USA > New York > Ulster County > History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Vol. I > Part 44
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Farther out, it may be stated, the William M. Hayes place of recent years was undoubtedly the manor-house of Thomas Chambers, proprietor of the manor of Vauxhall, afterwards corrupted into Foxhall, and it is possible that, Chambers having been an English officer, and his house quite distant from the village, it was not burned by the British in October, 1777 .*
Returning to Beekman's Corner, on Main Street. next. on the north side was the stone house of Major De Zang, a Hessian officer of liberal education and attractive man- ners, who fought in the British army, married Miss Law- renee, of Long Island, and then moved here. His scientific and liberal intelligence became very valuable to the people of Kingston. Ile first introduced picket feuces and was the chief promoter of the Ulster and Delaware turupike, the forerunner of the plank and railroads making the de- sired communication between upper Ulster and Delaware.
Going west, and directly across what is now Fair Street, at the Kingston Bank corner, was the great old ruin of Petrus Edmunda; Elmendorf, called at the beginning of the century the Molly Elmendorf ruin. It was not rebuilt after the war, and was a well-known landmark for iwo gen- erations, until its yawning cellars were filled to make way for the continuation of Fair Street. A story is told of one of Molly Elmendorf's old colored female servants, who fled with her mistress to Hurley when the British were marching on the town. Word came that the village was bund. It was stated again and again, that Molly Elmen- dorf's house was burned, but the old uegress warmly con- tradieted the assertion, insisting it could not be, as she hod the key of the house in her pocket.
Procceding westward, near Mr. Howard Chipp's, there was a small stone house of Mrs. Annatje Low, afterwards bought by the church and removed.
Beyond the church on Main Street, about half way be- tween the corner of Wall and the northeast corner of Main and Green Streets, was a stone house, since removed, where Conrad Edmundus Elmendorf lived, known as " Lawyer Coon." John Sudam married his daughter, and subse- quently built the house now on the corner.
Northwesterly was the house of Dr. Elmendorf, now oe- enpiel by Mr. James E. Ostrander. The corner stone
* Mc. Frederick Westbrook, of New York, and other excellent authorities regard it as certain that the real manor house, or at least u manor- Lou-e, was nt the Strand. Thomas Chambers was buried at Hondout, and this fact corroborates their view.
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
house on Green (later of John H. Jansen) was occupied by Dr. Vanderlyn, a brother of the artist. The opposite corner, now occupied by Miss Ann Burhans, was the home of David Delemater, whose daughter became Mrs. Egbert Jansen.
Returning easterly along Main Street on its southerly side, the corner house of Mr. Pine was then the residence of Mr. John C. Wynkoop, a lawyer and grandfather of Mr. F. S. Wynkoop of the present day.
Crossing Wall Street, on the corner where the brick church stands was the parsonage, occupied at the time of which we are writing by Dominie Doll, a short, stout German, who had been educated in the Durch Church llis daughter, Ann, married Judge James Vanderpoel, of Kinderhook, who came here to take the position of usher or assistant teacher in the academy. Mrs. Ann Vanderpoel afterwards became the mother of the wife of John Van Buren, son of the President.
There was a frame house where the parsonage now stands, occupied by another Conrad Elmendorf, who was called " Kreppel Coon" on account of his lameness.
Mr. Hamblin's house, on the corner of Fair Street, was the only brick house in town, and was occupied by William Copp, printer of the Farmers' Register, the first paper issued in this county .* He was afterwards associated with Samuel Freer in the publication of the Rising Star, the second paper in the county.
Between this point and East Front Street was a small ofice, occupied afterwards by . Messrs. Ruggles & Has- brouck.
Southerly, down East Front Street, there were no build- ings on the west side, ou all the property now occupied by Messrs. Cornelius and J. S. Burhans, except the barus of James Hasbrouck, son of Col. Abrahaiu Hasbrouck.
Turning westerly into Pearl Street, the frame house of Thomas G. Van Steenbergh, now occupied by Mr. Winter, was then the residence of a merchant named Horsford.
Still westerly, on the corner of Fair and Pearl Streets, was an old cellar, the remains of a building belonging to the Molly Elmendorf property, and which, following the fate of the principal mansion. had been left to monhler into ruin. Over this was afterwards erceted the first Methodist Episcopal church, en inconsiderable frame building, the predecessor of the present fick edifice.
On the northwest corner of Pearl and Fair Streets were the ruins of Judge Wynkoop's house, burned by the British, which was subsequently reconstructed by Conrad Edmun- dus Elmendorph, purchased by Mr. Severyn Bruyn, and now in the ocenpation of his family.
Next there is a small stone house, then occupied by Thomas Houghtaling. Crossing Wall Street and going westerly, there was no house nutil you came to the corner of Green, where Mrs. Katrine Jansen kept a students' boarding-house, having among others as her guests the Livingstons and John C. Spencer during their attendance at the academy.
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Returning along the southern side of Pearl Street, on the
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opposite corner to Katrine Jansen's, was an old frame build- ing where lived William Marius Groen.
The house at the corner of Wall and Pearl was built by Benjamin Welch, the father of Benjamin Welch, Jr., after- wards treasurer and commissary-general of this State, a gentleman of large literary acquirements, who passed the last years of his life in active duty during the war, and died from disease contracted in the service.
The next honse, on the corner of Wall and Pearl, was the residence of Teunis Swart for a long period, and for some time under Dr. Gosman, the faithful precentor of the church. Teunis was not often disconcerted at any emer- geney in the performance of his duty, but on one occasion his courage received a severe test. Dominic Doll gave out the 119th Psalm to be sung. and then resumed his seat without stating what part of the Psalm was to be used. Teunis looked despairingly at the congregation, and then imploringly at the pulpit, but no help came from either. He still hesitated in the presence of the mighty task before him, and heaved a long sigh which was distinctly audible throughout the church.
Mr. Duminie was lost in reflection or prayer, and Tennis at last deliberately took off his coat, which he slowly folded and hung over the back of the clerk's desk. With another heavy sigh he proceeded manfully to sing through the entire 119th Psalm, until Dominic Doll's attention was happily arrested and the error corrected, to the relief of the congregation and Teunis, who devoutly believed that his time had come.
At the corner of Pearl and Fair Streets lived Peter New- kirk, in the house which is now the parsonage of the Second Reformed Church. This gentleman was the father of Mrs. James D. Baldwin.
Next was the quaint old house of Mrs. Sahler, then oe- eupied by Jesse Buell, and here he published the Plebeian (first issued in November, 1801) until he was called to Albany, in 1813, to edit the Argus.
Beyond were the first plains, and on their westerly side no building stood, and the only stone house on the south- erly side of the first plains was that now belonging to the Presbyterian Church property, and then occupied by Dr. Abram Vosburgh.
Passing to Maiden Lane and going westerly along its north side is the stone house now of Miss Jackson, then of a Masten family, and from it there was nothing until the corner of l'air, where stood Evert Bogardus' tavern, which was the headquarters of the Federalists, the scene of wany a publie dinner and reception, the best-known public- house in the county for many years, and in which sat the convention which framed the first constitution of the State of New York.
Mis. Sickles' house was then occupied by Solomon Has- brouck, the village pedagogue, who taught school in the okdl building formerly opposite the Methodist church, where he Was succeeded by Mr. Dederick.
At the corner of Maiden Lane and Wall was a house occupied by Joshua Du Bois, many years the court-crier. It is now gone, and the next of that date is Mr. Fowler's, then the home of Jonah MeLane, on the corner of Maiden Lane and Green. He is remembered for once upon a time,
. The New York Journal and Advertiser had been published here for a few months before the burning of King-ton.
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CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
when the Woolverhookers invaded the territory of the Kinderhookers and attacked them, coming gallantly to the reseue of his own clan and routing the Woolverhookers by heaving a red hot iron in their midst.
In the house now on the opposite corner lived Tobias Van Buren, the grandfather of the five brothers John, Tobias, Henry, Persen, and Isaae.
On the southeast corner of Maiden Line and Wall there was a house occupied by two old ladies named Brink, the site now covered by the residenees of Messrs. Johnson and Ridenour.
Next, and on the southwesterly corner of Maiden Lane and Fair, there was a small stone house occupied by Mr. Snyder, which in 1807 was taken down and rebuilt by Edward Eltinge, and afterwards purchased by Mr. A. Bruyn llasbrouck. On the opposite corner was the rival public- house, the Republican headquarters, kept by Conrad Elmen- dorf, familiarly Known as " Topper Conrad." This is now the residence of Geu. Van Buren.
The frame house of Mr. Teller, then of John Hitt, was not built until about 1814, and thence also there was both- ing to the plains. Nor was St. James Street much occu- pied in those days. On it, indeed, there was a small frame house painted red, the home of Hendrich Crook. The American Hotel of later times occupies the same site.
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The stone house farther westerly, still standing and opposite the furnace, was a homestead of the Masten fanily.
At the corner of East Front, where Mr. Charles Brod- head's house now stands. was the stone residence of John Van Keuren (brother of Lucas), who was born in the cellar of the oli Van Keuren homestead, where his mother bad fled while the English troops were firing the building over her head.
On the northeast corner of St. James and Wall lived a Du Bois, and opposite to bin: a Crook, and at the opposite corner of Wall lived Mrs. Katje Hermance. She sold small- beer and sponge-cake to the academy boys.
On the southeast corner was a stone house where the large frame one now stands, occupied by Mr. Hamilton, the father of Heury, who saved the Dutch church from fre, as already mentioned, and whose family subs quently re- moved to Twaalf-kill.
Passing easterly, there was nothing to remark until you reached the Van Kenren house, and it is interesting to note its great antiquity by stating that it is known to have been occupied by the grandfather of old Lucas Var Keuren.
At the corner of Pine and St. James is the old Hough- taling homestead, still held by the family ; and on the corner of East Front and St. James, Lucas Van Keuren bought a small frame house in 1805 of Maj. Swart, from which he rebuilt the present residence of Dr. Davis. In front of it was the only free well creetel by the trustees of the town, and in the rear of Dr. Davis' house was the pound, opposite which lived the poundmaster, " Bill'' Keator, as he was familiarly known.
Returning now to North Front Street, and following Green on its right or westerly side, there is found the long stone house in which livel James Styles, the watelmaker.
Next was the house of Egbert Dumond: the first sheriff
of the county under the State organization, and afterwards re-elected in 1785,-the place in later tiques of Charles G. Cooper.
After that we reach the homestead of Col. Abraham Hasbrouck, burned in 1773, when he removed to his East Front Street house. It was again rebuilt by the colonel after the war for his son Abraham, and by him conveyed to Judge Jonathan Hasbrouck, first judge of the county, in 1793.
Next is the house of Lucas Ehnendorph, first judge of the county, in 1815, with its fine front, perhaps unrivaled in the county.
There was uo house on this site before the war. It was built by Judge Ehuendorph, and is said to have been the first house illuminated in Kingston, which occurred in 1735, on the occasion of his eleetion to Congress.
Here in a room over his stable the postofice was kept for many years, and on the spot where the Ostrander barn of later times stauds was the village school-house,-the same building afterwards removed to Fair Street, in the rear of Mr. Bruyn's.
Next is the handsome house of Jacob Tremper, father of Judge Joli Tremper, whose sister married Conrad Ed- mundus Elmendorph as his second wife and became the mother of Mrs. Jonathan D. Ostrander, by which means it passed into the hands of the Ostrander family.
Next is the oll homestead of Direk Wynkoop, first judge of the Common Pleas, in 1783.
Beyond Green on Pearl Street there are three old stone houses,-one so long the residence of William Van Aken, - then of Cornelius Masten; another, of John Masten, occu- pied in later times by his daughter ; and last, the well-known homestead of that devout man William H. Dederick.
There were three small stone houses beyond Judge Wyn- koop's,-the first of Thomas Beckman, the second of Jacob Marius Groen (now removed), and the third of Abraham Wynkoop, a part only of which remains, near Mrs. Bevier's.
The last stone house on Green Street is the large one built by Tobias Van Buren the eller.
Beginning again at Northi Front Street, and passing south- erly along the east side of Green, there was a house of George Tappen, son of old Christopher Tappen, the county clerk, torn down to make way for the new school-house of District 11. On the corner of Green and John Streets lived Dr. Luke Kiersted, the leading physician of the place. Next, and on the opposite corner, was the home- stead of Abraham Van Keuren, burned in 1775 by the same fire that destroyed Col. Hasbrouck's house, and rebuilt after the Revolution.
Then follows the large square mansion of John Tappen, occupying the corner of the triangle, which, by the way, is correctly laid down on the old map of 1695, given in this volume. Here John Tappen -published the Plebeian, and the outline of the staircase ascending to the printing-room on the western exterior of the building eau still be traged.
Having completed Green Street, we return next to the head of Crown Street at its junction with North Front. Going south ou the east side, there was a small stone house, which is now a part of the Kingston Hotel, where lived Elizabeth Eltinge, an unmarried body. Levi Jansen, sheriff
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
of the county in 1807, moved here at the expiration of his term of office, and kept it as a public-house ; it was long known as " Levy" Jansen's Coffee- House.
Next, on the corner of John Street, was Peter Roggen's, now owned by Judge Schoonmaker. It may be said that this house, having undergone few changes, presents an excellent type of its kind.
On the opposite corner of Mr. Hiram Radcliffe lived Matthew Persen, a rich old man, who had many namesakes. He kept a public house.
Next was the stone house standing opposite John Tap- pen's, where lived Cornelius Tappen. Adjoining it was another, taken down a few years since to make way for new buildings, where lived Henry Eltinge, a turner, who used to make tops for the boys.
On the other side of Crown, beginning at North Front, the corner was vacant, and the first house was a frame build- ing recently torn down to make way for the new school- house of No. 11. Seth Couch lived there. He subse- mently built the house, near the City Hall, now occupied by Mr. John O'Reilly.
Next was an old collar, the ruins of a house burned in the Revolution, belonging to Mir. Roe, a jeweler. The rear only was immediately rebuilt, and now forms a part of the resilence of Thomas L. Johnston. After the restoration of the front it was kept as a public-house by Benjamin Os- trander, father of Jonathan D. Ostrander.
Next was the stately house of Matthew Jansen, remain- ing externally nearly the same as at the beginning of this century. His children were John C. and Katy. both of whom died unmarried, and the property came into the pos- session of the late Jacob Hardenbergh.
Opposite to this was the famous Kingston Acvkmy, originally founded by the trustees of Kingston, in the year 1774, twenty-vare years before it was incorporated by the new regents of the university, Feb. 3, 1795. Beyond the academy there was nothing until the Tappen bene is again reached, at the triangle.
Next take John Street, and begin at Green. On the north side passing the Jansen and Roggen houses, there next lived a Mr. Swart, in a house which in late years is the office of Jobs E. Van Etten. In front of Wall Street was the conspicuous roid of the old Vanderign mansion. which was not rebuilt, but the gables of which were stand- ing for many years subsequent to the Revolution. It was not entirely removed until Wall Street was opened through, in 1828. Ilere resided the father of John Vanderlyn, the painter. The latter became acquainted with Aaron Burr while he was in Kingston attending the Circuit Court. Mr. Burr saw a portrait of Mr. Van Gaasbeck, painted by young Vanderlyn, and also some drawings, at the residence of Gen. Armstrong. Hle sought ont the young artist. who was only practicing in a limited amateur way, an I expected to study medicine with his brother Peter. Under Mr. Burr's earnest advice Mr. Vanderlyn determined to educate himself to the profession, and, aided by Mr. Burr, he ob- tained a clerkship in a store in New York City where they sold prints and engravings. He was enabled to attend a drawing-school in the evenings, and laid the foundation of his future success.
On the east side of the Vanderlyn house, and occupying the site of the Ulster County Bank, was the small shop of Henry Columbus, a widely-known colored barber, and unele of Henry C. Rosecrans.
Passing the Ulster County Bank, next to it is the house, still standing, of Oke Sudam, a Jerseyman, and father of the lon. John Sndam.
Crossing Dover Street, is the stone house where lived Jacob Emman. He was a harness-maker, and had a shop near his dwelling. Thence, with the exception of a small wooden building, where Mr. Chipp's sister kept a girls' school, there was nothing to East Front Street.
On the south side of John, beginning again at Greeu. and passing the academy and the old Persen house, there was nothing until we reach what has for many years fan.il- iarly been called the " Corner." This was the residence of Barent Gardenier, a Congressional representative from this district, and a gentleman of fine personal appearance. His oratorieal powers were so noted that John Randolph, of Romoke, pronounced him the most eloquent man he had ever heard upon the floor of Congress.
Ou the southeast corner of Wall and John stood the stone house of Peter Marius Groen, lately removed to make way for the store of Mr. Demmick. The last house in this street, known in recent years as the Jonathan Schoonmaker place, was the residence of Dr. Sleght, a bachelor and a. man of much wit and pleasantry.
It remains to trace Wall Street. Beginning at the Vao- derlyn mansion, which faced it, on the west side stood the Gardinier house, already mentioned, and after it came the court-house, a respectat . stone building not much inferior in size to the present one, bat disfigured by a great red kitchen on the north side, in front of which was a well used gererally by the prople. and making a sloppy, un- sightly spot.
Next to the court-house, where Mr. H. G. Crouch's building now stands, was a small two-story stone house. originally the Abraham Masten place, a shoemaker, and about 1820 became a public-house, kept by Mrs. Hannah Radcliffe. Thenee to the corner there was no building until the erection of the residence of John Sudam, early in this century.
Passing John C. Wyukoop's, on the opposite corner. Mr. Welch's, Mr. Crook's, and Mrs. Katje Hermance, already mentioned, we come to a stone house of Jacobus Masten. in late years inhabited by Rev. Mr. James, and next to the homestead of Matthew Van Steenbergh, built by his father and now in the possession of Warren Chipp.
At the corner of Big Vly lane there was a little worden house and blacksmith-shop of Martin Elmendorph, and lastly the old stone house of Abraham Van Steenburg !! , well known as the ouly house not burned by the British in October, 1777. It was far upon the outskirts of the town ; the work of devastation was nearly completed ; Vaughan, having learned of the approach of Gen. Clinton, made haste to retire. The colored servants of the family, who had ded to the woods of the Kykuyt near by, hastily returned and extinguished the fire.
On the east side of Wall Street, opposite the court house. is the stone house then belonging to Nonh Wells the hatter.
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CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
Passing the church and the parsonage opposite the lot of which ran to Pearl Street), we come to the house of Tennis Swart, already named, and the house of Joshua Du Bois, also noticed. It is said that before the door of the latter was a handsome basswood-trec, an ornament to the village, but which he caused to be cut down because so many cows gathered in its refreshing shade. Cattle in those days ran freely upon the streets, and were only taken to the pound if they broke into the gardens.
Beyond the Hamilton house, already spoken of, stands the old Black Horse Tavern, so called from the sign which swung before it. This was a prominent Federal headquarters.
On the road to the Strand was a solitary house, now used by the Wallkill Valley Railroad as a station. This was an old Houghtaling homestead, and the proprietor is said to have been something of a fisherman and supplied the vil- lagers with " small fry" canght at the Strand.
The old citizens inhabiting all these homesteads were a prudent, economical, and frugal people of strong religions principle, simple and unostentations in their lives. They . were farmers to a greater or less degree, cach Irwing a por- tion of the lowlands or the fields on the Arm Bouwery. By the side of every residence was a barn directly upon the street, and, as every householder kept rows, these were seeu issuing forth in large numbers to the meadows in the morn- ing, and their returning bells made the evening hour melo- dious. Besides the smaller shops or stores, many citizens were engaged in trade, purchasing cereals and other large products from the surrounding country and forwarding them in bulk to New York with the yield of their own broad acres. A large part of this interior trade came from Wawarsing and the intermediate towns, and a stili greater proportion from Delaware County, whence were brought quantities of wheat and dressed deer-skins and fox-skins, which were sent to New York for the manufacture of gloves and breeches. The lower towos carly inclined towards Newburgh and Poughkeepsie, but a considerable trade tended this way from Bontikoe, -the region lying be- tween Perrine's Bridge and New Paltz .-- named after one of the carly Huguenot settlers. All these farmers, bringing their produce to Kingston, took from thence their family supplies. The produce was of course forwarded to New York by sloops, and those from this place always lay at Coenties slip. Besides these freights the sloops carried passengers, and, as nothing but the passage was provided by the skipper, each voyager took with him his own bedding and provisions, usually contained in a great chest; and when the fellow-travelers were relatives or familiar acquaint- ances, a mess was formed and the table supplies were turned into a common stock. Arriving in New York, those who chose resided on the vessel during their stay. The return- ing sloops bought cargoes which consisted mainly of cloths, flannel, coffee, tea, iron, nails, leather, furniture, and kitchen utensils, and salt, sugar, and rum in large quantities. The farmers raised their own flax, and from it made their linen, homespun garments, and ropes.
A cobbler went with his kit from house to house, re- maining at one for days, at another for weeks, until the entire foot-gear of the family was placed in thorough repair for a year's use.
A good part of the wheat was manufactured into four at Bogardus' Mill, or at the one in Wilbur ( Twaalf-kill). then owned by Thomas De Witt, the father of Jacob H., Reuben, and the Rev. Dr. De Witt. When a large quantity was in readiness at De Witt's mills, Abram Hasbrouck, of Rondout (father of Mr. Jansen Hasbrouck), the largest owner of sloops at the Strand, sent a huge scow to Twaalfs- kill for it, and from this the cargo was loaded into sloops.
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