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 27
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Noah married Cornelia Bevier of New Hurley. He lived in a house built by his father Abraham, the pioneer, where Na- thaniel Deyo now lives. Noah left two sons, John N. (Capt. Hans) and Jonas N., and four daughters, one of whom mar- ried Cornelius DuBois of Marlborough. The first named son married Sarah DuBois, daughter of Cornelius DuBois, Jr., of Poughwoughtenonk. He remained with his father-in-law for several years, until the death of the latter, when in 1817 his father purchased land of Charles Brodhead, to which he moved and there he resided on the place where his son Josiah lived until he removed to this village. Jonas N. married Catharine Budd and after her death Jane Westbrook, widow of Luther Hasbrouck. He occupied the homestead until his death.
Philip, the youngest son of Abram the pioneer, occupied his father's homestead, and had twice as much land as his brothers each had, as he heired the entire portion of his brother Solo- mon, who did not marry. Philip's farm comprised the present farms of his grandsons, Abram and Asa LeFevre, and the Solomon Van Orden farm.
Philip's wife was Elsie DuBois of Wallkill, sister of the wife of his neighbor, Johannes LeFevre (Squire Hans). Their children were Abraham P., Andries P., Solomon P., Magda- lene, who married Mathusalem Elting; Maria, who married Abraham Van Orden, and Sarah.
Abraham P. married Margaret, daughter of Daniel Jansen, and occupied his father-in-law's farm after his death. His
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second wife was Maria Elting, widow of Dr. Bogardus. An- dries P. married Magdalene, daughter of Philip Elting. He lived in the house built for him by his father, where his son Asa now lives. Solomon P. married Sarah, daughter of Philip Deyo, and after her death Jane, daughter of Ezekiel Elting.
There are two LeFevre burying-grounds at Kettleborough, in one of which Andries and his descendants are interred. In the other the descendants of Abraham are buried. Andries' grave is marked by a stone erected some time after his death by his son Johannes. The burying-ground has been kept in good order.
In 1820 there were eleven families of LeFevres living in Kettleborough. The heads of the families were as follows :
Johannes (Squire Hans), Nathaniel, Lewis, Jacobus, John N., Philip, Solomon P., Andries P., Noah, Jonas N., Matthew J.
THE LEFEVRE FAMILY AT BONTECOE
On the banks of the Wallkill, four miles north of this village, on the farm of Simon LeFevre, stand two old stone houses. A little farther up the Wallkill is the cellar of another, which was torn down about 1825. The locality is dear to the writer as the home of his childhood. The first half dozen years of his life were spent in the northernmost of these houses. Here father and grandfather and great-grandfather and great-great- grandfather tilled the soil.
The surroundings have changed considerably since the days of childhood. But the house is there and the Wallkill is there, and a portion at least of the old grove of pear trees on the bank of the stream. The well is unchanged, and the low cellar with its immense beams, and the old loft, and the curious little closets and carved chimney front, where the Franklin used to stand in old days. The Franklin is gone and most of the orch-
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ard is gone and the kitchen has been torn down, but most in- teresting of all, there still remains the "Slawbonk"-the square bunk, let down from the chimney side in the living room of the house, open in the evening and closed up in the day-time. Here, when the writer was a little fellow, three brothers lay side by side. Here, father tells us, when he was a boy also three little children lay side by side.
The "rift" in the Wallkill is not the same as of old, for the hateful "rebel" weeds have found a foothold there, but the swimming place is unchanged.
But from a description of the place we must pass to our account of the houses and the people that lived in them.
The old houses have been occupied by tenants for half a century. For the same period there has been but one family of LeFevres in the neighborhood.
But, next to New Paltz, Bontecoe is perhaps the oldest set- tled place in this vicinity, and many years before the Revolu- tion there were three families of brothers-sons of Isaac Le- Fevre, living at this locality. Scattered over Ulster county and elsewhere there is now quite a numerous tribe that can trace their ancestry to one or another of these three brothers.
Simon LeFevre, the Patentee, left three sons, named Andre, Jean and Isaac. The first named kept the homestead in this village ; Jean lived in the house on the Plains, torn down about 1885, and Isaac, who was born in 1683 --- half a dozen years after the first settlement of the place-moved to Bontecoe, four miles north of the village. The date of his settlement at Bon- tecoe was about 1718, when he was married and was 35 years old. His wife was Maria, daughter of Hugo Freer, Senior.
The original house in which Isaac LeFevre first lived at Bontecoe was on the bank of the Wallkill a few rods north of
28
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the southernmost of the two old stone houses of Simon Le- Fevre, now standing.
This pioneer house was destroyed by fire when Isaac's chil- dren were quite small-the oldest about ten years old. The parents had gone to the Paltz on a winter's evening visit to friends, leaving the little children, four sons and a daughter, at home and with the doors locked.
The house caught fire in some inanner not related. The oldest son, Isaac, was sometimes able to unbolt the cellar door, but at other times his strength was not sufficient. In this case he was able to move the bolt and the little ones escaped and found shelter at an outbuilding-a bee house. Here their parents found them on their return from their visit, safe and unhurt.
The house which had been burned was replaced by a new one at about the same site. Here we may suppose that Isaac LeFevre lived and died in peace. No Indians troubled the settlers. Bontecoe land in those early days was noted for the production of wheat. Although four miles from the old set- tlement at the Paltz, we may suppose that the family of Isaac LeFevre was not lonesome, for the whole community of settlers had a joint ownership and cultivated in common the "Bontecoes"-necks of good land, of which there were at least four lying in the bends of the Wallkill between New Paltz and Isaac's house.
There is still in existence an ancient paper, written in Dutch, which is the quit claim from his brothers and sisters to Isaac for their interest in the property at Bontecoe.
It must be noted that these first settlers cared nothing for the upland, and it was not until the last century that much of the upland was cleared off. So late as 1810 there were but
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two clearings east of the old homestead in all the Gerhow neighborhood.
There are no tales of encounters with Indians, and no very exciting ones of wild animals. In one case the story goes that two of the sons of Isaac LeFevre found the tracks of a "pan- ther" around the house in the morning, after a heavy fall of snow. They followed the tracks and, after a weary tramp, found the animal in a tree.
One of the brothers laid his gun over the shoulder of the other to get a good aim, then fired and killed the savage beast.
It is related of Isaac LeFevre, that being in Albany once on some business, he ran a foot race and that while the race was in progress his friends to cheer his drooping spirits cried to him in the French language, "Courage Isaac." He won the race. One son of Isaac, who bore his father's name, went to the Potomac, lived there a while, then returned home and died. He was never married. Four other children, three sons and one daughter, married and left families. The oldest son, Petrus, was born in 1720, December 25th. He died in 1806, aged 85 years. He married Elizabeth Vernooy and occupied his father's homestead. The next son, Johannes, was born in 1722, October 10th. He married Sarah Vernooy and for him a stone house was built about 150 yards farther up the Wall- kill. Daniel, the youngest son, was born in 1725, November 8th. He married, in 1750, Catharine Cantine, who was the granddaughter of Moses Cantine, who married the widow of Simon LeFevre, the Patentee. The house in which Daniel lived was about 150 yards down the Wallkill from the one in which his father had spent his days and which the oldest son, Petrus, continued to occupy.
Besides these three sons mentioned, Isaac LeFevre had one daughter, Mary, who married Col. Johannes Hardenburgh, Jr.,
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HOUSE BUILT BY MAJ. ISAAC LE FEVRE ON THE SITE OF THAT OF HIS GRANDFATHER ISAAC
For a number of years one of the most interesting relics in the Memorial House has been a pair of skates on which Maj. Isaac LeFevre skated, about 1795, from the Strand at Rondout to Albany, returning in time for supper in company with Peter LeFevre, who was the son of the Major's cousin Isaac, who lived close by. This Peter afterwards moved from Bontecoe to Green- field in the town of Wawarsing, where he lived to be a very old man. His picture has been placed in the Memorial House. The two young men had not meant to come back from Albany that day but a snow storm threatened and they were afraid of being storm staid. Probably they did not have money enough in their pockets to pay for a week's board at Albany or to pay their way back home by stage. The distance from Rondout to Albany is about 60 miles ; so the two young men must have skated 120 miles that day.
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of Esopus, who owned a large tract of country at Swartekill and saw much active service in the Revolutionary war. Isaac LeFevre died October 31, 1752, aged 69 years. He was buried in the Freer burying-ground about two miles north of his house.
PETRUS, THE OLDEST SON AND HIS DESCENDANTS
The oldest son, Petrus, occupied his father's house during a long life. Tradition says that Petrus LeFevre could have claimed the entire estate, under the old English law, but that he shared it equally with his brothers.
Petrus died in 1806, at the age of 85, and is buried in the old family burying-ground on the farm of Simon LeFevre. Petrus left a large family of sons and daughters, as follows: Jacob, Isaac, Cornelius, John P., Sarah, Jane and Ann. Jacob, the oldest son, married Lydia Deyo, and lived near this village, on the other side of the Wallkill, where Jacob Wurts now lives. He was the father of Christopher LeFevre and Tjerck.
Christopher's family lived after his death in this village, in the house now owned and occupied by Josiah J. Hasbrouck.
Petrus' next son was Isaac, Major Isaac, as he was called. He married Catharine Burhans. He built a new house where his father had lived. This was the third house on that site and is still standing. It was a fine house in its day. He was a noted man and a famous surveyor.
Major Isaac afterwards moved to Rifton and built a large frame house, which is still standing. The Major was one of the best remembered men of that period. He was a member of the Legislature in 1803, and Supervisor of New Paltz in 1807 and 1808.
After moving to Swartekill he was Supervisor of the town of Esopus from 1820 to 1825. He was at one time a State sur- veyor, going on this business a great distance from home.
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About all the surveys in this vicinity for a long period were made by him. His children were: Eliza B., Peter E., William, Jane Catharine, Anna Maria, Henry, Alfred, Salley Margaret and Elias.
Petrus' next son was Cornelius, who married Maritje Van Wagenen and moved to Creek Locks or LeFevre Falls. He was the father of Peter C., Isaac C. and Washington.
Cornelius was Supervisor of the town of Hurley from 1839 to 1841. Hurley at that time included a considerable portion of the town of Rosendale, which was not created as a town until 1844.
The other son of Petrus, John P., settled at first at Swarte- kill and afterwards exchanged property with his brother Isaac and moved to the old Bontecoe homestead. His widow, whose maiden name was Mary Hardenburgh, long survived him and occupied the old homestead with her family until it was sold, about 1840.
Besides these sons, Petrus left three daughters, one of whom married Samuel DuBois of New Paltz, another Charles Har- denburgh of Esopus, and another married Elias Bevier and moved to Broome county.
This ends the history of the most central and oldest of the three stone houses, as far as it was owned by the family who built it. It passed into the hands of strangers about 1840, and from that time to the present has frequently changed hands. It is now owned by Simon LeFevre.
We will now take up the history of the northernmost of the three houses, which was built for Daniel LeFevre, the great- grandfather of the writer.
Daniel LeFevre was born November 8, 1725, and died Feb- ruary 10, 1800, aged 74 years. He is buried in the old family
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
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TREE NEAR CELLAR OF JOHANNES LE FEVRE'S HOUSE
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burying-ground, and the spot is marked by a stone of the species of brown sandstone used in those days. Daniel always lived in the house which is still standing-the northernmost of the three. Slavery existed in New York in those days, and in his will Daniel disposed of four slaves. We have no record of any notable events in his life, and believe that he lived as a quiet citizen. Not long ago we looked over his will and, from the expressions contained therein, we doubt not that he was a pious, God-fearing man. The north room, now standing, was added to the house in Daniel's day.
Daniel had two brothers-in-law, Johannes Hardenburgh, Jr., and John Cantine, who were colonels in the patriot army, and another brother-in-law, Matthew Cantine, who was a member of the Council of Safety, but he did not serve himself in the army and was too old in fact. Daniel's Bible in Dutch, con- taining the family record in English, is in the Memorial House in New Paltz, likewise his old arm chair.
Daniel left but one son, Peter, born in 1759, February 10, and two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Mary married Jona- than Deyo and lived with him near the place where his great- grandson, Perry Deyo, lately lived, near the village. Elizabeth married Matthew LeFevre and lived with him in the old homestead of Jan LeFevre, on the Paltz Plains.
Peter LeFevre continued to occupy the old homestead of his father Daniel. By his father's will he received that por- tion of his estate lying west of the Black Creek swamp.
JOHANNES LEFEVRE'S HOUSE
We will leave for the present the history of the descendants of Daniel LeFevre, who continued to occupy his homestead, and pass to the other brother, Johannes, who lived all his life
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in the stone house farthest up the Wallkill, of which the cellar is still seen but the house has been long torn down.
We have stated that Johannes was born in 1722, and that he married Sarah Vernooy. Johannes died June 27, 1771, at the comparatively early age of 49 years, and was buried in the old family burying-ground, on the farm of Simon LeFevre. Jo- hannes left but one child, a son named Isaac, who married Mary LeFevre, daughter of Andries, the first settlers in Kettle- borough. Isaac occupied his father's homestead all his life. He died in middle age, leaving a large family of children. His widow married again, her second husband being Capt. Abm. Deyo, who was a widower at this time, living in the old Deyo homestead in this village. She did not move to her second husband's home, but continued to reside at Bontecoe. She bore one son as the fruit of this second marriage. This child was named Abram. His mother died when he was an infant, only a few days old, and he was taken on a pillow to his mother's brother, Johannes LeFevre, at Kettleborough. Afterwards this infant became Judge Abram A. Deyo of Modena.
The family of Isaac LeFevre, after the death of their mother, scattered. Both parents were dead. The farm was sold to Benj. Deyo, who afterwards traded it with Jacob J. Hasbrouck, who thus became owner of the old homestead, and shortly afterwards moved to Bontecoe and built the brick house which his grandson Luther now owns. Soon afterwards, about 1830, this old stone house was torn down.
This Isaac, son of Johannes, was an only child, but his family was large enough to make ample amends. His children were John I., Andries, Rachel, Peter, Daniel, Sarah and Gitty. These children scattered far and wide. Daniel settled in Dela- ware county, and two of his sons afterwards carried on busi- ness in Johnstown, Fulton county, and afterward they both
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resided in Albany. John I. settled at Elmore's Corner, and afterwards at Highland. Andries, Peter and Rachel located in the town of Wawarsing-the two boys at. Greenfield, on land coming from their grandmother Vernooy-Rachel married John Brodhead at Lurenkill, father of Henry, Andrew and others. Sarah married Abram N. LeFevre and lived near Modena in the house now occupied by H. B. LeFevre. Gitty married Dr. John Bogardus, who was a leading citizen of New Paltz in 1830. John I., the eldest son, who settled at Elmore's Corners and afterwards moved to Highland, carried on busi- ness on the dock. He ran for State Senator once, but was beaten by Wells Lake. He was Supervisor of New Paltz in 1816 and 1817. He left but one son, Alexander, who for many years was on the barge running from Highland.
This completes the history of the third house and the family who built it.
The northernmost of the three old stone houses still remained in the family and Grandfather Peter LeFevre remained the sole representative of the old settlers' stock. He was of pure French blood, and was a tall, spare, dark-complexioned man. Being an only son, he was well educated for those days. He was a lad of seventeen at the time of the Declaration of Ameri- can Independence. He did some service in the patriot cause as a teamster, going with a load of arms to the American army. Part of the time during the war he had charge of the ferry of his uncle, Moses Cantine, at Ponckhockie.
He married, in 1789, Magdalen, daughter of Roelif J. El- ting. Grandfather had something of a taste for politics. He was Supervisor of the town in 1797-8, and a member of the Legislature in 1799. We have seen the curious-looking old knee breeches worn by him when in the Legislature. For a long time he was one of the associate judges of Ulster county,
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and in that capacity transacted a great amount of business. The book in which he recorded a summary statement of the cases which were tried before him is still in the possession of the family. He also performed a great amount of business in the way of drawing up wills, deeds and legal papers generally. We believe that most of the papers of that nature in New Paltz were written by him. The desk on which this work was done about 1800, is now in possession of the writer.
Peter LeFevre left four sons, Daniel, Ralph, Moses P. and Josiah P. ; also four daughters : Maria (wife of Jacob Jansen), Jane, Elizabeth (second wife of Jacob Elting) and Magdalen, who was the last survivor. Daniel, the eldest son, married Mary Blanshan, widow `of Abm. Hasbrouck, and settled on la portion of his father's estate, where his sons Peter D. and Silas afterwards lived, in the present town of Rosendale. Daniel was a general of militia in the old times, and a Mem- ber of Assembly in 1834. He was a short, stout-built, black- eyed man, a surveyor as well as a farmer. Although a strong, robust man, he died at the early age of forty-five.
Ralph, the second son, married Rachel Elting. He lived on the portion of his father's estate in the present town of Rosendale, where his son Josiah R. afterwards lived, near his brother Daniel. Afterwards he moved to the farm in Lloyd, where his sons, Peter R. and Josiah R., afterwards lived.
Moses married Jane Brodhead and had one son, Peter, and one daughter, Magdalen.
Josiah P. married Elizabeth LeFevre and had one daughter, Jane, and six sons, Johannes, Peter A., Ralph, Isaac, Moses and Simon. Josiah P. was a colonel of militia in the old days and a number of years Supervisor of the town.
We have alluded to the practice of the old people of bestow- ing names upon the clearings which they opened in the forest. The name "Vantyntje" (spring field) still is borne by one of
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IN THIS HOUSE THE AUTHOR SPENT HIS EARLY YEARS. IT WAS OCCUPIED BY HIS FATHER, JOSIAH P., HIS GRANDFATHER PETER AND HIS GREAT GRANDFATHER, DANIEL LE FEVRE. THIS HOUSE IS NOW OWNED BY THE AUTHOR
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the best fields on the old farm. The name "Maugerstuck" (poor field) has been dropped for the more pretentious one of flat meadow. A sandy knoll on the land of Abram Ean, a short distance south of the LeFevre burying-ground, is still called by the Eans Daun Favre's bowery. At some distance east of the public highway a clearing of perhaps twenty acres was made about 1815, but the rest of Daniel LeFevre's land east of the highway remained a forest until a comparatively recent period.
Farming in Bontecoe and at New Paltz in those days was very much as it had been for the hundred of years preceding.
Some of the old people, instead of having a farm in one body, had a piece of land here and another there. This came from dividing the land among the children.
The highways were not fenced until perhaps 1825. There was but little travel in those days, and when people journeyed they had to stop and open the gates.
We spoke of Major Isaac LeFevre building the southern- most of the stone houses still standing. He also built a barn on the same premises, which was torn down about 1850. Part of the timber of this old barn was of yellow pine and was hauled all the way from Greenfield, in the town of Wawarsing, where his mother, who was a Vernooy, owned land. This barn was torn down by Josiah P. LeFevre, and some of this yellow pine lumber put into his barn which he was then build- ing where he afterwards resided. We can not imagine why it was considered necessary to draw the lumber so far.
We must confess that as a general rule, the old people at Bontecoe or elsewhere were not apparently inclined to over- work themselves. Had they been bent in that direction, the cellars might have been dug deeper, so that one would not be obliged to stoop so much in entering them. Slavery, as it
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existed here and in the South, doubtless prevented the whites from exerting themselves as they do at the present day. What work great-grandfather Daniel LeFevre found for four slaves to do on no greater quantity of cleared land than he had we cannot guess. As an instance, perhaps exaggerated, of man- agement in the olden times, it is related that the well on the Petrus LeFevre place near by, not being in good order, in- stead of deepening it. or digging another, it was filled up, and thenceforth. when drinking water was needed, some one of the family paddled out on the Wallkill and sank a jug down where the springs bubbled up in the stream. There was less necessity for hard labor in those old days than at present. There was little market for produce. The horses and cattle ran in the woods and stock was branded. Grandfather's branding iron is still preserved and is now in the Memorial House. We may imagine that snow fell to a greater depth then than of late years, for a pair of snow shoes of the olden times made of thongs of deer hide, intersecting each other and stretching from side to side of a wooden frame, is among the other old articles that we have seen.
One of the undertakings. 100 years ago or more, was to build a wall a part of the way across the Wallkill and put in timbers for the purpose of constructing a fish weir, just below Daniel LeFevre's house. But the wall raised the water in the stream so much that the project was abandoned.
The building of the mill at Dashville about 1810 was another enterprise of considerable moment for those old days. The deed for this property was procured by grandfather of G. Hardenburgh. Jr., and the mill erected by him, in partnership with his brothers-in-law. Philip and Ezekiel Elting. Before that time handmills had been in use although not in New Paltz,
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and Levi Schryver informs us that he has seen a handmill used at Swartekill to supply the neighborhood.
As a general rule it must be confessed, perhaps, that the Bontecoe people in the Colonial period did not show any very remarkable degree of enterprise. But on the other hand, if they did not work themselves to death, at least they lived to- gether in harmony, none of them sold whiskey, they treated their slaves well, no family quarrels are recorded, they lived on good terms with their neighbors. None of them in those old days were as rich as certain members of the Elting or Hasbrouck family at New Paltz; but on the other hand, they were generally quite well to do-not poverty stricken by any means.
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