USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Preakness and the Preakness Reformed Church : a history 1695-1902 : with genealogical notes, the records of the church and tombstone inscriptions > Part 3
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2. Hester, bap. June 12, 1667, at New York; married.
3. Lysbeth, bap. March 26, 1670, at New York; married.
4. Catharine, bap. February 17, 1673, at New York.
5. Rachel, bap. September 22, 1675, at New York ; died young.
6. Anna, born about 1677, (supposed).
7. Pieter, bap. April 5, 1679, at New York.
8. Rachel, bap. April 19, 1681, at New York.
9. Johannes, bap. July 11, 1683, at New York.
10. Aeltje, bap. November 15, 1685, at New York.
11. Abraham, bap. April 11, 1688, at New York.
David Danielson Hennion married March 29, 1692, at Bergen, Antje Jans Straatmaker, and had at least seven children :
1. Johannes, bap. January 1, 1693, at New York.
2. Nathaniel, bap. September 5, 1694, at New York.
3. A son, b. June 1, 1696 ; baptized at Bergen ; called simply "the 3rd child and 3rd son." No name is entered on the records.
4. Abraham, bap. August 24, 1698, at New York.
5. Isaac, bap. November 10, 1700, at Hackensack.
6. Eleanor, (the only daughter).
7. Jacobus, bap. November 21, 1705, at New York.
Both parents of these children joined the Dutch Church at Bergen, June 28, 1697, and on October 6, 1700, were dismissed to the Hackensack Church, which they probably joined soon after; although there is no record of their having been received at Hack-
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ensack. In May, 1719, Davidt Hennion, of Upper Preakness, was chosen a Deacon in the Acquackanonk Church, in place of Pieter Helmigse Van Houten ; and he was also chosen a Deacon, in May, 1721, in the same church, in place of Dirck Hartmanse Vreeland. (See Records of Hackensack Church, which at that time was col- legiate with Acquackanonk, pp. 296, 297, as printed by the Holland Society of New York.) These facts would indicate, if he had not done it before, that, at any rate, soon after David Hennion came to Preakness, he changed his church from that at Hackensack, to that at Acquackanonk. He must have attended at Hackensack cer- tainly for a while, as he had been dismissed there with his wife from Bergen, and he had had a child baptized there; and he may have gone there for years, until he came to Preakness. We note likewise that in 1716 David Danielson Hennion was a Freeholder in Bergen County, and in 1723, a Justice of the Peace. It might be observed in this connection that David Danielson was Nathan- iel's son, and in olden times, Nathaniel, Thaniel, and Daniel, were often used interchangeably,-hence Danielson.
David Danielson's son, Johannes Hennion, at the age of forty-three, was ordained Deacon at Pompton (Steel Works), April 7, 1736, when the new and only church building there was dedicated. (Memorial Discourse, November 22, 1871. Rev. J. V. N. Schenk.)
Johannes Hennion married Antie Taelman, and evidently lived in Preakness, where some, if not all, of his children were born :
1. Theunis.
2. Breghie, bap. July 5, 1724, at Hackensack.
3. Antje, b. December 5, 1728; bap. January 5, 1729, at Acquackanonk.
4. Margrietje, b. June 17; bap. July 5, 1730, at Acquackanonk. No one in Preakness bears the Hennion name now. But there are still numerous members of the family in the county. The family was prominent in the early history of our church, as shown by the names on old papers and records. Hennions quite recently lived on the Ira Roat, and Charles H. Tintle, and other Preakness farms of to-day (1901).
We suppose the old Danielson or Hennion homestead was first a log house, and afterwards the old stone house, probably on or near the same spot, the ruins of which are a few rods northeast of the present old, but exceedingly well preserved, house of G. F. Merselis. That is, David Danielson Hennion most likely lived in
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this first stone house, or his successor (perhaps his son) did, after having had the inevitable log house as his original residence. The present G. F. Merselis house was built by Edo Merselis, the first Merselis in Preakness.
The Rev. E. Livingston Allen, D. D., of the Methodist Episco- pal Church in the New York Conference (1902), and who for a few years, when a child, with his parents, lived in Preakness, is through his mother, a descendant of the Preakness Hennions.
David Danielson Hennion's daughter, Eleanor, married Henry Frederick. Henry and Eleanor Frederick had a daughter, Cath- arine, who married Artemas Livingsworth. Artemas and Cath- arine Livingsworth had a daughter, Eleanor (died June 30, 1897, aged eighty-six), who married Henry R. Allen. Henry R. and Eleanor Allen were the parents of Dr. Allen, and his sister, Mrs. John I. Holt, of Paterson.
In the early history of Preakness, we frequently come in con- tact with the Ackerman family. The first of this name in this country was David, (d. before April 26, 1663), who probably hailed from Bosch, Holland, and who, with his wife, Lysbet, and six children, aged twenty, eighteen, sixteen, twelve, eight, and six years respectively, sailed from Amsterdam, in the ship Fox, and arrived at New Amsterdam (New York), September 2, 1662. His children were Lysbeth, Anneken, David, Lourens, Lodewick, and Abram.
1. Lysbeth, m. January 29, 1668, at New York, Kier Wolters, widower, and is supposed to have had no children.
2. Anneken, born at Bosch, m. June 28, 1664, at New York, Nathaniel Pietersen Hennion. She had at least eleven children. (See under Hennion.)
3. David, m. at New York (license dated March 13, 1680), Hillegond Verplanck, and had at least six children.
4. Lourens, m. at Bergen August 3, 1679, Geertje Egberts, and had at least seven children, as follows:
(1) Lysbeth, bap. May 8, 1680, at New York; m. at Hack- ensack October 18, 1712, Cornelius Vanderhoof.
(2) Jannetje, bap. April 18, 1682, at Bergen; m. Jacobus Van Voorhees.
(3) Egbert, bap. February 23, 1685, at New York; m. at Hackensack April 12, 1707, Elizabeth Bryant.
(4) Catarina, bap. March 26, 1686, at Hackensack; m. at Hackensack February 15, 1707, John Cornelise Verway.
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(5) David, m. at Hackensack March 9, 1710, Sarah Culver.
(6) Johannes, m. at Hackensack, Jacomina Demarest.
(7) Jacobus, m. at Acquackanonk May 19, 1730, Dirkje Van Giesen.
5. Lodewick, the fifth child of David Ackerman, married twice: 1. At Kingston, N. Y., January, 1682, Janneke Jacobze Bleyck. 2. At New York April 18, 1699, Hillegond Bosch. By his two wives he had no less than eight children ; but probably there were several others.
6. Abram, sixth child of David Ackerman, m. May 28, 1683, Aeltje Van Laer, who was born May 4, 1663, and was baptized at Kingston April 25, 1666. This union resulted in thirteen chil .. dren :
(1) David, bap. May 11, 1684, at New York; m. at Hacken- sack, September 20, 1707, Margrietie Jurcks. (Yorks.)
(2) Gerrit, bap. May 3, 1685, at New York; m. at Hacken- sack, October 4, 1712, Jannetie Albertse Van Voorhees.
(3) Abigael, bap. January 19, 1687, at New York; m. 1. At Hackensack July, 1707, Andries Hendrickse Hopper. 2. At Hackensack October 13, 1733, Derick Brinckerhoff.
(4) Lysbeth, bap. May 19, 1689, at New York; m. at Hack- ensack August 19, 1710, Johannes Doremus, (De Riemer, of Preakness. )
(5) Johannes, bap. September 15, 1690, at New York. Died October 29, 1690, at Bergen.
(6) Anneken, bap. December 27, 1691, at New York; m. at Hackensack October 4, 1712, Thomas Doremus, "of the head waters of the Peckamin."
(7) Anna Maria, bap. July 12, 1693, at New York. Dicd, January 24, 1696, at Bergen.
(8) Adrian, b. March 26, 1695; bap. at Bergen; m. 1. At Hackensack October 20, 1716, Annatie Meyers. 2. At Hacken- sack April 2, 1720, Maritie Johannese Van Blerkum.
(9) Johannes, bap. November 15, 1696, at Hackensack; m. 1. At New York May 5, 1721, Maria Weekvelt. 2. At Hackensack February 28, 1728, Elizabeth Stagg.
(10) Gelyn, bap. December, 1697, at Hackensack; m. Rachel Albertse Van Voorhees.
(11) Anne Maria, bap. April 6, 1701, at Hackensack; m. at Hackensack October 24, 1719, Albertes Terhune.
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(12) Abram, bap. February 22, 1702, at Hackensack; m. at Hackensack September 8, 1727, Hendrica Hopper.
(13) Sarah, bap. January 21, 1705, at Hackensack; m. at Hackensack May 22, 1725, Cornelis Toers.
Abram Ackerman's house, built in 1704, and in which his daughters were married, is still standing in Hackensack, on Essex Street, almost opposite the New York and New Jersey Railroad Station.
We will note further only the two branches of the family in which we are more particularly interested :
1. Jacobus Ackerman and Dirkje Van Giesen had anyhow five children :
(1) Lourens, b. February 24, 1731; bap. May 16, 1731, at Acquackanonk. Probably died young.
(2) Geertje, bap. April 27, 1735, at Hackensack.
(3) Louwrens, bap. May 1, 1737, at Hackensack.
(4) Elizabeth, bap. April 15, 1744, at Hackensack.
(5) Jacob, bap. May 4, 1746, at Hackensack.
2. Gelyn Ackerman and Rachel Albertse Van Voorhees, cous- ins of the others, had six children :
(1) Albert, bap. February 16, 1724, at Hackensack.
(2) Abraham, b. May 2, 1728 ; bap. at Acquackanonk May 19.
(3) Lena, bap. January 1, 1731, at Hackensack.
(4) David, bap. October 14, 1733, at Hackensack.
(5) Gerrit, bap. September 5, 1736, at Hackensack.
(6) Jacobus, bap. December 2, 1739, at Hackensack.
This last Jacobus Ackerman, (bap. December 2, 1739), m. his second cousin, Elizabeth, (bap. April 15, 1744), both of whom are buried back of the Preakness Church. He died May 1, 1823. His tombstone calls him James G. (probably for Gelyn, his father) Eckerman, aged eighty-two years, five months, and eight days, which is an error,-it should be eighty-three years, etc. His wife died March 13, 1834, aged ninety years and eight days, which would make her birth date, March 5, 1744.
James G. Ackerman and his wife, Elizabeth, had a son, James, who married a Fredericks, and had children as follows :
1. Elizabeth, (Betsy), b. August 25, 1807.
2. Nicholas, b. November 30, 1810.
3. Martha, b. June 12, 1813.
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4. John, b. January 23, 1815.
5. Charity, b. September 13, 1819.
6. James, b. June 12, 1825.
John Ackerman, (b. January 23, 1815, d. August 27, 1896), m. 1. Catharine Sisco, by whom he had one child, Catharine. 2. Jane Ryerson, the mother of Richard Henry and others. Richard Henry, in 1901, was the oldest representative of the family living in Preakness; but his uncle James, who had been living with his son, in Paterson, has since returned, and is now the oldest Ackerman here.
The Preakness branch of the Ackerman (or Eckerman) family, or James G. Eckerman's branch of it at least, came from Stony Brook, above Pompton Plains. The first Preakness home of this branch of the family, so far as we can tell, was on the present Ira Roat farm, on the brow of the hill east of said Roat's residence, where an old well is, or was.
A member of the Dey family, Dirk, or Derrick, by name, of New York City, (b. 1687, d. 1764), who married Jane Blanchard, (b. 1697, d. 1756), and who had sisters, Mrs. Francis Ryerson and Mrs. Hendrick Spier, whose mother likewise afterwards married the first George Ryerson, one of the first settlers in this section, also in 1717, October 9, bought of the heirs of. Thomas Hart, a tract of land on Singac (flat or boggy) Brook, containing 600 acres, "besides ten in the hundred allowance for barrens and high- ways," for which the price paid was £ 120, New York money. The tract, as we have already seen, is described as beginning at the southwest corner of Johannes De Riemer's land, on Singac Brook, which would indicate that the present (1900) C. K. Berry farm, the Weinman farms, the Petrie farm, the Jacob R. Berdan farm, the Warren B. Mitchell farm, and other land, probably belonged to it. It is claimed, that Derrick Dey afterwards bought 200 acres more of land; but we doubt this. It is further declared, that his oldest son, Colonel Theunis Dey, owned 1,000 acres in all, and that his land extended to Little Falls. But, as it is also said, that Colonel Dey inherited all his land from his father, and never bought any, this seems unlikely.
This Derrick Dey, who was a carpenter by trade, appears to have come from New York to Preakness, when a young man, pos- sibly as early as 1707 or 1708, and to have resided here perhaps until 1750, about which time he must have gone back to New York; for in 1755, he was living on the corner of Broadway and Dey
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Street, in that city. Besides his son Theunis, he had three daughters, (three other children died unmarried quite early in life), all of whom were born in Preakness, and one of whom, Jane, June 15, 1749, married John Varick, and was afterwards the mother of Colonel Richard Varick, once Mayor of New York. Of the other two, Mary, November 24, 1761, married David Shaw; while Ann, December 12, 1764, married William MacAdam, (d. 1779), and became the mother of John L. MacAdam, (b. 1756, d. 1836), the originator and inventor of macadam roads. David Shaw was from Elgin, North Britain. He died October 1, 1767, and is buried in the Hackensack churchyard. His widow, Mary, who died March 8, 1826, aged eighty-four years, six months, and eight days, lies by his side. John and Jane Varick also lie in this same churchyard, the former, born December 20, 1723, died No- vember 7, 1809; the latter, born January 29, 1728, died April 11, 1810. William MacAdam, being a loyalist during the war of the Revolution, when the war was over, went with his family to Eng- land, (or Scotland), and remained there.
The Preakness family of Deys is descended from one Dirck, known as Dirck Dey, Dirk Jansen, Dirk Siecken, Dirck Jansen Dey, etc., who was a soldier in the service of the Dutch West India Com- pany, and came from Amsterdam, Holland, to New Amsterdam, before December, 1641. His death occurred in November, 1687. He was twice married :
First, December 28, 1641, to Jannetje Theunis, of Amster- dam, who died before December 18, 1658. Second, October 18, 1659, to Geertie Jans Langendyck, from St. Martins, North Hol- land. This second wife, after becoming a widow, married Novem- ber 11, 1687, Theunis Gysbertse Bogaert, widower of Sara Rapelje.
Dirck Janse Siecken Dey's will, dated December 5, 1683, was probated July 11, 1693. The children of this first Derrick Dey, by his first wife Jannetje, were:
1. Jan, bap. September 22, 1652, who was a Magistrate at Pemrapo, (Bergen), N. J., August 31, 1674. We know nothing more of him.
2. Theunis, bap. September 24, 1656; m. February 4, 1685, Anneken Schouten, b. March 17, 1666. He died in 1688 or 1689, and his widow married again August 11, 1691, Joris Martenzen Reyerson.
Dirck Dey's children by his second wife Geertje were:
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3. Jannetje, bap. December 7, 1659 ; m. June 17, 1685, Frans Corneliszen, b. at Middelburg.
4. Hendrick, bap. July 24, 1661; probably died young.
Theunis Dey and Anneken Schouten, the parents of the Preak- ness Dirck, had children :
1. Jane, bap. November 24, 1685; m. about 1707, Francis Martensen Ryerson.
2. Dirck, bap. March 27, 1687.
3. Sarah, bap. June 10, 1688; m. April 30, 1709, Hendrick Janse Spier. The marriage occurred at Hackensack ; but Spier is mentioned as living at Acquackanonk, and his bride at Peghkena (Pacquanac ?). Did the Theunis Dey family live in Pacquanac in 1709 ?
Dirck Dey, who came from New York to Preakness, the second of the above children, m. December 16, 1725, Jane Blanchard, daughter of Jean Blanchard and Jane Gautier. Jane Blanchard was baptized in the French church, New York City, March 21, 1697. The record gives her birth as January 20; but the family Bible gives the date as January 7. Dirck Dey died in New York, and was buried May 11, 1764. His wife was buried August 14, 1756. Both were interred in the graveyard attached to the Middle Dutch Church, corner Nassau and Liberty streets, which building afterwards for many years was the old New York postoffice.
The will of Dirck Dey is dated August 4, 1761, and was pro- bated in New York, May 29, 1764. Dirck Dey removed to New York from Bergen County, N. J., some time during the year 1752; as he was a member of the New Jersey Assembly 1748-1752, and on April 14, 1753, deeded property as a resident of the city of New York. He was also a Freeholder of Bergen County, first, on April 21, 1724, and last, on May 10, 1749. Dirck Dey in his will left to his son Theunis all his real and personal estate in East and West New Jersey, divided and undivided, and to his three daughters handsome legacies; while the balance of his property was divided equally among the four children who are all named as executors.
The children of Dirk and Jane Dey were :
1. Theunis, b. October 29, 1726; bap. at Acquackanonk; d. June 10, 1787.
2. Jane, b. January 29, 1728; d. April 11, 1810.
3. John, b. December 8, 1729; bap. January 11, 1730; d. un- married before 1761.
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4. Derrick, b. May 11, bap. May 28, 1732 ; d. unmarried before 1761.
5. Anna, b. August 23, 1735; d.
6. Sarah, b. April 12, 1738 ; d. unmarried before 1761. .
7. Mary, b. August 29, 1741; d. March 8, 1826.
Acquackanonk records say :
Janneke, b. January 18, 1728 ; bap. February 25.
Johannes, b. November 7, 1729; bap. January 11, 1730.
Dirk, b. May 14, 1732, bap. May 28.
Note .- From a photographic copy of the old records of the old Dey Bible, known as the Jane Blanchard Bible, Miss Grace T. Dey, daughter of A. V. B. Dey, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, has given us the following :
"My son Tueniss Dey was born in October ye 18th in ye year Lord God An. Dom. 1726."
On another page in the same Bible :
"Theunis Dey was born October 18th, N. S. 29th-1726.
Dyed June 10th, 1787."
? "Hester Dey was born April the 12th, N. S. 23d-1725. Dyed September 3d-1784."
Another Derrick Dey, who came from Wesel, along the Pas- saic, some years later, lived at Two Bridges. It was probably this Derrick, who, in 1730, described as "Derrick Dey, of Pachgannick," bought of Peter Sonmans, of Perth Amboy, for £50, a triangular lot of 200 acres, in Wayne Township,-as he certainly owned land in his day, on both sides of the Pompton River. This Derrick Dey's house was in the southeast corner of Morris County, Pequannock Township, back of which he had considerable of a farm; while the land he owned in Wayne Township was mainly south of the Bridges, or below the junction of the Passaic and Pompton rivers, where said triangular plot lay.
Derrick Dey, of Two Bridges, m. December 11, 1736, Sarah Toers. Their children were: Helena, m. John Neafie, 1762; Thomas, b. December 8, 1747, m. Abigail Lewis, (Aunt Abbey), about 1768 ; Dirk (1), b. October 28, 1749, died in infancy ; John, m. Jane Doremus, December 19, 1771, who was born July 7, 1754; Maritje, b. May 15, 1754, m. about 1771, Peter C. Doremus, bap. June 8, 1744, d. 1790 (Maritje's second husband was John De Hart) ; Derrick (2), b. January 6, 1757, died young ; Sarah, bap. June 24, 1759, m. Jacobus F. Post, who was baptized December 24, 1752; and probably there were others.
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The two Derricks here mentioned were, no doubt, in some way related to each other ; but we have been unable to find any one who could show us, or to get any data by which we could positively decide, what the relationship was.
The first Derrick Dey, as we will call him, since he was, as we have noted, a carpenter, may have himself built, in Lower Preak- ness, the house which afterwards became, and is still known, as having for a while been, General Washington's Headquarters ; especially since the workmanship of it is so superior and complete, that one would hardly think a mechanic could have gone to the pains and thoroughness, as in this instance, except as he might be building a home for himself; and if this was so, the house thus specified must have been constructed before 1750. For that mat- ter, however, Lawyer William H. Belcher, of Paterson, who has just bought the place (1902), and who on account of his great appreciation of its historic associations, is repairing and putting it in most excellent order, says that as long ago as 1860, ex-Sheriff
THE DEY HOUSE IN LOWER PREAKNESS, HEADQUARTERS OF GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON FROM JULY I TO JULY 29, AND FROM OCTOBER 8 to NOVEMBER 27, 1780.
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Hogencamp, a former owner of the property, told him the house .was built in 1740. Besides, architects also have assured Mr. Belcher, from what they know of such things, that it must have been built as early as 1740. Nevertheless, some claim that Colonel Theunis Dey, the oldest son of Derrick Dey, of Preakness, (for- merly, as well as subsequently of New York), erected this most notable mansion, not earlier than somewhere from 1750 to 1760, or later.
Three letters, written in 1780 and 1781, by E. Day, (for Esther or Hester), a daughter of the Colonel, to Colonel Richard Varick, her first cousin, were published in "The Historical Maga- zine," of New York City, Vol. V, Second Series, February, 1869, pages 109-111. These letters are dated September 25, 1780, October 13, 1780, and July 7, 1781, and in their printed form are all headed, "Bloomsburg," which would show that the Dey House, in Lower Preakness, was known in those days by that name; although the name thus indicated, since it is found in all the early conveyances of land in that section, or neighborhood, may have attached rather to the Dey tract. Probably the children of Colonel Theunis Dey in their time gave the name to the place, that is, the property.
In our Historical address, published in The Paterson Call, November 2, 1901, we spoke of the place as "Bloomsbury," instead of "Bloomsburg." The former is the name given in the family Bible of General Richard Dey's oldest son, Anthony. The record is that this Anthony was born at Bloomsbury. Which of these names is the correct one, we are not sure; but are inclined to think that "Bloomsburg" and not "Bloomsbury" is correct. Still, if we could see the original letters of E. Dey, just referred to, which, we sup- pose, as they were there years ago, are in the Tomlinson Collection of Manuscripts, at present in possession of the Mercantile Library, in Astor Place, New York, some confirmatory light, one way or the other, might be shed on the subject. The printed letters, as we have shown, are headed "Bloomsburg." Is that correct? Or should the heading have been "Bloomsbury," as in Anthony Dey's Bible? The Tomlinson Collection in these days is inaccessible ; since, when it was open to the public, or to certain favored indi- viduals, several important papers were extracted from it, and have never been returned; so that the trustees of the corporation now have the collection under lock and key. Nor is it known in all
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cases just what papers were taken or what were left, as the collection was never indexed.
Colonel Theunis Dey was one of the most distinguished citizens Preakness has ever had. He was Colonel of the Bergen County Regiment of Militia, in the early part of 1776, his son Richard (Derrick), being Captain of the same regiment, afterwards Major, and still later General. Colonel Theunis Dey was in the New Jersey Assembly 1761-5, 1768-76, and in 1779; and in 1780-1, he represented Bergen County (this was all Bergen County then) in the Council, returning to the Assembly in 1783. In 1780, his wife, Hester Schuyler Dey, and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Richard Dey, were appointed on the committee of Bergen County ladies to raise funds for the relief of the American troops. (Nelson.)
The children of Colonel Theunis and Hester Dey, (the latter born April 12, 1725, d. September 3, 1784), who were married in 1749, were: Jane, b. March 16, 1750; Hester, b. October 9, 1751; Dirk, b. November 29, 1752 (this was the General) ; Philip, b. July 10, 1754; Anna, b. May 10, 1756, (died young, and buried in the family burying ground on the place) ; John, b. April 16, 1758; Peter, b. March 7, 1760; Benjamin, b. December 11, 1761; David, b. November 30, 1763; Teunis, b. August 19, 1768 ;- ten in all. These children were baptized in different places, viz: Pompton Plains, Totowa, Paramus, and elsewhere.
Colonel Dey and his family lived in Lower Preakness in the old Mansion, to which we have already referred as having been Washington's Headquarters. Washington made this his official home for four weeks in July, 1780, viz: from Saturday, July 1, to Saturday, July 29; and also from Sunday, October 8, to Monday, November 27, of the same year ; although he had evidently been in the house before, and probably many times, as a letter of his is still in existence, which is dated from the Dey House June 11, 1780. (Neafie.) Washington occupied four rooms in this house, most likely two on each floor. The present southeast room, now used as a dining-room, is pointed out as his office. This room also, accord- ing to De Chastellux, was Washington's dining-room. Here is a quotation from a translation, printed in 1787, of "The Travels of De Chastellux" :
"At nine this morning, they informed me that His Excellency was come down to the parlour. This room served at once as audience chamber and dining-room." Further, in this connection,
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