Galen Bennet's 1877 Guided Tour of Laurel Grove Cemetery

 

The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis, N.Y., August 18, 1877:

 

At Laurel Grove 

Galen Bennet's father-in-law, John Conkling

A Visitor's Tour Through Our Beautiful Cemetery.

To the Editor of the Gazette:

...Taking a stroll the other day to Laurel Grove Cemetery I met in there the genial proprietor of Laurel Grove Marble Works who kindly accompanied me through the grounds, showing me the points of interest.  He has grown up with our cemetery, which was begun eighteen years ago.  There were but two monuments on the grounds at that time, one on the lot of Ferguson and the other on the lot of John Conkling. The latter's has been remodeled, and he has erected every enclosure (but three) on the grounds.  My attention was called to a new galvanized bar drooping chain and tassel with marble parts, which must be durable.  One has just been erected around the lot of our friend Ellis Haring, and also one around the lot of James Martin, which stands near the entrance, and makes a fine appearance.  

The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis N.Y., 1888

I find that at least two-thirds of the marble work and granite have come from Bennet's establishment, and that the works of art requiring mechanical skill are from his place. 
I found the grave of an old friend, H. St John, upon the brow of the hill, with a neat stone, and carved upon its face a wreath of the oak and laurel tied together with a ribbon, upon which was inscribed the word "Horace."  As I pronounced the name it seemed as though I might hear him answer.

The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis, N.Y., 1886

Upon the lot of Abram Shimer I found a cottage monument over the grave of Jacob Shimer, showing beauty of design and workmanship.  One of the prettiest lots in our cemetery and always in order is the Lupton lot, in which we find a small monument, and with fluted die finished with a drape urn, and showing conclusively that we have here, in our midst workmen capable of executing anything in that line.

Another fine piece of art is over the grave of Mrs Riddle, designed by Galen Bennet, and executed at his place.  Also a curiosity in the shape of a tree monument upon the lot of the Dorr family.

   

The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis, N.Y., 1888

I went into the manufactory and looked at a handsome design for a Quincy granite monument about 17 feet in height, to be erected upon the lot of the Wickham family.  The design is very pretty and the monument will be an ornament to our cemetery.  Mr. Bennet reports that his sales are largely ahead of last year, showing increased interest by the people in this lovely resting place of the dead.  Surely none of our people can do better than to patronize home institutions.
Yours, Visitor





 
 

Laurel Grove Cemetery, Orange County Art Work, W.H. Parish Publishing Co., 1893

Time and the rivers have taken their toll on the fashionable 19th century landscape where Bennet's marble and granite work is most readily found. In 1907, the U.S. House of Representations received a lengthy Statement, as originally addressed to the Hon. Thomas W. Bradley, from a committee under the auspices of the Broad of Trade of the village, undersigned by: W.H. Nearpass, James Bennet, Merritt C. Speidel, O.P. Howell and Wm F Parshall as addendum to the Corps of Engineers report, An Examination and Survey of Neversink and Delaware rivers.

The Evening Gazette, 1904

The dramatic newspaper account of the ice gorge, A Night of Terror in Port Jervis, written by Mark V. Richards, published on March 9, 1904, details how the Delaware River forced huge quantities of ice up the Neversink destroying the Neversink bridge and damaging the cemetery.

A signed marble tombstone by Galen Bennet 
for Peter Ezekiel Gumaer, 1869

In the 158 years since the cemetery was founded many of the earlier and less durable marble tombstones have fallen prey to beating rain and winter's cycle of freeze/thaw damage. Lichen and mosses thrive in the river mists often obscuring the older marker inscriptions. The monuments of more durable granite remain in relatively good condition except where damaged by falling trees or vandals. The cemetery fencing has been repaired and repainted but of the once elegant iron railing and post enclosures only the posts remain.

"G. Bennet" signature, lower right corner,
Peter E Gumaer tombstone

 Atlas of Orange County, plate 46, A. H. Mueller, 1903, Hudson River Valley Heritage Collection

The list of commissions completed by Galen Bennet's company during his lifetime is too long for this brief exploration of his work.  One cannot walk the quiet pathways in any Tri-state NJ NY & PA cemetery without seeing examples of those efforts though, as marked in the tombstone's lower right hand corner, "G.Bennet".

 

Galen Bennet, 1838 - 1911

Postcard from an 1890s photograph.

Special thanks to Thomas M. Tryniski's www.fultonhistory.com for the newspaper clipping snapshots.

9000 Acres on the River Lachawaxen, 1785

New Jersey Gazette, February 21, 1785

Rich in period detail, this advertisement for land "situate on the river Lachawaxen" came to light while researching that variant in America's Historical Newspapers, available through the Pike County Public Library / Free Library of Philadelphia partnership. The ad, at varying length, would run from November 1784 to April of 1785 in the New Jersey Gazette, the Pennsylvania Packet and the Pennsylvania Journal. 

The prevailing currency of the time, the British pound, £., is used in a summary of timber industry costs, including occasional rum for the sawmill manager, for a period of five years. 

Transcription of the Advertisement

TO BE SOLD,
NINE thousand acres of land, situate on the river Lachawaxen, about ten miles from Delaware river, and about one hundred miles from Trenton-Landing, to which large boats and rafts do commonly run from Lachawaxen in two or three days.  On this tract there is a great quantity of white and yellow pines of every size, from an eighty feet mast to the size of a spar; the pines are straight and thrifty, and are equal to any on the Delaware for masts, spars or boards.  It is accommodated with four millseats, on which sawmills may be erected to great advantage -- and the whole tract may be properly divided in two equal parts, to each of which there would be three hundred acres of excellent meadow ground, a hundred acres of which are cleared, and produces wild grass in abundance.  From the mills, when built, rafts, from twenty to thirty thousand feet of boards in each, may be sent down these rivers to Philadelphia.
     Time will be given for payment of part of the purchase money, and the remainder will be taken in loan office certificates.  Apply to Michael Hillegas, Esquire, Reuben Haines or Richard Wells, in Philadelphia, or to the subscriber at Trenton.
     The inland navigation of the Delaware has been so little attended to for several years past, that at present it is imperfectly known to many, who, if they were acquainted with its advantages, would suddenly reap profits that in future cannot be obtained without a great increase of their capital:  I have therefore subjoined an estimate of the expences (sic) for which a sawmill, with four saws, may be carried on on the above estate.

CUTTING the logs,                    -            £. 0 2 6
Hauling do. for five years, to
keep four saws cutting 250 days
of each year,                               -             0 5 0
The Sawyer, the same as is generally
given in the counties of Burlington
and Gloucester,                            -            0 7 6
Manager's wages, and rum
occasionally                                 -             0 5 0
Rafting, and every contingent charge
included, to Philadelphia,
and delivering,                             -            1 0 0
                                                                ______ 40f (shilling) per m. (mile)

N.B. If the boards are delivered
at Trenton-Landing, the expence
of rafting will not exceed 12f 6p.m.
I suppose four saws will cut 800 m.
feet per annum, and that when
delivered at Philadelphia they
will sell for £. 6 per m.                          4800 0 0
Deduct 40f per m. raft cost,                   1600 0 0
                                                           _________
                                                         £.3200 0 0
I allow, in addition to this esti-
mate, for accidents and charges
arising from delays, per annum,              500 0 0
                                                            _________
Net profit gained per annum,              £.2700 0 0

IN the foregoing estimate no notice is taken of the profits arising from rafts of masts from sixty to seventy feet long, each stick proportioned; nor of the singular advantages gained by sawing deck-plank of forty-five feet long:  They will, I believe, readily sell for thirty-five shillings per hundred feet; if reduced to board measure, would be equal to seventeen shillings and six pence per hundred; it is therefore evident, that deck-plank will produce a greater profit than boards -- and may be rafted with as little trouble, and more safely, than masts or spars.

We find, at present, a ready market for boards and scantling at Trenton; and if they are of the first quality, they will generally sell for six pounds per thousand; and when the permanent seat of Congress is fixed on the banks of the Delaware, may I not say that the demand for those articles will increase, and that the prices will rise in proportion to the demand?"
                                                                                           Robert Lettis Hooper, jun.
Trenton, January 27, 1785.

~~~~~

By 1808, the economic benefit of the timber industry was important enough for Pennsylvania to declare part of the Lackawaxen River a public highway for those "desirous of using the navigation of said river...as may be necessary for the passage of rafts, boats and other vessels..." Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1808.

The Minisink Subscribers to the 1810 "Fifty-Three Sermons on the Heidelbergh Catechism"

The New York Public Library's rare copy of the 1810 English language translation of the Dutch edition of Fifty Three Sermons on the Heidelbergh Catechism, by the Rev. John Vanderkemp, is notable for the bound in Subscriber pages featuring a list of well-to-do patrons who underwrote the cost of publication, often in return for a discount. Typically this would be the first print run as delivered to the subscribers - subsequent runs would lack these pages further reducing the cost.  The list of subscribers, a virtual Who's Who of the Dutch Reformed Church in America in 1810, is fascinating for its helpful bracketing of community place names or congregations & heads of families in the Minisink Valley from a period when other records are scarce.  New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania tax and census records offer additional details of subscribers' residence during this time period.  

Surnames variants of the Clove, Flatbrook, Mehakkemack, Menissing, Shappanack and Walpeck families include:  Bennet, Carmer, Carpenter, Cole, Cuddebeck, Depuis, Ennes, Force, Gomar, Hoornbeek, Lambert, Little, Middagh, Neerpass, Quick, Rosencrans, Rowles, Swartwout, Titsworth, Van Aken, Van Bunschooten, Van Campen, Van Gorden, Van Neste, Van Nimwegen, Van Noy, Van Vliet, Vredenburg, Westbrook and Westfall.

James Bennet, Mehakkemack	Wm Titsworth, Clove
Benj. Carpenter, Mehakkemack	Revd. Elias Van Bunschooten, Clove
Benj. Cuddebeck, Mehakkemack	James Van Vliet, Mehakkemack
William Cuddebeck, Mehakkemack	Joseph Van Noy, Mehakkemack
Martin Cole, Mehakkemack	Garrit Van Aken, Mehakkemack
James Carmer, Shappanack	James Van Aken, Mehakkemack
Benjamin Depuis, Menissing	Evert Van Aken, Mehakkemack
Joseph Ennes, Esq. Menissing	Joseph Van Gorden, Mehakkemack
Revd. James G. Force, Walpeck	James Van Gorden, Mehakkemack
Elias Gomar, Mehakkemack	Martin Van Gorden, Mehakkemack
Peter Gomar, Mehakkemack	Joseph Van Aken, Mehakkemack
Benj.  Hoornbeek, Mehakkemack	Daniel Vredenburg, Mehakkemack
S. Lambert,    Mehakkemack	Herman Van Nimwegen, Mehakkemack
Wm. Little,   Mehakkemack	Peter Van Neste, Esq. Flatbrook
Levi Middagh, Mehakkemack	Abm. Van Campen, Esq. Shappanack
Simon Middagh, Mehakkemack	John D. Westbrook, Menissing
David Morrow, Mehakkemack	John I Westbrook, Menissing
Jacob Quick, Mehakkemack	Severin Westbrook, Menissing
Simon Rosecrans, Shappanack	Wm Westbrook, Menissing
Wm. M. Rowles, Mehakkemack	Abm. Westfall, Menissing
Peter Swartwout, Mehakkemack	George D. Westfall, Mehakkemack
	Daniel B. Westfall, Mehakkemack

Stone Cutter William Goodliff

for Rachel Davenport Persbacher, 1873, Shohola PA

We've been surveying tombstones in the field by the talented English stone cutter, William Goodliff, who settled in Barryville, NY around 1865. His beautifully carved & signed stonework can be found in cemeteries in Sullivan County NY and across the Delaware River in Pike Co PA through the late 1870s.


Click to enlarge the images.
   

for Elizabeth & George Hubschmann, 1871, Shohola PA

We noted Goodliff's signature over the past year but only recently, on a visit to German Hill Cemetery in Shohola PA, did we find two markers with the identifying place name of  "Barryville" in the lower right hand corner of the gravestone.

for Warney Quick, 1875, Eldred NY

The old Eldred Cemetery a few miles from Barryville has a number of tombstones signed by William Goodliff, including Hannah Eldred, William Kyte, 1872, Runyan Longstreet, 1873, Caleb Shotwell, 1873, and Jane Stewart Wallace, 1874, featuring symbols and emblems commonly found in 19th c. cemeteries.

for Leon Devnoge, 1857, Eldred NY

The date belies the actual work, as this marker must have been carved some years after 1857.  William and family arrived in the US around 1860.  He served briefly with the 36th Reg. NY State Volunteer Infantry, mustering out in 1862, and spent the next two years or so in Brooklyn with a possible relative, John Goodliff.

Brooklyn New York City Directory, 1864, p 178

36th New York State Volunteer Infantry

By 1865, after moving to Sullivan Co, tragedy would strike with the death of William and Maria's daughter, Mary, who is buried in Van Tuyl Cemetery, Pond Eddy NY. Her headstone is unsigned but William would use the same mourning ribbon & lamb motif for Mary Eckhart's signed marker in 1872 in Shohola PA.

Mary Goodliff, 1865

Mary Eckhart, 1872

Did William Goodliff order from a catalog, await the railroad shipment & and simply inscribe the name & date or did he shape and cut all aspects of the stone?

Stone Cutter Galen Bennet, in an 1875 ad for his marble yard in Port Jervis NY, states: "most of our designs are original." Peter Higgins' signature "Willow & Urn" motif appears on several differently shaped and sizes of headstones in cemeteries throughout the tri-states area.
 

Lumberland, Sullivan, New York State Census, 1875

 for Hannah, second wife of James Eldred, date unknown, Eldred NY

  

for Elizabeth & George Hubschmann, 1871, Shohola PA

Note Goodliff's quite distinctive numeral 7, and his use of a semi-colon after the 4.




Goodliff's Inventory of Works in New York & Pennsylvania.

Shortly before the 1880 Census, William Goodliff would move the family to Virginia where his sons William H & Harry would carry on the business after his death in 1882.  

Update: A brief notice in the 14 April 1877 issue of The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis NY:

Update:
An interested reader has supplied us with photos of the signature of Goodliff on the lower edge of the bottom half of a broken tombstone in the Micah Churchyard, Blanks Store, Charles City County, Virginia. This is the first example in my experience where the carved signature would have been purposely placed on an area of the stone intended to be below the surface and not visible to the public.