Oak Hill and Vicinity by Historian Mary Lou Nahas - The Cheritrees of Oak Hill

OAK HILL – After the Dewitts, the Cheritrees are arguably the most prominent early family in Oak Hill and yet little has been published about them.  While I don’t know the whole story, today I’m going to share what I have found.

The story of the Cheritrees in Oak Hill starts with: “In 1844, Sheldon Cheritree of Middleburgh, but formerly of Greenville, bought those plow works and extended the scale of operations to other classes of work.  In 1854, he also bought the DeWitt grist mill adjoining, for the water privileges.

1865 Grist mill, Cheritree’s foundry, malleable works and all the buildings connected to those interests burned, involving the loss of many thousands of dollars.  Cheritree Bros rebuilt their foundry and plow works immediately.

Who was Sheldon Cheritree?  He was the son of   John Cheritree (1768-1815) and Abigail Tuttle (1774) of Greenville.    Ancestry lists John’s father as Reuben Cherrytree Chinita (1750-1826) from Connecticut.  

What John did for a living and why he came to Greenville, I do not know. But John and Abigail had eight children (some sources say 11) Amamda, Sheldon (1776-1867), John, Hanna, Mary Ann (1800-1859) Lewis (1797) were six of them.   What John did for a living, where Sheldon was educated, what his first jobs were, I don’t know.  But we do know that Sheldon, married Olive Botsford  of Greenville, Dec. 14, 1815.

We begin to find information about Sheldon when Beers History of Greenville records:  The first building erected by the Presbyterian society was moved on the present site of the Episcopal church, and soon after converted into a hotel, and run by Sheldon Cheritree.  Buel Cheritree, the first blacksmith, shop stood where the residence of Joseph P. Hallock now stands.    We also learn Sheldon operated a shoe store.  Where he got the money to buy these I do not know.  But obviously he was a man on the way up.  Next, we learn, he was in Middleburg and then he came to Oak Hill. 

In 1844, Sheldon Cheritree of Middleburgh, but formerly of Greenville, bought the plow works operated by Hirman Hurd and William Bullock from around 1834

1865 Grist mill, Cheritree’s foundry, malleable works and all the buildings connected to those interests burned, involving the loss of many thousands of dollars.  Cheritree Bros rebuilt their foundry and plow works immediately.

Vernon Haskins, founder of the Durham Center Museum, in his Yesteryear column in March 1963, wrote: “It was the two great foundries that brought the greater fame to this town [Oak Hill] along about the middle of the 19th century. The great Cheritree Foundry, located on the DeWitt property today [the Twelve Tribes property now] was the center of much activity. “

Windham Journal in July 21,1859:  As you enter the village from the West, the large Furnace of the Oak Hill Malleable Iron company meets the eye.  There is manufactured various articles, such as Hooks, Staples, Carriage Trimmings, and in fact more articles than I could enumerate in a week…The next Furnace is that of Cheritree & Pierce.  This furnace turns out an immense number of castings of all kinds, this is also the place where the celebrated Cheritree Plow is made

Who were the Cheritree’s?

Sheldon Cheritree 1794-1867   married Olive Botsworth; they had 8 children who included

 Egbert, whose widow lived in lower Oak Hill;

 Eliza Oliver Pierce

 John Henry who married Margaret DeWitt in 1832; they had 4 children:  Olive, Amanda, Mary, Theodore;

 Andrew Jackson

Emily Roggin

 and 3 others.

By 1865, when 300 people lived in Oak Hill If you look at the 1867 map of Oak Hill you can see where the Cheritree’s lived

Note the home of Mrs. Cheritree:  wife of Egbert Cheritree, an early wagon maker.  

Then the home of Sheldon and Olive (Botsworth) Cheritree, owner of Cheritree foundry. An early account records: “Nearly opposite the [DeWitt] hotel is a square house standing on a little raise of ground.  This was for many years the residence of Sheldon Cheritree, father of the Cheritree Bro’s, of the Empire furnace.  

An article in the June, 1991, Greene County News reported “The Cheritree home, a Greek revival style house built circa 1843 by Sheldon and Olive Botsworth Cheritree 

What businesses did they engage in in Oak Hill:

“In 1844, Sheldon Cheritree of Middleburgh, but formerly of Greenville, bought those plow works and extended the scale of operations to other classes of work.  In 1854, he also bought the DeWitt grist mill adjoining, for the water privileges.

“In 1865, the grist mill, Cheritree’s foundry, the malleable works, and all the other buildings connected with those interests were burned to the ground, involving the loss of many thousands of dollars.”

“The Cheritree brothers [Sheldon’s sons] rebuilt their foundry and plow works immediately after the fire, and now doing a very successful business in making ‘Climax’ plows.”

he Greene County Advertiser, Vol 1. No., April 8,1886, which reported, “The furnaces in Oak Hill are both running. It is expected that the iron business will soon start up with renewed activity. These furnaces generally give employment to a large number of hands, and when running full, Oak Hill is a lively business mart.”

The 1850 census tells us Sheldon Cheritree Iron Foundry:  Used 30-ton pig iron, 20-ton coal.  Made 20-ton plough castings ($1,600) 30-ton door latches ($3,600) Paid out in materials $1,360; wages $1,5212.  7 workers. Workers paid $18 per month.

Oak Hill Malleable Iron: 10 men and one boy, $32 per month average.

Cheritree Brothers Agricultural & Hardware: 11 men, four boys, $32 per month average.

Cheritree Brothers Plaster Mill: Made 150 tons of plaster, one man, $32 per month average.

Vernon Haskins, founder of the Durham Center Museum, in his Yesteryear column in March 1963, wrote: “It was the two great foundries that brought the greater fame to this town [Oak Hill] along about the middle of the 19th century. The great Cheritree Foundry, located on the DeWitt property today [the Twelve Tribes property now] was the center of much activity. 

The historical marker shows the site of the Oak Hill Malleable Iron Company. 

After Cheritree rebuilt his foundry, he was famous for Climax Plows and many hardware articles including grind stone fixtures, swivel hay fork pulley, gate hinges, foot scrapers, ash shovels, coffee stands, sad iron stands, wardrobe, coat and hat, harness, hall hooks, drawer pulls, stove pipe dampers, door latches, barn door rollers, barrel bolts, book jacks and bedstead fastenings.

One of the most successful items that the upper foundry produced was a steamless and odorless kettle and steamer. This item sold all across the country and half the sales that the foundry made were for this kettle. One advertisement was a testimony from the famous Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher: “I have had the Odorless and Steamless Kettle and Steamer in use for some weeks. It is destined to make house duties, especially those belonging to the kitchen, less oppressive, besides giving facilities for preparing food more properly than any contrivance I have yet seen.”

When did the businesses close and why:

Cheritree’s businesses closed because the location in Oak Hill made it difficult to collect raw materials and to ship finished products economically. The iron was not mined locally and had to be purchased and transported here. There was no railroad to ship products out. They needed showrooms in New York City to market, another expense.

Also, many of the first owners and workers were elderly or deceased: The Catskill Weekly Examiner on April 8, 1909, published: Charles W. Pierce, an old and respected citizen, died last Thursday, aged about 85. Mr. Pierce was engaged as a pattern maker and iron molder with Cheritree Bros, and was a fine mechanic.

Walter Scott Cheritree, age 79, died May 24, 1915. It was the end of an era.

Social Life of the Cheritrees: 

On September 4, 1895, P.T. Hoagland married Ella Cheritree, daughter of Walter S. Cheritree. A newspaper account gives a picture of the event:  Hoagland-Cheritree: “A happy event occurred in our quiet village, Wednesday last, the occasion being the marriage of Miss Ella Cheritree to Page T. Hoagland at the residence of the bride parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter S. Cheritree.  About twenty-five invited guests were present to witness the ceremony.  At twelve o’clock the popular strains of Mendelsohn’s wedding march, played by Miss Carrie C. Tripp, floated sweetly thought the rooms and soon the bridal party entered the spacious parlor, the groom accompanied by C. W. Burnett, who officiated as best man, followed by the bride leaning on the arm of her father.  The beautiful and impressive Episcopal marriage service was performed by Rev. T. A. Snyder, of Greenville, rector of St. Paul’s church, this village, of which the contracting parties are both members.  Immediately after the ceremony the newly wedded couple lead the way to the dining room where an elegant repast was served after which they received the hearty congratulations of all present.   The bride was tastily arrayed in a dress of blue Lansdown trimmed with white ribbon and lace and carried a bouquet of China-asters.  The groom wore a suit of black cut in the prevailing fashion.  They were the recipients of many beautiful and useful gifts.  The rooms were profusely decorated with flowers, beautiful and fragrant.  Among those present were Miss Olive Cheritree.

Next week I will share another chapter of the story: the Cheritree’s during the life of Olive.