Daniel SKINNER (Admiral)

Father: Joseph SKINNER
Mother: Martha KINNE

Family 1: Lille HEALY
  1. Reuben SKINNER
  2. Daniel SKINNER
  3. Lille SKINNER
  4. Mercy\Mary SKINNER
  5. Joseph SKINNER
  6. William H SKINNER
  7. Sarah SKINNER
  8. Nathan SKINNER
  9. Cortlandt SKINNER
Family 2: Rosabelle KINNE 
                                                                                 _________________
                                                               _Thomas SKINNER _|_________________
                                           _Thomas SKINNER ___|
                                          |                   |                  
                                          |                   |_Mary|_________________
                   _Ebenezer SKINNER _____|
                  |                       |                                      _________________
                  |                       |                    _________________|_________________
                  |                       |_Mary PRATT _______|
                  |                                           |                  _________________
                  |                                           |_Mary - _________|_________________
 _Joseph SKINNER _|
|                 |                                                              _________________
|                 |                                            _________________|_________________
|                 |                        _William LORD _____|
|                 |                       |                   |                  _________________
|                 |                       |                   |_________________|_________________
|                 |_Sarah \ Abigail LORD _|
|                                         |                                      _________________
|                                         |                    _________________|_________________
|                                         |_Sarah BROOKS _____|
|                                                             |                  _________________
|                                                             |_________________|_________________
|
|--Daniel SKINNER 
|
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|                                          _Thomas KINNE _____|
|                                         |                   |                  _________________
|                                         |                   |_________________|_________________
|                  _Thomas KINNE _________|
|                 |                       |                                      _________________
|                 |                       |                    _________________|_________________
|                 |                       |_Elizabeth KNIGHT _|
|                 |                                           |                  _________________
|                 |                                           |_________________|_________________
|_Martha KINNE ___|
                  |                                                              _________________
                  |                                            _________________|_________________
                  |                        _Moses COX ________|
                  |                       |                   |                  _________________
                  |                       |                   |_________________|_________________
                  |_Martha COX ___________|
                                          |                                      _________________
                                          |                    _________________|_________________
                                          |___________________|
                                                              |                  _________________
                                                              |_________________|_________________
INDEX

Notes

October 2019: Thomas Michael Skinner
Cousins! Yes Heli is of the Joseph Skinner line through Daniel, The Lord High Admiral of the Delaware Rafters (Brother to my Abner) and his son Nathan. Joseph was the one responsible for settling the Wyoming Valley and along the Delaware River through the grant from King Charles and purchases by the Connecticut Company of which he was a principal. Abner's youngest kids, which included my GGG Grandfather, Jacob, and his twin Israel, settled the Susquehana Big Bend region.

Skinner, Todd (09/2001)
Daniel came with his father Joseph from Connecticut to settle the area along the Delaware river known as Cushetunk Territory in about 1754. He shortly returned to Connecticut( probably as the result of the indian raids which terrorized these early settlers) and became a merchant sailor. In 1760 Daniel was in Newton, Sussex county , New Jersey and purchased several thousand acres of land in Cushtunk from his brothers Benjamin and Joseph, and from Nathan Kinne, Thomas Corbin, and Agustus Hunt.
He had seen that the shipbuilding industry in Philadelphia and Willmington Delaware had a need for ship masts: and he remembered the tall straight pines which were growing in abundance 150 miles up the Delaware River, But how could he get them there? He at first attempted to simply float them down the river, but found that they would run aground on the islands befor they went to far. He next put six large ship masts together of equal lengths through each end of which he cut a mortise of about four inches square, and into this he put what he called a spindle, of white oak, to fit he mortise. In The end of this he inserted a pin to keep it from slipping. The lumber thus put together he called a raft, and to each end of it he pinned a small log crossways and in the middle of this he fastened a pin, standing perpendicular about ten inches above the cross-log, on which he hung an oar for and aft. It being thus rigged he hired a very tall Dutchman to go to the fore end, and with this his raft arrived safely in Philadelphia, Where he sold it for a good price.
Thus he started the lumber business which was to become a major industry in the area for over a hundred years. Daniel Skinner was known forever after as "Lord High Admiral of the Delaware".
Before a new man could launch himself into a career as a raftsman, he had to first present himself "at court" to Daniel with a bottle of spirits. To gain the privilege of going as a steersman, another bottle was required, on the receipt of which the Admiral gave full permission to navigate all the channels of the river. The only way back up the river in those early days was to walk.
In correspondence with one of the descendents of Daniel Skinner, after visiting St. Tammany's Cemetery,I was told that at one time there had been over one hundred tombstones at the cemetery, but that the ice and flooding river had washed most of them away. There is no cemetery there now, and the land has reverted to private farm land.
The two Skinner tombstones found for Lillie and Courtland were found close to the house, one in the garage and one under the porch! We searched the property for quite some time, in a heavy rain, but failed to find Daniels stone anywhere about. The son of the owner of the property (in 1951) was most kind and helpful, but knew nothing about the old cemetery as his parents had just recently purchased the farm. Doris Seymour Wahl
Daniel Skinner named his land "St. Tammany Flats" after the celebrated Indian chief, St. Tammany- from Quinlan's History of Sullivan County,New York The state of Pennsylvania has erected a State Marker at Milanville, Pennsylvania, which reads as follows: "Cushetunk-the first settlement on the upper Delaware was made here in 1755, under the lead of Moses Thomas and Daniel Skinner, on lands called Cushetunk by the indians. Settlement seized by the Indians and tories, 1778"
Excerpt from letter of Edna Skinner Beegle; "It seems to be the trend of the authors of today to belittle the leading men of the early days and some of them speak of Daniel as a 'rough old rascle' but he was religious, kind and refined because my grandfather Calvin remembered him and his father Nathan was very mild of disposition. He was often called to take the position of minister if the minister was absent and would read scriptures, whole chapters, without a Bible."
Baptism: Preston, Connecticut , North Preston Congregational Church Vol 1 page 62 Occupation: Merchant Sailor, Logger Will: February 22, 1813

!.....Wahl, Doris Seymour. The Skinner Kinsmen, The Descendants of Joseph and Martha (Kinne) Skinner. Niagra Falls, NY. n.d. page 48: b. Preston, Windham County, Colony of Connecticut, March 22, 1733; baptised there, May 13, 1733. Daniel Skinner's will was dated February 22, 1813. He died Feb. 23, 1813 and is buried at St. Tammany Cemetery, but his tombstone is no longer there. (Mrs. Wahl visited the location of St. Tammany Cemetery in June, 1951. There she saw two stones whose inscriptions were as follows: "In memory of Cortlandt, son of Daniel and Lille Skinner, who departed this life, June 22, 1796, aged 16 years, 10 months and 4 days." "In memory of Lille, wife of Daniel Skinner, who departed this life June 7, 1807, aged 69 years, 6 months and 27 days.") He m. (1) Pomfret, Conn, by Jeremiah Hinna, March 11, 1761 Mrs. Lillie Richardson, a widow with a daughter, Phoebe, who was then about seven years old. Lillie was b. Nov. 11, 1737 in Preston, Conn., the daughter of ----- Heli (or Healy). She was the mother of all of Daniel's children. She d. June 7, 1807 and was buried at St. Tammany Cemetery which was directly across the Delaware River from Calicoon, New York. Daniel m. (2) May 4, 1808, Rosabelle Kinne, daughter of Henry and Martha Kinne, great granddaughter of Thomas Kinne. In correspondence with one of the descendants of Daniel Skinner, after visiting the above site, I was told that there had once been over one hundred tombstones at St. Tammany's Cemetery, but that the ice and flooding river had washed most of them away. There is no cemetery there now, and the land has reverted to private farm land. The two headstones inscribed as above were found close to the house, one in the garage and one under the porch! We searched the property for quite some time, in a heavy rain, but failed to find Daniel's stone anywhere about. The son of the owner of the property (in 1951) was most kind and helpful, but knew nothing of the old cemetery as his parents had just recently purchased the farm. - Doris Seymour Wahl Contemporary Records: 1790 - Census - "Cosikton District, Northampton Co. Pennsylvania Daniel Skinner: 3 males over 16 yrs, 2 male under 16 yrs, 4 females Daniel Skinner named his land "St. Tammany Flats" after the celebrated Indian Chief, St. Tammany. (From Quinlan's History of Sullivan Co., NY) The third permanent lodgement made within the limits of Sullivan (County) by white men was at Cochecton, as the valley of the Delaware from Callicoon to Turkey Creek to the mouth of the Ten Mile River was designated a century ago. On the banks of the river, near the present village of Cochecton, was an Indian village of some note, where the savages of the surrounding country met to observe their ancient customs. Here they had their green-corn dances, their dog festivals, their games of ball, etc. and here according to ancient tradition, which has been nearly lost amid the din and whirl of modern days, lived the celebrated Lenape sage and Yankee Saint - Tammanend, Tammaning or Tammany. William L. Stone says that he lived in the middle of the 17th century: That he was a sagacious and virtuous sachem; that in his youth he resided in the country which is now called Delaware; and that he afterwards settled on the banks of the Ohio. In truth, little or nothing reliable is known concerning this heathen saint. The first settlers claimed that his lodge was on the Skinner farm, and the "Admiral" loved to designate his valley-land as St. Tammany Flats. The State of Pennsylvania has erected a State Marker at Milanville, Pennsylvania, which reads as follows: "Cushetunk - The first Connecticut settlement of the upper Delaware was made here in 1755, under the lead of Moses Thomas and Daniel Skinner, on lands called Cushetunk by the Indians. Settlement seized by the Indians and Tories, 1778." From - Volume 53 p 84 - New Jersey Historical Society: Water Transportation in Colonial New Jersey The first type of boat was, of course, the Indian Canoe. In it the fur trader sought the beaver which were becoming more and more scarce. The raft was an obvious means of floating timber to market. In 1764 one was brought down to Philadelphia from Chochecton Falls, NY by Daniel Skinner and his assistant. This feat of navigating the river for nearly two hundred miles was widely praised. Both men were given the "freedom of the city" and Skinner was awarded the title of "Lord High Admiral of the Delaware" which he bore until his death. The raft consisted of six pine logs, seventy feet long, to be used as masts for ships, then building at Philadelphia. Excerpt from letter of Edna Skinner Beegle: "It seems to be the trend of the authors of today to belittle the leading men of early days and some of them speak of Daniel as a "rough old rascal" but he was religious, kind and refined because my Grandfather Calvin remembered him and his father Nathan was very mild of dispositon. He often was called to take the position of minister if minister was absent and would read the Scriptures, whole chapters, without a Bible. Daniel Skinner is listed in Mrs. Fernald's "Skinner Kinsmen" as #170 descendant of Thomas Skinner of Malden, MA.

!.....E93.1126.69-79 SKU 11(1)18 Neal

!.....E93.1221.09 Todd, Sheryl SKU11(1):7: Donovan, F. 1966. River Boats of America. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. P 17-18. One of the giants of colonial rafting days was Admiral Dan Skinner - �admiral� only of a fleet of log rafts. Skinner had been a sailor. He left the sea and trekked from Connecticut across New York to the head waters of the Delaware. He realized that the tall pines on the foothills of the Catskill Mountains would make fine masts for the ships of the Royal Navy. The king�s agents had never reached these remote forests to put their broad arrow marks on mast trees, so Dan gathered a group of brawny men and started an industry. Skinner pioneered in welfare benefits for employees. The members of his picked crews of adventurous roughnecks had to pay an initiation fee to secure their jobs - two large bottles of whiskey for an experienced steersman and one for a deck hand. But the fringe benefits soon returned their initial dues many times over. Dan�s method of managing the hairpin turns in the upper river was to stop the rafts above the bend and get the men pleasantly potted on New England rum so that they happily took icy dunkings while manhandling the craft around the turn. Below, they finished the rum to take the chill off. The difficult stretch of the Delaware ended at Easton. Here the rafts paused overnight while the crew had a thorough carouse for which Dan provided lodging, food, liquor, and women. Then the hung-over crews floated calmly down to the shipyards at Camden and Philadelphia. From here the men, pockets heavy with their pay, started their walk back to the head waters of the river, dribbling their earnings at taverns on the way. Most arrived tired and broke - and ready for another voyage.

Created by Sparrowhawk 1.0 (4/17/1996) on Sun Jul 22 17:36:21 2007