In presenting this new History of Orange County to the public, we doso in the earnest hope that it will prove to be the most completecompilation of local chronicles that has up to this time been offeredto our citizens. The authenticity of the facts contained in thevarious articles is as absolute as the utmost care could make it. Thedata have been procured from the best known authorities, and thesketches, when completed, have been subjected to the most searchingexamination for verification and correction. That no errors will bediscovered in this production, is too much to hope for; but we domost certainly trust, that if any such errors there be, neither innumber nor by their nature, will they be found to be sufficientlyimportant to detract from that character for reliability, which ithas been our constant aim and endeavor to impart to this history.
In this new work the design has been, to make clear the developmentof ideas and institutions from epoch to epoch; the social andeconomic conditions of the people have been preserved in thenarrative, and much attention has been paid to describing the civilcharacteristics of the several towns and cities, both in the conductof their local affairs and also in relation to each other and thecounty at large.
It is a well-known fact that considerable prejudice exists among agreat body of the people toward county histories in general, for thereason that some such compilations in the past, have been composed offact and fiction so intermingled, as to render it a difficult matterto know what was true and what was false. It has been our object inthis work to hew straight to the line, satisfied to simply furnishsuch information as we were able to gather concerning each importantmatter or interesting event; and where the desired materials werelacking, we have not attempted to supply that lack, by filling in thevacant niches with products of the imagination. We have not strivenfor effect, but our object is merely to give an authentic account offacts recent and remote, so disposed in a proper and orderly manner,as to enable our readers to clearly understand the history of theircounty from its origin down to the present day.
It is the limitation attached to all works devoted to generalhistory, that from their very character only a superficial knowledgeof the men and their times can be derived from them, while on theother hand, that which they lack is supplied by local histories ofthis nature, whose great value in adding to the fund of humanknowledge cannot be overestimated; for they are the only mediumsthrough which we can get the whole story of the economy of life,practiced by those men and women in every county in our broad land,which eventually resulted in transforming a wilderness into a garden,and from a weak and needy folk, creating a rich and mighty nation. Ithas long been recognized by every scholar, that the knowledge of suchhumble elements is absolutely essential, in order that the mind mayintelligently grasp the potent factors which go to make up history.Hence, our correct understanding of the