Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook Vol. 060 1975

r~i

Year Book Dutchess County Historical Society

1975

Mary Beatrice d'Este, the only daughter of Alfonso IV, Duke of Modena, was born October 5, 1658, at Modena, Italy. In 1673, she married James Stuart, Duke of York, upon whom his brother, King Charles II, had conferred rights of Proprietor of the Province of New York. She was Dutchess of York for twelve years and for three years Queen of England. When the Protestant revolution overthrew the Stuarts, James II and Mary fled to France. She died at St. Germains, May 7, 1718.

The Colonial Laws of New York, Volume 1, pages 121-122, "AN ACT to divide this province and dependencies into shires and Countyes." Passed November 1, 1683: "The Dutchess's County to bee from the bounds of the County of Westchester, on the South side of the High-lands, along the East side of Hudsons River as farre as Roelof Jansens Creeke, & East-ward into the woods twenty miles."

Portrait by William Wissing, National Gallery, London.

L. Gordon Hamersley, Jr., Editor The Year Book is published after the end of the year and includes reports of the activities of the society during the year. Copies are mailed to those members whose dues are paid for the current year. Address: The Dutchess County Historical Society, Box 88, Poughkeepsie, New York.

Copyright 1976 by the Dutchess County Historical Society

DUTCHESS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETINGS - MEMBERSHIP - DUES

MEETINGS: At least two meetings of the Society are held each year, the annual meeting in the spring and a meeting and pilgrimage in the fall. Other meetings and social gatherings are arranged from time to time.

MEMBERSHIP: Anyone with an interest in history is welcome as a member. Membership in the Society may be obtained by making application to the Secretary, Box 88, Poughkeepsie, New York_ Upon the payment of dues, members are elected by the Trustees or at a meeting of the Society.

DUES: Annual dues, $7.00; Joint membership (husband and wife), $10.00; Life membership, $75.00. Annual dues are payable on January 1st. of each year. These payments carry with them the right to vote, to hold office, and to take part in the proceedings of the Society.

YEAR BOOK: Upon the payment of dues at time of election, a new member will be mailed a copy of the last published Year Book. Year Books are mailed only to those members whose dues are paid to date. One copy is mailed to a joint membership.

DUTCHESS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Incorporated under the laws of the State of New York December21.1918 Certificate of Incorporation filed in the office of the Clerk of Dutchess County Book 10 of Corporations page 153

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

Secretary's Minutes Treasurer's Report

14

President's Report

16

Glebe House Report

17

Curator's Report

21

In Brief

22

A New Commemorative Plate

23

200 Years Ago: New York Joins a Revolution, Russell E. Chappell

25

American Flag Evolved Slowly

33

Prelude to Revolution: Politics in Poughkeepsie, 1774-1776, Thomas P. Billings

35

Dutchess County in the Revolutionary War, Louise Tompkins

41

A Record of Turmoil (Minutes of the Committee of Safety for the Town of Northeast, 1778), George B. and Janet S. Bookman

45

Backbone of Farm Fare for Years Was Hog Meat .

68

Over Hill: Over Dale (Chapter Four on the Flagler Family), Robert Pierce

70

Oblong Friends and Dr. Fallon's Hospital, A. Day Bradley

79

The Chains Which Fortified the Hudson River Highlands during the Revolution, Henrietta Mead

84

Red Hook's Maizefield in Historic Register

98

Changing City

101

Union Street Historic District, Suzanne Donner and Ben Rayfield for Poughkeepsie Urban Renewal Agency

104

Knickerbocker-Kilmer Homestead, Barbara Thompson

116

Antique Print Association Issues Bicentennial Book

118

Historical Societies in the Towns of Dutchess County

120

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Appointed Historians of Dutchess County

121

Town Historians

122

Index: Dutchess County Historical Society Year Book, Volumes 55 - 60, 1970 - 1975

123

The Society cannot be responsible for statements made by contributors, although an effort is made for historical accuracy in the publication.

OCCASIONAL PUBLICATIONS of the DUTCIIESS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1916-PAMPHLET, Tnoutbeeh, A Du che-4 County Homebtead; by Charles E. Benton. Out of print.

1924-COLLECTIONS, VOL. I; PoughheepbLe, The On~gtin and Mean-

£ng of -the Nond; by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds.

(Price $5.00) 1924-COLLECTIONS, VOL. II; 02d Gnave4-tone& og Dutehebb Coun-ty, New Yonh; collected and edited by J. Wilson Poucher, M.D., and Helen Wilkinson Reynolds.

Reprint $25.00 the Town ob Hyde Pakh, 1928-COLLECTIONS, VOL. III: Reeond4 o

Dutcher Coun-ty, New Ybnh; edited by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Edition exhausted.

Manntiage4 and Dea-th4 1930-COLLECTIONS, VOL. IV; No-ttiee4 o ti n New4papen4 pntin.ted a-t PoughheepbLe, N.Y., 1778-1825; compiled and edited by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds.

(Price $5.00) 1932-COLLECTIONS, VOL. V; Recondb ob -the Re~onmed Du-tch Chuneh o New Haclzen4ach, Dutche44 Coun.ty, New Yoniz; edited by Maria Bockee Carpenter Tower. Edition exhausted.

-the 1938-COLLECTIONS VOL. VI: ELgh-teen-th Cen-tuny Reeond4 o poet on ob Dutehe44 Coun-ty, New Yong -tha-t wa4 -Lne aded ti n Romboux Pneetinct and -the o tig-LnaL. Town ob F-L hFztiU. Collected by William Willis Reese. Edited by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds. Edition exhausted.

1940-COLLECTIONS, VOL. VII: Reeond4 ob Cnum Elbow Pnec-nc-t, Du-tche-4 Coan-ty. Edited by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

(Price $10.00) Edition exhausted 1958-COLLECTIONS, VOL. VIII; Fam-iJy VLb-ta, -the Memoin4 ob

Mangane-t ChanLen AJLdntich. (Price 50 ) 1967-PAMPHLET, illustrated, VOL. IX: The Glebe Hoube, Poughfzeep4tie, New Yon1a, 1767. Edited by a committee of the Junior League of Poughkeepsie, (Price 50 ) H-ib-tonicaZ SoeLe-ty Yean Boofz VOL. 1 through VOL. 59 (Price $3.50) VOL. 60 (Price $7.00) Dutchess County Historical Society Mrs. Albert E. Powers, Curator c/o Adriance Memorial Library Poughkeepsie, New York 12601

3

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

John M. Jenner Franklin A. Butts Mrs. Robert Hoe, Jr. Peter Van Kleeck Mrs. Albert E. Powers L. Gordon Hamersley, Jr.

President Vice President at Large Secretary Treasurer Curator Editor

Terms ending 1975: Ralph E. Van Kleeck Mrs. Albert E. Powers Roscoe A. Balch, Ph.D. Mrs. David N. Sanford

Terms ending 1977: Clifford M. Buck Arthur C. M. Kelly Mrs. John C. Smith Lewis F. Winne

Terms ending 1976: Mrs. Kenneth R. Briggs Radford Curdy John V. Kane Charles N. de la Vergne

Terms ending 1978: Mrs. John Losee Mrs. Fred C. Daniels George B. Bookman The Reverend Herman Harmelink, III

VICE PRESIDENTS REPRESENTING TOWNS AND CITIES Mrs. Catherine F. Leigh Mrs. Irving Picard Mrs. F. Philip Hoag Miss Helena Van Vliet Thomas Boyce Mrs. Charles Boos Felix Scardapane Mrs. Paul Courtney Miss Hazel Skidmore Mrs. Henry B. Thompson Walter W. Davis Mrs. Howard Smith Mrs. William B. Jordon Mrs. Calvin Case Charles G. Spross Frank V. Mylod Stanley Willig Mrs. Donald E. Norton DeWitt Gurnell Mrs. John Geisler Mrs. Roland F. Bogle Miss Louise H. Tompkins

Town City Town Town Town Town Town Town Town Town Town Town Town Town Town City Town Town Town Town Town Town

4

of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of

Amenia Beacon Beekman Clinton Dover East Fishkill Fishkill Hyde Park LaGrange Milan North East Pawling Pine Plains Pleasant Valley Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie Stanford Red Hook Rhinebeck Union Vale Wappinger Washington

SUMMARY OF 1975 MINUTES January 14, 1975 Mr. Hap Jamison attended the meeting and talked about his consultations with Mrs. Eunice Smith regarding our interest in ordering a commemorative plate. He plans to work with her during the month so that he will have samples of 2 plates by the next meeting for our consideration. Mrs. Smith mentioned that there was a local merchant interested in merchandising the plates when they are ready.

Peter Van Kleeck, treasurer, reported that some members had been dropped from membership for non-payment of dues, and that 3 separate bills are sent before they are dropped.

Mr. Gordon Hamersley reported that the Year Book is finished, and is now in the mail after several delays at the Post Office. He estimated the cost of printing to be about $3800. This is a little more than last year and the book has fewer pages. The suggestion was made that we might sell more Year Books this year because of the Bicentennial.

President Roig asked Peter Van Kleeck to draw up a proposed change in our dues structure to reflect increased costs.

Mrs. Howard Smith told the Board of the death of Mrs. Fred C. Daniels of Pawling, who had been a Town VicePresident for Pawling.

There was discussion about trying to stop the plans for demolition of the Mott-Van Kleeck building on Market Street.

John Jenner moved that a letter be written and hand delivered to Urban Renewal opposing the demolition. President Roig will also call Mr. Patterson of Urban Renewal immediately.

Felix Scardapane asked for a list of items or furnishings needed at Glebe House, because he might know someone willing to donate some items.

Hubert Spross said the scheduled meeting for January 15, 1975, is organized and John Mylod will give a commentary with slides on the Hudson River.

February 12, 1975 It was decided that in the interest of saving printing costs no minutes would be included in the Year Book.

Wilhelmina Powers stated that since minutes would not be included in the Year Book that the Secretary should furnish copies of the minutes in a binder for the Library.

Hubert Spross mentioned various possibilities for a spring cruise on the River for members of the Society. No decision was made.

Mr. Spross said he has access to an old film of 1912 Poughkeepsie, that within 6 months there might be two copies of this film available for showing. The National Archives is interested in having it.

Walter Averill said that 1000 commemorative plates had been tentatively ordered from Hap Jamison at $4.50 per plate, subject to the approval of the sample to be submitted.

Ralph Van Kleeck reported that plans to demolish the Mott-Van Kleeck building on Market Street had been stopped, that several people seemed interested in it, but so far no one has enough money.

5

Gordon Hamersley discussed issuing a special Year Book for 1976, but that printing costs are so high that 2 books in one year might prove too expensive. The board felt we might issue a slim Year Book this spring and then the next Year Book could emphasize the Bicentennial.

Stanley Willig mentioned an Open House that Hunt Furniture is having this Sunday at which people will be demonstrating the old skills such as leathercraft, weaving, wood carving, tinkering, and stained-glass making.

March 10, 1975 Eunice Smith said that the sample of the Commemorative Plate which is to be furnished by Hap Jamison should be submitted for approval in about 6 weeks.

President Roig told of receiving a letter telling us that all the deceased members of the Flagler Family are being moved to one cemetery. The letter is being placed on file.

William Carroll is to be asked by President Roig to write an article about his research on the Nine Partners for inclusion in our next Year Book.

It was decided to hold the Annual Meeting at Holiday Inn, Sharon Drive, in May. President Roig said that the Glebe House Committee has the offer of the loan of a painting of Elsey DeReimer and a temporary loan of a DeReimer chair for the purpose of having a copy made. It was suggested that name plates on the various paintings would be helpful to visitors.

Considerable discussion was held about the dues structure. Any increase in dues would not become effective until 1976 as approval would have to be given at the annual meeting in May. A motion was passed to have the officers consider the establishment of a Corporate Membership. Another motion was passed that "a committee investigate membership classifications and related dues, including a Sustaining Membership". President Roig appointed Walter Averill, Clifford Buck, and Peter Van Kleeck to serve on the committee.

President Roig asked Hubert Spross to form a Public Relations Committee.

Eunice Smith said she had been told by Radford Curdy that some original manuscript material from Rev. Beardsley might be available for purchase. The Board authorized the purchase at a suggested cost of $30.

Hubert Spross reported that the old film of Poughkeepsie, which was owned by William Schrauth, has been sent to the National Archives. Mr. Schrauth will receive a copy and the Society can have a copy made if desired, the cost being about 10 per foot. He mentioned that he would be willing to show the film to interested groups.

Eunice Smith announced a seminar sponsored by the Dutchess County Arts Council on grants to be held on March 26 at the First Presbyterian Church. She also told of the printing equipment which is owned by the D. C. Arts Council and which member organizations can use.

John Jenner reported that the Glebe House Committee is in contact with a New York City museum regarding their possibly loaning us some furniture for the Glebe House. Mr. Isbirian has volunteered his services regarding the purchase

6

of rugs wholesale for Glebe House. One rug has already been purchased.

Peter Van Kleeck will furnish a mailing list for a conference to be held at Arlington High School on May 17 about the Bicentennial.

April 8, 1975 President Roig asked Stanley Willig to work out an interesting route for a Pilgrimage to his area (Stanford) the first week in October to be presented to the Board at the next meeting.

President Roig had secured 2 copies of John Mylod's "Biography of a River" which he sent to Mr. Herbert L. Jaycox and Mrs. Florence S. McCormick. Both had requested copies. Each sent a contribution of money to the Society in appreciation and the money shall be added to the Bicentennial Fund.

President Roig appointed a nominating committee consisting of Ralph Van Kleeck, Walter Averill, Eunice Smith and Elinor Sanford.

Rev. Harmelink was asked by President Roig to write another company about our commemorative plates in case there is any difficulty in securing those already ordered.

President Roig announced that the Annual Meeting of the Historical Society will be May 24, 1975, with an alternate date of May 31.

Clara Losee reported that they are very busy in Milan collecting old documents, that they have a few old Beekman leases, and that they are going to microfilm for preservation.

Gordon Hamersley reported that there will be a smaller Year Book this year, and that a few pages will be saved by not including the minutes.

President Roig said that the dues may be raised to $7 for a single membership, $10 for a family membership. The Board was in favor.

Radford Curdy showed the Board some old documents which are for sale, one being a book listing the city poor. There were also 6 account books of a slooping company. A motion was passed to buy the documents. A motion was passed that a committee of acquisition and disposition be appointed by the President. Mr. Roig appointed Clifford Buck, Clara Losee, Radford Curdy, and Eunice Smith with Wilhelmina Powers ex officio. They are to report in September.

Eunice Smith would like to have 1000 indexes printed listing what articles we have published which could be given away for publicity purposes to various colleges and historical societies. The cost would be approximately $20. The motion was passed that she obtain the indexes.

Elinor Sanford asked about the present status of our plans to have one floor in the Cunneen-Hackett Cultural Center. Mr. Roig indicated that the plans have not changed.

May 13, 1975 President Roig asked whether or not we should belong to the Organization of American Historians. The annual dues are $25. The motion was passed that we join.

He announced that the annual meeting will be held on May 31, 1975, at the Holiday Inn, Sharon Drive, and

7

Mr. William F. Dornbush will be the speaker. He will give a talk on the career of General Daniel Morgan.

Rev. Harmelink recounted the disappointments and delays with regard to our order of commemorative plates. We were now investigating another company to take care of our order and a sample drawing of the design of the plate should be here in 2 or 3 weeks.

Wilhelmina Powers said we had received as gifts from Harold A. Nesler 2 books of the 1800 era. They will be catalogued, a letter will be written to Mr. Nesler thanking him for the gift. These might be books suitable for Rev. Beardsley's study in Glebe House.

Mrs. Powers reported that she has found a company which will be willing to reprint some old books at a reasonable cost. Discussion will be held with Mrs. Powers to decide which books should be reprinted first. Further discussion will be held at the next meeting. She said that the 1922 Year Book is completely sold out, that there are no more copies. There was some discussion about whether or not reprints of this particular Year Book should be obtained, and whether or not there would be some demand for a complete set of past Year Books, if they were made available. Some of the board felt that the whole pricing policy of old Year Books should be reviewed.

Rev. Harmelink showed the board the 1716 original deed on the Reformed Church Property on Hooker Avenue, which had recently been found there.

Gordon Hamersley felt that it is time for our plans to be crystallized regarding possible use of the Cunneen-Hackett Cultural Center, since there seemed to be some question on the part of the Poughkeepsie Area Fund as to what our definite plans are. President Roig said that our intentions are clear, that we can get a donation of approximately $36,000 if we have a place to display some of the documents. Mr. Jenner and President Roig are to set up a meeting with P.A.F. president John Taylor to clarify our position.

Ralph Van Kleeck gave a report of the nominating committee, the elections to take place at the Annual Meeting.

(Nominating Committee report is included in the Annual Meeting minutes.)

It was felt that we should extend our insurance to cover the new acquisitions at Glebe House. Ralph Van Kleeck will get a list of the new items from his wife Norma, since she does all the cataloguing for Glebe House.

Marilyn Hoe said that Walter Averill had asked her to present his resignation to the meeting from the Board. It was voted to accept his resignation with extreme regret, and the Secretary will write him of our appreciation for his past endeavors.

ANNUAL MEETING, May 31, 1975 After luncheon was served at the Holiday Inn in Poughkeepsie, the meeting was called to order.

Mrs. Irving Picard wanted to clarify that the Madame Brett House is owned and maintained by the local chapter of the DAR. Peter Van Kleeck reported 49 new members.

Ralph Van Kleeck reported for the nominating committee and the slate was elected as read. They are as follows:

8

John M. Jenner Franklin A. Butts Mrs. Robert Hoe, Jr. Peter Van Kleeck Mrs. Albert E. Powers L. Gordon Hamersley, Jr. Terms ending 1976: Mrs. Kenneth R. Briggs Radford Curdy Charles M. DeLaVergne John V. Kane

President Vice-President at large Secretary Treasurer Curator Editor Terms ending 1977: Clifford M. Buck Arthur Kelley Mrs. John C. Smith Lewis H. Winne

Terms ending 1978: George Bookman Silas Frazer Herman Harmelink III Mrs. John Losee

Terms ending 1979: Herbert S. Roig Kenneth R. Toole Mrs. Ralph E. Van Kleeck Mrs. Arthur F. Wollenhaupt The speaker was William F. Dornbusch, who is a founder of the Rye Historical Society. He gave an illustrated lecture on the life of General Daniel Morgan, who was a Ranger of the Revolution, and one of the foremost generals.

President Roig explained the need for an increase in dues. A motion was passed that the dues for a single member be increased to $7, and to $10 for a family membership.

The meeting was turned over to the new President, John Jenner, who spoke briefly about current happenings and future plans.

June 10, 1975 President Jenner asked each member present to introduce himself. Herbert Roig said a $25 donation had been given to the Westchester Historical Society in lieu of a fee to William F. Dornbusch, the speaker at the annual meeting.

President Jenner said that Herbert Roig would continue to be involved in Glebe House. Mr. Roig briefly explained for the benefit of new board members that there is a separate committee working on refurbishing each room of Glebe House with Mrs. Margaret Partridge as overall chairman of the furnishing committee. All of the committee is working on the dining room. A rug has already been purchased for the room, and 4 chairs are being made for the dining room.

President Jenner announced that there will be a Fall Pilgrimage to Dover with Stanley Willig and Franklin Butts working on an itinerary.

President Jenner told the board that Mrs. Norma Van Kleeck catalogs all items that are placed in Glebe House, and writes letters of thanks to donors of items.

Mr. Jenner said he will ask George Bookman to work with Wilhelmina Powers to consider the priority in having out-ofprint books reprinted. The feeling of the board was that "Old Gravestones" should be the first book reprinted. The board was told that the Reynolds Fund is especially designated for "publications", so that a motion was passed that 200 copies be ordered of "Old Gravestones" at a cost of $11.27 per copy from a company that Mrs. Powers has been in communication with. The color of the book binding and the

9

printing to go on the binding will be left to the discretion of Mrs. Powers. The selling price of the book will be determined later.

Hubert Spross talked about the progress in having the old 1914 film of Poughkeepsie copied for local viewing. He said that one copy of it will stay in the National Archives, that the film will have to be edited and that the content of the film is not entirely known. He suggested that perhaps the editing could be done at a private showing of the film for the trustees and town vice-presidents.

President Jenner told the board that there is now a tour boat operating on the Hudson River which carries 44 persons maximum, and that the cost is about $7 including a meal.

A letter was read by President Jenner from Mrs. Kate Spross relative to the town of Clinton's Bicentennial celebration. Their committee would like permission to reprint some articles from past Year Books and also would like to have a contribution from the Society. After some discussion a motion passed giving the town of Clinton $25.

President Jenner told the board of his plan to appoint a committee to consider the establishment of a museum where the collection of Historical Society's documents and artifacts could be displayed.

Mrs. William Bogle stated that she felt she must resign as a Vice-President from the Town of Wappinger. Her resignation was accepted with regret.

September 9, 1975 Peter Van Kleeck reported that the second dues bills have gone out and that another notice would go out in another month to those who have not yet remitted. He said that the Pilgrimage mailing had brought in some new members.

President Jenner stated that we had received acknowledgments from the Dutchess County Genealogical Society and the Hudson Valley Association for our payment of dues to their organizations.

Franklin Butts said that they had 101 reservations for the barbeque at Lowell Thomas' on Saturday, September 13, the day of the Pilgrimage.

President Jenner reported that Glebe House now had 3 deReimer chairs and another chair on loan from Mrs. Elsey Van Kleeck Hamersley.

The hope, he said, is eventually to lave 8 chairs for the dining room, and reminded the board that 4 chairs are being copied. Norma Van Kleeck said all the furnishings in Glebe House, except the books, have been catalogued, and there are about 300 items. She said there are two rentals in the offing, and some craft classes are scheduled in the Fall.

Rev. Harmelink said they are still waiting for a sample of the commemorative plate to be furnished by Hap Jamieson.

Eunice Smith remarked that no price had been set for the plate but that several outlets for the sale of the plates are being considered.

Mrs. Powers reported on progress in having "Old Gravestones" reprinted. She said that there are about 5 or 6 old Year Books of which there are only a few copies. 1922 Year Book is gone. A motion was passed that Mrs. Powers be authorized to have missing Year Books xeroxed so that 10 to 12

10

complete sets of Year Books might become available for sale.

What is spent is left to the discretion of Mrs. Powers.

A letter was read from the Historical Society of Fishkill informing us of their plan to build a Revolutionary monument made up of rocks or stones donated to them from various historical edifices or sites from all over the U.S. Felix Scardapane further explained that the monument hopefully would be in the form of an obelisk. They would hope for a donation from Glebe House. A motion was passed that we find a suitable stone from Glebe House, and that the President follow through on this motion.

President Jenner told of his being approached by Jesse Effron who is very much interested in seeing some sort of a local history center established. He has joined with Mr. Effron and with Mr. Emerson of the Roosevelt Library to pursue the possibility of establishing such a center. A workshop might be held to study the matter.

President Jenner told the board that he had a request from Rhinebeck to participate in their Bicentennial celebration on September 30. They are going to have various exhibits and thought we might like to have an exhibit.

Eunice Smith and President Jenner will speak to Radford Curdy about displaying some of his historical documents. It will be left to them as to whether or not we have an exhibit, and whether or not an insurance policy is necessary.

Eunice Smith mentioned that she felt we could make better use of the facilities of the Dutchess County Arts Council. She said there was a reception for the Council's new Director, John Berg, at the Vanderbilt Mansion on Thursday.

Rev. Harmelink announced a Bicentennial piano and organ recital at the Reformed Church on Hooker Avenue on September 28, 1975.

Norma Van Kleeck mentioned recent gifts to Glebe House of 2 homespun quilts. The President asked her to remind the Glebe House Committee to use the Arts Council calendar to advertise the Glebe House "happenings".

October 14, 1975 Peter Van Kleeck showed to the Board a reprinted copy of the "Old Gravestones" book, which the Society is having reprinted. He said that the company doing the reprinting would like to be paid in full. Since the copy was completely satisfactory, a motion passed to pay the bill in full.

Herbert Roig displayed some pieces of silver which he had bought from an estate in Connecticut. There were 9 different makers of silver displayed whose business was in Poughkeepsie. The board passed a motion to buy the silver from Mr. Roig. Mr. Roig has offered to make and give to the Society a presentation box to display this silver.

Diane Rain from the Glebe House Committee spoke to the group about the need to update the security system at Glebe House. She read a proposal that the Society pay onehalf the cost of updating the system, the other half hopefully to be paid by the Junior League. The motion was passed that we pay $302.10 as our share of the cost.

The secretary read a letter from Gabriel F. Ponte, of the Dutchess County Bicentennial Committee, telling about plans to send out a reconditioned bus to schools in

11

surrounding communities outfitted with artifacts and various other paraphernalia of the Revolution for the children to see. He asked for help in obtaining articles for display.

Action was deferred.

November 11, 1975 Wilhelmina Powers announced that the bill had been paid for the reprinting of "Old Gravestones" and that we are awaiting receipt of the books. A motion was passed that $25 be charged for the book.

The board toured the garden at Glebe House to see the new plantings and work done to the garden by the Poughkeepsie Garden Club. The secretary was asked to write a letter of thanks to Mrs. Betty Mitchell who supervised the improvements.

Eunice Smith said the sample commemorative plate they had received needed some changes, so that it now has been sent back incorporating the changes. The cost to the Society for each plate will be $4.50.

It was reported that a stone from the Glebe House for the monument to be erected in Fishkill will soon be delivered to the Fishkill Historical Society as per their request.

President Jenner said that the old film of Poughkeepsie which is being recopied will soon arrive, and that when it does, he will invite the Board and Town Vice-Presidents to view it.

The secretary read a letter of resignation from Lewis Winne. A motion was passed accepting the resignation with regret. The secretary will write him.

Diane Rain and Lenore Cleveland of the Glebe House committee presented the Glebe House proposed budget. At the present time, the Junior League and the Historical Society each give them $1600 annually. They are asking for an increase in the yearly allocation to $2400. After some discussion a motion was passed that the proposed budget be tabled until the December meeting. There were some suggested changes in the budget from the discussion, and the President would like the Glebe House Committee to come up with some suggestions for extending the use of Glebe House.

December 9, 1975 Peter Van Kleeck reported that our taxes were approximately $360 for the year, and that it cost about $425 to have them prepared.

President Jenner commented on the fine article about Glebe House which had been in the Journal written by Melodye Andros. He asked Hubert Sprosse to work out with Wilhelmina Powers a plan to get publicity about the fact that "Old Gravestones" has been reprinted by the Society and is available for sale. He hopes that we will soon be reprinting another old book. The winter meeting announcement might include a notice about "Old Gravestones".

Gordon Hamersley stated that mailing of the Year Books will be about January 6, 1976.

Eunice Smith had photographs of the proof of the front and back of the proposed commemorative plate for the board to see. She said there was a plan to issue a brochure with

12

•

each plate and that the plates should arrive about February 1, 1976. Two local merchants were interested in merchandising. Mrs. Smith said she felt her part in this project had been completed and she wished President Jenner to relieve her of further responsibility, which he will do.

Hubert Spross announced a private showing of the old film of Poughkeepsie to the board and special guests at Marist College on Thursday, December 11, 1975. The copy of the film to be shown belongs to Roosevelt Library. A motion was passed that we pay $60 for a copy of the film. It is Mr. Spross' hope that this film could be shown to various groups. A motion was passed that letters of thanks be sent by the secretary to William Schrauth, Dr. Stephen Panko, and Jerome Deyo for their help in this project and an honorary membership in the Society be extended to them for the Bicentennial year.

Norma Van Kleeck reported on the annual Open House held at Glebe House on Sunday, December 7, at which approximately 400 people were present. She said that they had been given Mrs. Lumb's wedding gown, that Montgomery Ward had donated some mannequins, and that the wedding gowns they have can now be displayed. She also mentioned that the Kiwanis Club has taken on the project of fixing up the outside of Glebe House.

Wilhelmina Powers has had a request from some high school students to reprint some of our past Year Book articles as part of a periodical they are issuing for the Bicentennial. A motion was carried that they be allowed to reprint, giving recognition to the source of the original article.

Clifford Buck mentioned his book which he has compiled of the Crum Elbow Tax Lists which he is selling for $10.00.

President Jenner said the Glebe House Committee has made a new budget and now is not asking for more money.

They have a surplus of about $1100 which they will use up before coming back to us, since their expenditures do exceed current income. The motion passed to accept their budget and President Jenner will so inform them.

Eunice Smith said that she was in favor of our issuing a Newsletter which many of the other Societies do. Franklin Butts made a motion that President Jenner appoint a committee to establish better relations with the neighboring communities and start a Newsletter. The motion passed. Mr. Jenner appointed Franklin Butts to chair the committee and appointed Gordon Hamersley and Eunice Smith as committee members.

They will report in January.

President Jenner feels that we should review the entire situation of our holdings, and appointed Norma Van Kleeck and Charles de la Vergne and will ask George Bookman to serve with the acquisition committee to meet with Wilhelmina Powers at some time within the next two months to discuss the entire matter of what we have at Adriance Memorial Library.

13

ANNUAL TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1975 Checking Account Balance - December 31, 1974

$

Receipts Dues Wells Fund Transfer Adams Fund Transfer Reynolds Fund Transfer General Fund Transfer Pilgrimage

$ 2,661.00 2,116.25 1,753.75 2,253.00 2,300.00 400.75 $11,484.75

462.45

$11,484.75 $11,947.20

Disbursements Glebe House Maintenance Glebe House Restoration Year Book Postage Fees Box Rents Dues Meetings & Pilgrimage Donations Internal Revenue Accounting Petty Cash Bookbinding Office Supplies Miscellaneous

$ 1,868.48 2,183.32 2,925.13 74.90 625.00 34.36 160.00 993.10 50.00 380.00 425.00 30.00 2,253.00 17.30 44.88 $11,899.47

Balance - December 31, 1975

$11,899.47 $

47.73

GENERAL FUND Balance - December 31, 1974 (Savings Account)

$ 2,499.96

Receipts Interest Transfer from checking account

$

61.44 1,000.00 $ 1,061.44

1,061.44 $ 3,561.40

Disbursements Transfer to checking account Balance - December 1975

$ 3,300.00

3,300.00 $

14

261.40

HELEN WILKINSON REYNOLDS FUND (Publications) Balance - December 31, 1974 (Savings Accounts)

$18,732.75

Y

Receipts Interest Sale of Publications

$ 1,221.03 724.50 $ 1,945.53

Disbursements Transfer to checking account...

$ 2,253.00

Balance - December 1975

1,945.53 $20,677.28

2,253.00 $18,424.28

WILLIAM PLATT ADAMS FUND (Interest for Glebe House Support) Balance - December 31, 1974 (Bonds at Investment Value)

$25,022.18

Receipts Interest

$ 1,753.75

1,753.75 $26,775.93

Disbursements Transfer to checking account.. .

$ 1,753.75

1,753.75

Balance - December 31, 1975

$25,022.18

WELLS FUND (General Purposes) Balance - December 31, 1974 (Bonds & Stocks at investment value, savings accounts) Receipts Interest & Dividends Sales Furniture & Donations

Disbursements Transfer to checking account.. .

Balance - December 31, 1975

$112,944.14

$ 7,675.33 125.00 $ 7,790.33

$ 2,116.25

7,790.33 $120,734.47

2,116.25 $118,618.22

15

PRESIDENT'S REPORT This first year of my term as President has been particularly rewarding due in part to the active participation of so many of the trustees, their lively discussion of the business at hand, and their active support of our programs.

I would like to single out the work done by Dr. Franklin Butts, who served as Vice-President. He organized several of the recent pilgrimages, co-edited the recently initiated newsletter, and was most helpful in advising me in the many decisions we made this year. In the coming year he will serve as Program Chairman.

The highlights of the year include a number of events which expanded traditional programs. The highly successful Fall Pilgrimage to Pawling will be followed by a Spring Pilgrimage to Pine Plains.

The Winter Meeting, at the library annex, chaired by the Rev. Herman Harmelink and Mrs. Kenneth Briggs, was outstanding despite the cold weather and a furnace breakdown.

Nearly one hundred members and guests enjoyed a slide film program presented by Mrs. Sterling Carter, entitled "Bits of Poughkeepsie". Intermission refreshments were followed by the official Historical Society showing of an early (c. 1913) Poughkeepsie film.

The film, evidently made as a civic promotion, was found in Pawling and brought to the attention of Society Vice-President for the City of Poughkeepsie, Mr. Hubert "Bud" Spross, by Mr. William Schrauth. Through the help of Mr. Jerry Deyo of the Roosevelt Library staff, and the National Archives, a copy was made of the original celluloid.

It has been screened for several local audiences by Bud Spross, and has been seen by several hundred people.

Another outstanding Year Book was published, at a reduced cost, by our able editor, Mr. Gordon Hamersley.

The Society continues its publishing tradition with the second (special Bicentennial) edition of "Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, N.Y." Dr. J. Wilson Poucher and Miss Helen Wilkinson Reynolds collected and edited, in 1924, this popular genealogical reference; the attention of the Society Curator, Mrs. Albert E. Powers, has resulted in the publishing of this edition, available at the Adriance Library for $25.

The Society has begun the publication of a newsletter created and co-edited by Mrs. Peter Andros. It has been received enthusiastically and helps fulfill one of our primary objectives, to communicate with and assist local town and city societies within the County. It will be published quarterly.

The Glebe House Furnishings Committee, chaired by Mrs. Edward Kerin, continues to progress in its difficult task of completing the decor and furnishings. We are very pleased to report the initial Community Development grant of $10,000, which will be used to make needed repairs to the Glebe House structure.

Our membership, approximately 600, continues to grow, and we look forward from the Bicentennial year to continued expansion of our programs.

John M. Jenner President

16

GLEBE HOUSE COMMITTEE Chairman's Report 1975-1976 For you who are new in the Historical Society, the Glebe House is operated and funded by the Dutchess County Historical Society and the Poughkeepsie Junior League.

Maintenance is provided by the City of Poughkeepsie with garden maintenance and planting by the Poughkeepsie Garden Club.

Over 3,000 visitors have toured Glebe House since last September. A factual tour is provided by the guide, and for groups the slides are also shown. Our guide has put the loom in working order and is now able to demonstrate weaving to all visitors.

The Glebe House slide show is continuing its presentations in schools and is particularly busy in this Bicentennial year. With the addition of the new sound system (a gift of this Society), the project is much improved.

We displayed artifacts in the windows of Montgomery Ward for their Flag Day celebration last June. Small articles were displayed at Adriance Library in July. Displays have been set up for Bicentennial celebrations in the city schools. Chairman Diane Rain with Melodye Andros appeared in Poughkeepsie to discuss articles from Glebe House.

Six adult craft lectures in the fall were conducted at Glebe House by the Colonial Lifestyle committee of the Dutchess County Bicentennial Commission.

Two quilts were entered in the YWCA Quilt Show and we were proud to have the oldest quilt in the show. The two quilts shown were a gift to Glebe House from our trustee, Miss Helena Van Vliet.

An antique clock show sponsored by local collectors was held at Glebe House for three weeks in March.

The Christmas Open House was well-attended. It featured 15 of the Dutchess Dolls designed by the Colonial Lifestyle Committee of the Dutchess County Bicentennial Commission.

In the spring a dinner was held for city officials; and a tea for friends of Glebe House who have donated or loaned articles through the years.

A series of eight articles on Glebe House artifacts written by Melodye Andros was published by the POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL and later reprinted by the HYDE PARK VALLEY BULLETIN and POUGHKEEPSIE OBSERVER. Improvements continue. A more sophisticated security system was installed in October. The southwest parlor has been refurbished, as well as the study. None of this can be accomplished without the volunteer labor provided by the furnishings committee.

Repairs and restorations also continue. The spinning and flax wheels are being put in working order; a corner cupboard has been cleaned and repaired; a ballot box and a chair have been repaired.

All artifacts have been catalogued; work still continues to research many of these articles.

An up-to-date appraisal has been made on each article in the house; and we have up-to-date insurance coverage.

Since our last annual meeting 10 artifacts have been donated to Glebe House. A listing will appear in a future publication of the society.

17

Before continuing the interior, we found that a new roof was needed. Spearheaded by Melodye Andros, she, Diane Rain and Mary Tragle with the help of Seventh Ward Alderman John Green, applied for City of Poughkeepsie Community Development funds. To date we have $25,000 committed for. the restoration of Glebe House. This work will be supervised by an architect and it will include a wood-shingled roof, certain necessary structural work in both the exterior and interior. The job will be completed with the necessary repairs and paint on the exterior. After this work is completed, the furnishings committee will be able to continue its interior projects.

The Poughkeepsie Garden Club members, under the direction of Betty Mitchell, have worked diligently to make the garden more beautiful. Hours of labor have gone into their project, which not only included planting and weeding, but cleaning the brick walk and patio. The donation of a Washington hawthorn was also made by the Garden Club. As a result of Mrs. Mitchell's recommendations, the restoration sponsored by CD will include the relocation and construction of a new fence and plantings along each side of the house.

Our cookbook, A TASTE OF HISTORY, has been printed.

Copies are available at the Glebe House.

Your representatives on the Glebe House Committee for the past year have been your president, John Jenner, Herbert and Mary Roig, Melodye Andros and Ralph and Norma Van Kleeck.

Our thanks to the Society for its continuing cooperation and support.

Diane Rain, Chairman Norma Van Kleeck, Co-chairman

18

GLEBE HOUSE COMMITTEE 1975-76 Mrs. Don Rain Mrs. Ralph Van Kleeck Mrs. David Stevenson Mrs. Reg Cleveland Mrs. Peter Andros Mrs. Dennis Arnold Mrs. Joseph Butler Mrs. Donald R. Dustin Mrs. H. Wilson Guernsey Mrs. David Hagstrom Mrs. Joel Holden Mr. John M. Jenner Mrs. William Knauss Mrs. Peter Lumb Mrs. George F. Luse II Mrs. Charles A. Mitchell Mrs. Richard A. Mitchell Mrs. David J. Murray Miss Julia Parker Mrs. Warren Partridge Mrs. Frederick Prager Mr. Herbert Roig Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs.

Herbert Roig J. Peter Rushworth A. A. Schoonmaker C. Robert Southworth Herbert Van Benthuysen

Mr. Peter Van Kleeck Mr. Ralph Van Kleeck Miss Mary Tragle

Chairman Co-Chairman, House Inventory and Co-Chairman Cookbook Secretary Treasurer Furnishings Committee Co-Chairman, Christmas Open House Publicity Items Sold in House Cookbook Committee Provisional Provisional, Slide Chairman President, Dutchess County Historical Society Co-Chairman Christmas Open House Daytime Arrangements Garden Club Rep. Evening Arrangements Dinner for City Fathers Decorating Craft Co-Chairman House Upkeep - Dutchess County Historical Society Rental Agreements Costume Co-Chairman Cookbook House Upkeep - Outgoing Colonial Lifestyle Committee Rep. Treasurer - Dutchess County Historical Society Insurance - Dutchess County Historical Society Guide

19

J

The history of the world is the record of a man in quest of his daily bread and butter.

--H. W. Van Loon In an effort to recapture some of our local history relating to both the community and the home, the Glebe House Committee has prepared a cookbook, A TASTE OF HISTORY. We hope the informal presentation of the material gathered for this book will bring pleasure to the reader of any age and from any area.

Copies may be obtained by mailing a check for $3.00 plus 30 cents for postage and handling and whatever additional may be required for sales tax. Be sure to include your address!

GLEBE HOUSE COOKBOOK COMMITTEE 635 Main Street Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12601

20

CURATOR'S REPORT 1975 The Curator has had many inquiries during the year concerning genealogical research, through the mail as well as in person at the Adriance Memorial Library. She has received 110 letters from 29 states and Mexico and Germany.

SALES: The society has sold 3 copies of NOTICES OF MARRIAGES AND DEATHS COPIED FROM POUGHKEEPSIE NEWSPAPERS

by Reynolds; 2 copies of THE RECORDS OF CRUM ELBOW PRECINCT edited by F. D. Roosevelt; 4 copies of POUGHKEEPSIE, THE ORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE WORD; 6 copies of OLD GRAVESTONES OF DUTCHESS COUNTY by Poucher and Reynolds. We have many early issues of the Yearbook which are available for $3.50.

The current issue is $7.00.

GRAVESTONES REPRINTED, 1975 OR 1976: This year the Society had OLD GRAVESTONES OF DUTCHESS COUNTY by Poucher and Reynolds reprinted. It is available at the Adriance Memorial Library for $25.00.

ACQUISITIONS: The Society received 5 cartons of books, notebooks and miscellaneous notes of Mrs. Araminta Mahoney from her son and daughter-in-law. Chips and bits of pottery from the YMCA site where a Livingston house once stood, from Radford Curdy, advertising cards of Poughkeepsie business firms from Mrs. Eunice Smith, and a large ornamental gold ball from the upper deck of the Mary Powell from Mrs. Eleanor Van Kleeck.

Wilhelmina B. Powers Curator

21

IN BRIEF As the Year Book is currently published at the end of the year following the one on which it reports, this 1975 Edition is appearing at the end of 1976 and is in effect our Bicentennial issue. The Board, acknowledging the fine bicentennial efforts in publications and activities by the county's local historical societies, concluded that our book for 1976 publication should have a general theme of the era of the American Revolution but should forego the emphasis of a formal bicentennial issue.

We are fortunate indeed in the contributions this year for it appears that our writers actually conspired on the topicality of their offerings, yet we know that happening is quite unlikely. Several articles waited a few years for this issue, but most just appeared at the right time and on appropriate subjects. We are grateful for the interesting, even unique material appearing herein.

22

A NEW COMMEMORATIVE PLATE Although it is a 1976 project (and this is the 1975 Year Book), the DCHS Commemorative Plate organized and produced through the perseverance of Mrs. John C. Smith, assisted by The Reverend Herman Harmelink III, is now available for purchase at the Glebe House or Adriance Memorial Library at a price to Society members of $8.00.

The plate, depicted below, is blue on white and of considerable interest. These photos and text are from the folder which accompanies each plate.

Issued in 1976 by the Dutchess County Historical Society, this plate has in its center a woodcut of Poughkeepsie's Glebe House which was built in 1767. On the rim are the coats of arms of the original patentees of Dutchess County. Those are the individuals who, following the divi-

23

sion of the Province of New York into counties in 1683, received in return for rent, tax or both, all the land in the county in large units in order to "settle, build up and cultivate the new county The British-appointed Governors of the province required patent applicants to furnish a deed proving proper purchase of the land from its Indian owners. Those natives were paid trifling compensation for their historic lands and the patentees were charged slightly for their vast privileges. For example, one 85,000 acre tract costs its patentee "six bushels of good and merchantable winter wheat every year" payable to the Province of New York. The principle was to encourage men of leadership quality to develop the new land for the good of Britain, the colonies and themselves. It succeeded to the extent of the quality of the various patentees, and economic and political circumstances.

The American revolution saw the end of this system.

The Glebe House is the last link with bustling, prerevolutionary Poughkeepsie. It was built originally as the Episcopal rectory whose Loyalist occupant was removed from the region in 1777. The house was then occupied by Quartermaster officers of the Continental Army. After the war, the house reverted to rectory and private residential uses. In the 1800's it became consecutively a beer garden, picnic grove, greenhouse and nursery. In 1929, fearing the house's destruction, a number of citizens and the Dutchess County Historical Society, the Junior League and the City of Poughkeepsie raised funds to purchase the property and commence its restoration. The Glebe House is now a significant community asset well used by the public.

The late Thomas Barrett, who created the Glebe House woodcut, founded in 1935 the Dutchess County Art Association which now has his Poughkeepsie home as its headquarters.

Mr. Barrett was a well known artist in the school of American regionalism of the 1930's. His father was treasurer for the fund raising which resulted in the preservation of the Glebe House. Reproduction of this woodcut, to which rights are reserved, is with the permission of the Dutchess County Art Association. all

24

200 Years Ago: NEW YORK JOINS A REVOLUTION From the North, gory news; From the East River, British shellfire; From the boondocks, Washington and pious soldiery and a bold Declaration

by Russell E. Chappell The horse looked fresh, but the rider, though young, had been aged on the road. Mud spattered his leathern breeches, and sweat blighted his dusty tricorn hat. Horse and rider cantered across the Kingsbridge over the Harlem River, surmounted Marble Hill and pelted southward along the Kingsbridge Road.

Not far below today's Herald Square, among woodland yet unscored by the plow, he reined left onto Bowery Lane, raced along its southwestward curve into Broadway and galloped up to the Merchants' Coffee House in Wall Street.

The bells of New York's 17 churches hung silent in their steeples because, although April 23, 1775, was a Sunday, it was midday when Israel Bissel rode in. Morning services were over; evening services were several hours off. Not that York was especially noted for Sabbath-keeping; the city, although smaller than Philadelphia and not much bigger than Boston or Charleston, had a rowdy reputation throughout the colonies.

And so Israel Bissel found several men lounging around the plain pine tables of the Coffee House, not all of them sipping coffee. From them he learned that the New York Committee of Safety was session at the City Hall, nearby at the top of Broad Street. Bissel had news for the Committee.

"To all Friends of AMERICAN Liberty let it be known: That this morning before break of day, a Brigade consisting of about one thousand or twelve hundred Men landed . . . at Cambridge and marched to Lexington where they found a company of militia in arms, upon whom they fired without any provocation and Killed 6 men and wounded 4 others. .

Another Brigade are now upon their march from Boston supposed to be about 1000. The bearer Israel Bissel is charged to alarm the Country quite to Connecticut and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh Horses as they may be needed. I have spoken with several who have seen the dead and wounded. . ."

The dispatch, signed by Col. Joseph Palmer of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, had been hurriedly scratched out at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 19, while the British troops still marched on Concord from Lexington.

Bissel's news was New York's first word that the war for independence had started.

Of all the 13 colonies, from tumultous Massachusetts to the remote wilderness of Georgia, New York approached the issue of war with the greatest caution. This is an account of how the city came to terms with the war, but there can be no harm in pausing to look at Israel Bissel, who brought the alarm to town.

On April 23, 1775, he was 23 years old, a regular post rider accustomed to cover the route from Boston to New York in six days - when the roads were good. From endorsements New

in

25

on the dispatch from Col. Palmer we know that Bissel made the 345-mile ride from Watertown, just up the river from Boston, in three days. Records in Worcester, his first stop, say that as he rode in at noon, shouting "To arms, to arms, the war has begun," his horse fell dead near the Meeting House.

On Sunday morning Bissel set out from Fairfield, Conn., some 65 miles from New York City. By 4:30 that afternoon he was in the saddle again, headed south. He reached New Brunswick at 2 a.m., Princeton at dawn, Trenton at 6:00 a.m. and, some accounts say, Philadelphia before noon.

From that moment to his death at 71, a sheep farmer in Hinsdale, Mass., Bissel drops from history. Nobody made his likeness; no word of his own, spoken or written, survives, except for the cry, "To arms:" His shouts set off an instant uproar here. Three of the city's fieriest radicals, Isaac Sears, Alex McDougall and John Lamb, fell into the vanguard of a procession of former Sons of Liberty and others ("A mob of Negroes, boys, sailors and pickpockets," a Tory observer sneered), flourishing impromptu banners and beating drums.

The marchers headed down Broadway, not only inviting everyone interested in liberty to take up arms but also taking steps to provide the arms. They broke open the arsenal at City Hall and seized at least 1,000 muskets, which they passed out to the eager demonstrators.

Nor were they all rabble and radicals, as the Tory historian implied. By nightfall several of the city's richer men took a hand, including Leonard Lispenard Jr. and Anthony Lispenard, prosperous brewers, and Peter R. Livingston of the family whose land holdings were second only to those of the De Lanceys. They seized a sloop laden with provisions for the King's troops at Boston and cast the cargo onto the wharves. The parading and speech-making and pyrotechnics raged on for three days.

For all of the excitement in the streets there was worried calm in the deliberations of the city's leaders, even in the supposedly revolutionary councils of the Committee of Safety. New York, as people from Kokomo keep tediously telling us, is not America. New York, in that similar sense, was not America in 1775; it was an outpost of the Old World, described by a visitor in the late 18th century as a little London - but more cosmopolitan.

Its 20,000 people, though under English rule for more than a hundred years, included many who still spoke mostly Dutch. Its places of worship included 14 varieties of Protestant church and a Sephardic synagogue; Catholics, though proscribed by English law, often entertained priests from Maryland for mass in their homes, which other New Yorkers, as tolerant of difference as today, gave little heed. A merchant, such as Adolphe Phillipse, thought it prudent to employ clerks who could speak French as well as Dutch and English.

To a staid New Englander, like John Adams, the city seemed alien, the citizens a brusque and bustling lot.

"They talk very loud, very fast and altogether," he wrote to his wife Abigail. "If they ask you a question, before you can utter three words of your answer, they will break out again and walk away."

26

Merchants like Phillipse and William Walton dominated the society of what was, above all else, a mercantile city.

Only the colonial governor lived with greater display perhaps and that because he had brightly uniformed attendants and a four-in-hand coach with royal bearings. Phillipse did business in a three-story brick building, where fashionable New York women came to shop in sedan chairs and found taffety, among a wide-ranging stock, selling at about 87 cents the yard.

He kept a rural estate in the English manner and so did many other wealthy New Yorkers, whose business hours of 10 to 2 permitted them to commute by sail to New Jersey or Long Island and by chaise up the Island of Manhattan. The city's five wards stretched no more than a mile north from the Battery. Country started south of Greenwich Village.

Walton lived grandly enough right in the town. His yellow-brick house with tiled roof stood at 324 Pearl Street and his garden ran down to the river. Living in New York could be pleasant for a mere professional man, too. Abraham Lodge, an attorney, had a townhouse with parlor and dining room on the ground floor, three bedrooms above and wine cellar below. Four slaves (New York had upwards of 3,000 mostly domestic servants) lived above the detached kitchen in the back. Alongside the main house was an office wing with a bedroom above.

The Lodges had furnished their parlor in mahogany and red damask which might have come from England. The English were forever coming out to New York, finding it too far from London (two months) and selling up their household effects when they returned. Or Lodge might have done business with Samuel Prince at the Sign of the Chest of Drawers in William Street. Prince advertised that he could duplicate European furniture.

Walton and Lodge had pictures on their walls, silver and china in glass-fronted cabinets and may even have burned coal in a Dutch or English parlor stove, but they probably had bare floors. Carpet was still widely taken to mean a cover for a table.

A working man, even a master tailor such as Robert Cocks, would have burned wood in a fireplace. Ben Franklin had already invented his stove, but it was not yet in common use. Cocks' dwelling on Hunter's Quay was also his place of business where he could run up "a best plain suit" for 8 pounds, 10 shillings and offered for sale anything from "milled drabs for greatcoats" to "Prunellas and princess stuffs".

Life, of course, was a good deal grimmer for a laborer and his family, but even they enjoyed plentiful, cheap food up to the war. And New York was a pleasant, even a charming place with songbirds in many trees, footpaths of flat stone and cobbled streets.

On a fair day from most points in the town at least 200 lobster boats could be seen under sail in the harbor. The main thoroughfare, Broadway, was 100 feet wide and ran northeast from the north gate of Fort George through Bowling Green, where stood the toga-clad, mounted figure of George III. Ordinarily, the governor lived in the fort with the garrison but his house had burned down not long before the war. Broad Street, 80 feet wide, ran from the East River to City Hall.

27

The houses were mostly of stone and painted brick, some of them aiming their gable ends toward the street in the Dutch fashion. King's College, later to become Columbia, had begun to graduate trained physicians. A hospital was near completion.

New York's big problem was water. Fresh Water Pond, 60 feet deep and situated where the Tombs now stands, had long been polluted and so were most wells, so that carts plied the streets peddling potable water from wells and springs above the town. Christopher Colles' projected water system, using hollowed-out logs and a steam pump, did not come to pass until after the war.

Some of the fun of being a New Yorker had started leaking away even before Israel Bissel rode in. Under the Continental Association, formed in 1774 by the First Continental Congress and enforced by local committees, Americans were forbidden to trade with the Mother Country. New York's shipping, which in 1772 saw 700 ships clear the port, had dwindled disastrously. When the British clamped on their embargo, which they soon did, the remaining trickle stopped.

Worse yet, the association had forbidden New York's favorite diversions, horse racing, bull-baiting, dancing and theater. Even so, it was the merriest of British towns.

You could get a drink at the Cart & Horse, the Queen's Head (as Samuel Fraunces first called his tavern), the Blue Ball, the Three Pigeons, the Bunch of Grapes and perhaps 50 more inns. And those were just the licensed places. Five hundred ladies of the evening plied their trade in a section of the West Side called the Holy Ground, because much of it belonged to Trinity Church.

The colony remained under nominal British rule, although Governor William Tryon was away in England, probably trying to wangle a military assignment at home. He had never liked being in America, either in New York or earlier as governor of North Carolina.

A month after Lexington and Concord, however, a new Provincial Congress became the effective government of New York. It undertook immediately to recruit soldiers and build forts on both sides of the Hudson and at Kingsbridge.

Two days' ride away in Philadelphia, meantime, the Second Continental Congress convened and began warily to discuss a proposal that it take over the militia by then collected around Boston as an American army. James Duane, a New York delegate, twitched visibly at the very idea. He might have been more nervous still if he had known that, while Congress deliberated, a band of New York patriots was stopping the Royal Regiment of Ireland as it marched from the barracks on Chambers St. to board the battleship Asia, which was to carry the men to Boston. The New Yorkers stripped the redcoats of their spare arms and saw them off at dockside with a chorus of hoots.

Whatever the hesitancies of Duane and other New Yorkers, in early June the Congress adopted the proposal and chose George Washington as commander in chief. As a sop to the reluctant New Yorkers, Congress selected Philip Schuyler-along with Artemas Ward and Charles Lee--as a major general.

Washington set out promptly via New York to take over his command. It put the city in a kind of quandary that was not to arise again until the United Nations set up housekeeping there. It served to demonstrate, too, how far apart 28

stood the sentiments of the patriots in the streets and the sober men of business in the Provincial Congress.

Washington was due to arrive on June 25. So was Governor Tryon.

The Provincial Congress, eager to keep a foot in both camps, arranged to greet Washington uptown and Tryon downtown, a matter of little more than a mile, of course. The delegates instructed the militia, which now numbered 10 companies, to station one company at Coenties Slip, where Tryon could be expected to disembark, and sent a second company across the Hudson with a welcoming committee to steer Washington's party to the Hoboken Ferry, which would land far uptown at what is now the foot of Canal Street.

The other eight companies were held in ceremonial reserve on the Commons.

Tryon learned of the scheme from friends who came to meet him on board the ship Juliana. He tactfully decided to postpone his landing for four hours. Washington's letters and plantation records show that he could count well enough to know that one company was a poor show for 10 companies, but he went along courteously from the ferry landing to a reception at the nearby country mansion of brewer Leonard Lispenard.

There Washington, after much persuasion, opened a dispatch addressed from Massachusetts to John Hancock, the president of the Congress. Thus he learned for the first time the bloody news from the North: Colonial troops under Israel Putnam, after twice repulsing British regulars at Breed's Hill, had retreated from that eminence, neighboring Bunker Hill, and, indeed, the whole of Charlestown Neck opposite Boston.

By the time that Washington and his party emerged, the ceremonial reserve of eight companies came puffing up and joined a parade down to Hull's Tavern on Read's (now Reade) Street just north of Trinity Church, where Washington was to spend the night. By 8 p.m., when Tryon finally came ashore, things had quieted enough at Hull's that many prominent New Yorkers were able to get down to the foot of Broad Street and escort him to his lodgings in Hugh Wallace's house, only three blocks from Washington's quarters.

Washington, eager to see the army he commanded, found that it took him until nearly sundown the next day to get away from the New Yorkers. As for Tryon, he had only to look to the river to see the military might of his king.

The battleship Asia, 64 guns piercing her towering sides, loomed over eastern Manhattan. Not far away the war sloop Kingfisher rode at anchor. Soon they were to be joined by 40-gun frigate Phoenix.

Under the nose of the governor, and under the guns of his ships, the Provincial Congress went on enlisting militia.

It went badly. For one thing, there were few officers to be had; the city's leading citizens, for the most part, had little sympathy for revolt. Wealthy James De Lancey moved to England. So did merchants John Watts and Henry Cruger and the president of King's College, Myles Cooper. In the end, New York borrowed some officers from New Jersey and Connecticut, even borrowed some militia from Connecticut to help secure the shoreline.

Despite such hesitant steps toward a war footing, the Provincial Congress fretted about the naval guns, which the 29

delegates knew could set the city aflame with a broadside.

Weighing up the alternatives, they let Abraham Lott, a merchant, continue to victual the king's ships.

Some days, as on August 22, 1775, moderate members of Provincial Congress put private ahead of public business, and the revolutionaries, as a result, had the floor to themselves. Isaac Sears moved that the subcommittee on forts go get some cannon. The motion had passed before Isaac Low, a conservative merchant, thought to ask if Sears had in mind the British cannon at Fort George. Sears said he had, but that, too, passed.

The following night Lt. Alexander Hamilton, recently dropped out of King's College, was on guard duty downtown and saw the subcommittee on forts, reinforced by militiamen and casuals, start dragging the cannon up Broadway toward the Commons. The guns, 21 of them, weighed a ton or more each, so Hamilton gave his musket to another soldier and lent a hand.

What was going on could be seen from the fleet. At 3:00 a.m., after an earlier warning shot, the Asia hurled a 32-gun broadside at the city. It killed nobody and, since no explosive shells were fired, set nothing afire, but the alarm was widespread. Governor Tryon heard the guns out on Long Island, where he was visiting, and on rushing back to town encountered a flood of refugees.

The panic only accelerated a flight that had already started. Richer New Yorkers, those who hadn't gone to England, shunted their families into country houses. As the summer advanced, the city grew ever more quiet. Many young men, enlisted in the militia, had gone, some up to Albany to join Maj. Gen. Schuyler in defense of Lakes George and Champlain and others toward Canada with Brig. Gen. Richard Montgomery. Idled workmen from shipyard and tanyard sauntered the streets under the shuttered gaze of the houses.

By October the atmosphere was too much for Tryon. He went first to William Axtell's estate in Flatbush and then, a few days after, to the Duchess of Gordon, a merchant ship in the harbor. It was more comfortable than a warship and, thanks to the leniency of the Provincial Congress, not at all lonesome. His council met with him often and he even gave dinner parties aboard, serving the fresh produce that Abraham Lott continued to deliver.

As winter set in, business worsened, but printers and publishers and bookstores, cranking up to explain events to the bewildered participants, paradoxically flourished. In forceful letters signed "Westchester Farmer", the Rev. Samuel Seabury denounced the patriots and stimulated circulation for James Rivington's New-York Gazetteer: or Connecticut, New-Jersey, Hudson's River, and Quebec Weekly Advertiser.

Alexander Hamilton, before leaving college, wrote replies as "The Friend of America".

But the biggest success of all, America's first best seller, was Thomas Paine. His "Common Sense", signed "By an Englishman", appeared on January 9, 1776, and in a few months sold more than 100,000 copies at a shilling each-not counting the pirated editions. In the city's bookstores, Hugh Gaine's, Green's Loudon's, Anderson's and G. Noel, stacks of the hottest new title came to dominate such standbys as "The Complete Housewife, or Young Woman's Best

30

Companion" and even such recent children's successes as "The History of Goody Two Shoes".

It was hardly surprising that soon after Maj. Gen. Charles Lee arrived in New York he sought out Paine, who was being lionized in the city's patriot salons. Lee and Paine dined together on February 24.

Lee's real business in New York was to take over the fortification of the city. Lee, a professional who had held military commissions both at home in England and in Poland, went about that task with vigor. He also, to the manifest distress of the Provincial Congress, demanded that New York stop supplying the British ships. Five days after dining with Paine, having gotten nowhere with the timorous New Yorkers, he took it upon himself to post guards at the wharves and stop not only the supplies but also all communication.

New York and Lee parted on the worst of terms. Continental Congress sent him South to take command in the Carolinas, despite his protests that his knowledge of French made him more suitable for Canada. The Provincial Congress took no comfort from the fact that the British ships, however provoked, did not act. The British viewed Lee's embargo as a goad to action that they were not yet ready for, although there were thousands ashore who could hardly wait: royal sympathizers encamped along the wooded coves of Long Island and New Jersey and all but openly assembled on Staten Island.

Lee departed on March 7 and before the month was out American troops were pouring into the city. The British pulled out of Boston on March 17, withdrawing to Nova Scotia to await reinforcement. Washington realized that New York would be their next objective and began sending his forces from the North--Pennsylvanians in green, Jerseyans in blue, Marylanders in scarlet, New Englanders in homespun.

A New Yorker wrote a friend, in some awe, that the New Englanders prayed both morning and evening. A New Englander wrote his friend in Boston, "The people of this place are a motley collection of all the nations under heaven . .

Everything is extravagantly dear, so that a subaltern must live close to bring both ends of the month together."

Gen. Israel Putnam got to town on April 3, declared martial law and set a 9 p.m. curfew. "We all live here like nuns shut up in a nunnery," one citizen complained. By the time Washington arrived 10 days later New York was a garrison city Soldiers took over empty houses. Oak for firewood rose to 28 shillings a cord, and before they had quite leafed out, the trees that lined the streets started disappearing into the Army's cooking fires.

"We expect a very bloody summer at New York . . .," Washington wrote his brother John. The works started by Lee were strengthened and the Heights of Brooklyn fortified as well. On June 14 Washington wrote Hancock in Philadelphia, "I hope the two battalions which Congress have ordered from Philadelphia . . . will come provided with arms; if they do not, they will be of no service, as there are more troops here already than are armed."

Congress, meanwhile, edged closer to outright severance of ties with Great Britain. Privateers were being sent to sea, the colonies were urged to form state governments and

31

then on June 7 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved for independence. New York's delegates, under orders from the Provincial Congress to vote neither way on such a motion, strove for delay.

But events at New York outraced the politicians.

Early Saturday morning, June 29, British ships began dropping anchor off Sandy Hook. As Pvt. Daniel McCurtin reported later, "I was upstairs . . . and spied as I peeped out the bay something resembling a wood of pine trees trimmed. I declare, at my noticing this, that I could not believe my eyes . . . I thought all London was afloat."

In all there were 130 ships with 10,000 troops aboard.

Three -days later the British occupied Staten Island without opposition and settled down to await the second half of their fleet. That same day in Philadelphia Congress passed Lee's resolution. Two days later, with only New York abstaining, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

Washington got his copy Monday morning, July 8, and the Provincial Congress, meeting for safety's sake in White Plains, belatedly, and embarrassedly, got around to approving the Declaration of Independence.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Washington and his aides came out of Headquarters at No. 1 Broadway, mounted and rode to the Commons, where two brigades had crammed themselves into a space that nowadays makes up the southern end of City Hall Park. An aide read the Declaration. A chaplain read parts of the 80th Psalm: "O Lord God of Hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." The troops, on command, gave three cheers and were dismissed.

Soldiers who had no guard duty ambled down Broadway toward Bowling Green and Fort George. Civilians gathered too. Onlookers later said that the crowd was subdued, filled with anticipation apparently of nothing more than the imminence of curfew. A few men with ropes and crowbars quietly set about pulling down the gilded statue that dominated the grassy oval.

The next day Lt. Isaac Bangs wrote, "Last night the statue on Bowling Green representing George Ghewelph alias George Rex was pulled down by the populace . . . The lead we hear is to be run up into musket balls. . ."

Copyright 1975 New York News Inc.

32

Reprinted by permission.

AMERICAN FLAG EVOLVED SLOWLY

Springing like the new nation from British roots and American invention, the flag rallied the founding fathers to the causes of freedom and independence.

Our first national flag was born in the first winter of revolution. John Paul Jones claimed he ran up the first one over two hundred years ago, on December 3, 1775.

In the camps of a rag-tag army or on ships in wintry seas, that bit of fluttering color kept spirits up for six years of fighting. But when the war started, Americans had no flag of their own. So they improvised as they had for every other need.

First they adapted British ensigns by adding mottoes and emblems. They also invented some all-new flags, based on colonial traditions. But there was no uniformity to these flags, no national standard, just as there was no nation yet.

The American flag was born as the nation was born, slowly and piece by piece until it was whole.

The first European flag to fly over America was the Black Raven of the Vikings, and Columbus brought the royal arms of Aragon and Castile 550 years later. The first English standard here was the Red Cross of St. George, brought by John Cabot in 1497.

Other early flags included the Union, a field of blue with a diagonal white cross and a superimposed red cross; the Red Ensign, a red flag with the union in the upper corner, and a Puritan version of the Red Ensign, with what the Puritans saw as an "idolotrous" cross reduced to a white square.

This was the first Americanized flag.

Later, the Puritans put the cross back in the flag and set a pine tree on one arm to keep it American. A version of this flag with a blue field flew at Bunker Hill.

As the Revolution approached, Americans invented new banners to show anger at England. A popular method was to sew mottoes on existing flags. The most famous was the Red Ensign hoisted by the people of Taunton, Massachusetts in 1774 bearing the watchwords "Liberty and Union".

The same year Pennsylvanians unfurled a Red Ensign with a coiled rattlesnake and the warning,"Don't Tread on Me." The snake became one of the most popular symbols of the rebellion. The tree, usually a pine, was the other leading symbol of dissent.

Stripes were commonly used on flags and took on special meaning in the Revolution. The radical Sons of Liberty had a flag of red and white stripes that the British tagged "the rebellious stripes". There also were attempts at signifying the 13 colonies, such as 13 rattles on the snakes or 13 mailed hands grasping a chain.

But there was still no one flag which stood for all the colonies. A pine tree flag was the ensign of the unofficial little navy of gunboats George Washington launched at Boston in the fall of 1775. It probably was the first flag adopted by a national force.

But the first truly national American flag grew from the British Red Ensign under which colonial soldiers had marched shoulder-to-shoulder with English troops in frontier wars.

33

To make it American, they sewed six white "rebellious stripes" over the red field, giving the effect of 13 stripes "symbolizing the number and union of the colonies". It was known as the Grand Union because in the upper left quarter, the British Union remained to symbolize a continuing allegiance to the crown.

No one knows just when that flag was conceived. There are several references in documents of the time, however, to Continental flags in use during the fall of 1775. But the first recorded hoisting was on December 3, 1775, on the navy's flagship Alfred at Philadelphia.

"It was my fortune, as the senior of the first lieutenants, to hoist myself the flag of America the first time it was displayed," claimed John Paul Jones.

The Grand Union, now almost forgotten, was a proud flag in U.S, history. Washington carried it across the Delaware in 1776, but only the Stars and Stripes are in the famous painting.

With Independence declared, the Grand Union lost its meaning as a symbolic bridge between British loyalty and American rights, and with no official design set, the varieties of the flag were many.

In fall 1776, William Richards, a ship's chandler supplying the navy, wrote he could not provide flags because no design had been set. There is no recorded response, but Richards finally got flags because records show payment to Elizabeth Ross "for making ships colours".

Scholars scoff at the claim that Betsy Ross designed the flag, but she probably sewed some of the first. And she may at least have taken the many-pointed stars of heraldry and trimmed them to five points.

At any rate, two weeks after Richards' payment to Betsy Ross, Congress finally acted on June 14, 1777. Sandwiched among some business of the Marine Committee, Congress approved the following: "RESOLVED, that the flag o£ the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

There is no other record of the birth of our flag. The true designer has never been found, although there have been several claimants and it may actually have been the work of several people.

Reprinted with appreciation to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

34

PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION: POLITICS IN POUGHKEEPSIE, 1774--1776

By Thomas P. Billings To understand fully the effect of the American Revolution on the local community of Poughkeepsie, seemingly remote from the vital centers of political activity, it is necessary to examine the changing climate of opinion there in the two years preceding the Declaration of Independence. The extant records for this period are sketchy and fragmentary, but they reveal, between 1774 and 1776, a growing polarization and clarification of opinion, an increasing cleavage between persons of divergent views as the relationship between Colonies and Crown became the subject of ever more heated discussion.

It appears that there was a meeting in town in early 1774 over the Boston Port Act;l we unfortunately have no details concerning this or earlier activities, and a discussion of the political climate in Poughkeepsie before mid-1774 must, at present, remain in the speculative realm. The earliest reliable record we have of local activity protesting the manifestations of British rule is that of a "Meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Poughkeepsie Precinct in Dutchess County" held on August 1, 1774.2 The meeting was chaired by Zephaniah Platt and had been called by the Town Board of Supervisors in response to a letter from Isaac Low, chairman of the Committee of Correspondence in New York, requesting that Poughkeepsie set up a similar committee. The active opposition of local Loyalists, led by Bartholomew Crannell, a prominent Poughkeepsie lawyer, prevented a motion for such a committee from passing. Crannell later testified that he had "thought as early as 1774 that the Whig Party had Independence in Contemplation." Referring to the above meeting he added that "when there was a plan for Establishing Committees of Correspondence in Dutchess County he opposed it with all his Interest, and he thinks he so far prevailed as to prevent it."3 If Crannell was correct in his speculation that Poughkeepsie Whigs were already contemplating independence, this did not enter into the final resolutions agreed upon by the meeting of August 1. Insisting that "the members of this meeting and...the inhabitants of America in general" were "firm and unshaken in their allegiance to his Majesty King George, and...entirely averse to breaking their connection with the mother country," they protested the violation of the Constitution in "the unlimited right claimed by the British Parliament, in which we neither are, or can be represented, of making laws of every kind to be binding on the Colonies, particularly of imposing taxes." They requested that the New York General Assembly "lay before his Majesty an humble Petition and Remonstrance setting forth the state of our several grievances, and praying his Royal interposition" for the repeal of the most recent direct taxes levied by Parliament, known elsewhere as the Intolerable Acts. Those drawing up the resolutions were perfectly willing to pay a just proportion of the national expenses and hoped that this would "have a tendency to conciliate the affections of the mother country and the colonies, upon which their mutual happiness.., principally depends."4

35

While one must not forget that there were many in 1774 who would have considered such a protest a violation of respect and good order, what stands out most, in retrospect, about these resolves is their conciliatory tone and their emphasis on reconciliation and the restoration of Constitutional government. The political heterogeneity of a meeting which included both Platt and Crannell is indicative of its relatively early date; subsequent meetings of this type tended to represent one side or the other. The final resolutions were "unanimously entered into," being apparently mild enough that those Tories present did not find them offensive; Platt5 has pointed out, "the resolutions were those of a conservative, order-loving community, desirous of peace but not unmindful of the principles at stake." The defeat of the original proposal for the formation of a Committee indicates a shying away from political activism and a fear on the part of the Crown's supporters of the growing and strengthening web of political organization in the colonies; which would prove extremely useful to the revolutionary cause once war actually broke out.6 Whatever consensus there was before this meeting soon gave way to division and polarization. It appears from the Minutes of the New York Provincial Congress that the Whig element in Dutchess County soon afterward subverted the attempt to block the Committee's formation, and such a committee was chosen at a meeting in another precinct.6 It must, that fall and winter, have become clearer to the two groups where they stood in relation to one another. By January of 1775 there was enough self-identity among local Loyalists that they in turn met and drew up an association in support of the Crown. The subscribers being "firmly attached to our most happy Constitution, and...disposed to support and maintain peace and good order under his Majesty's Government" promised absolute support to the King and the legal General Assembly, in preference to the Continental Congress. They promised mutual defense against incursions by the mob on rights to life, liberty and property, and obedience to and enforcement of the laws of the British government.?

Tacit reference was made in the Association to the success of the Loyalist faction in the General Assembly earlier in the month in preventing the election of delegates from that body to the Second Continental Congress. The New York City Committee, however, took the initiative in the matter and sent out requests to the county committees to send representatives to a Provincial Convention for the purpose of selecting the state's delegates to the Congress.

Elections for this purpose were held in Dutchess County in early April, arid Robert R. Livingston, Morris Graham, and Egbert Benson were chosen as delegates. Only four out of eleven precincts had voted in favor of representation at all; however, the other seven either did not vote, or like Poughkeepsie by a vote of 110 to 77, voted to send no one. A New York newspaper carried a letter from a "Dutchess County Freeholder" (who did not sign his name) protesting that three delegates elected by a quarter of the county's population could hardly claim to represent the whole county. The seven precincts not taking part, he added, confide solely on the mode of application for redress of grievances adopted by their 36

loyal and patriotick Assembly, whose proceeding on this head they most heartily approve of, convinced that they ought not, they will not adopt any other mode of application, but stand ready, at all times, to evince their loyalty to their gracious Sovereign, their firm attachment to the Constitution, and their steady opposition to every seditious and treasonable act derogatory to either.9 Feelings were doubtless running high among advocates of both sides; consider the following newspaper report of an incident a few weeks earlier: On the 21st of March, a few friends of Liberty met at the house of Mr. John Bailey, about two or three miles from Poughkeepsie, and erected a pole on his land, with a flag on it, bearing on one side the King, and on the other the Congress and Liberty; but the Sheriff of Dutchess County the next day, attended by a Judge of the Inferior Court, two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and a Constable, with some others, friends of Constitutional liberty and good order, cut the same down, as a publick nuisance.l0 All of this, it must be remembered, took place before the first fighting of the Revolution. When on April 23, 1775, news was received of the events at Lexington and Concord, there was a flurry of activity. A call went out for a new Provincial Convention, and delegates from Dutchess County were selected at a meeting on May 16; this time two of them, Zephaniah Platt and Gilbert Livingston, were from Poughkeepsie.11 Among the acts of the Provincial Convention was to draft the "Articles of Association" and see to its circulation for signatures throughout the province, recording as well for future reference those who refused to sign. The signers "being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the Ministry to raise a revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in Massachusetts Bay," resolved "never to become slaves" and to support the Continental Congress and the Provincial Congress in whatever measures they took "for the purpose of preserving our Constitution, and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive Acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on constitutional principles, (which we most ardently desire,) can be obtained."12 A comparison of this document with the Poughkeepsie Resolutions of nine months before shows a growing willingness among the Whig faction to commit themselves. All the talk of the ardent desire for reconciliation notwithstanding, this is hardly "an humble Petition and Remonstrance," but a demonstration of solidarity and support of two illegitimate bodies in opposition to the current policies of the British government.

The Articles were duly circulated throughout the early part of the summer of 1775, and when they were finally returned to the Provincial Convention there were, for Dutchess 37

County, 1820 signatures and 964 listed as refusing. Poughkeepsie produced 304 signers and 84 non-signers, belying her earlier conservatism in comparison with the rest of the county.

Whether or not an individual signed the Articles of Association does not, unfortunately, always tell us how he would behave later when it was a question of loyalty or open rebellion. Many of those who signed turned out later in the war to be Tories and quite a few actually fought for the British side. It must be remembered that while this document was the most radical statement of anti-government feeling of this kind thus far in Dutchess, it was comparatively mild compared with, say, the Declaration of Independence. Those who signed it were not signing a "Revolutionary Pledge," as it is sometimes called; indeed the avowed purpose is not revolution but reconciliation.

We must also remember the kind of pressure which was placed upon freeholders to sign the document. Dirck Brinckerhoff, chairman of the committee for Dutchess County, noted in the return of the lists of signers and non-signers to the Provincial Convention that "in the latter you find many erasures, occasioned by their signing afterwards. This affair has been delayed thus long on account of pursuing lenient measures."13 The animosity exhibited toward those who would not sign is clear in the note from Silas Marsh, one of the canvassers in Amenia Precinct, under the list of non-signers: "The black roll of Tories. Though out of any limits, I am compelled to remind you, Gentlemen, of James Smith, Esq., who is notoriously wicked."14 Platt notes that those who refused to sign "very soon...began to find their position uncomfortable."15 Under this kind of pressure, and faced with the distinct possibility that they would be disarmed, imprisoned, exiled, deprived of their property, or all four, it seems that many who were not enthusiastic Whigs yielded and signed anyway.

Whatever its shortcomings, from the historian's point of view, in predicting who would take what side, the Articles did force a decision and a kind of commitment on the part of those to whom they were presented. Those who refused to sign demonstrated considerable courage of their convictions, and it was members of this group, generally speaking, who would become leaders of the Tory opposition.

The Articles of Association and, to a greater degree, the fact that there was now actual fighting on the American continent in open rebellion against British authority, made it more and more difficult for anyone to remain neutral.

The first Provincial Congress, meeting May 22, 1775, appointed local county committees which were given the task of procuring arms and ammunition, in part through disarming local Tories and non-associators, raise money, supervise elections, etc. They were authorized to try and imprison suspects, sequester their property, and, if necessary, call out troops to do all this.16 The militia system, in which all ablebodied men were required to serve, was continued, but now officers were given copies of the "black list" of those who had refused to sign the Articles. Independent units were formed from the militia for special drill to prepare for service. And on June 28, warrants were issued for the enlistment of recruits in what was to be the fourth (Dutchess) Regiment of the Continental Line.17 38

The change in atmosphere brought about over the summer shcwn in a letter18 from P. DeWitt to the Continental Congress dated August 30, 1775. He was writing to complain of three Dutchess County men, Timothy Doughty, Adam Bergh, and Christian Bergh, who had attempted to obstruct the selection of officers in a militia company. They threatened the Captain of the company, "d---d the Congress; spoke ill of the new commissions the officers are to receive, and called them d---d rebels; after that, (they) enlisted four men in the Ministerial service, probably more....these proceedings seem to strike a terrour in this neighborhood (Poughkeepsie), although all are tories, few excepted."

DeWitt noted that "there are many tories in Dutchess" and that action must be taken against them soon. He recommended that the names of the ringleaders be advertised and a reward offered for their capture, and that they "without any choice (be) sent to the mines." If this were not done soon, he said, the Tories would gain power, "the breach will never be repaired, and the end miserable."

Measures such as those suggested by DeWitt for the suppression of Loyalists in the county were in fact instituted; the local committee apparently arrested a fairly substantial number of them and sent them to the fleet prison at Esopus (Kingston). In the eight months following DeWitt's letter the measures taken to crush Tory opposition were severe enough to provoke a number of Dutchess County loyalists to make the following plea, reprinted in its entirety: Hatsburgh in Dutchess County April 8th 1776 To Sir Johnson Barronet &c.

Sir: Overpowered with Insults of the Raging rebels implore your Assistance to save the lives of some of the faithfullest Subjects of his Majesty King Geo. the thirds viz, the made rebels have took at last our Justice of the Peace Martin Lister, Esq.,Frederic Klein, Timothy Dawty, and many more from Different parts of this Province as N.York ye. and that without any cause except it be for this loyalty to our Sovereign King George the Third & cast them into Esopus Goal as criminals and notwithstanding the said Goal be already crowded with his Majestys faithful Subjects they nevertheless they are endeavouring Catch many more of us so that most of us are oblig'd to keep night & day in the woods without daring to go to our homes but what we fear greatly in that as soon as his majesties Army will gain a Battle over them at N.York (we have hear'd that the fleet arrived at New York last friday) they will most miserably Butcher all those aforementioned faithful Subjects, which to prevent we most humbly intreat you to send some Indians to the said Esopus to tell them that in case they will not restore the Liberty of the said subjects they must expect to be intirely destroyed which we Conceive will bring a Sufficient pannic fear upon them to relieve the said subjects from Confinements of their Bodies. The Bearer hereof will inform you more fully we are asign duty bound with all the Submission imaginable -(The petition is unsigned.)19 is

39

The hysterical tone of the letter and the evident haste with which it was written point dramatically to the fact that life was made rather uncomfortable for those who were still advocating adherence to the Crown. Arrests were made solely on the basis of avowed political belief, and in great number. Independence not having been declared, loyalism would not, of course, be construed as a treasonable offense, but the local committees exercised with abandon the powers delegated to them by the as yet illegitimate Provincial Congress.

It was less than two years before that the townspeople of Poughkeepsie, Whigs, Loyalists, and those still undecided, had met together to discuss the issues facing the American colonies. To "his Majesty's faithful Subjects" who were now "oblig'd to keep night & day in the woods" that time must have seemed very long ago.

Footnotes 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

Platt, p. 34.

In Peter Force, ed., American Archives, (Washington, M. St. Clair and Peter Force, 1837), Fifth Series, vol. I, p. 702.

Loyalist Transcripts, transcribed by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds from manuscript records in New York Public Library (Adriance Library), p. 357.

American Archives, vol. I, p. 702.

Platt, p. 35.

James H. Smith, History of Dutchess County, New York (Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co., 1882), p. 132.

American Archives, vol. I, p. 1164.

Alexander C. Flick, History of the State of New York (New York, Columbia University Press, 1933) vol. 3, p. 234.

American Archives, vol. II, p. 304.

Ibid, vol. II, p. 176.

Platt, p. 36.

American Archives, vol. III, pp. 581-620.

Ibid, vol. III, p. 600.

Ibid, vol. III, p. 606.

Platt, p. 36 Flick, History, p. 237.

Platt, pp. 38-39.

American Archives, vol. III, pp. 457-59.

The original is in the Vassar College Library Special Collections room. It does not appear where Hatsburgh was (possibly Straatsburgh??) or who Sir Johnson Barronet was, or why the Poughkeepsie petitioners thought he would be of aid. Mordecai Lester (Martin Lister) and Timothy Doughty (Dawty) were locally prominent Loyalists.

40

DUTCHESS COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

By Louise Tompkins The fires of the Revolution smoldered for years under the oppression of the rule of King George III over the colonies. The embers burned brighter with the passage of the Stamp Act which required a colonist to purchase a stamp with his marriage license as well as with other articles.

The Quartering Act enraged the colonists further because it required them to provide food and lodging for the British Militia sent to keep order among them. These soldiers were often of an unprincipled type. They stole, burglarized houses, and raped the women when an opportunity permitted it.

The taxes were increased. The colonists resented the taxation without representation in Parliament, and showed their resentment at the Boston tea party. That was the match that set fire to the smoldering embers which burst into flames at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. And the war was on.

Eventually General George Washington set up his Headquarters at Newburgh, New York. There is no doubt that he rode across Dutchess County during the eight years of the Revolution to direct the officers on the Continental Line. It is said that he made camp one night under a huge cottonwood tree that once stood near where Cottonwood Inn stands in 1975 in the Town of Washington.

With the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the war effort gained in strength. Women everywhere knit socks, and wove cloth for shirts for soldiers. At Hart's Village (a part of t-lillbrook in 1975) Philip Hart made in his mill the dark blue cloth used in making the officers' uniforms.

However, many Americans remained loyal to King George III, and they did all in their power to hinder the other Americans in their struggle for independence. For instance, in Dutchess County there was an island in a swamp (in the Town of LaGrange) where the loyalists, or Tories, hid the horses that they stole from the farmers until they could get the animals into the hands of the British soldiers. One dark night, they were raided, but they escaped leaving their camp fires still burning, and they never returned. The American men made more gun powder and bullets, and prepared to protect their property as well as to drive off the invaders.

The year of 1777 was the critical one in the struggle for American independence. The decisive action took place in New York State because the armies of King George III of England were sent to win the war by separating New York from the rest of the American colonies. But the Americans upset the British master plan when they displayed surprising military ability. Their ability influenced France to become their ally, and thus the war reached its turning point.

In October, 1777, the British decided to attack the Americans along the Hudson River. After a week of preparation and reconnaissance, a fleet of thirty sailboats, commanded by Sir James Wallace, and carrying about 1600 troops under Major General Vaughn started up the Hudson River on October 14, 1777, bent on destroying as much as possible of the property of the prosperous river folks.

The Livingstons and the other wealthy river families had been warned that the British would attack them. They did not think that event was likely. Winter was coming on when the 41

Hudson would be frozen over, and sailing on it would be impossible. The warm autumn sunshine brought out the gorgeous coloring of the autumn foliage. The white clouds in the bright blue sky were reflected on the blue water of the Hudson. A sense of peace and contentment was everywhere. It seemed incredible that danger lurked around the bend in the river.

Suddenly alarm guns boomed from the towns, and echoed through the mountains. Signal beacons flared from hilltops as the hated white sails moved steadily northward. Poughkeepsie was in a panic. The roars of the big guns on the frigates terrified the people. Cannon balls ripped through the houses of well known people as though the walls were made of cardboard.

The Livingstons and the other river families were caught unprepared. They had only a few hours to load their most precious belongings on to wagons, and flee as fast as their horses could travel on the rough roads winding across Dutchess County to Sharon, Connecticut. In one of the wagons sat stalwart Margaret Beekman Livingston, laughing at the antics of her three year old grandson, performing with a long handled toasting fork.

The attack along the Hudson was designed to draw the attention of the Americans away from General John Burgoyne who was marching with his army toward Saratoga, New York. General Burgoyne apparently thought that putting down the revolt would end in a ball since he brought along thirty wagons loaded with his personal wardrobe. General Horatio Gates and his army met him at Saratoga on October 7, 1777, and defeated him in a spectacular battle. General Burgoyne tried to retreat in the dark of night, but a pouring rain came down, and his wagons and war equipment got stuck in the mud. The American army swooped down, and easily captured them all. A smashing victory for them: In 1778, an army of British soldiers, more than 5,000 in number, marched across the Town of Washington. They were prisoners of war, and troops of General Burgoyne who had surrendered to General Gates on October 7, 1777, at the battle of Saratoga, New York. The terms of surrender were that these troops were to embark from Boston, Massachusetts to England under the promise not to serve the King "against the United States during this war."

For some reason, General Gates sent his report to Congress instead of to General Washington, and Congress did not ratify the terms made by General Gates. After a while the prisoners were marched from Boston to Charlottesville, Virginia, where the most of them were held as prisoners until the end of the war.

In sending such a large number of men across the country, it was necessary to keep them within the lines of the American Army. To do this, they had to be taken across the Hudson River above the Highlands.

After the battle of Monmouth, General Washington had distributed his army along the south side of the Highlands from the Hudson River to Danbury, Connecticut, and at a corresponding latitude on the west side of the river. The prisoners were marched across Dutchess County through Amenia, Mabbettsville, Little Rest, Verbank, Arthursburgh, Hopewell Junction, to Fishkill Landing, and from there, they were taken across the river to Newburgh.

Stephen Deuell remembered hearing his grandmother say 42

that she saw them pass through Little Rest, and that they were Hessians. Some of them lay down beside the road to rest.

Probably they were Hessians, or at least some of them, since General Burgoyne was assisted by Baron Riedesel and General Specht who commanded the German troops. Madam Riedesel was among the prisoners, and her diary mentioned the principal places through which the captives marched.

The late Tristram Coffin of Millbrook often said that his grandfather told him about the prisoners who could not keep up with the rest of them. They were kept in a winter camp near where the old district schoolhouse stood in the Town of Union Vale. The prisoners who were very ill were kept in an old Dutch barn which stood just north of the entrance to Greer School at Verbank. The barn was still standing when Mr. Coffin was a boy. He said that it was well built with huge handhewn beams, and a thatched roof, but it was remarkable that sick soldiers survived in it during the cold of winter.

It must have been about this time, although there is no known record of it, that there was a skirmish at Pond Gut between the Americans and the British. Pond Gut is a strip of water connecting the upper and lower part of Tyrrel Lake. In quite recent years a large old tree was cut down on the Innisfree property at Tyrrel Lake, and a cannon ball was found imbedded in the aged trunk at such an angle that it must have been fired across the lake in battle action.

General Washington spent the winter of 1778 at Pawling, New York, where he had his Headquarters at that time. He directed his officers on the Continental Line from there. He must have visited his friend the Marquis De LaFayette, who was spending the winter at Old Drovers Inn at Dover Plains, New York. He was the Americans' French ally and he had his staff with him to help in the struggle for independence. It was an honor for Dutchess County to have such great men living within its borders.

The war dragged on, and one-third of the battle action in it, took place in what is now New York State. The Americans were able to withstand the ordeal mainly because so many of their farmsteads were very nearly self-sufficient. Then, too, their fierce desire for independence spurred them on to victory when the odds seemed all against them.

Their sense of humor also did much to keep up their courage. They even developed the following folklore of the Revolution: thirteen - the total of the states in the new nation was a magic number; it had taken General "Mad Anthony" Wayne thirteen hours to capture Stony Point; General Washington had thirteen teeth in each jaw, and since the Declaration of Independence, he had grown three extra toes! Folklore had it that Mrs. Washington had a mottled tomcat with thirteen rings around his tail; and General Schuyler had a topknot of thirteen stiff hairs that stood straight up on the crown of his head when he saw a Britisher: There was great rejoicing in the land when, on April 19, 1783, exactly eight years after the Battle of Lexington, General Washington issued an order declaring that peace had come with the end of the war.

43

BIBLIOGRAPHY The Town of Washington, written by the Reverend J. E. Lyall which appeared in Howard Hasbrouck's History of the County of Dutchess published in 1909.

An interview with Tristram Coffin.

The World Book Encyclopedia, Revolutionary War. The Hudson, by Carl Carmer, pages 122-127.

The History of Dutchess County by Philip Smith.

Town of Pawling.

Town of LaGrange.

Interview with Mrs. Stella B. Tyrrel, Skirmish at the Pond Gut. Abraham Yates, Jr. by Stefan Bielinski, page 35.

44

A RECORD OF TURMOIL Minutes of the Committee of Safety for the Town of Northeast, 1778

by George B. and Janet S. Bookman

Minutes of the Committee of Safety for the Town of Northeast, covering several months during the winter of 1778, have come to light in a California library.. The meticulous record of meetings of the Committee, which was responsible for protecting the fledgling American government in Northeast precinct, provides a sharply etched picture of conditions in that part of Dutchess County during a particularly turbulent period of the Revolution.

The Minute Book of the Town Committee comprises 64 clear, handwritten pages in the bold handwriting of the Committee clerk, George Morehouse. The record begins with the election of the precinct committee on January 20, 1778, covers seventeen meetings through April 7th, and a few pages of financial account for committee expenses. While the meetings begin in calm deliberation, grapp'ing with problems in a seemingly orderly way, toward the end of the record book the pace becomes frenetic, meetings scheduled on virtually an overnight basis, with a considerable number of absentees, and the tone of the minutes becoming more and more filled with alarm and the evidence of civil unrest.

The reason, of course, is the difficult situation of the Continental forces during the troubled winter of 1778. While British attacking forces had been defeated at Saratoga in the Fall of 1777, and General Burgoyne was forced to surrender, Washington's forces were shivering through the bitter winter at Valley Forge, the Colonies had not yet reaped the benefits of recognition by France, and the general tide of the Revolutionary War had not yet turned in the favor of the Patriots. Food and supplies were extremely short in the Hudson Valley and politically the area was torn by dissension. Nominally, the Patriots were in charge in Dutchess County, but Tory sentiment was extremely strong, especially in the vicinity of the Town of Northeast.

The Continental Congress in July, 1775, appointed a Committee of Safety for the State of New York which, in turn, named Town of Precinct Committees, including the one that is the subject of these Minutes for the Town of Northeast. The Committee's job was to find and suppress sedition, furnish men and supplies to the Continental forces, and generally represent the interests of the Congress. This was the period when the New York State Legislature and the government of Governor George Clinton were moving their meeting places frequently in the Hudson Valley in order to keep a few jumps ahead of the British.

During the months referred to in these minutes, the Legislature and the State Committee of Safety met at Kingston and at Poughkeepsie.

Political allegiances were clearly delineated in the area in 1775 when the Articles of General Association with the Revolutionary cause were circulated. Existing records show who signed and who declined to sign, and many of the same names appear in the Minutes of the Town of Northeast. Indeed, a surprisingly large number of the family names are still well known in the area today.

45

The boundaries of the Township were much larger than the presentday Town of Northeast. The precinct covered by these minutes included what now are the Towns of Milan, Pine Plains and North East. Most of the Committee meetings took place at the home of a James Young, in a clapboarded farmhouse that was still standing one mile northwest of the village of Pine Plains when Isaac Huntting wrote his history of the Little Nine Partners in 1897.

The difficulty of the military struggle of the Continentals, and their tenuous political hold on the area, is shown in the Northeast Minutes.

The Committee's first task was to organize a supply expedition to relieve the distressed inhabitants of Charlotte County (later renamed Washington County). Throughout the minutes runs the record of the frustrations the Committee encountered in trying to levy horses, sleighs, and fodder from reluctant farmers who were ingenious at inventing excuses for not cooperating, and many of whom may well have been Loyalist sympathizers.

Another continuing preoccupation of the local Committee of Safety was the problem presented by a tavernkeeper named John Burnett, whom the Committee tried repeatedly to bring to book for illegal liquor sales. The trial record makes clear that the Commissioners were as much disturbed by the seditious sentiments expressed at Burnett's bar as by the illegal sale of spirits there. One of the other cases heard by the Committee, dealing with efforts of John Link to avoid military supply service by offering bribes, appears also in the papers of Governor Clinton, the transcript of the trial having been forwarded to the Governor for review.

In the final entries in the Minute Book, tension comes to a climax as a plot affecting the township is discovered in a letter from Fredericks Borough (now Patterson in Putnam County). Apparently a plot had been hatched in Northeast, under the very noses of the Commissioners, to kidnap local political leaders and military officers and carry them off to the British forces in New York City! All patriots were implored to turn out in formation with guns and supplies to suppress the conspiracies and insurrections. And on that urgent note, the Minute Book ends — but not before the embattled commissioners had taken care to reimburse themselves in full for expenses incurred in the line of duty.

Finding the text of the Minutes was a classic example of serendipity — an accidental, yet fortunate discovery. Looking for a detailed map of the Town of Washington in the 18th Century, in order to pursue our principal historical interest, we wrote to the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California, which has the voluminous manuscript collection of the Earl of Bute, containing a great deal of 18th Century Americana. The Library did not have what we were looking for, but they did offer us a copy of the Minute Book of the Committee of Safety for the Town of Northeast. We have transcribed it for publication with the kind permission of the Huntington Library, reproducing insofar as practicable the spelling and capitalization used in the original manuscript. A few gaps where words were illegible are also indicated.

46

JtivtEs LATER

STEWART HOUSE.

3

47

The Committee of Safety often met here.

YOUNG HOUSE.

0 t^. r..

Q

MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY OF THE NORTHEAST PRECINCT, 1778 At a town meeting held in Northeast Precinct on the 20th day of January, 1778, was then elected the following persons to serve as a Precinct Committee: Casper Rouse, James Heady, Jerh Gifford, John Collins, Saml Crandle, John Seaton, Saml Egleston, Stephen Atwater (s) George Morehouse.

The above-named persons having been (duly) elected, a Majority met at the House of James Young in said Precinct, viz Casper Rouse Stephen Atwater Saml Crandle Sam! Egleston Jeremiah Gifford Geo Morehouse Made choice of Casper Rouse for Chairman and of George Morehouse for Clerk and so remain and serve as a committee until the. . . day of. . .

Whereas the Committee of Safety of this State at their sessions at Hurley on December 17, 1777, Recommend it to the Several Committees in this County to fall on some feasible method to set afoot a Contribution to the relief of the Distressed Inhabitants of Charlotte County who are represented to be in Suffering Condition for want of Bread; Committee taking into consideration the miserable condition that our Brethern in that part of the Country Labour under by the Calamity of War and Conscious to ourselves that it is our duty to use our utmost Endeavour to help the oppressed — Therefore that Mr. John Collins and Mr. Jeremiah Gifford be hereby entrusted to collect together all such donations as may be made in Captain Willson's Company and Stephen Atwater and Lieut. John Seaton in the Eastward part of Huested Company, and Mr. Casper Rouse Lieut Crandle and James Heady in Capt Jno Rouses Company and the west part in Lt Huested Company and Sam Egleston and George Morehouse in Lt. (?) Wm Hartwells Company And that the respective members make a true return to Chairman of the Committee of all the Grain and Other Things that they shall Have Collected at the next Sitting of this Committee — Resolved, that this Committee be adjourned until the 29th day of Instant January to meet at the house of James Youngs at ten Oclock in the Morning. *

r

s

At a meeting of the Committee of Northeast Precinct by Adjournment on this 29th Day of January 1778, Present: Casper Rouse, Chman. Geo Morehouse, Jerh Gifford, John Collins, Saml Crandle, Stephen Atwater, James Heady, Saml Egleston.

Capt Collins and Mr. Jerh Gifford appeared and Return that they had collected in the district they were appointed, twenty-four bushels of wheat. Also appeared Sam Egleston and George Morehouse and made return of fifteen bushels of wheat and eleven of rye and two of corn.

•

*

48

s

Mr Stephen Atwater made return of fifteen bushels of wheat and three and a half of corn — Return made by Casper Rouse James Heady and Sam! Crandle of Seventy One bushels of Wheat, five bushels of Rye and three and a half of Indian Corn.

The total amounting One Hundred and Twenty Six bushels of Wheat Sixteen of rye and Nine of Indian Corn.

NB the Money that was collected was Disposed of by purchase of wheat at 20/per bushel which was annexed to the Above. *

*

*

Appeared before this Committee Mr. Hosmah Jewej and complains against John Burnet of this Precinct for selling Strong Liquor without License and Keeping a disorderly House and prays he may be dealt with. *

*

*

Resolved that John Burnet aforesaid be cited to appear before this Committee to answer to the above Complaint, also that a Citation be served on the following persons to appear as evidence, viz — Orry Ferguson, Moses Fish, Michael Marfield, Burt Soper and that Hosmah Jewel Cite them to appear before this Committee on the 7th day of February next at the House of James Young Inholder in said Precinct — Resolved that this Committee stand adjourned from this day of January until the 7th of February at the house of James Youngs in said Northeast Precinct. *

*

*

Little Nine Partners, Dutchess County, State of New York, January 30th, 1778 Whereas there came to this Committee a Resolution from the Council of Safety dated at Hurley December 17th, 1777, Representing the Distress of the Inhabitants of Charlotte County for want of Bread and also Recommending it to General Precinct Committees to collect in as much Flour Grain etc. as could be in the several Districts where they Resided for their relief, Agreable to the said Resolution and Recommendation, this Committee has collected in this Precinct the following Donation:, viz: 126 bushels Wheat, Sixteen ditto of Rye, Nine of corn.

To the Legislator (sic) of the State of New York *

*

*

At a Meeting of the Committee of Northeast Precinct according to Adjournment on this 7th Day of February 1778 and Present the following Members viz: Casper Rouse Chairman, George Morehouse Clerk, James Heady, Jerh Gifford, Stephen Atwater, Saml Egleston, Saml Crandle, Hugh Ra, a Member of Committee.

Then John Burnett Appeared before this Committee according to the Citation the Complaint against him being Read to him he was askt whether he was Guilty of the Charge Brought Against Him or not.

49

Said Burnet answered that he had sold Liquor and that he had Endeavored to procure a License and that he never Remembered the Commission's to forbid him but they. had not Granted any License.

Ary Ferguson being Sworn Saith that he had Seen said John Burnett sell Strong Liquor to his Neighbours Moses Fish Sworn Saith that he has bought Liquor of Burnett and paid for it and Seen Others do the.same and the Young Ones did Frolic their Christmas Day and New Years and that he Never knew him said Burnett to be Crowded with Strangers — and that he had known one person to pay Thirty Shilling.as a Rechoning for one Evening Michael Maxfield Sworn Saith he has bought Syder beer & Rum and paid for it — and that Christmas and New Years they had frolicked at said Burnett's House and Broke up — & that he never knew Burnett Entertain Strangers or Travelers and that he had seen both Whigs and Torys at Burnetts Burt Soper Sworn, Saith that he had been at Burnetts Numbers of Times and Spent his Money for Rum Cyder & Beer — and that he Recon that Mr Burnett kept about as Civil an House as is Common among the Taverns — that he never knew him Entertain any Strangers — that Numbers of the Neighbours frequent the House and that he never heard Burnett Talk in the Tory way but had heard him Check them that did and Desire them to be Easy etc.

After Consultation on the Complaint and the Evidences that had been brought against Burnett — the Committee are of Opinion that John Burnett is Guilty of a Breach of Law and therefore Resolved that he be Fined in the Sum of Five Pounds and pay the Cost of Prosecution, viz: — 7/6 to the Constable and the Sum of Two Shilling to Each of the Evidence, Amounting in the Whole to five Pounds fifteen shillings and six pence Resolved that if the Said John Burnett should Refuse to pay the Aforesaid Sum of Five Pounds Fifteen Shillings & 6d. being a fine & Cost for Selling Strong Liquor — that then the Chairman be Authorized to Issue out a Warrant and Execution to Deliver the same to one of the Constable of the Precinct who is to Elect the same. *

*

*

Whereas this Committee or the Committee of this Precinct did in January Last come into a Resolve that the Wifes and families of John Rouse, Jno. Rotenbergh, Nicholas Silvernail, and Jacob Poucher and Others that are gone to the Enemy should be Transported over the Enemies Lines on the Tenth Day of February Inst. — Nevertheless, it Appearing to this Committee that the Inclemency of the Weather and the Shortness of the Time Renders it impractible to Carry them off so soon — resolved, therefore, that the Time for Transporting the Above Families be Prolonged until Such Time the River be Feasible up as far as Ryneback at which Time they are to be Transported as has been before Resolved on. *

*

*

50

a

Resolved that the Accounts of Charge Relating to in McAlpine, which Stand now Directed to the Auditor Gen., be Altered and Directed to the Committee for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies in the State of NY — and that Col. Lewis Graham be Appointed to Alter the Same.

Resolved that James Atwater Esq. be Appointed to Carry in the Aforesaid McAlpine Accounts to the Commissioner of Conspiracies and to Receive the Monney who is directed to pay the Same to Stephen Atwater and that He Account for the Same to this Committee. *

*

*

Whereas a certain James J. Conway formerly of this Precinct but now with our Enemies has left some moveable Estate in this Precinct which of course has become forfeit to the State. Resolved therefore that an Inventory of the Same be Taken and a Return made thereof to the Commissioners of Sequestration of this State and Casper Rouse and Jeremiah Gifford be appointed to take Said Inventory and to make Return as aforesaid Resolved that this Committee be adjourned until the first Tuesday in April except Sooner Convened by order of the Chairman *

*

*

Feby 12, 1778 Committee Met on an Especial Occasion at the House of James Youngs in order to procure Slays to go to the Northward Members present: Casper Rouse Chairman, Jeremiah Gifford.

Adjourned til next Monday being the 16th of inst. Feby to meet at the House of James Youngs at 10 o'clock on said Day *

*

*

Feby the 13th day, 1778 Committee met on a Special Call at the House of Jeremiah Gifford to Consult about procuring Slays to go to the Northward. Members present: Casper Rouse Chairman, Collins, James Heady, Saml Crandall, Jermh Gifford Whereas this Committee having Received Orders from the Assembly and Senate of this State to furnish seventeen Slays etc. is as follows: Gentlemen: A Number of Sleighs being immediately wanted to the Northward for a most important public service, the Senate and Assembly have by a Joint Resolution Authorized Col. Hazen D.Q. Gen to Impress the Necessary Number. Application will undoubtedly be made to you for Assistance. We must therefore Request you to Exert yourselves in Order that a Sufficient number may be Obtained with the utmost Expedition We Remain your Humble Servants, 17 Sleighs are your Proportion To the Committee of North East Precinct Dutchess County mo.

51

Jonathon Landon Dirk Brinkerhoff Gilbert Livingston Egbt Benson Jacobus Swartout Andrew Morehouse Dated Poughkeepsie 10th of Feby 1778 A True Copy Geo. Morhouse Clerk *

*

*

There also follows a Copy of the Application or Request of the D.Q.M.G., Col. Hazen: Rhynebeck 10th Feby 1778 Gentlemen: Inclosed I send you a Letter from your Senate and Assembly and I do most Earnestly Request your Assistance in procuring immediately for Public Service Seventeen Sleighs with Two Horses and Driver and Twelve days provision and Forrage for the Horses and to have them at Albany on the 14th Instant at 10 o'clock in the fornoon.

I am Gentlemen Your Very Humble Servant Moses Hazen, DQM Gen. To the Committee of the Northeast Precinct, Dutchess County.

Resolved, that this Committee Comply .with the foregoing Request and that they immediately Impress seventeen Slays and Send them to Albany under the care of Mr George Morehouse, Compleatly Furnished with Provisions Forrage etc, and Resolved further that if Mr Morehouse Refuse to go with the Slays that the Chairman appoint any other Person that he shall think proper to Conduct them to Albany.

Resolved that this Committee be and are hereby adjourned until the First day of April next. *

*

*

Northeast Precinct 17th February 1778, Committee met on Especial Occasion: Casper Rouse, Chairman, James Heady, Saml Egleston, Saml Crandle, Stephen Atwater, Geo Morehouse, Hugh Rea, Member of County Committee.

Whereas orders have been Received by the Committee from the Senate and Assembly of this State to furnish Seventeen Slays, Horses and Drivers with Provisions Forrage etc for the use of the D.Q.M.G., and in compliance with the above and beforementioned Orders and Request this Committee did proceed to impress Certain persons for that purpose, and ordered them to Parade this present day at the House of Peter Knickerbocker and to proceed from there to Albany — and no one appeared in order to proceed by Fred Ham out of Lieut Husted Co. Therefore resolved that the persons hereafter be forthwath taken

52

by an Officer and men and out of Each Company in this Precinct and their Horses and Sleighs and Twelve days Provision and Forrage and bring them Under Guard if they Come not otherwise to the House of Peter Knickerbocker and to be sent under the Direction of Mr. George Morehouse to Albany; Viz., Jonker Smith, Jnr., Nicholas Smith, Mathias Rowe, Andrew Stickle, Nicholas Stickle, Andrew Pulvers, Fredk Ham, Jacob Lowke — Husted's Company John Boice, John Link, Mathias Willham, George Cookingham, Hendrick Teatts — Capt. Wilson's Company Joshua Dakin Sr., Ezra Perry, Joshua Dakins for a driver, Wendle Pulver, Philip Spencer, Lewis Bryan — Lieut. Hartwells Company.

Resolved that this Committee be adjourned until next Tuesday the 20th of Inst. to meet at James Youngs at Ten Oclock in the forenoon. *

*

*

Feb 20, 1778 Committee met according to Adjournment at the House of James Young. Members Present: Casper Rouse, Chairman; Jno Seaton, James Heady, Stephen Atwater.

Resolved, that this Committee be Adjd. until the 25th of Instant Feby to meet at James Youngs at 10 o'clock in the Morning. *

*

*

Feby the 25th Day 1778 Committee met according to Adjournment, Members Present: Casper Rouse, Chairman; James Heady, John Seaton, Saml Crandle, Stephen Atwater, Jerh Gifford.

Resolved that all those Persons that was Ordered to Appear at the House of Peter Knickerbocker on the 17th Instant in order for George Morehouse to conduct them to Albany Pursuant to an Order from the Assembly and Senate of the State of New York and the D.Q.M.G., that all those Persons that Disobeyed those Orders should be Cited before the Committee — A complaint being Exhibited against Jno Burnett selling Strong Liquor in Contempt of the Authority and Constitution of this State and Laws of our Land, the Said Burnett appearing, Puts the Committee on proof of the Charge.

William Winas, Sworn, Saith: Daniel Palmer and James Heady Bought Rum and Cyder and paid for it at the House of Jno Burnett and Higgins called for a Bowl of Grog and had it, and Jno Burnett said he meant to sell & would sell.

Whereas a Complaint has been Exhibited to this Committee against John Burnett for selling Strong Liquor in Contempt to the Constitution and Laws of our Land and the complaint being Sufficiently Supported

by Evidence, Therefore Resolved that Jno Burnett be fined in the Sum of five pounds and the Cost by Order of Committee. *

*

53

*

It is the Sense of this Committee that the Act. James Atwater Esq has exhibited to this Committee for keeping a Certain Mare belonging to McAlpine is Right and Justly Charged, viz, the following Articles: To Keeping the Mare from the 11th of March 1777 until the 21st of Feby Six months and a half on summer Pasture, 3/5/6; to 4 months of Tending in the Stable — 3/4/0; To Shoeing said Mare — 2/0/0/ Total 8/9/6. *

*

*

In Committee Resolved, that if any members of Committe suspects any person or persons that have Concealed any Goods or Chattels of any kind belonging to any persons with our Enemies upon Application of Either of such Member to the Chairman that he order them Cited to the next session.

The following is a List of the Names of the Delinquents to be Cited to the Next Sessions: Jonkeer Smith Jr., Nichs Smith, Matthew Rowe, Jacob Louke, Wendle Pulver, Andrew Pulver, George Cookingham, Andrew Stickle, Nichs Stickle, Jno Boyce, Jno Link, Hendrick Teats, Matimas Millham, Lewis Bryan, Holmes Pilcher.

Resolved, that this Committee be Adjourned to meet at the House of Stephen Atwater on the ninth Day of March at Nine of the Clock in the Morning.

Citations to be Issued for Kno Houghtalin Junr, Jno Crandle, Hontice Willse and John Burnet to appear at the Next Sessions by order of Committee. *

*

*

Northeast Precinct March 9, 1778.

At a meeting of the Committee of Northeast Precinct, at the house of Stephen Atwater, Present the following Members: viz., Casper Rouse, Chairman; Jno Seton, Sam Crandle, James Heady, Sam Egleston, Stephen Atwater, George Morehouse, Clerk.

Whereas on the 25th Day of February last this Committee came into a Resolution that the following persons should be Cited before the Committee, accordingly the following Persons have now Appeared before this Committee to Endeavor to Render Suficient Reason for their not Appearing at Peter Knickerbockers on the 17th Day of February last with their Slays Horses Provisions and Forrage according as they had been Impressed and Ordered by this Committee.

Matthew Rouse being called up affirms his horse was young and that he had not any that were any ways Suitable for Such Service, that he had Several young children unprovided for and one so foolish that it was as likely to go into the fire as anywhere — He said his Negro was quite foolish and uncapable of Acting or Transacting Business and that when he was brought under Guard before the Committee at Peter Knickerbockers he did not Mean to Run away but that he had Children sick and did not mean to do wrong.

54

Lieut. Husted the Officer that brought Rowe under Guard declares that he told Rowe that he did impress him and his horses and that he told said Rowe that he was ordered so to Do. The Committee considering the Excuse and Reason given by Matthew Rowe and the Evidence given against him and are of the Mind that he is Guilty of Disobedience of Orders and Contempt of the Orders of the Senate and Assembly and of this Committee, and Resolve that he shall be fined in the Sum of Eight Pounds.

Nich Smith Cited before this Committee for the same Offense says on Oath: That he got out of Bed on the 17th of Feby and his Boys told him his Horses was gone and he knew no more than a Child unborn what had become of them and that he not the least Mistrust of being to have been taken away Privately for the Sake of preventing there going into the Service nor to this day know who it was or anything about them. *

*

*

Jonkeer Smith Jr., being Sworn, saith that he never knew anything about his brothers Horse and that he himself had fixed up Everything Ready to go and should have come to the place Appointed if his own Horse had not been Stolen and that he was Ready if the Committee Let him know it to take any Other of his horses and put in the Room of the stolen one; that to this time he did not know any thing concerning the Horses who took them, that his horse was rid much while Gone.

Lawrence Willsee, Sworn, Saith: That his Brother in Law was Ready to go and that he had Agreed to go himself and Drive if his Father and Mother was willing but it proved that they were not. His brother then hired Honnis Smith to go and Drive his Horses — that He himself locked up the Stable and that the Lock was picked and that he never knew how or where the Horses were Gone or who Brought them Back or who took the Horses of Nich Smith and that they Horses was gone from Mondy night till Friday Morning.

John Willsee, Sworn, Saith: He never knew who took away the Horses or who Brought them back he never knew anything about who brought them Back again. *

*

*

The Committee on Mature Consideration find that Nichs Smith is Faulty for not Appearing as it appears he had plenty of Horses in his Stable beside those pretended to be Stole, Therefore Resolve that he be fined in the sum of Eight Pounds.

Hontice Smith Jr Considered and find that he was Ready and Sent out a Man to see about going, therefore Excuse him. . . *

*

*

Andrew Stickle being before the Committee, Says that he could not Possibley provide any Grain so soon as to appear the Seventeenth at Knickerbocker's and that he Could not go himself and that he Could not possible go himself; And that he thought that if he had found one

55

Horse and Tackling with a Neighbor it would do; that he Sett much by his horses and that he rather thought that he was Crowded on; That he was willing to Do His Part anytime and anywhere.

His reasons being considered by the Committee and his not Coming at all until Sent for by a Guard — Judge him to guilty of a Fault and Contempt of the Orders of the Assembly and Senate and the Impressment of the Committee, therefore Fine him in the sum of Eight Pounds.

Holmes Pilcher, having been cited to answer to the same as above, and says that he had not any Horse of his own, and that he could not find any Horse himself and that Andrew Stickle told him that if he went out of the way he would answer for it. N.B. Pilcher pretends that the Horse he went away with was A. Stickles.

The Committee consider Holmes Pilcher Excuse quite Insufficient, Therefore fine him in the sum of Five Pounds. *

*

*

John Bouse (Boyce?) Called, gave the Committee Such Satisfactory Reasons that the Committee think proper to Acquit him. *

*

*

George Cookingham says that he had but one Horse that he could Spare and that he Expected to Join with his Neighbor that he was Ready as to other things.

Mr. Cookingham's Excuse Considered and his not appearing without be Sent for by a Guard, Sentence him to fined in the sum of Three Pounds. *

*

*

Andrew Pulver appeared and gave no Satisfactory Reasons, Therefore Sentenced to be fined in the Sum of Four Pounds. *

*

*

Hendrick Teats giving such Satisfactory Reasons, is therefore acquitted. *

*

*

Nicholas Stickle Cited as before, Says that he bought a man in the Continental Service and that Col. Graham had given him free and was only to turn out when Ministers Lawers and every Other person in case of General Allarm and that he told the Man that come after him that the Horses and Slay was Ready and that he Could not go himself and Declared that he never hindered them from taking the Horses.

The Committee taking into consideration the Acct. Stickle gives, and the Acct. that the Guards Gave, it appears that he did not obey the Orders He received nor did not Intend only as he was Compelled by force of Arms, and do Fine said Nichs. Stickle in the Sum of Ten Pounds. *

*

*

Jacob Louke acknowledge that he had been impressed by the Committee and Ordered to be at Knickerbockers on the 17th, that he was poorly and he could not procure any Body to Drive, that the Sergt of

56

the Guard said he Reckoned that his horses was not fit to go, and that he went to the Doctors that Day he was ordered to appear at Knickerbockers.

The Committee, having Considered Mr. Louke's Excuse and Look on it to be frivolous and Insufficient and has appeared to the Satisfaction of this Committee that he had Several good Able Horses at home or that he had sent them out of the way purposely, Therefore Fine him in the Sum of Twenty Pounds. Execution granted and delivered to the Officer on the 23rd March. *

s

•

John Link having been Cited before the Committee to show Reason if any he had why he did not Parade with his Slay and Horses at the House of Peter Knickerbocker on the 17th of Feby in order to proceed to Albany to the QM Gen, he having previously been properly Notified or Impressed According to an Order and Request of the Senate and Assembly of this State and of the QMG; His Reasons were he had done a great deal of Labour one time and another and had Nothing for it and that in fact he Never knew that was one that was pitched on to go to Drive a Slay, and said he gave Ten Pounds to Capt. James Wilson & John Gage to git him Clear from going up in the Service to the QMG. On consideration of the Matter, it Appearing to the Committee that Some Clandestine Dealings had been Taken by some persons Respecting said John Link's being Discharged from going in the Service, and Resolved that it is Expedient to put Mr. John Link on his Oath; John Link, being Sworn, saith, That after he was Impressed into the Service with his Slay and Horses he Offered Ten Pounds to one Bugbee to go with his Slay and Horses and Drive them, but he would not; and further says that one John Gage came to him and told him it was hard for so old a Man to go up and asked what he would give if he would git him Cleared, he says he Told him he would give him Ten Pounds. Gage said to him that Capt. Wilson and he had talked about it and that they would try to git him Discharged, and that after he was discharged he spoke to Capt. Wilson and John Gage and told them why now I ought to pay you what I promised you but that I told him I not so much money with me as Ten Pounds. Then Capt. Wilson spoke and said why then pay that to Gage, we are Neighbors and we can Settle any Time; and I did promise to pay him and whether he Intend to take it I do not know but if Capt. Wilson had Demanded it I Expected to have paid it. John Link further saith that he never Imployed any Other Person or gave any money or Other Thing to any Body to Endeavor to git him a Discharge, and that Capt. Wilson or John Gage never spoke to him or Encouraged him about giting him Clear until he came to Knickerbockers; and that he asked him whether he was like to make out and that Capt. Wilson said that he must go along to Landlord Pulver's and he would try what he could do.

57

John Gage being called before the Committee and being Sworn declareth and saith that he went to the house of Peter Knickerbocker to Propers (?) and. from there he rid with John Link and that Link asked him to Intercede with the Conductor to git himself and Horses Clear from going to the Northward but he made him no Answer, and that when they got up to Landlord Pulver's he heard James Wilson talking about giting his Horses Clear; and again Link asked him to try to git him Clear and that he Overheard Link Promise to give Capt. Wilson Ten Pounds if he made the Matter Clear; and that afterwards he heard Capt. Wilson tell Link that he was Clear; and that on Wilson's saying to Link, said why then I must pay you the Ten Pounds; which on hearing I spoke in jest, why then I ought to have half of it — but on going down the Road we Stopt at One Minclairs Tavern and while we was there Link spoke to Wilson and said that he had but about Five Pounds with him. Then said Wilson pay that to Gage which was the first Time I Ever Really Knew that I was to have any Share of the Ten Pounds beforementioned, and that he heard Wilson and Link in Conversation about the other Five Pounds. Wilson said that They were Neighbours, he was not Concerned about it. Mr. Link said he should never Have the Trouble to Ask him for it for he would pay Him as soon as he Got Home — and that he heard Capt. Wilson say that This Matter ought to be kept Close and no words made of it so that it git Noised Abroad.

Resolved that the Chairman and Mr. James Heady be Appointed or Either of them to wait on his Excellency the Govr with a Copy of the Foregoing Proceedings

By Order Casper Rouse Chairman *

*

*

Here follows a copy of Letter to his Excellency the Govr May it please your Excellency Upon due Consultation this Committee think it Proper to Present to you the Foregoing proceedings respecting John Links Bribing Capt.

James Wilson and John Gage to Obtain a Discharge from the Conductor then going to Albany with the Slays from this Precinct and so we must beg leave to Submit the Matter to you to Devise proper steps to be taken in the Affair We remain your sincere Friends and Humble Servants, By order of Committee Casper Rouse Chairman March 9 1778 *

*

*

Honse (?) Links Excuse looked on by the Committee to be Quite insufficient for his not Appearing as he was Ordered is therefore Fined in the Sum of Fifteen Pounds *

*

*

Conrad Millham, having been Impressed and Ordered to Parade on the Seventeenth and did not appear, nor does he give any sufficient Reason why he did Not, is therefore fined in the Sum of Ten Pounds. *

*

58

*

William Coopernail, being Brought before the Committee for Deserting with Slay and Horses when on the road to Albany, and he makes this Excuse, that one of his Horses was very Sick and he was Obliged to turn back on that account — the Committee Think proper that the said William Coopernail be put under Bond to the Chairman of this Committee in the Sum of One Hundred Pounds, to Appear again before this Committee whenever Called on. *

:

Resolved that this Committee stand Adjourned until tomorrow Morning Eight O'Clock s

s

*

10th March, Committee met according to Adjournment. Members present: Casper Rouse Chairman, George Morehouse Clerk, James Heady, Saml Crandall, Stephen Atwater, John Seton John Burnett came before this Committee on Citation and said John Burnett being Sworn, Saith; Botus V. Kleek partly Bargained away some wheat on the Ground but that it fell through and he believes Joseph Higgins had the same wheat, and that some of the Wheat that lay in the Chamber was Carried away by Van Kleek and Mr. E. Dean, and that it is his judgement that there was about Sixteen Bushels in the Chamber. He says further that he heard that the said Van Kleek had the half of a Stack of Hay, and that he believes that said Evans Dean had the Hay for keeping some Cattle for said Van Kleek. Burnett further says that he knew of no goods or Chattels concealed belonging to any persons gone to the Enemy that ought to be Confiscated to the Benefit of the States.

Evans Dean being Sworn Saith, that he kept a number of Cattle for Baltus V. Kleek and had the half of the Stack of Hay spoke of by Mr. Burnett for keeping the Cattle Evans Dean further says that he took away five Bushels of Wheat from Burnett in the Summer being wheat that belonged to B. V. Kleek, and since in Company with Van Kleek, took away Six Bags full which he judged to contain between 12 and 16 Bushels which Van Kleek carried to Uphams a farmer for to pay tanning and curing; That B.V. Kleek had half a stack of Wheat in Burnetts field which Higgins bought of Van Kleek and he knows of nothing in the Hands of any Persons either Cattle or other Goods that belonged to any Persons with the Enemy.

Further he saith not. i

•

4

Whereas John Burnett and Andrew Griffin and Burt Soper have been complained of for selling Strong Liquor and Keeping and Entertaining Disorderly Company, and being asked whether Guilty of the Charge, they all plead not Guilty and put the Committee on proof, therefore: Timothy Soper, being called and Sworn, saith Burt Soper, Andrew Griffin and himself hired a of John Burnett and gave him Three Dollars for the use of it, and he never paid Burnett for Liquor that Night;

59

that the Frolic was at Burnetts which was Shrove Tuesday Night and that he knew not of any Persons Complained of to sell any Strong Liquor for Money; and that he did Expect to pay his part of Liquor; that there was Raffling there for Tobacco and that he did not himself but that he had Liquor of John Burnett but did not Expect to pay for it; that what he did have he Expected to pay to Andrew Griffin and Burt Soper.

Reuben Bullock, being Sworn, Saith that he was there as a fiddler, that he had his Reckoning Clear, that one Abraham Mosher called for Liquor and had but did not remember of seeing any Liquor paid for himself— but that some of the Great Nine Partners People paid their part and went Home but to who he knew not; Momes Fish being sworn Saith that he was at Burnetts afore said and see John Lamb pay Four/ towards half a pint of Rum that he said Lamb had in company with a Man that Lived at Old Mr. Lambs —that he called for Syder and Burnett told him he did not pretend to sell tavern anymore —but that there was a Mug of Syder stood on the table and that he took it up and Expected to pay Burnett for it, and that before he went away he heard Griffin say that the Reckoning come to upwards of Twenty Dollars and that he did see him measure Liquor several times but did not remember to see him take Money for it.

Joseph Higgins, sworn, saith: that on last Tuesday Burnett borrowed his Table and Knives, he was over with his wife to see the young ones Dance but staid but a few minutes in the House and that Next Morning he went over after his Table and Knifes, and then called for a Dram.

Burnett said he did not pretend to Sell but would give him one. He then handed his one for which he paid him for —after that with another Man he got another Dram and paid him for the Same and that Michael Maxfield came to his House very much in Drink, and said that he had spent Four Pounds for Liquor Victuals and Tobacco.

Evans Dean being likewise sworn in the Case of Burnett, Saith: that he Drinkt Rum and Syder one Morning but did not pay for it —that he heard Simon J. Myers call for Syder—but Burnett told him he did not pretend to Sell Liquor but would give him Mug of Syder and he see Simon J. Myers pay one Shilling and Four d. for it; And that on Shrove tuesday he bought a Mug of Syder there himself and paid One/4d. for it.

Benj. Hatchet, sworn saith: that he was at Burnetts house Shrove Tuesday and heard Ichiel Mead call for a Gill of Rum. Burnett said he did not pretend to sell but could give him a Dram —that he paid Twelve Shillings for his Reckoning to Andrew Griffin. He said it was his opinion that the bigger half of the Company was Disaffected persons and that he understood his cousin that heard Griffin drink the King's Health to Jacob Kempe.

Silas Hatchett, sworn saith: that he was at the house of John Burnett on the Evening of Shrove Tuesday and Joined the Comp. some time and was about to go. He called his Reckoning and paid, it being Two Dollars and that he heard A. Griffin drink George's Health to J.V. Kempe who said don't drink that Health in Company.

60

Ichiel Mead, being sworn, saith: that he was at the house of John Burnett and asked Burnett for a. Dram. Burnett said that he did not Sell Rum or any other Liquor but that he some time after gave him a Dram and that Griffin desired all that did not mean to join the Frolic to Depart the House but that he did not Regard that and that when he went away he left a half dollar Bill on the Table which he meant should be as good a gift as Burnett gave him and that the Comp. consisted of both Whigs and Tories — that on the day Burnett paid his fine before he had a Dram and flung the money into the Cradle; This Committee have Considered the Evidence Produced against John Burnett for selling Strong Liquors —it is agreed that Burnett is Guilty of the fact, and having been repeatedly admonished before not to sell any more Strong Liquor without License he not regarding the same, and is therefore Sentenced to be fined in the Sum of Five Pounds and pay the Cost accruing Tenth March 1778 Signed by Ord. Committee Costs 20/ Casper Rouse Chairman *

*

*

It having appeared to this Committee that Andrew Griffin and Burt Soper in co. have been Guilty of the Crime of Selling Strong Liquor by their own Confession beside the Evidence against them, and they have harboured or entertained very Disorderly co. in open Contempt of the Law and Admonitions of this Committee, therefore do Sentence them to be fined in the Sum of Five Pounds and to pay costs of suit. Dated Committee Chamber 10th of March 1778.

Nichs Stickle 3d, having been Cited before this Committee for Disorderly Behaviour, Threatening and Abusing the Guard sent after his Father's hay and Horses, as by his own Confession fully Appears as he Confesseth that he was Determined to have knock them down and that he prepared a Club for that purpose; This Committee are of the Opinion that said Nichs Stickle 3d is Guilty of a Capital Offense and in Order that for to prevent such Gross Abuses for the Future said Nichs. Stickle 3d Shall be Fined in the Sum of Ten Pounds. *

*

*

David Lawrence Fined for Concealing and Sending away his Horse in the Sum of Three pounds. *

*

*

Wendell Pulver giving Such Satisfactory Reasons for his not Appearing at Peter Knickerbockers on the 17th of Feby., the Committee do Acquit him. *

1

*

*

Ebenr. Burch, Fined for carrying off and Concealing his Slay after It was Legally Impressed is therefore Fined in the Sum of Four pounds. *

*

*

61

Seth Calkins and Michael Rogers, having Cited before this Committee for to Answer for there coming home from Albany without leave or Discharge, there Reasons gave for there so doing: they had not any Money Left to bear their Expenses, and that Col. Fisher told them if they come home no body Wont hurt them and they were not Set About anything that they did not think they was well agreed, as they were not the first that were Impressed.

Seth Calkins being a Minor and his Fathers known Integrity and Readiness and his Declaration that in Future his Son should behave better — and he should Turn out at any time whenever Called on, is therefore Acquitted with paying the Constables Costs.

Constables fees 12/.

Michael Rogers, pleading the same Excuse as Calkins above and Signifying his Readiness to Obey all Legal Calls for the Future, his former good Behaviour being Certified — he is likewise Acquitted, paying Costs.

Costs 12/.

This Committee is adjourned by Order of the Chairman until tomorrow Morning Eight O'clock, to meet at Stephen Atwaters.

Casper Rouse, Chairman *

*

*

On the 11th of March the Committee met by Adjournment at the House of Stephen Atwater and Members Present: Casper Rouse, Chairman, James Heady, Sam'l Crandle, John Seton, Stephen Atwater, George Morehouse Clerk; Moved in Committee that it be taken into Consideration Concerning the Charges made by the Officers for themselves and the Guard with them for there Time and Expenses collecting Slays — and resolved that Reasonable Wages and Costs be Allowed; and whereas Capt. James Wilson has sent in an account for himself and Guard, this Committee Judge that said account just therefore is allowed — which is Sixteen Shillings per day for himself and Twelve ditto for his Assistance; accounting the aforesaid Sums to Comprehend their Wages and Expenses for each days service. Done by the Committee's order; and the Commander of each Party that was sent out by the Committee shall be Allowed the same Wages as was Allowed to Capt. Wilson, viz Sixteen Shillings per day.

Capt. James Wilson's Account amounted to 5 pounds; John Gage, Commander of a party, exhibited an account and is allowed the sum of 17 pounds 4/ for himself and his party; Lieut. John Seton allowed his account 2 pounds; John Gage allowed Sixteen Shillings for himself and assistance for bringing Nichs Stickle before the Committee; James Newcomb allowed for citing Seven Men before the Committee 1 pound 12/; Lieut. Silas Husted's account of 5 pounds 4/ is allowed for himself and Guard with him in bringing together Slays; James Winchel allowed Twelve Shillings for Citing John Houghtaling. *

*

62

*

Whereas several Persons have been cited before this Committee to answer the Several Charges Exhibited against them (as may appear of record of this Committee), and it likewise Appears that Severall have been Fined in Several different Sums, it is therefore Agreed on and Resolved by this Committee that James Newcomb be appointed to notify all those Persons that have been fined that live West of Young's Tavern in this Precinct and that he shall be allowed Three Dollars for his service; and that Stephen Atwater be appointed to Notify all that live to the eastward of Young's Tavern; the foregoing persons are to be notified to pay the Monies to them or to the Chairman of this Committee and that the aforesaid James Newcomb and Stephen Atwater make a Return of their Doing to the Chairman of this Committee, who is to pay them for their Trouble Three Dollars Each for their Service.

Resolved that if any Person or Persons that have been fined by this Committee shall Refuse (after having been properly notified) to pay their Respective Fines, then in such case the Chairman of this Committee is hereby Authorized to Grant out a Strain Warrant directed to the Constable or other Person that he shall think Proper — and such Constable or other Person shall be fully Impowered to Levy on the goods or chattels of such Delinquents and after six days public Notice, make Sale of the Same.

Resolved that the Constable or other Person that shall collect the aforesaid Fines by Warrant shall be intitled to Lawful Fees. *

*

*

Whereas John Burnett, Andrew Griffin and Burt Soper have been fined by this Committee (as may be seen in the Records of this Book) and Resolved that the aforesaid Fines as soon as Collected shall be Disposed of as the Law Directs. *

*

*

Ezra Perry, cited before this Committee on complaint of Samuel Egleston for Secreting his Horses and Hay when impressed to go to Albany, said Perry says that one of his Horses was Lame in the Stable — that Egleston told him his Horse must go if he could find no other that would do as well, and that he said Egleston came Next Day after the Horse but that he had sent the Horse to Salisbury — that he told Egleston it was hard his Horse should be taken — that he had a child very sick — likewise that his other Horses was very young, that he had engaged to carry a crate for the clothing business to Danbury and his Honnour was at Stake for the Performance of it.

This Committee having heard the Reasons given by Mr. Perry why he did not furnish a Horse and Slay as he was ordered and this Committee are of opinion that his Reasons are Insufficient, and do Fine him in the Sum of Eight Pounds. *

*

*

Resolved, that the Extra Costs the Committee was at in Notifying one another to Convene on this Extraordinary Occasion shall be paid. *

*

*

63

Paid by George Morehouse to the Chairman the sum of Twelve Pounds Eleven Shillingsand Eight Pence which he received of the QMG. *

*

*

Resolved, that the Chairman of this Committee be and is hereby Appointed to Receive all the Fines when collected that have been laid on the Severall Delinquents beforenamed, and that he likewise be Impowered to pay out of the same all such Sums as have been Allowed for Guards and the Costs that have been allowed for Sighting Persons and all other Costs and sums Allowed and Ordered to be paid by this Committee whereof Record is made and that a True and Regular Account be kept of the Same, and that the Residue and Remainder of said Fines if any should be, shall be kept Safe in Bank for the Use of the Precinct and to the Poor Masters or the Legislative Power of this State when Required. *

*

*

Resolved, that the Sum of Two Pounds Six Shillings be allowed to Men that were Sent in a Terrible Storm to Notify the Members of this Committee when they met to consult about Collecting the Sleighs for the Use of the OMG. *

*

*

Resolved, that this Committee be and are hereby Intitled to Receive the sum of Ten Shillings per Day for Each Member that has served on this Extra Business previous to this Sessions and to be paid out of the Fines.

Resolved, that this Committee be also Intitled to the Sum of Four Shillings for Each Member has served at this Present Sitting Exclusive of all Just and Reasonable Costs. *

*

*

Resolved, that the Bill of Cost Accruing at this present Sitting shall be Allowed and Paid out of the Fines as beforementioned — which is Twelve Pounds Eleven Shillings and 0 Pence for Victuals and Horsekeeping and Two Pounds Thirteen and Eight Pence for Liquor. *

*

*

Resolved, that this Committee stand adjourned from this day until the first Tuesday in April Next to meet at Eight O'clock at the house of James Young on the Pine Plain.

By Order of Committee Casper Rouse, Chairman Warrant granted out against Andrew Stickle and Jacob Loukes and Mathew Rowe 23rd March 1778 *

*

*

March 31st Day 1778 Committee met on Especial Occasion. Members present: Casper Rouse, Chairman; James Heady; Saml Crandle; John Seton; Stephen Atwater; Jerh. Gifford; Saml Egleston:

64

Whereas the Fines have not been Duly Collected from Jacob Loukes, Andrew Stickle, and Mathew Rowe according to a former Resolution of this Committee, therefore, Resolved that David Saint John immediately execute the Warrants he has Obtained from this Committee Without Delay in Collecting Said Fines. s

*

s

Whereas it appears to this Committee that there is a Small Quantity of Wheat in the Custody of Geo. Cortwright and Joseph Higgins in John Burnett's Barn belonging to a person that having been gone to the Enemy, Resolved therefore that Mr. James Heady and Samuel Crandle be Appointed to take an Inventory of said Wheat and Secure and make Return to the Commissioners of the same.

Whereas John Gage did not make Returns of Mr. Couses Boy and Slay carrying the Guard to Nicholas Stickles and the service of Edward Edgett Two Days and Henry Mead One Day, Resolved that Mr. Couse be paid Twelve Shillings and Edward Edgett the Sum of One Pound Four Shillings.

Resolved that this Committee be Adjourned to the Seventh Day of April to meet at Six O'clock in the Morning to meet at James Youngs. *

s

*

April 3, 1778 Committee of North East Precinct met on a Special Call at the House of Casper Rouse.

Members present: Casper Rouse Chairman; James Heady, Saml Crandle; Stephen Atwater; Jeremiah Gifford.

Whereas it Appeareth to this Committee by a Letter from the Committee of Fredericks Borough and other Evidence and Circumstances that there is a Number of Disaffected Persons combined together in a Plot in the Northeast Precinct Manor of Livingston and elsewhere to take and carry off all Commission Officers and Committee Men to New York, and to Burn and Destroy the Inhabitants as much as lay in their Power, and in order to Detect such Infidels and Conspirators; Resolved, Therefore the Good People and Friends to the United States in this Precinct be Immediately Ordered Under Arms to Parade at the House of Stephen Atwater on Tomorrow the Fourth of Inst.

April at Four O'clock in the Morning their to Receive their Orders from this Committee or Some Proper Official. s

s

s

This Committee paid Sixteen Dollars to the Guards that brought Ezra Perry (a prisoner) from Philips Patten. s

s

s

Resolved that this Committee be Adjourned until the Fourth Day of Instant to meet at Four O'clock at Mr. Stephen Atwaters. s

s

s

65

Stephen Atwaters House April 4th Day 1778 Committee met according to Adjournment and present the following members, viz: Casper Rouse, Chairman; James Heady; Saml Crandle; John Collins; Geo. Morehouse; Stephen Atwater; Jeremiah Gifford; Israel Thompson; MC Comtee. (Ed. Note: "Member, County Committee") Resolved that the Chairman and Two Members of this Committee shall Constitute a House to proceed upon Business from time to time until the Seventh Day of this Instant.

Resolved in Committee that Lieutent S. Crandle Detach a Sufficient Guard and March from this place to Lewis Bryans and elsewhere and Detach every Friend to the Country to his Assistance with their Arms and Ammunition, on the Refusal to Any to Apprehend them immediately with their Arms and Ammunition and Conduct them under Sufficient Guard to this Committee at the House of Stephen Atwater, or wherever they shall be sitting; By order of Committee, Casper Rouse, Chairman.

This Committee stands adjourned by order of Committee until Tomorrow fifth of April to meet at Eight O'clock in the Morning by order of Committee.

George Morehouse, Clerk.

Stephen Atwaters House 5th of April 1778 Committee met according to Adjournment and Present the following Members, viz: Casper Rouse, Chairman; James Heady; Samuel Crandle; Jermh Gifford; John Seton; Stephen Atwater; George Morehouse; Israel Thomson, MCC. 6th.

Committee met at same place and same members present Resolved, that the Chairman pay the expenses of this Meeting out of the Fines Collected from persons who Neglected to Furnish Slays in February 7th last according to the Resolution of the Senate and Assembly.

April 7th Met Members present: Casper Rouse Chairman; James Heady; Sam! Egleston; Jeremiah Gifford; Co. Thomson, M.C. Committee.

Whereas Andries Pulver complaineth and saith that he Lost a Horse in the Service with One Hundred Pounds; Joshua Dakins complaineth to this Committee and saith he lost a Horse that he gave Forty-Eight Pounds on purpose for him to gain the Continental Service; Resolved that this Committee Apply to a proper Bond to Obtain Pay for said Horses. s

66

*

s

Paid by the Chairman Casper Rouse to Persons by Order of Com7 - 15 - 0 mittee, viz: to Capt. Talmadge for Powder to Casper Rouse for going on Public Service to git some 2 - 15 - 0 writings•done 15 - 5 - 8 Pay to Stephen Atwater 0 - 12 - 0 Pay to Henry Mead 1- 4- 0 Do. to Ex. Edgett 19 - 4 - 0 John Gage 2 - 16 0 I. Necomb 1 - 4- 0 E. Edgett 0- 6- 0 " " E. Craw George Morehouse for making out the Records to 1- 0- 0 the Govr 0 - 10 - 0 for Paper Pay to Casper Rouse 0 - 12 - 0 George Morehouse for Paper 0 - 12 - 0 James Winchel for service 2- 8- 0 George Morehouse for Entering Record 2- 8- 0 L. Seton for service 24 - 12 - 10 Stephen Atwater for Expenses 12- 8- 6 the Committee for Service 1- 4- 0 Stephen Atwater for Service 0- 7- 0 Evidence in Burnetts case 1 - 12 - 0 Poughkeepsie going to for Pay to Pd to James Heady 5 Lieut. Husted for service Captn. Husted's Company.

1 Lieut.

— 4 days — 3 days 1 2d Lt. —4 days 1 Engineer —1 day 1 Srgt.

— 2 days 3 Do. —4 days 1 Corporal — 2 days 1 Corporal —4 days 3 privates —3 days 1 do.

—2 days 19 do.

— 1 day 8 do.

Company Humphrey's Capt.

— 3 days 1 Engineer — 1 do.

1 Srgt. .

2 do.

13 Privates

BACKBONE OF FARM FARE FOR YEARS WAS HOG MEAT Meat, not bread, was the staff of life for colonial farmers. Frontier farmers who didn't yet have much livestock lived largely on deer, bear, turkey, grouse, pigeon, squirrel and other wildlife. Bear and opossum fat was rendered into lard which was stored in deerskin bags, as Indians had done for centuries.

Pork, though, was the most frequent meat on the pioneer table. Hogs were produced relatively easily, since they were allowed to forage in the wilds for virtually all their food.

Salt pork was standard fare the year 'round. Beef was a secondary meat. Every farmer slaughtered his own animals, usually with the help of neighbors. After crops had been harvested, the fall seeding done, the winter supply of firewood cut and piled, butchering was in order.

The farmers would gather on some chilly fall day. It was a festive day, not just because fresh meat was a welcome change in the diet, but because it offered a chance to visit with neighbors.

A 40-50 gallon kettle was hung over an outdoor fire to heat water for scalding the carcasses. Another kettle was used to prepare the lard. The animals - mostly hogs but also also oxen, old cows and sheep - were slaughtered in early morning so the meat would be hard and cold by the time it was pickled at nightfall.

Butchering was a very busy time for the farm wives. The meat had to be pickled, smoked, dried, salted or potted so it would keep throughout the year.

Pork was preserved in barrels of brine or in tubs packed with lard. Hams, shoulders and sides were hung in the smokehouse to cure.

There was sausage to make, lard to be rendered, tallow to save. Hog meat was made into a variety of food products - salt pork, bacon, ham, souse, scrapple, head cheese, cracklings, spare ribs, jowls, pickled pigs' feet and many others. A supply of beef, too, was dried, corned or smoked, but the baokbone of the farm fare was hog meat.

The standard cereal food of the pioneers was corn meal.

It was consumed mainly as cornpone or hoecake, but corn meal mush and milk were staple foods. Wheat was a cash crop and rarely used make bread for the farmer's table. He used rye for bread because it was cheaper and equally nourishing.

Although; there were no nutrition experts in those days to tell the pioneers about vitamins, minerals and such, they well understood the need to eat quantities of fruits and vegetables thr6ughoutt#he':year.

Families picked huge quantities of wild fruits and berries in season. They were eaten fresh or preserved by drying and sometimes by packing in honey or sugar.

Sauerkraut was an important source of vitamins for many farm families during the winter months. It was made by packing cabbages in salt and changing the brine from time to time as the cabbage fermented. Sweet corn, beans, pumpkins, squash and other vegetables were dried.

Apple trees soon came to be grown on many farms, and this fruit was made into cider, dried apples and apple to

68

butter. Apple pie came to be the almost universal dessert, but not all of it was the kind that made grandma famous.

Israel Acrelius, writing in 1759 about his fellow pioneers from Sweden, said, "Apple pie is used through the whole year and when fresh apples are no longer to be had, dried ones are used. It is the evening meal of the children.

House-pie in country places is made of apples neither peeled nor freed from their cores. And the crust is not broken even if a wagon wheel goes over it."

Reprinted with appreciation to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

69

A photograph taken in 1927 of the original Flagler homestead (or at least a part of it) which stood at the far end of Frog Hollow Road in Green Haven. Only the remnants of the basement wall are to be seen today. Dr. Poucher speaks of the house being built in 1736 by Philip Solomon Flagler.

70

OVER HILL: OVER DALE

By Robert Pierce When the English quest for naval stores in the Colony of New York collapsed in the autumn of 1712 the Palatines at the West Camp, as we have noted, were forced to shift for themselves. With the removal of British protection the settlement became exposed to the harassment of belligerent neighbors and the rigors of a harsh, uncompromising wilderness. A massive exodus resulted; the fugitives scattering to the four winds. A Palatine, Ulrich Simmendinger by name, kept a journal in which he wrote: "Each one received his freedom to the extent that he might seek his own bread in his own way until the Queen should again need his services."

The exact date that the Flegler family left the West Camp cannot be determined, altho there are reasons to believe that their departure took place during the last months of the year 1712, or shortly thereafter. Records in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in the West Camp (as recited in the third chapter) tend to bear this out. But before tracing the movements of Zacharias Flegler in Dutchess County, a brief sketch of the land in which he and his descendants were destined to inhabit may be of interest.

In 1683 the Colony of New York was divided into counties.

Of the twelve organized that year five were known as the River Counties. Dutchess, established November 1, 1683, was one of them; the others being Albany, Orange, Ulster, and Westchester.

The name Dutchess (sometimes Duchess) was bestowed in honor of Maria Beatrice d'Este, wife of the Duke of York and daughter of the Duke of Modena. The county's boundaries were described as running from the County of Westchester opposite the south side of the Highlands, along the west side as far as Roeliff Jansen's Kill (Livingston's Creek), and "east twenty miles into the woods." Land measurement in Colonial times was computed by the distance in linear feet a man could walk in a day; a day being considered as the time between dawn and dusk.

Plainly, a greater distance could be covered in the long days of summer than in the short daylight of winter. A day's journey was considered to be thirty-three and a third miles, save for the Sabbath when it was limited to two-thirds of a mile. Distances here given are for the English mile of 5280 feet and not the Dutch mile of 24288 feet.

Dutchess County was originally attached to Ulster County because of the sparsity of the former's population; and not until 1713 was it represented separately in the General assembly of the Provinces. So few indeed was the number of its people that in 1714, or 31 years after its organization, only 67 freeholders were listed with a total number of men, women and children of 445, including 29 slaves. In 1691 five men, it is said, lived in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie; and as late as 1722 the County had but 183 taxpayers.

For convenience in the administration of civil affairs in 1717 the County was laid out in three wards: North, Middle, and South. The boundary between the North and Middle Wards began at the Hudson River just south of the present Village of Staatsburg and ran due east to the Connecticut line. The line between the Middle and South Wards also began at the river at the mouth of Wappinger's Creek, near the present hamlet of New Hamburg, and ran east to Connecticut.

The three Wards in turn were divided into seven Precincts: 71

the South Ward containing Beekman, Rombout, and South; the Middle Ward, Rynbeck, Crum Elbow, and Poughkeepsie; and the North Ward, the North East Precinct.

Allusion has been made to the immense land holdings which Robert Livingston, for a pittance, had received from the Dutch and British Governments. They formed an area of 160,000 acres, stretching for twenty-four miles along the River, and reached a distance of eight miles into the interiors of Columbia and Dutchess Counties. From Livingston Governor Hunter bought 6000 acres as a place to settle a part of the Palatine community. A tract to the north and east of Livingston's properties was owned by Kilien Van Rensselaer, a director of the Dutch East India Company. This tract totalled over 700,000 acres and extended into territories east and west of the River.

Colonial grants, usually formal in character, were in the nature of contracts, and contained a wide enumeration of rights, covering land, houses, mines, gardens, orchards, meadows, pastures, swamps, woods, lakes, mines, highways, fences, fishing and hunting rights, and many other franchises.

Grants were secured by annual payments due in money and sometimes in grains, peppercorns, and animal skins -- to be delivered at a place and time stated in the patent contract.

The patentees, in turn, let out the land for a term of years with little or no rent, except taxes, to those who would agree to settle on it. The tenant thus came under a modified form of the feudal system -- not unlike that instituted by William the Conqueror in England, where titles and lands were bestowed on certain favorites. The Colonial masters, or patroons as they came to be called, gave the people on their estates no voice in public affairs; and thus having few or no rights the tenants became little better than slaves to the land and its owner.

In the northern part of Dutchess County there settled in 1647 a man from the Rhine country of Germany. His name was William Beekman or Beckman. And in commemoration of his beloved native river he joined the name Rhine with part of his own, and called the place where he had settled Rhinebeck -sometimes Rynbek. In time his son, Henry Beekman (referred to as Colonel Henry Beekman) bought extensive tracts of land from the Indians; and on June 17, 1703 he was granted what was called the Rhinebeck Patent. It adjoined the Livingston and Hunter lands and contained the present towns of Red Hook and Rhinebeck. At the end of June 1703 Henry was granted another patent several miles to the south -- a vast area which included the present townships of Beekman, Pawling, Dover, Union Vale, and a portion of LaGrange. So extensive were his holdings that he was called the "land grabber", it being averred that he even had a patent covering land on the moon. This enterprising and ambitious man is credited with importing the first bulls to America. Colonel Beekman's only child, Margaret, in 1742 at the age of eighteen married Robert R. Livingston, the only son of the patentee, Robert Livingston. Thus by marriage was brought together two great colonial landed estates.

When settlers first came to Dutchess County they found the forests denuded in places by the fires of the Indians, who, in pursuit of game, had destroyed great stands of trees on the high, dry lands. Travel was either by water or by Indian trails which crisscrossed the interior of the County 72

i

I

--mere foot-paths less than two or three feet wide, made by burning or cutting the underbrush. Of wildlife there was plenty. Local histories speak of 100 kinds of birds and 90 kinds of fish. The ground in some areas was rocky and full of stones, but for the most part the soil was productive and of a fertile quality. In the center of the County ran parallel ranges of high hills between which were lands called by the Dutch the "Cluef" or "Clove", so named for the resemblance to the cloven hoofs of cattle. For the settlers there were few comforts and no luxuries. In the back country, away from the river, for a period of three to five months households were locked in the icy jaws of winter, isolated in a dreary wilderness, possessing, if fortunate, only the barest necessities of clothing, shelter, and food. As one writer puts it, "the chief task was staying alive."

Where distance was a factor, travel was usually on horseback, provided, of course, that one could afford to own or hire the animal. Women and children rode on a pillion behind the man, a pillion being a padded cushion with straps which had on one side a platform stirrup. The "rideand-tie" system was a variation. Two of the four persons who were travelling started out on foot, two being mounted in the saddle and pillion. Those on the animal rode about a mile, dismounted, tied the horse to a tree, and walked on.

When the two on foot reached the tethered horse, they mounted, rode past the other couple on foot for a mile, dismounted, tied up the animal, and walked on. The horse, it appears, was the only participant in this artful scheme not afforded a rest. As late as 1730, mail was carried from New York to Albany in the winter by "foot post". The postman went up the Hudson River by skating when the ice was good, navigation by boat on the ice-locked waterway being closed from about the first of December until the following spring.

In warm weather, mail was carried on the river in sailing boats, which moved without a fixed schedule. Passage was slow and the delivery of letters infrequent and uncertain.

The only post road in the state as late as 1789 was between New York and Albany, and ran through Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, and Rhinebeck. The average coach day was from three in the morning to ten at night, passengers usually being awakened an hour before starting time in order to prepare and pack for the journey. The run to Albany took 18 to 24 hours, depending upon the weather and vehicular accidents. It was an exasperating and spine-jolting experience, there being few places for rest or refreshment. No stops were permitted except for a change of horses every twenty miles, and what was euphemistically termed "accommodations of nature". An early traveler had this to say: "The carriages were old . and shackling and much of the harness made of rope .

The vehicle was a long car with four benches. Three of these in the interior held nine passengers. A tenth passenger was seated by the side of the driver on the front bench . . . There was no place or space for luggage, each person being expected to stow his things as best he could under his seat or legs. The entrance was in front over the driver's bench, the passengers being obliged to crawl across the other benches to get to their places. There were no backs for support and relieve us during a long and fatiguing journey over ill-made roads." all

73

Inns and taverns, what few there were around, offered only the crudest and most elemental accommodations. Late in the century of which we write, an inn in Tarrytown, New York, advertised that "lodging for the night with clean sheets might be had for three shillings and dirty sheets for one shilling." That indefatigable traveler, Madam Sarah Knight, whose mode of travel was horseback, is said to have made twenty-seven trips between New York and Boston alone.

She kept a diary which is at once informative and dramatic.

She writes of encounters with "bug-bears" (brown or black bears), of wolves so close that she could not sleep at night for their ululations. Once she stopped at a Rye, New York, inn where she tried to pass the night in a lean-to chamber furnished "among other rubbish" with a high bed and a low bed and a bottomless chair. By means of a ladder she essayed to seek repose after a trying journey in the high bed among its "tickin husks", but had no more than "laid down my weary carkus" than a maid ushered in a man to occupy the low bed. The new arrival at once began to groan loudly, complaining that due to the shortness of the bed and its scanty coverings his feet stuck out and were cold. Madam Knight, therefore, "riss up" at three in the morning and sat by the fire in the bottomless chair till light of day.

Zacharias Flagler -- to use the Anglicized spelling -(he is referred to by a German correspondent of the writer as Zacharra Fleglar, the son of the first official chimneysweeper in his home town of Urphar) and his wife, Anna Gertrauda Elizabetha, crossed the Hudson during the winter of 1712-1713. The Reverend Joshua Kocherthal served Lutheran congregations on both sides of the river. It will be remembered that the name Zacharias Flagler appears in the church records of St. Paul's church at the West Camp several times during the encampment of the Palatines there. Moreover, Kocherthal's ministerial records indicate that he was at the East Camp during the years 1713 and 1714, the place now referred to as Germantown, and that Zacharias and Anna served as sponsors during the period for children of fellow Palatines. Specifically, the two Flaglers were sponsors for a child by the name of Zacharia, a son of Simon and Rosina Haas It is interesting to speculate as to how the Flaglers managed to cross the river, over a mile wide at this point between the two Camps. Several methods for achieving the undertaking come to mind: by the use of a raft, a scow, a canoe, a hollowed-out tree trunk, or perhaps by being towed behind farm animals, among which horses seem the most likely.

The river in winter when solidly frozen, of course, presented no problem. As before stated, Zacharias, when his passage to America was recorded in London, was listed as a carpenter -- an occupation highly regarded and one which would have enabled him to construct a raft of sufficient size and strength to bear with safety his family and their few possessions.

At any rate, the Simmendinger Register of 1717 lists Zacharias Fliegler (a variant of the many spellings of the name), his wife Anna Elizabetha and two children as living in Heesberg, a hamlet identified in New York Colonial manuscripts as Haybury "on the east bank of the river, directly opposite the West Camp." These two children were Anna

74

Magdelena Elizabetha Flagler, born September 19, 1712 and a son Simon, born February 16, 1714, and, interestingly, sponsored by Simon Haas and his wife Rosina. Philip Solomon Flagler, Zacharias' first child by his first wife is not listed in the Register, attributable perhaps to an error of omission on Simmendinger's part, or what-is more likely to the circumstance of Philip Solomon being absent at the time the census was taken. He, born August 15, 1701 in the Province of Franconia, Germany, was not, of course, considered a native American. The records of the Mayor's Court in the City of Albany for January 17, 1716 attest to the fact that one Philip Vingter (Flagler), age about fifteen, was required, among others, to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy "for naturalizing all Protestants of foreign birth now inhabiting within the Colony." There can be little doubt that the "Philip Vingter" of the Court was none other than the eldest son of the immigrant Flagler: for Philip was fifteen years of age in 1716 and was a youth of foreign birth. His sister and brother, Anna Magdalena Elizabetha and Simon would rightly have been adjudged native Americans.

To reconcile dates, places, and persons is one of the most difficult tasks confronting a chronicler who must derive a portion of his information from archaic sources, frequently incomplete or wholly erratic. The itineracy of the Zacharias Flagler family offers an example. Zacharias is on the tax list of Beekman Township in 1717 and 1718, while, as shown above, Simmendinger shows him as living miles to the north in Heesberg for the same years. Equally confusing is the practice of repeating given names; as in the case of the Flagler family one encounters for generation after generation the names of Simon, Solomon, Philip, and Zachariah.

For this exasperating regularity of Christian (altho seldom Christian in origin) names Donald Jacobus in his Genealogy as a Pastime and Profession says: "The first settlers bore names of three different types, those of English origin, those of Hebrew origin, and those which were intended to have a moral significance." And again: "The way of finding namesakes of practically every person mentioned between the covers of the Bible is the old custom of opening the Bible with the eyes shut and giving the child the name which happened to be nearest the pointing finger." Mr. Jacobus enlightens us further: "A somewhat common practice was that a son was named as a compliment to the mother's former husband, though it was even more common for a father to name a daughter after his deceased former wife." The writer wishes to interpolate the thought that these practices, if followed today, would be considered highly uncomplimentary by the living spouse and would probably be the source of connubial turbulence.

Zacharias, the immigrant, was an ardent adherent of the Lutheran faith, as shown, as we have pointed out, by the recurrence of his name in the church ledgers at the West Camp. Later he seems to have affiliated himself with a church at or near the East Camp which, together with St. Pauls, claimed the ministerial duties of Reverend Kocherthal.

This church building stood on the east side of Route 9G in the present village of Germantown. The site is marked by a metal plaque on an embankment and shows the following legend: "Site of First Lutheran Church in Germantown. Erected in

75

1710." No trace of the building remains. Later, Zacharias seems to have been one of a congregation, made up of Lutherans and German Calvinists, who about 1715 erected a church building two miles north of Rhinebeck at a point since known as Pink's Corners. According to the Dutchess County Historical Annals, this was the first church structure in the County, antedating that of the Dutch Reformed congregation at Poughkeepsie by seven years.

The Palatines, it is said, moved in small groups of families who were neighbors or who possibly knew one another in Germany. The odyssey of the Flaglers, now consisting of Zacharias, his wife, Anna Elizabetha, a daughter, Anna Magdalena, born September 19, 1712, and two sons, Philip Solomon, born in Germany, and Simon, born February 21, 1714, does not show with exactitude the date when the little household moved southward from Germantown, or the exact reasons for so doing. It may be assumed, however, that the parsimony and greed of their landlord, Robert Livingston, and the amity and, equity which Henry Beekman habitually extended to German compatriots were factors motivating the departure to more congenial and promising surroundings.

Too, the fact that the land barons were required by patent agreements to insure the settlement on their respective properties of a certain number of tenants was a stipulation not lightly to be ignored or disregarded. The route taken by the Flaglers and other Palatines is problematical; but the absence of respectable roads at this early period suggests that they followed Indian trails which meandered through the center of the County between parallel mountain ranges in the Clove Valley. The trek probably required several weeks to complete with frequent stopovers. One of these encampments was on lands once owned by the Pine and Gregory families and later by Mr. Frederick Sykes. It was called the German farm and on it years ago stood a house, outbuildings, and a graveyard whose markers, bearing German names, have been carried off to spots and by persons unknown.

The Zacharias Flaglers ultimately found a place to their liking. Naturally it was on lands which had been granted to Colonel Henry Beekman in 1703, and termed rather inappropriately "Beekman's Back Lots". A lease was executed -- possibly with an option to buy -- for this land in the Middle Ward of the Beekman Patent. Zacharias' name appears on the tax list for 1717 and 1718, and that of his widow (he died in 1720) until 1722. In size about 600 acres the property was well-selected on fertile low-rolling hills with an unbroken. view in all directions. A dwelling of sorts was erected in a vale or hollow protected from the prevailing winter storms to the east by the Fishkill Mountain Range and to the north by an elevation later used as a burial ground. On the property was a gushing mountain stream which debouched into a pond in front of the main entrance to the house. Dr. J. W. Poucher states that Philip Solomon Flagler built a house here (possibly replacing the original dwelling) "under the hill", at the terminus of a dead-end lane now called Frog Hollow Road. The hamlet of Green Haven lies two miles to the west. The farm, as we shall note later, remained in the Flagler family until 1851.

76

Into this general section of Beekman Province, at an early date, moved families by the names of Dopp, Ostrom, Heegeman, Allin, Snyder, De Long, Viele, and Winegar -- all in time becoming the husbands or wives of Zacharias and Anna Flagler's children.

Philip Solomon Flagler married Anna Margret Winegar, called the widow Dop, in March of 1724. Born in 1692, the daughter of Captain Garrett Winegar, she became the mother of six children: Margret born 1725, Zacharias 1726, Catherine 1727, Sarah 1730, Philip 1731, and Helena born 1733.

Zacharias, the "First", had no issue by his second wife: but by Anna Gertrauda Elizabetha, his children were: Anna Magdalena, born 1712, who married Johannes Snyder; Simon, born 1714, who married, first, Jannetse Viele in 1739 and had by her the following, Zachariah Jr., born 1740; Peter, born 1743; Simon, born 1744; Peter II, born 1745; Joanne, born 1747; Elizabeth, born 1749; Sarah, born 1751; Jane, born 1753; John, born 1756; and Halanah, born 1757. Simon married, second, in 1764, Esther Lott: no offspring recorded; and third, in 1767, Hester Buckhold, from which marriage there was no issue.

Gertrudea, the second daughter of Zacharias and Anna, was born in 1717. She married, first, Edward McGregory and second, Peter Vrolich -- no issue recorded from either marriage.

The third daughter of Zacharias and Anna was Margareth, born 1719, who, in 1737, married Arlie De Long. The sixth and last child of Zacharias, the immigrant, was Zacharias, Jr., born July 6, 1720, three months after his father's death in March of that year. Zacharias (1720) married three times. His first wife was Elizabeth Hagemen (Heegeman) whom he married in 1741 and had by her, in 1742, a son Joseph. His second wife was Sarah Barton, daughter of Joseph Barton and his wife Abigail Lewis of Scarsdale Manor, Westchester County. Zacharias and Sarah were married in 1747 and had twelve children: Elizabeth, born 1748; Sarah, 1751; Barton the First 1754; William 1755; Zachariah 1757; Solomon 1760; Margaret 1762; Elizabeth 1764; Barton the Second, 1766; Mary 1767; Abraham 1767; and Millicent, born 1771. Zacharias in 1773 married as his third wife Mary Allin by whom he had Catherine, born 1775, and Isaac,born 1776.

Arlie or Aria De Long's family moved into the Beekman Precinct during the early years of the century where Arlie was born in 1719. Here he lived most of his life and reared a large family. De Long was the proprietor of an inn at Beekmanville. He died January 20, 1798 in the 79th year of his age and was buried in a pear orchard back of the inn, on a farm now owned by Miss Bernice Dodge. Dr. Poucher reported in 1915 that "there were other burials here, but no more stones remain." It may be that other early Flaglers were interred in the orchard but, other than the headstones of Isaac Dennis and his wife Tamar Brundage Dennis, all have disappeared.

Sources of Information Annals of Albany, Joel Munsell Miss Hattie Ballard Mr. Clifford Buck Miss Bernice Dodge 77

Dutchess County Historical Annals Mrs. Raymond Eaton Reverend Karl Eberhardt Dr. Adolf Flegler Mr. Henry Jackson Mr. Wright Jackson The Kocherthal Records Mrs. Flagler Matthews Mr. Leroy Monroe Mrs. Albert E. Powers Mrs. Robert Ramage Mrs. Raymond Sheridan The Ulrich Simmendinger Register Miss Dorothy Mary Sykes

78

OBLONG FRIENDS AND DR. FALLON'S HOSPITAL

by A. Day Bradley Not infrequently Quaker Meeting Houses were occupied by one or the other of the opposing armies in the American Revolution; Flushing on Long Island, Pearl Street in New York City, and Purchase and Shapaqua (Chappaqua) in Westchester among others.

The story of the American Military Hospital in the Oblong Meeting House at Quaker Hill has been told both in prose and poetry. James Fallon, a Senior Surgeon and Physician in the Medical Service of the American Army, was officer in charge of this military hospital. His letter to Gov. George Clinton gives a graphic account of the difficulties due to inadequate equipment and an almost complete lack of cooperation from the Quakers of Quaker Hill.

Dr. Fallon in ill health and beset with tremendous difficulties could hardly be expected to differentiate between religious pacifists and partisans of His Majesty George III. Rev. Warren Wilson in his writings about Quaker Hill in Revolutionary times has followed Dr. Fallon in stating that members of the Quaker Hill Meeting, with few exceptions, and indeed practically all Friends were Loyalists.

Their forefathers were Loyalists in England, and they in America until far into the Revolution.2 This statement overlooks the severe persecutions of that dissenting group, "called in scorn Quakers." Statistics show that the early Friends were decidedly in disfavor in England.

Between 1660 and 1680, 243 Friends died in prison and the total number of imprisonments had reached 10,778.3 A petition addressed to James II, at the beginning of his reign showed that 1383 Friends were in prison, including some 200 women; 100 had died in prison since 1680 and enormous fines had been levied.4 The persecutions and executions in New England are well known, as is the forced exile of John Bowne of Flushing by Governor Stuyvesant of New Amsterdam.

From the beginning Friends had maintained a strict testimony against direct or indirect involvement in war. George Fox, founder of Quakerism, elected to remain in prison in 1651 rather than accept a captain's commission in Cromwell's army. He told the authorities, "I lived in the virtue o that life and power that took away the occasion of all wars."

The peace testimony strictly maintained by American Quakers, until the impact of the American Civil War, was well stated in a declaration to Charles II in 11th month 1660/61.

The Spirit of Christ, which leads us into all Truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the Kingdom of hrist nor for the Kingdoms of this World.

No doubt the Friends of Quaker Hill drew too strict a line in refusing assistance to the beleaguered medical officer with his sick and wounded charges. No doubt the sympathies of individual members of the Society varied as did those of other citizens. Quaker discipline was strictly maintained during the Revolution. Records of all monthly meetings of this period show disownments for entering the military service, and for such other "offenses" as voluntarily paying the militia fine or accepting payment for property taken by either army.

79

The Quakers of New York City politely refused cooperation with either the American or British during the Revolution.?

Berton Braley in a poem, The Minutes of the Meeting, A Ballad of Quaker Hill published in the Saturday Evening Post of May 13, 1940, presents quite a different picture, from that of Dr. Fallon. Quite correctly this poem states that there is no (direct) mention of the Revolution, nor any notice of the occupation of Oblong Meeting House by the Continental Army, in the minutes of Oblong Monthly Meeting.

However on 6th month, 14th, 1775, the meeting felt that its members needed additional counsel and appointed a "committee to assist the overseers in advice and counsel on account of the commotion now prevailing."8 One may doubt the strict accuracy of this quotation from The Ballad: We know that Quakers and Quakeresses Nursed the wounded with gentle care, And Quaker girls in their prim gray dresses Lightened the stay of the wounded there.

It is not known how long the Meeting House was in use by the Continental Army. October 16th, 1778 Washington ordered "no more sick to be sent to the Hospital at Quaker Hill without inquiring of the Chief Surgeon whether they can be received as it is already full."9 Dr. Fallon's letter to Gov. Clinton is dated January 3rd, 1779. The Doctor was in Philadelphia on June 7, 1779, when he wrote to Dr. Jacob Ehrenseller ordering him to appear before a Committee of Investigation to give Tidence with respect to "certain suspected characters."

Dr. Fallon's difficulties are not to be minimized; he could not buy supplies without paying exorbitant prices; he could get no one to draw wood for the hospital in the dead of winter, until finally "old Mr. Russell an excellent and open Whig, though a Quaker", hired him a team of oxen. The Doctor's greatest problem occurred when it was necessary to transport fourteen of his most serious cases to Danbury and Fishkill.

He found it necessary to exceed his authority and impress the wagons and teams of Wing Kelly and the Widow Irish. According to his letter to Gov. Clinton "a mob headed by Abraham Wing and Benjamin Akin with other Quakers" offered more than passive resistance to the impressment of the Irish wagon and team. Both impressments were completed, the wounded transported and the owners received a certificate for payment from the commissary.

The only Quakers "loyal to the American cause" according to Dr. Fallon were "old Mr. Russell and his son, old Ferris the Quaker pulpiteer, old Mr. Chase and family and Thomas Worth and family." All others he denounced as Tories.

Friends were not given to recording extraneous matters in their records, but minutes of all "meetings for discipline" (business meetings) and records of vital statistics were recorded.

Oblong Monthly Meeting kept a separate list of "sufferings", goods distrained for the militia fines, requisitions by the army, and imprisonzgnts by the Commission to Detect and Defeat Conspiracies.

Those Friends listed as loyal to t American cause by Dr. Fallon seem to have suffered quite as much as the "Tory Quakers." Four members of the Ferris family, including "Old Ferris the pulpiteer" reported a total loss of 111/10/0. Benjamin Chase, "Old Mr. Chase", had been sent to Exeter, Oct. 17, 1776 by the Committee to Detect

80

Conspiracies, but was permitted to return to his home on Jan. 18, 1777 having taken a solemn affirmation of allegiance to the State.12 The sufferings of Daniel Chase are listed as follows: 1777 He was carried to prison and his expenses while there 24/16/0 1779 4 cows and one steer taken at various times 31/0/0 1779 In lieu of personal service 18/19/8 1779 46 horses kept 2 days and 1 night 2/10/0 77/5/8 The sufferings of various members of the Chase family total 111/7/0. The Book of Sufferings gives an incomplete list of sufferings in person: Edward Brundrig - 11 days in Poughkeepsie Gole and some considerable time confined to a certain farm far from home.

Nathaniel Stephenson, Jr., in Poughkeepsie Gole and then confined to the towne of Poughkeepsie two weeks.

Gershom Wing kept close confined at Fishkill five wee s and four days and then confined to Poughkeepsie Towne three weeks and three days.

Enoch Hoag was close confined in Poughkeepsie seven weeks and five days.

Actually, Gershom Wing steadfastly refused taking the affirmation of allegiance, saying it was not consistent with his principles as a Quaker. He was finally sent home on parole.

Rev. Wilson makes quite an account of the "14th Query", one of a series of questions concerning the conduct of both meetings and their members, which every meeting was required to consider periodically and forward the answers to its superior meeting. Only the Yearly Meeting had the power to alter a query. The 14th Query was quite comprehensive: Do you know of any that take oaths, or pay Priest's wages, bear arms, or are in any way concerned in military service, or defraud the King of his dues.

Answers recorded in the Oblong minutes vary: Clear in this Query excepting the King's dues.

4-16-1777.

The answering of the 14th Query respecting defrauding the King of his dues is omitted. (A request was forwarded to the Quarterly Meeting and then to the Yearly Meeting to omit the part referring to the King's dues, but the change was not immediately approved.) 4-15-78.

Not quite clear respecting military service and defrauding the King. 4-14-1779.

Clear in this query, excepting military service, as far as we know, no King's dues that we know of demanded.

1-19-1780.

It is unfortunate that the Rev. Wilson did not examine more closely the strong testimony of Friends against involvement in military activity. It is quite possible that had Oblong Meeting House been a British Military Hospital, that the officer in charge would have had much the same experience as Dr. Fallon.

Little is known about the life of Dr. Fallon. On May 30, 1778, he took the oath of allegiance and also an oath of office before Major General Nathaniel Greene, "The Quaker General."14 81

The doctor is here described as Senior Surgeon of the General Hospital, Middle Department. Possibly he was the same Dr. James Fallon who married Mary Van Nost at Christ Church, Philadelphia on May 13, 1779.15 He was in Philadelphia on June 8, 1779, as indicated above. The difficulties of the Doctor did not end with his duties at Quaker Hill. November 8, 1780, he addressed a lengthy letter to the President of Congress stating that he is now a "supernumerary" and is 160 miles from Philadelphia, his home, with increasing family responsibilities r d urgently in need of back pay and depreciation allowances.-'-O Eventually he did receive depreciation pay as "per cancelled certificates on file in the Department of Public Records in the Pennsylvania State Library."17 His name does not appear in a list of Philadelphia physicians and surgeons in 1783.18 Mr. Lewis Patrick lists four soldiers who died at Quaker Hill, all from Pennsylvania regiments:19 Alexander Robert of Capt. George Calhoun's Company of the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment, November 6, 1778.

John Morgan, Major James Greer's Company of the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment, October 19, 1778.

Corp. James Tyrer, Capt. James Lang's Company of the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment, October 22, 1778.

Peter King, 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, enlisted 1777, died at Quaker Hill 1778.20 1 2

3 4 5

6 7 8

9

10 11

12 13

Public Papers of George Clinton, First Governor of New 'Yo rk,--VoL 4, ATbany1900, 460-472Wilson, Rev. Warren H., Quaker Hill, A Sociological Study, Ph. D. Dissertation Columbia University, 1907, 50. See also his Quaker Hill in the 18th Century, Quaker Hi1T~ Series No. 3, Quaff iH 1T,New York, 1902, 23-27.

Braithwaite, William C., The Second Period of Quakerism, Sec. ed, revised by Henry J. Cadbury, Cambridge Univ.

Press., 1961, 95.

Ibid., 189.

A Journal ... of the Life, Travels, Sufferings, Christian Experiences, of t1 E aF it -hfuJSe er rvant of Jesus Christ, George Fox. iladelphia, n.d. 92.

Braithwaoto - Cadbury, op. cit., 13.

Cox, John Jr., Quakerism in the City of New York, New York, 1930, 71-83.

Manuscript Minutes of Oblong Monthly Meeting in Haviland Record Room of New York Yearly Meeting, 15 Rutherford Place, New York City.

Patrick, Lewis S., Washington's Headquarters at Fredericksburg, Quaker Hill Local History Series, No. 16, 1907, 34.

Mr. Patrick had a verified copy of Washington's orders for this period.

Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives, Item 63, Vol. 97157. Photo copy from the Center for Documentary Study of American Revolution.

Minutes of the Committee and First Commission for Detecting and DefeatingCons~iracfes in the State of New York, Dec. TT; 1776. Sept. 23, 1778.

New York Historical Society Collections, Vol. LVII (1925).

Manuscript Book of Suffering of Oblong Monthly Meeting in Haviland Record Room.

Minutes of Committee and First Commission, 3.

Ibid. 157 169-170.

82

14

15 16

17 18 19 20

Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Vol. 165, 75, 92.

Photo copy from Military Archives, Division of National Archives. Nathaniel Greene was disowned by Rhode Island Friends before the Revolution for training with the militia.

Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Vol. 8, 86.

Papers of the Continental Congress, Item 78, Vol. 9, 347357. PH to copy from the Center for Documentary Study of American Revolution.

Pennsylvania Archives, Series 5, Vol. 4, 206.

Watson, John F., Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, 2, 386.

Philadelphia, 192 Patrick, Lewis S. op. cit.

References to the four soldiers are found in the muster rolls published in the Pennsylvania Archives. Alexander Robert, Series 2, Vol. 10, 711. Series 2, Vol. 10, 710 gives John Morgan's date of death as Oct. 19, 1777, but Series 2, Vol. 15, 496 gives his name as enlisting in Major Greer's Company Sept. 10, 1778. James Tyrer's date of death is given in Series 2, Vol. 10, 712; his name also appears on muster roll of Sept. 10, 1778 in Series 2, Vol. 15, 498. Series 2, Vol. 10, 360 says Peter King died at Quaker Hill, New Jersey. However Series 2, Vol. 11, 355387 shows that the 1st Pennsylvania was in the vicinity of Quaker Hill, New York from Sept. 24 to Nov. 20, 1778.

83

THE CHAINS WHICH FORTIFIED THE HUDSON RIVER HIGHLANDS DURING THE REVOLUTION

By Henrietta Mead One cannot help but find it difficult to live in the northwest corner of Connecticut without eventually assimilating the fierce native pride in the area's colonial ancestors. Due to the harsh climate, rocky soil, and inaccessibility of the area, colonization occurred relatively late, not until iron ore was discovered in the surrounding mountains in 1732. The quality of the ore was declared "perhaps unexcelled in the world" and "as good as any found in the U.S.; the richest this side of Sweden" by the Smithsonian Institute.2 The tiny settlement quickly grew and by 1762, with the opening of Ethan Allen's blast furnace,3 mushroomed into the boom town of Furnace Village (now Lakeville). As the nation moved towards war, Allen sold his furnace to the Connecticut authorities who gradually converted it into a munitions "factory", with all its production directed towards the war effort. Cannon-making became a primary concern along with other munitions such as "iron for chains to be hung across the Hudson. . . (The chains themselves were not made here)."4 These munitions, incidentally, "were hauled by oxteams over the hills to the Hudson, near Poughkeepsie. Teams traveled secretly by night, and hid by days."5 Another source claims that "An iron chain was stretched across the Hudson during the war ... and Salisbury (the township in which Furnace Village stood) ore was used in it; but . . . the smelting and fabricating were done elsewhere."6 It is no wonder that a romantic tradition of loyalty and over-exaggeration for our patriotic forefathers has evolved out of legends such as these. Antique iron watering troughs abound in the town and the old furnaces have been rejuvenated into snappy tourist attractions. There is not a school child in town who has not made at least one field trip to the furnaces and many households boast a "genuine pre-Revolutionary" iron cauldron (usually set out front and filled with seasonal geraniums, chrysanthemums, or pine boughs). The iron puddlers and smithies, while in fact a rowdy and rather lawless lot, have become canonized as the town's first artisans and selfless patriots. But while their contribution towards the war effort excites chauvinistic and patriotic pride today, the Revolutionary War was, in point of fact, very propitious to the town's economy in the mid-1700's. "During the Revolution, the Iron Country profited from the nation's first arms boom.

In the forges and furnaces as many as 2000 men worked day and night, pounding out shot and cannon, musket barrels, anchors."7 This boom to the economy was not limited to Furnace Village certainly. The entire national iron industry was booming as well; "American ironmakers . . . have also proved that they are as good as any in the world. Already, America produces one-seventh of the world's crude iron (30,000 tons last year).

The ironmakers, like other American workmen, get wages two and three times as high as those in Europe."8 Along with the local pride in semi-documented facts, a proliferation of minor vanities and conceits, founded on rumor and hearsay, have sprung up in the town. There are numerous self-proclaimed historians who will look you straight

84

in the eye and insist that the Hudson River chain was mined, forged, and fabricated in Lakeville. Having tracked down many diaries belonging to great, great grandfathers and "secret committee papers" inherited from a distant uncle (possibly in his possession after he "loyally" turned in their original owner), there would still seem to be no more concrete evidence that the chain was actually forged in Lakeville. But reading between the lines is a favorite historical pastime and it has been proved a singularly unpopular mission to refute the natives' theories. Folklore and beliefs are, after all, as colorful a part of tradition as are documented historical facts and should not be discouraged from flourishing.

Another facet of historical pride is the discovery of the huge number of people who have an emotional attachment to the chain. It is, without a doubt, among the townspeople, the most popular romantic favorite of all the munitions manufactured locally (with Old Ironsides' anchor a distant second).

This probably arises from the primitive, yet imaginative and heroic, quality of the simple, clunky iron chain which served so valiantly in repelling the British navy. The chain takes on symbolic significance as an emblem of American pragmatism and inventiveness. Today's American clings proudly to his faith in the ingenuity of his Yankee ancestors. There was not a townsperson interviewed who didn't light up at the mention of the chain. This reaction was then invariably followed by a distant, misty-eyed look as they drifted into sentimental reminiscences of the time they once saw a link at Washington's Headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey (or Tarrytown, or several at West Point, or Newburgh, or Bear Mountain, or Sturbridge Village, or Shelburne, Vermont, or Ringwood Manor). One woman reported vituperatively that the historical society in a neighboring town had "helped themselves" to "one of our links" years ago. When checked out, this link turned out to be labeled REPLICA of a link from the chain at West Point. From all this personal documentation it would seem that the chain must have had enough links to stretch for several miles. In point of fact, surviving links are a very questionable issue. The West Point Information Center is adamant about their unique possession of surviving links and says in no undertain terms, "A lot of places claim to own a link, but we have all the remaining links right here. Thirteen of them:" However, this does not solve everything for, besides a chain at West Point, there was also an earlier one at Fort Montgomery-Fort Clinton, New York. These twin forts installed their chain a year earlier than West Point did and what became of its links is also under debate (this will be discussed on subsequent pages).

Having explored the myths and legends which have passed down by word of mouth, let us now explore the various stages in the development of this Revolutionary artifact which are founded on fact. First we shall examine its conception in the military minds, then its actual forging and design, then its construction and military strategic value, and finally some of the historic facts which are of particular human interest.

The most authentic documents describing the early plans for a chain are to be found in the letters of the Secret Committee of the State of New York (unfortunately they were written in extremely archaic longhand and after many hours of

85

eye-straining study, I have had to substitute an "x" occasionally for indecipherable words, but, hopefully, the meaning is still fairly clear). July 22, 1776: Secret Committee's Instructions to Van Zandt, Lawrence, and Tudor: "Convention of the state of New York. . . among other things to devise means for fortifying Hudson River, by obstructing its navigation and for carrying the same into execution . . . 1st, The making of a chain to fit across Hudson River at the most convenient place near Ft. Montgomery and fixing same . . ."9 Poughkeepsie, July 25, 1776: "We understand that part of the chain (you had made for Canada) is x in New York. We have sent to General Schuyler for that part of it which was sent to Albany . . . to be sent to this place . . ."10 From General Schuyler, German Flats, July 25, 1776 (who, incidentally, had far more legible handwriting, although some very peculiar spelling) "I have received your letter with the resolution to send the chain to you under charge of a carefull officer. If it can be spared, before I left Tyconderoga we had it in Contemplation to draw it across that part of Lake Champlain . .

I would not wish you therefore to make too great a Dependence upon receiving it. If it cannot be spared Mes. Van Zandt, ,"11 Lawrence, and Tudor will be advised of it without delay .

July 26, 1776: from Curtenius to Paulding and Livingston of Secret Committee: "x x I have received the chain that I had made for Canada, have sent all to x x x of Albany in x x . if should any more chain be wanted I make no doubt that W F x x would do it readily."12 Secret Committee Minutes, August 1, 1776: "Resolved that it appears to the members of this committee that the chain made for the river ford will in all probability be returned at x - x the making one of sufficient length will occation great delay---That the rafts heretofore agreed upon by this committee at a meeting held at Fort Montgomery and x x on x of the difficulty of procuring the necessary x will be the most effectual and speedy means of obstructing the navigation of the river.

And finally we find the possibly connecting link between historical evidence and Lakeville's contribution to the chain: August 6, 1776, from Paulding to. Livingston: "Captain North the Bearer of this is sent to fetch what iron is ready for the chain. We shall want no more iron x of the size of ½ inch what is now finished the remainder contracted for we shall want to be drawn of two inches square as soon as there is a quantity down at the river."14 In other words, the original chain was produced early in the war (possibly from iron ore mined in Lakeville) and sent to Fort Ticonderoga where it was used to stop British shipping on Lake Champlain. In the meantime, the Secret Committee met to discuss plans for fortifying the Hudson.

"Several means were suggested for obstructing the river as by fire ships, booms and chains and chevaux-de-frise, either singly or by combination. Four points were selected: at Fort Washington on the upper part of Manhatten Island, at Fort Montgomery, at West Point and Pollopel's Island, north of the Highlands."15 There had been, in fact, men working for quite some time on designs for underwater obstructions. One such inventor was Robert Erskine who designed the "tetrahedron". Erskine was a Scot who was sent to the colonies in 1771 by British capitalists to be the manager of the Ringwood Mines in New

86

York state. Erskine's sympathies were soon won over by the Americans and he set to work for them in their preparation for war. His first attempt to aid them was his invention of this tetrahedron which was to be placed between Fort Washington on upper Manhattan and Fort Lee, New Jersey. It was an arrangement of heavy wooden beams shod with iron and bolted together in the form of a four-surfaced triangle, the ends of the beams extending beyond the joints into horns . . . Any ship running onto the horns would be staked upon them . but the British were too quick and their vessels sailed up the river before the fence was finished.16 This device would probably have proved useless anyhow for other such chevauxde-frise were tried in southern rivers and their enormous underwater structures deflected the rivers' currents and opened new channels elsewhere.l7 When a committee for the obstruction of the Hudson, initiated by the New York Committee of Safety, was formed, George Clinton was elected commandant of the Highland posts.l8 Overnight this country lawyer was transformed into a Brigadier General. Immediately Clinton set out to improve the rudimentary fortifications which were located on the western shore of the Hudson. The location seemed ideal for a fort as it was perched high above the river with views to the north and south for several miles. Clinton soon realized, however, that Fort Montgomery had been built on a spot which would be untenable if the enemy ever captured the adjacent hill to the south so he wrote to General Washington requesting permission to build a twin fort on the said hill. "Washington not only concurred with Clinton's decision but sent him the experienced Lieutenant Machin to supervise the building of the fortifications. An iron chain was hurriedly forged by the valley blacksmiths and stretched across the river from the foot of Anthony's Nose" (on the eastern shore of the river where the footings for the Bear Mountain Bridge stand today) "to a point just below the new breastworks, which had already been christened Fort Clinton."19 (Actually, however, the chain was attached to the cliffs on the Fort Montgomery side of the Popolopen Kill.)

"An iron chain was . . . forged . . . and stretched " sounds very simple, but let us pause across the.river. and consider the magnitude of such an undertaking and the various processes involved in creating and installing such a chain. The initial step was the mining of the iron ore which was then hauled to neighboring blast furnaces along with limestone and charcoal. These three ingredients were then dumped into the smelting process. They were dropped into the furnace's chimney, where they heated and mixed as they gradually descended down onto the hearth. It was on the hearth, where bellows pumped in blasts of fresh air which created intense heat, that the final melting took place. The charcoal fueled this heat and supplied carbon to the iron. The limestone supplied other ingredients and also drew off certain impurities from the iron ore.

In time the pure molten iron collected on the hearth while the impurities, also in liquid form, floated on top of it. These impurities were drawn off, cooled, and discarded as slag while the pure metal was tapped by the opening of a door in the hearth. This molten iron flowed out into channels called "sows" and on into side channels called "pigs" (thus

87

the term pig-iron was born)."20 The molten iron cooled into usable bars of iron and these pigs were then hauled by oxcart (probably in the secrecy of night) to forges. It was there that the blacksmiths created their artifacts by heating the iron bars and either molding or pounding the pliable iron into shape.

When the Ticonderoga chain was brought down to the Highlands, under the auspices of the Secret Committee, it was found to be too short to stretch across the Hudson. George Clinton placed General Gilbert Livingston, an army engineer, in charge of remedying the situation. Livingston was to secure spars, timbers, and three tons of iron, both one and a half inch and one and three-quarter inch in width, for the completion of the chain's construction.21 However, all the odds seemed to be against its successful completion and installation. As Clinton wrote, "The weather has been so extream bad . . . has like to prevented our doing much at the Business we were sent upon . . . the Black Smiths ordered up have not yet joined us, nor have we here a shop as yet for them to work in . . . 22 The operation was constantly in sore need of more men and provisions. They needed teams of oxen, rope, more axes, and most especially rum to keep the poor men alive who were working in the icy water throughout the months of November and December of 1776.23

1LLUSTRATIp~1

FRAmaS

oR

K ( RAF r5)

CHI

(FRom

DRAUJING.S CO}JSTR.UCYION VO? I'tIS Dc ICAL ivIUS~Um) PY SAAR me w3TAtKj —TSZALLS OVERALL

PLAN

dF

(YYYI Sc1

L GH~lN

e L

L

I

U

A

In order to lengthen the chain, Livingston sent for pigiron from all over the Hudson valley and nearby Connecticut hills. Due to the lack of a forge at Fort Montgomery he also made contracts with many local smithies. Much of the work was done at the forge of Theophilus Anthony, about three miles south of Poughkeepsie. Apparently blacksmiths gathered from miles around to complete the project with all possible speed.24 And once again our patriotic Scotsman, Robert Erskine, reappeared and offered his energies and those of his 88

Ringwood foundry towards the manufacture of the chain: ". a great deal of intentional mystery befogs the making of the two chains . . . An old bill from Erskine . . . shows that the Ringwood Mines and furnaces furnished many of the links, clips, and bolts of the first chain. ."25 (i.e., the one at Fort Montgomery). (THE CHAIN'S DESIGN APPEARS IN ILLUSTRATION #1.) The chain was to be supported at sixteen foot intervals by wooden rafts. These rafts were constructed of four parallel beams, pointed at one end to lessen the resistance to the river current. In the report to the Secret Committee of July 19, 1776, is found the following description: "The pointed beams to be the length of x foot and to be about sixteen feet apart and two cross beams worked and bolted. .

The chain was completed and stretched in the early summer of 1776. It was attached to staples in the rocks on either side of the river. (SEE ILLUSTRATION #2) These fasteners were described by Clinton in a letter to General Putnam (who was in command of the whole Highlands operation): Ft. Montgomery, July 7, 1777, ". . . the fasts on shore being formed so as to answer for a boom and by this means should the cable not answer the purpose little or no time will have been lost by It."27 (As we shall see, perhaps Clinton's arrangement proved to be too easy to unfasten.)

JCLL_uSTRATlO J # Z

I1-tE STAQLE AND

TAFcE 3 For DRAW I CGS AT THE: BEAR MouNTA\N TQA\LSW . MISTtQcAL

Crti { 'i

i usFur

Reports on how big the chain actually was are only recorded in bits and pieces, here and there. No one

89

document mentions length, weight, design, or size of link in a single description. By piecemeal assembling of data, we learn that the chain ordered by Livingston was to have "links two feet long, two and a quarter inches square . . . with a swivel to every hundred feet and a clevis to every thousand feet."28 (A swivel is a device that joins two parts so that one or both can pivot freely; a clevis is a U-shaped metal shackle which has the ends drilled to receive a pin or bolt and is used for attaching or suspending parts.) Each link weighed about one hundred forty pounds,2 ` and, because the Hudson is half a mile wide at the site of the forts,30 the chain was presumably at least eight hundred eighty yards long (which means there would have had to be more than thirteen hundred links at least).

T TD QOUG HYC~E PS1~ AO

lcu.ICrS tO).3

Ft, Certs~i~u#iar

N

w

VI

s E.C-A-r C1- 'Af A rail _F'$OdM F+,U~n~on Wcsi" ?o'rV

Anthanys ~ ; Mac~tgame~y

)Jose

F i 2sr CrUa w Aw~D ROOM

° palaec Ft•

.Peeks►~~ll

Doo~t( { own ',

~L~BSTRAZIofu MAP 4F Tip _ _ _

#3

rtUt of

S4n-y ~t~v

HI<rttt ANDS

Z

H£NP.y CL,l.)T )4 S. ROur£

90

The geographical locations of the two forts (TO BE SEEN IN THE MAP IN ILLUSTRATION #3) were on the west bank of the river at a spot where the Hudson is straight and cuts between steep cliffs. The Popolopen Kill flows into the Hudson from the west. On the southern side of the Popolopen's deep ravine, Fort Clinton stood one hundred twenty feet above the river. On its northern bank, a half mile from Fort Clinton, at a somewhat lower site, stood Fort Montgomery. It was from below this fort that the chain was stretched across the Hudson to the foot of Anthony's Nose, a steep headland on the eastern shore.31 In retrospect, with the rugged terrain, poor weather, and lack of manpower the installation of the chain was a truly incredible project. Not only that, but it was an engineering feat to get it to hold its own weight. Inevitably, however, there was trouble. By November the Hudson's swift tide had broken it twice.32 A report from an officer at Fort Montgomery, dated December 9, 1776, said: a swivel broke which came from Ticonderoga, which was not welded sound.

The second time a clevis broke, which was made at Poughkeepsie, and no flaw to be seen in any part of the said chain ".

.

.first

. .Apparently there was no more trouble until the British began their series of forays up the Hudson. As early as July 11, 1776, Clinton had been informed that the British had come to the mouth of the river and by the sixteenth His Majesty's fleet had sailed north to the Tappan Zee and even gone as far as to fire two shots towards the shore. The naval campaign had begun! After the British had moored their warships at Tappan Zee for two weeks, five small American boats sailed up the river after them. "For an hour and a half the first and last battle of the Hudson continued,"34 and the Americans were forced to retreat temporarily. However, they managed to return and burn a British gun tender at which the British retreated down the river. Shortly after that the theater of war moved to New Jersey and it was not until October of 1777 that the British reappeared on the river.34 The new British plan was that they should secure the entire Hudson, thereby severing New England from the rest of the colonies. For this strategic maneuver they originally planned to have General Burgogne drive south from Canada, General St. Leger drive east through the Mohawk Valley, and Sir William Howe push north from New York City. Howe, however, was called away to Philadelphia and replaced by Sir Henry Clinton. On October 14, Sir Henry and four thousand men sailed north from the mouth of the Hudson. The next day they landed at Verplanck's Point, a few miles south of the Highlands fortifications. The Americans readied themselves for a naval attack. Early in the morning of October 6th, Henry Clinton and his men again set sail but instead of proceeding to Fort Montgomery as expected, they landed at Stony Point, just below and out of sight of the forts. There he dropped off his four thousand troops. Sir Henry's genius lay in the fact that he realized the Americans were expecting him to arrive by water and also that the forts were intended primarily to resist attack from the river side. By marching his infantry through the mountains and sneaking up behind the forts by land, he took the Americans totally by surprise. The Americans were also tremendously outnumbered so by nightfall the 91

British had captured the two forts in a number of hours. 35 Once the forts had fallen, Sir Henry's men set about removing the river barrier. "Down below the captured forts there was a clanking of iron. Soldiers were working at the iron chain upon which George Clinton had depended so much.

At eleven o'clock the next morning it gave way."36 The victorious Sir Henry and his men sailed north to Kingston (which, incidentally, they burned to the ground), but never completed their rendezvous with Burgogne who, by then, had been defeated at Saratoga. Nor did they join St. Leger who had met a similar fate at the battle of Fort Stanwix. The British grew nervous at being isolated so far north so after their triumph over Fort Montgomery and the dismantling of the mighty chain, they quietly sailed back to New York City. What an anticlimax to the months of planning and preparation: In hindsight, there has been much criticism of George Clinton's overestimation of the chain's defensive value. Spaulding r ers to Clinton's fortifications as "these feeble measures".

Benedict Arnold felt that the Colonials' chains could be broken by "a single ship, large and heavily loaded, with a strong wind."38 The officer from Fort Montgomery who reported the early breaks in the chain said that he'd never expected it to work anyway.39 The irony of this criticism is that the chain was never actually put to the test. It was only after the British had secured the forts by land and sent their engineers down to detach the links from their fasteners that they were able to open up the Hudson River.

The Colonists, angered at the destruction caused by the British, and still convinced of the chain's efficacy, set to work on another chain. The comparative ease with which the British had passed the Highlands had awakened an apprehension of its repetition in the mind of General Washington who, on December 2, 1777, wrote to General Putnam instructing him to consult George Clinton and the French engineer, LieutenantColonel Radiere, about any possible ways to defend and secure the river.40 (Radiere was later relieved from duty because of his overly grandiose and extravagant plans. He was replaced by the Polish engineer, Kosciuszko, who was "esteemed by those who have attended the works . . . to have more practice than Colonel Radiere, and his manner of treating the people is more acceptable than that of the latter. .

George Clinton, dogged as ever in his loyal support of protective chains, wrote to General Gates in November 1777: ".

This with a chain or boom, at a part of the river called the West Point, where it is quite narrow, and the wind, owing to the crookedness of the river, very uncertain, with proper works on the shore to defend it, . would, in my opinion, perfectly obstruct navigation."42 Several Committee conferences were held and the following report was written on January 14, 1778: "Three hundred yards less of chain will be requisite at this place than at Fort Clinton. It will be laid across in a place where vessels going up the river most usually lose their headway. Water batteries may be built on both sides of the river for protecting the chain and annoying the ships coming up the river."43 On the second of February, 1778, an emissary from West Point, Hugh Hughes, visited the Sterling Iron Works to make a contract with its proprietors to construct a chain.44 The Articles of Agreement read: (To be delivered) "on or 92

before the first day of April . . . an iron chain of the following dimensions and quality: that is, in length five hundred yards, each link about two feet long, to be made of the best sterling iron, two and one quarter inch square . in the same manner as . . . the former chain . . . also . . . have made . . . to be delivered at least twelve tons of anchors of the aforesaid iron . . ."45 A large portion of the cable proceeded to be forged by Peter Townsend, of Chester, New York, at the Sterling Iron Works, twenty-five miles from West Point.46 "Ringwood also provided much of the iron for the second chain . . . The Sterling Mines had the contract for the chain, but the job was too big for them to do alone, and a good deal of it was farmed out to other mines."47 (Here we have another tiny glimmer that Lakeville might have had a hand in the forging of some of the links.) The price agreed upon was 440 pounds for every ton weight of chain and anchors. An extra enticement to the local blacksmiths was an exemption from military duty for nine months for any artificers who were under steady employ.48 In April of 1778 the new chain was completed and stretched between West Point and Constitution Island. There it remained intact until the end of the war. In 1780, a Doctor Thacher wrote a description of it: "This chain,is buoyed up by very large logs of about sixteen feet long, pointed at the ends, to lessen their opposition to the force of the current . . . The logs are placed at short distances from each other, the chain carried over them, and made fast to each by staples. There are also a number of anchors dropped at proper distances, with cables made fast to the chain, to give it greater stability." This chain was forged in a mere six weeks and weighed one hundred eighty tons. ' ARSzR>. &aw\£~►r QF

$OOm

A)Uc Ct-CAtl4- Ui sY Palt4T

1LL V STRA► ( Q

(For -Y-.

wiLSrAC-K

L-

D

GS

The river at the new location at West Point was only three-eighths of a mile wide, making it much easier to block.

The river obstruction consisted not only of a chain but a boom as well, the latter located downstream from the former.

93

The boom consisted of logs, eighteen feet in length and about fifteen inches in diameter. These logs were fluted into octagonal cylinders and rounded at either end. They were joined by an iron band around each end, and two links of two inch bar iron.50 (SEE ILLUSTRATION #4) The chain was assembled upstream and floated downriver to its proposed position. The boom, however, was placed in position some time after the chain had been drawn across. They remained there until the end of the war except in the winter when the river was frozen over or gutted with broken ice which time it was drawn by windlass up onto the shore.

In addition to the engineering and military details, many other tales of human interest are attached to the mighty chains. The very fact that Clinton placed rum high on his list of priorities brings the cruel and difficult construction of the river barrier to life. Not only was it a mighty feat of engineering but of human sacrifice as well. Another interesting anecdote occurred during the troubled times of trying to make fast the first Fort Montgomery chain. After the cable had broken twice, the Committee of Safety resolved "that the Committee appointed to obstruct the navigation of Hudson's River be instructed not to pay the Blacksmiths who made the chain which was lately drawn across said River, until such time as the sufficiency of their work can be examined; and that the said Committee take proper measures for that purpose."52 Like most ultimatums such as this, it was probably discovered by the Committee that they had stranded themselves, for it seems quite apparent that blacksmiths and forging facilities were in short supply. Shortly thereafter, the Committee reexamined the situation, determined that the breaks were not the fault of the Poughkeepsie smiths, and paid them after a11.53 The really human and pragmatic detail about the Fort Montgomery chain is what became of it once the British removed it. The historical marker at Fort Clinton cryptically states: "The British removed the chain and sailed north . .", but a more detailed account is to be found in Platt's History of Poughkeepsie where he describes his city's brief encounter with Sir Henry Clinton's Hudson raid. The British, Platt claimed, burned Kingston and started down river, laying waste, though in a moderate way, to the Hudson Valley. They fired two shots at the Livingston house in Poughkeepsie, and burned Theophilus Anthony's forge and mill (though the house is still standing). If they didn't like Anthony, however, they liked his work; they took the Great Chain with them. It eventually ended up at Gibraltar where it protected the British Mediterranean fleet at anchor for many .years.

Further evidence appears in Allen's essay: "Apparently the British were quite delighted with the chain for on their return down the river they took it up and carried it home with them to Gibraltar, where for many years they protected their warships lying cozily at anchor." 4 There would seem to be validity to this latter theory for a number of reasons. The chain was intact when the British removed it and surely they recognized the high grade iron from which it was made if not its usefulness. Also it would have served as useful ballast on British ships returning home unloaded. The spoils of war are a universal temptation and surely the British would have conceived of a 94

practical purpose for such a formidable invention.

As for the West Point chain, legends about Benedict Arnold's scurrilous deed abound. "It is related that Arnold when meditating his treason, caused a link of this chain to be removed and taken to the smith, in pretence that it needed repairs--really to weaken this formidable obstruction to the successful carrying out of his detestable plot."55 A more charitable account states: "Legend has reported that Arnold tried to weaken the chain which blocked the Hudson by removing a link; actually he tried to strengthen the chain, following the advice of a French engineer Washington had detailed to assist him."56 The latter suggestion, while less romantically sinister, sounds convincing because presumably Arnold would have wanted to turn over the strongest possible fortification to his new allies, the British.

But the most nonsensical "human interest" image of all is suggested by the following passage: "According to one of them Governor Clinton walked across the Hudson on his chain " 57 One can just conjure up the scene of the proud, stubborn General, thrilled with the successful installation of his sacred chain, unsteadily teetering and wobbling across the tight links with his troops cheering him on from the river bank. In a more sober vein, it is later explained that "the boom could readily be converted into a bridge, and it is not improbable that in its construction reference was had to this object, as it would afford facilities for the transport of troops from one side of the river to the other."58 The dual role of the chain and boom adds to its strategic heroism, for the transport of men and supplies across the Hudson was a very great problem.

For all its simplicity and lack of sophistication, the chain was truly an extraordinary artifact of America's earliest craftsmen. Upon seeing the thirteen links at West Point, one cannot help but be struck by their rugged beauty.

The graceful strength of the handwrought black iron somehow seems to symbolize the robust individuality and ingenuity of colonial America. Among the thirteen links, one is a swivel of an elliptical shape. It is the precursor of twentieth century art with its free form and emphasis on material and rough utilitarianism. It is a remarkable sensation to stand at an historic site and with the trigger mechanism of a simple artifact such as the chain, have the whole event come to life before one's very eyes. The beautiful little children's park at Bear Mountain, where Fort Clinton was located, provides an atmosphere which is perfectly conducive to historical visions. As one stands on top of the cliff, gazing down at the river far below, it almost seems as if one can hear the clanking of chains and even see something floating on the river.

Along with the mystique of heroic effort, monumental strength, and a man-made restriction of a natural force, it is also remarkable to realize that the chain halted all hostile shipping along the most crucial waterway in America for seven years, except for one six-month period.

Footnotes 1.

Russell D. Bailey & Associates, Historic Sites and Buildings in the Hudson River Valley, Utica, New York, 1966, 24d.f. (This footnote appears opposite page 8 Map illustration).

95

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

Christopher Rand, The Changing Landscape, N.Y., 1968, 108 f.

Christopher Ward, The War of the Revolution, N.Y., 1952, 64f.

Edward Pales, Iron Country, 1720-1972, Falls Village, Ct., 1972, 18f.

Pales, Iron Country, 19f.

Rand, Changing Landscape, 110f.

Pales, Iron Country, 18f.

Time Magazine Special 1776 Issue, Vol. 105, #20, "The Economy", 41f.

Letters to the Secret Committee of the State of New York, West Point Museum Archives.

Letters.

Letters.

Letters.

Letters.

Letters.

George Clinton, Public Papers of George Clinton, N.Y., 1899, 138f.

Alice R. Allan, "Robert Erskine of Ringwood", In the Hudson Highlands, N.Y., 1945, 63f.

Ward, War of the Revolution, 269f.

E. Wilder Spaulding, His Excellency George Clinton, N.Y., 1938, 72f.

Carl Carmer, The Hudson, N.Y., 1939, 107-108ff.

Rand, Changing Landscape, 112-114ff.

Clinton, Public Papers, 437f.

Clinton, Public Papers, 446f.

Spaulding, His Excellency, 66f.

Edmund Platt, The Eagle's History of Poughkeepsie, Poughkeepsie, 1905.

Allan, Hudson Highlands, 63f.

Bear Mountain Trailside Historical Museum (legend) sign.

Bear Mountain Museum (legend) sign.

Carmer, The Hudson, 125f.

T. Nelson and sons, Nelson's Illustrated Guide to the Hudson and its Tributaries, New York, 1860, 74f.

Ward, War of the Revolution, 515f.

Ward, War of the Revolution, 515f.

Peter Force, American Archives, Washington, D.C., 1853, 752f.

Force, Archives, 1140f.

Carmer, The Hudson, 106-lllff.

Spaulding, His Excellency, 77f.

Carmer, The Hudson, 121f.

Spaulding, His Excellency, 72f.

James T. Flexner, The Traitor and the Spy, N.Y., 1953, 309f.

Force, Archives, 752f.

Edward Boynton, History of West Point, New York, 1863, 49f.

Boynton, West Point, 67f.

Paul Wilstach, Hudson River Landings, Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1933, 118f.

Boynton, West Point, 55f.

Boynton, West Point, 56f.

Boynton, West Point, 57f.

Nelson's Guide, 63f.

Allan, Hudson Highlands, 64f.

96

!

j I

i

G

i q

k I

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

Boynton, West Point, 57-58ff.

Nelson's Guide, 63f.

Boynton, West Point, 70f.

Wilstach, Hudson Landings, 119f.

Force, Archives, 316f.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

58.

Force, Archives, 371-372ff.

Allan, Hudson Highlands, 51f.

Nelson's Guide, 63f.

Flexner, Traitor, 327f.

Wilstach, Hudson Landings, 119f.

Wilstach, Hudson Landings, 120f.

Bibliography

Allan, Alice R., "Robert Erskine of Ringwood", In the Hudson Highlands, Publication Committee, Appalachian Mountain Club, N.Y., 1945.

Bailey, Russell D. and Associates, A Report on Historic Sites and Buildings in the Hudson River Valley, Prepared for the Hudson River Valley Commission, Utica, New York, 1966.

Bear Mountain Trailside Historical Museum, Palisades Interstate Park.

Boynton, Captain Edward C., History of West Point, D. Van Nostrand, New York, 1863.

Carmer, Carl, The Hudson, Holt, Rinehard and Winston, N.Y., 1939.

Clinton, George, Public Papers of George Clinton, Military Vol. I, Published by the State of New York, 1899.

Fales, Edward D., Jr., Iron Country 1720-1972, Issued by the National Iron Bank, Falls Village, Ct., 1972.

Flexner, James T., The Traitor and the Spy, Harcourt, Brace & Co., New York, 1953.

Force, Peter, American Archives, 5th Series, Vol. III, Prepared and Published under Authority of Acts of Congress, D.C., 1853.

Letters of the Secret Committee of the State of New York, West Point Museum Archives.

Nelson, T., and sons, Nelson's Illustrated Guide to the Hudson and Its Tributaries, T. Nelson and sons, New York, 1860.

Platt, Edmund, The Eagle's History of Poughkeepsie 16831905, Platt and Platt, Poughkeepsie, 1905.

Rand, Christopher, The Changing Landscape, Oxford University Press, New York, 1968.

Spaulding, E. Wilder, His Excellency George Clinton, MacMillan Co., New York, 1938.

Time Magazine Special 1776 Issue, July 4, 1776, Vol. 105, No. 20, "The Economy".

Ward, Christopher, The War of the Revolution, MacMillan Co., New York, 1952.

Wilstach, Paul, Hudson River Landings, Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1933.

97

98

RED HOOK'S MAIZEFIELD IN HISTORIC REGISTER

According to legend, Aaron Burr sought refuge at Maizefield after his famous duel with Alexander Hamilton, in 1804.

The three-story brick home in the heart of Red Hook may not have sheltered anyone of comparable stature in the 170 years since, but that doesn't diminish its place among the historical and architectural landmarks of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Just recently, Maizefield was added to the National Register of Historic Places, an honor reserved for only the oldest and best preserved structures in the United States.

Today, Maizefield retains much of the charm and dignity that distinguished the elite Hudson River estates of the postRevolutionary War period.

Maizefield was built in 1795 by General David Van Ness.

A native of Columbia County, General Van Ness moved to Upper Red Hook before the Revolutionary War. During the war, he served as a captain in the Continental Line from 1776 to 1778 and as a major in the Dutchess militia in 1779. He was named a brigade general in 1793.

Like many of the prosperous career officers of that period, General Van Ness moved into the political arena after the war. He served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 1790 to 1800 and as a member of the New York Senate from 1800 to 1802.

General Van Ness had an equally famous brother. Peter Van Ness built the Lindenwald estate in Kinderhook in 1795, which later became the home of President Martin Van Buren.

There is some evidence (although circumstantial at best) to support rumors that Burr used Maizefield as a hiding place in 1804, successfully (as it turned out) avoiding both the law and Hamilton's many friends and sympathizers.

One of Burr's closest friends was William P. Van Ness, the General's nephew. Van Ness, in fact, served as Burr's second during that fateful duel with Hamilton on July 11, 1804. And, it has been reported (although never verified) that another of the General's nephews, Jacob Van Ness, delivered the challenge to Hamilton in New York City.

That the Van Ness family was sympathetic to Burr's political aspirations (he was a candidate for Governor of New York State at the time of the duel) is indisputable. When Burr fatally wounded Hamilton with a single pistol shot that day, it seems only reasonable that he would seek refuge with his closest supporters.

Lindenwald, most likely, would have been too obvious a hiding spot for the all-but-exiled Vice-President of the United States. So the man who lost the Presidency by just the vote of the House of Representatives found shelter at Maizefield.

Or, at least, that's what the legend says.

Burr survived, and eventually drifted into obscurity.

Maizefield survived too.

In 1815, just three years before he died, General Van Ness sold Maizefield and its 364 acres of land to Stephen I. Brinckerhoff of Fishkill. The mansion was a wedding gift for his 15-year-old bride. When she died three years later, Brinckerhoff sold the house to Arthur Smith of New York City.

99

The house changed hands several times after that. In 1841, it was purchased by William Chamberlain, a wholesale importer of tropical fruits, who in 1865 founded the First National Bank of Red Hook. In 1882, Maizefield was purchased

by Mrs. Mary (Hasbrouck) Timpson, daughter of Judge Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck of Kingston, who once served as president of Rutgers College and was one of the area's most distinguished attorneys and judges.

Architecturally, Maizefield displays the popular GeorgianFederal design of that period, complete with a Palladian window and geometric motifs between the first and second floors, and a divided Dutch door at the main entrance. It was originally a two story rectangular structure, measuring roughly 55 feet in width by 40 feet in depth. It had 11-foot ceiling and a central hallway that was 11 feet wide and some 39 feet long.

In later years, additions were made to the east and west ends of the house. The original section, however, remains bounded by the four towering chimneys and eight fireplaces. that provided heat in those days.

Today, Maizefield stands just a short distance from the Red Hook High School on Market Street. It is privately owned, and adds a touch of old-time elegance to a community already rich in history.

Reprinted with appreciation to The Sunday Freeman, Kingston, New York.

100

CHANGING CITY

In recent years an exodus of the urban populace to rapidly expanding suburbs has diminished the pre-eminent position of the City of Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County.

But the city has nevertheless maintained its traditional role as a city that has assumed and maintained an aggressive role in the development of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Mrs. E. Sterling Carter, a city woman who has compiled a detailed and incredibly entertaining overview of the city's history, related many highlights of the city's history in a recent interview.

In many cases, history shows that progressive planning and development have allowed the city to change to meet contemporary economic trends.

When Puritans and Pilgrims were struggling to maintain friendly relations with their Indian neighbors, two men, Hermanse VandenBogert and Robert Saunders, successfully negotiated with the Indians and in 1687, bought two patents which comprised the land area now known as Poughkeepsie.

Since that time, Poughkeepsie has changed according to commercial and industrial patterns affecting the entire country. Because of this, the city was and still is a microcosm of the country's economic development.

When land travel was the major conveyor between the state's two major settlements, New York City and Albany, Poughkeepsie became a convenient stopover for travelers, and hotels and inns proliferated.

Later, when the Hudson River became the most important inland commercial route, the city developed riverfront warehouses, resorts, and industries to serve the Hudson River trade.

By the time the city incorporated in 1854, it had launched itself full force into the Industrial Revolution that was drastically changing the character of the country.

Major industries such as the Vassar Brewery, the James Reynolds Elevator Co., the Platt Harvesting Equipment Co., the Whitehouse Boot and Shoe Co., and a host of other factories made Poughkeepsie a major industrial center on the Hudson.

In fact, when the city incorporated, the founding fathers chose a beehive, a symbol of industry, for the city's seal.

Rapid changes in the city's skyline, at least in historical perspective, became a trend that is continuing today.

During most of the nineteenth century, fires in the city provided a most effective, if somewhat indiscriminate, urban renewal program.

The renovation of the city to meet changing needs became better planned during the 1830's, when a group of industrial magnates and affluent citizens banded together to form the Improvement Party.

Group members have lent their names to many city streets: Leonard Davis, Matthew Vassar, Thomas Oakley, Samuel Pine, Aaron Innis, and Alexander Forbus were all members of the group that became derisively known as "The Boomers".

The group laid out 38 new city streets, established a whaling industry, planted hundreds of mulberry trees (they had plans to make the city the silk capital of the west), built a reservoir, and developed Mansion Park, all with their own money.

101

Through the progressive efforts of these men, and others, such as William W. Smith, the "Trade" of cough drop fame, Poughkeepsie began to be touted as the "city of schools and gardens" and as "the Queen City of the Hudson" in travel brochures sent to New York City.

Through most of the nineteenth century, Poughkeepsie kept apace of national economic developments and continued to prosper But strangely enough, one of the last innovations sought, and obtained, by city businessmen heralded a period of decline for the city that has only recently been reversed.

After years of delay, a group of men managed to raise $3 million needed to build railroad tracks between New York City and Poughkeepsie. In 1849, the tracks were completed, and trains came to Poughkeepsie along a riverfront railway once thought to be impossible to build.

It took just 50 years for the railroad to supplant the river as the major means of commercial travel. In that time, trains and track systems were developed which no longer needed the city as a stopover between major cities.

By 1900, the western end of the city had begun to decline.

Some of the great riverfront factories failed to adapt to technological progress, and disappeared. Those that did adapt moved to outlying areas where space was not at a premium.

Lower Poughkeepsie soon became a source of housing for the great influx of immigrants during the early twentieth century.

The poor aliens inhabited the homes once occupied by the rich, who had moved up to the plateau on the south side of the city when the riverfront became industrialized. Over the years, those aliens that could moved out of lower Poughkeepsie, only to be replaced by poorer tenants.

The decline of the area continued until construction of the north-south arterial highway in 1966 made Church Street the major artery of the city and cut off Main Street access to U.S. Route 9.

Isolated, Lower Main Street deteriorated at an accelerated pace until the Poughkeepsie Urban Renewal Agency, funded with federal money, demolished many of the dilapidated buildings in the area.

By that time, the blight in the lower area of Poughkeepsie had affected the city's business district, and the construction of shopping plazas in the surrounding towns made it necessary for the city to adopt new marketing and development strategies to redirect commercial growth.

Fortunately, city officials recognized the decline of the city and applied for federal funds that could help the city adapt to changing demographic and economic patterns.

Today, physical evidence is quickly appearing throughout the city that the federal programs have indeed helped.

Along the riverfront, an 18-story apartment building and a park now occupy space where sprawling factories once were.

Development of a garden apartment complex is underway, and more apartment buildings are planned for the Riverview Boulevard area, where rows of dilapidated homes once stood.

In the central business district, Main Mall has offered a new marketing outlook for commercial businesses. A block away, an office building, a civic center, and a nine-story

102

hotel are all under construction. Near the construction site, a new city hall has been built, and a high-rise apartment building for senior citizens exemplifies the success of efforts throughout the city to provide new housing.

The Community Development Program, initiated in 1975 by the federal government, will insure city housing, parks, and streets are renovated and remaining blighted areas rehabilitated. Social programs falling under the auspices of the program will decrease unemployment, improve educational opportunities, and promote the welfare of all city residents.

Through the foresight of city officials, Poughkeepsie became the highest per capita funded city in the nation under Community Development, placing the city in its traditional role at the forefront of adaptive redevelopment.

Besides the physical evidence of new growth in the city, recent figures show that the city's population increased in 1975, reversing a 15-year decline. In 1950, when the exodus to the suburbs began, the city's population was 41,000, city planners say. By 1970, the population had decreased to 32,029, a fact that caused many to speculate on the city's future survival.

But figures show that the population increased slightly in 1974 to 32,393, and the city school district announced this fall that school enrollment, a key indicator of growth, had also increased for the first time in eight years.

City planners have said they are confident that future development, particularly of a multi-million dollar financial plaza in the central business district, will expand the city's tax base and bolster commercial development.

Planners also say the nation's faltering economy has helped the city, since many people are finding that the economic advantage of living in the city, near shopping places and jobs, is superior to the way of life in the now-crowded suburbs.

Two long-time residents of the city, from diverse widely differing backgrounds, recently reaffirmed their love for Poughkeepsie and the way of life it offers.

Mrs. Ilse Holzer, of 20 Garfield Place, an affluent section of town, said, "I love it, I wouldn't live any other place. I travel quite a bit, but when I'm away I can't wait to get home. You know I get so homesick for Poughkeepsie."

Mrs. Holzer has lived in the city for 39 years.

Mrs. Constance Green, who lives at the Smith Street Housing Project, a group of publicly-owned apartments with income-adjusted rents, said, "I really like the city, in fact I love it. I can't compare it to any other place, and it has the potential to be nicer."

The future, when the east-west arterial highway is completed, and when planned developments bring about a centralization of professional services in the city, looks bright for Poughkeepsie.

Reprinted with appreciation to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

103

UNION STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT "In the early eighteenth century the county court house and jail joined a small cluster of houses on a plateau about a mile away from the river at the present-day intersection of Market and Main streets, later to become the hub of Poughkeepsie's business section. This early village was located there to be along the King's Highway from New York to Albany.

Two steep, winding footpaths connected the village to the harbor. At the foot of each path was a storehouse. Richard Davis's Store was established in 1761 and Union Store built a few years later. Here local agricultural produce waited to be carried down the river and ready-made goods in exchange came up the river from New York and beyond. As the river trade increased the village authorities received a petition for a road to the storehouses; and in 1767 Union Store Road was laid out with its bends, twists and drops which characterize what is left of it today... By 1830 there were already some signs of change along Union Street. The lots along the road were too small for practical farming, foreshadowing the urban future for the street. Another sign of the incorporation of this country road into the town was the addition of side streets: Perry, South Clover and Jefferson, linking Union Street with Main Street."

Nini Brooke Poughkeepsie's Union Street An Historical Study of a Community 1971

104

\~";:A~t~l ~1tF~iVA.

105

106

107

108

109

110

; 1ZItL 4V iIIYINIIGJ!lG ~g

lInurrehrr

IllillllllA/l~

/////////////1//

1]1

112

////// ////I/I///II/!I Ill/IfIIlllilift! ~,iiuIIIIBi'iaiilllllia

113

r

114

Historic preservation means saving and improving buildings or whole neighborhoods and restoring them to their original condition due to their architectural and/or historical importance.

The city of Poughkeepsie is over two hundred years old. By saving older buildings and neighborhoods the heritage of our community is preserved. And as we approach the Bicentennial celebration of our nation, it becomes even more appropriate to recognize the past within walking distance of our own homes.

Illustrated on these pages are some of the homes which have been rehabilitated through loans and grants administered by PURR. Detailed information regarding this Federally supported program may be obtained by contacting the Agency.

Reprinted with permission of Poughkeepsie Urban Renewal Agency. Taken from its Community Report of September 14, 1975, written and designed by Suzanne Donner and Ben Rayfield.

115

KNICKERBACKER-KILMER HOMESTEAD

By Barbara Thompson In October of 1752, Petrus and Cornelius Knickerbacker, Jr. bought the west half of Great Lot 51 comprising 616 acres from James Alexander and James Isaiah Ross. The north line of Lot 51 runs just west of the corner of John Steckler's house, along the "Manor Line" to the town line between Milan and Pine Plains; southerly to just below Fishwoods Road; westerly to Academy Hill Road and north up to the line between Dutchess and Columbia.

A year later, in 1753, the Knickerbackers divided the land, each receiving 308 acres. The deed states that Cornelius was to have the southwest part and the use of four acres for mills.

Peter built his house 25 links from his northwest line.

The reconstructed Jackson Corners Road passes just below the house now owned by Mr. and Mrs. John Steckler. The only part of the original 18th century structure left is the south front 20 x 20 room.

Trying to reconstruct the renovations and additions to these old houses is a hazardous occupation for an amateur.

This south part of the house has been done over many times in its two hundred year history. The uniformity of the foundation wall extending behind the front room would lead one to believe that there were other rooms of ancient lineage there, but if so, it is not discernable now in the modernized kitchen, bath and bedroom. It would also seem that the roof line has been changed. The old houses had pitched roofs with a garret space above the first floor. This roof is flat, with Victorian brackets supporting the eaves.

In 1807 Peter Knickerbacker sold the house and seventy five acres to George W. Kilmer. A few clues to date the additions to the house are given in his will of 1843. For one thing he had 11 children which would seem to require more space than just a small house. The inventory in the will mentions a back room, middle room bedroom and "barroom" (probably meant bedroom) and a chamber upstairs containing three bedsteads, etc., etc. He left the farm "where I now live and called my homestead farm" to two of his sons, Hiram G. and Levi G. The farm was not to be divided up if one son wanted to move out, he was to offer his share to the other.

It may have been about this time that the other two sections of the house were built. I say two sections because, while the addition looks like one large one, with the usual center hall and (originally) two rooms on either side of it, the upstairs floor levels change from one section to another.

Or, perhaps the middle section had been put on earlier and the third section at this time, or, it may have been that only the upstairs was changed along with the roof on the older part of the house. At any rate the two parts of the house are tied together with a board and batten tower. The use of double brackets under the eaves and stovepipe chimneys starting on the first floor (most of which have been removed) in the new section of the house place the date around the 1840's and on.

Also consider that George's wife, Cornelia, was to have a room in the house along with the single daughter Lucy and son Joseph (both of whom were still living there when Hiram died in 1887), a grandson George, who was the son of a deceased son Philip, Levi and his wife Polly and probably two 116

Other sons for a while.

In March of 1861 Levi died intestate leaving his wife Polly and two children, Martin L. Kilmer and Lucy Ann. At the age of 75, Hiram G. Kilmer died and left all his real and personal property to his nephew, Martin L. There must have been quite a hassle over the "showplace of Jackson Corners" as there were 43 assorted nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews all contesting the will.

But ownership passed to Martin and then to William and George Warnefield and finally to Stecklers in 1944. Modernizing without destroying all the periods of character in an old house takes time and patience. The family's enthusiasm for the project doesn't seem to have lessened any over twenty years despite a disastrous fire three years ago which gutted the dining room and kitchen; the heat was so intense that it scorched the other rooms as well. Mrs. Steckler credits the excellent teamwork of the three fire companies of Milan, Pine Plains and Elizaville for saving the house.

In the meantime the old homestead has added another chapter to its history with yet another renovation repairing the damage done by the fire. One wonders what kind of a story a professional historical architect would tell in 2074.

117

ANTIQUE PRINT ASSOCIATION ISSUES BICENTENNIAL BOOK

"The Hudson - Scenes Remembered", a 32-page commemorative publication, has been issued in observance of the Bicentennial celebration by the Antique Print Association of Poughkeepsie.

Depicting life and travel on the Hudson River during the nineteenth century, the publication represents the culmination of research by the association's Bicentennial committee on the history, towns and industry of the Hudson during 1836-1861.

It is based largely upon the art and exploration of William H. Bartlett and Benson J. Lossing, noted nineteenth century illustrators and authors.

The front cover, in color, features a print of the lighthouse near Caldwell's landing. The preface is a print of the Half Moon. The prints then progress from New York City, the Narrows, Staten Island and Brooklyn, up the river past Yonkers, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, Peekskill, West Point, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park and on to the source of the Hudson at Indian Pass.

118

According to Nicholas J. Boonstra, publications director, "The Antique Print Association is a small, unheralded, nonprofit organization conceived in 1973 and devoted to the furthering of appreciation and education of antique prints.

"This project," he continues, "was financially supported

by IBM in a Grant for Community Projects. One half of the total edition (1,000 printed, Walden Printing Co.) is being directed to educational, institutional, bicentennial program and media distribution. The remainder is offered for public purchase ($2.50) through the Antique Print Association, P.O. Box 1706, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12603."

Reprinted with appreciation to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

119

HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN THE TOWNS OF DUTCHESS COUNTY AMENIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. Helen McEniff, President Amenia, N.Y. 12501 CLINTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY William P. McDermott, President Clinton Corners, N.Y. 12514 DOVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. Richard Reichenberg, Jr., President McCarthy Road Dover Plains, N.Y. 12522

NORTHEAST HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. Marion Byron, President 32 Dutchess Avenue Millerton, N.Y. 12546 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF QUAKER HILL & VICINITY Mrs. Edward Mitchell, President Pawling, N.Y. 12564 RHINEBECK HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. Arthur C. M. Kelly Route 308 Rhinebeck, N.Y. 12572

EAST FISHKILL HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mr. Bob Swearingen Tree Top Lane Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12603

STANFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY Emily Stout, President Stanfordville, N.Y. 12581

FISHKILL HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mr. Louis Ahlbach, President 22 Chelsea Ridge Road Beacon, N.Y. 12508

UNION VALE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. H. John Geisler, President Milewood Road Verbank, N.Y. 12585

HYDE PARK HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Miss Beatrice Fredriksen, President Hyde Park, N.Y. 12538 HYDE PARK HISTORY STUDY GROUP Virginia Cookingham, President Hyde Park, N.Y. 12538 LAGRANGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mr. Michael Griffin, President Lois Lane Poughkeepsie,N.Y. 12603

WAPPINGERS HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mr. John Ferris 65 New Hackensack Road Wappingers Falls, N.Y. 12590

TOWN OF WASHINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mr. David H. Griggs, President P.O. Box 109 Millbrook, N.Y. 12545

UPPER RED HOOK HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. John H. Myers, President Albany Post Road Red Hook, N.Y. 12571

LITTLE NINE PARTNERS HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mr. Henry Grant, President Route 82 Pine Plains, N.Y. 12567

120

APPOINTED HISTORIANS OF DUTCHESS COUNTY

COUNTY HISTORIAN Mrs. Wilhelmina B. Powers 19 Grubb Street Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12603

CITY HISTORIANS POUGHKEEPSIE Mr. Benjamin Kohl 59 So. Grand Avenue Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12603

BEACON D1rs. James V. Plead 34 North Avenue Beacon, N.Y. 12508

121

TOWN HISTORIANS 1975

AMENIA Mrs. Catherine Leigh Amenia, N.Y. 12501 BEEKMAN Mrs. Mary B. Hoag Pleasant Ridge Road Poughquag, N.Y. 12572 CLINTON Mr. Francis VanAuken Zipfelbarrack Road 12572 Rhinebeck, N.Y. Miss Helena Van Vliet Staatsburg, N.Y. 12580 DOVER Mrs. Donald Dedrick Nellie Hill Acres Dover Plains, N.Y. 12522 EAST FISHKILL Mr. Henry Jackson 12582 Stormville, N.Y. FISHKILL (TOWN) Mrs. Willa Skinner Charlotte Road Fishkill, N.Y. 12524 FISHKILL (VILLAGE) Mrs. Carl Erts 19 Broad Street Fishkill, N.Y. 12524 HYDE PARK Miss Beatrice Fredriksen 43 Circle Drive Hyde Park, N.Y. 12538 LA GRANGE Mrs. Emily Johnson Moore Road Pleasant Valley, N.Y. 12569 MILAN Mrs. Barbara Thompson Box 311 R.D. #2 Red Hook, N.Y. 12571 NORTHEAST Mr. Chester Eisenhuth Simmonds Street Millerton, N.Y. 12546 PAWLING Dr. George M. Coulter 36 Coulter Avenue Pawling, N.Y. 12564

122

PINE PLAINS Mrs. Beatrice L. Grant Pine Plains, N.Y. 12567 PLEASANT VALLEY Mrs. Gail Crotty Quaker Hill Road 12569 Pleasant Valley, N.Y. POUGHKEEPSIE (TOWN) Mrs. Ruth E. Sebeth 22 Stuart Drive 12603 Poughkeepsie, N.Y. RED HOOK (TOWN) Mr. John Winthrop Aldrich "Rokeby" Barrytown, N.Y. 12507 RED HOOK (VILLAGE) Mrs. Rosemary E. Coons 34 Garden Street Red Hook, N.Y. 12571 RHINEBECK Mr. DeWitt Gurnell 38 Mulberry Street 12572 Rhinebeck, N.Y. STANFORD Mrs. Eleanor Beckwith 12581 Stanfordville, N.Y. TIVOLI Mrs. Charles J. Navins 2 Friendship Street Tivoli, N.Y. 12582 UNION VALE Mrs. Irena Stolarik 18 Smith Road 12540 LaGrangeville, N.Y. WAPPINGER (TOWN) Mrs. John R. Ferris 65 New Hackensack Road 12590 Wappingers Falls, N.Y. WAPPINGERS FALLS Miss Caroline P. Wixon 86 East Main Street 12590 Wappingers Falls, N.Y. WASHINGTON Miss Louise Tompkins Dutchess County Infirmary Millbrook, N.Y. 12545

INDEX DUTCHESS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY YEAR BOOK Volumes 55 - 60 1970 - 1975 Abel Peters of Clinton Corners - Clifford M. Buck, V. 56, 1971, P. 53.

The Amazing Chanlers and How They Grew - Book Review - John Winthrop Aldrich, Boston, Massachusetts, V. 56, 1971, p. 91.

Amenia Benton's - William A. Benton II, V. 75, 1972, p. 40.

American Flag Evolved Slowly - V. 60, 1975, p. 33.

A New Commemorative Plate - V. 60, 1975, p. 23.

Annual Pilgrimages - V. 55, 1970, p. 61; V. 56, 1971, p. 29; V. 59, 1974, p. 91.

Antique Print Association Issues Bicentennial Book - V. 60, 1975, p. 118.

Appointed Historians of Dutchess County - V. 55, 1970, p.

94; V. 57, 1972, p. 167; V. 58, 1973, p. 127; V. 59, 1974, p. 108; V. 60, 1975, p. 121.

Backbone of Farm Fare for Years Was Hog Meat - V. 60, 1975, p. 68.

The Barn Museum at Millbrook Pheasant Farm - Editor, V. 58, 1973, p. 75.

Benson J. Lossing--Patriot - Joseph W. Emsley, V. 58, 1973, p. 59.

Blacksmith Shop - William A. Benton II, V. 57, 1972, p. 84.

By-Laws, Dutchess County Historical Society - V. 56, 1971, p. 112.

Central Baptist Church of Clinton Corners - V. 56, 1971, p. 82.

Century Farms in Dutchess County as of 1972 - Clifford M. Buck, V. 58, 1973, p. 93.

The Chains Which Fortified the Hudson River Highlands during the Revolution - Henrietta Mead, V. 60, 1975, p. 84.

Changing City - V. 60, 1975, p. 101.

Charcoal - William A. Benton II, V. 57, 1972, p. 56.

Clifford Buck Recalls - Karen Jones, V. 56, 1971, p. 84.

Clinton Corners Friends Church - Mable K. Burhans, V. 55, 1970, p. 66.

Clinton Historical Society - V. 56, 1971, P. 28.

"A Copy of an afidafit of the actions and behaviors of Thomas Vorce Since the Year AD 1758 June" - transcribed

by Brigid Allen, V. 56, 1971, P. 94.

A Creamery and the Blacksmith Shops in LaGrange - Edmund Van Wyck, V. 56, 1971, p. 88.

Curator's Reports - V. 55, 1970, p. 21; V. 56, 1971, p. 23; V. 57, 1972, P. 24; V. 58, 1973, p. 26; V. 59, 1974, p. 22; V. 60, 1975, p. 21.

Days of Old Dutchess - Louise Tompkins, V. 57, 1972, p. 48.

Dr. Henry Noble MacCracken, 1880-1970 - Joseph W. Emsley, V. 55, 1970, p. 25.

Dr. John Bard and Dr. Samuel Bard of Hyde Park - Joseph W. Emsley, V. 56, 1971, p. 97.

Dutchess County Deeds Filed in Kingston - Clifford M. Buck, V. 57, 1972, p. 100.

123

Dutchess County in the Revolutionary War - Louise Tomkins, V. 60, 1975, P. 41.

Dutchess County Quakers and Slavery - Dell T. Upton, V. 55, 1970, p. 55.

Early Railroads in Dutchess County - Lyndon A. Haight, V. 55, 1970, p. 75.

Evolution of the Fallkill National Bank - Raymond J. Baumbusch, V. 58, 1973, p. 87.

Excavation of the Van Wyck Homestead, A Preliminary Report Juliette J. Cartwright, V. 59, 1974, p. 84.

Faith Chapel at Titusville - V. 56, 1971, p. 100.

Feeling for the Land - Barbara Thompson, V. 59, 1974, p. 39.

Fire at the Old Dutch Church - V. 56, 1971, p. 78.

Fishkill: A Problem, A Solution and a Call for Assistance Rich Goring, V. 57, 1972, p. 123.

The Friends Meeting House - Mrs. N. Edward Mitchess, V. 56, 1971, p. 48.

Garfield Place Day: Victorian Ambience Revived - Dr. Susan Luskin Puretz, V. 58, 1973, P. 51.

The Germanic Origin of the Flagler Family in Dutchess County - Robert Pierce, V. 57, 1972, p. 28.

Glebe House Reports - V. 55, 1970, p. 22; V. 56, 1971, p.

23; V. 57, 1972, p. 22; V. 58, 1973, p. 25; V. 59, 1974, P. 20; V. 60, 1975, P. 17.

Gulian Verplanck House, Beacon, N.Y. - William E. Verplanck, V. 57, 1972, P. 35.

Harvey G. Eastman - V. 56, 1971, p. 75.

Helen Wilkinson Reynolds: A Recommendation and an Appreciation - Frank V. Mylod, V. 59, 1974, p. 25.

Historical Societies of Dutchess County - V. 55, 1970, p.

96; V. 57, 1972, P. 166; V. 58, 1973, p. 125; V. 59, 1974, p. 106; V. 60, 1975, p. 120.

History of Garfield Place, Poughkeepsie - Dr. Susan Luskin Puretz, Photography by Donald H. Puretz, V. 57, 1972, p. 137.

History of Tivoli from First Settlement to Incorporation James Elliott Lindsley, V. 57, 1972, P. 61.

History of Tivoli from Incorporation in 1872 to its Centennial, June 18, 1972 - Joan Navins, V. 57, 1972, P. 67.

The Hucklebush Line - Keith MacPhail, V. 59, 1974, p. 64.

Human Bones Found at Site of Arboretum - V. 57, 1972, P. 98.

Illustration by Ozzi Stippa - V. 58, 1973, P. 32.

In Brief - V. 56, 1971., P. 26; V. 57, 1972, p. 25; V. 58, 1973, p. 27; V. 59, 1974, p. 23; V. 60, 1975, P. 22.

In Memoriam: Baltus Van Kleeck - V. 56, 1971, p. 24.

Joshua Palen - Clifford M. Buck and William L. Talbot, V. 57, 1972, p. 126.

Julia Dean - Clifford M. Buck, V. 59, 1974, p. 73.

Knickerbocker-Kilmer Homestead - Barbara Thompson, V. 60, 1975, P. 116.

Lane Brothers - Joseph W. Emsley, V. 55, 1970, p. 45.

Lane Motor Vehicle Co., Advertisements - V. 55, 1970, p. 49.

Little Martha Was Different - Richard A. Dwelley, Photograph by Editor, V. 57, 1972, p. 117.

A Local History Center in Dutchess County - Jesse Effron, V. 59, 1974, p. 26.

Matthew Vassar Junior - V. 56, 1971, P. 109.

Milan Pathmasters and Other Things - Barbara Thompson, V. 58, 1973, p. 33.

124

Milan's Immigrations, Old and New - Barbara Thompson, V. 58, 1973, p. 29.

Milk Train Wreck - William A. Benton II, V. 57, 1972, p.

118.

Mrs. Amy VerNooy - V. 58, 1973, p. 28.

The Mystery of Old Maps - Barbara Thompson, V. 59, 1974, p. 88.

The Names of Streets of Poughkeepsie - Editor, V. 56, 1971, p. 34.

Oblong Friends and Dr. Fallon's Hospital - H. Day Bradley, V. 60, 1975, p. 79.

The Old Ladies Home: 100 Years of Service - V. 56, 1971, p. 100.

The Old Muzzle Loading Rifle - William A. Benton II, V. 57, 1972, p. 55.

The Old Railroads of Dutchess County - Paul T. Phillips, V. 59, 1974, p. 41 On Finding a Folk Art Treasure - Sue Whitman, V. 59, 1974, p. 76.

One Room School . . . Set for Historic Hyde Park -V. 57, 1972, p. 86.

Open House Planned at Glebe House - V. 57, 1972, p. 45.

The Origin of Meddaugh Road - Bill and Mary Harrison, V. 57, 1972, p. 142.

Over Hill: Over Dale (Chapter 4 on the Flagler Family) Robert Pierce, V. 60, 1975, p. 70.

The Palatines - Wilhelmina B. Powers, V. 58, 1973, p. 35.

Die Pfaltz - James L. Lumb, V. 55, 1970, p. 32.

Pleasant Valley Celebrates its Sesquicentennial - Elizabeth Albertson, V. 56, 1971, p. 46.

The Poughkeepsie, Hartford & Boston Railroad - Edmund Van Wyck, V. 56, 1971, p. 75.

Poughkeepsie's Union Street (Preface: The Quixotic Plan) Cornelia Brooks, V. 56, 1971, p. 65 The Poughkeepsie Tower Clock - Michael D. Gordon, V. 59, 1974, p. 86.

Prelude to Revolution: Politics in Poughkeepsie, 1774-1776 - Thomas P. Billings, V. 60, 1975, p. 35.

President's Reports - V. 56, 1971, p. 20; V. 57, 1972, p.

21; V. 58, 1973, p. 24; V. 59, 1974, p. 17; V. 60, 1975, p. 16.

Prices in the Good Old Days - Edmund Van Wyck, V. 56, 1971, p. 105.

Progress Noted on Project to Restore Historic Mt. Gulian V. 57, 1972, p. 32.

Railroads of Dutchess County - James Lumb, V. 57, 1972, p. 145.

A Record of Turmoil (Minutes of the Committee of Safety for the Town of Northeast, 1778) - George B. and Janet S. Bookman, V. 60, 1975, p. 45.

Red Hook's Maizefield in Historic Register - V. 60, 1975, p. 99.

Report of the 1973-1974 Glebe House Bicentennial Auction John M. Jenner, V. 58, 1973, p. 71.

The Rev. Mr. William Whittaker - Judith K. Stewart and Clifford M. Buck, V. 55, 1970, p. 83.

Rhinebeck Area Historic Survey - Richard Crowley, V. 59, 1974, p. 99.

The Rise of the Baptists in Pine Plains, New York, 18121912, Mrs. Philip A. Lyons, V. 57, 1972, p. 105.

125

Rochdale - Edmund Van Wyck, V. 55, 1970, p. 43.

School District #1 Town of LaGrange - Clifford M. Buck, V. 57, 1972, p. 71.

Secretary's Minutes - V. 55, 1970, p. 6; V. 56, 1971, p. 6; V. 57, 1972, p. 6; V. 58, 1973, p. 6; V. 59, 1974, p. 5; V. 60, 1975, p. 5.

Shadrach Ricketson, Quaker Physician - A. Day Bradley, V. 57, 1972, p. 119.

Schultzville - Ruth M. Hoyt, V. 55, 1970, p. 64.

Society Meeting, November 19, 1970 - V. 55, 1970, p. 93.

Space Pilgrims - Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. Briggs, Photography by Editor, V. 57, 1972, p. 26.

The Stone Barn at Pleasant Valley - Clifford M. Buck, V. 56, 1971, p. 79.

The Story of Lithgow - Louise Tompkins, V. 58, 1973, p. 82.

Sweet Violets - Barbara Thompson, V. 57, 1972, p. 58.

Testing Cows - William A. Benton II, V. 57, 1972, p. 70.

Three Centuries on the Canoe Hills - Janet and George Bookman, V. 57, 1972, p. 88.

Treasurer's Reports - V. 55, 1970, p. 6; V. 56, 1971, p. 6; V. 57, 1972, p. 18; V. 58, 1973, p. 21; V. 59, 1974, p. 14; V. 60, 1975, p. 2.

Two Hundred Years Ago: New York Joins a Revolution Russell E. Chappell, V. 60,1975, p. 25.

Two Poems - Offered by Leon A. Froats, V. 57, 1972, p. 122.

Ulster County Pilgrimage - Walter Averill II, V. 56, 1971, p. 29.

Union Street Historic District - Suzanne Donner and Ben Rayfield for Poughkeepsie Urban Renewal Agency, V. 60, 1975, p. 104.

The Van Wyck Family in Dutchess County - Joseph W. Emsley, V. 56, 1971, p. 102.

The Village of Wappingers Falls Celebrates its Centennial Dorothy B. Alsdorf, County Historian, V. 56, 1971, p. 41.

The Voyage (Flagler Family) - Robert Pierce, V. 58, 1973, p. 40.

Westminster Presbyterian Church - Rev. Carl T. Vith, V. 55, 1970, p. 71.

What Does the County Historian Do? - Dorothy B. Alsdorf, County Historian, V. 56, 1971, p. 30.

William Bissell - William A. Benton II, V. 57, 1972, p. 47.

The Winter of a Hill Farm - Barbara Thompson, V. 57, 1972, p. 143.

126