Evangeline MacLaury wrote “Those Rugged Hills and Green Valleys” as a means of “preserving a bit of the history of the Town of Harpersfield so newcomers and future residents can know the part this town has had in the changing world.” The book was published in the year of the Town Bicentennial, 1987; Evangeline was seventy years old. According to her obituary she served as Harpersfield town clerk for 30 years. During this time, she founded the Harpersfield Historical Association and served as town historian for many years.
Evangeline MacLaury is my 2nd cousin 2x removed. In 2015, I purchased her book (used) on-line. I’m transcribing parts of her book and historical documents that relate to the history of Harperfield and my Hendry ancestors who settled there.
[pg 1] Chapter 1. Founding of Harpersfield
The founders of Harpersfield were a family of Harpers. Harpersfield was named for Col. John Harper.
[pg 2] John Harper’s grandfather, James Harper, like many of his Scotch-Irish countrymen, decided to leave his homeland and seek freedom and independence and brave the dangers of an ocean voyage to begin a new life in America. The absentee landlords had tripled rents on their tenant farms. This added to an almost unbearable religious intolerance and economic repression already existing for the Scots in Ireland. Forty ships filled with Scotch-Irish immigrants left between the years of 1714 and 1720 in search of a better way and landed on New England’s rocky shores. James Harper, his wife Jennet Lewis and family, came to Casco Bay, Maine on one of the last boats in this wave of immigration during October 1720. They settled here but the war with the Indians soon began and after two or three years the family moved to the port city of Boston. All of the family moved with the exception of John the youngest son who stayed and served nearly four years against the Indians before finally going to Boston to join the family… After serving a tour of duty, John had well earned the distinction of an Indian war veteran, he would later pass this on to most of his five sons… The third son John (Col. Harper) was born May 31, 1734. When John was seven, the Harpers moved from Boston and traveled to Middletown, Connecticut…
Col. John Harper attended school at New Lebonan, Conn. It was there that he became a friend of Joseph Brant who was attending the same school…
[pg 3] In 1766 the Harpers found that there were lands lying near the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers that the Indians were willing to sell. At that time in order to purchase this land it was necessary to have a license from the governor of the province. Though the Indians were willing to sell this land they questioned the sincerity of Harper’s intentions. They consulted the British agent for Indian Affairs, Sir William Johnson of Johnstown. Sir William advised them “not to make any bargain with him, but in the presence of the Governor.” Finally after much discussion, the following show such an agreement was made for the purchase and consent was given along with a valid title by the Governor and Council of the province. The following is a copy:
By his excellency, Sir Henry Moore, Baronet, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of New York and the Territories depending thereon in America, Chancellor and Vice-Admiral of the same: To all to whom these presents may come or may concern, Greetings
Whereas, John Harper, Sen., William Harper, John Harper, Jr, Joseph Harper and Alexander Harper, by their humble petition, presented unto me and read in Counsel on this day, have set forth that there are yet certain lands purchased by the native Indians of Onoughquage, of which they are the proprietors, situate, lying and being in the county of Albany, upon the head of the Delaware River; and the said Indians being disposed to sell the same, the petitioners, with their partners, are desirous to purchase one hundred thousand acres, or a smaller quantity, as it may be found, in order to enable them to obtain his Majesty’s letters patent for the said lands, that they may settle, cultivate and improve the same; or any other unpurchased lands belonging to the said Indians where they may be disposed to give them, not exceeding the said quantity; and therefore humbly prayed my license for the purpose aforesaid.
I have therefore thought fit, by and with the advice of his Majesty’s Council, to grant, and I do by these presents give and grant unto the said John Harper, Sen, William Harper, John Harper Jr, Joseph Harper, and Alexander Harper, full power, leave and license to purchase in his Majesty’s name from the native Indian proprietors these of the lands aforesaid; provided the said purchase to be made within one year from the date hereof, and conformably to the regulations contained in his Majesty’s proclamation of the 7th of October 1763 [10/7/1763]; or that the parties do produce a certificate signed by Sir William Johnson, Baronet, his Majesty’s sole Agent or Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department, that the Indians to be brought before me for the sale of the said lands are chief of or belong to the tribe or nation to dispose thereof, and for so doing this shall be to them a sufficient license. Given under my hand and seal at arms, at Fort George in the city of New York, the ninth day of April, on thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven. (Signed) H. Moore
[pg 5] By his Excellency’s command. G. BANYAR, D. Sec’try.
The purchase was completed June 14, 1768 at the home of Sir William Johnson for the purchase of 250,000 acres. A patent was soon granted by Cadwalader Colden, the Lieutenant Governor and the Commissioners as follows:
“In pursuance whereof, and in obedience to his Majesty’s said instructions we, the said Commissioners, do hereby certify that we have set out for them, the said John Harper, Sen, William Harper, John Harper Jr, Joseph Harper, Alexander Harper, Andreas Rebar, William Galt, Thomas Hendry, John Wells, Robert Campbell, James Scott, John Wells, Jr, Joseph Harper Jr, John Thompson, John Thompson Jr, Robert Thompson, James Moore, Robert Wells, James Harper, Timothy McIlvain, John Rebar, and Johannes Walrad, all that certain tract or parcel of land within the Province of New York situate, lying and being in the county of Albany, between the Cookquago branch of the Delaware river and the branch of the Susquehanna river called Adiquitange, beginning at a rock maple tree marked on four sides with a blaze and three notches and with the letters and figures A.C. 1768, standing on a high point of land at the south side of a small pond of water called by the Indians Utsayantha, from whence… containing twenty-two thousand acres of land and the usual allowances for highways. And in setting out the said tract or parcel of land, we, the Commissioners, have had regard to the profitable and unprofitable acres, and have taken care that the length thereof doth not extend along the banks of any river otherwise than is conformable to his Majesty’s instructions.
Given under our hands at the City of New York the twenty-ninth day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine [11/29/1769], in the tenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the faith, and so forth.
(Signed) Cadwallader Colden. Andrew Elliot. Alexander Colden.
[pg 7] Col. John Harper moved his family from Cherry Valley to Harpersfield in 1771 where his father and two brothers were already settled. This would be their permanent home and the patent would be divided into lots. He was accompanied by several men who would help him in making the necessary survey for lots and highways. Adonijah Stanburrough would act as surveyor assisted by David Hendry. They would carefully divide the Harper Patent into 220 one hundred acre lots.
For the first few months the group lived in rough wigwams made of sticks and mud… The first winter was very severe…
Even through the difficult times, Harper continued to speculate in land… In those years preceding the Revolution, many settlers arrived and each was the proud possessor or a one hundred acre lot… Some of the first lots sold were purchased by… David Hendry… By the time of the war about fifty families lived in Harpersfield. Hard working families immigrated to Harpersfield and later their family name would earn a place in the town’s history… [pg 8] The sap of the maple tree became the community's cash crop. Harpers friendship with the Indians allowed for good relations. In 1775 Harper began to build a frame house of cherry wood to replace the log one. He also constructed a grist mill. This was an indication of the community’s growth. But before the little settlement could reach prosperity, conditions changed. The settlers would find themselves in danger. The Revolutionary War was to change their lives. Some fled to Middlefort, Schoharie for safety. They returned to their homes only to be warned of danger again and then some went back to Cherry Valley, some returned to New England, some again to Schoharie. A committee was formed and made such provisions for self defense as they could, and continued to cultivate their lands until 1777 when Tories and Indians under the command of Brant and Butler invaded the settlement. Harpersfield was destroyed… and from then until the close of the war the settlement was all but deserted.
Who were the Tories and Whigs? The Tories were those who upheld the cause of the British crown against the supporters of colonial independence during the American Revolution. The Whigs were those favoring independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution.
Harpersfield joined the rebel side early. On May 24, 1775, the Tryon County Safety Committee issued a resolution called for the inhabitants to sign the Articles of Association. Harpersfield though a part of Tryon County soon found itself far removed from the political activity of that area. On July 10, 1775, a committee of Harpersfield patriots wrote a letter requesting Harpersfield correspond with the Albany Committee, as Albany was closer. The letter was delivered by Col. Harper himself to the Albany Committee, but they were reluctant to accept him until the Tryon County Committee had given its permission. But the Harpersfield patriots solved their problem by creating a local vigilance committee independent of the county system. The group met at the home of John Harper and plans were formed to assure their safety. This committee “trained its sights on the activities of the Indians” and “watch the movements of certain disaffected persons.”
[pg 9] The staunchest Harpersfield patriots were those that signed the Association and pledged their loyalty to the Revolutionary governments in Kingston and Philadelphia… Early in 1777 when there was notice of danger for Harpersfield and other frontier strongholds, there appeared a steady drift of the Iroquois nations toward the British side. General Philip Schuyler, a patriot and leader of the New York State militia, sent his report to the Provincial Congress of New York which was gathered in Kingston. The Council reacted in a warlike manner upon hearing the news. On Feb. 9, 1777 they requested that “Mr. John Harper be recommended to General Schuyler as the proper man to be immediately supplied with a sufficient party to capture Joseph Brant. It is very evident the Council realized the knowledge John Harper had of the lands on the New York frontier and the area where Brant would likely be and that Brant played a big role in the British-Iroquois relations.
Cooler heads prevailed and the Council decided perhaps the Indians could be convinced to remain neutral if diplomacy and gifts were used. Col. Harper was sent on a mission of peace and a bribe of gunpowder. He also presented them with letter reassuring them that the Council “will never suffer you to be defrauded of your lands; but will severely punish all who attempt it”. Joseph Brant did not attend this meeting. The assembled chieftains responded with speeches of neutrality and honored Harper by crowning his head with a wreath of beads. Harper was convinced of the Indians’ neutral position and slaughtered an ox and called for a great feast. He then hurried to Cherry Valley where he sent his report to the Provincial Congress he also requested that he be reimbursed 2s bp, the cost of an ox. Hope of continued peace was soon gone. By May, 1777 Brant had returned after nearly a year abroad in which he had been to London, New York City and Canada seeking concessions in exchange for his consent to lead his people to war against the enemies of the Crown. Preparations were made by Brant for the attack on the communities.
As a result of Brant’s maneuver the settlements panicked. Isaac Patchin, chairman of the Harpersfield Committee of Safety, wrote a desperate letter to the Provincial Congress reporting the need for immediate help. On July 4, Isaac Patchin again wrote to the State Council of Safety describing the frightful condition of Harpersfield inhabitants and begged the Council for protection. [pg 10] William Harper wrote to the Council from Cherry Valley stating the conditions of that place and requesting relief… Col. Harper had a difficult time raising any troops at all. Most eligible patriots had already volunteered for duty in the Continental army or the State militia where the pay was better… Harpersfield became a Tory stronghold and meeting place…
By the end of 1777 there remained no patriots south of Cherry Valley or west of Schoharie… The militia at Schoharie spent the spring and summer of 1778 constructing a series of forts known as Upper Fort, Middle Fort and Lower Fort four miles apart along the Schoharie Creek. The Middle Fort and Lower Fort was the headquarters. Colonel Harper was in command of one of the forts and initiated the erection of a small blockhouse in Harpersfield…
[pg 11] Finally, the American military command sent reinforcements and by the fall of 1778 the tables shifted for a time... In 1780 Colonel Peter Vroom ordered Captain Alexander Harper and 14 men under his command to go to Harpersfield and check on certain Tories who still lived there. The detachment was also to collect sap from the sugar bushes. They were to make maple sugar for the Continental army and for the people at the fort in Schoharie. Brant and a party of Indians and Tories surprised them. Some were captured and killed and scalped. In this party of scouts… Thomas, James and John Hendry… [pg 12] A second party went to the camp of Thomas Hendry on Lot 37, he offered some resistance and was killed and scalped. John Hendry submitted peacefully and was taken prisoner. James Hendry was captured along with some of the others and killed near the highway leading from the schoolhouse of District No. 2…
Those taken to Niagara remained as prisoners under very miserable conditions. Some died and others were taken to Quebec where they were kept until the close of the war and were finally freed and returned to Harpersfield where they had lived. Harper, the Patchins and Ezra Thorpe returned to Harpersfield. John Hendry was a carpenter, and the British wanted him to go to Bermuda to work. He refused, and “to subdue his indifferent spirit” as they called it, he was confined to a dungeon at Quebec, in which he died. Before his death he had written to his family that they might know how cruelly he was being treated. His wife and young son, Thomas, had been at the fort in Schoharie. When Thomas became old enough he learned the trade of ship carpenter. About 1800 he moved to Lot No. 178 which had been owned by his father. There he built a small frame house and about the same times he married Eupha Graham.
[pg 13] By the spring and summer of 1783 peace returned. There were still scattered parties of Indians occasionally wandering around but most of them were Oneidas who were friendly of the settlers… All that remained of the former homes and farms were charred timbers and overgrown fields.
[pg 14] Harpersfield was incorporated as a town on April 21, 1787.
Col. John had friendly relations with the Oneidas, and if he heard them called “savages” he would fly into a rage. As late as 1804, the aging Colonel still exchanged letters with Joseph Brant, the Mohawk chieftain who had been his enemy during the war… During the years between 1785 and 1808, Harper continued land speculation. On several occasions he would lease lands to a family first and if after a time they proved successful, they would purchase the land. This was not a common practice and the new families were very grateful to Col. Harper for his kindness.
[pg 15] The Colonel died in November of 1811 at age 77. It must have been a rewarding feeling to him in his later years to look back and think of himself as an Indian fighter, a hardened pioneer, a land speculator and to think he had a completely occupied town which he had brought from infancy and guided to an active town.
[pg 17] Chapter II - Town Organizations
During the first twenty six years, Harpersfield belonged to five different counties. In Albany County in 1771; 1772-1784 in Tryon County; 1784-1791 Montgomery; 1791-1797 Ostego and finally in 1797 in Delaware County.
The first minute book and Record of Roads was given by Col. Harper “that a record might be kept”. Today, this original book is one of the prized possessions of the town. The first written record is dated June 12, 1787…
[pg 18] April 1788, William Hendry was voted a Path Master [definition: one whose job it is to care for and maintain public paths and roads].
[pg 19] begins a list of Supervisors and Town clerks since the town was organized… [pg 21] from 1966 through 1987 (the year this book was published) Evangeline MacLaury (author of this book) served as Clerk.
[pg 25] Chapter III - Churches in the Town of Harpersfield
The early pioneers of this country first sought to establish churches and schools in the communities they settled where their children could receive an education and have religious training. It was an important concern to have a place to worship and they soon organized a religious society and a church was established. For to those early pioneers, no land was home without a church. Usually it was the form they had been connected with in their former homeland.
The first religious society in Harpersfield was organized at a meeting at the home of Colonel John Harper June 7 1787. Church officers were chosen and it was agreed that the congregation be called “Presbyterian Congregation of Harpersfield”. The first trustees chosen were Colonel John Harper, David Hendry, Benjamin Bartholomew, Joseph Hotchkiss and Daniel Mack… A few days after their election, the trustees held a meeting and agreed to submit a proposal to Rev. John Linsley that included 90 pounds as an annual salary and a settlement of 100 pounds. The offer was accepted with the understanding he was to receive his pay in labor, cattle or notes. In the fall of 1787 he commenced his labors and continued until 1791. He taught the first school it is believed.
Soon after the society was organized a church was built of logs on Lot No. 81. Colonel Harper had given this lot for the church to be built on…
Chapter IX. Early Settlers of the Town
[pg 118] North Harpersfield also had a representation of North of Ireland and some of Scotland with the Campbell, Bell, Harper, Young Patterson, Scott, Hendry, Simpson and McIllwain families.
Hotchkiss and Hendry
Upon the organization of a religious society in Harpersfield, in June, 1787. Mr. Hotchkiss was chosen one of the trustees, with Col. John Harper, David Hendry and others. He was also an active member of the Presbyterian Church which was formed later. Their children were all born in Connecticut as follows… Selina, born November 7, 1768…
[pg 119] Roswell Hotchkiss… moved to Harpersfield in 1784… He was a most influential man, a large landholder both in New York and Ohio. He was Judge of the County Courts… was also known as a model farmer.
[pg 120] Selina Hotchkiss, daughter of Joseph and Hannah Hotchkiss, married David Hendry of Harpersfield, NY. July 26, 1786. David was born in Watertown, MA. Jan. 19, 1754. It was related of Mr. afterwards called Capt. Hendry, who from the age of 18 until nearly 30, had been in all sorts of perils, first in the howling wilderness of Old Harpersfield and Schoharie, as a surveyor’s assistant, then from the more fierce and dreadful howlings of the Indians under Brant, and more savage Col. Butler, who in cold blood surprised and killed his brothers while engaged in sugar making, then further on as a soldier of the Revolution until peace was made and settlers began to arrive. The story goes that when Mr. Hotchkiss, Sr. arrived with his family, Mr. Hendry hearing the tinkling of the emigrant’s cow bell, and knowing that a family was near, ran to meet them, and was so captivated with the sight of Selina Hotchkiss (then 16 or 17) and her young sister, that “real angels from Heaven” could not have seemed to him so entrancingly beautiful. When we consider the long years he had been waiting for the sight, which the Dutch girls of Schoharie, though good in their way, could not fill, we cannot blame him for a little exuberance of feeling and expression. We can believe that an agreeable courtship was soon begun and pressed to a speedy and happy conclusion. The Hendry family had arrived in 1771. The family consisted of the father and four sons including David then about 18. David assisted in surveying the Harper tract. When the Revolution was commenced the Harpers and Hendrys were ardent Whigs, while some of the other Scotch settlers were equally ardent Tories. After about 20 years of married life, Selina and David moved to Harpersfield, Ohio, in the summer of 1806, settling on the South Ridge about 1 mile east of Unionville, Ohio, where they kept a good hotel for many years. Capt. Hendry died at their at their old home, Feb. 10, 1827. Selina died Jan. 11, 1847 after a widowhood of 20 years. They had 9 children, 3 sons and 6 daughters. Their three oldest children, a son and two daughters died nearly the same time in early childhood…
David and Selina’s daughter Polly married Robert Harper, the youngest son of Col. Alexander Harper. Robert Harper was a lawyer, prosecuting attorney of the county, member of the Ohio legislature and a prominent business man… Note (Jody Gray): Robert Harper, I used Holden/Spencer/Blacklidge/Burb… owner: chold114; her profile for Robert Harper contains many photos… for certain, this is a marriage connection between the Hendry’s and the Harper’s… Media attached to Robert’s Profile Page: History of the Western Reserve - covers the movement of the families from Harpersfield, Delaware County, NY to Harpersfield, Ashtabula County, Ohio (named after Alexander Harper, Robert’s father).
Another Source for Harpersfield History - Delaware County NY Genealogy and History Site. The History of Delaware County. W.W. Munsell 1797-1880. The Town of Harpersfield.
The history of the town of Harpersfield is for some years so intimately connected with that of its founder, Colonel John Harper, that it seems proper to preface the history of the town with what is known of his life and ancestry up to the time of his settlement in Harpersfield.
...The following is a list of the earliest known settlers or owners of the several lots in Harpersfield:
Lot 15 and 16 William Hendry… Lot 81. Presbyterian Church… Lot 152 Thomas Hendry… Lot 178 John Hendry… Lot 185 David Hendry…
Harpersfield before the Revolution
In 1771 Colonel Harper removed his family from Cherry Valley to Harpersfield, for the purpose of making a permanent settlement, and diving the patent into lots. He was accompanied by several men to assist him in making the survey, one of them being David Hendry.
...the burying ground at Harpersfield Centre-west near Colonel Harper’s house on lot No. 108…
The survey was finished in 1772… the first lots sold by Colonel Harper appear to have been purchased by the men named in the following list, which is taken from a large parchment chart of the survey… No. 185, David Hendry.
Nearly the whole tract was covered with heavy timber which it was necessary to clear away before the land could be cultivated…
Events of the Revolution
The Indian Raid in 1780
The Hendrys are said to have been killed and buried on lot No. 37; but cenotaphs were erected in their memory in Harpersfield Rural Cemetery…
[(Wikipedia) A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere.]
After the Revolution
In 1787 the following are known to have lived in Harpersfield… William and David Hendry…
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