USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 53
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to William B. Platt by Richard Schell in 1835, and is still in the possession of his family. The next building west was for many years the well-known store-house of William S. Cowles & Co., the first proprietor of whom we get knowledge was James Teller, whose executors conveyed it to Thomas and Albert Traver. It is now owned by Martin Dilchelman, and occupied by David E. Ackert, mercantile successor to the Cowles Brothers.
Rhinebeck was incorporated as a village by legislative enactment April 23, 1834. In 1867, by an act of the Legislature passed that year, the limits of the village were extended. The first election for village officers was held May 22, 1834. The officers elected were as follows :- Trustees, Eliphalet Platt, Peter Pultz, John Drury, John I. Smith, John T. Schryver, Jacob Heermance, John Jennings ; Assessors, John A. Drum, Theophilus Nelson, Stephen McCarty; Treasurer, Nicholas Drury.
On the 17th of June following, John T. Schry- ver was elected president of the board of trustees, and Nicholas V. Schryver, secretary.
The following has been the succession of presi- dents and clerks :-
PRESIDENTS.
CLERKS.
1834. John T. Schryver, Nicholas V. Schryver.
1835.
do do Stephen A. Du Bois.
1836. David Pultz,
William I. Stewart.
1837. Abraham DeLamater, do
1838. John Benner,
Tunis Wortman.
1841. Joshua Traver,
Peter G. Quick.
1842. Barnet Wager,
William J. Stewart.
1843-44. John Benner, do do
1845. Henry DeLamater,* do do
1846-47. do do Tunis Wortman.
1848. John Benner, do do
1849. Stephen McCarty, do
do
1850. John Benner, do do
1851-52.
Henry DeLamater, James C. McCarty.
1853. John G, Ostrom, do
do
1854.
Ambrose Wager, do
do
1855-57. Henry DeLamater, Tunis Wortman.
1858-60. John G. Ostrom, do
do
1861. N. W. H. Judson,
do
do
1862. Homer Gray,
do do
1863. Martin L. Marquet, do
do
1864. Reuben Hanaburgh, do
I865. John G. Ostrom,
George W. Hogan.
I866.
Edwin Hill,
James C. McCarty.
1867.
Homer Gray, do
do
I868.
N. W. H. Judson, do
do
1 869.
Rensselaer Barton, do
do
1870. Eugene Wells,
T. W. Bates.
1871.
John G. Ostrom, do
do
1872. William M. Sayre, Frank T. VanKeuren.
do
1839-40. do do
William J. Stewart.
do
* To fill vacancy vice John Benner, resigned.
MUSSEMCCON.
RESIDENCE OF JOHN O'BRIEN, ESQ., RHINEBECK, N. Y.
269
TOWN OF RHINEBECK.
1873. William M. Sayre, George Fellows.
1874. Benjamin Lansing, Chas. E. McCarty.
1875. E. M. Smith, do do
1876. George Esselstyn, Frank Van Keuren.
1877-81. do do Chas. E. McCarty.
In 1872 the people of Rhinebeck at a special election voted to build a town hall .* Virgil C. Traner was supervisor of the town in that year, and his term of office being about to expire, the board of town auditors, on the 15th of February, 1873, authorized him to superintend the construction of the building until completed. It was finished in that year, at a cost of $20,500. It is a handsome and substantial edifice, and a credit to the town.
NEWSPAPERS .- The village contains one news- paper, the Rhinebeck Gazette, the history of whose origin is as follows :-
In 1844 a man named Robert Marshall, a Scotch- man, started here a small sheet under the title of the Rhinebeck Advocate. In the spring of 1846, Edward M. Smith and Edward A. Camp started the Rhinebeck Gazette, purchased the interest of Marshall, and merged the Advocate into their newly established paper. The Gazette was conducted by Smith & Camp less than a year, when the former bought out Camp's interest and conducted the paper alone for about three years, or until February, 1849, when he leased the establishment to William Luff to the first of May, 1850. At the expiration of his lease, Luff started a rival paper, under the name of the Rhinebeck Gazette and Duchess County Adver- tiser, and E. M. Smith re-assumed control of the Rhinebeck Gazette, which he conducted several months and then disposed of it to George H. Clark, of Poughkeepsie, publisher of the American Me- chanic. He continued the publication of the Gazette, in connection with the Mechanic, for a number of years. He finally bought out Luff's Gazette and Advertiser, took his subscription list, and that paper ceased to exist. The paper eventually passed into the hands of Thomas Edgerley, who held a chattel mortgage on it, and who conducted it until he dis- posed of it to McGrath & Ackert in 1879, who are the present editors and proprietors. It is a weekly, of considerable merit, published every Saturday.
LIBRARIES .- The Starr Institute had its virtual origin in 1857, when in that year there was estab- lished in the village a free reading-room and a cir- culating library, in a small building opposite the present edifice of the Institute. This experiment of a free reading-room and circulating library, was successful, and the founder was thereby encour- aged to ensure their continuance, on a permanent
basis, by the erection of the present commodious and substantial building, which was completed in 1862. On the 18th of April, that year, an act incor- porating the Starr Institute and naming the first trustees was passed by the Legislature, in which the purpose of the corporation is declared to be " to furnish facilities for the intellectual and moral inprovement of the inhabitants of the town of Rhinebeck." July 24, 1862, the first meeting of the trustees was held to organize under the act of incorporation. William Kelly was elected presi- dent ; Theophilus Gillender, secretary, and N. W. H. Judson, treasurer of the board .*
The Institute is a gift to the people from Mrs. Mary R. Miller, a grand-daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler of Revolutionary fame, in niemory of her husband, the Hon. William Starr Miller, who died in New York in 1854.
The Institute property consists of the real and personal property connected with the building, and the lot on which it stands, which were con- veyed to the Trustees by Mrs. Miller, by deed bearing date May 20, 1862, delivered at the first meeting of the Trustees, thus vesting the title ab- solutely and forever in them for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the town. The property was purchased and this building erected and furnished, at a cost of about $15,000. It contains a large free public reading room, a circulating library, a large and handsome lecture hall, and a kitchen and dining hall in the basement. The second story consists of one room, which is given to a standard library. The price of membership is fifty cents per year, which entitles the holder to draw books from the circulating library, and to consult at his leisure those in the standard library.
SCHOOLS .- The De Garmo Classical Institute had its origin in the Rhinebeck Academy which was established in 1840. Its existence as an Academy was maintained, under different teachers, until 1860, when it became the property of Prof. James M. De Garmo, under whose name it has since been conducted. He erected the present large and substantial building in 1871. The school has everywhere an excellent reputation for its worth and prosperity.
The lands for the Union Free School were procured and the building erected in 1869. The districts were united and the school made free several years earlier. The number of children in the district between the ages of five and twenty- * James A. A. Cowles, Freeborn Garrettson, Theophilus Nelson and William Kelly, four of the members of the original Board, have died since the organization ..
* The vote was 238 to 128 on that question.
270
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
one, is 655. The full valuation of property in the district is $1, 162, 789.
SOCIETIES .- Rhinebeck Lodge, 432, F. and A. M., was organized July 9, 1857. The charter was granted June 5, 1858. The first officers under the dispen- sation were : Smith Quick, W. M .; James Hogan, S. W .; De Witt C. Marshall, J. W .; Richard R. Sylands, Treas .; Ambrose Wager, Sec'y .; Henry N. Taylor, J. D. The first officers under the charter were : Smith Quick, W. M .; James Ho- gan, S. W .; Homer Gray, J. W. The lodge has fine rooms on Main street, in which it meets every Friday evening.
Rhinebeck Lodge No. 162, I. O. O. F., was organized July 16, 1845. The charter members were, Ambrose Wager, John Pultz, Edward Hold- ridge, Woodward Frisbie, Jacob M. Hogan. The first officers were: Ambrose Wager, N. G .; Wood- ward Frisbie, V. G .; Edward Holdridge, Sec'y ; Jacob M. Hogan, Treas. The records of the lodge were destroyed by fire in 1864. The order is in good condition. The meetings are held every Monday evening, in Judson's Building.
HOTELS .- The Rhinebeck Hotel is situated on what were once the lands of William Traphagen, who was the first owner of lands on Beekman's Rhinebeck patent. These lands were purchased from Henry Beekman, the elder, before 1706. They reached from the Rhinebeck kill to the post- road, and from the junction of Landsman's and Rhinebeck kills in the saw-mill pond north of the north bounds of the land sold by him to Jacob Kip in 1706. The hotel corner fell to Arent Trapha- gen at the death of his father, and at his own death, about 1769, it was conveyed by his heirs to Everardus Bogardus, who was a merchant here, and probably an inn-keeper also, from 1769 to the close of the century. In 1802 the property was in the posession of Benjamin Bogardus, and on October 7th, in this year, was conveyed by him to Asa Pot- ter, who, according to the Institute map, was an inn-keeper in a house in the vicinity of the present residence of Mrs. W. B. Platt. Asa Potter died October 9, 1805. November 25, 1807, Philip J. Schuyler, as administrator of Asa Potter, sold the property to Elisha R. Potter, of Kingston, Rhode Island. November 11, 1834, Elisha R. Potter sold it to Richard Schell, who, on the first of May, 1837, sold it to Jonathan Wilson. Sepember 7, 1839, David Seymour, Master in Chancery, sold it to Elisha R. Potter, son of Elisha R. He, on the first of May, 1848, sold it to Garrett Van Keuren, Henry DeLamater and William B. Platt.
From 1802, when this property passed from the possession of the family of Bogardus, to the pur- chase by Van Keuren, DeLamater and Platt, in 1848, it seems to have been in the possession, or under the lien of the Potters. William Jacques, by whose name the house was known during the most of the period between 1805 and 1848, appears in the old town records as early as 1794. He died October 9, 1835, aged 67 years. The house ceased to be Jacques' hotel in 1837. It was rebuilt a few years since and greatly enlarged, and is now kept by Harry Tremper, and is one of the best hotels in the county.
BANKS .-- The Bank of Rhinebeck was established in 1853. The subscriptions to the stock were procured in the previous year by Theophilus Gil- lender, on a paper, the heading to which was drawn up by Gouverneur Tillottson, Esq., who came into the practice of law here on the death of John Armstrong. The bank was begun on a capital of $150,000, which has since been increased to $175,000. Its first officers were :- Henry De Lamater, President; William R. Schell, Vice- President ; De Witt C. Marshall, Cashier. It has always been a well managed and prosperous insti- tution.
The Rhinebeck Savings Bank was also estab- lished through the enterprise of Theophilus Gil- lender,* who was its first Secretary and Treasurer. It was organized in 1862. Its deposits are now $248, 150. The present officers are :- Joshua C. Bowne, President ; Simon Welch, Secretary and Treasurer.
LAWYERS .- The lawyers now in practice here are :-
Esselstyn & McCarty, (George Esselstyn, James C. McCarty). The former, a native of Claverack, Columbia county, was born in 1841. He was graduated from Rutledge College, N. J., in 1861, studied law with Gaul & Esselstyn, in Hudson, about four years, was admitted to prac- tice December 10, 1863, and came to Rhinebeck, March 20, 1865.
James C. McCarty, a native of Rhinebeck, born in 1824, studied law with Ambrose Wager, Esq., from 1844 to 1847, in which year he was admitted to the bar, and remained with Ambrose Wager until 1857.
Charles E. McCarty, son of James C. McCarty, studied law with his father, and was admitted to practice in 1880.
* See the close of this chapter for a portrait and biographical sketch of this public spirited citizen.
271
TOWN OF RHINEBECK.
Ambrose Wager, born in Hillsdale, Columbia county, in 1815, graduated from Union College, Schenectady, in 1839, and came to Rhinebeck as a resident in 1841.
Ambrose Lee Wager, born in Rhinebeck in 1858, graduated from Yale College in 1878, studied law with his father, Ambrose, and was ad- mitted to practice in May, 1880.
PHYSICIANS .- The resident physicians are :- Dr. Francis H. Roof, a native of Cooperstown, N. Y., born in 1842, graduated from the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons, New York, in the course of 1862-'3. He began his practice in Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, where he remained a year and a half. In January, 1865, he entered the U. S. service as Acting Assistant Surgeon of the 19th Army Corps, under General Grover, which position he retained until June, 1865. He came to Rhine- beck in 1876.
Dr. William More Decker, born in Margaret- ville, Delaware county, N. Y., in 1855, graduated from the Homeopathic Medical College, New York, in 1879, and came to Rhinebeck in 1880.
Dr. Pierre A. Banker, a native of Poughkeepsie, born in 1845, graduated from the New York Homeopathic College in 1879, and came to Rhinebeck in January, 1881.
Dr. Cornelius S. Van Etten, born in Pike county, Pa., in 1846, graduated from the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, in 1873, and became a resident of Rhinebeck in March, 1876.
Dr. Frank Latson, a native of Rhinebeck, born in 1853, graduated from the New York College of Dentistry in 1880, and began his practice in this village.
CHURCHES .- German Reformed Church .- The first church in Rhinebeck, and probably in Duchess County, was the "High Dutch Reformed Protestant Church," which, until the year 1800, stood near the old cemetery, on the post-road, three miles north of the present village of Rhinebeck, at what is now known as "Pink's Corner." It came into the town with the German Palatines, and undoubt- edly as early as 1715. There were among these people both Lutherans and Calvinists, and they built the first church together, and remained joint owners until 1729, when contentions arose between them, and they separated to have each a church to themselves. December 10, 1729, the Lutherans sold out to the "Reformed Protestants," receiving for their interest in the church and four acres of land, " twenty-five pounds, current money of New
York." The money was paid to Hendrick Shever, Joseph Rykart, Barent Sipperly and Karell Neher, for the Lutherans; by France Kelder, Conradt Bearinger, Wendell Polver and Jacob Wolleben for the Reformers. In a bond given by the Luther- ans to the Reformers, a deed is quoted from Henry Beekman, the younger, and other heirs of Col. Henry Beekman, deceased, to Barent Sipperly, Jr., for a farm at Rhynbeek, March 5, 1721, contain- ing fifty-six acres of land, in which was reserved four acres of land whereon the Church of Rhyn- beek then stood, for the use of a church and church yard, " and so to remain forever for that use ;" and, also, that "Gilbert Livingston and his wife, with the consent of the said Barent Sipperly, Jr., did, on the first day of August, 1724, lease the said farm unto Hendrick Beam, with the said res- ervation of the said four acres for the church."
It is learned from this that four acres had been assigned for the church, and the church built thereon before 1721; that the reservation was again made in 1724, when the land changed own- ers, and that joint ownership continued to 1729, when the German Reformers became sole proprie- tors.
December 4, 1747, "Catharine Pawling, of Rhine_ beck Precinct, * widow " gave to Nicholas * * Stickell, Jacob Sickener, Philip More, Hendrick Berringer, Jacob Drum and Jacob Berringer, "being the present Elders and Deacons of the High Dutch Reformed Protestant Church of Rhinebeck," a deed for this church and lands, (in which is again recited the leases to Sipperly and Beam,) for the use of the inhabitants of "Rine- beek " professing the Protestant religion according to the rules of the Reformed Church. When the church was discontinued on these premises, in 1800, the land reverted to the heirs of Catharine Pawling, or to the sole use of the cemetery. It is now, with the exception of about one-fourth of an acre, appropriated for farming purposes, and cattle are herded among the tombstones in the old cem- etery. By what right this is done is not known, unless it is by the right of possession. The rec- ords of this church while in union with the Luth- erans, if any were kept, are lost. Johannes Spal- ler, a Lutheran, was minister at the " Kamps and Rinback " in 1723, and doubtless ministered to the Lutherans in the Union Church at that date. There is no definite knowledge of the minister who served the German Reformed people during the union. John Frederick Hager came to the Camps with the German people in 1710. October 8,
272
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
1715, he with John Cast and Godfrey de Wolven, on behalf of themselves and upwards of sixty fam- ilies of the Palatines in Duchess County, petitioned Governor Hunter for license to build a church in Kingsbury. Corwin, in his Manual, classes him with the Reformed ministers. This being so, he probably served both the Kingsbury and Rhine- beck people ; and the Rhinebeck may have been the Kingsbury church. After the separation in 1730, a book of records was opened in the Re- formed Church. The first baptisms were recorded April 5, 1730, and the first in the list is Johannes,* the son of Zacharias Schmidt.
The title page to this book, now in existence, is in German, in the hand-writing of George Michal Weiss, and, translated, is as follows :-
"General Church Book of the Reformed Con- gregation in Reyn Beek, organized and established by G. M. Weiss, Preacher for the time being for the Two Low Dutch Congregations at Kats Kill and Kocks Hocky. Ao. Christi, 1734, May 23d."
June 27, 1742, the record is again in the hand of Dominie Weiss, and this is the beginning of a pas- torate of four years in the German Church at Rhinebeck, and the Dutch Church on the Flats, the churches being a joint charge during this period. His record in the German Church termi- nated on the 22d, and in the Dutch on the 29th of June, 1746. Casper Ludwig Schnorr, of the Camp Reformed Church, installed the officers of the Rhinebeck Church May 2, 1747, and presided at the reception of members therein on April 26th. He evidently served both churches during this period, and thus established a union which endured for a century. At the close of his labors, Mancius resumed the charge of the church, and did all its work until February 15, 1755. His suc- cessor was Johan Casper Rubel, whose first bap- tism in Rhinebeck is recorded May 18, 1755, and his last on September 30, 1759. At the close of his pastorate, Mancius was again pastor. He remained until May 31, 1762. June 25, 1763, there is a record of thirteen baptisms and four additions to the church in the hand of Rubel, and that is the last found of his hand in the records of the church.
Gerhard Daniel Cock came to America, on invi- tation of the Camp Church, in November, 1763, and at once took charge of both churches. He recorded his first baptism in the Rhinebeck church December 11, 1763, and his last July 24, 1791. At the close of his pastorate, between July 24,
1791, and June 15, 1794, there are 24 baptisms in an unknown hand. Johan Daniel Schefer came into the pastorate in 1794, and remained until October 9, 1799. Between July 8, 1800, and Sep- tember 26, 1802, there are nine baptisms in an unknown hand. In this period, it is thought that the new edifice was built four miles further north, in what is now Red Hook, on land donated by General Armstrong, to which the church moved. It did not cease to be the Rhinebeck German Reformed Church by this change of location .*
Valentine Rudiger Fox came into the pastorate in 1802, and doubtless commenced it in the new church. His last baptism was recorded July 27, 1823. John Rudy succeeded Fox in 1823. He remained until 1835. Cornelius Gates succeeded Rudy in the pastorate of the Red Hook church, the Camp church having passed under the care of the Classis of Poughkeepsie April 25, 1837, during the pastorate of Rev. Jacob William Hangen, who served thenceforth in connection with the Upper Red Hook Dutch Reformed Church. This church having thus taken the Camp, the Lutherans in a short time thereafter took the Red Hook charge, and this was the end of the German Reformed Church in Duchess county .ยก All that is left of it in Rhinebeck, where it had its birth, and passed the most prosperous period of its existence, is the old grave-yard, now a cow-yard, at Pink's Corner within the limits of the old Palatine village of Rein Beek. Stranded between the Dutch church on the Flats, and that erected in the village of Upper Red Hook, in 1785, it fell an easy prey to the Luther- ans, with whom its people had freely inter-married, and toward whom they naturally gravitated.
The Rhinebeck Lutheran Church came into ex- istence simultaneously with the German Church at Pink's Corner. If it kept any records while in union with the latter, before 1729, they are not now extant. It sold out its interest in the church at Pink's Corner, as before stated, December 10, 1729. On the fourth of November preceding, ap- plication had been made to Gilbert Livingston for a lot for a church and cemetery, which received the following response :-
" MEMORANDUM .- This 4th day of November, 1729, have Francis Near, and Michael Bonesteel asked of me, in behalf of the Lutheran congrega- tion in Rhinebeck, Duchess County, a piece of ground for the purpose of building a church and
* Grandfather to Edward M. Smith, author of the "History of Rhinebeck. "
* The Precinct of Rhinebeck, organized in 1734, extended to the Co- lumbia County line until 1812, when Red Hook received a separate organization.
t Its ministers always resided at the Camp, now the Germantown Church.
Moss ENG Co. N Y.
"BOIS-DORE "-RESIDENCE OF R. P. HUNTINGTON, RHINEBECK, N. Y.
273
TOWN OF RHINEBECK.
making a burying-place for the said congregation, which ground, so said, lies by Barent Sipperly's. For the encouragement of so good a work, I promise in this the same ground in my lot lying, and at a convenient time to measure off to them and to give a transfer for the Lutheran congregation dwell- ing on land of the late Col. Henry Beekman.
"In witness whereof, I have undersigned this, date as above, at Kingston, Ulster County. GILBERT LIVINGSTON."
" The above promissory note was translated from the original Low Dutch by me, the under- signed, at Clermont, Columbia Co., N. Y., this second day of May, 1857.
AUGUSTUS WACKERHAGEN."
The fruit of this promise was the present church lot and cemetery, containing five acres, three roods and eighteen perches. There is no deed for it among the church papers, but possession was doubtless at once obtained. In the grave-yard here are tombstones dating back to 1733. On the first of May, 1768, Michael Sipperly sold to Henry Tator, Lodewick Elsever and Philip Bonesteel, trustees of the Rhinebeck Lutheran Church, twenty-nine and one-half acres of land for two hundred pounds New York money. On the same day, Robert G. Livingston gave the same parties a life lease for two pieces of land, both pieces to contain seventeen acres, subject to a rent of six bushels of wheat a year, and to continue during the lives of George Tator, Jr., David Elsever and Frederick Sipperly, the son of George Sipperly. On the first of June, 1798, John Crooke deeded to Peter Traver, Jost Neher, Frederick Pister, John Seaman, David Lown, Jr., and George Elsever, trustees, and their successors forever, two acres of land for fifty dollars, subject to an annual rent of three pecks of wheat. On the eighth of Decem- ber, 1807, Robert G. Livingston and his wife, Martha, sold to Nicholas Bonesteel, Zacharias Traver, Johannes Simmon, Zacharias Feller, An- dries Teal and John R. Feller, of the town of Rhinebeck, trustees of St. Peter's Church, for the sum of fifty dollars, three acres and three roods of land for a parsonage lot. There is found, also, a map of the church lot, for five acres, three roods, eighteen perches, with a map of seven acres, two roods, five perches, on the east side of the road, for a parsonage lot. These maps are without date, and were probably made in 1760. A lease for one year, dated May 1, 1797, given by the trustees of the church to Charles Reinold, says he is to have all the lands lying on the east side of the post-road, belonging to the church. The church now owns no lands on the east side of the road.
On the eighth of January, 1808, the church lands, aside from the church lot, were the property of Robert G. Livingston and his wife, Martha, who, in a conveyance bearing that date, disposed of them to Samuel Hake. These lands were then in the possession of the church, and consisted of thirty-two acres. The church held these lands un- der a perpetual lease, and paid an annual rent of ten bushels and twenty-eight quarts of wheat. On the first of May, 1857, this rent was due to James de Peyster, Frederick de Peyster and Robert G. L. de Peyster, heirs of Samuel Hake, and they released the land from the incumbrance at this date, in a deed of absolute ownership to Henry Cotting, Michael Traver, John A. Traver, Stephen Traver, Jacob Teal, Philip Sipperly, John H. Rikert, Henry A. Cramer and Lewis D. Elseffer, trustees of the church, for $275.00.
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