USA > New York > Essex County > Bloomingdale > The New York of yesterday; a descriptive narrative of old Bloomingdale, its topographical features, its early families and their genealogies, its old homesteads and country-seats, the Bloomingdale Reformed church, organized in 1805 > Part 5
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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
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THE HOUSE OF HUMPHREY JONES, LATER "THE ABBEY "
0
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Abram W. Jackson for five years from December Ist. This lease, however, was mutually abrogated June I, 1846 (L. 478, 576).
Mr. Weber moved into the mansion after the pur- chase with his English housekeeper, Mrs. Hayes, and a man servant who cared for the horses and drove him to the city and return. His marriage took place in 1838 to Caroline C. Fawsitt, a woman very much younger than himself, and here two of his children, Frederick and Matilda, were born. For a time the Web- ers continued to reside there, but when Edward Jones became lessee, he who afterwards kept Claremont, they removed to "the cottage" on the grounds, and here two other children were born. Jones is said to have been altogether too straight-laced a man for a success- ful boniface and was dispossessed. Captain Tilton, an officer on an Albany boat, succeeded. Afterwards Ling and Jewell, sporting men, were proprietors.
The Webers left "the cottage" when the children were very young, and removed to East Broadway near Henry and Scammel Streets, and in 1850 the father died aged about seventy-nine years. His remains were buried in Trinity Cemetery on February 3d of that year (St. Michael's Church Records), his wife, it is stated, hav- ing become the first lot holder there. The widow mar- ried Daniel Staniford in Rockport, Mass., about 1852.
The Abbey was a large stone edifice of stately appear- ance and contained thirty rooms. The view repro- duced is from a picture taken from nature when the Webers resided there. It shows the rear on the Bloom- ingdale Road, but the river front was exactly like it in style. The water color, forwarded from California, through the courtesy of a daughter, is considerably damaged, but makes a more conclusive picture than a
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pencilled sketch at our command by Charles W. Stani- ford, Chief Engineer of the Dock Department, a son of his mother's second union. It certainly presents an entirely different house from that made familiar by the illustration in Valentine's Manual. In 1847, the date mentioned thereon, Mr. Weber owned it and the sur- viving members of the family are satisfied that the place never looked like the representation in the Man- ual. That the mansion was Humphrey Jones's is evi- dent from its identical location on old maps and the continuity of description in the conveyances. In that to Nicholas Jones it is denominated "the homestead." Under the name of the "mansion house " it was acquired from John Jones by William Rogers, and by this title it was conveyed to Weber. The house was struck by lightning and burned to the ground circa 1859, and on Tuesday, December 20th, of that year the executors sold the entire property as bought by the testator, at the Mer- chants' Exchange, through Franklin Bros., auctioneers.
Nicholas Jones's stone house was located on the west side of the Road at 106th Street, just about six blocks north of the residence of Humphrey Jones, his father. It stood near the edge of a wood and became the south- erly boundary of the battle-field. Professor Johnston inserts this advertisement from The Royal Gazette, N. Y., October 28, 1780 :
To be sold, a Farm at Bloomingdale, about 200 acres more or less, seven miles from the city ; on said farm is a large strong stone built house, pleasantly situated near the North River; conditions for the sale will be made easy to a purchaser. For particulars apply to Nicholas Jones on the premises, by whom an indisputable title will be given.
HOUSE OF NICHOLAS JONES, 1856, LATER "WOODLAWN "
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The present house of worship of the Church at Har- senville (The Bloomingdale Reformed Church) is located on that part of the Jones farm, 17 acres, 3 roods, 9 perches (at the time of the battle owned by Nicholas Jones), which was conveyed by William Rogers and Ann, his wife, to her daughter Sarah, wife of William Heywood, Oct. 31, 1816, and here they lived in a house which stood on the block between 106th and 107th Streets, Eleventh Avenue (West End Avenue), and the river, and which was named "Woodlawn." William B. Moffat, he of pill notoriety, bought the prop- erty of said Sarah when she was a widow, April 10, 1847. Consideration, $20,000 (L. 486, Conv. 424). He died in 1862 and the land, composing about two hundred lots, between 104th and 108th Streets, was appraised that year at $42,900 by the executor's report. Prior to that time it was opened as a hotel under lease from Moffat by William L. Wiley, who retained the place for five years. The title of the establishment was " Woodlawn Hotel." That of "Strawberry Hill Ho- tel," by which Valentine dubs it, was never used, although it might easily arise as a local designation because the enormous quantities of wild berries along the river caused the locality to be known as Straw- berry Hill, and as such it is called in some deeds of property thereabouts. After being vacant for some time Courtlandt P. Dixon purchased it for use as a coun- try residence. It was the first home of the New York Infant Asylum. The church stands immediately east of the site of "Woodlawn." The house was there when Apthorp sold the property to Jones, Oct. 12, 1764 (L. 43, Conv. 413), and has become famous in war annals as that of Nicholas Jones.
Humphrey Jones's testimony as to the location of
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the battle-field is given in a letter which the late Eras- tus C. Benedict, Esq., of New York City, formerly Chancellor of the Regents of the State University, cited in a paper he read in February, 1878, on the battle before the N. Y. Historical Society. Said Jones: "My father at one time lived at Manhattanville and he has shown me the battle-ground. It commenced on the hill near the [Bloomingdale] Asylum, and the Ameri- cans drove the British up the Road and down the hill often called by the name of Break Neck Hill," meaning the hill of that name near Claremont. Jones's father, Thomas, "the fighting Quaker of Lafayette's army," is quoted by Mrs. Lamb as saying "we drove the British up the road and down Break Neck Hill, which was the reason they called it Break Neck Hill."
At the termination of the Road as then opened, was Adriaen Hooglandt's house (115th Street and River- side Drive). In 1784 the New York Packet advertised for sale this "noted farm" having on it "a valuable orchard of grafted fruit," the identical orchard of the battle. It is further mentioned in the conveyance of this property to Nicholas de Peyster the boundary of which is described as running from a certain point "to the orchard, thence southwesterly across the said orchard as by a petition [sic] fence, now divided to the southwest fence of the said orchard" (L. 41, Conv. 434).
As soon as the enemy was established in the posses- sion of the island, Howe appointed Oliver de Lancey a Brigadier-General, with orders to raise five regiments to hold the territory acquired. The Second Regiment was composed principally of the independent compan- ies heretofore mentioned. The Rangers, the German independent company, and ten others, representing
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the six wards, were taken over under Col. George Brew- erton. He had been an alderman of the city and had a part in the Provincial service. Though quite a young man, he commanded a Provincial regiment at the siege of Havana, and for his spirited conduct received the thanks of Lord Albemarle upon several occasions. William Waddell was Lieutenant-Colonel of this regi- ment, and John Watts, Jr., Major. The companies of the Outward were officered as follows (N. Y. Gen. and Bio. Record, vol. II., 156) :
Captain, Edward Hardenbrook Captain, John Dikeman
Ist Lt., John Fowler
Ist Lt.,
2d " John Hopper 2d David Henry Mallor
Ensign, James Striker Ensign,
The commissions were dated Oct. 23, 1776. We have followed the fortunes of but two of those here named. They had belonged to the city militia prior to the breaking out of hostilities, and continued in the King's service with their comrades. This was done generally. Many felt that it was the only way to pre- serve property rights and save their families from indig- nity. Hopper remained in this service but a few months, abandoning rank by leaving, and enlisted for three years on Jan. 1, 1777, in the 4th Company, 2d Regiment of the Line, under Washington. He is entered as having deserted December, 1779 (Archives S. of N. Y ., vol. I, p. 219), but as Comptroller James A. Roberts states in the preface of N. Y. in the Rev., second edition, p. 14, such a designation must not be taken too seriously. Hopper was doubtless absent at roll-call. At any rate he re-enlisted July 5, 1780, in the Lieutenant-Colonel's company, 4th Regiment. He took his discharge December 15th (ibid.), that he might be promoted Ensign of the 2d Regiment of Con-
4
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tinental Troops (Jersey Line). A committee of Con- gress, says Stryker's Officers and Men of N. J. in the Rev., was appointed during this summer to make the "arrangement" of the officers of the Ist, 2d, and 3d Regiments, which arrangement was confirmed by a joint meeting of the Legislature on Sept. 26, 1780. It was under this assignment that Hopper received his commission. It is family history that he rose to the rank of General. This cannot, however, be proved at this day, so many of the records of the service having been lost, but that he was called by that title is in evi- dence. He was in receipt of a pension in this State (N. Y. in the Rev., p. 272). His father, John Hopper the Elder, died in 1779. One of the items in closing the estate was £482, received from the Barrack Master for trees cut down on the farm in 1780 "by authority of Government," and an additional amount for the sale of tops and branches. The sum of £813 II o was divided by the executors among the heirs on August 12th in the proportion bequeathed in the will. The author is in possession of the executors' statement and the heirs' receipts.
Striker was just of age when he was commissioned in 1776. He also joined the American army, going to New Jersey, as did his future father-in-law, where he became a member of the Light Horse Troop, 2d Bat- talion, of Somerset Militia, of which his relative in the same generation, John Stryker, was Captain. This troop formed a part of Washington's forces and was present at the battles of Trenton in December, 1776, Princeton in January, 1777, Germantown in October of that year, and Monmouth in June, 1778.
New York was called on to furnish four regiments for the Continental army and this was raised to five
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upon the State's application. These composed "The Line" and were under Washington. There were also regiments of artillery and an organization of so-called "Green Mountain Boys," which served in the Line. "The Levies" were composed of drafts from different militia regiments, and from the people as well, and these could be called upon to serve outside the State during their entire term. The militia could only be called for outside service for three months at a time. Fifteen organizations of the Line were enlisted during the war. Altogether, New York furnished 51,972 men to the defence of the country (N. Y. in the Rev., p. 15), taking her place immediately behind Massachusetts. It should be called to mind in this connection that fully one tenth of its population was locked up because of the possession by the enemy of the chief city during the entire war, thus preventing recruiting there. The col- ony was the battle-ground of the contest from the cap- ture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point in May, 1775, to Carlton's raid on the upper Hudson in 1780. The sur- render of Cornwallis in 1781 was the practical end of the conflict.
The names of Bloomingdale families here transcribed are from the rosters of the regiments of the Line:
First Regt. Capt. Richard Varick Lieut. Gerard Beekman Ensign. William W. de Peyster Gilbert R. Livingston John Waldron
Men
Joseph Dyckman. Isaac Lawrence Matthew Lawrence
Joseph Edes Jacob Lawrence John Varian
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Men (Continued)
James Webbers
Andrew Westerfield
John Wells
Second Regt. Major. Nicholas Fish Men.
John Alport
Thomas Benson
Isaac Cargil
George S. Lawrence
Benjamin Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence
1Isaac Mott
Henry Post Jacobus Remsen
Moses Ritter
Third Regt. Lieut. Andrew Lawrence
Men
John Beekman
Thomas Benson
Matthew Kip
Moses Kip
Silvester Kortright Jacob Mott
Joseph Mott
Samuel Mott
Thomas Mott
Cornelius Post
Richard Post
William Ray
Charles van Orden
John Wells
Peter Wells
Fourth Regt. Colonel. Henry B. Livingston Lieut. John Lawrence Abraham Riker
1 Isaac Mott, the great-grandfather of the writer, b. May 6, 1743, became the husband of Anne Coles, heretofore mentioned, on Dec. 29, 1765. At the age of 23, he entered into business, and, although he was of Quaker ancestry, enlisted in the 2d Regiment of the Line for nine months on May 5, 1778. He was exchanged Jan. 22d, and discharged Feb. 15, 1779. It was during his absence that his wife aided the captives in the Sugar House. Reduced by exposure in service, he died at the early age of 37 (1780), while his widow survived, unmarried, until 1840.
Henry Mott
Jacob Quackenbos
Henry Arkenburgh William Benson
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Men
John Boggs Henry Cortright John Lawrence Richard Lawrence
William Burnham Nathan Holmes Uriah Lawrence Richard Livingston
+
Samuel Post
Fifth Regt.
Lieut. Abraham Leggett
Ebenezer Mott
Men
William Lawrence, Jr. Zebulon Post
John Mott
Henry Remsen
Cornelius Vanderbarak
Augustine van de Water
Albert van Orden
Ichabod Webber
Robert Wells
Thomas Wells
In other portions of the Line served : Theodorus Bailey as Adjutant, and George Harsen as Lieut. in the Levies.
Anthony Post as Capt. 4th Regt. of Cavalry, Light Dragoons.
Jeronimus Hooglandt as Capt., and John Stakes, Lieut. of Cavalry.
Aris Remsen and John Stakes, privates in Capt. Alexander Hamilton's Train of Provincial Artillery.
Richard Dyckman, Peter Kip, Oliver Lozier, and Benjamin Quackenbos, privates in Lieut .- Col. Ebenezer Steven's Regt. of Artillery.
Benjamin and Samson Benson served in the war. Those interested in this line of research are referred to Archives of the State of N. Y., vol. 1, 1887; N. Y. in the Rev., published by the State in 1898.
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Among the pensioners noted in the U. S. Census of 1840 were:
Dennis Striker, aged 80. 15th Ward. Seba Brinckerhoff 82. 66
Abraham Leggett “ 87. 17th
Those mentioned on the N. Y. Pension Roll are :
Garret Oblenis, of N. Y. Co., private in Johnson's N. Y. Rangers. Pension com- menced March 4, 1793; placed on Roll Feb. 2, 1798, under law of that date. John Samler, of N. Y. Co., private 13th Regt. Inf., d. Oct .- 1812. Heirs: John, George, Catharine, Andrew, Henry, and Maria Samler. Placed on Roll Sept. 23, 1819.
Richard Dyckman, private N. Y. Line, placed on Roll Sept. 29, 1818. Pension com- menced April 2, 1818, d. May 23, 1818. Abraham Leggett, Lieut. N. Y. Line, aged 67.
Some other Bloomingdale enlistments are:
Lawrence Kortright Lawrence Kortright, Jr.
Isaac Leggett Jacob Leroy
Harman van de Water
the latter serving in the 2d Regiment of Dutchess County Militia.
One of the most exciting incidents of the war in this neighborhood happened in Bloomingdale Village. A party of "rebels," says the Tory account of the occur- rence, landed on the shore during the night of Nov. 25, 1777, near by the de Lancey mansion, where they sur- prised and made prisoners of a guard at the landing.
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After breaking into and plundering the house and in- sulting the family, they set it afire. The de Lanceys and their guests sought refuge at the Apthorp mansion, after spending the night in their night clothes in the woods and swamps, now a part of Central Park. The location of the de Lancey house is not known with ex- actitude. We are told that it was "about seven miles from the City Hall."
We have seen that the mansion at Striker's Bay was on the edge of the line of British defence. This locality was for long periods a hotbed of discord. For many years, the scattered residents of the district lived in daily fear and expectation of incursions and indignities. Mrs. Gerrit Striker, whose husband had lately died, op- posed the enlistment of her son for these reasons, feel- ing with just cause that his assistance at this juncture would be needed. It is known that during the battle of Harlem Heights he used the family wagon to convey the wounded from the field, and that the house was turned into a temporary hospital. Many a soldier of either side was cared for here with the aid of his mother. Twice the house was pillaged and finally all the live stock was driven off, Mrs. Striker begging, without success, that one cow at least be left them. Several skirmishes between the picket lines occurred on the immediate premises, in one of which a patriot and two Tories were killed in the lane. These were buried near where they fell. Early in the struggle, some officers were quartered in the house, and at least one party of captives was billeted on the inmates, pending their removal to improvised prisons at the lower end of the island, James Striker, one of the organizers of the Church at Harsenville, being absent at the war. His. wife was lately a bride, and at the age of twenty-one,
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when the place was again invaded by the enemy in 1781. The slaves and servant men were driven off and the women compelled for days to cook and attend to the wants of their captors.
The only instance of British aggression in Harsenville that has come to our notice took place at the Somerin- dyke house, that one in which Louis Philippe lived at a later and happier date. On one occasion, it was occu- pied for a fortnight by Hessians, at which time the fam- ily-self-made prisoners-were shut off in the garret. On the departure of the military, the building was found in a disgraceful and mutilated state; filth was every- where and almost every particle of wood had been chopped out and used to replenish the fires.
The power of the British forces having been broken by the defeat and capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, negotiations were set on foot for bringing about a peace. After the delay of nearly two years, a definitive treaty was signed at Paris, by commissioners appointed for that purpose, and preparations were made for vacating the city, the last of the British strongholds within the original thirteen States. At the request of Sir Guy Carleton, the British commander-in-chief, three com- missioners, viz., Egbert Benson, William S. Smith, and Daniel Parker, were appointed by Congress to superin- tend the embarkation from this port, that no negroes or other property of American inhabitants might be car- ried away.
The record of the enemy's occupation of the city is one continued season of looting and debauchery. The very first thing they did was to break into the City Hall and plunder it of the College library, its mathematical instruments, valuable pictures, and scientific apparatus, all of which had been removed thither from King's (now
THE TEUNIS SOMERINDYKE HOUSE, 1863 Where Louis Philippe taught school
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Columbia) College. The municipal government was overthrown, martial law prevailed, and the business of the city degenerated almost into the narrow operations of suttling. Many of the residents left the city and their deserted houses were taken possession of by the officers of the army and the refugee loyalists. Five thousand American prisoners were confined in the jails, sugar houses, and dissenting churches, and for seven years the city remained a prey to the licentiousness of strong and idle detachments of a well-provided army. Small wonder that "the rebels," so hated and feared in '76, were welcomed in '83. On November 3d the Continental army was disbanded by order of Congress and on the 21st Washington arrived at Day's Tavern, 126th Street, 200 feet west of Eighth Avenue. It was not until the 25th that the British and their supporters took their leave. At 8 o'clock on the evening of that day, with General Knox at their head, the Continentals returned to take possession of the city. They marched from McGown's Pass (in present Central Park) down the old Post Road to its beginning at 23d Street, and continued on over "the Road to Bloomingdale" and through Bowery Lane. Thereafter Knox and a large concourse of citizens on horseback repaired to the site of the Bull's Head Tavern (where the old Bowery The- atre now stands) to receive the Commander-in-Chief and Governor Clinton. Accompanied by their suites and the Lieutenant-Governor and Senators, the officers of the army and the mounted citizens, eight abreast, and citizens on foot, four abreast, they entered the city, via the Bowery, Chatham and Pearl Streets to the Battery. Headquarters were taken up at Fraunces' Tavern, where at noon of December 4th, Washington bade farewell to his officers. (See James
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Peters's Evacuation Day, 1783, at the New York Historical Society.)
During his residence here as President, his favorite drive was "The Fourteen Miles Around," which started at the Franklin House, northwest corner of Franklin Square and Cherry Street, proceeded up the Lane to the Post Road until it connected with Apthorp Lane, crossed that way to the Bloomingdale Road and south by that thoroughfare to the place of departure. In 1789, some of the rates for coach hire from the stand at the Coffee House, Coffee House Slip, opposite Wall Street, were : For Horn's Tour, 8s .; Apthorp's Tour, 16s .; Harlem, I day, 38s .; } day, 30s .; King's Bridge, I day, 40s. In 1794 to go around the tour by Horn's, cost Ios .; by Belleview, 16s .; to Oakley's Tavern or Somerin- dyck's, £1.4 .; to Hardenbrook's, £1.4 .; around Ap- thorp's Tour, £1.8 .; to Harlem, I day, {1.12 .; } day, £1.8 .; to King's Bridge, £2.8. This was in pounds currency, worth just half as much as pounds sterling.
After the war, the militia companies were officered by the Council of Appointment, instituted by the State, the life of which began in 1784 and terminated 1821. Names and dates of appointment of Bloomingdale indi- viduals follow :
Oct. 4, 1786. Nicholas de Peyster, Paymaster 4th Regt .; 1797. Capt .- Lieut. of Lieut. Col. Bauman's Regt. of Artillery; 1798, Senior Paymaster 3d Regiment.
May 11, 1789. Ensigns: Henry Post, Lemuel Wells, Jacob Harsen, and James Striker. Later appoint- ments of Elder Striker and Deacons Harsen and Post will be found in their biographies. Mar. 12, 1790. Lieut. Lemuel Wells, in Lieut. Col. James Alner's Regiment. He lived just north
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of the Harsen tract. (Vide map, page 166). He descended from Samuel Wells of of Wethersfield, Conn., who removed in 1639 to Milford, Conn. He owned at his death the Manor House of the Philipse family, which is at present the Yonkers City Hall. In the churchyard of St. John's at Yonkers, this memorial is found:
" Lemuel Wells, Esq., born in the City of Hartford, d. Feb. II, 1842, aged 82."
I793.
Lieut. Jasper Hopper in 5th N. Y. Regt (Hughes's) ; 1795, promoted Captain; resigned 1802.
I797.
Ensign: John R. Cozine in 3d Regt., N. Y. Co .; promoted Lieut .; 1800, Capt .; 1804, resigned, having "moved away." Ensign: Oliver L. Cozine, in Ist Regt .; 1798, promoted Lieut .; 1800, "transferred."
1797.
1798. Ensign: Samuel A. Lawrence, in 2d Regt .; March 8, 1800, Lieut 13th Co. 6th Regt .; Feb. 16, 1802, Capt. 6th Regiment.
Tbe War of 1812
War's alarums once again sounded o'er the peaceful vales of Bloomingdale. The second war with England was very unpopular in this city. Many veterans of the previous war were living here whose opinions were divided. Others of the populace disapproved of it. Jacob Barker was probably the most influential man, in his way, at that time and although he did not acquire property in Bloomingdale until May, 1815, he cut such a figure in its history that his actions at this conjuncture;
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are interesting. Then, and for several years prior thereto, he was the largest ship-owner in the United States with the exception of William Gray of Salem, Massachusetts, says Guernsey's History of the War. He was prominent in Tammany, and was exploited through the columns of the press, in which his eccen- tricities were paraded, being liberal in the printing and distribution of matter that advocated his political ideas. He opposed the renewal of the Charter of the U. S. Bank and did much to defeat that project in 1811. His political opponents, in their scramble for office and power, attempted to break down his influence, which was great, not only among the wealthy but with those in humble life. The Federalists and their news- papers denounced and misrepresented him in every way that would impair his power, politically and other- wise. This only spurred him on to activity, zeal, and perseverance.
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