USA > New York > Ulster County > New Paltz > History of New Paltz, New York and its old families (from 1678 to 1820) : including the Huguenot pioneers and others who settled in New Paltz previous to the revolution, 2nd ed > Part 22
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
355
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LETTER FROM JEAN GIRON TO HUGO FREER, SR., AND WIFE.
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in glass and deposited in the Memorial House. Through the kindness of Mr. Alfred LeRoy Becker of Buffalo we are enabled to publish a full translation. Mr. Becker writes con- cerning this letter :
"It is addressed to 'My nephew Huge and my niece Huge' by which the writer means Hugo Freer, Sr., son of the pat- entee, and his wife, Marie Anne LeRoy, whom he married, ac- cording to the record of the New Paltz church, June 7, 1690. The letter was written nine years later, but news of the mar- riage had apparently only just reached the writer. The letter is written in a fair if cramped hand, but it shows an almost total lack of knowledge of how to spell, so that it has been extremely difficult to make the translation which is given herewith.
De quebet Le 17 tme aouiest 1699.
Mon niueur (neveu) huge Et ma niesse huge.
Jes (J'ai) bien hu (eu) de la Joies davoier resu une lestre De vous par laquelle vous me mandes que vous Este bien maries (.) Jeannoris (J'en aurais) ancore (encore) bien plus si ses toy (c'estoit) que vous fusies maries a notre religion si sestoy (c'estoit) p * (hole in MS. Should "par le" be supplied ?) Consanteman (consentement) de votre beauperre Et bellemerre (.) vous me mandes que votre perre Et votre merre mon EsCrit (m'ont escrit) mes Je ne nannes poien ou (Je n'en ai point eu ?) de nouuelle (.) Je vous pris (,) si vous troutes Do Cazion (D'occasion) de nous mande Car nous serion bien hesze (aise) de savoier de vous nouvelle (,) moy Et votre tante (.) votre frere Et votre berleseur (belles- oeur) vous salus Et moy Et votre tante nous vous saluon (.) Je demeure votre seruiteur Jean giron.
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Translation.
Quebec, August 17th, 1699.
My nephew Huge and my niece Huge :
I have indeed been rejoiced to have received a letter from you by which you inform me that you are well married. I should be still more rejoiced if it was that you were married in our religion, if it was by the consent of your father-in-law and mother-in-law. (That is, if by the consent of Hugo Freer's father and mother, she was married to him according to the forms of the Catholic church.) You inform me that your father and mother have written me, but I have had no news of them whatever. I beg of you, if you find occasion, to write to us, for we should be very glad to have news of you,-your aunt and I. Your brother and your sister salute you and your aunt and I, we salute you. I remain, your servant,
Jean giron.
"Jean Giron came from France to Canada in 1668 and bought a farm on the River St. Charles, near Quebec. He married one of three orphan sisters who came to New France in this year, Madeleine Des Chalets. In the same year Simeon Le Roy, who was a master carpenter, bought land next to his brother-in-law on the River St. Charles. He married another of the three sisters, Claude Des Chalets. He was from Créan- ces, bishopric of Coutances, in Manche, the long finger with Cherbourg at the tip which points from the north of France into the English Channel. He remained in Quebec until 1679 or later, but in 1681 he had removed to Montreal. While he was in Canada he appears to have been a Catholic. In 1682
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he was in Albany, and thereafter he lived in Kingston, where he was as late as 1701. In 1704 he probably left there tempor- arily and was a witness at the baptism of one of his grand- children on Staten Island, in 1706 or 1707. Through his son Francis he was the head of the Le Roy family, originally of Dutchess county, and through his son Leonard, or "Jonar" as the Dutch called it, corrupting the French sound, he was the head of the "Laraway" family, originally of Schoharie county. All of his children, except Jean, who is mentioned in the letter and remained in Canada, married either Huguenots or Hol- landers and became Protestants."
In the will of Hugo Freer, Senior, which was written in 1728, a number of years before his death, he appointed his brothers, Abraham, Jacob and Jean, and his friend, Aart Van Wagenen, as executors.
Nearly all of the Freers in this vicinity are descended from Hugo, Senior. His brother Jean went to Kingston. His brother Abraham lived in New Paltz, as we have stated, for a time, but his sons scattered, one going to Dutchess county and another to Minnisink. The remaining brother of Hugo, Senior, Jacob, located on the west side of the Wallkill, near the Bonte- coe school house and his descendants lived in that locality and on the Rosendale Plains.
The sons of Hugo, Senior, located as follows : Hugo, Junior, near the north borders of the patent; Isaac on the 1,200 acre tract obtained by patent : Jonah at "Kleyne Bontecoe," at the present R. V. N. Beaver place, near Springtown. Simon went to Dutchess county. The sons of Hugo, Senior, married as follows: Hugo, Junior, who was born in 1691, married, in 1715. Bridgen Terpening; Isaac, who was born in 1693, mar- ried, in 1723, Mary Deyo, daughter of Pierre the Patentee; Jonah married, in 1727, Catharine Stokhard, who was born in
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Germany. Simon married, in 1720, Mariten Wamboon at Kingston. The sons of Hugo Freer, Junior, who married Bridgen Terpening and located at Bontecoe, near the present school house, were Hugo, who married - Van Aken ; John, who married Hagetta Deyo, in 1749; Benjamin, who married Elizabeth Terwilliger, and Garret, who married Maria Freer, in 1748. In the list of taxpayers in 1765 we find the names of Hugo Freer, Junior, and his sons, Hugo, John, Ben- jamin and Garret. The three first named lived at Bontecoe. Neither Benjamin or John left children. Garret lived at But- terville. He has a large number of descendants. Hugo lived in the Jeremiah Freer place of modern times.
In the list of soldiers in the Revolutionary war appear the names of Hugo, John, Garret and Benjamin Freer in the First or Northern Regiment.
In the subscription list for the building of the second stone church at New Paltz, in 1772, appear the names of Hugo, John, Benjamin and Garret Freer, Jr. Hugo Freer subscribed £25, being one of the largest subscriptions made. Hugo Freer and Garret Freer, Jr., were members of the building com- mittee.
The last Hugo at Bontecoe, who wrote his name Hugo B., died about 1850 and was the son of the Hugo above named and grandson of Hugo, Jr. He lived in the house, part stone and part frame, a short distance southwest of the Bontecoe school house. He inherited the farm from his uncle, Benjamin, who, as we have said, left no children.
All of the Bontecoe Freers are not of this line, a considerable portion being descended from Jacob Freer, son of Hugo the Patentee, who owned land on the west side of the Wallkill on the north bounds of the Patent and probably located there some years before his nephew, Hugo, Junior.
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ISAAC, SON OF HUGO, SENIOR
Isaac, the second son of Hugo Freer, Senior, married Mariten Deyo and located on the tract of 1,200 acres where Zach. Freer, deceased, lived. Isaac's name appears in the list of Captain Hoffman's Company in 1716, also in the list of soldiers enrolled in this town in 1738. His old stone house was burned down about 1880. It is said that his house at first consisted of one room only, others being afterwards added. The sons of Isaac Freer (I) were Isaac, born in 1734, and Daniel, Jr., born in 1743. He had several daughters. Isaac Freer and his wife Maritje united with the church at New Paltz in 1752. Isaac's son Isaac married Hester Jansen. Daniel married, in 1765, Annitje Deyo. In the Revolutionary war Daniel was lieutenant in the First Company, Third Regiment Ulster County Militia, and the names of Isaac and Thomas Freer appear as privates in the same regiment. In the list of subscriptions to the build- ing of the second stone church, in 1772, appear the names of Isaac Freer for £15, Daniel Freer £2.15 and Daniel Freer, Jr., for fio. The sons of Isaac Freer and Hester Jansen were Thomas, born in 1760; Isaac, born in 1765; Zacharias, born in 1769. The last named kept the old homestead and married Jane DuBois, daughter of Hendricus DuBois of Noscatack. Their children were Thomas, Henry D. B., Johannes, Isaac and Maria. In the war of 1812 Zacharias Freer was a captain, his regiment being stationed in Long Island. Zacharias held the old stone homestead of the family and from him it passed into the possession of his son, Henry D. B. It was burned about 1880 and whatever old papers were in the house were lost in the fire.
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JONAS, SON OF HUGO, SENIOR
Jonas, son of Hugo, Senior, married Catharine Stokhard, who was of German birth, and lived at "Kleyne Bontecoe," near Springtown, on what is now the R. V. N. Beaver place ; Jonas' name appears in the list of soldiers in this town in 1738. In the tax list of 1765 he is set down for £25, which indicates that he was in pretty comfortable circumstances for those days. In his will, executed in 1775, Jonas disposes of his property as follows: after providing for his widow, Catharine, he gives to his son, Jonas, the farm on which the son then lived on the east side of the Wallkill. This passed from Jonas (2) to his son Elias, and then to Elias' sons, Stephen and Peter W. A. Jonas (I) in his will gives to his son Simon the tract on which the testator lived at Kleyne Bontecoe; to his sons, Johannes and Elisa, land on the Swartekill, in the town of Newburgh, which he had bought of John Preevost. This was not far south of the 1200 acre Freer tract in present town of Plattekill. To his remaining son, Petrus, is given in Jonas' will the place on which he lived, which was purchased of Christian Deyo, and £60 of money. Petrus moved to Dutchess county.
We have not traced the history of this branch of the family further, except in the case of Johannes (in English John), who located near the present Clintondale depot on land which his father had bought of John Preevost. He wrote his name Johannes, Jr. His wife was Sarah, daughter of Abm. Bevier, of New Paltz. His second son, Martinas, born in 1762, emi- grated, about 1800, to western New York and subsequently to Ohio. Attorney-General Romeo H. Freer, of Harrisville, West Virginia, and Attorney Charles Freer, of Warren, Ohio, are grandsons of Martinas.
The most extensive collection of ancient papers that we have
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found anywhere has come down in the family of Jonas Freer. This collection includes letters, wills, receipts, deeds, etc. Some of the papers are in English, some in Dutch and many in French. Quite a number are dated previous to 1700. One, dated in 1691, bears the signature of Rev. Pierre Daillie, the first pastor of the New Paltz church; another, dated in 1699, bears the signature of his successor, Rev. David Bonrepos. There are in the collection three papers, in French, in the hand- writing and bearing the signature of Louis DuBois the Paten- tee, who died in 1696. Another paper, in English, dated 1710, is in the handwriting and bears the signature of Roelif Eltinge, the first of the line at New Paltz, but at that time still residing in Kingston and already a Justice of the Peace. Other papers bear the signatures of the Patentees Abraham Hasbrouck and Louis Bevier ; another has the signature of Moses Cantine, ancestor of the Cantine family. One of the most interesting papers is a tax list of the precinct in 1712, in English, which shows that four of the Patentees were living at that time, namely, Louis Bevier, Abraham Hasbrouck, Jean Hasbrouck and Abraham DuBois. A number of these papers have been framed in glass and placed in the New Paltz Memorial House. The most ancient papers in the collection were once the prop- erty of Hugo, Sen. ' Two letters, both in French, are addressed to his personally : one, dated in 1699, congratulates him on his marriage ; the other, written 20 years later, speaks of the ship- ment of peas and other farm produce. When Hugo, Senior, died these old papers were taken to the residence of his son Jonas at Kleyne Bontecoe, who added to the collection what- ever valuable papers he had of his own.
From Jonas Freer these papers evidently passed into the possession of his son Jonas (2), who lived where his son Elias and his grandson Stephen afterward resided. In each genera-
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tion such papers as were considered valuable were added to the collection.
Jonas. (2) left four sons : Elias, Simeon, Joshua and Jona- than, Jr. He also left three daughters that married, becoming the wives of Philip Schoonmaker, Abm. P. Schoonmaker and Archa P. Van Wagenen.
ABRAHAM, THE SON OF HUGO THE PATENTEE
We will pass now to the history of Abraham, son of Hugo the Patentee. Abraham married, in 1694, Aagien Titesort. In 1705 he resided at Bontecoe, south of the present school- house, opposite the piece of lowland called the Half Moon. Abraham's name appears in the list of those who built the first stone church, in 1720. In the list of freeholders, in 1728, his name does not appear. He probably moved away, as we find in 1723 that he transferred his two seats in the church to his brother, Hugo, Senior. Abraham's sons were Hugo Ab., Abraham, Jr., Solomon, William and Philip. Hugo Ab. mar- ried Marytje Dewitt, at Kingston, in 1720. His name appears as a soldier in Captain Hoffman's company in 1716. Solomon married Claritje Westvaal and located at Minnisink.
Solomon's son Johannes married Hester Lounsberry. His family Bible, dating back to 1749, was in the possession of his great-great-grandson, Nathan M. Freer, late of Chicago.
Johannes' son, John J., was a soldier in the Revolution and died at New Paltz in 1828. The Bible afterwards came into the possession of John J.'s son, Elias, who died at Lockport, Ill., in 1868, and then passed into the possession of his son, Z) S. C. Paine Freer, a prominent citizen of Chicago and father of Nathan M. Freer, lately deceased.
William, son of Abraham, married, in 1729, Maryanette Van Kuykendall of Minnisink. He is set down as living at
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New Paltz. Their sons were Benjamin, Jacob and Abraham. Philip moved to Dutchess county, and in 1735 married Catha- rine Scharp of Claverack. Abraham, Jr., in 1720, married, at Kingston, Janitje Degraff. He then lived at New Paltz. In 1734 he married at Poughkeepsie (where he evidently then resided) as his second wife, Johanna Louis, widow of Peter Van Bome. They had a son, Johannes (in English John) baptized in 1739. This we formerly thought to be John Freer who commanded the 4th Dutchess County Regiment in the Revolution. Abraham, Jr., had another son, Thomas, bap- tized in 1747, in Poughkeepsie. The Freer family increased in numbers in Poughkeepsie, and a portion of that city was called Freertown down to modern times. At Rhinebeck also the names of a number of Freers are recorded in the church record.
JACOB, SON OF HUGO THE PATENTEE
Jacob Freer, son of Hugo the Patentee, was born in 1679. He married, in 1705, Aritje Van Wagen. He owned land at Bontecoe, in 1730, on the west side of the Wallkill, adjoining the tract belonging to the Eans and still known as the Half Moon, and he probably lived there. His name appears as one of those who built the old stone church at New Paltz in 1720; also as one of the soldiers in Capt. Hoffman's company in 1715, and as one of the freeholders in the town in 1728. Jacob's sons were Abraham and Isaac (twins) ; Jacob, born in 1723; Daniel and Cornelis. The son, Jacob, Jr., lived in the same neighborhood. His name appears on the tax list of the pre- cinct of New Paltz, in 1765, for £12. In the building of the second stone church at New Paltz, in 1772, Jacob Freer, Jr., contributed £12 and Jacob J. Freer £3 IOS. In 1775 the name of Jacob Freer, Jr., appears as one of the consistory of the New Paltz church. His wife was Sarah Freer.
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JEAN, SON OF HUGO THE PATENTEE
Jean, the youngest son of Hugo Freer, the Patentee, was born in 1682. He married Rebecca Van Wagenen about 1707. He was a resident of Kingston in 1720, as is shown by a bond given by him to his brother, Hugo, Senior, in that year, now in possession of the writer. Jean's name does not appear in the list of those who built the first stone church at New Paltz in 1718, nor in the list of freeholders of the town in 1728. He doubtless moved to Kingston when a young man and con- tinued to reside there.
The children of Jean Freer and Rebecca Van Wagenen were Sara, born 1708; Gerrit, born 1711; Jannitje, born 1714; Marytje, born 1716; Jacob, born 1719; Rebecca, born 1726.
Gerritt's name appears on the list of foot soldiers in Kings- ton, in 1738. He married, in 1735, Elizabeth Van Vliet. They had one son, William.
Jacob married, in 1754, Annitje Van Aken of Kingston. In the record on the church book Jacob is said to have been of Wagondahl (the old name for Creek Locks). The children of Jacob Freer and Annitje Van Aken were Jan, born in 1755; Jacob, born in 1758; Peter, baptized Oct. 12, 1760 (located at. Troy) ; Gerrit, born in 1765; Annitje, born in 1776.
A certain Peter Freer, whom record in the old family bible of his great-granddaughter, Mrs. Mary Goodrich of Chicago, shows that he was born in 1759, was among the early settlers of Troy, N. Y. He is quite surely the Peter, above mentioned, though we have no evidence as yet of his removal from Ulster County to Troy.
Gerritt married, in 1786, Gertje Van Vliet. Both are set down in the marriage as then residing in Kingston. They resided at New Salem, where their son, John G., afterwards lived and carried on the milling business.
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The children of Gerritt J. Freer and Geritje Van Vliet were Stlitje, born in 1787; Lidia, born July 3, 1791; Jan (in Eng- lish John), born March 29, 1793; Blondini, born 1796; Gerrit, born in 1798; Cornelia, born in 1811; William, born in 1804. John wrote his name John G. He married Dina Rose and resided on the farm of his father at New Salem. He was engaged with his father in the milling business in his early years near New Salem, in the town of Esopus, and also owned the Eddyville ferry. In 1826 he built a stone house still standing.
The children of John G. Freer and his wife Dina Rose were Gitty Ann, Garret I. Jr., William H., Jacob R., Isaac Fair- child, Eliza M., Johannes V., Hiram J., and Cornelia K.
The son Jacob R., married Phebe J. Townsend. Their sons. Watson and Charles L. were very extensively engaged for a time in the manufacture of railroad cars in Michigan. Charles. L. having retired from business some years ago now lives in Detroit. He has been one of the most liberal contributors to the purchase of the Huguenot Memorial House and the erec- tion of the monument to the Patentees at New Paltz.
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
367
THE ABRAHAM HASBROUCK HOUSE IN THIS VILLAGE.
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.
CHAPTER XXXI
THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM HASBROUCK, THE PATENTEE
Abraham Hasbrouck, the Patentee, has a numerous line of descendants in Ulster, Orange and Dutchess counties.
The two brothers, Abraham and John (in French Jean) Hasbrouck (or Broecq, as the name was sometimes written), were natives of Calais. Like others of the Paltz patentees, they emigrated to Manheim, in the Palatinate, which was in those days the great harbor of refuge for the Huguenots fly- ing from persecution in France. Abraham Hasbrouck, like- wise, probably resided in Holland. Quite certain it is that he lived for a time in England and served in the English army. He received his commission as lieutenant of a company of foot for New Paltz and Kingston, August 30, 1685. In 1689 he was appointed as "captain of foot at Ye Paltz, Ulster county."
Under the date of 1700 in a foot company appear the names of the following officers: Abm. Hasbrouck, captain; Moses Quantin, lieutenant ; Lewis Bevier, ensign.
In the records of the Kingston church, under date of 1676, appears the following marriage entry: "Abraham Hasbroocq . of Calis and Maria Deyo (of) Moeterstat in Duyslant."
Before coming to New Paltz, and while residing at Hurley, he was appointed Justice.
Tradition states that Abraham Hasbrouck served in the English army with Gov. Edmund Andross, and that it was owing to his influence with the Colonial Governor that the Huguenots obtained the grant of so large and fine a tract of land at New Paltz.
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In the diary of Col. Abraham Hasbrouck of Kingston, who was a grandson of Abraham Hasbrouck the Patentee, it is stated that his grandfather left Mannheim, where he resided with his father, went to Rotterdam and thence to Amsterdam, where he embarked for England in April, 1675. From Eng- land he sailed to Boston, from thence he proceeded to Esopus, where he found his brother Jean, who had come to America three years before.
Quite possibly Abraham may have served in the English army and then gone back to 'his home in Mannheim before he left that place for the new world. Abraham reached Esopus in July, 1675. The next year he married, at Hurley, Maria Deyo, daughter of Christian Deyo, a young woman with whom he had been acquainted in the Palatinate and who was one of the passengers with him on the passage across the ocean to America.
Abraham died March 17, 1717, in an apoplectic fit. His wife died March 27, 1741, in her 88th year. They left a family of five sons, Joseph, Solomon, Daniel, Jonas and Benjamin, and one daughter, Rachel, who married Louis DuBois, Jr.
Joseph married Ellsje Schoonmaker and located at Guilford. Solomon married Sarah Van Wagenen and located about 11/2 miles north of this village. Daniel married Wyntje Deyo and kept his father's homestead. Jonas probably died young. Benjamin married Jannitje DeLong and moved to Dutchess county.
The home of Abraham the Patentee, in this village, was built directly across the street from the present Reformed (Dutch) church. The old stone house, still standing, was possibly built by Abraham, but perhaps by his son Daniel, in whose line it has come straight down. There is no date on the old stone house to mark the time of its erection. Like other of the
24
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ancient houses in this village, it had formerly a sub-cellar, which has been filled in during the last century.
The house is about sixty feet in length and thirty in width. It has evidently been erected at different times, the northern part at a later date than the other portion. There are initials on the stones at the northeast and southwest corners of the building, but so worn by the elements that it is impossible to decipher them. This house has not been modernized since its erection. The chimney in the north end is built in the wall. There is a cellar kitchen in this portion of the building. One or two rooms have been finished off in the loft. It is one of the most antique in appearance of the old houses in our vil- lage. It is still occupied and still a comfortable house.
DANIEL, SON OF ABRAHAM THE PATENTEE
Daniel, born in 1692, kept his father's homestead in this village. We find his name in the list of freeholders in 1728, also in the list of slave owners in 1755. He did not marry until in 1734, when 42 years of age. His wife was Wyntje Deyo, daughter of Abm. Deyo of this village, who was the son of Pierre Deyo the Patentee. Daniel had a large family of sons and daughters and the name Daniel has been handed down in this branch of the Hasbrouck family until the present day. Daniel died in 1759. His widow long survived him and con- tinued to occupy with her six sons the old stone house, still standing, opposite the Reformed church. Daniel Rose, who is a descendant of Daniel Hasbrouck, has in his possession an abstract of his will, dated January 26, 1754. The will gives to each of his sons, Jonas, Josaphat, David, Isaiah, Benjamin and Zachariah, one-sixth of his property; to the daughter, Elsie, who married Peter Smedes, three milch cows and £200
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of New York currency. The will directs that the widow shall retain possession of the property, both real and personal, as long as she remains a widow, but that if she marries again she shall give up possession of the property to the children. In the tax list of 1765 we find the property all assessed to Wyntje Hasbrouck, and she was one of the wealthiest residents of the community. The old homestead in this village passed into the possession of Daniel's son, Isaiah, who married Mary Be- vier, who, like her mother-in-law, was left a widow with a large family of children. The children of Isaiah Hasbrouck were Ezekiel, Isaiah, Josiah, Noah, Elsie and Mary. The last named, who did not marry, owned the old homestead until her death, about 1880. The brothers, Isaiah and Josiah, settled in Sullivan county. Noah lived where his son-in-law, Abm. R. DuBois, afterwards resided.
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