CHARACTERISTICS OF A FEW INDIVIDUALS OF THE SECOND GENERATION.
Capt. Abraham Cuddeback was a man of six feet stature and over 200 lbs. weight. He was strong and athletic, and could with ease jump a five-railed post or rail fence. He was very handsomely built, and in all respects a very good looking man. He possessed a great mechanical genius, dexterity and good judgment. When quite young, seeing how shoemakers and weavers performed their work, he commenced and did the shoe-making and weaving for his father's family, and became the best shoemaker and the best and quickest weaver before he was a man grown of any in this vicinity. In the time of the French war his father sent him to Old Paltz, where, and in Rochester, he followed weaving and had no equal in those places. After that war ended the people here generally were destitute of fanning mills, and cleaned their grain with hand fans. He had seen one at Gumaer's and may have seen a few at the Old Paltz. He undertook and made one for his father or himself, and afterwards made several; one for my father, which was done in a good and handsome workmanlike manner, with which was cleaned all the grain of those in the fort at my father's during the Revolutionary War, and thereafter all his own grain during his life. Before the commencement of that war a Mr. John Williams had given him some instruction for laying out the frame work of a house and barn, from which he considered himself enabled to do the carpenter work of such buildings, and did the carpenter work of a house and one or two barns before the war commenced, and after it ended a house and barn for himself and two or three other barns. After the war ended, he made a turning bench, repaired the old spinning-wheels in the neighborhood, turned spools, clevises, &c., for rigging the same. Before the war commenced, the wagons here had all been obtained from Rochester, in Ulster county, some of which were nearly worn out at its end, and a few years thereafter he undertook to contrive how to make a wagon. He said the greatest puzzle he had in mechanical work was to study out rules to make the wheels (of which he was entirely ignorant), but, after thinking over it, he discovered by what means he could make the same. After this he made wagons in a good and workmanlike manner, and in as good style as those which had been obtained from Rochester. He afterwards made pleasure sleighs according to the Kingston fashion of his time, of which there were only one or two old ones in this neighborhood as good and handsome as those which in his time, had been made at Kingston, except painting, which he did not do. He made the best ploughs, and all kinds of farming utensils, of any which were made in his time in this part of our country. He was the greatest marksman at shooting with a rifle and one of the best hunters. And, notwithstanding all these acquisitions and the attention he paid to his farm, he was one of the greatest idlers in the neighborhood, and did often for the sake of conversation visit his neighbors, and when in company of the best informed, would generally introduce subjects to create argument, either in accordance with his own views or contrary thereto, so as to produce argumentation in which he delighted and was the best means of discovering the natural and acquired abilities of his opponent. He said he knew the mental abilities and natural characteristics of nearly all the men who were contemporary with him for a distance of 20 miles down the Neversink and Delaware rivers, and 40 miles toward Kingston. In his time Marbletown was the general market place for the inhabitants in this valley throughout the distance mentioned, and their travel to and from market made a great intercourse of those people, whereby they acquired a general acquaintance with each other. In respect to which I will relate an occurrence. In the commencement of the Revolutionary War, John Westbrook, who lived about 20 miles distant from Cuddeback's residence, was elected captain of a company of militia, and, in saluting him, he was blinded by the discharge of one of the guns, and remained blind. About 15 years thereafter, Jacob Cuddeback, son of Capt. Cuddeback, went to Mr. Westbrook's, and, after speaking to him, asked Mr. Westbrook if he knew him. He said he did not, but the voice was that of Capt. Cuddeback, which he still remembered, and judged from the resemblance of the voice of the son to that of the father, though they had not been together during that time.
In addition to what has been said respecting his mechanical acquirements, he became a workman in the business of tailoring. In the commencement of the war there were no men tailors in this town, and he first cut for himself; in sewing his daughter assisted him, and thereafter sometimes cut for others; and in the winters, when all were collected in the fort, he and his daughter did so much at it, especially in cutting and making up of deerskin leather, that he became a good workman and had not his equal here before a Mr. Mather, a tailor by trade, came into the fort.
It was said that at a certain time he and his wife took each a pound of frolic flax to spin, which she refused to do for him. He said he would do it himself and beat her. She was one of the quickest spinsters in the neighborhood and thought that impossible, and one morning both commenced on a strife, and he did beat her. At the frolic they exhibited their yarn, and his was adjudged as good as hers. While spinning she lost a little time to suckle a child. If he had ever spun any it must have been when he was a boy. He had not his equal in this town cradling grain. It was said that a few others in their ordinary way of cutting might have been equal to him, but whenever he undertook to race with a man, he made a reserve that his competitor should cut as large a swath as himself and as good, which no one could do, and cut as fast as he could.
At a certain time in going with my compass and chain to take the distance across the Neversink river, to determine how long a bridge it would require to reach across it, at a place where it was contemplated to build it, I met Cuddeback, who asked me where I was going to survey. I told him to take the distance across the river, to ascertain how long a bridge it would require to reach across it. He asked me if that could be done. I told him I could do it. This appeared to be new to him and somewhat mysterious. A few days afterwards I saw him again, when he told me that he had discovered how the distance could be taken across the river, and informed me of the manner in which it could be done. He differed some from one of the theories by which it was sometimes done, but embraced the same principle and was as correct to ascertain the distance as that theory generally practiced where the land is level.
Having been commissioned captain of a company Of militia at or before the commencement of the Revolutionary War, he had many duties to perform during the same in that official capacity; for which, as well as a mechanic, he had very suitable abilities. He was bold, sagacious, prudent, and tenacious of his honor; he also was humane to those in his power. The following were some of his military services, to wit:
He was first stationed at Fort Montgomery to command the men of his company, who from time to time had to take turns to serve as militia soldiers in that fort; and, previous to the attack of the fort, on the day it was made, he was sent with a company across the river to prevent the enemy from loosening the chain which had been put across it. This chain ran through the centre of three successive logs, fastened round it to prevent it from sinking, and was put there to prevent the English ships from running up the river. On those logs the company crossed the river and watched at the end of the chain until sometime in the night after the fort had been taken, when, from some unknown cause, the men became frightened and ran. He followed them a short distance, but could not find any of them. He staid there till morning, and was alone to defend the premises. After daylight he took a distant view of the English shipping; had an invitation to come on board, with a promise of good usage. He went home.
At Cochecton, 40 miles distant through the woods from this neighborhood, some families continued to live, and for their own safety kept in friendship with the Indians as long as they dared. In the first instance when danger began to be apprehended of attacks from the enemy, the Committee of Safety sometimes sent Captain Cuddeback with a few men to Cochecton to procure what information he could relative to the Indians, to discover whether there was any danger here of being attacked by them. In these scouts he had to be cautious to evade as much as possible the sight of the Indians, and entered that place secretly in the night, where at one or two houses he made secret inquiry respecting the Indians, and in the same night left the place and returned back, and, in going and returning, tried to discover signs of Indians. After two or three such scouts the Indians made an attack, in 1777, on the family of a Mr. Sprague, and next year on the family of a Mr. Brooks, some of whom they killed and others were taken prisoners. These attacks made the Committee act with vigilance. Persons suspected of being inimical to their country's cause were apprehended and tried. One or more of those at Cochecton were complained of, whom the Captain, with a few men, fetched from that place. In one instance he had trouble to save his prisoner from the revengeful abuse of a Mr. Brooks, one of the family who had suffered from the enemy as mentioned. The prisoner, to reward the Captain for interfering in his favor, presented him with a very handsome powder-horn and bullet pouch. These were used by the Captain during the war and thereafter, together with one of the best of rifles.
When the enemy in 1778 invaded the Peenpack neighborhood, the Captain resided at the Gumaer fort and had the command of the men in it. In the first instance he ordered all the pitchforks in the barn to be brought into the fort to prevent its being scaled, and directed the women to put on the spare coats and hats in the house, and each of them to take a pitchfork or other stick and put it on her shoulder. After being so equipped to appear like soldiers, he paraded all the men and the women back of the house and fort in single file, and, after the enemy came in sight, he ordered the drum to be beaten and marched them to the front side of the fort, where they all passed into it in view of the enemy, after which he ordered all the women and children to go into the cellar. Anna Swartwout, a large, robust woman, widow of Major Swartwout, asked permission to stay with the men in the fort to assist them, which was granted. She took one of the pitchforks to help defend the scaling of the fort, in case it should be undertaken. The enemy passed round the east side in open file at a distance out of gunshot; a few guns, however, were fired, but ammunition was scarce and reserved for actual engagement; balls were run the same day. As the enemy passed to where the barn intervened between them and the fort, the Captain and Jacob D. Gumaer went into it to prevent its being set on fire by them. Some of the enemy in passing along the river came to a woman, who had fled, and told her to go and tell the women in the fort that hundreds of Indians would be there before night, and if they wanted to save themselves they must leave the fort. This being done made a great scare among them, and some made ready to go out of it. The Captain ordered them all to stay in it, to which they quietly submitted. After the enemy had passed towards Fort De Witt, a little smoke was seen to rise on the roof of Cornelius Van Inwegen's house, which was about 60 or 70 rods distant from the fort. The Captain and Thomas White went and extinguished the fire, which had just begun to burn. It was said by certain Tories, who returned after the war ended, that the enemy had such a good feast of victuals and cider at this house that they concluded not to burn it. The fire must have originated from the act of a single individual, or the burning of the barn. At Fort De Witt the enemy took a station on a hill, in woods, within gunshot of the fort, and fired several volleys against the wall of the house and picket fort. After a few volleys were fired, Benjamin Cuddeback, a brother of the Captain, challenged the enemy to show themselves, and, although they were out of sight, he, with a long Esopus gun, heavily loaded, returned some shots whereby they became about as much exposed to his firing as the inmates of the fort were to their firing. In returning they passed on the west of the other fort where they tried to catch some of my father's horses, which his black man Jack happened to see, who stepped out of the fort and shot, which started both horses and the enemy so as to let the horses go. A fire was returned at Jack, and the Captain pulled him back into the fort. The enemy left, took some of the best horses, plundered and burnt houses and other buildings, and that day went out of the neighborhood.