Clarksville Cave is nestled under the flank of a low wooded ridge virtually in the center of the hamlet of Clarksville, NY. Its 4800 feet of non-commercialized passages are usually entered through a small boulder-rimmed sinkhole situated in the woods north of June's Place restaurant. In 1963, what had been known as the two Clarksville caves were physically connected into one cave. Although tight crawlways are present in portions of the cave, much is easily traversable by splashing through a small stream in passageways often measuring seven feet high and fifteen feet wide. Many aspects of the cave, such as its geology and hydrology, are unique. Historically and still today, the cave has served as an important recreational, business and scientific resource for the community.
Recorded usage of Clarksville Cave is found engraved on the walls of the cave and in historic accounts. The Helderberg-Hudson caving grotto has painstakingly scrubbed the cave walls with soft haired brushes and water in an effort to reveal many old names and dates scratched and chiseled on the walls. The quality of lettering ranges from almost indiscernible to gravestone precision. Often, the lettering style bespeaks another era where penmanship was a virtue. Some of the names can be traced back to the forefathers of New Scotland. Many families whose ancestors left a record of their caving adventure still reside nearby.
Some famous geologists and authors have also left us a written record of their travels in Clarksville Cave. Names and dates alone, however, provide for a dry depiction of cave visitation. What was life like in New Scotland when the cave was first visited? What were the concerns of the time? Certainly, it was very different from our life-style of today. This was a time when travel was restricted to boats on the major rivers, horseback, carriage, stagecoach and foot. Basic sustenance was very demanding and afforded little time for leisure activities.
The first adventurers to leave a record of their exploration in the two Clarksville caves did so in 1811. Two 1811 dates have been found carved on the cave walls, only one with associated initials. This is inscribed "G.W.L. - 1811". Three other engravings from 1816 are what look to be "John Mann - 1816", "L H W E June 1816", and "A.W. Hann?". The lighting utilized by these cave explorers was restricted to lanterns, tallow candles, and torches. Oil lamps were probably the dominant source of underground lighting until the kerosene lamp grew popular following the drilling of the first petroleum well in 1859.
Bleeker's 1767 map of Manor Renselaerwick shows only four families present in the Clarksville area; Koenard Hogeteling, Alvert van Derzee, Arent, and Jonathan. Koenard Hogeteling was apparently a grandson of Mathys Hooghteeling, who in 1697 was granted a patent of land in Rensselaerwyck. Koenard Hogeteling, or his father, appears to be the first settler of the immediate hamlet of Clarksville. The Houghtaling lineage grew rapidly in the Albany many spelling variances of the original name. a small number of residences were present in area, often with Even though only Clarksville by 1811, knowledge of the cave was apparently widespread by 1829. In this year David H. Burr's map of the counties of Albany and Schenectady was published with the word "Cave" inscribed at the location of Clarksville Cave.
Although growth in the area was slow at first, the 1854 Gould & Moore map lists the population of New Scotland, of which Clarksville is only a small area, as 3,459. The Beers 1866 Albany County atlas shows many dwellings in the Clarksville area, including four Houghtaling residences and a Houghtaling saw mill in the Clarksville South Road and Stovepipe Road area. one of these dwellings is that of a T. Houghtaling. Perhaps this is the Teunis Houghtaling documented in the Jerusalem (now Feura Bush) Reformed Church vital records. On August 16, 1829 Teunis and his wife Magdelan Winne had their daughter Hannah Eliza baptized. Magdelan and Teunis had at least two other children named Francis and Simon Westfall, who were baptized in 1836 and 1838, respectively in the Union Church. An apparently different Teunis Houghtaling and his wife Margaret Winne had their son William baptized in the Unionville Dutch Reformed Church on March 5, 1834. Another older Teunis Houghtaling now lies in the Houghtaling Burial Ground in Clarksville. This Teunis Houghtaling died at the age of 71 on August 26, 1819. He was wed to Lena on July 7, 1770.
In 1818, Teunis Houghtaling, a descendent of the original settler entered the two Clarksville Caves which at this time had not been physically connected. Probably by the light of an old oil lamp he slowly proceeded through the caves, carefully measuring their lengths. This he recorded with his description of the caves, scrolled on a yellowed parchment paper. "When Decending the Mouth of the Cave we pass threw a Narrow passage With a Steep Decent of about 15 feet Perbindicular then threw a Chasm of 50 feet in Length Supported with or by Solid Limestone Rocks ... through which the Water is Continually percolating and Congeals in Solid Columns Resembling Icicles on the Eves of Houses.
This same limestone rock in which such a beautiful cave formed became the source of livelihood for many area residents after 1800. The lime burning industry was of vast importance and significantly contributed to the growth of Clarksville. Within a two mile radius fifty lime kilns were built. As early as 1815 DeWitt Clinton had made a memorable speech in which he advocated the building of what would become the Erie Canal, that would link the Atlantic Ocean with the great lakes of the American West. By 1825 construction had begun, with limestone blocks being quarried and transported from the settlement at Onesquethaw, immediately southeast of Clarksville. Teams of horses and oxen pulled loads daily from the quarries to the sites in Cohoes and elsewhere where the locks and walls of the canal were being constructed.
Most men in the Clarksville area who were not lime burners were farmers. By the nineteenth century, the backbreaking task of hewing farms from the forest was over, but still most farms in this early period were self-sufficient. The farmer needed a cash crop that he could sell at market to provide the few goods that he could not produce himself. In our area, farmers were favorably situated to take their produce to the city of Albany or to the river boat that would take it downriver to other markets. The growth of roads and the charter of the Albany Delaware Turnpike in 1805, that ran through the settlement at Clarksville, greatly helped the local farmers to reach a ready market for their goods. Since Clarksville was about half way between Rensselaerville and Albany, it became a convenient and popular stopping place. By 1800 the area had become established as a cattle and dairy region, with animals being driven to slaughterhouses in Albany and Troy. Butter and cheese were marketed. Other crops the farmer raised were corn, barley, hay and oats as well as flax, hops, broomcorn and fruit and vegetables.
While the life of the farmer was often hard and lonely, still there was opportunity for these people to get together with their neighbors for a variety of reasons that were the outgrowth of their needs. Cooperative projects such as house and barn raisings, quilting bees, and church socials occupied what little spare time they had. For other recreation there were picnics, school entertainments, country dances, husking bees, county fairs, caving and "the old swimming hole" in the lower Onesquethaw Creek gorge just downstream of Clarksville.
As time passed, more visitors added their names to the cave walls. Where signatures are less than legible, a best-guess interpretation is made. Uncertain letters are denoted by a question mark. There was an "E.H. 1818" and an "E.B. 1821" who apparently were in the cave at that time. Others from early dates include "D.L. P?att 1818". "Bakin 1820". "D.H. 1821", "J.J. 1821", "A.B. Chitten?? 1821". "A.T. Jr - 1829", "J.H. 1829", and J. Hall 18??. A less legible continuum of signatures is also present with dates ranging from 1815 through the onset of World War I in 1917.
It is possible that the J. Hall signature above is that of James Hall, a famous geologist and paleontologist, who lived from 1811 to 1898. Hall was State Geologist for N.Y.S. for many years and is well known for his extensive 13 volumes entitled the Palaeontology of New York. Alternately, the J. Hall engraving may be that of John Hall who had his son John baptized in the New Scotland Presbyterian Church on September 23, 1810. Since it required a major effort and time expenditure to travel far from Clarksville in the early 1800's, many of the early names recorded in the cave reflect the population of a few small closely connected towns where much intermarrying occurred among neighbors.
The well known geologist and botanist, Amos Eaton, wrote in a published account in 1820 of "a great cave at Bethlehem, twelve miles southwest of Albany." The Town of New Scotland in which the cave is located, was in those years a part of the Town of Bethlehem. Eaton provides one of the earliest interpretations on cave development, using Clarksville Cave as a case in point. Eaton's undated signature in script is on the cave wall. His lectures before the N.Y.S. Legislature led to the establishment of the N.Y.S. Geological Survey in 1836.
Newly completed roads brought a new influx of people to the region. By 1832, when the Town of New Scotland was incorporated, Clarksville had grown to be the largest village in the town. Travel increased and taverns were erected to accommodate overnight travelers, many of them farmers bringing their produce to the Albany market and Hudson River landings. In 1832, S.W. Williams carved his name in the cave. The 1830 Federal Census lists the family of Stephen Williams. Stephen was between 40 and 50 years of age, had an older wife, three daughters and one son. One traveler engraved his signature on the cave wall near a water pool referred to as Brinley's Sump; "E. Brinley. Amboy, NJ 1839".
The death of Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1839, the "last Patroon", who had leased out thousands of acres of land to tenant farmers in Albany and Rensselaer counties, symbolized the end of an era. -His leniency toward his 3000 farmer tenants in not collecting the rents due him, led his heirs to attempt to enforce payment of the back rents. Anti-rent organizations were formed in all sections of the Manor by the tenants, who felt that the land they owned was rightfully theirs. Things came to a head in December of 1839 when a posse of 600 citizens were met at Clarksville by the militia that had been called out by the governor. The militia was routed, but there were often sporadic skirmishes over the years. By 1850, the Van Rensselaers had sold out their interests, but litigation went on in the courts for many years.
William Mather, the first chief geologist of the Eastern Region of N.Y.S., explored and described "the cave at the village of Clarksville in Bethlehem" in 1843. He discussed the likely resurgence point of the cave stream in the nearby spring at the Mill Pond.
Soon after Mather described the cave, J.J. Sherman and E.P. boldly left their mark on Nov. 22, 1844 on a sloping rock face above a pool of water. Research reveals two possible candidates for these engravings. The Bethlehem Reformed Church records the marriage of Joseph Sherman to Charlotte Ely on April 1, 1810 and the marriage of Josiah Sherman to Maria Gedney on December 15, 1838. The Cemetery Records of Coeymans record the death of Josiah Sherman on July 29, 1871 at the age of 60.
On November 15, 1850 there was made on the cave walls a carved sign that looks like a devil's head complete with evil eyes and horns. Within the confines of that carving are inscribed "M.E. Blodget and A.A.C., J.J.S.". Volume 60 of the Family and Bible Records records the adult baptism of Mary E. Blodget on April 28, 1867 at the Clarksville Reformed Dutch Church, at which time she was the widow of J. Van Wie. The lack of other church or genealogic records bearing the initials M.E. Blodget, indicate that Mary may be the first female to leave her record in the cave. She may have been the daughter of John Blodget and Hannah Snyder, who were married on November 15, 1825 in the Bethlehem Reformed Church. It is likely that Blodget Hill in Coeymans is named after this family. The style of carving indicates that the J.J.S. signature is that of J.J. Sherman, who visited the cave in 1844. Since the church often provided most of the spiritual and social life for the farm families, this apparent departure from the norms of the time may possibly suggest a fun loving group mocking the overtures of the underworld.
Jean Powis references the "Ghost of Oniskethau", a nighttime fisherman who would routinely take his catch into Clarksville Cave. Townspeople have followed him into the cave, only to have him suddenly disappear. Many a caver has reported seeing a pair of ghoulish green eyes floating down the hollow corridors of the cave, often accompanied with the echoing sound of muffled footsteps. Perhaps this is the unsettled ghost of J.J. Sherman.
After the Civil War (1861-1865), the railroads had begun to move people about the countryside in a way that had not before been possible. Summer boarding houses sprang up in small towns of the Catskills and Helderbergs and people from the cities, even as far away as New York and Philadelphia, came to upstate New York for two weeks in the country, riding the train to Albany where they were met by a stage sent from the boarding house. Some of these summer boarders came to stay in the Clarksville area. Perhaps some of them visited the cave.
The Beers 1866 Albany County atlas cites the 1865 population of the Town of New Scotland as 3,311. Six hundred dwellings now dotted the countryside. Clarksville was in its heyday. In this general time period, Clarksville sported at least three hotels, two saw mills, a planing mill, a grist mill, a cider mill, a flour mill, a confectionery store, one or two meat markets, a shirt and dress factory, a fruit barrel factory, two hardware stores, four blacksmith shops, two harness shops, two shoemakers, a cooper shop, a wheelwright shop, a cabinetmaker shop, two churches, four doctors, three lawyers, an undertaker, a school, a half-mile horseracing track, one or more general stores, a post office, and a bakery.
A well known personage, Joel Y. Bloomingdale also left his imprint in May of 1862. Joel Bloomingdale was from New Salem, N.Y., and was a house and carriage painter and patentee of Bloomingdale's Tongue Support. Oscar Sager carved his name on the cave walls in 1863. The records of the Unionville Dutch Reformed Church record the marriage of Oscar L. Sager of Clarksville to Margaret Pangburn of Unionville on May 12, 1872. D.C. Gould carved his name on August 12, 1864. He lived at Clarksville where he was listed as a general merchant and fish and fruit peddler. A 1962 compilation of some early Clarksville history by Albertis Van Wie cites D.C. Gould as running a confectionery store, as well as repairing clocks and watches. D.C. Gould married Mary van Wie in the Unionville Dutch Reformed Church in 1869. Both were listed as living in Clarksville. The undated engraving of Hira Gould is also found in the cave. Perhaps he was a relative of D.C. Gould.
D. Latta was in the cave in 1866. Onesquethaw Church records document the birth of Daniel P. Latta on July 7, 1837 to William Latta and Catherine Wheeler. Perhaps this Latta was related to Civil War veterans William H. and blacksmith Philip Latta. Town records list a David P. Latta as a house and carriage painter in this time period. The Hotaling Genealogy lists a David R. Latta who married Martha Elizabeth Houghtaling of Clarksville on August 4, 1860. One of these two gentlemen is probably the D. Latta who visited Clarksville Cave.
In October of 1869, Verplanck Colvin eloquently described the two Clarksville Caves in Harper's New Monthly Magazine. His lengthy description of the cave is accompanied by three fine woodcuts. Colvin was a surveyor and explorer who has been described as "the most prominent character in Adirondack Mountain history". He was the major advocate leading to the creation of the Adirondack Forest Preserve in 1885 and the Adirondack Park in 1892. His work set the stage for the modern conservation movement in the northeastern United States. Examples of his writing style add insight into his character: "These two caves are said to be respectively one-eighth and one-half a mile in length. They should not be called two caves, however, for the "river" seems to flow from one to the other, and forms a connection which a person who likes ice-water baths might explore." "If you determine to see the end of the cave and the lake, and are not afraid of mud and low, flat passages, you will go further, perhaps fare worse. Again the cavern enlarges, a black emptiness is before you. Approach. You stand upon the shores of "Styx." A vaulted roof of dripping rock, a silent, echoing cavity, scarcely illuminated by dim lanternlight. Unruffled are the still, deep waters, green, though clear."
Colvin states that the subterranean river provided water for a house well. "This same river bursts forth near by in the bed of the Oniskethaw, and aids that stream to run a saw and paper mill". A major passage segment in the cave has been named Colvin Avenue.
other dates are carved in the cave walls from a later period. William Osborn, for whom a portion of the cave was named engraved his name in June of 1869. W.W. St John visited the cave on June 4, 1872. C. Thorn and A. Snyder put down their names in 1877. Many A. Snyder's are listed in the Bethlehem Reformed Church records. Those that would have been alive and not too old to 'enter the cave are Aaron Anthony Snyder, born February 27, 1818; Anne Marille Coughtry Snyder, born in 1857; and Angeline Snyder who was a school teacher in 1855. It is likely that the Aaron Snyder listed in the 1879 Albany County Directory as a bee raiser in Clarksville is the Snyder who visited Clarksville.
In 1878 G. and F. Mead carved their names. G. Mead, who chiseled his name on a large rock on the shore of "Styx", would have been excited to learn that 112 years later a submerged passage would be opened here, which now acts as the threshold for modern day exploration. The two Mead's who left their names in the cave are undoubtedly related to the large Mead family still present in the area. Perhaps the G. Mead signature is the same as Mr. George E. Mead of Selkirk who is listed in 1913 as a basso in the choir of the First Reformed Church of Bethlehem. Alternately, the G. and F. Mead engravings may have been those of the children of Maria Houghtaling and George Mead who lived in Great Barrington, Mass Three names of the eight children were Frederick, Frank, and George. Perhaps they visited relatives in Clarksville.
In 1884 we find the carvings of H. Van Wie. Perhaps this was Hannah Van Wie of New Scotland who was married to John Perry on March 13, 1869 in the Bethlehem Reformed Church. Many Henry Van Wie's were identified, but most or all would have been too old to enter Clarksville Cave in 1884. Although genealogic research may identify other H. Van Wie's, it is most likely that the H. Van Wie who visited the cave is the one listed in the 1879 Albany County Directory as a laborer in Clarksville. The Van Wie name dates back to at least April 20, 1838 when Andrew Van Wie married Harriet Lampher in the Unionville Dutch Reformed Church. Both were listed as living in Clarksville. H. Van Wie may be an ancestor of the Van Wie family which runs a large dairy farm at the base of Cass Hill near the western end of Clarksville.
J. McIntosh carved his name on August 18, 1887. Perhaps he is the John McIntosh, listed as a carpenter in Clarksville in the 1891 Albany County Directory. Fred Crounse chiseled his name in the Ward's upstream section of the cave near the Lake Room on August 15, 1887. He is almost certainly a descendent of Frederick Crounse who was drafted and rendered service in the Revolutionary War. Frederick Crounse planted-the roots of many Crounse generations when he settled in the Helderberg region, just east of Altamont in the 1700's. This original emigrant, who died on April 16, 1828, was the first of many Frederick Crounse's. Genealogic research indicates that the Fred Crounse who visited Clarksville Cave was either a fifth or sixth generation Crounse. Perhaps he was a son of either Conrad Crounse or Hiram Crounse who were Clarksville doctors in 1887. The 1879 Albany County Directory lists a F. Crounse who was a physician in Knowersville (now Altamont). Alternately, Fred Crounse may have been related to an A.J. Crounse listed as a Clarksville attorney in 1887, or to H. Crounse whose residence is shown on the 1866 Albany County map near the Wolf Hill Dam.
F. Snyder left his signature in the cave in 1885. Perhaps this is the Francis Snyder, son of Philip and Mary Snyder, who was baptized on December 13, 1859 in the Bethlehem Reformed Church. Alternately, this could have been Francis J. Snyder, who lived from 1830 to 1914 and now rests peacefully in the Elmwood Rural Cemetery. The Snyder name was scattered throughout the early Jerusalem Reformed Church Records.
With the exception of Mary E. Blodget, the only other known female to have carved her full name within the cave is Maggie Houck, August 17, 1890. Certainly she was related to one of the nine Houcks who resided in Clarksville at that time, many of which were listed as farmers. Perhaps she was the daughter of Isaac, Houck who ran a saw mill, a planing mill, a grist mill, a cider mill and a shirt factory along the Onesquethaw Creek near the cave's resurgence at this time. Arthur A. Houck ran the general store and Central Hotel at Clarksville.
The carving of "W.C. Bailey - N. Lebanon 1888" is found in the cave., Perhaps this is the Reverend William Bailey who is referenced in the 1913 History of the First Reformed Church of Bethlehem, New York as temporarily suppling the pulpit in 1883, while the regular pastor was absent before and after his resignation. In the same year Rev. William Bailey served as moderator when the congregation sought a new permanent pastor.
in the undated signature of Reverend J.G. Perkins which appears twice in the downstream section.
Lewis Van Atten engraved his name on July 29, 1898. The Van Atten name was prominent in the area, being listed in the Unionville Church and Jerusalem Reformed Church records at an early date. David Van Atten was listed as living in Clarksville in 1869. Perhaps Lewis was his son.
Other names and places carved on the cave walls include "W.F. Seeber 1878", "Dougg N - A.S. Abbott 1881", "O.V. Howell - J.C. Bogue 1885", "G.W.G???? 1891", "Bill - Bess 1897", "L. Warner July 11 1900", "L. Wagner 1900", "HDayton", "Geo Killogg", "W.F. Seeber". "H.H. Ludlow", "J.E. Gavit NY", "H. Hyce", "Robert B. Hall", "W.O. Jarvis", "W. Giurley", and "Budd + Bill Sand?? Albany + Syracuse, NY Dec 2, 1917". The name Robert Hall appears in the 1810, 1820, and 1830 census reports. Three Robert Halls are buried in the New Scotland Presbyterian Church cemetery, having died in 1825, 1835, and 1853. An undated T. Hotaling signature may be the Theodore Hotaling of South Bethlehem listed in 1913 as a Deacon in the History of First Reformed Church of Bethlehem, New York. The L. Warner listed above may have been Lansing Warner who married Ada Patterson, born in 1863, and was probably of the family for whom nearby Warner's Lake was named.
The undated inscription of J.B. Weaver is also found in Clarksville Cave. The Weaver ancestry in Albany County dates back to the 1700's. Two J. Weaver's, with middle initials not given, are cited in the Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs of 1911. Jacob Weaver, the son of Benjamin Weaver and Margaret Knox, was born on February 11, 1801 and died on July 22, 1887. He was a farmer and one of the early settlers of Glenville. He married Wilmetje Van Zandt and had four children. Jacob's son Benjamin., who was also a farmer had many children; one of whom was named John.
Dated initials engraved on the cave walls include "D.Y. 1854", "J. DVD 1873", "L.S.T. 1878", "MPB - ICB Dayton, PA 1886", "A.K.H.-W.H.H.-D.B.S. Sept. 13, 1889", "G.W. 1891", "W.E.-W.Z.+M.E. 1893", "C.G.H. '96", "M.A.C. 1898", "F.L.B.C.H.C. 1903", "E.B.+ E.V.A. 1908", and "J.T.S. Jr. '16". A continuum of visitation is shown.
In 1906, John H. Cook, in his report on "Limestone Caverns of Eastern New York", briefly described the Clarksville cave. He wildly speculated that the water rising in "Styx" might originate at Thompsons Lake, which has no surface outlet. A tracer study has now confirmed the Clarksville Cave lake water source as originating elsewhere. Two passage segments, Upper Cook Avenue and Lower Cook Avenue, have been named after this famous geologist.
With the advent of the carbide lamp in 1900, cave lighting had taken a step forward. A noticeable lack of signatures and dates are found in the cave after 1917. This may be a If function of a growing respect for nature where defacing others properties was now considered inappropriate or-simply that work to date has failed to reveal mud covered signatures. The war years and the onset of the Great Depression of 1929 apparently did not serve to reduce visitation to the cave. In the 1930s, the cave was billed as an excellent place to go, suggesting that the visitor bring an inflatable boat. Several newspaper accounts of the cave have appeared since. It was a rare weekend when people did not come especially to visit the two caves. One notable visitor was famed cave explorer Clay Perry, who helped found the National Speleological Society, a national cavers' organization, in 1940. In his honor, the large passage segment leading to the Lake Room was named Perry Avenue.
It is clear that a steady stream of adventurers have explored Clarksville Cave since at least 1811. Many local families have ancestors who enjoyed the cave by lantern light. The cave has provided a major recreational and business resource for the hamlet for 180 years. Today, caver traffic is found in the cave every weekend and some evenings. While most of the trips are devoted purely to recreation, others involve exploration, pushing the limits of the known cave. In the last several years, another major focus of trips involves detailed hydrologic and geologic analysis of the cave and its tributary watershed.
Clarksville Cave is a jewel in the crown of New Scotland. It should be cared for and protected by our present generations, as well as adventurers and naturalists yet to be born.