The United Empire Loyalist Hudson Valley Trip.

The UEL Hudson Valley tour was a natural extension to the successful "Gerry Rogers Memorial Mohawk Valley Tour of 1998" (Loyalist Gazette, Spring 1999, pp. 31-36). The Mohawk Valley trip concentrated on historic sites relating to Sir William and Sir John Johnson and our Palatine ancestors in the Mohawk Valley. The Hudson Valley trip extended this to the original settlements of our Palatine ancestors at East Camp (Germantown) and West Camp in New York State and also explored the relationship between the Huguenots and Palatines at Hurley and New Paltz. We also included a site from the Revolutionary War era, as well as sites relating to the Dutch, the first settlers of New York.

This bus trip included participation from five UEL Branches and was expanded to two buses. All of the seats on the buses were sold out for total participation of 108, including two UEL members from the USA. The UEL branches involved in the trip were the Sir Guy Carleton Branch, St. Lawrence Branch, Hamilton Branch, Colonel John Butler Branch, and Grand River Branch.

The tour took place on the weekend of September 29 to October 2, 2000. The weather was excellent except for the fog encountered along the Hudson River in the morning. One bus proceeded from Ottawa and the other proceeded from Hamilton by different routes to meet the first night at Albany. Different commentaries were provided for each bus so that people would learn about Loyalist and other historical sites along these routes.

The highlight of the Friday evening in Albany was a dinner for people from both uses. This gave everyone a chance to meet old friends and make new friends and learn about other UEL families and branches. As well, an American speaker, Herman Witthoft Sr., retired genealogist, was well received by the group. Herman has researched and produced several family histories on families of the Mohawk Valley (Waltermeir or Waltermeyer, Kilts, Shaffer) and also the Loyalist Shaver families, Saturday and Sunday nights we stayed in Kingston, NY.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning were packed with things to do, with numerous stops at sites associated with Loyalists, Palatines, Huguenots and Dutch at East Camp (Germantown), West Camp, Katsbaan, New Paltz, Hurley, Kingston, Albany and Rensselaer.

To be noted is that the Dutch arrived at Wiltwick (Kingston and Hurley) in the 1600s. Arrivals after that included Huguenots and Palatines who settled in Hurley and New Paltz. Our Palatine ancestors, who settled at East and West Camp under the Livingstons of Clermont, eventually spread out to settle in the Schoharie and Mohawk Valleys of New York. Many remained in the East and West Camp areas and others settled in Pennsylvania and other places.

The Dutch, Albany, NY

The explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano landed on Castle Island in the Hudson River near Albany in 1525. French trappers later built a fortified trading post here. On September 17, 1609 Henry Hudson on behalf of the Dutch East India Company came ashore from his ship the Half Moon to visit and eat with the Indians near Kinderhook Creek on the Hudson River. By 1612 the Dutch had secured a licence to trade for three years with the Indians around Fort Orange (Albany) and had established the colony of Nieu Nederlandt. They had rebuilt the old French post in 1615 and named it Fort Nassau.

The Dutch thought this land was part of the West Indies. The Dutch State General gave a charter to the West India Company in 1621 for a trade monopoly in America. A ship bearing some thirty families was sent to colonize the Nieu Nederlandt in 1624. Some of these people stopped at Manhattan Island, but eighteen families went up the Hudson and located near Fort Nassau. This was the first permanent settlement in Albany County.

Two years later the West India Company bought the Island of Manhattan from the Indians for some cloth and trinkets. The monetary value of this transaction amounted to sixty guilders ($24.00). The Dutch and the Indians lived peacefully side-by-side for 20 years after Hudson's first voyage.

The English took over New Netherlands in 1664 and renamed it New York Province. The city of New Amsterdam was renamed New York and Fort Orange was renamed Albany. On November 1, 1683, Albany County was created. From it Tryon, Charlotte, Columbia, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie, Greene and Schenectady counties were created. Albany as a city was organized in 1686. Today the City of Albany is the capital of New York State.

First Church in Albany

The First Church in Albany is the second oldest church in New York State. It was established in 1642 by the Patroon of Rensselaerwyck Patent to serve his settlers. The church was graced with a carved pulpit bearing an hourglass to time the service and a traditional Dutch weathercock from Holland. The church's extensive archival records date back to the 17th century. It still has many historic relics, including the country's oldest pulpit and weathervane, notable pieces of early colonial silver, and several historic proclamations. The First Church congregation has a "melting pot" tradition. In the 17th century, it served the Dutch colonists, their black slaves and a number of their Native American neighbours. The 18th century witnessed an influx of British. Immigrants from Western and Eastern Europe joined the congregation in the 19th century with the opening of the Erie Canal.

Broadway Street, Albany

Many events have taken place along Broadway Street. General Burgoyne after his capture at Saratoga passed along Broadway to the Schuyler Mansion as a prisoner. Henry Hudson in 1609 sailed in the Half Moon up to State & Broadway. Fort Nassau was built in 1614 at State and Broadway. It became Fort Orange in 1624. Abercomby, Loudoun and Amherst's troops marched north along the Colonial Warpath to try to conquer Canada in the Seven Years' War.

The New York State Capitol, Albany

In the vicinity of the New State Capital building completed in 1899, there are many plaques and statues to see. Statues: Civil War General Philip Sheridan, Major General Philip Schuyler (1733-1804). Plaques: Fort Frederick, Birthplace of Modern Electricity (Joseph Henry), Lafayette Park, 1757 - 1834.

Schuyler Mansion, Albany

Schuyler Mansion was the home of Philip Schuyler (1733-1804), a noted American Rebel general during the American Revolution. This Georgian mansion was initially named the "Pastures" because it was situated in a former common cow pasture two miles south of Albany. General Schuyler designed this mansion himself. He was away during the Seven Years War, so it is thought that the dwelling was constructed around 1762 under the watchful eye of Kitty (Catherine) Van Rensselaer, his wife. She was born at Crailo, the original Van Rensselaer family home. This Georgian rose brick mansion measures 63 feet by 47 feet. A Chippendale railing surrounds its double hip roof. The ceilings are twelve feet high.

General Burgoyne was warmly welcomed as a guest by General Schuyler following his defeat at the Battle of Saratoga on October 17, 1777, even though he had already destroyed Schuyler's country estate near Saratoga. General Burgoyne is quoted as saying: "He sent his Aide-de-camp to conduct me to Albany in order, as he expressed it, to procure me better quarters than a stranger might be able to find. This gentleman conducted me to a very elegant house, and to my great surprise presented me to Mrs. Schuyler and her family and in this General's house I remained during my whole stay in Albany, with a table of more than twenty covers for me and my friends and every other possible demonstration of hospitality."

The handrail on the staircase contains a deep notch, which is said to have been made by an Indian tomahawk thrown at Margaret Schuyler. She was fleeing up the stairs with her baby sister in her arms when the Loyalists under Captain John W. Meyers attempted to kidnap her father General Schuyler on August 7, 1781.

This attempt was part of a British plan to send eight small raiding parties of four to six Loyalists and two British regulars to Albany to kidnap eight key rebel leaders on July 31, 1781. However Joseph Bettys, a member of one of the parties, had run off with the daughter of an Albany resident, so American search parties were out looking for Loyalist raiders and Schuyler was warned. Meyers hid his men in a barn and later a cave delaying the raid until August 7. When his party made the kidnap attempt it ran into armed guards inside the house. Shots were fired and Schuyler avoided capture. Instead, two of his guards were taken prisoner and his silver was plundered.

The wedding of the General's daughter, Elizabeth and the famous Alexander Hamilton, an aide-de-camp to George Washington was held in this mansion. Alexander Hamilton was later killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804.

In 1886 the mansion became the St. Francis de Sales Asylum, a Roman Catholic orphanage after it was sold for $7000. Today only the central brick mansion remains standing. During the nineteenth century, the nursery, kitchen, office wings, smokehouse, icehouse, gardener's shed, carriage house, barn, coach house and slave quarters were demolished. It is now a national historic site. You can read more about the raid in the book John Walden Meyers, Loyalist Spy. by Mary Beacock Fryer, a noted Loyalist author.

Crailo (located in Rensselaer, NY)

One of the earliest and most famous Dutch Manors was Rensselaerwyck, owned by patron Killiaen Van Rensselaer, a rich jewel merchant from Amsterdam, Holland. He received the patent for the Manor August 1630. He had purchased the land several years earlier from the Indians.

The settlement was originally called Greenbush after the massive pine forest, which originally existed there. It consisted of 700,000 acres comprising today what are Rensselaer and Albany Counties and extending southwards along both banks of the Hudson at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers for 24 miles. The first boatload of settlers arrived in 1630. More followed in the succeeding years. After the tar experiment failed at West Camp and East Camp, several Palatines came to this manor. Some later became Loyalists.

Killiaen Van Rensselaer did not come to America. Instead his agent who was his cousin Arent Van Curler, came over in 1637 at the age of 18 to manage the manor. The first minister was Domine Megapolensis in 1642. He received a salary of 1000 forms ($480) per year.

Crailo was built at Rensselaerwyck about 1642. There was said to be a stone inscribed in the cellar wall "K.V.R. 1642" and on the opposite stone "Do. Megapolensis." It is thought that Crailo may have been originally intended for the Domine. Additions or improvements were made in 1644, 1762, 1790 and 1800. The house itself was named after the Van Rensselaer's estate in Holland. Crailo (crayloo) in Dutch meant "crows wood."

In 1643 about 100 people resided in 23-30 houses on the patent along the river. By 1650 about 1000 people lived on the manor.

At one time Crailo also served as a fort. It was once the headquarters of British General Abercromby during the Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763. At that time he was awaiting colonial reinforcements. When a motley bunch arrived at the British encampment, Dr. Richard Schuckburg, a surgeon in the British Army composed the tune "Yankee Doodle" as a satire on these troops. The famous Revolutionary Battle of Bennington actually took place within the patent's boundaries at Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick. This battle eventually led to Burgoyne's eventual defeat at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 since he was unable to get essential supplies.

The patent expired in 1839 under General Steven Van Rensselaer. Previously the inhabitants had paid annual rental since the land was not sold to them. From 1839 to 1850 the tenant farmers of the patent began to contest the rights of the patron to run a feudal like manor. As a result most of the lands had been sold by the time of the American Civil War. Crailo served as a boarding school for boys in the 1840's. Later it was a church rectory. Today Crailo is a museum of Dutch history and owned by New York State. It also has exhibits of Fort Orange.

The Van Rensselaers intermarried with many prominent families such as the Van Cortlandts, Schuylers, Livingstons, Gansevoorts and the Ten Broecks.

Kingston, NY

Kingston was the third settlement established by the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant around 1652. It was originally called Wiltwyck. The Indians burned it in 1653. In 1658 Governor Stuyvesant ordered a stockade built around the settlement to protect it from Indian attacks. The English renamed the town Kingston in 1664.

The Stockade Historic District, Kingston

This eight-block area was originally surrounded by a palisade in the 17th century. Today the Stockade Historic District includes 21 Dutch-style stone buildings. Several were built prior to 1700 and are still in use. In one of them was the 18th-century Kingston Academy, whose students included a future governor, Dewitt Clinton. These old houses are identified by the talking tour signs.

Old Dutch Church, Kingston

The most visible building in the Stockade area is the Old Dutch Church. This was the fourth church built for a congregation established in 1659. This magnificent Renaissance Revival stone structure was rebuilt in 1852 from designs by noted architect, Minard Lefever. Louis Tiffany stained-glass windows were added in 1891. They are copies of the windows of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The cemetery has tombstones dating back to 1710. The first Governor of New York, George Clinton, is buried there.

Across from the Old Dutch Church is the 1818 Ulster County Court House. Here is where George Clinton was sworn in as New York State's first Governor and John Jay was sworn in as the first State Chief Justice. From this courthouse in 1821, former slave Sojourner Truth gained her son's freedom from slavery in Alabama.

Senate House, Kingston

Wessel Ten Broeck built the original portion of this stone house in 1676. As the family prospered the house was enlarged. At the time of the Revolution it was owned by his granddaughter Sara, and her husband Abraham Van Gaasbeek. In the fall of 1777, the New York Rebels held their first meeting here to form the new state government and draft the state's first constitution. The government consisted of an assembly, senate, judiciary and governor.

Loyalists were imprisoned in the cramped cellar of the Senate directly beneath the meeting room. The Rebels were forced to flee for their lives when the British under General John Vaughan attacked and burned Kingston on October 16, 1777. The stone house survived the destruction and is now preserved as the Senate House State Historic Site. The adjacent area includes a two-story museum about Kingston's early history and includes a number of paintings by a notable Kingston painter, John Vanderlyn. Included is an 1847 painting of Niagara Falls.

The Huguenots

The Huguenots, Protestants in France between 1560 and 1629, were members of the Reformed Church of John Calvin. The origin of the name Huguenot is uncertain, but it means French Protestant. It is thought to date from about 1550 when it was used as an abusive nickname in court cases against dissenters from the Roman Catholic Church. The Huguenots used the Huguenot Cross to recognize each other. The cross is actually the Maltese Cross, which has four arms of equal length.

A general edict encouraging the extermination of the Huguenots was issued in 1536 in France. During March 1562 some 1200 Huguenots were slain at Vassy, France. This ignited the Wars of Religion, which would last for three decades. Between 1562 and 1598 eight bitter wars were fought between French Roman Catholics and Protestants.

On the night of August 23, 1572 more than 8,000 Huguenots were murdered in Paris. This was known as the St Bartholomew Massacre. The next day Catherine de Medici who was the mother of King Charles IX walked through the streets of Paris to inspect the carnage. She had ordered the massacre of the Protestants.

The Edict of Nantes ended the Wars of Religion in April 1598. Now the Huguenots were able to practice their faith publicly in 20 free Huguenot French cities without fear of persecution.

After Henry IV, a former Huguenot, was murdered, Cardinal Richelieu resumed the persecution of the Huguenots. The twenty Huguenot free cities were gradually conquered by Cardinal Richelieu. La Rochelle, the last important Huguenot stronghold, fell in 1629 after a siege of a month.

Louis XIV introduced the billeting of soldiers in Huguenot households. He also began a policy of one faith, one law, one king and revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had provided for equal rights for all religions. The persecution of the Huguenots followed. Protestant churches, houses, Bibles and hymnbooks were burned. Protestant ministers were hanged. Many Huguenots were tortured and burned at the stake. Huguenots were forbidden to emigrate. The coasts and frontiers of France were closely guarded to prevent their flight. Even so in the dead of night family after family crept across the frontier to safety. Many abandoned all in their flight caring nothing about their property so long as they could be free and safe from persecution.

About 200,000 French Huguenots fled to Switzerland, Germany, England, America, and South Africa, to obtain religious freedom. From 1618 to 1725 between 5,000 and 7,000 Huguenots crossed the Atlantic to America. Many settled in the Hudson Valley and later became Loyalists.

Some well-known Huguenot names are Bongard, Burdett, Caniff, Conde, Corby, Dafoe, DeLancy, DeMille, Dulmage, Empey, Gordier, Lamont, Laux (Loucks), Massey, Maybee, Misener, Mosier, Mowat, Nellis, Purdy, Ruttan, Talbot, Trumpour and Valentine. Many of these families were Loyalists.

New Paltz, NY

Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson River in 1609. By 1620 the Dutch had established the colony of New Netherlands and taken control of the Hudson Valley from the Verazano Narrows past the present city of Albany. To the north the French controlled Canada. The English were settling further south along the Atlantic Coast.

In the meantime the Dutch settled around the most important harbour on the Atlantic coast at New Amsterdam, which is now New York. Many of the colonists who settled in the town of New Amsterdam were Huguenot.

These Huguenot Families had originally fled to Mannheim in the Palatinate after the massacres in France. The region around Mannheim was known as the Rheinpfalz or the Lower Palatinate. It was ruled from Heidelberg by the Elector of the Palatinate. He was also known as the Pfalzgraf. In the 1660's many of these Huguenots came to Kingston. They later settled at Hurley and New Paltz.

In 1663 the Esopus Indians attacked Wiltwyck (Hurley) taking the white captives off into the mountains. A party of colonists was formed to go out and rescue their women and children from the Indians. This party included Louis DuBois and Antoine Crispell, two Huguenots, both of whom had members of their families taken as hostages.

It was on this expedition that they saw the Wiltwyck Valley where New Paltz was later established in 1678. Louis DuBois decided to settle there. Instead of seizing the Indian land as the Dutch had done, twelve Huguenot Families negotiated with the Indians for the purchase of the land, the first known negotiation of its kind. Only after purchasing the land did they go to the English Grown to obtain a Royal Patent for the 39,683 acres of land, which stretched, all the way to the Hudson River. Later these settlers built their permanent stone houses and stone church (which are still standing today) and established their farms. These partners from twelve families formed a government known as a "DUZINE" to govern New Paltz.

The beautiful view along the river at New Paltz reminded the people of the area around Heidelburg so they called the river the Paltz, which was corrupted from Pfalz. The river is now called the Wallkill and the town New Paltz.

Today the Huguenot Street Historic District of New Paltz is a National Historic Landmark, which was established to preserve the oldest continuously inhabited street in America. The principal houses on Huguenot Street were built from about 1692 to about 1720.

The stone houses, which are open to the general public in New Paltz, are the Freer House, the Abraham Hasbrouck House, the Bevier-Elting House, the DuBois House, the Deyo House (built in 1894), the Jean Hasbrouck House, the Walloon Church and the Elting-LeFevre House (built in 1799).

The names of some of the original families in New Paltz were Bevier, Deyo, Crispell, Dubois, Hasbrouck and Lefevre. Several of their descendants still live there today. One Loyalist Huguenot family that was in New Paltz is the Ruttan Family. This Family later settled around Adolphustown in Ontario.

Stone Monument and Plaque at New Paltz

To the Memory and Honor of Louis DuBois, Christian Deyo, Abraham Hasbrouck, Andre LeFevre, Jean Hasbrouck, Pierre Deyo, Louis Bevier, Antoine Crispel, Abraham DuBois, Hugo Frere, Isaac DuBois, Simon LeFevre. New Paltz Patentees who driven by religious persecution from their native France, exiles Sake, came to America, after a journey from the Rhine Palatinate near Manheim and established their homes on the banks of the Walkill, settled the country, purchased from the Indians and granted by Patent issued by Governor Edmund Andros on the 29th day of September 1677, and nobly bore their part in the creation of our free government.

Hurley, NY

Hurley was settled in 1661 by fifteen Dutch and Huguenot families. These settlers later obtained a patent for the land in 1662. The original name of the Village was "Niew Dorp" or New Village.

At that time the Dutch were selling Esopus Indians who were members of the Algonquin Nation as slaves to the West Indies. To take revenge, the Indians burnt Hurley in 1663, killing 3 men and taking 35 prisoners. After the attack some of the settlers moved to New Paltz, which was originally a part of Hurley.

By 1669 Niew Dorp had been rebuilt and renamed Hurley in honour of the Irish ancestral estate of the English Governor Sir Francis Lovelace.

Today twenty-four original stone houses still stand in Hurley. Both Hurley and New Paltz claim they have the street with the concentration of the oldest stone houses in the USA. Each original stone house in Hurley is still privately owned and opened once a year in July for a village tour.

The Elmendorf House dates back to about the middle 1690s. Thought to be the oldest surviving house in Hurley, this house was originally called the Half Moon Inn after Henry Hudson's ship the Half Moon, which sailed up the Hudson in 1609. It was decorated with half moons cut into the window shutters. In the 1700's it was used as a tavern. The original floorboards were pit sawed. The original shingles in the garret were three feet long, nine inches wide and three quarters of an inch thick. This house has been owned by members of the Elmendorf Family for seven generations.

The Dr. Richard Ten Eyck House was built in 1780 by Matys Ten Eyck for his bride. It was later used as a stop on the Underground Railroad by slaves fleeing to Canada prior to the Civil War.

The Polly Crispell Cottage was constructed in 1735. It has a chimney that contains a "witch trap." These are iron spikes built into the masonry to keep witches from coming down the chimney.

During the American Revolution the British burnt Kingston, New York in October, 1777. Its inhabitants fled to Hurley, which became the capital of New York State for about a month. The Committee of Public Safety met in the dining room of the Van Deusen house from November 18 to December 17, 1777. This house had been built in 1723. The noted Loyalist Cadwallader Colden was held here under house arrest.

A British spy, Lieutenant David Taylor, was imprisoned in the Guard (DuMond) House, convicted and later hanged from a nearby apple tree on October 18, 1777.

The farmers and local millers also supplied Revolutionary General Governor Clinton's troops with grain when they were camped at Hurley during the Revolution.

The settlers worshipped in the Old Dutch Reformed Church in Kingston until 1801, before building their own church. The old Historic Burying Ground is a 100 yards behind the Elmendorf House. The earliest decipherable stone dates bacic to 1715. However it is thought that the cemetery goes back to the late 1600's since the early settlers came to Hurley in 1661. Many of the markers are in Dutch since the Dutch refused to use English when the English took over the colony in 1664. Family names such as Cole, DeWitt, Elsworth, Newkirk and Pawling may have Loyalist connections since many Loyalists came from Ulster County.

The Palatines

During the late 17th and early 18th centuries the area along the Rhine in Germany was the centre of a conflict between German states and France. This area was called the Palatinate. Here homes were burnt, property stolen, farms laid to waste, and people massacred. In 1708 and 1709 they began to leave even though forbidden to do so by their rulers. The Palatines fled down the Rhine to Rotterdam, Holland. When Queen Anne offered them sanctuary in England, about 13,000 crossed to England. Many stayed there; others went to the New York colony and other parts of the British Colonies.

Peter Schuyler, the mayor of Albany brought 5 Mohawk Indian chiefs to London at this time. They saw the plight of the Palatines. Finding them similar to the Dutch people whom they respected, they offered them land along Schoharie Creek in the Mohawk Valley. Governor Hunter of New York offered to bring 3,000 Palatines to the Hudson Valley to make pitch and tar from the pine trees for the British Navy. The Palatines came to West and East Camps. However the sap from these northern pine trees made little pitch and tar. It was the southern pitch pine that was valuable for this purpose. These settlers also wanted to be farmers and wanted to go to

Schoharie. After two years this venture was deemed a failure and the settlers were free to leave. In 1712 the Mohawks allowed the Palatines to go to the Schoharie Valley.

Katsbaan Church

The village of Katsbaan was settled by Palatine and Dutch settlers about 1730. Domi Marcius conducted the first church service on November 8, 1730. In 1731 land for a church was leased from Johannes Person and Hendrick Fees. Settlers later deeded land to the Dutch Reformed Church. The first stone church was erected in 1732. Later another stone church was built on the original church site. The rear wall of the original church was incorporated into the new church. This is the church you see today.

Members of the Loyalist Vankoughnet Family were baptized at this church. The Plaque at the Katsbaan Church reads: erected 1732 known as "De Steenekerk op dekats baan." Rebuilt 1867. In the north wall are stones with names of the builders.

West Camp. NY, St. Paul's Lutheran Church

The congregation founded this church in 1710. This church today contains the gravestone of Reverend Joshua Kocherthal in the narthex (foyer) on the church wall to the left of the church entrance. The church also has a display case, which contains historical church articles such as a very old German Bible. Weekly church services are still held on this historic site. The plaque at the Church reads: Organized in 1710 by the Palatines. First Pastor Rev. Joshua Kocherthal. The first Church was located near the site of the present church.

Reverend Kocherthal was originally buried in the old cemetery. His stone was removed in 1898 and placed in St. Paul's Lutheran Church, West Camp. Some say his remains were moved also.

Palatine Monument at West Camp

The Palatine Monument is located along the Highway just south of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in West Camp. It commemorates the landing of almost two hundred families of Palatine immigrants to West Camp and East Camp in 1710.

The Saugerties Historical Society dedicated the Palatine Monument of stone and bronze in 1998. It is inscribed with the names of all the heads of families who settled the East Camp communities of Hunterstown, Queensbury, Annsbury, and Haysbury, and the West Camp communities of Elizabeth Town, George Town, and New Town.

The plaque at West Camp Village reads:

Settled 1710 by Palatines from the Rhineland for production of Naval Stores. Built Church and school during first winter.

Montgomery Place

(Annandale)

This was the estate of General Richard Montgomery who was killed in 1775 during the attack on Quebec City on New Year's Eve in a blinding snowstorm. His widow Janet Livingston continued to live there. She was the daughter of Robert Livingston the landlord of the Palatines and the sister of Chancellor Robert Livingston who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Clermont Historic Site

The original Livingston mansion was built on this manor north of Germantown. The first home on that location was burned by the British during the Revolution in 1777. It was rebuilt in 1779-82. Seven generations of the Livingston family resided on the estate between 1730 and 1962. East Camp was part of the original estate.

The plaque at Clermont reads: Built 1730, on Livingston Manor, home of Chancellor Livingston, one of the five drafters of the Declaration of Independence.

The Livingston Family:

Robert Livingston (1654-1728) - first Lord of Livingston Manor. This is the one that dealt with the original Palatines migrations of 1709-10.

Robert Livingston Jr. (1688-1775) - Robert of Clermont, inherited a tract of 13,000 acres along Hudson from his father. Second largest private landholding in Colonial New York.

Robert R. Livingston (1718-1775) - He added to the family landholdings when he married Margaret Beekman, heir to immense tracts of land in Dutchess and Ulster counties. He was Judge of the Admiralty Court and Judge of the Supreme Court of the Province of New York

Robert R. Livingston Jr. (1746-1813) - Clermont's most notable resident. A delegate to the Second Continental Congress, he was a member of the committee of five who drafted the Declaration of Independence. He gave the oath of office to George Washington as first President of the United States. He also negotiated the Louisiana Purchase on behalf of the United States.

The plaque for Robert R. Livingston Jr. reads: Born 1746- died 1813 Recorder of New York 1773-1775 Member of Continental Congress 1775-77, 1779-81, 1784-85

On committee of five which drafted Declaration of Independence Member of Provincial Congress 1775-77 Chancellor of New York, 1777-1801 Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1781-83 Minister to France, 1801-04 Negotiator of Louisiana Purchase Administered oath to George Washington as first President of United States, 1789 Shared with Robert Fulton invention of Steamboat and its navigation Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New York State, 1784-1801

The Ruins at Clermont

This house was begun in 1792 and was also called Clermont. It was destroyed by fire in 1909.

East Camp

(Germantown), NY

Governor Hunter arranged for the Palatines to serve as indentured servants to produce tar from the pine trees along the Hudson River. Tar was needed for the British Navy ships since Sweden universally monopolized the production of vital naval stores.

After crossing the Atlantic packed into ships in inhuman conditions, 1,874 people were moved up the Hudson river on June 14, 1710 to the Livingston Manor. They settled in villages or camps called "doffs" on 12,300 acres of land. Governor Hunter later purchased this land for the Palatines from Robert Livingston, September 29, 1710. These were West Camp and East Camp. East Camp itself consisted of 6,000 acres. Here 1,200 people settled. About an equal number were settled on the west bank of the Hudson.

Originally East Camp consisted of three villages. By 1711 there were 1,178 settlers and four villages: Hunterstown, Queensbury, Annesbury and Hayesbury. The Palatine Rockefeller Family, which later became prominent in American History, also settled in Germantown. The only surviving eyewitness account to the actual settlement of the Palatines says "Here they cleared the ground and built themselves huts, each according to his knowledge and ability."

The settlers understood that they were to labour for seven years and then each would receive 40 acres of land near Schoharie that had been granted to them by King Hendrick of the Mohawks when he had seen their pitiful condition in London. However, they discovered that the amount of labour and the length of time were not stated in the contract. Robert Livingston had also contracted to supply the settlers with food and clothing. These were inadequate and the clothing was poor. In addition, Governor Hunter initially refused to let the settlers go to Schoharie. As a result the Palatines grew mutinous. The ill-conceived tar project failed anyway and Governor Hunter went bankrupt; the Palatines were freed of their indentures; and told to shift for themselves. They still had no land.

In October 1712 the first group of fifty families moved to Schoharie. Others went to Rhinebeck, Livingston Manor and Rensselaerwyck (Crailo), New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. However, about one third remained in the area. Today many descendants populate the Columbia and Dutchess region. After Queen Anne died in 1714 the name of Queensbury was changed to Kingsbury.

The Reformed Church of Germantown can trace its history back to this original church, which was built in 1710. Christ Lutheran Church was established in 1710 and was the third Lutheran Church.

The Palatine settlers had two faiths - Lutheran and Reformed. However only Lutheran and Anglican ministers came with the settlers - Joshua Kocherthal and John Frederick Haegar respectively. The Anglican minister, Reverend Haegar attempted to convert the Reform followers to the Anglican faith. After the Anglican minister died, these people reverted to the Reform religion.

The Old Parsonage (Pfarrhaus)

The Old Parsonage on Maple Avenue was erected for the Reformed Church around 1746 in Queensbury. The original section of the parsonage still has the massive beams, wide pineboard floors and old hand-wrought butterfly hinges. It still has the original fireplace. The exterior walls were made of stone with a dead air space between the inner and outer surfaces for insulation purposes. Stucco now covers the old stone walls.

It is thought that Reverend Caspar Ludwig Schnoor and his wife Barenka, the daughter of Peter Von Schleich may have been the first couple to live in the house in 1746. A second section was added to the parsonage in 1767. It consisted of a cellar, a spacious living room with a fireplace, a kitchen and a bedroom upstairs. The upstairs also had a secret room. It is speculated that this room might have been used as part of the slave Underground Railroad. Today the Old Parsonage is owned by the town. It contains the family genealogical records of several families. Some of these records pertain to our Loyalist ancestors.

Plaque in the parsonage reads:

Livingston Manor Tercentenary 1686-1986 Manor House Site at the Hudson River and Roeliff Jansen Kill. Built in 1699, by First Lord of the Manor Robert Livingston and wife Alida, on land grant of 1686.

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Vona E. Smith UE, President, Vancouver Branch UELAC

Morgan was born November 18, 1994. She was named for her great-great-grandmother Lucella Jane (Griffin) Patullo. She is the granddaughter of Doreen Gwyneth (Powell) Todhunter UE, CMH, Life Member and Past President of the Vancouver Branch. Doreen typed The Gazette for many years for Mr. E. John Chard. Her daughter Judy was a Regular Member as a very young woman, and her children James, Susannah and Christine Bowman have certificates. The two girls are named for Loyalist ancestors.

Many parents or grandparents, members of Vancouver Branch, UELAC have registered their families and relatives. We view them as prospective people who will eventually carry on the Society's work.

Gary Worth UE and his wife Mary, our Branch Secretary for several years, received a certificate for their baby daughter Jo-Ann born in 1980, and then for Benjamin born in 1984, named for Loyalist Captain Benjamin Worth. They subsequently became Life Members. Past President Rebecca Birney Fraser UE obtained certificates for her immediate family members, including young grandchildren. Last year she forwarded certificates for a niece and two children living in England. Robert G. Martin UE of White Rock BC and six sons (including two sets of twins), have certificates. Joan Fishleigh has been Branch Genealogist since 1989, Newsletter Editor, and now also Archivist. B.J. Frank Fishleigh UE, daughters Dorothy Frances Flynn UE, Sylvia Joan Zeelenberg UE and granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth Flynn UE are registered, with baby Rebecca Violet Veronica Flynn an immediate prospective member.