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 26
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Andre married Cornelia Blanshan. We do not find the marriage recorded in the church records either at New Paltz or Kingston. Their eldest child, Simon, was baptised in 1709. Andre kept his father's homestead in this village.
The names of the three sons of Simon, the Patentee, are found in the list of those who built the first stone church in 1718 and in the list of those who were assigned seats in the church in 1720. At the later date it is noticed that their sister Mary, wife of Daniel DuBois, was dead.
Andre, son of Simon, the Patentee, who married Cornelia Blanshan and kept the homestead in this village, had a family
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TOMBSTONE IN THE OLD BURYING GROUND IN THIS VILLAGE
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of two sons, Matthew and Simon, and seven daughters, who. were known as the "seven sisters."
In the list of militia officers in Ulster county, in 1717, we find Andre's name as sole lieutenant in Capt. Hoffman's com- pany, which embraced New Paltz and Shawangunk. In the same list the names of his brothers, Isaac and Jean, appear as privates.
Isaac's name appears in 1738 as corporal in Capt. Zacharias Hoffman's company, and at the same date appear as privates the names of his eldest son, Isaac, Jr. (who died unmarried when a young man), and of his nephews, Abraham and Na- thaniel, sons of Jean, and of his nephew Simon, son of Andre. The name of Matthew, the other son of Andre, does not ap- pear and he had probably moved from New Paltz the previous year when he married.
Matthew moved to Bloomingdale in the northern part of the town of Rosendale and the history of his family is given under that head.
Simon married Petronella Hasbrouck and kept the old home- stead in this village. They had but one son, who was named Andries, Junior, born in 1740. Simon died young and his widow, who long outlived him, in 1771 sold to the Reformed church the southern part of the present churchyard, where the second stone church was shortly after erected. The "seven sisters" married as follows: Elizabeth married Jonathan Du- Bois of Nescotack, Mary married Conrad Vernoy of Wawar- sing, Sarah married Samuel Bevier of Wawarsing, Maritje married her cousin Nathaniel LeFevre on the Plains, Cathi- rintje married Simon DuBois, Magdalen married Johannes Bevier and Rachel married Johannes Bevier of Wawarsing.
Andries, Jr., who was the only son of Simon and Petronella LeFevre, kept the old homestead in this village and married 27
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Magdalena LeFevre. They had no children. Andries is re- membered by the old people under the name of "Flaggus" or "Uncle Flaggus." He died in 1811, at the age of 71 years, as is shown by the tombstone still standing in the old graveyard. After his death the old homestead became the property of Andries DuBois of Wallkill and his wife, Elizabeth LeFevre, who was a sister of "Flaggus." The DuBoises occupied the house until the present brick church was erected, in 1839, when it was torn down and the stone went into the church foundation.
This ends our account of the family of Andre, the eldest son of Simon, the Patentee, the male line of the son Simon having become extinct and the line of his son Matthew being given. under the head "Bloomingdale LeFevres."
THE HOMESTEAD ON THE PLAINS
Jean (in Dutch Jan), the third and youngest son of Simon, the Patentee, married Catharine Blanshan and built his house on the Paltz Plains, between the present cemetery and the rail- road track. The old stone house was torn down about 1885. A clump of old locust trees marks the site and the cellar remains. In this house we may suppose that Jean lived from the time of his marriage, in 1712, until his death, in 1744. Jean left one daughter, Margaret, who married Jacob Hoffman of Shawan- gunk, and three sons, Nathaniel, Abraham and Andries. The. history of the two last named is given under the head "Kettle- borough LeFevres." Nathaniel, who was born November 2, 17IS, married his cousin, Maritje LeFevre, and kept the home- stead on the Plains. In the list of slaveholders, in 1755, he is set down as the owner of two slaves. In the tax list of 1765 he is assessed for £23 and his mother at £3. Nathaniel and his brother Abraham of Kettleborough were both members of the building committee when the second stone church was.
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erected, in 1772, and the initials of his name, with those of other members of the building committee, are still to be seen in a large stone, which was doubtless the corner stone of that church, under the horse block at the south end of the present portico. Nathaniel's subscription to the building of the church was £18.
In 1748 Nathaniel obtained, in partnership with his neighbor, Noah Eltinge, a grant for a tract of 3,000 acres adjoining the Paltz patent on the south. This grant led to a long dispute, it being claimed that part of the tract belonged to the Paltz patent. After a few years the matter was settled and Noah and Nathaniel retained the land. Nathaniel kept a store at his home on the Plains, as did his brother Andries at Kettle- boro.
Nathaniel left a family of three sons, Matthew, John and Jonathan ; also two daughters, Margaret and Catharine. John was baptised at Shawangunk in 1746, Margaret at Kingston in 1743, Matthew at Kingston in 1749 and Jonathan at Shawan- gunk in 1753. Margaret married Daniel Deyo, the first of the name at Ireland Corners. Catharine married Daniel Jansen of New Paltz, John married Eglie Swart, widow of Capt. Simon LeFevre of Bloomingdale and moved to Owasco, where he was. probably one of the first settlers and where he had descendants living at a recent date, but none we believe in the male line.
Matthew retained the family homestead on the Plains. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel LeFevre of Bontecoe. The name of Matthew LeFevre appears as a lieutenant in the First Company, Third Ulster County Regiment, Col. John Cantine. The other officers of the company are New Paltz men. The name Matthew LeFevre also appears as a lieuten- ant in the Fourth Ulster County Regiment, in the Revolution, Col. Johannes Hardenbergh commanding. The only other
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Matthew LeFevre was the one who moved many years before the Revolution to Bloomingdale. Probably one was a lieu- tenant in the Third and the other in the Fourth Regiment. The name Matthew LeFevre also appears as a private in the 2nd New Paltz company. There was no other person at New Paltz of that name. He was probably a private at first and afterwards promoted. 1
The names of Matthew's brothers, John and Jonathan, appear as privates in the Second New Paltz Company, Capt. Abm. Deyo, Third Ulster County Regiment, Col. John Cantine.
The names of the three brothers, Matthew, John and Jona- than, appear in the list of those who, in 1775, signed the famous "Articles of Association," in which so many citizens of Ulster county and other parts of the State expressed their hatred of British oppression and their determination never to be slaves.
We have stated that Matthew kept the homestead on the Plains and John moved to Owasco. The youngest brother, Jonathan, who married Catharine Freer, located on a portion of the patent which his father had obtained and his house was built some distance east of the old homestead and some distance west of the present residence of his grandson, Hon. Jacob Le- Fevre. Matthew, the oldest son, who married Elizabeth Le- Fevre and kept the homestead, had a family of six children, Moses, Simon, Catharine, Nathaniel, Gitty and Magdalen. Nathaniel married Margaret Jansen and kept the old homestead for a time, but afterwards sold it to Ackerman and located on the New Paltz turnpike, about one-fourth of a mile east of Ohioville, where Dr. Maurice Wurts long afterwards resided. Nathaniel left no children. Matthew's son Moses married Margaret Vernooy and located on the turnpike, in the town of Lloyd, where his grandson Moses lately lived. His children were Elizabeth, Cornelia, Matthew and Cornelius,
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the last named of whom kept his father's house on the turnpike, and the other three spent a great portion of their days on the Paltz Plains not far from the old stone house of their ancestors.
Matthew's daughter Catharine married Roelif S. Elting and her sister Gitty made her home there until in old age, when she removed to the residence of her niece, Mrs. F. S. Mckinstry, where she died about 1885, aged nearly 100 years, and retaining until extreme old age the vivacity and kindly interest in the welfare of others, which we love to think formed a delightful trait in the character of our Huguenot great-grandmothers. The family Bible of Daniel LeFevre of Bontecoe passed to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Matthew LeFevre, and then to their daughter Gitty, who retained it during her long lifetime. Since her death it has been placed in the Memorial House in this village. It is in Dutch, was printed in 1741, and contains the family record of Daniel LeFevre in English, commencing with his marriage to Cath- arine Cantine in 175I.
Simon, the remaining son of Matthew, married Elizabeth Deyo. They had their home at what is now the LeFevre Deyo place, on South street. Simon was a captain in the army in the war of 1812, but his company was stationed on Long Island and did not do any fighting. Simon left a large family of chil- dren, as follows: Gitty, Eliza, Matthew, Philip, Nathaniel, Magdalen, Maria, Moses and Andrew. Nearly all of these children located at New Paltz or at New Paltz Landing. Gitty was Jacob Elting's first wife. Eliza married Clinton Has- brouck. Magdalen married Nathaniel J. LeFevre. Maria married C. Wynkoop. Nathaniel lived at New Paltz. Mat- thew located at Wurtsboro. The other brothers, Moses, Philip and Andrew, engaged in navigation on the Hudson, Philip and Andrew long running a barge from Highland to New York in
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partnership, and Moses passing a great portion of his life on the river as mate or captain of a vessel.
Going back now once more to the old homestead on the Plains, we will take up the line of Jonathan, son of Nathaniel. His wife was Catharine Freer. The house in which he resided, some distance east of the old homestead, was torn down about 1845. Jonathan left two sons, Garret and Jonathan J., and one daughter, Mary, who became the wife of Smith Ransom. Garret continued to till the ancestral acres and Jonathan lo- cated at Middletown. Garret's son, Jacob, resided all his life on the old homestead. He was president of the Huguenot Bank for a period of about thirty years and served two terms as congressman.
THE KETTLEBOROUGH LEFEVRES
The Kettleborough LeFevres are descended from Andries and Abraham, sons of Jan, who was one of the three sons of Simon LeFevre, the Patentee. Jan settled on the Paltz Plains, in a house between the cemetery and the railroad, torn down about 1885.
Jan LeFevre's name appears in the papers, at the State library at Albany, as one of the volunteers in the Ulster county company that marched to the invasion of Canada in 17II. This Ulster county company was commanded by Capt. Wessel Ten- broeck, and with the exception of Jan LeFevre and Isaac Has- brouck almost every name in the company is Dutch. In 1728 Jan LeFevre's name appears in a list of freeholders of New Paltz. Jan died May 27, 1744, as stated in the family record of his son Andries. Jan's son Nathaniel retained his home- stead on the Paltz Plains and his other sons, Andries, born in 1722, and Abram, born in 1716, located in Kettleborough on a tract of 1,000 acres, being a part of the Thomas Garland tract.
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The Thomas Garland patent was granted January 26, 1721. This patent included, likewise, a tract of 500 acres at Ireland Corners, on which Daniel Deyo, son of Abram Deyo, settled.
This patent, sometime after it was granted to Thomas Gar- land, became the property of Garret Kettletas, whose name appears as a freeholder in the precinct of New Paltz in 1728.
Subsequently this tract became the property of John, Abram and Peter, sons of Garret Kettletas, and of Cornelius and Henry Clopper. There is no reason to suppose that any of these parties moved to Ulster county. The Kettletases resided in New York and were merchants or mariners. The Cloppers were merchants. Though they did not move to Ulster county themselves, they sent a man who located where the farm of Asa LeFevre now is. This man, whose name we have not learned, did not make a success at farming, and in 1742 1,000 acres of the tract were sold to Jan (in English John) LeFevre, whose brother-in-law, Daniel DuBois, went on the bond with him, as is shown in the following paper :
Know all men by these presents that I John Lefever of the Newpaltz In the County of Ulster and Colony of New York am Held and firmly bound unto Daniel Duboys of the Newpals In County and Colony as aforesaid In the sum of sixteen hun- dred pounds current money of the Colony of New York as aforesaid to be paid to the said Daniel Duboys his certain attorneys Executors Administrators or assigns for the which payment Well and truly to be made and Done I do bind my Self and heirs Executors and administrators and Every of them firmly by these presence Sealed with my Seal Dated this Twenty first Day of March In the Sixteenth Year of His Majestes Reign annoq Domini 1742-3.
The condition of this obligation is that whereas the above named Daniel Duboys at the Special Instance and Request of the above named bounden John Lefever and for his only debt,
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Duty. matter and Cause, together with the said John Lefever is jointly held and firmly bound Unto Gerret Keteltas of the City of New York In and by three obligations In the pennell sum of Eleven Hundred and Eighty pound Conditioned for the true payment of five hundred and ninty pound Current money of the Colony of New York unto the Said Gerret Ketel- tas his Executors administrators or assigns on or before the first day of June one thousand seven hundred and forty three the sum of four hundred and ninty pounds and the sum of fifty pounds on the first day of June one thousand seven hundred and forty four and the Sum of fifty pounds the first Day of June then next following as by the said obligation and Condi- tion thereof (relation being there unto Had) doth and may more fully appear If therefor the Said John Lefever his heirs Executors administrators Shall do well and truly pay or Cause to be paid to the above named Gerret Keteltas his Heirs Ex- ecutors administrators or assigns the just and full sum five hundred and Ninty pounds Current money and the Collony as aforesaid In Discharge of the above mention obligation, and also save harmless and keep Indemnified the Said Daniel Deboys heirs Executors administrators as above writing from all Cost, charges, Suits or troubles that may happen for or by reason of his being bound, as first above mentioned then this obligation to be void and of none effect as else to stand and remain In full force and virtue. Jean lefevre.
Sealed and delivered In the presence of
Benjamin Dubois. Simon Dubois.
Andries' wife was Rachel, daughter of Nathaniel Dubois of Blooming Grove, Orange county, and granddaughter of Louis DuBois, Jr., of New Paltz. They were married October 20,
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1745. Andries' house stood near Andries A. DuBois' late resi- dence and was torn down about 1850.
The traditions all agree that when the first settlers located in Kettleborough the gravelly soil of that region was consid- ered very poor. There was not sufficient stone for building purposes and an arrangement was made by which stone could be procured elsewhere. There was little timber on the eastern portion of this tract, as the Indians used to burn over the land and it was now just growing up in bushes, over which the deer leaped. In those old days wheat was the staple crop and a gravelly soil is not good wheat land. There was, however, a certain proportion of clay land, and when a farm was divided the son who took clay land was obliged to accept fewer acres than the other .. One of the stories told illustrating the hard lot of the Kettleborough farmer, on his gravelly acres in those old days, is that at a certain wedding the Kettleborough people were not invited and when the question was asked why they had been omitted the answer was made that they had enough hard times without being put to the trouble of attending weddings.
We think the stories about the early settlers in Kettleborough being poverty stricken are much exaggerated. At any rate Andries LeFevre was a member of the Provincial Congress, which met in New York in 1775 and 1776, adjourning in May of the latter year. Andries likewise kept a store, as did his brother Nathaniel, on the Paltz Plains, and the Hasbroucks at Guilford at the same date. Andries' account book, as well as his family Bible with the family record in Dutch, are now in the possession of the family of his great-granddaughter, Mrs. Josiah P. LeFevre. The account book is also in Dutch and the items are quite interesting. After a while he discontinued the mercantile business, assigning as a reason that his money
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was "all in the bushes," that it scattered around and could not be collected of the neighbors who had bought his goods.
Andries LeFevre lived to the extreme age of 90 years. He is buried in the family burying-ground now on the John H. Wurts farm. His grave is marked by a tombstone erected long afterwards by his son Johannes.
Andries left a family of two sons and six daughters. These all married as follows: Nathaniel married Mary Deyo, Johan- nes married Elizabeth DuBois, Gertrude married Philip Deyo, Mary married Isaac LeFevre of Bontecoe, Catharine married Wessel DuBois, Elizabeth married Zachariah Bruyn, Cornelia married Solomon Elting, Sarah married Josiah R. Elting.
It is quite a prevalent idea with the present generation that the New Paltz people in Colonial times did not work very much. This may have been true sometimes, but it was not always the case. Mother tells us the following story as related by her grandmother, Elizabeth DuBois, daughter of Andries DuBois: When she married her husband, Johannes LeFevre, and moved from Wallkill, then called New Hurley, to Kettle- borough, she "moved in" with the family of her husband's father, Andries LeFevre, who with his brother Abraham were the first settlers in Kettleborough. Her husband had six sisters, all of whom married sooner or later, but these young women before they married and left the Kettleborough home had learned to work, and to work hard-they would hurry up to get the washing out of the way in the forenoon in order that they might sort or pare apples in the afternoon, and then in the evening they would spin. The eldest of these sisters married Philip Deyo and the youngest married Josiah R. El- ting, and these alone have a large number of descendants in New Paltz, while the other four have a smaller number of great-grandchildren in this vicinity.
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Andries' son Johannes (usually called Squire Hons) was baptized January 18, 1761. He lived at his father's homestead for a number of years, but built for his son Andries J. and finally lived himself in the house, now owned by his great- grandson, J. Elting LeFevre. Johannes was a young man in the time of the Revolutionary war and performed some service for the patriot cause by taking a load of arms from New Paltz to the army.
Johannes left a family of two sons, Andries J. and Nathaniel, born November 5, 1786, and four daughters, all of whom mar- ried as follows : Andries J. married Hannah DuBois, Nathaniel married Magdalene Hornbeck, Sarah married Matthew J. LeFevre, Rachel married James Jenkins, Petronella married Daniel A. Deyo and Cornelia married George Wurts.
Andries J., son of Johannes, married Hannah DuBois, daughter of Cornelius DuBois, Jr., of Poughwaughtenonk. Andries J. occupied the house and farm now owned by his grandson, J. Elting LeFevre. The house was a very fine building for those old days and the farm is still considered the best in the neighborhood. Andries died at the early age of thirty-five and his wife about ten years afterwards. Their children were Cornelius D., who kept his father's homestead ; Johannes A., who moved to Michigan; Andries A., who lo- cated near Modena; Gertrude, who married Rælif DuBois, and Elizabeth, who married Josiah P. LeFevre.
Nathaniel, the son of Johannes, married Magdalen Hornbeck. They lived for a while in the old stone house of Andries, the pioneer, and afterwards built a new house a short distance south.
They had a large family of sons and one daughter, as fol- lows : Johannes, C. Hornbeck, Luther, Andries, DuBois, Sarah M., James, Egbert, Matthew. Sarah M. married Joseph Has- brouck, Andries and Johannes emigrated to Kalamazoo county,
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Mich., in their youth and Matthew in middle age. DuBois tills a portion of the ancestral acres, James was for many years a preacher of the gospel at Middlebush, N. J., Hornbeck and Luther are dead. Egbert died when a young man.
Nathaniel, the son of Andries, the pioneer, located about a mile south of the residence of his brother Johannes. His wife was Mary Deyo. He kept a store, as his father had done be- fore him, and raised a large and robust family of sons, as follows: Andries, Jonas, Lewis, Abram N., Jacobus.
Nathaniel is spoken of as an energetic man, who made money and saved it. As an evidence of the healthfulness of his family, it is said that the door of his house usually stood open in all sorts of weather. His house burned down about 1825. Nathaniel's sons located as follows :
Jonas located at New Hurley. He had one son, John, who married Nancy Ransom.
Nathaniel's son, Abraham N., lived near Modena, where his son-in-law, Andries A. LeFevre, afterward resided. His wife was Sarah LeFevre, daughter of Isaac LeFevre of Bontecoe. They had three sons : Josiah, Nathaniel and Abm. A., and three daughters : Maria, who married Andries A. LeFevre; Rachel, who married Andrew Brodhead, and Gertrude.
Nathaniel's son Andries lived on what is known as the Jacob Westbrook place of late years. He had a large family of daughters, all of whom married.
Nathaniel's youngest son, Jacobus, married Elizabeth Jan- sen. They lived on what is now known as the John H. Wurts farm. Their children were as follows: Maria, who married Josiah LeFevre; Blandina, who married Rolif Elting; Eliza, who married Deyo DuBois; Margaret, who married Cornelius Wurts ; Lewis, who married Christina Hornbeck; Daniel, who married Ellen LeFevre; Rachel, who married Wm. Deyo.
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
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THE HOUSE OF ABRAHAM LE FEVRE, ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS AT KETTLEBOROUGH
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Nathaniel's son Lewis kept his father's homestead, an old stone house, which was burned down and rebuilt as a frame house many years ago. Lewis married Rachel Bell. They left but one child, Nathaniel, usually called "Sing" because he was often singing to himself.
Going back now to Abraham, brother of Andries, the other pioneer settler at Kettleborough, we find that he was born in 1716, married Maria Bevier and located at Kettleborough about 1742. His stone house is still standing and is now the tenant house on the Solomon Van Orden farm. Abraham left a family of six sons, John, Solomon, Noah, Nathan, Samuel, Philip, and four daughters, Catharine, Magdalene, Margaret and Rachel. Catharine married Daniel DuBois, Rachel mar- ried Johannes DuBois, Margaret married - -. Vernoy and after his death Abm. Bevier. Magdalene married Andries Le- Fevre, usually called "Flagus," and lived with him in the old LeFevre homestead at New Paltz village. They had no children.
We find that the names of four of Abraham's sons, John, Solomon, Noah and Philip, are recorded as soldiers in the Revolution. Of the army record of Noah we have this brief account : He was a sergeant in Brodhead's Company, Hathorn's Regiment, Orange County Militia. He was at the battle of Stillwater-not under fire, but stationed in the reserve, within hearing of the battle, expecting every moment to get the order to advance. However, night came on before they were needed, and the battle was not renewed the next day. He was, we be- lieve, a three months man and returned home shortly after this battle and was never again engaged. Solomon was a private in the same company with his brother Noah. The two other brothers, John and Philip, were privates in Col. John Cantine's regiment. Philip was stationed at one time in the fort at Wawarsing.
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John, the eldest son of Abraham the pioneer, married Mary LeFevre. He lived in the stone house in which Johnston Has- brouck now resides. This house passed from John to his son Matthew, who married Sarah LeFevre, and from him to his son John M., who resided in his old age at Peekskill. Mat- thew had one brother, Abraham, who lived at Ireland Corners.
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