THE TOWN OF CONESVILLE, NY

Local History

The first people to live here were the native American Indians.

The history books indicate that they were either Schoharie Indians or Katskill Indians. The Schoharie Indians were known to be a tributary of the Iroquois Nations. Whereas the Katskill Indians were a subtribe of the Algonquin Nation.

Interestingly, exactions carried out in 1869 and 1933 respectively, indicate that the Algonquin Indians occupied the area long before the Iroquois.

The initial settlements of white-people were somewhat misconstrued. White-people believed that they had purchased the land from the Native-American Indians. The Native-American Indians thought that they were allowing settlers to come and share the land, as they didn’t practice private land ownership.

The Town of Conesville was named after Rev. Jonathan Cone. He was actually born in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1784. His father Daniel Cone hailed from Paisley, Scotland.

Rev. Cone was elected the 3rd pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Durham in 1830. Although he did not live in Conesville, he was often heard preaching in Durham around 1836. This was during the epoch in which Conesville was established. He was both trusted and respected by the local community.

HOW THE TOWN WAS FORMED

First Settlement

The German Palatines

The first settlers in the Schoharie Valley were the German Palantines, during 1711.

During the reign of Queen Anne of England, they traveled from England and settled in both Germantown and Saugerties. Their initial mandate was to produce tar from pine trees for the British Navy. However, circumstances changed and in order to survive they had to support themselves.  As a result, many of the Palantines  relocated to Schoharie county.

The original pioneer settlers of the town were Peter Richtmyer, Judge John Reynolds, Tomas Fitch, John Walker and Elisha Bates.

First White Man to Set Foot In Conesville

John Dies is believed to be the first white-person to set foot in the lands of Conesville. He was appointed as deputy land-surveyor. His survey found the land to be ‘heavily wooded’. In which a variety of wild animals such as deer, panthers, wild-cats and wolves roamed undisturbed.

On May 6th, 1754 the first patent of land was granted to Ury Richtmyer and several other families.

Richtmyer built the first log-home in the area. According to local legend, the Richtmyer homestead was bought from the native American Indians for a pound of butter/acre.

THE TOWN OF CONESVILLE, NY

Town History

Search by Keyword:

TOWN OF CONESVILLE, NY

Statistics & Demographics

Total Town Area

The town has a total area of 39.9 square miles (103 km2), of which, 39.5 square miles (102 km2) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) of it (1.00%) is water.

Flowing Water

The Manor Kill is a stream, fed by the Bear Kill, flowing westward into the Schoharie Reservoir near West Conesville.

The Watershed

The Schoharie Reservoir and its watershed may be one of the smaller New York State Reservoirs, however it is the one of the largest producing watersheds in all of New York. The Schohaire Reservoir provides almost 20% of the water to New York City.

Population Density

The population density = 17.2 people per square mile (7.1/km2).

Ethnicity

The racial makeup of the town: Mostly White

Black or African American | 4 people.

Hispanic or Latino | 27 people.

By Age

The median age = 56.4 years.

To note: 2000 Census median age = 44 years.

*DATA FROM US CENSUS BUREAU (2020) & AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY (2019)

0
People
0
Households
0
Average Family Size

During 1805 a stage coach line was created. It ran from Catskill Landing to Unadilla. In the beginning, passengers were charged 5 cents/mile . They were also entitled to carry 14lbs of luggage with them. Heavier baggage cost 5 cents/mile for every additional 150 lbs.

HISTORICAL SNIPPETS

“..To the west [Conesville] nothing was visible but huge piles of mountains separated by deep and narrow valleys. Into this valley our road descended very gradually along the declivity of the northern ridge. Here we found a few lonely plantations recently begun upon the road…”

TIMOTHY DWIGHT, PRESIDENT OF YALE, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. EXCERPT FROM “TRAVELS IN NEW ENGLAND & NEW YORK.” REF: DWIGHT’S THOUGHTS FROM TRAVELING THROUGH THE TOWN DURING SEPTEMBER 1804