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 27
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The "rift" in the Wallkill is not the same as of old, for the hateful "rebel" weeds have found a foothold there, but the swimming place is unchanged.
But from a description of the place we must pass to our account of the houses and the people that lived in them ..
The old houses have been occupied by tenants for half a century. For the same period there has been but one family of LeFevres in the neighborhood.
But, next to New Paltz, Bontecoe is perhaps the oldest set- tled place in this vicinity, and many years before the Revolution there were three families of brothers-sons of Isaac LeFevre, living at this locality. Scattered over Ulster county and else- where there is now quite a numerous tribe that can trace their ancestry to one or another of these three brothers.
Simon LeFevre, the Patentee, left three sons, named Andre, Jean and Isaac. The first named kept the homestead in this village; Jean lived in the house on the Plains, torn down about 1885, and Isaac, who was born in 1683-half a dozen years after the first settlement of the place-moved to Bontecoe, four miles north of the village. The date of his settlement at Bon- tecoe was about 1718, when he was married and was 35 years old. His wife was Maria, daughter of Hugo Freer, Senior.
The original house in which Isaac LeFevre first lived at Bontecoe was on the bank of the Wallkill a few rods north of
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the southernmost of the two old stone houses of Simon Le- Fevre, now standing.
This pioneer house was destroyed by fire when Isaac's chil- dren were quite small-the oldest about ten years old. The parents had gone to the Paltz on a winter's evening visit to friends, leaving the little children, four sons and a. daughter, at home and with the doors locked.
The house caught fire in some manner not related. The oldest son, Isaac, was sometimes able to unbolt the cellar door, but at other times his strength was not sufficient. In this case he was able to move the bolt and the little ones escaped and found shelter at an outbuilding-a bee house. Here their parents found them on their return from their visit, safe and unhurt.
The house which had been burned was replaced by a new one at about the same site. Here we may suppose that Isaac LeFevre lived and died in peace. No Indians troubled the settlers. Bontecoe land in those early days was noted for the production of wheat. Although four miles from the old set- tlement at the Paltz, we may suppose that the family of Isaac LeFevre was not lonesome, for the whole community of set- tlers had a joint ownership and cultivated in common the "Bon- tecoes"-necks of good land, of which there were at least four lying in the bends of the Wallkill between New Paltz and Isaac's house.
There is still in existence an ancient paper, written in Dutch, which is the quit claim from his brothers and sisters to Isaac for their interest in the property at Bontecoe.
It must be noted that these first settlers cared nothing for the upland, and it was not until the last century that much of the upland was cleared off. So late as 1810 there were but
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two clearings east of the old homestead in all the Gerhow neighborhood.
There are no tales of encounters with Indians, and no very exciting ones of wild animals. In one case the story goes that two of the sons of Isaac LeFevre found the tracks of a "pan- ther" around the house in the morning, after a heavy fall of snow. They followed the tracks and, after a weary tramp, found the animal in a tree.
One of the brothers laid his gun over the shoulder of the other to get a good aim, then fired and killed the savage beast.
It is related of Isaac LeFevre, that being in Albany once on some business, he ran a foot race and that while the race was in progress his friends to cheer his drooping spirits cried to him in the French language, "Courage Isaac." He won the race. One son of Isaac, who bore his father's name, went to the Potomac, lived there a while, then returned home and died. He was never married. Four other children, three sons and one daughter, married and left families. The oldest son, Petrus, was born in 1720, December 25th. He died in 1806, aged 85 years. He married Elizabeth Vernooy and occupied his father's homestead. The next son, Johannes, was born in 1722, October 10th. He married Sarah Vernooy and for him a stone house was built about 150 yards farther up the Wallkill. Daniel, the youngest son, was born in 1725, November 8th. He married, in 1750, Catharine Cantine, who was the grand- daughter of Moses Cantine, who married the widow of Simon LeFevre, the Patentee. The house in which Daniel lived was about 150 yards down the Wallkill from the one in which his father had spent his days and which the oldest son, Petrus, continued to occupy.
Besides these three sons mentioned, Isaac LeFevre had one daughter, Mary, who married Col. Johannes Hardenburgh, Jr.,
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HOUSE BUILT BY MAJ. ISAAC LE FEVRE ON THE SITE OF TIIAT GF ITTS GRANDFATHER ISAAC
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of Esopus, who owned a large tract of country at Swartekill and saw much active service in the Revolutionary war. Isaac · LeFevre died October 31, 1752, aged 69 years. He was buried in the Freer burying-ground about two miles north of his house.
PETRUS, THE OLDEST SON AND HIS DESCENDANTS
The oldest son, Petrus, occupied his father's house during a long life. Tradition says that Petrus LeFevre could have claimed the entire estate, under the old English law, but that he shared it equally with his brothers.
Petrus died in 1806, at the age of 85, and is buried in the old family burying-ground on the farm of Simon LeFevre. Petrus left a large family of sons and daughters, as follows : Jacob, Isaac, Cornelius, John P., Sarah, Jane and Ann. Jacob, the oldest son, married Lydia Deyo, and lived near this village, on the other side of the Wallkill, where Jacob Wurts now lives. He was the father of Christopher LeFevre and Tjerck.
Christopher's family lived after his death in this village, in the house now owned and occupied by Josiah J. Hasbrouck.
Petrus' next son was Isaac, Major Isaac, as he was called. He married Catharine Burhans. He built a new house where his father had lived. This was the third house on that site and is still standing. It was a fine house in its day. He was a noted man and a famous surveyor.
Major Isaac afterwards moved to Rifton and built a large frame house, which is still standing. The Major was one of the best remembered men of that period. He was a member of the Legislature in 1803, and Supervisor of New Paltz in 1807 and 1808.
After moving to Swartekill he was Supervisor of the town of Esopus from 1820 to 1825. He was at one time a State sur- veyor, going on this business a great distance from home.
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About all the surveys in this vicinity for a long period were made by him.
He was for a time the owner of a famous race horse called the Grand Bey, which, we believe, was never beaten in Ulster county.
Petrus' next son was Cornelius, who married Maritje Van Wagenen and moved to Creek Locks or LeFevre Falls. He was the father of Peter C., Isaac C. and Washington.
Cornelius was Supervisor of the town of Hurley from 1839 to 1841. Hurley at that time included a considerable portion of the town of Rosendale, which was not created as a town until 1844.
The other son of Petrus, John P., settled at first at Swarte- kill and afterwards exchanged property with his brother Isaac and moved to the old Bontecoe homestead. His widow, whose maiden name was Mary Hardenburgh, long survived him and occupied the old homestead with her family until it was sold, about 1840.
Besides these sons, Petrus left three daughters, one of whom married Samuel DuBois of New Paltz, another Charles Har- denburgh of Esopus, and another married Elias Bevier and moved to Broome county.
This ends the history of the most central and oldest of the three stone houses, as far as it was owned by the family who built it. It passed into the hands of strangers about 1840, and from that time to the present has frequently changed hands. It is now owned by Simon LeFevre.
We will now take up the history of the northernmost of the three houses, which was built for Daniel LeFevre, the great- grandfather of the writer.
Daniel LeFevre was born November 8, 1725, and died Feb- ruary 10, 1800, aged 74 years. He is buried in the old family
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TREE NEAR CELLAR OF JOHANNES LE FEVRE'S HOUSE
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burying-ground, and the spot is marked by a stone of the species of brown sandstone used in those days. Daniel always lived in the house which is still standing-the northernmost of the three. Slavery existed in New York in those days, and in his will Daniel disposed of four slaves. We have no record of any notable events in his life, and believe that he lived as a quiet citizen. Not long ago we looked over his will and, from the expressions contained therein, we doubt not that he was a pious, God-fearing man. The north room, now standing, was added to the house in Daniel's day.
Daniel had two brothers-in-law, Johannes Hardenburgh, Jr., and John Cantine, who were colonels in the patriot army, and another brother-in-law, Matthew Cantine, who was a member of the Council of Safety, but he did not serve himself in the army and was too old in fact. Daniel's Bible in Dutch, con- taining the family record in English, is in the Memorial House in New Paltz, likewise his old arm chair.
Daniel left but one son, Peter, born in 1759, February 10, and two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Mary married Jona- than Deyo and lived with him near the place where his great- - grandson, Perry. Deyo, lately lived, near the village. Elizabeth married Matthew LeFevre and lived with him in the old home- stead of Jan LeFevre, on the Paltz Plains.
Peter LeFevre continued to occupy the old homestead of his father Daniel. By his father's will he received that portion of his estate lying west of the Black Creek swamp.
JOHANNES LEFEVRE'S HOUSE
We will leave for the present the history of the descendants of Daniel LeFevre, who continued to occupy his homestead, and pass to the other brother, Johannes, who lived all his life
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in the stone house farthest up the Wallkill, of which the cellar is still seen but the house has been long torn down.
We have stated that Johannes was born in 1722, and that he married Sarah Vernooy. Johannes died June 27, 1771, at the comparatively early age of 49 years, and was buried in the old family burying-ground, on the farm of Simon LeFevre. Jo- hannes left but one child, a son named Isaac, who married Mary LeFevre, daughter of Andries, the first settler in Kettle- borough. Isaac occupied his father's homestead all his life. He died in middle age, leaving a large family of children. His widow married again, her second husband being Capt. Abm. Deyo, who was a widower at this time, living in the old Deyo homestead in this village. She did not move to her second husband's home, but continued to reside at Bontecoe. She bore one son as the fruit of this second marriage. This child was named Abram. His mother died when he was an infant, only a few days old, and he was taken on a pillow to his mother's brother, Johannes LeFevre, at Kettleborough. Afterwards this infant became Judge Abram A. Deyo of Modena.
The family of Isaac LeFevre, after the death of their mother, scattered. Both parents were dead. The farm was sold to Benj. Deyo, who afterwards traded it with Jacob J. Hasbrouck, who thus became owner of the old homestead, and shortly after- wards moved to Bontecoe and built the brick house which his grandson Luther now owns. Soon afterwards, about 1830, this old stone house was torn down.
This Isaac, son of Johannes, was an only child, but his family was large enough to make ample amends. His children were John I., Andries, Rachel, Peter, Daniel, Sarah and Gitty. These children scattered far and wide. Daniel settled in Dela- ware county, and two of his sons afterwards carried on busi- ness in Johnstown, Fulton county, and one of them, Gilbert,
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resided in Albany. John I. settled at Elmore's Corner, and afterwards at Highland. Andries, Peter and Rachel located in the town of Wawarsing-the two boys at Greenfield, on land coming from their grandmother Vernooy-Rachel married John Brodhead at Lurenkill, father of Henry, Andrew and others. Sarah married Abram N. LeFevre and lived near Modena in the house now occupied by H. B. LeFevre. Gitty married Dr. John Bogardus, who was a leading citizen of New Paltz in 1830. John I., the eldest son, who settled at Elmore's Corners and afterwards moved to Highland, carried on busi- ness on the dock. He ran for State Senator once, but was beaten by Wells Lake. He was Supervisor of New Paltz in 1816 and 1817. He left but one son, Alexander, who for many years was on the barge running from Highland.
This completes the history of the third house and the family who built it.
The northernmost of the three old stone houses still remained in the family and Grandfather Peter LeFevre remained the sole representative of the old settlers' stock. He was of pure French blood, and was a tall, spare, dark-complexioned man. Being an only son, he was well educated for those days. He was a lad of seventeen at the time of the Declaration of Ameri- can Independence. He did some service in the patriot cause as a teamster, going with a load of arms to the American army. Part of the time during the war he had charge of the ferry of his uncle, Moses Cantine, at Ponckhockie.
He married, in 1789, Magdalen, daughter of Roelif J. El- ting. Grandfather had something of a taste for politics. He was Supervisor of the town in 1797-8, and a member of the Legislature in 1799. We have seen the curious-looking old knee breeches worn by him when in the Legislature. For a long time he was one of the associate judges of Ulster county,
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and in that capacity transacted a great amount of business. The book in which he recorded a summary statement of the cases which were tried before him is still in the possession of. the family. He also performed a great amount of business in the way of drawing up wills, deeds and legal papers generally. We believe that most of the papers of that nature in New Paltz were written by him. The desk on which this work was done about 1800, is now in possession of the writer.
BUT ONE FAMILY REMAINING
As the northernmost house was the only one of the three now left in the family, we will continue its history a generation farther. Peter LeFevre left four sons, Daniel, Ralph, Moses P. and Josiah P. Daniel, the eldest son, married Mary Blan- shan, widow of Abm. Hasbrouck, and settled on a portion of his father's estate, where his son Peter D. afterwards lived, in the present town of Rosendale. Daniel was a general of militia in the old times, and a Member of Assembly in 1834. He was a short, stout-built, black-eyed man, a surveyor as well as a farmer. Although a strong, robust man, he died at the early age of forty-five. Ralph, the second son, married Rachel Elting. He lived on the portion of his father's estate in the present town of Rosendale, where his son Josiah R. afterwards lived, near his brother Daniel. Afterwards he moved to the farm in Lloyd, where his sons, Peter R. and Josiah R., afterwards lived. Though like his brother Daniel, a robust man, he died at the age of forty-nine.
FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS
We have alluded to the practice of the old people of bestow- ing names upon the clearings which they opened in the forest. The name "Vantyntje" (spring field) still is borne by one of
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IN THIS HOUSE THE WRITER SPENT HIS EARLY YEARS. IT WAS OCCUPIED BY HIS FATHER, JOSIAH P., HIS GRANDFATHER PETER AND HIS GREAT GRAND-FATHER, DANIEL LE FEVRE
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the best fields on the old farm. The name "Maugerstuck" (poor field) has been dropped for the more pretentious one of flat meadow. A sandy knoll on the land of Abram Ean, a short distance south of the LeFevre burying-ground, is still called by the Eans Daun Favre's bowery. At some distance east of the public highway a clearing of perhaps twenty acres was made about 1815, but the rest of Daniel LeFevre's land east of the highway remained a forest until a comparatively recent period.
Farming in Bontecoe and at New Paltz in those days was very much as it had been for the hundred of years preceding.
Some of the old people, instead of having a farm in one body, had a piece of land here and another there. This came from dividing the land among the children.
The highways were not fenced until perhaps 1825. There was but little travel in those days, and when people journeyed they had to stop and open the gates.
We spoke of Major Isaac LeFevre building the southern- most of the stone houses still standing. He also built a barn on the same premises, which was torn down about 1850. Part of the timber of this old barn was of yellow pine and was hauled all the way from Greenfield, in the town of Wawarsing, where his mother, who was a Vernooy, owned land. This barn was torn down by Josiah P. LeFevre, and some of this yel- low pine lumber put into his barn which he was then building where he afterwards resided. We can not imagine why it was considered necessary to draw the lumber so far.
We must confess that as a general rule, the old people at Bontecoe or elsewhere were not apparently inclined to over- work themselves. Had they been bent in that direction, the cellars might have been dug deeper, so that one would not be obliged to stoop so much in entering them. Slavery, as it
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existed here and in the South, doubtless prevented the whites from exerting themselves as they do at the present day. What work great-grandfather Daniel LeFevre found for four slaves to do on no greater quantity of cleared land than he had we . cannot guess. As an instance, perhaps exaggerated, of man- agement in the olden times, it is related that the well on the Petrus LeFevre place near by, not being in good order, instead of deepening it, or digging another, it was filled up, and thence- forth, when drinking water was needed, some one of the family paddled out on the Wallkill and sank a jug down where the springs bubbled up in the stream. There was less necessity for hard labor in those old days than at present. There was little market for produce. The horses and cattle ran in the woods and stock was branded. Grandfather's branding iron is still preserved and is now in the Memorial House. We may imagine that snow fell to a greater depth then than of late years, for a pair of snow shoes of the olden times made of thongs of deer hide, intersecting each other and stretching from side to side of a wooden frame, is among the other old articles that we have seen.
One of the undertakings, 100 years ago or more, was to build a wall a part of the way across the Wallkill and put in timbers for the purpose of constructing a fish weir, just below Daniel LeFevre's house. But the wall raised the water in the stream so much that the project was abandoned.
The building of the mill at Dashville about 1810 was another enterprise of considerable moment for those old days. The deed for this property was procured by grandfather of Hardenburgh, and the mill was erected by him, in partnership with his brothers-in-law, Philip and Ezekiel Elting. Before · that time handmills had been in use although not in New Paltz,
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and Levi Schryver informs us that he has seen a handmill used at Swartekill to supply the neighborhood.
As a general rule it must be confessed, perhaps, that the Bontecoe people in the Colonial period did not show any very remarkable degree of enterprise. But on the other hand, if they did not work themselves to death, at least they lived to- gether in harmony, none of them sold whiskey, they treated their slaves well, no family quarrels are recorded, they lived on good terms with their neighbors. None of them in those old days were as rich as certain members of the Elting 01 Hasbrouck family at New Paltz; but on the other hand, they were generally quite well to do-not poverty stricken by any means.
Altogether they held their own among the old settlers very creditably, and it may do their descendants good to study their characters and revisit their old homes.
The following are the names of old people of the LeFevre family interred in the graveyard on the farm at Bontecoe, now owned by Simon LeFevre :
Johannes LeFevre, d. 1771, a. 49 years.
Sarah Vernooy, wife of Johannes LeFevre.
Daniel LeFevre, d. 1800, a. 74 years.
Catharine Cantine, wife of Daniel LeFevre, d. 1799, a. 72 years.
Petrus LeFevre, d. 1806, a. 85 years.
Elizabeth Vernooy, wife of Petrus LeFevre, d. 1807, a. 74 years.
Isaac LeFevre, son of Johannes LeFevre, born 1753.
Peter LeFevre, son of Daniel, d. 1830, a. 71 years.
Magdalen Eltinge, wife of Peter LeFevre, d. 1823, a. 57 years.
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John P. LeFevre, son of Petrus, d. 1810, a. 34 years.
Mary Hardenburgh, wife of John P. LeFevre, d. 1841, a. 59 years.
Jane LeFevre, d. 1852, a. 52 years.
Catharine LeFevre, d. 1834, a. 42 years.
Zebedee LeFevre, d. 1836, a. 33 years.
THE BLOOMINGDALE LEFEVRES
The first settler at Bloomingdale, in the northern part of the present town of Rosendale, was undoubtedly Matthew Le- Fevre, who moved from the LeFevre homestead in this village. .
Matthew LeFevre was one of the two sons of Andre Le- Fevre, who was one of the three sons of Simon, the Paltz patentee. Matthew's location at Bloomingdale was on a tract of 700 acres, which was purchased for $700. We can not fix the date exactly, but it was about 1740, at about which same time his cousins, Andries and Abram LeFevre, located at Kettleboro and about twenty years after his uncle, Isaac Le- Fevre, located at Bontecoe.
Matthew's wife was a Bevier. His house is still standing at what is now called Rock Lock. It is of stone and was lately owned by Benj. Hardenburgh and occupied by tenants. Matthew had four sons, Conrad, Jonathan, Samuel and Simon. Each of these brothers married a Swart from Kingston and, we believe, they were all sisters.
Matthew was a lieutenant in the 3d Regiment of Ulster County Militia, John Cantine, colonel, commissions being is- sued October 25, 1775. He subsequently became a captain. He was familiarly called the "Old Captain," and took his four sons with him to the army, preferring to do so though the youngest was not more than fifteen or sixteen years of age.
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1
One of the sons died from a wound received in the Revolu- tionary war. In the records at Albany appears the name of Matthew's son Jonathan as a private in Col. Cantine's regi- ment. The name of Simon LeFevre appears as a lieutenant and subsequently a captain, commissioned in 1779, in the Ist Ulster County Regiment. This was Matthew's son Simon. Moses P. LeFevre recalls one or two incidents in regard to Matthew's record as captain, as related by his grand-mother's brother, Col. Cantine.
Matthew's four sons settled as follows: Conrad in a stone house, part of which is still standing in the forks of the creek (that is between the Wallkill and Rondout) not far from the powder mill. The house passed from Conrad to his sons, Moses, Adam and Jonathan (the last named of whom did not marry), and all three brothers continued to occupy the house of their father. They had one sister, Affie, who married Daniel Blanshan and moved to Western New York. Lorenzo Le- Fevre, of Rosendale, was a son of Adam.
Matthew's son Jonathan occupied the original homestead after his father's death. He left but one son, Levi, who mar- ried a Newkirk. Levi is the father of our informant, Garret, and of Jonathan J. LeFevre of Creek Locks, formerly justice of the peace, deceased.
Matthew's son Samuel lived in a stone house built for him by his father on the top of the Bloomingdale hill. He died when a young man, it is said, from a wound received in the Revolutionary army. His widow married John LeFevre of the Paltz Plains and moved with him to Owasco, in western New York, being doubtless among the first settlers there. Samuel left one son, Simon, who married a Hendricks and left a family of three sons, one of whom, George, resided some years ago near Cold Spring Corner.
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Matthew (the first settler's) son, Capt. Simon, lived in a stone house built for him by his father on part of his tract, about a mile north-east of the Quaker meeting house on the Rosendale Plains. Simon was one of the organizers and first elders of the Bloomingdale church, which was organized in 1796 and was built on part of the LeFevre tract. Simon's children were Anna, who married Abm. DuBois (father of Simon L. and Daniel A.) ; Magdalen, who married Solomon Hasbrouck (father of Alexander) ; Samuel and Matthew, the last named of whom long kept the lower toll-gate on the Paltz turnpike.
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