Late Eighteenth Century Clinton (including Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley) William H. Benson, Jr. Historian, Town of Clinton
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post-Revolutionary War period, or the last twenty-five years of the eighteenth century, was a time of transition for Clinton, both in government and in the way of life. Clinton Precinct, which included Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley at the time, was a grand mixture of estates along the Hudson, farmers in-land, and tradesmen everywhere to satisfy the needs of the early settlers. Merchants provided general merchandise, while the millers provided cloth, grain and lumber. The "smiths" provided everything from harnesses to hinges to high-top shoes, and Clinton's 696 families had what they needed. Most of the "publick high-roads" were built and open by 1790, with only a few cross-roads left to be opened as the density of the population increased. A major connector was opened in 1793, when the "old bridge" which had spanned the Wappingers Creek for many years on Clinton Corners Road near Hibernia had to take the back seat to the "new bridge" which opened across the Wappingers Creek on Hibernia Road, to provide a direct link to Salt Point from the east. Jacob Smith's map of 1797, although missing many of the secondary roads which were public at that time, shows that the main thoroughfares were in place by that time to serve the early settlers. There were still a few landowners with extensive holdings of real estate. The Crooke family, with the Charles Crooke mansion in Hyde Park, had extensive undivided lands in Hyde Park and the present town of Clinton. The death of Charles Crooke, followed by the premature deaths of his son Charles Crooke and heir William Barber, caused the land to be divided among heirs in 1767 and again in 1783. This division and subsequent sales by the disinterested heirs provided more land for settlement in many places, but much of the Crooke land remained in the family until well after 1800. David Johnston also had large land holdings in Hyde Park and the present town of Clinton. He surveyed and divided his Great Lott 2 in northern Clinton in 1775 and then gave portions of it to his children, but sales of this land were slim until after 1800. David Johnston's estate was located in Lithgow, and he seemed content to retain his land in Clinton. His son John Johnston, a prominent lawyer of the time, settled on Johnston land in Hyde Park. Other Johnston land in Hyde Park was later divided and sold by the family. At the same time in our local history, several of the early farm families had settled in and were starting to expand their influence through second, and in some cases third, generation farm family acquisition of land. Notable among these families are the Travers, Sleights, Storms, Frosts, Lawrences, Powells, Marshalls, Wards and, of course, many others. Some of these farm families expanded in their neighborhoods
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