Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook Vol. 070 1985

Dutchess County Historical Society

Year Book Volume 70 1985

The Dutchess County ffistorical Society YEARBOOK (ISSN 0739-8565) has been published armually since 1915 by the Dutchess County Historical Society, Box 88, Poughkeepsie, New York 12602.

Individual copies may be purchased through the Society. Selected earlier Yearbooks are also available.

Manuscripts, books for review and other correspondence relevant to this publication should be addressed to: Editors Dutchess County Historical Society Poughkeepsie, New York 12602

John and Mary Lou Jeanneney Editors

The Society encourages accuracy but cannot assume responsibhity for statements of fact or opinion made by contributors.

© 1986 by the Dutchess County I-Iistorical Society All rights reserved.

The Dutchess County IIistorical Society was organized in 1914 to preserve and share the county's rich history and tradition. The only county-wide organization of its kind, the Society is the active leader and promoter of local history in Dutchess County. Principal endeavors include the publishing of historical works, and the conecting and safekeeping of manuscripts, artifacts and other priceless treasures from the past. Th.e Society has also been instrumental in the preservation of two pre-Revolutionary landmarks, the Clinton House and the Glebe House, both in Poughkeepsie.

The Society offers its members a variety of activities and special events throughout the year. For further iriformation or to join please contact the Society at P.O. Box 88, Poughkeepsie, New York 12602, 914 (471-1630).

Table of Contents The Dutch in Colonial Dutchess Declining Numbers - Continuing Influence William P. MCDermott ....................

.5

Disposable Blades: Poughkeepsie Style Robin S. Walsh

.................................. 20

The Van Wyck/Jay House Its History and a Structural Analysis Kenneth W. Walpuck ...................

.24

The Theodorus Van Wyck Site: A Ceramic Analysis Roberta Wingerson .....................

.34

The Rombout Patent: An Alliance of Families Janet Knight ...........................

.44

Dutchess Quakers Maintain Their Testimony Against Military Participation Alson Van Wagner ............................... 51

Poughkeepsie Horse Cars Charles Benjamin ................................ 59

The Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge An Informal History Michael D. Haydock .............

.65

Notes and Quotes: History of the Poughkeepsie City School District Peter Anders Edman ............................. 72

Notes and Quotes: A History of the Culficulum in the Poughkeepsie City School District, 1843-1929 Peter Anders Edman ............................. 80

The Forest Plantations of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde park, New York i Thomas W. Patton

............................... 95

1985 Officers and Trustees, Staff, and Local Society Delegates ..........

MunicipalHistoriansofDutchesscounty Historical Societies of Dutchess Couhty . .

Index......,..........................

.108 .109 .110 .111

Call for Articles In order that the 1986 Yearbook be in the hands of readers in the same calendar year, the deadline for submitting manuscripts must be scheduled for June 1.

Articles should be relevant to Dutchess County or to the Hudson Valley, and should be no longer than 7500 words of double-spaced typescript. Inclusion of photographs, line drawings or other illustrative materials is encouraged.

Bibliographic material and endnotes should be included if appropriate.

Manuscripts or inquiries should be sent to: John and Mary Lou Jeanneney, Yearbook Editors, Dutchess County IIistorical Society, Box 88, Poughkeepsie, New York 12602.

Call for Papers The Dutchess County IIistorical Society, as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Poughkeepsie, New York, will sponsor a conference in the fall of 1987 presenting new contributions to the history of the city and of the Poughkeepsie urban region. Proposals should be accompanied by a brief vitae and sent to Clyde Griffen, Dept. of IIistory, Vassar Conege, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 12601 no later than May 1, 1986. Preference will be given to papers which augment or revise Edmund Platt's Eagle's History of Poughkeepsie (1905) in important ways.

Repair and Restoration of the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt ` Four years ago, January 23, 1982, a fire at the Hyde Park home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt destroyed much of the roof and attic. Extensive damage was suffer;d on the third floor and heavy smoke and water damage was inflicted on the center and north wing of the first and second floor. Efforts to salvage furnishings began even as the fire was raging. In the weeks that followed, temporary repairs to the building were made, and surveys of damage identified the conservation requirements of the 9,000 items in the collection. By the fall of 1982 Congress had authorized an appropriation of 2 million dollars for the repair of the home and conservation of the collection.

The home of F.D.R. has been reopened to visitation. The F.D.R. home fire and the work of rejuvenation and conservation will be documented in an article, for publication in the 1986 Yearbook, written by the National Park Service Curators and Museum Technicians who worked on the fire project.

TIH DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHESS

5

The Dutch in Colonial Dutchess Declining Numbers Continuing Influence W.illiam P. MCDermott ``WwentonshoretoTwostoneFarmHousesonBeekmanManorinthe County of Dutchess .... The Men were absent & the Women and children could speak no other language than Low Dutch. ''] This observation by William Smith on the occasion of his visit to Rhinebeck in 1769 noted the presence of the Dutch language in Dutchess County just a few short years before the American Revolution. Twenty years earfier, Peter Kalm, a Swedish botanist, made similar observations. ``Several villages lay on the eastern side [of the Hudson River], and one of them, called Strasburg [Staatsburg], was inhabited by a number of `Germans'. " Further along on his trip up the Hudson he also noted, ``Rhinebeck

is a place some distance from Strasburgh, further off from the river. It is inhabited by many `Germans' who have a church there."2 A few years earlier in 1744 Alexander Hamilton, a physician from Maryland, frustrated during his trip on the Hudson River from Albany to New York City, commented, ``1 never was so destitute of conversation in my life as in this voyage. I heard nothing but Dutch all the day."3 Whether the language heard by these early travelers was Dutch or German is interesting to speculate about for a number of Germansp.eaking Palatines had settled in Dutchess County before 1720 and the languages may have become intertwined. Van aeef Bachman, in an analytical work on the Dutch language, observed a degree of tenaciousness amongst the Germans with regard to their language. He concluded, ``in the middle Hudson Valley a German dialect, akin to Pennsylvania German, survived well into the nineteenth century.

Replacemen`t of German by Dutch among the descendants of early Palatine immigrants to New York State was only partial and seems to have gone farthest where these Germans stayed in proxinrity to established Dutch settlements and also adhered to the Reformed religion. "4 Bachman's observations certainly could account for the different reports made by the eady travelers. Three languages, Dutch, Engfish and German, used actively in one small geographical area is impressive. Yet, another language, French, was actively used in Dutchess during the colonial period. Note the observation made by the Marquis de Chastellux three days before Christmas in 1780 when snow and hail interrupted his travels Wtltian P. MCDerl'riott is a professional peychologist. He has edited and compiled, with

az#ord Bc"k, Eighteenth Century Documents of the Nine Partners Patent, Dutchess County, NIow York. He is presently the president of the Clinton Historied Society and the former editor of the Yearbook.

6

TIH DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHESS

through the township of Rhinebeck. After taking shelter for the night at Thomas' Inn in Upper Red Hook, he noted in his journal, ``all these names reveal German origin." That morning he had stopped at Staatsburg after which he made the following entry, ``remarking one (house) which was rather handsome, the owner came to the door, doubtless from curiosity, and asked me, in French, if I would alight, and step in and dine with him."5 These travellers had discovered the continuing presence of non-English speaking settlers in Dutchess County well beyond the middle of the 18th century. The earliest settlers had not yet become anglicized almost 100 years after the arrival of the English in New York. This is especially interesting because few Dutch or French had immigrated to New York after the 1690's and the majority of German Palatines had already arrived by 1710. How many of these non-English speaking people were in Dutchess County during the colonial period? How significant a force were they? Did they continue to wield influence throughout the colonial period in spite of their declining numbers? Did the preference for establishing their own ethnic communities affect their interaction with others? These and many other related questions come to mind. The intent of this paper is to measure the size of these groups in Dutchess County during the colonial period and to assess one aspect of their influence.

During the second and third quarter of the 18th century the English were, gradually at first, but nevertheless persistently, showing interest in the Hudson Valley and inevitably making their presence felt. Apparently this encroachment on what were formerly Dutch settlements struck discordant notes in the hearts of the Dutch. Anne Grant, a young girl who lived in Albany County in the 1760's, describing the Dutch attitude toward the English, observed that they, ``distinguished themselves .... by an aversion, almost amounting to apathy to all the British colonists. Their notions were mean and contracted; their manners blunt and austere; and their habits sordid and parsimonious; as the settlement (New York City) began to extend they retired, and formed new establishments, afterwards called Fishkill, Esopus, etc.''6 Peter Kalm also noted an antagonistic attitude between the Dutch and the English. ``The hatred the `English' bear against the people at `Albany' (Dutch) is very great but that of the `Albanians' against the `English' is carried to ten times higher degree." Although the observations of these two individuals were similar, Kalm implied the animosity was not pervasive but was related primarily to the fact of the British conquest of New Netherland.7 The often-cited Anne Grant, who left America when she was 13 years old and wrote her observations over fifty years later, may have been influenced by Peter Kalm. His work had been published in England in 1772, just four years after Anne had returned to her native Scotland.8 Patricia Bonomi, citing observations made by Anne Grant and others, implies a certain ethnocentrism within groups such as the Dutch and perhaps even the Germans and French. She considers these attitudes and the clannishness they may have fostered as forces which ``showed acculturation, and which tended to reinforce isolation, separateness, and sectionalism.''9 Surely the opportunity to settle within one's own group was, and still is for that matter, attractive to the new settler. Sirfular language, customs, religion and a variety of other familiar reminders of their previous existence allay the fears that a new homeland stimulates. And the fact there might be some animosity between differing groups should come as no surprise. It is often visible when two cultures meet, and it is especially likely when one of the groups has unwillingly succumbed to the other. However, this does not necessarily

THE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DurcrHss

7

result in the restraint of progress nor does it imply an unwillingness to cooperate between groups despite what may have been strained relationships.

The Dutch, in fact, may have maintained a more isolated, separate and ethnocentric style of living. However, their ability to survive what was for them a foreign culture brought by the wave of British immigration to the Hudson Valley during the mid-18th century is indeed a remarkable phenomenon. Throughout the Hudson Valley there is evidence of their continuing presence culturally until and well beyond the American Revolution. For example, as late as 1780 Colonel Peter Gansevoort noted the presence of a Dutch settlement in Nyack (now Rockland County) in a letter to his wife. '`. . . the inhabitants are all Dutch people from whom I can get every think (sic) by speaking Dutch to them."10 The presence of the Dutch in Kingston and Albany even into the 19th century was apparent in the continued use of the language, in religious affiliation and in other ethnic and cultural expressions. One has orily to rifle through the pages of wills and land transactions in Kingston to find evidence of the Dutch language used well into the 18th century. It is interesting to note that English apparently did not become the official language of New York Province until almost fifty years after the British conquest in 1664. Prior to that time official documents had been written in either Dutch or EngHsh and a translator was provided where necessary."

When Peter Kalm visited New York in June, 1749 from his native Sweden he noted in his journal, ``The inhabitants of Albany and its environs are almost all `Dutchmen'. They speak `Dutch', have `Dutch' preachers and the divine service is performed in that language: their manners are likewise quite `Dutch'; their dress is however like that of the `Enghih'."12 The continued use of the Dutch language in the Hudson Valley as late as 1835 and as far north as Petersburg, New York near the Vermont-Massachusetts line, was noted in a recent paper by Charles Gehring, translator of surviving Dutch documents.13 In the mid-Hudson valley the marriage and baptismal records of the Dutch Reformed Church in FGngston were written in Dutch until 1808. Also, although German ministers were invited to serve the Kingston congregation, they were required to be fluent in the Dutch language. In fact, Rev. Georg Wilhelm Mancius, a Germanspeaking minister, served a two year probationary period when he first was invited to assist Domini Vas in 1732. During that time he was required to learn and speak the low Dutch language clearly enough for the parishioners to understand or he would not be continued as Domini Vas' assistant. Rev. Mancius served the Kingston congregation for thirty years attesting to his ability to satisfy the language requirement imposed.14 The number of Dutch Reformed churches estabhihed in Dutchess County duning the 18th century is further evidence of the continuing presence of the Dutch.

Undoubtediy, the church served as the principle avenue through which the Dutch could maintain linguistic and cultural ties to their past. Alice Kenney concluded from her studies of the Albany Dutch, ``after the English conquest, the Dutch regarded their religion as their principal bond of linguistic and ethnic unity. ''15 Also, architectural style and other evidences of material culture provide additional testimony to the continuing presence of the Dutch during the colonial period. Although these evidences of Dutch ethnic identity were present, can their existence be interpreted, as did Anne Grant and perhaps others, as indications of an "aversion" to the British and, therefore, an unwillingness to cooperate? Kalm, commenting about the gains the Dutch made under British rule concluded, ``they could never have such advantages under the `Dutch' govern-

8

THE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHESS

ment as they have obtained under that of the `EngHsh' . ''16 Nor should the British feelings toward the Dutch be overlooked. They were anything but neutral if Cadwallader Colden, who held various offices at the heart of provincial government for fifty years, can be regarded as reflecting the feelings of the times. This eminent physician, scientist-philosopher who, because of his brilliance has been compared to Benjamin Franklin, was, at the least, a very direct and perhaps even an opinionated individual. In his reflections to his son about Dutch assemblymen during the 1710 to 1719 era in New York politics, Colden observed, ``You know that the Assemblies in North America consist generally of a low rank of people who have no generous principles .... Several of the Asssembly were Dutch boors, grossly ignorant and rude, who could neither write or read nor speak English.17 But even if the Dutch had an ``aversion" or even a ``hatred" of the British this does not imply an absence of cooperation nor an unwillingness to cooperate, nor should the attitude itself impose such an interpretation. In fact, Mlton Klein indicated the interaction between the Dutch and the English was by the middie of the colonial period quite considerable. ``Persons (Dutch and English) moved easily from one church affiliation to another .... Some Livingstons, originally Presbyterians, joined the Dutch Reformed Church, then shifted back to the Presbyterian. Others became Anglicans. The DeLanceys left the French Reformed Church and joined the Church of England."18 The bounty of evidence of Dutch survival in fact indicates a willingness to cooperate, if for no other reason than to survive! Note, for example, that in their business relationships ethnic lines were crossed easily and early. The partnership which received the Great Nine Partners Patent in 1697, a tract of land which embodied one third of Dutchess County, was a Dutch and English partnership.19 Also, the twenty two individuals who established the Frankfort Storehouse at Fishkill Landing in 1743 were a later example of cooperation across ethnic lines.20 A special example of cooperation is found in Henry Beekman's support in 1755, although initially reluctant, of King's College, now Columbia University, as an Anglican church-dominated institution. Beekman, a legislator from Dutchess County, was from an old Dutch family and continued to support Dutch interests, although with a considerable amount of political flexibility, throughout his long tenure in office. In spite of his initial reluctance to approve, he was invited to serve and did serve on the Board of Governors of the new Anglican conege. It was during that period of service that he joined others to lobby for and finally witness the appointment of a Dutch Reformed professor of divinity to the faculty of the college.21 These are samples of numerous examples which could be given.

But in spite of their cooperative attitude the Dutch did not relinquish their ethnic identity. William Smith Jr., the noted contemporary colonial New York historian, observed in 1757, ``The Dutch counties, in some measure, follow the example of New York, but stin retain many modes peculiar to the Hollanders. ''22 And finally, it should be noted that the Dutch were not immune to the British presence and influence even in their separated enclaves. For example, on Dr. Alexander Hamilton's trip on the Hudson River from New York to Albany in June 1744, he met a man by the name of ``Van Bummill" (probably Markus Van Bommell) who ``got to talking a mediey of Dutch and English."23 Fifty years later William Strickland, speaking about the Albany Dutch, noted, ``the people are of a mixed race, but chiefly Dutch, which language, as they call it, they generally speak, but it is so corrupted, and so replete with new words, which a new country, new subjects, and new circumstances would unavoidably require, that

THE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHESS

9

a minister some time since arrived from Amsterdam, could neither understand his congregation, nor could they understand him to their satisfaction, and it has been necessary for hin to study to lower his language to theirs."24 While it is important to note the continuing presence of the Dutch in Dutchess and the effect they may have had on the development of the county during the colonial period, it is equany important to recognize that the Dutch in Dutchess in 1775 were not the same as the Dutch of New York fifty years earlier, nor was either group the same as the Dutch prior to the British takeover in 1664. In fact recent studies have shown that many referred to as Holland Dutch in New Netherlands were neither from the Netherlands nor were they Dutch. One in five of the inhabitants in New York City in the seventeenth century were actually German from areas adjacent to the Netherlands. There was, nevertheless, because of this proximity, some commonality in the cultures of the two groups.

France and the Scandinavian countries contributed another 220/o. David Cohen's research brings into sharp focus the cosmopolitan makeup of the earliest inhabitants of New York City.25 It is this pool of colonists which was the source of some of the Dutchess County ``Dutch". Therefore, such families as the Palmatiers, Pells, and Traphagens, who originally were not from the Netherlands but had, because of intense association, become Dutch whale in the New Netherlands, were regarded as Dutch in this study.

Intermarriage, cross cultural influences, various forms of cooperative activity, particularly in the world of business, and a variety of other interactions between the British and the Dutch rendered the Dutchess County Dutch of the colonial period a group with its own unique identity. It is this group which is being treated in this paper. No attempt has been made to discover a ``pure" Dutch community where marriage, religion and other cultural expressions were so ethnically bound that a truly Dutch enclave was found. In fact, no such com~ muhity could exist, nor could such a community survive as an isolated entity amidst all the change which occulTed in the mid-Hudson region during the col~ onial period. No group, regardiess of its relative size, is immune to the influences of a substantially different group adjacent to it. One observation made in the mid-eighteenth century is particularly revealing. ``English is the most prevailing language amongest us, but not a little corrupted by the Dutch dialect, which is still so much used in some counties, that the sheriffs find it difficult to obtain persons sufficiently acquainted with the English tongue, to serve as jurors in the courts of law."26 While the Dutch were not immune to the influence of the English, neither did the predominant group, the English, escape Dutch influence. Van Cleef Bachman, discussing the survival of the Dutch language during the eighteenth-century observed, ``despite the long standing English government in New York and New Jersey, intermarriage between Dutch and English speaking individuals often produced Dutch speaking children. ''27 During the colonial period Dutchess County was growing at a rate which far exceeded the growth rate in all other counties of New York Province. Once so small that it fell under the administrative jurisdiction of the more heavily settled and longer established Ulster County, Dutchess grew as the American Revolution approached to be the second most populated county in the province.28 Settlement, once begun in Dutchess, was fueled by great numbers of families on the move from the more southern counties of New York Province in search of better opportunity. More importantly, families were moving to Dutchess from the overpopulated., soil-exhausted and land-limited conditions which had been

10

TEE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCRESS

steadily developing in New England during the late part of the seventeenth and the early eighteenth centuries.29 These new immigrants were quite a contrast to the first settlers of Dutchess County. Many were third, fourth and even a few were fifth generation EnglishAmericans. This was particulady tine of those who came from the New England area. The earliest settlers in Dutchess had been descendants of Dutch immigrants. A scattering of French settlers and an even smaller number of English accounted for the remainder of the earliest population of Dutchess. Many Dutchess County Dutch were from families who had been in New York before the British conquest in 1664. From then until the end of the century they could follow their style of life with little concern because British migration to New York was slow.

But as it became more apparent the British were tndy going to occupy New York, DutchessCountyanditsproximitytoDutchUlsterandAlbanycountiesappealed to the Dutch. Settling in Dutchess would give them additional time to gradually digest the changes inevitably brought about by the advancing Engfish. However,

during the second quarter of the eighteenth century, the number of new families rushing into Dutchess pressed more rapid change on the Dutch. How did the earliest settlers and the Enghih newcomers accomlnodate each other? It is possible to address this question in spite of the absence of personal diaries and other forms of observation which could reveal more about this process. One method of understanding the transition to British rule is through the study of the ethnic background of officeholders in Dutchess County during the colonial period.30 Dutchess grew rapidiy during the colonial period. The once sparsely settled county of fifty families in 1714 (excluding the Livingston Manor which became part of Albany County in 1717) grew to almost 4000 families by 1775. This growth was fueled by intense migration, almost wholly English, and by natural increase.

During that sixty year period there was a complete reversal in the ethnic composition of the county. Where once the Dutch accounted for 700/o of all the families in Dutchess, their numbers decreased to 15°/o in 1775. The English, a mere loo/o of all the families in 1714, accounted.for two of every three families in 1775. Table I illustrates this change as it progressed through four twenty-year intervals 1714, 1735, 1755 and 1775. The continued presence of the Dutch in the population resulted from natural increase and from their willingness to remain in the county.

The French and Germans fared more poorly. It appears that many of them left the county. The German Palatines, once accounting for 29°/o of the population, had diminished by 1775 to only 8%. The French, never a sizeable body of people in Dutchess, had decreased in number from 16°/o in 1714 to only 2°/o by 1775.

TABLE I Ethnic Composition: Dutchess County 1714-1775 Percentage of each group at each 20 year interval Dutch English French German Other Unidentified

1735

1755

1775

40. 30/a 16. 60/o 8.10/o 29.40/o

14. 90/o 54.20/o 5.30/o 14.50/o

5. 70/o

11.1°/o

15.40/o 64.80/o 2.30/o 8. |0/o .80/o 8.60/o

The following elected public offices were chosen for study: assemblymen, supervisors and assessors. Also the offices of county clerk, judge, sheriff and

THE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCIHSS

11

treasurer were included to represent appointed officials. The offices of collectors of taxes, surveyors of highways, poundkeepers and fence viewers were not considered because too few of these records survived. These offices not only affected fewer people but their impact on the average settler was small. Compare for example, the poundkeeper, similar in function to our modern dogcatcher, with the assessorwhodeterminedpropertytaxesduefromeachpropertyownereachyear.

Terms of office for most elected local officials was one year. Assemblymen served until the governor called for new elections. And officials appointed by the governor, such as judges and sheriffs, served at his pleasure. Note the language of the law regarding the election of local officials. ``The Inhabitants of Every respective Precinct are hereby Required & Authorized Yearly & Every Year upon the first Tuesday in April to Elect and appoint one Freeholder to be Supervizor, Two Assessors, & one Collector."31 Each ``inhabitant" appears to have had the right to vote in the election of local officials irrespective of property qualifications.In fact,theopportunitytovotemayhavebeenmuchbroadedthanformerly beneved.32 This is particularly important for the purposes of this study because the officials elected must have reflected the thinking of all those inhabitants who chose to vote. Based on the outcome of these annual elections and the appointments made by the governor the political strength of ethnic groups during the colonial period can be measured.

Another important matter is the qualifications for elective office. Note supervisors were required to be freeholders. While this requirement appears to linrit who could run for office, in fact the limitation was almost meaningless in Dutchess County. Almost any taxpayer and therefore almost everyone owning property and in fact many who leased land could qualify.33 In contrast, there were no property requirements for and therefore no limitations on .who could serve as assessor. They were much more relevant to the average inhabitant because their duties reached directly into the pocketbook of each family. Tenants were also affected by assessors' decisions for they, rather than the landiord, paid taxes on the property they leased. Only a few inhabitants without property escaped the assessor's attention.34 Because of this responsibility one might safely assume asessors had qualities, personal and professional, which were widely acceptable. Also assessors, and supervisors as weu, had to be capable of working with their counterparts from other precincts. ``The assessors of Dutchess County Shall meet Together at Poughkeepsing and make one General Assessment of the whole county. "35 Supervisors met annually to conduct county business such as paying bins and salaries, approving new roads, erecting needed buildings such as the jail and courthouse and sending to New York the county's share of taxes.

It was at these annual meetings where the diversity of ethnic backgrounds in Dutchess County was most apparent during the colonial period.

How well did the Dutch fare in elections during the colonial years? In spite of a significant decline in their relative size in the population, the Dutch maintained considerable strength in public office throughout the period. For example, during the period 1720-1735, sampled every fifth year in this study, two of every three offices were held by the Dutch. The English held 22°/o of the 59 public offices, while the French and German Palatines combined held only 10°/o. The tenacity of the Dutch was remarkable. Dutch representation in public office exceeded by a wide margin their number in the general population which had de~ clined from 700/o in 1714 to 40°/o in 1735. This disproportionately higher representation in public office continued throughout the colonial period. However, in

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TEE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHESS

the final years the Dutch hold on public office fell sharply. For instance, in 1760 they held one of every three offices or twice their numbers in the general population. But on the eve of the revolution, 1775, they held offices only in direct proportion to their numbers. Not surprising during this period was the increasing strength of the British. They held two of every three public offices in 1775 which compared well to their 650/o portion of the population. Indeed, by 1775 Dutchess County had become an English community. But in the light of the continuing movement toward anglicization the tenacity of the Dutch, even in the final years of the colonial period, was remarkable. Still they lost ground steadily. Dutch influence had peaked by the second quarter of the 18th-century and never again would this group attain that level of success.

The office of assemblyman (always two from Dutchess during the colonial period)mostrevealstheabflityoftheDutchtoholdtheirclaimtothecountythey settled. Although Leonard Lewis, an Englishman, was the first to serve Dutchess in that office, it may have been his previous experience as an assemblyman in New York City which recolrmiended him to the politically naive settlers in their new status -independent from Lnster County.36 However, the Dutch soon sent Baltus Van RIeeck, one of the earliest settlers and one of their own, to serve with Lewis. The English claim to that office ended in 1725 with the election of Henry Beekman. No other Englishman, except Henry Filkin, who served from 1751 to 1758, represented Dutchess until 1759. In fact, Beekman named Filkin to succeed a Dutchman, Joharmes Tappen. Tappen, a thorn in Beekman's political side, left Dutchess and New York in disgrace.37 During this period Henry Beekman was elected time after time. He saw many of his colleagues from Dutchess, an Dutchmen, come and go but his 34-year tenure and his influence in the county was unbroken. When he retired in 1758 his influence had abated little: he nominated his son-in-law Robert R. Livingston, and his cousin Henry Livingston, Englishmen, to run for both assembly seats from Dutchess. Both were elected. The chain of Dutch representation which had started in 1715 with the election of Baltus Van FGeeck had finally ended. Beekman's loyalty to family was more potent than his ethnic background. However, the Livingston tenure was short. The Livingstons had entered office when anti-Livingston and anti-landiord feelings were high. The next reversal in the election of 1768 was an inportant one. For the first time the ``co]rmion people's" vote may have become important enough to swing an election.38 The Livingstons were replaced that year by Dirck Brinckerhoff and Leonard Van RTeeck, both Dutchmen, who had lost to the Livingstons in 1761.39 They served until the close of the colonial period. While the Brinckerhoffs and Van RIeecks were not part of nor necessarily sympathetic to the ``co]rmion people'', neither were they as obviously part of the elite as were the Livingstons . The feelings of some in Dutchess were reflected in a poem about these four candidates written in 1761 by William Moore Jr., son of the Quaker minister, William Moore. In the poem the Livingstons are depicted in young Moore's lyrical work as follows: Your writings are discreet But in them there's deceit Not a vote would you get if it wan't for your land.40

Henry Beekman's influence was even more extensive in Dutchess County than his many years in pubfic office implies. He influenced appointments made by the governors to such county offices as judge and sheriff . Frequently, governors, not

THE DurcH IN CoLONIAL DurcHEss

13

intimately in touch with county politics, turned to men in the assembly for recommendations for their county.44 In fact, half the judges and sheriffs appointed by the governors during Beekman's tenure in office were Dutch. And Dutch influence in these offices waned only slightly in the final decades of the colonial period - perhaps an indication of Beekman's continuing influence or the good foundation he had constructed during his early years in office. One specific example which reflected Beekman's influence was the appointment of judges and justices. In 1739 Jacobus Terbos, Jacobus Swartwout and Francis Filkin were appointed Judges of Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Dutchess.

Appointed to assist them were the fonowing justices: Henry Beekman, Mathew Dubois Jr., Roeloff Kip, Bernardus Swartwout, Johannes Van K]eeck and Lawrence Van FGeeck.42 0f these nine seven were Dutch. Only one was English and the other was French. And even Francis Filkin, although from English stock, had become very much a part of the Dutch community. His first marriage to Catherine Lewis, daughter of Leonard, ended with her death in 1733. Shortly after he married the widow of Peter Van RIeeck, son of Baltus. His storekeeper's records reflect Dutch influence. They were an interesting mixture of Dutch and English somewhat like the ``mediey of Dutch and English" Dr. Hamilton spoke about in his meeting with ``Van Bummil|.''43 The appointments of Dutch justices suggest even another kind of influence.

Empowered to interpret the law, they made judgments about behavior in the community. These judgments, although limited by the structure of the law, were nevertheless, a reflection of the traditions and ideals of the officeholder. To that extent the legal perspective of the communrty was a Dutch perspective. This influence declined gradually as the county courts slowly became more English. It was in appointments to the c.ourts that Dutch influence continued to manifest itself during the closing years of the colonial period. The Dutch retained their political strength in those offices longer and with a vigor well beyond their numbers in the general population.

Beekman's success for so many years can be attributed to his ability to get along well with colleagues and constituents together with an ability to modify his political positions when changing conditions required another outlook. His vote on the King's Conege matter and his participation in having a Dutch minister appointed to the faculty illustrates this. Additionally Beekman was an astute politician among his constituents in Dutchess County. He knew Dutch support at the pons was not enough in a county whose population was shifting rapidiy to an overwhelmingly Enghish majority. Where he could satisfy the new constituents, he did. For example, he sought information on a ``Quacker Preacher" William Moore because ``he Could be usefull to me." And later he met with a group of Quakers who indicated they could deliver about 100 votes from among their members in Dutchess. The meeting apparently was quite satisfactory for Beekman concluded, ``we Seemed to part very frindly."44 Perhaps the offices of supervisor and assessor most reflect the relative strength of each ethnic group in the political sphere. Sampling an election every fifth year between 1720-1735 yields twelve supervisors. Nine were Dutch; three .were English. It is notable that the inhabitants in the North Ward consistently elected only Dutch though only one of every three inhabitants were Dutch. In fact, more than half the inhabitants in the North Ward after 1720 were German Palatines.

During the next period 1740-1755 ten of the twenty seven supervisors elected were Dutch; thirteen were English. Only 150/o of the population in the county

14

TIH DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCIHSS

was Dutch in 1755, but their numbers were particularly strong in Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck and Rombout. They represented 390/o, 180/o and 330/o, respectively of the inhabitants in these precincts. Eight of the twelve supervisors elected in those precincts during that period were Dutch. Interestingly, in Northeast precinct where the Dutch population was small, they elected two of the three supervisors. However, in Rombout the English captured three of the four supervisor seats. Only one was Dutch. In the remainder of the county the Enghih fared quite well. Apparently the rule was that wherever the Enghsh were most numerous they easily elected English supervisors. For example, in Beekman, Crum Elbow and Southeast, ten of the twelve supervisors elected during that period were EnglislT„

The picture which emerged during these middle years became even more fixed in the final years of the colonial period. Two of every five supervisors elected during the 1760-1775 period were Dutch. Most of these were elected in Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck and Rombout. The English elected supervisors in these precincts only twice during that period. But in the remaining eight precincts two of every three supervisors were English. Interestingly, even as late as 1775 the Dutch elected supervisors in Beekman, Rhinebeck and Rombout. In fact, Rhinebeck had only one non-Dutch supervisor during the entire colonial period.

The Dutch maintained a strong foothold in the office of assessor almost throughout the colonial period. In fact, their representation in this office was more tenacious than even their representation in the supervisors office. Comparing the periods 1720-1735, 1740-1755 and 1760-1775 Dutch assessors represented 670/o, 420/o and 220/o respectively, of all the assessors elected. Although they were losing ground, their representation noticeably exceeded their numbers in the general population. Even in each of the years 1760, 1765 and 1770 250/o of the assessors in Dutchess County were Dutch. Their strength did not shrink until 1775 when they were not able to elect assessors commensurate with their numbers. Of the twenty-two assessors elected that year only two were Dutch and these were elected in their ethnic strongholds, Rhinebeck and Rombout. The English captured fifteen assessor seats that year.

Much of the attention in this discussion has been focused on the Dutch and the English. That is as it should be for they were the significant political forces in Dutchess during the colonial period. But what about the French and German Palatines? Did they make their presence felt? To what extent did they wield influence in the community? One observation which should be made again is the gradual decline of their numbers in the county population. While the Dutch yielded to the growing presence of the English, it appears they chose to remain in the county and adapt to the inevitable changes. On the other hand Table I indicates the decline of the French and German population was even steeper than that of the Dutch. If it can be assumed that their rate of natural increase was not significantly different than that of the Dutch, the only conclusion which can be drawn is that many of these two groups opted to leave the county.

The German group was quite parochial in its settlement choices. Settling in Rhinebeckinitially,theypreferredtoremainthereratherthanventurefartherinto the county. For example, even in 1735 when their numbers in the county relative to other groups was strongest, they preferred to remain in Rhinebeck. More than half of Rhinebeck was German in 1735, whereas fewer than 160/o of the NIddle Ward and only 10°/o of the South Ward were German. Even as late as 1755 50°/o of Rhinebeck was German. However, by 1775 the strength of the Germans even in

THE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCIHSS

15

Rhinebeck had declined to 30°/o. Only in the Northeast Precinct was there another German settlement of any size. There, 250/o of the population in 1755 and 1775 were German.

How well were the German Palatines represented in public office? In a word the answer is, poorly. Not a single Palatine was elected to the office of assembly, judge, county clerk, treasurer or sheriff during the entire colonial period. While the procedure of sampling every fifth year as representative of the officeholders in the county may have allowed one or two German officeholders to slip through, the risk is small. Even allowing for this, it is clear the voice of the Germans in county pohtics was no more than a whisper. More striking is the fact that no Palatine was elected as supervisor in any precinct. This held true even in the two precincts, Rhinebeck and Northeast, where their numbers should have resulted in some success. Although they fared better in the office of assessor, even there German representation was quite limited. Of the 146 assessors elected throughout the county from 1720-1775 only sixteen were Palatines and fourteen of these were elected either in Rhinebeck or Northeast.

The French fared little better than the Germans. Their numbers in the population were always small. Except for the earliest period when the population in the county was quite small, there were never more than 8°/o French in the Dutchess.

In the final years their numbers had declined to render them an unnoticeable minority. The offices they held were linited to supervisor and assessor. Two French were elected supervisor during the 1740-1755 period. One of their group, Isaac Germond of Crum Elbow Precinct was elected twice during that period. Except for the six French assessors elected during the 1760-1775 period, an achievement which significantly exceeded their numbers in the population, the French elected during the 1720-1755 period only as many assessors as their population strength would command. Unlike the Germans their numbers were never large enough nor concentrated enough - although in 1755 one of five Poughkeepsie inhabitants was French - to be a factor in any precinct.

A few families, seven Dutch and four English, controlled Dutchess County politics during the colonial period. These eleven families were elected to one third of the 291 offices surveyed in this study. Listed below are the names of these families and the number of times (minimum = 5) each family served in public office during each of the three periods studied.

Table 11 - Number of times in office by family name - 1720-1775 1720 -1735

1740 -1755

1760 -1775

Beekman Brinckerhoff Dickenson Fflkin Lewis Livingston Rosekrans Terbos Van Der Burgh Van RIeeck Van Wagenen

In a rapidiy changing community elected officials had to look beyond local or ethnic interests in their appeal to the public at election time. They had to present a willingness to cooperate with individuals of different religious, ethnic and

16

Trm DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHEss

cultural backgrounds. Lewises worked with Van Der Burghs during the early period. Livingstons worked with the ever present Van K]eeck during the later years. The presence of the later two families on the political scene was so consistent that between them they accounted for 35 offices during the colonial period.

In fact, one or more members of the Van Kleeck family were in public office every year during the entire colonial period.

But the cooperative attitude which prevailed was fueled from other sources which in many ways transcended ethnic afffliation and public service. Business and personal relationships between individuals of divergent ethnic affliation were the glue which kept the cooperative coalition on a steady course. The Filkins', Lewises, Livingstons and Van RIeecks were all involved in the Hardenburgh patent, an enormous and controversial tract of land in Ulster County, which involved perhaps as much as a million acres.45 Intermarriage between the Filkin, Lewis, Livingston, Beekman and other families of similar prominence in the business, political and social community also knitted these seemingly divergent groups together. Perhaps it was these aspects of their relationships which rendered ethnic and religious afffliation to roles much smaller than their interest in promoting personal goals. Another factor examined in only a preliminary manner in this study was the issue of wealth, particularly in the case of this group of eleven. Among them were the wealthiest farfulies in Dutchess County and in some cases they were among the wealthiest in the province. In fact, holding public office in Dutchess County during the colonial period except in rare instances was reserved for those in the wealthiest 250/o in each precinct.

While this preliminary observation smacks of a viewpoint proposed by Carl Becker at the turn of this century and one which continues to stimulate debate, it is admittedly too narrow a perspective.46 In an essay which discusses some of the weaknesses of Becker's viewpoint, Milton Klein admits that the ``local aristocracy did occupy a commanding position in the colony's politics. " But he strongly urges researchers to seek out factors other than relationships between families and wealth as explanations of the power of the few in New York politics.47 It was the intent of this study to review the evidence which showed the continuing presence of the Dutch, French and Germans in Dutchess County during the colonial period and to examine one specific aspects of that presence - their participation in political activity.

The conclusions which can be drawn are as follows: 1. The Dutch maintained a level of influence in Dutchess County politics longer and with more vigor than their declining number would expect.

2. By the time of the revolution Dutchess had become anglicized. Dutch influence then was limited to representation commensurate with their numbers and even at that much of their strength was limited to Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck and Rombout (Fishkill).

3. The French and the Germans played a minor role and in fact the Germans seem to have ignored or were ignored in county politics.

As a result their influence, if any, was small.

4. Factors in addition to ethnic, cultural and religious afffliation undoubtedly contributed to the continuing influence of the Dutch.

Such matters as the role of wealth, commonality in political phi1osophy, business relationships and other similar issues deserve

THE DurcH IN COLONIAL DUTCHEss

17

attention in an attempt to understand political representation in 18th-century Dutchess County.

Note on Methodology As a background for the analysis of changing ethnic influence in Dutchess County politics, it was necessary to trace the changing ethnic balance of the county's population from 1714 to 1775. The first step in this process was to estab1ish the ethnic background of the heads of families in Dutchess County during the colonial period. A significant sample of individuals was drawn from each of four twenty-year intervals. The sources for these samples were the 1714 census (New York Colonial Mss., vol. 59,17 (1-2) and the Books of Supervisors 1718-1779

(on microfilm at Adriance Memorial Library, Poughkeepsie, New York) . The four years were 1714, 1735, 1755 and 1775. The ethnic background of each head of farfuly was determined from genealogical studies, local histories and other sources. In the first screening, names which were Dutch, French or German were culled from the list compiled for each of the four years. The names which remained from this first screening were compared to an authoritative source on English surnames: Percy H. Reaney, A D!.cfz.orzany a/ Brz.£!.sfe Sc£777¢7#cs, 2nd. ed.,

ed. R.M. Wilson (Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul,1976). As a final check, an

the names were sifted through an authoritative source on the European origins of American names as compiled by experts in the field of surname identification: Fts_don G. Smifp, A New Dictionary of American Fantiy Names (New York.. Harper & Row, 1973). The purpose of this screening was to cull from the list those names which could be identified with two or more ethnic backgrounds. Where such a conflict was present and definitive, the name was placed in a pool labeled ``unidentified." Also placed in this pool were names which were not found in

any one of the three screening stages.

Endnotes 1= FrEuncis H_±S_=y,_e±., 4 Tgur of Four_q!eat_R_ive_r§, T!1e H_udson, Mohawk, Susquehanna and P_e.lava.re jn_17§? : B.eing_ _t_f a_e. Jof i_xppl of Richard _S_xpith of Buriington, New Jersey (Empire State

Historical Publication XXX, 1906, reprint 1964), p. 10.

2. Peter Kalm, Trzzz7cJs I.77£o Nor£Ji A"erz.ca, trams. John R. Forster, 2 vols. (London: T. Lowndes, 1772), 11, pp. 81, 82.

3. Albert 8. Hart, ed., PJiysz.c!.fl7z T7itzzJeJcrs (New York: New York Times and Arno Press, 1971), p. 96. This work is a reprint of Dr. Alexander Hamilton, Hflfflz.ZfoH's Jf!.7zcr[z77.I/7H.. Bez.ng a Nattative of a Journey ..... from l\hay to September, T744 (St. Lowis.. W. K. Bbtoy,1:9Or).

4. Van Cleef Bachman, ``What is Low Dutch?", de H¢ZzJc M¢e# 57, (Ill, 1983), p. 15.

5. Man:quis de Chastanux, Travels in North America in the Years 1780, 1781 and 1782 (London, 1787.: reprint ed., New York Times and Arno Press, 1968), I: pp. 357, 358.

6. Anne Grant, Memoz.rs a/fl7i Aurcrz.ca7z Lady (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.,1903),I, p. 46.

7. Kalm, T7iflt7eJs, 11, p. 104.

8. Grant, Mcmoz+s, x-xi, xiii-xvii, xxxiii.

9_. ?a[hi:cia U . Bonomi, A Factious People.. Politics and Society in Colonial New York (New York..

Columbia University Press, 1971)., pp. 27, 28.

18

TIH DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHESS

10. Peter Gansevoort to Catherine Van Schaick Gansevoort, September 14, 1780, Peter Gansevoort Military Papers in the Gansevoort-Lansing Collection, New York Public Ubrary. a±ed by AI±ce P. Ker\ney, Stubborn for liberty: The Dutch in New York (Syracuse..

Syracuse University Press, 1975), p. 170.

11. Tfec Lezos a/Her Mfl/.esfz.cs Colony of Nezu-York (New York: William Bradford,1713), p. 202 (sz.c) for p. 206 as cited in Paul M. Hamlin and Charles E. Baker, Sztpre"c Coz/rf ofJz/d!.ca£#re of #zc ProtJz.r{ce o/NeztJ York 1691-1704 (New York: The New York Historical Society,1952),I,

p. 364, footnote #162.

12. Kalm, Trzzz7eJs, 11, p. 100.

13. Charles Gehring, ``The Survival of Dutch in the Upper Hudson Valley." Paper prepared for delivery at the Cherry Hill forum, 23 September, 1983, p. 1.

14. Roswdi R. Hoes, Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston (New York: De Dinne Press, 1891), pp. v, vi.

15. Alice P. Kenney, ``Silence is Golden: A Survey of Hudson Valley Dutch Culture", dc H¢JZJe Mac# 58 (1983, no. I), p. 4.

16. Kalm, Trtzz7eJs, 11, p. 104.

T7 . WELaim Smith Jr., The History of the Province of Now York from First Discovery to the Year

MDCCXXXJJ, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), I, p. 302.

18. Milton RIein, ``The Cultural Tyros of Colonial New York'', Sozt#i Afha#£z.c Q#arfcrzy 66 (1967, pt. 2), p. 230.

T9. "Tharr\ P. MCDermott, ed., Eighteenth Century Documents of the Nine Partners Patent, compiled by Clifford Buck and William P. MCDermott (Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc.), p. 3.

20. Dutchess County Clerk's Office, Deeds, (August 6, 1743), Liber 11, p. 531.

Z1. PhELp L. White, The Beckmans of New York in Politics apd Commerc5 16±7-1877 (prEw_York..

New York Historical Society, 1956), p. 203; Hugh Hastings, ed., £ccjcsz.asfz.COZ Reco7ids (Albany: J.B. Lyon Co., 1905), 7 vol., V, p. 3544.

22. Smith, History of the Province,1, p. 22:6.

23. Hart, Physician Travelers, p. 68.

24. WITiaLm Strieklaind, |ournal of a Tour in the United States of America 1794-1795, I.E. Strickland, ed., (New York: New York Historical Society, 1971), p. 160.

25. David

S. Cohen, `'How Dutch Were the Dutch of New Netherland?", Nezt) York

Hz.sfony 62, (pt. 1, 1981) p. 51.

26. Smith, History of the Province,I, p. 22.6.

27. Van Cleef Bachman, ``What is Low Dutch?", p. 15.

28. Estimate based on data from Evarts 8. Greene and Virginia D. Harrington, A7#erz.co# Population Bofore the Federal Census Of 1790 (New York.. Cchrmb±aL Thiversky Press, T93Z).

29. Dixon R. Fox, Yfl7zkecs 4zr!d Yo7ikers (New York: University Press, 1940), pp. 182, 183; 191-193: David M. Ellis, ``The Yankee Invasion of New York 1783-1850," Nczu york Hz.sfony 32 (1951), p. 4.

30. See. ``Nofe o73 McfJzodoJog}/" at end of article.

31. The Coloriial Laws of New York from the Year 1664 to the Revolution, 5 vols. (Albany: I.8. Lyon, state printer, 1894-1896), 11, pp. 956, 957.

32. Nicholas Varga, ``Election Procedures and Practices in Colonial New York," Nezt7 York Hz.stony 41 (1960), pp. 250-253); Jonathan Clark, ``Taxation and Suffrage in Revolutionary INew York," Hudson Valley Regional Review 1 (1984), pp. 2:7-30.

33. JZJz.d. "Election Procedures," pp. 252-253. Also a good source which should be used with Varga's better use of the data in mind is Albert E. MCKinley, TJzc Szt;fflJzgc F7H7!chz.se i.7! £fec T7zz.rfce7i CoJo7zz.es I.7z A7#crz.ca (Philadelphia: Ginn and Co., 1905), pp. 210-213.

L=

THE DUTCH IN COLONIAL DUTCHESS

19

34. Old rmscenaneous Records of Dutchess County (Poughkeepsie: Vassar Bros. Institute, 1909), p. 131.

35. Colonial Laws, 11: pp. 957, 958.

?fT. S`.C= HutchiTs,_Civil _L,i±t and _F.orms and Government of the State o£ New Yck (A]:ba[ny..

Weed, Parsons & Co., 1867), p. 34.

37. White, The Beekrnans of New York, pp.195-q97.

38. Bonomi, A Fqcfz.o#s PcapJe, p. 254.

39. Yc#rz7ock 6, Dutchess County Historical Society (1921), p. 36.

4!0. Ibid.

41. Rex. M. Naylor, ``The Royal Prerogative in New York, 1691-1775'', Nczo York S£¢£e Hjsforz.coj Socz.edy Qz(¢rfcdy Jo%maz 5 (1924), p. 246; Letter, Henry Beekman to Henry Livingston, 2 May 1743, Yeerbock 6, Dutchess County Historical Society (1921), p. 29.

42. New York Colonial Mss., LXXII, pp. 145, 149. Four years later Beekman recommended Cornelius Van Wyck, Gulian Veaplanck and Henry Van Der Burgh in place of Roeloff Kip, Bernardus Swartout and Johannes Van RIeeck. Letter Heury Beekman to Helny Livingston, 2 May 1743, ycflrz7ook 6, Dutchess County ELstorical Society (1921) p. 29.

43. Hart, Pkysician Travelers, p. 96.

44. Bonomi, A F¢cfz.ozts PcapJc, p. 170.

45. Letter, Robert Livingston to Henry Livingston, 23 September 1742, Yearbook 65, Dutchess County Historical Society (1980), pp. 70, 71.

9`6.. €TI L._B=.ck=I, Th.e H_istqry of_ Polili_ca_I Parties in the Province of Now York, 1760-1776

(Madison: Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin, No. 286, 1909), Chap. 1.

47. Milton M. RIein, ``Democracy and Politics in Colonial New York," Nezo York H].sfory 40 (1959), pp. 238, 239.

20

DISPOSABLE BLADES: POUGHKEEPSIE STYLE

Disposable Blades: Poughkeepsie Style Robin S. Walsh Althoughseveralcompanieshavemanulacturedkmveswithreplacement blades, the Nagle Re-Blade knife stands out from all the rest because of its great desirability, rarity, and price. This very collectable knife was manufactured in Poughkeepsie between 1914 and 1916.

The Nagle Re-Blade Knife Company was incorporated May 17, 1912, to take over the defunct Piogren Sales Company in Newark, New Jersey. This takeover included a piece of land located at 39-41 South 6th Street, all stock-in-trade and a plant that was small but modern. The company manufactured straight razors and an early version of the Re-Blade knife.

The three men who started the Nagle Re-Blade Knife Company were George H. Nagle, president, William A. Yerzley, secretary and chief engineer, and their partner, Carl H. White.

WflliamYerzleywasbornandraisedinArkansaswherehisfatherranageneral store. He graduated from the one-room school in Forest City and then moved east to study mechanical engineering at Cornell. Before joining Nagle, Yerzley taught at Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam, New York, and worked for Gray Telephone Co. in Hartford, Connecticut, designing both the tools and the equipment for the first pay telephone exchange. Yerzley also designed the hook-tang version of the Re-Blade Knife which was later manufactured in Poughkeepsie.

Carl H. White was a businessman and inventor from East Orange, New Jersey.

He designed the early version of the Re-Blade Knife that is illustrated in John E. Goins' bock Pocketknives, Markings of the Manufacturers.

White's early version of the Re-Blade Knife handied in both horn and Bakelite is known to have been manufactured at the plant in Newark.

In August of 1914 Nagle purchased the Anchor Bolt and Nut Company building and the Feigenspan Brewery depot on Parker Avenue in Poughkeepsie.

The property should have been worth about $10,000 at the time but, when the deed was recorded in the office of the county clerk, the price reported to the clerk was $100.

When the company moved to Poughkeepsie only Yerzley's version of the ReBlade Knife was in production. In the hook-tang knife designed by Yerzley, the Rchinwalshiscurrentlyavisitingltbrarianonappointmendatvassarcollege.Previously, sheservedbrieftyaslibrarianintheLoedHistorycotlectionatAdrianceMemorialltbray.

DISPOSABLE BLADES: POUGHKEEPSIE STYLE

21

blade tang has a hole and a slot producing a hook in the tang. The knife frame pivot pin is partly cut away on one side to allow it to fit through the slot only when held in the proper position. To mount the blade, the tip of the hook is inserted between the rounded side of the pin and the free portion of the spring with the blade practically closed. The blade is moved toward the butt of the knife so that the pin rides along the slot and into the hole. When the pin is seated in the hole, the blade can be opened and closed in the usual way. To remove a blade, the blade is slightly opened and moved first to the rear and then out by

22

DISPOSABLE BLADES: POUGHREEPSIE STYLE

pressure applied to the blade or to the handle, or both. The popular method was to brace the butt of the knife against a table and, using a nickel to press against the top while the blade was in the closed position, applying pressure toward the tang.

Yerzley and Nagle disagreed violently over the company's move and Yerzley left the company to stay in New Jersey where he worked for Thomas Edison.

When the new plant opened in Poughkeepsie, Carl H. White continued as the company's vice-president under the new president, Charles D. Cooke. George

-i9.1.

Fzi/9.2.

DISPOSABLE BLADES: POUGHKEEPSIE STYLE

23

Nagle replaced Yerzley as secretary, and Arthur F. Pitkin joined the company as general manager. Pitkin was the only permanent Poughkeepsie resident to become an officer in the company. He fived on Garfield Place with his wife, Deleice, and their three children; Mary, Arthur and Albert. Although Cooke and WhitespentmostoftheirtimeinPoughkeepsieforseveralyears,theystillowned homes in New Jersey. Nagle was living in a rented room at Widow Mandeville's boarding house at 17 Cannon Street.

Charles D. Cooke was 45 years old and had once been a locomotive manufacturer in Patterson, New Jersey. Before joining Nagle, Cooke was already president of Seneca Button Company on Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie, just around the corner from Nagle's Parker Avenue plant. Seneca manufactured the buttons used by two other principal industries in Poughkeepsie, underwear and men's pants.1 Until 1914 Seneca made buttons out of vegetable ivory. The two sources for this vegetable ivory were the South American corozo nut and the African dom nut. When war conditions in Europe began to affect shipments of vegetable ivory, Seneca began using horn instead. Cooke arranged for joint punchasing of horn for both Seneca Button Company and Nagle Re-Blade Knife Company and horn for both companies was worked in the building on Hamilton Street.

The number of Nagle Re-Blade knives made in Poughkeepsie from 1914 through 1916 is unknown. Advertising while the company was located in Poughkeepsie shows a two-blade easy open jack and three blades - #21 pen, #25 p.c.s., and #L21 spear for $1.00. A boxed set of five extra blades -#L33 clip, #L23 pruner, #L51 saber spear, #L53 saber clip, and #23 sheep foot was offered for $1.25. Single blades sold for 25¢ each postage paid. Another ad shows a pearl-

handled four blade surrounded by a sunburst of forty-four blades. Every blade was stamped.

Generally, the market for both folding and fixed-blade knives was good at this time and Nagle did a fair mail-order business as well as selling knives locally. But in spite of Nagle's extensive advertising, sales were not large enough to cover the company's increasing expenses. The substantial orders from big hardware jobbers that might have saved the company never came in.

The company ffled for bankruptcy in December, 1916. The tmstee appointed to dispose of all property belonging to the company was the general manager, Arthur Pitkin. He sold everything to Carl H. White in Aprfl, 1917, for $14,500 and, within a week, White resold to the W. A. Lawrence Company, a textile firm.

The building now belongs to the Standard Gage Company which opened in 1925.

A few of the Poughkeepsie-made Re-Blade knives are known to be in the hands of collectors and a few more are probably lying undiscovered in attics and dresser drawers here in Poughkeepsie. Once assembled, the Nagle Re-Blade knife looks and works just like any ordinary pocket knife but, according to the Official Price Guide to Collector Knives by James F . Par:ker and I . B:race Vayles, the knife has a current collector value of $2,500.

Endnote 1. George Bemstein, ``Everybody's Business" Poztgfekecpsz.e /o#r#¢J, September 5, 1982,

page 14C; and Amy Ver Nooy, (notes of a talk by Ms. Any Ver Nooy on local button manufacturers) ca. 1945, Adriance Memorial Library.

TliE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

The Van Wyck/Jay House Its History and a Structural Analysis

Kenneth W. Walpuck

I

The House and Its Owners

eodorus Van Wyck, Jr. (1697-1776) was born in Hempstead, Long Island, the son of Judge Theodorus Van Wyck (1668-1753) and Margretia Brinckerhoff (1675-1741).1 His name first appeared on a Dutchess County document in 1730

when, for the sum of ninety pounds, he purchased a parcel of land in the Nine Partners Precinct from William and Mary Creed of Jamaica, Long Island.2 Creed's grandfather was one of the original nine partners granted a large tract of land in 1697. William Creed's daughter, Elizabeth (1698-1764), married Theodorus Van Wyck, Jr. on May 5, 1720.3 Theodorus and his brother Cornelius (1694-1761) were said to have surveyed lands for Madam Brett prior to their move to the county in the early 1730's.4 Whether or not this can be substantiated by fact remains to be seen, but records

do show that they both speculated heavily in land in the Nine Partners Precinct between 1736 and 1755.5 Cornelius is reported to have built his house in Fishki]l in 1732.

The purchase from Madam Brett in 1736 of 900 acres of land in Fishkill Hook (Wiccopee) has often been considered the reference point marking Theodorus's Kenneth Walpuck is an Associate Professor of Art and Design at Queensborough Community College. He earned his Ph.D. in Art History at the Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences in Poland. Currently Dr. Walpuck lives in Southern Dutchess County and is president of the East Fishkill Historical Society. As a consultant, he was called in by IBM Fishhill to oversee the dismanthng and photographic documentation of the Van Wyckl]ay house and outbuldings.

The systematic dismantlement of the Van WycklJay house was undertaken with the intention of uncovering and documenting as much information as possivle abou.t the house's structural history and to assure the proper cataloguing of relevant material for local and state archives. It was felt that the uniqueness of the project merited a form that would underscore the historic nature of a budding once so important in Dutchess County's past .

It was also felt that a short history of Theodoras Van Wyck |r., the builder, and subsequent owners of the property, would be in order.

Work on the project would not have been possible without the understanding and sxp-

port of The International Business Machines Corporation of East Fishkill on whose land the house recently stood. AIl usable architectural elements of the Van WycklJay house have been generously donated by the Corporation to the East Fishktll Historical Society.

THE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

25

Photograph courtesy of IBM

arrival into the county. In fact, he and his wife may have moved here at an earlier date. The 1736 document mentioned him as ``being now of Dutchess County."

On October 13, 1738 he sold 1,149 acres of land on Wappingers Creek to the widow Elizabeth Allen for the sum of 180 pounds.7 No document exists stating when this tract was actually purchased or whether or not it contained a house, but it is possible that Theodorus's family spent a few years here or at another site before setting up residency in Wiccopee.

A petition, dated August 1, 1739, signed by Theodorus Van Wyck and fifty local farmers, made mention of the highway rurming from ``Wecopee" to Fishkill.8 This document leads us to believe that Theodorus was firmly established in the Wiccopee area several years before the 1740's, the date most often quoted as the building of his home. Once in Wiccopee, Theodorus continued to buy more land. On May 13, 1745 Catherine (Madam) Brett sold him two parcels amounting to over 200 acres. One of them ``...bounds of said Theodorus Van Wyck's first purchase."9 By 1745 he had well over a thousand acres in this inland region of the county.

The depth of Theodorus's involvement in the eady commercial activities of Wiccopee and the surrounding farm community can be extracted from the contentsoftwoimportantdocuments.Oneofthesedocuments,theearliermentioned petition, pertained to road improvements. These were necessary to fachitate the movement of farm goods overland the 15 miles or so to Fishkill Landing and from there by river to New York City. The quote from James H. Smith's Hz.sfony a/ D#cJzess Co#7tfy reads as fonows: . . . ``the names of the following freeholders at-

tached to a petition Aug. 1, 1739, to have `the highway that used to run from Wecopee along the south side of the Fishkill --~ altered and turned over said Fishkill at east end of Judge Ter Bushes' land in the County road leading along north side of the Fishkill.' ''10

26

THE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

A document from 1743 established the storage facility on the Hudson River known as the Frankfort Storehouse. This unprecedented business venture, which was undertaken by 23 of the signers of the 1739 petition, lasted well until the end of the century and became the models for much of the river trade along the Hudson. The land for the storehouse was sold to the group by Francis Brett and his wife Margaret for twenty eight pounds thirteen shillings and nine pence.11

Of the 23 names, four were those of Van Wycks: Theodorus, Cornefius, Abraham and Theodorus ]unr.12 The original contract, mentioned as being in the possession of a descendant of Madam Brett by Frank Hasbrouck, has Theodorus Junr. 's name reading as . . . ``Theodorus Van Wyck Son of Cornelius. ''13 That particular Theodorus was, indeed, the son of Cornelius Van Wyck and not the subject of this article. He died in 1754 at the age of 34. Interestingly, Francis Brett's wife, Margaret Thorne Van Wyck, was Cornelius's daughter, and the Abraham Van Wyck, mentioned as a New York City merchant, was Cornelius's and Theodorus Jr. 's brother.

The problems surrounding the name of Theodorus Van Wyck Jr. are numerous and have led historians to confuse him with others. His name often appeared with such titles as Esq., Junr., or prefixed with ``judge." His father, for instance, was called Judge Van Wyck soon after being made a Justice of the Peace in Queens County in 1745; and his son, actually Theodorus Ill, but more often referred to as Dr. Theodorus or Dr. Dorus, was himself called Theodorus ]unr.14 An example of how a mistake proliferates can be found in Hasbrouck's and Smith's histories of Dutchess County. Both works contain a passage about a certain Theodorus Van Wyck that is virtually identical. Judging from its contents, Hasbrouck and Smith are under the impression that the information is about one, and only one, Theodorus Van Wyck. Instead the passage refers to three different Theodoruses. These are Theodorus Van Wyck Jr. (1697-1776), Dr. Theodorus Van Wyck (1730-1789) and yet a third Theodorus Van Wyck.15 Theodorus Jr. was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas, together with Col. John Brinckerhoff, on Feb. 24, 1750. Court records from the County Clerk's office in Poughkeepsie show that he was present at various hearings from 1750 through 1754.16 He was also a delegate from the county to the second Provincial Congress in New York City (1775-1776) and a founder of the Rombout Presbyterian Church of Brinckerhoff (1750) in whose cemetery he is buried.17 0n January 5, 1764 Theodoms Jr.'s wife Elizabeth died, and in November of that year he married Janetje Hasbrouck, nee De Lange.18 Theodorus |r. died on September 15, 1776 leaving his wife Janetje and several adult children by his first marriage.HiswfllofOctober1,1775statedthathisfarmwastobeequallydivided between his two sons, William and Theodorus with the ``. . . dwelling house, barn, orchard, and other land adjoining. . ." being bequeathed to Theodorus.

Both sons received equal shares in the Frankfort Storehouse venture.19 From 1776 to 1781 Dr. Theodorus Van Wyck (1730-1789) rented the Wiccopee house to John Jay and his fandly after the fall of New York City to the British and the threat to the surrounding counties necessitated the move of the New York Provincial Congress to Fishkill.20 Some historians claim that during this period Theodorus was living with Col. and Mrs. John Brinckerhoff, the parents of his first wife Aeltje who died in childbirth in July of 1774.21 By 1776 he was again married, this time to Mary Van Voorhees, the widow of Peter Dubois.

Shortly before Aeltje's death Dr. Theodorus had purchased a 353 acre tract of

THE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

27

1a-nd bordering the property of Col. Brinckerhoff and the highway leading from Hopewell Church to Fishkill Landing with the likely intention of moving his large family to more comfortable surroundings. (According to the deed the property was sold to ``Theodorus Van Wyck Junr. whom the indenture referred to as a "Practitioner of physick. '')22

What with the diminutive size of the Brinckerhoff house and the owner's reputation for frequently entertaining notables such as George Washington, we can presume that Dr. Theodorus and his new wife had moved to less congested quarters (exact whereabouts unknown) by 1776.23 It appears all the more likely when we learn that, because of the overcrowded conditions at the Wiccopee house, Sarah Jay, her son and her sister Kitty Livingston were living with Dr. Theodorus and his family as early as the spring of 1777.24 How long they were guests of the Van Wycks is unknown, but it is possible that they remained until the entire Jay family, including those living in the Wiccopee house, moved to Poughkeepsie in 1781.

The fate of the Van Wyck/Jay house, from the time the Jay family moved, is unclear. We do know that the house passed from Dr. Theodorus to his youngest son Abraham Van Wyck (1774-1864) and that Abraham, rather than live in his father's house, chose to build one several hundred feet from it and nearer the highway. The house was given to Jamie Van Wyck (1810-1903), Abraham's youngest son, and held in the family until the early years of this century.25

Structural Analysis Given the structural details uncovered during dismantling in 1984, it would appearthattheearfiesthouse(theVanWyck/Jayhouse)hadbeenerectedduringthe middie part of the 18th century. The destruction of fireplaces and the stripping of woodwork during the extensive alterations begun by Jamie Van Wyck around 1834 have made it difficult to more accurately date the original building.

This building was a one-and-a-half-story framed structure having three bays, single-pitched roof with end chimneys and sided with large wood shingles.26 A combination of Dutch and English influence similar to that found on the Cornelius Van Wyck house in Fishkill could be noted in its transitional post and beam construction. The simple four room plan was divided by a generous hall with the two larger rooms facing south and the smaller ones north. The half story appears to have had rooms in its gable ends. Each of the lower rooms initially had a fireplace.

Notches, perhaps as many as ten to a post and running the full height of the one and a half story structure, were found cut into the exterior of the framing supports. Similar notches, but fewer in number, were found on the interior posts. They were either cut completely across the post or at its comer and often lined up with the notches on a neighboring one. Strips of wood, larger than normal plaster lath but meant to serve the same function, bridged the spaces between posts and acted in a twofold manner - as backing for the large wood shingles that once sided its exterior and as bracing to contain a mud or brickfi]led wall. Several scattered courses of brick were found indicating the probabhity that the walls were once brick-lined as they are in the Cornelius Van Wyck house.

(Fig. 1) (Reynolds covers the issue of mud and brick wall fillings in her book Dutch House in the Hudson Valley before 1776.yz7

28

THE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

The fact that shingles were once used as siding should come as no surprise.

Dutch settlers on Long Island and in New Jersey had a history of using them, andtheyweretheonesresponsibleforbringingthistraditiontoDutchessCounty.

The Madam Brett house in Beacon is an early example of its use in the county.

Shingles were also found on the houses of Cornelius and Richard Van Wyck.28 The first major change to the house occurred around the time of Jamie Van Wyck's marriage to Cornelia Ann Van Wyck in 1834.29 0n finding the structure worn, outdated and probably small, Jamie set about enlarging and modernizing it in the then current Greek Revival style. He had the entire house stripped to its framing supports. He either removed or destroyed the mantels and ornamental woodwork.

Aesthetic choice must have been the basis for Jamie's decision to eliminate the old shingled siding. The stuccoed wall which he substituted was found wellpreserved underneath the later. 1870's narrow-gauged clapboard that remained until disassembly. At first it was thought to have been an exterior form of plaster meant to serve as a weather barrier, but no subsequent siding, other than the above-mentioned clapboard, was ever placed over the stucco. Both the cut of the lath and the stamped nails were of early 19th century vintage.

It could be argued that the original siding was removed and replaced by a layer of stucco shortly before the narrow gauged clapboard was added. There were, however, distinct markings of a story and a half of stucco. The second story, on the other hand, was sheathed with random boards. This sheathing was used to build up the surface to the level of the earlier stuccoed one in order to re-side the entire building with clapboard.

Uncommon as it was for a framed structure of the period to be stuccoed, the imageryofaGreekorRomantempleobviouslyswayedJamiewhenheremodelled his great-grandfather's home. As with much of American architecture, native material and buflding techniques had to substitute for the original. In practice, clapboard was most often used as a siding on framed stmctures. With stucco, however, the walls would more closely approximate a classical temple and act as a convincing backdrop for the textural details of columned porticoes, door surrounds and window trim.

Although the practice of stuccoing the exteriors of Federal and Greek Revival buildings became more prevalent toward the 1830's, it was most often relegated to those buildings made of either brick or rubble stone and not to framed structures. Even where stucco was not adopted, as in New England, Fiske Kimball, in his Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and the Early Republic, rrotes thai aL

popular substitute was to paint the brick gray. He sites Franklin Crescent in Boston and Gore House in Waltham as examples. Kinball further traces the American interest in stucco to the works of Benjamin Latrobe and Robert Mills who, in turn, were influenced by the British architect, Sir John Soane.30 Talbot Hamlin, the author of G7icck Rcz)z.z7flz A7icJzz.£ec£#rc z.7t A77ccrz.ca, in comment-

Note on the drawing.. The recorded information was insufficient to make a really accurate drawing. The timber franc diagran is conjectural and is based on the avdrlable evidence, which is incomplete. Nevertheless it does give an idea of what the timber frane may have locked like.

Clifford W. Zink is a spectdist in restoration and adaptive renovation of period buildings.

He is a Columbia University gradrate studerit and lives in Princeton, Ne:w Jersey.

THE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

29

30

TEE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

ing on the classical trend in vernacular architecture in the early years of the 19th century, suggests that its widespread acceptance might have been the result of the changing character of American society toward cultural matters in general.

He attributes this to a progressively better-educated public.31 According to the Van Wyck genealogy, James Van Wyck was educated at the Polytechnic Institute of Chattenango, New York, a noted school in its day.32 Although there were no architectural periodicals as such, the public was aware of the latest stylistic developments through the articles on architecture and architectural criticism that appeared in popular magazines. These magazines often contained pictures of contemporary American buildings.33 The interior of the Van Wyck/Jay house, although basically retaining its four room plan with half story, underwent considerable change at the time of Jamie's remodelling. The original fireplaces, wall coverings and flooring were all removed and replaced with the appropriate Greek Revival equivalents. Only the half story floor, with its wide floor boards and curiously wrought nails, remained. An interesting feature about these wrought nails is their flattened ends. Since they were found only in floor boards, one would suppose that their advantage over the traditional nails was in their holding power.

The large 8%" x 7" x 30%' poplar joists, which were exposed in the earlier house, were eventually covered over with plaster. At the time of dismantlement these joists still retained traces of whitewash and a bright orange paint together with several wood and forged metal pins. (Fig. 2) Glued to the overhead floor boards were fragments of 1821 newspapers which had been used to seal cracks.

Outlines clearly marked on the joists indicated how a wall had been moved several feet and where chinney breasts from the original fireplaces had been located in relationship to the four lower rooms.

Two narrow chimney flues were all that remained from earlier fireplaces. Speculation arose regarding their origin. They were probably associated with the 1834 alteration and meant to serve either small fireplaces or free-standing stoves. The brick was quite primitive and of early date. Brick used in the construction of the chimneypiersontheotherhandwasofdifferentsizeandmanufactureandjudged to be of mid-18th century make.34 It was during the 1834 alteration that the western story-and-a-half kitchen wing was added. With only four rooms in the older structure, one of which acted as a kitchen, and with the need for more formal rooms in keeping with the entertaining patterns of the day, it was evidently good common sense to relegate the kitchen to another part of the house. This change would have allowed updating of those facilities and would have created the appropriate surroundings where chores could have been attended to apart from the immediate activities of the family. The half story would also have provided the needed living quarters for servants.

The notching found on the earlier framing was not apparent here. Nor was there any indication of a siding having predated that of the stuccoed one of 1834.

The nails were all cut and had stamped heads indicating that their date of manufacture was after 1825.35 Local tradition had long considered this wing the older of the two because of its well-preserved chimney with back-to-back fireplaces, its mantels, cast-iron oven door, built-in cupboards and layout of rooms, doors and windows.

The second major change to the core of the house occurred around 1870 when Jamie, again succumbing to a popular trend in architectural styles, decided to

THE VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

31

Photograph courtesy of IBM

update it by adding a full second story and a generous attic.36 This drastically altered the character of the building by stressing its verticality. The pronounced pitch of the new roof with its additional gables helped underscore this new characteristic. A more romantic flavor was injected by placing decorative scroll corbels under its eaves and a bracketed balconet on its north and south facades.

Visual attention was shifted to the north by placing a double-arched window over the portico thus redirecting the entrance to the side facing the old highway.

The symmetry of the south facade, meanwhile, was broken by a large bay window.

Until this section was raised to a full two stories, the upper part had windows only on its gable ends. The framing for the original gable windows was uncovered at the time of disassembly. These windows were substantially smaller than the ones added in the 1870's. With the addition of a second story, the win-

32

TIH VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

dows had doubled in number while at the same time fashionable two-over-two lights had replaced the older six-over-sixes. Some of the latter were then utilized in the attic.

The entire structure was now re-sided with a narrow-gauged clapboard that was placed directly over the 1834 stucco. The house then took on the characteristics of vernacular architecture found in the Hudson Valley in the late 19th century. (Fig. 3).

The Outbuildings About two hundred feet west of the kitchen wing stood a contemporary carriage house. Constructed in the braced post and beam manner, the structure reflected 18th century techniques. On closer inspection and after a comprehensive nail study, it was determined that it was of the same vintage as the 1834 kitchen. The vertical boards found under a layer of recent siding proved to be the original ones.

During the summer of 1984, under the auspices of The International Business Machines Corporation, the carriage house was disassembled, documented and re-erected on the site of the East Fishkill Historical Society.

The second outbuilding was a late 19th century post and beam barn in an advanced state of decay. During its dismantlement and documentation, the date September 1882 and two names, W. M. Deedly and Henry Heady, were found penciled on the interior side of a board just under one of the end gables. Research has revealed little about Henry Heady except that he was probably the ten-year old Henry, one of five children of Alexander and Catherine Heady, mentioned in the 1850 census of East Fishkill. The family name does not appear in the 1865 census. There is no information regarding the name W. M. Deediy.37

Endnotes 1. ALnne Van Wyck, Descendants of Comelius Barentse Van Wyck and Anna Polhemus (N. Y., 1912), p. 39, OJd Grrzucsfo77cs o/ Dztfchcss Cocf7tfty Nect7 York (Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 1924),

CollectedandEditedbyJ.Wilsonpoucher,M.D.,andHelenwilkinsonReynolds,p.91.

2. Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 2, pp. 408-412.

3. VaLn Wyck?Cornelius Barentse Van Wyck, p. 39.

4. Cornelius Van Wyck was made an official surveyor of Queens County, New York in 1727. Van Wyck, Co77tezz.cfs Bflrc7zfsc Va7t Wyck, pp. 4546.

5. Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 1, pp. 268-276, 414-420, 403-406; Liber 2, pp. 89-91, 395-397, 439-444; Liber 3, pp. 193-194, 414-416.

6. Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 2, pp. 12-16, see p. 12.

7. Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 1, pp. 403-406.

8. James H. Smith, H.sfony o/ Dzfchcss CoH7cfty (Syracuse: 1882), p. 510.

9. Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 2, pp. 489-491.

10. Smith, H].sfory o/ DZJchcss Cocf7cfty, p. 510. Smith gives us a complete list of names but

unfortunately does not cite his source.

11. Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 2, pp. 531-536. The document contains a complete list of participants' names; Frank Hasbrouck, editor, T7ze Hz.sfony o/ D#£chcss Cozt7!fty (Poughkeepsie: 1909), pp. 303-305.

TIH VAN WYCK/JAY HOUSE

33

12. The term ``Junr." is often found on 18th century documents pertaining to the name of Theodorus Van Wyck.

13. Hasbrouck, History a/ D#£chess Coz{7zfy, pp. 303-305.

14. Poucher and Reynolds, OJd GrflzJesfo7!es, p. 91; Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 2, pp.12-16, 408-412; Van Wyck, ComcJz.#s BarcHfse Vfl7I "yck, p. 59; Records of the Rum-

bout Presbyterian Church, Baptisms 1749-1844, Marriages 1750-1846, xeroxed from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vols. 68, 69, 70, pp. 291-296, 388-393.

15. Halsbrouck, History of Dutchess County, p. Z93; Sm3:th, History Of Duchess County, p. 510.

16. Van Wyck, Cornelius Barentse Van Wyck, p. 60.

17. Poucher and Reynolds, Ojd GrtzzJesfo#es, p. 91.

18. Van Wyck, ComeJ!.#s 84zre#£se Vfl7i Wyck, p. 39.

19. Van Wyck, Comczz.#s Bftlte7zfse Va7£ "yck, pp. 62-65. The contents of the complete will

are given.

20. Helen Wilkinson Reynolds, D#£ch Ho#ses I.7z #ze Hz/dsorz VtzzJey Z7e/ore 1776 (1929; reprint

ed., New York: Dover Publications, 1965), p. 339; Charlotte Cunningham Finkle, ``The Jay Family in Fishkill (Now East Fishkill) 1776-1781," in from frigzz.sfr Colony fo

Sovfreig]:I State_, Ess_ays on the American Revolution in Dutchess County, Province of Ne:w

Yo7*.. ed. Emily Johnson (1967; reprint, Millbrook, New York: Central Press, 1983), pp. 33-42.

21. Reynolds, Dztfch Hoztscs, p. 333; Finkle, froffl £7tgJz.sfe Colony, p. 35.

22. Dutchess County Clerk, Deeds, Liber 7, pp. 62-69.

23. Reynolds, D#£cJz Ho#scs, p. 333.

Z4. Finlde, from English Colony, pp. 36-37.

25. Van Wyck, Comezz.Its B¢re#£sc Va7I Wyck, pp. 93, 136.

26. An illustration accompanies Finkle's article about the Jay fandly showing the house with double chimneys. No source is given other than the fact that it is based on a painting. Finkle, fro" £7zgJz.sJz CoJony, p. 42.

2:7. Reynoids, Dutch Houses, p. 22.

28. Reynolds, Dz££Ofz Ho#scs, pp. 322, 396, 399; Judge Anthony Van Wyck, in an article in ``The Fishkill Weekly Times" of June 19, 1895, recalled as a youth the rear of the

Richard Van Wyck house having been sided with shingles; detailed drawings of Dutch shingled houses can be found in the collections of Historic American Buildings Survey of New York and New Jersey.

29. Van Wyck, Cor7teJz.z{s Bare7ifsg Va# "yck, pp. 136-137.

30. Fiske Kilrtoa]1, Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and the Eariy Republic (New York: Dover publications,1966), pp.152-153. ' 31. Talbot Hamlin, Greek Rcz7!.nd A7ichz.£ec£#rc I.# A"erz.ccz (New York, 1944), pp. 315-329.

32.

Van Wyck, Co77zcZz.#s Barc7zfse Vtz7! Wyck, p. 190.

33.

Hamlin, Grcck Rez7z.z7az Arcfe!.£ecfz!rc, p. 33.

34. This information resulted from a lengthy discussion with Mr. Daniel Noyelles, authority on Hudson Valley brick.

35. General information on the dating of nails was culled from Henry G. Mercer's The Dafz.7tg a/ OJd Ho#ses, Bucks County Historical Society Papers, Vol. V, reprinted 1976.

36. Reynolds, Dztfch Hoztses, p. 398.

37. Clifford and Lenora Buck, 1850 Ceris#s o/ Tozor! a/ £fls£ Fz.sJzk!7J (typescript 1983), p. 23.

34

TEE TIIEODORUS VAN WYCK SITE

The Theodoms Van Wyck Site: A Ceramic Analysis Roberta. Wingerson

AIntroduction rchaeological excavations were conducted at the historic Theodorus VanWyckhouseinthesummerof1984whenitwasdeterminedthattheproposed construction of new facilities for IBM Corporation in East Fishkill, New York would require the removal of the house and outbuildings. Since this would result in great disturbance to the subsurface archaeological resources, a data recovery project was undertaken. The excavation and analysis was funded by IBM Corporation.

According to local tradition and recorded family history, the house was built in 1740, soon after Theodorus bought the property from Madam Brett. The Van Wyck homestead is also known as the John Jay house because of that family's occupation there during the Revolution.

One of the research goals was to recover a sufficient sample of the material goods used by the Van Wyck family to assess their participation in the economic and social systems operating during the period that they lived there. The analysis of recovered ceramics is one type of study that can provide this information. This paper is taken from a larger report on the results of the excavation and treats only the ceramic analysis.

During the excavation period, it became increasingly evident that ceramic types co]rmron on sites of the mid-18th century were not being recovered on the Theodorus Van Wyck site. This observation was confirmed during the analysis phase that began after the completion of excavation.

Ceramic Analysis On domestic sites, ceramics comprise the largest group of artifacts. At the Theodorus site, a total of 17,297 ceramic sherds were excavated and analyzed.

Although the site was occupied until recently, most of the deposition around the Roberta Wingerson received her degree from Hunter College, and she has been an archaeologist in the lower Hudson Valley for 20 years. She has excavated in England and the Caribbean and is presiderit of the Museum and Lab in archaeology in Westchester. AI present, she is Ne:w York State Rapresentative to the Eastern States Archaeological Federation. She is also president of Cultural Resource Surveys, Inc., Archaeologied Surveys and Raports, of Ossining, Ne.w York.

THE THEODORus VAN w¥CK srlE

35

housestoppedearlyinthe19thcentury.Afterthatperiod,casualrefusedisposal around the house ceased and wastes were carried to areas away from the premises. The estimated date for beginning of deposition is important in determining the initial occupancy on this site of the Theodorus Van Wyck family. It appears that the archaeological evidence is at odds with the written family history. The recovered ceramics are discussed in this section in an attempt to determine, by the presence or absence of expected ceramic types, when the house was built at this location.

The refuse scatter was heavy on the west and south sides of the kitchen wing.

Artifact recovery decreased in units excavated away from the perimeter of the house. A few words should be said about refuse disposal behavior drring the 18th century to explain why artifacts are contained in the layers that accumulate around household activity areas. The comlnon method of refuse disposal during the 18th century was simply to throw it outside of the kitchen door. This behavior has been confirmed on excavated sites of the colonial period. At the Requa Site in Tarrytown, New York and at the nearby Abraham Van Wyck Site, kitchen refuse continued to be discarded outside the kitchen door until the 1820's. After that time, a new sense of order was reflected in changes in the patterns of refuse disposal. Kitchen wastes consisting of bones, shells, broken ceramicsanddiscardedhouseholditemswereremovedtolessconspicuousareas away from the house. Contained units such as abandoned foundations and privies, trash pits and low ground that was not visible from the house were chosen to dispose of household waste. This pattern has also been confirmed at Theodorus's house.

The archeologist uses ceramic sherds to determine the date of the layers in which they were found. Because of the restrictive Enghih trade laws during the colonial period and the dominance of England in the world ceramic market, most oftheceramicsfoundonAmericansitesareofEnghihmanufacture.Throughout the 18th century, technological improvements leading to the introduction of new wares resulted in the marketing of a series of ceralnic types with a known time range of manufacture. Based on the research of Ivor Noel Hume, Wflliamsburg's historic archaeologist, Stanley South has devised a method of determining the mean ceramic date (MCD) of the ceramic assemblage from sites of the colonial period.Thishasprovedtobeafairlyaccuratemethodofdatingtheoccupationof the site. It is based on the frequency of excavated ceramics whose dates of manufacture fall within a known tine range. The software prograri developed

by CRS with the assistance of John Griffith, E£#de Co#ccpfs Coz£7scs of CJzflz7z7¢q#¢,

Nezt7 yo7*, has incorporated South's formula so that an MCD is easfty obtained for any context or group of contexts from the site.

The excavation of many colonial sites in the last several years has produced a body of data against which the Theodorus artifact assemblage can be compared.

Eighteenth century sites throughout colonial America contain similar ceramic types during any given time because of the trade laws which forced consumers to buy English goods. The ceramics were made in England with the exception of

RhenishstonewareswhichwereimportedtoEnglandandthenshippedtoNorth America. Goods arrived at ports such as Boston, New York and Philadelphia and were rapidly distributed throughout the area. American-made wares were, at first, coarse redwares and, later, stonewares used for storage and in the kitchen.

These are not used for determining mean dates since their forms are not temporany diagnostic since they remained the same for a long period. Occasionally

36

TIH THEODORUS VAN WYCK SITE

these coarse wares were marked allowing some temporal determination. The seminal work of Ivor Noel Hume has been the foundation on which ceramic type analysis is based.

Since visual observation of the ceramc assemblage did not agree with an occupation on the site as early as 1740, it was exanined in detail to establish a beginningdateofoccupation.Ameanceramicdateforthesitewouldnotprovidethis kind of information but a noted absence of ceramic types manufactured between 1740 and 1760 would provide a firmer estimate of actual family occupation. The absence of one or two types of ware might be the result of personal preference, but the absence or low frequency of a number of expected ceramic types from thisperiodwouldindicatenooccupancyatthistime.Itcouldnotbeattributedto the lack of material goods since the prominence of the Van Wycks in the Fishkill area was estabhished soon after their a]rival. A family of high status would be expected to use a variety of ceramics easily available through trade with New York via the Hudson.

The list of absent or low frequency ceramics for the period from 1740 to 1760 is a long one. Delftware is represented by at most five vessels. Although popular until the mid-18th century, it was quickly replaced by other more durable ceramics as they became available. Because delft is a soft-bodied ware, fired at lowtemperature,theglazetendedtoseparatefromthebody.However,pharmaceutical pots and larger tablewares continued to be made through the 18th century a.nd into the early 19th century. White saltglazed stoneware, a thin, hardfiring ceramic that replaced delftware, became the popular mid-century ware.

Only two white saltglazed stoneware vessels were found. Beginning in the 1740's, this ware was incised with geometric and floral patterns that were dusted with cobalt before firing to make a ceramic type known as ``scratch blue" . It was popular on teacups and saucers, especially in the mid-century, and commonly found on sites of this period. Only one sherd of ``scratch blue" was found.

Of the coarser stonewares, sherds of Rhenish saltglazed stonewares are commom on 18th century sites. They were uthity wares used for storage vessels, mugs, crocks and chamber pots. They were no longer popular by the 1760s and were not imported after the Revolution. No sherds of Rhenish stoneware were recovered. The need for utility vessels was served by American-made redwares and stoneware, some of which were probably made by local Hudson Valley potters.

Finer types of English stonewares are also notably absent. Mottledware mugs.

Astbury ware, English brown glazed stoneware and Nottingham ware were all absent from the site.

Of the 78 types used by South to determine mean ceramic dates, 33 are represented at the Theodorus site. All of these ceramics would have been available for purchase in 1760 or later. The most common is pearlware with all of South's eleven types present. Pearlware was developed from the earlier creamware by Wedgwood in 1779. The body was made harder and white by the additionofgroundflintandtheglazewasimprovedbytheadditionofcobalttooffset the yellow cast. These improvements were directed at making a whiter background for the cobalt blue designs that imitated expensive Chinese export porcelain. Noel Hume states that ``pearlware was undoubtedly the most common ceralnic item found on sites of the early nineteenth century''.

The next largest group is creamware, almost entirely in plain, undecorated vessels. Plate rims are plain or in the ``Royal" pattern that was introduced in the

THE THEODORuS VAN vV¥CK srlE

37

Figure 1. Detail of Handpainted Chinese Export Porcelain Saucer (rvw 206), 18th Century. early 1760's. Only two feather-edged rim sherds, also from the 1760 period, were found. Only a few sherds of the colored creamwares generally known as Whieldon ware, made during the 1750's, are present. There are no sherds of the naturalistic forms of teapots in the ``cauliflower" ware popular during the mid-18th century. The creamware is predominantly light in color with no sherds found of the deeper yellow color produced early in the creamware development period c. 1740 to 1760.

Buff-bodied yellowware (also called combed or dotted ware) sherds from plat-

38

TIH TREODORUS VAN WYCK SITE

ters, cups and bowls were found scattered throughout the site on all levels but were more concentrated on the west side of the house. After the construction or reconstruction of the kitchen wing about 1800, deposition ceased on the west side of the wing but continued on the south side. This indicates that the kitchen door was moved from the west to the south side of the house. Although buffbodied yellowware was made as early as the late 17th century in Staffordshire and Bristol, it is common in 18th century as late as the Revolution according to Noel Hume and as late as 1795 in South's time span for this ware in his ceramic list used for deterlnining mean ceramic dates. Since other wares from the 1740 to 1760 period are missing, it is most probable that the buff-bodied yellowwares recovered from the site are from the second half of the 18th century. Very few sherds are combed; most have sinple brown lines. The earliest examples of buffbodiedyellowware,especiallythosefromStaffordshire,haveverycloselycombed lines.

Implications of the Ceramic Evidence Based on the ceramic analysis discussed above, it must be concluded that the occupation began on this site in the 1760's. Although there is documentation that Theodorus bought the property in 1736 and occupied it soon after, it appears that the site of his original house was on another part of the property. It was common for early settlers to build a small house when they first arrived on their land and, after they had cleared the fields and prospered, to build a more substantial house in ten or twenty years.

In Fitchen's definitive study on New World Dutch barns, he states that these structures were usually the first permanent structures built on the property while the falnily lived in crude and simple dwellings. The barn housed the livestock and had to be ready to store the crops as the land was planted and harvested.

Although none of the early barns survived at either of the Van Wyck sites investigated, wrought iron barn hinges of the Dutch type were recovered from both sites.

The answer to the location of the earner house may lie in a map in the East Fishkill Library drawn in 1798 by Henry Livingston, titled the ``Town of Fishkill in Dutchess County''. The project property is located on the map lying south of theroadnowknownasRoute52between``Shanadore''and``Wickapee''.Figure2 of this report reproduces a section of the Livingston map showing the project property. Allowing for two hundred years of change, a house is shown in the correctlocationontheeastsideofaroadrunningsouthfromthepresentRoute52.

Several Van Wycks appear on the Livingston map, variously listed as Van Wyck and V. Wyck. On the Theodorus Van Wyck property, on the same road leading south from Route 52 but close to the main road, is the house of an A. Wyck. This may have been the house of Abraham Van Wyck at the time the map was drawn and very possibly the original house built by his father Theodorus in 1740. It is a reasonable assumption that the first house was built close to the main road.

When the land had been cleared and fields created and some degree of prospedty attained, a new house further removed from the road was built. Archaeological evidence indicates that this was probably in the late 1760's.

Abraham had married in 1797, the year before the map was drawn. He may have moved his new bride into the old house until his own home was built across the

THE THEODORus VAN wycK srlE

39

Figure 2: Livingston Map of Fishkill, 1798.

fields east of this house in 1802. Unfortunately, this proposition cannot be tested because a small shopping center and parking lot now occupies the site indicated on the map. Since there was no archaeological testing done prior to construction, there is no record of early occupation there and any possible evidence has probably been destroyed.

The possibility that the foundation of the former east wing on the Abraham Van Wyck house discovered during the Stage 1-8 survey might be the original Theodorus Van Wyck hquse was considered. However, archaeological investigation there following the Theodorus site excavation proved that the structure that oncestoodonthatsitecouldnothavebeenbuiltasearlyas1740.Ceramicanalysis supports the historical accounts of Abraham's occupation of the site in 1802.

Cataloged Ceramics Table I Hsts the cataloged ceramic artifacts by type and form. Since ceramics

have an important function in the preparing, serving and storing of food, and in the social life of the family, the recovered artifacts can be analyzed to gain insight into dining habits and social status. Archaeological evidence indicates that entertaining at the Van Wyck house did not include the use of alcohol. Tea drinking, however, was an important part of the social life. Of the cataloged ceramics, 43.50/o are tea wares, cups and saucers, teapots and creamers. The archaeological assemblagerepresentsonlybrokenanddiscardedceramics.Wecaninferthatsuch

40

TIH THEODORUS VAN WYCK SITE TABLE I

Cataloged Ceramics Grouped by Type and Form Theodorus Van Wyck Site Cerandc T

Form: Cu

Saucer Bowl

Serving Dish Plate Pitcher Tea

Buff-bodied Yellowware

Creamware Plain Decorated Pearlware Plain Painted Shell-Edge Edge Decorated Dipped Transfer-printed Redware Trailed Slipware Chinese Export Porcelain

whiteware Majolica

Salt-Glazed Stoneware

Alkaline Glazed Stoneware White salt-Glazed stoneware

1

1

Jackfield Type Engine-Turned

7 Total

11

Percent 11.7

20

23

1

15

3

8

21.3

24.5

1

15.9

3.2

8.5

accidents are more likely to occur with frequent use and thus the high percentage of tea wares indicates the importance of the tea service in family entertaining.

As a means of economic comparison of ceramics from historic sites, Miller has developed an index of values using 19th century price lists measured against the relative stabhity of CC or creamware. M]ler's CC index value tables were used to work out average values for cups, bowls and plates using those values listed for 1814. This date is appropriate for the ceramics in the cataloged inventory, most of which date to the early 19th century. Economic scaling has not been developed for 18th century wares and therefore is not included.

Table 11 shows that 55°/o more was spent on tea wares than on the average expenditure for plates and bowls emphasizing the role that tea played in the social life of the family. At the Abraham Van Wyck site, the artifact assemblage from a period a few decades later shows an expenditure for tea wares of almost twice the average spent for plates and bowls with high-status porcelains well represented.

Tobacco Pipes Considering the length of the site occupation and the fragile nature of kaolin tobacco pipes, relatively few pipes are represented by the fragments found scat-

THE TIIEODORUS VAN VVYCK SITE

41

TABLE 11

Economic Scaling Data Catalogued Ceramics Form

Type of D e coration

Cups / Saucers

CC (creamware) Porcelain

Painted Printed

Plates

Scale Year

(1814)

1. 00 4.00* 1.50 3.00

Number Recovered

Index Value

Pro duct

xl x2 x16 x6 25 Total AVERAGE VALUE

CC Edged 8

AVERAGE VALUE Bowls

CC

Painted Printed Dipped Vvhite Glazed

x2 x4

xl x8

xl Total

16

AVIRAGE VALUE * Index Value for 1824 used.

tered throughout the site. Six complete bowls were recovered with small sherds of an estimated 20 additional bowls. Of bowls represented by fragments from the base, 10 had spurs, 6 had a simple rounded base with no spurs or heels.

The only marked pipes were two bowl fragments and one complete bowl impressed with the initials ``RT''. These were made by one of the most important pipemaking families in Bristol, England. Three generations of Tippets carried on the manufacture of kaolin pipes from 1660 to 1722. They occur as late as 1770 in archaeological contexts in Bristol, perhaps as a continuation of the business by others (Alexander 1978). The initials may also have been copied by other later pipemakers as was the case of the ubiquitous ``TD" pipes.

A curious pipe find is shown in Figure 3, TVW 293. It is shaped like a late 18th century pipe, but it is made of silver rather than kaolin. John Mccashion, a regional pipe expert, was consulted about this find. He reports that some metal pipes were made but were never very popular because of the difficulty in handling them while smoking. It is unfortunate that the pipe was recovered from the disturbed layers of an early 20th century trash burning area in Component Group VII. Because of this, no time period of manufacture can be assigned to it.

These contexts contained some 18th century artifacts, already present in the soil, that were mixed with later 19th and early 20th. century discard. Although it is 18th century in shape, it may have been made at a later time as a reproduction of that style.

The bore diameter of kaolin pipe stems has been used to determine the mean date of a colonial period site or a feature based on a decreasing bore size towards recency. The original formula for pipe stem dating was developed by Harrington and later modified by Binford. Noel Hume finds it increasingly inaccurate after 1760 because of changing technology in manufacturing. For this reason, it has not been appropriate for use on this site.

TEE THEODORus VAN i+vycK srTE

43

Su-any Analysis of the ceramic artifacts recovered at the Theodorus Van Wyck Site indicate that the house was built in the 1760's when the family had outgrown an earlier, more modest accommodation that had probably been located closer to present Route 52. The ceramic analysis reinforces other evidence (the relatively small number of sherds from bottles which would have contained alcohol) that the Van Wycks refrained from the consumption of alcohol. In its place, the tea service was shown to be important in the social life of the family by both the high percentage of tea wares recovered and the greater expenditure for these wares compared to that of other household ceramics. The affluence of the Van Wycks is indicated by the great variety of ceramic wares used between the late 1700's and the early 1800's, the period represented by most of the excavated ceramics.

Bibliography Alexander, L. T. Clay Tobacco Smoking Pipes from the Caleb Pusey House. The Archaeohogivcal Society o£

Delaware, Paper No. 9, 1978.

Deetz, James In Small Things Forgotten: The Archaeology of Eariy American Life. NIew York.. AndroI Books, 1977.

Dumont, Lewis A. and Elizabeth M. A Stage 1-8 Cultural Resource Survey of Kalmls.B.S.IBogursky I.B.M. Properties, Town of East Fishk{I1, Dutchess County, Now York, T984.

Fitchen, John Tfee NeztJ WorJd D#£ch Bflm. Syracuse University Press, 1968.

Miner, George L. Classification and Economic Scaling of 19th Century Ceramics. Hz.sforz.col ArcJzaeoJog]/; Vol. 14, 1980.

Noel Hume, Ivor A Guide to Artifacts of Colortial North America. Now York.. Alfred A. Knop£, 1:974.

South, Stanley Evolution and Horizon as Revealed in Ceramic Analysis in in.sforz.ca! ArcJzfleoJog]/: A Guide to Substantive and Theoretical Contributions. Farmin8daLe, NIew York.. Bat:ywood

publishing co., ig78.

Van Wyck, Arme Gineology of the Van Wyck Fandy, Descendants of Comelius Barenste Van Wyck and Ama PoJfee7H#s. New York: Tobias Wright, 1912.

Walker, Iain The Bristol Clay Tobacco Pipe Industry. Bristol.. Ctry Museum, 1971.

Wingerson, Roberta Wyman The Requa Site: A Preliminary Faunal Report in Food Ways of £Jzc Nor#!cas£. Annual Proceedings of the Dublin Selninar for New England Folklife, Boston University, 1984.

T7zc AZ7rtzJ!affl Vflrz Wyck S!.£e. Manuscript on file at IBM, Fachities Engineering, East

Fishkill, New York, 1985.

44

TIH ROMBOUT PATENT: AN ALLIANCE OF FAMILIES

The Rombout Patent: An Alliance of Families An article commemorating the 300th anniversary of the signing of the Rombout Patent in 1685.

Tanet Knight Itwasthestulfthatfiredtheimaginationsoftheadventurous.Theaccountsof New World explorations rang with opportunities and lured brave young men to sea; a siren song of natural wealth in a wild, new land.

On this river there is a great traffick in the shins of beavers, otters, foxes, bears, minks, wild cats, and the like. The land is excellent and agreeable, fttll of noble

forest trees and grape vines, and nothing is wanting but the labor and industry of man to render it one of the finest and most fndtfrol lands in that part of the world.1

Thus came the early immigrants from the Republic of the United Netherlands, the greatest trading nation of the 17th century. Although the average Dutchman would not leave the comfort of his homeland, an adventurous few sought their fortunes as farmers and fur traders along the Hudson River, the majestic passage to the inland American wilderness.

Among those early settlers was Abraham Isaacse Veaplanck, arriving in New Amsterdam in the 1630's. There he found a small but bustling town and soon carved a niche for himself as a fur trader and farmer. A patent was obtained by Abram Planck (an alternate spelling) for a tract of land at Paulus Hoeck, now modern day Hoboken, New Jersey. As a land owner and prominent citizen, Abraham was part of a delegation organized in 1642 by the Director General of New Amsterdam, William Kieft. Known as the ``Twelve Men'', the group rallied popular support for actions against the Indians. Their activity stirred unrest to the boiling point resulting in numerous conflicts between settlers and Indians.

Although charged with causing an Indian war, no further action was taken against Abraham. Contrary to our popular image of an upstanding founding father, he was not only involved with instigating an Indian war, but was also later accused of smuggling furs. Whether Abraham Verplanck marred Maria Vigne Roos in Holland or New Amsterdam is not known, but it is recorded that of their nine children, their second son, Gelyn (Gulian), was born January 1, 1637.ItisGulianwhowasdestinedtoplayamajorpartinthesagaoftheRombout Patent and the development of Dutchess County.

It is part of small-town life (and indeed, New Amsterdam was a ``small town" Janet Knight has worked for the New York Bota:ndcal Garden, the Hudson River Museum and is currently Curator of Education at Mt. Gutian, the Verplanck homestead historic site in Beacon, New York.

THE ROMBOUT PATENT: AN ALLIANCE OF FAMILIES

45

by modern standards with a population of 1,600 in the year 1664) for the inhabitants to be closely acquainted either socially or in business with fellow residents. The new settlers also brought with them the long-standing European tradition of political alliance through marriage. The lives of Gulian Verplanck, Francis Rombout and Stephanus Van Cortlandt were intertwined in New Amsterdam years before they purchased the lands of the Rombout Patent in 1685. Francis Rombout in 1665 married the first of his three wives, Aeltje Wessels. Three years later, Gulian Veaplanck married Aeltje's sister, Hendrika.

The god-parents of the third child of Gulian and Hendrika (Abraham, born in 1674) were Stephanus Van Cortlandt, Francis Rombout and Janneca Wessels, sister of Hendrika.

New Amsterdam's prominent families formed political ties as well as those through marriage. Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck were active leaders in the community, both serving as Schepen and Alderman. The English take-over of New Amsterdam in 1664 did nothing to weaken Dutch family ties. In 1673 duning Rombout's term as Alderman, there was a brief return of Dutch rule for fifteen months. During this time, a council was formed for the purpose of restoring Dutch ways and on it served Gulian Veaplanck and Olaff Van Cortlandt, father of Stephanus. Francis Rombout continued his political career after the final regaining of power by the Enghish and became Mayor of New York in 1679.

As business partners, both Gulian and Francis achieved success and notoriety as evidenced by a suit brought against them in 1674 for trading with the enemy, meaning New England. This illicit activity speaks more for opportunism rather than treason as this occurred during the temporary Dutch take-over. Their marriages to the Wessel sisters brought them wealth and good standing in the community, leading to many respectable achievements. Gulian became a prominent merchant trading with Houand, the West Indies and England. His warehouse and residence were on the ``Strant", now Pearl Street. Rombout lived on Broadway.

The two prosperous partners surely had some personal experience in the upper reaches of the Hudson Valley as traders of furs. Perhaps there was some contact with Gulian's cousin, Jacob Albertzsen Planck who was the schout (sheriff) of the patroon of Rensselaerswyck just to the south of Albany. The familial, political and business alliances of earlier years in New Amsterdam no doubt set the foundation for the most significant business deal of their careers: the purchase of the land of the Rombout Patent.

In an effort to stimulate settlement, the Dutch West India Company had established a patroon system. This feudal arrangement did not transplant well to the New World and was doomed to failure. Following the English take-over in 1664, the old patroonships were confirmed as manorial grants by the Crown. In accord with the system of Crown Patents, a license was issued to Gulian Verplanck and Francis Rombout on February 8, 1682 for the purpose of buying 85,000 acres of land from the Wappinger Indians. The license was granted by Governor Thomas Dongan and native title was ``extinguished" on August 8, 1683 as recorded in the Indian Deed. On October 17, 1685, the Crown granted the Rombout Patent, the first land purchase in Dutchess County.

Along the shores of the Hudson lived the peaceful Wappinger Indians, a hunting, fishing and agricultural society. The Wappinger tribe, members of the Lenape (Delaware) nation, were non-aggressive themselves, but were occasionally victims of raids by the fierce and warring Mohawks of the Iroquois con-

46

TIH ROMBOUT PATENT: AN ALLIANCE OF FAMILIES

federacy north of the Catskills. On friendiy terms, Veaplanck and Rombout pur~ chased all rights within 85,000 acres of Indian land for the following: °onneehhuunndididdRp°oyua#]dspowder Two Hand fathom of White Wanqum One Hund Batts of Lead One Hundred fathom of black Wampum Thirty tobacco boxes ten holl adges

thirty guns twenty blankets forty fathom of duffills Twenty fathom of stroudevater Cloth Thirty kittles, forty hatchets

forth homes, forty shirts, forty p. stockings, twelve coats of R.B. and b.c.

ten drawing knives forty earthen juggs forty bottles forty knives, fouer ankers rum ten harfe, fatts beare ten hund tobacco pipes, &e Eighty Pound tobaccct

Gifts were exchanged, the Indian Deed was signed (made their mark) by the Indians and witnessed. The new owners were also to pay to the Crown ``six bushells of good merchantable winter wheat on every twenty fifth days of March".3 The Rombout Patent was witnessed and signed by Thomas Dongan, Lieutenant Governor and Vice Admiral ``this 17th day of October in the first yeare of his said Maties Reigne and in the Yeare of our Lord 1685"4 under the rule of James 11, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland. Nearly one hundred years later, George Clinton, Governor of the State of New York, confirmed the Patent ``this twenty fifth day of June in the eight Year of our Independence, and in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty four''.5 It would seem, given the combination of fish, fertile land, peaceful Indians, and superb transportation via the Hudson River, that the land would soon be settled and prosperous towns would spring up in the wilderness in a few short years. Settlement did not occur for many years due to legal difficulties following the death of Gulian Verplanck in 1684 one year prior to the signing of the Rombout Patent. Within a year after his death, his widow married Jacobus Kip. At about the same time, one third of the land rights was purchased by the old family friend, Stephanus Van Cortlandt. Thereafter, Hendrika and Jacobus Kip died; the children of Gulian had all died, thus leaving the minor grandchildren heirs to a third of the interest. Stephanus Van Cortlandt died leaving his widow executrix of his will representing his one third interest. Francis Rombout had married Helena Teller, his third wife, in 1683 and born to them in 1687 was Catharina.

Rombout died in 1691 leaving his one third interest to his daughter. She married Roger Brett in 1703, and leaving their comfortable existence in New York in 1708, settled in the wilderness along the Fishkill Creek. Today, ``Madam Brett's" house still stands in Beacon, the oldest existing home in Dutchess County.

Title to the 85,000 acres was held in common until 1708. The land was then divided into three long parcels of`land between the Wappinger and Fishki]l

THE ROMBOur PATENT: AN ALLIANCE OF FANILIEs

1. Madam Brett House 2. Mount Gulian 3. Stony RE Farm 4. Freedom Plains

47

sub-divisions of 1708

I.....--

modemroads

Map of The Rombout Patent and its sub-divisions Creeks; the northern section to the Van Cortlandt heirs, the southern third to the Bretts, and the middle section to the Veaplanck heirs, still minors. The Veaplanck section was further divided in 1722 after all the heirs came of age. Gulian's grandson, also Gulian, built his house on the high ground facing the Hudson River in the 1730's. Mount Gulian has been reconstructed and today it is open to the public.

The boundaries of the purchase are described in the Rombout Patent and incorporate the present day towns of Fishkill, East Fishkill, Wappinger, and portions

48

TEE ROMBOUT PATENT: AN ALLIANCE OF FAMILIES

of La Grange and Poughkeepsie. Evidence of the original massive stone walls delineating the Patent still exist in Freedom Plains, Town of La Grange. Other boundaries have become town lines such as the line between East Fishkill and Beekman. Taken in 1935 by the Dutchess County Planning Board, aerial photographs reveal straight lines extending from the Hudson to the Beekman town line. These aligned hedgerows and stone walls outlining fields are actually survey lines indicating the 1708 subdivision of the Patent among the heirs of Van Cortlandt, Rombout and Veaplanck. Further subdivisions of the Verplanck section were made in 1722 and can also be seen in these photographs. The land management policy of the Velplanck heirs has contributed to the preservation of the physical evidence of these boundaries. Cities and towns grew up to the north and south within the Van Cortlandt and Rombout sections as their land was sold.

The Verplanck section was fertile and productive; the family leased their land to tenant farmers rather than selling outright, and the land thus retained its agricultural and rural character. Many of the field boundaries laid out when the land was first cleared were left intact. Portions are still farmed today including part of the 756 acres of Veaplanck land now owned by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and known as Stony Kill Farm.

The language of the 1685 Patent, transitory landmarks, lost documents and years of land use have all contributed to various interpretations of original boundary lines. For example, the Patent describes the southwest boundary.as ``the south side of a creeke, called the Fishkfll."6 The same location is described in a 1765 survey as ``the point of Matteawan or Fish Kill at the south side of said elm Tree".7 Many subsequent maps of the Patent include the triangular section of Dutchess County south of the mouth of the Fishkill to the Putnam County line compounding the confusion. Other areas of uncertain ownership occur along the Parallel Line extending ``500 rodd distant"8 from the north side of the Wappinger Creek ``from thence into the woods foure houres goeing''9. Part of this section has been claimed as belonging to the Schuyler and Cuyler Patents of 1686 and as a purchase by Pieter Lassen in 1704. The Rombout Patent predates these claims but questions remain to be answered, a fascinating puzzle to be solved by future historians.

Endnotes 1. ``The Journal of ]ohannes De Laet," 1625, Roland Van Zandt, azro7zz.cZcs of #ze Hz/dso7t

(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1971), p. 17.

2. Indian Deed of Sale, August 8, 1683. From a transcribed copy in the office of the Dutchess County Historian.

3. Rombout Patent, October 17, 1685. From a transcribed copy in the office of the Dutchess County Historian.

4. Rombout Patent.

5. Rombout Patent.

6. Rombout Patent.

7. Field Book of Partition, 1765. From a transcribed copy in the office of the Dutchess County Historian.

8. Rombout Patent.

9. Rombout Patent.

THE ROMBOUT PATENT: AN ALLIANCE OF FAMLIES

49

Bibliography F_ieldPookof_PartitiqpOfRumboutsPatent.July8,T765.Copyofatranscriptintheo££ieeoftha

Dutchess County Historian.

Goodwin, Mend WHder. Dutch and English on the Hudson: a Chronicle of Colonial New York.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919.

Hasbrouck, Frank, ed. T7ze H!.stony a/ Dztfchcss Corf7zfty, Nezt7 York. Poughkeepsie: S.A.

Matthieu, 1909.

Jr[dz.#r! Dccd o/Sflzc. August 8,1683. Copy of a transcript in the office of the Dutchess County

Historian.

I_ohospT, Expil:y. Stone Walls in Iid Grange Mark Old Patent Boundaries. LaL Grange GaLzette, June 29 and 30, 1983.

|quy, Robert W. The Essential New Yorker: Gulian Crommelin Verplanck. Durhaln.. D\ike University Press, 1951.

Reynolds, Helen Wilkinson. D#fofzcss Co#7!fty Doo7zt;ays. New York: William Farquhar Payson, 1931.

Reynolds, Helen Wilkinson. ``The Mill on the Sprout and Farmers' Landing Road". yeczrfrook. Dutchess County Historical Society, vol. 21, 1939.

Reynolds, Helen Wilkinson. ``01d Boundary Lines". Ycfl7.Z7ock. Dutchess County Historical Society, vol. 21, 1939.

REynphds, Helen WThson._ Poughkeepsie, The Origin and Meaning of the Word. vcr. 1.

Poughkeepsie: Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society, 1924.

Rofflz7oc££ P#£e#£. October 17, 1685. Copy of a transcript from the office of the Dutchess

County Historian.

Rultenber, Edwan:d Manning. History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson's Rlver. A]:belay.. I. Munsell, 1872.

Sm±Ih, P+ELF HeI\ry. General History of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876. Pawhin8, New

York: published by the author, 1877.

Van Rensselaer, Ms. John FGng. TJ!e Goedc Vro#zu a/ M¢7z¢-Jza-£fl. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898.

VaLn Zandt, Rohand. Chronicles of the Hudson; Three Centuries of Travelers' Accounts. New

Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1971.

Ve:rpla[nck,W"amEdward.TheHistoryofAbrahamlsaacseverplanckandHisMaleDescendants I.7c A7#erz.ca. Fishki]l Landing, New York: J. W. Spaight, 1892.

Zimm, Hasbrouck Louise. Sozt#!cfzsfcr7I NcztJ York. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1946.

50

DUTCIHSS QUAKERS AGAINST MILITARY PARTICIPATION

The following manuscript, written on January 8, 190P, recounts the Story of tfae ap?s.t in 1839 of four young Quakers from the Town of Washington wPo refuse_d i_a qp hi!jtia servicebecanseoftheirredgiousprinciples.ThewrilerwasMa:ryG.(Wood)Swift,rife_pf Heny H. Swift and daughter-in-law of Nathan G. Swift, one of_tho_sf _arrested. The original manuscript came f rom the collection of George Baqgley, a loca_I h_i5to.ria?.. inry Wood's account of her father-in-lav's experience gives u_s a valua_b_I? ipsigh! int.2. corifeietingattitudesonpacifesminearlyl9thcenturyDutchesscourty._Thisi_ssuej??trl.1 ainetoday.Imtheutideinmediatelyfouowing,AlsonVanWagn_eranalyzesthepolitied, rdigious and legal circumstances in which the incident occurred.

Father Swift's Imprisonment Spring of 18381 He was plowing out in our north field when a constable came to inform him he must go and train for military service or else go to jail. He knew he could not conscientiously do the former so he unhitched his horse leaving the plow in furrow and went home and hurriedly packed what few things he thought he would need while his mother put up some provisions and bedding. The constable proceeded to notify Cousin Win. Swift, Barclay Haviland and Humphrey Howland who all had similar scruples against training and in a short time he had them all loaded up and they started for Poughkeepsie, stopping at Eghmie's Hotel at Washington Hollow. The constable got old Daniel Emugh to come out and try to persuade them to pay a little money and he thought they would be let off . He said ``He always thought the easiest way was the best and the payment of a little money would be easier for them, easier for the constable and better all around."

But they told hin they would not feel it right to do that. Anymore than they felt it not right to train for military service. So the constable climbed in and they drove on to Hatches (?) old hotel at the end of Market Street where the constable left them for quite a while, giving them ample time to escape if they had been at an inclined, and on his return he said ``Well, all here yet, eh! Well, if you won't train and won't pay a fine, I suppose I must take you to jail." So they all went over to the Poughkeepsie jail. Father and Cousin Win. were put in one ceu and Barclay Havfland and Humphrey Howland in another. The provisions and bedding from home contributing much to their comfort. They were permitted to come out in the hall for exercise and general conversation during the day and so they got along very comfortably.

While they were confined, there was a terrific storm and a great freshet doing considerable damage throughout the county. Their sentence was for 21 days but soon after they were taken to prison. Uncle Beriah Swift went to Albany to intercede Gov. Win. Seward on their behalf, and Gov. Seward signed a paper ordering their release. And Uncle BerialT brought that to the officers in Poughkeepsie and the boys all came home after only a week's confinement and Father found the plow in the furrow just as he left it for it had rained so they could not have done anything at home and everything turned out for the best and they bore their testimony.

Note 1. Actually 1839. See following article by Alson Van Wagner.

DUTCHESS QUARERS AGAINST MILITARY PARTICIPATION

51

Dutchess Quakers Maintain Their Testimony Against Military Participation Alson Van Wagner

T

e fascinating story of Father Swift's imprisonment which appears elsewhere in this Yearbook brings to our attention a period of the history of New York State, our nation and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) which is much neglected. This episode does a little to fill in the 230 years between the 1755 hiting of Quakers of Dutchess County exempted from military servicel and the recent news article in T7ze PoztgJzkeapsz.c /o#m¢Z2 of the young Quaker who had his

pickup truck taken by the Internal Revenue Service for non-payment of taxes.

The 1755 Quakers conscientiously refused to bear arms in the French and Indian Wars. The 1985 young man claimed he could not conscientiously pay his income tax which he claimed would be 600/o applied to military purposes.

Referring specifically to the Father Swift story we may note it was fortunate for his consistency in adherence to the Quaker reverence for truth that his recollection of the year of the event was qualified by ``(He thought)". Since Wi]]iam H. Seward, the first Whig governor of New York State, was first elected in November 1838 it could not have been before the spring of 1839 that he released Nathan Swift and the others from jail. As we shall soon see, the event could have been no later than April 1839.

As to the individuals involved we have information from hAlnutes of the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting(s) relating to three of them: Nathan Swift was active in the Orthodox branch for many years serving as aerk from 18523 to 1867; William Swift served appointments of the Orthodox meeting at various times;4 BardayHavilandwasanongthosedisownedbytheOrthodoxin18415forhaving joined himself to the ``Hixites." Of Humphrey Howland I find no record but, I suspect, he may have been the son of a Quaker ``disowned" for ``marriage contrary to discipline" but nevertheless considered himself one of the Society.

Beriah Swift apparently devoted himself extensively to Meeting affairs, his name appearing more often than any other as appointed to committees and representative lists - he was the one to make a trip to Albany to appeal to Governor Seward. The Nine Partners monthly meetings were the ones to which Friends in the area of present-day Mi]1brook belonged.

Another item possibly of interest to local historians is in regard to ``Hatches the Alson Van Wagner, local historian, active mender of the Society of Friends, was a

presenter at the Quaker ltfe in the Hudson Valley Corference sponsored by the Dutchess County Historied Society in 1982.

52

DUTCHESS QUAKERS AGAINST MILITARY PARTICIPATION

old hotel at the end of Market Street. " From advertisements regularly appearing inthepozJgJzkaps!.eJo#mazfroml838andl839itappearsthatHatchesHotelmoved from this location to the Forbus House, later Nelson House, location about August 1839. The Main at Market location became the Poughkeepsie Inn but Father Swift in recalling the change, but not the date, called it ``the old hotel."

Quaker opposition to war and fighting was expressed from the very beginning of the sect in 1652. Refusal to participate in the military, directly or indirectly, soon became a ``testimony" of the Religious Society of Friends. The conduct and beliefs of the Friends of 1839 was guided by the ``Dz.scz.z7Zz.7ze o/ #ze Yc#dy Mecfz.7?g of

Friends, held in New-York, for the State of Ne:w-York, and parts adjacent, as revised and ¢dapfed, I.7t #£c S!.xffe Mo7®fJz, 1810. " While the Society had suffered a bitter division

in 1828 into two groups, commonly called Orthodox and Hicksite, both groups used the same Discipline until 1839. Annually each Monthly Meeting (local organization) was to give answers to nine ``Queries" of the Discipline and report to its Quarterly Meeting (regional organization). We read in the 1810 Discipline:6 Seventh Query. Are Friends clear of bearing an'I'is, of complying with military requisitions, and is. of c;Te paying any fine or taxtoin deal lieu with therfof? `Ninth duery. icke; 'seasonably -offenders .in the spirit of

meekness, and agreeably to our discipline?

If a Monthly Meeting could not report its membership ``clear" in respect to the Seventh and the others of the first eight queries it was expected to take disciplinary action in accordance with the Ninth. If no satisfactory answer could be given by the offending member it was general, at the time, for the offender to be ``disowned."

Information on the case of Nathan Swift and the other arrested Quakers appearsintheMinutesoftheMonthlyMeetingoftheFourthMonth(April).Atthat meetingfullanswerstotheQuerieswerepreparedinanticipationoftheQuarterly Meeting of the Fifth Month which was to follow. In addition to the Minutes of that month there would appear the report of a special committee to investigate and report on ``Sufferings", that is, fines, seizures of property, and imprisonments members had suffered during the past year as a result of maintaining the testimony against military involvement. Thus in the Minutes of the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting (Orthodox) for 18th of 4th Month 1839 we read: The committee appointed at last morith to cotlect an account of Suffering on account ofourredgioustestinonyinformattentiontotheappointmentandthattTJofriends werefinedeightDollarseachfornon-comptianceofMtitaryrequlsition5butforpot

paying their frnes were sentenced twenty-two Days imprisorrment and were taken to jail by George Wichomb but upon aplication (sic) to the governor were released after six Days imprisorment.7

And in the Minutes of the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) for 4th Month 1839 we read: The committee to collect an account of sufferings on account of mditary demands inform that one friend has suffered in property to the amount of $7 for a demand of $4.50, and one friend suffereed imprisorment six days.8

The Hicksites were not gracious enough to acknowledge, at least in the Minutes, that it was an Orthodox Friend's appeal to the governor that had shortened their member's stay in jail to only six days. Interestingly, Minutes usually do not men-

DUTCHESS QUARERS AGAINST MILITARY PARTICIPATION

53

tion the names of Friends with ``Sufferings" but frequently do mention the name of the constable or deputy sheriff who seized the property or person of the Friend who refused to pay the fine!

The Militia System in New York State, 1823 - 1860 During the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War, the lives of most New York State residents were affected by the State Militia Laws. It is surprising that so little general information on the subject is available. Under the Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 16 Congress was given the power to organize, arm, and discipline the militia but the naming of officers and training was left to the States. Acting under this power Congress, in an Act of 1792, declared that all white males between the ages of 18 and 45 were subject to militia duty. The New York State Legislature in 1823 repealed all previous acts relating to the militia and passed ``An Act to Organize the Militia. ''9 Here we shall try mainly to deal with those sections that affected the Quakers and those who objected to military service on the basis of conscience.

S`Ection I of the 1823 law reiterates the U. S. Act of 1792 declaring: AIl dele bodied free white male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five

years, restderit in this state, and not exempted from serving in the militia by the laws of the United States, or of this state, are sulject to military duty within this state.

Section IX however exempts ``every person of any religious denomination, who, from scruples of conscience, shall be averse to bearing arms`` on producing to the supervisor of his town or ward a written declaration with oath or affirmation of his scruple and paying on the first Monday of June each year the sum of four douars. If he neglects to do this and is ``returned as a delinquent to any court martial" then after oath or affirmation of his scruple the court shall assess a fine of four dollars.

Section XLVI provides for the collection of fines or, if the fine is not paid, seizing goods and chattels to satisfy. If payment cannot be satisfied then the delin-

quent is to be imprisoned 10 days for the first two dollars with two days added for each extra dollar. Elsewhere it is provided that any fines, after deducting costs, are to be paid to the State.

Section LXVIII provides that the commandant of a company may fill its ranks by a draft by lot at a company ``parade." Here a ``parade" means an assembly to which the commandant has summoned by public notice all the men he has ``enrolled" from the men subject to militia duty in the ``beat" of the company. If

a man drafted does not wish to serve he may offer a substitute in his stead.

Even before its passage, it was evident that the Act of 1823 was far from satisfactory to many concerned. In the April 2, 1823 issue of the Poc!gfekeapsz.c /o#777¢J

we find: On Saturday Gen. M'Clure subndtted the fouowing resolutions, in the assembly, which were laid on the table That the militia bill reported by the committee, is only a new edition of our present rotten system, and is wholly inadequate to the great object of national defense, and that to contirme it is no mark of wisdom in an endghtened legishiure.

54

DUTCHESS QUARERS AGAINST MILITARY PAVTICIPATION

Resolved, That the edling out of privates of the infantry 2 days in the year to per-

form military duty answers no valuable purpose, inasmuch as such tralhings are not calculated to improve the militia in rnditary discipline and ought to be abotished.

Resolved, That a system ought to be adopted providing for the instraction and discipline of officers, non-commissioned officers and musicians, by employing com-

petent teachers, and encanping them a given number of days every spring and fall for improvemerit _ . . .co

Apparently the advice of Assembly Mc'Clure was ignored because in the April 30th issue of the Jo#77tflJ we find the Legislature had passed ``An act to organize the lhilitia"11 and adjourned the next day.

In the next issue of the /ocf r7c¢Z, May 7, 1823, we find reprinted from the AJhany

Gaec#e what must have been a paid notice in that paper the following, in part: Whereas the United Society (commonly called Shakers) of the state of New York have invariably maintained the principles of peace; and from a sense of allegiance to the Prince of Peace, have uniforndy abstained from bearing the arms of war; and have protested against being fined and imprisoned for the exercise of conscience in this respect, as oppressive, and as subversive of the principles of trae christianity and rdigious freedom.

And whereas the said United Society have repeatedly laid their case before the

government of said state, who, instead of redressing their grievance, have inserted a section in the revised constitution of said state, which in its operation will either bind the conscience, or subject its exercise to fines or inprisonments, and have actually passed a law to this effect - Therefore, those of the United Society who are liable to military requisitions have thought proper to make the fotlowing DECLARATION-2

The declaration went on to point out that since they, the Shakers, had property in both New York and Massachusetts the men subject to the militia law were moving from New Lebanon and Canaan in New York to the town of Hancock in Massachusetts to save the Society from harassment. The declaration was signed by twenty-four men, presumably the ones moving to Hancock, and dated April 28, 1823.

The Legislature of 1824, apparently in response to the protests of the Shakers, and probably also in response to protests by Quakers of which this writer is una[ware, passed "An Act to alter the mode of couecting the Mditary Commutation Fines from the People called Quakers, and for other purposes. "13 Tmporiarit "odifroa-

tionsofthe1823lawwerethatcommutationmoneyoffourdollarswasnowcalled a ``sum" and not a ``fine" and that it was to be paid by addition to the regular tax and paid to the town tax collector instead of to the ndlitia company commandant.

In addition the money from these sums was to be ``for the use of the poor in the said counties" instead of going to the State treasurer for militia purposes. Most importantly the last section read: 11. And be it further enacted, That all such persons as aforesaid, who may be i:in

prisoned by virtue of any process to levy the commutation aforesaid, shall and may forthevith be ttberated and discharged from such imprisorment.

While the Quakers may still not have felt free to voluntarily pay the commutation sum at least they could be comforted that the money raised by sale of their confiscated goods would be used for the poor rather than for the militia. Further-

DUTCHESS QUAKERS AGAINST MILITARY PARTICIPATION

55

more they were not subject to the caprice of a constable who would rather imprison a troublesome Quaker than take his goods.

Alas, this marginally satisfactory accommodation of the militia laws to the consciences of the opponents of war and the ndlitary soon ended. A special session of the Legislature met in late 1827 to revise the statutes of the state. Chapter X of the Revised Statutesl4 dealt with the ndlitia. Basically the law of 1823 was carried forward. However the special law of 1824 in relation to Quakers and Shakers seems to have been forgotten. Perhaps the Quakers were so preoccupied with their internal troubles which had already led to their division in Philadelphia and were soon to do so in New York that they failed to take note of what was going on in Albany. In any case the freedom from imprisonment for not doing militia duty or voluntardy paying for a comlnutation was gone, and the commutation money was no longer devoted to the use of the poor. There were a number of amendments to the militia laws in 1835 but essentially the same ``rotten" system referred to by General M'aure in 1823 was continued until 1846. Such was the state of the laws when Father Swift and his feuow Quakers had their adventure in 1839.

Attempts to reform the militia law after 1846 did not produce changes acceptable to the Quakers and other pacifist groups. Controversy on this issue continued until after the Civil War. On May 8, 1846, an actl5 was passed which said: AIl laws or parts of laws now in force in this state, by virtue of which arty marshat, constable or other officer of the law, is authorized to take and convey to the county mall, the body of any person litible to do rrditary duty in this state, who may be delinquent for non-payment of mititia fines, are hereky rapealed.

Any rejoicing this repeal may have occasioned in the Quaker community must have been quieted by the extensive revision of the militia laws passed the following May, 1847.16 In this new law there was no provision for exemption from military duty by reason of conscience. Perhaps the lawmakers thought it unnecessary to make such special provision as it was provided that any person might be exempt by paying seventy-five cents to the collector of taxes every year on or before the first day of August. While the Quakers might have found having seventy-five cents worth of property seized better than having four dollars worth, quite unacceptable was the new law specifying that the commutation fees were to be paid into ``the rfulitary fund . . . to be applied exclusively for ndlitary purposes . . .". Obviously with the option of any one exempting himself from militia duty by paying this small fee the drafting of men to serve in the militia had ceased. Other sections of the 1847 law dealt with measures to encourage volunteering to serve iri the militia companies.

The 1847 law was important for having ended the drafting of men for the militia but it left a very cumbersome and inefficient method of collecting the commutation fee. This was corrected by a law of 185417 which further reduced the fee to fifty cents but directed the fee to be added to the regular tax bill of every person not serving in the militia but in the 18 to 45 age group subject to militia duty.

However, the conected fees were to be put in the military fund and thus doubly repugnant to conscientious Quakers.

Great changes regarding the militia and the military were effected during and after the Civil War, but these lie beyond the scope of this study. The militia system, supplemented with various bounties to encourage voluntary enlistment, failed to provide either the numbers or the training needed to support the

56

DUTCRESS QUAKERS AGAINST MILITARY PAITICIPATION

Northern Army. A system of national conscription was then instituted which occasioned riots in New York and other cities. Fonowing the war the old militia system was never rebuilt.

During the period from 1829 to 1865, a number of other references to military service requirements appeared in the minutes of the Nine Partners and Oswego Monthly Meetings. These gave insights into the various outcomes of a contradiction of Quaker conscience and the State Law. The case of Nathan Swift was not entirely unique. The report on ``sufferings" at Nine Partners meeting for 1833 relates: . . . about 10th of lst Mo 1833 0badinh Lavton was imprisoned twenty days for a Demand of seven Douars for a non complyance of military requisition by Israel Laey, Constable.19

And then reading the committee reporting on sufferings for the previous year in the Minutes of 17th of 4th Mo 1834: . . . inform that Daniel T. Boice was imprisoned 24 days for a mditary Demand of 9 Dollars in 7th Mo last by David Dckins, Deputy Sheriff .Z°

In all, during the period of 1829 through 1865, there were reported the taking of property for payment of fines in four years from five persons. For this meeting, as noted, there were four imprisonments during three years. It looks as if enforcement of the law was extremely erratic if not capricious. Obviously if a man became subject to militia duty when he was eighteen he should have been subject to paying the commutation money every year for the next twenty-seven years. If such had been the case there would have been `'sufferings" reported every year.

In actuality it appears a young Quaker might never have been brought up to pay a fine and, if he had been, it probably was a once-in-a-lifetine event.

During the same period for the same meeting there was one instance when the response to the Seventh Query was ``Clear . . . except one instance of paying a fine and advice given. ''21 If the offender had served in the militia instead of payingthefinelamsurehewouldhavebeendisowned,notjusthad``advicegiven."

In the 4th Month 1845 Minutes of Oswego Monthly Meeting, Hicksite branch, which had local groups in Moores Mills, Poughquag, Pleasant Valley, and Poughkeepsie, we read: Committee to Couect & Inspect sufferings on account of mtlita.ry demands inform 2 friends suffered to the extent of $11.10 for a demand of $10.40 of a ndlitary nature taken by Peter Fergison, Constthle.2:2

Because William DeGarmo wrote a letter23 to Governor Wmam C. Bouck on behalf of himself and his brother Edmund DeGarmo to ``repreive and annul" their fines and penalties, we do know who these ``2 friends" were. It does not appear his appeal was successful as his goods were taken.

The Minutes of this meeting reported two instances in the years of 1857 and 185824 of ``paying tax in Heu of military service." There was no report of disci-

plinary action. In no case have I found disownment for payment of tax or fines.

In 4th Month 1863 in responding to the Queries we find: 7th. Clear of bearing arms or complying with rhilitary requisitions. Excapt that froends have genendly paid what is called the bounty tax.2:5

From this distance it is difficult to see how Friends' consciences would not allow

DUTCHESS QUAKERS AGAINST MILITARY PARTICIPATION

57

them to pay the fifty cents commutation money but would allow them to pay a bounty tax to encourage someone else go to war. Apparently it did bother them or they would not have made this remark in their response to the Query.

FortheoswegoMonthlyMeeting,orthodoxbranch,wehavetherecordsbeginning in 1835.26 For this meeting, most of whose members were in Poughkeepsie, there were reported no instances of imprisonments. There were however many more cases of property taken to satisfy fines. There were twelve years when ``sufferings" were reported, usually by two to four persons each year.

In the Oswego meeting there was shown the extreme stress put on Quakers by the Civil War. They were among the first to recognize the evils of slavery since they had been rid of the practice themselves for neady a hundred years. While they were reluctant to join forces with Abolitionists who were willing to sanction force in ending slavery, they wielded what power they had to that end. The Civil War presented a new question: Would not the refusal to use the evil of war, under these circumstances, result in prolongation of the evil of keeping fellow men in bondage? The answer for two young men of that meeting was that they enlisted. Brought before a comlnittee of the meeting for discipline, Zebulon Swift ``expressed much respect for the Society of friends . . . but does not see with the SocietyontheSubjectofwar.''27JamesGarrardinformedthemeetingthathefelt it his duty to continue military service.28 Both men were disowned.

Were we to examine the minutes of the other monthly meetings in Dutchess

County - Oblong, Creek, and Stanford - we would probably find much the same picture as we have found in the Nine Partners and Oswego meetings.

There was much movement between meetings and the regular quarterly meetings and travelling ministers kept Friends very much in touch with each other.

Conclusion The story of Father Swift is a pleasant way to call our attention to an aspect of a period of our history that is usually ignored or forgotten. Quaker testimony against war had brought the Society misunderstanding and suspicion during the colonial wars and the American Revolution. This testimony was consistently maintainedduringthelesstroubledperiodbetweentheWarof1812andtheCivil War. An ineffective militia system involved a large portion of the male population for one or two days per year. This was hardly enough to build a strong military organization but was a persistent irritant to pacifist groups such as the Quakers and Shakers.

Endnotes 1. |dmes H. Smi:th, History of Duchess County, New York; 1683-1882 (Sylacuse, D. Mason & Co., 1882), p. 63.

2. Pongfekeps!.e /octr7z#J, September 26, 1985, p. 38.

3. Nine Partners Monthly Meeting, Minutes 1850-1903, meeting of 18th of llth Month 1852.

4. Nine Partners Monthly Meeting, Minutes 1828-50, meeting of 16th of 7th Month 1840.

5. Ibid., meeting of 20th of 5th Month 1841.

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DUTCHESS QUAKERS AGAINST NILITARY PARTICIPATION

6. New York Yeady Meeting, Religious Society of Friends, D!.scz.p!!.7te a/ #!g Ycady Meefz.7tg of Friends Held in New-York for the State of prew-York, and Paris Adjacent, as Revised and Adopted, in the Sixth Month,1810. (New York 1826), p. &5.

7. Nine Partners Monthly Meeting, Minutes 1828-50, meeting of 18th of 4th Month 1839.

8. Nine Partners Monthly Meeting, Minutes 1820-51, meeting of 18th of 4th Month 1839.

9. Ijzzos o/ £fec S£#£c of Nezu York,1823 (Albany,1823) 46th Session, Ch. CCXLIV.

10. Poughkeepsie Journal, ALpfl 2, 1823, p. 2.

11. JZ7z.d., April 30, 1823, p. 3.

12. JZ7id., May 7, 1823, p. 3.

13. Ijzzos of N. Y., 1824 (Albany 1824) 47th Session, Ch. CCXLVII. 14. Rcz)I.sed S£#£r!fcs o/ #1e Sfafe a/ Nczt; York (Albany, 1846), 3rd Edition, Vol. I., Ch. X.

T5 . Revised Statutes of the State of New York . . . and all the Acts of General Inter?st Passed During #!c Sess].o#s o/ 1846, 1847 fl7zd 1848 (Albany, 1848), 3rd Edition, Vol. IH., Ch. 139.

16. JZ7!.d., 3rd Edition, Vol. Ill., Ch. 290.

17. Rczjz.scd Sfflf#£cs o/ #ze Sfflfc a/ Nezt) york (Albany, 1859), 5th Edition, Vol. I., Ch. 398.

T8. Supplement to the Fifth Edition of the Revised Statutes of the State of New York (AItoainy, 1863), Ch. 477 (1862)

19. Minutes of Nine Partners Monthly Meeting, 1828-50, meeting of 18th of 4th Month 1831.

20. Ibid, meeting of 17th of 4th Month 1834.

21. Ibid, meeting of 20th of 4th Month 1843.

22. Minutes of Oswego Monthly Meeting, 1843-72, meeting of 16th of 4th Month 1845.

23. Letter, William DeGarmo to Governor William C. Bouck, July 11, 1845, Cornell University Libraries, Dept. of Manuscripts & University Archives.

24. Minutes of Oswego Monthly Meeting, 1843-72, meetings of 15th of 4th Month 1857 and 14th Month 1858.

25. Ibid., meeting of 15th of 4th Month 1863.

26. minutes of Oswego Monthly Meeting, 1835-75, various 4th Month meetings.

27. Ibid., meeting of 18th of 5th Month 1864.

28. Ibid., meeting of 20th of llth Month 1861.

Note: The conflicting dates for minute books listed above under a single Monthly Meeting name is not an error. Following the Separation of 1828 each Monthly Meeting divided into two Monthly Meetings, each retaining the original name.

Bibliography Smi:th, lanes H., History Of Duchess County, New York; 1683-1882 (Syracase.. D. MaLson 8E Co., 1882)

Upton, Dell, ``A History of the Quakers in Dutchess County, New York; 1728-1828" Unpublished senior thesis, Colgate University, 1970. (Copy in Butts Library, Clinton House, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.) ``Military Service." £#eycJopeedz.a 877.f#7criz.ca, 1971. Vol. 15.

d

POUGIREEPSIE HORSE CARS

59

Poughkeepsie Horse Cars Charles Benjamin

T

e Mid-Hudson Valley's first street railway operation was Poughkeepsie's horse car system, opening on June 4, 1870, and continuing for almost a quarter of a century. Nine ``bob-tail" cars and as many as 42 horses faithfully served the two routes from the river out to the Poughkeepsie and Eastern Railroad depot and to Vassar College until the `'new-fangled" electric cars took over.

Edmund Platt's 1905 history of Poughkeepsie is a standard reference for the period and describes the beginnings of the horse car operation. A street railroad had been projected, according to Platt, ``as soon as it became reasonably certain that the Poughkeepsie and Eastern Railroad would be built. " The Poughkeepsie City Railroad Company was first chartered in 1866, but like many other enterprises of the time (including the P&E), was postponed by the financial panic of 1867.

It was finally organized under a charter granted on May 6, 1869. The first directors were all prominent local citizens, including Harvey G. Eastman, who was mayor of Poughkeepsie from 1871-1874. Many were also on the board of the P&E, since the passenger business of both was closely tied together.

Platt's history continues, ``Efforts were made to prevent any one person or combination from obtaining control of the road, and in February 1870, the directors announced that no subscription for more than $5000 would be accepted. Evidently there was no great difficulty about raising the money, for in April a contract was made with Leach & Co. of Philadelphia to build the entire line from the Hudson River Railroad (NYC) depot to the Poughkeepsie and Eastern depot, and on May 14 it was stated that the work was progressing finely, and the entire track would be laid in nine days."1 Soon after the opening, the horse car line furnished an easy means of hauling up the first freight and passenger cars to be used on the P&E, which had no direct cormection to any other railroads at the time. However, the horse car rails were not up to carrying the weight of the P&E's first steam locomotives, and a temporary timber track was laid on local streets to allow that move.

Operation of this first 1.6 mile-long line, up Main Street through the business district and out Snrith Street to the P&E depot, commenced on June 4 with apCharles Benjamin is an Engineering Manager at I.B.M. , Fishhill. Since beyhood he .has been intrigued by trotleys, alectric trains and their history. This article is adapted _fropi Chapter 2 of a mamscript on local traction history which we hope w{I,I appear as a book.

60

POUGHKEEPSIE HORSE CARS

fr=,-=j=~ fe:*fT_+ `Ji 'u i r'

\-.X (

`

'+I

1

|`r,

EJ=~ +. , =~

Car 3 at the turn-around loop in frorit of Vassar Cotlege. Courtesy, Vassar College.

propriate fanfare.2 The little four-wheeled one-man cars were built to accommodate 20 passengers each, but were frequently called on to carry twice that number. They were popular from the beginning, although there was some resentment about the 10 cent fare. Regular riders could buy books of tickets at reduced rates, however. Traveling salesmen, then known as ``drummers'', sometimes bought the ticket books even though they had no use for them, rather than pay the 10 cents for a single ride, and then sold the tickets they didn't need to other passengers.

Platt's history states that in 1872 the second line was built, continuing out Main Street from Smith (Clinton Square) to Raymond Avenue, and then along that thoroughfare to the main gate of Vassar College. This line, from the river to the college, was 2.9 miles long and rapidly became the system's main route, relegating the Smith Street service to a secondary status.3 A real estate ``boom" was said to be in progress at this time in the area east of Cherry Street. A meeting was called on March 2, 1872 to solicit subscriptions and was attended by prominent citizens. A second meeting was held, and by September the tracks were laid to ``Bull's Head" and on to the college. It was then decided that ``Bull's Head" wasn't a suitable name for ``a suburb of such a thriving city as Poughkeepsie'',4 and the little settlement was re-named East Poughkeepsie; today the area is known as Arlington.

Net earnings of $2,008.96 were reported for the year ending September 30, 1873. Soon after this, the company abandoned its old stables near the P&E RR depot and built a stable on the north side of Main Street about one-half block east of the junction at Clinton Square.5 This location remained the base of operations for all horse cars, trolley cars, and buses in Poughkeepsie until 1954.

In the days of horse-drawn streetcars, the management of the road was said to be emphatic that the conductor, who was driver as well, got every fare. Each

POUGIHCEEPSIE HORSE CARS

61

Oneofthefive"CdyRatlroad"carspurchasedne:win1870fromSfeve_n's_Ca_rManuf_actory in Now York Cdy. Those were 17 feet long, 7 feet wide and 9 feet higfa. E_mpty, t±ey wdghed about a ton and could seat 16 passengers. Photograph from the Stephenson Collection, Museum of the Cdy of New York.

patronwasrequiredtodrophis10centsorticketintoaboxatthefrontofthecar, directly behind the driver. One old-time resident said, ``If you didn't drop in your fare, the conductor would make sure to rap on the window and call you back." However, prosperity was brief. The City Railroad failed to pay its fixed charges and was sold on December 11, 1876, to its bondholders for seo,000.

Aaron Innis became president of the company, reorganized as the City Railroad of Poughkeepsie, on October 22, 1877, and ``by strict economy of management keptitoutoffinancialdifficulty".6Thoughreturningnothingtothestockholders for a long period, those who held on ultimately got back most of their original investment when the road was sold again 16 years later.

A horse car was usually pulled by a team of two horses, but three were customarily used for the hard pull up Main Street hill, and a fourth was not uncommon when there was a particularly heavy load.

At Clover Street, the top of the worst grade, or at Washington Street, the top of the hill, the extra horse or horses were unhitched and allowed to jog back down to the bottom of the hill alone. The rest of the system was practically level; all photos show two horses on each car for such operation, although one would probably have been sufficient when traffic was light.

Most of Main Street was paved with cobblestones from the river to Cherry Street. East of that , Main Street was just a dirt road, well rutted and '`deep with dust in the summer." The cross-walks in the cobblestoned section were flagstone, so that the rails made the horse cars by far the smoothest means of travel, even with uneven rail joints and rotting ties underneath.

One short block of Main Street; from Washington to Market, was paved with

62

POUGHKEEPSIE HORSE CARS

granite. This was even harder on the horses than the cobblestones, as they frequently caught and loosened a shoe in the cracks between the stones. Then the passengers sat and waited while a horse was unhitched, led to Robinson's Blacksmith Shop below Washington Street, and re-shod.

The horses themselves were noteworthy and were colorfu]ly described by a former employee, Edward Travis, in an interview by the late Joseph W. Emsley, whose articles have been widely quoted in this paper. Five of the single horses who made the run from the car barn to the college and back were ``Cracker Boy", "Bfllie Snrith'', ``Old Jake", "Major King'', and ``Norman". The first was ap-

parently ``Majoreveryone's King" wasfavorite. a floppy type, according to Travis. ``He just wouldn't keep

the traces taut, and the car would frequently crowd him. He had a habit of stumbling, and on one occasion stumbled and decided to be down for a while, eating grass by the side of the tracks." ``Pat", the regular tow horse who helped two-horse hitches up Main Street as far as Clover Street, was the best known of the lot. ``People knew him better than they did the mayor of the city", claimed Travis. ``He was a horse! He was almost human! He had a habit of chasing after persons who teased him. One tilne a man sneezed in his presence, and old ``Pat" took after him -a drul]rmer -and chased hin into AI Lotterer's hotel. (Fortunately he wasn't hitched to a car full of paying passengers at this time!) When ``Pat" laid his ears back and began to bristle and snort, you had to watch out!"

M. Travis continued, ``On Saturday rights, when the cars went down to meet the Mary Powell (the most famous steamboat of the Hudson River Day Line), a four-horse hitch was often in order. A pile of people used to come off that steamer and take the horse cars up the hill. Sometimes she was late. Quite frequently the horse car hands had to wait from 7:15, when the Powell was supposed to dock, until 9:00. The tide was often to blame for the delay."7 Mr. Travis' brother, Vincent, was a horse car driver and ordinarily made seven round trips from the stables to the river in a day.

M. Travis also recaued the famous blizzard of 1888 and how it affected the horse car road. The service was out of commission for 17 days, and for once Milo Davis (the line's superintendent) ``taught the merchants a thing or two". It seems they had been in the habit of shoveling all their snow and slush into the path of the horse cars. Leastwise, the municipality never made any pretense of clearing Main Street, and it fell to the City Railroad to clear the way.

Somehow or other the big blow was accurately forecast at the carbarns, and M. Davis had all the horses safely tucked in their stalls when the blizzard began to take shape here. The actual snow fan was 23 inches, M. Travis said, but the drifts were so high in places that tunnels were made in various places. There was a regular subway in Garden Street, he declared.

Although photographic documentation is understandably scarce, those pictures which exist give a cross-section of cars used on the line. AIl were closed, four-wheeled ``bob-tail" cars, so nick-named because their single step at the rear instead of a full-width platform gave a chopped-off look, like the rear of a horse whose tail had been tied up, or ``bobbed".

To turn the single-end bob-tail cars around, a loop or turntable was necessary, and turntables were built at the carbam, the ferry (originally a half-block off Main Street, just across the tracks from the present Amtrak/NIA station), at the P&E depot just west of Smith Street, and at East Poughkeepsie (AIlington - Main and

POUGHKEEPSIE HORSE CARS

63

Raymond). Photos show a tight loop instead of a turntable at the end of the Vassar College line.

The cars which went to Vassar College were painted dark red, and those running to the P&E depot were green. The red cars were equipped with red and green bull's-eye oval glasses behind which kerosene lamps were placed at right.

The driver of the green cars had the easier schedule with an 18-minute layover at the end of each trip.

Cars were numbered 1-8 and 10, and were either five or six windows long. The body of Car No. 10 was built in the company's blacksmith shop and had arched rather than square windows. One dim photo appears to show a five-window car with the number ``9"; this may have been rebuilt into No. 10 to increase the line's capacity or as the result of an accident.

The line was single-track throughout, with several passing sidings. It was originally built with 28 and 35 lb. rail, which quickly became so uneven that it was reported to have been laid "without ties". Several years later the line was rebuilt with 42 1b. rail, apparently adequate until the heavier electric cars appeared on the scene.

Discount tickets for regular riders were apparently sold at different times for ten for 50¢, six for 25¢, or four for 25¢. The last car up Main Street at night left the depot at 8:36 pin. It would usually go only as far as the East Poughkeepsie turntable, and if any patron wanted to go further (such as well-heeled Vassar girls), they were charged three extra tickets.

On December 23, 1892, the company petitioned the City of Poughkeepsie Common Council to operate its railroad with electricity as motive power, and consent was granted. However, the next year the City Railroad was sold to Capt.

James W. Hinkley, who obtained additional franchises and set about expanding as well as electrifying the system. On October 14, 1893, the horse car line became part of the Poughkeepsie City and Wappingers Falls Electric Railway Co., chartered for 999 years. (It folded a mere 61 years later).

While the horse cars continued plodding faithfully, the streets were torn up for the installation of new heavier rail and for the double-tracking of Main Street up to Clinton Square; the horse car double track in front of the carbarn became a single trolley track, however. Even the barn itself was completely rebuilt to house the much larger fleet of electric cars as well as the power plant itself . The recurrent agitation to replace the old cobblestone pavement with a smoother one was revived, this time successfully. While the track work was underway, many of the old cobblestones were given to residents who carried them home and used them for foundations, porches, walks, and various decorative touches.

Finally, on October 1, 1894, the first electric car made its triumphant run up Main Street, although according to newspaper reports, a few blocks from the car barns it had to wait for a horse car, ``faded, cracked, small and old", to be moved from the track by a ``peculiar switch previously not applied on electric railways" .

Regular trolley service began 10 days later, marking the end of Poughkeepsie's horse cars.

Epilogue: The h.orses and their bob-tail cars didn't disappear immediately, however. The 1901 Poor's A4¢7£w¢Z of Pz!Z7Zz.c Lrfz7z.£z.cs still shows two horse cars on

the roster, although these were apparently gone before the catastrophic carbam fre on February 11, 1906. There were stables underneath the carbarn floor, and four of the horses that had drawn horse cars in earlier years were led to safety during that fire before the new building was destroyed. Horses were kept in the

64

POUGHKEEPSIE HORSE CARS

new carbarn as well (for emergency and/or utility as well as for sentimental reasons), and news reports of the second carbarn fire (on November 12, 1912) also mention horses being led to safety. However, with that first electric car grinding up Main Street, and with the old horse cars taking a well-earned rest, a new era had come to the Queen City of the Hudson.

Endnotes 1. Edm:un± PIErtt, The Eagle's History of Poughkeepsie from the Eahiest Settlements, 1683 to 1905, Platt and Platt, Poughkeepsie, 1905, p. 216.

2. Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, June 6,1:870.

3. Platt, op. cz.i., p. 216.

4. JZJz.d., p. 216.

5. Ibid., p. 2Z7.

6. Ibid., p. 227.

7. Joseph W. Emsley, Po#gJzkeepsz.c fz)cHz.ng Sffl7., 1935. No other date or page number.

8. Poughkeapsie Daily Eagle, May 23, T870, p. 3.

Bibliographical Note The corporate records of the Poughkeepsie City Railroad Company and its early successes have apparently been destroyed. Edmund Platt's Tfec fagJe's Hz.story a/Po#ghieaps!.e froow #ic fa7.Jz.csf Sc££Zeffle77£s, 1683 £o 1905, Platt and Platt, Poughkeepsie, 1905, was the

source for the early history of the company. Colorful material concerning drivers, horses and cars was gleaned from a series of articles by Joseph W. Emsley which appeared in the

Pongfekeapsz.c fz7e#z.7zg S£Hr in the 1930's. These articles exist as clippings without dates or

page numbers in the files of the Adriance Memorial Library.

THE POUGIHCEEPSIE RAILROAD BRIDGE

65

Railroad Bridge An Informal History Michael D. Haydock

T

The Poughkeepsie

e first public suggestion that a railroad bridge should be built across Hudson's River at Poughkeepsie was made by T. G. Nichols, the editor of the ``Daily Press'', in an article in the issue of January 19, 1854.

Franklin Pierce was the President at the time. There were somewhat less than 15,000 miles of railroad in the United States, but that was up from less than 10,000 in 1850. M. Nichols was a visionary, and he had a good idea.

There were vast fields of coal in the West, in Virginia, and in Permsylvania.

There were manufacturers in the East, and in New England in particular, who needed the coal. The railroad was, Nichols argued, the means to join the two. AII that stood in the way was the Hudson RIver.

M. Nichols had a good idea and he had it early. He nved to see it come to fruition in the form of a marvel of its age.

The Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, first suggested by Nichols, is a cold and inanimate object of metal, stone and concrete which lends itself wen to description in the logical language of engineering. The western approach to the bridge itself is 1,033 feet in length and is composed of seventeen deck girder spans and two eyebar Wanen deck truss spans, each 145 feet long. The eastern approach totals 2,640 feet and is made up of forty-two deck girder spans and five eyebar Warren deck truss spans. The river spans are a total of 3,094 feet long. They consist of: 1. A 200 foot anchor arm near each shore; 2. Two 548 foot suspended spans (made up of a 212 foot suspended simple span Warren truss and two supporting cantilever arms); 3. Two 525 foot fixed frame spans; 4. In the center, a third 548 foot suspended span.

This enormous steel super-structure is supported on a series of steel towers which rest on land on massive piers of concrete and in the river on four piers of masonry, timber, gravel and concrete. At its highest point, the top of the bridge is some 200 feet above the Hudson. When it was completed in 1888, its length of 6,767 feet (1.28 miles) was a record for a steel structure. The length of the center span was also a record. However, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge defies accurate and complete description in engineering terms alone as it is a massive Miched Haydock has been Building Inspector for the City of Pougivkeepsie stnce 1980. His knowledge of historied geology has given hin a special perspective on the history of Man. His accreditations inchade a CPCA (Certifeed Professional Code Administrator) from the Council of American Building Officials..

66

TIH POUGHKEEPSIE RAILROAD BRIDGE

presence, a familiar landmark in the valley and a monument to an era which is now gone.

During the time between the laying of the comerstone by the Pennsylvania Railroad in late 1873 and the first train crossing on December 29, 1888, the United States had five Presidents and the flag had two designs. In Europe, Brahms wrote his Hungarian Dances, and Second, Third and Fourth Symphonies; Verne wrote ``Around the World in Eighty Days", and Ibsen wrote ``An Enemy of the People" and ``A Doll's House" while the bridge was under construction. In America, Twain produced both ``Tom Sawyer" and ``Huckleberry Finn" while it was being built. Edison, tinkering in his lab, developed both the phonograph and the electric light while the Hudson was being spanned at Poughkeepsie.

And the railroad came of age.

In 1830 there had been twenty-three miles of railroad in the country. By 1840, 2,818. Before the Civil War, the mileage had leaped to over 30,000 and reached 52,922 by 1870. For all that, however, the railroads were somewhat primitive and did not deal well with rivers. To truly understand the difficulties which faced the builders, it is necessary to bear in mind the technical limitations of that instrument which the bridge was designed to serve - the railroad - and to consider the formidable obstacle which the Hudson represented.

Railroads, by their very nature, operate best where the land is flat, or nearly so; therefore, the tracks of most ealy railroads followed the beds of those even earlier paths of commerce, the rivers. A locomotive hauling a long and heavy train of cars cannot negotiate a steep slope upward and is even less able to deal safely with a steep downward slope. For that reason the bridge over the Hudson at Poughkeepsie would set records. It would not follow a river but would leap it at a right angle.

For the traveler on foot or horseback in the 1870's, the Hudson was a minor obstacle crossed in a few moments on a ferry. For a railroad, it was a much different story, for there was more to contend with than the Hudson as it once had been. From the viewpoints of bridge engineers and geologists, the Hudson is no ordinary river; the valley is more like a canyon, very wide and very deep, plowed out through the pre-existing river bed by the last glacial advance of the Pleistocene Era some 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. The ice, more than a rfule thick, had gnawed and abraded rock from the old river shores, leaving those steep

rocky slopes that today plunge down to the water. Most of what was borne away ended eventually as an outwash of sand and gravel and rock - the terminal moraine which forms the hills of Long Island, Staten Island and, near the mouth of the river, the Hummocks which separate the upper and lower bays of New York harbor. Glacier-gouged, the shores of the Hudson at Poughkeepsie were to be a stern challenge for M. Nichols and the bridge builders.

Geologic facts, coupled with the need to provide grades which a train could negotiate, dictated the length of the bridge. It was the limitations of technical skills such as engineering and metallurgy combined with the politics of the day which dictated its design.

By the eady 1870's Nichols' dream began to take the shape of a reality, for the time seemed right for such an enterprise. The country, so recently riven by a great Civil War, was beginning to bind together its wounds and get on with its business once again. Grant, the hero of Vicksburg and Appomattox, was in the White House. In 1869 the continent had been spanned by the joining of the railroads at Promontory Point, Utah. By 1870 there were more than 52,000 miles of

THE POUGHREEPSIE RAILROAD BRIDGE

67

active railroad in the country and the total was increasing daily.

Business was good. At over 675 million dollars there was more money in circu1ation than at any time in the nation's history. Everything was up. The value of manufactured goods produced had quadmpled to se,232,325,442 in the ten years between 1860 and 1870. The population stood at over thirty-eight million and per capita wealth had never been higher.

Of course, there were darker signs as well. The national debt, swollen by war expenditures, had risen to a height of over two billion dollars. Imports exceeded exports in value. There was unrest among the members of the labor force and the idea of unions to protect the worker was gaining. But those were minor distractions to the men of vision who would ship coal to New England over a bridge at Poughkeepsie.

A formal charter to build the bridge was granted by the New York State Legislature in 1871. At first this document dictated that there could be no piers in the river, a concession to the boatmen who sailed the Hudson in trade. It was a concession that would not last, however, as it would have required the construction fof the suspension bridge in excess of 2,500 feet long. The technical abhity to

achieve that span did not exist at the time. It would not exist until Ammann's triumphant George Washington Bridge design in 1931.

While the Poughkeepsie Bridge was being contemplated, the Brooklyn Bridge was being constructed. With a center span of 1,595 feet 6 inches between piers located I.71 £Jzc rz.z7er, it would remain the longest suspension bridge in the world until

construction of its companion over the East River, the Williamsburg, in 1903.

The Legislature relented. The charter of the bridge company was amended to allow no more than four piers in the river each to be at least 500 feet apart.

By eady 1873 the constmction of the bridge seemed assured as a controlling interest in the stock - $1,100,000 - was purchased by I. Edgar Thompson and A. D. Dennis on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad and other railroad interests.

At that moment the bubble burst. On September 18, the New York banking house of Jay Cooke and Company, heavily involved in the financing of the Northern Pacific Railroad and routinely engaged in highly questionable financial practices, failed. The failure precipitated the Panic of '73 and the depression which followed. Over 5,000 businesses failed by the end of the year. While the Bridge Company wasn't one of those, it may as wen have been, for, aside from the symbolic laying of a comerstone in November, 1873, no work on the bridge was done. Thompson died soon after the ceremony and a pall settled over the whole affair.

Good ideas die hard, however, and the idea of a railroad bridge across the Hudson at Poughkeepsie was a good idea. The coal fields were still in western Pennsylvania. The manufacturers who needed the coal to run their plants were still in New England. The technical ability to build a railroad between the two increased. The only obstacle was that damnably wide Hudson River.

In 1876, with the country still in the depths of a depression, a contract was let to the American Bridge Company of Chicago. Construction of the river piers was begun.

The Hudson in the area of the bridge piers is between 60 and 70 feet deep and the surface level varies up to five feet with the tides. The bottom is a soft mushy mixture of clay, silt and sand for another 60 to 70 feet until a layer of gravel on top of the bedrock is reached. The gravel extends for another 15 to 20 feet. The success or failure of the railroad bridge would depend on the abhity of the engineer

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TEE POUGHKEEPSIE RAILROAD BRIDGE

to construct piers of adequate design to support the massive structure above. The method chosen was one which had been in use for nearly two thousand years, since the master engineers of antiquity, the Romans, bridged the Rhine and the Danube.

On the shore teams of carpenters set to work constructing a gigantic wooden crib. At the base this device measured 60' x 100' - approxinately the size of a typical city building lot of the time.

The bottom course of the crib was of white oak, a material chosen for its hardness, which served as a cutting shoe for the sinking of the crib through the riverbed material. The remaining courses of the crib were made up of 12" x 12" piers of white hendock.

Each crib was divided into two rectangular areas by the cutting shoes and each of these were subdivided by six bulkheads of timber to produce 14 dredging pockets in the crib. Around the outside perimeter of the crib were 22 rectangular pockets into which gravel would be placed to weigh the device down. An additional 6 weighing pockets occupied the center of the crib.

At first crib construction was begun in a manner similar to the construction of a ship. A later crib would be begun directly on the surface of the ice in winter and cut into the water upon completion. When the height of a crib reached several courses, it was launched like a ship and construction continued at a wharf until a height of 60 to 70 feet was reached. At that point the partially completed crib was towed to the pier location in the river and anchored in place. There the business of weighing began. As the 28 weighing pockets were fflled with gravel the crib slowly sank to the bottom of the river. As it sank, additional cribbing was added to the top. When the cutting shoe struck the muck at the river bottom it sunk in for a short distance and stopped.

Material was then dredged from the river bottom up through the dredging pockets by two huge steam dredgers while placement of gravel in the weighing pockets continued. Gradually the crib sank through the 70 feet of muck and into the resistant gravel below. When this layer was reached and the crib could gain no more depth into the gravel, dredging ceased and the dredging pockets were filled with concrete, laboriously and slowly placed a cubic yard at a tine from a box lowered to the bottom by a dredge and opened with a tag line. When filled with concrete to within two feet of the top, the concreting ceased and gravel was placed in the top and leveled by divers.

When the crib had been completed, a floating cofferdam was towed to the site and weighted with stone to lower it to the top of the crib. With the cofferdam in place and pumped free of water, construction was begun on the masonry piers which today jut from the water.

By mid-1878 the American Bridge Company had constructed two piers and had partially completed the crib for a third, and it had gone nearly bankmpt in the process. Work on the Poughkeepsie Railroad was again suspended although the charter was periodically renewed.

In 1882 the County of Dutchess celebrated its bicentennial with the publication of a history. The author dealing with the bridge despaired of its ever being completed.1 The coal fields of the West remained however, and the manufacturers of New England were stu coal-hungry.

In 1886, new capital had been found and the Union Bridge Company renewed work on the project. By autumn the piers were nearly completed; steel was rising from the piers already in place. But the boatmen were still complaining about the

THE POUGHKEEPSIE RAILROAD BRIDGE

i

60J'

>

CRIB IN

PLAN VIEW

69

i-6o,a-TYPICAL PIER IN SECTION

Figure I - Pier Details piers and about yet another matter which appeared as a hazard to navigation.

The original design of the bridge, after the idea of a suspension bridge had been abandoned, was for five identical rectangular trusses. This design, however, could be carried through only by the construction of staging and falsework between the piers to support the steel until construction was complete and the truss could stand alone, supported only by the piers (See photograph 1). Construction of the falsework would mean, the maritime interests quite rightly argued, that at least a 500' width of the river would be closed to navigation at all times during the construction. This was of particular concern with regard to the span at the center of the river where the deepest channel lay. As a consequence the design of the bridge was changed once again.

Three cantilevered spans were introduced into the design. By utilization of these elements it was possible to erect those portions of the bridge from the top, eliminating the need for blocking the portions under the spans. The construction of these was accomplished by huge traveling cranes which worked outward from adjoining piers laying steel as they traveled toward each other over the steel they had previously laid. Meeting at mid-span, they joined the final pieces of steel of the bridge in late 1888.

The first train crossed in December of that year and soon coal was flowing in mile-long trains across Poughkeepsie's Railroad Bridge and on to New England dafty.

The bridge at Poughkeepsie was a success and was modified and strengthened through the years. Between 1906 and 1907 major reconstruction was undertaken.

A new center truss was added to the river span, the existing towers from the river piers were bolstered and much other work was undertaken, including the

70

THE POUGIHCEEPSIE RAILROAD BRIDGE

View downward toward river, from area within trusses, under track bed.

addition of a double track.

In spite of the Panic of '07 when the stock exchange nearly ran out of money and New York City teetered on the dismal edge of bankruptcy because the money supply had somehow dried up, times seemed good. The man whom Boss Hanna had called ``that cowboy", Theodore Roosevelt, was President and everything looked bully.

As America entered the First World War, work ivas again taking place on the bridge. Between 1917 and 1918 the double track system was replaced with a gauntlet track arrangement over the center truss. This allowed for the carrying of heavier loads. When reopened to traffic, troop trains alternated with coal trains crossing the Hudson. That mix would occur again in the eady 1940's.

After the World War 11 the use of the bridge and of railroads in general entered a slow and steady decline. The coal of Pennsylvania and West Virginia was still

there - at least some of it was - but it was now more expensive to use and to haul to the industries of New England. And the industries of New England weren't there in as great abundance anymore. Rising raw material and labor costs had driven many to the south and west. M. Nichols' good idea was beginning to lose its validity. Use of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge fen off. So did its maintenance. The railroad had employed a firm of consulting engineers, Modjeski and Masters, in 1922 to perform annual inspections of the structure.

The engineering firm discontinued these inspections in 1968, reporting that the railroad was not following its recommendations.

On May 8, 1974, a slow freight (the speed limit on the span was then 10 in.p.h.) inched across the bridge from west to east. It would be the last train to do so to date, as a ``hot box" in one of its car wheels showered sparks on the ties of the east approach over the City of Poughkeepsie. The ties ignited and by the time it was extinguished nearly nine hours later, the fre had traveled along 720 feet of the bridge, generating heat intense enough to warp the structural steel in places.

TEE POUGIHCEEPSIE RAILROAD BRIDGE

71

View from fire-damaged section of bridge looking south-west toward mghland.

On the following day, in Poughkeepsie, clean-up after the fire was underway.

In Washington, the House Judiciary Committee opened impeachment hearings against the incumbent President Nixon.

The world moved on. Conrail, the successor to a number of independent railroads including Penn Central (owner of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge,) announced plans to abandon the lines leading to the bridge from both east and west. With the bridge out of service the lines made no sense. In due time the abandonment was approved.

In early 1982, the City of Poughkeepsie sued Conrail to cause the removal of all materials other than the steel superstructure itself from that part of the bridge over the City. The New York State Supreme Court granted such an order on April 29, 1983 and the bridge was stripped to its steel skeleton from the edge of the Hudson RIver east to Washington Street.

Of late the Coast Guard has characterized the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge as a hazard to navigation, echoing the phrase used by the boatmen who didn't want it there in the first place.

Afterthought It is unlikely that the great Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge will last until the next great ice age; the works of man do not endure as do the rocks. Any remnant of it which is left here at the time of the next glacial advance will end in the terminal moraine somewhere to the south as a thin strata of ferrous oxide in the soil.

Endnote 1. James H. Smith, A Hz.stony of Dztcfecss Co##fty, New York: D. Mason, Syracuse, New York, 1882.

72

NOTEs AND QuoTEs: pouGIREEpslE crlTy SCHOOL DlsTRICT

Notes and Quotes: History of the Poughkeepsie City School District Peter Anders Edman

Introduction "Notes and Quotes - History of the Poughkeepsie City School District" and ``Notes

and Quotes: A History of the Curriculum in the Poughkeepsie City School District" are part of a fiend work project I undertook in January 1985, my senior year at Vassar College.

My assignment was to prapare an informal history of the Pougivkeepsie School District, with a focus on the changes in the curriculum. I engaged in an in-depth survey of the material for the period, prepared a tineline and organized nouch of my research into brief articles providing information on the items in the tineline. The fdrlowing pages rapresent some of the "notes and quotes" that I used.

I an making these personal notes available because I feel that this couection of information will be useful to others. I hope they can be used as a starting point or reference guide

for information on either the Pouglckeepsie Cdy School District or on education in general. The following points, however, should be kept in mind: • Ma:ny statements mark ``frrsts" in the Pougivkeapsie schools although others are

sinply items that were fbund, and therefore do not necessardy imply significance •

for the years under which they are listed.

Items included in the fdrlowing pages are not intended to be complete accounts of the

School District's history - they represent some of my notes and are those items which were of interest to me and which I felt were needed for the project.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Irene R;utledge of the School District and Myra Morales of the Adriance Memorial Library.

1841 . ``In March, 1841, an educational meeting . . . received the report of a

committee which had been investigating the general condition of the village in the matter of school attendance. A census had been made of the children beween the ages of 5 and 16 years in the sections west of Washington and Market Streets, and the rest were estinated. Of the 1,641 children in the village the colnmittee stated that about 382 attended no school, though some of these had attended for a few terms. (1 sentence skipped here) This meeting reported in favor of an extension and improvement of the Lancaster system. The /oz/r7c¢Z was opposed to a free school system, of which it said the fngzc and the Tezegrtzz7Jz were `the especial

advocates."' -Platt, p. 144 Peter Anders Edman grew up in Scottsvtlle, New York, a suburb of Rochester, but he was born in Pougivkeepsie, has relatives there and was graduated from Vassar College in 1985.

He was the recipient of the 1985 Helen Miringoff Award from Vassar Couege for his research on this project.

NOTES AND QuoTES: pouGrmcEEpslE CITY ScHooL DlsTRICT

73

1843 . ``Abraham Bockee, who was a member of the State Senate from 1842 to 1845, introduced and advocated early in 1843 a special act creating a village board of education of twelve members, with authority to borrow $12,000 for the erection of buildings and to raise by taxation about $7,000 a year." -Platt, p. 144

• ``The act was nevertheless passed April 18th and was approved at a special vfllage election, May 17th, by a majority of 168 in a total poll of 976 voters. It directed an annual election on the first Tuesday of June each year for members of

the board of education, who were at once `to build and furnish one good and substantial school house, containing two rooms of sufficient capacity to accommodate not less than one hundred and twenty-five pupils each, and to rent five other rooms for primary schools.' " -Platt, p. 144 • ``At the elections for the first b of e .... The opposition of the school law put an opposition ticket in the field and attempted a stratagem, withholding their votes until the afternoon, when they cast about 324 for each of the following: ....

Out the members) were chosen with a vote ranging from 330 to 424." -Platt, p. 145

• Persons elected ``at a special meeting held June 13, 1843"; first meeting and oath on June 20; Egbert 8. Killey was elected President but he declined the office; l^7illiam P. Gibbons was then elected President and Thomas Austin elected Clerk - The beginning pages of the 1843-1854 Minute Book • The first 12 commissioners were elected on June 13, 1843, ``. . . and on the 20th . . . they assembled in the room of the village trustees and organized the first 8 of E." -Historical Sketch, p. 2

* • ``In 1843 the village corporation owned no school building and the 8 sup-

plied the want by the rental of the building formerly occupied as a theater situated in Market street near Jay . . . for the term of three years and nine months, at $80 a year.

A room was also rented in the building situated on the comer of Clinton and Thompson streets, for the same rent and same term. (. . .)

About the lst of August, 1843, the 8 established a primary school in each of these places, and on the lst of December, 1843, it rented a room in the coach factory at the junction of Mill street and Dutchess avenue, and organized a third primary school." -Historical Sketch, p. 16

* • At this meeting, the Board reported the purchase of a lot - Mill and Bridge Streets for $500, from L.B. Trowbridge (which became the Grammar school for boys) -R, Aug. 2, 1843, p. 21 • ``Resolved, That an admissions to the schools established by the Board, shall be by tickets to be issued by the visiting committees." -R, Aug. 23,1843, p. 27 • ``Visiting Committee Reported that the tickets for Primary School No.1 were all taken by the appncants for admission, and that said school is now full." -R, Aug. 30, 1843, p. 28

74

NOTES AND QUOTES: POUGliKEEPSIE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

• ]osiah I. Underhill hired ``as Principal and Assistant of the Grammar School for boys" -R, Aug. 30, 1843, p. 28

• A Statement that the Committee on examining schools had visited the Primary School ``and found said school in a highly prosperous state" - R, Sept. 6, 1843, p. 29

•... library passed to the Board on the 12th of September,1843. . ." -p. 88, 1879 A.R.

• Board to rent for six months a room ``known as the Coach Factory at the Junction of Dutchess Avenue and Mll Street. . ." -R, Oct.11,1843, p. 37 • ``Resolved That as soon as the means of the board whl permit it is expedient to place one of the Primary Schools permanently under the charge of a male principal; to establish one Primary School exclusively for girls. And also such a coloured school as shall be sufficient to educate the coloured children of the village." -R, Nov.15,1843, p. 41

1844 . ``The Building Committee reported the completion of the Grammar School." -R, Jan. 10, 1844. p. 48 • 8 to give notice, post handbills ``. . . that Mr. Underhill will colnmence the examination of candidates for admission into the Grammar School . . ." R, Jan. 11, 1844, p. 49

• The 8 resolved that the Grammar School be opened on Jam. 29 -R, Jan. 24, 1844, p. 50

• ``. . . and on Jan. 29th `the first grammar school for boys under the free school act' was opened in the building . . . with 119 `qualified scholars' in attendance, under the superintendence of Josiah I. Underhill." -Platt, p. 145. ``The private schools and academies had the prestige, and the free schools were at first expected to take care only of those children whose parents were not able to pay tuition ,... " - Platt, p. 145

• ``Permit me to direct the attention of the friends of our public schools to the necessity of being vigilant and punctual in their attendance on Tuesday next,, at the village election when our supplies for the support of these schools wi]] be voted. Perhaps it is not generally known that the opponents of the free schools are making their calculations to VOTE DOWN the money recommended to be raised for their support during the coming year. If this is done, the schools must necessardy be closed, and 570 children turned into the streets, to be educated in idleness and vice. -Would it not be well to call a public meeting, and sdi up our friends to activity. 0." -Article in the PozfgJzkeapsz.e /oz{m¢J ¢7cd £¢gJe, March 2, 1844, p. 2

• ``Resolved that . . . be a committee for opening the Female department of Grammar School No 1 on the lst Monday in May." -R, April 10, 1844 • ``This colored school (School No. 9) was originally estabnshed May 1, 1844,

when the Board rented the Primitive Methodist Church room in Church street, and in it established a school for colored children with 35 pupils in attendance.''

- Historical Sketch, p. 19 • Board reports they rented the ``Primitive Methodist Church room in Church St" -R, May 1, 1844, p. 60. Reports there are 35 in the CS -p. 62, May 14, 1844

NOTES AND QUoTES: PouGRECEEPSIE crT¥ ScHooL DlsTRICT

75

• Opened on May 6, 1844: The Female Department of the Grammar School and the Colored School -R, May 14, 1844, p. 62 • Opened on Dec. 2, 1844: Primary School No. 4 for Boys; reported by a committee; 79 pupils admitted, transferred from the other schools -R, Dec. 4, 1844, p.79

1846 . ``Resolved that the Board wfll hereafter furnish pens and ink for all the schools where necessary." -R, Nov. 10, 1846, p. 147 1847 . ``Resolved that the board expects that the teachers will see that their school rooms are swept every afternoon after the hour for closing school."

Adopted. -R, February 2, 1847, p. 158 1850 . Committee on Teachers report: ``Gentlemen, our attention being called to the impropriety of the girls and boys occupying the same rooms in the Primary Schools Nos 1, 2, and 3 we deem it expedient to offer the following Resolution,

namely • Resolved, That the girls and boys of the Primary Schools Nos 1, 2, and 3 occupy separate apartments." : DEBATED AND LAID OVER -R, March 5,1850, p. 258; The resolution is laid on the table - R, April 2, 1850, p. 262 1854 . P became a city (charter passed) on March 28, 1854 -King, p. 61 1856 . In July the Board notes the resignation of Josiah Underhill -July 31,1856

• A special meeting called, "For the purpose of making arrangements for furnishing the new School Building in Church Street and. . .''; ``The report of the colnlnittee on the organization of the New School was called up and after some discussion the fouowing Amendment was offered by Mr. Warring. RcsoZz7ed. That the upper floor of the new building in Church St. be devoted to the establishment of a ``High School" for the admission of pupils of both sexes. After some further discussion, on Motion of Dr. Andrus, the report and amendment were laid on the table." -R, March 14, 1856

* • ``On March 14th, 1856, a motion was offered that the upper floor of the new building in Church street, (School No. 2,) be devoted to the use of the High School for the admission of pupils of both sexes. This motion, after some discussion, was laid on the table.

• Subsequently a HS was estabhihed there and continued until 1865, when at a meeting held August 23rd a resolution was adopted discontinuing the school for one year." -Historical Sketch, p. 20

* • Armual reports often state that the HS was estabhihed in 1856 - 1901 A.R., p. 214; 1906 A.R., p. 160 (although opened June 1857)

1857 . HS attendance first listed in the minutes on June 25, 1857, with an attendance of 40 and an average attendance of 37 - R, June 25, 1857 • A piece of paper in Adriance says: ``Names of the Scholars that went from the First Ward Grammar School to the IIigh School in Church Street to form the opening class on June 15th. 1857." -Piece of paper received March 23,1937, in

76

NOTES AND QuoTEs: pouGIREEpslE crT¥ scHooL DlsTRICT

Adriance, 373. 7 P (Misc. Pamphlets/programs 1857-1968)

• ``The New Building in Church Street opened last Monday, and is full to overflowing, except the Highest Department, which will be opened in a few days, as soon as a proper principal can be obtained." - '`To the Tax Payers of Poughkeepsie", a letter signed by ``A Member of the Board", in the Pongfekeaps!.e Tezegr¢pJ3, June 9, 1857

1862 . ``On motion it was Resolved That we furnish the scholars in our Public schools with pens and penholders." -R, Oct. 29,1862

1863 . ``A motion was made 2nd and carried that an appropriation of Fifteen Dollars be made for the purpose of hiring Pine Hall for an Exhibiton and awarding Diplomas to the Graduates, on Wednesday evening July 15th.''; (might possibly be the first commencement exercises); exams on July 10, 13 -July 1, 1863 1864 . Mentions exams for graduating class, and exercises to again be at Pine Hall; ``The class consists of seven members." -June 1,1864 • A Committee appointed ``to ascertain the expediency of discontinuing the H S and of raising the grade of the Grammar schools;" -R, Nov. 2, 1864 • Committee report: ``Reported in favor of continuing the HS, and recommended that it be earnestly sustained by all the members of the 8, so that its efficiency might be increased."; unanimously adopted, ordered printed - R, Dec. 7, 1864

1865 . Resolution offered: ``Resolved; That we discontinue the HS at the close of this term;" It LOST; However, they did adopt to notify the HS principal ``that his services win be dispensed with at the close of this term." -R, June 6, 1865

• ``Moved and 2d that the HS be discontinued from this date."; laid on the table until another meeting - R, Aug. 2, 1865 • Special Meeting called ``For the purpose of acting upon the resolution . . . in reference to the discontinuance of the HS . . ." ** ``Resolved; That the HS be discontinued for one year from this date." ** Approved by a 7 to 3 vote -R, Aug. 23, 1865

• `'The High School was discontinued for one year, 1865, after the war, ap-

parently as a measure of economy, but the demand for its reestabhishment was strong." -Platt, p. 204 1866 . ``On motion, it was c!7ta7cz.77zoctsky resolved, That we reopen the HS on

the lst `of September next." -June 6, 1866 • ``The 8 of E takes pleasure in announcing to the citizens of P that the Public High School (which was closed for one year) will be reopened on Monday, the third day of September next. All residents of this city who are qualified to enter will be admitted free. By order of the Board." Signed by RIchard Brittain, Clerk - An ad placed in the Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle in late August 1866

• ``The Academy trustees appreciated the situation and realizing that both institutions could not continue, did what they could to fachitate their union. In 1866 the Academy (Dutchess County Academy, `losing ground') building was rented to the city and the High School was reopened there." -Platt, p. 204. ``A demand soon arose for a new building in a more central location, and the

NOTES AND QUOTES: POUGIREEPSIE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

77

trustees, in response to a petition from the citizens, decided to sell the Academy and donate the proceeds to the Board of Education to be used towards the construction of a High School and Public Library." -Platt, p. 204 1870 . ``In the year 1870, the second floor of the building on Market street, known as Mulrein's Marble Front, was rented and the school transferred here. " -Historical Sketch, p. 20

• ``The old Dutchess County Academy, situated on the corner of Montgomery andSouthHandltonstreets,wassoldin1870,andtheproceedsofthefundsraised by the city were used for the erection of the High School and Library." Historical Sketch, p. 20 1871 . ``In 1871 the lot comer of Washington street and Lafayette place was purchased and the erection of the present building begun, which was completed in April, 1872, and the school (HS) transferred .... " -Historical Sketch, p. 20

• The property was purchased for $13,000; the HS ``found temporary lodgment in the second floor of the Mulrein Building, then recently finished on Market Street,'', between time the new opened and the Academy sold in 1870. Platt, p. 204

1872 . The HS ``was opened in April 1872." -p. 263,1870-1878 Minutes; (its construction was initially voted down but it passed a second election -p. 260)

1873 . ``A communication from pupils of the High School asking that the reading of the Bible and prayer be continued as a part of the opening exercise of the school.''; received and laid on the table -R, August 28,1873, p. 202; The use of the Bible and prayer is affirmed - p. 211-212

• Comndssioner Parker proposes that the Board appoint a Superintendent: ``Resolved, That it is expedient that a Superintendent of Schools be appointed. " -R, July 16, 1873, p. 197 1874 . NYS COM?ULSORY EDUCATION bill passed on May 11, 1874; ages 8-14 have to attend school for a certain period of time per year; under 14 can't be employed ``during the school hours of any school day . . ." -Manual 1887, p. 3;

• The Poughkeepsie compulsory education regulations, ``under, and pursuant to" the NYS bill can be found in the minutes, December 23, 1874, p. 339-341 (additional information on pp. 335, 359) • ``In 1874 the Board procured the passage of an act, (Chapter 380, Laws 1874) makingtheHighSchoolsubjecttothecontrolandvisitationoftheRegentsofthe University of the State, and entitling it to share in the funds distributed by the Regents. Since that time the pupils attending the High School have participated in the examimations directed by the Regents . . ." -p. 156-157, 1886 A.R.

• NYS bill passed May 8th, 1874: Poughkeepsie High School to be ``subject to visitation and control of the Regents of the University . . . (and shall) . . . share in the annual distribution of the literature fund, and of all other moneys .... " Manual 1887, p. 11

1877 . ``Resolved, That the Senator from this district and the member of Assembly from this City are hereby requested to obtain the passage of an act authorizing this Board to employ and appoint a superintendent of the schools in charge of this Board." -R, April 4, 1877, p. 478

78

NOTES AND QUOTES: POUGIHCEEPSIE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

• Special meeting about a superintendent; reports received; ``Resolved that the Board now determine to appoint a superintendent. " -R, Oct. 22,1877, p. 510

• Rules adopted concerning a superintendent -p. 512. Applications for super were read; ``Edward Burgess having received a majority of the votes cast was declared elected to the office of Superintendent of schools. "; on the 3rd ballot he won 6 to 5 - R, Nov. 7, 1877, p. 516 • ``It was principally through his (Commissioner O.D.M. Baker) efforts that the necessary legislation was secured under which we could appoint a superintendent of our schools." -a tribute to the deceased O.D.M. Baker in the 1890 A.R., p. 133

• ``Before 1877 the only supervision had of the schools was such as the Commissioners personally gave them .... The superintendent's earnest efforts have accomplished much in increasing the efficieney of the schools, and the Board considers the selection a wise one, and the present favorable conditions of the schools largely due to his action." -p. 86, 1879 A.R.

1883 . ``An Act to Amend the Charter of the City of Poughkeepsie", passed June 2, 1883, Chapter 523: Section 91 requires the board to '`estimate and certify to the Common Council, the amount of money required for the expenses of its

department for the next year, stating in detail the purposes for which the money is required." -Man.1887, p.13 1884 . The High School principal of 9 years resigned, and the Board was faced withthequestionof``continuingtheHighSchool";DecidedYESbyaunanimous vote. -p. 167, 1884 A.R. 1887 . ``School Regulations'', Manual (aimed at teachers): `` .... they shall

strive to impress on their minds, both by precept and example, the great importance of improvement in morals, in manners, and deportment, as well as in useful learning." -Manual 1887, p. 34 • ``87. At the close of each school session, the windows and doors of each school room shall be opened sufficiently to change the air in the room." Manual 1887, p. 36

• ``Resolved: That in all proper ways the children should be taught economy and thrift; and to this end the children be advised to deposit their pennies in the Savings Bank, and that the teachers lend them such assistance as is convenient and proper." -R, Jan. 24,1887, p. 6 1895 . The NYS Legislature in 1893 provided ``for the appointment of truant officers . . . ''; One was hired in 1895 -pp. 141-142, 1895 A.R. -``97. A pupil who is not clean, or one coming from a farfuly afflicted with any contagious or infectious disease, shall not be allowed to remain in the school room; . . ." -Manual 1895, p. 39

1898 . ``During the year a Mothers' Association has been formed. This looks towards a more complete union of home life and school life. The Association is constantly growing and is bound to exercise a healthful influence over our schools." -p. 108, 1898 Annual Report

• Adriance opened (Oct), and Library moved out of lower of High School.

Also, the City Library was removed from the control of the Board -Platt, p. 253

NOTES AND QUOTES: POUGIREEPSIE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

79

1901 . First kindergartens started -p. 166, 1901 A.R. 1903 . ``The retirement fund. .. (passed 1902) will take effect January lst, 1903." -p. 94, 1902 A.R.; ``. . . sets aside two per cent (20/o) of their salaries as

part of the fund." -p. 118, 1902 A.R. • ``Duties of Principals'': ``110. They shall set apart one or more rooms in their respective buildings in which those pupils who are permitted to bring their dinners to school, may eat the same and where they may remain until the other school rooms are open." -Manual 1903, p. 27

• Duties of janitors: ``They shall remove all ink-stains accidentally made upon the floor or walls, and shall clean and ffll all ink-wells as often as required." Manual 1903, p. 36

1909 . First issue of the PJzoz.s, the student yearbook, although an issue of a student newspaper in 1908 included senior pictures.

19ra . "An enthusiastic mothers' meeting was held in the Elsworth School, an'.d a permanent organization formed." -R, March 6, 1912, p. 160.

1914 . A new high school is opened.

1920 . ``This is the justification for special classes and in 1920 according to State law which reads `The board of education of each city and each Union Free School district in which there are ten or more children, three years or more retarded in mental development shall establish such special classes of not more than fifteen as may be necessary to provide instruction adapted to mental attainments of such children,' a special class was formed in the Administration Btiilding." -RSD, p. 103

• ``The State law requires that children who are mentally deficient shall be given special instruction." -p. 195, 1920 A.R. • Report of the head teacher of the special classes: ``We are coming to realize that the basic principle of good school management is the conception that children are fundamentally different from one another in every conceivable way." -RSD, p. 102

1922 . "After some discussion it was regularly moved, seconded, and carried that serving milk to children in the schools should be tentatively undertaken by the Board of Education." - R, Sept. 6, 1922, p. 111 1927 . ``P Summer HS was first organized for a seven weeks term in July, 1927. This was brought about because the State Department planned to give regular Regents examinations in August. The attendance for each year has averaged between 250 and 300." Aimed at those needing ``make up" and those who want to advance. - RSD, p. 14 1929 . ``This year the work (immunization) was discontinued in the schools as the Board of Health has taken over the task of immunizing the pre-school child."

-RSD, p. 98 1930 . On March 13, 1930 ``. . .the Superintendent was authorized @y the Board) to organize libraries in the elementary schools. Since that time libraries have been developed in the schools, ranging from 1400 to 3000 volumes (as of 1935)."; (several already existed, however) -1935 Report, p. 9

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NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

1932 . ``In order to encourage scholarship an honor society was formed in PHS in the spring term of the year 1932-3 to present awards for scholarship." 1935 Report, p. 24-5

1937 . ``. . . the Citizens' Committee of 21 appointed by Charles Hopkins, then president of the 8 of E, made a study of the problem. This committee recommended the acquisition of a new site and the construction of a new high school."

- A, p. 3

1938 . ``. . . two bond issues for a new high school were presented to the taxpayers of the city and both were voted down." -A, p. 3 (several more recommendations between this date and 1953)

1953 . ``. . .the 8 of E presented another bond issue for the construction of a new high school on the Springside Site. This, too, was voted down.''; the Board and the Chamber of Commerce ``re-evaluated", studied, and ``recommended the Forbus Street Site." Purchased it and hired architect Rolf Dreyer. -A, p. 3

1954 . ``In May, 1954, the 8 of E presented for the approval of the voters, a bond issue in the amount of $2,975,000 for the construction and equipment of a new high school for the City of P on the Forbus Street Site. The citizenry of P approved this bond issue by an overwhelming majority." -A, p. 4 1955 . Aprd 18, 1955 - Ground breaking ceremonies for Forbus St. High School - A, p. 4

Notes and Quotes: A History of the Culficulum in the Poughkeepsie City School District, 1843-1929 1843 . ``RcsoZzJcd That the Committee on employing Teachers be instructed to employ an instructor for giving lessons on vocal music in the public schools if the means of the board will warant (sz.c) it." -R, October 23, 1843, p. 39

1846 . A committee suggested the possibhity of book keeping (sz.c) in the Female Dept. and the Grammar School - R, 1/12/46, p. 118

• Introducing writing in Primary School 3, putting in ink stands: referred to a committee, with power -R, Late 1846, p. 154 1847 . A person's ``proposition to teach music in the schools is rejected May 12, 1847, p. 166

• ``Resolved, that no pupils shall be admitted into the Grammar Schools under

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

81

the age of 10 years, who are not able to read with fachity, find places on the maps, and understand the first four Rules of Arithmetic, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division --- (unintelligible word) and compound --- If they are over 10 years of age the latter qualification may not be rigidly adhered to."

Adopted. -R, October 19, 1847, p. 182 1849 . Mr .--- again requested the privilege to teach Geography in the Grammar School, ``at the expence (sz.c) of the scholars. . ."; Approved, ``pro-

viding he taught them after school hours . . " - R, June 4, 1849, p. 239 1851 . textbooks in use as of May 1, 1851 include (the dashes indicate unintelligible words) :

Grammar School - Male: Mtchens --- Geography, Perkins Elementary Arithmetic, Hales History of the United States, Comstock's Natural Philosophy, Benett's Book Keeping (sz.c), Linds lst Book of Etimology (sz.c),

Mandevilles 4th Reader, Comlys and --- Grammar, Various dictionaries

Grammar School -Female: Ms. Lincoln's Botany, Comstock's Chemistry, Burnett's Geography of the Heavens, Mitchell's Intermediate Geography, Hales and --- United States ,--- England and France, Comstock's and Phelps Philosophy, Cutters Physiology ,--- and Mccords Arithmetic, Comlys Grammar, Mandevilles 3 and 4th Readers - R, May 6, 1851 1854 . ``On motion of Dr. Andrus a Special Committee be appointed to cany out the 2 articles of the rules and Regulations in relation to the teaching of Vocal Music in the Public Schools, whereupon the President appointed . . ." -R, July 5, 1984

• Committee on Vocal Music reports favorably to employ George King to start on September 1 as teacher of vocal music. - R, August 1, 1854

1855 . That E.C. Andrus be employed as `'Teacher of Music" -R, September 4, 1855

1863 . ``. . .were appointed a Committee to investigate the propriety of dispensing with classical studies, and confining the scholars in the IIigh School to the study of the English branches." -R, May 6, 1863

• ``The Committee on High School made a report, Recommending the lowering of the grade, as follows: That the study of the compound rules in arithmetic be dropped from the Primary Department, That the study of Algebra and of the National Arithmetic be dropped from the Grammar School's allowing them to enter the High School without having pas " (the entry ended here) - R, June 3, 1863 - ``Resolved, That the Committee on Grammar Schools be directed to send all the first classes who are prepared to commence the study of Algebra to the High School." -Oct. 7th, 1863 1864 . Committee appointed ``for the purpose of taking into consideration the expediency of introducing the study of Chemistry into our Schools. . ."; NO report is forthcoming in the records, however - R, August 3, 1864

• HS principal requests a chemical chart - R, February 6, 1867 1868 . ``Resolved, That in the Introductory and lower classes of the Primary Schools, each pupil shall have a lesson in reading and spelling both in the morning, and afternoon . . ." -R, Dec. 2, 1868

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NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

C?s¥:::c::fMS#uigs,!R:::sF7£,8ih86%:hrf:I:amesfistedarethenamesofthebooks;manyof these subjects are continued in different terms, but it was ordy recorded when a book was first introduced. ) First Year First Term: English Grammar Arith., mental and practical New Univ. AIgebra Citizens Manual Reading and elocution Analytical speller Composition - Rhetoric Latin Lessons Second Year First Term: AIgebra completed Latin Greek lessons - cont -

Second Term: (many cont. or completed) Latin Grammar and Reader

Third Term: Several completed Greek lessons

Bookeeping (s!.c)

Physical geography

Second Term:

Greek Grammar and Reader Ancient History

Third Term: Chemistry Latin, Virgil

Natural philosophy Physiology

Third Year First Term:

Astronomy Chem - completed Plane trigonometry Latin - cont Latin, Prose composition Govt Class book Greek - cont -

Second Term: Latin, Cicero

Mensuration Political Economy Moral philosophy Intellectual philosophy

Third Term: Plane surveying Manual of Parliamentary practice Greek, Homer, Iliad

1869 . An amendment to HS studies: ``Bookeeping (sz.c) optional with female

pupils" - R, May 5, 1869 • For HS: ``Exercises in Reading, Spelling Composition, Elocution, Penmanship and Vocal Music, throughout the Course." - R, August 18, 1869

1870 . HS class praised by the HS Principal: ``Our Fall term has opened und,er very encouraging auspices. Ten pupils have returned to finish the new course of study, intending to remain for graduation. Three of these have not studied Latin; and I would recommend since the old course did not require them to do so, that if they finish . . .'', -R, p. 39, 9/9/70; ``There are twenty four in the . . . or second year class. Of these eighteen are studying Latin in the regular course . . . There are Thirty seven (in the lst yr. class) Thirty two are studying Latin. The five who are excused have been so excused by the special request of the parents who have in each case represented that the pupil would only remain in the school during the present year." -p. 42, 9/9/70; ``1 find the plan of fewer studies and shorter lessons to work admirably in the school. We do not tax the Physical or Mental powers, while yet we make more real and rapid progress than under the old system." -p. 43, 9/9/70 • ``Resolved; That the course of instruction in the High School be so arranged that penmanship may be taught." -R, Nov. 11, 1870, p. 53

• Penmanship: to adopt Prof. Eastman's system of penmanship -R, Dec. 21, 1870, p. 57

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

83

1871 . ``Resolved, That drawing be introduced and taught in the different grades of the Public Schools as one of the regular branches of study." -R, September 6, 1871, p. 81

• ``Resolved, That the study of Latin in the High School, be optional." -R, September 6, 1871, p. 81

1872 . ``Physical exercise of five minutes with open windows, twice in the morning and once in the afternoon . . ." -A report that was adopted, August 28, 1872

• A resolution was defeated which would have transferred money from instruction of music in the HS to modem languages - R, Aug. 28, 1872, p. 137 • Report on regrading the public schools, prepared by Colnndssioner Bolton; adopted. Parts of the report follow: ``Text books are too much relied on and the children are pushed along too rapidly . . . while the objective system so valuable for bringing out the observation of children themselves has been almost wholly neglected ..... the admirable objective system which prevails in many of our Western Cities . . . most of our teachers have been educated in the old orthodox rut of reliance on Ter£ Books." .... ``And oral teaching and abject lessons to be

chieflyreliedon..."-Anadoptedreportonregradingtheschools,Aug.28,1872.

1874 . A committee report, received and printed: while ``radical changes" are being made in the course of study, ``. . . the aim is throughout to make the important and fundamental studies, Reading, Writing, Spelling, Arithmetic and Geography, the principal occupation of the pupils from the first to the last and let other branches of knowledge be subordinate to them. . ." -R, 2/11/74, p. 245 1875 . A section discussing the resignation of the HS principal: after he leaves, there is no one capable of "giving proper instructions in the following classes of Doctor Jewett, 1st The class in Greek Grammar consisting of three pupils 2nd The Senior class in Latin consisting of seven pupils 3rd The Class in Chemistry which receives experimental instruction and consists of nineteen pupils; 4th Mental Philosophy by oral lessons . . ." -p. 360, Feb. 10, 1875 • A state law passed ``to embrace instruction" in drawing - p. 8, Manual 1887, p. 8

1877 . ``The Literature class had not committed to memory any long passages from reviews, but had read freely and had during the term intehigently discussed passages from various authors. The recitation accordingly was not so brilliant as some we have heard this year in other schools, but close questioning revealed an intimate and thorough, if not superficially polished acquaintance with Enghih Literature . . ."; ``The other mathematical recitations . . ."; ``. . . her classes recited

to other teachers . . . ''; ``A new departure has been made this year in having every Friday afternoon general exercises, consisting of recitations, orations, readings, c. Singing as well as elocution has also been cultivated during the year. " -an article entitled `'ELgh School Examinations", June 29, 1877, in Adriance, 373.7 P 1878 . ``A communication was received from the Principal of the High School asking permission to form a class in Trigonometry . . .": Board agreed (Has been taught in the past, however) - R, March 6, 1878, p. 528

1879 . ``At present all pupils of the grammar or lower grades are seated with

84

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

and under the exclusive control of the teacher to whom they recite . . ." -p. 86, 1879 A.R.

1881 . ``It has been the aim of all instruction, while not forgetting discipline and culture to open the pupils eyes to the world about them, and give each such knowledge of his own capabflities as to enable him to fall into such vocation for life as is best suited to his capacity and promises largest measure of success." p. 5, 1881 A.R.

1883 . ``Instruction in drawing by a special teacher was begun in September, 1883." -Historical Sketch, p. 34 • There is a 12 year course of study in place: 3 years in introductory school, 3

years in primary school, 2 years in grammar school, and 4 years in the high school (2 departments) - 1883 A.R., p. 134 1884 . Are two HS departments: ``Since 1873 there have been two departments maintained; one, the second. . .is in fact a Grammar School, continuing the course of study one year longer, and more advanced than our general Grammar schools." -p. 169, 1884 A.R.

• ``Prior to about ten years ago the schools were conducted upon the classroom plan with a principal and two assistant teachers in each department."; had a large room and 2 recitation rooms -p. 165, 1884 A.R.; ``Each half hour a class passed from the main room to a class room, and there recited to the assistant in charge." -p.165-166, 1884 A.R.; CHANGED to ``. . .each teacher had continuous charge of her room and class . . ." -p. 166, 1884 A.R.

1887 . ``Resolved: That this Board would emphatically encourage instruction in manual training in the industrial arts and to the extent of the means in its power, give the same a proper place in the curriculum." -R, January 24,1887, p.6

• Some HS course changes made, ``which also made it possible to secure a larger number of Regents' intermediate certificates and academic diplomas. Until

this change was made, one study was lacking - physical geography - to complete the number in which a pupil must pass to entitle him to the intermediate certificate . . . (otherwise) obliged to pursue this study out of school . . . " -p. 233, 1887 A.R.

1888 . A committee report ``also advises that a regular teacher of writing be appointed to instruct in penmanship is one of the most essential things in school work . . ." -p.118, July 9,1888; on p.119, reports that Elizabeth Schickle be ap-

pointed, and it is adopted.

• ``a teacher in penmanship was selected. . ."; ``This was in a sense experimental, but was deemed necessary by reason of the great lack of uniformity and progress in writing observed in the different rooms . . ." -p.103, 1888 A.R. • Report of writing teacher: Appointed 7/9/88; started initially with the low grades; 30 min. in each room every week -p. 150, 1888 A.R.

1889 . ``The advantages of having a special teacher for this work (writing) is, that these mistakes may be promptly corrected --- mistakes liable to be made by any regular teacher, since her attendance is divided . . . " (comment by the Super.)

-p. 145, 1889 A.R.

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

85

• writing - ``Each room in the Primary and Grammar grades has been visited every alternate week and a lesson of thirty minutes given." -p. 161,1889 A.R. This chart illustrates the effects of the changes made in 1887:

Preliminary Certificate 1882 18 84

12 41

1886

58

1887 1888 1889

56 57 64

SOURCE: p. 109,

Academic Intermediate Certificate 2

6 6 53 26 17 1889 A.R. (also have Board diplomas)

Coll. Entrance Certificate

Acadenric Diplomas

0

0 3

1

0

1

6

17

5

24

10

18

1890 . Written on a Regents exam card dated June 1890:

• ``The Prelindnary Examinations determine what pupils are qualified to begin academic work and count as academic students in the Regents' annual report to the Legislature. " • ``The Academic Examinations test the work done in the academies and fix a definite standard of graduation. They lead to academic certificates, and, on completion of the full course, to academic diplomas." -A Regents card found in ADR, Misc pamphlets/programs 1857-1968 (373.7 P), Adriance. i

1892 . ``At the opening of the fall session the study of German was introduced in both departments of the High School . . ." ``The study is optional with the students." -p. 5, 1892 A.R.

• ``The addition of this language (German) to the High School curriculum now makes it possible for pupils to enter Vassar and some of the other colleges without additional outside preparation." -p. 41, 1892 A.R.

• Special teacher in German first appointed: A. Osterhold in July 1892 Listed in school directory for 1893, BE misc. papers 89-97, p. 41, Adriance.

1893 . The grades are renumbered, so that the first year of school is now called the first grade - 1893 A.R., pp. 5-6.

1894 . new system of promotion: ``. . .pupils are allowed to pass to a higher grade, whenever in the judgment of the teacher in charge, they are entitled to such promotion, without waiting as heretofore for the final examinations . . . " p. 5, 1894 A.R.

• Superintendent describes the new promotion system: ``This plan requires the separation of a class into two sections or divisions . ." (advanced and other); can then ``advance one class faster than the other''; says it has stimulated the pupils to work harder.

• Pres. 8 of E: ``. . . yet our course of study as at present arranged, (in HS) does not fit our pupils for admission to college."; recommends that this be changed p. 6, 18794 A.R.

• Special Teacher in ``Training Class" first appointed: Mary E. Sykes, September 1894 - School Directory for 1895, 8 Miscellaneous papers 1889-1897, p. 47, Adriance.

• The Board President notes: ``The good results of special instruction in

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NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

writing ... the children are learning ... the foundation principles of penmanship . . ." -1894 A.R., pp. 8-9

1895 . High School course system is readjusted to enable people to enter college without needing additional preparation; implemented in 9/95 -pp. 10-11, 1895 A.R.

• New system creates three tracks: Enghsh (``Latin or German''), Latin Scientific (``Latin and German"), Classical (``Latin, Greek, German"); notes: ``3.

Pupils who do not desire to study a foreign language may choose subject to the approval of the Principal, such subjects of study as they are qualified to pursue. " -pp. 138-141, 1895 A.R.

• ``This revised course of study entirely irrespective of its work in fitting a

pupil for college is deemed by the best educational authorities that which gives to the pupil the best and most servicable training for meeting the responsibhities of life ,.... " -p. 141, 1895 A.R.

• ``This changed course will necessitate making the time for High School four (4) years instead of three (3) as at present . . ." -p. 136, 1895 A.R. • July 1895 changes: ``involved the discontinuance of Arithmetic and

American History from the Second Department of the High School and substituting therefor Algebra and Physical Geography." -p.135; Therefore, must pass Am. Hist, Geogr., and Arith ``before entering the High School" -p. 136, 1896 A.R.

• ``One of the features of this year's school work is the increase of interest in the Institute Drawing Class." -p. 3, Nov.1,1895 issue of ``The Independent", ADR • ``82. In all the schools except the High School, the pupils sham be exercised in singing fifteen minutes each day, such exercise to be conducted in accordance with the directions of the special teacher of music." -school regulations in the Board Manual for 1895, p. 36 (Note: in the 1887 Manual, the wording was ``may'', if there was a qualified teacher)

• ``Especial efforts have been made since September, 1895, to improve the written language work of the pupils." -p. 108, 1897 A.R.

1896 . a state law passed to provide visual aids for subject: ``Under this appropriation we received in the summer of 1895 a lantern, cylinders, screen and all the necessary apparatus for showing stereoptican views."; slides of Niagara, Manhattan, Catskills, Adirondacks, etc. -p. 130; pictures projected on a screen; *** the use of these pictures: ``while they give pleasure, they will also have an educational value of no small inportance." -p.132,1896 A.R.; ``. . . of stereoptican views, these views will be and have been used to furnish subjects for composition." -p. 134, 1896 A.R.; ``In order to make these views as educational as possible, and to utilize them for language exercises, it is my purpose to have some one industry fully illustrated in each lecture." -p. 131, 1896 A.R.;

• Composition Work discussed; ``in accordance with the plan" of July 1895; may require rewrites, can select topics, often on the visuals - p. 133-134, 1896 A.R.

• due to reorganization, ``. . . and in the near future the graduates wfll be able

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

87

to enter any American conege without further preparation. " -p. 113, 1896 A.R. 1897 . Illustrated lectures for 5th-9th grades -p. 106, 1897 A.R.; Notes that these do more than just provide subjects for composition: ``By it is cultivated the habit of attention. . ." -p.108,1897 A.R.

• Composition work required of those in 4th-9th grades -p.108-112,1897 A.R. 1898 . ``The teaching of music in the public schools is everywhere regarded as of high educational value. It promotes independence and concentration of thought, with active application, as well as adding to the cheerfulness of school Ire." -p. 99, 1898 A.R. • ``Daily physical exercises, instituted among all the classes, have materially

promotedthecomfortandcapacityforstudyofthechildren."-p.138,1898A.R. • ``While the school furnishes superior preparation for conege, its main purpose is to prepare its pupil for the active duties of living." -p. 159, 1898 A.R. 1900 . ``. . . we have attempted to secure the benefits of individual instruction in our work.", rather than having associate teachers, to have teachers -p.156, 1900 A.R.

1901 . ``. . . the organization of two Kindergartens . . . The educational value of

these institutions, which develop the activities of the child and which teach hin to help himself and do things for himself are beyond question but the social advantages are, in our judgment, still greater. There is no place where little children can learn the lessons of courtesy, kindness, self-respect, and unselfishness, so well as in a real Kindergarten." -p. 166, 1901 A.R. • ``Zoology was for the first time introduced into the school this year." -p.

210, 1901 A.R.

• ``The High School has three courses of study - the English, the LatinScientific, and the Classical." -p. 220, 221,1901 A.R. (when mentioned in 1903, the latter two are conege prep) 1903 . `'Steps have been taken to introduce manual training, which is but a start on the road to this important branch." -p. 114, 1903 A.R.

• Manual Training: introduced, ``only thirty ndnutes a week''; mentions making raffia; ``The value of Manual Training in the public schools is no longer disputed. The education that this age demands is a training of the intellect so that the child may think correctly and reason accurately. A training of the hand by manual exercise So that he may be able to put ideas into realities; a training of the character so that he may be able to respond to the rights and duties of American citizenship." -p. 142, 1903 A.R. • ``The number of post-graduates now in attendance is very small, and the day of post-graduate work as a feature of the school is past. The increased requirement(s?) for graduation accounts for this decrease. Now, good pupils may enter any college or scientific school upon graduation from the High School in the classical or scientific course, and need not return to do extra work in order to meet the entrance requirements. - -p. 155, 1903 A.R. • only the classical and scientific courses are college prep -p. 155, 1903 A.R.

1904 . Course of Study - High School: Course areas are: English, Latin,

88

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

Greek, German, French, History (Greek, Roman, English, U.S., Civics, Economics), Algebra, Advanced Algebra, Geometry, Solid Geometry, Trigonometry, Physiology, Physical Geography, Geology, Zoology, Botany, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry. - 1904 Course of Study (Vassar and Adriance)

• Manual Training - ``We do not allow the manual work to interfere with the regular studies. Friday afternoons from 3 to 3:30, after the regular work of the week is finished, is given to hand work." -p.162,1904 A.R. • Mentioned in the report of the supervisor of drawing and in.t. : ``In the new Manual Training, which tries to develop the inventive, artistic and manual skills of the pupil . . .''; Raffia, ``sewing, fancy-work, paper and wood construction . . ."

-p. 187, 1904 A.R.

1905 . ``The Regents of the State . . . made Biology a required study for the first year pupils of the High School." -p. 131, 1905 A.R.

1907 . ``Physical education was incorporated into the curiculum in 1907, and . . ." -King, p. 77, a '`desire to introduce systematic physical instruction in each grade. . ."; but can't afford so ``introduced exercises under the regular teacher between classes . . ." -p.139,1907 A.R.

• ``Commercial Arithmetic has been introduced as a required subject in the first year of the ffigh School for those who do not take Latin I. This subject is the first of those to be introduced of the commercial course which ought to be a part of the High School curriculum." -145,1907 A.R. 1908 . ``The Regents Preliminary certificate or equivalent work . . . is required for admittance to the High School." -p. 4, Courses of Study 1908-1909, (375.009 P), Adriance

• For primary grades: ``Group system" -``. . .classes are made up of three divisions . . . and given separate instruction at the same time. Division A for instance, will be reciting, Division 8 studying and Division C at the blackboard. " p. 97, 1907 A.R.

• ``The High School offers the following courses of study: The English Course and the Commercial Course for students who intend to finish their education with the High School; the teachers' course for those who enter the Teachers' Trairfug Schools or the State Normal Schools; the College. Preparatory Courses for those who enter college, scientific or technical schools." -p. 4, Courses of Study 1908-1909, (375.009 P), Adriance

• ``In the past year the board has supplied a teacher for the Domestic Science Department . . ." -p. 95,1908 A.R.; ``We consider the establishing of this course of work for our girls of much importance . . ." -p.121,1908 A.R.; the course in ``domestic and industrial science'': ``It was only introduced last year . . . being then entirely elective." -p.129,1908 A.R.

'

1909 . In report of the President, Jan. 1, 1909: ``The commercial department of the High School is of growing importance . . . subjects of bookkeeping and commercial law, typewriting and stenography are taught. ''; recommends a manual training department - Jan. 1, 1909

1910 . The pros and cons of Industrial Education are presented -p. 103, 1910 A.R.

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

89

• Superintendent S.R. Shear: ``We have now come to believe that the study of every subject develops every mental faculty and that all work, mental or otherwise, has its influence upon our ego as a whole."; ``Pupfls require a variety in order that their attention may be held; all children have constructive tendencies which should be developed; dignity of labor needs to be impressed; the physical powers are as important as are either the mental or moral; the solution of a problem in manual training aids in the mastery of similar problems in other subjects.''; ``Manual training keeps boys and girls in school; it enlarges their understanding of and sympathy with the great industrial activities of the ages; it trains for citizenship and it may be the foundation of some useful trade." -pp.

132-133, 1910 A.R.

1912 . ``When sewing was added to the curriculum in January, 1912, the course outlined was in accordance with the trend of the times, purely constructive. There were small models made, merely samples of what might have been done." -RSD, p. 93

• ``During the month of February, sewing and physical training were introduced in all the schools." -R, March 6,1912, p.160 1916 . A 1916 NYS law ``provides that all schools . . . give serious attention to

the physical well-being of the pupils, and to the development of those qualities essential in meeting the obligation of citizenship. "; to ``receive definite physical instruction and training." -p. 153, 1917 A.R.; NYS is the first State to require this -p. 154, 1917 A.R. 1918 . ``A new subject has been added to the hit and it seems to be very popular. It is `gym'. Two periods a week are set aide for `gym' work and games.

The classes have started and everybody seems to enjoy them. This is the first time that many of the students have ever seen the inside of the gymnasium." Oct. 1918 issue of the Apokeepsian, p. 32, ADR 379 A, Adriance 1920 . ``In 1920, the first course in Industrial Arts was offered." -p.159, RSD

• ``In 1920, general Manual Training courses were offered for the first time in the P public schools. At that time eighth grade boys were admitted to this work."

-RSD, p. 13

• ``Instruction in woodworking and printing was introduced in 1920 and 1921." - RSD, p. 124 - ``The Continuation School Law became effective in September,1920. " Many young leave school, compulsory attendance; Commissioner Finley: ``The purpose of these schools is of a two-fold nature: for participation as citizens in the political life of the State; for the guidance toward and the training of youth for useful occupations." -p.167, RSD; ``We began the work in September, 1920, requiring the attendance of those be-tween 14 and 15 years of age who had left full-time school. ''; on Sat. from 8-12; initially taught woodworking, homemaking; then added printing and commercial (for both) -p. 168, RSD; by 1922-1923, compulsory attendance for those aged 14-17 years -RSD, p. 168; 1929 provisions: * operated from 8-5 on weekdays * required of minors under 17 without a diploma or attendance at school: ``Employed minors must attend four hours per week. "; ``Minors out of regular employment must attend twenty hour per week."; ``Attendance upon night school may not be substituted . . ." -RSD, p. 170; 1929 courses: boys - woodworking, electrical, plumbing, commercial;

girls - homemaking, home nursing, commercial

90

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

• Special education classes are started - further information is available in ``Notes and Quotes - History of the Poughkeepsie City School District" 1921 . ``In September, 1921, a course in Printing was added . . . and a shop equipped for the instruction of twelve boys." -RSD, p. 161

1922 . ``In 1922, an advanced course in Printing was added to the curriculum . . . The production of PJzoz.s, the high school annual, was attempted and successfully completed." -RSD, p. 162

• Superintendent's Report: ``Until a few years ago, we were inclined to believe that the complete function of the High School courses was to prepare for College.

We are now awakened to the fact that this group represents a very small fraction of the High School population." -p. 157, 1922 A.R. 1923 . ``In 1923, a third course in Printing was necessary to permit the advancement of the work. This year the Apokecpsz.¢7z, the monthly magazine of the school was printed. This project would not have been possible without the cooperation of a local printer who set the text matter for us." -RSD, p. 162

• ``Advanced Drawing was added to the Industrial Arts curriculum in September 1923. . ." -p.162, RSD • ``Folk dancing was added as a requirement for the girls in 1923." (HS) RSD, p. 107

• ``Elective courses in public speaking, debating and dramatics were introduced in 1923." -RSD, p. 124

1924 . Change this year which ``provided for an advanced course in cabinet making." -RSD, p. 159 • In 1924, `` . . . a course in Architectural Drawing was added . . ." -p.163, RSD

• ``Lectures on Hygiene have been given to all students (in the high school) since 1924." -RSD, p. 107

• ``Upon recommendation of the Superintendent the Home-Making Course prepared for High Schools by the State Board of Regents was adopted." -R, May 13, 1924, p. 181

• ``Since 1924 each student is required to pass a physical ability test." -RSD, p. 106

1925 . ``Homemaking courses as outlined by the State Department of Education were introduced in 1925." -RSD, p.124//``In September,1925, the fouryear State aided Homemaking Course was added. This course leads to an academic diploma in vocational stibjects . . ." -RSD, p. 156 1926 . ``In 1926 it was felt that a further revision in the course and the addition of power machines would permit a greater diversification of the work." (in Industrial Arts) - RSD, p. 160 • ``. . . in 1926, an additional growth in the department (Ind Arts) necessitated the addition of a course in Machine Drawing." -p. 163, RSD

1927 . Poughkeepsie Trade School: "two-year unit course" - ``The first class was started in February,1927. . ."; located in the Continuation School but is different from it: ``. . .this is a trade course and a graduate . . .''; ``In the classroom

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICELUM 1843-1929

91

the student is given the science and mathematics as applied to machinery and in the shop he puts his theories into practice. "; `` . . . and a graduate from that course is able to go into Industry with a good working knowledge of the trade." p. 177, RSD

• ``Vocational education in Poughkeepsie was begun in 1927, when a two-year course in machine shop practice was established at the Cannon Street School."

- EL8. p. 78

• ``Poughkeepsie Summer High School was first organized for a seven weeks term in July, 1927. This was brought about because the State Department planned to give regular Regents examinations in August. The attendance for each year has averaged between 250 and 300." Aimed at those needing ``make up" and those who want to advance - RSD, p. 14 1929 . Superintendent Moon: ``Visual instruction has become an accepted part of public education. All children are constantly being stimulated by the world in which they live as well as by moving pictures, illustrated periodicals, andf.other simflar means, to learn through the eye." -RSD, p.19; HOWEVER, the head of the English Dept. stated the fonowing as one of the needs: ``8.

Serious investigation of the world of moving pictures and radio connection for the classroom." - RSD, p. 130

• Math Department report: ``Ten years ago the type of Regents examination was such as to induce the teacher to place emphasis on the memorizing of certain forms rather than to employ a method of teaching that induces mental growth."

-RSD 1929, p. 137

• Enghih Department Report: ``The department has attempted to assign the memory question to its proper place, and the ``dictation teacher" is a creature of the past. Questions which stimulate thought, questions which suggest a mental activity and a breadth of horizon hitherto undreamed of by the student - those are being used more and more. Teachers are trying to teach their students how to think and not simply to remember." -RSD 1929, p. 127 • Written under the section on primary grades: ``This informal way of teaching is growing through all grades and today many teachers of the intermediate and upper grades are far removed from the old monotonous, uninteresting question and answer method." -RSD, p. 71.

Reference Key: A - '`History of the efforts to secure a new Poughkeepsie High School'', pages 3-4 of a brochure for the Poughkeepsie High School Laying of the Comerstone Dedication Exercises, Sat. Dec. 8, 1956; in Adriance Library, the PHS box 373.7 P. A.R. - Armual Reports of the Cdy Government. Poughkeepsie, Now York.

Historical Sketch - Historical Sketch of the Poughkeepsie Pubtic Schools and Public Library from 1843 £o 1893. Poughkeepsie: Enterprise Publishing Co., 1894.

King -King, Charles Donald. Hz.story offd"cafz.o# I.71 DztfcJzcss Coct7tfty. Cape May, N.J.,1959

Manual - Manual of the Board of Education of the City of Poughkeepsie (for 1887, 1895, 1899, 1900, 1903). Found in Adriance Library, Miscellaneous Pamphlets, 379.7473 P. T935 Repchi - Report of the School Department to the Board of Education, 1935.

92

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

Pla[tt -Ple[tt, Edmund. The Eagle's History of Poughkeepsie from the Earliest Settlements, 1683 £o 1905, Platt and Platt, Poughkeepsie, 1905.

R - Record a/ fJ!c Borrd a/ £d#ca£!.o77. The minutes of the Board. I looked at the following dates: June 1843-April 1854 (skipping pages 191-237, and from February 3, 1852 to April 1854); October 1855 -December 1878 (2 books, Late 1854-early 1855 is included in this book, appearing after Jam. 31, 1856); the first 75 pages of the Jan. 1887-Dec. 1894 book; January 1909-July 1912; March 1918-September 1924; January 1929-May 1933; and September 1936-October 1938.

F`SD -Report of the School Department to the Board of Education 1929.

Summary The 1985 graduating class left Poughkeepsie High School with a far different education than the one attained by their predecessors. The High School first opened in June 1857 with a registered attendance of 40 students, 14 years after the first public schools were established in Poughkeepsie.1 The world has changed dramatically from the days before the Civil War, and the curriculum has expanded to meet the needs of each new generation.

The High School apparently offered a classical education similar to what was being taught in private academies. Although the traditional college preparatory curriculum was in place, interest in concentrating on ``the basics" was expressed as early as 1863 when a committee was appointed ``to investigate the propriety of dispensing with classical studies . . ."2 However, the 1868 Board minutes show a focus on the study of Greek, Latin and algebra. Bookkeeping was the only subject that had a practical application, and had been taught as early as 1851 in the Grammar School. Science studies at this time included chemistry, physiology, and astronomy.3 MusichastraditionallyplayedanimportantroleinalllevelsofthePoughkeepsie schools. The first specialized teaching position to be created was that of music teacher in 1854. In 1883 a teacher was hired to specificially provide instruction in drawing to pupils of all grades, and a writing teacher was hired five years later to teach permanshp.

Originally, many students had to take courses after they had graduated to be able to meet college entrance requirements. A German teacher was employed in 1892 in order to enable students to meet language requirements.4 Further curriculum changes in 1895 made it possible for students to enter any college without additional preparation.5 This new system offered three academic tracks to students, two of which were college preparatory programs. The Latin Scientific Course required the study of Latin fl7td German while the Classical Course required Latin, German ¢77d Greek. Pupils who did not plan to attend college eurolled in the so-called ``English Course" which required Latin or German, although other subjects could be substituted for these languages with the Principal's approval.6

The number of high schools in the country had greatly increased by the turn of the century, even though most children sitll went to work at young ages. In 1874, New York State had enacted a relatively early compulsory education law. Which required that children aged 8-14 attend school for at least 14 weeks per year.7 In practice, this meant that many of the students left school before entering the high school. Superintendent Edward Burgess noted this trend in the Poughkeepsie High School in 1887: `` . . . the boys in larger numbers go to work at this time, their

NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

93

parents deeming their education sufficient for the vocation in life they will be called upon to ffll.''8 Stricter compulsory education and child labor laws eventually led to a nationwide increase in the number of children attending school.

Attitudes towards the high school also changed, and it became the right of all and not just the few who were preparing for conege.

The School board recognized the need to provide alternate types of courses to attract and retain students who planned ``to finish their education with the High School.''9 In 1903, the introduction of Manual Training established the beginnings of current industrial arts and home economics programs. Superintendent William A. Smith noted in 1903 the value of Manual Training: ``A training of the hand by manual exercise so that (the student) may be able to put ideas into realities . . ."10 The exercises initially offered included work with raffia, sewing, and limited woodworking. Sewing and cooking were integrated into a domestic science course in 1907.11 A commercial program was introduced in the same year and soon offered classes in bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic, commercial law, typewriting, and stenography.12 Industrial arts as we now know it was officially estabnshed in the public schools in 1920 when a woodworking course was begun.13 Several printing and drawing courses were added in the next few years.

Vocational education similar to current BOCES offerings was begun in 1927 with the opening of the 2-year Poughkeepsie Trade School.14 By the end of the 1920s the basic course directions had been estabfished, meeting the needs of the pre-World War 11 society. Since that time the course offerings have continued to respond to the needs of the changing world. High School offerings now include courses such as graphic communications and architecture in the Industrial Arts Department; BOCES Occupational/Vocational courses which range from automechanics to licensed practical nursing; and Child Care and Development in the Home Economics/Family Life Department. Advanced Placement classes, which may earn a student college credit, are offered in English, calculus, chemistry, physics and PASCAL. Last fall, a K-12 computer education curiculum was introduced to prepare students for daily life and careers in this age of rapid technological advances. Underlying the many changes in the cur~ riculum and the schools is the same goal once stated in 1898 by James Winne, the High School Principal: ``. . . its main purpose is to prepare its pupils for the active duties Of living. ~i5

End Notes 1. Record of the Board of Education, June 25, TBS7.

2. Record, May 6, 1863.

I

3. Record, August 7, 1868.

4. Amual Raporis of the City Government, Pouglckeepsie, N.Y.,1892, pp.143, T79.

5. Annual Reports of the Cdy Government, 1895, pp. T35-136.

6. Annual Reports of the Cdy Government,1895, pp. T38-141.

7. Manual of the Board of Education,1887, p. 3.

8. Amual Reports of the Cdy Government, 1887, p. 22:4.

9. Course of Study for the Poughkeepsie Public Schools, 1908-1909, p. 4.

10. Annual Reports of the City Government, 1903, p.143.

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NOTES AND QUOTES: CURRICULUM 1843-1929

11. Armual Reports of the City Government,1908, p.129.

12.. Armual Reports of the City Government, 1907, p.145.

13. Raport of the School Department to the Board of Education, 1929, p. T3.

14. Report of the School Department, 1929, p. T77.

15. Annual Reports of the City Government,1898, p.159.

FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

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The Forest Plantations of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, New York Thomas W.. Patton FranklinandEleanorRoosevelttouredthehistoricforestsofEuropeduring their honeymoon. Writing home to his mother Sara, F.D.R. described the beauty of the German forests: `` . . . the mist rising after the soaking of the last few days . . . was lovely and showed most of the Black Forests .... The moisture on all the trees and undergrowth and the bright sun made it very picturesque."1 After visiting an opulent country estate in England, he informed Sara that his plans for their Hyde Park estate ``now include not only a new house, but new farms, cattle, trees, etc."2 With his election to the New York State Senate from Hyde Park in 1910, F.D.R. was able to start implementing these plans by taking a more active role in the operation of Springwood. However, Sara would never completely relinquish control of the estate to her son and the property remained in her name until she died in 1941.

Sara was primarily interested in the traditional pleasantries of a country estate: the dairy farm with its Aldemey cattle which produced such rich milk, the orchards, vegetable and flower gardens. Her rose garden, where Franklin and Eleanor are buried, was her favorite. After her husband, James, had died in 1900, Sara wished: ``. . . to run it just as her husband had run it. It was to be a gentleman's country place, not a farm run for profit .... " However, according to Eleanor, ``my husband [F.D.R.] should take over the wooded part of the place."3 While Sara tended to the farm and gardens, Franklin managed the woods and worked to convert the farm to the production of trees. Forestry, rather than the traditional forms of Hudson Valley agriculture, was Roosevelt's primary interest.

F.D.R. first directed his farm crew to clear over-grown farm land for tree planting in 1911 and the following year he placed his first order for seedlings with the New York State Conservation Commission. That year he ordered 5,000 white pine seedlngs and lots of 1,000 Scotch pine, red pine and Norway spruce seedlings. Except for five years (1919-1923), during which Franklin Roosevelt was serving in Washington and then recuperating from polio, F.D.R. ordered trees every year until his death. Nearly one half million trees were obtained, most of which came from the State of New York.

Tom Patton, who tock his Ph.D . in history at Now York Universdy, now teaches history at Long Beach High School on Long Island. He grew ap in Hyde Park and this background nurtured interest in F.D.R. 's promotion of forestry. Patton malutalns his roots in Dutchess County through historical research and writing, and quite litendly through the development of his own tree plantations.

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FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

When Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt viewed-the famous forests of Europe they were observing a centuried tradition of forestry. Ehrufurth, Germany first developed a forest management plan in 1359. When America was settled forestry seemed to be unnecessary. This nation was so blessed with forests that, for nearly 300 years after the start of European settlement, trees were considered as much of a curse as a blessing. Trees hindered development and forests were thought to be the dwelling place of evil. Nearly one half of America's land surface was forested and the eastern portion of the continent was almost completely covered by trees. Forest soils and trees were the nation's most extensive natural resources.

AstheAmericanlandrushreachedthePacificandtheendofthehornofplenty, a few Americans started to question the nation's land and forest policy. Leading the debate for more scientific resource management was a small group of naturalist writers and scientists. The most important study of nature history during this period, M¢7t a7zd Nafztrc, written by George Perkins Marsh, was published in 1864. Md7t #7cd Nczfz!re set forth the enduring theme that natural resources and

man are inextricably interrelated. If one resource, such as (using March's phrase ``The Woods''), was damaged or destroyed, all other resources and mankind suf-

fered. To illustrate, Marsh described how thriving areas of China, Europe and North Africa became destitute, environmentally and economically, after the forest growth was removed. The example of the results of forest devastation in China was frequently cited by early conservationists. When F.D.R. invited Gifford Pinchot to address the Forest, Fish and Game Committee of the State Senate in 1912, Pinchot showed a lantern slide of a forested valley in China and a second slide showing the same valley after it had been deforested. The environmental and human devastation inustrated in the second slide made a lasting impression on Franklin Roosevelt.4 While forest devastation continued at a hectic pace, writers focused on this destruction as the major conservation problem. An upstate physician, Franklin Benjarfun Hough, convinced the Federal government in 1878 to study forest conditions. Tfee Rapor£ LJpo7t Fo7iesfny documented forest destruction but also noted

that a fledgling tree planting program had been started in the plains states where treeshadalwaysbeenvalued.Nebraska,aleader,firstcelebratedArborDayin1872.

During the decade that F.D.R. was born, a movement developed, to pressure the United States Government to retain undistributed forested areas of the western domain. The president was authorized to establish a forest reserve in 1891 and President Harrison withdrew thirteen million acres to create the first national forest.

The history of forest destruction and forestry in New York mustrated that of the other eastern states. Trees were originally considered to be a hindrance and wantonly burnt, then lumbered as the state became the nation's largest timber producer. By the Civil War the supply of first-growth trees was being exhausted and production had started a steady decline. New York lead the nation in lumber production in 1850, was second in 1860, fourth in 1890, seventeenth in 1900 and twenty-second in 1910.5 Interrelated with the history of forestry in New York is the history of conventional agriculture. As the land was tilled the forests were destroyed, then as conventional agriculture was abandoned, the forests started regenerating. With the opening of free and inexpensive fertile land in the West, which New York State fachitiated by building the Erie Canal, New York's farmers were tilling less fertile land each year and found it increasingly difficult to compete against western farmers in all but perishable farm products. Before the Civil

FOREST PLANTAHONS OF F.D.R.

97

War, hill farms were being abandoned in New York and from 1880-1917 approximately 40,000 acres a year were being deserted.6 Dutchess County reached its maximum level of deforestation in 1890.

Stimulated by the early deforestation and subsequent abandonment of its farm land, New York was a leader in state forestry efforts. A general forestry law, passed in 1885, was described as: ``The first comprehensive forest administration law in the United States, ''7 created the Adirondack and Catskfll forest preserves, established a forest commission and modernized fire protection. Five years later the ``forever wild" requirement for the forest preserves, was added to the State Constitution. New York was also a leader of the ``tree-planting crusade"8, starting financial support for tree planting in 1869 when it provided for an abatement of the highway tax if a landowner planted trees by the side of a public road. The Forest, Fish and Game Commission, predecessor of the Department of Environmental Conservation, started raising seedlings for distribution to private landowners in 1902. By 1910 New York surpassed all other states and the Federal government in the production of seedlings. Its Saratoga Springs nursery was one of the largest nurseries in the world, producing neady three million trees a year.9 As the tree-planting crusade gained momentum early in the twentieth century the owners of several large estates in Dutchess County started reforesting their land. East of Hyde Park, in Mi]lbrook, Charles F. Dietrich had transformed his farm into a manor worthy of an EngHsh lord. A high fence kept the stocked game in and unwelcome villagers out. More significantly in the history of forestry, in 1894 Dietrich started planting conifer seedlings which he imported from Germany. As did the Hyde Park estate owners, including the Roosevelts, Dietrich planted white pines to shield his property from the highway, but he also planted stands of Norway spruce, Scotch pine and European larch.10 Writing in 1923, A.B. Recknagle, a Cornell forestry specialist, described one of Dietrich's stands of Norway spruce as being ``the best for Norway spruce in the State."11 Also in Millbrook, Samuel and Oakleigh Thorne established model plantations in the first decade of the century. Oakleigh Thorne planted white pine, red pine and white oak. Cooperating with the United States Forest Service, Samuel Thorne established a plantation of red oak.12 Frederick W. Vanderbilt, the brother of George W. Vanderbflt who, under the direction of Gifford Pinchot, developed his North Carolina Estate, ``Biltmore'', into an American model for scientific forestry, bought the Bard-Hosack estate just north of the village of Hyde Park in 1895. John Bard (1716-1799) and his son Samuel (1742-1821) were among America's notable early physicians. The Tory and slave-holding Bards were also agricultural experimenters. They imported Merino sheep to improve local stock, used clover and gyspum to improve their soill3 and planted specimen trees so that eventually their estate took on the ``character of an arboretum. "14 David Hosack, a medical partner of Samuel Bard, owned the property from 1828 to 1835. He carried on the horticultural efforts of the Bards and employed Andre Parmetier, a Belgian landscape gardner to design the paths, roads and vistas of the estate, which: . . .compromised 700 acres and in its day was unsurpassed for its orchards and

foower and vegetable gardens. Dr. Hosack was well-known in Europe, and through acquaintances there introduced rany new fruits from European orchards which eventuarty cane into the hands of frait growers in the Hudson R;iver Valley.15

Frederick Vanderbilt continued the ornamental plantings on the estate. He

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FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

planted white pines to shield the estate from the Post Road and several white pine plantations on the" farm land of to Archibald the east. Rogers, lay between the Vander``Crumwold Farms, the estate bilt and Roosevelt properties. Unlike the Vanderbflts, whom the Roosevelts judged to be too pretentious, the members of the Rogers family were close friends with the Roosevelts. Archibald Rogers had helped Theodore Roosevelt found the Boone and Crockett Club and F.D.R.'s first schooling took place in the Rogers' home. Contrasting Frederick Vanderbilt, Archibald Rogers emphasized practical forestry; forestry, while it had ornamental or aesthetic value, was primarily aimed towards measurable financial and ecological returns. Starting in the 1890's Rogers undertook to improve the forest stock through improvement cutting and in 1905 he entered into a ``cooperative agreement" with the United States Forest Service which prepared ``A Working Plan for the Woodland on Crumwold Farms, the Estate of Archibald Rogers, Hyde Park-on-Hudson. " The same year Rogers started one of New York's first tree nurseries.16 J. Nelson Spaeth of the Department of Forestry at Cornell did a twenty year follow-up study of Rogers' forest in 1925. Describing it as an ``absolute forest land" of the ``sprout hardwood type of the Central Hardwood Region,''17 he examined the growth of the 43 compartments the Forest Service had delineated in 1905. Spaeth concluded that Rogers' forestry operation was a success with the growth of the hardwoods and white pines occuring at an acceptable rate.18 As a careful observer of Dutchess County it is likely that Franklin Roosevelt would have known about the forestry efforts of his fellow estate owners. He certainly followed Rogers' forestry work, describing him, in 1915, as being ``really expert in practical forestry."19 By that date the future president had started the educational process to earn that description for himself.

Franklin Roosevelt felt strongly about the land between the Roosevelt home and the Hudson River. Visible below the home were the woods and fields he had first explored as a youth. When he started his forestry plantings in 1912 perhaps as much as one half of this land was open, being used for pasture or possibly tilled crops. Growing on a series of stone outcroppings directly below the home is a pocket of oaks and hemlocks which Roosevelt and consulting foresters considered to be virgin first-growth trees. This section of the estate was carefully preserved by F.D.R. in accordance with the directions of a consulting forester who cautioned Roosevelt: ``The stand should remain untouched. Do not remove even dead trees. Do not build new roads. Thus it will be preserved just as nature has treated it.''2° After the President's death, the National Park Service has continued to carefully protect this woods.

Interspersed through the forest below the home are pockets of trees which Roosevelt planted on the worn out farm land. These plantings of red pine, Scotch pine, white pine, Norway spruce and tulip poplar (Lz.77.ode7cd7io7i £#Zz.pzreHtz),

which was F.D.R.'s favorite tree, have not been maintained.

Several of Franklin Roosevelt's first forest plantings line the historic gravel road which winds its way from the river up to the home. F.D.R. drove foreign dignitaries up this road from the family's railroad siding and on Aprfl 14, 1945 a horse-drawn caisson followed the same path to the rose garden for the President's burial. Just below the rose garden and the crest of the hill, and to the right of the road, is a stand of white pine which was planted in 1915 and pruned in 1930. Continuing down the road, on the right past the turnoff to the servant's quarters, are plantings of tulip poplar made in 1917 and 1928. While these trees

FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

-' I. ,i '/': ,:

-,,,ft f` : I :` ` , .

i;i ;;f;;J, .::;r: ,,`£ `:,=: :--S:,

Map of plantations on the Roosevelt Estate 1930 from F.D .R.'s Famdy, Business and Personal Papers.. Forestry at Hyde Park file. Public Domain, Courtesy of F.D.R. Itbrary.

have been overgrown with competitors and have had a low survival rate, some excellent poplars remain with one tree measuring over 100 feet in height.21 To the left of the road and at the edge of the field directly below the home is a small S stand of Norway spruce which may have been planted the first year that F.D.R. started planting trees.

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FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

The tall and graceful American chestnut (C¢sf¢7cc¢ dcrz£¢£¢, Marsh.), which was

able to thrive in a wide variety of soil conditions, had been the dominant forest tree of Dutchess County since before the Dutch arrived. Its dense wood, high in tannic acid and therefore decay-resistant, was highly valued for fencing (Thomas Jefferson had favored chestnut rails), crossties, telegraph poles, construction lumber and furniture wood. But it was for its fall crop of sweet and very edible nuts, which were superior to the smaller and tartish Oriental varieties which have replaced them, that the American chestnut is remembered. For the River Famhies, the gathering of chestnuts was a favored activity which gave added purpose to fall walks through the resplendent Hudson Valley forests. James Roosevelt had directed young Franklin to favored trees on the famfty estate and in his turn F.D.R. enjoyed showing the trees to his children while enlisting them in the harvest.

The chestnut blight which was caused by the fungus £7tdo#zz.a p#rzz7zsz.£z.a was

first identified in New Bronx, New York in 1904. The disease quickly spread northward, first reaching Hyde Park about 1915. The devastation of the fungus is as insidious as it is complete. As the disease travels through a forest some parts of individual trees and some entire trees appear to be immune for several years.

Sprouts which grow from diseased trunks often vigorously reach a height of twenty or more feet before finally succumbing to the disease. This uneven destruction led foresters and woodlot owners to report numerous examples of individual trees which appeared to be immune from the blight. As reported by TJ!e Nczu york Tz.77zcs on October 4, 1938, Franklin Roosevelt was a victim of this false hope: Hyde Park, N.Y. (Oat. I) - A chance discovery by President Roosevelt on his Dutchess Hill forestation project today may mean that the all but extinct chestrmt tree, devastated by a mysterious blight several years ago, may be coming back.2:2

Later that year and in a more scientific manner, F.D.R. initiated the planting of various varieties of Oriental chestnuts to test their adaptability and productivity.

Professor Nelson Brown of the College of Forestry at Syracuse suggested the chestnut plantings to Roosevelt and convinced the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture that it was appropriate to supply the President with planting stock. The Department of Agriculture had distributed more than 200,000 chestnut seedlings to various Federal, state and private projects in its search for a replacement for the American chestnut.23 F.D.R. enthusiastically agreed with Brown's suggestion: ``1 shall be delighted to try the experiment of the Asiatic chestnuts next spring. ''24 A total of 350 Japanese chestnut (C¢sffl77g¢ c7ic7t¢£¢) and Chinese chestnut (Cfls£¢7tc¢ 7#oJZz.ssz.7#¢) seedlings, of different strains, were planted by Roosevelt

workers in a pasture F.D.R. had purchased from the Morgan family in 1936.

Described as the ``northwest Newbold lot," it is located in the large woods west of ``Bellefield," the Newbold-Morgan home, which is now occupied by the National Park Service. The seedlings were planted in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Plant Industry and were identified by tree markers. Initially, the seedlings were healthy with 950/o of the 1938 planting surviving the first year, which was unusually dry, and the plantation reached a height of two to six feet by 1942 with a 90°/o survival rate. However, in 1945, Nelson Brown reported that the Oriental chestnuts were forming numerous Shoots and were in need of pruning.25

FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

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It appears that all of the experimental chestnuts have died. Numerous searches by the author and personnel of the National Park Service have failed to discover any surviving specimens. Since they were planted in a scientific manner, which included a site map, the discovery of even a few surviving trees would be valuable to determine the outcome of one of Franklin Roosevelt's forestry experiments. .

Through a series of land purchases which began in 1911 and continued until 1938, F.D.R. doubled the size of the Roosevelt property to a total of nearly 1,600 acres. With the exception of the purchase of the Morgan lot, these purchases extended the estate to the east, stradling Route 9G. In 1925 Eleanor Roosevelt, with two of her friends, had a stone cottage built, which she named `'Val-Kill," on a gentle rise facing the tranquil Fallkill Creek and a large open pasture to the west.

This property is accessible by a wen-marked driveway just north of the 9G-Creek Road triangle.

It is likely that the land on this part of the estate, the majority of which is gently undulating with loose, well-drained soil, ``Dutchess Stony loam and Merrimac gravelly loam. ''26, had been farmed since the American Revolution. While it was originally productive, by the time F.D.R. acquired the land the soil was depleted.

Roosevelt commented: ``1 can lime it, cross-plough it, manure it and treat it with every art known to science, but it has just plain run out.''27 Facing this realization, F.D.R. searched for an alternative crop with which to use the land productively. Following the example of other Dutchess County estate owners and continuing his eady plantings surrounding the home, Roosevelt started planting trees on his Val-Kill farm land. Plantings were made in this area every spring until after the President's death when, for a fe-w years, Elliott Roosevelt took over management of the Val-Kill property. During the latter thirties and in the forties F.D.R. increasingly turned his attention to the production of Christmas trees and as many as 50,000 seedlings were planted annually.

There are two notable forestry plantations in the immediate area of Ms. Roosevelt's cottage. The far superior one is the white pine plantation north of the cottage. This plantation, which was a favorite of Eleanor Roosevelt, grows across the brook from the furniture factory on the northern and easterly edges of the pond. On clear days the pines are framed against the blue sky and in the late summer and early fall, purple loosestrife, which Ms. Roosevelt regarded highly as her ``purple weed, "28 provide a colorful prelude to the woods. The plantation, which was probably planted in 1934 or '35, is generally free of competing trees as well as any major insect or disease infestation. Some twenty years after the date of planting,29 the treetops had spread enough to almost totally shade the forest floor. Here the heavy carpet of pine needles is pierced by a scattering spice bush (Lz.7zdertz be7zzoz.7t) and a variety of ferns.

A natural resources inventory completed for the National Park Service in 1979 suggested that this plantation could be improved through thinning: With proper thiming and removal of dead and declining stems, this area could be developed into a show place reminiscent of white pine stands that used to dominate many sites in the northeastern United States. Past growth rates and prevalence of the White pine-Northern red oak-White ash forest type in the Dutchess country region adjacent to Vat-Kill, indicate the site and ctimatic conditions in this area are Suitable to white pine.3o

One can speculate about whether Franklin Roosevelt, who emphasized the

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FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

F.D.R. received ire Ne:w York and New England section of the Society of American Foresters at Hyde Park on Saptember 3,1931. The foresters toured Roosevelt's forest plantations.

practical returns of managed forests, or Eleanor Roosevtlt, who perhaps had a more aesthetic view of nature, would have agreed on the proposed rehabhitation of the white pine plantation.

Contrasting the healthy state of growth of the white pine planting is the condition of the Scotch pine and arborvitae (northern white-cedar) plantation south of the Val-Kill cottage. This small plantation is visible through the natural growth hardwoods and brush in the low area just south of the cottage. It was probably planted in 1929, which was just before the foresters from the College of Forestry at Syracuse started making regular visits to the Roosevelt Estate. The poor condition of this planting illustrate the results of poor variety-site location, insect damage and a lack of maintenance. It is likely that most of the crooked and forked trunks of the Scotch pines were caused by the European pine shoot moth (R¢Jzy#cz.o7€z.a boz.Zz.77fl).31. The arborvitae which were planted to the south of the

Scotch pine have been overgrown by native hardwoods, particularly the moisture-loving red maple. This planting is an unfortunate example of what happened so frequently in New York State when the wrong type of tree was introduced on a poor forest site.

Governor Roosevelt met with a delegation from the College of Forestry at Syracuse who came to Albany in 1929 to lobby for a new science building. During the meeting the Governor expressed his interest in forestry, that he ``. . . wanted to see it expand and develop into its proper place in the economic and social development of the state and country,''32 and he invited one of the Syracuse foresters to visit Hyde Park to consult with him on his forestry plantings. Later that year, Nelson C. Brown, Professor of Forest Utilization, visited Hyde Park.

The following January, Roosevelt announced an appropriation for the Syracuse building.

FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

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Nelson C. Brown had come to the College of Forestry as one of the original faculty members in 1912 after graduating from the Yale Forestry School and working for. private lumber companies and the U. S. Forest Service. Through his extensive writings, over 200 articles and a dozen books which explained and

popularized forestry with a minimum of technical language, his excenent speaking ability and affable personality, Brown promoted forestry - the Conege of Forestry - and himself . Professor Brown believed that undue emphasis was placed on laboratory-microscope work and that, instead, the natural sciences should emphasize field work. Throughout the school year Brown and his students visited forestry operations in upstate New York and each summer he conducted an extensive tour of southern forests.

Professor Brown visited Hyde Park every year until 1947, advising the Roosevelt's on their forestry operation. Each winter he would formulate a planting program for the following spring; during World War 11 when the demand and price for lumber were high, Brown marked the Roosevelt hardwoods to be cut, drew up the necessary contracts, secured a buyer, supervised the cutting and forest cleanup and saw to it that the President got paid. Brown was never paid for his services or expenses and when he sent President Roosevelt several '`1 am available" 1etters33 he had to satisfy himself with an informal summer assignment observing the operation of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the western states. Other Syracuse foresters who visited Hyde Park were Svend Heiberg, a forest soil specialist, Ray Bower, who supervised plantings, and C.C. Delavan who mapped some of the Roosevelt-Syracuse plantings. A 1931 graduate of the College of Forestry who also contributed to managed forestry on the Roosevelt Estate was Irving Isenberg who lived with the Roosevelts the summer he graduated while he prepared ``A Management Plan For Kromelbooge Woods At Hyde Park, N.Y., for the period 1931-1941."

While they were formulating the planting program for 1930, Roosevelt and Brown, who was acting dean, agreed that the College and the governor would informally cooperate in establishing some experimental and demonstration plantations on the Roosevelt Estate. F.D.R. had unsuccessfully attempted to reach a similar agreement with the New York State Conservation Commission in 1924.

Dean Brown wrote to F.D.R. in the spring of 1930 outlining the objectives and operation of the Roosevelt-Syracuse plantings: The plantations along the highway 9G are intended as purely demonstration forests. The others are intended as experimental plantations. Very carrful records will be kept of spacing, types of soil, character and size of trees used, etc. , which will

give us the basis of data which will guide us in drawing conclusions as to results in the years to come. It is intended to follow up these initial plantings with further experiments next year .... with your permission we should ttke to use this as one of our experimental stations. This can be done without any defthite commitment by

you except to continue the excellent plan of management which you have apparently been fouowing in the past.

It will be intended to improve the woods and to handle it as a commercial forestry operation. We have no experimental operations in the Hudson Valley and your tract offers an excellent opportunity for some cooperative experiments not only in reforestation but in woodiot mangement. . . .we should like very much to announce these cooperative experiments if it is agreeable.34

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FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

The largest remaining stand from the Roosevelt-Syracuse planting effort, one which N.C. Brown ironically described as ``purely demonstration," is located west of 9G where it intersects with Creek Road. This ``demonstration" planting of red pine has not been maintained. It is diseased, overgrown with competitors,

unthinned, unpruned, and littered with trees which have blown down.

Although it was a popular reforestation tree in the 1930's, the selection of red pine is questionable. It is highly susceptible to disease and wind damage while its main use is for wood pulp which does not have a local market. Fifty years after its planting, this stand is a demonstration of poor forestry.

An area which Franklin Roosevelt called ``Tamarack Swamp" on the Tompkins farm which he purchased in 1925, provided Roosevelt and the Syracuse foresters with a challenge in historical and ecological investigation and forest planting. ``Tamarack Swamp" is located in the fork formed by Route 9G and Creek Road and extends southward to where the Roosevelt property ended at what is now Judy Terrace.

President Roosevelt was intrigued by the historical and ecological implications of the local name of the overgrown swamp since the tamarack tree was not native to Dutchess County during his lifetime. The tamarack tree did, however, grow in the higher elevations of the Catskill and Pennsylvania Mountains to the west.

Professor Brown related the story that F.D.R. had hunted in the swamp as a boy

and that he had unearthed some old stumps which were identified as tamarack.

Roosevelt never recorded this story but he was interested in the swamp and the questions which it posed: This occurrence of tamarack interested him very much and he often spoke of it. He also wondered about the exterit to which tamarack was found in the Hudson Valley, how it happened to grow in this puticular soanp, what the early settlers used it

for and wky it had disappeared. This study of tree ecology is evidence of his wide interests, his fertile mind and wiltingness to investigate some matters that may not be of any current economic importance but was of great interest from a biological and historic viewpoint .35

F.D.R. was also challenged by the difficulty of upgrading the trees which were growing in the wet area; ``. . . a very dense stand of red maple, some elm, popple and swamp white oak."36 In 1931 he had the swamp cleared, drained and replanted with more valuable trees. This work was performed under the direction of Ray Bower of the College of Forestry. When the ditches were dug Bower noted that the humus layer was ``. . .almost comparable to the peat bogs of Ireland. ''37 Arborvitae, tulip poplar, Norway spruce, white pine, European larch and beech were planted on the drained land. Less than 100/o of the white pine, poplar, Norway spruce and larch are surviving today. All the surviving trees are clustered on the higher ground. Apparently they were never thinned and are severely stunted. A volunteer growth of red maple has replaced most of the plantation seedlings. A decade after the President's death sections of the swamp were cleared for houses and a trailer park.

F.D.R. considered this replanting effort to be a failure: It is the one failure that we have made. We have tried three different plantings on it, but the damned thing won't grow. However, the State Forestry people are going to try it With these larches.38

Attractive stands and individual trees can be seen in the yards of homes which

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105

were built after World War 11 on former Roosevelt property along Creek and Roosevelt Roads. The conifers on both sides of Creek Road south from 9G were planted by Roosevelt crews in the thirties and early forties..Beginning at its terminus with Lawrence Road east of 9G and continuing about one half mile, Roosevelt Road transects what was Roosevelt property. On both sides of the road, conifers which were primarily intended by Franklin Roosevelt to become Christmas trees, are gracing the yards of the homes. Ironically, since most of the trees were removed and many of those that -were left have been subject to blowdown,thosethatremainhavehadtheproperspacetogrowandarespecimentrees.

Two aspects of F.D.R.'s forestry efforts, the sale of improved hardwoods during World War 11 and the sale of Christmas trees, returned some money. No financial return was derived from the conifers which Roosevelt planted for timber production. Roosevelt's return did not equal his investment in land, labor and the cost of the seedlings, but he expected that his efforts wold produce an increased return in the future. Two years after his death, Ms. Roosevelt wrote: The results of the years during which ny husband bought woodland and planted trees are now begiming to show. While trees are never spectacularly profitable, they certainly are an interesting one, and I think ours should begin now to produce Some more adequate returns.&9

Most of the Roosevelt property was sold during the decade following F.D.R.'s death. With the exception of the harvesting of hardwoods in the area between Routes 9 and 9G and the maintenance efforts of the National Park Service, forestry has stopped on Roosevelt property.

With the continued decline of dairying and most other traditional forms of agriculture in Dutchess County and the consequent increase in the availabhity of land for growing trees which are regenerating naturally, landowners might consider plantation trees and woodiot improvement as a source of income. Woodlot owners and owners of idie open land might imitate F.D.R. and derive revenue from the sale of hardwoods from an improved woodiot or by raising Christmas trees. If the land is already owned and the tree-grower does not compute the initial land cost as an expense, a ``profit" might ensue.

As governor and president, Franklin Roosevelt applied the knowledge of land use and forestry which he learned through his forestry efforts at Hyde Park. New York's forestry program under Roosevelt was ``the largest and most constructive yet adopted by any state."40 F.D.R. successfully campaigned for, and then im-

plemented, the Hewitt Amendment to the State Constitution which funded the purchase and reforestation of neglected land. He established a program which placed10,000unemployedmentoworkinNewYork'sforests.PraisingGovernor Roosevelt's forestry record, T7ze Jo#r7z¢J of Foresfny commented: ``Franklin D.

Roosevelt has made full use of his home forestry experiments and experiences."41

Franklin Roosevelt did more to promote forestry than any other president. He expanded the national forests as his cousin Teddy had done and he also was responsible for the largest tree planting effort in American history. Through the Civilian Conservation Corps he focused national attention on conservation.

When the C.C.C. was being organized, F.D.R. sketched an organization chart for the Corps, to which he added: ``1 want personally to check on the location scope etc. of the camps, size work to be done etc. FDR" rsz.cJ4° This was a pledge he wouldexpertlykeepbasedonhisexperiencesasaDutchessCounty``treegrower."

106

FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

Endnotes 1. F.D.R. to Sara Roosevelt, Aug. 7,1905, Perso7i¢J I,e££e7is of Frtz7zkzz.# D. RoosezJCJf, Vol.11,

Elliott Roosevelt, ed. (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce), pp. 57-8.

2. Joseph P. Lash, £Jefl77or fl7zd Frjz7tkJf7I (New York: Norton, 1971), p. 150.

3. Eleanor Roosevelt, ``My Day," April 26, 1945.

4. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address, Lake Placid, New York, September 14, 1935. FrrzrzkJz.H D. Rooscz7cJf fl7id Co7zscraflf!.o7z, Vol.I, Edgar 8. Nixon, ed. (Hyde Park: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, 1957), p. 430.

5. A. 8. Recknagel, TJze Forcsfs a/Nczo York Sfflfc (New York: Macmillan,1923), p. 28.

6. Ibid.I p. 40.

7. Ibid.

8. Henry Clepper, Pro/gssz.o#¢J Foresfny I.71 ffee LJ7zz.fed S£¢£cs (Baltimore: ]ohns Hopkins, 1971), p. 216.

9. AndleT[_ D. Rogers, Bemhard E. Femow: A Story of North American Forestry (Princeton..

Princeton University Press, 1951), p. 336.

10. B.H. Paul, ``Reforestating Methods and Results of Forest Planting in New York State, " Bulletin 374, (Cornell University, 1916), p. 677.

11. Recknagel, Forests of Nezu York, p. 90.

12. Paul, `'Reforestating Methods," p. 677.

13. 0lin Dows, Frfl7Ikjz.ri Roosez7cJf a£ Hydc P¢rk (New York: American Artists, 1949), pp. 138-9.

14. Franklin D. Roosevelt to Rev. M.J. Devine, Aug. 8, 1939, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library (hereafter FDRL) President's Personal File, 128.

I_5. RchTn.d V_aLn ZELndi, Chronicles of the Hudson: Three Centuries of Traveler's Accounts (New Brunswick: Rutgers, 1971), 335.

1_6. 9u±h Wh:.Ip_p_le_, _4_Fist_pry of a_half a celt_tvy of the Conservation of Natural Resources of the £7#pz.re S£¢£e, 2885-1935 (Albany: Lyon, 1935), p. 89.

17. I. Nelson Spaeth, ``Twenty Years of Growth of a Sprout Hardwood Forest in New York: A Study of the Effects of Intermediate and Reproduction Cuttings,'.' Bulletin 465, (Cornell University, 1928), p. 4.

18. JZ7z.d., pp. 47-8.

19. Franklin Roosevelt to Franklin Moon, Rooscz7ezf fl7zd Corzse7t)flfz.oH, Vol. I, P. 35.

20. Irving Isenberg, `'Management Plan For Kromelbooge Woods at Hyde Park, New York, for the period 1931-1941." 1931. Family, Farm and Personal Business, FDRL., p. 4.

21. Ann Lewis, ``Vegetation Resource Inventory for the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site," 1983, p. 27.

22. ``Nezo York T!.77zcs", October 4, 1938, p. 27.

23. Fores£ LcflzJcs, XXVII, No. 1., Jam., 1938, p. 13.

24. Franklin Roosevelt to Nelson C. Brown, June 29, 1937, President's Personal File, FDRL, 38.

25. Nelson C. Brown, ``Planting Report,1945," Family, Farm and Personal Business, FDRL.

26. '`Soil Map of Dutchess County, New York," United States Department of Agriculture, 1905.

27. Franklin Roosevelt, April 14, 1931, Rooseuczf fl7zd Co#sert)flfz.o#, Vol. 11, p. 85.

28. Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Day," August 1, 1947.

FOREST PLANTATIONS OF F.D.R.

107

29. ``Natural Resources Inventory at Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, New York," Pandullo Quirk Associates, 1979, p. 29.

30. JZ,id.' p. 30.

31. Jbz.d., p. 32.

32. Nelson C. Brown, ``Reiniscences of F.D.R.", N.C. Brown Papers, FDRL, p. 11.

33. Nelson C. Brown to Franklin Roosevelt, December 28, 1932 and March 28, 1933, N.C. Brown Papers, FDRL.

34. Nelson C. Brown to Franklin Roosevelt, April 4, 1930, Farm, Business and Personal Affairs, Box 74, FDRL. 35. Nelson C. Brown, ``Reminiscences," p. 15.

36. Jb!.d., p. 16.

37. Ray F. Bower, ``Governor Roosevelt's Forest," A7Herz.ca7z Foresfs, May 1, 1931, p. 274.

38. Franklin Roosevelt, Press Conference, July 4, 1936.

39. Eleanor Roosevelt, ''My Day," June 5,1947.

40. Jo"77c#Z of Foresfny, XXX, No. 1, January, 1932, p. 2.

41. Ibid.

108

1985

Officers and Trustees Efleen M. Hayden Richard Birch Timothy S. Aured Frank Van Zanten John & Mary Lou Jeanneney

President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Editors - Yearbook

CLASS OF 1985

CLASS OF 1986

Edward Howard Barbara Peters Nathaniel Rubin

Radford Curdy Wimam Reilly Jean Stevenson

Frederick Stutz

Stanley Wfllig

CLASS OF 1987

CLASS OF 1988

Louis Ahlbach Alfred Hasbrouck CharlesL. rm .

Constance 0. Smith

Arlene Chiaramonte Lou Lewis Sheila Newman Randall Pearson

Staff Melodye K. Moore

...................

Director

Peter R. Farnham ..................... Curator of Conections Tara M. Petroccitto ................... Bookkeeper/Typist

Local Society Delegates Amenia............................................

Beacon.............................-...............

Clinton............................................

Catherine Leigh Joan Vanvoorhis Kathleen Spross

Dover..........................................-...

CaLroline Reichenberg

East Fishkill

Kenneth Walpuck Collin Strang Vacant Frank Doherty Vacant Chester Eisenhuth Myrna Feron Elizabeth Klare Judy Moran Arthur Gellert Lemma MCGinnis Rosemary Coons Patsy V08el Vacant Irena Stolarik Alice Hemroth Louise Tompkins

........................................

Fishkill....................-........................

Hyde Park LaGrange North East

.........................................

Pawling...-............-...........................

Pine Plains

.................-.-..-------------------

Pleasant Valley ....

Poughkeepsie-City Poughkeepsie-Town................................

Red Hook

..........................................

Ithinebeck..........................................

Stanford...........................................

Union Vale

.........................................

Wappinger.........................................

Washington.........................................

109

Municipal Historians of Dutchess County County Historian Joyce Ghee 22 Market Street County Office Building Poughkeepsie, New York 12601

City Historians BEACON Alexander D. Rogers 12 West winow Beacon, NY 12508

POUGHREEPSIE Herbert saltford 27 Bancroft Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Town Historians RHINEBECK

Catherine Leigh Flint Hill Road Amenia, NY 12501

LA GRANGE Emily Johnson Moore Road, Moores Mill Pleasant Valley, NY 12569

BEEBRAN

NIAN

STANFORD

Lee Eaton Clove Valley Road Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

Katherine Gasset

Dorothy Ahem

RR. #1, Box 454

Stissing Road Stanfordville, NY 12581

ARENIA

Stanfordville, NY 12581

Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Myma Feron

TIVOLI ovfllage) Richard Wiles

Old Route 55 Pawling, NY 12564

Tivoli, NY 12583

PAVVLING

CLINTON William Benson Jr. Hollow Road

Dewitt Gurnell 38 Mulbeny Street

29 Montgomery Street

Salt Point, NY 12578

DOVER

PINE PLAINS Vacant

Ms. Donald 8. Dedrick Nellie Hill Road

UNION VALE Irena Stolarik N. Smith Road LaGrangevflle, NY 1254C

Dover Plains, NY 12522 EAST FISHKILL

Heny Cassidy Rushmore Road Stormvme, NY 12582

FIsmLL Wina Skinner Charlotte Road Fishkiu, NY 12524 FISHKILL (Village)

Rodney Koopmans 17 Rapalje Road Fishkill, NY 12524

HYDE PARK James Brock 4 Hfllman Road Hyde Park, NY 12538

PLEASANT VALLEY Yvonne Baker Pleasant View Road Pleasant Valley, NY 12569

WAPPINGER Mrs. Constance Smith RD #3, Route 376 Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

POUGHKEEPSIE (Town) Mrs. Virginia Ferris 6 Kingsway Circle Camelot Village Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

RED HOOK John Winthrop Aldrich ``Rokeby„ Banytown, NY 12508 RED HOOK (Village) Rosemary E. Coons

34 Garden Street Red Hook, NY 12571

WAPPINGERS FALLS Ivfllage) Miss Caroline P. Wixsor 86 East Main St. Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

WASHINGTON Louise H. Tompkins Dutchess County Infirmary Millbrook, NY 12545

110

Historical Societies of Dutchess County Amenia Historical Society Amenia, NY 12501

Little Nine Partners Historical

Bowdoin Park Historical & Archaeological Association 85 Sheafe Road Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

Pine Plains, NI 12567

Beacon Historical Society P.O. Box 89 Beacon, NY 12508

Society P.O. Box 243

North East Historical Society

NIerton, NI 12546 Historical Society of Quaker IIill and Pawling, Inc. Box 99

Pawling, NY 12564 Beekman Historical Society P.O. Box 165

Pleasant Valley Historical Society

Poughquag, NY 12570

Box 766

Pleasant Valley, NY 12569

Clinton Historical Society Clinton Comers, NY 12514

The Town of Dover Historical Society Dover Plains, NY 12522

Egbert Benson Historical Society of Red Hook Box 1776

Red Hook, NI 12571

East Fishkfll Historical Society

Rhinebeck Historical Society

P.O. Box 245

P.O. Box 291

Fishkfll, NY 12524

Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Fishkill Historical Society

Stanford Historical Society Stanfordville, NY 12581

P.O. Box 133

Fishkfll, NY 12524

Union Vale ffistorical Society

Hyde Park Historical Association

P.O. Box 100

Bellefield

Verbank, NY 12585

Route 9 Hyde Park, NI 12538

Wappingers Historical Society

Hyde Park Historical Society

Wappingers .Falls, NY 12590

P.O. Box 974 P.O. Box 182

Hyde Park, NI 12538 La Grange Historical Society P.O. Box 212

LaGrangevflle, NY 12540

Washington Historical Society Mfllbrook, NY 12545

111

Index AIlen, Elizabeth 25

College of Forestry,

A-arm, Othmar 67

Syracuse 100-104 Cooke, Charles D. 23 Creed famfty 24 Crum Elbow Precinct 14, 15

Andrus, E.C. 74, 81 Apokeapsian 90

Bachman, Van Cleef 5, 9 Bard, John 97 Bard, Samuel 97 Becker, Carl 16

Beekman, Henry 8, 12, 13 Beekman family 15, 16 Beekman Manor 5 Beekman Precinct 14 Blizzard of 1888 62 ``bob-tail cars" 62

Davis, Milo 62 Dickeuson family 15 Dietrich, Charles F. 97 Dreyer, Rolf 80 Dutch 5-16 Dutch Reformed Church 7 Dutchess County Academy 76, 77 Dubois, Matthew, Jr. 13

Brinckerhoff family 15 ` Bockee, Abraham 73 Bonomi, Patricia 6 Brett, Madam 24, 26, 28, 34, 46 Bridges Brooklyn Bridge 67 George Washington Bridge 67 Brinckerhoff, Dirck 12 Brinckerhoff house 27 Brinckerhoff, Margretia 24 Brown, Nelson C. 100, 102, 103, 104 `'Bun's Head" 60

East Fishkill Historical Society 32 Eastman, Harvey 59 Eastman system 82 Elections 10-16

Burgess, Edward 78 Businesses American Bridge Company 67, 68 Anchor Bolt and Nut Company 20 Cooke, Jay 67 Feigenspan Brewery 20 Lawrence Company 23 Modjeski and Masters 70 Nagle Re-Blade Knives 20-23 Seneca Button Company 23 Standard Gage Company 23 Union Bridge Company 68

Frankfort Storehouse 8

Finch, Francis 13

Fflkin, Heny 12 Fflkin fandy 15, 16 Fishkill Landing 27 Fishkill Hook (Wiccopee) 24 Forbus Street site 80 forestry 96-105 French 6, 10, 13-15

Gansevoort, Peter 7 Gehring, Charles 7 Germans 5, 6, 9, 10, 13-16 Germond, Isaac 15 Gibbons, Willialn P. 73

Grant, Arme 6, 7 Gym classes 89

Hamilton, Alexander (physician) 5, 8, 13 Haviland, Barclay 50, 51

Heady, Heny 32 Chastellur, Marquis de 5 Civilian Conservation Corps 105 Cohen, David 9 Colden, Cadwallader 8

Hinkley, James W. 63 Hopewell Church 27 Hopkins, Charles 80 Hosack, David 97

112

Howland, Humphrey 50, 51 Hume, Ivor Noel 35 IBM 32, 34

Jay, John, House 26, 34 Jewett, Dr. 83

Palatines 5, 13-15

Parker, (Commissioner) 77 Petersburg, New York 7 P7zoz.s, yearbook 79, 90

Pinchot, Gifford 96 Pitkin, Arthur 23 Poughkeepsie 14, 20, 22, 23, 27, 48, 59-63, 65-67, 69-7.2

Kalm, Peter 5-7 Kermey, Alice 7 REey, Egbert 8. 73 Kindergartens 87 Fchg, George 81

Fthgston, New York 7 Kip, Jacobus 46 Kip, Roeloff 13 Klein, Milton 8, 16

Legislature, New York State 78 Lewis, Katherine 13 Lewis, Leonard 12 Lewis fandy 15, 16

Livingston, Heny 12 Livingston, Robert R. 12 Livingston family 15, 16 Lotterer's Hotel 62

Mancius, Rev. Georg Wilhelm 7 Mandeville, Widow 23 Manual training 87, 88 Marsh, George Perkins 96 NItary Service 50-57 Militia, New York State 53-56 Mother's Association 78 Moon, Superintendent 91 Moore, William 12, 13 Moore, William, Jr. 12 Mulrein's Marble Front 77 Nagle, George H. 20 New York State Compulsory Education Bill 77 Nichols, T.G. 65

Nine Partners Patent, Great 8 Nine Partners Precinct 24 Northeast Precinct 15 Nyack, New York 7 0sterhold, A. 85

Poughkeepsie Precinct 14

poughkede;e]ouin;;;;i-Eagiei4 Poughkeepsie Summer High School 91

Poughkeepsie Trade School 90 Primitive Methodist Church 74 Quakers 50-57

Railroads Conrail 71 Hudson River Railroad 59 Northern Pacific Railroad 67 Permsylvania Railroad 67 Poughkeepsie and Eastern Railroad 59, 60 Poughkeepsie City and Wappingers Falls Electric Railway Company 63 Poughkeepsie City Railroad Company 59, 61 Rhinebeck, New York 6, 14, 15 Rhinebeck Precinct 14, 15 Rombout Precinct 14 Robinson's Blacksmith Shop 62 Rogers, Archibald 98 Rombout, Francis 45, 46 Roosevelt, Eleanor 96, 101, 102 Roosevelt, Eniott 101 Roosevelt, Franklin D. 96-105 Roosevelt, F.D., home 4 Roosevelt, Sara 95 Rosekrans family 15 Schickle, Elizabeth 84 Shear, S.R. 89

Smith, William, Jr. 8 South, Stanley 35 Southeast Precinct 14 Spaeth, J. Nelson 98

113

Staatsburgh, New York 56 Stony RE Farm 48 Strickland, William 8 Swift, Nathan G. 50, 51 Swartwout, Bernardus 13 Swartwout, Jacobus 13 Tappan, Johannes 12 Teller, Helene 46 Terbos, Jacobus 13 Terbos family 15 Ter Bush, Judge 25 Thompson, J. Edgar 67 Thorne, Oakleigh 97 Thome, Samuel 97 Travis, Edward 62 trees, chestnut 100 Underhin, Josiah I. 74 Vanderbilt, Frederick W. 97, 98 Van Der Burgh famdy 15, 16 Van K]eeck, Baltus 12 Van RIeeck, Johannes 13 Van FGeeck, Lawrence 13 Van Kleeck, Leonard 12 Van FGeeck, Peter 13 Van RTeeck family 15, 16

Van Wagenen family 15 Van Wyck, Abraham 38 Van Wyck, Cornelius 24 Van Wyck, Cornelius (house) 27, 28 Van Wyck genealogy 26-28, 30 Van Wyck, Janrie 28, 30 Van Wyck, Theodorus 24, 25, 35 Van Wyck, Theodorus, Jr. 26 Val-Kill 101

Vas, Domihie 7 Vassar College 59, 60, 63

Verplanck, Abraham Isaacse 44 Veaplanck, Gulian 44-46 Verplanck, Hendrika 45, 46 Wessels, Aeltje 45 White, Carl H. 20, 23

Yerzley, William A. 20

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