USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 5
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 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
150
Thomas, Rev. Jacob 12
Thomas, John W
97 Vallerie, 323
Thompson, Rev. Alexander R 141 Van Allen & Son 85 Ward, William 2, 324
Thompson, Andrew 141 Vauamee, William 44
Thompson, Annie L 156 Van Benschoten, 329
Thompson, Rev. Dewitt B. 145 Van Buren, Dr 88
Ward, William, Jr.
22
Wardell,
329
Thompson, James R., Jr 10 Van Bureu, R. 828 Warford, Clarence O.
101
Thompson, Right Rev. Juseph P. .128, 129 Vau Cleft, Alberta. 209 Waring, Charles
328
Thompson, Mrs. Joseph P 12! Van Cleft, Alice, Thompson, Mary Frances (Lawson) .. 140 101 Waring, Cornelius L ..... .. . 46, 76, 160, 165, 330 Waring, Daniel S .... . 69, 75, 76, 79, 119, 167, 173,
Van Cleft, Barclay 209
Vau Cleft, Augusta 209 Thompson, Rev. N. B .. 145
Vau Buren, John D. 69, 105
Thompson, Rev. J. R
123, 139, 140
105
209 Usher & Templetou
141, 161, 181, 286, 287, 288
Ward, Rensselaer 91
Valentine, John H. .. 105, 106, 109, 150
Ward, Warner E. L
160
Ward, Rev. William 146
Ward, William H. 323
Thompson, Rev. Henry A. 129
PAGE. 19
Stockton, Richard Stone, M. C., M. D 86, 125
Stover, 328
Thomson, Prof. William M 220
Thorne, Edwin.
207
Vau Dalfsen, James T. .97, 105, 151, 189,311
Vanderbilt, Commodore Vanderbilt, William H
234
Vanderveer, Rev. Daniel.
Thornton, Mrs. Howard. 166 Vanderveer, Rev. F. H.
Thornton, John. 166
Thornton, Matthew 166 Van Duzer, Florence
101
Thornton, Genl. William A 166
Van Duzer, S. R.
108, 153
Van Dyck, Henry H.
Van Etten, Soi 46. 77
Van Gaasheek, Rev. D. W. C ..
Van Nest, Rev. Abraham R., Jr
Van Nort, Benj. W.
290
Tiffany & Co. 324
Van Nort, John F
84, 86, 307
Van Orsdall, James
Van Reed, Capt. N. E
Van Sciver, W. H. 46 300,301
Van Tassell, Louis H.
97
Van Wyck, Hon. Charles H. 47, 160, 206
Van Zandt, Rev. A. B
131
Vaux,
69
Vaux, Withers & Co.
172
Vechteu, Rev. Mr
131
Taggart, Archibald 121, 185
Townsend, Mary Augusta (Clark). 78
Taggart, James 65 Townsend, Dora M. 101
Talmadge, W. T.
186
Townsend, Lewis
138
Volek, Andries
18.
19
Volek, Anna Catharine
Voltaire
118
Von Panshin, Alexander.
327
Vredenburgh, Levi.
91
Vroomau, Hon. John W
33
Tarrant, Rev. Henry
150
Traphagen, Linda C
Wadsworth, Colonel 52
Wait, Samuel 197
Wait, Dr. Wesley 255
Wakeley, Rev. J. B
145
Walker, J. H 46
35
Wallace & Hemingway
305
Wallace, Rev. R. Howard.
13
Wallace & Sweet 177
Walsworth, Rev. L. W 139
36 Wandel, Jacob 22
Wands, Anna (Darby) 109
Wands, George M. 109
Turuer, E. S.
.. 69, 70, 151, 152, 189, 214, 310
Wands, William S
105, 106, 108, 109, 189
Turner & Sanford 152, 310 Wansiey,
Turner, Shipp & Oshorn 191, 310
Ward & Esmond. 191
Ward, Capt. G. S. L 45
Ward, Gilbert
324, 325, 326
Ward, Joshua
255, 256, 323, 324, 325, 326
211
Terwilliger, Aaron 139
Ward, Leonard & Co. 97,287,288
Terwilliger, Josephine 268
Ward & Logan 69, 191, 296, 287, 288
Upright, Elizabeth. 212 Ward, Luther C .. .. 249 Weils, Edward. 106
Ward, Hon. Peter.
.44, 45, 47, 75, 97, 105, 140,
Thayer, John S
Traphagen, William D
220
Taylor, President.
129 61 Townsend, T. Powell 78
Tarheil, John P
101, 102
Tarbell, William
Sweet, Orr & Co. . 63, 191, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 280
Strachan, Willianı G 76
Straw, Dr. L. S.
181, 206, 207, 328
Strong, Albert H
125
145
Stubbs, Rev. Nathaniel 128
Sutton, D. A. 329
Sweeney, Senan L., M. D .86, 155
Sweet, Clayton E.
126, 173, 191, 270, 278
Vanduzer, Christopher
Vau Buren, President Martin 199, 215 Wardrop, Smith & Co.
176, 189, 190, 191, 242, 893, 384 46
Weston, Wilbur H
176, 191, 214
150
Townsend, Isaiah 169 Verplanck, M. 328 Wehher, Anna Elizabeth. 18
Walker, Major
69 Tucker, John F 16, 178,179
Taylor, Mrs. Frederick M.
207
Thompson, William, Sr. 139
16
PERSONAL INDEX.
PAGE.
Weygant, Col. Charles H .45, 65, 66, 67, 75, 105. 125, 181, 191
Weygant, Charlotte (Sackett)
Wightwiek,
197
Wilson, Kate A. (Todd) 214
Woolsey, Antoinette
199
Weygant, James, 1×3
Wheeler, Col. S. B. 218
Whelan, Edward 46
Whelan, Robert N 279
Whetstone, John.
193
Whipple, General 206
Whipple, Major General W. D.
45
Wilkinson, John G
152. 313, 814
Whitheck, David L
132
Wilkinson, John G. & Co.
313
Willard, Francis A. 178, 179, 191
Willard & Sons
178
Whlte, John H
Willard & Tucker
179
White, James R.
139
Williams, Capt. Alfred H
45
Windom, Hon, William 120
141
Wright, Joseph
213
White, Margaret 327
Williams, Benjamin
217
Whited, Isaac W 139
Whited. John. 17
235
Williams, George A
105
Williams, Right Rev. John 145
Williams, Jonas 78, 106, 262
Williams, Martha Lonisa (Clark)
Williams, Minnie P. (Goodale).
217
Whitehill, Hugh. .. 237.257, 260,264
323, 328
Wygant, Martin
23
Willis, James
198
241
Wygant, Tooker
185
Wood, A. Stanley
69
Wygant, William J
101
Whitehiil Smith & Co. 211
Whitemarsh, A 131
15
Wilson, 329
Wilson, Aaron. 325
18
Wilson, Arthur. .167, 169,329
Wood, Stephen 128
Young, Alexander. 170
Wood, S. S. 178 Young, James 329
Wood, William H. 241 Young, James S
Woodin, John 125 Youngblood, G. W. 150
Woodruff & Beach 24
Younghlood, Mrs. Rev. W. 15-4
Zeller,
328
Wiggins, L. Y., M. D. 86,88
PAGE.
Wiggins, Stephen.
88
Wilson, J. E. 329
Woolley, C. N., M. D .. .86, 105, 106, 108
Woolley, Margaret B. (Flthian). 103
Woolsey, Captain D. C.
Woolsey, Levi D. 198
Woolsey, Margaret (Carter). 198
Wonde, Rev. Henry H. 148
Wright, Mrs. A. B ..
156
Wiltsie, Arthur V 176
Wright, Alexander 123
Wright. Colonel. 46
Wright, Col. W. W 297
Wright (William) Engine Works. . 63, 72, 109 69, 149
Winchester. Col. Locke W
45
Wright, Harry
213
Wines, Rev. C. M.
Winfield, Hon. Charles H 14, 161, 181
Winfield, Elias
176
Wright, Nicholas
94
Wise, Charles H.
121
Wright, Samnel
94, 122
Wise, Gertrude
101
10
Wright, William & Co.
245
Wiseman. J. Scott
Wyatt, Captain. 45, 125
55
Withers, Alex. J. 155 76
Withers, Frederick C ..
Wyckoff, William
84
Whitehill, James 74 Williams, William 106
Whitehill, Rohert ... 69, 74, 79, 98, 172, 189, 191, 235, 237, 238, 242, 247
Willis, Nathaniel Parker 52,57,85
Wylie, George 191 Wood, Frank G 250
Wood, Isaac, Jr .... . 77, 97, 294, 293, 323, 324, 328
Wynkoop, Gitty.
53
Wood, John A. 105 Xavier, Rev. Henry 146
Wood, Mary G. 155
Yates, Edmund 231
Wierman, Mary
Wilson, Mrs. Arthur 89
212 Wiggins, Levl O., M. D 89 Wilson, Francis. 140
Wiggins, Mary (Cornell) 88 Wilson, Henry, M. D 86
Wiggins, Mary E. (Olmstead) 89
Wilson, James E., Jr. . 101
Wilson, Jonathan D 76, 213
Woods, William J. 101,103
Wilson, Jonathan D., Jr.
101, 125
Woodsell,
129
Ziegenfuss, Rev. H. L
150
THE PHOTOTYPES, OR " HALF-TONE " ILLUSTRATIONS,
in this book (with three exceptions) were furnished by THE MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP CO., BUFFALO, N. Y.
Wilson, Moses 154
Wilkin & Gott
162
Wilson, Nicholas 105, 202
Wilson, Tilden H
84, 213, 214
Wilson, T. & J
69, 70, 191
Wilson, William
27,123
Wilkinson, James G.
191
Wiltsie, G. Fred 45
Wiltsie, John R ... 181, 204, 311, 328
Winans, H. E., M. D.
86
Winans, Lemuel J.
76
Wright, Frank A.
Wright, Rev. Lyman.
130
Williams, Charles E
.119, 189, 191, 262
Williams, C. L.
178
Whitehill, Clarence
Whitehill & Cleveland .... 63, 257, 258, 259, 260 Whitehill Engine and Pictet Ice Ma- chine Co .. . 63, 235, 236, 242, 217, 255
Whitehill, Jeannette Murray. 237
Williams, Samuel. 103
Wood, -
Wood, Amos R ..
Willson, Rev. James R., D. D. .. . 122, 123, 159, 177,200
Wier, Capt. G. V
Wierman, Catharine 18
Wiggins, Charles L
Ins, Olive (Jillett)
PAGE.
PAGE.
Wilson, John M. 76, 139
Wiggins, William
Wiley, William M
.122, 198, 199, 321
Wilkin, Judge. 283
Wilkinson, E. B. 46
Wilkinson, George 313, 814
Whitaker, Samnel. 314, 315
White, Isaac 335
329
Wright, Jacob
Wright, Wm .. 191, 220, 232, 242, 243, 244,245, 268
Wise, John,
Wyckoff, Henry 141, 144
A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE PAST.
The Palatines-The Story of the Glebe-Early Inhabitants-Building a City.
V the western bank of the Hudson, where it expands into the beautiful bay at the northern portal of the Highlands, is the thriving and historic city which is our home. Five miles north the river hides its course behind the Danskammer; to the south its waters wash the stony foot of old Storm King, and a little farther on
" The moon looks down on old Cro' Nest And mellows the shades on his shaggy breast."
Across the bay the Beacons stand sentinel, with pretty villages at their feet; behind us stretch the green, billowy fields of Orange
spirit thus implanted is manifest in the people of the place to this day.
The present city of Newburgh is included in lands purchased by Governor Dongan, of New York, in 1684, and conveyed by patent ten years later to Captain John Evans. This patent was annulled in 1699, and that portion of the lands now in whole or in part embraced in the city limits was subsequently granted in ten separate parcels. In the year 1688, Louvois, the war minister of Louis XIV, in order to cripple the enemies of France, gave orders for the devastation of the Palatinate, a strip of territory on the middle Rhine, now included in Bavaria, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, and the states of Rhenish Prussia. The French generals, eager to prevent as much suffering
NEWBURGH BAY-LOOKING NORTH FROM WASHINGTON HEIGHTS,
County, dotted with farm-houses and scarred by highways; here and yonder a village; in the northwest the peaks of the Shawangunks and Catskills outlined against the sky.
Where now the city sits on her several terraces the Waoraneck (or Murderer's Creek) Indians had their dominion; on the northern spur of the Schunemunk was their stronghold, on the Danskammer they assembled to supplicate the Great Spirit. The first white settlers of these parts were French Huguenots, Scotch Presbyterians, and German husbandmen from the Rhine. Driven from the Old World by religious persecution they came to the New, and here, ou and near the banks of the Hudson, they made a home and worshipped the omnipresent God as their conscience moved them. The deep religious
as possible, gave the people warning of the fate awaiting them. Quickly gathering such things as they could carry, the disconsolate Germans fled for their lives, and wandered about Europe for some years seeking a new home. A party of them went to England, in 1708, and the English Government, which had been for a long time debating the wisdom of collecting the poor outcasts from the Palati- nate and sending them to America as colonists, concluded to send this party to the banks of the Hudson. Queen Anne, greatly inter- ested in the fugitives, herself bore the expense of their passage to New York, where they landed in the winter of 1708-9. They were sent to the vicinity of Quassaick Creek, and ten years later a patent was issued to them by the Government for 2,190 acres of land, ex-
[17]
18
NEWBURGH.
tending along the river-front from the Quassaick to a little stream near the Balmville Tree, and westward to about the present line of West Street. They were all followers of Luther and members of the Lutheran Church.
NEWBURGH CENSUS FOR 1709.
The following is a list of the families originally constituting this pioneer company:
1. JOSHUA KOCKERTHAL, minister, aged 39; his wife, Sibyle Charlotte, and their children, three in number.
2. LORENTZ SCHWISSER, husbandman and viner, aged 25; his wife, Anna Catharine, and their child, aged 8 years.
3. HEINRICH RENNAU, stocking-maker and husbandman, aged 24; his wife, Johanna, and their two children, and two sisters of his wife, Susanna and Maria Johanna Liboschain, aged 15 and 10 respectively.
4. ANDRIES VOLCK, husbandman and viner, aged 30; his wife, Anna Catharine, and their four children.
5. MICHAEL WEIGAND, husbandman, aged 52; his wife, Anna Catharine, and their three children.
to assist them. The government made them a trifling allowance of "gd. a day per head," and in the spring of 1710 sent them tools and building material, also iron and steel for horseshoes, nails, etc., medicines, books, paper, agricultural implements, horses, cows and pigs. The Surveyor-general of the province was directed to lay out farms for them, but the first survey (in 1714) was not satis- factory to the settlers, who represented that the land being " all up- land" they were not able to obtain subsistence for themselves and families " for want of some meadow land for fodder for their cattle in winter." Finally the tract was divided into nine lots, which were numbered from one to nine, each lot containing a suitable quantity for each family, to which they were apportioned.
Before the final allotment changes occurred in the original company; some had died, and others had moved elsewhere, and in ap- portioning the lands these changes were recognized. The patent was finally issued Dec. 18, 1719, and the settlement was called "The Palatine Parish by Quassaick." By the terms of the patent, forty acres were reserved for highways, and five hundred acres for a
NEWBURGH-LOOKING
6. JACOB WEBBER, husbandman and viner, aged 30; his wife, Anna Elizabeth, and their two children.
7. JOHANNES JACOB PLETTEL, aged 40, husbandman and viner; his wife, Anna Elizabeth, and their three children. [MIr. Plettel died on the passage to America, and his widow married George Lockstead, who arrived afterwards. ]
8. JOHANNES FISCHER, smith and husbandman, aged 27; his wife, Maria Barbara, and their son, aged 2 weeks.
9. MELCIIIOR GULCH, carpenter, aged 39; his wife, Anna Catharine, and their two children.
IO. ISAAC TURCK, husbandman, aged 23, unmarried.
II. PETER ROSE (or La Ross), cloth-weaver, aged 34; and his wife, Johanna, Mary Wierman, his mother-in-law, and Catharine, her child, aged 2.
12. ISAAC FEBER, husbandman and viner, aged 33; his wife, Catharine, and their son Abram, aged 2.
13. DANIEL FIERE, husbandman, aged 32; his wife, Anna Maria, and their two children.
14. HERMAN SCHUNEMAN, clerk, aged 28, unmarried.
They were fifty-thrce in number, all in abject poverty. They brought nothing with them, and left behind no friends able
Glebe. The first roads laid out were the King's Highway (now Liberty Street), extending north and south entirely across the patent, and another running westward from the river (now known as Broadway); but the latter was not opened till many years later. The Glebe is bounded by South Street on the south, and North Street on the north.
In apportioning the land George Lockstead and family received 250 acres bordering on Quassaick Creek. He had married the widow of Johannes Jacob Plettel. Michael Weigand and family received 250 acres adjoining on the north, which included the present Washington Headquarters building. Herman Schuneman and wife received 100 acres lying between Washington Street and Broadway. Christian Henricke had 100 acres between Broadway and First Street, which is the tract referred to hereafter as being the first to bear the name of "Newburgh." The Rev. Joshua Kockerthal having died, his widow and children received 250 acres between First and South Streets. Burger Meynders, a blacksmith from Kingston, purchased the interest of Peter Rose, and received 100 acres on the north side of North
19
NEWBURGH.
Street. Jacob Webber, Johannes Fischer and Andries Volck received Lots 7, 8 and 9 respectively; and Melchior Gulch and Peter Johnson had previously received (October, 1719,) 300 acres each, lying north of the principal tract, iu the district now called Middlehope.
Andries Volck and Jacob Webber were the first Trustees of the Glebe, charged with administering its affairs for the benefit and behoof of a Lutheran minister, for which purpose it was to be leased in whole or in parcels for terms not longer than seven years, and to be subject to the annual payment to the provincial authorities of one peppercorn. A minister from New York made annual visits to the parish until 1723, and after 1725 his successor made semi-annual visits.
In the year 1733 Michael Christian Knoll was appointed a minister at Quassaick Creek, Wappingers' Creek and Hackensack. He served in the Parish of Quassaick three times each year, receiving thirty "cheeples" of wheat annually. During his term of service the Palatines erected the church afterwards known as the Glebe school- house. It stood in the burial-ground in Liberty Street, and its site
to the eastern portion of the plot between First Street and Broadway, which had been sold by Christian Henricke to Governor William Burnet, from whom it was purchased by Cadwallader Colden and others, comprising a company, and laid out in town lots, about 1730, and given the name of the Town of Newburgh Plot, which sub- sequently became a considerable hamlet.
Not only did the new-comers change the civil institutions of the settlement, but the religious complexion as well. In 1747, outnum- bering the Lutherans, they elected Alexander Colden and Richard Albertson trustees of the Glebe, and the latter immediately pre- pared to open the church to the ministers of the Church of England, one of whom, the Rev. Hezekiah Watkins, being even then stationed in the district. On the Sabbath when they held their first service in the building some went armed with swords and sticks. The Lutheran minister and his flock ap- peared at the door and made a public protest, afterwards retiring to a private house near by to hold their service. Tradition says the Lutherans attempted a forcible ejectment of the occupants, and in the
FROM FISHKILL LANDING.
is now marked by four posts. Its dimensions, it is said, were about twenty (?) feet square, with a roof extending up four sides to a little cupola, where hung the bell, the gift of Queen Anne. With regard to this bell an aged resident now dead wrote: "It was the smartest little bell I ever heard; you could hear it ring clear down to Murderer's Creek." The house was of very primitive construction; flooring and chimney it had none, save an aperture in the roof through which the smoke ascended.
A CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION.
Some of the settlers, lured by promises of better lands, and more intimate association with those of their own nationality, sold their farms and moved away; others were laid at rest in the old churchyard, and the settlement attracted new-comers, who gradually became more numerous than the remnant of the original settlers, till from a German settlement the place had passed, in 1743, almost wholly under the control of the Scotch-English, and been rechristened with the Scotch name of "Newburgh," which at first, however, applied only
skirmish the door of the church was torn from its hinges, and one stalwart Lutheran (said to have been Burger Meynders), was buried beneath it as it fell. He escaped with few bruises, and his brave but outnumbered companions retreated with woeful countenances from the house of prayer they had erected.
In 1749 a decision of the council of the provinces refusing to set aside the election and the acts of the Trustees, practically put an end to the Lutheran parish by Quassaick.
The little bell was taken by night from the cupola and hidden in a swamp, where it remained for a number of years. It was again con- cealed during the Revolution, and when peace came it was hung in the old Academy and used at the assembly of courts there, as well as for church and school purposes. In 1833 it was sold by the Trustees for $21.75, in exchange for the bell now in use .*
* "We have at Headquarters a bell which purports to be the old Glebe bell, and which I have myself believed to be such, but which I find to be an error. The old bell weighed 116 pounds, and so precise are the details of an account which I find, that even the freight charge on it to New York is given."-E. V. Ruttenber.
20
NEWBURGH.
THE GATE OF THE HIGHLANDS.
NEWBURGH.
2I
THE HIGHLANDS-LOOKING NORTH FROM WEST POINT.
22
NEWBURGH.
NEWBURGH DIRECTORY FOR 1750.
In 1750 the resident real estate and leaseholders were the follow- ing:
Richard Albertson,
Jonas Denton,
James Smith,
Joseph Albertson,
Michael Dermott,
Thaddeus Smith,
Duncan Alexander,
Henry Don,
Henry Smith,
Isaac Belknap, Morris Fowler,
Samuel Sands,
Abel Belknap,
Nathan Furman,
Daniel Thurston,
Henry Bend, Jonathan Hasbrouck,
Jonas Tidd,
Isaac Brown, M. D., Caklass Leveridge,
Martin Weigand,
Thomas Brown,
William Mitchell,
Thomas Waters,
Alex. Brower,
Robt. Morrison, M.D., William Ward,
Alex. Colden,
William Miller,
William Ward, jr.,
David Conner,
Patrick McCary,
Thomas Ward,
Edmund Conklin, jr. Charles McCary,
Jeremiah Ward,
James Denton,
John Morrell,
Jacob Wandel,
Samuel Denton,
Thomas Morrell,
John Wandel.
William Smith,
The new-comers were mainly members of the English Church. Happily, they were energetic, enterprising and intelligent people,
corner of Broad and Liberty Streets, but afterwards moved to Liberty Street opposite Gidney Avenue. Isaac Belknap lived near where is now the junction of Colden and Water Streets, and sailed a sloop; Richard Albertson was the sheriff of the county (then Ulster). The Wards were of Palatine stock hy inter-marriage, and ancestors of the famous oarsmen, the Ward brothers. The farm lying between First Street and South was purchased from the widow and family of Joshua Kockerthal by James Smith, and eventually descended to Benjamin Smith, except a piece in the southeast corner now covered in part by " the Square," which was sold to Alexander Colden.
In 1752 a new patent was issued by the Government, and the Glebe lands of " The Parish of Quassaick " were formally transferred to Alexander Colden and Richard Albertson, under the title of " The Parish of Newburgh," to hold the benefice for the support of a minis- ter of the Church of England and a school-master. One of the first acts of the new Trustees was to lay out streets through the Glebe, namely, South, Clinton, Broad, Nicolls and North, running east and west; and Water, Hasbrouck (now Montgomery), Seckond (now Grand), and Kings (now Liberty), extending between North and South Streets, and two unnamed streets extending between Broad and North, west of Liberty. South, Broad, Nicoll and North
-
-
NEWBURGH-FROM THE RIVER NEAR SOUTH STREET.
and their acquisition was most favorable to the growth of the place. Alexander Colden was a son of Lieut .- Gov. Colden, of Coldenham; he had been a resident for several years. In 1743 he obtained the charter for the Newburgh ferry, by virtue of which the privilege is still held. Sail and rowboats were used for the purpose of ferriage, and the landing-place was at the foot of First Street. He erected a grist mill on the site now occupied by the Newburgh Bleachery, and sailed a sloop to New York from his dock at the foot of First Street. Jonathan Hasbrouck was from the Huguenot settlement at New Paltz, and had acquired the possession of a large tract of land, part of which is now the Headquarters property. He erected the historic building in several parts at different times, and purchased and managed the Colden grist mill. James Denton erected a grist mill at Denton's Creek, south of Balmville, and had also a small store. Duncan Alexander was the brother of William Alexander, familiarly known in the history of the Revolution as Lord Sterling. John Morrell, Doctor Morrison, William Ward, Henry Bend and Joseph Albertson lived on the east side of Liberty Street, north of South; Henry Don lived on the northeast corner of South and Grand Streets; William Ward, jr., lived on the east side of Montgomery Street, north of Clinton; Martin Weigand then had a tavern at the
were laid out on the map to the western limits of the Glebe, and Clinton only as far west as Liberty. South, Broad and North Streets were each two chains wide, and the others each one chain. The land was also divided into lots, of one acre each, making six lots in each square.
The trustees also established a public landing at the foot of North Street, held agricultural fairs, took temporal charge of the church, erected a parsonage, and a residence and schoolhouse combined for the school-master, and did other ennobling work which contributed to the growth and prosperity of the place. The parsonage stood on the west side of the King's Highway (Liberty Street), north of Gidney Avenue. It had a single story and attic and a portico, and was about thirty-five feet square. There Hezekiah Watkins, the first resident English clergyman, lived. It eventually became a tenement house. The school-master's house was also on the west side of Liberty Street near Clinton.
In 1762 Newburgh was set off from the precinct of the Highlands, and made a precinct by itself. The records of the town of New- burgh date from the following year, when the citizens met at the house of Jonathan Hasbrouck (Washington's Headquarters), and elected the precinct officials. Newburgh then included the present
23
NEWBURGH.
towns of Marlborough and Plattekill, which ten years later were in- corporated as the Town of New Marlborough, leaving Newburgh with its present bounds.
The hamlet on the Glebe in 1776 comprised less than a score of houses. Three boats owned in the town made trips to New York, and "people from the back parts of the country " brought their produce to Newburgh for shipment. The first tavern was erected hy Martin Wygaut (or Weigand), a grandson of Michael Weigaud, one of the original settlers, on the north side of Broad Street, near Liberty. During one period of the Revolution General Wayne had his headquarters at Martin Weigand's house, then on Liberty Street, opposite Gidney Avenue, and there, also, the towns- people often met to transact public business.
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.