Trappers of New York 1871 Nicholas Stoner Nathaniel Foster Adirondack History

Description: THE TRAPPERS OF NEW YORK, BEING A BIOGRAPHY OF NICHOLAS STONER AND NATHANIEL FOSTER, TOGETHER WITH ANECDOTES OF OTHER CELEBRATED HUNTERS. Simms, Jeptha R. Published by Albany: J. Munsell;, 1871 Trappers of New York: Or a Biography of Nicholas Stoner & Nathaniel Foster; Together with Anecdotes of Other Celebrated Hunters, and Some Account of Sir William Johnson, and His Style of Living Jeptha Root Simms J. Munsell, 1871 - Frontier and pioneer life - 287 pages Nicholas Stoner (Maryland, Dec. 15, 1762–Caroga, New York, Nov. 26, 1853) was a hunter and trapper in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. He served in the Continental Army in the American Revolution and the American forces in the War of 1812.[1] He is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Gloversville, New York.[2] Early life Nicholas Stoner was born in Maryland in 1762 or 1763, the son of German immigrant Henry Stoner and Catherine Barnes. During his childhood the family moved to New York City, where his uncle, John Binkus,[note 1] paid for his schooling. After a few years the family again moved, to a frontier community called "Fonda's Bush" (now Broadalbin, Fulton County, New York), east of Johnstown and north of Amsterdam, New York.[3] Revolutionary War In 1777 Stoner enlisted as a fifer in the Patriot forces in Colonel James Livingston's battalion of the New York Line under Captain Timothy Hughes. His father and younger brother, John, served in the same regiment.[4] In August 1777 the unit accompanied General Benedict Arnold in the relief of Fort Stanwix. In the fall of that year they fought in the Battles of Saratoga. Stoner accompanied General Arnold in the attack on the Hessian camp in which Arnold was wounded, and Stoner was also wounded on the right side of his head and his ear by fragments of the skull of a fellow soldier killed by a cannonball. Following his recovery he served with his unit in Rhode Island, where his father was wounded and Nicholas captured, but later freed. In 1780 it was said that he was fifer of the guard that conducted convicted British spy Major John André to the gallows, and in 1781 he was at Yorktown for the British surrender.[3] In 1781 Nicholas' father was released from the army and settled on a farm formerly belonging to Loyalist Col. John Butler at Tribes Hill, New York. Here, in 1782, he was surprised, killed, and scalped by a raiding party of Indians. In 1783 Nicholas accompanied Col. Marinus Willett to New York City upon its evacuation by the British. Post war After the war Stoner returned to Johnstown and married his old flame, Anna Mason, now a young widow with a baby daughter. In 1781, during Stoner's long absence, Mason had married William Scarborough. Later that year Scarborough was killed by Captain James McDonald in a British raiding party led by Major John Ross, in what is known as the Battle of Johnstown.[note 2][5] In addition to Scarborough's daughter Mary (b.1782), Nicholas and Anna had six children together — four sons: John (b.1789), Jeremiah (b.1794), Henry (b.1796), and Obediah (b.1801), and two daughters: Mary, and Catherine (b.1802).[6] The family first lived near Johnson Hall, and then moved to Scotch Bush, now in the town of Florida in Montgomery County. Stoner served for a time as deputy sheriff, and also filled various other offices in the town. During this time, too, he became noted as a hunter and trapper, primarily in the area along the Sacandaga River. One time he engaged in a drunken brawl in De Fonclaire's Tavern in Johnstown, which was frequented by both Canadian and American trappers. One of the Canadian Indians, hearing the name of Stoner, pulled out his scalping knife and boasted of the nine notches indicating scalps taken during the Revolution. He pointed to one, cut deeper than the others, and said that this "was the scalp of old Stoner!" (Nicholas' father) Hearing this Stoner grabbed a red-hot andiron and threw it at the Indian, yelling "You never will scalp another one!" The iron burned a brand across the Indian's neck and knocked him unconscious, at the cost of severe burns to Stoner's own hand. It is not known what became of the injured Native, although he is believed to have died of his injury on the way back to Canada. Stoner was arrested and jailed, but was freed by a mob of fellow Revolutionary War veterans, and was never brought to trial.[3] Stoner was married to Anna Mason for over forty years. After her death in 1824 he lived for fifteen or twenty years with a woman named Polly Phye, whose husband had abandoned her. After Polly's death, Stoner married a much younger widow, Hannah (Houghtaling) Frank, in 1840,[7] and resided in Caroga, New York. War of 1812 At the outbreak of the War of 1812 both Stoner brothers enlisted—John in 1812 and Nicholas in 1813. John died of illness at Sackets Harbor, New York. Nicholas enlisted in the 29th Regiment. In the spring he joined the rest of the army at Plattsburgh as a fife-major, and henceforth was titled "Major Stoner". In September 1814, he took part in the Battle of Plattsburgh, where a small American force repelled a vastly superior British force. Death Nicholas Stoner died at the age of 92 on November 24, 1853, in Newkirk's Mills (now Newkirk), in the town of Caroga. He was originally buried in Kingsborough Cemetery in Gloversville, which still has a plaque marking the site. His remains were later moved to Prospect Hill Cemetery in Gloversville. Legacy The Nick Stoner Municipal Golf Course in Caroga is named for Stoner and also exhibits a large statue of him. East Stoner Lake, West Stoner Lake, and Little Stoner Lake at the northern end of Caroga, as well as Nick Stoner Island in nearby Canada Lake, bear his name. The fight song of Gloversville High School was "Old Nick Stoner, the Man whose Praise we sing." A liberty ship, SS Nick Stoner, was launched in 1944. Nathaniel (Nat) Foster Jr. (June 30, 1766–Mar 14, 1840)[1][2] was a pioneer hunter and trapper in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. Foster is widely credited with being the model for James Fenimore Cooper's character of "Natty Bumppo."[3] Personal life Foster was born in 1766 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, then a sparsely-settled wilderness. When he was about ten years old his father joined the Continental Army to fight in the American Revolution. The family, including Mrs. Foster, Nathaniel, and his five siblings, ranging in age from eleven to an infant, stayed at home to fend for themselves. In 1782 the elder Foster returned home, and determined to move his family west, into New York. They settled in the vicinity of Fish House, New York, north of Johnstown. When Foster was around twenty-three or twenty-four he married Jemima Streeter and the couple settled in Salisbury in Herkimer County, New York. He farmed in the summer and hunted game in the winter, wolves, bear, and panther, and trapped for furs. He carried an unusual type of rifle called a "double shooter", which had one barrel and two locks mounted vertically so the rifle was able to fire two separate shots. In 1832 Foster moved into the former home of Charles F. Herreshoff in Old Forge, New York, and rented his farm in Salisbury to his son, Amos. By this time he had become something of a celebrity, and there are many accounts by visitors to his home. Feud In Old Forge Foster engaged in a feud with a Mohawk Indian, Peter Waters, called "Drid". A series of incidents finally resulted in a knife fight, in which Foster was wounded. Following this, Drid accompanied a hunting party up the lake while Foster remained behind. He lay in wait for their return at a place now called "Indian Point", and shot Drid as the latter approached in his canoe. Foster was tried for the murder and acquitted. Death Following the trial Foster and his wife spent time with relatives in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. While there he was stricken, and determined to return home to his daughter, Jemima, in Ava, New York, in present-day Oneida County. He died and was buried there in 1840. Foster and Natty Bumppo Clad in his buckskins, Foster announced in a St. Johnsville tavern in 1787 that his name was "Leatherstocking," and 26 years after that incident James Fenimore Cooper undoubtedly used him as the prototype for Natty Bumppo's adventures.[4] The assumption that Foster is the hero of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales I think is well founded. I believe the reader will agree with me, that the character of Nat Foster as portrayed by the facts here presented, and the character of Natty Bumppo of Cooper, are wonderfully similar; which, taken with the unbiased opinions of men of Foster's time, are weighty arguments in favor of the idea advanced Common terms and phrases American animal bark beaver boat Boonville British Broadalbin Brown's tract called camp Canada canoe Capt Chase creek DAVID CHASE death deer distance Drid dwelling enemy erected feet fire Fish House Fonda's Bush forest Foster Fourth lake friends Fultonville Hamilton county heard Herkimer county Herreshoff hunter hunting incident Indian island John Johnstown killed knife known Lake Pleasant land latter Lewis county lived Major Stoner marsh miles mill Mohawk Moose river morning named nearly Nicholas Stoner night Northville OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY outlet party Piseco prisoner residence Revolution rifle road rods Sacondaga scalp Scarborough settlement settlers shantee Shew shoot shore shot side Sir John Johnson Sir William Johnson soon stream told took traps tree trout Uncle Jock village visited vlaie West Canada creek wilderness witness Wood Wool Wright York

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