Gazetteer of New York, 1860 & 1861 page 269
Click on the image to view a larger, bitmap (.bmp) image suitable for printing.

HOME PAGE ... REFERENCE PAGE ... THIS GAZETTEER’S PAGE



Click on the image above for a larger, bitmap image suitable for printing.

DUTCHESS COUNTY.    269

The first settlements in the co. were made by the Dutch at Rhinebeck and Fishkill before 1690.1
Other settlements were -made along the river in 1700; but for some years the progress of growth
was very slow. About 1720 a considerable number of settlers came in; and from that time the set¬
tlements increased rapidly until all the lands of the co. were taken up.2 Among the early settlers
were considerable numbers of French Huguenots, who had fled from the persecutions that followed
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. A portion of the co. was settled upon leaseholds, which here,
as elsewhere, led to much difficulty.3 The first civil divisions were established in 1737.4

This co. comprises the greater part of the Oblong,5 Great and Little Nine Partners, Beekmans,
Rumbouts, and Schuylers Patents.6 In 1777, the co. for a short time was in possession of the
British, and for a considerable time during the Revolution it was the seat of the colonial convention
and legislature. By an act of April 11, 1808, semi-annual fairs of sale were directed to be held
in this co. under the management of five commissioners to be appointed by the judges of Com¬
mon Pleas.7

AME5JTA8was formed March 7, 1788. It lies on the e. border of the co., n. of the center.
The Taghkanick Mts. extend along the
e. border, and the highlands belonging to the Eishkill
Range extend through the w. part. The wide valley separating these two ranges occupies the
central portions. The declivities of the mts. are often steep, and their highest summits are 300 to
500 feet above the valleys. Amenia Station, on the Harlem R. R., is 540 feet above tide. The

The Anti Bank Democrat (mo.) was issued from the office of The
Free Press in 1843.

Ihe American was started in Nov. 1845, hy Augustus T. Cow¬
man. It was soon changed to
The Poughkeepsie American, and was published hy Isaac Tomp¬
kins and Elias Pitts until 1853, when it was sold to E.

B. Osborne, and changed to
The Dutchess Democrat. In 1856 it was united with The Tele-

The Safeguard (Temperance) was issued in 1845 hy Wm. Patton.
The Daily City Press was commenced at Poughkeepsie, May 1,
1852, by Nichols, Bush, & Co. It was soon after
changed to

Tlie Dally Dress, which is still issued by A. S. Pease & Co.
The Independent Examiner was started in Feb. 1855, hy Henry
A. Gill, and was discontinued in 1858.

The American Banned was started at Poughkeepsie in 1856 by
Charles J. Ackert. In 1857 it was removed to Fishkill,
and was changed to
Tlie Dutchess Co. Times, under which name it is still
published by J. Carpenter Wells.

Tlie Poughkeepsie Gazette was started Jan. 1,1859,
by B. L. Hannah.

The Fishkill Standard was started Aug. 2, 1842, at
Fishkill Landing, by Wm. IL Addington, and is still
issued by him.

The Fishkill Journal, started in 1853 by H. A. Guild, was dis¬
continued in 1855..

The American Mechanic was started at Poughkeepsie in 1849 by
Geo. W. Clark. In 1850 it was removed to Rhinebeck,
and was united with The Gazette, under thq name of
The American Mechanic and Rhinebeck Gazette. It was soon
changed to

The Rhinebeck Gazette and Dutchess County
Advertiser.
It was successively issued hy Edward
M. Smith and L. R. Blanchard, and now by Wm. Luff.
The Rhinebeck Gazette was established in 1846 by Smith & Car¬
penter, and in 1850 was united with The Mechanic.

The Rhinebeck Advocate was published hy Robert Marshall in
1840. It was subsequently changed to
The Dutchess County Advocate, and was discontinued about 1850.
Tlie American Citizen was commenced June 12,1858
at Rhinebeck, by Geo. W. Clark.

The True Balance, a campaign paper, was published at Rhine.

heck by C. J. Ackert in 1858.

The Amenia Times was started at Ameniaville, April 7,
1852, under the charge of Joel Benton. It was sub¬
sequently issued by H. Livingston
& Co., and Palmer,
Vail & Co. It is now pub. hy J. W. Dutcher.

■I he Redliook Journal was commenced April 29,1859,
The
Pine Plains Herald Feb. 1,1859 both by L. Piester.

1 The following copy of. a letter, now in possession of T. Van
Wyck Brinkerhoff, of East Fishkill, throws some light upon
the early history of the co. “In the year 1823, I saw Isaac
Upton, a coaster from Newport, who informed me that about
1760 he came up tho North River to Poughkeepsie, and, in com¬
pany with another person, went to Mabbitt’s store, in Washing¬
ton, on business. That, on their return, they took a circuitous
route from Pleasant Valley, and passed a German by name of
Hoffman, who was then 118 years old. He supposed himself to
he the first white settler in Dutchess co.; and that, when young,
he deserted from a Dutch ship of war in New York, squatted
where he then lived, built him a shanty, and lived a number of

years a solitary life' without being able to find a white woman
for a wife ; that afterward, finding a German family at Rhiue-
beck, he married, and had lived where he then was to that ad¬
vanced age. I was informed that he died two years afterward,
at 120 years.    (Signed)    Paul    Upton.”

2 Smith, in his history, written in 1732, says of this co., “ The
only villages in it are Poughkeepsie and the Fishkill, though
they scarce deserve the name. The inhabitants on the banks
of the river are Dutch, hut those more easterly, Englishmen,
and for the most part immigrants from Conn. and Long Island.
There is no Epis. church in it. The growth of this co. has been
very sudden, and commenced but a few years ago. Within the
memory of persons now living, it did not contain above 12
families; and according to the late returns of the militia it will
furnish at present ahove 2500 fighting-men.”—
Mist. JY.Y., Alb.
Ed., p:
304.

3 In 1766, the district now embraced in Rensselaer, Columbia,
and Dutchess cos. was involved in a domestic war, arising from
the conflicting jurisdiction of adjacent colonies and resistance to
the claims of proprietors. In June of that year, the sheriff of
Albany Co., with 105 men, went to a house on the manor to dis¬
perse a band of rioters, 60 in number. Several shots were ex¬
changed : Cornelius Ten Broeck, of Claverack, was killed, and 7
others of the militia were wounded. Three of the rioters were
killed, and many wounded, among whom was Capt. Noble, one
of their leaders. In July, the 28th Regiment was ordered into
Dutchess co., to quell riots; and a small body of light infantry
was soon after fired upon, and 3 were wounded. One Pender-
grast, a leader, was taken, tried before Jndgo Horsmanden for
high treason, and sentenced to he executed, hut was afterward
pardoned. Fifty to 60 others were fined, imprisoned, or pilloried.
Soon after the sentence of Pendergrast, an advertisement was
issued, offering a good reward to any one willing to assist as the
executioner, and promising disguise against recognition and pro¬
tection against insults.—
Dunlap's Hist. N. Y., II, Appen. CACCI1I.

4 By an act of the General Assembly, passed Dec. 16,1737, this
co. was divided into 3 divisions. The q. division extended from
below the Highlands to Wappingers Creek; the middle division
from the latter, n. to Cline Sopas Island, (Little Esopus Island;)
and the n. division from this point to the n. hounds of the co.
Each of these divisions elected a supervisor. The subsequent
formation of precincts is mentioned under the several towns.

5 The Oblong, a tract 580 rods wide, extending across the e. bor
der of this co. and Putnam, was mostly granted to Thos. Hawley
and others, in 1731; South, Beekmans, Crum Elbow, and North
Precincts were extended across to the Conn. line, Dec. 17, 1743.
The patent was divided into lower, middle, and upper districts,
March 9,1774, to facilitate the collection of quitrents.

6 Several of these patents were granted as follows: Rumbouf,
to Francis Rumbout and others, Oct. 17,1685; Great or Lower
Nine Partners, to Caleb Heathcote and others, May 27, 1697;
Rhinebeck, to Henry Beekman, June 5, 1703; Little or Upper
Nine Partners, to Sampson Boughton and others, April 10,1706.

7 These fairs were to be supported by a tax of 1 per cent, on
all sales, one-half to be paid by the purchaser and one-half hy
the seller.

8 According to Benson, this term was applied fcy Young, the
American poet, in his “
Conquest of Quebec,” in a description of
the several provincial troops employed in that campaign. The
precinct of this name was formed from Crum Elbow Precinct,
March 20,1762, and included a part of Amenia and North East,
and the whole of Washington. Pleasant Yalley, Stanford, Clinton,
and Hyde Park.



PREVIOUS PAGE ... NEXT PAGE

This page was written in HTML using a program written in Python 3.2