USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 26
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. Hopewell Junction is the only village of importance in the town. About the middle of the eighteenth century, Aaron Stockholm, a native
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TOWN OF EAST FISHKILL.
of Long Island, settled on a farm in this neighborhood, and previous to the Revolution built a grist mill at Hopewell. Thomas Storm, one of the county's leading business men, was for many years engaged in trade here. He was a member of the Precinct Committee of Safety in 1777, and in 1781-'82-'83 and '84 was elected to the Assembly.
When the railroad extending from Dutchess Junction to Pine Plains was completed in 1869, a hamlet sprang up near Hopewell station, and when the New England road was built, intersecting the Dutchess & Connecticut at this point, the hamlet was called Hopewell Junction. As a natural consequence the Junction has become the business center of the town. A coal and lumber yard was established in 1869 by R. C. Horton, and the following year Lawrence C. Rapelje built a hotel, which he leased to Edward Lasher. The village contains several stores, mechanical shops, and the Borden creamery.
Settlement at Stormville, a hamlet near the east border of the town, was begun as early as 1739. Derick Storm was the first to take up land here, and was soon followed by Isaac, George and Thomas Storm, whose descendants are still to be found upon the lands thus early pur- chased. The Carmans and Arkles settled near them, about the year 1758, and to the north, Isaac Adriance, "of Nassau Island, Queens County," purchased two hundred and fifty acres of land in May, 1743, and shortly thereafter George and Abraham Adriance purchased and settled.
During the Revolution an American force was encamped for a short time just north of Stormville. This force was one of many that was posted back of the river to oppose the suspected inland march of the British to the upper Hudson.
Theodorus Van Wyck was an early purchaser of land now included in this township, settling at Fishkill Hook. He was a true patriot, and being greatly molested by Tory neighbors, he removed, in 1775, to New York, where he was elected a delegate to the Second Pro- vincial Congress. As the patriots became more aggressive, he re- turned to his farm in the early part of 1776, and was again elected to Congress in that year from Dutchess County. In 1801 he was one of the ten delegates representing Dutchess in the State Constitutional Convention.
Aaron Van Vlackren was the pioneer settler in the neighborhood of Gayhead. He was a native of Holland and removed to this county
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THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
from Long Island, purchasing several hundred acres from Madam Brett. His son, Tunis Van Vlackren, built the first mill at Gayhead about 1768. Like all grist mills of that period, it lacked a "bolting cloth," and the ingenuity of the housewife was taxed to separate the flour from the bran, which was done, in a new country, by either a fine splint sieve, or a very coarse cloth, through which the flour was pressed by the hand.
The Emans family were early settlers in this town, and several of their descendants have been identified with public affairs of the county. James Emans obtained a grant of 137 acres of land from Madam Brett, near the present hamlet of East Fishkill. His grandson, John S. Emans, who was born in 1824, represented the town repeatedly in the . county board of Supervisors. In political views he was a Demo- crat, and was elected to the State Legislature in 1852 and '53. Al- bert Emans was elected to the Assembly in 1855, and again in 1858. Storm Emans was also elected Member of Assembly in 1883, and from 1891 to 1894 held the office of Clerk of Dutchess County.
In the list of inhabitants of the county in 1740 are found the names of Jacobus, Rudolphus, Barnardus and Abraham Swartwout. This family was the first to settle in the vicinity of Johnsville, and was con- spicuous in the early days of this county from an official point of view. Jacobus was Member of Assembly from 1777 to '83, and State Senator from 1784 to '95.
Johnsville was the birthplace and home of Henry D. B. Bailey, author of "Historical Sketches of Dutchess County." He was born in 1813, and commenced his literary labors in 1855. His grandfather, Nathan Bailey, was born in Fishkill in 1738, a son of John Bailey, a native of Westchester County.
The Montfort family were early settlers in the vicinity of Fishkill Plains. In the precinct records from 1738 to 1760, the name bears a variety of spelling. Peter Montfort bought 370 acres of land here in 1735. His son, Peter, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and the family was active in the establishment of the Reformed Churches at Hackensack and Hopewell.
The oldest monument to the faith and energy of the pioneer settlers in this town is the Reformed organization of Hopewell, which dates back to the year 1757. They had previously attended divine service at Fishkill and Poughkeepsie. For seven years the new church had
I. C. Rafely.
S A.Matthieu, Publisher
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TOWN OF EAST FISHKILL.
no building for public worship, and no settled pastor. Services were held in private houses and in the large barn of Jacob Monfort, says the Rev. Addison C. Bird, the present pastor, to whose researches we are indebted for the historical data concerning this organization. In 1762 the congregation decided to build a church, and Garrett. Storm, Johannes Wiltsie, Isaac Lent, Henry Rosecrans, Joseph Har- ris and Aaron Van Vlackren were appointed a building committee. Mr. Lent declined to serve, and Johannes Schult filled his place. The first church building, which was partly on the present site, was a wooden structure 40 by 50 feet. Seats were made by placing boards upon the ends of timbers around the church. Services were held twice on Sabbath, with only a half hour's intermission. Singing was con- ducted by the clerk, and this office was filled for many years by Isaac Adriance, father of Col. Isaac Adriance. Cornelius Van Wyck was also clerk for several years. Interments were usually made to the east and southeast of the church. Near the east wall, in 1768, were laid the remains of Englebert Huff, a Norwegian, who was once a member of the life guard of William Prince of Orange, King William III of England. During his residence in Rombout Precinct, he be- came identified with the Fishkill church. He died at the advanced age of 128 years.
A few years after the erection of the church edifice, pews and gal- leries were built in. Among the pew holders are found the names of Stockholm, Luyster, Montfort, Flagler, Rapelje, Bogardus, and Col. Derick Brinckerhoff. Col. Brinckerhoff was a member of the Colonial Assembly and of the First Provincial Congress.
This organization was the recipient of several bequests in early times, one of which was ten acres of land, from Samuel Verplanck, bearing date of March 23, 1779.
A congregational meeting to consider the erection of a new house of worship was held February 12, 1833. Jacob Swartwout was called to the chair, and John Storm was appointed secretary. It was re- solved that a substantial brick building be erected, and that the com- mittee for that purpose consist of the following gentlemen: H. D. Stockholm, Abram Adriance, Abram D. Van Wyck, Jacob Horton and Jacob Montfort. The building was finished in 1834 during the pas- torate of Rev. Charles B. Whitehead, and is the dignified church edifice of the present day.
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THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
In 1765 Hopewell church received its first pastor, the Rev. Isaac Rysdyck. He came from Holland to take charge of the congrega- tions of Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, New Hackensack and Hopewell. He was a thorough scholar, an able theologian, and a very effective preacher. It was said that he could write in Greek and Latin equally as well as in his native Dutch; and with Hebrew he was as much at home as in his mother tongue. He kept the records of Hopewell church an Dutch exclusively until 1781, and exclusively in English after 1784. He was probably the first Dutch minister to begin using the English language. During the greater part of his ministry he lived in Fish- kill, but later he moved to New Hackensack. In 1790 he resigned from the pastorate on account of the infirmities of old age. In about a year he died, and was buried beneath the New Hackensack church.
The Rev. Isaac Blauvelt, who assisted Dr. Rysdyck in the last few years of his ministry, became the second pastor at Hopewell. It was under his pastorate that the church was incorporated according to the laws of the State of New York. Rev. Blauvelt remained but a short time, accepting a call to another field.
The church was without a pastor for one year; then it called the Rev. Nicholas Van Vranken. As he spoke Dutch and English fluently, preaching was conducted in both languages. He died in 1804, after a pastorate of only thirteen years. He was the last pastor of the associated churches. The classis dissolved the relationship, and Fish- kill became a separate charge.
Rev. John Barkalo succeeded the Rev. Van Vranken. He resigned after a pastorate of five years.
In 1812 the Rev. Dr. Thomas De Witt was called to the charge of Hopewell and New Hackensack churches. During his pastorate these churches, in 1825, became separate and independent congregations. For fifteen years he continued his ministrations at Hopewell, during which time the recently sold parsonage was built. Dr. De Witt re- moved to New York City in response to a call from the Middle Colle- giate Church. He was elected a trustee of Rutgers College in 1840; and for twelve years was editor of the Christian Intelligencer. He died May 18, 1874.
From 1828 to 1835, Rev. Charles B. Whitehead was pastor of this church; and from 1835 to 1857, the Rev. Abraham Polhemus, D.D., officiated. Both pastors were much beloved by their congregations.
CHARLES A. HOPKINS.
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TOWN OF EAST FISHKILL.
Rev. Dr. Oliver Cobb was then called, and remained fifteen years. He was followed by the Rev. Graham Taylor, who left Hopewell in 1880, and is now Professor of Sociology in Chicago University. He is also the founder and resident warden of the social settlement known as the Chicago Commons.
Rev. Cornelius H. Polhemus, who was called in 1881, continued ten years. A call was then extended to the Rev. Ernest Clapp, who re- mained until 1903.
The present cemetery of the Reformed Church of Hopewell is not as ancient as the church. Neighborhood burying grounds were in use before the church was organized. The oldest tombstone inscription in the present cemetery is in Dutch, and reads as follows :
"Heir Leydt Begraven Her Lichhaam Van Lutisha Van Wyck huis Vrouw, Van Isaac Adriance, Oveleden Den 6. Dagh Van December Anno Dom 1762. Oudt Zynde 33 Iaar 10 Maande en 27 Daagen."
Other early burials here are those of Cornelia, relict of Benjamin Moore, Sr., died June 8th, 1781 ; Catharine, wife of John Boughbum, died 1785; Francis Hasbrook, died 1789; Tunis Brinkerhoof and Gorus Storm, died 1790; Abraham Hasbrook and John Adriance, died 1792; Thomas, son of John and Elizabeth Walden, died 1794; Sarah, wife of Thomas Humphrey, died 1794 ; Anna Montfort John M. Shear and Rem Adriance, died 1795; Jacob Horton, died 1793; George Brinkerhoof, died December, 1797, aged 71 years; Isaac Adriance, died 1797, aged 76 years; Gilbert, son of Francis Hasbrook, died April 15th, 1798; Burgune Van Alst, died 1803; Catharine Herren, died 1807, aged 78 years; Nicholas Bogart and his wife Alida Ritz- ma, daughter of Rev. Johannis Ritzma. Nicholas was born in New York in 1729, and died in 1811. Alida was born in Holland in 1742, and died in 1813.
Another early church organization in the town was the Baptist Church of Fishkill Plains, which bears the date of 1782. It was an offshoot of the Pleasant Valley Church, and early in the nineteenth century had a live and earnest working congregation. The pulpit was supplied for a long term of years by Pleasant Valley and Beek- man. As most of the families of the early settlers were strict adher- ents to the Reformed faith, the growth of this church was retarded. Services were finally discontinued and the church property sold some fifteen years ago.
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THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
The Methodist Church of Johnsville was organized in 1826, through the labors of James Taylor, William, Samuel, Jacob and Oliver Ladue and Cornelius Ostrander. Its first pastors were Revs. Hunt, Selleck and Collins. In this locality, as in other sections of the country, the Methodists were very active in promulgating the Gospel, through the incessant labors of their "circuit riders" and local preachers, and the Johnsville Church has accordingly prospered.
The Bethel Baptist Church at Shenandoah, over which the Rev. Mr. Bastain has presided for the past five years, was dedicated in Decem- ber, 1835, and the church duly incorporated in 1837. Elder George Horton was in charge of the services from 1835 to '41. The records contain no account of the cost of erecting the building, but Abram Pulling and Isaac Knapp are given credit for contributing generously.
The Episcopal Church at Hopewell Junction was built in 1888. There is also a Roman Catholic and a Pentecostal Church in this village. Stormville and Fishkill Plains contain chapels.
The following list contains the names of those who have been elected to the office of Supervisor :
1850-'51
Benjamin Hopkins
1878
Charles W. Horton
1852-'53 John V. Storm
1879
Peter A. Baldwin
1854-'55 Nicholas H. Stripple 1880
Charles W. Horton
1856
Benjamin Seaman
1881 -- '82
Storm Emans
1857
Edmund Luyster
1883
Leonard V. Pierce
1858 John V. Storm
1884-'85
Lawrence C. Rapelje
1859-'60 Benjamin Hopkins
1886-'87 Storm Emans
1861-'62 Lawrence C. Rapelje
1888
Francis S. Van Nostrand
1863-'64 John S. Emans
1889 -- '90
Isaac S. Genung
1865-'67
Benjamin Hopkins
1891-'92
Lawrence C. Rapelje
1868-'69
Nicholas H. Stripple
1893 Adriance Barton
1870 John S. Emans
1894-'97
J. Wesley Van Tassell
1871-'73 Charles W. Horton
1898-'03 Frank Fowler
1874-'75 Peter A. Baldwin
1904-'09
Lewis H. Wright
1876-'77 John S. Emans
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TOWN OF FISHKILL.
CHAPTER XXI. THE TOWN OF FISHKILL.
BY WILLIAM E. VERPLANCK.
T' HE Town of Fishkill as constituted to-day is situated at the southwesterly corner of the county, and extends along the river northward from the tunnel at Breakneck mountain to a point about half a mile south of the village of Chelsea-the southerly boundary of the present town of Wappinger; thence the township extends eastward to the westerly boundary of the town of East Fish- kill; and it is bounded on the south by Putnam County.
At one time the town of Fishkill included the towns of Wappinger and East Fishkill, or in other words the whole of the territory cov- ered by the Romboudt Patent. This territory was called Romboudt Precinct, as the towns of the State were formerly known.
The area of the town was afterwards enlarged when Putnam County was established, in 1812, by cutting off all that part of the township of Phillipstown which lay north of Breakneck and west of the moun- tains and adding it to Fishkill. This change of territory in the vicinity of what is now Dutchess Junction, was made for the con- venience of the early settlers-Van Amburgh, Du Bois, Cromwell, Brinckerhoff and other families.
The title to such land south of the Romboudt Patent, in the town of Fishkill, was derived from deeds made by the Commissioners of For- feiture in the proceedings against Col. Beverly Robinson, whose wife was one of the heirs of the Phillipse Patent. Samuel Dodge and Daniel Graham were such Commissioners for the "Middle District," appointed in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of the said State, entitled, "an act for the forfeiture and sale of the estates of persons who have adhered to the enemies of this State and for declaring the sovereignty of the people of this State in respect to all property within the same."
In 1788 an act was passed by the State of New York for dividing
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THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
the counties of the State into towns. Under this act Romboudt Pre- cinct became known as the town of Fishkill. This was really the re- vival of the old Dutch name, and of this we have evidence from an old tombstone in the yard of the Dutch Church at Fishkill. The inscrip- tion is on the tombstone of the Rev. Jacobus Van Neste, who was the pastor until his death, April 10th, 1761, and reads as follows:
"Hier Leydt Her Lighaam Van Jacobus Van Neste Bedienaar Des Heylige Evangelum Op Pochkeepsie En De Viskil In Dutches County Zynde In De Heere Geiust de 10 April 1761-Oudt Zynde 26 Jaar 2 Maad En 3 Daage."
The Romboudt Patent above mentioned was a grant made by James II, in 1685, confirming the deed of the land made to Francis Rom- boudt and Gulian Verplanck by the Wappinger Indians in 1683.
At the time of the cession of New Netherland by the Dutch to the English in 1664, all the land hereabouts was in the possession of the Wappinger Indians. This tribe was part of the confederacy of the Five Nations, and had its home along the east bank of the Hudson, extending from Roeloff Jansen's creek (now in Columbia County) as far south as Manhattan Island, and eastward to what is now Con- necticut. Throughout this region the Wappingers roamed and hunted unmolested, so that all that the Dutch government actually ceded to the English was the bare sovereignty. Dutchess County and other political divisions were yet to be.
Not long after the English occupation, Francis Romboudt, or Rom- bout,1 as the Dutch and English called him, a man of French extrac- tion, who was a merchant in New Amsterdam, with his partner, Gulian Verplanck, who were engaged in fur trading, conceived the idea of getting possession of land, for many people of influence with the Eng- lish governors were taking up land freely, and on easy terms. Rom- boudt and Verplanck, following the law of the colony, obtained from the government, a license to purchase from the Indians (the original of which is still preserved among the State Archives at Albany), with a view of obtaining a patent from the Crown confirming the same. Whereupon the partners met the Indian Chiefs and came to an agree- ment with them as to the value of the land, and obtained a deed of conveyance, in 1683, which the chiefs signed and sealed, or at least
1. He signed his name Francois Rombouts.
JOHN PETER DE WINT.
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TOWN OF FISHKILL.
they affixed their totem marks to it.1 A copy of this document which sets forth the consideration, boundaries, etc., will be found in Chap- ter IV.
Before the patent was issued in 1685, Verplanck had died and Jaco- bus Kip married his widow, and became co-patentee with Francis Rom- boudt and Stephanus Van Cortlandt. Van Cortlandt had advanced one-third of the consideration money given to the Indians, and was therefore entitled in equity to one-third interest.
The territory comprised in the patent was to a great extent a for- est, as an old map drawn on parchment, in the possession of the writer shows. Indeed it was looked upon by its owners as merely a place for trapping beavers and other fur bearing animals, and it was many years before. it was opened to settlers. The trappers were Indians, whose huts could be found in the neighborhood of Stormville until comparatively recent times. The above mentioned map was made in 1689 by one Holwell, a surveyor and his affidavit2 made before one of the aldermen in New York, in 1689, indorsed on the original map, establishes the identity of the old document beyond question.
The only white man living on the patent at the time was "Ye French- man" whose house, according to the old map, stood near the mouth of Wappinger creek. Local historians assert that this man was either Nicholas Emigh or Arnout Viele.
By authorization of the Supreme Court a partition was made, in 1708, of the lands embraced in the Rombout patent lying between the Fishkill and Wappinger creeks. While the lands to the north and
1. Facsimilies of the signa- tures of Verplanck and Romboudt on the deed from the Wappinger Indians to them in 1683.
Puntain verplanche Francois Rombouts
2. "New York, 20th day of April, 1689. Then appeared before me Paulus Richard Alderman, Mr. Jno. Holwell Surveyor who took Oath upon the Holy Evangelists that this Map or Draught on the other Side is according to his best Skill and Capacity ye true Draught or Map of a certain tract of Land, lying on ye East side of Hudson's River above ye High Lands so as ye same is described (?)* and sett forth in a Patent granted by ye late Governor Coli. Thomas Dongan to Stephanus Van Cortlandt, Francis Rombouts and Jacobus Kipp trustee etc .-- Dated October 17th ye first year of His Majestys Reign being ye year of our Lord 1685.
Paui Richard, Al'dn."
*This word is not entirely legible.
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THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
south of these streams respectively were left to be held in common by the patentees or their representatives or heirs. In this division the southern third fell to the lot of Catharine, wife of Roger Brett, the daughter and only child of Francis Romboudt; the intermediate third to the children of Gulian Verplanck; and the northern third to Ger- trude, widow of Stephanus Van Cortlandt.
In 1709 Roger Brett and his wife built the house now standing in Matteawan on the south side of Main street, since known as the Teller House, and now occupied by their descendants, Dr. and Mrs. Robert Fulton Crary. Not long after building this house Roger Brett was drowned from a sloop. He was buried in a small cemetery at Byrnesville, near the Newlin homestead. He left the entire care of his estate consisting of many thousand acres to his widow, who subsequently became known as "Madam Brett." She proved equal to the task, and set about establishing mills, and inviting settlers from Long Island and elsewhere, to come upon her land and develop it. Madam Brett had three sons, Francis, Robert and Rivery. Rivery was named from the fact that he was born on the river while his mother was on the way from New York on the sloop. He died at the age of seventeen.
Madam Brett died at an advanced age and her body lies buried under the pulpit of the Dutch Church at Fishkill. A few years ago a beautiful stained glass window, made by Tiffany & Co., of New York, was placed in her memory in the church by the Brett family and others interested in the history of Fishkill.
Madam Brett's will was proved before the Court of Common Pleas of Dutchess County, March 14, 1763. She bequeathed to her eldest son, Francis, the major portion of her estate, including the Frank- ford storehouse and five farms containing two hundred acres each. To her son Robert's five children she bequeathed each a farm of two hun- dred acres.
Among the families that came in response to Madam Brett's invita- tion to settlers were the Van Wyck, Brinckerhoff, Swartwout, Wiltse, Hasbrouck, Ter Bos (Terbush), Adriance (originally Adriaense), Van Voorhis and DuBois. Madam Brett also established the first mill-a grist mill. It stood near the mouth of the Fishkill creek, about on the site now occupied by the Tompkins Hat Factory at Tioronda.
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TOWN OF FISHKILL.
In 1743 the farming and milling industries of the precinct having largely increased, Madam Brett in company with about twenty other persons, entered into an agreement for the building of what after- wards became known as the Frankfort Store House, which stood close to the water at what was formerly known as the "Lower Landing," north of Denning's Point, where the old Wiltse houses are now stand- ing. This was the origin of river freighting.
The old contract or agreement between Madam Brett and her asso- ciates is in the possession of one of her descendants, Miss Kathleen Mackinnon of New York, and is in a fair state of preservation. A facsimile of the signatures to the document appears on a subsequent page. The contract reads as follows :
"To all Christian people to whome this present Writing Shall or may Concern, Catharine Brett, James Duncan, Theodorus VanWyck, Cornelis Van Wyck, Cor- nelis Wiltse, John Brinkerhof, John Carman, Joshua Carman, Jun'r, Benjamin Haesbrook, Theodorus Van Wyck Son of Cornelis, Abraham Blom, Hendrik Ter- bush, Isaac Brinkerhof, Lawrence Locy, Jacob Brinckerhof, Joris Adriaense, John Van Vlockeren, Abraham Adriaense and Isaac Adriaense, all of Dutchess County in ye province of New York, Abraham Van Wyck and Joris Brinkerhof of the Citty of New York and Thomas Storm of West Chester County and Province afore- said, Sends Greeting, Whereas the persons above Named have Jointly purchased from Francis Brett a Certain Lott or parcell of Land Scituate on the East Side of Hudsons River Adjoining to other Land of ye said Brett between Johanis Van Voorhees and Mathewes DuBois in w'ch purchase Every mans Share & proportion thereof is particularly Expressed, as by the deed of Conveyance may fully and at Large appear on which said Land the partners above named have built & Erected a Com'ys Store house and Dwelling house and for the better Convenience of all the parties Concerned they have agreed & Concluded to Divide the Same into Twenty Separate rooms or Divisions Equall to the rights and Number of whole Shares, for which there were Lotts fairly drawn. *
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