was a Loyalist guerrilla leader during the American Revolution. He led a band of irregulars who were known locally as the 'cowboys'.
Claudius was the eldest son of David Smith (1701–1787), a respected tailor, cattleman, miller, constable, clergyman, and finally judge in Brookhaven, New York. His mother was Meriam (Williams) Carle, a daughter of Samuel Williams of Hempstead, New York. David Smith was the son of a Samuel Smith, but the identity of this Samuel is not certain.
Thief, bandit, traitor, desperado, outlaw, highwayman, kidnapper, arsonist, murderer and unmitigated scoundrel were only a few of the infamous names given to Claudius Smith during his reign of terror from 1774 to 1779.
"Cowboy of the Ramapos"
The legend of his escapades has been handed down from generation to generation and only after the turn of the Twentieth Century did the people of lower New York State cease scaring unmanageable children with “Claudius Smith will get you if you don’t watch out!”
It is believed that Claudius Smith started his notorious career at an early age in Monroe, New York. Historians say that he and his two brothers, Richard and James, were encouraged in their ways of transgression in early childhood by their father.
The beginning of the Revolutionary War saw Claudius a grown man, and, being of English parentage, he seized the opportunity to band together a group of traitors and Tories, who had embraced the cause of the Crown.
The British were stationed in New York City and at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and up as far as Stony Point, and they were in constant need of supplies. In the beginning Claudius and his band stole horses and cattle and sold them to the British. Hence, legendary stories always referred to them as “The Cowboys of the Ramapos.”
Before the capture of Claudius and the breaking up of the band they were by that time stealing and plundering anything they could lay their hands on. They would come forth at night from their mountain caves, breaking into dwellings, stealing food and valuables, and sometimes set ting homes and barns on fire, killing in cold blood if resisted.
The countryside was in a constant state of terror. In 1778 an indignation meeting was held by the citizens and an appeal was made to Governor Clinton of New York State for help. It was not until the following year that Claudius was finally captured and taken to the jail in Goshen, New York. He was tried on January 13, 1779 and hanged January 22, 1779. I t is ironic to note in the writ of execution that he was tried and executed for burglary only.
Three of the caves which were used by Claudius and band are situated within 35 miles from New York City and may be visited today, one near Tuxedo, New York, another on Route 202 at Wesley Chapel and the other on the Townsend farm North of Southfields.
Famed Tory outlaw Claudius Smith meets his end on the gallows on this day in 1779 in Goshen, New York. In the wake of his death, Patriot civilians hope for relief from guerilla warfare in upstate New York.
Born in Brookhaven, New York, in 1736, Smith moved with his family to Orange County, New York, in 1741. Thought to have fought with Mohawk leader Joseph Brandt as a Tory defender of the crown during the New York campaign of 1777, Smith earned the label "Cowboy of the Ramapos" for his use of guerrilla tactics against Patriot civilians. Smith and his cohorts stole livestock and ambushed travelers on the Orange Turnpike between Canada and New York from the cave now memorialized as "Claudius Smith's Den" in Orange County's Harriman State Park.
Smith managed to escape justice until his gang murdered Patriot Major Nathaniel Strong in the course of a robbery. Patriot Governor George Clinton then issued a warrant for his arrest, offering a $1,200 reward for the capture of Smith, who was described as "7 feet tall" in his wanted poster. Captured on British-controlled Long Island by vigilantes in October, he and other members of his gang, including one of his sons, were returned to Patriot territory and hung near their home turf in Goshen.
Despite his less than savory exploits, Smith earned a reputation as a "robin hood" because he targeted the wealthy but was said to be generous with the poor. Because his mother reputedly warned him that, unless he reformed, he would "die with his boots on," Smith removed his footwear before he was hanged. Two of Smith's three sons belonged to his gang—one was hanged with his father; another took over the gang upon his death.
Legend has it that Claudius Smith's skull was filled with mortar and included in the edifice of the Goshen Court House.
________________________________________________________
The Ballad of Claudius Smith
Claudius Smith was a wayward lad
From early youth his ways were bad
And he came to an end that was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still
In the eighteenth century year seventy-four
Men were meeting at door to door.
There was talk of tax on tea
They were protesting, it should be free.
Patriots rose in seventy-five
Public spirit sprang alive.
Seeds of liberty were sown deep
Blood flowed freely, death did reap.
British marching in from the ocean
Headed up toward the land of Goshen.
Their high stepping troops it was told to me
Were hired to fight, from across the sea.
Hessian soldiers, evil and smelly
Would only fight on a full belly.
They needed horses, beef and pork
To sustain their march up from New York
They were willing to pay with gold
And this is what tempted our outlaw bold.
So Claudius became a bandit chief
From farmer boy to desperate thief
Their many acts of depredation
Were a curse to the struggling nation.
It is told in all the stories
How he banded together a gang of Tories.
The outlaw leader and his band
Were often called the scourge of the land.
Hard riding men, fast with a gun
Working at night and afraid of the sun.
They used to meet in his father’s tavern
Then hid by day in the mountain cavern.
From Sidman’s Bridge to Tappan Zee
They robbed and stole to get their fee.
Driving away with farmers’ cattle
Wanton killing if forced to battle.
Martinis Onderdonk was wealthy and proud
And he had no use for the Tory crowd.
He had a son, a daughter too
Who all the village boys did woo.
The leader of the traitor band
Also sought her lovely hand.
But the marauding free booter
Was a very unwelcome suitor.
Katherine Onderdonk turned him down
For his allegiance to the crown.
He was determined to have this maid
"Forget her, Claudius" his followers said.
He had no ears, she’d hurt his pride
By force he’d have her for his bride.
The bandits surrounded her house that night
Katherine woke with an awful fright.
She looked at Claudius with eyes of hate
Knowing too well what was her fate.
He bound and gagged her, the heartless knave
And took her off to his mountain cave.
He further raised the farmers’ ire
By setting their homes and barns on fire.
A t nigh t the citizen’s watch did keep
For fear of being murdered in their sleep.
Terror reigned and nerves were taut
Then Governor Clinton’s aid was sought.
He promised them muskets, flints and powder
As the many protests grew steadily louder.
The wrathful farmers came en masse
From Hudson Valley to Ramapo Pass.
A meeting was called in old South Field
The doom of Claudius Smith was sealed.
They planned a search throughout the land
To destroy the leader and his band.
They chased him from secluded nooks
And trailed him down the mountain brooks.
And then the countryside did rally
For Claudius was captured in the valley.
He was taken to the county seat
Stoutly tethered, hands and feet.
They chained him to the jailhouse floor
And double barred the oaken door.
Villagers gathered from many a mile
And gave him a fair and honest trial.
The jury came in and here’s what they said
"He shall hang by the neck until he is dead."
"For your evil deeds you must pay.”
Then the judge decreed he’d hang that day.
So Claudius went up the Gallows Hill
Just beyond the village mill.
The angry mob howled and jeered
With rope in hand the hangman leered.
Amid the roar of angry hoots
Claudius calmly removed his boots.
The assembled crowd just looked with a stare
For there he stood, his feet were bare.
Someone muttered, I wonder why?
Claudius spoke in a loud reply.
”My mother said with my boots on I’d die
I want to prove that she did lie.”
As he deprived his mother of her prophecy
He raised his foot so all could see.
Then with a sickening cry, they pulled him high
And he swayed in the wind that came with a sigh.
So ends our tale of the wayward lad
Whose finish you see was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill.
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still.
South of the Mountains, Vol. 9; No. 1 (January – March 1965)
The story of Claudius Smith is an exciting legend that is becoming more and more extinct with the passing years.
-----------------------------------------------------
SMITH'S HAUNTED BOOTS
Originally the Property of the Tory Terror KICKED OFF AT A HANGING To Prove That His Mother Was a Liar Tine: ITtn Who Wor; Them Yean Afterward Were Killed by Lord* Story "No ono In tiio Schunuemunk mountains will ever forget tho Story of Bralnnrd I ! ier3on'B haunted hoots," said Christy Lord of that hlstotlo part of Orange county. "Tho story datos bock a good way, but It's always new and fresh along the old Sohunnemunk.
"Bralnard Plerson'a hoots, so t'.to story poos, were tho very hoots that Claudius Smith kicked off his feet just boforo ho was hanged at Goshen in the Revolutionnry times. Claudius Smith was the bloody Tory cowboy who, with his following of cutthroats nnd robbers, terrorized tho
Sehunnemunk and surrounding country for years. "After tho patriots had nt last captured the desperado und be was taken to tho gallows at Goshen ho kicked his hoots off as tho rope Was placed about his nock and exclaimed:
"'My mother en Id I would dio like a trooper's horse, with mjr shoes on. I will make her out a liar.'
"Thoso woro Claudius Smith's last words. His hoots, through some mannor of succession, tit last fell Into tho possession of Bralnard Piorson years after tho cowboy was hanged. I've often heard my father say thnt when folks heard that BralUßrd had got Claudius .Smith's boots they went to him and said: " 'Woo to you, Bralnard Piorson, if you wear thoso hoots! Not for all tho treasure Claudius Smith buried in old Sohunnemunk would wo Wear those boots! There's blood on 'em!'
" 'And even if thero is,' Brainord said, 'I'll walk it off tomorrow, for I'm going to drivo some cattle down Jersey way. I couldn't get n pair o' boots liko those for the price o' tho best critter I'vo got.' "Bralnard Plerson laughed and next day started with his cattle down Jersey way, wearing the dead Tory's boots. Somowhoro down near the Ramnpo pass a man coming this way met, a drove of cattle. They went on by and the man noticed that no drover was behind thorn. Ho went on. Ho had gone a quarter of a mile or so when ho almost stumbled over a man lying iv tho road. Ho noticed that the man had on a remarkably lino pair of boots, but ho started back in terror as lie saw a
rattlosnako lying near his feet. Discovering that tho serpent wns dead ho advanced and wus horriiiod to see that tho prostrate man's face was black and swollen and that ho was dead. It wns plain that the rattlosnako had bitten tho man, who had then killed tho snake beforo ho died.
"The dead man was Bralnard Plerson. Tho discoverer of tho tragedy sought tli6 nearest help ASd the rattlesnake's victim was brought home to Sohunnemunk. Tho head of the snnko had beon crushod by a stono and ono of its fangs was gono. The snako had bitten clear through ono of the boots Bralnard wore nnd a tiny puncture on his anklo showed whero tho deadly venom had entered to do its deadly work. " 'Claudius Smith's boots!'was tho llrst exclamation that folks mado whon Bralnnrd Picrson was brought homo dead from a rattlcsnako's bite. 'There's blood on 'em nnd wo told him so!'
"For a long time nothing was talked about all through tho Sohunnemunk country but Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots nnd tho awful fate that Bralnard mot with beoauso ho flow in tho face of warning and woro them. Somehow or other though Brainard's folks didn't seem to be able to see just how it was that he wouldn't have been struck by the rattlesnake if he hadn't had Claudius Smith's boots on, and so tho boots remained in the family. Thoro was no ono big enough yet, In tho family to wear boots and so they were put one side. And there they romaincd unused for ten years. Then the houso was robbed one night. Among the property stolen wore tho haunted boots. Two days after the robbery young Goorgo Piorson, Brainard's son, was hunting on Seven Spring mountain, and, going over to one of tho springs to got a drink, ho found a dead man lying near it black In tho face and swollen. Noar by tho body lay a big bundle. Tho dead man had on tho stolon Claudius Smith's boots! i'oung Plerson pulled off tho boots. On the man's right ankle was a little purplish rod puncture. " 'A rattlosnako has strnok hlra as sure as fate!' exclaimed young Piorson. "Tho bundle contained the things stolon from the Plerson family. George bached them homo und brought tho boots along. Then ho sproad the news about finding the robber on Sovon Springs mountain, dead frora a rattlesnnke's bite. "Several yours went by again before any one else woro tho haunted boots. Then a relation of tho Picrson folks, who lived down In tho Ringwood valley, visited thorn. Ho saw tho boots and took a great fancy to 'em. Ho wanted to buy 'om, although ho know the fata of tho only two persons who had worn 'em in years. " 'Thoro ain't any rattlesnakes In our section,' snid he. 'I'll risk the haunt.' "The Plerson folks wouldn't sell him the boots, but they mado htm a present of 'em. Ho took 'em home with him. Some folks say that ho didn't tell his father-in-law the story of tho boots when he mads him a present of 'em after he got homo, and some suy he did. At any rate, the father-in-law had a good deal of property which would go to this Piorson relation's wifo when her father died, and her father was in the best of health. Tho son-in-law made him a present of Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots. Tho father-in-law put 'om on one day and went for a walk. Not long afterward be came staggering home. "Ho was a dead man an hour later, with a black, swollen faco and body. On his right auklo was the mark of a rattlesnake bite, as thoro had beon on Bralnard Piorson's and on tho dead robbors. And there was not a rattlesnako in all that country I The father-in-law of tho Piorson relation was dead before the doctor could get there. Tho doctor was told tho story of the haunted boots. Seizing tho right boot, ho slashed lt down to the ankle with his knifo. Something white fell from lt to the floor. The doctor picked It up. He examined it for a moment.
" 'A rattlesnake's fang,' said he. 'And there's poison enough yet In Its channel to kill another man I'
"It was the missing fang of the snake that had bitten Brainard Plerson. It had been pulled from its socket by the firm hold the leather of tho boot had taken of lt. Held fast thus, with its point on the lnsldo, contact with it had been of sufficient force to puncture the ankles of tbe persons who had since worn tbe boot. The venom, though dry, was still potent, and its work as doadly as when lt lay In Its sack In the rattlesnake's jaw. That was what the doctor said."—Now York Sun.
class="divider">∼Claudius Smith
Smith led a band of British Loyalists who conducted guerrila war on Revolutionaries and their sympathizers in northern NJ and southern NYS. A cave reputed to have been used by him and his gang is a hiking trail attraction in Harriman State Park.
Smith and a gang member "Brown," arrested for stealing oxen from the Revolutionary Army, were jailed in Goshen on July 18, 1777 by Orange County Sheriff Dumont. But later the gang seized the sheriff and broke Smith and Brown out of jail.
The Tory gang's exploits terrorized Ramapo Valley residents who supported the Revolution. Smith raiders waylaid Gen. Washington's couriers and plundered Patriot farms. On Oct. 6, 1778, during an attack on one such farmhouse, its owner, Revolutionary Major Nathaniel Strong was killed. That Oct. 31, Gov. Clinton issued proclamation offering a large reward for the capture of Smith.
Claudius fled to Long Island but was caught and eventually transported back to Orange County where Sheriff Isaac Nicoll took custody. Smith was placed in heavy irons. Several extra guards were assigned just to keep watch on him and to prevent his escaping again from the Goshen jail. Claudius was tried and convicted on Jan. 13, 1779. He was publicly executed Jan. 22 in Goshen.
During the period of his incarceration at that place, both before his trial and while he was awaiting execution, Claudius Smith lived in hopes his men would undertake his rescue. Even when he was being led to the scaffold he was observed to cast furtive glances over his shoulder towards Slate hill, where about a mile away was a cave which was said to be a rendezvous of the robber gang. But he was so strongly guarded that no attempt at rescue was made, and would doubtless have failed if undertaken. One of the guards was stationed at all times at the "grief-hole" opening into his cell, with a loaded musket, with orders to shoot him dead if any attempt was made on the jail by his friends outside.
The fated hour arrived, and Claudius was led out of his gloomy prison and permitted to take his last look upon earth. He walked up the steps of the scaffold with a firm tread. He had dressed himself with scrupulous neatness, in black broadcloth with silver buttons, and white stockings. This was in the days of public executions; and he looked from the scaffold into the faces of thousands who had gathered there to see him die. He smiled grimly as he spoke to several men in the crowd below whom he knew.
Before the final adjustment of the noose Claudius stooped to remove his shoes. When asked why he did so he repeated the words of his mother that he would die with his shoes on, and added that he "wanted to make her out a liar." He was interred near the scaffold. Years afterwards a gentleman by the name of Wood, as he stood conversing with an acquaintance on the village green at Goshen, happening to press upon the greensward with his cane at a certain spot, found it would easily pierce the soil as though there was some sort of hollow underneath. A slight examination of the place showed it to be a shallow grave, and that the bones of a human skeleton lay entombed there. Further inquiry proved the remains to be those of the noted bandit chief, Claudius Smith.
Scores of people were attracted to the place, and some of the more curious carried away portions of the skeleton as souvenirs. Orrin Ensign, the village blacksmith, made some of the bones into knife-handles; doubtless some of them are still doing duty in that capacity. It is even believed by many of the people of Goshen that the skull of Claudius Smith is embedded in the masonry over the front door of the present court-house in that place.
Some of Smith's associates were even greater criminals than himself. His son James was hung at Goshen soon after his own execution; his eldest son, William, was subsequently shot in the mountains, and the body never was buried but became the food of wolves and crows, where the bones lay bleaching for years afterward.
Source:
Claudius was the eldest son of David Smith (1701–1787), a respected tailor, cattleman, miller, constable, clergyman, and finally judge in Brookhaven, New York. His mother was Meriam (Williams) Carle, a daughter of Samuel Williams of Hempstead, New York. David Smith was the son of a Samuel Smith, but the identity of this Samuel is not certain.
Thief, bandit, traitor, desperado, outlaw, highwayman, kidnapper, arsonist, murderer and unmitigated scoundrel were only a few of the infamous names given to Claudius Smith during his reign of terror from 1774 to 1779.
"Cowboy of the Ramapos"
The legend of his escapades has been handed down from generation to generation and only after the turn of the Twentieth Century did the people of lower New York State cease scaring unmanageable children with “Claudius Smith will get you if you don’t watch out!”
It is believed that Claudius Smith started his notorious career at an early age in Monroe, New York. Historians say that he and his two brothers, Richard and James, were encouraged in their ways of transgression in early childhood by their father.
The beginning of the Revolutionary War saw Claudius a grown man, and, being of English parentage, he seized the opportunity to band together a group of traitors and Tories, who had embraced the cause of the Crown.
The British were stationed in New York City and at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and up as far as Stony Point, and they were in constant need of supplies. In the beginning Claudius and his band stole horses and cattle and sold them to the British. Hence, legendary stories always referred to them as “The Cowboys of the Ramapos.”
Before the capture of Claudius and the breaking up of the band they were by that time stealing and plundering anything they could lay their hands on. They would come forth at night from their mountain caves, breaking into dwellings, stealing food and valuables, and sometimes set ting homes and barns on fire, killing in cold blood if resisted.
The countryside was in a constant state of terror. In 1778 an indignation meeting was held by the citizens and an appeal was made to Governor Clinton of New York State for help. It was not until the following year that Claudius was finally captured and taken to the jail in Goshen, New York. He was tried on January 13, 1779 and hanged January 22, 1779. I t is ironic to note in the writ of execution that he was tried and executed for burglary only.
Three of the caves which were used by Claudius and band are situated within 35 miles from New York City and may be visited today, one near Tuxedo, New York, another on Route 202 at Wesley Chapel and the other on the Townsend farm North of Southfields.
Famed Tory outlaw Claudius Smith meets his end on the gallows on this day in 1779 in Goshen, New York. In the wake of his death, Patriot civilians hope for relief from guerilla warfare in upstate New York.
Born in Brookhaven, New York, in 1736, Smith moved with his family to Orange County, New York, in 1741. Thought to have fought with Mohawk leader Joseph Brandt as a Tory defender of the crown during the New York campaign of 1777, Smith earned the label "Cowboy of the Ramapos" for his use of guerrilla tactics against Patriot civilians. Smith and his cohorts stole livestock and ambushed travelers on the Orange Turnpike between Canada and New York from the cave now memorialized as "Claudius Smith's Den" in Orange County's Harriman State Park.
Smith managed to escape justice until his gang murdered Patriot Major Nathaniel Strong in the course of a robbery. Patriot Governor George Clinton then issued a warrant for his arrest, offering a $1,200 reward for the capture of Smith, who was described as "7 feet tall" in his wanted poster. Captured on British-controlled Long Island by vigilantes in October, he and other members of his gang, including one of his sons, were returned to Patriot territory and hung near their home turf in Goshen.
Despite his less than savory exploits, Smith earned a reputation as a "robin hood" because he targeted the wealthy but was said to be generous with the poor. Because his mother reputedly warned him that, unless he reformed, he would "die with his boots on," Smith removed his footwear before he was hanged. Two of Smith's three sons belonged to his gang—one was hanged with his father; another took over the gang upon his death.
Legend has it that Claudius Smith's skull was filled with mortar and included in the edifice of the Goshen Court House.
________________________________________________________
The Ballad of Claudius Smith
Claudius Smith was a wayward lad
From early youth his ways were bad
And he came to an end that was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still
In the eighteenth century year seventy-four
Men were meeting at door to door.
There was talk of tax on tea
They were protesting, it should be free.
Patriots rose in seventy-five
Public spirit sprang alive.
Seeds of liberty were sown deep
Blood flowed freely, death did reap.
British marching in from the ocean
Headed up toward the land of Goshen.
Their high stepping troops it was told to me
Were hired to fight, from across the sea.
Hessian soldiers, evil and smelly
Would only fight on a full belly.
They needed horses, beef and pork
To sustain their march up from New York
They were willing to pay with gold
And this is what tempted our outlaw bold.
So Claudius became a bandit chief
From farmer boy to desperate thief
Their many acts of depredation
Were a curse to the struggling nation.
It is told in all the stories
How he banded together a gang of Tories.
The outlaw leader and his band
Were often called the scourge of the land.
Hard riding men, fast with a gun
Working at night and afraid of the sun.
They used to meet in his father’s tavern
Then hid by day in the mountain cavern.
From Sidman’s Bridge to Tappan Zee
They robbed and stole to get their fee.
Driving away with farmers’ cattle
Wanton killing if forced to battle.
Martinis Onderdonk was wealthy and proud
And he had no use for the Tory crowd.
He had a son, a daughter too
Who all the village boys did woo.
The leader of the traitor band
Also sought her lovely hand.
But the marauding free booter
Was a very unwelcome suitor.
Katherine Onderdonk turned him down
For his allegiance to the crown.
He was determined to have this maid
"Forget her, Claudius" his followers said.
He had no ears, she’d hurt his pride
By force he’d have her for his bride.
The bandits surrounded her house that night
Katherine woke with an awful fright.
She looked at Claudius with eyes of hate
Knowing too well what was her fate.
He bound and gagged her, the heartless knave
And took her off to his mountain cave.
He further raised the farmers’ ire
By setting their homes and barns on fire.
A t nigh t the citizen’s watch did keep
For fear of being murdered in their sleep.
Terror reigned and nerves were taut
Then Governor Clinton’s aid was sought.
He promised them muskets, flints and powder
As the many protests grew steadily louder.
The wrathful farmers came en masse
From Hudson Valley to Ramapo Pass.
A meeting was called in old South Field
The doom of Claudius Smith was sealed.
They planned a search throughout the land
To destroy the leader and his band.
They chased him from secluded nooks
And trailed him down the mountain brooks.
And then the countryside did rally
For Claudius was captured in the valley.
He was taken to the county seat
Stoutly tethered, hands and feet.
They chained him to the jailhouse floor
And double barred the oaken door.
Villagers gathered from many a mile
And gave him a fair and honest trial.
The jury came in and here’s what they said
"He shall hang by the neck until he is dead."
"For your evil deeds you must pay.”
Then the judge decreed he’d hang that day.
So Claudius went up the Gallows Hill
Just beyond the village mill.
The angry mob howled and jeered
With rope in hand the hangman leered.
Amid the roar of angry hoots
Claudius calmly removed his boots.
The assembled crowd just looked with a stare
For there he stood, his feet were bare.
Someone muttered, I wonder why?
Claudius spoke in a loud reply.
”My mother said with my boots on I’d die
I want to prove that she did lie.”
As he deprived his mother of her prophecy
He raised his foot so all could see.
Then with a sickening cry, they pulled him high
And he swayed in the wind that came with a sigh.
So ends our tale of the wayward lad
Whose finish you see was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill.
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still.
South of the Mountains, Vol. 9; No. 1 (January – March 1965)
The story of Claudius Smith is an exciting legend that is becoming more and more extinct with the passing years.
-----------------------------------------------------
SMITH'S HAUNTED BOOTS
Originally the Property of the Tory Terror KICKED OFF AT A HANGING To Prove That His Mother Was a Liar Tine: ITtn Who Wor; Them Yean Afterward Were Killed by Lord* Story "No ono In tiio Schunuemunk mountains will ever forget tho Story of Bralnnrd I ! ier3on'B haunted hoots," said Christy Lord of that hlstotlo part of Orange county. "Tho story datos bock a good way, but It's always new and fresh along the old Sohunnemunk.
"Bralnard Plerson'a hoots, so t'.to story poos, were tho very hoots that Claudius Smith kicked off his feet just boforo ho was hanged at Goshen in the Revolutionnry times. Claudius Smith was the bloody Tory cowboy who, with his following of cutthroats nnd robbers, terrorized tho
Sehunnemunk and surrounding country for years. "After tho patriots had nt last captured the desperado und be was taken to tho gallows at Goshen ho kicked his hoots off as tho rope Was placed about his nock and exclaimed:
"'My mother en Id I would dio like a trooper's horse, with mjr shoes on. I will make her out a liar.'
"Thoso woro Claudius Smith's last words. His hoots, through some mannor of succession, tit last fell Into tho possession of Bralnard Piorson years after tho cowboy was hanged. I've often heard my father say thnt when folks heard that BralUßrd had got Claudius .Smith's boots they went to him and said: " 'Woo to you, Bralnard Piorson, if you wear thoso hoots! Not for all tho treasure Claudius Smith buried in old Sohunnemunk would wo Wear those boots! There's blood on 'em!'
" 'And even if thero is,' Brainord said, 'I'll walk it off tomorrow, for I'm going to drivo some cattle down Jersey way. I couldn't get n pair o' boots liko those for the price o' tho best critter I'vo got.' "Bralnard Plerson laughed and next day started with his cattle down Jersey way, wearing the dead Tory's boots. Somowhoro down near the Ramnpo pass a man coming this way met, a drove of cattle. They went on by and the man noticed that no drover was behind thorn. Ho went on. Ho had gone a quarter of a mile or so when ho almost stumbled over a man lying iv tho road. Ho noticed that the man had on a remarkably lino pair of boots, but ho started back in terror as lie saw a
rattlosnako lying near his feet. Discovering that tho serpent wns dead ho advanced and wus horriiiod to see that tho prostrate man's face was black and swollen and that ho was dead. It wns plain that the rattlosnako had bitten tho man, who had then killed tho snake beforo ho died.
"The dead man was Bralnard Plerson. Tho discoverer of tho tragedy sought tli6 nearest help ASd the rattlesnake's victim was brought home to Sohunnemunk. Tho head of the snnko had beon crushod by a stono and ono of its fangs was gono. The snako had bitten clear through ono of the boots Bralnard wore nnd a tiny puncture on his anklo showed whero tho deadly venom had entered to do its deadly work. " 'Claudius Smith's boots!'was tho llrst exclamation that folks mado whon Bralnnrd Picrson was brought homo dead from a rattlcsnako's bite. 'There's blood on 'em nnd wo told him so!'
"For a long time nothing was talked about all through tho Sohunnemunk country but Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots nnd tho awful fate that Bralnard mot with beoauso ho flow in tho face of warning and woro them. Somehow or other though Brainard's folks didn't seem to be able to see just how it was that he wouldn't have been struck by the rattlesnake if he hadn't had Claudius Smith's boots on, and so tho boots remained in the family. Thoro was no ono big enough yet, In tho family to wear boots and so they were put one side. And there they romaincd unused for ten years. Then the houso was robbed one night. Among the property stolen wore tho haunted boots. Two days after the robbery young Goorgo Piorson, Brainard's son, was hunting on Seven Spring mountain, and, going over to one of tho springs to got a drink, ho found a dead man lying near it black In tho face and swollen. Noar by tho body lay a big bundle. Tho dead man had on tho stolon Claudius Smith's boots! i'oung Plerson pulled off tho boots. On the man's right ankle was a little purplish rod puncture. " 'A rattlosnako has strnok hlra as sure as fate!' exclaimed young Piorson. "Tho bundle contained the things stolon from the Plerson family. George bached them homo und brought tho boots along. Then ho sproad the news about finding the robber on Sovon Springs mountain, dead frora a rattlesnnke's bite. "Several yours went by again before any one else woro tho haunted boots. Then a relation of tho Picrson folks, who lived down In tho Ringwood valley, visited thorn. Ho saw tho boots and took a great fancy to 'em. Ho wanted to buy 'om, although ho know the fata of tho only two persons who had worn 'em in years. " 'Thoro ain't any rattlesnakes In our section,' snid he. 'I'll risk the haunt.' "The Plerson folks wouldn't sell him the boots, but they mado htm a present of 'em. Ho took 'em home with him. Some folks say that ho didn't tell his father-in-law the story of tho boots when he mads him a present of 'em after he got homo, and some suy he did. At any rate, the father-in-law had a good deal of property which would go to this Piorson relation's wifo when her father died, and her father was in the best of health. Tho son-in-law made him a present of Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots. Tho father-in-law put 'om on one day and went for a walk. Not long afterward be came staggering home. "Ho was a dead man an hour later, with a black, swollen faco and body. On his right auklo was the mark of a rattlesnake bite, as thoro had beon on Bralnard Piorson's and on tho dead robbors. And there was not a rattlesnako in all that country I The father-in-law of tho Piorson relation was dead before the doctor could get there. Tho doctor was told tho story of the haunted boots. Seizing tho right boot, ho slashed lt down to the ankle with his knifo. Something white fell from lt to the floor. The doctor picked It up. He examined it for a moment.
" 'A rattlesnake's fang,' said he. 'And there's poison enough yet In Its channel to kill another man I'
"It was the missing fang of the snake that had bitten Brainard Plerson. It had been pulled from its socket by the firm hold the leather of tho boot had taken of lt. Held fast thus, with its point on the lnsldo, contact with it had been of sufficient force to puncture the ankles of tbe persons who had since worn tbe boot. The venom, though dry, was still potent, and its work as doadly as when lt lay In Its sack In the rattlesnake's jaw. That was what the doctor said."—Now York Sun.
class="divider">∼Claudius Smith
Smith led a band of British Loyalists who conducted guerrila war on Revolutionaries and their sympathizers in northern NJ and southern NYS. A cave reputed to have been used by him and his gang is a hiking trail attraction in Harriman State Park.
Smith and a gang member "Brown," arrested for stealing oxen from the Revolutionary Army, were jailed in Goshen on July 18, 1777 by Orange County Sheriff Dumont. But later the gang seized the sheriff and broke Smith and Brown out of jail.
The Tory gang's exploits terrorized Ramapo Valley residents who supported the Revolution. Smith raiders waylaid Gen. Washington's couriers and plundered Patriot farms. On Oct. 6, 1778, during an attack on one such farmhouse, its owner, Revolutionary Major Nathaniel Strong was killed. That Oct. 31, Gov. Clinton issued proclamation offering a large reward for the capture of Smith.
Claudius fled to Long Island but was caught and eventually transported back to Orange County where Sheriff Isaac Nicoll took custody. Smith was placed in heavy irons. Several extra guards were assigned just to keep watch on him and to prevent his escaping again from the Goshen jail. Claudius was tried and convicted on Jan. 13, 1779. He was publicly executed Jan. 22 in Goshen.
During the period of his incarceration at that place, both before his trial and while he was awaiting execution, Claudius Smith lived in hopes his men would undertake his rescue. Even when he was being led to the scaffold he was observed to cast furtive glances over his shoulder towards Slate hill, where about a mile away was a cave which was said to be a rendezvous of the robber gang. But he was so strongly guarded that no attempt at rescue was made, and would doubtless have failed if undertaken. One of the guards was stationed at all times at the "grief-hole" opening into his cell, with a loaded musket, with orders to shoot him dead if any attempt was made on the jail by his friends outside.
The fated hour arrived, and Claudius was led out of his gloomy prison and permitted to take his last look upon earth. He walked up the steps of the scaffold with a firm tread. He had dressed himself with scrupulous neatness, in black broadcloth with silver buttons, and white stockings. This was in the days of public executions; and he looked from the scaffold into the faces of thousands who had gathered there to see him die. He smiled grimly as he spoke to several men in the crowd below whom he knew.
Before the final adjustment of the noose Claudius stooped to remove his shoes. When asked why he did so he repeated the words of his mother that he would die with his shoes on, and added that he "wanted to make her out a liar." He was interred near the scaffold. Years afterwards a gentleman by the name of Wood, as he stood conversing with an acquaintance on the village green at Goshen, happening to press upon the greensward with his cane at a certain spot, found it would easily pierce the soil as though there was some sort of hollow underneath. A slight examination of the place showed it to be a shallow grave, and that the bones of a human skeleton lay entombed there. Further inquiry proved the remains to be those of the noted bandit chief, Claudius Smith.
Scores of people were attracted to the place, and some of the more curious carried away portions of the skeleton as souvenirs. Orrin Ensign, the village blacksmith, made some of the bones into knife-handles; doubtless some of them are still doing duty in that capacity. It is even believed by many of the people of Goshen that the skull of Claudius Smith is embedded in the masonry over the front door of the present court-house in that place.
Some of Smith's associates were even greater criminals than himself. His son James was hung at Goshen soon after his own execution; his eldest son, William, was subsequently shot in the mountains, and the body never was buried but became the food of wolves and crows, where the bones lay bleaching for years afterward.
Source:
was a Loyalist guerrilla leader during the American Revolution. He led a band of irregulars who were known locally as the 'cowboys'.
Claudius was the eldest son of David Smith (1701–1787), a respected tailor, cattleman, miller, constable, clergyman, and finally judge in Brookhaven, New York. His mother was Meriam (Williams) Carle, a daughter of Samuel Williams of Hempstead, New York. David Smith was the son of a Samuel Smith, but the identity of this Samuel is not certain.
Thief, bandit, traitor, desperado, outlaw, highwayman, kidnapper, arsonist, murderer and unmitigated scoundrel were only a few of the infamous names given to Claudius Smith during his reign of terror from 1774 to 1779.
"Cowboy of the Ramapos"
The legend of his escapades has been handed down from generation to generation and only after the turn of the Twentieth Century did the people of lower New York State cease scaring unmanageable children with “Claudius Smith will get you if you don’t watch out!”
It is believed that Claudius Smith started his notorious career at an early age in Monroe, New York. Historians say that he and his two brothers, Richard and James, were encouraged in their ways of transgression in early childhood by their father.
The beginning of the Revolutionary War saw Claudius a grown man, and, being of English parentage, he seized the opportunity to band together a group of traitors and Tories, who had embraced the cause of the Crown.
The British were stationed in New York City and at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and up as far as Stony Point, and they were in constant need of supplies. In the beginning Claudius and his band stole horses and cattle and sold them to the British. Hence, legendary stories always referred to them as “The Cowboys of the Ramapos.”
Before the capture of Claudius and the breaking up of the band they were by that time stealing and plundering anything they could lay their hands on. They would come forth at night from their mountain caves, breaking into dwellings, stealing food and valuables, and sometimes set ting homes and barns on fire, killing in cold blood if resisted.
The countryside was in a constant state of terror. In 1778 an indignation meeting was held by the citizens and an appeal was made to Governor Clinton of New York State for help. It was not until the following year that Claudius was finally captured and taken to the jail in Goshen, New York. He was tried on January 13, 1779 and hanged January 22, 1779. I t is ironic to note in the writ of execution that he was tried and executed for burglary only.
Three of the caves which were used by Claudius and band are situated within 35 miles from New York City and may be visited today, one near Tuxedo, New York, another on Route 202 at Wesley Chapel and the other on the Townsend farm North of Southfields.
Famed Tory outlaw Claudius Smith meets his end on the gallows on this day in 1779 in Goshen, New York. In the wake of his death, Patriot civilians hope for relief from guerilla warfare in upstate New York.
Born in Brookhaven, New York, in 1736, Smith moved with his family to Orange County, New York, in 1741. Thought to have fought with Mohawk leader Joseph Brandt as a Tory defender of the crown during the New York campaign of 1777, Smith earned the label "Cowboy of the Ramapos" for his use of guerrilla tactics against Patriot civilians. Smith and his cohorts stole livestock and ambushed travelers on the Orange Turnpike between Canada and New York from the cave now memorialized as "Claudius Smith's Den" in Orange County's Harriman State Park.
Smith managed to escape justice until his gang murdered Patriot Major Nathaniel Strong in the course of a robbery. Patriot Governor George Clinton then issued a warrant for his arrest, offering a $1,200 reward for the capture of Smith, who was described as "7 feet tall" in his wanted poster. Captured on British-controlled Long Island by vigilantes in October, he and other members of his gang, including one of his sons, were returned to Patriot territory and hung near their home turf in Goshen.
Despite his less than savory exploits, Smith earned a reputation as a "robin hood" because he targeted the wealthy but was said to be generous with the poor. Because his mother reputedly warned him that, unless he reformed, he would "die with his boots on," Smith removed his footwear before he was hanged. Two of Smith's three sons belonged to his gang—one was hanged with his father; another took over the gang upon his death.
Legend has it that Claudius Smith's skull was filled with mortar and included in the edifice of the Goshen Court House.
________________________________________________________
The Ballad of Claudius Smith
Claudius Smith was a wayward lad
From early youth his ways were bad
And he came to an end that was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still
In the eighteenth century year seventy-four
Men were meeting at door to door.
There was talk of tax on tea
They were protesting, it should be free.
Patriots rose in seventy-five
Public spirit sprang alive.
Seeds of liberty were sown deep
Blood flowed freely, death did reap.
British marching in from the ocean
Headed up toward the land of Goshen.
Their high stepping troops it was told to me
Were hired to fight, from across the sea.
Hessian soldiers, evil and smelly
Would only fight on a full belly.
They needed horses, beef and pork
To sustain their march up from New York
They were willing to pay with gold
And this is what tempted our outlaw bold.
So Claudius became a bandit chief
From farmer boy to desperate thief
Their many acts of depredation
Were a curse to the struggling nation.
It is told in all the stories
How he banded together a gang of Tories.
The outlaw leader and his band
Were often called the scourge of the land.
Hard riding men, fast with a gun
Working at night and afraid of the sun.
They used to meet in his father’s tavern
Then hid by day in the mountain cavern.
From Sidman’s Bridge to Tappan Zee
They robbed and stole to get their fee.
Driving away with farmers’ cattle
Wanton killing if forced to battle.
Martinis Onderdonk was wealthy and proud
And he had no use for the Tory crowd.
He had a son, a daughter too
Who all the village boys did woo.
The leader of the traitor band
Also sought her lovely hand.
But the marauding free booter
Was a very unwelcome suitor.
Katherine Onderdonk turned him down
For his allegiance to the crown.
He was determined to have this maid
"Forget her, Claudius" his followers said.
He had no ears, she’d hurt his pride
By force he’d have her for his bride.
The bandits surrounded her house that night
Katherine woke with an awful fright.
She looked at Claudius with eyes of hate
Knowing too well what was her fate.
He bound and gagged her, the heartless knave
And took her off to his mountain cave.
He further raised the farmers’ ire
By setting their homes and barns on fire.
A t nigh t the citizen’s watch did keep
For fear of being murdered in their sleep.
Terror reigned and nerves were taut
Then Governor Clinton’s aid was sought.
He promised them muskets, flints and powder
As the many protests grew steadily louder.
The wrathful farmers came en masse
From Hudson Valley to Ramapo Pass.
A meeting was called in old South Field
The doom of Claudius Smith was sealed.
They planned a search throughout the land
To destroy the leader and his band.
They chased him from secluded nooks
And trailed him down the mountain brooks.
And then the countryside did rally
For Claudius was captured in the valley.
He was taken to the county seat
Stoutly tethered, hands and feet.
They chained him to the jailhouse floor
And double barred the oaken door.
Villagers gathered from many a mile
And gave him a fair and honest trial.
The jury came in and here’s what they said
"He shall hang by the neck until he is dead."
"For your evil deeds you must pay.”
Then the judge decreed he’d hang that day.
So Claudius went up the Gallows Hill
Just beyond the village mill.
The angry mob howled and jeered
With rope in hand the hangman leered.
Amid the roar of angry hoots
Claudius calmly removed his boots.
The assembled crowd just looked with a stare
For there he stood, his feet were bare.
Someone muttered, I wonder why?
Claudius spoke in a loud reply.
”My mother said with my boots on I’d die
I want to prove that she did lie.”
As he deprived his mother of her prophecy
He raised his foot so all could see.
Then with a sickening cry, they pulled him high
And he swayed in the wind that came with a sigh.
So ends our tale of the wayward lad
Whose finish you see was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill.
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still.
South of the Mountains, Vol. 9; No. 1 (January – March 1965)
The story of Claudius Smith is an exciting legend that is becoming more and more extinct with the passing years.
-----------------------------------------------------
SMITH'S HAUNTED BOOTS
Originally the Property of the Tory Terror KICKED OFF AT A HANGING To Prove That His Mother Was a Liar Tine: ITtn Who Wor; Them Yean Afterward Were Killed by Lord* Story "No ono In tiio Schunuemunk mountains will ever forget tho Story of Bralnnrd I ! ier3on'B haunted hoots," said Christy Lord of that hlstotlo part of Orange county. "Tho story datos bock a good way, but It's always new and fresh along the old Sohunnemunk.
"Bralnard Plerson'a hoots, so t'.to story poos, were tho very hoots that Claudius Smith kicked off his feet just boforo ho was hanged at Goshen in the Revolutionnry times. Claudius Smith was the bloody Tory cowboy who, with his following of cutthroats nnd robbers, terrorized tho
Sehunnemunk and surrounding country for years. "After tho patriots had nt last captured the desperado und be was taken to tho gallows at Goshen ho kicked his hoots off as tho rope Was placed about his nock and exclaimed:
"'My mother en Id I would dio like a trooper's horse, with mjr shoes on. I will make her out a liar.'
"Thoso woro Claudius Smith's last words. His hoots, through some mannor of succession, tit last fell Into tho possession of Bralnard Piorson years after tho cowboy was hanged. I've often heard my father say thnt when folks heard that BralUßrd had got Claudius .Smith's boots they went to him and said: " 'Woo to you, Bralnard Piorson, if you wear thoso hoots! Not for all tho treasure Claudius Smith buried in old Sohunnemunk would wo Wear those boots! There's blood on 'em!'
" 'And even if thero is,' Brainord said, 'I'll walk it off tomorrow, for I'm going to drivo some cattle down Jersey way. I couldn't get n pair o' boots liko those for the price o' tho best critter I'vo got.' "Bralnard Plerson laughed and next day started with his cattle down Jersey way, wearing the dead Tory's boots. Somowhoro down near the Ramnpo pass a man coming this way met, a drove of cattle. They went on by and the man noticed that no drover was behind thorn. Ho went on. Ho had gone a quarter of a mile or so when ho almost stumbled over a man lying iv tho road. Ho noticed that the man had on a remarkably lino pair of boots, but ho started back in terror as lie saw a
rattlosnako lying near his feet. Discovering that tho serpent wns dead ho advanced and wus horriiiod to see that tho prostrate man's face was black and swollen and that ho was dead. It wns plain that the rattlosnako had bitten tho man, who had then killed tho snake beforo ho died.
"The dead man was Bralnard Plerson. Tho discoverer of tho tragedy sought tli6 nearest help ASd the rattlesnake's victim was brought home to Sohunnemunk. Tho head of the snnko had beon crushod by a stono and ono of its fangs was gono. The snako had bitten clear through ono of the boots Bralnard wore nnd a tiny puncture on his anklo showed whero tho deadly venom had entered to do its deadly work. " 'Claudius Smith's boots!'was tho llrst exclamation that folks mado whon Bralnnrd Picrson was brought homo dead from a rattlcsnako's bite. 'There's blood on 'em nnd wo told him so!'
"For a long time nothing was talked about all through tho Sohunnemunk country but Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots nnd tho awful fate that Bralnard mot with beoauso ho flow in tho face of warning and woro them. Somehow or other though Brainard's folks didn't seem to be able to see just how it was that he wouldn't have been struck by the rattlesnake if he hadn't had Claudius Smith's boots on, and so tho boots remained in the family. Thoro was no ono big enough yet, In tho family to wear boots and so they were put one side. And there they romaincd unused for ten years. Then the houso was robbed one night. Among the property stolen wore tho haunted boots. Two days after the robbery young Goorgo Piorson, Brainard's son, was hunting on Seven Spring mountain, and, going over to one of tho springs to got a drink, ho found a dead man lying near it black In tho face and swollen. Noar by tho body lay a big bundle. Tho dead man had on tho stolon Claudius Smith's boots! i'oung Plerson pulled off tho boots. On the man's right ankle was a little purplish rod puncture. " 'A rattlosnako has strnok hlra as sure as fate!' exclaimed young Piorson. "Tho bundle contained the things stolon from the Plerson family. George bached them homo und brought tho boots along. Then ho sproad the news about finding the robber on Sovon Springs mountain, dead frora a rattlesnnke's bite. "Several yours went by again before any one else woro tho haunted boots. Then a relation of tho Picrson folks, who lived down In tho Ringwood valley, visited thorn. Ho saw tho boots and took a great fancy to 'em. Ho wanted to buy 'om, although ho know the fata of tho only two persons who had worn 'em in years. " 'Thoro ain't any rattlesnakes In our section,' snid he. 'I'll risk the haunt.' "The Plerson folks wouldn't sell him the boots, but they mado htm a present of 'em. Ho took 'em home with him. Some folks say that ho didn't tell his father-in-law the story of tho boots when he mads him a present of 'em after he got homo, and some suy he did. At any rate, the father-in-law had a good deal of property which would go to this Piorson relation's wifo when her father died, and her father was in the best of health. Tho son-in-law made him a present of Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots. Tho father-in-law put 'om on one day and went for a walk. Not long afterward be came staggering home. "Ho was a dead man an hour later, with a black, swollen faco and body. On his right auklo was the mark of a rattlesnake bite, as thoro had beon on Bralnard Piorson's and on tho dead robbors. And there was not a rattlesnako in all that country I The father-in-law of tho Piorson relation was dead before the doctor could get there. Tho doctor was told tho story of the haunted boots. Seizing tho right boot, ho slashed lt down to the ankle with his knifo. Something white fell from lt to the floor. The doctor picked It up. He examined it for a moment.
" 'A rattlesnake's fang,' said he. 'And there's poison enough yet In Its channel to kill another man I'
"It was the missing fang of the snake that had bitten Brainard Plerson. It had been pulled from its socket by the firm hold the leather of tho boot had taken of lt. Held fast thus, with its point on the lnsldo, contact with it had been of sufficient force to puncture the ankles of tbe persons who had since worn tbe boot. The venom, though dry, was still potent, and its work as doadly as when lt lay In Its sack In the rattlesnake's jaw. That was what the doctor said."—Now York Sun.
class="divider">∼Claudius Smith
Smith led a band of British Loyalists who conducted guerrila war on Revolutionaries and their sympathizers in northern NJ and southern NYS. A cave reputed to have been used by him and his gang is a hiking trail attraction in Harriman State Park.
Smith and a gang member "Brown," arrested for stealing oxen from the Revolutionary Army, were jailed in Goshen on July 18, 1777 by Orange County Sheriff Dumont. But later the gang seized the sheriff and broke Smith and Brown out of jail.
The Tory gang's exploits terrorized Ramapo Valley residents who supported the Revolution. Smith raiders waylaid Gen. Washington's couriers and plundered Patriot farms. On Oct. 6, 1778, during an attack on one such farmhouse, its owner, Revolutionary Major Nathaniel Strong was killed. That Oct. 31, Gov. Clinton issued proclamation offering a large reward for the capture of Smith.
Claudius fled to Long Island but was caught and eventually transported back to Orange County where Sheriff Isaac Nicoll took custody. Smith was placed in heavy irons. Several extra guards were assigned just to keep watch on him and to prevent his escaping again from the Goshen jail. Claudius was tried and convicted on Jan. 13, 1779. He was publicly executed Jan. 22 in Goshen.
During the period of his incarceration at that place, both before his trial and while he was awaiting execution, Claudius Smith lived in hopes his men would undertake his rescue. Even when he was being led to the scaffold he was observed to cast furtive glances over his shoulder towards Slate hill, where about a mile away was a cave which was said to be a rendezvous of the robber gang. But he was so strongly guarded that no attempt at rescue was made, and would doubtless have failed if undertaken. One of the guards was stationed at all times at the "grief-hole" opening into his cell, with a loaded musket, with orders to shoot him dead if any attempt was made on the jail by his friends outside.
The fated hour arrived, and Claudius was led out of his gloomy prison and permitted to take his last look upon earth. He walked up the steps of the scaffold with a firm tread. He had dressed himself with scrupulous neatness, in black broadcloth with silver buttons, and white stockings. This was in the days of public executions; and he looked from the scaffold into the faces of thousands who had gathered there to see him die. He smiled grimly as he spoke to several men in the crowd below whom he knew.
Before the final adjustment of the noose Claudius stooped to remove his shoes. When asked why he did so he repeated the words of his mother that he would die with his shoes on, and added that he "wanted to make her out a liar." He was interred near the scaffold. Years afterwards a gentleman by the name of Wood, as he stood conversing with an acquaintance on the village green at Goshen, happening to press upon the greensward with his cane at a certain spot, found it would easily pierce the soil as though there was some sort of hollow underneath. A slight examination of the place showed it to be a shallow grave, and that the bones of a human skeleton lay entombed there. Further inquiry proved the remains to be those of the noted bandit chief, Claudius Smith.
Scores of people were attracted to the place, and some of the more curious carried away portions of the skeleton as souvenirs. Orrin Ensign, the village blacksmith, made some of the bones into knife-handles; doubtless some of them are still doing duty in that capacity. It is even believed by many of the people of Goshen that the skull of Claudius Smith is embedded in the masonry over the front door of the present court-house in that place.
Some of Smith's associates were even greater criminals than himself. His son James was hung at Goshen soon after his own execution; his eldest son, William, was subsequently shot in the mountains, and the body never was buried but became the food of wolves and crows, where the bones lay bleaching for years afterward.
Source:
Claudius was the eldest son of David Smith (1701–1787), a respected tailor, cattleman, miller, constable, clergyman, and finally judge in Brookhaven, New York. His mother was Meriam (Williams) Carle, a daughter of Samuel Williams of Hempstead, New York. David Smith was the son of a Samuel Smith, but the identity of this Samuel is not certain.
Thief, bandit, traitor, desperado, outlaw, highwayman, kidnapper, arsonist, murderer and unmitigated scoundrel were only a few of the infamous names given to Claudius Smith during his reign of terror from 1774 to 1779.
"Cowboy of the Ramapos"
The legend of his escapades has been handed down from generation to generation and only after the turn of the Twentieth Century did the people of lower New York State cease scaring unmanageable children with “Claudius Smith will get you if you don’t watch out!”
It is believed that Claudius Smith started his notorious career at an early age in Monroe, New York. Historians say that he and his two brothers, Richard and James, were encouraged in their ways of transgression in early childhood by their father.
The beginning of the Revolutionary War saw Claudius a grown man, and, being of English parentage, he seized the opportunity to band together a group of traitors and Tories, who had embraced the cause of the Crown.
The British were stationed in New York City and at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and up as far as Stony Point, and they were in constant need of supplies. In the beginning Claudius and his band stole horses and cattle and sold them to the British. Hence, legendary stories always referred to them as “The Cowboys of the Ramapos.”
Before the capture of Claudius and the breaking up of the band they were by that time stealing and plundering anything they could lay their hands on. They would come forth at night from their mountain caves, breaking into dwellings, stealing food and valuables, and sometimes set ting homes and barns on fire, killing in cold blood if resisted.
The countryside was in a constant state of terror. In 1778 an indignation meeting was held by the citizens and an appeal was made to Governor Clinton of New York State for help. It was not until the following year that Claudius was finally captured and taken to the jail in Goshen, New York. He was tried on January 13, 1779 and hanged January 22, 1779. I t is ironic to note in the writ of execution that he was tried and executed for burglary only.
Three of the caves which were used by Claudius and band are situated within 35 miles from New York City and may be visited today, one near Tuxedo, New York, another on Route 202 at Wesley Chapel and the other on the Townsend farm North of Southfields.
Famed Tory outlaw Claudius Smith meets his end on the gallows on this day in 1779 in Goshen, New York. In the wake of his death, Patriot civilians hope for relief from guerilla warfare in upstate New York.
Born in Brookhaven, New York, in 1736, Smith moved with his family to Orange County, New York, in 1741. Thought to have fought with Mohawk leader Joseph Brandt as a Tory defender of the crown during the New York campaign of 1777, Smith earned the label "Cowboy of the Ramapos" for his use of guerrilla tactics against Patriot civilians. Smith and his cohorts stole livestock and ambushed travelers on the Orange Turnpike between Canada and New York from the cave now memorialized as "Claudius Smith's Den" in Orange County's Harriman State Park.
Smith managed to escape justice until his gang murdered Patriot Major Nathaniel Strong in the course of a robbery. Patriot Governor George Clinton then issued a warrant for his arrest, offering a $1,200 reward for the capture of Smith, who was described as "7 feet tall" in his wanted poster. Captured on British-controlled Long Island by vigilantes in October, he and other members of his gang, including one of his sons, were returned to Patriot territory and hung near their home turf in Goshen.
Despite his less than savory exploits, Smith earned a reputation as a "robin hood" because he targeted the wealthy but was said to be generous with the poor. Because his mother reputedly warned him that, unless he reformed, he would "die with his boots on," Smith removed his footwear before he was hanged. Two of Smith's three sons belonged to his gang—one was hanged with his father; another took over the gang upon his death.
Legend has it that Claudius Smith's skull was filled with mortar and included in the edifice of the Goshen Court House.
________________________________________________________
The Ballad of Claudius Smith
Claudius Smith was a wayward lad
From early youth his ways were bad
And he came to an end that was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still
In the eighteenth century year seventy-four
Men were meeting at door to door.
There was talk of tax on tea
They were protesting, it should be free.
Patriots rose in seventy-five
Public spirit sprang alive.
Seeds of liberty were sown deep
Blood flowed freely, death did reap.
British marching in from the ocean
Headed up toward the land of Goshen.
Their high stepping troops it was told to me
Were hired to fight, from across the sea.
Hessian soldiers, evil and smelly
Would only fight on a full belly.
They needed horses, beef and pork
To sustain their march up from New York
They were willing to pay with gold
And this is what tempted our outlaw bold.
So Claudius became a bandit chief
From farmer boy to desperate thief
Their many acts of depredation
Were a curse to the struggling nation.
It is told in all the stories
How he banded together a gang of Tories.
The outlaw leader and his band
Were often called the scourge of the land.
Hard riding men, fast with a gun
Working at night and afraid of the sun.
They used to meet in his father’s tavern
Then hid by day in the mountain cavern.
From Sidman’s Bridge to Tappan Zee
They robbed and stole to get their fee.
Driving away with farmers’ cattle
Wanton killing if forced to battle.
Martinis Onderdonk was wealthy and proud
And he had no use for the Tory crowd.
He had a son, a daughter too
Who all the village boys did woo.
The leader of the traitor band
Also sought her lovely hand.
But the marauding free booter
Was a very unwelcome suitor.
Katherine Onderdonk turned him down
For his allegiance to the crown.
He was determined to have this maid
"Forget her, Claudius" his followers said.
He had no ears, she’d hurt his pride
By force he’d have her for his bride.
The bandits surrounded her house that night
Katherine woke with an awful fright.
She looked at Claudius with eyes of hate
Knowing too well what was her fate.
He bound and gagged her, the heartless knave
And took her off to his mountain cave.
He further raised the farmers’ ire
By setting their homes and barns on fire.
A t nigh t the citizen’s watch did keep
For fear of being murdered in their sleep.
Terror reigned and nerves were taut
Then Governor Clinton’s aid was sought.
He promised them muskets, flints and powder
As the many protests grew steadily louder.
The wrathful farmers came en masse
From Hudson Valley to Ramapo Pass.
A meeting was called in old South Field
The doom of Claudius Smith was sealed.
They planned a search throughout the land
To destroy the leader and his band.
They chased him from secluded nooks
And trailed him down the mountain brooks.
And then the countryside did rally
For Claudius was captured in the valley.
He was taken to the county seat
Stoutly tethered, hands and feet.
They chained him to the jailhouse floor
And double barred the oaken door.
Villagers gathered from many a mile
And gave him a fair and honest trial.
The jury came in and here’s what they said
"He shall hang by the neck until he is dead."
"For your evil deeds you must pay.”
Then the judge decreed he’d hang that day.
So Claudius went up the Gallows Hill
Just beyond the village mill.
The angry mob howled and jeered
With rope in hand the hangman leered.
Amid the roar of angry hoots
Claudius calmly removed his boots.
The assembled crowd just looked with a stare
For there he stood, his feet were bare.
Someone muttered, I wonder why?
Claudius spoke in a loud reply.
”My mother said with my boots on I’d die
I want to prove that she did lie.”
As he deprived his mother of her prophecy
He raised his foot so all could see.
Then with a sickening cry, they pulled him high
And he swayed in the wind that came with a sigh.
So ends our tale of the wayward lad
Whose finish you see was very sad.
They caught him in the valley
And they hung him on the hill.
And his skull may be seen
in the courthouse still.
South of the Mountains, Vol. 9; No. 1 (January – March 1965)
The story of Claudius Smith is an exciting legend that is becoming more and more extinct with the passing years.
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SMITH'S HAUNTED BOOTS
Originally the Property of the Tory Terror KICKED OFF AT A HANGING To Prove That His Mother Was a Liar Tine: ITtn Who Wor; Them Yean Afterward Were Killed by Lord* Story "No ono In tiio Schunuemunk mountains will ever forget tho Story of Bralnnrd I ! ier3on'B haunted hoots," said Christy Lord of that hlstotlo part of Orange county. "Tho story datos bock a good way, but It's always new and fresh along the old Sohunnemunk.
"Bralnard Plerson'a hoots, so t'.to story poos, were tho very hoots that Claudius Smith kicked off his feet just boforo ho was hanged at Goshen in the Revolutionnry times. Claudius Smith was the bloody Tory cowboy who, with his following of cutthroats nnd robbers, terrorized tho
Sehunnemunk and surrounding country for years. "After tho patriots had nt last captured the desperado und be was taken to tho gallows at Goshen ho kicked his hoots off as tho rope Was placed about his nock and exclaimed:
"'My mother en Id I would dio like a trooper's horse, with mjr shoes on. I will make her out a liar.'
"Thoso woro Claudius Smith's last words. His hoots, through some mannor of succession, tit last fell Into tho possession of Bralnard Piorson years after tho cowboy was hanged. I've often heard my father say thnt when folks heard that BralUßrd had got Claudius .Smith's boots they went to him and said: " 'Woo to you, Bralnard Piorson, if you wear thoso hoots! Not for all tho treasure Claudius Smith buried in old Sohunnemunk would wo Wear those boots! There's blood on 'em!'
" 'And even if thero is,' Brainord said, 'I'll walk it off tomorrow, for I'm going to drivo some cattle down Jersey way. I couldn't get n pair o' boots liko those for the price o' tho best critter I'vo got.' "Bralnard Plerson laughed and next day started with his cattle down Jersey way, wearing the dead Tory's boots. Somowhoro down near the Ramnpo pass a man coming this way met, a drove of cattle. They went on by and the man noticed that no drover was behind thorn. Ho went on. Ho had gone a quarter of a mile or so when ho almost stumbled over a man lying iv tho road. Ho noticed that the man had on a remarkably lino pair of boots, but ho started back in terror as lie saw a
rattlosnako lying near his feet. Discovering that tho serpent wns dead ho advanced and wus horriiiod to see that tho prostrate man's face was black and swollen and that ho was dead. It wns plain that the rattlosnako had bitten tho man, who had then killed tho snake beforo ho died.
"The dead man was Bralnard Plerson. Tho discoverer of tho tragedy sought tli6 nearest help ASd the rattlesnake's victim was brought home to Sohunnemunk. Tho head of the snnko had beon crushod by a stono and ono of its fangs was gono. The snako had bitten clear through ono of the boots Bralnard wore nnd a tiny puncture on his anklo showed whero tho deadly venom had entered to do its deadly work. " 'Claudius Smith's boots!'was tho llrst exclamation that folks mado whon Bralnnrd Picrson was brought homo dead from a rattlcsnako's bite. 'There's blood on 'em nnd wo told him so!'
"For a long time nothing was talked about all through tho Sohunnemunk country but Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots nnd tho awful fate that Bralnard mot with beoauso ho flow in tho face of warning and woro them. Somehow or other though Brainard's folks didn't seem to be able to see just how it was that he wouldn't have been struck by the rattlesnake if he hadn't had Claudius Smith's boots on, and so tho boots remained in the family. Thoro was no ono big enough yet, In tho family to wear boots and so they were put one side. And there they romaincd unused for ten years. Then the houso was robbed one night. Among the property stolen wore tho haunted boots. Two days after the robbery young Goorgo Piorson, Brainard's son, was hunting on Seven Spring mountain, and, going over to one of tho springs to got a drink, ho found a dead man lying near it black In tho face and swollen. Noar by tho body lay a big bundle. Tho dead man had on tho stolon Claudius Smith's boots! i'oung Plerson pulled off tho boots. On the man's right ankle was a little purplish rod puncture. " 'A rattlosnako has strnok hlra as sure as fate!' exclaimed young Piorson. "Tho bundle contained the things stolon from the Plerson family. George bached them homo und brought tho boots along. Then ho sproad the news about finding the robber on Sovon Springs mountain, dead frora a rattlesnnke's bite. "Several yours went by again before any one else woro tho haunted boots. Then a relation of tho Picrson folks, who lived down In tho Ringwood valley, visited thorn. Ho saw tho boots and took a great fancy to 'em. Ho wanted to buy 'om, although ho know the fata of tho only two persons who had worn 'em in years. " 'Thoro ain't any rattlesnakes In our section,' snid he. 'I'll risk the haunt.' "The Plerson folks wouldn't sell him the boots, but they mado htm a present of 'em. Ho took 'em home with him. Some folks say that ho didn't tell his father-in-law the story of tho boots when he mads him a present of 'em after he got homo, and some suy he did. At any rate, the father-in-law had a good deal of property which would go to this Piorson relation's wifo when her father died, and her father was in the best of health. Tho son-in-law made him a present of Bralnard Piorson's haunted boots. Tho father-in-law put 'om on one day and went for a walk. Not long afterward be came staggering home. "Ho was a dead man an hour later, with a black, swollen faco and body. On his right auklo was the mark of a rattlesnake bite, as thoro had beon on Bralnard Piorson's and on tho dead robbors. And there was not a rattlesnako in all that country I The father-in-law of tho Piorson relation was dead before the doctor could get there. Tho doctor was told tho story of the haunted boots. Seizing tho right boot, ho slashed lt down to the ankle with his knifo. Something white fell from lt to the floor. The doctor picked It up. He examined it for a moment.
" 'A rattlesnake's fang,' said he. 'And there's poison enough yet In Its channel to kill another man I'
"It was the missing fang of the snake that had bitten Brainard Plerson. It had been pulled from its socket by the firm hold the leather of tho boot had taken of lt. Held fast thus, with its point on the lnsldo, contact with it had been of sufficient force to puncture the ankles of tbe persons who had since worn tbe boot. The venom, though dry, was still potent, and its work as doadly as when lt lay In Its sack In the rattlesnake's jaw. That was what the doctor said."—Now York Sun.
class="divider">∼Claudius Smith
Smith led a band of British Loyalists who conducted guerrila war on Revolutionaries and their sympathizers in northern NJ and southern NYS. A cave reputed to have been used by him and his gang is a hiking trail attraction in Harriman State Park.
Smith and a gang member "Brown," arrested for stealing oxen from the Revolutionary Army, were jailed in Goshen on July 18, 1777 by Orange County Sheriff Dumont. But later the gang seized the sheriff and broke Smith and Brown out of jail.
The Tory gang's exploits terrorized Ramapo Valley residents who supported the Revolution. Smith raiders waylaid Gen. Washington's couriers and plundered Patriot farms. On Oct. 6, 1778, during an attack on one such farmhouse, its owner, Revolutionary Major Nathaniel Strong was killed. That Oct. 31, Gov. Clinton issued proclamation offering a large reward for the capture of Smith.
Claudius fled to Long Island but was caught and eventually transported back to Orange County where Sheriff Isaac Nicoll took custody. Smith was placed in heavy irons. Several extra guards were assigned just to keep watch on him and to prevent his escaping again from the Goshen jail. Claudius was tried and convicted on Jan. 13, 1779. He was publicly executed Jan. 22 in Goshen.
During the period of his incarceration at that place, both before his trial and while he was awaiting execution, Claudius Smith lived in hopes his men would undertake his rescue. Even when he was being led to the scaffold he was observed to cast furtive glances over his shoulder towards Slate hill, where about a mile away was a cave which was said to be a rendezvous of the robber gang. But he was so strongly guarded that no attempt at rescue was made, and would doubtless have failed if undertaken. One of the guards was stationed at all times at the "grief-hole" opening into his cell, with a loaded musket, with orders to shoot him dead if any attempt was made on the jail by his friends outside.
The fated hour arrived, and Claudius was led out of his gloomy prison and permitted to take his last look upon earth. He walked up the steps of the scaffold with a firm tread. He had dressed himself with scrupulous neatness, in black broadcloth with silver buttons, and white stockings. This was in the days of public executions; and he looked from the scaffold into the faces of thousands who had gathered there to see him die. He smiled grimly as he spoke to several men in the crowd below whom he knew.
Before the final adjustment of the noose Claudius stooped to remove his shoes. When asked why he did so he repeated the words of his mother that he would die with his shoes on, and added that he "wanted to make her out a liar." He was interred near the scaffold. Years afterwards a gentleman by the name of Wood, as he stood conversing with an acquaintance on the village green at Goshen, happening to press upon the greensward with his cane at a certain spot, found it would easily pierce the soil as though there was some sort of hollow underneath. A slight examination of the place showed it to be a shallow grave, and that the bones of a human skeleton lay entombed there. Further inquiry proved the remains to be those of the noted bandit chief, Claudius Smith.
Scores of people were attracted to the place, and some of the more curious carried away portions of the skeleton as souvenirs. Orrin Ensign, the village blacksmith, made some of the bones into knife-handles; doubtless some of them are still doing duty in that capacity. It is even believed by many of the people of Goshen that the skull of Claudius Smith is embedded in the masonry over the front door of the present court-house in that place.
Some of Smith's associates were even greater criminals than himself. His son James was hung at Goshen soon after his own execution; his eldest son, William, was subsequently shot in the mountains, and the body never was buried but became the food of wolves and crows, where the bones lay bleaching for years afterward.
Source:
Family Members
Parents
Siblings
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