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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
driven into the trees whose birth appeared to reach beyond the `time when the first white man saw the Nine Partners Tract ,•— :all speak of the period when this hallowed place was thronged with worshipers. But now the turf is unbroken, which whilom was torn asunder by the restless hoof. The grounds of the Duchess County Agricultural Society, organized Oct. i6, 1841, lie partly in this town. The first President of the Society was Henry Staats, and the first Secretary, George Kneeland. The County Poor House, which was formerly kept in Poughkeepsie, was a few years since erected in the town of Washington. The small building shown at the left of the large one, in the cut, is provided with cells, in which the more dangerous paupers are confined.
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D 1 01 1 0 8 1 1
— Duchess County Alms-Iiouse, wa.11illgtou.
In an old day-book, dated at Nine Partners, Charlotte Precinct, in the year 1770, occur the following names of persons, many of whose descendants are yet living in various parts of the country: Titus, Sherman, Allen, Sackett, Boyce, Northrop, Gifford, Morey, Cutler, Swift, Sutherland, Hurd, Hilliard, Mabbett, Wolsey, Mott, White, Thorn, Hammond, Hart, Belding, Holmes, Sweet, &c. It would seem that the store was patronized by people living in widely separated districts, as the names given are those of the early settlers of other towns in the county. We annex a list of some of the items charged, together with the price: ° Isaac Boyce, 1 gal. rum, 5s ; Joseph Thorn 2 gal. molasses, Is. 5d.; Joseph Brown, 1 qt. rum, Is. 9d.; Honamonas Knickerbacker, 1 tea by Tom, 7s. 6d.; David Ketcham, 1 pair
Dutchess County Historical Society
