USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 46
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This property was in early years owned by Louis Du Bois, the Walloon. About the time, or just prior to the Revolution, it was owned by Matthew Du Bois, one of his descendants ; from him it passed to his son-in-law, Matthew E. Thompson, who was one of the victims of enlightened England's philanthropy (!) The house was rebuilt by him, and subsequently passed into the hands of Thomas Van Gaasbeek.
Connected with this house in 1820, and for some years previous,
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was a frame store standing with its gable on John Street and front- ing East Front Street. The house and store were connected at one corner and so located with regard to each other as to form an L, or two sides of a square, upon the corner back from the streets. The house and store have both been torn down some years since. In 1820 the store was occupied by William Holmes as a merchant.
34. Crossing John Street, and a short distance from the corner on the west side of East Front Street, is a long, two-story frame dwelling, now owned and occupied by Moses Mulks. In 1820 it was owned by the Widow Mary Grier, the north end occupied by her as a store and the rest as a dwelling. It was built by Mr. Grier in the early part of this century.
35. A few feet farther to the south stood a blacksmith shop, and next to that one of the old stone houses, a small, one-story building with gable to the street. In 1820 the two were owned and occupied by John McLean as a dwelling and blacksmith shop. Within a few years all traces of them have been removed, and the present dwelling-house of Mr. Merritt stands very nearly on the site of the shop. In the Revolution it was the homestead of Jacob Turk.
36. The next building was the house of John Beekman, one of the one-story old stone houses. It stood with its gable on East Front and its front on Main Street. It was the original homestead of Cornelius Beekman, the ancestor of John. It was rebuilt by him after the burning of Kingston. The house is still standing, but so raised and built over that its original form is gone.
37. On the east side of East Front, and fronting Main Street, stood a large, two-story stone house, and one of the old stone houses. It belonged in 1820 to the estate of James Hasbrouck, deceased, and was, in or about 1820, occupied by his widow and family. It was the old homestead of Colonel Abraham Hasbrouck, and was rebuilt by him after the burning of Kingston. On the Miller map, made in 1695, a house is designated as then standing near that spot, with a memorandum that it was the house where the governor was entertained. It was purchased in 1759 by Col- onel Hasbrouck from Robert G. Livingston. Subsequent to 1820 it was for many years occupied as a hotel, and until it was burned down a few years ago. An old Holland brick was found among its ruins which is still preserved. Among other marks upon it are the figures 1717, evidently made before burning.
38. On the south corner of Main and East Front streets stands the frame storehouse which in 1820 belonged to the estate of James Hasbrouck, and had been occupied by him many years for mercan- tile purposes. It was about 1820 or shortly thereafter occupied as a store by John L. Lawrence for several years.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
The preceding covers all the houses standing on East Front Street, north of the plains, in 1820, at which point the street then terminated at the south. The first plains, as it was then called. was an open, triangular shaped, unenclosed commons, bounded northerly by Pearl Street and Albany Avenue, southeasterly by Maiden Lane, and westerly by the Truman Cowles (now Sahler) house on Pearl Street, and the Masten (now Jackson) house on Maiden Lane. A simple wagon track passed across the plains to Maiden Lane on the line of East Front Street extended.
39. South of the plains, and on the southeasterly corner of Maiden Lane and East Front Street, extended, stood a one-story stone house called the Vosburgh house, originally built shortly after the Revolution on one of the lots purchased from the trustees under contract to build in two years, as previously set forth in this work. It was occupied by Dr. Abram Vosburgh at the time of his death, about 1820. It was of late years the parsonage of the Pres- byterian Church, but has lately been torn down to give place to a more imposing brick structure.
40. The next house was a one-story frame house, standing on the northeast corner of East Front and St. James' streets, and front- ing on St. James' Street. It was the homestead of Johannis M. Van Keuren, and occupied by him in 1820. It has been rebuilt, and its old form is no longer recognizable.
41. On the opposite and southeast corner of St. James' and East Front streets stands a two-story frame dwelling fronting on St. James' Street, which in 1820 was the homestead of Lneas Van Keuren.
42. On the southeast corner of those two streets stands a one- story frame building, now used as a store, fronting on St. James' Street. In 1820 it was the homestead of Nehemiah Ostrander.
43. A little farther south on the west side of East Front Street, in 1820, stood a one-story frame dwelling occupied by William Keator, a shoemaker, who sometimes carried his kit about with him to his customers' houses.
Opposite the Keator house, on the east side of the street, was the village pound. At this point East Front Street, in 1820, terminated in a cul-de-sac against an old Dutch barn.
44. The first house on Green Street, after leaving North Front Street, is one of the old stone houses partially rebuilt during the Rev- olution, when it was the homestead of one of the Elmendorf family. It was purchased by James Styles in 1803, and occupied by him as a dwelling and watchmakers' shop from thenceforward until after 1820. The house is still standing on the west side of the street.
45. A short distance farther south, and on the east side of the street, in 1820, stood a large, two-story double frame house. It was owned and occupied by George Tappen, one of the sons of
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Christopher Tappen. Daniel Brodhead, Jr., an attorney-at-law, and then surrogate of the county of Ulster, a near relative of Mr. Tappen by marriage, also lived there in 1820. The house afterward was used as a school-house for a number of years. It has lately been torn down and the new school building erected in the rear of its site.
46. On the northwest corner of Lucas' Turnpike and Green Street, in 1820, stood a frame storehouse belonging to Mrs. Rachel Beekman. It was only occasionally and temporarily occupied.
47. Near the southwest corner of Green Street and Lucas' Turn- pike stands one of the old stone houses as rebuilt after the burning of Kingston. It was then the homestead of Egbert Dumond, who was the first sheriff of Ulster County under the State constitution. This building, together with the two-story double frame house built adjacent to it, and fronting on John Street, was in 1820 owned and occupied by Rachel Beekman, the widow of Tjerck Beekman, a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War, also the mother-in-law of the late Judge Charles H. Ruggles and of the late Rev. Dr. Cor- nelius D. Westbrook.
48. On the northeast corner of Green and John streets stands a large, two-story double frame house fronting on John Street. In 1820 it was the homestead of Dr. Luke Kiersted, in his prime the leading physician of the place. He died about 1820.
49. On the opposite corner, fronting on Green Street, stands one of the old stone houses. In 1820 it was owned and occupied by Abraham G. Van Keuren. In the Revolution it was the homestead of Gerrit Van Keuren his father. It was burned down in 1776 in a large fire noticed elsewhere, and rebuilt.
50. Nearly opposite, and on the west side of Green Street, stands another of the old stone houses. In 1820 it was the homestead of Jonathan Hasbrouck. He was a county judge in 1798. It was burned down at a large fire noted elsewhere in 1776, and at that time was owned by Colonel Abraham Hasbrouck, and was rebuilt after the burning of Kingston.
51. The large, two-story stone building standing at the junction of Green and Crown streets was for many years the homestead of John Tappen, a lawyer, and the editor and proprietor of the Ulster Plebeian, a leading Democratic newspaper from 1813 until his death. The printing and publishing office of the paper was upon the second floor on the west side of the building, to which access was had by an outside stairway. He also had a book and stationery store for a time in the lower front corner room on Green Street. It was the homestead of Henry Sleght in the Revolution and at the burning of Kingston.
52. Nearly opposite to the Tappen house, and on the west side of Green Street, is a large, double, two-story stone dwelling-house.
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It was built by Judge Lucas Elmendorf a little after 1790, and from thenceforward until the time of his death, at a ripe old age, it was occupied by him as his homestead. He was for many years a prominent representative man in the county. In 1798, when quite young in years, he was elected a representative to the United States Congress, and at a time when it was an honor and a distinc- tion to be a member of that body, and was re-elected the two succeeding terms. He was first judge of the county of Ulster from 1815 to 1821, and surrogate from 1835 to 1840. He sacrificed a for- tune in unavailing efforts to procure a business thoroughfare from Kingston to the interior and southern tier of counties of the State, as noticed elsewhere.
Directly on the north end of the stone mansion is an annex still standing. In 1820 the post-office was kept in the south room of the annex, while at the north end was the cabinetmaker shop of James Wells.
53. Next on the same side of the street, and nearly opposite Main Street, is the large two-story stone double house built by Jacob Tremper ; from him it descended to his daughter Catharine, who was the second wife of Conrad E. Elmendorf. In 1820 it belonged to her estate and was occupied by a tenant.
54. Directly opposite, and on the northeast corner of Green and Main streets, stood one of the old stone houses. It was burned and rebuilt in the Revolution. It was the homestead of Dr. Peter Vanderlyn in the early part of this century. In 1820 it was occu- pied by Christopher Tappen, Jr. (son of the elder Christopher men- tioned above). He was a lawyer, and had his law office in the frame addition on Main Street. He was a good lawyer and an esti- mable man and citizen.
55. On the opposite corner of Green and Main streets stands another of the old stone houses burned and rebuilt in the Revolu- tion. It was one of the old Delamater homesteads. In 1820 it was occupied by David Delamater, a descendant of the family.
56. On the west side of Green directly opposite Main Street stood the village market. In 1820 it was unoccupied, and with the lot on which it stood used only as a playground for the boys.
57. Passing toward the south, next stood one of the old stone houses. It is a large two-story double stone house, the former homestead of Judge Dirck Wynkoop. He was a member of the State Convention for action upon the proposed United States Con- stitution and county judge from 1783 to 1793. The house was burned and rebuilt in the Revolution. In 1820 it was occupied by two of his maiden daughters, Ariantje Wynkoop and Margaret Wynkoop. It is said that General Washington and staff were en- . tertained at dinner in this house in 1782, upon the occasion of their
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passing through the place. In 1820 a part of this house was occu- pied by Mrs. Walworth, an English lady, who kept there a select school for young ladies. Her husband had charge of the English department in the academy.
At the south end of this house, in 1820, the wagon track de- scended diagonally down the hill to the bridge across the brook, to avoid the then very steep descent from the head of Pearl Street. That steep descent was then the favorite coasting place for the boys in winter.
58. At the northeast corner of Green and Pearl streets, in 1820, stood one of the old Revolutionary stone houses, which was occupied by Katrine Jansen, an aged lady and a descendant of one of the old settlers. It has since been removed.
59. On the opposite or southeast corner, in 1820, stood a two- story frame building, the homestead of William Marius Groen, occupied by his two daughters, Hillitje Marius Groen and Catharine Marius Groen, wife of Benjamin Welch. It has recently been torn down.
60. On the west side of Green Street, nearly opposite, but a little more southerly, stands one of the old stone Revolutionary build- ings, the homestead of Thomas Beekman, occupied in 1820 by his son, Cornelius Beekman.
61. On the same side, but a little farther to the south, stood another of these old stone buildings of Revolutionary date, the homestead of Peter Wynkoop, occupied in 1820 by his descendants, Martin and Abraham Wynkoop. The north end was occupied by James H. Styles as a boot and shoe shop in 1820.
62. On the northeast corner of Maiden Lane and Green Street is a two-story stone house, one of the old houses burned and rebuilt in the Revolution. It was the homestead of John McLean, the elder, and in 1820 occupied by his widow, Mary McLean.
63. On the opposite corner stands another of the old stone houses. It was the homestead of Tobias Van Buren, and in 1820 was owned and occupied by his son, Cornelius Van Buren.
64. On the west side of Green Street opposite the Van Buren homestead stood one of those old stone houses of Revolutionary date. It was the homestead of Jacob. Marius Groen, Sr., and in 1820 was occupied by Jacob Marius Groen, his oldest son. It had a small annex at the north end for a saddler shop, but in 1820 or shortly afterward it was used as a school-room.
65. The next and last house in the street was the double two- story stone house standing at the head of St. James' Street. It was built by Tobias Van Buren. After 1813 it was occupied by Major J .. V. W. Huyck until his death, which occurred about 1820. Major Huyck was an army officer in the War of 1812, and for some time
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was at the head of the recruiting office in this place. After Major Huyck it was occupied by William Houghteling.
66. Returning to North Front and passing down Crown Street beyond the Bruyn house, which has been already noticed, a frame building, gable end to the street, was situated and occupied in 1820 by Messrs. Ruggles & Hasbrouck as a law office. Each one of those gentlemen rose to distinction in subsequent years. The senior partner, Charles H. Ruggles, after practising law until 1830, and acquiring much distinction as a lawyer, was early in 1831 created circuit judge ; and after the revision of the Constitution in 1846 was elevated to the bench of the Court of Appeals. There, as well as at the circuit, he stood second to none as a jurist and a just and discriminating judge. The junior partner, A. Bruyn Has- brouck, continued to practise his profession until 1840, having in 1834 formed a copartnership with the writer. Mr. Hasbrouck was a good, sound lawyer, and possessed every qualification necessary to take a prominent stand in his profession. His tastes, however, were of a literary tendency, which led to his appointment as presi- dent of Rutgers College in 1840. That position he occupied with distinction for a number of years, when he resigned, and after that led a retired life, passing away, at a very advanced age, to another and a better home.
67. The next building stood nearly opposite on the west side of the street. It was a two-story frame double house with a shingle front, and was owned and occupied by Seth Couch, the south part as a dwelling and the north part as a store.
68. The next house on the same side is a two-story stone double house, which had, a few years previous to 1820, been erected upon the site of a Revolutionary ruin. The homestead of Abraham Low was burned in the fire of 1776, and only the rear or kitchen part rebuilt until Benjamin Ostrander erected the two-story house in front of and adjoining the rear part previously restored. After the completion of the building he opened it as a hotel under the desig- nation of the " Kingston Coffee House," and it was so kept by him until after 1820.
69. Directly opposite stands the Kingston Hotel, which in 1820 consisted of the stone part, one of the old stone houses, and was occupied by Levi Jansen as a hotel. He had been sheriff of Ulster County from 1807 to 1811.
A story is told of the landlords of the last two houses named. It was a matter of principle with each of them never to drink at his own bar, and there was a travelling sixpence which made fre- quent journeys across the street from one side to the other, as either the one or the other of the landlords might desire to allay his thirst, always at his neighbor's, never at his own counter.
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70. Next on the same side is the stone house standing at the northeast corner of John and Crown streets. It is one of the old stone houses which was burned and rebuilt in the Revolution. It was the homestead of Frantz P. Roggen, and in 1820 was occupied by his descendants. Dr. John Roggen and his sisters.
71 was a small two-story frame building, occupied about 1820 by one Brennan for a dwelling and school-room, and soon there- after by Herman M. Romeyn as a dwelling and law office.
72. On the northwest corner of John and Crown streets stands a large two-story double stone house, which occupies the site of the old homestead of Matthew Jansen. The present building was erected after the Revolution, and was occupied by his descendants in 1820, John C. Jansen and Katie Jansen.
73. On the southwest corner of John and Crown streets stands the old academy building, about in the form it was originally built. For a short time there was no classical school in the academy ; this occurred in 1820. An English gentleman, Mr. Walworth, had then charge of the English department ; his wife at the same time taught the young ladies in the Wynkoop house, as previously mentioned. A full description of the academy is given in the historical sketch of that institution, to be found in another part of this work. The janitor, Cornelius Elmendorf, familiarly known as " Academy Case," occupied some rooms on the first floor at the south end on Crown Street.
74. On the other, the southeast corner of the street, stands an- other of the old stone houses of Revolutionary date. It was the homestead of Matthew Persen ; he had kept a public house there for a number of years. In 1820 it was occupied by Dr. John Goodwin, and in the wing on John Street he kept a drug store and grocery.
75. Passing down Crown Street, the next building is a frame building of two stories standing on the site of one of the old De Witt homesteads. It was occupied in 1820 by one of the descendants, a maiden lady, Elizabeth De Witt.
76. On the east side of Crown Street, opposite the Tappen house before noticed, stands one of the old stone houses, occupied in 1820 by Cornelius Tappen, another son of Christopher Tappen. On the north side and within a few feet of the house stood the village hay- scales, the beam projecting over the sidewalk, with chains sus- pended to pass under the wagon and raise it up. It was, in fact, a large steelyard.
77. Nearly adjoining the last house on the east until recently stood another of the old stone houses, owned and occupied in 1820 by Henry Eltinge. A room at the south end was occupied by Samuel S. Freer as the printing and publishing office of the Ulster Gazette, the organ of the Federal Party.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
This completes the description of the buildings in Crown Street. Wall Street is the next street east of Crown. In 1820 its north- ern terminus was John Street.
78. On the westerly corner of Wall and John streets in 1820 stood one of the old stone houses of Kingston, a large two-story double house, with a kitchen extension in the rear along John Street. It was then owned and occupied by James Cockburn. In colonial times it was the homestead of John Crook, a distin- guished Kingston lawyer. After the Revolution it was occu- pied for some years by John Addison, a distinguished member of the bar and settled in Kingston. He was the first principal of Kingston Academy, and gave it at once a high and commanding reputation. He was the first president of the Board of Trustees after its incorporation. This house was also, in the early part of this century, for several years the home of Barent Gardinier, a dis- tinguished lawyer, who represented this district in the Congress of the United States for two successive terms, from 1807 to 1811. It is said that John Randolph, of Roanoke, at that time pronounced him the most eloquent man he had ever heard in Congress. He was a Federalist, and is the man who had the bitter and severe newspaper controversy with John Armstrong, referred to in a pre- vious part of this book.
79. Directly opposite the last-named house, and on the easterly corner of Wall and John streets, stood another of the old stone houses, owned and occupied in 1820 by Peter Marius Groen and his daughter, Cornelia Schoonmaker, the mother of the writer. At the burning of Kingston it was the homestead of the widow Cor- nelia Low, whose daughter Catharine married Mr. Marius Groen.
Peter Marius Groen was appointed and served as surrogate of the county of Ulster in 1810. He was the speaker (presiding officer) of " The Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the town of Kingston" (thereto elected annually) from 1793 to 1815 inclusive, except only the year 1804. He was one of the trustees of Kingston Academy from its incorporation until his death in 1823.
Cornelia Schoonmaker was the widow of Zechariah Schoon- maker, the youngest son of Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, whose name frequently appears in previous parts of this history.
80. In 1820 the next building was a small brick building, put up by Peter Marius Groen for his son-in-law, Zechariah Schoon- maker, who occupied it as a law office until his death in 1818. Within the memory of the writer one of the rooms was occupied for an office of discount and deposit, as a branch of Isaac Mckean's "Exchange Bank," of Poughkeepsie. David H. Burr was the branch cashier or clerk. One of the writer's earliest recollections is feeling quite independent with a silver sixpenny piece, and going
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to the bank with an air of great importance to deposit it with Mr. Burr.
81. The next building on the opposite or west side of the street is the County Court House, same as it was in 1820, and occupying the same site as the one which was burned in the Revolution. The Constitutional Convention sat in the Court House in 1777, and there acted upon and adopted the Constitution as reported by the committee. The Constitution was read and officially promulgated at the front door.
82. Opposite the Court House on the east side of the street was a small one-story frame building, occupied about 1820 by Mrs. Carman for a dwelling and infant school.
83. Next to the last-mentioned building, and only four or five feet distant, stood one of the old stone houses. It was occupied in 1820 by Abraham I. Delamater as a dwelling, and he utilized a long frame building standing a little south of it and extending to the burying-ground as a hat manufactory and sale shop. The stone house in the Revolution was owned and occupied by Ben- jamin Low, and after being burned in 1777 was rebuilt.
The barn, which escaped the flames in the Revolution, was then still standing, a short distance in the rear of the shop, along the burying-ground fence.
84. On the west side of the street, and next south of the Court House, stood one of the old stone houses. In the Revolution it was the homestead of Johannis Freer. In 1820 it was owned by William S. Masten, and occupied by Simeon Mullen as a hotel. It had a frame addition on the south. It was afterward enlarged with frame additions several times, and occupied as a hotel by different landlords under the name of the Ulster County House. It was burned down a number of years ago, and the Argus and Leader offices now occupy its site.
In 1820 a room in the hotel was occupied by John N. Mizener, a barber, who moved in from some other locality. Being a new- comer, his presence was not agreeable to the old citizen who had theretofore, for a time at least, enjoyed a monopoly in the exercise of the tonsorial art, and who had therefore given vent to his dis- satisfaction in a poetical effusion to be found at paragraph 112 of this chapter. Mr. Mullen's poet replied as follows :
" Blest is the Barber's lot ; with dexterous grace He wields the razor and shaves thin the face ; To others' jaws the razor doth apply, To gain the food that may his own supply."
85. The Reformed Dutch Church in 1820 stood at the northeast corner of Main and Wall streets. A description of the church has been given in another chapter.
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