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 8
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PAYMENTS OF RENT AND TAXES
During all the Colonial period the payment of rent con- tinued. The following in the Dutch language, among the papers in the Patentees' trunk, is a sample of the receipts given :
Received of the inhabitants of the New Paltz one year's quit rent being thirty-five bushels of good winter wheat delivered to me in Kingston 1710 November 18. J. hardenbergh.
It is stated that one year the Freers paid the entire quit rent due from the New Paltz people and in return were given a tract of 200 acres at Mud Hook.
Besides the quit rent, which was paid in wheat, taxes for special purposes were levied as shown by the following samples of tax warrant and receipt :
TAX RECEIPT
New York 26 May 1716. ;
Then Received of Mr. Daniel Duboy & Hugh Frera Jun. Collectors of New Paltz Ulster County the Sume of Eleven
HISTORY OF NEW PALTZ
5:3
Pounds Fifteen Shillings & 3d Tax & for ye Treasurers Salary Six Shill. Being on ye fifth & Sixth Payment wch. will be payable ye Last Day of this Instant May and ye Last Day of Novem. Next Ensuing on ye £10000 Tax I say Rec by me.
A. D. Peyster.
Recded in the book of Receipts, No. A Folio 21.
Wm. Nottingham, Clk.
The tax warrant is directed to the assessors of New Paltz dated 1746, and is signed by Jan Eltinge, Jean (or Johannes) Hardenberg, Jr., Johannes De Witt, Abraham Hardenberg, Jacobus Bruyn, Charles Clinton and Cadwalder Colden, Jr., supervisors of the several towns manors and precincts :
"Pursuant of an act of General Assembly of the Province of New York, made in the present Nineteenth year of his majestic Reign, Entitled an act for raising a supply of the sum of thirteen thousand pounds by a tax on Estates Real and Personal for the more effectual fortifying this Colony, etc."
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CHAPTER XII
A SHORT HISTORICAL MEMORANDUM
The first attempt at writing anything of a historical nature concerning New Paltz that we have seen is contained in the following paper, written by grandfather Peter LeFever and dated 1830.
One leaf of the original seems to be torn off and the memo- randum begins abruptly as follows :
"It appears they settled in what is now called the old village and it is said they all laboured together and cleared their lands at first and afterwards divided the cleared lands by parole, without deed.
On the 25th day of August, 1703, some of the original pro- prietors were then dead : the survivors met together and con- veyed by their deed, bearing the above date, to each Patentee then living his proportion of the cleared land in their possession as the same had been divided by parole, and also his undivided twelfth part of the whole patent; and also conveyed to the legal representatives of the original patentees who were then dead, the full share of their ancestors.
Andries Lefever having died without lawful issue, Simon Lefever being dead, they conveyed to Andries Lefever, Isaac Lefever, John Lefever and Mary Lefever, the three sons and daughter of Simon Lefever, all the lots and parcels belonging to them from their father Simon Lefever and from their uncle Andries Lefever ; and also one fifth part of their grandfather's land (Christeyan Deyou, usually called Grandpere) as the
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same had been laid out and divided by parole and then in their possession ; together with two twelfth parts and one fifth of a twelfth part of the whole patent of all the lands not yet laid out and divided.
Simon Lefever had been married to Elizabeth Deyou, daugh- ter of the said Christeyan Deyou, called Grandpere in the French language, which means grand-father, who had devised to his son Peter and his four daughters each one fifth part of his land. His son Peter was also a patentee.
The widow of Simon Lefever afterwards married Moses Cantine, who was also a French refugee, by whom she had one son, viz. Peter Cantine, Esq., to whom the Patentees gave no share of the land of his mother, who thought he ought to have shared in his mother's land. (Peter Cantine was my mother's father.)
The Patentees afterwards entered into an article in writing to elect at their annual town meeting twelve men to represent the twelve Patentees-one from the descendants of each Paten- tee, who, to entitle them to that office must be a descendant of such Patentee he represented and a freeholder by heirship in such Patentee's share.
These "Twelve Men," so called, had their by-laws, kept a . book and record of their proceedings, made divisions of the whole patent (except some land on the north side of the patent and some other small lots) and entered their proceedings in a book.
These "Twelve Men" were also empowered by another bond, or instrument in writing to defend the boundaries of the patent and to raise money for that purpose from the representatives of the Patentees, according to their several rights.
Shortly after the Revolutionary war it was discovered that the divisions made by the "Twelve Men" were not lawful, and
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void. They then petitioned the Legislature of the State of New York to confirm such division (which was done by an act of the Legislature) and directed their book, wherein they had recorded their division, to be deposited in the office of the county of Ulster, where it now remains, and a certified copy of the act confirming said division is now in the possession of my son, Daniel.
The "Twelve Men" continued to be elected until about the year 1820. Their coffer, and copy of the book wherein the records of the division is entered, and patent, and sundry rec- ords and other patents was left in the care of Ezekiel Eltinge."
MATTERS SUBMITTED TO VOTERS
Rev. Ame Vennema has compiled from papers in the Paten- tees' trunk the following list of matters submitted to voters during the period of ten years from 1756 to 1766, showing how close was the union of church and State at New Paltz in those colonial days :
In 1756 3 "chimmily Vewers" were elected, and the "fine on ye chimmilis" fixed at 3d.
In 1757 Whether the money received for the collectorship should be applied "on the Highway" or "to the use of the church." The latter was preferred, the amount was 44s., 6d.
In 1758 Whether the money rec'd for the office of Collector should be applied "to the benefit of the church of the New Paltz," or "on the Highway," or "given to the clerk of the New Paltz church for the time being" or "half to the church and half to the clerk."
The result was in favor of the first proposition. Amount 46s.
In 1759 Whether the money received for the collectorship . shall be given to the clerk of the church, to the poor, or used
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for the purchase of a "pall." The result is thus recorded, "By Plurality of Voices it is carried, That the money given for the Collectorship shall be Applyed for buying a Pall for the Pre- cinct of the New Paltz, And there is Bid for the Collectorship the sum of 57 shillings. And Tis Agreed that the Deacons of the New Paltz church shall be Managers for Procuring said Pall as aforesaid, who are to buy said Pall as soon as said money shall come in."
In 1760 Whether the money of the Collectorship should be applied in Part "to a Pall and the Remainder for a Silver Beaker" (chalice) or, in part to a "Pall and the Remainder to a Bare to Cary the Corps of the Dad to the Grave."
The result of the election was that it "be applyd to Bie a Pall and the over Plush to Bie a Silver Beaker to the use and Benefit of the New Paltz Preseinct; and there is Bid for the Collector Ship the Sum of 68s. by Jonathan Terwilliger, and paid."
1761 It was decided by vote that the money of the Col- lectorship be used to purchase "a Silver Cup for the use of the Reformed Dutch Church at the New Paltz"-
That Sheep may not have free Running but must be kept. „The fine for pounding sheep to be not 4d but 3d.
1762 Noe Eltinge was elected for a "Commissioner to Lay out Highway."
Valentine Perkins for "pownder for ye River, and Josaphat Hasbrouck for pownder for ye Paltz."
1763 The money for the Collectorship was "voted to be Applyed to pay the Assessors for their Trouble for the En- suing Year."
In 1764 It was submitted to the voters "Whether there shall be Five overseers of the Roads, or two."
Whether a Pound shall be made "adjoining the South East side of the Land of Abraham Bevier, at the Orchard."
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The money of the Collectorship shall go to the Assessors.
1765 Whether Pound Masters shall be elected or "every man be his own Pounder."
It was decided by vote: "That the Poundage of Horses and Horned Cattle shall be 2s. a head."
That the fences be "4 foot 6 inches High, post and Rales Fence, to have 4 Rales."
1766 Of the 25s. rec'd. for the Collectorship it was voted that 3s. be paid to the Constables the residue to the Assessors.
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CHAPTER XIII
THE FIRST MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN SOUTHERN ULSTER
The brook which now runs so quietly through the northern suburbs of our village is still called the Mill brook, but for many years no mill has marked its course to the Wallkill. However this brook was in by gone days the propelling power of no less than three mills located at different points and built at different times in the history of New Paltz. About a mile north east of the village are the remains of an old saw mill on this brook. The stone dam and a portion of the timbers are still to be seen. The situation is in a romantic glen and the place is well worth a visit. This mill was used in sawing logs as late as 1855.
Half a mile further down the brook, near the present resi- dence of Mr. Wm. E. DuBois, are the remains of another dam. Here there was a grist mill erected at an early date which con- tinued in use until about 1820. Here Isaac DuBois, grand- father of the late John W. DuBois, carried on the milling business shortly after the Revolutionary war, and here the late Nathaniel DuBois of Shivertown carried on the business about 1820. At about that date the mill ceased running and New Paltz people after that time took their grain to the mill at Libertyville or the mill just erected at Dashville.
Still further down this brook, almost directly north of the residence of John Wynkoop, on Mulberry street, may be found the grass grown remains of a much older mill dam, which has recently been rebuilt and a large pond formed and an ice house built. Here in the early days of the settlement the
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. Huguenot pioneers of New Paltz took their grain to be manu- factured into flour. On this spot Daniel Hasbrouck, son of Abraham Hasbrouck, the Patentee, had a mill as early as 1730. In a document of that date, bearing the signature of Hugo Freer, Sen., son of Hugo the Patentee, reference is made to the lane on the north bounds of the old village, "leading to the mill of Daniel Hasbrouck." This property remained in the possession of Daniel Hasbrouck's descendants until quite a recent date. Tradition says that this mill was for the grind- ing of grain, but there may have been a saw mill connected with it. The brook does not give abundant water power, but probably it furnished all that was needed for the infant settle- ment. This ancient mill may have been erected quite a num- ber of years previous to 1730, but we have no evidence or that point. First in the history of New Paltz, after the settle- ment of 1677, came the organization of the church in 1683 and the erection of the church building. Next in importance was the education of the children, and in 1689 and perhaps at an earlier date there was a schoolmaster at New Paltz. The next enterprise to claim attention would naturally be a mill, and we have documentary evidence, amply confirmed by the still remaining earthwork of the dam and by tradition among the descendants of Daniel Hasbrouck, that this was the spot to which in ancient times the New Paltz people brought their wheat to be manufactured into flour.
It was no doubt the first manufacturing industry established in Southern Ulster.
SOLDIERS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD
The report of State Historian Hugh Hastings comprising volume I, of the Colonial series contains a complete list of all soldiers in the Colonial period, subsequent to 1700.
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The first New Paltz name in point of date is that of Abra- ham Hasbrouck who received his commission as lieutenant of a company of foot for New Paltz and Kingston August 30, 1685. In 1689 he was appointed as "captain of foot at Ye Palz, Ulster county."
Under the date of 1700 in a foot company appear the names of the following officers: Abm. Hasbrouck, captain; Moses Quantin, lieut .; Lewis Bevier, ensign.
In the list of volunteers to march to the invasion of Canada in 1711 in Captain Wessel Tenbrook's company appear the names of Isaacq Hasbrouck and Jean Lefeber.
In 1715 in the list of the troop under the command of Capt. John Rutzen appear the following: Anthony Crispell, Lowis Dubois, Jun., corporal Louis DuBois, Solomon Hasbrouck, Daniel Hasbrouck, Daniel Dubooy, Philip DuBois, Jacob Has- brouck.
. At the same date in the same regiment in Capt. Vernooy's company (Wawarsing and Rochester) appear the following names : Lieut. David Dubois, Samuel Bevier, Abraham Bevier, Jan Bevier.
At the same date in the same regiment in Capt. Johannes Schepmoes' company for the town of Hurley appear the fol- lowing : Lieut. Jacob Dubois, Jan Crispell.
At the same date in the same regiment in Capt. Nicholas Hoffman's company for Kingston we find the following : Roeloff Elting, William Elting, Peter Cantyn, Louis DuBois, Jun., Louis Matthyse DuBois, Jan Freer, Johannes Crispel. · In a Dutchess county company under date of 1715 appears the name of Peiter DuBoy.
The next year, 1716, in Capt. Hoffman's company a large number of New Paltz names appear as follows: Sergeant abream deyou, Lieut. Andries Lowerre, insign Lewis Lowies
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Jun. aberam de boys, aberam ferer, yakop ferer, hendrick deyoo, elyas yu, kriteyon de you, Ysack leferer, piter daow, Hyge Abaram fere, Ysack fere, Symon ferer, Benjamin du boois, benjamin hasberck, yoel debois, Yan lefever.
The above can quite readily be recognized as the names of the sons of the Patentees by combining the Christian name with the family name in each case. But the spelling is unusually bad.
In 1717 in a list of militia officers for Ulster county the names of the officers for New Paltz and Shawangunk are as follows : Capt. Zach. Hoffman, Lieut. Andries Fever, ensign, Louis Bevier, Jun. The name of Jacob Dubois appears in a list of the Hurley company, in 1717.
In a list of eight companies of an Orange county regiment of foot militia in 1738 Nathaniel Dubois' name appears. as captain of the fifth company.
In a list of officers and soldiers in Ulster County militia in 1738 under Capt. Johannes Ten Broock appear the following New Paltz names : corporal Solomon Haesbrock, Jacob Haes- brock, Samuel Bovie, Jan Ffreere, Daniel Dubois, Daniel Haes- brock, Johannes DuBois.
The following of New Paltz ancestry appear in 1738 as foot soldiers of the corporation of Kingston : corporal Nathan Du- bois, Jacobus Dubois, Jr., Solomon Freer, Johannes Dubois, Hiskiah Dubois, Gerrett Freer, Jacobus De Ioo, Isaac Dubois.
In the same date, 1738, Lewis Bevier's name appears in the Marbletown company of militia.
At the same date in the Rochester company appear the names of Lieut. Philip DuBois and Josaphat Dubois, Louis Bovier, Jr., Cornelius Bovier, Samuel Bovier, Jr., and Jacob Bovier.
At the same date (1738) in the list of militia of the foot company of New Paltz (which then stretched down into Orange county) under Capt. Zacharias Hoffman, are the fol-
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lowing: Sergt. John Freer, corporals, Christian Deyo, Hen- drick Deyo, Isaac Lefever; privates, Isaac freer, Jan Une, Jonas freer, James Agmodi, Simon Lefever, Josiah Elting, Abra. Dujo, Cornelius Dubois, Jonathan Dubois, Hendr Dubois, Moses Dujo, Isaac Haasbrouck, Jacob Haasbrouck, Jun., Benja Haasbrouck, Jun., Abra. Bovier, Mathues Bovier, Jacobus Bovier, Isaac Bovier, Abra Lefever, Nathael Lefever, Benja Haasbrouck, Symon Dubois, Isaac. Lefever, Junr., Peter Dejo, Huge Freer, Junr., Lewis Sa. Bovier.
In 1758 in the roll of Stephen Nottingham's company ap- pear the following: Jacob S. Freer, Jacob Freer, Wilhelmus Crispel.
COATS OF ARMS IN HUGUENOT FAMILIES AT NEW PALTZ
It is highly probable that all of the Huguenot settlers at New Paltz had coats of arms. The count de Vermont, who is a recognized authority on this subject, says that previous to 1789 not only the nobility in France but most families of the "bourgeois" had regularly registered coats of arms record- ing some distinguished action on the part of the bearer or his - 1 ancestors.
Most descendants of the early settlers of New Paltz have taken little interest in the matter of coats of arms and we have not considered it in our province in writing a history of New Paltz from 1678 to 1820 to enter into the subject at any length, because during that period the matter of coats of arms is not alluded to in any records that we have seen or in any tradition that we have heard.
Of late years some interest has been shown in the subject.
Many years ago Gen. Geo. H. Sharpe found at Brussels a coat of arms of the Hasbrouck family, a copy of which he
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brought with him to his home in Kingston. In the Memorial House at New Paltz, among the other relics is a coat of arms of the Bevier family. In the LeFevre family there are, we are told, three coats of arms, one of which belonged to the LeFevres of Paris and the others to certain families of the name in other parts of France. The name Deyo is thought by one authority to be the same as de Joux, which name was borne by a princely family, whose castle and home was in Franche Comté. This is of course mere surmise.
The coat of arms of the DuBois family, as certified by the count de Vermont, is thus described :
Argent, a lion rampant sable, armed and langued gules. Crest, between two tree stumps: Vert, the lion of the shield. Motto-Tiens ta foy-(Hold to thy faith).
On page 39 of the DuBois Reunion book, in the paper read at the Reunion, written by Dr. Henry A. DuBois of New Haven, Conn., appears a cut of what is denominated "Original DuBois Arms": Or, an eagle displayed sable, peaked and clawed gules.
Another coat of arms which has a curious history is that which has come down in the family of Abram DuBois, who moved from New Paltz to New Jersey and was the son of Abraham the Patentee and grandson of Louis the Patentee. This coat of arms was found pasted in an old book, published in 1707, which had come down from father to son in this branch of the DuBois family. A greyhound is a prominent figure in the coat of arms. The motto is "Honestas est optima polita." The name "Duboys" appears on the coat of arms.
. We note, lastly, the coat of arms on the old silver snuff box, which has come down in the family of Solomon DuBois, son of Louis DuBois the Patentee. This box is in itself a very
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valuable relic. It bears on one side the names of different owners in the DuBois family and dates, the most ancient being 1707. On the other side is a coat of arms. Mr. Patterson DuBois in the DuBois Reunion book says "While the one side of the box may have meant .'nobility' to our ancestor the simple blazon of a name and date (1707) on the other side is our title to the truer nobility of the soul, which our Huguenot fathers have bequeathed us in the annals of an heroic devotion to their faith," Mr. William E. DuBois of New Paltz is now the owner of the box and has placed it with the other relics in the Memorial House.
There will probably always be difference of opinion among the descendants of Louis DuBois the Patentee as to which of the four coats of arms above noted is that of their ancestor. The predilections of the writer would naturally be in favor of that which has come down in the family of his grandmother and the other descendants of Louis' son Solomon.
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CHAPTER XIV
TORIES IN THE REVOLUTION
Among the papers of Gen. George Clinton, published by the State in book form, in 1899, appears an account of the pro- ceedings of a general court martial, held at Fort Montgomery, April 30, 1777, and continued several days for the trial of a number of tories who had been captured while on their way to join the British army.
At this court martial Col. Lewis DuBois was president and 15 captains and 2 lieutenants were members, among the number Capts. Hasbrouck, Bevier and Hardenbergh.
It appears from the proceedings of the court martial that a certain Lieut. Jacobus Rose by the offer of a bounty and the assurance that King George would soon win, got together a body of 36 men in the neighborhood of Shokan and Shandaken.
They started to join the British army, traveling by night and taking with them their guns and provisions for 4 to 5 days. They crossed the Esopus and Rondout creeks and the Sha- wangunk mountains. They came into the precinct of New Paltz at what is now Mountain Rest and passed down the mountain to the ford at Cornelius DuBois' place, now Capt. W. H. D. Blake's. One Wouter Slouter was their guide to the ford.
While crossing the Shawangunk mountain they had been told that scouting parties were out to apprehend them. This was true, for about a dozen or fifteen of the neighbors in New Paltz had got together, placing sentries at the different roads where they crossed the Wallkill-at Peter Deyo's (Tuthill)
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at Isaac Low's (Libertyville) and at Cornelius DuBois', where Capt. W. H. D. Blake now resides. At the last named place Tunis Van Vliet and Jacob Freer were stationed, sitting under an apple tree, guarding the road leading to the ford.
Rose and his party came upon them suddenly in the night and took them prisoners, then crossed the Wallkill in two canoes, repeated trips being necessary for the purpose. On the east side of the Wallkill the tories were challenged by Lieut. Terwilligar, who was at once fired upon by one of Rose's fol- lowers and wounded in the arm. Terwilligar escaped and so did Tunis Van Vliet, who had been taken prisoner on the west side of the stream. Both proceeded to Noah Elting's, and procured horses and a man in order that the news might be sent post haste to Newburgh and our army warned of the ap- proach of the tory band. It is a proof of the strict discipline in our army that Tunis Van Vliet was afterwards arrested and sent to Fort Montgomery for not having more promptly raised the alarm and aroused the rest of the guard, only 150 yards away, this delay on his part, after his escape, giving the tories time to get their whole band across the Wallkill in safety.
Rose and his party traveled on, reaching Alex. Campbell's that night and staying there the next day. The next evening they went to the barn of Arthur Mckinney and staid there the next day and night. Here, near Little Britain, they learned that it was impossible to get through our lines. Shortly after- wards they were attacked by 50 of our militia, who had been sent out to meet them. Several of the tories were killed, a large proportion were taken prisoners and a few escaped for the time being.
The court martial, after due consideration sentenced 16 of the tory band, including those who had given them aid and comfort on the route, to be hanged. Seven of the 16 were
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recommended for mercy., Subsequently 14 others of the band received the same sentence, a few of the number being recom- mended for mercy. The charge against a portion of the num- ber was "levying war against the United States of America" and with those who had helped them along the route "giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the State of New York."
This sentence was subject to the approval of the Conven- tion, which met at Kingston May 3d. Gen. Clinton, in a letter to the President of the Convention says, "The inhabitants are so much irritated by the conduct of the prisoners in marching armed in a body to join the enemy that I fear they will soon take the law in their own hands against them." He urges that a severe example should be made of those tories. With a few exceptions the Convention approved the action of the court martial and no doubt it was promptly carried into effect so far as Rose and one at least of his companions were concerned.
On May 5th Capt. John A. Hardenbergh, who was of Guil- ford, writes from New Paltz to Gen. Clinton that in pursu- ance of his orders he arrived at home on Saturday evening, got all the, men together he could and scoured the mountain in search of those of Rose's party who had escaped. They found two men, hidden under a great rock, who confessed having belonged to his band. The next day he went to another mountain- where he found the party of Capt. Broadhead who had also captured three of the band. . All the prisoners were sent. under guard to Fort Montgomery.
OLD FRAME HOUSES
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