INVISIBLE PEOPLE, UNTOLD STORIES VOICES OF RHINEBECK’S HISTORIC BLACK COMMUNITY PROMPTED BY THE
Rhinebeck
POST OFFICE MURALS
Home of Loyalist Teunis Peer and slave Jack. See page 6.
Home of Lewis Frazier. Corner of S. Parsonage and South Streets. See page 19. Grasmere. See page 6.
Oak Street was home to many African Americans in the 19th century. See page 19.
Section E of Rhinebeck Cemetery See page 19.
INVISIBLE PEOPLE, UNTOLD STORIES VOICES OF RHINEBECK’S HISTORIC BLACK COMMUNITY PROMPTED BY THE
Rhinebeck
POST OFFICE MURALS
Historical Sources Begin to Fill Gaps
2021 By Bill Jeffway
COMPANION PIECE TO THE 1940 MURAL BOOKLET BY OLIN DOWS ● WILLIAM SEABROOK ● CHANLER A. CHAPMAN With support from Rhinebeck residents: Gary Bassett, Michael Frazier, Sophie Greller, Kathy Hammer, Beverly Kane, Nancy Kelly, Laura Kufner, Lenny Miller, Melodye Moore, Duane Ragucci, Arthur Seelbinder, Elizabeth Spinzia, James Stevenson, Brent Sverdloff & others © Bill Jeffway 2021 History Speaks. Listen. Learn www.HistorySpeaks.US
This 1940 booklet with explanatory text written by Olin Dows is the basis for this 2021 publication.
The left page looks at the mural depiction. The right page identifies sources that can begin to fill gaps. 1. 1774 ~ General & Janet Montgomery Settled in Rhinebeck 1820 ~ The Widowed Janet Montgomery Came to Own 12 Slaves 2. 1776 ~ American Patriots & British Loyalists Lived Side by Side 1777 ~ Enslaved Jack Stood Up for US Promise of Liberty 3. 1790 ~ Rhinebeck’s Social Center Was The Flatts 1762 ~ Enslaved Isaac Escaped Public Flogging 4. 1790 ~ Chancellor Livingston Was Driven by an Enslaved Coachman 1783 ~ Livingston Slaves Were Treated by Rhinebeck’s Dr. Cooper 5. 1780 ~ Cornshucking Bee 1780 to 1820 ~ The Enslaved Labored in an Agricultural Economy 6. 1807 ~ Enslaved Stevedores Worked at Slate Dock 1790 ~ Rhinebeck Dock & Ferry Operators Owned Slaves 7. 1799 ~ The Young Mary Garrettson 1853 ~ Miss Garrettson Donated Land for “Colored” Burials
INTRODUCTION In the years just before World War Two, as a means to help the U.S. emerge from the global economic depression, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt created a wide range of Federal work programs. The Treasury Relief Program was one of several that involved art and culture. He assigned his hometown neighbor and family friend, Rhinebeck’s Olin Dows, to head it up. Through the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, Dows was awarded the 1940 painting of the Rhinebeck Post Office murals to stand as a permanent educational tool. Because the Post Office was built in the image of a 17th century local Dutch settler’s house, Roosevelt’s initial vision was for the interior to feature traditional Dutch portrait paintings from that period, known as the Dutch Golden Age. But Dows successfully argued for the depiction of local history, starting with the arrival of the first European, Henry Hudson. As a result, we are left (as are future generations), with a rich, thoughtful view of local history through the lens of 1940 American sensibilities, one that sparked controversy and community discussion in 2020. The point that any depiction of the past should require reassessment, is explained by Dutchess County Historian William P. Tatum III, PhD, who speaks to the distinction between “the past,” certain people, places, events and things that actually happened, and what he differentiates as “history,” which is any generation’s attempt to explain “the past.” This of course becomes an imperfect process for any range of reasons including bias, incomplete or incorrect information. Stemming from the same principle underlying Tatum’s point, Vassar Professor Lucy Maynard Salmon argued a century ago that a historian’s most important work is to get closer to a truth by pursuing new avenues of research, by seeking new voices and perspectives, by finding new information, and by correcting past bias. She provocatively called it the need to “rewrite” history.
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Top to bottom: Original Kip House, Rhinecliff, destroyed by fire in 1908. The 1940 Post Office. Lucy Maynard Salmon and her 1929, posthumously published book on the need to “rewrite” history.
INTRODUCTION In that spirit, and for these reasons, we look at the 1940 murals of Rhinebeck Post Office and intentionally focus on the stories of Black history, to the degree they are depicted. We look at what stories were told then, and what stories can be told to contemporary viewers — by looking at source material. We have begun a similar process of bringing diverse and contemporary voices, views, and context to the depictions of Indigenous Peoples in the Rhinebeck murals. Community conversations at the end of 2020 about the best way to ensure we move toward a more complete and inclusive history, in this public space specifically, were wide ranging. There was general consensus, however, that a good next step would be to begin to lay out some of the untold stories and context which can be found in source material, resulting in this publication. Art historian, scholar, and author William B. Rhoads writes that in the 1940 brochure, Dows originally described the stevedores as enslaved but that the reference was removed before publication by others. A reference to slaves in Dows’ corresponding booklet for his subsequent project, the murals in the Hyde Park Post Office (FDR’s hometown), retains a reference to slaves. One need go no further than the 1938 book written by one of the co-authors of the original mural booklet, William Seabrook, to find the erasure or absence of history. In The Foreigners, he writes, “All the characters and places in this book are real.” His chapters depict Scandinavian Americans, Italian Americans, German Americans, Polish Americans, Russian Americans, and Native Americans. Native Americans? We quickly come to realize he is referring to White settlers who were born in the United States from earlier immigration. There is no reference to Persons of Color.
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A 1938 book by Post Office mural booklet co-author William Seabrook, in a non-fictional account of Rhinebeck, makes no mention of Persons of Color.
1. THE MURAL DEPICTS
IN 1774 GEN. & JANET MONTGOMERY SETTLES IN RHINEBECK
“General Richard Montgomery and his wife, Janet Livingston, plant locust seedlings on what will become the lawn of Grasmere. The bricks were baked in a home made kiln.” Olin Dows, 1940. Gen. Montgomery was killed in battle in the Revolutionary War at Quebec in 1775. In 1805 Janet Montgomery moved to a new home, what is today called Montgomery Place at Bard College. In 1828 the original Grasmere building was destroyed by fire and the building that stands today was constructed.
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1.
SOURCE MATERIAL REVEALS
THE WIDOW MONTGOMERY CAME TO OWN 12 SLAVES The detailed data nearest in time to 1774 is the 1790 census for Rhinebeck (which included Red Hook). That data shows that 87% of Rhinebeck’s 491 Persons of Color were enslaved (425 persons), so the man working at the kiln was more likely than not, enslaved. As a widow, Mrs. Montgomery went on to become an ambitious and successful estate manager until her death in 1827, the same year that slavery was abolished in New York State. According to the 1820 census, the last Federal Census before the abolition of slavery in NY State, Montgomery owned 12 enslaved individuals: three men aged 27 to 44, one man aged 45 or above, four girls under age 14, two women aged 14 to 26, and two women aged 26 to 44. She acquired slaves through enslaved women bearing children, and through purchase. On August 27, 1799 Janet Montgomery testified, “There was born of my slave Margaret, a male child named John.” No last name or record of the father was provided. On November 15, 1808, she purchased, for $100, “a certain female negro slave named Susan, aged about 14 years” from Johannes Klum. Images clockwise from top. 1820 census notes are superimposed on contemporary text. Retreived from ancestry.com. An August 29, 1799 declaration by Janet Montgomery that her slave Margaret had a male child named John. Rhinebeck Historical Society. An 1808 property deed showing that Janet Montgomery purchased a 14-year-old girl from Johannes Klum. Princeton University Library.
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2. THE MURAL DEPICTS
AMERICAN PATRIOTS & BRITISH LOYALISTS LIVED SIDE BY SIDE
“A Tory is relieved of his gun while men take the Revolutionary pledge and drill.” Dows, 1940. “Tories” or “Loyalists” were those loyal to the King of England. The Tories described American “Patriots” as either “Rebels” or “Whigs.” In 1775, those on the side of the American Revolution, required each man to swear an oath to the Patriot cause called the “Articles of Association.” Most men did, but not all. Quakers refused to sign as a matter of broader principle against taking oaths. It seems about 30% of Dutchess County men were Loyalists who did not support the Patriot cause. If you fell into this category, you might have been imprisoned in Exeter, New Hampshire, or on a ship dedicated for that purpose at Kingston. Or, if you were willing to swear an oath, you were allowed to be at large but unarmed, as depicted here.
Clockwise from top: Taking the oath called the “Articles of Association.” Military training or “drill.” One man appears to have a pitchfork, reflecting the scarcity of military supplies at the time. A British Loyalist who is required to give up his military arms. 8
2. SOURCE MATERIAL REVEALS A.
1777 ~ ENSLAVED JACK STOOD UP FOR U.S. PROMISE OF LIBERTY The Minutes of the Committee for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies of September 1777 reveal the depth of the patriotism of one enslaved man in particular. Jack was owned by Patriot Hendrick Freligh who lived in south Rhinebeck, near Southlands. Through Jack’s testimony we learn of the physical and familial proximity of Loyalists and Patriots. Hendrick Freligh’s barn was burned to the ground by British Loyalists, probably involving Teunis Peer and associates. Peer lived less than a mile east of Rhinebeck Village in a stone house that stands today. It was September, so the loss would have included harvested crops. It would have been particularly costly to the Patriot cause. Jack resisted offers from the aforementioned Loyalist Teunis Peer to engage in activities against Patriots. For example, Peer tried to persuade Jack to burn Patriot Isaac Sheldon’s barn by throwing a hot cinder on the thatched roof. Jack also rejected offers from Peer to be taken to British occupied New York City, where freedom may have been promised. Jack went beyond resistance and played along with Peer to gather information he would ultimately bring to the Committee, the source of this information. Typical at the time, Patriot Hendrick Freligh had a Loyalist brother, Johannes, who was close to Peer. Johannes Freligh’s slave, also named Jack, was active in Loyalist activities. We learn there were “18 or 19” Loyalists in the woods around Rhinebeck, one of whom had buried a chest of clothes that included a British uniform. Peer, Johannes Freligh, and Johannes Freligh’s slave Jack, were all sentenced to prison, but released, given their willingness to take the oath to the Revolutionary cause.
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From the top. The Teunis Peer house today. From the Hyde Park Murals completed by Olin Dows just after the Rhinebeck murals, the depiction of a burning barn in that town, an all-too common and very costly threat.
3. THE MURAL DEPICTS
1790 ~ RHINEBECK'S SOCIAL CENTER WAS THE FLATTS
“The social center of the Flatts as Rhinebeck was called has always been this intersection of the Sepasco Trail with the highway.” Dows, 1940. 10
3. SOURCE MATERIAL REVEALS
1762 ~ ENSLAVED ISAAC ESCAPED PUBLIC FLOGGING Unfortunately, public places were not always serene. While we do not know the exact location of Rhinebeck’s whipping post, the punishment was meant to be carried out very visibly. Peter deWitt was a distinguished Captain in the Revolutionary War. His tombstone is visible today in the Reformed Dutch Church (shown bottom right). For an unknown reason, the enslaved man he owned named Issac was ordered to endure a flogging in public, a terrifying experience that leaves deep scars. Constable Joseph Rykert was ordered by County Courts “to whip Isaac, a negro slave belonging to Captain Peter deWitt at the [Rhinebeck] public whipping post…” But for unknown reasons, a document dated October 21, 1762 reveals, “the said Constable did refuse and neglect to whip the said negro but suffered him to escape…contrary to the duty of his office.” Dutchess County Ancient Documents Collection, Dutchess County Clerk’s Office (image, right). It is hard to know where Isaac would have gone. Slavery would exist in New York State for another 65 years. In 1728, the first Quakers moved into southern and eastern Dutchess County and became the first prominent religious group to reject slavery. But it was not until 1769 that they became the first “Friends Meeting” in the US to free slaves.
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4. THE MURAL DEPICTS
1762 ~ CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON DRIVEN BY BLACK COACHMAN
“Margaret Beekman Livingston and her son Chancellor Livingston arrive in her coach…” Olin Dows, 1940. While prohibiting any enslaved individual from making their own decisions about professions, certain activities were “allowed.” We find African Americans in roles as gardeners, coachmen (later chauffeurs), waiters, footmen, body servants, and in the 19th century, barbers.
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4. SOURCE MATERIAL REVEALS
1762 ~ LIVINGSTON SLAVES TREATED BY RHINEBECK’S DR. COOPER In a letter from Dr. Annanias Cooper dated June 30, 1763, Rhinebeck, written to “Col. Robert Livingston, Manor Livingston” (who was a cousin and neighbor to Chancellor Livingston), Dr. Cooper returns Livingston’s slave Jack eight days earlier than planned, having received a request to do so from Livingston the prior evening. Dr. Cooper lived in a brick house on what was then the main Albany Post Road, now called Old Post Road, 1 1/4 miles north of the village center. The house no longer stands. Cooper sent Jack back to the manor with prescriptions and a courteously worded advisory to ”not put [Jack] to any hard work” until he is better. A ledger of Robert Livingston (again, the Manor Livingston, not the Chancellor) shows clothing expenses for his slaves. Quash stands out as his likely coachman because Quash received a vest and britches in January 1764, and a few months later was given a suit of clothes purchased for one pound four shillings. This was much more elaborate than what any other slave received. [Long Hammering. 1994. By A.J. Williams-Meyers.] In May of 1791, another enslaved coachman, James Hemmings, half-brother to Sally Hemmings and owned by Thomas Jefferson, led horses and carriages past Dr. Cooper’s house when Jefferson and James Madison took their ambitious tour of the Hudson Valley via the Post Road. Lewis Frazier of Milan, buried in Rhinebeck Cemetery, made the leap from country boy to New York City man by being a coachman, allowing his daughter to attend schools that led to her having a national leadership role for the advancement of women and Persons of Color (detailed on page 19).
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C.
Dr. Cooper lived just north of the village on the Albany Post Road as this 1789 map shows. Through a letter dated June 30, 1763, we come to understand the interaction between Dr. Cooper and Robert Livingston, relative to the medical treatment of a Livingston’s enslaved man named Jack. Letter courtesy of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History,
5. THE MURAL DEPICTS
1780 ~ CORNSHUCKING BEE “Cornshucking bee. The boy who has found a red ear kisses the girl who brings the cider.” Olin Dows, 1940. Some have noted the almost unfinished aspect of the portrayal of the man or young man who appears to be grabbing corn stalks. The text refers to the tradition at the time where “the boy” who finds the red ear is allowed to kiss the “girl” of his choosing. And yet the depiction, below left, appears to show an older man and woman, neither of whom appear to be terribly happy about the prospect. An original sketch by Dows (below right) appears to have been a younger child. Furthermore, there is no doubt that if a Black adult, young adult, or boy, found the red ear, they would not be allowed to kiss the “girl” of their choice. Directly above the windows where the public interacts with Post Office staff, many people find this depiction confusing, or troubling.
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5. SOURCE MATERIAL REVEALS
1780 to 1827 ~ The Enslaved Labored in an Agricultural Economy
In this period from 1780 to July 4, 1827, when slavery was abolished in New York State, Dutchess County’s economy was dominated by agriculture. In 1780 specifically, agriculture was an essential tool in the Revolutionary War, and each side aimed to either disrupt the enemy, or protect their own supplies. In peacetime agriculture was about self-sufficiency. While growing and raising food for family consumption, materials such as wheat, apples, chickens, firewood, were all used as “currency” to buy and sell anything from newspaper subscriptions, to medical doctor visits, and more. As some of these local newspaper advertisements show, persons are described as “bred to the farming business,” or “accustomed to farming business,” or "well acquainted with country work,” for example.
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6. THE MURAL DEPICTS
1807 ~ ENSLAVED STEVEDORES AT SLATE DOCK
“On August 7th the Clermont sailed by Slate Dock on its maiden trip from New York to Tivoli.” Olin Dows, 1940. William Rhoads found that Dows originally had written, “Slaves [were] loading a sloop with grain,” but that it was removed before publication. In the Hyde Park Post Office murals which Dows worked on immediately after Rhinebeck, his notes are published saying the following (relative to the image shown above right), “Before 1741, Jacobus Stoutenburgh, his sons, and slaves cleared the land.” 16
6. SOURCE MATERIAL REVEALS
1807 ~ RHINEBECK DOCK & FERRY OPERATORS OWNED SLAVES At this time, Dutchess County’s economy was largely agricultural. Enslaved individuals would have been involved at every step of the process from planting, to harvesting, to milling, to packing and shipping. The 1802 Salisbury Turnpike Map shows William Radcliff’s ownership of a dock and ferry at Rhinecliff (known as Long Dock, it was just north of Slate Dock), while the 1800 census shows that he owned five slaves. Just north, Woods Landing (sometimes Rhinebeck landing) was operated by Aaron Camp and Oliver Wood. They ran an ad seeking the return of “runaway” Tom, aged 24, so were obviously slave owners as well. Right: New York Gazette, Sept. 5, 1799. Facsimile reproduction. Map of the Salisbury Turnpike, 1802. Dutchess County Clerk’s Office.
A map of the town of Rhinebeck by A. Thompson, 1798, showing Woods Landing just north of Radcliff’s dock. Library of Congress.
1800 Federal Census indicating William Radcliff owned five slaves. 17
7. THE MURAL DEPICTS
1807 ~ THE YOUNG MARY GARRETTSON
From the Dutchess County Historical Society 1932 Yearbook, showing what was a recent DCHS “pilgrimage” to the Garrettson home. Miss Mary Garrettson later in life.
“Wildercliff’ was built in 1799 by the Methodist Circuit rider Freeborn Garretson, seen here walking with his wife Catherine, another Livingston daughter, and their little Mary. She is playing in the Methodist Grove where large out-door services were held.” Olin Dows, 1940. The house still stands today. 18
7. SOURCE MATERIAL REVEALS
1807 ~ MISS GARRETTSON GIVES LAND FOR “COLORED” BURIALS The mention of Miss Garrettson affords us the opportunity to talk about her 1853 gift of a half acre of land to act as a “colored cemetery” or “negro burial ground” just south of the Village. Burial of Persons of Color took place in separate, segregated cemeteries into the early 20th century or segregated sections of larger cemeteries, often disallowing permanent markers.
A 2011 geophysical survey led by Vassar College Professor Brian McAdoo indicated 60 potential burials.
In 2011, Vassar College Prof. Brian MacAdoo led a class investigating the Rhinebeck burial ground using groundpenetrating radar, identifying up to 60 potential burials.
There was obvious dignity in being buried in a way that was thoughtfully memorialized. Lydia Johnson, who was freed by Henry Livingston in 1818, in making her will in 1865 instructed her son to “…purchase a stone for my grave suitable for a person occupying my position in life…” The historian Howard Morse who knew her, described her as a “… bright, happy, hard-working woman until the last. Had a pleasant word for everyone.” She is buried among others such as Jack, born in Africa, with no last name noted. The Frazier family is buried adjacent to, and facing, Section E and includes Andrew Frazier, a Revolutionary War Veteran whose Dutchess County descendants have served in every major conflict up to World War Two, Susan Elizabeth Frazier the great grand-daugther of Andrew who became the first Woman of Color allowed to teach White students in New York City in 1892, and was the founder and President of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Harlem Hellfighters in World War One. 19
To p t o b o t t o m : A t R h i n e b e c k cemetery, Rev. War veteran Andrew Frazier’s headstone. Newly installed headstone for Susan Elizabeth Frazier, first Person of Color allowed to teach White students in NY City. Lews M. Frazier, cousin to Susan’s father, lived in Rhienbeck village. “Jack” died just before slavery was abolished in New Yo r k . I m a g e c o u r t e s y o f B r i a n McAdoo, Vassar College.
SOURCES & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am particularly grateful to Laura Kufner who co-hosted an initial, small community conversation in December that involved Carmen McGill, Jackie Harper and Nancy Foster of the Poughkeepsie-based Celebrating the African Spirit, and Rhinebeck community members Gary Bassett, Sophie Geller, Elizabeth Spinzia, and Brendt Sverdloff. Thanks also to County Historian Will Tatum who keeps the County’s history community active, engaged and contributing to important issues like this. Special thanks for the unique support I get from my DCHS colleague and friend, Melodye Moore, who sculpts ideas, finds needles in haystacks, and knocks out typos, all at the same time. • Contemporary photos including murals, Bill Jeffway. • William B. Rhoads, Olin Dows, Art, History and a Usable Past. From The Livingston Legcy: Three Centuries of American History, 1987, Bard College. • Kip House photo and photo of Library. Dutchess County Historical Society. • Lucy Maynard Salmon photo, Vassar College. • These Foreigners. Private collection. • Census records, retrieved from ancestry.com. • Janet Montgomery, declaration of slave birth, Rhinebeck Historical Society. • Janet Montgomery, enslaved individual property deed, Princeton University. • Dutchess County Ancient Documents Collection, Dutchess County Clerk’s Office. • deWitt headstone photo.
• A survey of the roads of the United States of America by Christopher Colles., 1789. New York Public Library. • Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. • Dows sketch of Cornshucking Bee. • Map of Salisbury Turnpike, 1802, Dutchess County Clerk’s Office. • Map of Rhinebeck, 1797, Library of Congress. • Newspaper ads retrieved from newspapers.com and Dutchess County Historical Society. • Mary Garrettson photo, retrieved from findagrave.com and Beverly Kane. • Wildercliff photo, Dutchess County Historical Society 1936 Yearbook. • Report of Brian McAdoo, Vassar College Professor of Environmental Science. Race and Class in the Hudson Valley: Geophysical Investigations, 2011.
Bill Jeffway is the founder of History Speaks, a local movement to show that history speaks to us in important ways if we care to listen. Bill is the Executive Director of the Dutchess County Historical Society. He has a regular history column in the Northern & Southern Dutchess News & Beacon Free Press. www.HistorySpeaks.US 20
Jackson Family Rhinebeck, Milan, Red Hook Dutchess County Historical Society Walter M. Patrice Collection