DCHS 1939 1941 Yearbook Articles Related to New Guinea Community

THE HYDE PARK PATENT by HENRY T. HACKETT

At a date prior to 1695, in which year he died, IIenry Pawling of Ulster County purchased a tract of land in Dutchess I rom the Indian owners. The purchase was made under a license granted to Pawling Governor Dongan and the land acquired was bounded on the west Hudson's River, on the south and east by Crum Elbow Creek and on the no,rth by the Rhinebeck Patent. Within those boundaries there were supposed to be 4,000 acres.

Captain Pativling applied to the Governor for a Crown Patent, (i.e. confirmation of title) to the described tract but the Patent was not issued until May 11,1696, after he had died and so it was made out to

his widow, Nieltie Pawling, and their children.

It was not long before it becam\e known that there were more than 4,000 acres o£ land within the bounds of the Pawling Patent and so, on March 23, 1703 a group of men from New York City, led by Jacob Regnier made the following petition to the Governor for Letters Patent for the surplus portion and for a warrant to survey the bounds of such remainder : "To his Excellency Edward Viscount Cornbury Cpt.

General and Governor in Chief of the province of New York, New Jersey and the territories depending thereon in America in Council The humble petition of Jacob Regnier and Company Showeth That one Henry Pauling, decd, having in his lifetime purchased a certain tract of land on Hudson's River in Dutchess County from the native Indians, propriotors thereof, by virtue of a license granted to him by Coll. Dongan, formerly Gov. of this province, called by the Indians Eaquaquansinck, beginning at a marked tree by the river side; thence running by marked trees eastwardly by the side of fresh meadow, including this meadow called Mansackin, also running eastwardly to a small creek, called Nancapaconnick, and following the sd creed southerly and southwest, as it runs, to Hudson's river by the Crom Elbow, called by the Indians by the name of Eaquansinck. Nieltie Pauling, his widow, after his decease, on the eleventh day of M,ay, 1696, obtained a patent from Coll. Benj. Fletcher, formerly Gov. of this province, for 4.,000 acres of land within the limits and bounds, to herself and her children.

Petitioner having discovered that there is a parcel of land still remaiming unallotted and unappropriated within the said limits and 75

bounds over and besides the said 4,000 acres, that altho the same is', generally rocky, mountainous, lying in and adjoining to the high lands, yet that some small places are to be found therein, fit for cultivation and~ improvement, and yor Exc?ll. petitioner being willing to do the same

Humbly pray may it please yr. Excellency to grant unto yr. petitioner her Majesties letters patent under the broad seal of this province, for the remaining part of the said tract of land at and under such moderate quit rent as to your excellency it seems well and in order thereto that Excellency would be pleased to grant to your said petitioner a warrant of survey for the ascertaining the bounds of the said remainder Yr. Excell. petitioner shall ever pray J. A. Regnier"

On April 5, 1704 Augustine Graham, Surveyor General of New York, reported, viz : "Pursuant to his Excellys

Warrt dated 24th March 1703.

I have surveyed for Mr. Jacob Regnier the property of Henry Pauling pursuant to the limits expressed in the same but could not ascertain the boundary of the four thousand acres granted to Neiltie Pauling and her children the same not having been surveyed or in any manner of ways expressed, but do find by within the limits of the Paulings Purchase including the four thousand acres granted his widow there is contained ten thousand acres of land of which scarce on'e third part is improveable it being generally vet-y mountainous and rocky.

Performed April 5th, 1704.

Augus. Graham Sur. Gen."

Seven weeks later, that is on May 25,1704, Jacob Regnier and his`.

partner acted on the information obtained I rom the report of the surveyand petitioned for a Crown Patent for the surplus acreage. As a result,` Lord Cornbury, Governor of the Province o£ New York, on April 18, 1705, granted a Patent for the said surplus to Jaco,b Regnier, Peter Fauconnier, Benjamin Aske, Barne Cosens and John Persons. The patent is recorded at Albany at page 303 of Book 3 of patents and reads» as follows : "Anne by the Grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith &c to all to whom these pi.esents shall come or may concern greeting Whereas Jacob Regnier, of Lincoln's Inn o£ Kingdom of England, iEsq., barrister at law now resident at New York in America, and com-

pany, to witt Peter Fauconnier, Esq., Benjamin Ask, Merchant, Barne Cosens, gentleman, and John Persons, gentleman, all of New York, (appeared) by their several petitions, humbly presented to our right trusty and well beloved Cousin, Edward, Viscount Cornbury, Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over our Province of New York_ 76

.and Territories depending thereon in America, ec, in Council, have prayed our grant and confirmation of all that tract of land on the east `side of Hudson's River in Dutchess County, called by the Indians Eaquaquanesick, beginning at a marked tree by the riverside, thence running by marked trees eastward by ye` syde of a fresh meadow called JM:ansakin also running eastwardly to a small creek called Nancapaconnick and following said creek southerly and southward, as it runs, to Hudson's River by said Crum Elbow, called by the Indians by ye name of Eaquarsinck except only such land, parcel thereof, to which Wyntie, John, Albert, Anne, Henry and Mary Pauling, children lawfully begotten between Henry Pauling, decd, and Neilche his wife, are duly entitled to, and that we would be graciously pleased to make our royal grant of said premises unto them Jacob Regnier, Peter Fauconnier, Benj.

Ask, Barne Cosens and John Persons, whereupon we think fit to grant their request.

Know Ye that of our Special Grace certain knowledge and (Meer Mocon?) we have given, granted, ratified and confirmed and, by these presents, do for us ourselves and successors give, grant, ratify and confirme unto ye said Jacob Regnier, Peter Fauconnier, Benj. Ask, Barne Cosens and John Persons (which said Peter Fauconnier, Benj. Ask, Barne Cosens, and John Persons are the company of the said Jacob Regnier) all of the said tract of land above ..... to be on the east side of Hudson's river in Dutchess County aforesaid, called by the Indians Eaquaquanesinck, beginning at a marked tree by the said river syde thence running by marked trees easterly by a fresh meadow called Mansakin, also running easterly to a small creek called Nacapaconnick, and following said creek southerly and southwest, as it runs, to Hudson's River by ye Crown Elbow, called by the Indians by the name of Eaquarquarsinck.

Together with all the singular the woods, underwoods, trees, timber, meadows, marshes, swamps, pools, ponds, waters, water courses, rivers, rivvlets, runs and streams of water, brooks, fishing, fowling, hunting and hawking, mines, minerals, all standing, growing, running, flowing, lying or being within the bounds and limits aforesaid and all other profits, benefits, advantages, heraditiments and appurtenances whatsoever, to the land belonging or in any wise appertaining, in five parts, to be divided except and always reserved out of this our present grant all gold and silver and also all such land, parcel thereof, to which Jane, Wyntie, John, Albert, Anne, Henry and Mary Pauling, children lawfully begotten between Henry Pauling, deced, and N€iltie, his wife, are duly entitled to, to have and to hold one-fifth part of said tract of land and premises and the appurtenances hereby granted or meant, menconed or intended to be hereby granted, as aforesaid, to (except as is hereinbefore excepted) unto ye sd Jacob Regnier, his heirs and assigns, forever. To the only proper use and behoof of the said Jacob Regnier, his heirs and assigns for ever. One other fifth part thereof to said Peter Fauconnier, his heirs and assigns forever, to the only proper use and behoof of said Peter Fauconnier, his heirs and assigns forever-one other fifth part thereof unto the said Benj. Ask, his heirs and assigns forever, to the only proper use and behoof of said Benj. _Ask, his heirs and assigns forever,-one other fifth part thereof unto ye sd Barne Cosens, his heirs and assigns forever, to the only proper use and behoof of said Barne Cosens, his heirs and assigns forever,--and 'one other fifth part thereof to the said John Persons, his heirs and assigns forever, to the only proper use and behoof of said John Persons, his heirs and assigns forever.

77

To be holders of us, our heirs and successors in free and common soccage, as of our manner of East Greenwich in the County of Kent, within our Kingdom of England-Yielding, rendering and paying therefor yearly and every year forever unto our heirs and successors at our custom house at New York (afore sd?) or to our Collector or receiver Gen'l there for the time being at or upon the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (commonly called Lady D?y) the rent or sum of five pounds current money of New York in lieu and stead of all other rents, services, dues, duties and demands whatsoever provided, always and these present are upon that condition, that if no Improvement be already had or made upon the sd Tract of Land, hereby granted as aforesaid, nor on any part or parcel thereof, that then and in such case they the sd Jacob Regnier, Peter Fauconnier, Benj. Ask, Barne Cosens, and John Persons their heirs and assigns, some or one of them shall in the time and space of two years now next following from and after the date hereof settle, clear and make improvement of or upon the said lands and premises hereby granted, or of or upon some part or parcel thereof.

In Testimony Whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent and the seal of our Province of New York to our letters patent to be affixed and the same to be recorded in the Secretarv's Office of our said Province aforesaid.

Witnesseth our right, trusty, and well belo`'ed Cousin, Edward, Vicount Cornbury, our Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over our said Province of New York and Territories depending thereon, in America, and Vice Admiral of the same ec. in council at the Fort at New York the eighteenth day of April in the fourth year of Our Reign anno ye dine 1705."

Representatives of the owners of the Patent of Hyde Park met at "James Harding by thc' Ferry on Long Ishind" on September 8t`h,1730, for the purpose of "justly dividing the same by casting of lots" and there executed a deed of partition which with the map showing the partition of the Patent were filed, at the request of Dr. Samuel Bard, in the office of the Secretary of State, on June 27th,1787.

One of this group of patentees, Peter Fauconnier, occupied a number of offices under Lord Cornbury, the Governor o£ New York. In 1702 he was appointed Secretary to the Governor. Later he was made one of the three Commissioners for managing the office of Collector and Receiver General of New York, the other two being Caleb Heathcote and Thomas Wenham. As Surveyor General of the Province of New York he is said to have taken advantage of his office to further his interest in land patents.

Peter Fauconnier died between April 10,1745, and Nov. 6,1746, and is believed to have been buried at Hackensack, N. J. A miniature of him is reproduced in Pierre Fauconnier and His Descendants, published by A. E. Helfenstein,1911.

78

Fauconnier's share and interest in the "Hyde Park Patent" appears to have passed to his daughter, Magdalene Fauconnier, wife of Peter Valleau. Mrs. Valleau sold her 274 shares to her son-in-law, Dr. John Bard, and he later purchased the other outstanding shares, thereby becoming the sole owner of the "Hyde Park Patent".

The name "Hyde Park" was applied by Dr. John Bard to the "Patent" and to his own residential portion of it in honor of Sir Edward

Hyde, Lord Cornbury, who, as Governor, granted the Patent to Peter Fauconnier arid others.

Dr. John Bard, who married Suzanne Valleau, the granddaughter of Peter Fauconnier, practiced his profession in Philadelphia until 1746

when he moved to New York City. While living in Philadelphia he had become an intimate friend and associate of Benjamin Franklin, who wrote a letter to Cadwallader Colden, Lieutenant Governor of New York, recommending Dr. Bard as "an ingenious physician and surgeon and a discreet, worthy and honest man."

In 1772 Dr. John Bard moved to Hyde Park where he erected a house on the east side of the Post Road on a site north of the site of St. James's Church. He called his home "Red House" and lived there during the Revolution.

At the close of the war he returned to New York City and resumed the practice of his professio,n. In 1788 he became the first President of the New York Medical Society.

While President George Washington resided on Cherry Street, New York City during the first term of his office, Dr. John Bard and his son, Dr. Samuel Bard, attended President Washington.

In 1797 Dr. John Bard gave up his practice and returned to Hyde Park where he died on March 30th,1799, and was buried a short distance east of St. James's Church. A portrait of him is reproduced in the Fauconnier genealogy opposite page 82.

During his ownership of the Patent of Hyde Park, Dr. John Bard sold off a number of lots some of which conformed in location and dimensions to the lots as laid down on a map of the Patent which is recorded in Liber 17 of Deeds at page 471 in the Dutchess County Clerk's

Office, viz :To George Rim (Rymph) a file maker, by deed dated Nov. loth, 1768 /of IVo. 5 of the Patent consisting of 215 acres. The stone house on this property on the west side of the Post Road was designated ``Dut79,

ton's tavern, Hyde Park" on the map of the towns of Clinton, Stan ford, Washington and Amenia made by Jacob Smith in 1797. The title to this property remained in the Rymph family until May 15,1915 when it was sold to the "Dominican Fathers of Sherman Park."

To Joseph Bouton (Boughton Broughton), by deed dated May 3rd, 1769 /o£ IVo. 6 of the Patent consisting of 217 acres.

In 1809, the Rev.

the first Rector St. James` who this had property married ` John ElizaMcvicker, Bard, a daughter of Dr. of Samuel Bard,Church, purchased called "Inwood" and built a stone house, which is still standing, and lived there until 1814 when he sold the property to Alfred S. Pell. Robert Montgomery Livingston succeeded as owner in 1823 and in 1827 sold it to Hamilton Wilks, o£ New York city who had married Louisa Matilda Coster, a stepdaughter of Dr. David Hosack. The Wilks family owned and occupied this property until 1850 and it was during their ownership that the Hudson River Railroad was built along the east shore of the river. After the Wilks sold out and moved away in 1850, the title passed through the hands of Albert Lowery, Thomas Wilson, Jane Maria Fisk, Paul Sgobel and Robert T. Ford, who sold it to Major Francis G. Landon of New York City in 1893, who represented the 2nd Assembly District at Albany for several terms. This property is now owned by the Anderson School.

To Christopher Hughes of New Haven, Conn., where he had been associated in business with Benedict Arnold, by deed dated Sept. 5th, 1776, a tract of 670 acres of land lying in the northeasterly part of the Patent on the Crum Elbow Creek. This tract comprised a number of farms including the Brooks Hughes farm now owned by Anthony T. Haines.

To Benjamin Boughton (Broughton), some time prior to 1795 /of IVo. 7 of the Patent, consisting of about 206 acres. In that year he sold the lot to Frost Powell. James Conklin appears to have acquired title to a small part of the lot near the mouth of the Enderkill. On August 8th, 1815 he obtained a water grant from the State of New York and built a dock and store house on the property. The present Murray cross road was known for many years as the road to Conklin's Landing.

This landing property was acquired by the Wilks in 1840 and thereafter was known as Wilks' Landing. The balance of this lot later became broken up into many small properties.

To Thomas Banker, by deed dated Nov. loth, 1768 /o£ IVo. J of the Patent and consisted of 111 acres. This lot was owned successively by John Rice, John Eurnett, Phineas Ames, Samuel Cook and in 1800 by Cyrus Bramen of New Preston, Conn., then the Ellsworths and Nathaniel P. Rogers and finally sold to John S. Huyler in 1895.

To Anne Lazear, the wife of Lucas Lazear, some time prior to 1762, /of IVo. 2 of the Patent consisting of 100 acres. Anne Lazear was Anne Magdalena Valleau, a sister o£ Suzanna Valleau, wife 'of Dr. John Bard. She is said to have built and occupied a stone house on the property which was standing in 1895 when it was converted into a milk . house. The title to this property passed through John Burnett, Timothy Eames, Cyrus Bramen, William Ellsworth, Nathaniel P. Rogers and finally John S. Huyler in 1895.

Dr. John Bard became financially distressed in the latter years of his life and transferred all of his property to his son, Dr. Samuel Bard, 80

as it appears from the "Life of Dr. Samuel Bard" by the Rev. John Mcvicker at page 130, viz : "Dr. John Bard had deeply involved himself by imprudent speculations in mining and iron works."

"He (Dr. Samuel Bard) accordingly relieved his father from his load of debt and by his persuasions induced him to return to the exercise of his profession in New York, in which he continued until the year 1797; when his son's projected removal determined his own and he retired for the last time to close a long and chequered but cheerful life, in the shades of his early retirement."

He apparently had no property of any value at the time of his death as t`r,ere is no record of the granting of Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration upon his estate in the Sur.rogate's Court of Dutchess County or of New York County.

Dr. John Bard left him surviving his sons, Dr. Samuel Bard, John Bard and his daughters, Magdeline Muirson, the wife of Rev. Muirson, a Chaplain in the English Army, Ann Pierce, the wife of John Pierce, a Colonel in the Continental Army, and Susan Pendleton, the wife of

Judge Nathaniel Pendleto,n. His wife, Suzannah, predeceased him, dying in New York City in September, 1784.

After Dr. Samuel Bard acquired the title to the balance of the Patent he sold off the following tracts, viz: To Mary Barbara Rymph by deed dated June 12th, 1793, recorded Feb. 25th, 1796, Lo£J IVof. J6 ¢7zd 4.

In later years this tract became di-

vided, the northern part was owned by David Rymph now by Charles R. Stone, and the southern part was known as the Winchell place which in turn has been divided into the part west of the Post Road owned by John Kimberly and the part east of `the Post Road knovyn as Whitehall Manor. As this deed was executed and delivered several years before the death of Dr. John Bard, it is apparent that Dr. Samuel Bard had acquired title to part or all of the balance of the Patent during the lifetime of Dr. John Bard.

a

To John Bush by deed dated April 15th, 1799 a tract o£ 100 acres on the Crum Elbow Creek, some of which is now part of the Dickinson Mill property. In this deed there is a recital to the effect that this tract of land was ¢4rf a/ /off 7 4#d 9 in a map or survey made by Jacob Smith of the Patent o£ Hyde Park in April 1791.

To Bastian Traver by deed d`ated April 15th, 1799 a tract of 100 acres lying in the northeast corner of the Patent`.

To Daniel S. Dean by deed dated July 8th, 1799 his grist and saw mills on the Crum Elbow Creek is shown on the map of Jacob Smith in 1797 of the towns of Clinton, etc. This now forms part of the Dickinson Mill property.

To Hunting Sherrill by deed dated Sebt. 29th, 1801, a 40 acre tract on the north side of the Mill Road which included the Rozell, Soaper, and part of the Jenks farm.

To Isaac Traver by deed dated May 7th, 1802, a 75 acre tract lying next west of Bastian Traver's land, being a ¢¢rf a/ /oZ IVo. 5 on 81.

map or survey of the Patent of Hyde Park made by Jacob Smith in 1791.

To John Culver by deed dated May 13th, 1803 a tract of `145 acres on the Crum Elbow Cre`ek next north of Bush's land and now forming part of the farm of Lewis Croft.

To Isaac Albertson a tract of 225 acres of land on the Crum Elbow Creek next north of Culver's land, some time prior to May 15th, 1804. when he sold it to John Albertson. This property was later owned by John S. Stoutenburgh, the father of John Albert Stout.enburgh and later became part of the John S. Huyler property, being /oZ IVo. 6 in a map or survey made of the Patent of Hyde Park by Jacob Smith in 1791.

The dimensions and location of this lot and of the lots heretofore referred to on the Jacob Smith map of 1791 do not in any way conform to the location and dimensions of the lots as laid out on the map of the Patent of Hyde therefore, these :raerkn:tect°hredes:i:::btei£±7er:fntD:eadpssaotfpti:e~p4a7t:#ff IIyde Park.

To Hunting Sherrill by deed Ma.v lst,1813, a lot of 4 acres 2 roods and 13 perches on the north side of road near the New Guinea Bridge and also a 7 acre 10 perch lot south of the road which included the Kipp, Schryver, Callahan, Carter Mill and other properties.

To Silas Wickes a tract of 262 acres 2 roods and 4 perches of .land lying on the east side of the Post Road next north of the Vanderbilt farm prior to 1812, as it appears from a deed from Silas Wickes to Edmund H. Pendleton dated April 21, 1835, that Wickes had executed and delivered a deed to N`athaniel Pendleton in 1812 of the above tract of land which had been "casually" lost and that this deed was made to confirm the title. `\To Nathaniel Pendleton, by deed dated Sept. 29th, 1812, a tract of

37 acres 2 roods and 3 perches west of the Post Road next north of the Vanderbilt property.

He was born in Culpepper County, Virginia, in 1756, served in the army during the Revolution, became a Major on the staff of General Greene, studied law at the close of the war and located in Georgia where he was appointed a Federal Judge. Later he removed to New York City and continued the practice of law.

He was a delegate to the convention which framed the U. S. Constitution, but being absent the last day did not sign\the document. He married Susan Bard, a daughter of Dr. John Bard. He acted as a second to Alexander Hamilton in his duel with Aaron Burr at Hoboken, N. J. on July llth, 1804-. He died at his home at Hyde Park as a result of injuries received in an accident on Gay's Hill near John A. Roosevelt's place according to Edward Bramen on October 20th, 1821.

In 1832 the Executors of the estate o£ Nathaniel Pendleton sold this property to WashingtenL# Coster, a stepson of Dr. David Hosack, who sold it to his brother ln law, William E. Laight, who had married his sister, Caroline C. Coster.

In 1846 he sold the property to James Kirk Paulding, whose sister had married William Irving, a brother of Washington Irving.

Paulding c6llaborated with Washington Irving in writing the "Salmagundi Papers" and other works. He was Secretary of the Navy under Pres: ident Martin Van Buren from 1837 to 1841 and retired to his home at

Xg:Eel:tah:kr8iot.h,eTci°esetft°]€¥aa:hpsu:::;Se::;mpafsnse]d:4tir:uh:Eechaerodii:€g| Woodworth, wife of Charles R. Woodworth, a son of Judge William W. Woodworth, William 8. Dinsmore, N. P. Rogers and finally to John S. Huyler in 1895.

'82

To the Rector, Church Wardens and Vestry of St. James's Church at Hyde Park by deed dated May 15th, 1812 a lot on which the church now stands consisting of 2 acres of land.

To Hunting Sherrill by deed dated Oct. 4-th, 1819 a lot of 6 acres and 10 perches on the south side of the "Shunpike Road" beirfg that part of the Mill Road lying between Fredonia Lane and the Bridge and west of Fredonia Lane.

To Asahel Armstrong a tract of 189 acres of land lying on the Crum Elbow Creek between the land of Albertson on the south and Hughes on the north, prior to 1821 when he conveyed it to Abner Armstrong. This tract included the Rapelyea, Tigh and part of the Mulford farms purchased by John S. Huyler.

To Alexander Mcclelland a tract of 5 acres, 3 roods and 20 perches by deed dated Jan. 1, 1812 lying on the east side of Fredonia Lane, being bounded on the south by Crum Elbow Creek.

Dr. Samuel Bard and Mary, his wife, executed a deed on Sept. 1st, 1816 to their son, William Bard, for the balance of the Patent of Hyde Park then remaining, being about 540 acres of land. This deed was not recorded until July 15th, 1826.

On May 24th, 1821 Dr. Samuel Bard died, his wife having predeceased him by twenty-four hours.

William Bard, son of Dr. Samuel Bard and Mary Bard, was born at Philadelphia, Pa., April 4,1778. He studied law and was admitted to the bar of New York. On October 7th, 1802 he married Catherine Cruger, daughter of Nicholas and Ann (deNully) Cruger. In the Spring of 1803 he began to purchase the entire tract of land fronting on the Hudson River extending from Fuller or Hoffman Lane on the north to the north line of the Thomas Newbold property on the south. On May 13,1803 he purchased 64 acres from John I. Sto,utenburgh; on May 23, 1803, 242 acres from James Stoutenburgh and on May 27, 1818, 320 acres from John Johnston. William Bard called this tract ``DeNully Farm" and built a house on the River ba.nk and lived there.

This tract comprised the Butler, Reed, Miller and Hoffman places, later owned by Col. Archibald.Ro±ers. In 1823 he began to sell off this propei~t-i`a-rid tlie~ri to6k o;;r po;session of his father's country seat at Hyde Park and two years later sold it to Dr. David Hosack and moved to New York City where he founded in 1853 the New York Life Insurance and

Trust Company.

After the death of Dr. Samuel Bard, William Bard and John Mcvicker as Executors of his estate sold to Dennis Beach by deed dated August 27, 1823 a lot of 6;4 acires situate on the northeast corner o£ Fredonia Lane and the Mill Road. They sold to Andrew Phillips by deed dated June 2, 1831 a lot of 4 acres and 1 rood situate on the east side of Fredonia Lane. (

83

David Hosack, who succeeded William Bard as owner of "Hyde Park", was born in New York City on August 31, 1769, he attended Columbia College and Princeton where he graduated in 1789 and in 1791 received the degree of m'edicine at Philadelphia. He then went abroad and studied medicine at London and Edinburgh. On his return to this country in 1794 he brought with him the first collection of minerals and also a collection of duplicate specimens of plants I rcm the herbarium of Linneaus. This collection now forms a part of the Museum of the Lyceum o£ Natural History in New York City. In 1795 he was appointed professor of botany at Columbia College and in 1797 of materia medica. He was the founder of the first botanic garden in the United States which was known as the Elgin Botanical Garden in 1801.

This garden consisted of about 20 acres and covered the area between 47th and 51st streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues, New York City.

Part of this tract is now occupied by Rockefeller Center where there is a stone tablet commemorating the Elgin Garden of Dr. David Hosack.

He was the most prominent physician in New York City for many years.

Dr. Hosack married the widow of a New York merchant, Henry A. Coster, for his second wife, his first wife being a sister of Thomas Eddy, the philanthropist. Dr. Hosack, like Dr. Samuel Bard, had studied medicine at Edinburgh and they had been closely connected in New York City. In 1828 Dr. Hosack purchased from William Bard, son of Dr. Samuel Bard, the country seat of Dr. Bard at Hyde Park. His second wife was a cousin of Philip Hone, once mayor of New York who left a most interesting diary of his time. In this Diary Hone states on September 17,1829, "Catherine and I left home this morning on a visit to Dr. Hosack's family at Hyde Park . . . '. We landed at Hyde Park at a quarter past one\, and finding the carriage waiting for us, rode up to the Doctor's splendid residence, what is by the road about a mile and a half from the landing. This house is now undergoing alterations and repairs, and he resides at the cottage which is situated at the northerly end of the park, and a more beautiful spot is not to be found on the North River. The remainder of the day was occupied in viewing the improvements which were in progress on every part of the farm." It is

gen,erally understood that the "Cripple Bush Meadow" was cleared and drained during Dr. Hosack's ownership.

O.n Christmas day 1835, Dr. Hosack's funeral was held at Grace 84

Church in New York City. Among the pall bearers were Edward Livingston, who had helped in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Chancellor Kent and Gen. Morgan Lewis, who had been an aide on the Staff o£ Gen. Washington and later Governor of the State of New York.

Dr. Hosack died intestate leaving him surviving Magdalena Hosack, his widow; Alexander E. Hosack, Nathaniel P. Hosack and David Hosack, his sons, and Eliza 8. Hosack and Emily Hosack, his daughters.

After the death o£ Dr. Hosack, his heirs conveyed in 1837 the "Cottage", on the west side of the Post Road nearly opposite St. James Church, with 60 acres of land, to hi; widow, Magdelena Hosack. In 1840 they conveyed the main part of his country seat to John Jacob Astor who in the same year conveyed it to his daughter, Dorothea Langdon and her children Eliza, Louisa, Walter Jr., Woodbury and Eugene Langdon. In 1841 the heirs o£ Dr. Hosack conveyed the land on the east side of the Post Road known as the ``Red House Farm" to John A. DeGroff, who owned this property until Walter Langdon bought it back and reunited it with his estate in 1872.

Magdelena Hosack died at Hyde Park, N. Y. intestate on July 12th, 1841, leaving her surviving, her so,n, Washington Coster, her daughters, Anna Maria, Julia, wife of Francis Baretto, an attorney o£ New York City ; Louisa Matilda, wife of Hamilton Wilks ; Caroline C., wife o£ William E. Laight; Laura M., wife of William C. Emmett, a son of Thomas Addis Emmett, a brother of the Irish Patriot, Robert Emmett; and Adeline E., wife of Peter A. Schermerhorn. In 1842, her heirs conveyed the "Cottage'' and the 60 acres of land to Augustus T. Cowman, who was the son o£ Capt. John Cowman who had sailed ships in the employ of John Jacob Astor. He had saved his money and invested it in New York real estate and had become wealthy. Augustus T_. Cowman married Ann Gillinder, a daughter o£ Capt. James Gillender of New York, and had lived at Rhii€beck before coming to Hyde Park, wihere he had owned for a time the property south of Hyde Park, which he sold to Elias Butler before he bought the ``Cottage''. He was much interested and `;I;tive in the rebuilding of St. James Church in 1844. He also built the "row" on the west side of the Post Road extending north I rom the corner of Main Street. After sustaining considerable losses in various ventures he sold this property and the "row" to Joseph R. Curtis o£ New York City in 1853.

85

Curtis had at one time

been a clerk in the Astor House and later gone to California where he had made a fortune in gold mining. He built the Mansion out on the River bank. In 1861 he sold the property to Sylvia L. Drayton, the daughter o£ Mortimer and Sylvia Livingston. Sylvia Livingston was the daughter of Francis Depau ahd Sylvia de Grasse, the daughter of Count de Grasse who had commanded the French fleet ;sent to the aid of the American Colonies in the Revolution. Mortimer Livingston was a son of Maturin Livingston and Margaret, the only daughter of Gov. Morgan Lewis. Mrs. Mortimer Livingston and her daughter Mrs. Drayton built the Roman Catholic Church of ``Regina Coeli" at Hyde Park in 1863-64, in which there is a vault where many members of the Livingston family are buried. Sylvia Livingston married William S. Drayton of the U. S. Navy, a son of Col. William Drayton of the famous Drayton family of Charleston, South Carolina. The'y had four children, of whom only Percival and Maud survived. After Mr. Drayton's death, she married R. Temple C. Kirkpatrick of the English diplomatic service. They had one daughter, Sylvia Mabel, who married Reginald Prendergast. Mrs. Kirkpatrick died Nov.16,1882. In 1890 the property was sold to Samuel 8. Sexton, the son o£ Samuel J. M. Sexton and Caroline, daughter of Samuel H. Braman. He married Jean Hunter Denning, daughter of the late Edwin James Denning of New York City. After the death of Samuel 8. Sexton the mansion burned and the property was sold to Frederick W. Vanderbilt in 1905, who had purchased in 1895 from the Executors o£ Walter Langdon, deceased, his country seat on the Hudson River.

BARD'S ROCK On May 12,1768, Dr. John Bard advertised for sale a tract of land in Dutchess County, N. Y., called ``Hyde Park" and in the advertisement stated that there were three good "landing places (particularly on this-farm) where the largest Albany sloop c,an lay close to a large flat rock, which forms a natural wharff." The "flat rock" was Bard's Rock, which may still be seen on the east shore of the Hudson River near the mout.h of a small stream (known as "Mariannetta") at the northwest

corner of the Vanderbilt place. When the British fleet under Gen. Vaughn passed ,up the Hudson River on October 16, 1777, and upon 86

their return down the River on October 23rd, 1777, (from Log Book "Dependence" Galley, Lieut. James Clark, Commander, Oct. 7-Oct. 25, 1777), they did not disturb Dr. Bard's property as he was regarded as

a Loyalist. He had a store house at the dock as appears on the map made

by Jacob Smith 1797. This store house and the other buildings were said to have been torn down by Dr. David Hosack while he owned the property some time between 1825-1830. Near ``Bard's Rock" there was a spring where the old whaling ships used to fill their casks with drinking

water before putting out to sea and regularly sailed up there for that

purpose from the old ``Whale Dock"-Mill Street Dock at Poughkeepsie. There also appears to have been a ferry across the River from Bard's Rock, as the Road leading down to the dock I rom the Post Road was

called the Ferry Road in a deed from Samuel Bard to Nathaniel Pendleton, dated Sept. 29, 1812.

SLAVES The Bards, Hosacks, Mcvickers and Pendletons owned slaves. The negroes cleared the land, dug the ditches, built the stone walls and did _most of the hard work. At one tiine there were over sixty colored families living in and about Hyde Park. The neighborhood around the first bridge east of Hyde Park on the road to Union Corners was known as "New Guinea" because of the number of colored people living there.

The remains of a colored burying ground are on the Martin lot on the west side of Fredonia Lane, which lane runs north I rom the road I rom Hyde Park to Union Corners to the Mill Road. In the first building of St. James Church there was a gallery which was usually occupied by colored people. When General Morgan Lewis was buried in St. James Cemetery, an eye witness stated that the General's body was born by`his colored servants in full livery;` two were Caesar and Pompey ; the names of the others she could not recall. Nathaniel Pendleton, who had been a second for Alexander Hamilton in his duel with Aaron Burr, provided in his Will dated March 4,1816; probated October 26,1821, viz: ITEM, I do authorize and require my Executrix and Executors to provide for the maintenance, ease and comfort of my negro slave, Molly, during her life out of my estate and in case of sickness, she is to be furnished in like manner with everything necessary, convenient and 87

comfortable, not only as a reward for her long faithf ul services, but also in compliance with the request of her late departed affectionate mistress ; a motive which I know will induce my Executors and Executrix to treat her with great kindness and liberality. I manumit all my slaves at the expiration of 5 years from the first of January last, except the girl Sarah, who is lame, and cannot provide for herself and who is therefore to be pro;ided for, and to render such services therefo,r as she can, but not to be sold without her consent. In case of security being offered to indemnify my estate, I manumit her also.

TIIE MILLS ON THE CRUM ELBOW CREEK As the bed and stream of Crum Elbow Creek were entirel'y within the boundaries of the Great Nine Partners Patent, no dam could be erected across the creek between the Patent of Hyde Park and the Great Nine Partners on the south and east without the consent of the owners on each bank of the Creek. In view of this fact Dr. Samuel Bard began to acquire title to the land on the east bank of Crum Elbow Creek, purchasing on Jan. 3rd, 1786, a large tract from Joshua Nelson ;and he added to this pirrchase until he owned the entire east shore up to the north line of the William H. Halstead farm. He built a dam across the creek and a saw and grist mill, which were designated on the map of Jacob Smith made in 1797 as ``Doctor Samuel Bard's Grist & Saw Mills." Subsequently he sold off most of this land on the east bank but reserved the right to maintain the dam and overflow it.

Dr. Bard sold this mill property to Daniel S. Dean of Beekman by deed d`ated July 8th,1799. Some time prior to 1809 Major Marshall became the owner of the nd`ills, as he sold off a parcel of land belonging to it to Alexander Mcclelland in 1809 and another to Jabez Miller in ]814. Deeds to property in that vicinity during that period referred to

the "road leading from Major Marshall's Mills to the landing of Richard Decantillon." AbcNIt 1818 Nathaniel Pendleton became the owner of the mills and the deeds of property in that neighborhood contained references to " the road leading to Judge Pendelton's Mills." By deed dated July 18, 1829; Edmund H. Pendleton, as sole acting Executor of the last W" and Testament of Nathaniel Pendleton, sold the mill prop/

88

erty to Benjamin Delama.ter of Amenia, who then owned the W. D. Halstead farm.

Benjamin Delamater and, his son Benjamin E. Delamater-"big Ben" and "little Ben" as they. were locally known, owned and operated these mills until 1856, when they were sold to Madison Smith and Andrew J. Odell, who ran them until 1864 when they sold them to John A. Wood. In 1880 this property was sold at a foreclosure sale to Smith Dickinson whose grandson, Sterling Dickinson, is the Present owner.

The grist mill is still standing, but has not been grinding feed in several years, but the saw mill, which was in the east side of the race way was torn down in 1880. For many years vast quantities of rye, buckwheat, corn and oats were ground there.

On June 4,1789, Dr. Samuel Bard and Richard Decantillon and James Stoutenburgh executed a deed providing for the erection of four dams across Crum Elbow Creek, beginning from the Hudson River. The location of the first dam was apparently at the "Old Plaster Mill" near the mouth of the Crum' Elbow. The sites of the other three are not very clear, but-the second was probably where the Post road crosses the Creek, the third at Traudt's Mill and the fourth at Brewster's or Met-

calf's-just west of the present Hyde Park Fire Department pumping Stat£°fi::t:::Csrhe:rk:iiipurchaseda|otfromsamuelBardinl814anda lot from William L. Stoutenburgh, across Crum Elbow Creek, in 1813, and erected a mill. and dam which was located a short distance down stream (west of the swimming hole on the creek and west of the remains of`the Carter dam). This` dam apparently backed the water up into the valley where the Gold Fish pond used to be in the Pine Woods.

Sherrill had here one of the first nail factories, which was later used by Ripley in the manufacture of white lead. After the Civil War, Israel M. Car.ter had a large dam built across Crum Elbow Creek further east, the remains of which are still standing, and also a mill where he made edge tools, cleavers, knives, and axes up until quite recent times.

The Cudner saw mill and old dam just north of the bridge were built by the Marshalls who owned the east shore of the creek. Alexander Mcclelland at that time owned the west shore and had a right to the use of the water power. When the Cudner family purchased the

property about 1850, the old dam had fallen down, so they built a new 89.

dam further- up stream, where they owined both shores bf the creek, and a long wooden flume to carry the water down to the mill. They sawed out large quantities of white oak plank and made wagons, brick trucks and other implements u.p until the death of Henry Cudner.

90

THE TOWN OF CLINTON# This Town of Clinton has been a pa`rt of a number of sub-divisions in this county. In the first place, in the year 1683, the county was laid out, as one of the counties of the Province of New York, and there were no towns or wards or anything in the county at that time. In fact, no one owned a foot of land here. The patents had not yet been granted, the land patents. There was a census taken in 1714, and it was found there were sixty-seven families in the county, and about four hundred and forty people. Then in 1717 the County o£ Dutchess was divided into three wards. The first ward was south of a line to the east of the mouth of the Wappingers Creek, and extended to the Westchester

County line. That was the South Ward. The Middle Ward was laid out in a line due east I rom Esopus Island, and the North Ward was north from Esopus Island to the Albany County line, which is now Columbia County. The Town o£ Clinton was in both the North and Middle Wards. There were no people in Clinton at that time, 1717.

The land patents which covered Clinton had not yet been divided. Then in 1717 the county was divided, as I said, into three wards.

Then in 1737, after the division of the Great Nine Partners had been made, the county was divided into seven precincts, and all that part of the county known as The Great Nine Partners and the patent o£

Hyde Park was known as Crum Elbow Precinct. The seat of government of the Crum Elbow Precinct was at Washington Hollow. The town meetings were held there, what is now known as Washington Hollow, and the Town Clerk's office was situated there. This continued until the year 1763 when Amenia was thrown off into a precinct by itself, and Washington, Stan ford, Clinton, Pleasant Valley and all of Hyde Park, with the exception o£ Pawling patent, became known as Charlotte Precinct.

Then again, in 1786-people began to come in, it was more densely

populated-another division was made. Washington and Stan ford were taken off and made into Washington Precinct, and what are now the I__

_

_

#A.n address delivered before the Dutchess County Historical Society at the annual meeting held June 4, 1941, at the Presbyterian Church at Pleasant Plains, Dutchess County, New York, by George S. Van Vliet.

42

Towns of Clinton, Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley became Clinton Precinct. In 1788, two years later, the Township Law was enacted, and it became Clinton Town. The seat of government of the Town of Clinton was east of the Crum Elbow Four Corners, on a far.in that we know as the Theron R. Marshall farm. The old town meeting building still stands there. The mode of electing officers at that time differed from today. 'There were no ballots nor voting machines. If two men were nominated for an office, those who favored one were told to stand on one side, and those who favored the other were told to stand on the other side, and the tellers went through and counted the people. That was the way the officers were elected in the days of old Clinton Precinct, and the o,ld Clinton Town.

Then again in 1821 the old Town of Clinton was divided into three towns, Clinton, Hyde Park, and Pleasant Valley, as they are today.

This division was made by Major Henry Bentley, who lived in the northeast corner of the present Town of Clinton,-and his great-granddaughter still resides there, Mrs. Lulu Fields, it having passed down through the family through four generations,-Jacob Manning, of the Town o£ Hyde Park, and Samiuel M. Thurston, of what is now the Town of Pleasant Valley. I will not read the whole description of it, but this may interest you because of the names of the people whose land this line ran through. The starting point was at the southeast corner of the Abram I. Conklin farm. This was the farm that was kp.own as the Elmer J. Conklin farm until recent years. It passed through four generations of the Conklin family. I will read these names: "That the line was on the back line of the nine water lots of Abram I. Conklin, waterlot No.1; Sylvanus Wilbur, No. 2; No. 3 was Peter Ostrom; No. 4, Charles and Jacob Manning ; No. 5, Captain R. Whyley ; No. 6, Seaman ; No. 7, Henry S. Marshall; No. 8, Kipp Lamoree; No. 9, John Culver and John DeGarmo; and then it passed through some lands o£ John Briggs, Henry Vanderburgh (Henry Vanderburgh resided east of the Crum Elbow Four Corners and he was the son of the famed Colonel

James Vanderburgh of Beekman) , Benjamin Sheldon, Thomas Ryder, David Dickerson, Stephen Briggs, Joseph Doty, Nehemiah Hoag, Samuel Hewlett and Cornelius Van Vliet, intersecting the North Road (this road has gone now, it's closed up, but it's there as a monument to the town line), Lawrence Traver and Ichabod Williams, who lived the second house west of the Crum Elbow Creek between the lands of Samuel 43

Barker and John Le Roy, now the farms of Martin W. Hayes and Mr. Duncan.

These are the people who lived there a hundred and twenty .years ago. The names are nearly all gone, I guess all of them. The land of the town, its divisions, the great lands of the Great Nine Partners, was in 1734 laid out in thirty-six great lots. Five of these lots were in the Town of Clinton., Lot No.1, which extended from the Rhinebeck line to the Stan ford line, fell to the lot of the heirs o£ Jarvis Marshall; Lot No. 2, to David Jamison; No. 3 to John Aertson; No. 4 to Augustine Graham; No. 5 to Henry Ten Eyck. Henry Ten Eyck's south line was the line between Clinton and Pleasant Valley.

These nine partners, whose patent was granted in 1697, were all dead when the second division was made, with the exception of David Jamison, and inasmuch as he was the only one living, I will read a short sketch regarding him. David Jamison was a native of Scotland, and he joined a sect called the "Sweet Singers" resembling the Quakers, obnoxious to the government. He and others were arrested and without trial sent into New Jersey in 1685. They were sold for four years redemption to pay their passage. Jamison was bought by George Lockhart, and by him assigned to Rev. George Clark, Chaplain of the Port of New York.

The principal men of the city bought Jamison's time, and sent him to teach a Latin school. Soon afterward, he entered the Secretary's office as a clerk, and was appointed Deputy Secretary and Clerk of the Governor's Council in 1691. Later he acted as full Secretary, and was in 1711 appointed Chief Justice of New Jersey. In 1720 he became Attorney General of New York. He probably renounced the "Sweet Singers" soon after his arrival in America, for he was Vestryman and Warden of Trinity Church most of the time, from 1697 to 1714. His reputation as a lawyer stands high. He was em'ployed on several noted cases. Elizabeth Jamison, his daughter, was married on the 19th of May,1711, to

John Johnston. They begat David Johnston, who settled in Lithgow, and erected the present Isaac Wheaton house in 1760.

The rest of the patent, that had not yet been laid out, was not laid out until 1740. It was known as the third and last division of the

patent, and was laid out by Judge Jacobus Ter Boss. There were eighteen lots, seven of which were in the present Town of Clinton. These lots were largely around the east bank of the Crum Elbow Creek, and a 44

ways back.

They were, however, sold by the trustees of the patentees,

Jacob Goelet and Charles LaReux. Three lots formed this division.

One was of 1304 acres on the east bank of the Crum Elbow Creek, to Polycarpus Nelson of the County of Westchester. The one north of that is what is known as the 1000 acre lot sold to Francis Van Dyke, of Westchester. Van Dyke divided this purchase into six lots. The first lot was what we know as the Smith Schultz farm today, and went to Gilbert Williams. The second lot, where Dr. A. J. Bruder now resides, went to his son, Cornelius Van Dyke. The third, what is known as the Odcll place, went to Peter Van Dyke. The fourth went to Richbill Williams, son-in-law. The firth went to Francis Van Dyke, Jr„ and the sixth went to Arthur Williams. Back of this was the 700 acre lot, the land directly in I ront of this church. This was sold by the trustees to Francis Van Dyke, Adolph Banker and Joost Garrison. Joost Garrison settled where Frederick M. Barker now resides west of here, and he had 212 acres in the north end of the 700 acre lot. Banker never came to Dutchess County, but in 1744 sold this land to Sebastian Traver. The south part went from Francis Van Dyke to his son, Jacobus Van Dyck.

Inasmuch as Sebastian Traver did more to people this section of the country, through his descendants, than any other man, I will refer briefly to him. I know of no better -way of doing so, than to repeat the story that my father told me back in 1883, with an admonition to always remember. He had been up in Milan to survey. I acted as chain-bearer, and we turned into a road known as the Traver neighborhood road, and at every house he gave me its history and traced them back to the original Sebastian Traver wherever he could.

The first house we came to was the Siegendorf house, where a man by the name of Ezra J. Traver resided. An old man, his father, Nicholas, resided there before him, and Nicholas' father was Henry Peter Traver, and Henry Peter Traver was the son of Peter, who was the son of the original Sebastian. Then we came to a road that led to the east, and in that road he said was a stone house which was erected by David Traver, son of Sebastian, in the .year 1784, and that he was the ancestor of most of the Travers of that particular neighborhood; that he settled his son, Benjamin, east of him; that he let his son, Samuel D. Traver, have the homestead, and his son, David, the second farm and the field below, and his son, Abram, the farm below that. Also, that his son, Samuel D. 4§

Traver's daughter occupied this farm for many years. Then we came to another house. He said, "A man by the name of Martin Traver lives there. He isn't a descendant of David, he's a descendant of John 8., the son o£ Sebastian," and that his wife was a Traver, and that she was the daughter of Simeon, who was the son of Abram, who was the son of David. And then wc came down to where there was a lane, a school house, and he said, "In that lane settled Abram Traver, the son of David, who erected the stone house. He was succeeded by his son, Gideon Abram Traver. Gideon Abram was succeeded by his son, and he had a son Che§ter H., who was a Lutheran minister of considerable note."

And I will add to this, he still had another one, John G. Traver, who was many years principal of the Hartwick Seminar'y. And we came to another Traver house. ``This" he said, "was owned by Simeon A. Traver, who was the son of Abram." 1'11 not trace them all back to the beginming, which I could, and then he was succeeded by his son, William Curtis Traver, and then we came to another one. He said, "This was David A. Traver's farm." He was the son o£ Abram, who was the son of David, who erected the stone house, and he had a son also a minister, the Rev. Albert David Traver, D. D., many years rector of St. Paul's Church, Poughkeepsie. And then we came toi the land of Peter Traver.

We came to the one that is known as the Wollerton place today. "That," he said, "was the home of Jacob D. Traver, who was the son o£ David Peter Traver, who was. the son of Peter Traver, who was the son o£ Sebastian Traver." And then we looked across the field, a very beautiful farm was there. He said, "That doesn't belong to a Traver, that's the home of Samuel S. Frost." That farm was settled, he said, in the year 1755 by Benjamin Frost, with Rose Springer, his wife, of Oyster Bay, Long Island, and he was succeeded by his son, Zophar Frost, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and he married a Thorn, I rom the Town of Washington. He was succeeded by Benjamin, who married Catherine Knickerbocker. He was succeeded by his son, Samuel S., who married a Traver. And 1'11 say this, that this farm went from Samuel S. Frost to his son, Mandeville S. Frost, and it is now owned by the children of Mandeville S. Frost. Benson R. Frost is one of them. Then we came to two more farms. He said, "These farms were owned by David P. Traver, who was the son of Peter, who was the son o£ Sebastian." He got below there, and he pointed out to me where a house had stood, the house o£ Frederick Traver, and he had a son, who was a 46

minister, the Rev. Van Ness Traver, who in turn became the father of the Hon. Frederick G. Traver, who was one time County Judge of Ulster County. Then we came to another one. This was the home o£ Henry P. Traver, and his son, Peter H. Traver, succeeded him, and Peter H. Traver was the father of Dr. Issac H. Traver, who was many years a physician in Pleasant Valley. And the next was Jacob P.. Traver, who was succeeded in that place by his son, Myers Traver, and then he

pointed to a lane, "This is the farm of Peter P. Traver," and the next was Adam P. Traver, and then we came to the last farm owned by Charles Traver, son of the first Sebastian, and went fro,in him to his son, William Traver, and then we carlie to the Pleasant Plains Church. We had traveled five miles. There had not been a farm in that five miles, with one exception, that was not owned by a person by the name of Traver, and that man's wasany a Traver. `of that name living or wife owning of thoseToday farms,there not isn't one. a person It's all changed.

These so,ns of Sebastian Traver, there were eight of them, four of then came out of Clinton, four remained in Rhinebeck. They are the ones who built those homes, with two exceptions, one John 8., who remained in the old Traver homestead in this neighborhood, and the other was Nicholas, o£ Rhinebeck. Three of those old houses are standing yet today after a century and a half. One of them is in Wynkoop's Lane, Rhinebeck. It was the home of Frederick Traver, who was succeeded by his son, Zachariah Traver; Zachariah Traver, by his son, Albert, and then it was sold out of the family. Also this son, Zachariah, begat a son, Frederick; Frederick begat a son, Alexander; Alexander begat a son, Wallace; he begat a daughter, Albertina 'jT`. 8. Traver, whom some o,I you know. The other house was a stone house in the north part of Clinton, erected by David Traver in 17{°j4. He was succeeded by` his son, Samuel D. ; Samuel D. by his daughter, Annie, who was very slender and very tall, and she was known as "Long Annie Traver". She was famed as a weaver of rag carpets` IIer clientele went from Fishkill to Northeast. There are many of her carpets, probably, in existence today. She never married, and when she died the house passed out of the family. The other house is the house of Charles Traver, one-fourth of a mile from where we are now assembled. It probably doesn't resemble it's original-but the original house is all there-for the 47

reason there have been so many additions. It is owned by Mrs. H. Richard Van Vliet. That's all I have to say regarding the Traver family.

There is another family that came in this town that let t its name here and impress upon the town. I refer to the Schultz family. The original Schultz in this town was Frederick Schultz, who married Mar-

garet Crapser, the daughter of Johannes Crapser. He settled on a farm of 225 acres, now owned and occupied by his great grandson, Lorenzo Schultz. Its acreage has never changed since it came into the Schultz family. He was born in Fishkill in the year 1748. He was the son of Christian Otto Schultz and Margaret Sharpenstein, his wife. He was born April 15,1748, at 12 o'clock midnight. He came to this farm in 1772 and raised a family of children, and they became known in the town. The oldest son, John F. Schultz, went to the place afterwards called Schultzville, founded the place. In 1792 he erected a very fine residence there, and it is yet one of the fine old homes in the town. It is occupied by Mr. George Budd's son-in-law, John H. Myers, Jr. He erected a saw mill and grist mill in Schultzville, erected the store in Schultzville, and made a fortune out of it, for those days. One hundred thousand dollars was a big fortune then. When he passed on, his son, Daniel H. Schultz, succeeded him and he, too, made a fortune out of the mill. He left two daughters and one son, Theo,dore Augustus Schultz, generally known in the Town oi£ Clinton as "Gus" Schultz. When he died about 1866 he left money and the land for the Schultzville church, he left money to erect the Schultzville church, he left the land for the erection of the Lodge o£ Masons, and he left the money for the Masons to erect the Masonic Temple.

Another family which I will speak of-but I'm molt going to run through all the families-Henry Gildersleeve, who came from Long Island directly after the Revolutionary War, and Eunice Smith, his wife.

They begat a large family, among them a son, Smith J. Gildersleeve, who stayed here and farmed it most of his life. He begat four children, one Elmer D. Gildersleeve, who removed to the City of Poughkeepsie and became a merchant and President of the Chamber of Commerce ; another, Frank V. 8. Gildersleeve, who was Hospital Steward in the 150th Regiment, durnig the War of the Rebellion and afterwards a physician in the west, California. Another so.n, Henry A. Gildersleeve, started out to be a country school teacher. He raised Company C of the 150th 48

New York Volunteers, a company of one hundred fourteen men, and went forth as Captain, in the War of the Rebellion. After the war was over he gave up the thought of being a country school teacher and studied

law.

He went to New York, and then years afterward he was elected

Justice of the Supreme Court, in the First Judicial District of the State of New York. He continued in this position long, long years. His daughter, Miss Virginia Gildersleeve, is now Dean of Barnard College.

The father of the Dean of Barnard College was once a barefooted, oneroom country-school boy.

I will speak briefly regarding Morgan Lewis Smith. He was the son of Maurice Smith and Margaret Streit, his wife. Maurice Smith was a tanner. His son, Morgan Lewis Smith, went early in life to New York, went into the leather business with Jackson S. Schultz. This firm eventually became the largest dealers in leather in the world. He was appointed Colonel of the crack New York 7th Regiment Militia. When Texas threw off the Mexican 'yoke and became known as the Lone Star Republic, he was appointed the United States Consul to Texas. It was through the influence of Morgan Lewis Smith, born in this neighborhood, who received all his education in this neighborhood, the one-room district school, that Texas was annexcd to the United States. For a great deal of this I am indebted to one of the volumes of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Volume 53, page 16.

I will speak no more regarding the families. churches and other institutions.

I will speak of the

Right in this place there was, eighty years ago more or less, a semimary of learning, which was conducted by the Rev. Sherman Hoyt. It was not a boarding school, but they came from Greene and Ulster and other counties here, and boarded with the farmers. Pleasant Plains was said to be a very lively place in those days. It was discontinued here in 1875. It was started about 1840. This school was famed in many wa'ys.

A great many prominent men along the Hudson River valley, business n±en, lawyers and physicians, received their education in Dominie Hoyt's seminary here. Smith Lawrence DeGarmo, one time head of Luckey, Platt and Company, was one of the boys. Henry Frost Clark, when hc died the oldest dentist in the United States, the crack rifle shot of the world, went to Dominie Ho.yt's. Captain Billy Van Keuren, who was Captain of the "Romer" on the Hudson River, and was also Captain in 49

the War of the Rebellion, was another one of his boys. I could name many more, but they-don't occur to me just at this moment. It was also known as a match-making factory, in this way. Most of the young fellows that went there to school secured their future wives out of Dominie Hoyt's students. Even my own father and mother were no exceptions to that rule. Dominie Hoyt always tied the knot; • The churches of the town, the earliest church in the town was the

Friends' at Clinton Corners. I know little or nothing of its records, for the reason that these records are all taken to John Cox in New York.

He is said to be the custodian of the Friends' records. The people in the locality know very little about them. The stone meeting house was erected as early as 1777. That date w;s in the roof of the church, in the slate roof .

The next earliest church in the town was the Providence Presbyterfan Church of Charlotte Precinct. It stood right here. This church was short lived, it lasted about ten years. A son of this church-it was

perhaps worthwhile that they organized it-became the Rev. William Radcliff Dewitt, D. D., more than forty years pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and his son. became Professor John Dewitt, DD., LLD., many years Professor of Church History in Princeton Theological Seminary.

The Schultzville church, as I said, is of newer origin, started in the 1860's and it was erected on land given to them by Theodore A. Schultz.

This particular church here was organized in the year 1837, after the Providehce Presbyterian Church o£ Charlotte Precinct went out of existence, and it has been a prosperous church, fairly prosperous for a (country church, during all these years. The church is well sustained financially. It has an endowment of over ten thousand dollars given to it in small sums by the various members of the church when they passed ron. The Rev. Sherman Hoyt was seventeen years pastor of the church.

The first minister, when the church was organized, was the Rev. William N. Sa'yre. He drove eighteen miles from Pine Plains every Sunday to iconduct service, and back.

There has nothing been said here much about the history of slavery in this section. There was considerable of it, there were a great many previous to 1799, when the act was passed for the gradual abolition of slavery in New York State. I think there were about one hundred and 50

seventy-five of them in this town at one time. Most of them were small in numbers. Families would have one or two. However, there were three families that had a large number, eight or nine. They were Colonel

John Dewitt, Johannes Crapser and John Teller in the north part of town.` Strange as it may seem, these people who held slaves, their dwellings are all standing today, two of them in a splendid state of preserva-

tion.

The Dewitt property is the property of J. Herbert Link, in as

good shape as it ever was when John Dewitt lived here. In 1804 he set his slaves I ree and for those who were married and had families he bought them a little bit of ground, not very good, and built them a shack to live in. One of these slaves was a large negro named Jack Dewitt, and he held his master in such gratef ul remembrance that ever'y year before Christmas he would look the neighborhood over-Wurtemburg was famed for its fat turkeys-and buy a turkey and kill it and dress it, and walk from. where he lived, Hawktown, to Newburgh, and give it to his old master, "for Massa's Christmas dinner." He continued this until Mr. Dewitt and his wife died, the old home was occupied by the daughter Hilletje and son Andrew, and he continued to make this trip every year. On one of those occasions, my grandfather overtook Jack, and took him to what is known as the Upper Landing where the ferry landed. Jack was standing about waiting, the ferry was on the other side. The captain of a freight boat came off and looked at the turkey and he said, ``There's the turkey I want for my Christmas dinner. How much will you take for it?" "That turkey am not for sale, that is for my chilluns' Christmas dinner." "Who are your children? Where do they live?" And then the old darkey replied, with tears in his eyes "Andrew and Hilletje, old Sheriff Dewitt's chillun, they's my chillun-."

I tell another story about Jack Dewitt that isn't as pathetic as this.

Farmers used to have bees when they wanted a lot of work done and Jack was sent with the Sheriff 's oxen to a stone pit, and there was a free negro in the neighborhood by the name of John Johnson. He was always lording it over the negroes who were slaves, and finally he put it cn Jack more than Jack thought was necessary, and Jack was going to lick him. John Johnson said, "You can't fight, you got to ask your Master first, you're a slave," so Jack thought it over and started for home, and he came up and he said, "Massa, can I fight that free nigger,

John Johnson?" "What do you want to fight him for?" "He's mean to me, he tantalizes me." "Do you think you can lick him,Jack?"

51

"Massa, I knows I can lick him." "Well, 'you can fight him, but be sure you don't get licked." "No, sir, Massa, 1'11 not get licked." Jack started back, and when he got near the place where the men worked, he started into a run. John Johnson saw him and squared off. He himself was a

powerful negro. And then, as Jack got just out of reach of his arms, his head clucked, and with that he struck John Johnson in the pit of the stomach. The fight was all out o£ John Johnson for the remainder of that day.

The Crapser slaves were not unlike those of Coloinel James Vanderburgh. They refused to accept their freedom. They had a good home,

plenty to eat, were kindly treated and why should they want to change, and they wouldn't think of it, so they stayed there for several generatioins after they were really free. John Calvin Ccokingham told of how he remembered attending the funeral of one of the slaves, and he was quite well along as a boy at the time he attended this funeral. She was buried on the south part of the Crapser farnd near the Henry Traver farm.

This house remains, it is in a splendid state, where the original Crapser lived. It was a stone house, erected in the year 1768, and it is now owned by one of Johannes Crapser's descendants, George Naylor, the third, of Peekskill. He is a descendant of the first Johannes Crapser.

He begat a son, Albertus, who succeeded him. His daughter, Anne, married Levi LeRoy; they begat a son, John LeRoy, who married Miss Fulmer and they begat a daughter, who married George Naylor, Jr., and the place is in a splendid state of preservation.

So far as the Teller place is concerned, in the north end of town, after two or three generations they made a lot of money out of the Teller mill up there, and went to Rhinebeck and lived in what is known as the Wells mansion in the west heart of the village. William Teller married a Thorn, o£ New Hackensack; they begat a daughter, who married I;ugene Wells, who begat Carrie Thorne Wells, the last owner of this place.

The way the people lived in those days was entirely different.

If

you wanted shoes, you went to the local shoemaker. The last one was about 1888, George Briggs, in Clinton Hollow. This little building over here was the William Manning shoe shop. He and his two sons used to work night and day to keep the people in shoes about the neighborhood. All the little places had shoe shops. Mr. Briggs there can 52

remember when Albert Schryver in Hyde Park yet, had a shoe shop.

There was a s.ystem before the shoe shop came that was called-I can't conceive why-they called it "whipping the cat''. A shoemaker would go around and go into the families where they had shoes to be made, and he stayed there until they were all shod up, and then pass on to another I.amily. That was in the old days of my great-grandfather, Captain Frederick Uhl. Why they called it that I haven't the slightest idea.

There is another thing that is not very historic, not so long ago.

That is, in regard to the first generation Irish that came here. They didn't come here until after the building of the Hudson River Railroad.

A great many of them came here in this town, and they proved agriculturally a very useful set of men, by ditching out the swamps. The boys, however, didn't take so kindly, they went for something as high as the rest. Old man John Cotter lived in Ruskey Lane, his son, John, was born there. After John got older (I can remember when he worked for Joseph Arnett for eight dollars a month and his board) , he finally studied medicine, became a country doctor in Jackson Corners, and then he went to Poughkeepsie and at one time was President of the Dutchess Countv Medical Society. Old man Cotter has three grandsons who are physicians : Dr. Lawrence Cotter of Red Hook, Dr. John I. Cotter of Poughkeepsie, son of Dr. John H., and Dr. John H. Cotter in Brooklyn, son of his son James. Dr. Eddie Burns was another boy from this town that went to Poughkeepsie and made good as a physician. Patrick Lyons was another one of these first generation Irishmen. He begat two sons, one

Martin, who became the best farmer in the Town of Clinton, owned three farms. Another one, John, desired an education, walked every morning and back every night from east of Bull's Head in the Town of Clinton to DeGarmo Institute in Rhinebeck, for his education. At night he would thresh grain with a flail for the farmers, while the sisters held the lantern, so he could earn money to pay his tuition. That's the way he got his education. He went to Nassau Count'y, Long Island; became County Comptroller of the County o£ Nassau, and when he died he left ten thousand dollars to his native town to build the Memorial Hall at

Schultzville, which is now the Town Hall.

This town is not as big as Poughkeepsie, you know. There's only about one thousand people out here. You have forty-five thousand down there. But it has been noted for the number of men that were sent forth in business and professional life.

I would like to call your attention to 53

the physicians, boys, every one of them, who went to the district school in this town and became fairly noted. Dr. Walter Case; Dr. J. Marshall Allen ; Dr. Edward W. Carhart ; Dr. John C. Otis ; Dr. William Smith Williams ; Dr. Dewitt Webb ; Dr. Thomas Wilson, head of the Hudson Hospital at one time ; Dr. Isaac H. Traver ; Dr. Harris L. Cookingham, at the time of his death the oldest practicing physician in the county; Dr.

Irving Deyo LeRoy; Dr. Frank V. 8. Gildersleeve ; Dr. Edwin S. Hoyt ; Dr. John H. Cotter; Dr. Henry D. Sleight; Dr. Samuel Dodge; Dr. Edwin C. Bennett; Dr. Charles 8. Story: Dr. Eugene Coons; Dr. Edward Burns; Dr. David Coleman; Dr. John Dixon; Dr. Eliphalet Platt and Dr. Theodore Nelson. A goodly share of these, five or six, received their early education in that little building you see right o,vcr

there-Dr. Eugene Coons, Dr. Eliphalet Platt, Dr. Edwin Skidmore Hoyt, Dr. Irving Deyo LeRo.y, Dr. Harris L. Cookingham, Dr. Isaac H. Traver, all of them attended the one-room district school.

The ministers that were sent forth: the Rev. Philip E. Bierbauer, the Rev. William E. Traver, the Rev. Chester H. Traver, the Rev. Albert D. Traver, D. D., the Rev. Van Ness Traver, the Rev. Dwight L. Parsons, the Rev. S. Nye Hutchinson, D. D., the Rev. Mar.shall Budd, the Rev. William R. Dewitt, D. D., the Rev. Henry Williams, the Rev. William Radcliff Dewitt, D. D., and the Rev. William E. Hutchinson.

The lawyers: Peter Dewitt founded the law office in 1808 at 88 Nassau Street, New York City. The office is there today. He was sueceeded by his sons, Edward and John C. They were succeeded by Peter Dewitt's grandsons, William G., George G., and Theodore and they have in turn been succeeded by his great-grandson, William Dewitt.

Henry A. Gildersleeve, whom I have already mentioned; Uriah W. Tompkins, George R. Carhart, John Lyons, John D. Teller, Edward Crummey, Abraham D. Lent and Mark D. Wilbur. Wilbur and Lent attended the little school over here.

I will say a word regarding the Teller family. John I. Teller, the son of the first John, took the mill up there, and ran it for years, and his son, Tobias, took the stone house farm. He begat two sons, James

Monroe and Benjamin Franklin Teller. Benjamin Franklin Teller begat a son, John D. Teller, who was one of the foremost lawyers of the State of New York, Vice-President of the State Bar ASsociation, attorney for Cornell in the great Fisk-MCGraw will contest in which millions 54

were involved, and which he won for Cornell University.

Bankers, cashiers, presidents and vice-presidents were : William 8.

Platt, he too attended school on this corner; Carl C. Griffin, Roy C. Duke, Mark D. Wilbur, Ira J. Horton, Elmer G. Stor'y, Eugene P. Budd and Foster W. Doty. All came out of the little Town of Clinton, a town of one thousand people. That's our record.

I wish to say a word concerning the two Masonic lodges. I am a very poor one to give Masonic history, for I'm not a Mason. The early lodge was the old Clinton lodge, which had its lodge room in the second house beyond here in the northeast corner. Old Squire Williams resided there and he was Master of the Lodge, and this pitcher has something to do with it, and I shall read you this clipping: "A pitcher containing Masonic emblems and over one hundred years old is in the possession o£ John R. Van Vliet,11 Lawton Avenue, a

prominent member of Auburn Lodge of Masons, No. 431. It is one of a pair of pitchers brought from Liverpool, England, about the year 1790

by Captain Reuben Spencer, and presented to Mr. Van Vliet's maternal

great-grandfather, Captain Frederick Uhl, of Staatsburg, Dutchess County. The pitcher was brought to this part of the State by Mr. Van Vliet's grandmother, Mrs. Margaret Uhl Gillies, on the death of her father, in 1825. In one of the Masonic histories of the State it is written that at about the same time this pitcher was brought to this country, Captain Spencer brought a similar pair of pitchers and presented them to Robert G. Livingston, who was a neighbor of Captain Uhl. All three of these men were mem'bers of Clinton Lodge o£ Masons, which is now extinct. Clinton Lodge at that time had no lodge number, and was evidently working under a dispensation. Mr. Van Vliet's grandfather, Captain James Gillies, was also a mendber of Clinton Lodge, and his certificate of membership is dated May 1, in the year of Masonry 5,808.

The daughter of Captain James Gilles was Mr. Van Vliet's mother, and she brought the pitcher to Elbridge where it remained for many years.

About twelve years ago the pitcher was brought to this city by Mr. Van Vliet. Whenever lodge brethren call at his home they usually ask to see the pitcher and marvel at the fact that it looks as new and perfect in the detail of the outlines of the inscription as it must have looked over a century ago. One of the most enthusiastic admirers of the pitcher is William E. Taylor, who is writing a book on the history of Masonry in 55

Cayuga County at the direction of his Lodge. Beneath the picture are the following four lines, which carry a beautiful thought : "To judge with candor and to speak no wrong,

The feeble to support against the strong To soothe the wretched and the poor to feed, Will cover many an idle foolish deed."

This pitcher, as I said, was sent to Captain Frederick Uhl, and it was given to his daughter, Margaret, who married James Gillies, and went to the County o£ Onondaga. She gave it to her daughter, Mary, who married Henr'y E. Van Vliet, and when she died it passed to her son, John H. Van Vliet, and he died and gave it to his sister, and before she died she wished the pitcher to go back to where the Clinton Lodge was, and gave it to me. The pitcher is down here today.

The rest of the history o£ Masonry, is the Warren Lodge, Schultzville. This was organized in 1808 at Pine Plains from members entirely of the Temple Lodge. Temple Lodge was a lodge at Spencer's Corners, Town of Northeast, with a very large jurisdiction. All its members living at Pine Plains organized the Warren Lodge. It stayed there for fifty years, until 1858, when it was removed. It was in the Town of Milan for a few years, and then Theodore A. Schultz gave the land and the money to erect the Temple, and it was brought here to Schultzville.

As I said, I am a very poor person to give Masonic history, for I'm not a Mason.

This book is a survey book largely with Captain Spencer's surveys.

It has in it the division lines of all the precincts and the various towns of the county, with the exception of Wappingers and East Fishkill, which towns were laid out after his time. You hear them talk so much about the trouble to find the lines. If you look at this old map of the Great Nine Partners, it isn't much trouble to find many of them, because the lines all run on the lot lines. Now, the line between Stan ford and Washington, was run right on the lot lines, and a man can walk over that today and he will be on the farm lines, on the town lines and the lot lines. You can go over to Warnken's, between that and Swenson's, you see the line across the road, there's the farm line, there's the lot line and there's the town line. Most of them are laid out that way on the lot lines, although there are some that would make trouble, I know. The line between Pleasant Valley and H'yde Park, the lower part of it, is on 56

the back line of the nine water lots, right straight on through. I can go down there and walk over it without any trouble at all, although there are some that go from house to house and like that, some that really cause a great deal of trouble, no survey and no marking, but not all of them.

This map was made by Captain Spencer in 1820 or 1821, at the time he divided old Clinton, Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley.

This pitcher and teapot were awarded to Captain Frederick Uhl, my great-grandfather, in the year 1814, by the Societ'y fo,r the Promotion of Useful Arts, State of New York, for the best specimen of woolen cloth the family manufactured that year. The woolen cloth he made was taken from the first importation of Spanish merino sheep brought to this co,untry by Chan.cellor Robert R. Livingston, to whom` he paid $2.50 a pound for the wool.

This is the famed Masonic pitcher that came over in 1790 and was given to Captain Uhl by Captain Spencer. Regarding Captain Reu.ben Spencer, you people may not know who he was. He was born on the James G. R.ymph farm east of here.. His father and mother are -buried on that farm in a little four square cemetery, and Captain Reuben Spencer, in his early life, married the daughter of Captain Jesse Ames, o£ Staatsburgh. I will explain how Captain Ames came to be here. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, and he and Captain Isaac Russell were escorting a portion of Burgoyne's captured army south somewheres to be confined, I think to Virginia, and when they came in sight of this place, they said after the war was over they would come back to Staatsburg and settle, and they did. Some of their descendants are in that little cem'etery across the railroad. Captain Spencer became City

Surveyor of New York, and was such a great many years. He was my father's and my father's brother's preceptor in surveying.

This silver cup is not so ancient, this was awarded to Levi Van Vliet, my grandfather, by the American Institute in New York, for the best pair of stall fed cattle, calves that my father as a youth brought up. They became oxen, they worked them on the farm, they grew so fine grandfather thought he would sehd them to New York to exhibit them. They weighed fifty-seven hundred pounds. My uncle, my father's older brothcr, took them down on the night boat, drove them across to Broadway, and up Broadway to the Crystal Palace. I don't know what they would do with a man who drove a yoke of oxen up Broadway now. They never came back; he sold them for a good price there.

57

This sword was carried by my grandfather, Levi Van Vliet, who was Adjutant in the Fifth New York Regiment, Second Brigade, in the War pf 1812-14. This regiment was raised entirely in Dutchess Count'y.

Its Colonel was Martin Heermance of Rhinebeck, who resided in what was afterwards known as the Wells mansion. The quartermaster was Garrett Van Keuren, who was the grandfather of Mrs. Helen de Laporte, whom we all love to think of and remember, and the surgeon was Dr. Federal Vanderburgh, who afterwards came into this region, and the Adjutant, as I said, was Levi Van Vliet. They marched from here to New York. The first night's encampment was between Fishkill Village and Wappingers Falls, and the place of encampment in New York was what is now 123rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. If you go, there you will find a small stone fortification which marks the place where the Fifth New York Regiment, Second Brigade, was encamped. They didn't have anything to do down there, New York seemed to be so well defended. In Washington, the Capitol and the White House were burned. The only thing saved in the White House was that Dolly Madison saved the painting of George Washington.

This sword was carried by iny grandfather after he was Colonel of the 141st New York Militia.

This cane may seem like a strange thing, but I will explain how people used to be buried more than a century ago. They didn't have undertakers then. People were carried to their last resting place by their neighbors' teams, and the coffins of the poor people were made by the wagon makers. Russell 8. Abbey, of this town, made hundreds of them. The rich people went to the cabinet makers in anticipation of death, which we all anticipate some time. Peter R. Livingston and his wife had locust trees.cut and sawed and seasoned, so that when the time came they should be made into coffins. My father's uncle, David Mulford Uhl, made them and there were remnants after sawing them, off, which he made into two canes, and one he gave to his brother, George Uhl, and the other to his brother-in-law, Levi Van Vliet. That's one of the canes. The only reason I show that is to show the difference in burying people then and today.

The book on the corner there is the Van Vliet Bible, printed in Amsterdam in 1629. The Holland Society had an exhibit in New York a while ago and they had a very old Bible there, the Stu'yvesant Bible, which was printed in 1637. This one here antedates it by eight years.

58

This book contains one hundred maps, all colored, I think, beautifully. Perhaps you may not agree with me.

These maps were made by my uncle, the late George Van Vliet, along in the early '40s, of

property here in western Dutchess County. Every time he made a survey he made a duplicate copy to keep in his office. This book has a hundred of them. I have so many loose maps I couldn't think of bringing them here. They would cover up the side of the church.

These other books I am very, very interested in, but perhaps you will think anybody that keeps them is very foolish. Scrap books, and I have many of them at home, and I think if you look at them you will agree they're not so foolish; lawyers,, ministers, physicians, men of business, I

paste them in there, and I delight to spend an evening with them even

now, I brought a number of photographs here, not many of them. This one was Peter Dewitt who foiunded the law office at 88 Nassau Street.

He was born in 1780. This one is Albert David Traver, D. D., who was born up the road above here and was twenty years Rector o£ St. Paul's Church in Poughkeepsie, and before that he was Assistant Rector of All Saints' Church in New York. This is a photograph o£ John LeRoy, who gave twenty-five hundred dollars in 1837 for the erection of this church. This is the old Dewitt Mill erected in 1775. This is Jeanette the wife of Peter Dewitt. This is Colonel Henry Armstrong, who was severely wounded in the War of 1812. He was the son of General John Armstrong, who was Secretary o£ War under President Madison. His wife was one of the famed Livingston family, of which Margaret Beckman was the mother.

There is one more thing I'd like to mention and that is the farmer as a financial power in the county. The time was when the farmer was the land banker. Every man who had a mortgage on his farm, it was held by some farmer. They were the people that had the money, and I will explain. Even the people from the cities appealed to the farmers to save them in times of trouble. My grandfather had a brother, Henry Hirand Van Vliet, who was one of the firm o£ Van Vliet & Suydam, wholesale grocers in New York. It was in the panic of 1837. He had obligations that were due him but he couldn't collect them'. The firm would have to go under. He had married a daughter of Captain Joseph Harris. In Poughkeepsie his brothers-in-law were John Adriance, Dr. 59

John Barnes, and Dr. Richard Varick. Captain Harris himself was a prominent man. The situation was not one bit better in Poughkeepsie.

He was about broken down, and one of them suggested they could go to the country and see what his brother, Levi, could do for them. They arrived here in the night. Grandfather said in the morning he would jump on his horse and see what he could do. The next morning he strapped his satchel to his back and went down to John Lamoree and told him the situation. They were to give grandfather a note endorsed

by Captain Harris and John Adriance, and grandfather wo,uld give him his note. Mr. Lamoree had about $1600 in the house, which he gave him. He went from there to Andrew Lamoree's and got sous more; to Maurice Smith and got some more; a couple of Cookinghams and got some more; and two of the Crapsers; and he went to Henry Marquat and Jeremiah Schultz; and when he left he had more than ten thousand dollars in the satchel. That's the way they did business. If some young man bought a farm in the spring, he wouldn't have enough money, he would go to one of these men and ask for a mortgage. The man wouldn't have enough money and he would go to the other men and borrow money on his note and take the mortgage on the farm. As late as 1875 my father settled an estate in this neighborhood where there was fifteen thousand dollars in promisory notes. There was no trouble collecting any of it. That was the reason they kept the money at home, they hadn't got to banking yet. Then came a time when the banks started.

The farmers began to drift into that. The farmers were the bankers

quite largely. The old City National Bank on the corner of Main and Market Street, the directors were Samuel Mathews, a farmer from the Town of Poughkeepsie; Benjamin Hopkins, Town of East Fishkill; Wilson 8. Sheldon, Beekman; David D. Vincent, Union Vale; Milton Ham, Washington; George Lamoree, Pleasant Valley; James Rymph, Clinton; and so it went. The others didn't have so many, but included the Carpenters from Stan ford, Smith Knapp and Peter R. Sleight.

Where has the farmer gone to today? In the Town o£ Clinton there are eighty-four farms abandoned for agricultural purposes. They are not the poor farms by any means. Some of them are the very garden spots of the town. Clinton is no exception. You can go right down to }.'our own City of Poughkeepsie. I remember when there was a beautiful lesidence on the North` Road on the west side, the F. J. Allen estate.

Today it is a vacant lot. Then came the Hume estate. North of that 60

Tower's, and Ed. Tower told the people down town to tear it down and burn it up, which they did. Across the street, the Rowley estate, now nothing but a vacant lot. Then came the beautiful Beck place, now the Marist Brothers, tax exempt. Go up the road a little further, the Stuyvesant and the Webendorfer places, just the same. Go up to Vanderbilt's, just the same; Mills, just the same. What's the trouble? Too high taxation upon real estate, is the trouble. If you look back a few years you will find where a man paid one dollar then, he is paying ten today. I have an old assessment roll here of 1801, when the largest tax-

payer in the old Town of Clinton was Morgan Lewis, and he didn't pay but thirty dollars. A'nother reason why the farms have been abandoned is due to this W.P.A. It has taken their help away and they cannot run the farms. The result is there are eighty-four farms in this town abancloned, and I guess Milan and the rest of them are worse off still.

GEORGE S. VAN VLIET.

REill