The town or township of Warwick was erected from the precinct of Goshen in 1788, and derived its name from the plantation of Benjamin Aske, one of the original grantees of the Wawayanda patent. Upon the sub-division of the patent among twelve patentees, Aske's share was a tract nearly in the form of a parallelogram, which extended from Wickham's or Clark's Lake, on the northeast, to the farm now owned by Townsend W. Sanford, on the southwest, with an average width of a mile, and containing 2,200 acres of land. Aske named this tract, "Warwick," from which fact it is supposed that he came from Warwickshire, England. The date of the Wawayanda patent is March 5, 1702-1703, which was the peculiar style of writing year date a couple of centuries ago. The document is signed by the twelve chiefs, all making their mark in the presence of witnesses, one of them Chuckhass, the chief who lived in this town and for whom Chuck's Hill is named. This patent embraced at that time practically all of Orange County as it existed in 1703.
By deed dated February 28, 1719, Aske sold to Lawrence Decker, yeoman, for 50 pounds, 100 acres, in the deed described as "being part of the 2,200 acres of land, called Warwick," showing that previous to that date Aske had bestowed the name of Warwick upon his tract. Later deeds to Thomas Blaine and Thomas DeKay contain similar recitals.
The pioneers of Warwick were principally English families who came hither from Long Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Among them we find the names of Armstrong, Baird, Benedict, Blaine, Bradner, Burt, DeKay, Decker, Demarest, Ketchum, Knapp, McCambley, Post, Roe, Sayer, Sly, Sanford, Welling, Wheeler, Wisner, Wood and Van Duzer. Most of these settlers have left descendants who still live in the town or village.
During the Revolution there were a few Tories near Warwick, but the majority of the people were loyal to the country of their adoption, and many of them enlisted for service.
John Hathorn, colonel of the Warwick and Florida regiment, Captains Charles Beardsley, John Minthorn, Henry Wisner, Jr., Abram Dolson, Jr., John Norman, Henry Townsend, Nathaniel Elmer, John Saver; Lieutenants Richard Welling, Samuel Lobdell, Nathaniel Ketchum, George Vance, Peter Bartholf, Matthew Dolson, John Hopper, John DeBow, Anthony Finn, John Popino, Jr., Richard Bailey, John Kennedy, John Wood, and many others rendered valuable services during the Revolution.
While New York City was in the hands of the British, the most traveled road between the Hudson River and the Delaware ran through Warwick. It is said that Washington passed through Warwick twice during the war, and was entertained by Colonel Hathorn at the Pierson E. Sanford stone house near the village, on one of these occasions, at least.
For some time after the Revolution there were not more than thirty houses in the village. In 1765 Daniel Burt built the shingle house, now owned by Mrs. Sallie A. F. Servin, the oldest house in the village. In 1766 Francis Baird built the stone house now owned by William B. Sayer, which was at one time used as a tavern, and in some of the old maps Warwick is called "Baird's Tavern."
DEVELOPMEMT.
The town of Warwick is the largest in area of any of the towns of the county, containing 61,763 acres, or nearly double that of any of the others, and being a little more than one-eighth of the area of the whole county. Its assessed valuation of real and personal property in 1906, was $2,863,010. The taxes levied upon that valuation for last year were $22,745.12. Population according to State census of 1905 was 6,691.