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 30
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Tradition says that when Roelif came from Kingston to
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New Paltz he had a belt of gold around his waist. He was one of the justices of the county before moving to New Paltz. He became a man of much influence in the little settlement, and in 1728 was still one of the justices of the county. Roelif was an executor of the will of his father-in-law, Abm. Du- Bois, who died in 1731 and was the last survivor of the twelve patentees, as stated on his tombstone, still standing in the old burying-ground in this village. We can not state the exact date of the death of Roelif Eltinge or the place of his burial. His will, a copy of which is in the possession of Jacob Eltinge, is dated in 1745 and probated in 1747. It is in English. In this will, after provision is made for the support of the widow, the son, Noah, is given the homestead on which he afterwards resided and certain lands in the New Paltz Patent. The grandson, Roelif Elting, son of the testator's son Abraham, late of the Potomac, is given certain sums of money and land which is to be sold. His uncles, Josiah and Noah, are made his guardians until he arrives at the age of 21 years. The testator's eldest son, John of Mormel (Marble- town), is given certain property and tan pits in the corporation of Kingston; to John and his sons, Peter and Roelif, are given a share in certain lands in the Paltz Patent. The will gives to the testator's son Josiah the property which he had purchased of his brother-in-law, Abraham DuBois, and a share in certain undivided lots in the Patent. The daughter, Jacomyntje, wife of Wm. Codebec, and the daughter Mar- garet, wife of Abraham Bevier, are given certain sums of money to be paid by their brothers. The sons, John, Josiah and Noah, are appointed executors.
ROELIF ELTINGE'S CHILDREN
Roelif's sons, Noah and Josias, settled at New Paltz. Noah, who was born in 1721, lived in the homestead of his father on
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the Plains, where his descendants have lived ever since. He married his cousin, Jacomyntje Elting, October 16, 1742. They had but one child, Sarah, who married Dirck Wynkoop. Though his descendants are not numerous, we have more ex- tended information concerning Noah than any man of that day. In 1748 he obtained, in conjunction with Nathaniel Le- Fevre, who lived in the old stone house some distance further north, torn down about 1885, a grant for 3,000 acres of land. This land has remained in the possession of the descendants of each, to a considerable extent, to the present day. This grant was comprised in three tracts, lying on both sides of the Wallkill. The whole, or at least a part of it, had been pre- viously granted to Capt. John Evans, but had been vacated for some cause and the title reassumed by the government. The patent for the 3,000 acres, written on parchment, with the colonial seal, several inches in diameter, attached, was in the possession of Edmund Eltinge. This grant of the 3,000 acres brought a great deal of trouble. It was claimed that the orig- inal Paltz patent covered a part of the tract. Louis Bevier of Marbletown, Col. Abm. Hasbrouck of Kingston and Jacob Hasbrouck, Jr., in behalf of the descendants of the patentees, began proceedings, alleging, furthermore, that Noah had no good title to the homestead, where he resided and which had come to him from his father. Finally the matter was settled without being tried in court. Noah Eltinge and Nathaniel Le- Fevre retained their 3,000 acres, and for a very moderate sum (perhaps enough to pay the expenses of litigation) a release was signed, in 1754, by Jacob Hasbrouck, Jr., Louis Bevier and Col. Abm. Hasbrouck, confirming to Noah Eltinge his title to one lot of 179 acres and another of 22 acres, compris- ing, undoubtedly, the homestead. A full and lengthy account of these matters, drawn up by Noah, was in the possession of Edmund Eltinge.
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The old barn, still standing on this place, is thought to have been built by Roelif Eltinge. It was rebuilt in 1811. The timbers are of pitch pine, which formerly grew to some extent along the Plattekill. Noah was the first elder in the Confer- entia church at New Paltz, which was organized in 1767. In 1773 he owned one-seventeenth of all the undivided land in the Paltz patent. The road from Plattekill to New Paltz was laid out in Noah Eltinge's day, and among his docu- ments is one throwing some light on this matter. Noah El- tinge died in 1778, aged 57 years, and is interred in the old graveyard in this village. By his side is the grave of his wife, who died in 1790, aged 75 years. We have said that Noah Eltinge left but one child, a daughter named Sarah, who married Dirck Wynkoop and continued to occupy her father's homestead. Dirck Wynkoop was a prominent man. He was one of the delegates from this county to the conven- tion in Poughkeepsie which decided to adopt the Federal con- stitution. Mr. Wynkoop voted against the measure. During his lifetime he held various important public positions. Dirck and wife left but two children, both daughters, Gertrude, who married Alexander Colden and afterwards David Colden, and Cornelia, who married Peter Eltinge. Peter was the son of William, who was the grandson of William, who was the sec- ond son of the original Jan Eltinge of Kingston. Peter con- tinued to occupy the old homestead up to the time of his death, and it was afterwards occupied by his son Edmund Peter Elting's son Derick W., who inherited a large portion of the estate, and lived in the brick house on the Modena road, was the most extensive farmer in the town of New Paltz.
The history of the family of Noah Eltinge being brought down to modern times, we will take up that of his brother, Josias (or Josiah), baptized October 12, 1712, and this should
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ยท take more space, as his descendants are more numerous. There is no reasonable doubt that Josiah lived in the old Eltinge house, still standing, on Huguenot street, nearly opposite the late residence of Mrs. Berry. This house bore on one of its chimneys till recently the date 1735. It was originally a Bevier house, but passed into the possession of the Eltings about 1740. Josiah married Helena, daughter of Solomon DuBois, July 15, I734. In a tax list dated 1765 Josiah's name appears as the wealthiest man in the town. To a list of owners of slaves, dated in 1755, Josiah's name is signed as captain. In the building of the Conferentia church his name and that of Hen- dricus DuBois appear as the most liberal subscribers. We do not know when Josiah Eltinge died. Doubtless he was in- terred in the old burying-ground in this village, and it is singular that no stone marks his grave. Josiah left one daugh- ter, Catharine, who married Jacobus Hardenbergh of Hurley, and four sons as follows: Roelif J., Abram, Cornelius and Solomon. The last named left no children. Cornelius mar- ried Blandina Elmendorf and settled in Hurley, where he left a line of descendants. Abram married Dinah DuBois and located where his son Philip, his grandson, Mathusalem and his great-grandson, Sol. L. F., have since resided. Roelif J. married Maria Low, daughter of Johannes M. Low. He occupied his father's homestead in this village and carried on the mercantile business.
THE ELTINGE HOMESTEAD
We have a feeling of pity for any one who does not love old houses, something akin to the pity we would feel for any one who says he does not love flowers or the song of birds. In the whole village there is no more interesting house than the one we are about to describe. There are none about which
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THE ELTINGE HOMESTEAD, ORIGINALLY THE BEVIER HOUSE
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ 489
cluster more associations and traditions, and there is probably no old house in the county that has sheltered beneath its roof the ancestors of so numerous a line of descendants, now liv- ing. What makes this old structure much more interesting is the fact that there has been no attempt to spoil it by modern improvements. This house is now the property of Jacob El- tinge's sons. It is about 50 feet in length and 25 feet wide. It has evidently been built at two different periods-the rear or eastern end last. On this eastern end the chimney bore until a few years ago the figures 1735. The western end, which fronts on the street, is evidently the oldest portion of the build- ing, but there is no date to determine its age exactly. Before entering we must notice the well, which is about 20 feet deep, the water of excellent quality and the stones covered with moss and ferns all the way from top to bottom. Every Eltinge who visits the home of his ancestors must take a drink from this well. The house is shaded by locust trees, such as the old folks used to plant. On the north side of the building the roof pro- jects a dozen feet and the earth is paved with flat stones. Here we are told the people used to sit in the olden times on Sunday and chat until the bell summoned them to attend Divine ser- vice at church. Looking at the house we notice the gutters sustained in part on stones projecting from the wall; also the old shutters, held open by long, twisted hooks. No regulation style of architecture seems to have existed in the early days of the settlement. In this house the window above the door with its ten small panes was doubtless considered quite an attempt at style in its day. The main window by the side of the door is very grand with its 30 panes of 7x9 glass. Entering at the front door we find a room which in the old times has been about 16x24 and this is undoubtedly the room in which the merchant's wares were kept. From floor to beams above
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is a distance about eight feet and the great beams are about IOX15. In the chimney still hangs the crane.
Descending to the cellar we find the most interesting portion of the building. Here is a sub-cellar, which now exists in none of the other old houses. This sub-cellar is under the other cellar and is about four feet deep and walled all round, the mortar being made of loam and the floor of the cellar proper resting on these walls. Although there is no drain the ground is dry as dust owing to its porous, gravelly nature. The chimney is about ten feet wide in the cellar and on the east side there has been evidently an oven. In the cellar is a fireplace and an outside door. The sub-cellars, where they ex- isted in the old houses, were, we understand, for wine cellars, to be used in the storing of liquors. Ascending now to the first floor we notice the huge door frames, of pitch pine tim- ber, 12x6 inches and fastened together by wooden pins. The nails used in the building are hand-made and the work of the home carpenter is to be seen in the planing of the timbers. Ascending the back stairs by the original staircase we notice that it has no banister, and doubtless many children and prob- ably some grown people have got a tumble in descending it. One room on the stairs has been finished off, but in the rest of the house there is nothing overhead but the roof and rafters. The rafters are very heavy-about 6x4 inches. The floor boards are of pitch pine, about 15 inches wide. The bricks in the chimneys are of the same length as modern brick, but only about 11/2 inches thick. Probably they were brought across the ocean as ballast and hauled from Kingston. The mortar used in the building is of loam, lime and chopped straw. The stone in the walls are only such as a farmer would use in building an ordinary stone fence, but the ex- cellence of the mortar has held the stones together until the present day.
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So ends our description of the house of the richest man in the town in 1765, for as such do we find Josiah Eltinge's name in a tax list of that date. From Josiah Eltinge the old home- stead passed to his son, Roelif J., who owned it during the Revolutionary period. In the contest between the Coetus and Conferentia parties in the church a few years before the Revo- lutionary war, which doubtless shook the little community to its center, Roelif sided with the latter party, attended their church when erected, near Mr. Wm. H. D. Blake's, and when after a few years the quarrel was settled and the church had stood, unused for awhile, he removed it to this village.
Roelif J. Eltinge is buried in the old graveyard in this vil- lage and his tombstone, of dark sandstone, states that he died on the 21st of July, 1796, aged 58 years, 6 months and 4 days. By his side is another tombstone, stating that "Mary Louw wife of R. Elting, departed this life Aug. 24th, 1800, aged 62 years and 7 days." This couple left five sons : Josiah, Ezekiel, Solomon, John, Roelif ; also four daughters: Magda- len, Sarah, Catharine and Maria. Each of these nine children of Roelif J. married and settled in this vicinity and each one raised a large family of children.
Josiah, the eldest son, married Sarah LeFevre and settled on the Turnpike where his grandson, Philip L. F., now lives. Josiah had eight children, who grew up and married, of whom the last survivor was Gitty, wife of Cornelius D. LeFevre. Josiah's sons were Andries, Roelif and Abm. D. B. The daughters of Josiah were Maria, wife of Dr. John Bogardus and afterward of Abm. P. LeFevre; Rachel, wife of Ralph LeFevre; Cornelia, wife of Peter Deyo, and Magdalen, wife of Derick W. Elting.
Ezekiel, Roelif J.'s second son, kept the old homestead and long carried on the mercantile business in partnership with his cousin, Philip Elting, who was also his brother-in-law. Later
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in life, in 1800, Ezekiel built the large stone house where Jesse M. Elting lived many years in our day. Here the mer- cantile business continued to be carried on. Ezekiel married Magdalen Elting and they left a family of eight children, of whom Jacob Elting of Clintondale was the last survivor. The other children of Ezekiel were Solomon, Alexander, Dinah, Maria, Sarah, Catharine and Jane. All of these lived in New Paltz or adjoining towns except Alexander, who located at Owasco in western New York. Dinah married C. Brodhead and long carried on the milling business at Dashville Falls, Maria married Andries DuBois, Catharine married Andries Deyo. Ezekiel's son Solomon lived two or three years in the "Old Homestead" and afterwards lived and carried on the mercantile business in the store across the street from the Huguenot Bank. Solomon was elected sheriff of the county in 1837. He was the father of Abm. V. N. of this village and Ezekiel of Highland.
Going back now to the next son of Roelif J., who was named Solomon, we find that he was first married to Cornelia Le- Fevre and afterwards to Rachel Eckert and left a family of eleven children, of whom Tobias was the last survivor. Sev- eral of this family located at a distance. Roelif, the eldest son, lived on South street in Lloyd. There were only two other sons, David and Solomon, the rest of the eleven children being daughters.
The next of Roelif J.'s sons, John, married Jane Wurts and lived in Esopus opposite Hyde Park. He left four daughters and only one son, George, who has a son, John, who is now and has been for many years engaged in business in this vil- lage. Roelif J.'s son Roelif lived in the north part of the village, where Philip D. Elting now lives. He married Dinah Elting. They left a family of four sons and five daughters,
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not any of whom located in this vicinity. Roelif built the dyke along the Wallkill about 1795. Three of the sons were Daniel of Ellenville and Brodhead and Ezekiel of Port Ewen.
We have said that Roelif J. left four daughters, Magdalen, Sarah, Catharine and Maria. All of these married in this town and all left large families of children. . The eldest daugh- ter, Magdalen, married Peter LeFevre and they left a family of nine children, of whom Moses P., Magdalen and Josiah P. were the last survivors, the two first named each living until upwards of 90 years of age. Magdalen, who died in 1900, aged nearly 93 years, was the last survivor of the 77 grand- children of Roelif J. Elting.
The next of Roelif J.'s daughters, Sarah, married Wm. Deyo and lived with him on what is now Oscar Tschirkey's farm, about four miles north of this village. This couple raised a family of five sons and six daughters, all of these eleven marrying and nearly all settling in this immediate vicinity. The sons of this family were William W., Roelif, Ezekiel, Cornelius and Abram W.
Roelif J.'s next daughter, Catharine, married Philip Elting and they lived about a mile north of this village, where their grandson, Sol. L. F., now lives. This couple left seven chil- dren who reached maturity and five married.
Roelif J.'s youngest daughter, Maria, married Garret Du- Bois. They lived on the eastern bank of the Wallkill near the Libertyville ford where Garret L. DuBois lately resided. This couple left four sons, Henry, Jacob, Roelif and Solomon, all of whom married, and three daughters, Catharine, Re- becca and Maria. Of this family Solomon, who lived at Vigo, Ross county, Ohio, was the last survivor.
In all Roelif J. Elting and his wife had 77 grandchildren who grew up. Most of these married and settled in this
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vicinity. There is such a host of the second cousins that the old homestead would not begin to hold them.
Abram, son of Josiah and brother of Roelif J., located where his great-grandson, Sol. L. Eltinge, now lives, about a mile north of this village, which place has been in pos- session of his descendants ever since. Abram married Dinah, daughter of Hendricus DuBois of Nescatack. They left four sons, Josiah, Henry, Noah and Philip, and two daughters, Jane and Margaret; also one son, Jacobus, by the second wife, Dorothy Bessimer. Of these sons Philip kept his father's homestead. He carried on the mercantile business in this vil- lage, many years in partnership with his cousin, Ezekiel El- tinge, who was also his double brother-in-law (each marrying the other's sister) in the stone house with a brick front, now owned by his great grandson, Arthur Elting.
Abram's son Josiah married Hester Brodhead and, together with his brother Henry, who did not marry, built, about 1786, the brick house now owned and occupied by Mr. Terpenning, about 21/2 miles north of this village and which is by far the oldest brick house in this town. Josiah died in 1813, May 15th, aged 52 years, and his wife, Hester, in 1848, at the ripe age of 86 years. Both lie buried in the northwest corner of the old graveyard in this village. Josiah left four sons, Cor- nelius, Abm. J., Charles and Richard. The last named studied medicine and located in Rondout, where he became a very noted physician. Charles lived on part of the old homestead and built his house where his grandson, Watson, lived. Abm. . J. lived for a time in the brick house of his father. One of Abm. J.'s sons, Edgar, became a doctor and settled in Kings- ton. Another, Norman, was educated at West Point Military Academy and was in the service of the government a con- siderable time.
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HOUSE BUILT BY JOSIAH ELTING -THE OLDEST BRICK HOUSE IN THE TOWN
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We will now take up the history of Abram Elting's son Noah, who was born in 1763. He married Hannah Deyo and located at New Paltz Landing on a tract of 500 acres. His house was built near the ferry landing. He established the ferry to Poughkeepsie, which at first was propelled by oars and sails, giving place afterwards to horse power, and finally to steam as the propelling force. Noah died in 1813 and is buried in the old cemetery at Highland. His brother Henry, of whom we have previously spoken, died three years earlier and is buried in the same cemetery. Noah left a family of five sons, viz .: Abram, Henry D., Joseph, Philip and David. Abram commenced the freighting business by running a sloop to New York about the time of the close of the second war with England and he continued in the business for perhaps 40 years, his son Luther being latterly associated with him and the sloop giving place to a barge. Noah's son Philip erected the first buildings, in the present village of Highland, about 1825.
Going back now to the family of Abram's son Philip at New Paltz, who we have said lived about a mile north of this village and long carried on the mercantile business here, we find that he married Catharine Eltinge. They left a family of three sons, Moses, Mathusalem and Jesse, and five daughters, Maria, Rebecca, Dinah, Magdalen and Gertrude. Mathusalem occupied the homestead of his father up to the time of his. death, since which time it has been occupied by the son, Solomon L. F. Other sons were Philip P. and Jesse M.
Right here we will note a curious instance of heredity from a female ancestor. The Eltings are not generally noted for their large size, but, as we have stated, Abram Elting married Dinah, daughter of Hendricus DuBois. The family of Hen- dricus were noted for their goodly stature, a saying of an old
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negro being still remembered that more large people had prob- ably come out of his house than any other in the country. Now, among the descendants of Abram Elting and his wife, Dinah DuBois, are found to this day men of large size. The Eltings, not descended from this line, are not above the aver- age in physical proportions.
THE HURLEY ELTINGES
The Hurley Eltinges are descended from Cornelius, the son of Josiah and brother of Roelif J., and Abram, who moved from New Paltz about the time of the Revolutionary war and located on a farm about a mile south of Kingston, which is still owned by the family. Cornelius Eltinge married Blandina Elmendorf and left a family of three sons, Solomon, Cornelius and Wilhelmus, and four daughters, Jane, who married Mat- thew Oliver; Polly, who married David Bevier; Blandina, who did not marry, and Katie, who married Dr. Peter Crispell. Two of Cornelius' sons, Wilhelmus and Cornelius, became ministers of the gospel. The first named located at Paramus, New Jersey. Cornelius located at Port Jervis. The son, Solomon, kept his father's homestead at Hurley and he has descendants still living at the place.
Rev. Wilhelmus Elting married Jane Houseman and they had three children, Maria, who married Cornelius Van Winkle, Jane V. W., who married Augustus Hasbrouck of Shawan- gunk, and Cornelius, who married Catharine Hardenburgh, daughter of Jacobus Hardenburgh of Marbletown.
We have now completed the history of the Eltings at New Paltz-the only family not of original Huguenot stock that settled here at an early date and increased and flourished at New Paltz.
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Before closing this chapter we will allude to the personal characteristics of the Eltings, as noted by the old people. They are an active, thrifty, energetic race, given to sociability and hospitality. They have been, with very few exceptions upright, moral and church-going people. Bluntness of speech and positiveness in dislikes and likes may be considered to some extent as family traits. A tendency to turn gray at a comparatively early age has been considered by the old people as a physical characteristic.
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CHAPER XLIV
FAMILIES LIVING IN THE CONGREGATION BUT NOT IN THE PRECINCT OF NEW PALTZ
THE SCHOONMAKER FAMILY IN GARDINER
Hendrick Jochensen Schoonmaker, founder of the Schoon- maker family in America, was a native of Hamburg, Germany. He came to this country from Holland as lieutenant in the mili- tary service of the Dutch East India Company, in 1654. He was sent with his company to Fort Orange (Albany), where he later became an innkeeper. In 1659 he was sent with his com- pany on order of Governor Stuyvesant to the Esopus (Kings- ton) to assist the settlers there in defending themselves against the Indians. He was so attracted by the beautiful lands in the Esopus country that on his return to Fort Orange he sold his property there and located among the people he had been sent to defend. He married, at Fort Orange, Elsie, daughter of Jan Janse Van Breestede. He died in 1681. He left five children, of whom the eldest, Jochem Hendrick, married Petronella Sleght in 1679. After her death he married Ann Hussey. He was one of the pioneer settlers of the town of Rochester and was one of the three trustees to whom a patent was granted in 1703. He died in 1713.
By his first wife he had four children. The eldest of these, Cornelius, B., married, in 1711, Engeltje Roosa. They had three daughters and only one son, Cornelius, who married, in 1744, Arriantje Hornbeck of Rochester.
Cornelius settled on a large tract of land on the north side of Shawangunk, which he purchased from the James Henderson patent, which adjoined on the south the Zachariah Hoffman patent. He died in Shawangunk January 21, 1778.
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He had three sons : Cornelius C., Abraham and Isaac, all of whom located in what is still called Schoonmakertown, in the present town of Gardiner. Abram had a family of seven sons : John A., George, David, Moses, Selah, Cornelius and Abram. All of the sons married and left children. Cor- nelius C. was a member of the Legislature for eleven sessions and was elected a member of Congress in 1790. He had three sons and three daughters. The youngest son, Zachariah, became a lawyer and located in Kingston.
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