USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 27
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 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
* * At all times for Ever here- after, The, major part of the owners & Possessors of the Said Lands & prem- ises according to the Number of their Severall rights & Shares, Shall have the power to manage order & direct all the affairs relating to the Same (so as not Designedly to hurt or Damage any one of the partys Concerned) and to make & Establish such rules & Regulations as they Shall Judge beneficial for using & Improving the Same, And When Ever the Said Majority Shall Judge it proper & beneficial to make further Division or to Sell & Dispose of any part thereof, We do hereby Give & Grant unto them full power so to do. And Such Division or Divisions, or Deed of Conveyance by them made & Lawfully Executed, Shall be good and Valid in the law to all Intents and purposes whatsoever. And we & Each of us our heirs and assigns Shall be thereof & Therefrom for Ever Debarred & Excluded, and the moneys arising by such Sale to be accounted for when re- quired. And it is further Agreed that in all Cases the Majority of Votes Shall be
304
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
reconed According to Each of their Several rights and Shares in ye Lands & prem- ises aforesaid that is to say that Every one who hath or hereafter shall have one two or more Whole Shares Shall have as many Votes, those who have one Share to have one Vote & where two or more are Joined or Concerned in one Share, Each of their Votes to be reconed according to their Several rights; and if it so happen that any of the partners be at a great Distance when any Vote or Regulation is to be made Every Such absent person Shall be allowed to give his Vote in Writing & the same with all other Transactions shall be Entered into a book to be kept for that purpose which Vote so given in Writing Shall be taken & allowed as good as if the person was there present.
In addition to the above document there is preserved a small account book giving the transactions of the company from its organization in 1743 up to 1790. The business was then being conducted as usual, but how much longer it lasted cannot now be ascertained. The first part of the book is given up to financial transactions with the share- holders, the rest of it with the records of the annual meetings. Here are the minutes of an annual meeting in 1763:
"January ye 14th, then chose Abraham Adriance for Clarck for Franckfords store at the meeting at Richard Van Wyck's for the insuing year. Daniel ter Bush boatman for the year sixty three till the first of may in the year sixty four at twelve pounds and keep the Store House, Dock and Dwelling House in sufficient Repair, and the said Daniel ter Bush is to fence the orchard land and bringh in a just account and the said Bush is to receive his pay out of the Rent Don by major voat, and the said Bush is to frate as useyel and find salt as useyel Chosen managers for the Insuing year-Theodores Van Wyck and Col. John Brincker- hoff to manige and rectiphy all affairs, and to Demand the Land that peter Bo- gardus has in possession. By major voat. The meeting to be at Richard Van Wyck the first day of January if Sunday then the next Day."
There are no minutes of the proprietors between January 2, 1776, and January 1, 1781, as there were probably no meetings because of the interruption of business and the disturbed conditions due to the Revolutionary War, although at the annual meeting in January, 1776, the proprietors resolved to meet in the following year after having ap- pointed Richard Van Wyck, clerk, and Daniel Ter Boss, boatman for the ensuing year. The following is a transcript of the meeting in 1781:
"Dutchess County, Jany Ist, 1781. "Att a Meeting of the Majority of the proprietors of Frankfort Store House-Voted that Theodrs Van Wyck be Clerk of s.d Meeting. Voted also That Major Terbos Continue in possession of said Estate to the first of May 1782 att Twenty pounds per Annum, Voted also that Major Terbos pay for the Said Estate from the year 1777 to the year 1780 Sixteen
of Mes heures Incopiause and depigment liste the other 12 The penalty of One hand for points current meaning of Neko york In Vitrofi chersof the partys to uthor moleste have hoverinte faster thangally fatt their heads Sobald the right Day of August one thousand Seront huber & forty throw -
hej , the denter - Vallis ..
the German Hoffe Gurman
.
1.
1 y th. twee the 24 ? ,
Dieneed For Best willem Schuit
wars of cornetas Theodorus Fanwycho. janguenz terbienven Harry Jerbos
ÜBen jamin Haas (#ch x?
Ab Vanwy of
a la hambloom
on Bruchwhat
thomas ISthan tand Covanam @riance
Cathargora Britt
Jacob Grine Kon
باستاطف: جدائنة
Ssauc Toriance
La Duncan
Theodorus Vanwych
gores .
FACSIMILE OF THE SIGNATURES TO THE CONTRACT FOR BUILDING THE FRANKFORT STORE HOUSE, FISHKILL, 1743.
Cornelius Varwyck Cornling Williso
305
TOWN OF FISHKILL.
pounds pr year-Voted also that Theodrs Van Wyck and John Adriance be a Committee from this Meeting to go to Major Terbos's and settle all the Accompts appertaining to the said Estate up to this day, and if said Committee should judge and Repairs Necessary, they are hereby authorised, to Employ persons to do the same & the proprietors to be accountable to pay the Cost thereof. Voted also that the next meeting be on the first day Jany next, or the next if the first day be a Sunday at the House of Col. Griffin."
The Revolutionary War had closed when the annual meeting of the "Proprietors of the Frankford Store House" was held on January 1, 1783. It was then
"Voted that Major Daniel Terbos continue in possession of said estate until the first day of May, which will be in the year 1784, at £30 per annum, in case there is a peace concluded between America and Great Britain by the first day of next June, and on the contrary, that no peace takes place by that day, the said Terbos to pay £20 pr. annum."
The prices for freighting may be interesting to some readers. At the meeting in 1784 it was voted that
"The said Terboss shall freight for the said proprietors after the following man- ner: Flour at 9 pence per cask; pork or beef at one shilling per barrel; salt at 3 pence per bushel; wheat or other grain at 3 pence per bushel; a passenger at 2 shillings and six pence, and all other things in proportion."
The Frankfort Store House stood until 1826 and the business re- mained in the descendants of Madam Brett, conducted by the Brett and Wiltse families. The first Martin Wiltse was a Swede, who came to this country before the death of Madam Brett. He married a Miss Humphrey of New York and built the old homestead which is still standing at the "Lower Landing." Their children were James, Mar- tin, William, and Mary who married Theodorus Brett, the grand- father of Mrs. James W. Andrews, late of Matteawan, who has con- tributed much valuable information concerning the early history of the town. James Wiltse, the youngest son, succeeded his father at the Frankfort Store House. He sailed one of the packet sloops which then plied from the adjacent wharf. He married a Miss Van Voorhis. Martin, the other son married twice-namely the two daughters of Henry Schenck, and built the house now standing at the Upper Land- ing, at the foot of Main street. Martin Wiltse, the elder son, estab- lished a ferry to the opposite shore and about this time there were three such enterprises, one from the Lower Landing to New Windsor by a periauger. (A periauger by the way was a two-masted vessel with-
306
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
out a bowsprit or head-sail; in other words, a schooner without a jib.) The word is probably a corruption of the French pirogue. Later Martin, Jr., put on a ferry boat propelled by horse power, which he ran from the Upper Landing, and this lasted until 1819. The third ferry was from the Long Dock and was established by one Lawrence. He, however, failed after spending upwards of $20,000 in building the Long Dock. The house where Mr. Lawrence lived is still standing (much altered) on North Avenue opposite the old entrance to the De- Wint homestead, now known as Tompkins avenue. Mr. Lawrence married a Bogardus, who was a descendant of the famous Anneke Jans, whose descendants unsuccessfully claimed all the land now owned by Trinity Church in New York, and gave rise to a great lawsuit which vexed the courts for many years.
As the population of the Rombout Patent increased, communica- tion with Newburgh on the opposite bank became more frequent, so that other ferries naturally sprung up. Accordingly Alexander Colden, of the same family as Cadwallader Colden, who was at one time Surveyor General of the Province of New York, and afterwards Lieutenant Governor, secured a patent for land from George II in the year 1743, covering the site of the present City of Newburgh, and as an appurtenance thereto, he obtained the privilege to establish a ferry. The land covered by the patent was then in Ulster County, for Orange County did not then extend so far northward on the river as it now does, its northern boundary then being Quassaick creek. Colden street in Newburgh still perpetuates the name of the patentee. From old documents in the possession of the descendants of Martin Wiltse the following extracts are taken, being the recitals in an old deed, and quoted in the opinion of Thomas Addis Emmett, referred to below. They are as follows:
"Whereas George the second formerly King of Great Britain, did, by certain Letters Patent duly issued under the Great Seal of the (late) Province of New York, bearing date on the twenty fifth day of June in the year One thousand seven hundred and forty-three, and Recorded in the office of the Secretary of the State of New York, in Lib: Pat: No. 12 Page 221 &c. and made to Alexander Colden then of Ulster County in said Province, Gentlemen, grant, ratify and confirm unto said Alexander Colden (among other things). All the Ground of Hudsons River lying and being under the water of the same river One hundred feet into the same from high-water mark. The whole length of the land held by said Alexander Col- den in a certain tract of Two thousand One hundred and ninety acres of Land
307
TOWN OF FISHKILL.
in Ulster County, formerly granted to Andries Volk and Jacob Webbers and known as the New Burgh Patent; Beginning on the North side of Quassaic Creek and extending Northerly up Hudsons river upon a straight line Two hundred and nineteen Chains, together with all and singular the benefits, liberties, ways, waters, easements, hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining, or that are necessary or convenient to be had, used or enjoyed there- with. And also the sole and full liberty and power of setting up, establishing, keeping, using and employing at all times forever thereafter, a good and sufficient Ferry to be duly kept and attended for the conveniency of passing and repassing with passengers, horses, cattle and all manner of goods, wares and merchandises whatsoever from any part of the aforesaid patented Lands to said Volk and Webber lying and being in Ulster County aforesaid then commonly called New Burgh Patent, to any part of the Easterly side of said River, the length of Two hundred and nineteen chains along the said river and so opposite to said Land so granted to said Volk and Webbers, that is to say, from such place on the Easterly side of said River where a due East course from the North side of Quasaick Creek across the said River, shall strike the Easterly side thereof, the length of Two hundred and nineteen Chains Northerly up the said river; and from the Easterly side of said river to any part of the said patented Lands to said Volk and Web- bers and to and from and between any and every the places aforesaid; and also the full and free liberty to ask demand and take for ferriage at and for such fer- riage certain fees therein mentioned and specified. * * * * *
And whereas said Leonard Carpenter and Jacob Carpenter for themselves, their heirs and assigns by deed bearing date on the eighth day of February One Thou- sand and eight hundred and five, made and executed by and between said Leonard and Jacob Carpenter of one part, and said party of the first part and Peter Bo- gardus of the second part, granted and conveyed unto said party of the first part (by said name and style of Martin Wiltse Junior) and to said Peter Bogardus, their heirs and assigns forever, a full liberty at all times thereafter, to land with their Ferry-Boats, and the goods brought therein, on any of the wharves or ferry- stairs of said Leonard and Jacob Carpenter their heirs or Assigns, at said town of New-Burgh without and hindrance or molestation whatever. And in consideration thereof said part of the first part and said Peter Bogardus, granted and conveyed the same liberty to said Leonard and Jacob Carpenter their heirs and assigns for- ever, and it was thereby mutually covenanted (amongst other things) that no new Ferry should be established from Fishkill Landing to said New Burgh as by said Deed will, reference thereto being had, more fully appear."
The Quassaick Creek, which was the southern boundary of the pat- ent, empties into the Hudson between Newburgh and New Windsor, and it is at that point whence the 219 chains were to be measured north- ward, as well as from the point on the opposite shore, i. e., the end of Denning's Point. Within that space of about two miles no other ferry might be set up. By reference to the Patent we learn that the ferry charges were as follows:
308
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
"And also full & free liherty to ask, demand & take for ferriage at & for such ferriage as aforesaid, the several & respective fees hereinafter mentioned & so approved of by our said Council as aforesaid, to wit: for every man & Horse Two shillings and six pence, but if three or more together for each man & horse two shillings; for a single Person only one shilling for each footman, if three or more together nine pence; for every single Horse or Beast one shilling & Six pence, but if three or more together for each one shilling & three pence; for every Calf or Hog six pence, for every Sheep or Lamb four pence, for every full Barrell one shilling, for every pail of Butter three pence, for every firkin or Tub of Butter six pence, for every Bushell of Salt or Grain three pence, for every hundred weight of Iron, Lead &c., nine pence, for every chaise, Hilterin or Sleigh four shillings; for every waggon or Cart six shillings, & so in proportion for all other things for which no Provision is hereby made, according to their Bulk or weight."
By the Constitution of 1777-the first one ratified by the State of New York-all royal charters were recognized and continued in force. The Colden ferry charter, however, had been operated so irregularly and at such long intervals that it was the opinion of some lawyers that it had lapsed by non-user.
About the year 1812, John Peter DeWint, having built the Long Dock for his business of freighting on the river, took out a license from the County Court, then called the Court of Common Pleas, to operate a ferry to and from his wharf and Newburgh, whereupon Martin Wiltse, who claimed the exclusive right under the Colden charter to ferriage from the Fishkill shore, consulted Thomas Addis Emmet, a celebrated member of the New York Bar at that time, as to his rights and the remedy. The opinion of Emmet, with his autograph attached is still well preserved. It is dated New York, Sept. 16, 1816, and reads as follows :
"Opinion to Martin Wiltse, Jr., of Fishkill Landing on the rights to the Ferry from Fishkill shore to Newburgh.
Case .- 25th June, 1743, Alexander Colden obtained a Patent for the sole and full liberty to keep a ferry from the West to the East and from the East to the West side of the River opposite Newburgh. This right hy some conveyances for a valuable consideration became vested in Jacob & Leonard Carpenter, of New- burgh.
Under the allegation of non-user under the Patent and of long continued pos- session in themselves, Peter Bogardus & Mr. Wiltse contested the Patent right to the ferry on the East side, and by way of strengthening their title took a license for a Ferry from the Court of Common Pleas of Dutchess County (vid 2 N. Rev. laws 210).
This controversy was compromised and on the 8th Feby 1805 Articles of Agree- ment were made between the Carpenters of the first part, Martin Wiltse Junr &
309
TOWN OF FISHKILL.
Peter Bogardus of Fishkill Landing of the 2nd part granted and conveyed to the parties of the 2nd part in fee a full liberty to land with their ferry boats &cc. on any of their wharves or ferrystairs at Newburgh-& the Parties of the 2nd part granted & conveyed in fee the same liberty to the parties of the first. It was by the said articles agreed between the parties that no new ferry should be set up or established at the said Fishkill landings to any part of the said Newburgh, by either of the parties to the said agreement, and that none of the ferries from the said Fishkill landing should take any ferriage from the wharves of Newburgh without consent of the Carpenters & that no ferryboat from Newburgh should take ferriage from any of the landings or wharves of the said Fishkills landings.
On the 28th August, 1805, a deed of conveyance was made between the Carpen- ters of the first part and Martin Wiltse & Martin Wiltse, Junr. & Peter Bogardus of the town of Fishkill of the second part. By it the parties of the first part bargained, sold & conveyed to the parties of the second part in fee all their right, title, interest & claim to the ferry on the E. side of the Hudson River which was granted to Colden, they the parties of the 2nd part for ever after fulfilling and performing the duties required by the grant. They have ever since been regularly performed and Mr. Wiltse and Bogardus kept a ferry from Wiltses landing. John P. DeWint having made a new and long wharf on the Fishkill side, he and Thomas Lawrence set up a ferry from it in 1812; having applied to the Court of Common Pleas of Dutchess County for a license under the existing law (2N. Rev. Laws 210) which was granted; but without intending to prejudice the patent. De Wint and Lawrence in order to strengthen themselves have contrived to asso- ciate with them the Carpenters & as it is supposed Peter Bogardus and the new Team Boat set up by them runs not only under the license, but also under the title of the ferrying from DeWints long wharf-while Mr. Wiltse still ferries from his old accustomed Wharf, but is materially injured by the competition. Ques- tion-Has Mr. Wiltse any remedy for the injury he is suffering and what, and against whom?"
Then follows the argument, which being quite long and technical, is here omitted. The conclusion reached by Emmet was that Martin Wiltse was virtually without remedy.
Not long afterwards Thomas Powell of Newburgh acquired all the adverse claims to the Colden ferry charter and other rights to fer- riage, thereby obtaining complete title to the ferry, which he operated until his death. Afterwards his son-in-law, Homer Ramsdell, Esq., operated the same in connection with John Peter DeWint, owner of the Long Dock, Fishkill, and on his death in 1870, it was sold to Mr. Ramsdell.
The following has been recently supplied through the courtesy of the Ramsdell estate.
The charter for the Ferry was granted May 24th, 1743, by Hon. George Clark, Lieutenant Governor of the Province and the Council
310
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
to Alexander Colden. This charter was sold by the heirs of the patentee December 15, 1802, to Leonard Carpenter. The ownership passed through the Carpenters (Leonard and Jacob), the Wiltses and Bogardus to Isaac R. Carpenter, who sold a half interest to J. P. DeWint in 1832, and in 1833 Mr. Carpenter became sole owner by purchase. On May 1, 1835 the Ferry was sold to Mr. DeWint and on the 30th of May, same year, DeWint sold the whole to Thomas Powell, who deeded it to his daughter, Mrs. Frances E. L. Ramsdell, in October, 1850. The interests of the Wiltses were all bought up by the Carpenters and DeWint prior to the sale in 1835 to Mr. De- Wint.
FARMS OF THE VERPLANCK FAMILY.
It may not be out of place to devote some space to this topic, since this family for over a century was by far the largest landowner in the township, if not in the county; and also because its partitions or sales are the source of title of many thousands of acres of separate farms into which the original family holdings are now cut up. The development of the property was quite different from that of the two other families, Brett and Van Cortlandt, which owned the other two- thirds of the township.
Owing to minorities in two successive generations none of the family seems to have come to live or build on that part of the patent set off to them, until about 1730, when Gulian, grandson of the patentee, having obtained by partition with his sisters one-third of the original third set off to himself and his cousins, that is to say one-ninth of the entire patent consisting of more than 10,000 acres, built the house subsequently known as Mount Gulian, which is still standing and now owned and occupied by William E. Verplanck. There is no record as to when the house was built. It is hardly likely, however, that it was prior to 1730. That the house was in existence as early as 1750 we know through the will of Gulian, which was proved in New York County in March, 1752, the year following his death, which oc- curred in his 54th year.
The will provided :
"I give, devise and bequeath to my son Samuel and his heirs forever All that farm in dutches County called Mount Gulian with all the Buildings thereon erected and all and every the slaves, stock, household furniture, farming utensils &c."
WILLIAM S. VERPLANCK.
311
TOWN OF FISHKILL.
To Samuel is also given all the testator's other lands in Dutchess County. Both devises to Samuel are on condition that he lives to the age of twenty-one or has lawful issue; failing which the two proper- ties shall go to the daughter, Aryentie, for life, and on her death to the heirs of her body. Several of the life-leases made by Gulian and his son Samuel of their lands in the Rombout Patent are still in ex- istence and in the possession of the writer. They were carefully drawn on printed blanks. For an illustration, the lease made by Gulian to "Henry Philips and his present wife Deborah," May 1, 1751, may be taken. The lot consisted of two hundred acres from which "£6 and two couples of fowles" were reserved as annual rent, to be paid May Ist, besides the payment of all taxes. For the first six years, how- ever, there was to be no rent, and for this privilege the tenant agreed to build "one framed or stone dwelling house of at least eighteen foot square with a Lento on one end thereof, with one framed Barn, all to be well shingled." Within the first year, also, the tenant agreed "to set up stone land marks at the corners of the Lott," and to further, "once a year thereafter in Easter week carry his children (if he hath any, otherwise his white servants or four of his nearest Neighbours) and show them the land marks." The tenant also agreed to make "a nursery of fruit trees, to be some Apels, Pears, Cherries & Peaches * **
* of forty foot square" and to set out an "orchard of at least One Hundred Aple Trees" and to prune them or graft the trees, "provided the grafts or inoculations be furnished by the landlord." The landlord was to have the fruit of three trees. The tenant agreed not to cut or dispose of the wood, timber, stone or dung made on the premises ; also to "keep six acres in meadow for grass and hay," and to "stand Bound to work with a Team of cattle or Horses and wag- gon or Cart one day annually" * as required by the land-
lord.
It was largely through such leases as these that the Verplanck property was developed. In other words their policy was quite differ- ent from that of Madam Brett, who owned one-third of the Patent to the south, and from that of the Van Cortlandts, who owned the other one-third to the north. It was the policy of these latter to sell out- right to settlers; the result being that large industrial towns have grown up along the Fishkill and Wappinger Creeks, while the Ver- planck property still remains largely agricultural, owing to their
312
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
reluctance to sell. This state of affairs continued until the death in 1834 of Daniel C. Verplanck, who, as sole heir of Samuel above men- tioned, was the largest land owner in Dutchess County. He had been County Judge for several years prior to 1812 and subsequently was a Member of Congress for several terms. He was the first of the family to make his permanent home at Mount Gulian at Fishkill, and as he had a large family, he enlarged the house in 1804 by building an addition to the north. The Mount Gulian farm at that time con- sisted of upwards of three hundred acres extending along the river for nearly two miles and thence eastward to the homestead farm of Garret Brinckerhoff, who was another large land owner in the neigh- borhood.
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.