USA > New York > Dutchess County > General history of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876, inclusive > Part 30
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not write the reply yourself?" "Oh, I cannot," replied the- other, "you are the only one I know of that is capable of doing it successfully ; and if it is not satisfactorily answered, I shall be defeated." "Well," said Armstrong, "I will write the reply provided you will pay me $1000." The political aspirant was forced to acquiesce to the proposal; the answer was circulated, and so ably was it written, that he was elected to the desired position by a handsome majority.
A daughter of Armstrong married the millionaire, Wm. B. Astor, son of John Jacob Astor. It is said the old people first proposed the marriage, and made all the essential arrangements for the ceremony, before the young folks had seen each other.
The mills were a prominent feature of the earlier times. A clothing mill and saw mill formerly occupied the site of the present grist mill east of Madalin. Above this is a mill, now in ruins, known as Hoffman's Mill, which has been occupied from time immemorial by the family. The building, as well as its interior arrangements, was of the most primitive kind. The water wheel was made like the paddle wheel of a steam- boat, and was acted upon by the running force of the water only. The gearing by which the power was communicated to the stone was of the simplest kind-merely wooden cogs working in a trundle-head; while the stone was raised or lowered by means of a strap. Each run of stone required a separate water wheel. A rude sort of elevator consisted of a wooden trough, along which the meal or flour was forced by means of small paddles. There was not an iron wheel in the the whole structure. Cook's grist mill was formerly a cotton factory, built in the year 1786.
About a mile northeast of Madalin, years ago, stood the Old Red Dutch Church, belonging to the Dutch Reformed Society. It was some time since taken down, and another structure, of more modern architecture, erected in its stead. The old church was built probably about one hundred years ago, though the absence of records leaves the date somewhat a matter of conjecture. The house was a curiosity in its way.
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It had a steeple, situated about the center of the roof, and which was surmounted by a rooster. When the sexton rang the bell he stood in the centre of the church. A raised floor extended along each side of the body of the house, on which were square pews, provided with an ornamental railing on top, so high that when a person was seated nothing of him was visible except his head. These were intended for the use of the families of the landed proprietors. The common people occupied the slips in the body of the church. The elders and leading members sat in the side pews on either side of the pulpit. This was in keeping with the other arrangements, and over it was suspend- ed the sounding board, then reckoned an essential thing in the construction of a church. When this church was demolished,
A Country School House.
it was in a good state of preservation, all that could be said against it being, it was " not in fashion." Several prominent citizens plead that it might be permitted to stand, but without avail.
In the church yard are monuments of freestone, dating back into the last century. One of the oldest was erected to the memory of John Grier, who died on the 13th of March, 1797; aged 54 years. Other old slabs contain the family names of Vosburgh, Roorback, &c. In this church Dominies Fox, Rudy, Kettle, Romaine, and other eminent men have preached. Zachariah Hoffman gave the ground for the church and burial ground, which is located near the south line of the Hoffman Patent.
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A dispute once arose between Hoffman and Chancellor Livingston concerning this tract, both laying claim to it. A suit at law was held in the Old Dutch Church at Germantown. Alexander Hamilton argued the case for Hoffman, and the Chancellor plead his own case. Hoffman was the victor.
The first Episcopal church in the town was the Church of St. Paul, which was a wooden building, erected about the year 1818, and stood half a mile east of Madalin. It was rebuilt, of stone, in 1868, and now stands west of the village, roman- tically situated in a wood. The first Episcopal sermon was preached in 1813, by Rogers, from Connecticut, at Palmer Cook's house. Cook was a prominent man, and had removed from Connecticut that year. Dr. Anthon, of St. Marks Church, New York City, preached the first sermon in the new church. The Trinity [Episcopal] Church stands near the village of Madalin. A school is held in the building. The Trinity is the High Church and St. Pauls the Low Church.
The Ref. Dutch Church near the lower border of the town formerly stood in Rhinebeck. A tornado having nearly laid it in ruins, the structure was taken down and rebuilt in its present location.
Near the north limits of the village of Madalin stands an elegant monument of variegated marble, erected "by this immediate neighborhood to her defen- ders who lost their lives in suppressing the slave holders' rebellion." On it are the names of twenty-nine soldiers, representing many of the
bloody battle-fields of that struggle. Four cannon, partially sunk into the ground, with breech uppermost, serve for posts, to which is attached a chain enclosing the monument. One of these cannon was presented by each of the following named persons : Johnston Livingston, Eugene A. Livingston, William Chamberlain, and Brevet Maj. Gen. DePeyster.
A house in the vicinity was in olden times said to have been haunted. Many stories were circulated of strange sights
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and sounds within it. Finally no one could be prevailed upon to live there, and it stood a long time untenanted. At length it was purchased by a gentleman residing in Albany, who sent some workmen to repair it. They determined to have some sport at the expense of the people of the neighborhood. They collected a lot of old lumber in the garret, and so arranged it that by pulling a string the lumber could be made to fall upon the floor with a terrible clatter. They then represented that at precisely four o'clock each afternoon, a fearful noise would commence in the upper part of the house, as though the building was coming down ; but on going to the place nothing could be seen. Numbers came from the surrounding neighbor- hood to hear the uproar, and went away full of the idea that the house was haunted by " some wandering ghost." The secret finally came out, and ever afterwards the matter rested. No ghost has latterly dared to show himself or play his pranks about the premises.
The Baptist church at Red Hook may be regarded as the first fruit of the missionary labor sustained by the Association in the county. Elders Stokes and James preached at Myers- ville [now Madalin] in this town, a part of the time for two years. Isaac Bevan held a series of meetings at Myersville in September, 1842, in a schoolhouse. In January following, he commenced a series of meetings at the Landing [Tivoli] in a store kindly offered by its owners, Messrs. Collins. These meetings were continued a number of weeks, with favorable results. Elders Benedict and Shook rendered some assistance during the meetings. March 13th, seventeen of those who had already been baptized in the place resolved themselves into a church. On the following day they were publicly recognized by a council called from the neighboring churches. Rev. D. Morris, Rosendale, preached the sermon. They erected a church in 1843, at a cost of a little less than $1000.
y
RHINEBECK.
POPULATION, 1,322 .- SQUARE ACRES, 21,766.
HINEBECK was formed as a town, March 7th, 1788. Red Hook was taken off in 1812. It lies upon the Hudson, northwest of the center of the county. Its surface is a rolling, and moderately hilly upland, terminating on the river in bluffs 100 to 150 feet high. Land- mans Creek, the principal stream, flows south through near the center. Rhinebeck Kil is its tributary. Lake Sepasco is a small body of water in the northeast corner. The soil is principally a fine quality of sandy loam. The name is com- pounded from Rhine, in Germany, from whence the early settlers came, and the first syllable of the word Beekman. It was originally spelled Rhinebeek, which confirms the statement that the origin of the word is as given above, although some anti- quarians hold that it was named after Rhinebeck in Germany, it being the custom of the early emigrants to perpetuate the names of places in the "Fader Land" by bestowing them on localities in the new, and thus keeping alive the tender me nories of by-gone days. Rhinebeck Precinct, as formed Dec. 16th, 1737, included the lands pur hased of Widow
386
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
Paulding and her children by Dr. Samuel Staats ; all the land grunted to Adrian, Roosa, and Cotbe; land patented by Col. Henry Beekman, June 5, 1703 ; and the land granted to Col. Peter Schuyler, called the Magdalen Island Purchase. Among the first families were those named Kip, Beekman, Sipperly, Pink, Schmidt, Shoptown, Elseffer, &c.
The first land purchased in the town of Rhinebeck, of which we have any record, was that bought by Jacobus* and Hendrick Kip, of three Esopus Indians, in the year 1686. The following is a copy of the deed :
We the underwritten Ankony, one of ye Esopus Indians, and Anamaton and Calycoon, t one of the Esopus Sachems, do acknowledge to have received of Henry Kip, of Kings- town, full satisfaction for a parcel of land lying over [opposite] the Redout [Rondout] against the Redoubt Kill [Rondout Creek] on the north side of Arian Roosa on the river, which is received by me Ankony, Anamaton and Calycoon in full satisfaction for the above said lands. In witness hereof have hereunto set our marks this 28th day of July, 1686.
Testis HENRY PAWLING.
The mark of w Ankony. The mark of (.) Anamaton The mark of u Calycoon.
June 2d, 1688, a confirmatory title to Kipsburgh Manor was granted by his excellency Gov. Dengan to Garrett Artson, Adrian Roosa, John Elting, Hendrick and Jacobus Kip. The original deed is in possession of William Bergh Kip, who resides on a portion of the lands conveyed by this deed, and is one of the descendants of Henry Kip. He has likewise the will of Hendricus Hermance, Rynbeck precinct, dated March 23d, 1750, devising four farms, probably in the upper part of Red Hook.
Kip owned the property along the river west of Landmans Kill up as far as a certain oak tree standing near the track of the Rhinebeck and Connecticut Railroad. Jacob Kip, a very old man, used to say that an Indian was painted on the tree.
* Jacobns Kip, was born August 25th. 1666. Ile was therefore 20 years old when Kipsburgh Manor was purchased of the Indians.
t Calycoon is the Dutch for turkey.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
An old resident says he remembers when the only houses were the old stone house near Noxon's shop, called the State Prison ; next where Mrs. Staats lives ; next a stone house where John Williams lives, which was kept as a hotel. Another house near by was occupied by Benj. Fredenburgh, who kept the town poor.
About seventeen years subsequent to the date of the above deed conveying lands to Hendrick Kip, a Patent was granted to Col. Henry Beekman by Queen Anne, including the territory already occupied by Kip. Undoubtedly Beek- man had sufficient influence with the Crown to secure for him- self the coveted Rhinebeck Flats, notwithstanding others had acquired a previous title. There are receipts and other docu- ments to show that Beekman made some arrangements with the former proprietors after he obtained the patent. We insert the copy of a receipt, which shows how the small land owners were swallowed up by the patentees and other great land proprietors ; and also that the former were forced to pay a rent to the latter for the whole time they occupied the soil, in addition to having their lands wrested from them :
A receipt of 52 bushels of wheat making the amount of 370 bushels of wheat being the arrears of 37 years due to his majesty to the year 1725, for Quit Rent of a Patent granted June 2, 1688, to Colonel Peter Schuyler, lying in Duchess County, consisting of two tracts of land, the one near Magdalen Island, and the other at the Long Reatch on the south side of a place called Poghkeepsie, which quantity of 370 bushels of wheat I acknowledge to have received in full for the above mentioned purpose. Witness my hand this 4th day of October, 1727. ARCHD. KENNEDY, Rec'r. Gen'l.
William Beekman was the ancestor of this Beekman family, and was first a resident of New York City. His name is perpetuated by two streets, William and Beekman. He came from Holland in the same vessel with Stuyvesant, at the age of twenty-one. Full of strong, healthy life, and ambition, he employed his leisure in searching for a spot to invest his money for he had not come empty handed from abroad. He finally
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
purchased a tract on Corlear's Hook, and shortly afterward fell in love with the pretty blue-eyed Catherine Von Boogh. In the course of years he rose to distinction. At one time he was vice-director of the colony on the Delaware, and at another time was Sheriff at Esopus. He was nine years a burgomaster of New Amsterdam. In 1670 he bought a farm stretching along the East River for a great distance. His orchard lay upon a side-hill running down to the swamp which was called Cripple Bush, and through which Beekman Street now passes. He had five sons, and only one daughter, Maria. This daughter married Nicholas William Stuyvesant, a son of the Governor.
Col. Hen:y Beekman was one of the five sons. He died in 1737, leaving three children :- Henry Beekman, Jun. ; Cornelia, wife of Gilbert Livingston ; and Catherine, who married John Rutsen for her first husband, and afterwards Albert Pawling. She left two children. Col. Henry Beekman died intestate it is supposed, and the property was divided among his heirs. The partition agreement was dated August 30th, 1737. He was at one time Judge of Court of Common Pleas in Ulster county.
Henry Beekman, Jun., had one daughter, Margarct, who: married Robert Livingston. They had four sons and six daughters, viz .: Janet, Robert R., Margaret, Henry B., Catherine, John R., Gertrude, Joinna, Aldi, and E lvard.
Janet, the eldest, born 1743, married Major General Richard Montgomery. To her was devised, by will of her mother Margaret, the land on which Rhinebeck village is situated. At her death, Janet devised a portion to her brother Edward, and the remaining part to the Rhinebeck Improve- ment Company. This company consisted of Rutsen Suckley, Freeborn Garrettson, John T. Schryver, W.l'iam B. Platt, and Walter Cunningham, who divided it among themselves.
Major-General Richard Montgomery was the youngest son of Thomas Montgomery, M. P., for Lifford. He was born on; the 2nd of December, 1736, at Convoy House, his father's seat
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
near Raphoe, county of Donegal, Ireland ; received his educa- tion at Trinity College, Dublin ; entered the army as Ensign in the 17th Regiment of Foot, on the 21st of August, 1756, and landed at Halifax, with that regiment, on the third of June, 1757.
In the following year he served under Wolfe at the siege of Louisbourg, and with such distinction that he was immedi- ately promoted to a Lieutenancy. After the fall of that place, the 17th Regiment formed part of the force sent in 1759, with Amherst, to reduce the French forts on Lake Champlain, and Montgomery became Adjutant of his regiment on the 15th of May, 1760, in which year it formed part of the army that advanced from Lake Champlain against Montreal, under the command of Colonel Haviland.
One calm summer evening he stood on the shore of Lake Champlain, gazing out upon the beautiful expanse of water. Before him was the girdled lake, studded with islands, afford- ing a most romantic and picturesque prospect. As the poetic feeling kindled his dark eye, he little thought of the destiny that awaited him ; that in the full strength of manhood, he was to lead over those very waters a band of frecmen, and fall foremost in freedom's battle.
He served in the West Indies in 1762, on the 5th of May of which year he was promoted to be Captain. After return- ing to New York, he went back to Ireland in 1767. He retired from the service in 1772, and returned to America in January, 1773; in July following he married Janet, the daughter of Justice Livingston, and settled at Rhinebeck, where he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. In April, 1775, he was elected one of the delegates from this county to the first Provincial Congress at New York, and in June follow- ing was appointed Brigadier-General by the Continental Con- gress, and at once set out at the head of an expedition against Canada. After reducing St. Johns, Chambly and Montreal, he effected a junction with Arnold before the walls of Quebec, where he gloriously fell at the head of his men on the 3 ist of
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December, 1775, in the 40th year of his age, having been shot through both his thighs and through his head.
A day or two previous to leaving for Canada, he with his wife went to pay a parting visit to the occupants of the place near Rhinebeck, afterwards occupied by his brother-in-law, Peter R. Livingston. As he was walking on the lawn, in the rear of the mansion, he thrust a little willow whip into the earth, and playfully remarked that they must preserve that to remember him by. That whip grew into a tree, and it is yet standing, having attained a growth of more than ten feet in circumference, and is known to this day as " Montgomery's Willow."
In his determination to join the army he met with no opposition from his wife. She was all for her country, emula- ting the Spartan mother in her patriotic zeal. She accompani- ed her husband as far north as Saratoga, when she received the last kiss, and heard the last words from the lips of her beloved companion. "You never shall have cause to blush for your Montgomery," he said to her, and nobly did he vindi- cate his word.
Edward Livingston used to relate some reminiscences relative to the parting scenes of the General and his wife. He wis then a mere boy, and accompanied his sister (Mrs. Montgomery) to the residence of General Schuyler in Saratoga. The evening previous to Montgomery's departure, they, the General, his wife, and Edward, were sitting in a room together. Montgomery was sitting between the other two, in his military dress ; his wife was gizing thoughtfully into the fire-place, as if reading the future, Suddenly he broke out, as in a dream, in the words of the poet :
" "Tis a mad world. my masters ;
I once thought so, now 1 know it."
Said Edward, "the tones, the words, and the circumstances overawed me; and I soon withdrew from the apartment. Often have I since reflected upon those words, uttered by that young soldier, and wondered whether he may have had at that moment some prophetic vision of his future destiny."
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
Margaret, second daughter of Robert and Margaret Liv- ingston, married Dr. Thomas Tillotson (Surgeon General of U. S. Army, and Sec. of State of N. Y.), in 1779, and died in Rhinebeck, in 1823, at the age of seventy-five years, leaving several children.
Mr. Tillotson invited Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, a promi- nent Methodist clergyman, to preach at Rhinebeck, and who passed several weeks at his house as a guest. Tillotson's sister-in-law, Catherine Livingston, was there on a visit at the same time. A friendship grew up between them, which ended in marriage in 1793. Six years after the marriage they pur- chased a place on the banks of the Hudson, near Rhinebeck Station, erected a mansion, and named it "Wildercliff."* It was built in accordance with the simple tastes of the proprietor. Rev. Mr. Garrettson was a leader among the Methodists in the latter part of the last century. When he left the Church of England, in which he had been educated, the Methodists were despised in most places. He was a native of Maryland, and being convinced of the sinfulness of slavery, he gave his slaves their freedom. He preached everywhere, and was fear- less in the denunciation of what he believed to be error, and strenuous in upholding what he believed to be right. On one occasion, a mob had seized him after the delivery of one of his pointed sermons, and was taking him to prison by order of the magistrate, when a flash of lightning dispersed them, leaving him unmolested. In 1788 he was appointed Presiding Elder over the churches in the district extending from Long Island Sound to Lake Champlain, a distance of two hundred miles. Probably no house in the world has ever had within it so many Methodist preachers as this one at Wildercliff, from the mnost humble member to Bishop Asbury ; for the doors of Mr. Gar- rettson and his wife were open to all.
Mrs. Garrettson wrote in 1799: " Our house being nearly finished, in October we moved into it. The first night we
* Wi der Klippe. a Dutch word. signhaving wild man's or wild Indian's Cliff. The first se, lers found upon a smooth reek on the river shore. a rude delineation of two Indi- ans. one with a tomahawk, and another with a calumet, or pipe of peace. This gavo them an idea of the name .- [Lossing.
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spent in family prayer. While my blessed husband was dedi- cating it to the Lord, the place was filled by His presence, who, in days of old, filled the temple with His glory Every heart rejoiced and felt that God was with us of a truth. Such was our introduction to our new habitation, and have we not reason to say, with Joshua of old, 'As for me and my house we will serve the Lord ?' "
Says Mrs. Olin: "It was a home for the Lord's people ; strangers were welcomed as brethren ; and many a weary itine- rant has rested there as in the Palace Beautiful. Relatives and friends came to the house year after year, and enjoyed delight- ful interchange of thought and feeling with Christians of differ- ent denominations. How many who have enjoyed the genial hospitality of this house will recall the dignified form of the hostess, with her marked features, her soft hazel eye, the brown hair parted under the close fitting cap with its crimped muslin border, and the neatly fitting dress, always simple, yet always becoming."
No one could imagine that this was the gay young lady that had been asked for in the dance by General Washington. She outlived nearly all of her sisters and brothers. Mr. Gar- rettson was seized with a sudden illness at the home of a friend of his in New York, in 1827, which resulted in a speedy death. Mrs. Garrettson survived him more than twenty years. In 1849, in her 97th year, she started on a visit to her sister-in law, Mrs. Edward Livingston, at Montgomery Place, where she was taken suddenly ill, and died on the 14th of July.
The mansion at Wildercliff is now occupied by Miss Mary Garrettson,* a daughter of the clergyman. She has more than reached the three score and ten years allotted to mankind ; yet she has all her mental faculties in full play, and she con- tinues to bestotv the generous hospitality for which the house was anciently noted. She maintains two Methodist ministers in her household, one of whom has a wife and two children
* This v. nerable lady exhibited to the waiter a piece of silver plate bearing the arms of the Livingston family. The article is prob b . nearly two centuries old The inscrip- tion has been partially offaced by ad'shomes, ilvers i'. to whom it was sent to be bur- nished, and who rubbed off more silver than was necessary.
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with him. She says the house has never been other than a Methodist parsonage. We subjoin two or three incidents connected with the history of her ancestors, which we do not remember to have seen in print, as received from her lips.
Some time in the season of 1777, a sloop came down the river, having on board a British officer, severely wounded. When opposite the residence of Mrs. Robert Livingston, a messenger was sent ashore, to ask permission of Mrs. Livings- ton for the wounded officer to be brought into her house, as he could not bear being carried farther on the sloop. The good lady assented, charitable even towards a fallen foe; and the officer was brought on shore, attended only by his physician. Weeks elapsed before he became convalescent ; but at last he rallied sufficiently to walk about.
This was about the time that Burgoyne on the north and Clinton on the south we e threatening the country bord ring the Hudson. Many of the Whigs along that river had engaged houses farther inland, in momentary expectation of being forced to fly for safety. Their consternation was still greater when Vaughan set out up the Hudson on his ever memorable marauding voyage.
Many of their dwellings were fired upon, and not a few set on fire. As they approached the mansion where the wounded British soldier was quartered, the surgeon proposed that the officer be put into it, and then represent to the invaders that he could not be removed without greatly endangering his life, and in this way the house might be saved from destruction. "No," said the owner of the property, " never shall it be said that my house was saved by having a British officer within it." The soldiery applied the torch, and the mansion was soon in ruins.
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