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 > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
"The court after considering the case, were of the opinion that the prisoner is guilty of the charge brought against him and adjudged him to suffer death, to be hanged at such time and place as the General shall direct.
A true copy of the proceedings :
Test.
Lewis Dubois, Col. President."
When the little army of Governor Clinton moved down the Wallkill on the 15th, to save Kingston, Taylor was taken along, his name appearing every day in the guard reports. A general order issued on the morning of the destruction of Kingston, determined his fate.
339
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
-
It was not, however, carried into effect on the 17th, as directed; no doubt the attention of the troops was taken up with matters at Kingston. He was still under guard on the morning of the 18th, after which his name ceases to trouble, the officer in charge.
In a MS. journal kept by a person in Clinton's force, prob- ably a chaplain, is this entry :
"October 18th, Saturday, Mr. Taylor, a spy taken in Little Britain, was hung here. Mr. Romain and myself attended him yesterday, and I have spent the morning in discoursing to him, and attended him at the gallows. He did not appear to be either a political or gospel penitent."
Tradition has it that Taylor was hanged on an apple tree near the village of Hurley.
Having anticipated somewhat, in order to keep the story of the capture, trial and execution of Taylor together, we must now go back. The British reconnoitering party, which started on the IIth of October, ascended the river to within three miles of Poughkeepsie and returned in safety, having burned several buildings and old vessels along the shore. The report favored an advance of the whole force which accordingly started from Peekskill October 14th.
On October 15th, at nine o'clock a. m., General George Clinton wrote to Kingston from Headquarters near New Wind- sor that twenty sail of the enemy's shipping had been dis- covered in the river below Butter Hill (Storm King). After speaking of matters which need not here be recapitulated, the letter proceeds as follows :
"Since writing the above the enemy's fleet consisting of thirty sail have passed Newburgh and with crowded sail and and fair wind are moving quick up the river; the front of them
340
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
are already at the Danskammer. There are eight large square- rigged vessels among them and all appear to have troops on board. My troops are parading to march to Kingston. Our route will be through Shawangunk to prevent delay in crossing the Paltz (Wallkill) river. I leave Col. Woodhull's, Mc- Claughry's and part of Hasbrouck's regiment as a guard along the river. * * I will be with you if nothing extra hap- pens before day; though my troop cannot."
What a thrilling sight it must have been to see thirty vessels, eight of them square-rigged, crowded with troops whose gay uniforms vied with the gaudy splendors of an American autumn sailing in a compact mass with colors flying, sails distended, waves dancing and sparkling as the great flotilla moves through Newburgh Bay and Danskammer Point. This is a picture over which the imagination lingers, especially with those whose good fortune it has been to have seen at the cor- responding season, the georgeous ampitheatre within which this scene was set.
The force which moved with Geo. Clinton in his effort to prevent the burning of Kingston was about 1,000 men, com- posed of the skeleton regiments of Cols. Lewis Dubois, Webb, Sutherland and Ellison, with a part of Hasbrouck's, and what remained of Lamb's artillery. Only a portion of the advance guard got near enough to Kingston to behold the village in flames and the enemy retiring to his shipping.
The British reached the landing place for Kingston on the evening of the 15th, the town being burned on the 16th. On the way up they fired their cannon at the houses of known rebels on either shore. Attention was paid to the house of Col. Dubois, which, although not in sight of the river, was within easy cannon shot of it, the firing point being selected from the mouth of a brook emptying into the river, which was within
-
34I
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ.
close range of the house. This cannonade was harmless, but that the intention of the firing party was serious is evidenced by the cannon balls which have from time to time been dug out of a bank of earth a short distance west of the house. One of these, weighing 247/2 pounds and the heaviest among a large collection, is now deposited at Washington's Headquarters in Newburgh.
General Clinton's little army was still at Hurley on October 20th, as appears by the report of the Officer of the Day.
Ruttenber says :
"During the winter of 1777-8, Dubois' regiment was in bar- racks at Fishkill: Its condition there was deplorable. In Jan- uary, 1778, General Putnam writes, 'Dubois' regiment is unfit to be ordered on duty, there being not one blanket in the regi- ment. Very few have either a shoe or a shirt and most of them have neither stockings, breeches or overalls. Chastellux writes that many were absolutely naked, being only covered by straw suspended from the waist. The losses in stores at Fort Montgomery brought on this destitution very largely. It did not continue long after Putnam called Gov. Clinton's attention to it.'"
"In July, 1778, the five New York regiments were brigaded under Gen. James Clinton."
This brigade took a very active part in the expedition against the Indians in the western part of this State in 1779. General Sullivan with the main body of the army, which did not in- clude Clinton's brigade, started from the vicinity of Easton, Pennsylvania, and penetrated the wilderness to the vicinity of Elmira. Gen. Clinton's force included, besides his own bri- . gade, some regiments from other states, the whole command amounting to about 1,600 men.
342
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
The roster of the Fifth New York regiment on this expe- dition was as follows :
Lewis Dubois, Col.
Henry Dubois, Adjt. and Col.
Henry Dodge, Adjt. and Lieut.
Michael Connolly, Paymaster and 2nd Lieut. James Johnston, Q. M. and Ensign.
Samuel Cooke, Surgeon.
Ebenezer Hutchinson, Surgeon's Mate.
James Rosekrans, Capt.
John F. Hamtranck, Capt. John Johnson, Capt.
Philip DuBois Bevier, Capt.
James Stewart, Capt. Henry W. Vanderburgh, Lieut.
Daniel Birdsall, 2nd Lieut.
James Betts, 2nd Lieut.
Barthal Vanderburgh, Ensign.
Francis Hanmer, Ensign.
Henry Vanderburgh, Ensign.
About the middle of June, 1779, Clinton, in order to join Sullivan, began transporting his force from the Mohawk river by the way of Canajoharie and Springfield to Lake Otsego, the headwaters of the Susquehanna.
On this part of the trip we catch a glimpse of Col. DuBois in the following extract from the diary of Lieut. Beatty of the 4th Penna. Line, part of Clinton's force.
Monday, June 28, 1779. "This day the Col, and a number of officers with myself went to see Col. Dubois and his officers who were encamped at Low's Grove on the upper landing, found them all very well and they provided a very good dinner
343
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
for us suitable to the place and time, there was about fifty officers dined together. After dinner we had a song or two from different officers and returned home a little before sun- down. We were all very sociable at dinner and spent our time with the officers very agreeable."
Clinton remained at Lake Otsego from the 3d of July to the 9th of August awaiting orders from Gen. Sullivan. When these orders came Clinton moved forward and effected a junc- tion with Sullivan. In organizing for the fighting and devas- tation which followed, the hazardous position of commanding the right flank was assigned to Col. Dubois, who had under him two companies of the German battalion and 200 picked men in addition. The army of Sullivan far outnumbered that of the Indians under the celebrated Chief Brant, aided by a few British regulars and tories. The enemy made but one serious effort to check the invaders. Behind a hastily constructed rampart, in the vicinity of Elmira, they made a stand, but were soon driven away. In this engagement Col. Dubois partici- pated. The victorious army then turned northward, and car- ried out the purpose of the expedition by burning many vil- lages and destroying all food supplies. It was a work of devastation, and many there be that say the measure was un- necessarily harsh. Be that as it may, the power of the Indians in this State was broken by this expedition of Gen. Sullivan.
Lewis Dubois resigned his commission as colonel December 29, 1779. This seems to have been brought about by the dwindling of all the regiments in the New York brigade, for in the subsequent year the Ist and 3rd regiments were consoli- dated into one regiment, known as the Ist, under Col. Van Schaick, and the 2nd, 4th and 5th and Col. Livingston's regi- ment into another, known as the 2nd, under Col. Philip Van Cortlandt.
344
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
There remains for consideration such information as could be gathered concerning the descendants of the children of Col. Lewis Dubois.
I-Nathaniel Dubois, his first child, died April 18, 1788, in the 30th year of his age. He left one daughter, Hannah, who was his only child. Nothing is known of her history.
2-Wilhelmus lived and died on the tract of land near Marl- borough village, given to him by his father's will. It ran from the village to the road known as West street and along the latter. His wife was Mary Hudson. They had four children, John, Cornelius, Elizabeth and Nathaniel.
John married Rebecca Wygant and had four children, Wil- liam, Matthew Wygant, Maria and Ann Eliza.
Cornelius had three wives and ten children, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Deborah Ann, Jane, Caroline, Charlotte, Daniel Asa and Ann Amelia.
Elizabeth married John W. Wygant and had seven children, William D., Asa, Cornelius, Ostrom, Mary Jane, J. Ward and Elizabeth.
Nathaniel married Deborah Ann Bloomer and had eleven children, Fletcher, Charles Augustus, Elizabeth Wygant, Mary Louisa, Eugene, Hudson, Emma, Ann Amelia, Theron, Luther and Dallas.
3-Mary, the first daughter, married Asa Steward. She was living in the town of Minisink as late as 1811. She had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.
4-Rachel, the first daughter by his second wife, married Cor- nelius Low, by whom she had one daughter, Cornelia, born
345
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
March 5, 1792. Rachel Low died November 6, 1793, in her 23rd year.
Nothing is known of the career of her daughter, Cornelia Low. Cornelius Low is said to have been a prominent man of Kingston and to have taken up, with others, large tracts of land in Wawarsing.
5-Lewis (4) was born December 20, 1774, and was bap- tized at New Marlborough by Rev. Samson Occum. He was married to Annie Hull, daughter of Nathaniel Hull, January 3, 1809. She was born February 15, 1787. He died August 22, 1831. His children were as follows:
Rachel Margaret, born October 1, 1809, married to Lewis W. Young June 28, 1827. She died at Newburgh March 21, 1890. Her children were Juliet, Henrietta and Jas. Henry.
Lewis (5), born June 28, 1811, married Jane Thorn. He died December 11, 1854. He had one child, a son named Charles, who died about 1870, leaving issue.
Amanda, born January 25, 1813, married Samuel Harris in 1831. She died October 25, 1875. . Mr. Harris purchased the Dubois homestead at a partition sale held in 1842, and his son William now resides on it. The children of Samuel Harris and Amanda Dubois Harris were Francis, Emily, Ida, Jessie and William.
Melissa, born May 20, 1814, married William C. Goddard and died March, 1892. She lived in Brooklyn, New York, after her marriage. Her children were Edward, William, Emily and Adeline.
Nathaniel Hull, born December 27, 1815. He had two chil- dren, a son Solomon, who died in infancy, and a daughter, Julia Ferris. He is still living at Marlborough, Ulster county.
346
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Elizabeth, born June 1, 1817, died August 17, 1819.
Daniel Lockwood, born August 29, 1819, died July 6, 1862. Never married.
Clementine Williams, born June 4, 1821, married January 14, 1845, to Reuben H. Rohrer, of Lancaster, Pa., where she lived and died. Her children were four sons, Dubois, Reuben S., Leland and Mifflin.
Cornelia Bruyn, born November 9, 1822, married May 6, 1840, to Nathaniel Deyo, M. D. She died at Newburgh, De- cember 16, 1876. Her children, who lived to maturity, were Evelina, Robert Emmet, Frank DeWitt, Nathaniel Dubois, John, Van Zandt and Cornelia Ann.
Daniel Lockwood (2), born August 29, 1819, died July 6, 1862, unmarried.
Anna, born November 18, 1826, married June 16, 1851, to Henry E. Leman, of Lancaster, Pa., where she died April 22, 1873. Her children were Henry E., Samuel W., Adelia, Lewis D. and James C.
Marcus Dougherty, born June 4, 1828, now living at New Windsor, Orange county, unmarried.
6-Margaret, born January 29, 1776, and was baptized at New Marlborough by Rev. Mr. Carr from Goshen. She died May 6, 1855.
She married Daniel Lockwood about 1790 and had-
Rachel Lockwood, born August 26, 1792, and died Decem- ber 29, 1793.
Lewis D. Lockwood, born August 8, 1794; died May 3, I874.
Daniel Lockwood, born August 8, 1797.
- Eli T. Lockwood, born April 14, 1800; died January 27, 1848. Charles Lockwood, born November 17, 1802; died July I, 1829.
347
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Nathaniel D. Lockwood, born February 6, 1804; "was drowned on fast day," January 12, 1815.
Daniel Lockwood, the first husband of Margaret Dubois, died November 27, 1804.
On August 25, 1814, she married Gen. Nathaniel Dubois, the son of her uncle Zachary, and had-
Isaac Dubois, born July 12, 1815; died August, 18, 1876.
Edwin Lockwood Dubois, born October 2, 1817; died Feb- ruary 5, 1860.
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
1.
FRFPR HOUSE
THE OLD FREER HOUSE AT NEW PALTZ
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
tibg
CHAPTER XXX
THE FREER FAMILY AT NEW PALTZ
The Freer family of New Paltz and elsewhere in the United States is descended from Hugo Freer, one of the New Paltz patentees.
Hugo was one of the last of the little band to arrive at Kingston. There is no mention of his name previous to the purchase of the New Paltz patent from the Indians in 1677. He probably had just arrived in the country at that time. He was accompanied by his wife, Mary Haye, and their three eldest children, Hugo, Abraham and Isaac.
In the papers that have come down to the present time there are more in the French language among the descendants of Hugo Freer than of any of the other Patentees, which seems to indicate that he had not been very long absent from his native country when he came to New Paltz.
When the church was organized at New Paltz in 1683 Hugo Freer was chosen deacon, and in 1690 he was elder in the church. This would show that he was a man of known piety and excellent standing among the brethren in the little com- munity.
Most of the other settlers at New Paltz were related by marriage. But neither Hugo the Patentee nor any of his chil- dren married New Paltz people. A good portion of the chil- dren and grandchildren of Hugo the Patentee married and settled outside the bounds of the New Paltz patent, going to Kingston, to Dutchess county and elsewhere. Still among his numerous descendants many remained at New Paltz.
During the first century after the settlement there was per-
350
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
haps no family that furnished a larger proportion of eminent men than the descendants of Hugo Freer the Patentee.
The Freers of colonial days had means and piety as well. The Bontecoe Freers, cultivating the lowlands on the Wallkill in the great bend of the stream, above Dashville Falls, would walk barefoot five miles to church at New Paltz in summer, putting on their shoes when near the village. But when the time came to put up the new stone church in 1772, the Freer family contributed considerably more than one-fourth of the whole amount needed, and two of the name served on the building committee.
Tradition states that one year the Freers paid the whole amount of the quit rent due from the New Paltz settlers to the colonial government and in return received 200 acres of land at Mud Hook, near the north west corner of the New Paltz Patent.
In the Revolutionary war the Freers furnished a large number of officers and men, the list including Col. John Freer and Capt. Jacobus Freer of Dutchess county and Lieuts. Daniel Freer and Anthony Freer of Ulster, also about a score of private soldiers.
At the commencement of the last century Samuel Freer of Kingston was for many years a noted newspaper man, editing the Gazette. If not the very first, he is at least the best re- membered editor of the first quarter of the last century. He used to carry his papers on horseback to his patrons at New Paltz and elsewhere, and it is related that when asked if he had news to tell would answer in Dutch, "Always news when the paper comes."
In the second war with England, Capt. Zachary Freer of New Paltz served as a captain, his regiment being stationed on Long Island.
35I
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
The Freers left the village at an early date .. Not a single tombstone bearing the name or initials of any member of the family is to be found in the old graveyard here. The old home- stead in this village passed from Hugo Freer, senior, son of the Patentee, to his son-in-law, Johannis Low, whose de- scendants occupied it for a long time.
The Freers scattered widely during the colonial period, and for that reason it has been difficult to trace their history. The family was most numerous at Bontecoe. The old graveyard there is probably next to that in this village the oldest in the Patent. Among the Bontecoe Freers the name of their an- cestor Hugo was continued from generation to generation, but has now died out and the last Hugo in this vicinity died at his home at Bontecoe at a good old age about 1850.
In the old days it was not customary for laymen to take part in the services in church. It is stated that the only man to raise his voice in public prayer in the New Paltz church at about 1820 was Jonathan Freer of the Ohioville neigh- borhood.
None of the Freers of the early days were merchants, as far as we know, and none of them made or sold whiskey, that we are aware of.
The Freer homestead in this village is the northernmost of the old stone houses on Huguenot street. It is still occupied · as a residence, is in a good state of repair and has not been changed much since the olden times, except that the great beams have been cut down and there is no longer a great fire- place. The house is about 40 feet in length and 35 in width, including a small, frame addition in the rear.
Hugo Freer, the Patentee, was twice married, his first wife being Mary Haye and the second Jannitje Wibau. The chil- dren of Hugo, the Patentee, were: Hugo, Senior, Abraham,
352
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Isaac (who died when 18 years old), Jacob, Jean, Mary and Sarah. The first named daughter married Lewis Viele of Schenectady, and the other married Teunis Clausen Van Volgen of the same place. The three eldest sons of Hugo, the Paten- tee, located at New Paltz and Jean moved to Kingston.
Mary, the daughter of Hugo the Patentee and wife of Lewis Viele of Schenectady, sold her one-sixth part of her father's estate to her brother Hugo for £83, as is shown by a document dated 1710, which among many other papers of Hugo Freer, Senior, has come down to the present day and is now in the possession of the writer.
Jean Freer, son of the Patentee, who had located at Kings- ton, also sold to his brother Hugo, Senior, his share, one-sixth part, of the estate of their father. The sale was made in 1713 and the price paid was £80.
HUGO, SENIOR, SON OF HUGO, PATENTEE
Hugo, Senior, eldest son of the Patentee, was married in 1690 to Mary LeRoy, by Rev. Pierre Dailie.
In June, 1715, Hugo, Senior, and his sons, Hugo, Junior, Isaac and Simon, who moved to Dutchess county, obtained a patent for 1,200 acres of land about three miles south east of this village and near the Paltz patent. On this tract Isaac located and it has come down in his family to the present day.
Hugo, Senior's, name appears in the list of those who built the first stone church, in 1720, and he and his eldest son, Hugo, Junior, are assigned seats in the church. In the list of free- holders in 1728 appear the names of his sons Hugo, Junior, and Isaac.
From the "New Paltz Orders" in 1710 it is evident that Hugo, Senior, resided in the northern part of the village. The
353
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
exact location and other facts are set forth in a release granted to his 13 children in 1732 as follows :
This indenture made the 29th day June, in the sixth year of the reign of our sovereign, George the second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain France and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &c., Anno Domini, 1732, between Hugo Freer senior, of the New Paltz, in the county of Ulster and province of New York, yeoman, of the first part, and Hugo junior, Isaac, Simon, Jonah, Mary wife of Isaac LeFevre, Sarah wife of Evert Ter- williger, Esther wife of John Terpening, Catharine wife of Isaac Van Wagonen, Dina wife of Michael Van Kleeck, Rachel wife of Hendrick TerBoss, Janitje, Rebecca (after- wards wife of Johannes Low) and Elizabeth all of them sons and daughters of Hugo Freer senior of the other part, witnesseth, that in consideration of the sum of five shillings, current money of New York to him in hand paid by the said 13 children he hath granted to the said 4 sons and 9 daughters all that certain lot of land in the New Paltz Patent, near the north end of the town (village) of New Paltz, on the east side of the street, being bounded to the west by the street aforesaid, to the south by the house lot of Daniel Hasbrouck, to the east by Andries Lefever, to the north by the said Andries Lefever and the street aforesaid, together with all buildings, houses, barns, stables, yards, gar- dens, orchards and other improvements; also all that other certain piece of land lying and being within the limits and bounds of the New Paltz, bounded to the east by the said street, to the south by the house lots of Daniel DuBois, to the west by the said lots in Wassamakos land, and to the north by lot of Mattys Sleght, and also all that other lot or piece of ground being a lot which the said Hugo Freer senior hath purchased
21 ·
354
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
of Anthony Crispell, deceased lying on the east side of said street, being bounded to the west by the street aforesaid, to the south by a lot of Andries Lefever, to the east by the said An- dries Lefever and to the north by a lane that leads to Daniel Hasbrouck's mill; also all that certain lot lying in the great pature within the bounds of the patent of New Paltz bounded on the west by the road that leads to Walravens bourey, to the south by a lot of John Terpening, to the east by the Paltz common or undivided lands, and to the north by a lot of Daniel DuBois, and also all that four-sixth the parts of him the said Hugo Freer, senior of the one-twelfth part of the undivided lands there now are lying undivided and in common within the limits and bounds of the Patent of New Paltz aforesaid, which . was granted by the said letters patent unto Hugo Freer, de- ceased, together with all ponds, pools, etc., etc., yield- ing and paying therefor unto the said Hugo Freer senior his heirs or assigns the rent of one pepper corn only on the first day of May next ensuing if demanded.
Hugo Freer, Senior, his mark.
The most extensive and interesting collection of papers in archaic French that has come down to the present day is that once the property of Hugo Freer, Senior, which has come down in the family of his son Jonah, and passed from father to son in that family.
AN ANCIENT AND INTERESTING LETTER
Perhaps the most interesting document in the Freer collection of ancient papers is a letter written in 1699 to Mrs. Hugo Freer, : Sen., by her uncle, Jean Giron of Quebec, now framed in glass
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
355
Mon meneur hugo Umbonilla huge
He turned par laquelle vousone monthes que vous Este Gunoiaus , hannoris an jan bien plus Si- Es toy que chaud fusies matus aprofit religion- Contante mandado the
bellamente. vousmemandes que 20172-
pornoudenouvelle Je vous plait linous trousers- Jo Casion denous mandi Carnous Petion fior- hishe de famous de vous nonrules may A volverant Noter frev & volvo Berlu fers vous Values Am; it votar tonte nous vous falun Tedemener- Noter Serviteur deun
LETTER FROM JEAN GIRON TO HUGO FREER, SR., AND WIFE
.
356
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
and deposited in the Memorial House. Through the kindness of Mr. Alfred LeRoy Becker of Buffalo we are enabled to publish a full translation. Mr. Becker writes concerning this letter :
"It is addressed to 'My nephew Huge and my niece Huge' by which the writer means Hugo Freer, Sr., son of the patentee, and his wife, Marie Anne LeRoy, whom he married, according to the record of the New Paltz church, June 7, 1690. The letter was written nine years later, but news of the marriage had apparently only just reached the writer. The letter is written in a fair if cramped hand, but it shows an almost total lack of knowledge of how to spell, so that it has been extremely difficult to make the translation which is given herewith.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.