USA > New York > Genealogical and family history of central New York : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation, Volume I > Part 45
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(IX) William Warren, born at Vienna, New York, June 6, 1832; died at Wolcott, New York, November 24, 1903: married to Mary A. Lester, at Lyons, New York, Febril- ary 12, 1856. She was a daughter of Hiram Lester and Sally Cady. He was engaged in the hardware business in Wolcott, New York, for over forty years; a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and a Republican in politics. His children were as follows: I. Hiram Lester, born June 8, 1860. 2. Walter, born March 14. 1862, died February 24, 1863. 3. William Herbert, born December 19, 1865,
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baptized August 5, 1866; married Carrie B. Cornwell, of Wolcott, New York, September 14, 1887; children : Laura 1 .. , born April 25, 1889: Ralph Cornwell, born September 28, 1891. 4. Mary Mabel, born June 16, 1870, baptized March 3. 1872; married Edward T. Brown, an attorney, November 6, 1901. 5. Bessie Tifft, born February 17, 1877, baptized September 2, 1877; married Justin Oakley Reynolds, a civil engineer, October 10, 1906; child, Justin Oakley, born October 7, 1907.
(X) Hiram Lester Paddock, son of Will- iam W. Paddock, was born in the town of Wolcott, New York, June 8, 1860. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and at Cazenovia Seminary. At the age of twenty years he became a clerk in the bank- ing house of Roe, Ellis & Pomeroy, at Wol- cott. In 1884 he entered the employ of the wholesale hardware firm of Hamilton & Mathews, of Rochester, New York, and two years later embarked in the paper manufactur- ing business as vice-president of the Lakeside Paper Company, Skaneateles, New York. In 1896 he removed to Fulton, New York, and be- came the treasurer of the Oswego Falls Pulp & Paper Company, of which in 1906 he was elected president. He is also president of the Skaneateles Paper Company ; president of the Oswego County Independent Telephone Com- pany, and of the Fulton Hospital Association, and vice-president of the Albert Lindley Lee Memorial Hospital. He is a director of the Citizens National Bank, of Fulton : member of the Citizens Club; member of the Path- finder Boat Club, Pleasant Point Club, Os- wego Country Club; member and trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, of Ful- ton, and in 1904 was a delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held at Los Angeles, California. When Ful- ton was incorporated as a city, he was on the first board of public works, and he has always taken a keen interest and performed his full share in supporting measures to promote the welfare of the city and community. In poli- tics he is a Republiman.
He married, June 17, 1886, Mary L. Weeks. born May 13, 1862, daughter of Forrest G. Weeks, a paper manufacturer of Skaneateles. New York, who was born at Draycott, Somer- setshire, England, August 2, 1832, died at Syracuse, New York, June 6, 1906. They have one child, Mae Emogene, born at Skane- ateles, New York, August 4, 1890.
The surname Atwater belongs ATWATER to a large class of early Eng- lish family names where the personal name of a man qualified for identifi- cation by a description of his home-on-the-hill, at-the-wood, etc., became fixed as a surname on his descendants. Atwood and Atwater are survivals of the original forms, while most of the surnames and few generations later, drop- ped the preposition, as the similar preposition was dropped from another large class of names.
The carliest mention of the name Atwater found in England appears in the chartulary of the Cathedral Church of Canterbury, Gode- fried ate Water of Eylvarton in the parish of Stone, near Faversham, county Kent, before A. D., 1257. In the history of Kent, publish- ed in 1659, it is said of the Atwater family : "Their original from which they primitively issued was from about Ospringe." Stone and Ospringe are contiguous parishes. Between the years 1620 and 1700, the name is found on the probate records of London, only in the counties of Kent and Wilts, and the cities of London and Reading. The old coat-of-arms of Atwater : Sable on a fesse wavy argent be- tween three swans of the second two bars wavy azure. The American family has been traced to Royton, in Lenham, Kent.
( I) Thomas Atwater, the first of the name in England to whom the American family has been traced, was of Royton, in Lenham, coun- ty Kent. His will was proved October 5, 1484, and mentioned wife Elinor, Robert At- water Jr. and John Atwater, not stating rela- tionship to testator. He held properties, Brome- croft and Chotecroft, in Boughton Malherbe, Langderfield, and other property in Lenham. His wife. Elinor, survived him, and her will was proved May 16, 1497.
(II) John, son of Thomas Atwater, was of Royton, in Lenham. His will was proved July 14, 1501, and mentioned wife Maryan, sons Robert and John. daughters Florence Spyce and Thomasyn Turner, also grandchildren and god-children ; property at Royton in Lenham.
(IH) Robert, son of John Atwater, is call- ed "the elder" of Royton. His will was proved December 22, 1522, and mentioned sons John and Thomas, brother John and his children, sisters Florence and Thomasyn, Alice, wife of son John. His properties were Langderfield, Parkfields, Little Scotland, and land in Len- ham. called Grant's Gate.
(IV) Thomas (2), son of Robert Atwater,
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was of Royton. His will was proved Decem- ber 1, 1547, and mentioned wife Johan, sons Thomas, Christopher, Edward and William, and daughter Alice. His properties were Grant's Gate, and twenty-two pieces including Parkfields, in Royton, Bromfield, Bromecroft, and Randalls, in Boughton Malherbe.
(V) Christopher, son of Thomas (2) At- water, was also of Royton. His will was proved April 6, 1573, and mentioned wife Maryan, sons David, Matthew, George and John, and daughter Joane, brothers Thomas and Wyllyam, and "Adam Water, my brother's sone." Ilis properties were lands and tene- ments in Lenham and Boughton Malherbe, Parkfields, Randalls and Bromfield.
(VI) John (2), son of Christopher At- water, died without a will. Administration on his estate was granted to his son Joshua, at the request of his widow Susan, November 29, 1636. He and his daughter Ann and sons Joshua and David are mentioned in the wills of his brothers, David and George, the will of David conveying to him Parkfields, Lenham and Randalls in Boughton Malherbe during his life, and after his decease, "unto David Attwater, his sonne and to his heirs for- ever."
(VHI) David, son of John (2) Atwater, and immigrant ancestor, was baptized in Len- ham Church, October 8, 1615. By the will of his Uncle David, he became entitled to the place "called the Vyne, with all the appur- tenances, in Lenham," and by the same will upon the death of his father, to the lands call- ed Parkfields, in Lenham, and of Randalls, in Boughton Malherbe, and by the will of his Uncle George, upon the death of his Aunt Ann, to the lands and dwelling houses at Grant's Gate, in Royton. He and his brother came to this country in 1637-38, and were among the seven pioneers who first visited New Haven, and, under the greatest privations, spent the winter there, 1638. David is credited with being the first signer of the planters' agree- ment. He became a proprietor of land at a later date than most of the early settlers of New Haven, and is supposed to have received his whole allotment, except a town lot, in the third division. His farm was situated between East Rock and Quinnipiack river, and has remained in possession of his descendants to this day. According to the town records of 1646-47 he was assigned in that year the third
seat front of the pulpit, together with John Nash and Thomas Yale, father of Eli Yale, founder of Yale College. One of the two brothers, spoken of only as Mr. Atwater, was one of the first selectmen, 1651. In 1654, when the witchcraft mania raged in Connecticut, "there was a determined effort on the part of New Haven's leading citizens-the Atwaters, Lam- bertons and even Mr. Hooke, the colleague of Davenport-to hound to death for witchcraft a woman whose sharp tongue rendered her obnoxious and therefore suspicious to her ac- quaintances. Elsewhere such notable persons might have secured the doom of the unfor- tunate object of their enmity, but Eaton and Davenport were uninfluenced and Mrs. God- man, the suspected individual, died peacefully in her bed some years afterwards." In 1665 Joshua Atwater removed to Boston, and, at that time, conveyed to David his house and lands in New Haven. This sale did not cover, however, a lot situated at the southeast corner of Yale quadrangle, which Joshua sold to Will- iam Tuttle, and the latter to the Widow Hester Coster. On this lot, called the "Coster Lot," was built the first Yale building, and, in 1889, Osborn Hall, and, in 1894, Vanderbilt Hall. David Atwater married Damaris, daughter of Thomas Sayre, of Southampton, Long Island. Her father was a native of Bedfordshire, Eng- land, and came to Southampton in May or June, 1640. In 1638 he and his son Job had each sixty acres of land allotted to them in Lynn, Massachusetts. By his will, dated Sep- tember 16, 1669, he bequeathed to his daughter, Damaris Atwater, forty shillings. She died April 7, 1691. David died October 5, 1692. Children: Mercy, born February 29, 1647; Damaris, November 12, 1648: David, July 13, 1650; Joshua, January 11, 1652: John. Novem- ber I, 1654: Jonathan, July 12, 1656; Abigail, March 3, 1660; Mary, March 31, 1662; Sam- uel, September 17, 1664, mentioned below ; Ebenezer, January 13, 1666.
(VIII) Samuel, son of David Atwater, was born September 17, 1664, in New Haven, and cultivated a portion of the land which had be- longed to his father. He married, July 7, 1691, Sarah, daughter of John Alling, who died Sep- tember 26, 1742. He died September 17, 1742. Children : Samuel, born July 14, 1693 ; Daniel, September 29, 1694, mentioned below ; Sarah, January 21, 1699, died July 2, 1699 ; Damaris, May 21, 1700: Caleb, October 16, 1702; Ste-
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phen, December 5, 1705 : John, November 28, 1707, died April 29, 1709; John, August 4, 1709, died December 20, 1709 ; Mabel, married, 1738, Isaac Beecher.
(IX) Daniel, son of Samuel Atwater, was born September 29, 1694, died April 30, 1765. He married, July 23, 1716, Abigail Tuttle, who died January 9, 1769. Administration given to Widow Abigail, who refused same. Children : Samuel, born June 1, 1718, mentioned below ; Sarah, September 12, 1719; John, March 14. 1721 ; Abigail, August 8, 1722; Mary, Decem- ber 22, 1723 ; Ann, June 4, 1725 : Damaris, De- cember 30, 1727 : Daniel, July 8, 1730; Abel, June 23, 1734, died April 2, 1744.
(X) Samuel (2), son of Daniel Atwater, was born June 1, 1718, and lived in Hamden, Connecticut. He married, December 26, 1744, Sarah Hall, who died March 11, 1797, aged seventy-two. He was called "Captain." In 1758 Mt. Carmel became a separate parish, and, at the first meeting held in the matter, January 31, 1758, Samuel Atwater was chosen clerk, and sworn, with Daniel Bradley, as mod- erator. At a meeting of the town of Hamden, in opposition to secession, May 6, 1788, he was chosen moderator. He died May 9, 1793. Chil- dren: Abel, born April 15, 1746; Susanna, April 15, 1748, died January 7, 1752; Abigail, November 17, 1749; Samuel, January 20, 1751, died July 1, 1753 : Stephen, December 29, 1752 ; Samuel, September 23, 1754; Timothy, May 6, 1756: John, December 24, 1757 ; Caleb, Decem- ber 28, 1759, mentioned below : Richard New- man, May 3, 1762, married Sarah -, born October 31, 1765; Susannah, December 29, 1766.
(XI) Caleb, son of Samuel (2) Atwater, was born December 28, 1759. He removed to Genoa, Cayuga county, New York. He was a soldier in the revolution, July 25, 1779, to Janit- ary 5, 1780, in the Second Regiment, Connecti- cut Line, Colonel Charles Webb. He married Thankful Cotter. Children : Jason ; Jeremiah : Jesse, died unmarried ; Betsey, married Alfred Hart: Abby; Lucetta; John G., mentioned below.
(XII) Jolın G., son of Caleb Atwater, was born September, 1784; married Cecelia Gif- ford. He lived in Genoa, New York. Chil- dren : Alonzo E., born April 6, 1805, mention- ed below; Emily, January 7, 1811, died Feb- ruary 6, 1868: John G., April 21, 1813.
(XIII) Alonzo E., son of John G. Atwater, was born in Genoa, New York, April 6, 1805. 16
He married, November 24, 1825, Tamer L. Benjamin, born August 11, 1804.
(XIV) Norman B., son of Alonzo E. At- water, was born in Genoa, New York, August 11, 1830, died May 15, 1886. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and for many years was a merchant, dealing in hay, grain and country produce. He was post- master and station agent of the railroad, At- water Station being named for him. He also conducted a farm. He married Phebe Tomp- kins, who now resides ( 1911) at Atwater, New York. Children: Mary Emeline, born May 24, 1853, married George Cheesman ; Norman Jason, mentioned below : Willis Walter, born April 30, 1859; Elizabeth Tamer, born Sep- tember 14, 1867, married James Ira Young.
(XV) Norman Jason, son of Norman B. Atwater, was born at Genoa, June 16, 1855. He was educated in the district school at At- water Station, in Genoa, and succeeded to the homestead of his father. He has always fol- lowed farming. He is a member of Five Cor- ners Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and of the Genoa Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a Republican. He married, in 1878, Lucy Young, of Genoa, daughter of Hiram and Ruth (Chipman) Young. Chil- dren : Ralph W., mentioned below ; Ruth, mar- ried Charles Lewis, of Auburn, New York, child-Erma Lewis ; Phebe, married William Bunnell, of Genoa, children-Donald and Ray- mond Bunnell : Esther ; Gladys ; Evelyn ; Char- lotte.
(XVI) Dr. Ralph W. Atwater, son of Nor- inan Jason Atwater, was born in Genoa, Au- gust 1, 1881. He attended the public schools there, and graduated from the Ithaca high school, and from Cornell University, and Med- ical College of New York. Since 1904 he has been practicing medicine at Marathon, New York. He is a member of the County and State Medical societies, and of the American Medical Association ; of Marathon Lodge, No. 438, Free and Accepted Masons : of Marathon Lodge, No. 167, Odd Fellows. He is a mem- ber of Greek Letter Society ( Medical College), N. V. Sigma, N. U. T. A. U. Chapter of Cor- nell University, New York City. He married, August 20, 1902, Charlotte Johnson, of Wind- ham, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, born Au- gust 6, 1882, daughter of Fred D. and Leila J. (Wolcott) Johnson. Children : Eula, born Oc- tober 18, 1905; Ralph Willis, May 12, 1907 ; Carl Frederick, September 4, 1910.
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The surname Merrill was An-
MERRILL glicized from the French name De Merle. Merle signifies a blackbird, and its original bearer is said to have derived it from the figure of a blackbird dis- played at his door. The ancient seat of the De Merls in France was at Place de Dombes, in Avergne. The English Merrills are for the most part descended from a follower of Will- iam the Conqueror. Their coat-of-arms is de- scribed : Or, a barrulet between three peacocks erased, proper. Crest : A peacock's head erased. proper. The immigrant ancestor of the Mer- rills of Massachusetts. New Hampshire and Maine was Nathaniel, mentioned below, de- scended from a French Huguenot, who fled to England at the time of the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1552, and settled at Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
(I) Nathaniel Merrill and his brother John came from Salisbury to Massachusetts about 1636. John Merrill settled at Ipswich before 1636, removed to Newbury in 1638, died there, September 12, 1673, leaving no male issue of his name. Hence all of the early families known are traced to Nathaniel Merrill, who was a proprietor of Newbury in 1638. He had a wife Susanna, presumed to be the sister of Gregory Willerton. He died at Newbury, March 16, 1654-55. His will was proved March 27, 1655, bequeathing to wife Susanna, chil- dren Susanna, Nathaniel, John, Abraham, Dan- iel and Abel. His brother John was one of the overseers. His widow Susanna married Ste- phen Jordan. Children : Nathaniel, born 1638; John : Abraham ; Susanna, married John Bur- bank; Daniel, born August 20, 1642; Abel, mentioned below.
(11) Abel. son of Nathaniel Merrill, was born at Newbury, February 20, 1644. He mar- ried there, February 10, 1671. Children, born at Newbury : Abel, mentioned below ; Susanna, November 14, 1673; Nathan, April 3. 1676; Thomas, January 1, 1679: Joseph, July 12, 1681 ; Nathaniel, February 6, 1684; Priscilla, July 13, 1686; James, January 27, 1689.
(III) Deacon Abel (2) Merrill, son of Abel (1) Merrill, was born at Newbury, December 28, 1671 ; died there, February 6, 1759 (grave- stone). He married, at Newbury. June 19. 1694, Abigail Stevens, who died May 2, 1757, in her eighty-fourth year (gravestone). Chil- dren, born at Newbury : Samuel, September 13. 1695: Abel, mentioned below ; Abigail, Janu- ary 22, 1699-1700: Thomas, July 20, 1702;
Matthew, December 3, 1704; John, January 25, 1706; Nathaniel, March 1, 1712.
(IV) Abel (3), son of Deacon Abel (2) Merrill, was born at Newbury, March 20, 1697-98. He married (first) Ruth --
and probably (second) Sarah Chil- dren of Abel and Ruth Merrill, born at New- bury : Abel, mentioned below : Sarah, May 7, 1727 : Esther, March 16, 1729; Stephen, June IO, 1731 ; Jonathan, June 2, 1733; John, Au- gust 15, 1737 ; Joshua, May 27, 1739; Caleb, February 11, 1741 ; Ruth, baptized March 23, 1745-46. He seems to have had Ann, Mary and Christopher by a second wife, Sarah.
(V) Abel (4), son of Abel (3) Merrill, was born at Newbury, September 12, 1722. He left Newbury about 1753. He married Sarah . Children : Mary, baptized in the Fourth Church, now the Second Church, of West Newbury ; Nathaniel, baptized March 11, 1744. died young probably; Nathaniel, mentioned below.
(VI) Nathaniel, son of Abel (4) Merrill, was born at Newbury, April, 1753. He settled in Shelburne, Massachusetts, and was a soldier in the revolution from that town, a private in Captain Agrippa Wells's company, Colonel Asa Whitcomb's regiment, in September, 1775 ; also in the same company, Colonel Samuel Brewer's regiment, September, 1777, in the Ticonderoga campaign of 1777. He married, at Shelburne, in 1786, Anna Long, born in 1766, died in Truxton, New York, in 1836. They went to New York in 1804-05, and located near Balls- ton Springs. Children : Rufus, Nathaniel. Sim- eon, Baldwin, Lewis Long, Asa, Ann Alvira and Mary.
(VII) Lewis Long, son of Nathaniel Mer- rill, was born January 24, 1804, in Madison county. New York, near Oneida Castle or Community, and he died on Long Island, at the home of his daughter, in December, 1890. Before the era of railroads he drove a stage coach, carrying the mails, when only sixteen years old, on part of the route from Buffalo to Albany, driving from Chittenango to Syracuse and eastward toward Albany. Later in life he removed to Truxton, New York, where he con- ducted a hotel and a stage route, carrying the mails from U'tica to Ithaca, before the railroad was built. In 1840, after the railroad came, he sold his business and engaged in farming at Truxton, where he remained until about 1851, when he removed to Homer, New York, and followed farming until about five years before
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he died. His last years were spent in the home of his daughter on Long Island. He married, February 18, 1829, Lucy Matthews, born near Bennington, May 18, 1809, died on Long Island, November 19, 1896, daughter of Major John and Polly (Green) Matthews. The battle of Bennington was fought, during the revolution, on ground owned by her father. Children: Augustus Spencer, mentioned below ; Frances Miriam, born July 7, 1834, died January I, 1899, married (first) Richard Carmon, (sec- ond) Pierre Badetty.
(VIII) Augustus Spencer, son of Lewis Long Merrill, was born in Truxton, New York. March 16, 1830. He was educated in the common schools, and, in his younger days, followed farming for his occupation. In 1851 he removed to Homer and engaged in the livery stable business, having the contract to carry the mails for the government between the trains and the postoffice. In the early days of the railroad there would be some days when the trains would fail to get through, and he would have to carry the mails over the road to Syracuse. For several years he has been re- tired, making his home in Homer Village. In politics he is a Republican, and is a member of the Congregational church. He married, No- vember 1, 1859, Sarah Pierce, born in Homer, January 12, 1839, daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Sharp) Pierce. Her father was born in Homer, in 1807, son of Elijah Pierce, of Primfield, Massachusetts. The Pierces came to Homer, New York, in 1805. Sarah Sharp was born in Connecticut, and died in Homer. Children of Augustus S. and Sarah Merrill: Frances C., born September 29, 1860: Charles R., mentioned below ; Kate, July II, 1865, died June 18, 1871 ; Lewis P., June 25, 1870, mar- ried Florence Mourin, he is engaged in the feed business in Homer ; John Sharp, July 11. 1872: Pierre B., January 25, 1880, graduate of Homer Academy, also College of Pharmacy of Buffalo, conducting drug business in Delhi. New York.
(IX) Charles R., son of Augustus Spencer Merrill, was born in Homer, March 1, 1863. He attended the public schools of his native town and the Homer Academy. He followed farming until he was nineteen years old, and was then clerk in the dry goods store of Kings- bury & Daniels, in Homer, for ten years. In 1892 he embarked in business on his own ac- count, as a dealer in men's furnishing goods and clothing, and success attended his venture
from the beginning. He carries an extensive and varied stock of men's clothing from such well-known manufacturers as the Herschberg Company, of Rochester ; Stern & Company, of Rochester : Clere Clothing Company, of Syra- cuse ; J. Wener Company and the Wolcoff Company, of New York City. He makes a specialty of the tailoring trade, making suits to order. His store is at 14 South Main street, Homer. He has a line of men's furnishings, hats. trunks and traveling bags second to none in the county. Mr. Merrill has been no less active in social and public life. He is treasurer of the Homer board of trade, and was treas- urer of the old home week committee for a time ; is a member of the board of education and of the board of health of Homer. In poli- tics he is a Republican, and he has been one of the most active and influential men of his party, delegate to the state convention which nominated Governor Hughes, and to various other nominating conventions of his party, also a member of the Republican county committee. He is a prominent member and treasurer of the Congregational church and its Sunday school. He belongs also to Homer Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
He married. June 19, 1890, Alice C. Daniels, of Homer, New York, born in Vesper, daugh- ter of George D. and Ellen ( Hobart ) Daniels. Children : George Augustus, born September 13, 1893: Frances Elizabeth, February 23. 1909, died December 8, 1909.
FREER The surname Freer was spelled Frere until comparatively recent times and sometimes De Frere in earlier records, we are told. Frere is an ancient French family name, meaning brother in Eng- lish. All of the Frere and Freer families, dat- ing back to colonial times, are descended from the pioneer mentioned below.
(I) Hugo Freer, or Frere, was one of the last of the French Huguenots to settle at Kings- ton. From time to time the French settlers had been coming to Kingston. As early as 1665 Simon and Andre LeFevre located there, com- ing from Manheim, in the Palatinate, whither they went from France. In 1673 Jean Has- brouck and others came. Anthony Crispell, the first of the Huguenots, afterward at New Paltz, came with his father-in-law, Matthew Blanchan, in the ship "Gilded Otter," arriving at New York, in June, 1660, and proceeded to Esopos, New York. Louis DuBois, another
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son-in-law of Blanchan, came in 1661, and settled with Blanchan and Crispell at Hurley. Hugo Freer and his wife, Mary Hays, with their three children, Hugo, Abraham and Isaac, came in 1676. The French settlers at Hurley and Kingston received from Governor Andros a grant of land for a town of their own, in 1677, comprising the Paltz patent, occupying all the present town of Loyd, about two-thirds of New Paltz, one-third of Esopus and one- fourth of Rosendale, as now bounded. There were twelve of these original French grantees, but not all of the French removed from Hurley and Kingston, and, in the course of a few gen- erations, the Dutch, French and English be- came, by association and intermarriage, thor- oughly assimilated. In the papers that have been preserved by descendants of these French settlers there are more in the French language among the descendants of Hugo Freer than of any other of the patentees of this tract, and this fact is taken to indicate that he had not been very long absent from his native country when he came to New Paltz. When the church was organized at New Paltz, in 1683. Hugo Freer was chosen deacon, and, in 1690, he was elder of the church. Most of the other settlers at New Paltz were related by marriage, but neither Hugo Freer nor any of his children married New Paltz people. A greater part of the first three generations of Freers married and settled outside the bounds of the New Paltz patent, going to Kingston, to Dutchess county and elsewhere, though the name lias been common also at New Paltz. During the first century after the settlement there was perhaps no family that furnished a larger proportion of eminent men than the descendants of Hugo Freer, the patentee. The Freers of colonial days had means, and picty as well. The Bon- tecoe Freers, cultivating the lowlands on the Walkill, in the great bend of the stream, above Dashville Falls, would walk barefoot five miles to church at New Paltz, in summer, putting on their shoes when near the village. When the new stone church at New Paltz was erected, in 1772, the Freer family contributed more than one-fourth of the whole amount needed. and two of the name served on the building committee. Tradition states that one year the Freers paid the whole amount of the quitrent due from the New Paltz settlers to the colonial government, and in return received two him- dred acres of land at Mud Hook, near the northwest corner of the New Paltz patent.
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