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 24
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
Joseph I., of Shawangunk, was Supervisor in 1797-9, 1813-4 and in 1817.
JACOB A., SON OF JOSEPH OF GUILFORD
Jacob A. Hasbrouck, son of Joseph of Guilford and grand- son of Abraham the Patentee, was born in 1717. He married, in 1746, Maria Hornbeck and located at Kyserike in the town of Marbletown. At about the same date Isaac Hasbrouck, son of Jacob, son of Jean the Patentee, moved from what is now the Memorial House in this village and likewise settled in the town of Marbletown. Both of these Hasbrouck families have ever since had representatives in the town of Marbletown and elsewhere, but there is a great disparity in the number of de- scendants bearing the Hasbrouck name for the reason that while Isaac had six sons and a goodly number of grandsons, Jacob had but one son, and boys have since been few in numbers in his line of the Hasbrouck family.
Capt. Jacob L. Snyder, of High Falls, whose wife is a daugh-
. 388
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
ter of Calvin Hasbrouck and great-granddaughter of Jacob A., has in his possession a number of valuable old papers, which have come down in this line of Hasbroucks and which make clear the family history. The oldest of these papers are two deeds for land at Kyserike from Ellsje Hasbrouck, of Guilford, widow of Joseph, to her son, Jacob A. Hasbrouck. In one of the deeds, dated in 1747, consideration is love and affection and £300. In the deed for the other tract at Kyserike the consid- eration mentioned is love and affection and £540. The latter deed is dated in 1754.
The children of Jacob A. Hasbrouck and his wife, Mary Hornbeck, were Anitje, Elsie, Mary, Joseph and Rachel. In his will, also in possession of Capt. Jacob L. Snyder, Jacob A. gives to his son Joseph all his land in the towns of Marbletown and Rochester, but requires him to pay £400 to his sisters, Anitje, Elsie and Mary.
Joseph Hasbrouck, son of Jacob, occupied his father's home- stead, knownin modern times as the Lodewyck Hasbrouck place.
In the war of the Revolution Joseph's name appears as en- sign in the company of which John Hasbrouck, of Marbletown, who had married Joseph's sister, was captain. Subsequently he received from Gen. Geo. Clinton a commission as lieutenant in the Levies and his name appears as lieutenant in the Fourth Orange County Regiment, Col. Hathorn, of whichi his cousin, Joseph Hasbrouck of Guilford, was lieutenant-colonel. His commission is dated July 1, 1780. At a later date, after the close of the war, in 1787, he received a commission as captain. The will of Joseph Hasbrouck, which was probated May 6, 1802, together with the other valuable papers mentioned are now in the possession of Capt. Jacob L. Snyder, having come to him from his father-in-law, Calvin Hasbrouck, who was the son of Joseph. Calvin resided at High Falls and was for many years superintendent on the Delaware & Hudson canal.
389
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
BENJAMIN, SON OF JOSEPH AND GRANDSON OF ABRAHAM THE PATENTEE
Benjamin, born in 1719, son of Joseph and grandson of Abraham the Patentee, located at what is now Wallkill and built the stone house, still standing, and which forms a part of the present Mrs. John G. Borden residence. Benjamin mar- ried Elidia Schoonmaker and had three sons, Benjamin, Cor- nelius and Joseph, the second named of whom kept the home- stead, and the son Joseph took the south part of the farm. Cornelius' farm was left to his son, Benjamin C., and Joseph's farm went to his son Thomas. The descendants of the three sons of Benjamin Hasbrouck, the first of the name at Wallkill, are thus stated by Mr. A. M. Ronk :
Benjamin married Elizabeth Dickerson, daughter of William. Their children were Eliza, who married Stephen Ronk; Lydia did not marry; Isaac married Delia Newman; Jacob married Charlotte Thorn; Elsie married Jabez Ells; Henry H. mar- ried Ruth Constable; Catharine married William Johnson ; Jane, Joseph, Mary did not marry.
Cornelius married Jane Kelso. Their children were Wm. C., married Mary E. Roe; Benj. C., married Louise Lyon ; Mar- garet, married Captain Eli Perry.
Joseph married Rebecca Kelso, a sister of Cornelius' wife. Their children were Thomas, did not marry; John, moved to Michigan, married Rachel Ann Traphagen; Maria Jane, mar- ried Nathaniel Roos; Catharine Ann married Halsey Lyon ; Rebecca, married Linus Esterly ; Sarah, married John Titus.
Wm. C. Hasbrouck, son of Cornelius, son of Benjamin, the first at Wallkill, was born August 23, 1800; married Mary E., daughter of William Roe, June 28, 1831 ; died November, 1870; had three sons, viz .: Wm. H., Henry C. and Roe, and
390
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
three daughters : Maria H., Emily A. and Blandina. He grad- uated at Union College at the same time Wm. H. Seward was an undergraduate, and soon after removed to Franklin, Tenn., where he became principal of the academy founded by Bishop Otey. Returning to the North, he became principal of the Farmers' Hall Academy, at Goshen, in 1822, and commenced there the study of law with Mr. Wisner. He completed his legal studies with Wm. Ross, in Newburgh; was admitted to the bar in 1826, and rose rapidly to rank in his profession. He was elected to the Assembly of 1847 and was chosen Speaker of that body; he was a man of high bearing, spotless character, and a chivalric sense of honor and duty. His sec- ond son, Henry C., graduated at the West Point Military Academy, May, 1861 ; served as lieutenant under Captain Grif- fin, 5th Artillery, U. S. A., in first Bull Run, also at Miner's Hill and Newport News; promoted captain 4th Artillery, and in service in the Modoc campaign.
Henry C. was for some time in command at Fortress Mon- roe, holding a commission as lieut .- colonel in the regular army, and in the war with Spain was appointed brigadier-general.
COL. JONATHAN, SON OF JOSEPH AND GRANDSON OF ABRAHAM THE PATENTEE
Jonathan, the youngest son of Joseph and grandson of Abra- ham the Patentee, was born in Guilford April 12, 1722, and died July 31, 1780. Jonathan married May, 1751, Tryntje, daughter of Cornelius DuBois of Poughwoughtenonk. Jonathan located at Newburgh, purchasing, in 1747, the property on which he built, in 1750, part of the house known as Washing- ton's Headquarters. Subsequently he built an addition to this house and here he resided until his death. He was the first Supervisor of the precinct in 1763. He held at different times
391
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
commissions as ensign, captain and colonel, his commission to the latter office being issued October 25, 1775. His regiment saw much active service in the Revolutionary war, but, owing to the ill health of its colonel, was much of the time commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Johannes Hardenberglī. On account of continued ill health Col. Jonathan Hasbrouck resigned in 1777. The diary of his brother, Col. Abraham of Kingston, gives the following account of Col. Jonathan :
"He was a loving husband to his wife, a tender and loving father to his children, a loving brother to his brothers and sis- ters, an obedient and dutiful child to his parents, a kind master to his servants, a good neighbor, a hospitable man, a good, industrious, sober man, and a very good liver, and a very good commonwealth's-man (whig). He was a pious worthy man, paid a good deal of reverence in hearing and reading the word of God. He was good natured, not soon ruffled or put in a passion, but with a great deal of forbearance. He had very good sense, and strong natural parts and understanding- especially in divinity, and very knowing in common affairs of life. He was a man of stature above six feet and four inches, well shaped and proportioned of body, good features, full visage of face, but of brown complexion, dark blue eyes, black hair, with a single curl, strong of body, arms, legs; was inclined to be corpulent and fat in his younger days, but meeting so many sicknesses and disorders he was not so fat the last thirty years of his life as he was in his youth. He had a great many good qualities that I don't write down here. He died on Monday morning and was buried on Tuesday in the burying place on his own land, between his house and the North River, lying along side two of his sons (Abraham and Joseph), who lay buried in the same ground."
The other children of Jonathan were Cornelius, Isaac, Jona-
392
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
than, Mary and Rachel. The son, Cornelius, born in 1755, espoused the cause of the king and removed to Canada where he founded a creditable family. The son Isaac, born in 1761, died in 1806, married Hannah Birdsall and continued to reside at Headquarters. The daughter Mary, born in 1763, married Capt. Israel Smith and during the Revolutionary war resided with her father's family at Headquarters, at the time that Gen. and Mrs. Washington were there. A cloak presented by Lady Washington to little Mary Smith is still treasured up as an heirloom. The son Jonathan did not marry. The daughter Rachel married her cousin Daniel, son of Col. Abraham of Kingston, and located at Montgomery, Orange county.
Col. Jonathan's son Isaac, who occupied the Headquarters after his father's death, left a family of three sons and three daughters as follows: Jonathan, Israel, Eli, Sarah, Rachel, Mary, all of whom were born at Headquarters. Sarah, who married Walter Case, was the only daughter who married. Jonathan, the oldest son of Isaac and grandson of Col. Jonathan, married Phebe Field and left a large family of sons and daugh- ters, all of whom were born at Headquarters.
Eli, son of Isaac and grandson of Col. Jonathan, married Harriet Belknap and left a large family of children, six of whom married and left children. Eli's second son, Charles H., de- ceased, was for many years cashier of the Quassaick Bank.
Rachel, daughter of Col. Jonathan, married her cousin Daniel, son of Col. Abraham Hasbrouck of Kingston, and located at Montgomery, Orange county. They left a family of two sons, Asa and Samuel, neither of whom married, and four daughters who married as follows: Margaret, married Severyn Bruyn of Bruynswick; Betsey, married Edward Wait of Montgomery ; Clara, married Nicholas Evertson of Newburgh, and Elsie, married Dr. Hornbeck.
393
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
RACHEL HASBROUCK'S RIDE FROM NEWBURGH TO GUILFORD
One of the most romantic stories that we hear of the Revo- lutionary times is thus related to us by Mrs. Peter Miller of Montgomery, Orange county (who is a daughter of Edward Wait), and was told to her when a child by her grandmother, who is the heroine of the tale :
The British were approaching Newburgh; we presume it was Vaughn's expedition to relieve Burgoyne. Whatever else the red coats might spare if they stopped at Newburgh it was a plain case that the family plate of so noted a rebel as Col. Jonathan Hasbrouck would not be left at its owner's home. So Rachel, who was eighteen years old, mounted a mare called Firefly and with the family plate in the saddle bags the brave girl started alone for the old home of her grandfather, Joseph, at Guilford. Part of the way the route was only to be found by the marks blazed on the trees. At the foot of a mountain on the route she was stopped by tories. But the leader of the band declared with an oath that she was too pretty to be mo- lested. . While the members of the party were debating the question Rachel struck Firefly with the whip and flew on. The tories fired at her, but she was not hit by the bullets and arrived safe at the ancestral home at Guilford.
Until quite recently Mrs. Miller owned the saddle in which her grandmother made this famous ride. Other Revolutionary reminiscences related to Mrs. Miller by her grandmother are that when the British sailed past Newburgh on the way to help Burgoyne the family of her father, Col. Jonathan, took refuge in the cellar, expecting that the British ships would cannonade the house. They were not disappointed, but the cannon were aimed too low and the balls struck below the house, in the ground. When Washington had his headquarters at this house
394
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
he and Mrs. Washington boarded with Col. Jonathan's family. Part of the time while Washington was at Newburgh the Marquis de La Fayette and his wife were their guests. La Fayette was a very large, heavy man-so large that his wife was obliged to use five needles in knitting his stockings, and when he went out his valet would take an extra horse along for his use. When Washington said good bye to the head- quarters Lady Washington presented Rachel Hasbrouck with a chair, which is now owned by Mrs. Elizabeth Eager of Great Bend, Pa. Another daughter of Col. Jonathan was likewise presented with a chair by Lady Washington.
BENJAMIN, SON OF ABRAHAM, THE PATENTEE
Benjamin, the youngest son of Abraham the Patentee, born in 1696, located in Dutchess county about 1720. His wife was Janitje De Long, whom he married February 13, 1737. In 1755 Benjamin built a stone house, which is still standing near Hopewell, in which he resided until his death, in 1763. Ben- jamin had a family of four sons and two daughters, as follows : Daniel, Benjamin, Jacob, Mary, Heiltje and Francis. Benja- min did not marry. Daniel married - Van Vlecken and had four sons, Tunis, Benjamin, John and Daniel; also two daughters, Catharine and Rachel. Tunis lived in the town of Fishkill, where he left two sons. John married Mary Backus and moved to Onondaga county. Benjamin married Hannah Green and left a large family of children, eleven in all. Daniel did not marry.
Francis, son of Benjamin (the first in Dutchess county) mar- ried Elizabeth Swartwout and they had four children, Benja- min, Abraham, James and Gilbert. All died young, except the oldest son, Benjamin. He was a private in Capt. Abraham
395
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Brinkerhoff's company, in Col. John Cantine's Ulster County Regiment. During his lifetime he occupied the old stone house of his grandfather, Benjamin. He married Rachel Storm. Their children were Francis, Sarah, Catharine, Elizabeth, Caro- line and Isaac.
This ends the history of the family of Abraham Hasbrouck, the New Paltz Patentee.
.
-
396
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
-
THE JEAN HASBROUCK HOUSE, NOW THE MEMORIAL HOUSE
397
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
CHAPTER XXXII
THE FAMILY OF JEAN HASBROUCK, THE PATENTEE
Directly across the street from the site of the first stone church stands the house of Jean Hasbrouck, the Patentee, which was purchased by the New Paltz Huguenot Memorial Society in 1899, to preserve the memory of the early settlers and as a store-house of relics and ancient documents.
This is the largest and finest of all the old houses, except the DuBois house, and that has lost a great part of its attraction from having been modernized many years ago.
The house of which we speak bears the letters I. H., sur- mounted by a sort of crown, cut in a stone just above and to the left of the door. In the mortar, near one of the front win- dows, is the date 1712. The I in the olden time was the same as J, and the letters above mentioned are the initials of the builder. The date 1712 is found in two places on the building, and doubtless marks the date of its erection-thirty-five years after the date of the patent and seven years after the erection of the DuBois house, which still bears the figures 1705 in iron letters. The only other stone house in this village ever bearing a date of which we are aware is the original Bevier house, afterward the Elting store, which stands with its gable end to the street, opposite the DuBois house, and which bore on its chimney until about 1890 the date of 1735.
The first houses were doubtless all of logs. As the settlers found time they were replaced by the stone edifices still stand- ing. Probably every one in the settlement assisted in the build- ing. The house we are describing is the only one in the village
398
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
with an exceedingly tall and steep roof, nor do we recollect any other old stone house in all the country round with such a roof.
Entering at the front door we find ourselves in the broad hall, extending through the center of the building. To the right and left are large rooms, with high ceilings, the great beams being about nine feet from the floor.
The room to the right was used in Revolutionary times, and probably for half a century before, as a store where the few goods that were not produced in the place were sold to the set- tlers. In one side of the chimney is a closet with a door fitting so closely as to be almost unnoticed except by careful inspection. This, it is said, was the money drawer. High up on the gar- ret is a railing which was formerly in this room and was the bar, behind which stood the merchant of the olden time. This railing was not taken up on the garret until about 1850. Levi Hasbrouck, during his lifetime would not. allow any important changes to be made in the appearance of the old homestead, and this is the reason why this bar railing was kept in this room so long after it was unused for mercantile purposes.
The large room to the left, as we enter, was without doubt the living room of the family. In the rear is the kitchen.
The kitchen chimney is about ten feet wide at the base, the mortar apparently of lime and clay- tough and firm. Stepping into the fireplace from the kitchen, the old trammels and pot hooks are still to be seen. These were in common use in the old stone houses before the day of cook stoves. These chim- neys, with their wide fireplaces, were meant to consume the great logs without the trouble of cutting them up. The mantle- piece is high up so as to be out of the way of the flames. The brick, of course, must have been hauled from Kingston and doubtless brought from Holland, as there were, we presume, no brickyards in this country at that early date. But what an
399
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
immense quantity of brick went into one of these old chimneys !
Everything about the house is evidently hand-made. The nails in the doors, the bolts and hinges are made by the home blacksmith, and their appearance shows that they were ham- mered out. The wood work was made before the day of saw- mills and shows the hand planing of the home carpenter.
The work is all substantial. There was evidently no slight- ing of the work by mechanics in those days. The old settlers meant to stay, and they meant that their houses should be for their descendants as well as themselves.
Descending to the cellar we find a higher ceiling than in the other old houses. There is one dark room, without a window, in the cellar, but we do not find the sub-cellar which two or three of the other stone houses in the village had and which we are informed was to store liquor in or to put things in for safe keeping, to have them out of the way of the slaves. Doubtless this dark room and the sub-cellar in other old build- ings were for the same purpose. Part of the cellar is paved with stone, part of it with brick, an evidence of comfort we have not seen in other old houses.
Ascending to the upper portion of the building, we find the airy loft. Here in olden times the grain was stored in hogs- heads. Even in the memory of the people now living, this custom was continued in this building. The light streamed in through the windows with their little panes of glass. This was not the only one of the old houses in which the grain was stored in the loft. Doubtless that custom was universal in the early settlement.
From cellar to garret the house is full of quaint reminders of the olden time-over two centuries ago, when the country around was a wilderness and New Paltz a little hamlet in its
400
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
midst, where a handful of French Huguenots, fleeing from per- secution, had found a home and a refuge, where they might worship God in peace and rear their families in comfort.
Jean Hasbrouck, the Patentee, left three daughters, Mary, who married Isaac DuBois; Hester, who married Peter Gu- maer, and Elizabeth, who married Louis Bevier of Marbletown. He also had three sons, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The first went to England and never returned. Isaac died before his father. His name appears in the list of members of Capt. Wessell Tenbrouck's company that marched to the invasion of Canada in 17II. He probably lost his life in this campaign. Jacob married Hester Bevier and kept the old homestead. Jacob left three sons, Jacob, Isaac and Benjamin. Jacob, who wrote his name Jacob, Jr., married Jane DuBois, daughter of Cornelius DuBois, Sr., and sister of Cornelius DuBois, Jr., of Poughwoughtenonk. He continued to reside in the homestead. Isaac married Maria Bruyn. . Benjamin was killed by a falling tree in 1747. Isaac is the ancestor of the Stone Ridge Has- broucks.
Jacob, Jr., of New Paltz, who lived in the old homestead, was Supervisor of the town in 1762-5 and again in 1771-6. From a tax list of the town, dated 1765, we find that Jacob Hasbrouck, Jr., Josiah Elting and Cornelius DuBois of Pough- woughtenonk, were the three wealthiest men in the town and each possessed of about an equal amount of property.
Jacob, Jr., was captain of the Second New Paltz Company, Third Regiment of Ulster County Militia, in Revolutionary times, his commission being issued October 25, 1775. He was promoted subsequently to the position of major in the same regiment, February 21, 1778. We have no account of any bat- tles in which he was engaged, but there is good evidence that he was with the army when Kingston was burned.
401
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
Jacob, Jr., left two sons, Josiah and Jacob J., Jr .; also one daughter, Hester, who married Dr. George Wirtz, the ancestor of the Wurts family at New Paltz. On the tombstone in the old graveyard marking the spot of her interment is the in- scription, "daughter of Major Jacob Hasbrouck."
In his old age, Jacob, Jr., built and perhaps moved to the old stone house in the north bounds of the present corporation, where his great-grandson, Abm. M. Hasbrouck, now lives. The son Josiah kept the old homestead. He carried on the mercantile business in this ancient house after the Revolution and accumulated a very large amount of property. He was a Member of Congress in the 8th session in 1803-5, was Member of Assembly in 1796, 1802 and 1806, and Supervisor of the town in 1784-6, 1793-4 and from 1799 to 1805. Josiah was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Second Company, Third Regiment of Ulster County Militia in 1780. He was usually called Colonel. Perhaps that rank may have been be- stowed during the war of 1812. We know nothing of his military record.
In his old age Josiah moved from the old family residence · in this village to the Plattekill. His wife was Sarah Decker. They had three daughters, Elizabeth, Jane and Maria, and one son, Levi, who occupied the Plattekill residence during his lifetime, as did his only son, Josiah, who died about 1885.
Col. Josiah's daughters married as follows: Elizabeth was Josiah DuBois' first wife, Jane married Joseph Hasbrouck of Guilford and Maria married Christopher Reese of Newburgh.
We have said that Col. Josiah had one brother, Jacob J., Jr. After his father's death he continued to occupy the house where Abm. M. now resides until in middle age when he gave up this house to his son, Maurice, and moved to Bontecoe and built the brick house which his grandson, Luther, now owns. He
26
402
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
was twice married. His first wife, Margaret Hardenbergh, died young, leaving one son, Louis, who went to Sullivan county when a young man and was never seen again. The second wife, Anna DuBois, left a large family of sons and daughters, as follows: Maurice, Jacob J., DuBois, Huram, Asenath, Albina.
Coming back now to the village and to the ancient house which is now the Memorial House, we note that after Col. Josiah's removal to the Plattekill, near Jenkintown, the old homestead was occupied for a time by his son-in-law, Josiah DuBois, who had previously carried on the mercantile busi- ness in partnership with him, but discontinued it after a time, and about 1820 built the brick house now owned by Wm. H. D. Blake. After that date the old stone house, until its purchase by the Huguenot Memorial Society in 1899, was occupied by tenants.
Col. Josiah Hasbrouck was quite certainly the richest man in New Paltz, perhaps the richest man in the county. His father before him was a rich man for those days. Yet it must be noticed that although this old house was for successive gene- rations the residence of wealthy people it was a very plain edifice.
The people of those old days did not put all their money into houses. They lived, we dare say, in comfort, but had not as yet learned to be discontented with the plain, old stone houses of their ancestors.
THE STONE RIDGE HASBROUCKS
Isaac Hasbrouck, son of Jacob, son of Jean the Patentee, was born in 1722. He married, in 1745, Mary, daughter of Jacobus Bruyn of Shawangunk. They moved to the town of Marbletown and lived in the house in which their son, Severyn,
403
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
afterwards resided, which is still standing, about a mile east of Stone Ridge and now owned by James Pine. .
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.