Legends of the Shawangunk2 JR.pdf - Friends of the Sabbath ...

“Gross” Hardenburgh. 137
The death of Nancy Ryerson antedated that of her husband, and several of her
children died unmarried; consequently the purpose of the father was defeated, the
dissipated son inheriting the property of his deceased children. Gross Hardenburgh is
said to have made the impious and heartless boast, that while his father disinherited him,
the Almighty it made all right by removing some of his own children. Such were the
antecedents of the man who was about to enter upon the work of evicting the settlers of
Sullivan. Little hope of mercy could any expect who were in his power.
His controversy with his father, his wife, his children, and the settlers of the
Neversink valley, had the effect of arousing a spirit of antagonism against him which
time has scarcely softened, nor the teachings of charity perceptibly modified; few, even at
this late day, choosing to say a word in his defense. He hated his family, and defied the
world. When he at last met his fate there was not one left to mourn his loss; while many
could not conceal their joy that his presence would no longer afflict them.
Before proceeding to extreme measures, Hardenburgh made a general offer of one
hundred acres of wild upland to each settler of the disputed territory for his
improvements; but the occupants of the valley met his overtures with defiance. They had
purchased the bottom lands of the Neversink in good faith, and were not disposed to yield
up their improvements for wild mountain lands. They believed that Hardenburgh’s claim
was fraudulent; or should it prove otherwise, that the state would provide a remedy for
the difficulty.
Meanwhile, finding that his offers were refused. Hardenburgh instituted suits of
ejectment against several of the settlers. Without waiting, however, for the courts to
decide the question, he took the law into his own hands, and commenced the work of
seizing upon property and forcibly dispossessing the inhabitants. In the fall of 1806 he
took six hundred bushels of grain in bulk, and all the growing crops, from James Brush
and his three sons. The grain was placed in a grist-mill owned by himself, which stood
on the site of the Hardenburgh saw-mill.* Gross also owned a house and barn in the
vicinity, and his son also owned some buildings there. Among the latter was a barn in
which was stored three hundred bushels of grain, which had been forcibly taken from the
settlers.
It was not long before the mill, houses, and barns, were all destroyed by fire. Under
such circumstances it was strongly suspected that the dissatisfaction of the settlers had an
intimate connection with the burning of the property, and that a terrible vengeance
awaited upon the patentee. Some of the Hardenburgh family were then residing near by,
but became so alarmed that they soon left the neighborhood.
During that same year it is asserted that Hardenburgh forcibly set the family of James
Brush out of doors, and kicked Mrs. Brush as she went, though
* Quinlan’s “History of Sullivan.”