Dr. Joseph Whalen, another well known Irish pioneer, was among the early physicians practicing his profession in this region. He came at the close of the war, settled in this town for a few years, and afterward practiced in Montgomery for over fifty years. It is worthy of note in this connection that in those days no doctor ever expected to collect for his services from his patient in person. The doctor's claim was always presented to the executor or administrator, as the case might he, after the patient's death. There were obvious reasons for this custom then, as there often are even in these later times, but the reader must be left to draw his own conclusions. This noted doctor had a most extensive practice, and he was also a famous horseman and equestrian, owning much fine horseflesh. He even rivaled the celebrated Count Pulaski, the Polish general in the Revolution, who would throw his hat before him on the road while under full speed on his horse and so far dismount as to take it up. Dr. Whalen could take a glass of liquid in his hand, mount his horse, ride away a quarter of a mile and return without spilling a drop.
Daniel Bull was another prominent settler of this region. He came some years before the Revolution and settled upon an extensive tract of newly cleared land which was rough and stony and had been owned by his father, Thomas Bull, who lived in the old stone house in Hamptonburgh. This land was then valued at $2.50 per acre. In 1780 he married Miss Miller at Goshen, where the bride and groom were snowbound for two weeks of their honeymoon. They had thirteen children and the family became one of the most prominent and numerous in the town. Mr. Bull was a most successful farmer, and he reclaimed a vast acreage of wild land and brought it under good and profitable tillage. He amassed wealth and became a valued citizen, being long regarded as a patriarch of the town. In 1821, the record shows, that fifty-two grandchildren had been born of this parentage, making a family total of seventy-six. All were then alive except two who died in infancy, and on a certain day in June of that year seventy-four members of this noted family were gathered in the family homestead near Bullville for a grand reunion. The farm is now owned by Theodore Roberson.
The Crawford family, after which the town was named, were descendants of John Crawford, who settled in New Windsor in 1737. The names of John, William, James and Samuel are found upon the old military roll of 1738 for the Wallkill. Robert I. Crawford was a prominent citizen here early in the last century, and he lived near the old Hopewell church.
The Thompson brothers, Alexander, Andrew, and Robert, came from Ireland about 1770. They bought 500 acres of land on what became afterward known as Thompson's Ridge, and divided the plot equally among themselves. One of these farms then included the site of the Hopewell church, and all this property has been kept in the Thompson family.
David Rainey was another ante-revolutionary settler in this locality, and he established what was afterward known as the "brick-house farm," near Pine Bush. He erected the first brick house between Newburgh and Ellenville. Although only a boy during the Revolution, he served for a short time in the Continental Army under Clinton. The ancestor of Jacob Whitten was also among the pioneers there.
Among the early physicians of the town were Dr. Crosby, who lived near the Hopewell church and practiced during the early part of the last century; Dr. Charles Winfield, who lived near Pine Bush; Dr. Hunter, of Searsville, who later served as school inspector for that time; Dr. Griffith, also of Pine Bush, who died in 1855, and Dr. Durkee, who lived a mile south of Pine Bush.
TOWN ORGANIZATION.
The town of Crawford was formed from the town of Montgomery, March 4, 1823. That older town covered such a large extent of territory that it was found inconvenient and expensive to conduct the public business to advantage. A convenient and practicable arrangement of boundary lines for a division of the town was found possible whereby there might be a central point convenient of access for the citizens of each town. The name Crawford was given in honor of that pioneer family, as before stated, many of its descendants having become so closely identified with the local interests of the region.
The first town meeting was held at the house of Edward Schoonmaker, April 1, 1823. William W. Crawford was then chosen the first supervisor; Oliver Mills, town clerk, and a full list of officials was selected. Every man was authorized to act as his own pound-master, and every farm was regarded as a pound. A bounty of $25 was voted for every wolf killed in the town, which shows that these hungry animals were still roaming through the forests at that time. At a special meeting held later in the month, $460 was voted to be raised for the support of the poor for that year. There were then thirty-nine road districts in that little town, and each district had its accredited road-master. But the records are not clear as to the character or extent of the road work done in that early period. Of course every male citizen was required to appear for service upon the road at such time or times as the master of his district would designate, and put in such number of days' work as his property possessions called for under the prevailing provisions of the State road laws. The road-master was the boss, and if he said the roadway must be highly rounded in the center, a plow was run deeply along each side of the track and the loose mud or dirt was scraped up into the road with hoes or shovels. Then the wagon wheels would throw out this mud during the rest of the year when it was not frozen, where the workers of the succeeding year would find it again, waiting to be scraped back into the roadway. This was the old process of road repair for two hundred years, and there seems to have been general satisfaction with the curious method as far as the records disclose. In fact, the public highways were not regarded of great importance in those days in spite of the fact that they were the leading if not the only arteries of transportation throughout the country before the advent of railways and cheap water-line shipment. These observations are made in this connection because of the recent dawn of a new era in roads and road work, when the great importance of public roads and their proper repair and maintenance has at last been more nearly recognized. Very soon these antiquated methods will be among the curious events in history.
When the Middletown and Crawford Railway was projected through this town the sum of $80,000 was raised by the town authorities in aid of its construction. This was in July, 1868. The interest upon this debt has been paid annually since that time, but in 1880 no part of this principal sum had yet been paid. This was a severe tax upon the town which bore rather heavily upon the farmers especially, a class that rarely escapes the lion's share of these burdens of modern civilization. But the railway has been of great value to every resident as a developing factor of that entire region and none now regrets its cost.