A History Of Tivoli From First Settlement To Incorporation

A HISTORY OF TIVOLI FROM FIRST SETTLEMENT TO INCORPORATION

by James Elliott Lindsley (Mr. Lindsley, Rector of St. Paul's and Trinity Parish, Tivoli, wrote the following for serial publication in the church's Midweek Messenger last spring as the Village prepared for the Centennial celebration of its incorporation.)

By looking at ' the map of this Hudson Valley we can begin to understand the early settlement of the area now called Tivoli. The Village is located 100 miles north of the place where the Hudson River empties into New York Bay. On one side of the river here, a creek flows into the Hudson, offering fine harborage for small boats as well as water power for mills; the name Saugerties is derived from the Dutch sawyers, and suggests the saw mills, abundant lumber, and busy life on the west side of the river. On the Tivoli side, the bluffs which line the river pull back ever so slightly, offering a natur al, level place for a small settlement. Since this place — it is where the railroad station was later built — is now unoccupied and probably much similar to the primeval condition, one can see how the early traveller would find the site inviting. Those early travellers were, as far as we know, the American Indians who lived on the land, fished the waters, and made the trails for centuries prior to 1492, and for a good time thereafter. They continued to live hereabouts in dwindling numbers; an elderly parishioner of St. Paul's recalls her mother telling about serving suppers to indigent Indians in the dooryard. This would have been soon after the Civil War, but in his Reminiscences, John N. Lewis implies that the last Indians died somewhat

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earlier than that. We do not know very much about the tribes that settled in the Tivoli area, but because of the natural advantages of "Tivoli Landing" we may assume that there were sporatic native encampments there, and on the two islands in the River, for the islands provided a measure of safety.

The end of the domination of this Valley by the Indians ( whom Henry Hudson called a "loving people") was signalled by the voyage of Hudson's little yacht up the river in 1609. He arrived in New York Bay on September 2, and proceeded slowly upriver. Perhaps, he thought, this was the "northwest passage" to the Orient. Some time about the middle of September the Half Moon passed, and then repassed, those flat acres that would, almost 200 years later, be named Tivoli. The ship's log recorded those memorable words that should be in every Hudson River Valley home: "This is a very good land to fall with, and a pleasant land to see." Within a generation of Hudson's exploration upriver, Dutch settlers would build houses at various points along the river and set out to collect the animal pelts which commanded high prices in Europe. This was the first industry of the Valley. Trading posts were established on the site of Albany and at the mouth of the Roundout; Kingston was founded in 1653. Schenectady, Hurley, New Paltz, Kinderhook and Claverack followed.

These settlements appear to be primarily of, and for, Dutchmen who were encouraged by Dutch trading companies. But different nationalities were represented in the settlement of this part of the Hudson Valley: Norwegian, Flemish, Scottish, English, Hugonot-French, Prussian and Swedish. It is possible that the first settler-owners of Tivoli, the Hoffmans, were of Finnish origin. The fact that so many nations were represented in settling the Hudson River Valley may bespeak its rich resources. It also points the contrast between the business-inspired settlements here and the theocratic-inspired settlements along the New England coast.

The mode of settlement was controlled by the mother country: Holland before 1664; England thereafter. Those policies were dictated by the urgent need to get the land settled and exploited in the interests of the mother country as soon as possible. Land without people is worthless politically as well as economically. Thus the Dutch were glad to grant vast parcels of land to well-recommended applicants. The Dutch West India Company gave Kilean Van Renssalear alone 600,000 acres, with the understanding that he develop the land as far as possible and encourage immigration to it. This was at a time when the Lowlands had an enviable dominence in world trade; Hudson, Van Renssalear, Schuyler, et al, took their part in this fleeting Dutch superiority. When the English wrested control of the river valley away from the Dutch they tried to make the Crown's oversight of the area easier by reviving the ancient, but by now disused, English practice of creating manors whose owners would share civic and judicial responsibilities with the home government. The earliest of these manors was Fordham (1671) ; the last appears to have been Scarsdale (1701). The Dutch patroon and the English lord were similiar. Land title was vested in the proprietor (lord or patroon) who could be a

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judge in courts on his land. By these means a certain degree of civil stability was assured. The English governor was also relieved of onerous tasks while at the same time he could expect to see his provinces improved and well settled. The plan was not successful. As early as 1700 the English governor of New York reported to London that good settlers in his province were soon lost to New Jersey or to Pennsylvania because, in the Hudson River Valley, they could not hope to own their own land. The governor claimed that in the Livingston manor — sixteen miles along the river, extending twenty-four miles toward Massachusetts — there were only four or five farmers. It has been said that up to 1682 "It is doubtful if a single white inhabitant resided in what is now Dutchess County".

If that statement is true, then there was a phenomenal growth in the years immediately following 1682. The area now called Tivoli was never, strictly speaking, part of any manor, and thus those who settled there could have a freehold. Phillip Schuyler, with an eye to profit, was granted the northern Dutchess strip on the river in about 1688. He was not under obligation to live on the land himself, nor was he required to see it settled. He merely waited for purchasers to come forward to buy. It is presumed (but it bears further research) that the succession of Tivoli owners was Gansevoort (1689), Knickerbocker ( 1704), and Nicholas Hoffman (1725). In the history, Little Nine Partners, it is stated that the Knicl-erbockers bought the site of Tivoli from the Schuylers in about 1704 ( which seems to omit any Gansevoort purchase), and that the Knickerbockers were related to the Vosburgs ( descendants of whom abound among us still). Inasmuch as Vosburgs were buried in the graveyard at Tivoli Landing, could it be that they were the first residents after the Indians there? This much is known: Nicholas Hoffman was owner of the landing by 1725. It is said that he lived in a stone house located on what is now the end of the south lawn of Callendar House. Presumably, the Hoffmans came from Ulster County and saw in the landing a suitable place for river trade. The stone house would afford protection against raids. Produce and money would be safe there. General activity would increase when a ferry began running between Saugerties and "Hoffman's" ( as an old map calls the area I refer to as the landing). The Hoffmans remained at their trading center for at least two generations. They used as their burial place the promontory of the hill immediately east of the landing. Here, overlooking the river, and with a splendid view of the Catskills, were also buried other Tivoli folk. Two gravestones remain. One bears the name Katherine Benson, first wife of Martin Hoffman. The other has the name Vosburg. It has been stated that General dePeyster had the graves and stones removed to St. Paul's churchyard in the 19th century, but it is now thought that he moved only those of Gardiner Chase and his wife ( a celebrated local school teacher). Other monuments have disintegrated or have been removed.

This little burial place, now hidden amidst an undergrowth of vines and brush, remained in use even after Zacharias Hoffman and others founded the "Low Dutch" Reformed Church ( the "Red Church") in the 1750's.

Significant growth took place throughout the Hudson River Valley coequal with the stirrings of settlement at the landing. The first houses in

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what is now Tivoli must have been of the Dutch mode, although the first dwellings may have been mere dug-outs scratched into a hillside; or a cellar with slabwood sides to keep the walls from caving in. There is a house in Annandale which, I suspect, is in its origins a very early dug-out. Another early house, pictured in Hunt's History of Clermont, was on the side of a hill not far from Tivoli.

Once the initial winter was past, and the garden made, the settler could build himself a better house. It would probably be built of wood, one story, with a loft. A fire might burn on the dirt floor while the smoke wound upwards to find its way out a small opening in the roof, which would be thatched. It was once thought that houses were built to face south, but that is now disproved, although if they could be so built, and thus catch a maximum of sun, so much the better.

Whatever houses were built in the Tivoli area in the crucial 16751700 period — and we don't know how many there were, nor where they might have been — would have been built of stone as soon as the settlers could get to building permanent homes. Splendid building stone is found in these parts: the bluestone "flats" which are so easy to lay up and break into desired size and shape. Later, brick was used, though we are told that stone continued in use across the river in Ulster County well into the ninteenth century. Two examples of early houses remain in the Tivoli vicinity: the "stone jug" in Clermont, and the Redder house on Kerley Corners Road. But in Tivoli itself there is no trace of early stone or brick building.

We do not know very much about the man who bestowed upon "Hoffman's" the name Tivoli. Pierre de Labigarre was an emigree from France and was once listed as a merchant in the New York City directory. He married a Margaret Beekman there in 1795 which may mean that he could claim a relationship to the Livingstons of Clermont. As early as 1793, Labigarre gave a mortgage to Chancellor Robert R. Livingston for the landing site (Livingston's land adjoined on the north), and so from the beginning the Chancellor was involved in the Tivoli scheme; the land eventually became his through foreclosure. For awhile, he and Labigarre were very friendly, going so far as to dream up a paper manufactury if the river weed in the Hudson could be turned into paper.

Soon, Labigarre held title to two tracts of land at the river. One was south of the present Callendar House ( then being built) and included the Hoffman house. The second piece of real estate was north of The Pines, extending to, and probably beyond Rose Hill ( present Catholic Worker Farm). This second site, purchased from Nicholas Hoffman, Jr., was where Labigarre thought he would build his ideal community. It is said he wanted the place named Tivoli because the view of the mountains reminded him of the Italian Tivoli. Planned cities were "in the air" in those last years of the eighteenth century; the city of Washington being the most notable. Labigarre persuaded his fellow emigre, the celebrated Saint-Memin, to engrave on copper his plans for Tivoli. A beautiful engraving was produced. Pity the thing couldn't possibly be carried out, but, as everyone knows, the land rises so steeply from the river bank to the burial ground on the promontory that Labigarre's gridiron plan ( antici-

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pating New York City's post-1808 plan) was impossible. One wonders if the able Saint-Memin ever saw the site. If he did see it, why did he lend his name to such an implausible scheme? And, since Labigarre was no fool, we may ask if he ever troubled to climb the steep hill and consider the difficulties of laying out streets on the site where stepladders would be needed in plaie of sidewalks. Since no account is taken of the existing burial ground, perhaps Labigarre never did walk the bounds of his land, perhaps he dreamed up his model town while living in New York, or — entirely possible for this man who was something of a rascal — maybe this was an early American realtor's hoax, intended to raise quick money from absentee purchasers. They woud be shown the Saint-Memin engraving and could choose their lot; later, when they visited the site, they would see their mistake.

Whether or not Labigarre ever walked the bounds of his land we will never know, but we may be certain that he was an adventurer whose active mind would conceive an idea that might, if handled well, produce cash. If he was unsuccessful, he would try something else. But above all, Labigarre would live like a gentleman. He proceeded to build himself a house which stood, altered many times, until about 1926. It was called the "Chateau de Tivoli". Labigarre lived in the house briefly. It is said to have been of classic design, with octagonal rooms. All that remains today is the brick wall and gateway entrance; the house stood on what is now the broad flat lawn beyond. After the collapse of Labigarre's affluent life in Tivoli the house was occupied by his sister-in-law, a Mrs. Cox, and later by Edmund Elmendorf. After 1871, Johnston L. de Peyster ( whose portrait may be seen on the Tivoli hose wagon) lived there. It was to this house that young Eleanor Roosevelt was allowed to ride her wheel from her grandmother's house far up the Woods Road to visit Carola de Peyster.

Life in the Chateau was too much for Labigarre's pocketbook. No one was buying lots on "Peace Street", or adjoining "Zephyr Square". Creditors were closing in. Labigarre found himself in the Poughkeepsie jail. Chancellor Livingston let him stay there awhile, and then bailed him out. He did not return to live in Tivoli, which is sad because he had encouraged the Chancellor's notions about steamboats, and he might have seen the "North River Steamboat" (later called the "Clermont") go up and down the river in 1807. History has many ironies; that was the year Labigarre died alone in New Orleans, whence he had again fled creditors.

Labigarre may have looked back to his Hudson River town vision as one more failure, and indeed it was a failure for him; he did not even have the satisfaction of knowing the site would be called Tivoli. It was called Red Hook Landing, or Upper Red Hook, for many years and was so labelled on maps. Perhaps it was the Chateau de Tivoli, or the strength of the dream of the ideal town, that was powerful enough to revive the name some years later when the settlement immediately near the railroad station and the ferry wharf was named Tivoli. Meanwhile, the Stoneycreek area on White Clay Kill had commended itself as a mill site. There were at least three mills there, and another about where the Broadway bridge crosses the Kill near Tivoli center. This general area, a half-mile East of

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Labigarre's Tivoli, came to be known as Mechanicsville, Myersville, and Madalin in succession.

The Tivoli plan, which anticipated municipal developments of the nineteenth century, envisioned streets whose names suggested eighteenth century civic ideals: Laws, Peace, Friendship, Liberty, Commerce, Plenty. But Labigarre was not so egalitarian that he could afford to ignore a hopedfor benefector. He was careful to name one street Chancellor. He also made ample provision for shipping docks. In the middle of it all, just East of what is still called the "Freeborn house", there was to be Zephyre Square, and to the North, adjoining the Chancellor's land, there was to be the "Pleasure Ground" in which, presumably, an enlightened citizenry of the model town might take the air on a sultry Hudson evening. The scheme having failed, growth of a town on the site was curtailed by the development of four estates: Callendar House (Sunning Hill), The Pines ( Green Lawn), Chateau de Tivoli and de Peyster's Rose Hill. Tivoli, or Red Hook Landing, was confined to the area near the station and on a lower road. By the Civil War there were probably three times as many houses as will now be found there.

Poughkeepsie Journal Photo by James Deckner TIVOLI, SEEN HERE FROM THE TOP OF ITS WATER TOWER, will be 100 years old on June 18. In early June the town plans to hold a three day celebration of the event. Tivoli was incorporated in 1872, but it was founded by a Frenchman named Pierre de Labigarre in 1795. He planned a large city on the site that would be centered around "Le Chateau de Tivoli," his residence. Today all that is left of his plans is the name of the village and the ruins of his chateau. The village Fire Hall is to the right with the main crossroads of the village to the left. The view looks south.

Caption reprinted courtesy Poughkeepsie Journal 66