Postal Service in Dutchess County — revisited

POSTAL SERVICE IN DUTCHESS COUNTY - revisited William P. McDermott

Since last year when the summary of Dutchess County post offices appeared in the yearbook (1) additional information has been obtained. Some new information and a few corrections of the previously published information will be noted in the following paragraphs. By the way, in last year's work page 107 & 108 were inadvertently transposed. Simply changing the numbers of these pages will result in a smoother reading of the text. New information shows the existence of a post office at Washington Hollow at an earlier date. The ledger on file at the National Archives lists a post office at "Hollow" in 1813 with William Germond serving as postmaster. (2) About 1818 the name was changed to Washington Hollow with Luther Gay serving as postmaster from 1818-1828. The name "Hollow" does not appear again after 1818. Therefore, the initial listing for Washington Hollow should be revised to 1813 to make last year's list correct. In addition there is an interesting wrinkle in all of this which intrudes itself in 1817. "Hartsville" is listed in 1817 as a post office with William Sharpsteen serving as postmaster. It is also noted as a probable location of a post office by Spaf ford. (3) A notation in the post office ledger indicates Hartsville was changed to Hollow on 3/25/1818. (4) This implies a round trip from Hollow in 1813 for one or two years to Hartsville for a year or so and back to Hollow again. But it now appears that separate post offices existed in Hartsville and Washington Hollow. A notation in the National Archives source (5) suggests that "Hollow" and "Hartsville" may have been alternate locations about 18171818. The 1819 Postal Directory (6) lists "Hartsville or Hollow." Hartsville does not appear again in available sources (7,8) until "Hartsburgh" is listed on 6/4/1828. (9) And in 1836 there was a post office listing at "Hart's village" (10) and "Hartsville" (11). In summary, Washington Hollow appears to have had a post office continuously from 1813 with a name change from "Hollow." A post office may have existed at Hart's village under the name of Hartsville as early as 1813. Perhaps it operated intermittently until about 1819-1820. Its next appearance in 1828 probably establishes it as a post office on a more continuous basis. More recent information shows that Bengal (Bangall) should be deleted from the list presented last year. In fact, Bengal was a post office but in Ontario County. Later its name was changed to Vienna. (12) Three changes in dates are listed as follows:

Milan

from 1811 to 1816 New Hamburg from 1826 to 1828 Wappingers Creek from 1810 to 1809

In last year's work Fishkill was noted as a post office during the Revolution. A page from Benjamin Franklin's post office ledger is included here to show some of the transactions between Franklin's office and Fishkill in 1777 & 1778. (13) The postmaster, Samuel Loudon, was the printer of the 33

Title page of proceedings of the New York State Senate (Courtesy of New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.)

At thcir icTon Sdtoo hrgun anti hotdto UV CH AMT.,

Peirekrlfr, /)uiThrj.i Coanty ott Thurfday, ak rt Day tat 17.4.

Title page of proceedings of the New York State Assembly (Courtesy of New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.)

XEEPSIE, (Dia Is CCII307) ?.atanta tao JOHN HO LT PatisTrt To Tlis STATE or NEW-YORIL

New York Packet, a New York City newspaper removed to Fishkill when the British occupied New York City. The classified section of the Country Journal confirms the existence of post offices at Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck in 1786. (14) On October 25, 1786 this newspaper listed the names and towns of individuals whose letters remained at these post offices. Undoubtedly post offices existed in these towns earlier. A postal route had been established from New York City to Albany as early as 1772. Governor Clinton and the New York State legislature met in Poughkeepsie in 1778 and several years thereafter until 1795. Certainly some kind of postal service was needed to aid the lawmakers and the governor in their communications with the rest of the state and the country. Just when a formal post office was established at Poughkeepsie and or Rhinebeck is not clear. The need was apparent therefore, one can assume

From a reprint of The Ledger of Doctor Benjamin Franklin Postmaster General, 1776

an earlier date. Letters at the Rhinebeck post office were advertised in 1786 for individuals from four counties: Dutchess, Columbia, Ulster and Orange. Letters were for county residents located at Nine Partners, Great Nine Partners, Pleasant Valley, Dover, Red Hook and Oblong. There were also letters for Esopus, Kingston, New Paltz, New Malborough, Hillsdale, Little Britain, Kings District and even Sharon, Conn. The letters remaining at the Poughkeepsie office were addressed only to county residents. These locations were: Wappingers Creek, Washington Precinct, Pleasant Valley, Nine Partners and Beekman. It appears from these lists that the Albany Post Road (Route 9) was the principle route north because the towns listed on the other side of the river seem to have received their mail from Rhinebeck. This is an assumption worthy of additional research in the future.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Mc Dermott, W.P.,Postal Service in Dutchess County - the first 50 years. D.C.H.S. Yearbook, 1976-77, 62, 106-114. 2. Records of Appointments of Postmasters, GSA National Archives and Records Service. Washington: 1960, vol. 1. 3. Spaf ford, H.G. A Gazetteer of the State of New York, Albany: H.C. Southwick, 1813, pg. 321. 4. Records of Appointments of Postmasters, GSA National Archives and Records Service, Washington: 1960, vol. 2. 5. Ibid. 6. Table of Post Offices in the United States, Washington City: 1819, pg. 28. 7. Spaf ford, H.G.,A Gazetter of the State of New York, Albany: 1824. 8. Records of Appointments of Postmasters, GSA National Archives and Records Service. Washington: 1960, vol. 4. 9. Ibid., vol. 5. 10. Table of Post Offices in the United States. Washington: Blair & Rives, 1836, pg. 68. 11. Gordon, Thomas F.,Gazetteer of the State of New York. Philadelphia: 1836, pg. 435. 12. Hutchins, S.C.,Civil List and forms of Government of the Colony and State of New York. Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co., pg. 214. 13. The Ledger of Doctor Benjamin Franklin, Postmaster General 1776, A Fac-simile of the Original Manuscript. Washington: 1865, pg. 43. 14. Country Journal, October 25, 1786.