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 6
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
and Meaning of These presents In Witness whereof we have hereunto of one Assent and Consent Sett our hands and affixed our Seales This Twenty-first Day of April In the first Year of his Majestys Reigne Anno Dom One Thousand Seven hundred and Twenty-Eight.
Abraham du bois (seal)
Samuel Bevier (seal)
his
Daniel DuBois (seal)
Hugo x frere
(seal)
Jacob hasbrouck (seal)
mark
hanrey doyo (seal)
Andre le fevre (seal)
isaac le Fevre
(seal)
Yan een (seal)
yean le fevre (seal)
his
Solomons has broucq (seal)
Hugo-hu-Frere Junr. (seal)
her
Abraham Bevier (seal)
Louis bevier
(seal)
Elizabet Een (seal)
Sara een (seal)
John x Teerpenningh (seal) mark
MariaMagdalena-M-Een (seal)
Abraham doiau
(seal)
mark
Crestian doio
(seal)
matys slecht juneyer (seal)
Jacob Frere .
(seal)
Anthony Yelverton (seal)
daniel has broucq (seal)
his
mark
Sealed and Delivered by the within Subscribers Abraham DuBois, Hugo Frere, Andri LeFever, Samuel Bevier, Daniel DuBois, Jacob Hasbrouck, Isaac LeFevre, Jean LeFevre, Solo- mon Hasbroucq, Henrey Doyo, Daniel Hasbroucq, Jan E -- Hugo Frere Junr., Abraham Bevier, Louis Bevier, John Teer- penningh, Elizabet Een, Sara Een, Maria Magdelena Een,
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Mattys Slecht Junr. and Abraham Doiou, Jacob Frere, In the presence of us,
AHasbrouck. J. Bruyn, Junr.
Sealed and Delivered by the within subscriber Cristiaen doyo in the presence of us : My 15 : 174 -.
Isaak Doyo. Johannis Lefever.
Sealed and Delivered by the Within Subscribed Anthony Yearenton in the presence of us April 8 Annoy : Dom : 1752. abraham van der marken. Jacobus Has brouck.
Ulster - County .- Ss.
Be it remembered that on the Eight Day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven Hundred and Seventy one, Personally, Came before me Dirck Wynkoop Junr. Esqr. one of the Judges of the Court of Common pleas for said County Coll. Abraham Hasbrouck whome being Duly sworn on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God Deposeth and saith that he wass present and saw, Abraham Dubois, Hugo Frere, Andri LeFever, Jacob Frere, Samuel Bevier, Daniel Dubois, Jacob Hasbrouck, Isaac Le Fever, Jan Le Fevere, Salomons Hasbroucq, Hanrey Deyo, Daniel Hasbroucq, Jan Een, Hugo Frere Jun. Abraham Bevier, Louis Bevier, John Teerpenningh, Elizabet Een, Sara Een, Maria Magdalena Een, Mattys Slecht Jun. and Abraham Deiou, Syn, Seal and Deliver the within Deed, as their Voluntary act and Deed for the use, therein men- tioned, and that at, Same Time, Jacobus Bruyn Junr, and himself Subscribed their names thereto, as, Witnesses, and
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
also, Abraham Deyo, acknowledged, at same time, before me that he had Executed the same deed as his Voluntary act and deed for the use therein mentioned, and that at the same time of Executing this deed, he was underage, but that now acknowl- edges, that the same is his Voluntary act and deed and at same time also appeared, Isaac Doyo, whom being duly sworn on the holy Evangelist of Almight god deposeth and saith, that he was present and saw Christian Doye Syn Seal and deliver the within deed, as his Voluntary act and deed for the use therein mentioned, and that, at same time Johannis Lefever and himself Subscribed their names thereto as Witnesses and also, that on the Tenth day of said month Jacobus Hasbrouck, being duly sworn, as aforesaid saith that he wass present and saw Anthony Yelverton, syn seal and De Liver the within deed as his Volutary act and deed for the use therein men- tioned, and Also, that at same time Abraham Van dermercken and himself had Subscribed their names thereto as Witnesses, and I have perused the same and find no Material Erezures, nor Interlinations therein. Wherefore I do Alow the same to be recorded- D: Wynkoop Jun. .
The Duzine exercised not only the power of dividing land within the Patent, but held full control of the undivided land. In 1729 they gave to Solomon DuBois and his brother, Lewis, who lived outside the Paltz Patent and had no share in it, the privilege of cutting grass on the commons in the same manner as if they were among the proprietors, and likewise "full power and authority at all times forever hereafter to cut down, load, have, take and carry away all manner of Timber, trees and stones standing lying and being within any part of the Commons and without the fences and inclosures of any of the Inhabitants of the New Paltz afore- said."
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
CHAPTER IX
THE INDIANS AND HUNTING STORIES
The Indians make but a small figure in the early history of New Paltz. There is no account of their having ever troubled the inhabitants a particle. This was because the Paltz people had honestly paid for the land and treated the Indians kindly. The last remains of the red men in this locality are said to have lived in a little village on the south bank of the Plattekill, where it empties into the Wallkill. Many arrow heads, both of the kind used in hunting and in war, have been picked up in that locality. The Normal School grounds were an Indian burying ground. An Indian skeleton, with large beads, obtained no doubt from some Dutch trader, was dug up near Mr. Low's brick yard when the railroad was in process of construction.
In the sale of the patent the red men reserved a tract called Ah Qua, southeast of Perrine's Bridge, on account of supposed mineral wealth.
Old stories relate that at butchering time they would visit the farmers' yards to select bits of the entrails of the slaugh- tered animals.
The few remaining at that time went off with Sir John Johnson, the Tory leader in the Revolutionary war. Now and then one would come around with baskets to sell. Once a member of such a company was drowned in the Wallkill, at Libertyville. Then they came no more, saying that the drowned man " spooked " them. One of the last of the Indians was called Tottoi. He would make maple sugar and trade it
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
off for bread. When he died he was wrapped in a coffin of bark and buried by Daniel and Levi Van Wagenen. Probably the last visit of the Indians to this place was about 1820, when two of them came to the reservation at Ah Qua. It is related that at one time Indians came near Dashville and cut some timber for baskets. Some of the people started to drive them away, but Ezekiel Eltinge said "Let them alone; they have the right." His remark was no doubt on account of the reser- vation at Ah Qua.
The Indians kept up the custom of holding kint-a-koys at Ah Qua after the whites had settled around. They would sing and feast as well as dance, and borrow vessels in which to prepare the food for these occasions. No matter how clean these vessels were when borrowed the Indians would wash them. The exact spot on which these kint-a-koys were held was about a half mile southeast of the Bontecoe school-house, where the house and garden of the late Abm. Freer were lo- cated. The Indian title to the reservation at Ah Qua was probably never extinguished, but finally the tract was sold for taxes and in that way became the property of the whites.
There was a family of Indians that would come and live in a hut in the woods of Cornelius DuBois (now the .W. H. D. Blake place), and with his permission cut down any timber they desired, which they would manufacture into scoops and baskets. Stephen G. DuBois tells us that when he was a small child he visited this Indian family many times. There was a little Indian, called Jake, the grandson of the old Indian, who was the head of the family, and who used to shoot squirrels from the trees with his bow and arrows. Stephen tells us that one day, when he was on a visit to the hut, little Jake showed a skill with the bow and arrow nearly equal to that of his grandfather, by shooting a spider on the opposite side of the
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
shanty. After a while the old Indian, who was the head of the family, was accidentally drowned in crossing the Wallkill, which he frequently did to visit a white man, named "Mocky" Wackman, who lived on the other side of the Wallkill, with whom he was very friendly. After his death the family offered a portion of his clothing to "Mocky," who, thinking it a pity to take any of the poor Indian's clothes, declined the gift, when the garment was instantly tossed into the fire.
The following story Aunt Judy Jackson relates as having happened in her childhood days, about 1812, when she was a slave in the family of Jeremiah Merritt on the county house plains :
Her master in the fall had taken her behind him on horse- back and started for the mountain to bring up the cattle which had been running at large in the woods. It was growing late in the fall and it was time to bring up the stock for the winter.
Suddenly as they were riding along they came upon an In- dian wigwam. Merritt jumped off the horse which he left in her charge and entered the hut. He remained there a long, long time. At last she grew tired and moving up to the wig- wam pushed open the door. There were about a dozen In- dians sitting on the floor engaged in making baskets. One man, who seemed to be the chief, had a ring hanging from his nose. Merritt was talking with the Indians and did not go to the mountains to get the cattle that day. Aunt Judy is posi- tive that those Indians were spies who had come probably from Canada to get what information they could in the interest of the English Government. She says, moreover, that Merritt was a tory and this accounted for the long talk he was having with the Indians in the wigwam. The visit of the Indians attracted great attention and the people from all the country around went to see them.
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Mrs. Edward McEntee's recollections of her early child- hood days, as related to us, contain more accounts of the In- dians than the recollections of any of the other old people with whom we have talked. They probably remained longer in the locality about Rosendale Plains than elsewhere in this vicinity. On the east side of the road was an Indian burying ground. One of the neighbors attempted to plow it up, but the red men made him stop. The Indians had bark wigwams scattered through the woods. The spot where one of these had stood would be marked long after it had disappeared by a patch of tansy, that being a favorite herb with the red men. She says she saw the Indians many times when a child. They were kind people if treated well. In their wigwams they would lie on the floor with their feet to the fire. Sometimes they would pass the house, the pappooses strapped to their father's backs. The little ones would laugh and call to her. When she was a young woman she lived at Benjamin Van Wagenen's in this village. The Indians would come and shoot with bow and arrow at copper coins at a distance of about fifty yards. If they hit the penny they would keep it. (This was a travelling company.) When she was a small child an In-
dian woman would call at the house and delight to play with her, sometimes lifting her up by one arm, but this her mother forbade for fear of injury. At one time there was a wigwam right by her grandfather's door. When the first Freer lo- cated at Bontecoe an Indian set up his wigwam in the clearing. Sometimes he would lie drunk on the door-step. He was not disturbed and after a time went away.
A story related by Aunt Judy Jackson is as follows :
When she was a slave in the family of Andries P. LeFevre at Kettleborough, about 1820, six Indians came dressed in 6
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
women's clothing. They lurked about the neighborhood for some time. At Mrs. Andries J. LeFevre's they tapped on the window. At Matthew LeFevre's they entered the house and talked but little, but asked for buttermilk. The buttermilk was brought from the cellar and then it was discovered that they had on male attire under their female apparel. After a while Daniel Deyo, of Ireland Corners (grandfather of Dr. Abm. Deyo), had the Indians arrested and found that they were armed. They said that they wanted to find John -. Now John - resided in the neighborhood and had confessed to perpetrating an inhuman act of cruelty upon an Indian family. He had entered an Indian wigwam (just where Aunt Judy did not know), and finding a squaw and her pappoose had asked the squaw to go and get him a drink of water. While she was gone he picked up the pappoose and threw it into a pot of boiling water on the fire. He then hid and es- caped the fury of the Indians, who, however, hunted him for years. The Kettleborough people told the Indians that they did not know who John - was. He was living, however, in the neighborhood, and his house at Jenkintown is still standing.
STOLEN BY THE INDIANS
Stephen G. DuBois and his sister, Mrs. Hand, tell us the fol- lowing story as having been related to them by the old folks, but which must be simply another version of the capture of the wife and children of the original Louis DuBois, at King- ston. The event, as related to them, when they were children, took place at Libertyville and is as follows :
A woman named Katrina DuBois (they do not know her husband's name) was carried away captive by the Indians, with an infant in her arms and a child at her side. The hus-
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
band followed in pursuit. He saw a savage in the act of drawing his bow. In his haste and nervousness he could not get the arrow to fit the string. Before he could shoot, DuBois sprang upon him and ran his sword through him with such force that it struck into a tree behind him. This happened near Louis Hasbrouck's present residence, in Libertyville, by the brook now called the Stenykill. DuBois' wife, not recog- nizing the pursuers, started to run with the Indians. DuBois then shouted to his wife, "Trene, stop, or I'll shoot you." Then she recognized his voice and returned.
Both Mr. DuBois and his sister, Mrs. Hand, repeat this story, positively and emphatically, as being told to them by the old people.
Elihu Schoonmaker likewise remembers hearing this story in his young days and says that a black oak tree, at the lo- cality described above, was pointed out to him as marking the spot where DuBois slew the Indian with his sword.
SOME HUNTING STORIES
One of the most interesting chapters of the history of New Paltz might be given to the hunting stories of the olden times. One of most undoubted truthfulness is that of Ephraim Decker, of Shawangunk, who pursued a deer from rock to rock at Paltz Point, until it had descended to its last place of refuge on table rock, called by old people Ephraim's Point. Having no gun, he seized the animal by the horns, and a contest of strength ensued. A companion, who was with Decker, cried out that the infuriated creature would fling him over the cliff, but the intrepid man replied that if he did he would pull him back. Finally, with the aid of his pocket knife, the prize was secured.
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Another hunting story is that of Peter LeFevre, grand- father of the writer, and Louis Hardenburgh, grandfather of the late Senator Jacob Hardenburgh, formerly of Kingston. Louis was a sturdy blacksmith, his shop being located on the public highway about four miles north of this village. Peter LeFevre lived in the old stone house still standing near by. These two followed a bear to her den in the Gerhow region, and Hardenburgh entering the den, slew the brute-an ex- ploit requiring as much courage, perhaps, as the famous ad- ventures of General Putnam and the wolf. But another ver- sion of this story is that one of the hunters shot into the den and killed the bear before Hardenburgh entered it.
Major Isaac LeFevre, of Swartekill, a famous surveyor in his day, was once employed to make surveys in the neighbor- hood of Paltz Point (Sky Top), about 1820, and on drawing toward the rockiest portion of the mountain his employer (Mr. Mullenix) told him to stop, that the rest of the mountain might be left for the foxes. Major Isaac asked him if he would give it to him for his day's work. The reply being in the affirmative, he received twenty acres for his day's work. This he afterwards transferred to Mr. Pell, of Esopus, and it is well settled that this identical tract was the highest part of the mountains, which was never owned by John F. Stokes and was not secured by Mr. A. K. Smiley until some years after his purchase of Mohonk.
One day when Major Isaac LeFevre was going out on a surveying expedition he shot an elk. He dressed the animal and hung it up in a small tree. On his return in the evening he found a deer had been smelling in the carcass of the elk and become fastened by his horns. He dispatched the deer and thought he had done quite as good a day's work at hunt- ing as at surveying.
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Wild turkeys were found in the woods in this vicinity in the old times. Levi Schryver informs us that the locality in Esopus, which still bears the name of Calicoon (turkey) hook, was noted in old times for the wild turkeys found there.
Aunt Judy Jackson's stories concerning the wild animals that roamed the forest in her young days are very thrilling. There were more wild beasts in the Libertyville neighborhood, when she was there, than in the Kettleborough neighborhood, where she afterwards lived. Once, in her childhood, when she was a slave in Jeremiah Merritt's family, she was bringing home the cows when she saw a panther crouched on a limb of a tree overhead. He paid no attention to her but sprang for the cows. He missed his prey and the cattle scattered widely, bellowing as they ran. Shortly afterwards the panther at- tacked a cow belonging to Cornelius DuBois. He was tear- ing her hind quarters when seen. The cow was not dead, but died of her injuries. The panther escaped to the woods.
When Aunt Judy was a slave at Andries P. LeFevre's a panther was shot in the woods of his father, Philip. The ball hit the ferocious beast in the head. He made one tremendous spring for the man who shot him. The man dodged and the panther fell dead on the ground. Aunt Judy says that she has "seen a sight of wild animals in her day, but the panther is the savagest of all."
Wolves and bears were quite numerous, especially on the west side of the Wallkill. Cornelius DuBois, the youngest of the name, brother of Josiah DuBois of Poughwaughtenonk, had a narrow escape from being killed by wolves. He was skating on the Wallkill, alone, when two wolves came out of a pine woods, on the east side of the Wallkill, near Libertyville, and chased him. By skating he kept ahead of them, but grow- ing tired he bethought himself of the dogs at a neighboring
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
house, near the stream. He whistled to the dogs. They came and fought with the wolves. The dogs were killed, but Mr. DuBois escaped with his life.
It must be remembered that these stories which Aunt Judy tells are not what she has heard from older people, but what occurred in the neighborhood while she lived there.
Cornelius DuBois (father of the one just spoken of) owned land on the east side of the Wallkill and had a barrack there where he kept sheep. Farmers stored much of their hay in barracks in those days. Aunt Judy had herself seen wolves in pursuit of these sheep.
Bears would also come around. At one time Aunt Judy noticed that some animal had been injuring the corn in the field. She thought the damage had been done by a cow, but it proved to be the work of a bear.
One man started alone in pursuit of the animal and fol- lowed him to the mountain. Others followed and found the man dead, having, it is thought, run himself to death.
WILD PIGEONS AND LARGER GAME
In those days, about 1820, game was still quite abundant. Nearly every year great flocks of wild pigeons would come and almost every family was provided with nets for catching them and likewise with stool pigeons. Catching pigeons was a favorite sport. Stephen G. DuBois, relates that one day as he was riding, on horseback, in company with about a dozen others, to attend town meeting at the Paltz, the pigeons passed over their heads in immense numbers.
Peter W. DuBois' father, Wilhelmus, was quite a hunter, and he and John Fuller, grandfather of Wm. Fuller, killed many bears and wolves, before the digging of the Delaware &
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Hudson Canal, but after the construction of the big ditch these wild animals did not venture to cross it.
One of the last wolves trapped by Fuller was on the Mul- lenix place on the mountains. In this case Fuller had intended to bring the captive alive to Libertyville, but the farmer seeing the destroyer of his sheep in the trap exclaimed "You are the one that has been killing my sheep," and slew him on the spot.
Another story about one of the last wolves caught in this vicinity in concerning one caught on the Mathusalem Eltinge farm, which extended from Springtown up to Bontecoe Point. In this case, too, the wolf was brought, alive, in the trap.
Mr. Edward DuBois, of Marlborough, favors us with an account of the capture of the very last wolf in this portion of the country which was trapped by Fuller in the winter of 1826 or '27. Mr. DuBois says :
"It was a field day for Libertyville. I was quite young at the time, yet I recollect his bringing the beast alive with the trap on its leg into my father's kitchen, where Mr. Blake now lives The bronzed hunter and the captive wolf, the old cellar kitchen, and an old oaken table, upon which two terror stricken urchins-a younger brother and myself, sought refuge, are among the clearly defined impressions of my childhood."
DESPERATE FIGHT WITH A BEAR
Mr. J. Nelson Terwilligar gives us an account of a famous bear hunt that happened about 1820, when he was a lad of sixteen. Henry Williams, a famous hunter, and another hunter named Watkins had followed a bear all the way from Tucker's Corner, through New Paltz, crossing the Wallkill at what is
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
now Luther Hasbrouck's place, and running him into a hole in the rocks near Bontecoe Point. The hunters went home and returned the next morning. They found the bear, who was a very large fellow, and Watkins shot and wounded him. The bear instantly turned and gave chase. Watkins climbed a tree but the bear was too quick for him; seized and pulled him down and got on top of him. Then Williams took a hand in the fray and proceeded to hammer the bear with his gun and took him by the ears to pull him off his comrade. Finally the bear was killed and Mr. Terwilligar tells us he had a piece of the meat which was very fat. Watkins long bore the marks of the fight, the bear's teeth having left wounds in his head as large as a man's fingers.
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
89
CHAPTER X
PROPERTY HOLDERS AT NEW PALTZ IN EARLY DAYS
TAXPAYERS IN 1712
The first tax list which we have found is among the Freer papers and is as follows showing the amount of property in 1712:
The freeholders, inhabitants, residents & sojourners of the New Paltz in the county of Ulster, their real and personal estate rated & assessed on the 16th day of January 1713 by the assessors chosen for the same on their oaths to pay at the rate of three pence half farthing per pound, to pay said county quota, layd by an act of General Assembly, entitled an act for the levying of ten thousand ounces of plate or fourteen thou- sand five hundred forty-five Lyon dollars :
Abraham Doyo. £ 45 Abraham freer 25
Christian Doyo. 50
Jacob freer 25
Pieter Doyo. 45
Elias Uin. 35
Henry Doyo .. 45
Solomon Dubois 100
Abraham Hasbrouck 200
Louis Dubois 75
Louys Bevier. 300
Joseph Hasbrouck.
25
Jean Hasbrouck 150
Mary Dubois 150
Abraham Dubois
270
Andrew Lefever & Com-
pany .. 240
Hugo ffrer. 75
Total tax £24, 13 shillings.
A True Copy.
Wm. Notingham,
Clerk.
Tunis Jacobse. IO
Hendrick Van Weye .... 15
Jacob Clearwater.
5
Gerrit Lambertse
5
Jan Terpening
5
Total .
£1895
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
The free Folders Inhabitants Residents & Syornors of the new pali in the Country of vlotec theire Realand asonale Estals are Rated & afiches on the if the day of fameany 713 by thesefrom Chosen for the same on theire oals and are to pay ofher the Rate of three pence halte far thing & ou to pay said County Quats Kayd by an act of Generale aftenely ins tues an act for the Lovying of hon thousand ounces of plate or fourten thousand five hundred forty five Lyon Dollars- 8
Abraham Dojo
Christian Royo
50€ 13
Pieter Doy.
452 0
Henry Hoyo.
450
0 11.
8
12 0 LOL. 2
Jean Hasbroeck
0米
Mary Du bois
150€
9
-
André Lefever & Épany Hugo Avere
Abraham frome Jacob Avere
250
Elias Uim .
9 gc
22002
2
Salomon Dubois Louis Du bon
75
Joseph Haas broeck
01 ,
Tennis Jacobse. Hondrick Vanwege
15
60,000
2 3 10
3 25
Jacob Clearwater.
fort Lambertse
3 25
Jan Jeerpeningh
5
34 22
Total fume £ 1095224 $13
$5432
A Frue Bymy Washing Findes Clarke
800
:
1
Abraham Du bois
£27 0
(
2.
£.
253
ONO -- 00000
2000 2
Abraham Haarbroeck Louys Bevore. 3 00$ 3 1 19: 0 3
TAX LIST OF 1712
LO
.55
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HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
The above list shows that in 1712 four of the original Paten- tees were still alive, namely Abraham and Jean Hasbrouck, Louis Bevier and Abraham DuBois, also Mary widow of Isaac DuBois. The other tax payers are sons of Patentees, namely : the four sons of Pierre Deyo, the three sons of Simon LeFever, three of the four sons of Hugo Freer, two sons of Louis Du- Bois, Joseph, son of Abraham Hasbrouck. The only other persons on the tax list are Elias Uin the ancestor of the Ean family, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Anthony Crispell the Patentee, Jacob Clearwater, who was a brother-in-law of Abm. Deyo and resided at Bontecoe, Jan Terpening who also resided at Bontecoe, and was from Flanders; also Tunis Jacobse (Clearwater), Hendrick Van Weye and Garritt Lam- bertse.
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