore Decker, he became known throughout the area as "Alphabet" Decker.  -  Fred

"Wilbur" Denman [other accounts know him as William F. Denman], being a nephew of John Divine, one of the partners of the new mercantile company, was the store's clerk and lived overhead his place of work. The area was pretty lawless at the time with thievery, incendarism and even the occasional murder being common. The Divine, DuBois & Company store was easy prey to local hooligans; in fact the store was broken into so many times during its first years that young Denman was initially thought to have been involved in the misdeeds, until it was later proven to be the handiwork of the Maffett gang, a local family of reprobates along with a couple of their neighbors, who were the cause of this and other mischief about the area.  -  Fred
 

A second day of rainy weather, coupled with the melting snow which resulted from the previous days' warmth, raised the level of the waters of the Willowemoc. With the Kimball farm in the lowlands near the river's channel, Joel stayed close to home and probably kept an eye on river, which turned out to be to his benefit.

Waiting for the early spring's snow melt and increase in the river's volume that allows them to set off their rafts of lumber downstream, lumbermen lined the riverbanks with timber and lumber throughout the winter, in anticipation of the spring's first freshet. This early January's thaw and resulting high water washed away some of this lumber into the flooded river from upstream saw mills, allowing Joel to "pike" out the floating wood as it passed by.  -  Fred

Apparently Joel had decided to get the new pair of boots and neither hell nor high water would keep him from going to the store at Morsston. After a third day of rain, the Willowemoc finally overflowed its banks, flooding Mott's flat below the covered bridge at Sprague's. There were two routes that Joel could have taken from his home to get to town, one being the road to Purvis where he probably would have encountered, with the rivers running high, a swamp between the Purvis covered bridge and the old log and plank bridge that crossed the Little Beaverkill, or else continue across the covered bridge at Sprague's leading onto Mott's flat, trudging on through the flooded section. Either way, he would not need to worry about ruining his old pair of boots. -  Fred
 

Joel's ancestors were amongst the earliest of settlers in the wilderness area called Westfield Flats. Levi and Abigail Kimball, his great grandparents, made the arduous journey over the rugged Catskill terrain from Connecticut in 1796 and, along with Samuel Darbee, settled in the valley of the Beaverkill River.  -  Fred
 

When the Willowemoc overflows its channel, the water rips into the riverside bank at the river's bend below the eddy located in front the Catskill Fly-Fishing Center. To minimize the damage, large stones have been placed over the years on the bank of the outside curve. This is probably the area of the damaged portion of the road that Joel mentions above, since it is located just below the old Kimball homestead.

Road maintenance on the township's roadways during Joel's days was done by the local residents. In 1874, the township divided its network of roads into twenty-eight districts, some of which may have been a just a single road, or a section of road or several sections within a neighborhood. Residents who resided along these routes would take the responsibility of maintaining that district, under the guidance of an appointed "overseer", who took the responsibility for the work done at that section. Besides overseeing the work that was done, he would also keep track of the hours and days each man spent on the district's roadway maintenance, including work-teams of horses, and submit the bill to the town.

District Fifteen, which included the portion of the Purvis-to-Westfield road that passed in front of the Kimball residence, and followed alongside the river, was a particularly troublesome district. Town records show that bills submitted to the town were consistently higher than all but two other districts. For the year of 1874, eighty-seven and one quarter days of work was submitted by the overseer, compared to the previous year's work of only seventy-one days. Other districts also showed increases in daily road work that same year when compared to the previous year, perhaps partially due that January flood, and its resulting bridge and road damage.  -  Fred
 

"Col" Moore may have been a favorite neighbor of Joel's for there are many references to the "Colonel" in his diary throughout the coming year. James Moore, sixty years of age at the time and one of the little-known but colorful local characters during this era, grew up near the Grahamsville area where he married Susanah Hall, the daughter of Squire John Hall from Mutton Hill. John Hall was an active political figure in the early days of the Town of Neversink, serving many political positions at the town level as well as sitting on the State Assembly. He served in the army during the War of 1812, with the rank of corporal, thus he was often referred to, so as not to be confused with his father who had the same name, as "Corporal" Hall; a man of many titles.

The title of "Colonel" was bestowed on James during the time that was noted in his obituary "from the old training days", probably from his service with a locally organized home guard unit at Grahamsville. Though he failed to have as many titles, his lone nickname "outranked" his father-in-law's.  -  Fred
 

In 1874 Bishop VanGaasbeck worked as the blacksmith at Purvis Post Office (Deckertown), though he was originally associated with the blacksmith shop at Morsston. Medad T. Morss took sole possession of the Henry Osborn tannery at Morsston in 1864 and, with being the proprietor of two other tannery operations in the county, one at Woodbourne and the other at Black Lake, became one of the wealthiest men in Sullivan County. The Morsston blacksmith shop was essential in the tannery's operation by assisting in the maintenance of the factory's and related operation's equipment. Eventually, financial and legal problems overwhelmed Morss during the early seventies.

Sometime between 1870 and 1873, VanGaasbeck relocated to Purvis Post Office. As for Morss, he eventually filed for bankruptcy early in 1877, creating a long list of creditors who were not going to be paid. Numerous fires broke out, thought to be deliberately set, one by one, diminishing to embers his various Morsston and Morsston Depot business concerns, including the Morsston blacksmith shop. On the evening of August 9th, 1879, the old tannery, now sitting idle, was completely consumed by flames  -  Fred
 

Newspapers had yet to be published within the Town of Rockland, its residents relying on getting the news from publications of other communities in the county. By 1874, twenty-three local newspapers had been started in the county since the year of 1821, but by the time of Joel's diary, only four remained in operation. The Republican Watchman and the Sullivan County Republican were published at the county seat in Monticello. The "Register" that Joel refers to would be the Liberty Register, which was a fairly new publication at the time, starting in 1870. It continued in operation until 1971.

The fourth newspaper was the Sullivan County Record, a Jeffersonville newspaper but which had its beginnings at Youngsville, being published for the German speaking immigrants of that section of the county. In 1870, Dewey Boyce purchased the paper but after only a year's operation, sold out. He remained in the newspaper business and by 1882, after dealing with some personal problems, he became the proprietor of the Willowemoc Valley Times, the new newspaper that was to be printed at Purvis, and with Moses Pride as its first editor, the first edition was published on March 16th.  - fred
 

After working for a week on preparation of the deer skin, it was now ready to be made into its intended use; the making of lashes. Long, narrow strips of leather were sliced off the newly tanned hide, which were then braided together forming strong ropes of leather, or lashes. Rafts of lumber that negotiated the currents of the smaller tributaries of the upper Delaware River were kept small to be better able to handle the twists and turns of the rough and tumble ride down the smaller creeks. Where the river becomes wider, these "colts" were then assembled together into a raft by being tied together by use of the leather lashes, giving the larger vessel both strength and flexibility as it rode over the river's waves down the Delaware. - fred

The Sprague farm, neighbors to the Kimballs, was located two miles north of Purvis at the intersection of the Rockland Road with the road going up over Johnston Mountain to the Beaverkill community. In June of 1847, James Emmitt Sprague erected his home from lumber sawn and timbers hewn by himself. The large colonial style house was capable of housing his growing family as well as that of his younger brother, Erastus. The house still stands today and is still in the family, descendants of the Spragues.

The young ladies who "made a visit" were visiting Joel's sisters, young sixteen-year-old Adela and her older sister, Julia, who had just been married the previous fall and was now soon to be a mother. The visitors were James Sprague's daughter, Samantha, Abigail Vernooy, daughter of James Vernooy who had the farm at the top of the Little Ireland section a mile above Purvis Post Office and Sprague's daughter-in-law, Lucy Dickenson, the wife of Lafayette Sprague.  -  Fred
 

Lafayette Sprague came from a family known up and down the river as being lumber and rafts men, In 1874, the Purvis area had at least five wood mills in operation; the older mills of Purvis and Mott, the Hardenburgh mill on the Little Beaverkill and the new mills erected along the Cattail Brook by John Woolsey and Medad Morss, all of whom mostly, at that time, relied on experienced raftsmen to get their lumber to market. Young Lafayette, being a steersman, no doubt got his feet wet many times rafting on the Willowemoc, and hopefully only his feet, by steering these colts down the Willowemoc and Beaverkill.

"The steersman was the pilot of this cumbersome vessel in which negotiating the rapids, cross-currents and all the hazards found along these rain-swollen streams was a risky endeavor. On the back side of the assembled colt was attached a long oar, which was used as a rudder. The steersman's challange was to keep the raft pointed downstream in the right direction, for once the vessel was turned around in the river, its fate was at the mercy of the stream's
current.   -  Fred
 

Thomas Collins was a genuine hero. "T.C.", who Joel visited at the end of the day, was a young veteran of the War of the Rebellion who was honored by being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for various act of personal bravery.

Upon returning home after the war, he married Ellen Moore, the daughter of Colonel Moore, who was five years and senior and a teacher for a time at the local school district. In 1874, they resided on the farm a mile above Purvis Post Office, at the base of Johnston Mountain, just below his father-in-law's farm.  -  fred
 

Sunday was a day of rest, religion and reading for the Kimball family. Four generations since Levi and Abilgail Kimball first settled on the Beaverkill flats at Westfield, the Kimball lineage, through marriages, had become interwoven with most of the families of early settlers of the Willowemco-Beaverkill valley. By 1874, the families of Dodge, Darbee, Sheeley, Cochran, Stewart, Apply, Sprague, Hodge and Bennett, among others, had all become part of the Kimball extended family.  -  Fred
 

Hiram Rose's family were neighbors to the Kimballs, early settlers on the flats below Purvis Post Office. Besides operating the small farm, he was also a steersman, piloting colts down the Willowemoc and Beaverkill.

Throughout the winter, woodsmen would fell trees, either for themselves or for lumber merchants,, and "teamed" the logs over the winter's snow to be "banked" along the riverside. With the coming of spring, snow melt and spring rains would create a freshet, the river's flow being high enough to allow the bank lumber to be quickly made into colts and set out into the stream's current. As the length of time for the freshet may be of short duration, additional manpower was always needed to ride these rafts as steersmen or oarsmen. Men of various occupations would drop their daily endeavors at a moment's notice, glad for the opportunity to escape the tedium of the past winter, for the excitement of going down the river.

Hiram E. Rose, who was living with his father on the farm, piloted colts down the river since a young age, but for now, during the winter of '74, kept busy, like Joel, by doing the chores about the farm.  -  Fred

The Oliver Borden family were part of the Kimball extended family. "Aunt Katie", Catherine, and who was Oliver's wife, was the sister of Joel's mother, Lavinia, and Charles was their ten-year-old son.  -  Fred
 

Julia Kimball, Joel's sister, was just recently married the previous October to Davis B. Munson, a native of the northern Delaware County section. The family farm, Benjamin and Mary Munson being the parents, was located in the Town of Franklin, but according to one family historian, the farm was sold by Benjamin and the family moved to the Town of Rockland. The large Munson family included at least ten children but tragedy struck in February of 1841 when the three oldest children, ages ranging from three years to six years of age, perished with disease, all three within a two-week period. David, only one year old at the time, now became the oldest surviving child in the family.  -  Fred
 

Again, Sunday is a day of rest for Joel, spending the harsh wintry day inside reading the classic Romantic poems of Lord Byron.

Colonel Moore's was a favorite destination for Joel on his day of leisure, enjoying listening to the Colonel's stories, classics in their right. One favorite story told by the Colonel was about the time that he pulled up stakes and set out for California, becoming a "forty-niner". On his return a few years later, little was ever revealed on how successful his search for gold was, and "Col. M." would never tell. It was generally thought, though, by friends, neighbors, family and those with little else to talk about, that he had "done all-right". -  Fred
 

One of the railroad bridges that Lafayette Sprague helped build, Bennett's Bridge over the Willowemoc Creek which was located two miles from Westfield Flats, would soon have to be rebuilt.

As the new rail-line of the Oswego and Midland wound its way through the rugged terrain of the western Catskills, the numerous rock-cuts and dug-outs along the grade would soon prove to cause great difficulty for the railroad. With heavy rains, great mudslides often spilled over onto the tracks, or worse, wash the iron rail, ties and base away. In the winter, the depressions became a magnet for blowing snow, filling in with snow-drifts tens-of-feet thick. To combat this, the railroad experimented with a new type of snow-plow during the winter of 1876.

The plow consisted of a large augur, powered by its own steam engine, and which was hooked onto the front end of a steam locomotive. The wheels of the plow were lowered as to better clean the snow off of the tracks. On February 2, 1876, the plow-train, followed by the scheduled mail-train, left the station at Middletown on its maiden voyage. All went well until it came upon the last of the Willowemoc bridge crossings, behind Sam Bennett's, when the smaller wheels of the plow rode off of the rails as it entered onto the bridge. The locomotive continued to push the plow, both machines passing over the first span of the bridge. Midway over the second span, the plow became caught on bridge supports and toppled over the side, dragging the locomotive and the second span of bridge sixteen feet down into the river below, the plow becoming hung up above the water in the bridge's rafters.

Five men were used in the operation of the plow and luckily all escaped, though with somewhat serious injuries but which would not be fatal. This was not true for those in the cab of the locomotive engine where the Superintendent of the line, H.M. Flint, was riding. When the engine landed on its side in the river, many of the steam-lines burst. Flint received a blast of steam in his face, which burned his mouth, throat and lungs. These injuries eventually proved fatal, the first railroad related death along this section of the new railroad line.  -  Fred
 

Before Rockland became a township in 1809, it was originally the part of the Town of Neversink whose boundaries extended into the valleys of the Willowemoc and Beaverkill. Before Neversink became a township in 1798, it was originally the part of the Town of Rochester whose lands extended into the valley of the Neversink. Soon after the American Revolution, heirs to the original large tract land-holders of the Hardenburgh Patent, began selling portions of their land in the Neversink Valley, inducing early settlers to come and clear the broad, flat valley that was nestled amidst the high ridges of the southern Catskills. The Abel Hodge family, ancestors to Joel Kimball's mother, were amongst these early families attracted to this valley, migrating westward from Connecticut. Abel and his son, Asa, would eventually live the remainder of their lives at Neversink while other members of the family continued their move westward, over the divide into the Willowemoc Valley. -  Fred
 

By the second half of the nineteenth century, over-cutting of the virgin forests by the lumber and tanning industries began to deplete this valuable resource. Without the hemlock bark, essential for the tanning process, tanneries closed down and moved their operations to the still hemlock-rich forests of Pennsylvania. With lumber becoming increasingly scarce, lumbermen began to drift westward to the forests of the upper Midwest. With the decline of these activities, another industry emerged, the hoop-pole industry.

Wooden barrels were the popular means of transporting and storing goods; butter, cider, vinegar, pork, flour, powder and other perishable goods were all stored in barrels, tubs or kegs. Wooden hoops were used on these containers as a means of holding the barrel staves together. As the old forests of hemlock and hardwood disappeared, a new "crop" of saplings emerged from the forest's floor, some growing out of the stumps of recently cut trees. These saplings would be harvested, cut into hoop-poles, then split and shaved into slats that became the hoops for barrels or straps for packaging crates.

This is Joel's first mention of "B.S." This visit to the Benjamin Schoonmaker place, located above the Hodge farm, would soon have a long-lasting effect on Joel.  -  Fred