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THE PARSONAGE 
 BETWEEN TWO MANORS 
 
REV. JOHN GABRIEL GEBHARD, V. D. M. 
 " Delineavit A. Phillips 1820." 
 
THE PARSONAGE 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 TWO MANORS 
 
 ANNALS OP CLOVER-REACH 
 
 Elizabeth L. Gebhard 
 
 BRYAN 
 
 PRINTING 
 
 COMPANY 
 
 
 HUDSON, N. 
 
 Y. 
 
 
 1909 
 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1909 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIZABETH L,. GEBHARD 
 
 ©CU25i9lG 
 
TO MY FATHER 
 
 CHARI^ES WILLIAM GEBHARD, M. D. 
 
 WHOSE TAtES OF OI.D CI^AVERACK 
 
 WERE THE BEST BEI^OVED STORIES 
 
 OF MY CHILDHOOD 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 It is unusual for one clergyman to serve a congre- 
 gation for fifty years, but it is still more exceptional 
 that those fifty years should have begun contempo- 
 raneously with the birth of a nation, and continued 
 over the first half century of its founding and growth. 
 
 The position of the church which the Rev. John 
 Gabriel Gebhard served was unique, it being within 
 the bounds of one Manor and almost on the border 
 of a second. The Manor life for a hundred years or 
 more before the Revolution, and for many years after- 
 ward, possessed features, political and social, which 
 give it special interest. The Lower Van Rensselaer 
 Manor at Claverack, and the original Livingston Man- 
 or on its southern boundary, have had few chroniclers 
 outside of magazine articles treating of individual 
 homes or persons. It has been said that we are a 
 generation too late for the Manor stories, but hidden 
 in by-ways, treasured by lovers of the past, to be read 
 between the lines of sober facts and records, are still 
 
 IX. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 golden threads of incident and romance, and the aim 
 of the compiler and writer of this volume has been to 
 gather together these tales of a by-gone day, before 
 they have slipped away forever. 
 
 A net-work of accurate historical fact lies under 
 this story of fifty years of parsonage and Manor life. 
 Beyond that are the stories passed down through pic- 
 tures and letters and family possessions, which be- 
 ing dumb yet speak a language of their own ; and more 
 than all, the stories told at the fire-side, and in the twi- 
 light, and along the country roads, of the men and 
 women and children of the long ago, who were our 
 next of kin, and whose lives bear a special interest for 
 their descendants. 
 
 There is still one more point which makes the Clav- 
 erack Church and parsonage life important in itself. 
 Though the parish of the Claverack Church covered 
 miles of territory, and though the Church exerted an 
 influence over a wide sweep of country, and was the 
 mother of many churches, its early history is only 
 recorded in its own parchment-bound books of record, 
 for through almost a hundred years of its existence it 
 was an independent organization. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 It is the hope of the author, that these stories of 
 parsonage and Manors, the sweet and uplifting mem- 
 ories of the past, may be like a cluster of clover-blos- 
 soms from the old homes of Clover-reach, to the men 
 and women of to-day whose ancestors called Claver- 
 ack home. 
 
 The information contained in this volume has been 
 gathered from many sources, that relating to the Geb- 
 hard family coming through the inheritance of letters 
 and pictures, books and valuable papers, by various 
 descendants of Dr. Gebhard. Thanks are due to Mr. 
 M. D. Raymond for data pertaining to the records of 
 the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church of New York, 
 and the unpublished correspondence of George Wash- 
 ington ; also to Rev. Herman Hageman, Mrs. Anna 
 Van Rensselaer Barnard, Mrs. Caroline Van Rensse- 
 laer Hall, Mr. Stephen Van Cortlandt Van Rensse- 
 laer, Mrs. Harold Wilson, Mr. R. Fulton Ludlow, 
 Mrs. Arthur T. Sutcliffe, Mrs. Edward Hoffman 
 Lynes, and Miss Georgina Schuyler, through whose 
 generous co-operation, records and stories of the Van 
 Rensselaers, Livingstons, Fultons, and various Clav- 
 erack families have been obtained. 
 
 zi. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 The books I have consulted are : Histories of Col- 
 umbia, Greene, and Dutchess Counties; Historical 
 Sketches of Hudson, Documents relating to the Colo- 
 nial History of New York, Ecclesiastical Records of 
 the State of New York, Albany Chronicles, Magazine 
 of American History, Spark's Life of Gouverneur 
 Morris, Bacon's Hudson River from Ocean to Source, 
 Theodore Roosevelt's New York, Memoir of Rev. 
 Richard Sluyter, Life of Washington Irving, Higgin- 
 son's History of the United States, Manual of the Re- 
 formed Church in America, Claverack Old and New, 
 by F. H. Webb; the Claverack Centennial, Documen- 
 tary History of New York, Annals of the Van Rens- 
 selaers, Clarkson's Clermont or Livingston Manor, 
 Church Records of Claverack, Livingston Manor, and 
 the German Reformed Church of New York ; Cata- 
 logue of Washington Seminary, The Posthumous 
 Works of Ann Eliza Bleecker, Some Colonial Home- 
 steads, Catherine Schuyler, by Mary Gay Humph- 
 reys, the Goede Vrouw of Mana-ha-ha, Mrs. Ellet's 
 Women of the Revolution, Sketches of Catskill, and 
 The Early History of Saugerties. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I-FROM WALDORF TO ESOPUS 
 
 Rev. John Gabriel Gebhard, a native of Waldorf, Germany- 
 Sailed for America — Pastor of the Churches of Whitpain and 
 Worcester, Pennsylvania — Married in Philadelphia — Called to tha 
 German Reformed Church of New York — Pronounced patriotic 
 utterances — Driven to Esopus through New York's occupation 
 by the British — Called to Claverack 1 
 
 II—CLAVERACKINTHELOWER VAN 
 RENSSELAER MANOR 
 
 Moving to Claverack — Situation of Church and parsonage — 
 Hendrick Van Rensselaer and the Lower Manor of Rensselaer- 
 wick — Fort Crailo— First settlers of the Lower Manor — Building 
 a Church — Pastorless years — Hendrick Van Rensselaer's death 
 ^Uolonel Johannes Van Rensselaer the Patroon — Erecting Clav- 
 erack into a Manor — Colone' Johannes instrumental in building a 
 second Church — The Dominie— The Dominie's wife ... 8 
 
 ///— THE FIRST SER VICE— THE FIRST 
 SUMMER 
 
 The Church — The " voorleser " — The singing of the Dominie's 
 wife — The sermon — The first baptism — The baptisms and mar- 
 riages which followed — Life in the parsonage 18 
 
 IV— WAR STORIES A T HOME 
 
 Signers of the Declaration of Independence — Committee of Safety 
 — The burning of Kingston and the Livingston houses — General 
 Burgoyne'a surrender — Margaret Livingston's wager— Tradition 
 of Washington's camp — Captain Conyn — The Dominie's patriotic 
 6«rmon— The killing of John Van Ness 37 
 
 XV. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 V— WASHING TON SEMINAR Y 
 
 Youths sent to the parsonage for higher education — Records of 
 first years of the Seminary — Old school books — Teachers of Wash- 
 insrton Seminary — Letters of recommendation for students leav- 
 ing Claverack— The educators of the early days of the Republic S5 
 
 VI-THE MINISTRY TO THE WILDER- 
 NESS 
 
 Fear of Indians andl^Tories — An extensive imstorate — Dangerous 
 journeys — Description of Ghent and Schoharie Churches — Bap- 
 tisms and marriages in the wilderness— Judge Brown the " fore- 
 singer " — Courage in all walks of life 48 
 
 VII— WAR HEROES OF THE MANORS 
 AND THE IN A UG URA TION OF 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 Public appeal for funds from Governor Clinton— Colonel Jeremiah 
 Hogeboom's regiment — Captain John McKinstry's narrow escape 
 from death by torture — Captain Brant's visit to the Free Masons 
 of Hudson — The Tories imprisoned in a cellar — Brigadier-General 
 Henry B. Livingston and the capture of Andre — Marriage of 
 Richard Montgomery and Janet Livingston— Death of General 
 Montgomery — Surrender of Comwallis — Treaty of Peace with 
 England — The Morrises and the celebration on "Bob Hill" — 
 Dominie Gebhard's letter to Washington— Inaiiguration of George 
 Washington 66 
 
 VIII— THE MANORS ON EITHER SIDE 
 
 Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer's visits to Claverack— First 
 Manor House in Claverack — Colonel Robert Rutsen Van Rensse- 
 laer's home — Henry I. Van Rensselaer's home — The Mills on the 
 Manors— The quit-rent for the Patroon's domain— Killian Van 
 Rensselaer — Leases of land— Rent days — Angelica Livingston, 
 Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer's wife — Chancellor Livingston's 
 ', home at Clermont— Last Lord reigning on the Livingston Manor 
 
 — Homes of the Livingston Manor 67 
 
 XVI. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 IX— LIFE ON THE MANORS »•*« 
 
 Continuous building — Stocking the farm — Docks and sloops — 
 Many exports and imports — Guests of the Manors — Costly plate 
 and rich furnishing — Scripture tiles — Lady of the Manor — Alter- 
 nate residence in ciiy and country 7T 
 
 X— VISITING SPONSORS 
 
 Sailing "ventures" — Travelers by stage — Catherine Schuyler as 
 sponsor — Parsonage relatives from Philadelphia — John Barker 
 Church and Angelica Schuyler as sponsors — Baptism spoons . 8S 
 
 XI-STORIES OF THE POST ROAD 
 
 Montgomery Place — Edward Livingston — Burning of Livingston 
 homes — Brave Margaret Beekman — The " Hermitage " — " Teviot- 
 dale " — Original Livingston Manor House — Its children and 
 grandchildren — The Palatines — Flower-lined roads to Claverack 92 
 
 XII- VISITSFROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR 
 
 Dominie Gebhard recalled to the New York Church — The call 
 declined — Tablet to Baron Steuben — Letter from Germany — John 
 Jacob Astor's visits to Claverack — His start in the fur business- 
 Tales of journeys after pelts^History of his early life — Voyage 
 to America — A member of the Consistory of the German Reformed 
 Church of New York . 100 
 
 XIII-CHURCH CUSTOMS ONE HUN- 
 DRED YEARS AGO 
 
 Record Books of the Claverack Church— Building the Church — 
 Renting seats— Minister's salaries — Dominie Gebhard preaches in 
 throe languages — A divided Church united — Lists of members- 
 Election of Consistory— Baptisms through the week— William 
 Van Ness leader of singing— Church heating— Ministerial calls 112 
 
 XIV- LIFE A T THE PARSONAGE 
 
 Time after 1800— Letter from Jacob Gebhard— The Dominie's 
 daughter— Samplers— The parsonage parlor— Boy's work— Sun- 
 day morning at the parsonage— The slaves in the congregation 121 
 
 XVII. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XV— LOVER'S LANES AND PARSON- 
 AGE WEDDINGS 
 
 Sunday afternoon marriages— Refractory brides— China seta as 
 grifts- Hudson Assemblies— The race on General Training Day 131 
 
 XVI— DIVIDING THE MANORS AND 
 THE CLA VERA CK COURT 
 HOUSE 
 
 Columbia County— Dividing the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor- 
 Dividing Livingston Manor— Trials held in tlie Claverack Court 
 House— Alexander Hamilton at Claverack — His first speech in 
 New York— Aaron Burr at Claverack— After occupants of the 
 Court House 138 
 
 XVII— HOMES OE THE LOWER VAN 
 RENSSELAER MANOR AT 
 CLAVERACK 
 
 Intermarriages with colonial families— Visiting relatives during 
 the war— Family treasures buried at Greenbush— Furnishings of 
 the homes of the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor— China and silver 
 —Adam and Eve table-cloth— Family gatherings— Manor funer- 
 als 147 
 
 XVIII— THE SCHUYLER ROMANCES 
 
 Homes of Catherine Schuyler's girlhood — Description of Mrs. 
 Philip Schuyler— Schuyler Bible records— Nursing during the 
 war— Building the Schuyler Mansion— Visits to Claverack of the 
 Schuyler boys and girls- Schuyler elopements— Letter of Ann 
 Eliza Bleecker 169 
 
 XIX— ANTI-RENT TROUBLES 
 
 Troubles over payment of rent— Boundary line between New 
 York and Massachusetts— Lords of Livingston and Van Rensselaer 
 Manors threatened— Boundary line settled— Sheriff Cornelius 
 Hogeboom shot by Anti-rent leader— Uprising of 1840- "Big 
 Thunder "and " Little Thunder " arrested— Victory of the Anti- 
 renters under leadership of Governor Young in 1852— War of 1812 171 
 
 XVIII. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XX— THE NE W C/T} ' OE HUDSON 
 
 Presidential Electors at Hudson 1796-1813— Hudson became a city 
 in 1785— Owned many vessels— Shipyards— Exports and imports- 
 Contributions to useful arts— John Jay's visit to Hudson— Death 
 of General Washington 182 
 
 XXI— THE MARRIAGE OE ALEXAN- 
 DER HA MIL TON AND ELIZA- 
 BETH SCHUYLER 
 
 Claverack wedding outfits— Tories and Indians attack General 
 Schuyler's house at Albany— Rescue of baby— Marriage of Alex- 
 ander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler— Child of Philip Jeremiah 
 Schuyler brought t, Claverack for baptism— Return of children 
 to old Claverack homes— Dutch toys 189 
 
 XXII— ROBERT EULTON AND THE 
 EIRST STEAMBOA T 
 
 Robert Fulton and Chancellor Livingston— First trip of the Cler- 
 mont— Invited guests— Astonishment of sailors— Announcements 
 of Chancellor Livingston— Youngest passenger aboard— Time 
 from New York to Albany— First voyage with passengers— Thur- 
 low Weed on Bompie's Hook— Rebuilding Clermont— The "North 
 River "—Robert Fulton's marriage to Miss Harriet Livingston- 
 Fulton's home— His art— His death— His wife's death , . . 196 
 
 XXIII— THE LEGEND OE^'SPOOK ROCK'' 
 
 Hudson marriages at the Claverack Parsonage— Changes in the 
 parsonage family— Marriages of sons and daughters— The Ghent 
 Church— The Hogeboom Bible— Claverack Church independent — 
 Methods of raising Church support — Parents sponsors in baptism 
 —No death records— Legend of "Spook Rock" .... 210 
 
 XXIV- HIS ''HUIS VROUWE" 
 
 The Dominie's wife— The tailoress and the shoemaker — New 
 Year's day and St. Nicholas — Paas and Paas cakes — Nursing the 
 sick — Philadelphia wives — The first linen-damask — City philan- 
 thropy and country neighborliness 221 
 
 XIX. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAca 
 
 XXV— CALLING AN ENGLISH COL- 
 LEAGUE 
 
 Change of language among the Claverack people — Calling an 
 English associate — The Claverack Church joins the Classis of 
 Rensselaer and Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church — Rev. 
 Mr. Sluyter accepts call to Claverack — Dutch call remains un- 
 altered — Dominie Gebhard's sons — Painting of the 17th Congress 
 — Divided ministerial labors — Grandchildren at the parsonage- 
 Monday mo)-ning ministerial meetings 229 
 
 XXVI— THE EIRST ROBERT LIVING- 
 STONS CHILDREN AND 
 GRANDCHILDREN 
 
 Diary describing the upper Hudson in 1769 — Price paid Indians 
 for Livingston Manor — Size of Grant— Boundaries — First Lord 
 of the Manor — Building a Church— Livingston family at the 
 Manor — Manor Houses — The second Lord of the Manor and his 
 children — The third Lord of the Manor — Visiting relatives — Gover- 
 nor William Livingston of New Jersey and his daughters — 
 Liberty Hall— Letters from Miss Kitty Livingston — Order from 
 Nantes— General Washington's letter to Miss Kitty Livingston- 
 Livingston Manor Houses— Marriage of John Livingston and Mrs. 
 Catherine Ridley 236 
 
 XX VII— MANOR JUNKETINGS 
 
 Building of Oak Hill — Furnishings of Livingston homes — Pen por- 
 trait of John Livingston — Winter on the Manor— Sloop journeys — 
 Washington Irving's visit to Livingston Manor— '' Widow Mary " 
 Livingston — The " Widow Mary's " snap dragon and Colonel Henry 
 I. Van Rensselaer's buggy— Livingston funerals— Livingstons who 
 belonged to the first fifty years of the Republic .... 257 
 
 XXVIII-.CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 
 
 Chancellor Livingston's marriage— Offices held— State Convention 
 to consider Constitution— Rejoicing over the ratification of New 
 York— Constitution drafted by Alexander Hamilton— Illumination 
 of Schuyler mansion— Chancellor Livingston appointed ambassa- 
 dor to France— Negotiated purchase of Louisiana— Partnership 
 with Robert Fulton in the Clermont— Chancellor Livingston's 
 country life— Death 268 
 
 XX. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 XXIX-EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLA V- 
 ERACK 
 
 The Ludlows-Old portraits— The Mulders and the Court Martial 
 House-The Miller store— The family of Killian Hogeboom- 
 Daughter married General Samuel Webb— Old Webb house—" The 
 Night Before Christmas "—The Esselstyn family-The Van 
 . Nesses- Samuel Ten Broeck and Maria Van Rensselaer and the 
 first Manor House— Fitz Muzigh of Livingston— Tobias Van Deu- 
 sen and his son James— Intermarriages between Dutch and 
 Quakers— The women of Claverack— Dominie Gebhard's life in 
 Claverack 274 
 
 XXX-MONTGOMERY, LAFA YET T E, 
 AND THE ERIE CANAL 
 
 Removing General Montgomery's body to New York— His monu- 
 ment—Visit of Lafayette— Entertainment at Clermont— At Hud- 
 son—Governor Clinton and the Erie Canal— Its opening — Its 
 success 288 
 
 XXXI-SHADOWS ACROSS THE SUN- 
 SHINE 
 
 The Dominie'8 youngest daughter— Her engagement— The lost 
 gold piece— Her death 298 
 
 XXXII— THE CRO WN OF LIFE 
 
 President John Adams' call to fasting and prayei^Governor 
 Clinton's first proclamation for the observance of a public thanks- 
 giving—Withdrawal of Hillsdale from the Claverack Church- 
 Resignation of Dominie Gebhard— Final baptisms and marriages- 
 Dr. Currie's description of Dominie Gebhard's last Church ser- 
 vice — Death of Dominie Gebhard— Numbers of those baptized 
 and married — Records in family Bibles 302 
 
 XXXIII~IN BLOSSOM TIME 
 
 Mr. Richard Morse's visit to Claverack— Interest in the old Dom- 
 inie's library— Meeting with the Dominie's granddaughter — 
 Engagement — Marriage 308 
 
 XXI. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Rev. John Gabriel Gebhard, V. D. M Frontispiece 
 
 University of Utrecht — An Unchanged Corner .... 4 
 
 Crailo 10 
 
 Court Martial House 28 
 
 Claverack College 44 
 
 Old Church and Parsonage and Washington Seminary . 52 
 
 Schoharie Church 52 
 
 First Van Rensselaer Manor House in Claverack ... 68 
 
 Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler 86 
 
 Van Ness-Livingston House 116 
 
 Claverack Church — " Van Rensselaer Kirk " 128 
 
 Court House 140 
 
 Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer Manor House 148 
 
 Henry I. Van Rensselaer Manor House 164 
 
 The " Widow Mary " Livingston Manor House .... 164 
 
 "Spook Rock" 216 
 
 Mrs. John Gabriel Gebhard— The Dominie's Wife ... 220 
 
 Robert Livingston, 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor . • . 246 
 
 Chancellor Livingston's Home 262 
 
 Margaret Beekman Livingston Manor House 262 
 
 Ludlow Mansion 274 
 
 James Watson Webb's Birthplace • . 278 
 
 Bay House 298 
 
 Mrs. Richard C. Morse, and Two of Her Children . . , 308 
 
 XXIII. 
 
The Parsonage Between 
 Two Manors. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 FROM WALDORF TO ESOPUS. 
 
 In one of the colonial houses of Esopus, sat a young 
 clergyman in his middle twenties, with his face bowed 
 in his hands in deep thought. The question before 
 him was a momentous one. Five years before he had 
 left his native home in Waldorf, Germany, and started 
 as many of the young men in that day did, for the new 
 land of opportunity across the sea. 
 
 It was the eventful year of 1776, and Esopus (Kings- 
 ton) was full of refugees from New York, which city 
 being invested by the British, many of her residents 
 had fled to the smaller towns and villages further up 
 the Hudson, that they might at least find safety for 
 their families in the dangers which threatened. In the 
 
 X 
 2 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 fatherland young John Gabriel Gebhard had been 
 trained for his life work in the best educational insti- 
 tutions of the day. He had received his earlier uni- 
 versity education at Heidelberg, and after a further 
 course of theological study at Utrecht, had been li- 
 censed to preach by the Refomed Church of Holland. A 
 son of a minister of the Gospel, it would seem that he 
 brought with him to America special fitness for his 
 calling, and a pfomise of good things to come. In the 
 five years that he had been on American shores, this 
 was the second time he had been called to change his 
 home, and this time he had a wife still under twenty, 
 and two small children to consider. 
 
 The young clergyman, after his month-long voyage 
 froiri Germany, during which storms had swept the 
 little vessel into the hollows of the sea and upon the 
 crests of the billows, washed her decks, and even 
 found the freight and luggage stored away in cabins 
 and holds of the ship, at last landed, it is believed, at 
 Philadelphia. For three years he had served the two 
 congregations of Whitpain and Worcester, among the 
 German portion of the population of Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. Here in the first year of his 
 
 2 
 
FROM WALDORF TO ESOPUS. 
 
 pastorate, he met and loved Anna Maria Magdalene 
 Carver, a descendant of some of the early settlers of 
 Philadelphia. She was a charming girl of fifteen, and 
 the customs of the time tending toward early matur- 
 ity, in June of the following year they were married. 
 Succeeding years proved the choice of the girl wife to 
 have been one of the wisest steps of the young man's 
 life. 
 
 They had been married only a year when a call came 
 to Mr. Gebhard to become the pastor of the German 
 Reformed Church of New York. This church had been 
 formed a few years earlier from a small body of the 
 German-speaking members of the Collegiate Reformed 
 Dutch Church in Nassau St., who wished to hear 
 the Gospel preached in the High-Dutch tongue with 
 which they were familiar. In this desire they had the 
 full consent of the mother church. Indeed she ever 
 gave her offspring a fostering care, the pastors of the 
 German Church meeting in consistorial and classical 
 gatherings with the ministers of the Collegiate Church, 
 and being installed by the ministers of the older or- 
 ganization ; while the members who had gone out to 
 form the new church, also showed their attachment for 
 
 3 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 their previous place of worship, by requesting the 
 privilege of returning to the old fold in case their 
 enterprise should fail, and to be allowed to bury their 
 dead with the Collegiate Church as formerly. 
 
 The call to the New York church had been accepted, 
 and the young couple had taken up their abode in the 
 city, the German Church being situated at that time in 
 Nassau St. between John St. and Maiden Lane. Here 
 two boys, Jacob and Philip, came to bless the minister's 
 home, and the two years of his pastorate were full of 
 activity in the growing town and congregation, and 
 rich in friendships with men who like himself had left 
 their old home and friends, to make a new home and 
 life on American shores. Rev. Frederick Muhlenberg 
 was at this time in charge of the only German Luth- 
 eran Church in the city, and the two young clergymen 
 were fast friends. Later Mr. Gebhard named a third 
 son for the friend from whom he was parted when 
 New York became no longer a safe place of residence 
 for either of them, for both were patriotic and devoted 
 already to this new country for which they had dared 
 so much. Neither of them was bound by ties of kin- 
 dred to the British, who claimed the righi of taxing 
 
 4 
 
THE UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT 
 
 A corner which has remaine<l unchanged since Dr. Gebhard. ami Ur. Livingston 
 
 were students of the University. 
 
FROM WALDORF TO ESOPUS. 
 
 the American people, so their loyalty to the Colonies 
 knew no hindrance, and their words were frank and 
 warmly patriotic, their strictures on English interfer- 
 ence bearing no uncertain sound, and it came to pass 
 that the English felt that these young German patriots 
 would better magnify their calling in some other town 
 than one invested by the British, and they were fortu- 
 nate that they made their escape in safety. Frederick 
 Muhlenberg retired from the ministry a Tew years la- 
 ter, and returning to Philadelphia, became a member 
 of the Continental Congress of 1779. 
 
 The roads about New York looked at this time like 
 a perpetual moving day, for the active patriots among 
 the townspeople left the city, many of them having 
 already suffered from the confiscation of much of their 
 property, through the hands of the Tory soldiers who 
 plundered on every side. Every horse and cart, sloop 
 and sailing vessel, which could be procured was press- 
 ed into service, many of them carrying women and 
 children, as well as furniture, out of the city whose 
 churches were soon to be used as riding academies and 
 prisons by the British, and whose congregations were 
 already scattered. It was estimated that one third of 
 
 5 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 the residents of New York left the city at this time. 
 
 It was thus that the Rev. John Gabriel Gebhard had 
 come to Esopus. After a short time it became known 
 where the popular young German minister from New 
 York was to be found, and since the supply of clergy- 
 men was not great in the new country, even though 
 outside of the cities they usually served three or four 
 congregations, the New York minister received at this 
 time three calls to vacant churches. It was over these 
 calls that he was thinking so profoundly. There was 
 much to be considered, possible war behind them cut- 
 ting them off not only from the home across the sea, 
 but also from the only homes he and his wife had 
 known in the new land. There were the children to 
 be thought of, and deepest of all, was the seeking after 
 Divine guidance as he went forward like Abraham of 
 old, " not knowing whither he went." 
 
 The call from the Claverack church covered much 
 territory, and there was also another feature, — this 
 was a call to preach in the Dutch tongue. Mr. Geb- 
 hard's university training at Utrecht had somewhat fa- 
 milized him with the Low Dutch as it was called, but 
 Latin was so universally used in the universities of the 
 
FROM WALDORF TO ESOPUS. 
 
 old world, that the other languages did not hold an 
 even chance. Still the young man was a linguist by 
 education and inheritance, and he answered to the 
 question of the committee from Claverack, as to how 
 long it would take him to learn the Dutch language 
 sufficiently well to preach in it, that he would do it in 
 three months, which promise was kept to the letter. 
 This settled the matter, and the Claverack call was 
 given and accepted. Once more the young minister 
 went forth into a strange land, a land which most sure- 
 ly the Lord had given him for ministerial labors, as he 
 gave the broad acres of Canaan to Abraham for a pos- 
 session. The fifty year's pastorate which followed was 
 the proof and fulfillment of the wisdom of the choice 
 made in the fear of the Lord, in the tarrying-place of 
 Esopus, in the eventful year of '76, and to the young 
 minister's inalienable right to the V. D. M. (Minister 
 or Servant of the Word of God) which always follow- 
 ed the signing of his name in the early days, as it did 
 that of many of the clergymen which the Old World 
 sent to the New. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 CLAVERACK IN THE LOWER VAN 
 RENSSELAER MANOR. 
 
 A sloop carried the family and their belongings 
 from Esopus to Claverack Landing, for the town of 
 Hudson did not exist at that time, a hamlet at the riv- 
 er connecting the great water-way with the growing 
 settlement of Claverack further inland. The road from 
 Claverack Landing to the parsonage lay through a 
 most beautiful and fertile tract of country. There is 
 a tradition that the name Claverack, which is a Dutch 
 term signifying clover reach or field, was first applied 
 to this country by Henry Hudson and his followers, 
 when they sailed up the beautiful river which bears 
 Hudson's name, in the good ship, the "Half Moon." 
 All along the eastern bank of the river for miles, white 
 clover sprang up spontaneously, covering bare tracts 
 of land which had been burned over by the Indians, 
 and giving the whole section the appearance of blos- 
 
 8 
 
THE LOWER VAN RENSSELAER MANOR. 
 
 soming fields. 
 
 The name Claverack was first given to the stretch 
 of the river inchiding Kinderhook, Claverack Land- 
 ing, and Livingston Manor, a flowering land of clover 
 blossoms, covering three quarters of what is now Co- 
 lumbia county. At a later date Kinderhook and Liv- 
 ingston Manor were not included in the district going 
 under this name. 
 
 The wagon-road lay along Claverack creek which 
 was bordered by fertile flats. On either side of the 
 road were nut trees and wild plums, with wild grape 
 vines festooning the tree trunks, while stretches of 
 fields between were dyed red with wild strawberries. 
 Set down in the midst of these beauties and gifts of 
 nature, were farms and homesteads, and great tracts 
 of woodland inviting the settler with their abundance 
 of timber for building purposes. 
 
 The sight of the red brick parsonage with its gam- 
 brel roof behind the pear trees, must have been a 
 pleasant one to the little family driven out from their 
 late home. The parsonage was built near the church 
 and on the post-road, both church and parsonage over- 
 looking a wide sweep of valley and upland, to the 
 
 9 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Hudson river and the Catskill mountains beyond. 
 Doubtless the extended view differed from that of to- 
 day, in that much of the present cleared land and culti- 
 vated farms was then woodland, but the stretch of 
 woods and river, mountains and blue sky and magnifi- 
 cent sunsets, held that day as now, a grandeur seldom 
 equaled in the location of our early churches. But 
 this was no ordinary church situated in a convenient 
 spot in a rural community. No general was ever placed 
 at a more strategic point for wide-sweeping influence, 
 than this young city Dominie, undertaking a country 
 charge. The church property of Claverack lay within 
 the Lower Manor of Rensselaerwick, and near the 
 border of Livingston Manor. 
 
 This district was a part of the great purchase of land 
 made by Kiliaen Van Rensselaer in 1630, and was 
 subject to the rule of the Lord of the Manor. But the 
 Patroon of that day found it difficult to control mat- 
 ters in this distant corner of his vast estate, so in 1704, 
 he conveyed to his younger brother Hendrick, a large 
 tract of land in the southern part of the Manor known 
 by the name of Claverack, which covered one hundred 
 and seventy thousand acres, and also one thousand 
 
 10 
 
;W:^^. ..i^.. v*Jj^<ii^. 
 
 
 FORT CRAILO 
 
 Erected in 1612 by Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. 
 
 The home of the Patroons of the Lower Manor of Rensselaerwick, 
 
THE LOWER VAN RENSSELAER MANOR. 
 
 acres of the Upper Manor on the east side of the river, 
 including the site of Greenbush. 
 
 Hendrick removed to Claverack with such of his 
 friends from the older community of Albany as he 
 could induce to join him, spending his time between 
 the Lower Manor and Fort Crailo, which stood on the 
 northern portion of his domain. 
 
 Fort Crailo, which was named after the family es- 
 tate near Amsterdam, Holland, had been built in 1642, 
 a stone in the cellar wall containing the inscription 
 "K. V. R. 1642 Anno Domini." The initials stand for 
 the first Patroon, and mark the date of the arrival of 
 the first Dutch minister. It was a strongly built house 
 with timbers eighteen inches square, and a chimney so 
 constructed that nothing could be thrown down, and 
 no one descend, a protection called for against the 
 torches of the savages. As it was intended originally 
 for purposes of defense, it contained nine musket or 
 port-holes through which to project a rifle. 
 
 There is a tradition that the Ten Broecks, Mulders, 
 Hogebooms, Bensons, and Van Cortlandts came with 
 the Van Rensselaers from Holland, as neighbors, not 
 tenants, since they are not in the list of those who 
 
 11 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 took the oath of allegiance to the first Patroon. That 
 their children were named for the Van Rensselaers 
 who were their sponsors in baptism, proves the friend- 
 ly feeling existing between the families, and that Cor- 
 nelis Stephense Mulder purchased of Hendrick Van 
 Rensselaer one thousand acres in the town of Claver- 
 ack as early as 17 18, would make it appear that this 
 family might have been among the Albany friends 
 whom he persuaded to settle in his " Lower Manor." 
 The greater part of the early settlers of Claverack 
 brought some pecuniary means with them from Hol- 
 land, and often were accompanied by servants. These 
 first comers also brought with them, household arti- 
 cles familiar in the home-land, " waffle-tongs, pewter 
 platters, high back settles, long stemmed pipes, punch 
 bowls, many utensils in brass and copper, and Dutch 
 Bibles. In some instances they brought whole ship- 
 loads of bricks to build houses after the pattern of 
 those left behind," but this latter feature of home re- 
 production does not seem to have obtained at Clav- 
 erack, where there were brick kilns at a very early 
 date, from the product of which the brick houses in 
 the vicinity were built. The home-made bricks were 
 
 12 
 
THE LOWER VAN RENSSELAER MANOR. 
 
 of good workmanship as was also the mortar, the mak- 
 ing of the latter being a lost art to-day, for it is said 
 that a nail driven in between the bricks will break be- 
 fore it can be drawn out again. 
 
 Hendrick Van Rensselaer did not exercise his priv- 
 ileges as Lord of the Manor, but was active in the 
 establishment of a church and other measures for the 
 good of the settlers. Through the " upwaking" of the 
 Patroon, and "out of regard for the aged and infirm, 
 women and children," grew the desire to build a 
 church and secure a settled minister. Their first at- 
 tempt in this worthy cause failed, and the good people 
 of Claverack laid it to the fact, " that because of their 
 sins God was not pleased to crown their efforts with 
 success." During the time that they were without a 
 settled minister, Claverack was a preaching station of 
 the ministers from Albany, who administered the Sac- 
 raments and preached from time to time. 
 
 However, they did not give up with the first failure, 
 for in 1726 a church was erected near where the Court 
 House stood at a later date. There were only twenty- 
 six pews in this primitive building, six of them being 
 long benches ranged along the walls and occupied by 
 
 13 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 the men, the remaining twenty which faced the pulpit 
 were set aside for the women, and each individual 
 member had his own appointed seat allotted to him by 
 a committee. So high was the pulpit in this sanctuary, 
 and so near to heaven its elevated position, that it was 
 reached by a ladder. Jacob's dream, in which he saw 
 the angels ascending, and descending from heaven 
 could not but have been realistic to a people who saw 
 their pastor ascend this clerical ladder Sabbath by 
 Sabbath, before unfolding to them the Scriptures. 
 
 Fifty years had passed since the building of the 
 first church. During that time there had been a short 
 settled pastorate, and a long season of twenty-eight 
 years when the church was without a pastor, and the 
 men who occupied the elevated pulpit at rare intervals 
 were from the nearest churches, which were not very 
 near, Albany, Schenectady, and Rhinebeck sending the 
 most frequent supplies. But in the year 1756 the Clav- 
 erack flock again had a shepherd. Rev. Johannes Cas- 
 parus Fryenmoet. His call was a joint one from Clav- 
 erack, Kinderhook, and Livingston Manor, and his pas- 
 torate continued until 1770 when he withdrew to give 
 his full service to the churches of Kinderhook and 
 
 14 
 
THE LOWER VAN RENSSELAER MANOR. 
 
 Schodack. During his ministry had occurred the 
 building of the church of which Mr. Gebhard had be- 
 come pastor. 
 
 Hendrick Van Rensselaer, the brother of Killian the 
 Patroon, had been gathered to his fathers, and Johan- 
 nes his son reigned in his stead. Hendrick Van Rens- 
 selaer and his wife both died, and were buried at 
 Crailo, in the family burial plot. In the annals of the 
 day it is stated that news of the Patroon Hendrick's 
 death was sent at once by messengers to all his rela- 
 tives. Considering their number, and the wide district 
 to be covered, one would infer that there must have 
 been many lone funeral messengers, traveling the 
 post-road and unfrequented bridle paths in many di- 
 rections at this time. 
 
 Johannes Van Rensselaer added several extra rooms 
 to the Crailo, and erected Claverack into a Manor, call- 
 ing it the " Lower Manor," in distinction from the Up- 
 per Manor of Rensselaerwick, and was the first to ex- 
 ercise his lordly privileges. He was known as the 
 " Proprietor" of the town, and up to March 24, 1772, 
 when the civil government of Claverack began, with 
 its formation as a district in the old county of Albany, 
 
 IS 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 the affairs of the people were managed under the gen- 
 eral direction of the Patroon and some of the leading 
 men selected for the purpose. At a later period these 
 were known as a committee of safety or tithing-men. 
 
 Like his father, Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer 
 was interested in the building of a church, and convey- 
 ed a tract of land to the trustees of the Reformed 
 Church in Claverack, "for the building and erecting of 
 a Reformed Protestant Church, according to the Arti- 
 cles of the Synod of Dordrecht," and the church long 
 went under the name of the "Van Rensselaer Kirk." 
 It is a tradition in the Van Rensselaer family that it 
 was built of Holland brick which were first taken to 
 Albany, and then brought down to Claverack Landing 
 on a sloop, the Patroon taking great pride in having 
 Holland brick for his church. The building was dedi- 
 cated November 8, 1767, the date of the erection still 
 being interwoven in the bricks of the outer wall. The 
 site of the old cemetery at the side of the church was 
 set apart at the same time. 
 
 It was to this church, only a short distance from the 
 parsonage on the opposite side of the road, toward 
 which the young minister and his wife turned their 
 
 16 
 
THE LOWER VAN RENSSELAER MANOR. 
 
 steps their first Sabbath in Claverack. The beauty of 
 the early summer was over all the land. Birds sang 
 in the tree-tops over their heads, and wild flowers 
 bloomed along their pathway. In the opening vistas 
 between the trees were fields of early grain, while up 
 the slight incline which led to the House of God could 
 be seen the worshippers winding their way on foot or 
 in springless wagons, father, mother, and long lines of 
 children, for the Sunday school was still an undream- 
 ed-of church nursery. The women wore mob caps 
 and white muslin handkerchiefs folded over their 
 bosoms, while the men of their families graced the oc- 
 casion in suits of homespun, with broad-brimmed hats 
 and knee breeches, ruffled shirts, and buckles on trous- 
 ers and shoes. 
 
 Many were the curious glances cast toward the min- 
 ister's young wife, for were there not special interests 
 connected with her being there? Young and attractive, 
 she had known something of life in both Philadelphia 
 and New York, a large portion of experience thought 
 these country matrons for so young a woman. She 
 was their Dominie's wife also, and that gave her a 
 claim on the congregation, and the little child she held 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 by the hand insured her a place in all the mother 
 hearts. The tiny bell in the belfry was tolling its last 
 call, and the warm grasp of welcoming hands had 
 ceased, when she entered the church door with the in- 
 going tide of worshippers. 
 
 18 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FIRST CHURCH SERVICE— THE FIRST 
 SUMMER. 
 
 The church of that day was not very much more 
 than half its present size, nor had it a front tower 
 or wings. It was only an unpretentious square brick 
 building, with a tiny belfry on one end over the en- 
 trance door, but it was not the exterior of the church 
 that would have held one's eyes fixed, and attention 
 riveted at that date, but the interior where the Domi- 
 nie's wife sat in the high-backed pew this early July 
 Sunday in '76, on every side of her the members of 
 a congregation who had been six years without a min- 
 ister, and who waited eagerly for a pastor's form in 
 their pulpit, and a pastor's wife in the minister's pew. 
 
 Above the heads of the congregation was a wooden 
 ceiling with great rafters. The walls were plastered 
 a shade approaching white, while the woodwork was 
 painted blue. The pulpit was shaped like a wine glass 
 
 19 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 and stood in the north end of the church. That also 
 was painted blue and surmounted by a sounding 
 board on which "Holiness to the Lord," was appro- 
 priately inscribed, and at the further end of the church 
 was a large window covered with a red curtain. The 
 elders and deacons sat at the right and left of the pul- 
 pit, and Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer the Lord of 
 the Lower Manor, held an honored place in his elevat- 
 ed and canopied pew among his army of lease holders. 
 As was the custom, a part of the service was under 
 way before the Dominie entered. Beneath the pulpit 
 sat the "voorleser" who was almost as important as 
 the minister himself in the appropriate carrying on of 
 the service. This dignitary began the service by read- 
 ing the Scriptures, including the commandments, after 
 which he gave out a psalm and pitched the tune. Now 
 attention was divided between the Dominie and the 
 Dominie's wife, for as the music of the psalm arose, 
 a clear voice joined in the singing, whose flute-like 
 notes were a joy to the music-loving High and Low 
 Dutch people about her. From the first Sunday in the 
 Claverack church the singing of the Dominie's wife 
 never ceased to charm the congregation, and had there 
 
 20 
 
THE FIRST SUMMER. 
 
 been any withholding of allegiance to the new-comer 
 up to this moment, the opening psalm would have dis- 
 sipated the last doubt. 
 
 The Dominie himself entered at this point. Of med- 
 ium height and slight of build, he advanced lightly up 
 tne aisle, bowing courteously to the right and left after 
 the genial German custom, then paused at the foot 
 of the pulpit stairs with bowed head for a moment of 
 prayer. It was a pleasant countenance which faced the 
 congregation for the first time that morning, his bright 
 blue eyes sweeping over the scene before him with an 
 interest equal to that of the people. It was a pivotal 
 moment for pulpit and pew, but they both stood the 
 test. A liturgy was used for the service as in all the 
 Reformed Churches on the continent. With a clear 
 voice and animated gestures the Dominie began his 
 discourse. We have no account of that first sermon, 
 but have no doubt it was of the full length offered at 
 that period, a carefully written, scholarly discourse, as 
 proved by the time-yellowed specimens still in exis- 
 tence, with their fine chirography and minute margin- 
 al references. 
 
 Though the services of those days were lengthy, 
 
 21 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 there were blessed breaks in the hours, which gave the 
 children hidden away in the high-backed pews, occa- 
 sional relaxation from the serious aspect of the re- 
 maining time. When the deacons stepped forth with 
 their money bags suspended from long poles, and fur- 
 nished with jingling bells, it is safe to affirm that all 
 the youthful eyes in the church followed their course 
 up and down the aisles, and childish ears caught the 
 sound of tinkling bells after the deacons and their bags 
 had passed from their sight. 
 
 Even on the first Sunday there seems to have been 
 a feature of the service which never failed to hold the 
 childish attention, or prayerful interest of the parents 
 in all the fifty years to follow. Catherine Elizabeth 
 Emerick, the infant daughter of Frantz and Elizabeth 
 Emerick was baptized at that time, and for "Testium" 
 as the old records have it, there were "Peter Adam 
 Smit and his vrouwe." One can hardly grasp in these 
 days of the over-churching of certain localities, and 
 the possibility of reaching a minister at a few mo- 
 ments' notice, the privations of a God-fearing people 
 stretching over a wide reach of country, far from the 
 ministrations of a man of God. Baptism.s were long 
 
 23 
 
THE FIRST SUMMER. 
 
 deferred, marriages were only possible at distant pe- 
 riods or performed by civil officers, burials were often 
 without a word of prayer. There must have been 
 many heart burnings in the thirty-two pastorless years 
 of this church, out of the preceding fifty. 
 
 As if the people called first for the sacramental du- 
 ties of their minister, almost every Sabbath became a 
 baptismal day. Long lines of parents and god-parents 
 stood before him at the Sunday morning service, con- 
 secrating their children to God, while the Dominie's 
 hand was laid in blessing on numerous little heads. 
 Thirteen children were baptized during this first 
 month of July, forty children during the remainder of 
 the first year, and in the next thirteen years, one thou- 
 sand one hundred and twenty-four children received 
 the rite of baptism, and one hundred and sixteen per- 
 sons united with the church. Nor was this all. Com- 
 munion Sunday was once more observed, and the Sac- 
 rament of the Lord's Supper was again celebrated. Ac- 
 cording to the old Dutch custom, communicants left 
 their seats, and group after group surrounded the 
 Lord's table, where the elements were distributed to 
 each by the hand of the Dominie himself. Christmas, 
 
 23 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 New Year's day. Good Friday, Easter, and Whitsun- 
 day were also feast days, and new spiritual life began 
 to show itself in the community, as the church once 
 more threw open its doors, and the people went up to 
 the House of the Lord. 
 
 The young people also grasped their opportunity. It 
 was a summer of love-making. The young farmer 
 dreamed of his sweet-heart in the fields as he planted 
 and pruned and harvested, while maidenly hearts beat 
 quickly when the lover passed at sunrise or nightfall, 
 for was not the Dominie ready, and the time of har- 
 vesting of crops was near. Why longer delay the mar- 
 riage day? 
 
 George Phillips and Genoa Ostrander were married 
 in July of this first year. In September, Conrad Petri 
 and Anna Margretta Stall from the Manor of Livings- 
 ton drove over to the Dominie's for the tying of the 
 nuptial bands. Every month after fhis had its mar- 
 riage celebrations. Later, April, May and August be- 
 came favorite bridal months. In time September and 
 October and November sometimes saw two, three, or 
 more weddings in a day. In fact all months were fav- 
 orable for this joyful function, and no month passed 
 
 24 
 
THE FIRST SUMMER. 
 
 without from two, to eight or ten marriages, the Dom- 
 inie marrying four hundred and twenty-eight couples 
 before the year 1789. Baptizing the children, marry- 
 ing the lov^ers, burying the dead, meant something in 
 this congregation. They were not occasional events, 
 but weekly, and often daily duties. 
 
 Meanwhile life in the parsonage had settled into 
 quiet lines and homely duties. The pastor's wife spun 
 and wove and cared for her little boys, giving and re- 
 ceiving the hospitalities of a minister's household. 
 Both she and the Dominie were possessed of a culti- 
 vated musical taste. In crossing the ocean from a mu- 
 sic-loving German town, he had brought with him, 
 as seemed to be the custom of the times, some form 
 of merchandise whose ready sale in the new country, 
 would make the early days of the stranger in a strange 
 land financially comfortable. In this case the mer- 
 chandise imported from Germany was composed of 
 three pianos or spinets. Two of these were destined 
 never to reach American shores, for the voyagers en- 
 countered a great storm at sea, and the two pianos 
 which had been given special care in a place above 
 decks, were, with everything else within reach, thrown 
 
 25 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 overboard to lighten the ship. The third piano had 
 been packed in the hold, and was saved. It became a 
 familiar sight to the Claverack congregation to see the 
 Dominie playing upon this piano, while his wife sang 
 from a thick old book of German chorals of eight hun- 
 dred pages. 
 
 26 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 WAR STORIES AT HOME. 
 
 There seemed to be peace and security in the gam- 
 brel-roofed parsonage in the country, yet even here 
 there was reason for caution. No silver or pewter were 
 used on the parsonage table after nightfall for fear 
 of both Indians and Tories looking in through the win- 
 dows and discovering it. The latter felt such a deep 
 hatred for their Whig neighbors, that some of them 
 hesitated at no crime upon opportunity. It became a 
 custom of the times to build triangular passage ways 
 in the houses, with three doors, one on either side, al- 
 lowing of hiding and escape in different directions. 
 Silver was thrown hastily under heaps of rags upon 
 the unexpected visits of Tories, and in some cases the 
 rags were pierced by bayonets without the silver be- 
 ing discovered. 
 
 There was alternate gloom and rejoicing in the coun- 
 try all about, which could not but be deeply felt by 
 
 27 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 both the pastor and his wife. In New York and Phila- 
 delphia they had left friends whose welfare in these 
 turbulent times was an anxiety to them. Philip Liv- 
 ingston the brother of their neighbor of the near-by 
 Livingston Manor, had been one of the Signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence. Lewis Morris, the 
 brother of Richard Morris, a member of the Claverack 
 congregation, was another Signer. Every set-back of 
 the war put these brave men's lives in jeopardy. The 
 Dominie and his wife had left the Signers in Philadel- 
 phia and New York only to find them again, or their 
 families, in this fair country place. 
 
 The Committee of Safety established and maintain- 
 ed a night-watch during the most tronblesome times, 
 consisting of twelve ,men each night, serving two by 
 two for two hours and a half. Companies of Claver- 
 ack men were engaged in the war, and many fears 
 were entertained that the British might sail up the 
 Hudson, and find even this retired settlement. 
 
 In 1777 this fear seemed about to be realized when 
 General Vaughan landed at Clermont, and fired the 
 residence of Chancellor Livingston and the Manor 
 House occupied by his mother, in revenge for the 
 
 28 
 
_ -w 3 
 
WAR STORIES AT HOME. 
 
 prominent part the Chancellor had taken in the Revo- 
 lution. The burning of Kingston had fallen heavily on 
 the hearts of the little family at the parsonage, who 
 remembered with gratitude the kindness they had re- 
 ceived while tarrying there for a time without home or 
 near friends. It also seemed to them that the destruc- 
 tion of war followed hard after them. The Livingstons 
 of Clermont were in close touch with the Van Rensse- 
 laers of Claverack. Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer 
 the Patroon of the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor had 
 married Angelica Livingston, a cousin of Robert Liv- 
 ingston 2nd, the first proprietor of the Lower Manor 
 of Clermont, and .many of the members of the Claver- 
 ack congregation were Palatines from the neighboring 
 Livingston Manor. 
 
 Like the weaving of a shuttle the news was 
 carried from farm house to farm house, and from 
 Manor to Manor along the Hudson. When it was 
 known that every vessel in the river was burned 
 or otherwise destroyed, that small parties landing 
 from the British ships had desolated neighborhoods 
 with fire and sword, and that at Clermont the family 
 had hastily buried silver and other articles of value 
 
 29 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 in the woods, placed books in a dry fountain and cov- 
 ered them with rubbish, piled carts high with articles 
 necessary for immediate use, as well as preservation, 
 and had seen the smoke already rising from their 
 homes before they had ridden out of sight, the conster- 
 nation of the countryside knew no bounds. Not even 
 the Committee of Safety seemed sufficient under these 
 circumstances to protect homes and property. 
 
 But hard on the track of the evil tidings came the 
 news of General Burgoyne's surrender to General 
 Gates at Saratoga, and the hasty retreat of Vaughan's 
 forces; and trickling like a silver stream through a 
 turbid current of misfortune, came a bit of gossip more 
 pleasing to Claverack maidens than war and rumors of 
 war. It seemed that Margaret Livingston, second 
 daughter of Judge Robert R. Livingston of Clermont, 
 afterward Mrs. Tillotson, had been knitting a long 
 stocking for an old servant. There had been a wager 
 connected with it that she should finish it in one day, 
 and she had kept on with with her work till near mid- 
 night, with a laughing perseverance determined to 
 complete it and win the wager. She was nearing the 
 end, when black Scipio rushed in with the joyful news 
 
 30 
 
WAR STORIES AT HOME. 
 
 of Burgoyne's surrender. In a transport of joy, the 
 patriotic young lady threw down the stocking, and the 
 wager was lost. 
 
 There was great rejoicing in Claverack also, and 
 from this time on the war interest settled in .more dis- 
 tant parts of the country. There is a tradition that 
 Washington once encamped with a division of his 
 army at Claverack on his march northward, but the 
 story has never been proven. 
 
 The Tories continued to be troublesome neighbors. 
 Captain Casperus Conyn, who held a commission in the 
 Continental army, had leave to visit his family one 
 night. The fact became known, and they awoke about 
 midnight to find the house surrounded. Every win- 
 dow had a sentinel. The robbers, or Tories, carried 
 away everything available, and destroyed what they 
 could not remove. They emptied cream pots upon the 
 floor and feathers from the beds and mixed them to- 
 gether, and helped themselves to all they could find in 
 the way of jewelry and money. 
 
 At last they took Captain Conyn and with a cord 
 from a drum hung him to a beam, but in jerking the 
 chair from under him the cord broke and his life w^s 
 
 31 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 saved. The family were all locked in the cellar after 
 that, where they were guarded till near morning, when 
 hearing a horse passing, the Captain broke open a door, 
 and ran out to find a neighbor near. At breakfast the 
 following morning Captain Conyn gathered his family 
 around him, and offered thanks to God that their barns 
 were still full, but it was not long after this that they 
 were also burned by the Tories. 
 
 In the light of such experiences, and others already 
 past, it would seem that the young pastor of the 
 church showed both courage and daring, in taking 
 from the pulpit once more a public stand for the Colo- 
 nies against Great Britain. It is said that on this oc- 
 casion one half of the men of the congregation arose 
 and left the church. 
 
 Captain Conyn's experience had not been the only 
 one in the neighborhood which had incensed the patri- 
 ots. The Tories through this section of the Hudson riv- 
 er were collecting themselves together in 1777 to join 
 Burgoyne's army. One division was composed of men 
 who lived in the neighborhood of John Van Ness, be- 
 tween the villages of Maiden Bridge and Chatham. A 
 party from the Kline Kill neighborhood discovered 
 
 32 
 
WAR STORIES AT HOME. 
 
 that Abraham Van Ness, the old man's son, was home 
 on a furlough, and watched their opportunity to make 
 him their prisoner. The Tories at this time considered 
 the patriots as rebels and outlaws, and organized 
 bands to rob and arrest any active Revolutionist. 
 Whole neighborhoods of patriots united to work each 
 other's fields, leaving a small guard at the house. It 
 was at a time like this that Abraham Van Ness was 
 overpowered and captured. The Tories at first sug- 
 gested that he be taken with them to Burgoyne's 
 army, but eventually he was shot. In both the attempt- 
 ed murder of Captain Conyn, and the accomplished 
 fact with Abraham Van Ness, the perpetrators were 
 discovered and treated to summary vengeance at the 
 hands of the outraged Whigs. 
 
 "Proclaim Liberty throughout the land, unto all the 
 inhabitants thereof," was the inscription on the old 
 bell in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and when 
 the boy who waited for the last name to be signed to 
 the Declaration of Independence, ran into the street 
 and called out "Ring, Ring," to the old bell ringer, the 
 bell rang, not only for the brave "Signers," but for the 
 men on the outposts, the men in battle, the committees 
 
 33 
 
 4 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 of safety who guarded the homes, and the men in the 
 pulpits who risked their lives as well, standing pub- 
 licly for liberty and right, swaying public sentiment, 
 counting themselves bound by their calling and their 
 leadership to "Proclaim liberty throughout all the 
 land, unto all the inhabitants thereof." 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 In the after records of times of war, it is often for- 
 gotten that the paths of peace were still to be trodden, 
 homes were to be maintained, children were to be 
 trained and educated. Dr. Gebhard had hardly settled 
 in his new parish when he was called upon to receive 
 youths into his family, that they might pursue classi- 
 cal and higher mathematical studies under his direc- 
 tion. Some of these boys were sent from Philadelphia 
 and New York. Many also were growing up about 
 him, lacking even the elements of an education. His 
 own youth had been favored in this respect. Before 
 long he would have boys of his own old enough to edu- 
 cate. These combined reasons led to an effort on his 
 part which resulted in the establishment of Washing- 
 ton Seminary at Claverack, in which project he was 
 ably supported by prominent members of his congre- 
 gation. 
 
 35 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 A record of the first years of this seminary is still in 
 existence. The whole account is kept in Latin, as Dr. 
 Gebhard was in the habit of keeping other records 
 committed to his charge. This is not to be wondered 
 at, considering the statement of Dr. Livingston, who 
 attended the University of Utrecht at a time contem- 
 poraneous with Dr. Gebhard's residence there as a stu- 
 dent. Dr. Livingston says that at this period all the 
 lectures were delivered in the Latin language, and 
 before he left the University he could speak Latin al- 
 most as readily as his native tongue, "he thought, 
 wrote, and even prayed in secret undesignedly in 
 Latin." 
 
 A translation of the title and preamble on the fly- 
 leaf of this ancient book, reads — 
 
 "The Seminary of Washington in North America, 
 founded in the first year after the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence in the year of the Lord 1777, and erected in 
 the middle of the War 1779." 
 
 "Most learned Master and Trustees, Richard Morris, 
 Chief Justice; Hendricus J. Van Rensselaer, Petrus 
 Weissmer, Jacobus Blattener, Jun, Stephanis Hooghe- 
 boom, Georgius Monel, Walterus Vroman Wemple, 
 
 36 
 
WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 Hendricus Wilhelmus Ludlow, and Johannes Gabriel 
 Gebhard having erected this Washington Seminary 
 with greatest difficulty and unwearied labor, have ad- 
 mitted Masters Dudley Baldwin and Abraham Fonda, 
 the first as teacher in the Latin language, the last as 
 teacher in the English language, preceptors under the 
 supreme jurisdiction of Johannes Gabriel Gebhard," 
 
 These trustees, together with David Sherts and Pe- 
 ter Mesick were large contributors toward the estab- 
 lishment of the Seminary. 
 
 The Constitution of Washington Seminary provid- 
 ed that "A house should be built which should accom- 
 modate Masters, Tutors, Ushers, and Professors ; that 
 Writing, Arithmetic, Latin, and Greek should be 
 taught, and such other branches of Literature as the 
 Trustees should from time to time find the means to 
 support; 
 
 "The Seminary should be open to all persuasions. 
 "There should be eleven Trustees, of which the Senior 
 Minister of the Reformed Dutch Church in the town 
 of Claverack should always be one, the Governor of 
 the State for the time being always one other, the 
 Chief Justice of the State for the time being always 
 
 37 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 one other, the Senior Branch of the Van Rensselaer 
 Family holding the Claverack estate always one oth- 
 er, and the remaining seven elected annually by bal- 
 lot. There were rewards for learning, and fines for 
 disobeying rules. The Superintendent visited the 
 school every day and reported to the Trustees, and 
 taught the senior classes in cases of death, sickness, or 
 absence." 
 
 The records begin June 28th, in the opening term in 
 the new building, and continue through the following 
 three years. The names of the pupils and their fathers 
 are given, and to what class they are each assigned. 
 Though the Academy was pre-eminently designed 
 for a classical, higher English, and mathematical 
 course, the elementary branches were not neglected, 
 and we find the kindergarten here under the learned 
 title of— 
 "A. B. C. darian children." 
 
 The "names of youth to be educated in the Latin 
 language and admitted to this Washington Seminary 
 in 1779," include John, Jacob, and Jeremiah Van Rens- 
 selaer, sons of Colonel Robert Van Rensselaer, and 
 John, the son of Hendrick Van Rensselaer of Claver- 
 
 38 
 
WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 ack, Henry, son of Walter Livingston, James, son of 
 James Duane, and James Cochrane, the last three of 
 Livingston Manor; Alexander, son of Gerhard Jacob 
 Lansing of Albany, also Herman Ten Broeck, Charles 
 Van Kleeck and John Dow of Albany, John Huyck 
 and John Ten Broeck of Claverack, and John Thomas 
 of Rhinebeck. 
 
 The "A. B. C. darian class" had among others in it, 
 Jeremiah and Elizabeth Muller, William Van Ness, 
 the Dominie's eldest son Jacob Gebhard, Maria Bay, 
 Catherine Salisbury of Catskill, Elberta Hoogeboom, 
 Jacob Philip, and Volkert Whitbeck, and as sugges- 
 tive of the feeling of the period, Gabriel Esselstyn had 
 sent his slave girl Anna to learn her letters. 
 
 In 1780 Henry Bedlow^ of New^ Winsor, and Robert 
 Morris of Claverack were added to the Latin class, 
 also William Nichol and Killian Van Rensselaer of 
 Albany. It would seem that the learned languages 
 were not deemed necessary to the education of girls 
 at this time, since we find none in the Latin classes, 
 but they abound in the earlier divisions, including 
 English and writing classes. Each year discovers a 
 younger child added from many families, Maria Bay 
 
 39 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 is now accompanied by her brother, William, and Kil- 
 lian Hoogeboom by Anatji, and the Dominie's second 
 boy Philip attends school with his brother Jacob. 
 
 It will be seen that the Seminary drew pupils from 
 Albany to Rhinebeck, but Claverack showed its pride 
 in its seat of learning, and its desire to educate its 
 children by sending pupils from nearly all its prosper- 
 ous families, even during this strenuous war period. 
 It is also worthy of note that having begun their edu- 
 cation, no one of the pupils seems to have dropped 
 by the way, but as long as the record lasts, the names 
 repeat themselves. In a number of instances, with 
 the Dominie as leader, a father offers a term of school- 
 ing to some other child beside his own. 
 
 The school books of the succeeding decades tell 
 stories between their covers. Books, even school 
 books, were valued in these early days of our Repub- 
 lic. A yellow-leaved, profusely illustrated copy of 
 Virgil has on the inside of its cover, and scattered 
 through the book, the names of "John Gebhard, Cor- 
 nelius Miller, Gabriel Gebhard, John Van Rensselaer, 
 Charles Gebhard and Robert Monel" with varying 
 dates, and the statement "his writing" after each name 
 
 40 
 
WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 as a sort of witness to the various ownerships. The 
 margins of some leaves are worn far into the notes, 
 which must have been a trial to the later owners. 
 Loose leaves are carefully sewed together, and num- 
 bered in pencil, while at various points through the 
 book are statements, such as — 
 
 "Recited here the loth of July, 1782," or "Thus far 
 has Lewis Gebhard rehearsed this Book, June 14th, 
 1808." 
 
 The blank sides of the historically illustrated pages 
 were utilized by the young America of that day, to 
 inscribe facts in their own youthful history. The last 
 of these blank page legends reads — 
 
 "Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer's 
 Property, New Haven, 
 And 
 Lewis P. Gebhard's 
 Property, Claverack, 
 Dec. 6th, 1805." 
 "Ego Carolus Gebhardus" states in Latin that he 
 has mastered one-quarter of the book, giving date 
 and year in the same tongue, or, for the moment for- 
 getting themselves and their classical acquirements, 
 
 41 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 a margin passes the information down the century, 
 that their teacher, Andrew M. Carshore, was a "poet 
 and a philosopher," 
 
 That their classical learning was utilized to make 
 records still more erudite, though in boyish fashion, is 
 proved by a mixed Latin and English meter of a 
 young relative of the Gebhard family, which is a type 
 of the times. 
 
 "John Bausman's Book." 
 "Hie liber pertinet, 
 Who can it deny. 
 Ad Johannem cum Bausman, 
 That clever young boy, 
 In Baltimoriensem Collegiam, 
 He is to be found, 
 Sed non morietur, 
 And laid in the ground; 
 Ab omnibus malis, 
 The Lord him defend, 
 In vitam aeternam 
 World without end. 
 
 Amen." 
 In 1780 N. Meigs was appointed principal and 
 
 42 
 
WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 served until succeeded by Andrew Maytield Car- 
 shore. The latter had come to this country with Gen- 
 eral Burgoyne as an impressed British soldier. After 
 the surrender at Saratoga, he went to Kinderhook, 
 where he opened an English school. Leaving this he 
 came to Claverack and entered the family of Dr. Geb- 
 hard, where he acquired a knowledge of Latin and 
 Greek. Dr. Gebhard's superintendency of Washington 
 Seminary continued so long as it remained a classical 
 academy, and the duties of his office were varied and 
 unique. Beside an oversight of courses of study, and 
 the general management of the school, he instructed 
 its early teachers in the higher branches, in which 
 they were expected later to teach their scholars. It is 
 said that Mr. Carshore easily kept ahead of his classes 
 in this parsonage night-school, but when, as occasion- 
 ally occurred, the translation of an intricate passage 
 escaped his memory, or the higher mathematical prob- 
 lems became too knotty for his lately acquired knowl- 
 edge, the pupil was dispatched to the parsonage with 
 his slate and book, or Virgil or Horace under his arm, 
 and the President of the Seminary laid aside theologi- 
 cal studies, to turn his attention to the scholar in a di- 
 
 43 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 lemma. 
 
 This plan of peripatetic education could not have 
 been wholly distasteful to a boy or girl on a warm 
 spring day, when nature in every age has invited the 
 boy shut up in the school-room to "come out," and it 
 is questionable if the call of Claverack creek and a 
 fishing rod, did not many times conduce to the inflic- 
 tion of the "fines" mentioned in the Constitution. 
 Winter storms and snow drifts could not have been 
 as pleasant, yet even these oJffered snow ball bouts, 
 and we may venture to believe that the path from the 
 Seminary to the parsonage was a pleasant one, and 
 that the Master's stumbling blocks were eagerly 
 watched for by the students. 
 
 In time Mr. Carshore became an able teacher, a 
 man of unusual genius and culture, and during the 
 twenty-five years of his connection with the Seminary 
 the institution became famous. Pupils continued to 
 come from Albany, Poughkeepsie, New Rochelle, 
 Livingston Manor, Hudson and Claverack, and at 
 times Washington Seminary had more than one hun- 
 dred students. 
 
 Among those educated at this period were General 
 
 44 
 
WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 John P. Van Ness, Attorney-at-Law and member of 
 Congress, Honorable William P. Van Ness, Judge of 
 the Southern United States District, Honorable Cor- 
 nelius P. Van Ness, Governor of Vermont, Minister 
 to Spain, and Collector of the Port of New York, Gen- 
 eral Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer, Secretary of 
 State of New York, and often a Member of Con- 
 gress, General Jacob Gebhard, Senator of New 
 York State, Honorable John Gebhard, first Judge 
 of Schoharie county, and Member of Congress, and 
 Doctor Lewis Gebhard, for over fifty years a 
 leading physician and resident of Philadelphia, Jo- 
 seph D. Monell, and the sons and daughters of the 
 Philip and the Miller families. These were all natives 
 of Claverack. Ambrose L. Jordan, Dr. William Bay 
 of Albany, Martin Van Buren and Robert H. Morris, 
 and many others afterward prominent in public life 
 were also educated in their youth at Washington Sem- 
 inary. 
 
 Treasured among the old-time possessions of some 
 of the Van Rensselaers, and other noted men who 
 once attended Washington Seminary, are the written 
 recommendations of Dr. Gebhard, attesting to the in^ 
 
 45 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 tegrity and ability of the young man about to start 
 out to make his way in the world, outside of rural 
 Claverack. The after career of some of these men 
 would go to show that the Dominie was a reader of 
 character, and the possessor of a prophetic eye where 
 youths under his charge were concerned, as well as in 
 larger matters. 
 
 The love of education had traveled from Heidelberg 
 and Utrecht over the sea in the heart of a young Ger- 
 man clergyman and scholar, and out of it had sprung 
 a. seedling from the older institution. In a new land 
 it had trained the rising generation in old world liter- 
 ature and the scholarship of the day. A large part of 
 the citizens of the Colonies fought bravely to win the 
 country's independence. All honor to the men who 
 risked their lives and fortunes in so noble a cause ! 
 But when the cause was won, the country called for 
 trained men for rulers, intelligent citizens to obey the 
 laws, instructed minds to meet new conditions. The 
 old world would no longer send America its leading 
 men. The United States would rise or fall as her own 
 citizens met the great summons, and the great needs, 
 and emergencies of an independent nation. 
 
 46 
 
WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 This was the work to which Dr. Gebhard and the 
 educators of his class consecrated their lives. With 
 prophetic vision they saw a future for this country, 
 and while other men fought on battle fields, they were 
 laying foundation stones in the education of the 
 youth of the land, for future senators and governors, 
 judges and foreign ministers, and also presidents of 
 the new Republic. They were training citizens and 
 moulding the men of a nation, and in this work Wash- 
 ington Seminary bore a large share. 
 
 For more than a hundred years this Classical Sem- 
 inary, and its outgrowth, the Claverack College and 
 Hudson River Institute, continued a controlling power 
 in the educational life of Columbia county, as well as 
 drawing within its beneficient influence pupils from 
 many States in the Union. 
 
 47 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE MINISTRY TO THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 Claverack did not suffer to the same extent that 
 New England did through the enmity of the Indians. 
 No great massacres occurred in this region, but there 
 were occasional forays, and the carrying off of women 
 and children in the vicinity of Kinderhook as late as 
 1755- These hostile incursions left for many a month 
 a feeling of uneasiness and fear behind them, but as 
 a whole the Indians were disposed to be friendly 
 with the Dutch, who had treated them with great 
 fairness. Still there were large numbers of them rov- 
 ing through the primeval forests which covered a con- 
 siderable part of the State, and their lawless raids in 
 other sections, and their use by the Tories in acts of 
 arson and pillage, made their presence a source of 
 dread and alarm. 
 
 The obligations of a pastorate which included Scho- 
 harie on the north, and reached to Dutchess county 
 
 48 
 
THE MINISTRY TO THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 on the south, was bounded east by Massachusetts, 
 and west by the Hudson river, required long and lone- 
 ly rides over portions of country infested by both In- 
 dians and Tories. Such a field of labor would have 
 discouraged a man of less fidelity and courage than 
 Dominie Gebhard. Over a wide section of his extend- 
 ed charge the land was still in virgin wood, with here 
 and there a small farm house. The roads were 
 wretched, often little more than Indian trails. The 
 Dominie's liberty, and even life, were sometimes in 
 danger while passing the secret haunts of the enemy, 
 especially in the rocky wildness of the country in 
 the vicinity of Taghkanic. Yet it is the church of 
 Taghkanic, of which we have the record, that at one 
 of his quarterly visits the Dominie baptized thirty-six 
 children at one service. These, with their parents and 
 god-parents made a company of over one hundred. 
 
 So while danger lurked in the dense woods and in 
 the rocky fastnesses, the courageous minister placed 
 his trust in the Defender of the Faithful, and took his 
 way to these far off lonely outposts, that the infants 
 in these mountain homes might be sealed to Christ, 
 and the Sacrament might be administered to their par- 
 
 49 
 5 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ents, and here, too, he oftimes found couples waiting 
 for the marriage ceremony. 
 
 The sense of pleasant stir in the farm houses under 
 the hills can easily be imagined as the Dominie's quar- 
 terly visit approached. From the home of the lead- 
 ing man in the little settlement, where the prophet's 
 chamber was being prepared for the visiting minister, 
 and the housewife's store of good things was being 
 hospitality brought forth, to the various homes where 
 a little stranger had entered since his last visit, the 
 Dominie's coming was eagerly anticipated. In some 
 homes the tiny visitor had been the first child of the 
 house, in others the twelfth or fifteenth, but in all the 
 christening robe was brought forth and bleached, 
 and the tiny embroidered cap, which had probably al- 
 ready served its day with several children, was exam- 
 ined and tried on the new baby's head. Then the 
 nearer family friends were invited to stand as spon- 
 sors, and before long every house in the vicinity had 
 some part in the approaching great day. 
 
 Plain and rude though the little church may 
 have been, it became a holy place to these coun- 
 try folk, when they partook of the bread and 
 
 50 
 
THE MINISTRY TO THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 wine of the Sacrament around the Communion ta- 
 ble, and remembered the Upper Room at Jerusalem. 
 And often before the day was done, the beginning of 
 one or more new homes was formed, when a sturdy 
 young farmer brought a blushing country girl, that 
 the Dominie might make them man and wife. When 
 the Dominie left on Monday morning, having added 
 many good counsels to his other labors, life had taken 
 a fresh start in the farm houses under the mountains. 
 
 The fear of man was not the only danger lurking in 
 the path of the good man on these long clerical trips. 
 Wolves still roved the forest, and vast pitfalls were 
 dug near farmhouses on the edge of the woods, to en- 
 trap the wild beasts. 
 
 Yet in spite of all and every danger, we find this in- 
 trepid servant of God supplying the church of Squam- 
 pawmuck (Ghent) twelve miles distant, every two 
 months for five years. From 1777 to 1797 he traveled 
 four times a year to Taghkanic. From 1795 to 1814 
 once every seven weeks he preached at the Krum 
 church, twelve miles distant at Hillsdale; and upon 
 the death of Rev. Mr. Clough he assisted in supplying 
 the German church at the Camp (Germantown), and 
 
 5X 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 at the request of their consistory was instrumental in 
 obtaining for them a minister from Germany. 
 
 Of these various churches on the outposts, which 
 were preaching stations of Dominie Gebhard, there is 
 only one, beside the well-known church in the old fort 
 at Schoharie^ of which we have a full description. This 
 is the Ghent church built in 1775. This primitive edi- 
 fice was clapboarded in the early days and unpainted. 
 Like the Claverack church, it had the old-fashioned, 
 high-backed pews and also possessed a "lofty gallery 
 on three sides, and a wine-glass pulpit reached by a 
 winding flight of stairs. Over the pulpit and the preach- 
 er hung the inevitable sounding board, in this case sus- 
 pended from the rafters by ropes attached to its four 
 corners. The first records of the church were kept in 
 Dutch, though the leaves of the old book, which was 
 bound in vellum, and anti-dated the Revolution, bear 
 a crown, and underneath in water marks upon its 
 pages, the initials G. R., beside a seal, in which the 
 lion rampant of England is a chief feature." 
 
 The first entry is March 28th, 1775, and records the 
 articles of agreement between the consistories of 
 Claverack and Squampamock. The next is a call 
 
 52 
 
THE OLD CHURCH AND PARSONAGE AND 
 
 WASHINGTON SEMINARY 
 
 The view is taken from the rear of the old parsonage, and Kives Washington 
 
 Seminary in its earliest days. 
 
 SCHOHARIE CHURCH 
 Old Stone Fort, erected in 1772. and monument U> I)avi<l Williams, one of the 
 captors of Major Andre. 
 
THE MINISTRY TO THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 made upon the Rev. Dom. Johannes Gabriel Gebhard 
 in which it is stipulated that he shall preach once ev- 
 ery two months, and administer the Sacrament in the 
 church of Squampamock, in return for which the con- 
 sistory promise, yearly and every year to pay him the 
 sum of twenty pounds New York money." This call 
 was signed by "Lawrence Hogeboom" elder, and 
 "Johannes Hogeboom" deacon. 
 
 The longest journey in this ministry to the wilder- 
 ness took the Dominie sixty miles over rough and al- 
 most impassable roads, to administer the ordinances 
 and preach in the old stone church of Schoharie pre- 
 viously mentioned. In this church "Gersina," a daugh- 
 ter of the celebrated Indian chief Joseph Brant, was 
 christened while the chief and his squaw were on a 
 visit to the valley. 
 
 During the war small block houses were built in the 
 south-east and north-east corners of the church and 
 the whole enclosed by pickets, turning the sanctuary 
 into a fortress. Here many anxious nights were spent 
 by those seeking safety for their families from Indians 
 and Tories. 
 
 The faithfulness of the men who upheld these 
 
 53 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 churches on the outposts was portrayed by the de- 
 voted service of one of the members of the old Schoha- 
 rie church. Judge Brown was for years the "fore-sin- 
 ger, clerk and chorister" of this congregation. To per- 
 form his three-fold Sabbath duty, he walked weekly 
 from his home in Carlisle, fourteen miles, to the place 
 of worship, and the same number of miles back again 
 It was not only the ministers to the wilderness who 
 were courageous and faithful, but also the members of 
 their flocks, who vied with them in upholding the 
 worship of God in this new country. 
 
 ■Courage was the watchword of the homes of the 
 day. It was required in every walk of life, from the 
 wife or maiden who bade husband or lover a brave 
 farewell, as he fared forth to fight for his country, to 
 the young wife in the parsonage door, watching these 
 repeated trips into danger in the Lord's service. Each 
 pictured the way in the night watches, one of the 
 bloody battlefield, and possible victory and honor, or 
 death ; the other of lonely winding roads or bridle 
 paths, with a painted face or a Tory enemy behind 
 some tree, and a slight form on horse-back winding 
 his way alone through the wilderness, to come at last 
 
 54 
 
THE MINISTRY TO THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 tired and travel-stained to some farmer's home, and a 
 little log- church, in which the light of the Gospel was 
 ever kept trimmed and burning, by these ministers of 
 God in settlement and wilderness, who like Paul 
 "counted not their lives dear unto themselves," but 
 only for the service and glory of God, 
 
 55 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WAR HEROES OF THE MANORS AND THE 
 INAUGURATION OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 The War of the Revolution was drawing to a close. 
 In the parsonage and the two Manors, and in the farm 
 houses scattered between, there was eager expecta- 
 tion of a new order of things. There had been suffer- 
 ing and anxiety, privation and death in many homes. 
 Soon after the election of Governor Clinton a public 
 appeal had been made for funds from New York State 
 to carry on the war. To this War Fund, Dominie Geb- 
 hard and his congregation had subscribed liberally. 
 
 Colonel Jeremiah Hogeboom's regiment had been 
 made up largely of Claverack men. In Lieutenant 
 Hendrick Van Hoesen's Company were Killian and 
 Peter Van Rensselaer, sons of Hendrick, a younger 
 brother of the Patroon Johannes, and through all the 
 Companies the familiar names of Ludlow, Delamater, 
 Philip, Harder, Hoffman, Esselstyn, Miller, Van Deu- 
 
 56 
 
WAR HEROES OF THE MANORS. 
 
 sen, Van Ness, Groat, Mesick, Van Allen, Pitcher and 
 a host of others abounded. Colonel Robert Van Rens- 
 selaer had seen service in the campaign of the Mo- 
 hawk, while Henry I. Van Rensselaer served as Com- 
 missary-General, and nearly all the sons of Colonel Jo- 
 hannes, and his younger brother Killian Van Rensse- 
 laer held some commission in the Continental Army. 
 
 Captain John McKinstry, of Livingston, in the Reg- 
 iment of Colonel John Patterson, had fought bravely 
 at the battle of the Cedars on the St. Lawrence River, 
 in the spring of '76, and had there met with a narrow 
 escape from death in a more terrible form than battle. 
 He had been captured by a party of Indians under the 
 leadership of the famous Captain Brant. The Indians 
 were about to celebrate their victory after their usual 
 fashion, by killing their captive by torture. The fag- 
 ots and the stake were ready, but Captain McKinstry 
 remembered in that supreme moment that Brant was 
 a Free Mason. He lost no time in giving the signal of 
 distress which the chief recognized at once, and im- 
 mediately directed his followers to liberate their pris- 
 oner. 
 
 In after years the two men were fast friends, and 
 
 57 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 the Indian chief is said to have visited the man whose 
 life he had saved, more than once in his ow^n home 
 In later years Brant, in company with Colonel 
 McKinstry, visited the Masonic Lodge in Hudson, 
 where he was most warmly welcomed, and was an ob- 
 ject of great interest to his fellow Masons. Charles 
 Jenkins was less fortunate than Colonel McKinstry. 
 He was taken prisoner by the British and confined a 
 year and a half in the sugar house in New York, when 
 he escaped and made his way back to Claverack. 
 
 While the men of Claverack and the vicinity were 
 serving their country in the war, the women at home 
 sometimes had reason to discover an undaunted war- 
 like spirit within their own breasts. One day during 
 the absence of the men of the household one of the 
 goodwives of Claverack opened her door to two sus- 
 picious travelers. Their manner and words proved 
 them to be Tories. The wife of the absent household- 
 er directed them to the cellar to obtain for themselves 
 a refreshing cup of cider. As soon as they had 
 reached the foot of the cellar stairs, she dropped the 
 door in the floor and dragged heavy furniture upon it, 
 effectually holding her prisoners until the return of 
 
 58 
 
WAR HEROES OF THE MANORS. 
 
 her husband. That particular drink of cider proved 
 an expensive refreshment to the Tories that autumn 
 morning. 
 
 Brigadier-General Henry B. Livingston, a brother 
 of the Chancellor, was one of the most prominent of- 
 ficers in the American Army during the Revolution 
 from this section of the country. He served in an as- 
 saulting column in the storming of Quebec. "As Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel he commanded a regiment in the bat- 
 tle of Stillwater and was present at the surrender of 
 Burgoyne," which was no doubt in part the cause of 
 his sister Margaret's pleasure when she heard of the 
 surrender of the British General. The destruction of 
 his mother's and brother's homes he could not pre- 
 vent, but further disasters on the Hudson, were fore- 
 stalled by the successes of the army of the North. 
 Colonel Livingston served under Lafayette at Rhode 
 Island and Valley Forge, and became a fast friend of 
 the French General. 
 
 He was also in command at Verplanck's Point at 
 the time of Andre's capture, and with his single four- 
 pounder engaged the British ship "Vulture," with so 
 much vigor and effect that it alarmed and delayed An- 
 
 59 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 dre, and in the end led to his capture, and saved West 
 Point. General Washington, writing of this event, 
 said, "It is a great source of gratification to me that 
 the post was in the hands of an officer so devoted as 
 yourself to the cause of your country." Lossing adds 
 to this eulogy, "Washington's confidence was not mis- 
 placed, for there was not a purer patriot in that war 
 than Henry B. Livingston." At the close of the war 
 Colonel Livingston was made Brigadier-General and 
 spent the remainder of his life at his home near Rhine- 
 beck on the Hudson. 
 
 No event of the war carried such gloom into the 
 allied homes along the upper Hudson as the death 
 of General Richard Montgomery. General Montgom- 
 ery had met Janet Livingston, the eldest daughter of 
 Judge Robert R. Livingston some years earlier, when 
 he was a Captain in the British Army, on his way to a 
 distant post. It was love at first sight, and though the 
 meeting was brief, neither of them forgot the impres- 
 sion made at that time. Montgomery, at the end of 
 the war went back to England, sold his commission, 
 and returned to America, and the second meeting be- 
 tween him and Janet Livingston led to an early mar- 
 
 60 
 
WAR HEROES OF THE MANORS. 
 
 riage. 
 
 They had been married only three years, when his 
 election by Congress to the office of Brigadier-General 
 cut short their dream of rural life on the banks of the 
 Hudson. General Montgomery accepted the position 
 offered him with a high sense of patriotic duty to his 
 adopted country. In this he had the entire sympathy 
 of his wife who was a woman built in an heroic mould. 
 Her love for him carried her with him as far as the 
 home of General Schuyler at Saratoga, postponing the 
 separation as long as possible, yet no word of hers de- 
 terred him from the path upon which he had set his 
 feet. It was at the parting of the two, who had not 
 yet ceased to be lovers, that Richard Montgomery ut- 
 tered the memorable words, "You shall never have 
 cause to blush for your Montgomery." 
 
 Montreal surrendered to General Montgomery, and 
 on the last night but one of the year 1775 he made his 
 brave attempt to take Quebec, and was killed while 
 leading his men in an heroic charge upward, through 
 a pass filled with drifted snow and ice, and in a blind- 
 ing snowstorm. "Forward, men of New York. You 
 will not flinch where your General leads," he cried 
 
 61 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS 
 
 out, as he pressed forward in advance of his men. 
 They were his last words. He was killed instantly 
 by the discharge of a cannon of a seemingly deserted 
 battery. The attempt to capture Quebec was unsuc- 
 cessful, but General Montgomery's brave act is the 
 heritage of the American people. 
 
 The surrender of CornwalHs was an event of great 
 joy all over the country. Friends writing from Phila- 
 delphia spoke of the watchman's cry in that city after 
 the glad news. "Past two o'clock and CornwalHs is 
 taken," rang out his voice hour after hour, and heart- 
 felt prayers of thanksgiving followed the re-iteration 
 of the glad tidings. Congress recommended the ob- 
 servance of a day of thanksgiving throughout the 
 States, and Washington ordered the liberation of all 
 prisoners, that they might join in the general joy. 
 
 At last when the news of the treaty of peace with 
 England was received, the rejoicing was similar to 
 that evinced over the Declaration of Independence. 
 The news was hailed with delight when read in 
 churches and courts, taverns and stores, and many 
 unique methods were adopted to celebrate the event. 
 At a later date there were a goodly number of certifi- 
 
 63 
 
WAR HEROES OF THE MANORS. 
 
 cates of membership in the Society of the Cincinnati 
 signed by General Washington, held by the men of 
 Claverack who had been his officers. 
 
 Richard Morris' family had come to Claverack from 
 New York during the early years of the war. Having 
 espoused the American cause, they found as did many 
 others, that New York invested by the British was no 
 longer a safe place of residence for patriots. Richard 
 Morris' brother Lewis was one of the Signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence, his brother Gouverneur 
 was a prominent patriot, and he himself held the of- 
 fices of Judge of Vice Admirality and Chief Justice of 
 the State of New York. It is little wonder that the 
 outcome of the war with England called forth special 
 rejoicing in this family. 
 
 When the news of the treaty of peace reached Clav- 
 erack, Judge Morris procured a barrel of tar and made 
 a great bon-fire on an adjacent hill. There is little ques- 
 tion that Robert Morris, his son, at that time a stu- 
 dent in Washington Seminary, assisted most willingly 
 at this form of celebration. Nor can it be doubted, 
 that Robert Morris' life-long habit of firing off a can- 
 non from the top of this same hill, on Independence 
 
 63 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Day, giving the hill ever after the name of "Mount 
 Bob," was an outgrowth of this joyous celebration of 
 his boyhood. 
 
 Dominie Gebhard was inspired to a different form 
 of celebration by the treaty with England. He was a 
 man of vision, as has been proved by his establish- 
 ment of Washington Seminary. He saw before him a 
 call for new forms of government. The present gov- 
 ernment was loose and feeble, as Washington said 
 later, "We are one nation to-day and thirteen to-mor- 
 row; who will treat with us on these terms?" 
 
 On September 13th, 1783, Dominie Gebhard wrote 
 his Excellency George Washington a letter, setting 
 forth his ideas in regard to the new government about 
 to be established, along the line of towns to States, 
 and States to the Central Government, based on the 
 government of the Netherlands. This letter Gen- 
 eral Washington acknowledged in his usual courteous 
 fashion, and Dominie Gebhard's communication is 
 still preserved among the unpublished letters and pa- 
 pers of General Washington. 
 
 Nearly six years later, April 30th, 1789, Washington 
 was inaugurated President of the United States. 
 
 64 
 
WAR HEROES OF THE MANORS. 
 
 Washington's journey from Mount Vernon to New 
 York was one of continual triumph. Addresses and 
 crowds met him at every town. At Philadelphia he 
 was received with distinguished honors. The 
 Schuylkill bridge was decorated with laurel wreaths 
 and triumphal arches of evergreens. "As he passed 
 over the bridge a civic crown was let down from above 
 on his head, and a great cheer went up from twenty 
 thousand people." 
 
 At Trenton there were similar demonstrations. Here 
 on either side of a sweeping arch bearing the legend 
 "December, 1776. The Defender of the Mothers will be 
 the Protector of the Daughters," young girls dressed 
 in white with baskets of flowers in their hands, sang 
 as they strewed his path Avith flowers, 
 
 "Welcome, mighty chief, once more, 
 
 Welcome to this grateful shore, 
 
 Now no mercenary foe. 
 
 Aims again the fatal blow, — 
 
 Aims at Thee the fatal blow. 
 
 Virgins fair and matrons grave, 
 
 These thy conquering arm did save, 
 
 Build for thee triumphal bowers, — 
 
 65 
 6 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers ! 
 Strew your Hero's way with flowers!" 
 
 He was received in New York by Governor Clinton 
 and many distinguished persons, the Inauguration 
 taking place in the old Federal Hall, There were re- 
 ligious and civil services, and processions throughout 
 the day, but its crowning feature was when in the 
 presence of a great multitude of old soldiers and patri- 
 otic citizens from many States, he stood on the bal- 
 cony in front of the Senate Chamber, surrounded by 
 men important in the life of the nation both then and 
 later, and Chancellor Livingston administered the 
 oath of office, prescribed by the Constitution. 
 
 At its close, the Chancellor stepped forward, wav- 
 ing his hand and exclaiming, "Long live George 
 Washington, the President of the United States." 
 Flags were raised, cannons were fired, and the multi- 
 tude rent the air with their joyous exclamations. The 
 new Republic was fully organized at last, with George 
 Washington for its first President, the man most be- 
 loved and honored in the young Nation. 
 
 66 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE MANORS ON EITHER SIDE. 
 
 A few miles from the parsonage in either direction 
 stood Van Rensselaer and Livingston Manor Houses. 
 Those of the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor were the 
 nearest, being a little more than a mile from the 
 church. The Patroon Johannes Van Rensselaer, who 
 resided at Crailo in Greenbush, but who had a summer 
 home at Claverack, was living during the Revolution- 
 ary War, and was still directing affairs to some extent 
 in the lower part of the Manor, though he had several 
 sons who had married, and lived permanently at Clav- 
 erack, who took charge of the estate in his absence. 
 
 It had been the custom of the old Patroon to make 
 periodical visits to these Manor Houses of his sons 
 for many years past, at which time rents were collec- 
 ted and much business was transacted. The house 
 now occupied by Mr. Charles Barnard, a lineal de- 
 scendant of the old Patroon, was occupied during the 
 
 67 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Revolutionary war by Colonel Henry I. Van Rensse- 
 laer, a son of Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer, This 
 house, the oldest building in Claverack, was erected 
 by Hendrick Van Rensselaer, the first proprietor of 
 the Lower Manor, in 1685. The first couple to live in 
 it were Samuel Ten Broeck and his wife, Maria Van 
 Rensselaer, the eldest daughter of Hendrick, and each 
 of Colonel Johannes' sons seems to have taken his 
 turn in living in the old house, James, who married 
 Catherine Van Cortlandt, among the rest, though he 
 eventually moved to Belleville, New Jersey. Killian 
 Van Rensselaer and Peter, younger brothers of Jo- 
 hannes the Patroon also took up their residence in 
 Claverack, and Killian built at an early date the house 
 which was later called the "Brick Tavern." 
 
 On what is now known as the Allen Miller place, 
 Colonel Robert R. Van Rensselaer, afterwards Briga- 
 dier-General, another son of the Patroon Johannes, 
 built a Manor House. The foundations of this house 
 were standing up to a recent date. The present Manor 
 House on this farm, to the left, going east, was built 
 by Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer, the first Robert Rut- 
 sen's son, as were also the "Red Mills" on the same 
 
 68 
 
THE MANORS ON EITHER SIDE. 
 
 place. On a section of land given to Henry I. Van 
 Rensselaer by his father, the "Stone Mills" were erect- 
 ed, and after the Revolution a Manor House also. 
 "Buttermilk Falls" was once a busy manufacturing 
 center, the Van Rensselaer mills consisting of woolen 
 mills, saw mills, satinet factory, and flouring mills, all 
 being run on the same stream. Every farmer was said to 
 have kept one black sheep among his flock, to make 
 the proper pepper and salt mixture in cloth, the 
 fleeces being sent to the carding mills at Smoky Hol- 
 low or Buttermilk Falls. 
 
 The Manors and the mills were contemporaneous, 
 their necessity being apparent to Patroon and farmer 
 alike, and so important a feature of the Manor life 
 were these mills and the water-power which ran 
 them, that in the indenture concerning the old Conyn 
 farm near the "Stone Mills," sold by "John Van Rens- 
 selaer of Greenbush" to Casperus Conyn in 1765, "to 
 him and liis heirs forever" all rights to pools, streams, 
 rivulets, ponds, and creeks were reserved to the Pa- 
 troon, though if a mill was built upon Conyn's land, 
 "John Van Rensselaer of Greenbush" agreed to pay 
 for the land so occupied. 
 
 69 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 " The Patroons had a monopoly of fishing and hunt- 
 ing, and possessed the absolute title to the soil." Their 
 authority extended in judicial cases even to the penal- 
 ty of death, each tenant in the Manor of Rensselaer- 
 wick agreeing not to appeal from the sentence of the 
 Patroon's court It was believed by these first great 
 land-owners, that the country could best be developed 
 by dividing the soil into large Manors, settled by ten- 
 ants who paid for their holdings a yearly rent in skins 
 or the produce of the ground, and who were often 
 brought to this country at the Patroon's expense, while 
 the Patroon himself paid a certain sum each year for 
 the privilege of holding and controlling his own con- 
 ceded territory, though it is surprising to read that the 
 " quit-rent " on the Patroon's part was "fifty bushels 
 of good winter wheat " for the whole Manor of Rena- 
 selaerwick. The rents required from the tenants were 
 also ludicrously small in proportion to the size of their 
 farms, and the Patroons took many obligations on 
 their own shoulders which made life possible in this 
 unsettled country. The early churches, schools, mills, 
 sloops, imported machinery, tools and conveniences of 
 many kinds, had their founder and originator in the 
 
 70 
 
THE MANORS ON EITHER SIDE. 
 
 mighty hand of the Patroon. 
 
 It is said that Killian Van Rensselaer, the First 
 Patroon of Rensselaerwick, " was a nobleman not only 
 by chance but by nature. He exercised genuine pro- 
 vincial sovereignty. By his direction civil officers 
 were appointed to oversee the business departments of 
 the colony and military agents were named to fortify 
 outposts, and make needful preparation against Indian 
 outbreaks." 
 
 It was Hendrick Van Rensselaer to whom Claver- 
 ack was given, and most of the leases of land in the 
 Lower Manor were acquired through him. The terms 
 of the rental were nearly alike in all the leases, and 
 stipulated for an annual rent of a certain number of 
 "scheppels" (bushels) of wheat, and in many cases 
 " two or four fat hens," the month of January being 
 occasionally mentioned as the time of payment in hens. 
 With the depreciation in the value of farm lands in re- 
 cent times, there have been instances where legal rents 
 have long remained unpaid, but, with a possible rever- 
 sal to the ancient customs of forefathers, two fat geese 
 have been presented at Christmas to the landlord as a 
 kind of quit rent. 
 
 71 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer who erected Clav- 
 erack into a Manor was born in 1708, and was the Van 
 Rensselaer best known to the people of his own 
 Manor, of whom it has been said, "He was a most 
 commanding figure in the military, social, civic, and 
 religious life of Claverack." Mrs. EUet adds a word as 
 to his other characteristics, "He was noted for his hos- 
 pitality, and for his kindness and forebearance toward 
 the tenants of his vast estate during the war." 
 
 In one room of the Manor House at Claverack, Col- 
 onel Johannes held court and received rent, and here 
 many difficulties were adjusted, and much barter and 
 some money changed hands on days when rents were 
 due. Stored through the years with deeds of property 
 and other valuable papers, are some of these old rent 
 books. During Colonel Johannes' lordship, dating back 
 as far as 1744, these rent books were written in Dutch, 
 but the fact that "15 scheppel of wheat" constituted a, 
 year's rent for a farm in some cases, and that it was 
 paid regularly, is still apparent in these deeply yellow- 
 ing pages. Upon the payment of the year's rent, the Pa- 
 troon signed his name with his own hand, or on occa- 
 sion of it being signed by an agent, it was expressly 
 
 72 
 
THE MANORS ON EITHER SIDE. 
 
 stated " For the Patroon." 
 
 Later, in his successor, John I. Van Rensselaer's time, 
 the records in these old account books are in English, 
 pounds and shillings having taken the place of "schep- 
 pels of wheat," and by 1795 Jacob Rutsen Van Rensse- 
 laer occasionally signs his name to the receipt. Nor 
 is it only the sons of the family who when needed 
 stand in their father's place. The wife of the Patroon, 
 or sometimes the daughter, or the daughter-in-law, 
 affixes her name in acknowledgment of rent paid. In 
 1776 Catherine Van Alen acknowledges the reception 
 of "eight scheppels of wheat," Collec. for John Van 
 Rensselaer Patroon." Though the Patroon may have 
 been the highest court of appeal, with tenants spread 
 over one hundred and seventy thousand acres, even 
 though far separated, one might easily suppose that 
 pay-day would occur on many days in the year, and 
 that any responsible member of the household would 
 often be called upon to stand in the Patroon's place. 
 
 Colonel Johannes courted his first wife, and the 
 mother of his children at the home of Robert Livings- 
 ton, Jr., nephew of the first Robert Livingston. Angel- 
 ica Livingston was a woman of pleasing and dignified 
 
 73 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 presence, and of great executive ability, as behooved 
 the wife of the Patroon of those days, and the Lady 
 of the Manor. She had lived her early life in a home 
 similar to that to which Colonel Johannes had brought 
 his bride, and the training of the manorial homes was 
 fitted to endow a woman with capacity for the man- 
 agement of social and business affairs, together with 
 the rearing of a house full of children, and the direc- 
 tion of a corps of servants, which makes the strenuous 
 life of to-day seem pale and languid in comparison. 
 
 The family of Clermont, or the Lower Livingston 
 Manor was closely related to the original Livingston 
 Manor at Linlithgo, and this again with the Van Rens- 
 selaers of the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor at Claver- 
 ack, tying the great houses along the river in a chain 
 of family connection, community of interests, and 
 much social intercourse. 
 
 The home of Chancellor Livingston, grandson of the 
 first Lord's youngest son Robert was at Clermont, and 
 all along the Hudson from Clermont to Staatsburg 
 were scattered the homes of his brothers and sisters, 
 men deeply and keenly patriotic, and prominent in 
 public affairs, through all the early days of the new 
 
 74 
 
THE MANORS ON EITHER SIDE. 
 
 Republic, and women whose patriotism and interest in 
 the affairs of the nation ever equalled that of their 
 husbands and brothers. Chancellor Livingston was al- 
 ready a prominent patriot, and a man whose splendid 
 intellectual equipment was devoted to the upbuilding 
 of the country. He had been one of the committee who 
 had drawn up the Declaration of Independence. Fear- 
 less of the consequences, he had identified himself 
 with a movement destined to revolutionize America, 
 but at that early date the results of the respon- 
 sibility assumed, did not always point toward victory, 
 even to the hopeful. He was also chairman of the 
 committee who drew up the Constitution of the State 
 of New York, which had been read in front of the old 
 Court House at Esopus to a large number of people. 
 
 At the old Livingston Manor at Linlithgo, the third 
 and last Lord was reigning. Robert Livingston had 
 come into his baronial rights in 1749 on the death of 
 his father Philip, the second Lord. That the families 
 of both the Van Rensselaer and Livingston Manors 
 should have been, with few exceptions, noted for their 
 intense patriotism through this critical period, is one 
 of the noteworthy facts of history, for with the dawn 
 
 75 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 of the infant Republic, would perish all dreams of 
 New World baronies. 
 
 As with the Van Rensselaers and the Livingstons o£ 
 Clermont, the children of the last Lord of the original 
 Livingston Manor began building homes for them- 
 selves. Walter Livingston, son of the last Lord, erect- 
 ed a noteworthy mansion called "Teviotdale" prior to 
 the Revolution. General Henry Livingston, another 
 son, who had given valuable service to his country 
 during the Revolution, built a house in that section of 
 the Manor which was afterward called Johnstown. 
 Here he kept bachelor's hall for many years, dying in 
 1823. It was John Livingston the fourth son who 
 built Oak Hill, and who also gave the site upon which 
 the Reformed Church of Linlithgo was built, adding; 
 a further gift of land. In recognition of this donation 
 the village was called Johnstown, and the name clung 
 to the growing settlement, to which in 1814 the Manor 
 church was moved, a Memorial Chapel at a much later 
 period, being built over the old Livingston vault, 
 where the first Manor church had stood for almost a 
 century, having been rebuilt in 1780. 
 
 76 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 LIFE ON THE MANORS. 
 
 Though the days of the baronial rights of the Man- 
 ors were fast waning, the life of the Manors remained 
 much the same for many a year. Saw mills had been 
 set up by the earlier Lords in the midst of the forests, 
 the machinery having been imported from Europe. 
 Continuous building went on in the settlements, be- 
 ginning with the felling of the trees, and carried 
 through all the stages of preparation, until the work 
 ended in a completed house, whose beams and up- 
 rights, joinings and sidings, were of that quality of 
 material and labor which outwear a century of use, 
 and defy wind and storm. 
 
 Grist mills supplied flour and Indian meal to all the 
 Manor settlements, and to many others for miles 
 around. Great attention was given to stocking the 
 home farm, for beef and pork were needed in abun- 
 dance for the large families and many dependents, and 
 
 77 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 also for exportation. Large droves of sheep wandered 
 over the grassy slopes on the edge of the "Kills," form- 
 ing pastoral pictures of great beauty, but in the shear- 
 ing, spinning, and weaving time their practical value 
 was fully apparent, when the blankets to be used in 
 the Manor household numbered scores, and the won- 
 derful woven coverlids of blue and white with the date 
 of construction in the corner, were counted by dozens, 
 and whole pieces of flannel, or linen in its own time, 
 were laid away for clothing or napery, not only for the 
 Manor, but for the poorer neighbors, to whom the mis- 
 tress of the Manor was always expected to be a lady 
 bountiful. 
 
 On the Livingston estate were docks, and not far 
 away from the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor was 
 Claverack Landing, where, when the Hudson was op- 
 en, sloops came laden on their outward trips with salt- 
 ed meat, grain, peltries and lumber, and returning, 
 brought cargoes of household necessities not procura- 
 ble nearer home. Nor were the imports always necessi- 
 ties. Many luxurious articles of home embellishment 
 were brought over the seas from the older countries. 
 The rude and the luxurious were often blended in the 
 
 78 
 
LIFE ON THE MANORS. 
 
 latter quarter of the eighteenth century. West India 
 sweetmeats and Dutch garden seeds, sought for right 
 of way in the cargoes of the sloops, with silks and 
 laces, and articles of feminine adornment. 
 
 The Lady of the Manor overlooked garden and farm, 
 preserved fruits, stored vegetables, and put awaji 
 meats in large quantities. Hospitality was a manorial 
 custom. The post-road lay past some of the Manor 
 doors and near others, and coming from Albany, or ar- 
 riving from New York, it was not only the long- 
 looked for letter that the stages delivered at the Man- 
 ors, but guests of State, refugees from menacing dan- 
 ger in war times, and relatives or friends bound on 
 jaunts of necessity or pleasure. It is said to have been 
 the habit of the Manors of the earlier days, to have 
 beds and supplies of all sorts ready for at least ten un- 
 expected guests. 
 
 These manorial homes always contained, as did 
 most other homes of the date, only on a larger scale, 
 a number of relatives whom death or other misfor- 
 tunes had placed in a position of dependence. This was 
 a time when the solitary were literally "set in fami- 
 lies." These relatives, together with the Lady of the 
 
 79 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Manor, made a superintending force, through whom 
 the many slaves, and the workman of all kinds from 
 carpenters to shoemakers, from tutors to tailoresses, 
 were kept in employment, the whole of the great work- 
 ing-force conserving toward one end, — the successful 
 manangement of a great Manor. 
 
 Costly plate and rich furniture held their place amid 
 the homely employments of a large country estate. 
 There were wide halls and long drawing rooms, panel- 
 led wainscoting, and mantels with beautifully carved 
 wreaths, and birds, and dancing maidens, above the 
 tile-bordered fire-places with Scriptural scenes in blue 
 and white. These fire-places were often found in sever- 
 al rooms in the house, and in front of these delectable 
 picture-books, dark-faced mammies warmed the tiny 
 bare feet of numerous Manor babies before the open 
 fire, while they rehearsed to the wide-eyed, waiting 
 children, the stories of Daniel in the lion's den, or Jos- 
 eph and little Benjamin and the piece of money found 
 in Benjamin's sack, or told the story, in the soothing 
 cadence of the musical negro voice, of Christ blessing 
 the little children, while the sleepy eyes closed, shut- 
 ting into dreamland the picture of the children clinging 
 
 80 
 
LIFE ON THE MANORS. 
 
 about the Savior's knees. 
 
 Beautiful solid silver and white napery adorned the 
 tables of the Manors, and although the ends of the 
 knives were broadened, that they might the more 
 effectually serve their purpose in taking the place alter- 
 nately of both fork and spoon, and there were many 
 other customs that would strike us as uncomely to- 
 day, the life was lived on a large scale, and the conver- 
 sation of a Manor table with the guests of note in the 
 time of the making of a nation, might be envied in our 
 own day. 
 
 Not only looking well after the ways of her house- 
 hold was the commendation of the Lady of the Manor, 
 but she was also called upon to attend to her hus- 
 band's extensive business operations in his long ab- 
 sences in Colonial councils, on journeys abroad, and 
 during service in the war. 
 
 That the training of the Manor life with its alter- 
 nate residence in city and country, its obligations, re- 
 sponsibilities, and its hospitalties, was in many ways 
 fruitful of the best in manhood and womanhood, was 
 proved in the fact that at one time during the early 
 days of our country, nine men of the Livingston fam- 
 
 81 
 7 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ily were holding responsible public positions at the 
 same time in different States; and in their service as 
 officers, and soldiers in the ranks of the patriot cause, 
 in the upbuilding of church and educational life, in po- 
 sitions of trust and honor, the descendants of Kiliaen 
 Van Rensselaer the first Patroon of Rensselaerwick, 
 have filled a large place in the building of foundations 
 worthy of the American Nation. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 VISITING SPONSORS. 
 
 Two thoroughfares carried the traveler north and 
 south past the Livingston and Lower Van Rensselaer 
 Manors, and one of these passed the church and par- 
 sonage doors. 
 
 Sloops sailed up and down the Hudson, stopping at 
 Clermont, and Claverack Landing, only four miles 
 from the settlement of Claverack. These sloops 
 brought and carried passengers and merchandise, and 
 the larger vessels sailed away to the Indies and distant 
 ports on commercial errands, called " ventures " in 
 those days. The "venture" might turn out to be one 
 of financial success to all who engaged in it, or through 
 adverse winds and storms at sea, a loss of both lives 
 and cargoes, and the ship itself. These " ventures " 
 were often as interesting to the women of the family, 
 as to the men of their households, for with the cargoes 
 of merchandise of a practical nature, came many a 
 
 83 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 wedding dress and tea-set, which were eagerly watch- 
 ed for in the homes of Clover-reach. 
 
 The first mail-stages began running after the Revo- 
 lution in this part of the country, and mails were deliv- 
 ered at Claverack as late as 1790 for the city of Hud- 
 son. The travelers on the post-road risked none of the 
 dangers of the deep, but stage-coach traveling had 
 many drawbacks, as well as a charm v/holly lost m 
 these days of rapid transit by steam and electricity. 
 However these obstacles to a comfortable journey did 
 not affect a group of Seminary boys going home for 
 vacation. Winter or summer in vacation time, the 
 stage that stopped at the stage-house, where the post- 
 road intersected the Columbia turnpike, dropped the 
 weary and traveled-stained occupants who had come 
 a long distance, and with a change of horses took into 
 its capacious interior all the boys who could not bun- 
 dle up on top. and went on its way with a happy rol- 
 licking crowd of human freight. 
 
 Pea-shooting was a form of youthful entertainment 
 indulged in at the time, and the number and variety of 
 targets to be discovered along a country road by a 
 fertile brain, then as now, was not suggestive of brain 
 
 '84 
 
VISITING SPONSORS. 
 
 fag. The boys who left the stage first, carried with 
 them a sense of miniature battle, and themselves in the 
 thick of the fight. 
 
 The stage brought many travelers to Claverack be- 
 side the Seminary boys. Some of these stood high in 
 the counsels of the nation, or had served as officers in 
 the patriot cause. Others were friends who had braved 
 the dangers and discomforts of a long coach journey to 
 meet old friends and family relatives. No one thought 
 then, as we are apt to forget to-day, that the Seminary 
 boys on the top of the stage, with their infectious 
 laughter and pea-shooters, and hair trunks packed 
 with the varied miscellany that only a boy knows how 
 to collect, were the future representatives of the new 
 Republic. So the country-side watched those who 
 emerged from the stages, rather than those departing, 
 and their scrutiny was not in vain. 
 
 Perhaps no one event was the occasion of bringing 
 so many strangers into the town as the baptizing of 
 the babies. Since, as the years rolled by, this continued 
 to be one of the Dominie's most constant duties, and 
 a common event at the Sunday morning service, and 
 since the god-fathers and god-mothers who stood up 
 
 85 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 with the children, were many times those for whom 
 they were named, the church services came to have 
 a special pleasure outside of the sermon and the sing- 
 ing of the long-metre psalms. More than once, when 
 some little Catherine Van Rensselaer was to be bap- 
 tized, or a Philip Schuyler, in the Van Rensselaer can- 
 opied pew sat General Philip Schuyler and his Claver- 
 ack wife, Catherine Van Rensselaer, Colonel Johannes' 
 daughter. 
 
 General Schuyler had won great fame since he mar- 
 ried "sweet Kitty Van Rensselaer," and "sweet Kitty" 
 herself had grown into a comely matron, with the dig- 
 nified air of a woman who had seen much of life, and 
 managed a household, and dispensed hospitality to 
 even a larger world than that of the country Manor. 
 There were those in the congregation who had been 
 guests at her wedding twenty years before at Fort 
 Crailo, and the whole country-side had heard of its 
 grandeur. Dominie Freilinghusen of the Reformed 
 church of Albany had performed the marriage cere- 
 mony, and Claverack had never ceased to feel the keen- 
 est interest in Kitty Van Rensselaer and her young 
 husband, and his increasing military honors. The birth 
 
 86 
 
CATHERINE SCHUYLER 
 Daugrhterof Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer, the Patroon, and wife of 
 General Philip tichuyler. 
 
VISITING SPONSORS. 
 
 of her children and their prospects in life, and their 
 various personalities, for the Schuyler children often 
 visited their grandfather at the Lower Manor, were 
 matters of neighborhood gossip. 
 
 Their mother had been beautiful as a girl, when she 
 won the name of "The Morning Star." Her own 
 daughters inherited her beauty. All this was an old 
 but never wearisome story, but when General Schuy- 
 ler and his wife came to the Lower Manor and served 
 as sponsors for their nephews and nieces after the war, 
 there was an added element of interest, for Mrs Schuy- 
 ler had not only proved herself a most courageous and 
 capable General's wife, but she had been a heroine as 
 well. 
 
 Their home at Saratoga had been in the path of the 
 British army. The cruel murder of Jenny McCrea 
 was in every one's mouth, but Catherine Schuyler de- 
 termined to save what she could of the things which 
 were dear to her at her country home. Leaving Al- 
 bany in her coach, in spite of persuasions to the con- 
 trary, she started with only one armed escort on her 
 perilous journey. On the road she met with fugitives 
 who urged her to turn back, but her answer had been, 
 
 87 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 " A General's wife should know no fear." 
 
 At Saratoga the summer harvest was ripe. The 
 fields presented a beautiful sight of waving grain. Gen- 
 eral Schuyler had warned her not to let anything of 
 value fall into the hands of the advancing army. With 
 a pang at her heart she gave directions to the tenants 
 to fire their fields, and then went with her negro ser- 
 vant through the broad expanse of the home farm. It 
 is said that the negro was afraid to set torch to the 
 fields, and gathering all her strength Mrs. Schuyler 
 threw the burning torches herself into her own grain 
 at different points, and in a short time the fields lay 
 shorn of their beauty, a charred and smouldering 
 stretch of country. 
 
 With such valuables as she could carry, she re- 
 turned to Albany where she arrived safely. Her fear- 
 lessness in this exploit and her ability to obey her su- 
 perior in command in the face of great danger, won for 
 her many encomiums, and the congregation at Claver- 
 ack felt a special proprietorship in her bravery. 
 
 At times it was the Dominie's pew which was the 
 center of attraction at the opening of the service, and 
 when the time for baptism came, the Dominie's wife 
 
 88 
 
VISITING SPONSORS. 
 
 held in her arms a little son, while at her side stood the 
 baby's Uncle John Roush of Philadelphia for whom 
 he was named, or at a little later date Mr. Charles Seitz 
 and his wife Charlotte Carver, also among the early- 
 settlers of Philadelphia, had come the same distance to 
 be present at the baptism of another of their sister's 
 children, this child also being named for a Philadel- 
 phia uncle. The beautiful christening robes with their 
 vines and wreaths and flowers of the finest embroid- 
 ery, the blankets to be wrapped about the baby in the 
 cold church, the little caps, yellow with age, with 
 iheir inset lace and many shir-strings, and the most 
 exquisite of all the fine needlework of the day, — which 
 have come down to us, almost picture the dimpling 
 babies within their folds, and tell stories of the long 
 country afternoons, with the sound of bees and rust- 
 ling leaves, the odor of orchards and flower gardens, 
 the prattle of children playing in the hay, and cows 
 coming home through the meadows. What a wealth 
 of life experiences went into the fashioning of the little 
 garments, from the first stitch to the christening day, 
 and with what heart-throes were they laid in the cedar 
 chests, to wait for the grandchildren ! 
 
 89 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 The procession of babies moved on week by week, 
 and year by year, till Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuy- 
 ler's eldest daughter, Angelica Schuyler, and her En- 
 glish husband John Barker Church, came down in 
 Henry I. Van Rensselaer's sloop, the " Angelica " or 
 their chariot, on a hazy September day, to Claverack 
 Manor, and on the following Sunday stood up with lit- 
 tle Angelica Van Rensselaer, the infant daughter of 
 Robert Van Rensselaer and Corneha Rutsen. It prob- 
 ably did not detract from the attraction of this young 
 Albany couple in the eyes of the country youths and 
 maidens, that the}^ had been the principal actors in a 
 notable elopement, in which they had evaded even the 
 stern eye of General Schuyler, until the nuptial knot 
 was tied at the house of the young Patroon of the Van 
 Rensselaer Manor at Albany. Morrises and Van Cort- 
 landts, De Peysters and Pattersons, Bayards and Nich- 
 dIs, Gouverneurs and LeRoys and Alexanders all came 
 from the outer world of cities and affairs, to stand up 
 with the Claverack babies as the years went by, while 
 the Dominie pronounced the blessings of the conve- 
 nant over the heads of the baptized children, and the 
 sponsors promised with their parents, to see that the 
 
 90 
 
VISITING SPONSORS. 
 
 children were "piously and religiously educated." 
 
 These baptism days were also festival occasions, and 
 only second to the wedding days of the congregation. 
 The gathering of friends from far and near witnessed 
 wonders of culinary skill in great house and farm 
 house alike, and the feasts spread before the visitors 
 were long remembered by the departing guests, as the 
 incoming tide of story and adventure, public affairs 
 and family news, were valued by the host and hostess, 
 and their growing families of boys and girls. 
 
 A tangible sign which has come down from these hap- 
 py reunions, is the baptism spoon which was presented 
 to the baby by the god-parent, in honor of the name the 
 child bore. The baptism spoons were smaller, but car- 
 ried a greater charm in their shallow bowls, than the 
 larger funeral spoons or the rings which were present- 
 ed to the bearers at funerals in those days. 
 
 It has been said of these times, that "marriages, bap- 
 tisms and funerals were celebrated with great care and 
 formality, and no more serious offence could be given 
 than to neglect to invite to them anyone entitled to 
 come, or a neglect of the invitation." 
 
 91 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 STORIES OF THE POST ROAD. 
 
 The journey was a long one from Philadelphia or 
 New York either by land or water, but by sloop there 
 was the panorama of the beautiful Hudson, New York 
 and West Point, Newburgh and Kingston, all of them 
 important in the civil and military happenings of the 
 time, while by stage-coach one found the stage-driver 
 familiar with every rod of the way, and the stories of 
 the whole post road, the latest marriage in one great 
 house and its grandeur, the achievements in war or 
 State of the men of another Manor, and the beauty of 
 its women, or (told with lowered and sepulchral voice) 
 the story of the ghost that was supposed to haunt 
 one of the Manor Houses after the mysterious death of 
 a beautiful young wife. At Montgomery Place be- 
 tween Barrytown and Rhinebeck, General Montgom- 
 ery's widow had built a beautiful mansion after her 
 husband's tragic death. At another place near the 
 
 92 
 
STORIES OF THE POST ROAD. 
 
 same village, afterward occupied by his brother-in-law 
 Peter R. Livingston, the stage driver pointed out 
 Montgomery's \villow,a large tree that had grown 
 from a twig playfully stuck in the ground by General 
 Montgomery on a visit to a neighbor, a day or two be- 
 fore he started for Canada. As he planted the twig, he 
 had remarked, " Let it grow to remember me by." 
 
 With a wave of his whip as the stage neared Cler- 
 mont, with special attention to the youth favored with 
 a place beside him on the driver's seat, the genial Jehu 
 would chuckle over the fact that Edward Livingston, 
 the growing statesman, had been a boy at home, ow- 
 ing to the closing of his school at Kingston, when his 
 mother's and Chancellor Livingston's houses were 
 burned during the war, and enjoyed the excitement, and 
 go on to tell of his eighteen mile walks to and from 
 Kingston, Saturdays and Mondays, while school was 
 in session, "short miles coming home, long miles go- 
 ing back," he would shrewdly add. 
 
 Or, if at a little later date, the history of Edward 
 Livingston would pass that of growth into large at- 
 tainment, as the eminent lawyer and Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court, and later Mayor of New York, "He is 
 
 93 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 the greatest statesman of his day, men say" the stage 
 driver would assert, and perhaps some occupant of the 
 stage would carry the information further, for stage 
 travelers were sociable on their long journeys. "Living- 
 ston is a great linguist, and his house in New York has 
 become the gathering place of many celebrated visitors 
 to our country." His personal qualities were also called 
 in review with feelings of pleasure, his keen sense 
 of humor which made him a delightful companion, and 
 his warm-hearted beneficence, and love of his fellow 
 men, which kept him in New York during the scourge 
 of yellow fever in 1803, doing everything possible to 
 prevent the spread of the disease, and for the comfort 
 of the sick and the poor under these trying circum- 
 stances. At the close of his self-sacrificing devotion, 
 he was taken with the disease himself, but owing to 
 his strong constitution his life was saved. 
 
 This was apt to be followed by a eulogy on brave 
 Margaret Beekman, Edward's mother, who would take 
 no help from the wounded Tory soldiers in her home, 
 and who, after they were safely disposed of elsewhere, 
 could still courageously laugh at the ludicrous appear- 
 ance of an old black woman, perched on top of a cart 
 
 94 
 
STORIES OF THE POST ROAD. 
 
 full of family possessions, moving away from the 
 doomed house. As soon as the danger was over Mrs. 
 Livingston rebuilt her house on the old foundations. 
 There was also the locust tree still standing, which 
 had been partly carried away by the cannon ball fired 
 at the house by the British soldiers before they landed. 
 The " Hermitage " begun on a grand scale by 
 Peter R. Livingston before the Revolution and 
 never finished, but in one of whose quaint rooms 
 the historian William Smith, a brother-in-law of 
 the owner wrote a portion of the history of New 
 York, attracted the traveler's eye. Beautiful 
 " Teviotdale " stood on an elevation between 
 Kleina and Roeloflf Jansen Kills, a massive build- 
 ing sixty feet square, several stories high, and 
 with dormer windows. After a time they would reach 
 a point opposite the old Manor House to which the 
 title really belonged, the road to which the post-road 
 crossed. It was situated on a grassy spot on the banks 
 of the Hudson, environed with grape vines, bowers, 
 and gigantic trees, near the mouth and upon the north 
 side of Roeloff Jansen Kill ,which is now usually call- 
 ed Livingston creek. The original Livingston Manor 
 
 95 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 House was still standing in 1799, a hundred years old, 
 but it was burned a few years later. 
 
 The tales of the lordly manner of life in the days of 
 the first Lord, that Philip the son of the second Lord 
 Philip, was a Signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, and William, another son was the patriotic Gov- 
 ernor of New Jersey with many pretty daughters, en- 
 tertained many miles of the road through the Livings- 
 ton country. Patriotic Sarah Livingston was also a 
 daughter of the second Lord of Livingston Manor, 
 and she, too, had her story. She was the wife of Ma- 
 jor-General Alexander, (Earl of Sterling) and accom- 
 panied her husband to camp at White Plains. Later 
 she made a visit to New York accompanied by her 
 daughter, Lady Catherine Alexander. It was at this 
 time that she refused, even with the permission of Sir 
 William Clinton, to take so much as a box of tea out 
 of the city, which was under the rule of the British. 
 She was also a loyal member of the Dutch Reformed 
 Church, and as benevolent to the poor and needy, as 
 she was patriotic. 
 
 As they approached Germantown the settlement of 
 the Palatines became the topic of conversation. Many 
 
 96 
 
STORIES OF THE POST ROAD. 
 
 of these settlers had been drawn from Livingston 
 Manor with its life leases, to the brighter prospects of 
 perpetual leases on the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor 
 at Claverack. 
 
 For these people, refugees from the Lower Palatin- 
 ate in Germany, who had served in Queen Anne's arm- 
 ies, and had asked her aid, being driven from their 
 homes by the ravages of the French, the Queen of 
 England had attempted to provide homes upon her 
 American possessions. 
 
 Governor Hunter had purchased a tract of land for 
 the Queen from Robert Livingston in 1710, and the 
 Palatines soon followed, settling on both the east and 
 the west sides of the river. These settlements were in 
 the nature of camps, which later gave them the names 
 of East and West Camp. The camps on the east side 
 which occupied the Livingston land, were named 
 " Annsberg, for Queen Ann, Haysberg, for Lady Hay, 
 wife of Governor Hunter; Hunterstown for the Gov- 
 ernor himself; and Queensbury in still further honor 
 of the crown." 
 
 The Palatines were not all an ignorant class of peo- 
 ple. Many of them had come, as one of their descend- 
 
 97 
 
 8 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ants has said, with their Bibles and prayer books, ex- 
 pecting from the contracts signed in England, to have 
 a small separate tract of land for each household, up- 
 on which they would be able to build homes of their 
 own, and support their families, this land to be paid 
 for at the end of seven years in lumber, tar, hemp, and 
 the yield of the ground. Instead of this they had 
 found themselves in the position of vassals, "slaves" 
 they called themselves, bound to work at tar-making 
 for life, and already the most intelligent among them 
 were suspecting that the tar-making was a failure. At 
 last their superiors discovered it also, and the Pala- 
 tines left free to choose their own homes, scattered in 
 large numbers to Schoharie and Claverack, where the 
 opportunities offered to new settlers were a great im- 
 provement on those of the "camps." The few remain- 
 ing families of the Palatines were allowed to settle 
 on the land as farmers, and East Camp was known in 
 time as Germantown. 
 
 If, for a time, his horses occupied the loquacious 
 stage driver, there were sights and sounds in plenty to 
 attract the travelers. Clover fields abounded all along 
 beautiful Claverack creek, and the apples and plums 
 
 98 
 
STORIES OF THE POST ROAD. 
 
 and pears in their season filled the air with an aro- 
 matic odor. 
 
 Dutch house-wives were fond of bordering their 
 vegetable beds with flower edges. Clove pinks and 
 marigolds, tulips and tiger lilies, larkspur and phlox, 
 wound their way in serpentine lines about homelier 
 growths, while each side of the long path from the 
 swinging gate to the front door, syringas and spice 
 bushes, flaxinella and lilacs drew the guest with a 
 breath of the gods, and generously swept their sweet 
 odors over the garden fences, to the passing way-farer. 
 And so the traveler was welcomed to Claverack, in 
 the church and the homes, by Dominie and congrega- 
 tion, and also in the pleasant sights and mellifluous 
 odors of Clover-reach, while the coaches which passed 
 the Claverack doors, bearing from city to city, the 
 men of the day in their high hats and the ladies 
 in flaring bonnets and floating veils, with the blowing 
 horn of the driver, and the spurts with other teams 
 along the road, formed a large part of the excitement 
 of Claverack life. 
 
 99 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 VISITS FROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 
 With the close of the war the German Reformed 
 Church in New York of which Dominie Gebhard had 
 been pastor, gathered once more its scattered congre- 
 gation, and with one accord sent a call to their old 
 minister at Claverack to return to his former charge. 
 But the life of the young clergymen had sent out many 
 tendrils since the day in which he left New York city, 
 not knowing where in the future would be his abiding 
 place. At that time he had two children, now he was 
 the father of five, four boys and one little daughter, 
 Charlotte, born four years previous. There was the 
 Seminary which he had been the means of founding, 
 the out-lying churches which depended on his occa- 
 sional ministrations, and to whom his coming was as a 
 torch that shed the light of the Gospel into the weeks 
 barren of religious service or Sacrament. 
 
 Beside all this, there existed his own extensive con- 
 
 100 
 
VISITS FROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 
 gregation nearer home, with whom there had been 
 formed close ties in these years of anxiety and danger. 
 The parsonage and the glebe land were dear to his 
 Pennsylvania wife, and healthful for his children, and 
 once more as in the first instance, he believed that God 
 had called him, this time to stay where his feet had 
 been planted, and regretfully he declined the call to 
 return to his old flock. 
 
 Yet though he decided to stay in Claverack, his 
 heart turned with eager interest toward the future of 
 his early charge. New members were being added to 
 the New York church, with the changing population 
 of the town, and the greater facilities for immigration 
 now that the war was over. Baron Steuben joined 
 himself to the congregation so soon as it gathered 
 itself together once more, remaining a faithful attend- 
 ant on its services when in New York, so long as his 
 life lasted. At his death in 1795 a tablet was placed in 
 the church to his memory, stating at the close of a 
 long and impressive inscription, that it was given by 
 "An American who had the honor to be his Aide-de- 
 camp, and the happiness to be his Friend." 
 
 In the many changes of location that this church has 
 
 101 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 undergone, in its more than a century of existence 
 since his death, the tablet to Baron Steuben has al- 
 ways been carried with them, and in the one hundred 
 and fiftieth anniversary of the church held recently at 
 its present location in East 68th St., the tablet to Baron 
 Steuben, America's friend of Revolutionary days, 
 vied in interest with the bell presented by Kaiser Wil- 
 liam in honor of the celebration. There was also an- 
 other feature of this occasion which connected with 
 the past history of the church. Rev. John G. Gebhard, 
 D. D., a great grandson of their old minister, partici- 
 pated in the anniversary ceremonies, while in the 
 audience were Karl and John G. Gebhard, Jr., the 
 fifth generation in descent from the old Dominie. 
 
 A still more important member, in the opinion 
 of the family at the Claverack parsonage, was added 
 to the New York church about 1784, in the person of 
 John Jacob Astor, a young German from Waldorf in 
 the Duchy of Baden, the home town of Dominie Geb- 
 hard. 
 
 Letters had been few and far between during the 
 years of the war. Many a heart hungered for news 
 of friends bound to them by close family ties, though 
 
 102 
 
VISITS FROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 
 the ocean rolled between. A year earlier a letter from 
 Germany had reached the Claverack parsonage 
 through the good offices of Benjamin Franklin, the 
 writer being the Dominie's younger brother, Ludwig. 
 The letter referred to the Dominie's loss of property 
 through the war, but his happiness, nevertheless, in 
 founding an institution of learning. It also told of 
 the marrying and scattering to Zelt, Rotterdam, 
 Frankfort, and Strassburg of the various brothers and 
 sisters and their children, and their material welfare. 
 
 A touch of pathos blends with humor in the naive 
 remark of the young brother who writes, " Our 
 mother is still living. Do you remember, my dear 
 brother, when we took leave of each other in Bingen, 
 how our dear mother wept, and asked you what she 
 was to do with me. Now you can see that it is never 
 well to despair." There is a suggestion of coming to 
 America, when peace is declared, if the mother gives 
 her consent, with articles of merchandise sent by Ger- 
 man merchants, and a return cargo of American pro- 
 ducts. Such letters, taking one back to the hearth- 
 stones of the faraway homes, must have warmed the 
 heart of the wanderer even though the new home was 
 
 103 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 becoming dearer each year. With warm German affec- 
 tion the letter closes, "Farewell to you and your deaf 
 family. I kiss you all in spirit, and remain for all time. 
 "Your Faithful Brother, 
 
 "LUDWIG GEBHARD," 
 "Strassburg, Jan. 22nd, 1783." 
 
 But when John Jacob Astor raised the brass knock- 
 er of the old parsonage door, he outstripped the most 
 vividly written letter, with his late personal contact 
 with all that had been familiar and dear in the Domi- 
 nie's youth. 
 
 Young Astor entered into the fur business immedi- 
 ately on his arrival in New York, and in a short time 
 was making trips for his master to Montreal, the chief 
 fur-market of the country. With a pack on his back 
 he struck into the wilderness above Albany, but going 
 or coming he was quite sure to stop off at Claverack 
 Landing, or sometimes tramp along the Albany road 
 direct to the parsonage gate. 
 
 Those were great visits, in which old and young had 
 their own favorite theme of conversation. The boys 
 were never late to supper the nights that John Astor 
 came. Neither fishing, swimming, nutting nor gun- 
 
 104 
 
VISITS FROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 
 ning in its season, held a superior charm to the 
 stories of adventure in the fur-trade to the Gebhard 
 boys. Logs were piled on the open fire in the great 
 fire-place on cool evenings, and bed-time v^as ignored 
 even by the practical mother, v^^hile the boys' eyes 
 grew large and starry, as the young fur-merchant told 
 of the dangers of the wild lands in northern and west- 
 ern New York, where untamed animals abounded, of 
 meetings with Indian chiefs, of baskets of toys or 
 sometimes cakes, that would buy valuable skins, of 
 the bogs that had delayed his journeys, or floating 
 bridges with wide spaces between the logs, over which 
 he and his pack must go in safety. There were his canoe 
 trips up Lake George, and embarking again, on to the 
 head of Lake Champlain, which held the boys' undi- 
 vided attention. His companion on these occasions 
 was an Indian paddler and guide; and again when the 
 pelts were secured Indians transported them to the 
 head of the Hudson where they were sent on sloops to 
 New York. 
 
 Sometimes the Gebhard boys knew of some skins 
 among the country lads, and young Astor picked up 
 
 105 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 even at Claverack, a small addition to his stock in 
 trade. 
 
 But the conversation did not always turn on the 
 American w^ilderness, or its fur-bearing animals, or 
 trade in skins. After the little ones were tucked in 
 their trundle-beds, the older boys and the Dominie's 
 wife sat by, while the two men talked of the home of 
 their boyhood across the sea. Every man, woman, and 
 child in the little village of Waldorf was familiar to 
 them both, but Dominie Gebhard had left home twelve 
 years before, so the younger man brought with him a 
 fund of information full of a living interest. 
 
 John Jacob Astor had been the son of the village 
 market-man, while Dominie Gebhard had been the 
 minister's son, though his father had died when he was 
 twelve years old, yet life in the German village had 
 presented many similar duties and pleasures to each. 
 Both boys had studied the catechism with great care 
 under the village pastor, and after being examined 
 walked to church in a procession, the girls in white 
 and the boys in their best suits. After this came the 
 rite of Confirmation and the Sacrament. This was 
 both a solemn and a joyous occasion which took place 
 
 106 
 
VISITS FROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 
 every two years, and for which a girl or boy was sup- 
 posed to be prepared, at the age of fourteen years. 
 Besides Confirmation there were three other fes- 
 tival days, Baptism, Weddings and Christmas. These 
 were all religious feasts, but the days ended in much 
 sociability and innocent merry-making. Both of these 
 young German lads also had younger brothers and sis- 
 ters to care for, which all their lives made them tender 
 with children. 
 
 After Confirmation the two boys' paths lay in differ- 
 ent directions. Young Gebhard's lay toward school 
 and college, but John Astor's father was not able to 
 meet the expense of apprenticing him to a good trade. 
 This however did not deter the boy. He did not mean 
 to carry on his father's business, and kept his eyes 
 open and his mind alert to find an opening in life to 
 his taste. Here again the two young German youths 
 had been moved by the same impulse, the love of ad- 
 venture, and the desire to see the " New Land" across 
 the sea. When young Gebhard left home, John Jacob 
 was eight years old. Doubtless he had seen many 
 other youths depart from the little German village. 
 One of his own brothers had gone to America, and an- 
 
 107 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 other to England. 
 
 John Astor meant to go too, and one day when he 
 was nearly seventeen he started. No matter how un- 
 easy a boy is at home, when he makes his first attempt 
 to leave it, its value enhances by the hour, and a lump 
 in his throat is quite sure to go with the young travel' 
 er, and spoil the first part of the journey. So it was 
 with John Jacob Astor when he set out on foot one 
 morning, a bundle of clothes on a stick over his shoul- 
 der, a crown or two in his pocket, to walk to the Rhine 
 a few miles distant. Instead of a joyous journey tow- 
 ard the desire of his heart, it bid fair to be a dismal 
 path of homesickness, until sitting down under a tree 
 to rest as the morning advanced, he made some resolu- 
 tions which gave him a grip on his melting feelings, 
 and no doubt later on, a firm grasp on the best things 
 of life. 
 
 These resolutions were three in number, "to be hon- 
 est, industrious, and not to gamble." At this point he 
 was likely to turn his eyes keenly on the boys before 
 him, knowing that these were good resolutions for 
 boys on both sides of the sea. 
 
 After this he went on with better courage. It was 
 
 108 
 
VISITS FROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 
 the portion of the story which followed, which always 
 held the Gebhard boys' most eager attention. 
 
 Part of the great Black Forest is in Baden. The 
 timber cut in the forest was formed into rafts, and 
 rowed by sixty or eighty men or strong boys down the 
 Rhine. These raftsmen were boarded during the jour- 
 ney, and paid ten dollars in money at its end. Many 
 voyagers bound for the "New Land," earned their way 
 to the coast in this fashion. John Jacob Astor resolved 
 to do this and also earn his passage to England, and 
 though it was hard work and three hundred miles to 
 the coast, he accomplished his purpose. It required 
 fourteen days to reach a Dutch sea-port, but the days, 
 and even the nights, were made merry by songs and 
 jests, from the hopeful and adventurous young lum- 
 bermen. John Jacob Astor reached port with a larger 
 sum of money than he had ever possessed before. Here 
 he took passage for London where an older brother 
 had preceded him, and was at that time engaged in 
 manufacturing musical instruments. 
 
 In London he worked hard and saved money, and 
 learned English at the same time, gaining all the infor- 
 mation possible about America, while he waited for the 
 
 109 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 war to be over. At last he set sail, after word of the trea- 
 ty of peace had reached London, bringing seven flutes 
 with him for sale, and his savings for the years he had 
 been in England, which were about five pounds in 
 money. Each step of.the way had called for courage 
 and perseverb,nce. Even within a day of port the 
 wind died away, and the cold grew intense, so that the 
 ship was frozen in a field of ice for two months. 
 
 But this final misfortune was the means of starting 
 young Astor on his life work, and the after ac- 
 cumulation of his large fortune, for stranded in the 
 same ship was a young fur-dealer, and in the long and 
 wearisome days of waiting, while food gave out and 
 money grew scarce, the two young men formed a 
 friendship, during which time they confided ♦^o 
 each other their previous life stories. It was 
 from this ice-bound companion that Astor learned 
 the possibilities of the fur trade, and day by day a 
 hundred practical facts on hunting, bartering, cur- 
 ing, keeping and selling skins. It was a two months' 
 schooling in preparation for his life-work, with an en- 
 thusiastic teacher who had just successfully carried 
 through a sale of skins in England. 
 
 110 
 
VISITS FROM JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 
 Small wonder that the young man with stories of 
 the Black Forest and lumber camps, Indian adven- 
 tures, wild animals, and successful feats of bartering, 
 was a welcome guest at the parsonage,or that the boys 
 were wont to scan the length of the Albany road at 
 nightfall, for a sturdy figure with a pack on his back, 
 many a day before the young German came, counting 
 his visits as festival occasions. Their father had 
 a still greater regard for these stops by the way, add- 
 ing to the mutual interests and sympathies of the past, 
 the fact that John Jacob Astor soon became a member 
 of the Consistory of the New York church, and its for- 
 mer minister and the new member of its governing 
 body, found much in common in discussing the growth 
 and prosperity of this well-loved organization. 
 
 Ill 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CHURCH CUSTOMS ONE HUNDRED 
 YEARS AGO. 
 
 The oldest of the Record books of the Claverack 
 church, is bound in parchment, and tied with soft skin 
 cords, and bears on its cover the inscription, 
 " KIRK EN DORP BOEK, 
 KLAVERACK 
 I 727- I 789. 
 and on its title page, " Glory to God forever." 
 
 It records among other matters of note, that during 
 the building of the church in Dominie Fryenmoet's 
 time, 1767, payment was made for seats through pre- 
 vious work on, or for, the new building, " breaking 
 stone, riding stone, ditching the foundaments of the 
 church, cutting fire wood, cutting timber," etc. So 
 ttiuch a matter of heart-interest was this building of 
 the church by personal effort, that the record of the 
 first "stick of timber " contributed, has been kept. As 
 
 112 
 
CHURCH CUSTOMS. 
 
 in many other instances, the first offering did not come 
 from the nearest members, but over the road several 
 miles away, from what is now Greenport, Joris Decker 
 wheeled his "stick of timber," quite possibly prepared 
 with his own hands from the felling of the tree, to the 
 final delivery on the site of the new church building. 
 That others followed heartily in Joris Decker's foot- 
 steps, was proved by the finished edifice a little later. 
 
 Seats began to be rented for money in a few months. 
 Dominie Fryenmoet's call was to the three churches of 
 Kinderhook, Claverack and Livingston Manor, each of 
 which had its separate consistory. Although Dominie 
 Gebhard preached upon occasion at Livingston, and 
 baptized and married many of that congregation in its 
 pastorless seasons, the Livingston Manor Church was 
 not under the charge of the pastor of the Claverack 
 church at this time. 
 
 Ministers' salaries of those days were not large, and 
 the salary of the minister of the Claverack church nev- 
 er exceeded one hundred and fifty pounds a year, but 
 with the aid of a small patrimon}'^ and the assistance 
 of a most capable wife, Dominie Gebhard was enabled 
 to give seven sons a classical and professional educa- 
 
 113 
 9 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 tion. This was no doubt made possible by the pur- 
 chase of a farm near the Stone Mills. Upon this place 
 he erected a plant for extracting oil from the castor 
 bean, for which he received a patent. A little stream 
 running through the grounds was utilized to run the 
 mill, and crops of castor beans were raised here annu- 
 ally, as well as in the parsonage garden. 
 
 Some old papers give points as to the payment of 
 the minister's salary. The members of the congrega- 
 tion were supposed to contribute pounds or shillings 
 according to their ability for seat rent, and loads of 
 wood or bushels of wheat additional, for the parson- 
 age use. It is noticeable in the accounts which have 
 been preserved, that the loads of wood were generous- 
 ly given, but the bushels of wheat do not appear, bush- 
 els of rye or corn sometimes taking their place. Since 
 wheat was already called for by the Patroon, as rent, 
 it is hardly probable that a third division of small 
 crops was compatible with home consumption. 
 
 Dominie Gebhard not only preached in Dutch in his 
 Claverack church, but also in German and occasionally 
 in English. The English sermons, however, were read 
 from a manuscript, while in Dutch and German he 
 
 X14 
 
CHURCH CUSTOMS. 
 
 preached extemporaneously. The record of the text of 
 the first English sermon has been preserved as taken 
 from Revelation i : 7. Since this was the third language 
 in which he had been called upon to preach since land- 
 ing in America, it was a noteworthy text and sermon. 
 
 Upon his arrival in Claverack he found the congre- 
 gation divided over the erection of the new church, 
 and some of the members still worshiped in the little 
 old frame building, which stood near the spot where 
 the Court House was afterward built, but by frequent 
 calls and pacific intervention, he poured oil on the 
 troubled waters, and at last drew the divided congre- 
 gation together once more. 
 
 Sunday collections were recorded in columns devot- 
 ed to "paper money," "silver," and "coppers," and in 
 this same connection were headlines portioning space 
 for "Money for the poor of the Kirk." 
 
 In these records names of Philip, Delamater, Harder, 
 Snyder, Smith, Van Deusen, Stupplebeen, Miller, Gaul, 
 Ten Broeck, Skinkle, Storm, Williams, Best, Moul, 
 Ludlow, Van Allen, Van de Kar, Van Rensselaer, Bay, 
 Leggett, Kittle, Monel, Milham, Sagendorph, Morris, 
 Van Ness, Rowley, Mesick, Hogeboom, Esselstyn, 
 
 115 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Shumacher, Lant, Hoffman, and Rossman abound, 
 often five, six or more heads of families of the same 
 name, or sons of one family following each other in a 
 line. 
 
 Seats in church were allotted to each family with the 
 number of sittings mentioned. "John Bay 7 seats; 
 Philip Harder No. 44, 2 seats ; No. 42 reserved for Rev. 
 Mr. Gebhard ; Stephen Hogeboom 7 seats ; Stephen 
 Miller 4 seats." 
 
 Two candidates were always presented in the elec- 
 tion of deacons and elders. Both were placed upon 
 record, and the number of votes received by each, indi- 
 cated by successive credit marks after their respective 
 names. When a member of Consistory was absent 
 without a reasonable excuse from Consistory Meeting, 
 he was fined one dollar. 
 
 A touch of brotherly kindness sometimes found its 
 way into the records, as proved by the statement that 
 the Consistory had made a "wood bee" for the Domi- 
 nie. 
 
 Peter and Etje Hogeboom, twins, were baptized Au- 
 gust 30th, 1795 with two sets of sponsors. They were 
 apparently christened the day they were born. In- 
 
 U6 
 
CHURCH CUSTOMS. 
 
 deed, from some closely connecting dates, it would 
 seem that infants were often baptized at home, or on 
 the festival days of the church. It must have been a 
 usual sight to see the Dominie sally forth, prayer-book 
 in hand, almost any morning of the year, to the house 
 of a member of his congregation, where he was met by 
 friends of the family ready to stand as god-father and 
 god-mother for the little stranger. As these bap- 
 tisms took place with great regularity when the infant 
 was two weeks old, or a month at the latest, it would 
 be inferred that the failure to present the child in 
 church, did not suggest any negligence on the part of 
 parents, or friends. However, in the time of Dominie 
 Gebhard's English associate, it was expressly "re- 
 solved that infants shall be baptized in church, if both 
 parents are able to come, and the child. If not, one or 
 more elders shall attend." 
 
 For thirty-three years William Van Ness led the 
 singing of the Claverack church, a commentary on the 
 migratory nature of choirs to-day. In this same con- 
 nection it was also "resolved that the Clerk of Consis- 
 tory take his place immediately by the pupit, and pitch 
 the tune and take the lead in singing the Psalm, and 
 
 117 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 that he ring the bell, keep the Deacon's records, shut 
 the church, and provide the water to be used in bap- 
 tism," for all of which he received thirty dollars a year. 
 Divine service was to commence precisely at ten 
 o'clock A. M. and after one hour of intermission the 
 afternoon service began. The hour's intermission gave 
 opportunity for partaking of a hearty lunch, and re- 
 plenishing the little foot-stoves at the parsonage fire. 
 Every wagon driving to church on Sunday morning, 
 contained one or more of these little stoves, with their 
 wooden frames and metal sides pierced with many 
 holes. The door at one side allowed of the slipping in 
 of a small fire pan, while a wire handle made it possi- 
 ble to carry the tiny furnaces safely. These little com- 
 forters traveled to church not only in the wagons com- 
 ing from the farm houses, but also in the coaches from 
 the Manor Houses, and women and maidens who walk- 
 ed over the snow-trodden paths on foot, came swinging 
 their little foot-stoves in the icy air. It was considered 
 a great innovation when, after 1800, a tin plated box- 
 stove stood on its tall legs in the very center of the 
 church, its long pipe going out of the window. This 
 moderated the freezing atmosphere beyond the radius 
 
 118 
 
CHURCH CUSTOMS. 
 
 of the foot stoves, but it was still common to see one's 
 breath in the air during the winter months. 
 
 The sands of the hour glass on the pulpit desk ran 
 many races with Jack Frost as he nipped the fingers 
 and toes of both Dominie and congregation. Preach- 
 ing and listening both required courage in those days, 
 and our fore-fathers surely did not expect to be "car- 
 ried to the skies on flowery beds of ease." 
 
 The Dominie added teaching the catechism to the 
 children of the church, to his other duties, though 
 it is probable that this catechetical examination took 
 place on Saturday afternoon, and was not a part of the 
 Sunday service. 
 
 It seems to have been the custom of minister and 
 elders to make a round of calls on every family in the 
 congregation prior to the Communion of the Lord's 
 Supper. On these visitations delinquents were dealt 
 with, new members gathered into the fold, and occa- 
 sionally votes were taken as to the sense of the con- 
 gregation on important matters, members of the 
 church signing their names with a mark distinguishing 
 them from those who were simply supporters. 
 
 It was a custom of the times to add to each baptis- 
 
 119 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 mal record in the family Bible, the name of the officiat- 
 ing clergyman, also the name of the minister perform- 
 ing the marriage ceremonies recorded in the same 
 book. The Claverack Bibles, both Dutch and English, 
 for many years bore the name of Dominie Gebhard re- 
 peated many times down these long lists of vital sta- 
 tistics. 
 
 So the years went by with a hundred aims and occu- 
 pations, secular and religious, but through them all 
 wove the golden thread of sacramental service, claimed 
 by the people and given freely by the pastor, a draw- 
 ing of heavenly things into the life of a wide-sweeping 
 territory. 
 
 120 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LIFE AT THE PARSONAGE. 
 
 By 1800 the parsonage was full of children, and 
 some of them grown to young manhood had left the 
 home nest, and were writing back of the events of the 
 outside world. The eldest son Jacob, lately admitted 
 to the bar, wrote from Philadelphia in 1795 relative to 
 the Connecticut claims on Susquehannah Lands, 
 boundaries and titles and land claims occupying a 
 large amount of legal attention in those days. In this 
 case the charge of District Judge Patterson, formerly 
 Governor of New Jersey, "was considered one of the 
 most eminent ever delivered in this city," the young 
 man wrote. "Titles, and Charter, and the Indian 
 deed upon which the Connecticut claim rested, were 
 esteemed as nothing" — Mulenburgh, the Speaker in 
 Congress, told the young man that "there was little 
 hope of Jay's return till the following October, the ex- 
 pected treaty to be sent over, not having arrived be- 
 
 121 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 fore the rising of Congress." 
 
 Matters of public interest were laid aside to speak of 
 a prescription sent to Claverack by the celebrated Dr. 
 Rush. The writer says he was told that it was a sim- 
 ple medicine, but it would be well to let Dr. Monell, 
 the family physician, see it. Dr. Rush had written 
 with the prescription, that "he felt himself very much 
 honored by the application from so great a distance." 
 Those were evidently days in which the home practi- 
 tioner sat in judgment on the city physician's advice, 
 rather than followed with open admiration the spec- 
 ialist's skill. There were family remembrances to old 
 and young, in which the Philadelphia relatives were 
 each represented, ending with the word from the child 
 in the Philadelphia family to the little girl in the par- 
 sonage. "Polly Seitz wants to see Charlotte down 
 very much," and ending with the respect of the per- 
 iod. 
 
 "Your son and humble servant, 
 
 "JACOB GEBHARD." 
 
 For many years only one little girl had made merry 
 in the old parsonage, with seven brothers. It is small 
 wonder that she was a great favorite with her parents 
 
 122 
 
LIFE AT THE PARSONAGE. 
 
 and the older children. The congregation named her 
 atTectionately "the Dominie's laughing daughter," and 
 the chronicles of the time speak of her as "very active 
 and sprightly with a vein of mischief in her composi- 
 tion." It had been customary occasionally to name a 
 baby in some of the families of the church after the 
 Dominie or his wife, for whom they were sponsors, 
 and as Charlotte grew up she was admitted into this 
 form of spiritual friendship. The name of Charlotte 
 became a favorite among the mothers, and the Domi- 
 nie's daughter stood as god-mother to many little girls 
 named after her. 
 
 On his long rides to the outlying churches, her fath- 
 er delighted to take her with him, and we can imagine 
 the digniiied clergyman of the old school, and his sun- 
 ny-faced daughter as they rode through the spring 
 sunshine, over the wagon-roads and through the 
 woods, that led to the churches of the tiny set- 
 tlements. We know that she sometimes wore a white- 
 corded dimity, sprinkled over with purple tulips, short 
 waisted and low-necked, and it is not difficult to be- 
 lieve that the Dominie on his country rounds was 
 doubly welcome when he brought his fair young 
 
 123 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 daughter with him. A busy and useful daughter she 
 needed to be also, with so many boys in the family, 
 and within a year a new baby had come to gladden the 
 home. After eighteen years, there was a second girl 
 in the parsonage, who proved to be the last of the 
 Dominie's children. 
 
 Deft of finger and quick of motion, Charlotte was 
 her mother's right hand in all household matters. 
 Spinning and weaving were a constant part of the 
 day's work in such a home, or how would so many 
 boys have obtained their homespun suits of pepper 
 and salt. Knitting long stockings, too, was among the 
 day's tasks, but that could be done in the firelight, 
 while the boys were studying their lessons after sup- 
 per, in front of the brightly blazing pine knots. 
 
 There had been long patient hours in the chimney 
 corner, or out on the porch when she was a thirteen 
 year old girl, at which time she made her sampler as 
 all children did at that day. She learned in this way to 
 make perfect marking letters, with which the family 
 linen had been marked ever since. Such a sampler 
 had woven into it a hundred experiences, and some 
 tears. It was not easy to sit still and work her stint 
 
 124 
 
LIFE AT THE PARSONAGE. 
 
 when the sun shone, and the birds sang, and all the 
 sweet voices and odors of spring and summer invited 
 her out of doors, nor yet when the boys teased as boys 
 always will at times. But when her mother was mak- 
 ing olekoeks in the kitchen, and the delicious smell 
 was wafted in to her, with the promise of a large 
 round doughnut when her stint was done, or when she 
 and a neighbor's little girl sat on the porch steps to- 
 gether, and ran a race making a letter, even a sampler 
 had its charms. There was also the end to look for- 
 ward to, when the alphabet large and small was fin- 
 ished, and the numerals beside, and even her own 
 name and age, and the year the sampler was complet- 
 ed, and one might fill out the remaining space with an 
 imaginary house, with chimney and doors, bedsteads 
 and chairs, and even trees in the door yard in front. 
 This was the reward at the end of hundreds of pains- 
 taking stitches. 
 
 But at eighteen Charlotte could assist at the Satur- 
 day's baking, helping her mother and their slave girl 
 Nan make pies and cake and bread, a feast for an 
 army, it seemed, for the boys had great appetites, and 
 the parsonage kept open doors for its many visitors. 
 
 125 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Katee, the slave boy, was called in from the garden on 
 Saturday mornings to turn the spit before the great 
 oven, and lay the logs in the fire place in the parlor, 
 for the best room at the parsonage was sure to be used 
 on Sunday, no matter how carefully it was kept closed 
 on week days. This also was one of Charlotte's du- 
 ties, to dust the Chippendale chairs, and set every- 
 thing in the room very straight and orderly. Many 
 ships came and went from the near by town of Hud- 
 son, which had grown out of the hamlet at Claverack 
 Landing, since the Quaker settlers came from Nan- 
 tucket, and nearly every home was adorned with beau- 
 tiful pink-lined shells, and curios brought from distant 
 ports by the sailors. 
 
 The heavy wooden bookcase, with its double doors, 
 and long narrow hinges, and wooden buttons top and 
 bottom, shut in the Dominie's hoarded treasures of 
 books, — many of them brought from Holland, and 
 Germany, and France, — away from any contaminating 
 contact. Charlotte sometimes opened the doors and 
 took a peep at some of the unreadable volumes, part 
 of them already one and two hundred years old, rel- 
 ics of her German grandfather's library, but she soon 
 
 126 
 
LIFE AT THE PARSONAGE. 
 
 tired of so uninteresting an occupation, and closed the 
 doors again on the odor of print and leather. 
 
 The large German mirror, with its rich gilt frame 
 and heavy glass, was much more interesting to the 
 young girl as she saw reflected there her own hazel- 
 gray eyes and flaxen head of hair, — home spun dress 
 and home-made shoes to be sure, — but beneath them 
 both the rounded grace of girlhood. The dust-cloth 
 was accustomed to many flirts at the girl in the mir- 
 ror, and even a dust-cloth may feel in some occult 
 way, the difference between musty books, and a pink- 
 cheeked, laughing girl. 
 
 The German piano, on which their father played 
 when their mother sang German chorals, was also in 
 the room, but dearer to the hearts of the children was 
 the piano which their father had constructed with his 
 own hands, which was kept in the living room, and 
 upon which they were allowed to try their own bud- 
 ding musical genius. There were but few houses of 
 this date which did not boast some patriotic colored 
 print, "Washington with His Family," "Washington's 
 Reception in New York," or "Washington's Triumph- 
 al Progress Through Trenton." The girls of Trenton 
 
 127 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS, 
 
 scattering flowers before the hero's feet, adorned the 
 parsonage walls. 
 
 The boys, too, had their Saturday work weeding the 
 bean and vegetable gardens, churning, drawing water 
 from the well with the bucket hung to the long well- 
 sweep, milking, getting vegetables from cellar or gar- 
 den, bringing down hams from the garret, and per- 
 haps, when all other duties were faithfully accom- 
 plished, there might be an opportunity for a Saturday 
 half-holiday, to take a tramp into the woods with the 
 sons of some neighbor to shoot wild turkeys or duck 
 which were plentiful, and considered a luxury fit to 
 set before the most honored guest. At night there 
 would still be a trip to the stage-house, two boys on 
 the old horse's back, to see if any mail had come, or 
 guests expected, or unlocked for, had arrived. 
 
 One can imagine the long line of the Dominie's chil- 
 dren walking up the wagon-path to the church after 
 the Sunday morning breakfast of suppawn and milk, 
 and quieted to a becomingly reverential behavior for 
 the sanctuary. The Dominie is said to have reviewed 
 his sermon as he walked up and down the living room 
 on Sunday morning, the room being also filled by a 
 
 128 
 
LIFE AT THE PARSONAGE. 
 
 half dozen children, with as many occupations, and the 
 natural hilarity of a group of young people under such 
 circumstances. The mother was the governing force 
 among her lively group of boys and girls, and when 
 the noise broke through the Dominie's meditations 
 on the eighth or tenth head of his discourse, his at- 
 tention being violently drawn from theology to the 
 rising generation, his disturbance is said to have 
 found vent in the forceful disciplinary remark, that "if 
 they didn't behave and make less noise, he would call 
 their mother and she would punish them all around," 
 at which they settled down for a short time into com- 
 parative quiet, with half audible, though smothered 
 chuckles of laughter, knowing well that their mother 
 would not be called. 
 
 Among the Sunday morning baptisms particularly 
 pleasing to the parsonage children and their young 
 friends, were those of the tiny little colored babies, the 
 children of the slaves held throughout the congrega- 
 tion. There were many of these babies, often named 
 for their masters and mistresses, and their sponsors 
 some Pompey or Flora of a neighboring farm, or oc- 
 casionally their owners acted in this capacity for the 
 
 129 
 10 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 little "niger," "nigra," or "nigri," as the records read, 
 according to the number, or sex of the children. 
 
 These slaves were also the loving caretakers of the 
 wh'.te children in the Claverack homes, carrying them 
 about tenderly in their dark arms, or crooning lulla- 
 bies to them in the twilight. Occasionally the well- 
 beloved "mammy" was an Indian squaw, and the baby 
 was tied to her back instead of carried in her arms, as 
 she was accustomed to do with her own pappoose. 
 With their mistresses' babies on their backs, these 
 squaws often scrubbed the floors in the houses, with 
 long-handled brushes, and in a hundred ways were in- 
 dispensable to the life of the times. 
 
 130 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LOVER'S LANES AND PARSONAGE 
 WEDDINGS. 
 
 Sunday afternoon was the great time at the parson- 
 age. All day there was an atmosphere of eager ex- 
 pectancy. Sometimes the Dominie was forewarned as 
 to the need of his services, but often the young cou- 
 ples coming to be married at this time were wholly un- 
 expected, except through past experience. Groups of 
 young people would appear on pleasant Sunday after- 
 noons, following one another, or meeting on the par- 
 sonage porch. All the roads which led to the Domi- 
 nie's home were lover's lanes, and the couples who 
 met each other riding in a chaise along the Albany 
 road, or on the turnpike from Hudson, or walking 
 through some leafy bridle-path, looked upon one an- 
 other with interested eyes, the sympathy of kindred 
 aims creating mutual recognition. 
 
 Here also, the Dominie's wife proved a god-mother 
 
 131 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 to many a young bride, with her wise counsel and 
 motherly interest. The knowledge that ere they met 
 the critical ordeal of the marriage ceremony, they 
 would see the benign face of the Dominie's wife in 
 its closely crimped cap, and her kindly eyes would 
 look into theirs, and her helpful hands would come to 
 their aid, smoothing rumpled finery, heartening the 
 timid, rejoicing with the dominant note of happiness 
 in the blushing brides and waiting grooms, made the 
 path to the marriage altar a less awesome experi- 
 ence, than it might otherwise have been. 
 
 As many as six couples were often joined in wed- 
 lock on one Sunday afternoon, and one is not surprised 
 that the old Dutch hymn book and liturgy bound to- 
 gether, should show its marriage and baptism pages 
 deeply yellowed through much use,with here and there 
 a torn corner of a leaf neatly sewn in place. A small 
 marriage fee was required by law, but was not always 
 forthcoming. The story of a young sailor who brought 
 his sweetheart to be married at the parsonage, imme- 
 diately before sailing for a distant port, suggests that 
 the Dominie and his wife as the connecting bond in 
 the life happiness of many, were remembered in the 
 
 133 
 
PARSONAGE WEDDINGS. 
 
 days of prosperity. The young sailor is said to have 
 remarked, that at that time his only riches lay in hi^ 
 bride, but when he came back from his voyage he 
 would remember the Dominie and his wife, which 
 promise he faithfully kept, bringing them a barrel of 
 oranges on his return. 
 
 These festal occasions also had their thrilling epi- 
 sodes. Parental authority was exercised strictly even 
 over marriage contracts, resulting many times in run- 
 away matches. There were rooms in some of the 
 Claverack houses, which had seen a fair damsel im- 
 prisoned on bread and water, until she had consented 
 to the choice of a husband, made by her father and 
 mother. This form of selection of a life companion 
 did not always remain unchanged after the imprison- 
 ment was over, as was probably the case with the 
 young woman who fled precipitantly from the parson- 
 age door, after coming to be married, exclaiming hot- 
 ly as she sprang into her chaise and drove away, that 
 " she would never marry that man." There has also 
 come down the decided remark of an independent 
 young woman of the period, commenting on a fair 
 prisoner who had yielded her own wishes after such 
 
 133 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 a course of persuasion. "P was a goose. They 
 
 could have locked me up till doomsday before I would 
 have married John Smith, or John anything else, when 
 I v/anted Jeremiah." 
 
 It was a time of gift giving and receiving. The 
 country and city exchanged their mutual luxuries, and 
 tropical fruits from Jamaica, Canton-ware from China, 
 and Staffordshire from England traveled over the seas, 
 as did also beautiful mahogany furniture and tapes- 
 tries from France, and many other articles of value 
 from distant ports. The town of Hudson, four miles 
 distant, being the head of navigation at this time, 
 brought a wealth of foreign luxuries and conveniences 
 into the lives of the people. 
 
 It was customary to order sets of fine porcelain 
 from China, decorated with a center piece of ermine 
 drapery, on the foreground of which was a shield bear- 
 ing the owner's initials or family crest. Governor 
 Morris, whose son had been one of Dominie Gebhard's 
 pupils at the parsonage, ordered on one of these voy- 
 ages a set of fine china of three hundred pieces, with a 
 border in deep blue, starred with gold, and decorated 
 with the ermine and the initials J. G. G. in a shield 
 
 134 
 
PARSONAGE WEDDINGS. 
 
 upon each piece. These he presented to Dominie Geb- 
 hard, in grateful recognition of his kindness to his 
 son. A large proportion of this set of china is still in 
 existence, and one can fancy it adorning the parsonage 
 table on festival occasions, and the pride of the Domi- 
 nie's wife as dainty tea-pot and helmet pitcher, egg 
 shell tea-cups, and blue and gold-edged plates decorat- 
 ed her board, with a background of snow-white linen, 
 for whose spinning and weaving and bleaching she 
 was famous. 
 
 There were apple-paring bees and quiltings, sleigh- 
 ride parties and weddings in the country, but even the 
 minister's family sometimes looks with envious eyes 
 upon the gayeties of the world's people. There is a 
 story of Charlotte's going to spend a night with some 
 friends in Hudson, where she found an opportunity to 
 attend one of the Assemblies. These were scenes of 
 much life and gayety, also the opportunity for the dis- 
 play of most fascinating costumes in the fashions of 
 the day. The young Patroon found the Dominie's 
 daughter additionally charming in this new light, not 
 suspecting that part of the sparkle in her hazel eyes, 
 came from the excitement of the stolen pleasure. 
 
 135 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 When he called the next day at the parsonage, pre- 
 pared to rehearse the joys of the previous evening, the 
 secret came out, and Charlotte attended no more As- 
 semblies, in Hudson at least, though Philadelphia 
 seems to have afforded an outlet in many ways for the 
 parsonage young people. 
 
 The young Patroon appears on the scene again, 
 with a request to the Dominie that his fleet-footed son 
 Lewis might be allowed to compete with some young 
 Yankees in a New England town in the vicinity, 
 where races were to be run on General Training Day. 
 Lewis had already made this request and been refused, 
 as the Dominie did not consider it a sport befitting the 
 minister's son, but the young Patroon pleaded well, 
 pointing out that it would not do to let their Yankee 
 neighbors feel that they could outstrip the students of 
 Washington Seminary, when they knew that they had 
 the swiftest man in a race the country round. The 
 Dominie yielded through the pressure brought to bear 
 on him, and Lewis and the young Patroon went to the 
 race, accompanied no doubt by such students as stood 
 for the athletics of the day. They returned footsore 
 and weary, but jubilant, for the medium-sized, slight- 
 
 136 
 
PARSONAGE WEDDINGS. 
 
 ly-built, swift-footed German youth, had far out- 
 stripped the long-limbed, boastful Yankee, and they 
 felt that Washington Seminary had won her laurels. 
 It was thought at the time that the Dominie evinced 
 all the pride in his son and the Seminary, compatible 
 with his position. 
 
 The fleetness of foot of the youthful Lewis remained 
 to his life's end. When he died in 1875, aged eighty- 
 three, he was the oldest practicing physician in Phil- 
 adelphia, and a man whose light tread and skillful fin- 
 gers were renowned in the sick-rooms of the Quaker 
 city. It was his deft fingers in 1808, which made a 
 pen-picture of the church, parsonage, and Washington 
 Seminary, as they then stood, which is the source of 
 our knowledge of them to-day. The boyish training 
 of eye, and foot, and finger served him well in after 
 life. 
 
 137 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 DIVIDING THE MANORS, AND THE CLAV- 
 ERACK COURT HOUSE. 
 
 Three years after the close of the war the County 
 of Columbia was formed. It cut off a part of Albany- 
 County and took Livingston Manor from Dutchess 
 County. Thus nearly three-quarters of the new coun- 
 ty was covered by the original Lower Van Renssel- 
 aer Manor, Livingston Manor, and Clermont. 
 
 A little more than a year previous, in 1784, Claver- 
 ack had been divided between the heirs of the Pa- 
 troon, Johannes Van Rensselaer, the heirs being his 
 grandson, John I., only child of the Patroon's eldest 
 son. Colonel John Jeremias Van Rensselaer and Ju- 
 dith Bayard, and his remaining children. General 
 Robert Rutsen Van Rensselaer, Colonel Henry I. Van 
 Rensselaer, and James, together with Catherine, wife 
 of General Philip Schuyler. Several of the heirs al- 
 ready lived upon the land of the Lower Manor at 
 
 138 
 
DIVIDING THE MANORS. 
 
 Claverack, in homes of their own. John I. who suc- 
 ceeded to the house at Crailo and the manorial rights, 
 sold the latter out of the family, and eventually they 
 were owned by Mr. John Watts, a long-time resident 
 of Claverack, and grandfather of J. Watts De Peyster. 
 
 After the Revolution, though not until 1792, Living- 
 ston Manor was also divided between the children and 
 grandchildren of Robert, its last Lord. In this divi- 
 sion Robert Thong, the eldest son of Peter R. and 
 Margaret Livingston, came into possession of the old 
 Manor House and the surrounding land as a special 
 bequest. Robert Thong built the house which is occu- 
 pied by his great grandson Alexander L. Crofts to-day, 
 the eighth in descent from Robert, the first Lord of the 
 Livingston Manor. The remaining sons, W^alter, Rob- 
 ert C, John and Henry, each received twenty-eight 
 thousand acres, lying along the post-road from New 
 York to Albany. In 1716 the first Lord of Livingston 
 Manor had taken a seat in the General Assembly, and the 
 succeeding Lords represented the Manor in the same 
 way. Since 1772 Livingston Manor and Claverack had 
 each sent one delegate to the Provincial Legislature. 
 
 In a very short time after the formation of Columbia 
 
 139 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS 
 
 County, a Court House was in process of erection at 
 Claverack, which remained the county-seat until 1805 
 when it was removed to Hudson. There Elisha Wil- 
 liams, James Spencer, Francis Sylvester, the Vander- 
 poels, and other talented members of the bar engaged 
 in far-famed legal conflicts. In 1789 Henry McKin- 
 sey and Timothy Jackson charged with horse-stealing 
 were tried here. They were found guilty and sen- 
 tenced to be hanged, — "severally hanged until respec- 
 tively dead," was the language of Judge Robert Yates, 
 and in eighteen days they were executed in a field 
 near by. 
 
 In 1804 Dr. Croswell was tried here before Chief 
 Justice Lewis of the Supreme Court, for a libel upon 
 President Jefferson, published in his paper the "Hud- 
 son Balance." It was an occasion of great public ex- 
 citement, both from the importance of the question, 
 and the well known legal ability of the counsel on 
 both sides. The people were represented by Ambrose 
 Spencer, Attorney-General> and the defendant by Wil- 
 liam W. Van Ness and Alexander Hamilton. The 
 New York Evening Post describing the trial, spoke 
 both of the plea of Attorney-General Spencer, and the 
 
 140 
 
DIVIDING THE MANORS. 
 
 defense of William W. Van Ness, and then added, 
 "After all came the great and powerful Hamilton. No 
 language can convey an adequate idea of the aston- 
 ishing powers evinced by him. The audience was nu- 
 merous, and although composed of those not used to 
 the melting mood, the effect produced on them was 
 electric. * * * As a correct argument for a lawyer it 
 was very imposing; as a profound commentary upon 
 the science and practice of government it has never 
 been surpassed." 
 
 Dr. Croswell was found guilty notwithstanding the 
 brilliant defense, the case involving some fine points 
 of law, as to whether the truth might be given in evi- 
 dence, which questions were taken before the Supreme 
 Court finally, and a new trial was awarded. 
 
 Again in the last trial conducted in the Claverack 
 Court House, Alexander Hamilton appeared for the 
 Patroon in the case between him and his Nobletown 
 tenants, calling forth afresh the admiration of those 
 in attendance. Among the most brilliant men of his 
 time, and in the estimation of the American people 
 second only to Washington, he had a double inter- 
 est for the people of Claverack, for he had married 
 
 141 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Elizabeth Schuyler, the old Patroon, Colonel Johan- 
 nes Van Rensselaer's granddaughter, and the daugh- 
 ter of Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler. 
 
 At the parsonage there were stories to tell also, how 
 during Dominie Gebhard's pastorate in New York, 
 young Hamilton had been a student at King's Col- 
 lege, and had in the summer of 1774 made a speech on 
 the Common. He was not much more than a boy, be- 
 ing at the time a youth of seventeen, and at first he 
 had faltered, seeing the sea of faces before him, but 
 soon his courage returned with the thought of the 
 wrongs and oppressions of the last few years, and his 
 youthful enthusiasm and eloquence had awakened ex- 
 clamations of wonder and approval from his audience. 
 Already he was silver-tongued, and it was not long be- 
 fore he had the opportunity to use his talent again. 
 
 The following summer a young company of Militia, 
 called "the Heart of Oaks," whose members wore 
 green uniforms, and leather caps with the legend 
 "Freedom or Death" inscribed upon them, had been 
 occupied in moving cannon from the Battery in New 
 York. A British ship approached. One of their num- 
 ber thoughtlessly fired at the vessel, and they received 
 
 142 
 
DIVIDING THE MANORS. 
 
 in return a broadside which killed a young militiaman. 
 The Liberty Boys were greatly excited, and part of 
 them moved toward King's College, intending to cap- 
 ture the President, Doctor Cooper, a well known Tory. 
 Hamilton, discovering their destination, rushed ahead, 
 and standing at the entrance of the College, began an 
 earnest speech, intending that the President should 
 have time to escape. But in his excitement and fright, 
 the President misunderstood, and leaning out of an 
 upper window cried out, "Don't listen to him, gentle- 
 men, he is crazy, he is crazy." 
 
 The laugh that swept through the crowd may have 
 been as beneficial to the President's cause as Hamil- 
 ton's continued oratory. At all events the escape was 
 effected, and a company of youthful patriots were pre- 
 vented from doing some rash act in the heat of their 
 anger. John Jacobie of Claverack had been one of 
 these Sons of Liberty also, and had assisted in destroy- 
 ing the leaden statue of King George in 1776, which 
 statue was later made into bullets for the American 
 army. 
 
 In the early part of the nineteenth century, Alexan- 
 der Hamilton's fame was wide-spread, the achieve- 
 
 143 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ments of his brilliant intellect and honorable polit- 
 ical career were acknowledged by all, even by those 
 politically antagonistic to him. Though Alexan- 
 der Hamilton and Aaron Burr did not meet in Claver- 
 ack, they both visited this celebrated village. Judge 
 William P. Van Ness was Burr's intimate friend, and 
 Stephen Hogeboom, son of Jeremiah Hogeboom of 
 Revolutionary fame, was a member of the Constitu- 
 tional Convention in 1801, at which time Aaron Burr 
 was President of the Convention. It was probably 
 about this time that Colonel Burr, traveling by the 
 post-road, stopped in his journey to Albany at a road- 
 house later belonging to Robert Esselstyn. He was 
 warmly welcomed, and hospitably entertained, but 
 the language which formed the medium of communi- 
 cation between them was inadequate, for Dutch was 
 the common speech in use in this section of the coun- 
 try, and Burr spoke English. Colonel Burr called for 
 a napkin. The request brought about a family confer- 
 ence between the good hostess and her husband, 
 which, two heads being better than one, ended in the 
 triumphant production of a "kniptong" which proved 
 to be a pair of pincers. 
 
 144 
 
DIVIDING THE MANORS. 
 
 The tragic ending of the duel between Hamilton 
 and Burr has cast a shadow over Burr's memory, but 
 in many of the acts of his life he was heroic and patri- 
 otic, and used his great talents for what he deemed 
 to be the good of his country. There are those still 
 living who remember his personal charm, and speak 
 regretfully of the final clouded years of his life. In 
 1804 Columbia County gave Colonel Burr a majority 
 in his contest for the office of Governor. 
 
 Following the removal of the seat of justice to Hud- 
 son, the Claverack Court House passed through var- 
 ious uses, being utilized both as a school and a hall 
 for social gatherings. One of the descendants of 
 Washington Seminary's most noted teacher, Andrew 
 Mayfield Carshore, has painted a picture in rhyme of 
 this latter occupation. 
 
 "The stately minuet's begun 
 
 In fashion's best array. 
 
 There's mischief in the twinkling glance 
 
 At every step's delay ; 
 
 In clasping hands with blushing swain, 
 
 Full-robed in lace and velvet vain, 
 
 The lass can scarce from smiles refrain. 
 
 Throughout the measures of the dance, 
 
 145 
 11 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 All sorts of terpsichorean play, 
 The hornpipe, reel, and jig are done; 
 But not before the risen day, 
 In ruddy blushes, looks askance. 
 That two (in parting almost one) 
 Should waste the hours in pleasure's prance 
 To swaying wand of Stephen Gunn." 
 After several years the building was transformed 
 into an attractive and spacious residence, the home of 
 Mr. Peter Hofifman. Under the summer house in the 
 garden was once the dungeon where malefactors were 
 confined; at the east of the Court House stood the jail 
 and pillory, and up to a recent date the old whipping- 
 post held its place in the cellar. The transformation 
 was a pleasing one, covering the gruesome features 
 of the past with a host of enjoyable associations and 
 recollections, and only retaining the memory of the 
 old Court House in its glory. Charming social events 
 have taken place in this building, both in the olden 
 times, and at a later date. It is at present owned and 
 occupied by the Misses Crane, daughters of Mr. Hi- 
 ram Crane, for many years a resident of the town. 
 
 146 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HOMES OF THE LOWER VAN RENSSELAER 
 MANOR AT CLAVERACK. 
 
 The sons and grandsons of the Patroon of the Low- 
 er Van Rensselaer Manor had intermarried with the 
 colonial families of Rutsens, Douws, Van Cort- 
 landts, Schuylers, Livingstons, De Peysters, Wen- 
 dells, Bayards, and Watts, bringing much intercourse 
 with the active men of afifairs of the outer world, into 
 this rural community. 
 
 Into some of the Manor Houses families of relatives 
 and friends were received during the war, affording as 
 they did, a safe retreat from the dangers that threat- 
 ened places more directly in line with the advance of 
 the contending armies. The old church books record 
 the names of more than one infant, born while shel- 
 tered at the Manor, and baptized by Dominie Gebhard, 
 faring forth again to homes at varying distances when 
 the was was over. General Burgoyne's advance toward 
 
 147 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Albany sent Leonard Gansevoort and Hester Cuyler, 
 his wife, to Claverack, where their daughter Marga- 
 retta was born in one of the Manor Houses, and bap- 
 tized the day of her birth by Dominie Gebhard. 
 
 It was against this same advance of Burgoyne that 
 "Poor's Brigade" marched, enlivening the way by sing- 
 ing psalms, and in their service in the campaign cov- 
 ered themselves with glory 
 
 On the death of Johannes Van Rensselaer, the Pa- 
 troon, his many possessions were divided between his 
 children and heirs, and some of the most interesting 
 stories of those days grow out of old chests and bar- 
 rels stored away in attics for thirty, forty, or fifty 
 years. A large part of the valuable china and silver 
 owned by the family of the Lower Manor was buried 
 at Greenbush during the Revolution. It is possible 
 that this early need of caution was partially responsi- 
 ble for many relics being kept under lock and key in 
 strong chests for years. We have one picture of a 
 chest broken open by later descendants, to discover 
 within a Lafayette platter picturing the landing at 
 Castle Garden, with the Bay full of ships and small 
 craft, and soldiers standing at attention on the wharf, 
 
 148 
 
HOMES OF THE LOWER V. R. MANOR. 
 
 the deep blue color and glaze still uninjured. Side by 
 side with the Lafayette platter were rolls of home- 
 woven blankets, and delicate china cups with a thread- 
 like border and a spray of flowers at the side, dating 
 back to Holland and a century earlier than the Laf- 
 ayette platter. 
 
 Another scene gives a family gathering at a clean- 
 ing-house time, that opportunity for the family histor- 
 ian, when the spectators sat about, as paper after paper 
 was drawn from an old barrel, read and preserved, or 
 thrown aside for a bon-fire as the subject interested or 
 palled upon the listeners. From the same attic which 
 discovered the Lafayette platter, and Holland cups, 
 there traveled down stairs after many years, a half 
 do/.en old Van Rensselaer chairs with the date be- 
 neath the seats, giving them a place in Colonel Jo- 
 hannes' home, probably inherited from his father Hen- 
 drick Van Rensselaer, since they date back two cen- 
 turies. The tall carved backs, and high carved legs, 
 and small leather-covered seats, give an idea of the in- 
 terior of the first Van Rensselaer home at Claverack. 
 as do also the tapestries and the old mahogany desk 
 at which the Patroon sat on many a rent day. 
 
 149 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Among the many heirlooms of value which have 
 passed down the generations of the Van Rensselaer 
 family of the Lower Manor, only one seems to be lack- 
 ing. No portraits of Hendrick, or Colonel Johannes 
 Van Rensselaer, the Patroons of the Claverack Manor 
 have been discovered, or are at present known to have 
 existed. At a later period in Henry I. Van Rensse- 
 laer's time, a prejudice existed among the Van Rens- 
 selaers with regard to family portraits, founded on a 
 visit made to a manorial home, where an ancestral por- 
 trait was being used as a fire-board before a fire- 
 place. 
 
 Though we have not the pictured faces of either of 
 the Patroons who shaped the life of the Claverack of 
 the past, we have a record of them both as promoters 
 of the religious life of the community, as church 
 builders and supporters. Their proprietorship also 
 of the Lower Van Rensselaer Manor is a history full 
 of honor, in which their care for the best interests of 
 the town and the well-being of their tenants was a 
 prominent feature. A beautiful bit of hair-work, — a 
 mourning ring marked "John Van Rensselaer," — is 
 still owned by one of his descendants, an old-time 
 
 150 
 
HOMES OF THE LOWER V. R. MANOR. 
 
 memorial of a man who served well, and was an hon- 
 or to his day and generation. 
 
 The numerous brass and silver candlesticks, and the 
 many brass andirons, all suggest that light and heat 
 were considered carefully and artistically, even though 
 it was not after modern fashion. There were always 
 footstools in these homes, dainty mahogany affairs 
 with curved sides and bars at the ends, and often carv- 
 ed, telling of consideration for the comfort of the old, 
 and as age and childhood often meet, the pleasure of 
 tiie toddler as well, who could not reach up to a chair. 
 
 The pipe of the Patroon or his sons, corresponded in 
 size with his broad acres, suggesting that the found- 
 ers of early clay kilns might have had the Dutchman's 
 taste in mind. Surely an evening's smoke in those 
 days would remind one of a modern chimney in ac- 
 tive use. The mufif and ample bonnet of the Patroon's 
 wife were quite as pretentious. Since the skins of an- 
 imals were plentiful, the fur used in a mufif was not 
 skimped. It is said th^t these winter comforts were 
 large enough at times to hold a baby inside. 
 
 The old Dutch Van Rensselaer Bible owned by the 
 descendants of the Alexander Hamilton Van Rensse- 
 
 151 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 laer branch of the family, and published in 1744, is a 
 heavy and ponderous volume, strengthened and orna- 
 mented by corners and clasps of openwork brass. In 
 the front is an atlas of the world as it was known at 
 that period. From time immemorial children have en- 
 joyed the pictures in old Bibles, and this profusely il- 
 lustrated copy must have made the lagging hours of 
 Sunday afternoon pass quickly for many little Van 
 Rensselaers, with its multitude of small square pic- 
 tures of Bible scenes, portraying the elephant and 
 goat, lambs and horses, oxen and giraffe standing 
 about in friendly fashion with Adam and Eve, or 
 Adam and Eve dressed in skins of animals, driven out 
 of Eden by an angel with a fluted sword, while the 
 snake, with head raised, looked saucily on. 
 
 The family Bible and the fire-place tiles in the Clav- 
 erack houses, afforded the children much entertain- 
 ment, and impressed Bible history on their youthful 
 minds. 
 
 Beside the old carved chairs and the Bible, we have 
 a picture of Colonel Henry I. Van Rensselaer's home 
 at the old Manor House during the war and the early 
 years after it, through the wonderfully preserved rel- 
 
 152 
 
HOMES OF THE LOWER V. R. MANOR. 
 
 ics of the family of Henry I. Van Rensselaer 2d. 
 
 On the old Manor walls among other pictures, hung 
 exquisite paintings on glass, wrought in brilliant 
 colors. Four actresses, three of whom were Mrs. 
 Brooks, Lady Johnson, and Kitty Fisher looked down 
 upon the gazer, with arch glances of coquetry, even 
 the transparent shawls of some filmy material about 
 their shoulders, showing the delicate tracery of scat- 
 tered flowers. 
 
 In cupboards and closets was a wealth of china, the 
 pearly blue tint, with deep blue and gold-starred bor- 
 der, twisted handles, and acorn-top pointing to their 
 oriental origin, tall beer mugs decorated in the same 
 fashion as my Lady's tea cups and Httle tea caddy, with 
 two birds on a twig, surmounting a shield enclosing a 
 spray of flowers. 
 
 There were great center and side platters, plates, punch 
 bowls, and other dishes ornamented in the thorn and 
 rose pattern, rose-wreathed English china, and blue 
 Cantonware in large numbers. Old Imari dishes, 
 Delft, and Wedgwood also found a place in this large 
 collection. Surely the Ladies of the Lower Manor 
 lacked no china with which to set forth their hospita- 
 
 153 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ble board, be their guests ever so numerous. 
 
 The silver service of these Van Rensselaer Manor 
 Houses was also of the finest. Besides the more pre- 
 tentious sets bearing the Van Rensselaer and Schuy- 
 ler coats-of-arms, and even a piece or two dating back 
 to Catherine Van Brugh, the wife of Hendrick, the 
 first proprietor of the Lower Manor, there were dainty 
 little pitchers and salt shakers with slender handles, 
 and one tea-pot has a history familiar in the trials of 
 housekeeping. After Colonel Johannes Van Rensse- 
 laer's death, his granddaughter Anna, who had taken 
 her mother's place in her father. Colonel Henry I. Van 
 Rensselaer's home, visited Crailo to look after affairs 
 at the Manor House, and found the slaves down in the 
 kitchen having a tea drinking, with a silver tea-pot on 
 the coals. Left to themselves they were enjoying a so- 
 cial time, giving no thought to their master's posses- 
 sions, since no master was near. The tea-pot was res 
 cued and is still in existence. The teak-wood knife 
 boxes and the gracefully shaped spoon urns also tell 
 stories of the wealth of knives and spoons necessary 
 for the large numbers who surrounded the Manor ta- 
 bles. 
 
 154 
 
HOMES OF THE LOWER V. R. MANOR. 
 
 Back to the home of Colonel Henry I. Van Rensse- 
 laer came the widowed children and the orphan grand- 
 children, as to the other Manor Houses. There were 
 few homes, Manor or farm houses in those days, 
 which did not shelter three generations, and often 
 aunts, nieces, and cousins as well. 
 
 The beautiful china and silver did not always re- 
 main in china closets, and cupboards over the man- 
 tels each side of the chimney, or even on the old ma- 
 hogany sideboard, but graced the Manor table, with 
 its large family and many guests, and there were 
 special occasions when the candles lighted up not only 
 silver and glass and china, but also the heirloom ta- 
 ble linen beneath them. 
 
 Carefully treasured in one of the Claverack homes 
 was the large Adam and Eve table cloth, which had 
 come down from Myndert Schuyler, who was born in 
 1672. It was before the days of exquisitely woven 
 damask, and the artist had exerted his skill in produc- 
 ing a remarkable design. Two soldierly looking per- 
 sons representing Adam and Eve, stood on either side 
 of a tree laden with apples, and one's imagination was 
 required to do the rest in adjusting the scene to the 
 
 155 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 personalities of our first progenitors in the Garden of 
 Eden. 
 
 It was to a home such as this that Catherine Schuy- 
 ler and her husband came when she visited her broth- 
 ers at Qaverack, or when the brothers and sister vis- 
 ited together at their father's house at Greenbush, 
 where open house was kept, and princely entertain- 
 ments were given. Washington and Lafayette and 
 many other noted men of the day were guests of honor 
 in this hospitable home. We can see the fair women 
 of the family in their brocades and laces moving about 
 these candle-lighted rooms, and the men in their flow- 
 ered waistcoats and short clothes, buckles at knees, 
 and shoes, and many times in officer's uniform, for out 
 of the eighteen males in the Van Rensselaer family of 
 the Upper and Lower Manors, fourteen served in the 
 army during the war, most of them holding commis- 
 sions, the children and old men only being excepted. 
 
 Their talk was of war and statecraft, of tenant troub- 
 les, and the rising men of the day, of the prospects 
 for their children, and their hopes for the nation, of 
 the cultivation of rare varieties of fruits and of crops, 
 while the ladies left to themselves found a hundred 
 
 156 
 
HOMES OF THE LOWER V. R. MANOR. 
 
 topics of home, and family interest, the education and 
 marriages of their children, and the fashions of the 
 day, — over which to carry on an eager conversation. 
 The Schuyler boys and girls often came down to Clav- 
 erack, and the mothers rehearsed the doings of their 
 respective children, Catherine Schuyler telling after 
 the war was over, of the entertainment of General Bur- 
 goyne and his suite, who were so numerous that she 
 had been obliged to order beds made upon the floor of 
 the General's room, and how one of her younger boys, 
 running about, opened the door in the morning, and 
 called in, "You are all my prisoners," to the chagrin 
 of hi? mother. 
 
 No" was all the visiting one way. To be sure Cath- 
 erine Schuyler's daughters did not afTord the Van 
 Rensselaer family many weddings to attend, sinc^ 
 four '->f them took their marriages into their own 
 hands, but there were other festal occasions, and when 
 Alexander Hamilton and Betsey Schuyler were mar- 
 ried, there was a great wedding in the Schuyler man- 
 sion at Albany, and the Claverack relatives were a 
 part of the joyous occasion. 
 
 Not since her mother's marriage at Crailo had there 
 
 157 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 been so grand and joyous a family gathering, for the 
 families of the Patroons gathered mightily on less fes- 
 tal occasions. When the Lord of the Manor died, his 
 relatives from far and near, and most of his tenants at- 
 tended the funeral, and not only a religious service 
 was <-he order of the day, but also the attempt to enter- 
 tain the great concourse of people. Every slave on 
 the estate, and every helper of any sort, was called out 
 to meet the needs of the great number of guests gath- 
 ered to do honor to the Lord of the Manor. In a way 
 the ^atroon was a sovereign over his wide domain, 
 and always had a representative in the Assembly, and 
 in this Republican country was more remarkable than 
 in the older civiHzations. Small wonder that, as Mrs. 
 Lamb says, "Whenever it was announced in New 
 York that the Patroon was coming to the city by 
 lard, the day he was expected crowds would turn out 
 to see him drive through Broadway with his coach 
 and four with postillions behind, as if he were a prince 
 of *he blood." 
 
 158 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE SCHUYLER ROMANCES. 
 
 Catharine Schuyler had been the only girl and 
 youngest child in Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer's 
 family, and as such was greatly beloved by her broth- 
 ers, who viewed her life with pride and affection. 
 Crailo, at Greenbush, was the half way house, where 
 the Albany and Claverack families assembled, the 
 Van Rensselaer and Schuyler grandchildren often 
 meeting under their grandfather's roof. A young Brit- 
 ish officer seated on the curbing of the old well at 
 Crailo wrote the words of Yankee Doodle. In the 
 same place many a Van Rensselaer boy and girl sang 
 them. Ar- Colonel Johannes had a summer home at 
 Claverack, Catherine Van Rensselaer in her girlhood, 
 was accustomed to the close proximity to Albany of 
 her Greenbush home, and also the familiarity of the 
 Claverack home, in a community of Manor Houses oc- 
 cupied by her older h'-others and their families. 
 
 159 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Lossing describes her as " delicate but perfect 
 in form and feature ; of medium height, extremely 
 graceful in her movements, and winning in her deport- 
 ment ; well educated in comparison with others, of 
 sprightly temperament and possessed of great firm- 
 ness of will." The early years of her married life had 
 been most eventful. With her soldier husband contin- 
 ually going and coming, and in constant danger 
 abroad, her little family of children increasing almost 
 yearly at home, she found her hands filled with the 
 cares of a large household, and many public calls as 
 well. She had inherited many of her father's fine 
 characteristics, and also his executive ability. Mrs. 
 Ellet says of her, "At the head of a large family, her 
 management was so perfect, that the regularity with 
 which all went on, appeared spontaneous. Her life 
 was devoted to the care of her children ; yet her friend- 
 ships were warm and constant, and she found time for 
 dispensing charities to the poor. Many families in 
 poverty remembered with gratitude the aid received 
 from her, sometimes in the shape of a milch cow or 
 other article of usefulness. She possessed great self 
 control, and as the mistress of a household, her pru- 
 
 160 
 
THE SCHUYLER ROMANCES. 
 
 dence was blended with unvarying kindness. Her 
 chief pleasure was in diffusing happiness in her home." 
 
 The family Bible in this household never failed to 
 record each added child, with its benedictory prayer in 
 the father's handwriting. "Elizabeth, Born Aug. 9th, 
 1757, Lord do according to thy will with her." 
 
 "John Bradstreet Born July 20th, 1763, Do with him 
 according to thy will O Lord. Be with him living or 
 dying." 
 
 "Philip Jeremiah Born Jan. 20th, 1768. May the 
 Lord grant that he grow up for the glory of God and 
 his happiness." 
 
 After the defeat of Ticonderoga, Catherine Schuyler 
 had turned her barn into a hospital, tearing up table- 
 linen and sheets into bandages, while she and her 
 nieces Catherine and Gertrude Schuyler, and the 
 daughters of Mayor Cuyler, united in nursing the 
 wounded soldiers, her slaves being utilized meanwhile 
 in cooking for the barn full of men, in the improvised 
 hospital. 
 
 During the year her husband had spent in Europe, 
 Mrs. Schuyler had finished building the Schuyler man- 
 sion at Albany, possibly with General Bradstreet's ad- 
 
 161 
 
 12 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 vice and assistance, though the women of that day 
 showed quite remarkable architectural talent in the 
 construction of their own homes. It was a large 
 square house built of yellow brick, with thick walls 
 suitable for defense, and with spacious halls sixty feet 
 long, divided in the center by fan and side lights with 
 their delicate tracery. There was the long drawing 
 room with its handsomely carved colonial mantels, 
 and its deep window seats, where many a youthful 
 confidence was given and received, and where General 
 Schuyler and his wife received guests of great political 
 and social prominence. 
 
 Sometimes the Schuyler coach brought the boys of 
 the family to Claverack, which event was hailed with 
 joy by their cousins of whom there were boys in plen- 
 ty, John R., Jacob Rutsen, Jeremiah, Henry and James 
 in General Robert R. Van Rensselaer's family, and 
 John H., Volkert, Jeremiah H. and Robert Henry, in 
 Colonel Henry I. Van Rensselaer's household. There 
 were a hundred pleasures of field and stream which 
 kept the boys occupied and happy in each other's com- 
 pany. The Schuyler, as well as the Van Rensselaer 
 boys, were wide awake children, full of pranks, and 
 
 162 
 
THE SCHUYLER ROMANCES. 
 
 with their minds stored with the incidents and excite- 
 ments of soldier Hfe with which they had come in 
 close contact in both Saratoga and Albany. Rensse- 
 laer Schuyler's visits to Claverack were reckoned 
 doubly pleasant through the absence of a hated pen- 
 alty which he was accustomed to pay for his mischief, 
 which consisted in writing pages of William Smith's 
 History of New York. 
 
 When Betsey and Peggy Schuyler's bright faces, in 
 their flaring, fllower-lined bonnets, looked out of the 
 coach windows as it drove up to the Manor Houses of 
 their uncles, a flutter of excitement ran through the 
 girls of either household, for there were girls as well 
 as boys at the Lower Manor. At General Robert Van 
 Rensselaer's there were Alida, Catherine and Angeli- 
 ca. In Colonel Henry L Van Rensselaer's home were 
 Angelica, Anna, and Magdalene. 
 
 There were comparisons of gowns and needle-work, 
 and fashions, walks in the garden between flower 
 beds, and under the old trees, and candle-light talks at 
 night while they brushed their hair before the ma- 
 hogany dressing-tables with their glass-handled 
 drawers, and mirrors which reflected fair girlish faces 
 
 X63 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 and bright eyes shining with the interest of the story 
 they were telling. The histories continued in hushed 
 whispers after the candles were snufifed out, and the 
 pale rays of a new moon crept in at the windows, and 
 the high-post, chintz-covered bedsteads cast dark 
 shadows in the great bed rooms. 
 
 What more exciting tale of romance than each 
 Schuyler girl brought in turn, as one after another of 
 her four sisters conceived of some new form of enter- 
 ing into the marriage relation ! In the case of Peggy's 
 elopement, there was the double interest, since both 
 Peggy and Stephen Van Rensselaer, the young Pa- 
 troon of the Upper Manor, were cousins of the Clav- 
 erack young people. Peggy's husband must have 
 quieted greatly in his later years, for it is said of him 
 that "the elder Stephen was very rich, very benevo- 
 lent, and very hospitable, but no matter how dis- 
 tinguished a guest was beneath his roof, when nine 
 o'clock came he took his flat silver candle-stick and 
 went to bed." 
 
 But no tale of them all, produced such delicious 
 thrills of excitement as the story of Cornelia, who had 
 attended the wedding of Elizabeth Morton in New 
 
 164 
 
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 y^'V'^v^*^ 
 
 
 ,^>,-.; - . .,.#*»#^ 
 
 ^. ,;.-:; 
 
 COLONEL HENRY I. VAN RENSSELAER MANOR HOUSE 
 Built soon after the Revolutionary War. 
 
 THE "WIDOW MARY" LIVINGSTON MANOR HOUSE 
 
THE SCHUYLER ROMANCES. 
 
 Jersey, who had married Josiah Quincy of Boston. Af- 
 ter the wedding the bride and groom had departed in 
 a coach and four, accompanied part of the way by 
 their bridesmaids and groomsmen. As in many other 
 cases one wedding had bred another, and here Cor- 
 nelia Schuyler had met the bride's brother, Washing- 
 ton Morton, noted as a young athlete, he having 
 walked to Philadelphia on a wager, accompanied by 
 admirers and sustainers on horseback and in carriages. 
 Naturally he had been the popular man of the occa- 
 sion, and he and Cornelia had been immediately at- 
 tracted to one another. 
 
 But, alas! Cornelia's father was not pleased with 
 the form of the young man's notoriety, and upon be- 
 ing approached upon the tender subject, refused his 
 consent, the General even going so far as to see young 
 Morton started on a sloop toward home. 
 
 But love's young dream was not to be so easily 
 blighted, and Cornelia confided to her cousins that she 
 and her father had had a stormy scene, but she had 
 not given up her lover. 
 
 There had been some fears and tears in the waiting 
 time, but at last a letter had reached her, and it was 
 
 165 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS 
 
 not long after, that waiting at her window one night, 
 her heart beating like a trip-hammer, she had heard a 
 low whistle, and saw in the shadows below two muf- 
 fled figures. Opening the window softly, a coil of rope 
 was thrown up, which she rapidly drew in and found 
 at the end a rope ladder. It required only a few min- 
 utes to fasten it securely, then the girl, too excited to 
 remember to be afraid, stepped swiftly down from the 
 high second-story window to the ground. 
 
 No longer separated, the lovers drove to the river 
 and crossed, a coach and pair meeting them on the op- 
 posite side. Across country they hastened for thirty 
 miles to Stockbridge, to the home of Judge Theodore 
 Sedgwick, an old friend of the Morton family, and not 
 unknown to the reciter or listeners, for he had been 
 connected on the Massachusetts side with the trouble- 
 some boundary questions, with which all Colonel Jo- 
 hannes' children and grandchildren were only too fa- 
 miliar. The Judge sent for a minister and the runa- 
 way couple were married. It was thought by those 
 giving breathless attention to the exciting story, to 
 have been the crowning episode of all the Schuyler 
 romances, and it was many a night before the beat of 
 
 166 
 
THE SCHUYLER ROMANCES. 
 
 horses' hoofs on the road, failed to bring to mind the 
 escapade of their cousin Cornelia, and a wonderment 
 whether a similar runaway match was taking place 
 along the moonlit post-road in Claverack. 
 
 As for the uncles and aunts, the interest of the re- 
 cital did not prevent cautions to their own young peo- 
 ple, not to follow the example of their headstrong 
 cousin, and some prophecies of the probable unfortu- 
 nate results of such a course. But all signs failed in 
 this, as in the other cases where the Schuyler girls' 
 elopements were concerned, the marriage proving to 
 be a happy one, and the young man becoming in time 
 a rising young lawyer of New York. 
 
 Ann Eliza Bleecker was a poetess of that day much 
 read by the young ladies of the Manors. In a collec- 
 tion of poems and letters published after her death, is 
 one humorous epistle, written to her sister,chiding her 
 for her long delay in answering her letters, which 
 gives between the lines, some idea of the life of a 
 young lady of fashion of the day. 
 
 "To Miss S T E 
 
 "No, I can admit of no excuse. I have written 
 three letters in folio to my Susan, and have received 
 no answer. After various conjectures about the cause 
 
 167 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 of so mortifying an omission, I have come to this con- 
 ckision, that you have commenced a very, very, fash- 
 ionable lady — (you see my penetration) — and though 
 I am not in possession of Joseph's divining cup, I can 
 minutely describe how you passed the day when my 
 last letter was handed you ; we will suppose it your 
 own journal. 
 
 "Saturday Morn. Feb. 12. 
 
 " Ten o'clock. Was disturbed in a very pleasant 
 dream by Aunt V. W., who told me breakfast was 
 ready, fell asleep and dreamed again about Mr. S. 
 
 "Eleven. Rose from bed: Dinah handed my shoes, 
 washed the cream poultice from my arms, and un- 
 buckled my curls ; drank two dishes of hyson ; could 
 not eat anything. 
 
 "From twelve to two. Withdrew to my closet; pe- 
 rused the title page of Pilgrim's Progress ; R came 
 
 in, and with an engaging address, presented me with 
 a final billet-doux from Mr. S. and a monstrous big 
 packet from sister B. Laid the packet aside ; mused 
 over the charming note until three o'clock. Could not 
 read sister's letter, because I must dress, Major Arro- 
 gance, Colonel Bombast, and Tom Fustian being to 
 dine with us ; could not suit my colors ; fretted — got 
 the vapours; Dine, handing me the salts, let the vial 
 fall and broke it; it was diamond cut crystal, a present 
 from Mr. S. I flew up in a passion — it was enough to 
 vex a saint — and boxed her ears soundly. 
 
 '• Four. Dressed ; Aunt asked me what sister had 
 wrote. I told her she was well, and had wrote noth- 
 ing in particular. Mem. — I slyly broke the seal to 
 give a colour to my assertions. 
 
 168 
 
THE SCHUYLER ROMANCES. 
 
 " Between four and five. Dined. Tom Fustian 
 toasted the brighest eyes in the company — 1 reddened 
 
 like crimson — was surprised to see M blush, and 
 
 looking- around saw P blush yet deeper than we. 
 
 I wonder who he meant. Tom is called a lad of judg- 
 ment. Mr. S. passed the window on horseback. 
 
 "Six. Visited at Miss 's ; a very formal company ; 
 
 uneasy in my stays — scalded my fingers, and stained 
 my changeable by spilling a dish of tea ; the ladies 
 were exceedingly sorry for the accident, and Miss V. 
 Z. observed that just such another mischance had be- 
 fallen the widow R. three years before the war. 
 
 *' From six till three in the morning. Danced with 
 Mr. S. — thought he looked jealous — to punish him I 
 coquetted with three or four pretty fellows, whispered 
 Colonel Tinsel, who smiled and kissed my hand ; in 
 return I gave him a petulant blow on the shoulder. 
 Mr. S. looked like a thunder gulf; then affected to be 
 calm as a stoic ; but in spite of philosophy turned as 
 
 pale as Banquo's ghost. M seemed concerned, 
 
 and asked what ailed him? 1 don't like M ;I won- 
 der what charm makes everybody admire her ; sure, if 
 Mr. S. was civil to her it was enough, he need not be 
 so very affectionate. I flew in a pet to a vacant parlour, 
 and took out sister's letter to read ; I labored through 
 ten lines, contemplated the seal, chewed off three cor- 
 ners, and folding the remains elegantly, put it in my 
 pocket. I suppose it was full of friendship and such 
 like country stuff. However, sister writes out of a 
 good heart to me, and I will answer it. Mr. S. and I 
 
 were reconciled through the intercession of P , 
 
 whose lovely humanity everywhere commands es- 
 
 169 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 teem. We passed the hours very agreeably. On my 
 retiring, Dinah attended, and having no paper handy, 
 I gave her sister's letter to put my hair in buckle, 
 w^hile I read some verses. 
 
 " Well, Susan, you see that in the Arctic wilds of 
 America your secret actions are brought to light, so I 
 hope you w^ill pay more respect to this epistle. 
 
 " Mr. B begs me, at this very instant, to present 
 
 his very humble regards to you, and has made three 
 solemn bows to your ladyship before I could write a 
 sentence. Polly S is here, and making sad execu- 
 tion among our beaus. We live here, a merry kind of 
 a laughing, indolent life ; we suffer no real evils, and 
 are far from regretting the elegant amusements that 
 attend a city life ; all that I want, my sister, is your 
 company. This constant repetition you must permit 
 (without repining) in all my letters. I never walk in 
 that angle of my garden where your flowers are 
 planted, but I heave a sigh, as if it were a painted 
 monument to your departed body. Can you never 
 come to us ? Tell my sweet cousins I love them all 
 
 tenderly ; recollect me with affection to Aunt V 
 
 W , and permit my Peg and Hannah to salute 
 
 vou. 
 
 "ANN ELIZA BLEECKER." 
 "Tomhanick, March 29, 1785. 
 
 "This day fourteen years ago, Susan, I was mar- 
 ried ; repent and take a husband." 
 
 170 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 ANTI-RENT TROUBLES. 
 
 Troubles over the payment of rents to the Lords of 
 the Manors, and later to their descendants, had existed 
 for a full century before the final settlement of the 
 matter. The disputed boundary line between New York 
 and Massachusetts which had caused a border warfare 
 among the inhabitants of the contested districts, was 
 probably occasioned as much by the discontent of the 
 Manor tenants, as by the controversy between the 
 provinces. 
 
 The Government of New York claimed that its east- 
 ern line was the Connecticut River, on the basis that 
 the Dutch actually possessed this river before any oth- 
 er European people knew of its existence, that they had 
 a fort and garrison there, had traded with the Indians, 
 and purchased of them nearly all the land for a hun- 
 dred miles on both sides of the Connecticut. Massa- 
 chusetts set up rival claims, setting the boundary lines 
 
 171 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 of her possessions westward at least as far as the Hud- 
 son River, although she confessed that she "had for a 
 long time neglected the settlement of the West 
 Bounds; they lying very remote from Boston." 
 
 About the middle of the eighteenth century, tenants 
 who had neglected to pay their rents until they had 
 reached a considerable amount, became defiant, decid- 
 ing in future to hold their lands as owners and no 
 longer tenants, under authority to be secured from the 
 government of Massachusetts Bay. This was the be- 
 ginning of long hostilities between the provinces. Dur- 
 ing the controversy houses were burned, wheat was 
 cut down and carried away in v/agons, and acres of 
 corn were destroyed. Acts of retaliation were com- 
 mitted by both parties. Secret surveys were made by 
 New England men, and possession of land surveyed 
 in this way, was taken by the construction of tree- 
 fences. 
 
 Tenants refusing to leave farms after being ordered 
 to go, found their crops harvested and carried away by 
 their landlord and his assistants. Hundreds of trees 
 were destroyed and crops ruined by the rioters, and 
 arrests followed, both parties growing more and more 
 
 172 
 
ANTI-RENT TROUBLES. 
 
 bitter as the trouble continued. 
 
 There were threats to take the Lords of both the 
 Livingston and Van Rensselaer Manors dead or alive. 
 Organizations of militar}- companies intended for pro- 
 tection against the Indians, were used in this tenant- 
 warfare, representing tenants or landlord, according to 
 the composition of the company, the Captains of the 
 Anti-rent party holding their commissions from the 
 Governor of Massachusetts, while Robert Livingston, 
 Jr., and Dirck Ten Broeck held theirs from the Govern- 
 or of New York. The disaffection begun on t1ie Liv- 
 ingston Manor, but spread to tliat of the Van Rensse- 
 laers. 
 
 Robert Noble, a tenant of Rensselaerwick, held one 
 of these Massachusetts commissions, and transformed 
 his house into a kind of fort, with loop-holes for mus- 
 kets, and garrisoned by about twenty men under his 
 command, claiming to hold their land under the Bos- 
 ton government. Some of their neighbors were taken 
 prisoners unlawfully by the company, and upon a visit 
 from the Sherifif he too was made prisoner, and con- 
 fined in the Sheffield jail. The rescuing party led by 
 John and Henry Van Rensselaer found the Noble 
 
 173 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 house deserted, and before their return a tenant named 
 Riis, an Anti-rent sympathizer was killed upon the 
 Livingston Manor. 
 
 For this event each party accused the other, one 
 pleading self-defense, and the other unprovoked as- 
 sault. Further arrests followed, and the bitterness be- 
 came intense, particularly against the Lord of Livings- 
 ton Manor, who in the end ejected many tenants who 
 refused to pay rent. Serious riots ensued, resulting in 
 several killed and wounded. Under Governor De Lan- 
 cy's authority, a number of the rioters were arrested 
 and held in prison for about two years, with the effect 
 of quelling the Anti-rent disaffection for a considerable 
 time, and the proprietors and Manors settled down to 
 a peace long destroyed by the Anti-rent disturbances. 
 
 A partial settlement of the boundary line was made 
 at this time, but it was not until the spring of 1773, 
 that the partition line of the jurisdiction of the two 
 States, was entirely established, which made the divid- 
 ing line as nearly as possible, twenty miles from the 
 Hudson River. The commission appointed to decide 
 upon the matter was composed of John Watts, Wil- 
 liam Smith, and Robert R. Livingston on the part of 
 
 174 
 
ANTI-RENT TROUBLES. 
 
 New York, and John Hancock, Joseph Hawley, and 
 William Brattle for Massachusetts. The agreement of 
 the commissioners received the approval of the Gov- 
 ernors of both States. 
 
 The settling of the Boundary line between the two 
 States however, did not entirely do away with the ten- 
 ant uprisings. Twice in the next thirty-five 3'ears the 
 Anti-renters took the war path, repeating each time 
 the lawless acts of arson, destruction of grain, and tak- 
 ing of human life. 
 
 The Revolutionary War for a time quieted the more 
 turbulent spirits, though it was often suspected that 
 the so-called Tories were at times those actuated by a 
 desire for personal vengeance. 
 
 The Anti-rent feeling arose again strongly in 1790, 
 not only in ColumlMa but in adjacent counties. The 
 farmer-tenants on the Manors held that they and their 
 ancestors had already paid in rents, far more than the 
 worth of the land, even including the buildings and 
 improvements which they themselves had made, that 
 the system of perpetual lease-holding was degrading 
 and inconsistent with the principles of Republican gov- 
 ernment, or with self respect. On the banks of the 
 
 175 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Hudson river they were subjected to a system of land 
 tenure which had been overthrown in England in the 
 thirteenth century. 
 
 These opinions circulated freely through the press, 
 awakened the old feeling of resentment, and being 
 fanned to a white heat, some of the people of Noble- 
 town (Hillsdale) threatened the deputy sent to hold 
 an auction, by reason of an execution against a man 
 named Arnold, and the auction was postponed till the 
 following Saturday. On that day Sheriff Cornelius 
 Hogeboom attended the execution himself, and after 
 waiting till late in the afternoon for the arrival of his 
 deputy, the people in the meantime having become 
 more and more excited, postponed the sale once more, 
 and with his two companions started for home. Young 
 Arnold, an Anti-rent leader, seeing the officers of the 
 law about to depart, fired a pistol, at which a number 
 of men dressed and painted like Indians, suddenly ap- 
 peared and followed the Sheriff and his companions, 
 firing as they advanced. Part of the bullets passed 
 between the two men, but Sheriff Hogeboom refused 
 to spur his horse, saying that he was " vested with the 
 law, and they should never find him a coward." 
 
 176 
 
ANTI-RENT TROUBLES. 
 
 Soon after this the Indians dropped off, but young 
 Arnold and a companion mounted one horse and 
 caught up with the Sheriff, when one of them leveled 
 his gun and lodged a bullet in the heart of Mr. Hoge- 
 boom. With the exclamation " I am a dead man," the 
 Sheriff fell from his horse, and was carried into a 
 house near by. 
 
 The feelings and sympathies of the whole commun- 
 ity were deeply stirred by this atrocious murder. 
 Though twelve men supposed to have been implicated 
 in the proceedings were arrested, Jonathan Arnold 
 was never captured. After a long trial held in Claver- 
 ack in February 1792, those arrested were acquitted 
 for lack of evidence. 
 
 The widow of Cornelius Hogeboom died wholly of 
 grief three months later. Everything possible was 
 done to quell the lawless spirit after this tragic event, 
 and for nearly half a century no further Anti-rent 
 troubles of any magnitude arose. But the spirit of 
 Anti-rentism was only smouldering, and broke out 
 again in 1840. Secret societies were formed extending 
 through several counties, pledging themselves to pro- 
 tect tenants from arrest or eviction, and to guard their 
 
 177 
 
 13 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 property from sale. As soon as a Sheriff came in sight, 
 a band of men in calico dresses with faces painted as 
 Indians, armed with pistols, tomahawks and guns, ap- 
 peared on horse back and warned him away, threaten- 
 ing him if he proceeded to perform his duty. Again 
 there was lawlessness and tragedy until the leaders 
 " Big Thunder " and " Little Thunder " were arrested. 
 Sheriff Henry C. Miller attempted to serve papers on 
 the property of an Anti-renter, and was taken prisoner 
 by " Big Thunder " and six other chiefs of his tribe, 
 and his papers burned amidst the war-whoops of "Big 
 Thunder's " followers and sympathizers. This event 
 awakened the deepest indignation. 
 
 It was known that "Big Thunder " was to speak to 
 the Van Rensselaer tenants in Smoky Hollow in the 
 town of Claverack on a particular day. He was sur- 
 rounded by a body-guard in costume, and in this spec- 
 tacular setting addressed a large audience of Anti- 
 rent partisans, and others interested in the subject. It 
 was his most brilliant as well as his last speech, for 
 during the excitement of the day, a young man named 
 Rifenburgh was shot and killed. It was said to have 
 been an accident, but the authorities felt it was time 
 
 178 
 
ANTI-RENT TROUBLES. 
 
 to prevent more accidents of the same sort, and "Big 
 Thunder" was arrested on the night of his greatest 
 triumph. He made a desperate efifort to escape but 
 failed, and was lodged that night in the Hudson jail. 
 So great was the excitement over the threats of his fol- 
 lowers, who, a thousand strong, had sworn to rescue 
 the prisoners and burn the city of Hudson, that guards 
 were stationed at the jail, and Hudson was patrolled at 
 night for a month, while other arrangements were 
 made for defense. At the end of this time the danger 
 was believed to be past. Without a leader, and as the 
 result of frequent arrests, the Anti-rent rioters had 
 ."gain quieted down. 
 
 "Big Thunder" was tried and sentenced to life im- 
 prisonment in Clinton prison. "Little Thunder" was 
 never brought to trial. There were no more attempts 
 to resist the execution of the law in Columbia County, 
 but in 1846 the Anti-rent party elected their governor 
 (Young) and one of his first official acts was to pardon 
 the Anti-rent convicts, including "Big Thunder," The 
 final triumph of the Anti-renters came in 1852, when 
 in the test case of De Peyster against Michael (De 
 Peyster having purchased of Van Rensselaer interest 
 
 179 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 in land), the court was unanimous in its decision in 
 favor of the defendant. This case closed the Anti- 
 rent controversy in favor of the Anti-renters, after a 
 century of repeated bloodshed and riot, and si .ce 
 then "the entire soil of the Lower Van Rensselaer 
 Manor has been held in fee simple by it occupants." 
 
 "In the war against Great Britain in 1812-1815 Col- 
 umbia county furnished a large number of troops, 
 though few of them saw active service under hostile 
 fire." A military organization under Brigadier-Gener- 
 al Samuel Ten Broeck existed prior to the war, and 
 was still under his command at this time. Among the 
 commands mentioned as composing the brigade, was 
 that of a "regiment of infantry commanded by Major 
 Robert T. Livingston, having attached to it the troon 
 of cavalry commanded by Captain Walter T. Livings- 
 ton, and a regiment of infantry under command of 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer at- 
 tached to which was a troop of horse, commanded by 
 Captain Killian Hogeboom." 
 
 "The Light Infantry Battalion of Lieutenant-Colo- 
 nel (afterwards promoted to Colonel and Brigadier- 
 General) Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer, was ordered 
 
 180 
 
ANTI-RENT TROUBLES. 
 
 to the defense of the city of New York, September ist, 
 1814, and remained on that duty during the whole 
 term of service." 
 
 William A. Spencer, a son of Judge Ambrose Spen- 
 cer, for many years a prominent resident of Colum- 
 bia County, was a participant in the naval battle 
 fought on Lake Champlain under Commodore 
 McDonough, and was wounded in the fight. The 
 young man made a name for himself for gallantry as 
 a midshipman in the Commodore's fleet. 
 
 181 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 THE NEW CITY OF HUDSON. 
 
 The Presidential Electors, by an act of the Legisla- 
 ture, met at Hudson from the year 1796-1813, after 
 which the Electoral College met at Albany. In many 
 ways the growing city of Hudson was superseding 
 Claverack, but although Hudson offered certain ad- 
 vantages in affairs of importance, the notable house- 
 wives of Claverack, and mine host of the stage- 
 house still held their own in matters of hospitality 
 and comfort for the inner man. The Presidential 
 Electors cast their votes in Hudson, but they rode 
 over the turnpike to Claverack in order to dine at Gor- 
 don's tavern, noted at the time for a generous and sat- 
 isfying hospitality. 
 
 It is noticeable also that the Presidential Electors 
 of the succeeding seventeen years included Claverack 
 names, and in some cases residents, John Bay, Robert 
 Van Rensselaer, Peter Van Ness, Stephen Miller, 
 
 182 
 
THE NEW CITY OF HUDSON. 
 
 John C. Hogeboom, together with Thomas and 
 Robert Jenkins of Hudson, forming the Presidential 
 Electors from this section until 1813. 
 
 In 1785 by the act of incorporation Hudson became 
 a city, the third in the State. The city bounds ex- 
 tended from the line of the town of Livingston on 
 the south, to Major Abraham's (Stockport) creek on 
 the north, and Claverack creek on the east. By this 
 act "Claverack Landing," no longer existed, but it 
 was another quarter of a century before the old name 
 ceased to swing from the sign on the steamboat 
 docks. The same year Ezekiel Gilbert moved his law 
 office from Claverack to Hudson, becoming Hudson's 
 first lawyer, and as such, was of great service to the 
 new city in its early days. He was Representative in 
 Congress in 1795, and it was through his efforts that 
 Hudson was made a port of entry. 
 
 Many of the "Proprietors" who settled Hudson, 
 brought ships with them from Providence and Nan- 
 tucket, and in 1786 twenty-five of the vessels on the 
 river were owned in the newly settled town. In 1813 
 two hundred and six sloops were running to New 
 York, many of them owned at Hudson. 
 
 183 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Ship-yards were soon opened, and as many as five 
 large ships were often on the stocks in the five differ- 
 ent yards at the same time. Launching days were holi- 
 days, when schools were dismissed, and the people 
 from adjoining towns came in to witness the launch- 
 ing and christening of the "Lively Polly," "American 
 Hero," "Ajax," or "Columbia." Booths were built 
 and refreshments sold, principally card-gingerbread, 
 the holiday dainty of that date. Crowds would wait 
 patiently for hours for the eventful moment when the 
 boat first trembled, then began to move slowly on the 
 ways. As it touched the water, guns were fired, and 
 cheers arose from the gathered citizens and guests. 
 
 In 1802 on the first day of March, two thousand 
 eight hundred sleighs entered the city. A continuous 
 line of teams often stood the full length of Front 
 Street, extending into Main Street, while they waited 
 to unload at the different freighting houses, and fif- 
 teen vessels bearing heavy freight were known to set 
 sail upon the same day. The season of the year and 
 condition of the country roads no doubt con- 
 trolled the exports that left the Hudson wharves in 
 such stupendous quantities. Beef, pork, shad, pickled 
 
 184 
 
THE NEW CITY OF HUDSON. 
 
 herring, lumber, leather, and country produce gener- 
 ally, formed the outgoing cargo. Returning, there 
 came a great variety of fruits from the West Indies, 
 and rum, sugar, and molasses. Some ships sailed to 
 Charleston, the Windward Islands, Brazil, and Medi- 
 terranean ports. Once during these years a ship ar- 
 rived from Holland consigned to William Wall, re- 
 loaded with lumber and returned to the Dutch port. 
 The Dutch people of Claverack and those at the 
 "Landing" made the vessel frequent visits during its 
 stay, delighted with a voyager from the fatherland, 
 and a crew who could speak their own tongue. 
 
 Whale and seal fishery were both carried on to a 
 considerable extent, bringing from Falkland, and oth- 
 er islands in the South Atlantic, large numbers of fur 
 and hair seal skins, and quantities of sea elephant's 
 oil, while the whale ships returned from the Pacific 
 ocean with cargoes of sperm oil. When Tallyrand 
 was traveling in America he stopped at Hudson, exam- 
 ining with keen interest the oil works of Thomas Jen- 
 kins, and the details of the manufacture of sperm can- 
 dles. 
 
 In the closing years of the eighteenth century pro* 
 
 185 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 gress of all kinds was in the air, the building of 
 towns, establishment of educational institutions, 
 great commercial traffic between our own and other 
 lands, whisperings of scientific feats to come, and 
 like a leaf of the tree of progress, a yellow slip of pa- 
 per dated 1799 floats down through the years, a re- 
 ceipt for a contribution made by Rev. John G. Geb- 
 hard "to promote the progress of the useful arts." 
 This contribution was made in conformity to an act 
 of Congress dated 1793, and suggests that advance 
 along all lines was the order of the day. 
 
 In 1792 Claverack and Hudson united in paying 
 honor to John Jay who had been making a visit to 
 Kinderhook. A company of two hundred Hudson 
 men met him at Claverack, where they were received 
 by Mr. William H. Ludlow, who hospitably enter- 
 tained his guest of honor and the visiting citizens 
 from Hudson, while at his home. Mr. Jay was es- 
 corted to Hudson, where he was met by a salute from 
 Frothingham's Artillery, and after a procession 
 through the principal streets was taken to Kellogg's 
 tavern upon the present site of "The Worth." This 
 tavern was the stopping place for the stages, and 
 
 186 
 
THE NEW CITY OF HUDSON. 
 
 swung out a patriotic sign of George Washington in 
 full uniform on horseback. Here a bountiful enter- 
 tainment had been provided, the Mayor of that date, 
 Seth Jenkins, presiding. Toasts were drunk to the 
 "Prosperity of Hudson" and to the "Man of the Day" 
 to which the Mayor and Mr. Jay responded respec- 
 tively. A reception of citizens was held during the 
 evening, and the following morning the distinguished 
 guest set sail on the sloop Pompey, for the home of 
 Governor Lewis, amid the enthusiastic demonstra- 
 tions of the citizens of Hudson. 
 
 The river was closed to navigation in December 
 1799, and the sad tidings of the death of General 
 Washington were sent by post-riders to Albany. By 
 this means of communication the event was not an- 
 nounced in that city till nine days after it occurred. 
 Claverack and Hudson, owing to the shorter distance, 
 heard of the sorrowful occurrence a day or two earlier. 
 
 Grief was widespread in hamlet and village, and in 
 the Manor Houses on the Hudson, as well as in the 
 cities. In Albany, by order of the Common Council, 
 the bells tolled from three to five hours, and aldermen 
 wore crape on their arms for six weeks. But far 
 
 187 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 deeper than any outward sign could indicate, was the 
 sorrow of a people who felt their independence had 
 been won through the leadership of the man who had 
 just passed away, who had been their first President, 
 and without whom it seemed for a time impossible to 
 go on. 
 
 The break was keenly felt and deeply deplored, and 
 then younger shoulders were placed under the heavy 
 load of building a new nation, and life went on, but 
 the "Father of His Country" has been more honored 
 and appreciated through every year of the succeeding 
 century. 
 
 188 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE MARRIAGE OF ALEXANDER HAMIL- 
 TON AND ELIZABETH SCHUYLER. 
 
 The Schuyler girls, with their thoughts on matri- 
 mony, owing to the epidemic of marriages in their 
 family, found in Claverack much to interest them in 
 the stories of the weddings of an earlier generation, 
 the marriage outfits of their Aunt Rachel Douw, the 
 wife of Colonel Henry I. Van Rensselaer, and their 
 Aunt Cornelia Rutsen, General Robert's wife, and also 
 that of Anna Schuyler, wife of Johannes De Pey- 
 ster, and daughter of that Myndert Schuyler through 
 whom descended the Adam and Eve table-cloth. 
 There were towels, sheets, pillow cases, hempsheets, 
 handkerchiefs, neckerchiefs, and table cloths in large 
 numbers, beside spreads and quilts, in the outfits of 
 these Manor brides, which practical household fur- 
 nishings were expected to cover the necessities of 
 large families and many guests. 
 
 189 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Beside these, was the wedding finery, delicate yel- 
 low and blue satins and brocades, flowered silks and 
 fine laces, and even their uncle Henry's wedding 
 waistcoat drew a few moments attention from the 
 merry-hearted girls, till exquisite pearl handled fans 
 with groups of dancing maidens, drew their interest 
 back to articles of feminine adornment once more. 
 
 It was before Peggy Schuyler was married and be- 
 fore the war was over, that Angelica Church came home 
 with her first baby. She had taken a dangerous time for 
 her visit to her old home, for an attempt was made by 
 the Tories and Indians during her stay to capture her 
 father. Other efforts of the kind had been made, and 
 the house was guarded by six soldiers. Their guns 
 were stacked in the hall. Childlike, the little Philip 
 had hung about the dangerous playthings, and no peril 
 seeming imminent, his mother had removed the 
 guns to a safer place out of the baby's reach. At the 
 alarm of the approaching enemy, the soldiers rushed 
 for their weapons only to find them gone. The family 
 fled precipitantly up stairs, when the baby was sud- 
 denly remembered to have been asleep in one of the 
 rooms below. Margaret Schuyler dashed back, 
 
 190 
 
AN ALBANY WEDDING. 
 
 grasped the sleeping child in her arms, and shielding 
 it with her body, gained the stairs, when an Indian 
 flung a tomahawk at her head. It missed its aim, but 
 buried itself in the wood of the stairs, where the mark 
 is still visible. 
 
 The Van Rensselaer girls might listen with thrills 
 of excited pleasure in the moonlight, to tales of the 
 elopements of their Schuyler cousins, but Margaret's 
 brave act in saving the life of her little nephew, won 
 the generous admiration of her boy cousins. 
 
 Full of interest as were these stories of hair- 
 breadth escapes, and runaway matches, to all the Van 
 Rensselaer young people, the gathering of the clans of 
 the Upper and Lower Manors of Rensselaerwick, in 
 the great Schuyler drawing room, when Alexander 
 Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler in her own 
 home, was an occasion of family pleasure without al- 
 loy. 
 
 The deep window-seats had seen much of the love- 
 making of the young diplomat and this daughter of 
 the Schuylers, and offered inviting shadows to the 
 many young people present. It was a grand occasion, 
 drawing together tliose prominent in the social and po- 
 
 191 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 litical life of the new Republic, for a large portion of 
 which guests, it was not necessary to go outside of the 
 family relationship. The rich brocades and glistening 
 satin gowns, and dainty high-heeled slippers to match, 
 the coquettish young eyes peering over the tops of 
 ivory handled fans, as they bowed and courtesied in 
 the minuet or money-musk, in the spacious upper hall 
 which was used as a dancing hall in the Schuyler man- 
 sion, charmed the young scions of the different 
 branches of the Van Rensselaer and Schuyler families, 
 and their friends the young bloods of the day who 
 were present. 
 
 Never had Betsey Schuyler's dark eyes shone so 
 gloriously, or her cheeks flushed more bewitchingly, 
 than when she stood beside her brilliant young hus- 
 band, receiving the good wishes of her friends, — merry 
 wishes from the cousins and younger people, more 
 earnest ones from the older relatives. It was possible 
 for all the guests to gather in the broad halls below, 
 divided by a glass partition with fan and side lights. 
 
 The sweep of the staircase, with its fine spindled 
 balustrade, seemed made for the descent of so dis- 
 tinguished a groom, and so charming a bride. There 
 
 192 
 
AN ALBANY WEDDING. 
 
 was a glance of pride and protection !n Hamilton's 
 fine face as he appeared on the half-way landing be- 
 side Elizabeth Schuyler gowned in the quaint and 
 charming fashion of the period, with a witching smile 
 on her always sunny face. As they descended into the 
 merry waiting gathering below, they made a beautiful 
 picture in the old hall, not easily forgotten among the 
 many scenes of note which transpired there. 
 
 Catherine Schuyler's children were scattering, and 
 grandchildren drew her heart in many directions, but 
 still back to old Claverack among the rest. Philip 
 Jeremiah, one of the younger among the Schuyler 
 children, who had often visited and loved the home of 
 his mother's girlhood, married Sally Rutsen a few 
 years later, a relative of his aunt, Mrs. Robert R. Van 
 Rensselaer, and when a son, Philip, named for both 
 father and grandfather was born in April 1789, the 
 young couple waited for the beautiful month of May, 
 when the youthful Philip was baptized in the old Clav- 
 erack church by Dominie Gebhard, the parents them- 
 selves acting as god-father and god-mother on this oc- 
 casion. 
 
 Bringing back the children of the new generation 
 
 193 
 H 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 to the old Claverack homes had many pleasant fea- 
 tures. There are no toys in childhood equal to the 
 quaint playthings of by-gone days, and in the Van 
 Rensselaer homes of Claverack were wooden cradles 
 with hooded canopies at one end, and little goose 
 feather beds and home-woven covers, and high-post 
 doll's bedsteads with blue and white chintz curtains. 
 The dolls that looked out between the curtains, 
 were most attractive, if we may trust a family 
 saying of the Dominie's daughter, Charlotte. "As 
 beautiful as a Holland doll," was her highest form of 
 praise of a child, telling one how beautiful the chil- 
 dren's Dutch dolls must have seemed to their youthful 
 eyes. Tiny leather trunks, brass-nailed and hairy, 
 held the doll's wardrobe, while little rush-bottomed 
 rocking chairs invited the small mothers to rest awhile 
 and rock their doll-babies. 
 
 For the boys, the old flint-lock guns, and spy- 
 glasses, the pleasures of Claverack creek and a fish- 
 ing rod, and the remnants of Revolutionary uniforms 
 never lost their fascination, nor yet the Spitzenberg 
 apples to be found on the top of the "kas" in many of 
 the houses. The hollow tops of these old linen chests 
 
 X94 
 
AN ALBANY WEDDING. 
 
 afforded a safe hiding place for the spicy winter ap- 
 ples during the mellowing time, until the lengthening 
 of boyish legs revealed their presence to the eyes on 
 a level with the edge of the "kas," when the climber 
 felt as rich as though he had discovered a gold mine. 
 
 195 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ROBERT FULTON AND THE FIRST 
 STEAMBOAT. 
 
 To a man as full of mechanical genius as Dominie 
 Gebhard, and to sons growing up with the same tastes, 
 the stories of a forth-coming boat on the Hudson run 
 by steam, could not but produce eager expectation 
 and intelligent interest. The fact that this new ven- 
 ture was the combined efifort of Chancellor Livingston 
 and Robert Fulton, made it doubly attractive to the 
 section of country which Chancellor Livingston 
 called home. The subject was under discussion at 
 every stage-house and tavern, and the skippers of the 
 sloops on the Hudson, looked forward with ill-con- 
 cealed disdain to the attempt to run a boat irrespec- 
 tive of wind or tide, and they, in common with those 
 who looked on at its building, joined in calling the 
 new steamboat "Fulton's Folly." 
 
 Fulton, as he says himself, "accomplished his great 
 
 196 
 
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 
 
 purpose without a single word of encouragement, or 
 of bright hope, or a warm wish crossing his path." 
 Yet had he but known it, there were men of vision 
 holding a hope of success in their hearts for the 
 young inventor and his project, and bearing in their 
 turn the ridicule of the doubters. But the great dis- 
 coveries of science have never waited for the demise 
 of the incredulous before pouring their benefits upon 
 mankind, and neither did the new steamboat "Cler- 
 mont," named for Chancellor Livingston's place on 
 the Hudson, await that long delayed day. 
 
 On the 17th of August, 1807, the Clermont started 
 on its first trip up the Hudson, carrying a party of in- 
 vited guests. All along the river crowds gathered on 
 the wharves and along the shores waving and cheer- 
 ing, and the skippers and sailors on the sloops and 
 river craft watched with astonishment the grotesque- 
 looking vessel moving rapidly forward against wind 
 and tide, without the usual means of locomotion. And 
 indeed it was an awe-inspiring sight, especially at 
 night. From the smoke-stack arose a volume of fire- 
 streaked smoke, made still more luminous with flying 
 sparks when the wood fires were stirred from below. 
 
 197 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 The noise of paddles and machinery were deafening 
 at a near range, and some of the foreign sailors on the 
 sloops are said to have dropped to their knees with a 
 prayer that they might be protected from so horrible 
 a monster, which came swiftly on its way, belching 
 fire and smoke. 
 
 A farmer part way up river hastened home to in- 
 form his family that "he had seen the devil going up 
 river in a saw-mill." No doubt the ludicrous appear- 
 ance of the oddly-formed vessel awakened humorous 
 remarks as well as astonishment, nevertheless the 
 power of the little steam engine, caused the Clermont 
 to overtake sloops and schooners beating to wind- 
 ward, and leave them far behind in the race. 
 
 The invitations for this first trip of the Clermont, 
 had in some cases been accepted with a degree of hes- 
 itancy, for the voyage was an experiment, yet there 
 was a sense of fascination in the untried experience. 
 There were several ladies on board, among them 
 Miss Harriet Livingston, daughter of Walter Livings- 
 ton of "Teviotdale" in the Livingston Manor, and sev- 
 eral of her cousins. The Manor families were also rep- 
 resented by John R. Livingston and John Swift Liv- 
 
 198 
 
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 
 
 ingston, beside the Chancellor. As the voyage pro- 
 ceeded, apprehension was disarmed by the success- 
 ful passage of the boat through the water, and the re- 
 lief from previous doubt showed itself in merriment 
 and song. 
 
 "Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon," being Ful- 
 ton's favorite song, was sung by the young people in 
 the stern, in compliment to the man who had made 
 this great effort and won this great success. 
 
 Just before the boat reached Clermont, Chancellor 
 Livingston made two memorable announcements, one 
 in the form of a prophecy, "that the name of the in- 
 ventor would descend to posterity as a benefactor of 
 the world," the other of special interest to all present, 
 which was the betroihal of Robert Fulton to his 
 young relative Harriet Livingston. 
 
 While the boat lay at the Clermont dock on the 
 night of August i8th. Captain Brink, who was in com- 
 mand, rowed across the river to Saugerties for his 
 wife, whom he had promised to "take to Albany in a 
 boat driven by a tea-kettle." 
 
 The youngest passenger on the Clermont that Au- 
 gust day was Mr. Daniel Gantley, afterward of Ath- 
 
 199 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ens, N. Y,, who lived to be nearly ninety-four years 
 old, and never forgot the peculiar sensations of danger 
 and elation experienced by this novel form of locomo- 
 tion, nor the amazement the steamboat occasioned 
 along the path of its progress. 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact, that in the Hudson-Fulton 
 Celebration just passed, John Sanderson Elliott, 
 great-grandson of Daniel Gantley, a High School boy 
 of Catskill, made the address of the occasion, speaking 
 of the great achievements of both Hudson and Fulton, 
 and closed by introducing Governor Hughes to the as- 
 sembled people. 
 
 The boat left New York at one o'clock on Monday, 
 and arrived at Clermont at one o'clock on Tuesday, 
 steaming over one hundred and ten miles in twenty- 
 four hours. She left the Chancellor's dock again at nine 
 o'clock the next morning, and arrived at Albany at 
 five in the afternoon, having made the one hundred 
 and fifty miles in thirty-two hours. On her trial trip 
 the Clermont passed up river through the Athens 
 channel, but on her return, pleased the citizens of Hud- 
 son by steaming down the Hudson channel, the re- 
 turn trip settling any lingering doubts as to the future 
 
 200 
 
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 
 
 success of steam-navigation. 
 
 On the 4tli of September the Clermont made 
 her first trip as a passenger boat. Every house-top 
 and wharf in New York which commanded a view of 
 the water, was filled with people eager to gain a sight 
 of the wonderful invention, meanwhile warning their 
 friends not to go aboard so dangerous a vessel. The 
 boat made a circle three times. By this time incred- 
 ulity had given place to surprise, and as the steamboat 
 moved toward the north, ten thousand people 
 cheered vociferously. Fulton stood with flashing eyes 
 erect on the deck. It was a moment of supreme vic- 
 tory, worth years of effort. At Tarrytown they left 
 a passenger, and again at Newburgh, each town giving 
 the boat and party aboard an ovation. At West Point 
 the whole garrison turned out and cheered. It was a 
 voyage of triumph. 
 
 As the Clermont passed Catskill, on a little island 
 in the river called Bompie's Hook, (now Catskill 
 Point) the passengers saw six boys eagerly watching 
 the approach of the steamboat. One of these boys was 
 Thurlow Weed, in later years the celebrated politi- 
 cian. Catskill mainland not being connected with the 
 
 201 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Point in those days, the boys had made a connection 
 for themselves, by stuffing their clothes in their hats 
 and placing the hats on logs pushed ahead of them as 
 they swam toward Bompies. When the first streak of 
 smoke appeared on the horizon the boys were ready 
 for their sight of the first steamboat. 
 
 The residents of Claverack and the citizens of Hud- 
 son watched the vessel steam toward Albany even 
 more keenly alive to its value in navigation than their 
 neighbors further south, for Hudson was a port of en- 
 try, and steam would reconstruct her chief industry. 
 A good sloop made the journey from Albany to New 
 York in forty-eight hours. The new steamboat had 
 been able to cut off eighteen hours from this lengthy 
 voyage on its return trip. 
 
 The Clermont continued to make trips till the close 
 of navigation of that year, making Poughkeepsie, Eso- 
 pus, and Hudson stopping places. Shortly after her 
 first voyage she made a record-breaking trip from 
 New York in twenty-seven hours, landing at Hudson 
 with one hundred and twenty passengers. 
 
 One of the resultant benefits of such rapid naviga- 
 tion was made public about this time through a unique 
 
 202 
 
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 
 
 advertisement in the Hudson Bee. 
 
 "Here's Your Beauties of Lobsters." 
 "These, with sea bass, cod and black fish, jumping 
 and alive in Hudson market, afford quite a dainty 
 to an epicure, one hundred and twenty miles 
 from the ocean. They are brought here on the 
 steamboat, and sold in the brick market, fresh 
 and in good order, every time she arrives from 
 New York." 
 
 A year later the following curious explanatory note 
 was added to the advertised time-table. 
 
 "As the time at which the Boat may arrive at the 
 different places above mentioned, may vary an 
 hour, more or less, according to the advantage 
 or disadvantage of wind or tide, those who wish 
 to come on board will see the necessity of being 
 on the spot an hour before the time." 
 Going north the boat stopped at West Point at four 
 o'clock in the morning. Returning, a landing was 
 made at Poughkeepsie at midnight, and at Newburgh 
 the same hour as at West Point. The night-watches 
 spent on the docks while waiting for the new steam- 
 boat, must have given would-be passengers excellent 
 opportunities to study the stars at various hours of 
 the night. 
 
 203 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 During the winter the gallant little Clermont was 
 placed on the ways in the bay south of Tivoli (then 
 called Lower Red Hook), where she was rebuilt and 
 re-modeled by ship-carpenters from Hudson. Her 
 size being much increased, she offered accommoda- 
 tions to a larger traveling public. May ist, 1808, she 
 was re-launched and re-christened the "North River," 
 and in charge of Captain Samuel Jenkins of Hudson, 
 was taken to New York, and at the dock at the foot 
 of Dey St. the carpenter and cabin work was complet- 
 ed. Also at this time the machinery was put on 
 board, but proving inadequate to the strain put upon 
 it, in a few weeks the boat was supplied with a boiler 
 of heavy sheet copper. "Commodore" Wiswall was 
 now in command, and once more Chancellor Livings- 
 ton and a party of friends made a trial trip, this time 
 on the "North River." 
 
 Livingston had made unsuccessful efforts toward 
 steam navigation before he met Fulton in Paris. Ful- 
 ton in his turn, had failed to secure the requisite 
 amount of political and financial support in his ex- 
 periments to insure success, but the combined efforts 
 of the two men, gave to the world of their day, one of 
 
 204 
 
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 
 
 the wonder-working results of applied science. In 1810 
 the steamboat "North River" made her record trip 
 from New York to Albany in nineteen hours, and a 
 centur}' later the world is still reaping the benefits ac- 
 corded it by two courageous and inventive minds. 
 
 While Fulton's success was at its height he married 
 Harriet Livingston, grand-daughter of the last Lord 
 of Livingston Manor, whose engagement had been an- 
 nounced on the first trip of the Clermont. She was a 
 beautiful and accomplished woman with a charm be- 
 yond others to a man of inventive genius. Her belief 
 in his talents and ability are said to have amounted al- 
 most to a passion. Their married life was an exceed- 
 ingly happy one, their union being blessed with four 
 children, a son and three daughters. Fulton's love for 
 art had continued in conjunction with otlier engross- 
 ing pursuits. His painting of his friend Joel Barlow 
 and the illustrations of Barlow's Columbiad, had been 
 the result of his warm friendship, and his love for the 
 artistic. 
 
 An odd conceit was the painting of his wife's moth- 
 er, Mrs. Walter Livingston, on one side of a panel, 
 and her grandson, little Robert Barlow Fulton, on the 
 
 205 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 other. Grandmother and grandchild were never more 
 closely united, — the high-bred face of the descendant 
 of the Schuylers, and the delicate face of the child 
 with only the panel between them. 
 
 Their home contained much that was of special in- 
 terest. The dining table of solid mahogany, standing 
 upon claw feet, and formed of two half circles large 
 enough when complete to seat a dozen guests ; the 
 set of china consisting of three hundred and sixty-five 
 pieces, presented to Fulton by Thomas Jefferson, 
 and bearing the Coat-of-Arms of the United States, 
 which often graced the festal board, were both a part 
 of the furnishing of the inventor's home. 
 
 It is in keeping with the family picture to see Mrs. 
 Fulton playing the melodies of the day on the harp, 
 while her husband and children pursued their art, 
 each in their respective way, for all of the children in- 
 herited a degree of artistic talent from their father, as 
 well as a love for outdoor life, the charm of the water- 
 ways, and the delights of horse-back riding across the 
 beautiful Livingston Manor. A childish effort of 
 Julia Fulton in pencil, portrays a little girl and a boy 
 in colonial costumes, clinging close to each other un- 
 
 206 
 
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 
 
 der a large umbrella. The quaint childish figures in 
 long pantalets, full skirt, and boyish jacket of early- 
 date, with the hair of both curling to their shoulders, 
 is irresistable in its outlines, even though only the 
 backs are visible. 
 
 There is an engraving of Fulton's boyhood in ex- 
 istence, with short trousers buckled at the knee, and 
 low shoes also with their broad buckles, ruffled shirt 
 and old time coat, which is most attractive, but the 
 immaturity of the face in no wise compares with the 
 manly beauty of the portrait painted by his friend and 
 master Benjamin Franklin. It would seem that the 
 love of the master for the pupil was the motive power 
 that swayed the talent behind the brush. Every brown 
 lock on his forehead, every curve of the features, the 
 transparent honest}^ of the direct gaze of the blue eyes, 
 and even the full grasp of the gifted hands, bespeak 
 an affection for the subject which shines through the 
 beauty of the physical outlines. As a final thought, — 
 an insignia of office, — in the plain background of the 
 painting is traced in faint outlines a torpedo blowing 
 up a tiny war-ship, to the successful invention of 
 which Fulton had given much time. 
 
 207 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Beautiful as was this home life, it was destined to 
 be short-lived. Robert Fulton died on February 24th, 
 181 5, at the age of fifty years. In him was lost an in- 
 genious and notable inventor, and a beneficent spirit, 
 whose future efforts might have blessed the world 
 still further, had he been given length of days in com- 
 panionship with a wife fitted to inspire and encourage 
 the talents of his fertile brain. 
 
 After her husband's death Mrs. Fulton lived for a 
 time in New York, then brought her children home 
 to her father's house at "Teviotdale," where she died 
 herself a few years later. 
 
 The body of Robert Fulton's wife and the mother 
 of his children rests to-day under the century-old trees 
 in Claverack cemetery, while in the sweeping view to 
 the west from this quiet spot, the Catskills guard the 
 river as of yore, running like a ribbon of glistening 
 blue at their feet, where the steamboats never cease 
 their tireless journeys north and south, and Fulton's 
 name and fame are honored by thousands of summer 
 pilgrims from every land. His name will ever be inter- 
 woven for the American people, and for the voyagers 
 from across the sea, with the exquisite beauty of the 
 
 208 
 
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 
 
 Hudson, and "lest we forget" the Hudson Day Line 
 has named its last and most beautiful floating palace 
 after the inventor of the steamboat, and hung his por- 
 trait painted by his grandson Robert Fulton Ludlow, 
 where all may see. 
 
 209 
 
 15 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 THE LEGEND OF "SPOOK ROCK." 
 
 It might be inferred, that with the city of Hudson 
 peopled by New Englanders, the Dutch Dominie of 
 the Claverack parsonage would have little connection 
 with the town, outside of the interest aroused by so 
 great progress and commercial activity on the site that 
 had once been Claverack Landing, but as in other 
 cases, the new roads from Hudson led to the parson- 
 age door. 
 
 In the earlier years of the "Proprietors' " settle- 
 ment, the Friends' Meeting Houses were the only plac- 
 es of worship in Hudson. When that time had passed, 
 the road to Claverack had become familiar, and per- 
 haps for the brides and grooms traveling toward the 
 marriage altar, there was a trace of romance in riding 
 along the beautiful banks of Claverack Creek, when 
 the road on either side was lined with trees and bushes 
 white with spring blossoms, or in June when butter- 
 
 210 
 
LEGEND OF " SPOOK ROCK." 
 
 cups and daisies sprung up in their pathway, and wild 
 roses turned their delicate petals to the summer sun, 
 or yet later on, when the forest trees were festooned 
 with wild grapevines hanging lush with their heavy 
 purple fruit. 
 
 From the time of the settlement of Hudson, the 
 names in the Claverack marriage records were no 
 longer entirely High and Low-Dutch, but Silver and 
 Fairchild, King and Arnold, Pennyman and Hamilton, 
 Skinner and Burck, Clark and Ray, Bingham and 
 Hathaway, and others of New England birth took 
 their places among the long lists of the hereditary 
 names of the occupants of the Manors, and the Dutch 
 burghers of the country side. It was a day also when 
 marriages were often arranged irrespective of parental 
 knowledge, and on the pages of the yellowing records 
 of one hundred years ago, stand some names promi- 
 nent in the public life of the time, whose youthful 
 escapade in this direction, awakened great surprise 
 when copied by their descendants. 
 
 In 1812 the parsonage family had greatly changed 
 Three sons, Jacob and Philip, who had come with their 
 parents from New York, and John, who was born in 
 
 211 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Claverack, had all been admitted to the bar, and were 
 living in Schoharie and Catskill. Philip having mar- 
 ried Eleanor Demarest, of the Van Bergen family of 
 Catskill, and John being also married, had families of 
 their own. Charlotte, for many years the only daugh- 
 ter of the parsonage, had married William H. Davis, 
 a merchant of Catskill, who had been aide-de-camp to 
 Washington. John Gabriel and Lewis, younger sons, 
 were attending the University of Pennsylvania, fitting 
 themselves for the medical profession. About a year pre- 
 vious, a son, Charles, had died in his early manhood, 
 and this first loss among their children had proved a 
 great grief to his parents. At the date mentioned it 
 would seem that only the baby Annamaria, who had 
 now grown to be a girl of thirteen, was left to make 
 sunshine in the rooms of the old parsonage, which had 
 once been so full of children's voices and laughter. 
 
 Dominie Gebhard still occasionally preached in the 
 Ghent church, though he no longer held regular servi- 
 ces there at stated periods as in former days. Until 
 some time in 1790 he seems to have had charge of this 
 church. After that for a long period of years the little 
 clapboarded sanctuary was dependent on occasional 
 
 212 
 
LEGEND OF " SPOOK ROCK." 
 
 services held by the ministers of adjacent churches, till 
 at length in 1822 it became a separate church, and call- 
 ed to its pastorate Rev. Peter S. Wyncoop who served 
 the congregation for many years. 
 
 In the family Bible of John C. Hogeboom, whose 
 first entries were made during Dominie Gebhard's 
 charge of the Ghent church, and continued through 
 many years, are the births of a large number of chil- 
 dren and grandchildren. 
 
 " On the 5th day of July, 1789, my daughter Cynthia 
 was born, on Sunday about two o'clock in the morning. 
 (Peter Hogeboom my brother, and Ally Hogeboom, 
 my sister Godfather and Godmother) was baptized by 
 Mr. Gebhard," was one entry. 
 
 The death of the same Cynthia already mentioned, 
 is recorded in 1813.. " Dec. 7th at about two o'clock 
 in the afternoon my daughter Cynthia died of a dis- 
 tressing illness of many years, which she bore with 
 Christian fortitude, anxiously awaiting her departure 
 from this world of trouble and affliction." 
 
 The great care given to the hour of birth and death, 
 grew from the prevalent belief that the hour of death 
 would correspond with the hour of birth. Nearly every 
 
 213 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 entry records some event or comment, which 
 turns these early Bible records into a family history. 
 One brief entry carries with it a touch of special grief, 
 as one of the tragedies connected with the Anti-rent 
 uprisings. It reads — 
 
 "My father, Cornelius Hogeboom, died the 22d 
 day of October, 1791. He was killed in Nobletown, 
 (Hillsdale) about three o'clock in the afternoon." 
 
 Various proposals were made by Dominie Gebhard 
 that the Claverack church be given an opportunity 
 through the votes of its male members, to unite with 
 the Classis of Rensselaer, but the opinion of the Con- 
 sistory was for many years against it, and the church 
 remained an independent organization until the time 
 of Dominie Gebhard's English colleague. Rev. Rich- 
 ard Sluyter. 
 
 A direct method was employed to protect the church 
 from debt. An entry in the church books under this 
 head, reading " Resolved, that a magistrate call on 
 those persons who do not pay their subscriptions." 
 When money promised was not paid, it was collected 
 by suit if necessary. 
 
 In these years parents had begun to act as sponsors 
 
 214 
 
LEGEND OF " SPOOK ROCK. 
 
 in some instances for their own children, and not only 
 parsonage grandchildren were brought to the old 
 church in Claverack for baptism, but also those of 
 many of its earlier members. It is said that Dominie 
 Gebhard, in a number of instances, baptized the great- 
 grandchildren of those whom he had united in mar- 
 riage. 
 
 In all the carefully kept records of this long pastor- 
 ate, there is no official account of deaths or funerals, 
 yet in the busy pastor's life these must have intersect- 
 ed the seasons of joy and thanksgiving, opening wide 
 the gates of eternal life to the aged pilgrim and the 
 youth cut off in his prime, as the new doors swung op- 
 en for the entering generation. Could we but see the 
 paths trodden by the faithful pastor's feet in these er- 
 rands of consolation, stretching over these fifty years, 
 they would make a network of golden sympathy wind- 
 ing and counter-winding into every lane and wagon- 
 road and turnpike over his wide field of labor, ending 
 with their tender ministrations at the door of Manor 
 and farm house, leaving there the comforting words 
 and heavenly promises, for this world and the world to 
 come, of this devoted man of God. 
 
 215 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 For the rest, the multitude of white stones in God's 
 acre which lies by the old church, bearing date of this 
 half century, tell their own story, and are silent wit- 
 nesses of the sorrows of the people, and the labors of 
 consolation of their minister. Even the corner where 
 the slaves are buried carries its own legend of those 
 years when slavery was common in this section of the 
 country, but when death came, these dependents were 
 given a quiet resting place, and in some cases a stone 
 was placed at the head of the grave, telling of the sim- 
 ple faithfulness and devotion of one of these dark-faced 
 servants. 
 
 Once only is there a record on this subject. This 
 entry states that " the church yard is to be furnished 
 with lock and key, and for opening lock and breaking 
 ground one dollar is to be paid, two shillings for ring- 
 ing the bell." 
 
 As the custom of tolling the bell at the passing of a 
 life, or the hour of burial, was in force in those days, 
 it probably gave rise to a curious old legend, founded 
 on a still earlier Indian legend, both of which are still 
 told with interest along the banks of Claverack Creek. 
 For many years the Begraft family were members of 
 
 216 
 
LEGEND OF " SPOOK ROCK. 
 
 the Claverack congregation, and between Claverack 
 and Hudson a rocky formation of lime and slate of 
 some considerable extent still goes by the name of Be- 
 craft mountain, though the spelling is changed. Un- 
 der its overhanging ledges grow a wealth of ferns and 
 wild flowers, and between the mountain and the creek 
 from time immemorial, there has been a wagon-road. 
 At one of the most picturesque spots in the creek un- 
 der the mountain, lies a great boulder, unmoved by 
 spring freshets or winter storm, for it is not always 
 summer under Becraft. The winter snows powder the 
 evergreens and the young saplings that cling to its 
 sides, and the ledges of grey rock stretch between the 
 green and the white, defying heat and cold, while the 
 creek at its base is a frozen sheet of ice, and a white 
 blanket of snow covers alike the ferns, the wild flow- 
 ers, and the wagon-road. 
 
 Long before the first white settler had discovered 
 beautiful Claverack, a tribe of Mohican Indians had a 
 village here called " Pot Koke." On more than one 
 farm have their battle axes, arrow heads, and ham- 
 mers been unearthed by the husbandman, while en- 
 gaged in the peaceful occupation of tilling the soil. 
 
 217 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 There is a tradition connected with the Chieftain's 
 daughter, that would lead us to believe that the Indian 
 colony was not only strong and numerous, but that its 
 young squaws were also charming in the eyes of 
 neighboring tribes. The Chief of the Mohicans had 
 his wigwam on the summit of Becraft Mountain, a safe 
 vantage ground in case of hostile attack, for the arrows 
 of his followers aimed at an enemy skulking along the 
 trail below, would have been fatal, while the Mohicans 
 were quite able to defend themselves behind the mighty 
 fastnesses of the slate rocks. 
 
 But the Chief had a daughter whose soft dark eyes 
 and raven locks, and nut-brown skin were a bewitch- 
 ment, and whose slender moccasined feet were swift 
 upon the trail. Alas, that her lover was the son of an 
 enemy who forgot the tribal hatred, when, hiding from 
 tree to tree one day, he had worked his way to the top 
 of Becraft in order to discover the weakness of the 
 Mohican camp, and saw instead the graceful form of 
 the Princess flitting between the wooded aisles at the 
 top of the mountain. It was useless to plead with the 
 Chief of the Mohicans, though the daughter made the 
 effort, and equally useless to fight for the maid, for 
 
 218 
 
LEGEND OF " SPOOK ROCK." 
 
 the tribe of the young brave was far outnumbered by 
 that of the Princess' father. The lover's only hope 
 was in strategy. 
 
 A swift runner brought her a tiny roll of birch-bark 
 wrapped in a rabbit skin with a love message inside. 
 She found it within the flap of her tent, and trembling 
 donned her doe-skin robe, and waited till the night 
 shut down, and the tribe slept, and only the glow of 
 the camp fire was left, then sped over the trail, and 
 down the rocks to the shadows of the overhanging 
 cliffs. Among the ferns and lichens and wild flowers 
 she met her lover. The night air swept their cheeks, 
 and the music of the stars sung their happiness. The 
 moments sped swiftly by. 
 
 A low rumble in the distance, a flash of light across 
 their path, a moment's terror of discovery, and they 
 drew close within the shadow of the overhanging 
 rocks, shielded by bushes and young trees from the big 
 drops of rain. The crash of the thunder rolled over their 
 heads, the forked lightning played over the water and 
 fields of maize, and they clung to each other in the 
 midst of the tumult. Then quicker than thought, more 
 sudden than fear, came a heavy crash, a blinding 
 
 219 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 light, and the great boulder rolled into the stream, car- 
 rying the lovers with it. 
 
 It was all over in a few moments, the noise and com- 
 motion, the flash and the downpour. One by one the 
 stars came out again, the young trees shook off the 
 rain drops, moved by a gentle breeze, a whip-poor-will 
 cried in the night, while the creek skirting the trail lay 
 quiet in the starlight, and the overhanging rock had 
 found a new resting place for all time in the winding 
 stream, becoming a monument to two lovers, a son 
 and a daughter of Indian Chiefs of alien tribes. This 
 is the Indian legend of " Spook Rock," but for many 
 a year the story that has been oftenest told as con- 
 nected with this rock, is that it turns over every 
 time it hears the Claverack church bell toll, and 
 though the great rock has no ears to hear, or power 
 to turn in the winding stream, if sound is carried to 
 remote distances, affecting the formation of rocks and 
 mountains, the impress of almost two centuries of the 
 tolling funeral bells of Claverack must have left their 
 mark, though unseen, on the hard and rugged sides of 
 "Spook Rock," 
 
 220 
 
MRS. JOHN GABRIEL GEBHARD, 
 
 The Dominie's " Huis Vrouwe." 
 
 "Delineavit A. Phillips 1820." 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 HIS " HUIS VROUWE." 
 
 In the old church records the name of the man who 
 stood as sponsor in baptism came first, followed by the 
 full maiden name of his wife with the added explana- 
 tion " his vrouwe," with two exceptions. One of these 
 was the wife of the Patroon, and the other was the 
 minister's wife, which were written " his huis vrouwe." 
 
 This latter title was one of respect to the Ladies of 
 the Manor and the parsonage. Though the worldly 
 possessions differed in the two homes, they each called 
 for marked executive ability, an almost boundless hos- 
 pitality, a power of leadership and direction equal in 
 many cases to that of their husbands, and an habitual 
 life of culture and refinement which served as an ex- 
 ample to all about them, and made them prominent in 
 the social life of the country. 
 
 The Dominie's " huis vrouwe " was a notable house- 
 keeper. Any departure from absolute cleanliness and 
 
 221 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 neatness was abhorent to her. Her quilting bars, with 
 their edges of homespun, were worn into furrows 
 through the extra peg-holes bored that more and more 
 quilts might be rolled up tightl}^ making the quilting 
 a work of art in its exquisite neatness. The wonderful 
 white counterpane on her guest-room bed, with its 
 thousands of fine stitches, etching the smooth surface 
 into a beautiful design, with its artistic center and bor- 
 der of roses, and deer in all four corners, attested to 
 her skill with a needle. No linen after the spinning 
 and weaving, was whiter than that directed in the 
 bleaching, by the Dominie's wife on the parsonage 
 lawn. 
 
 Each spring the tailoress went from house to house, 
 cutting and fitting clothing for the boys and men from 
 the pepper and salt cloth made from the wool of their 
 own sheep. Seven boys were always waiting for new 
 suits at the parsonage, with the proclivity of boyhood 
 to wear holes in elbows and knees. The tailoress was 
 followed by the shoemaker, and dyeing was also a part 
 of the home work. The parsonage, in common with 
 the farm houses, had a cool lean-to for the making of 
 butter, while the cooking for such a family was a daily 
 
 222 
 
HIS " HUIS VROUWE." 
 
 burden. Olekoeks, liverwurst, rollejes, bolletjes, pan- 
 lash, — to the Philadelphia woman all these articles of 
 food were familiar before she came to reside in the 
 Lower Manor of Claverack, and she delighted in keep- 
 ing- tlic old home atmosphere in this northern parson- 
 age. 
 
 There were two days in the year that the children 
 dearly loved. One was New Year's when St. Nicholas 
 and his vrouwe always remembered good children, up- 
 on the eve of which they stood in a row before the 
 great roaring fires, and hand in hand sung, — 
 
 "Santa Klaus, goedt heilig man, 
 Knopyebest van Amsterdam, 
 Van Amsterdam aan Spanje, 
 Van Spanje aan Orange, 
 Een brang deze kindjes eenige graps." 
 
 The translation of which is — 
 
 "Santa Claus, good holy man, 
 Go your way from Amsterdam, 
 From Amsterdam to Spain, 
 From Spain to Orange, 
 And bring tliese little children toys." 
 
 Some of the gifts on the following morning took the 
 
 form of seed-cakes, representing almost every animal 
 
 on the farm. At a later date, after the keeping of 
 
 223 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Christmas had become a custom, there were children 
 who descended from these old Dutch families, who 
 found themselves rich in two gift-giving days only a 
 week apart, and the seed-cakes still continued to cele- 
 brate New Year's day. 
 
 The second of these happy festival days was Paas 
 or Easter. Every boy and girl watched the hens' nests 
 with jealous eyes as Paas approached, for the great 
 attraction of this day was a special kind of Paas-cakes, 
 of which the children were very fond. They were made 
 of eggs and flour alone, beaten very light, often in a 
 mixing bowl made from the knot of a tree, which 
 bowls withstood the wear of time and much beating 
 The batter was expected to entirely cover the long- 
 handled spider or pan-cake shovel. The making and 
 baking of these cakes was a special feat of the slaves 
 in most of the households. When the cake was 
 browned on one side, the pan was shaken dexterously 
 and with a quick move of the long handle, and a toss 
 of the spider, was thrown into the air, and turning 
 came down on the opposite side. There was a great ri- 
 valry among the colored people as to which could 
 throw the Paas-cakes the highest and still successfully 
 
 224 
 
HIS " HUIS VROUWE." 
 
 catch them. The children of the families surrounded 
 the great open fire places on these occasions, holding 
 their breath with excitement and expectation, and the 
 safe return of the Paas-cake to the spider was the sig- 
 nal for cheers and exclamations of delight. 
 
 In the competition over tossing the cakes, the stor- 
 ies reached large proportions, it having been told on 
 good authority that one Paas-cake had been seen go- 
 ing out of the top of a chimney only to turn in the air, 
 and descend through the chimney's wide mouth on its 
 right side in the spider. Nan, the slave-woman at the 
 parsonage, was a past-master with Paas cakes, both at 
 tossing them, and piling them up with melted butter 
 and sugar between, till she had a great platter full, 
 when she would cut them down in many triangles 
 ready for the Paas breakfast of the Gebhard children. 
 
 Trained nurses were unheard of in 1776 or for many 
 a decade afterward, but the Dominie's wife knew all 
 who were sick in the congregation and just what might 
 be done to help them. She had the firm capable hands 
 of the born nurse, and there were few houses in the 
 congregation who had not known the sense of relief 
 which flowed through tired bodies, when the Domi- 
 
 225 
 !6 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 nie's wife came to nurse, or " sit up "with those who 
 were ill. There were troubles not easy to carry to the 
 minister, but with the minister's wife it was different. 
 The mothers in the congregation knew that in her they 
 were sure to find sympathy, courage, and strength. It 
 was not strange that the congregation adopted the 
 custom of calling her "Mere." 
 
 With all the fullness and happiness of her Claverack 
 life, she never forgot the home of her girlhood, and she 
 was able to imbue her children with a similar affec- 
 tion. All of her sons who married except one, took 
 to themselves Philadelphia wives, from among the des- 
 cendants of the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and it 
 grew to be a familiar saying in the family, that Phila- 
 delphia was a good place for wives. Hon. John Geb- 
 hard of Schoharie, married his cousin, Mary Seitz. Dr. 
 Lewis Gebhard married Mary Ann Halberstadt and 
 settled in Philadelphia, while Dr. John Gabriel Geb- 
 hard, after some years of medical practice in Troy, 
 brought his wife, Elizabeth Snyder home to Claver- 
 ack. 
 
 It was a great pleasure to the old lady of the parson- 
 age to have her Philadelphia daughter-in-law bring 
 
 226 
 
HIS " HUIS VROUWE." 
 
 with her, as a part of her wedding outfit, beautiful 
 damask table-linen, the first imported to this country, 
 by her father, John Snyder, and Stephen Girard. There 
 were a hundred subjects to talk over of past and pres- 
 ent interest. Philanthropy had an early birth in the 
 Quaker city, and Elizabeth Snyder's mother had been 
 among the first ladies interested in the Blind Asylum 
 and other charities. 
 
 Old-fashioned neighborliness and city philanthropy 
 are not far apart at their root, and it would have given 
 the capable old Dominie's wife a thrill of pleasure to 
 have seen her daughter-in-law at a later date, wrap a 
 great unbaked batch of bread in a warm blanket, and 
 drive with it over several miles to a suffering neigh- 
 bor's, where she nursed the sick and baked her bread, 
 sending it back to her family at night. Elizabeth Sny- 
 der's grandfather had been an elder in Dominie 
 Gebhard's church in Worcester, making a tie with the 
 old gentleman also. 
 
 Sometimes the family coach drove down from Scho- 
 harie with the cousin-wife, and at other times Philip 
 and his wife, and Charlotte and her husband drove up 
 from Catskill, and for them all the mother had a warm 
 
 227 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 and hospitable welcome. Life was full in the old par- 
 sonage. 
 
 228 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 CALLING AN ENGLISH COLLEAGUE. 
 
 Many changes had gone over the wide reach of 
 Dominie Gebhard's pastorate since the beginning of 
 his ministerial service in Claverack, not the least of 
 which had been the slow but sure alteration in the 
 prevailing language. At the start it had been neces- 
 sary for him to become proficient in a tongue not his 
 own, and at least partially unfamiliar, that he might 
 preach acceptably to his people, the majority of whom 
 were of Low-Dutch or Holland origin. 
 
 At the end of forty years, the Dutch language was 
 falling into disuse, except among the older portion of 
 the congregation, who were still strongly attached to 
 their mother tongue. The influence of Washington 
 Seminary in their midst, which had trained a genera- 
 tion of English-speaking men and women, the close 
 contact with the Nantucket settlers of Hudson, as 
 well as the going and coming of the citizens of the 
 
 229 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS 
 
 large cities, where English had in a great measure su- 
 perseded other languages, had all borne their part in 
 effecting a change more perceptible each year. It was 
 apparent that the younger part of the congregation 
 had become Americanized, and was beginning to feel 
 impatient of a language almost obsolete, and which 
 they only partially understood. 
 
 That Dominie Gebhard, long the shepherd of this 
 flock, understood and co-operated in the desire of the 
 younger members for a colleague who could preach 
 and perform his pastoral duties in English, is apparent 
 from a letter written by him as the President of Con- 
 sistory, to the Rev. Richard Sluyter, inviting him to 
 preach in the church of Claverack in September, 1815, 
 to which he added this sentence, "It may be an advan- 
 tage to you finally." 
 
 It was also at this time that the church of Claver- 
 ack came under the care of the Classis of Rensselaer 
 and the Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church, hav- 
 ing existed previous to this date as an independent 
 body. Quoting again from a letter from Dominie Geb- 
 hard to Mr. Sluyter, "All efforts which have hitherto 
 been made to bring this congregation under the Clas- 
 
 230 
 
CALLING AN ENGLISH COLLEAGUE. 
 
 sis have proved al)ortive ; but this is the first and 
 most favorable opportunity to effect that purpose. The 
 present Consistory are not averse to it. I am confi- 
 dent that the high opinion which the whole congrega- 
 tion entertains of your person and talents, will readily 
 overcome the caprice of a few individuals. This circum- 
 stance is another argument in our behalf, to give our 
 call a favorable consideration, and finally to accept it. 
 You alone will then be entitled to the merit of having 
 brought this congregation under the Classis. May 
 the Lord incline your heart to see the necessity of be- 
 stowing your labors in this vineyard among us." 
 
 The call was finally accepted by Mr. Sluyter, with 
 the stipulation that he should preach "three-fourths of 
 the Sabbaths of each and every year in the Re- 
 formed Dutch Church of Claverack," and that the 
 other "fourth of the Sabbaths" be given to Hillsdale, 
 which united in the call, and later another "fourth" 
 was given to the church of Ghent. About this time 
 it was estimated that Claverack alone numbered five 
 hundred families. 
 
 As an addition to a " resolution to call an English 
 speaking colleague to assist Dominie Gebhard," there 
 
 231 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 went on record one sentence, which stands boldly 
 forth for the unalterable attachment of the older ele- 
 ment in the congregation to the customs of their 
 youth, and the tongue of the home-land. "The Dutch 
 call shall remain unaltered, integer, as it now stands." 
 
 With this change the more active labors of the 
 church devolved on Mr. Sluyter, but preaching every 
 fourth Sunday, and often the second also, visiting the 
 Dutch-speaking members, baptizing the children, mar- 
 rying the young people, visiting the sick, and occa- 
 sionally administering the Sacrament, went on with 
 the senior pastor as before, while the more strenuous 
 labors of the pastorate, its new endeavors, the work of 
 the outlying districts especially of a revival nature, 
 fell to the charge of the younger minister. 
 
 Life had begun to pour some of its fruits into Dom- 
 inie Gebhard's hands. His eldest son, General Jacob 
 Gebhard, one of the first attorneys of Schoharie Coun- 
 ty, had served several terms as Senator of his State. 
 Also following his father's example, he with nine other 
 men interested in educational advancement, formed 
 themselves into a body corporate for the establishment 
 of Schoharie Academy. 
 
 233 
 
CALLING AN ENGLISH COLLEAGUE. 
 
 Honorable John Gebhard, a younger son, was the 
 first Surrogate of Schoharie County, and later was 
 elected a member of the Seventeenth Congress from 
 the same section. This Congress has been perpetuated 
 in a unique and wholly personal fashion, the portraits 
 of the entire Congress having been painted by Profes- 
 sor Samuel F. B. Morse, later of telegraph fame. Both 
 General Gebhard and his brother John, were men of 
 large political influence, an unusual feature of their 
 public life being their leadership of two opposite po- 
 litical parties. To the Schoharie branch of the Geb- 
 hard family our State owes its first geological survey, 
 as well as the earliest classification of its native flora. 
 
 Two younger sons, Dr. Lewis Gebhard and Dr. John 
 Gabriel Gebhard were at this time practicing medicine 
 in Philadelphia and Troy. 
 
 Sorrow had visited the absent members of the fam- 
 ily, and the parsonage was once more full of chil- 
 dren. In the year following the death of the Domi- 
 nie's young son Charles, his elder son Philip, a promi- 
 nent lawyer of Catskill, had died, leaving a wife and 
 three young children. Charlotte, for many years the 
 Dominie's only daughter, was also a widow with three 
 
 233 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 children, and their grandfather and grandmother open- 
 ed the doors of the old parsonage to the widow and the 
 orphan. For a time the parsonage once more rang 
 with childish voices, and the grandmother made ole- 
 koeks, and rocked the grandchildren in the twilight, 
 singing the old Dutch songs again to the little ones 
 as she had sung them to her own childen, while in the 
 long hours of sunlight she taught the girls to spin, and 
 weave, and bleach linen, to sew in finest stitches, and 
 to make the rich preserves, and candied and dried 
 fruits, for which the Dutch were famous. 
 
 One of these grandchildren, William H. Davis, in 
 his old age, remembered weeding the beans in the 
 parsonage garden in his childhood, and passing up 
 bricks to the masons who were building the vestibules 
 and new steeple to the old church. Another of these 
 boyish recollections paints a picture peculiar to its day 
 and generation. 
 
 Monday was the minister's rest day, then as now. 
 Whether it was the Dutch Dominie's blue day in the 
 usual significance, it was surely so in a peculiar sense. 
 By this time there were ministers settled in many of 
 the outlying districts, which had been only preaching 
 
 234 
 
CALLING AN ENGLISH COLLEAGUE. 
 
 stations in the early days. Many of these men were of 
 Dutch or German extraction, with the music-loving, 
 pipe-smoking tastes and customs of their race. On 
 Monday morning the roads to the Claverack parson- 
 age saw different ministers' gigs, or at times only a 
 Dominie on horseback, drawing toward one center. 
 When they had all gathered in Dominie Gebhard's liv- 
 ing room, and the air was blue with smoke, they turn- 
 ed the occasion into a musical symposium as well, as 
 they took their turns at the little German piano, play- 
 ing favorite tunes or long remembered melodies of the 
 home-land. It is not quite our modern idea of a minis- 
 tet 's club, but if theology were given a second place in 
 these Monday morning ministerial assemblies, at least 
 they were a homeopathic remedy for a minister's blue 
 Monday. 
 
 235 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON'S CHILD- 
 REN AND GRANDCHILDREN. 
 
 An account of a voyage taken in 1769 by the pro- 
 prietor of a wide tract of land called Smith's patent, in 
 the middle of New York State, gives some interesting 
 facts concerning the Manors and the Manor life along 
 the upper Hudson, from an observer's standpoint. It 
 says: 
 
 "May 8th. — We went on shore to Two Stone 
 Farm Houses on Beekman Manor in the County 
 of Dutchess, the Men were absent and the Women 
 and children could speak no other Language than 
 Low Dutch, our Skipper was interpreter. One of 
 these Tenants for Life, or a very long Term, or for 
 lives (uncertain which) pays twenty Bushels of Wheat 
 in Kind for 97 acres of cleared Land, and liberty to get 
 Wood for necessary Uses anywhere in the Manor — 
 12 eggs sold here for six pence. Butter 14 d per pound 
 and 2 shad cost 6d. One Woman was very Neat, and 
 the Iron hoops of her pails scowered bright, the 
 Houses are mean. We saw one Piece of good meadow 
 
 236 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 which is scarce hereaway, the wheat was very much 
 thrown out, the Aspect of the Farms rough and hilly 
 Hke all the rest and the Soil a stiff Clay. One Woman 
 had Twelve good countenanced Boys and Girls all 
 clad in Homespun both Linen and Woolen, here was 
 a Two-wheeled Plow drawn by 3 horses abreast, a 
 Scythe with a short, crooked Handle and a Kind of 
 Hook both used to cut down Grain, for the Sickle is 
 not much known in Albany County or in this part of 
 Dutchess." 
 
 "9th. — We arose in the Morng opposite a large 
 Brick House on the East Side belonging to Mr. Liv- 
 ingston Father to Robert R. Livingston, the Judge in 
 the Lower Manor of Livingston. Albany County 
 now on either Hand, and sloping Hills here and 
 there covered with Grain like all the rest we had seen, 
 much thrown out by the Frost of last Winter. Land- 
 ing on the W^est Shore we found a number of People 
 fishing with a Sein, they caught plenty of Shad and 
 Herring, and use Canoes altogether, having long, neat 
 and strong Ropes made by the People themselves of 
 Elm Bark. Here we saw the first Indian, a Mohicon 
 named Hans, clad in no other Garment than a shat- 
 tered Blanket, he lives near the Kaatskill and had a 
 Skunk Skin for his Tobacco Pouch, the Tavern of this 
 Place is most wretched — Trees are cut in Leaf, Cattle 
 and Sheep, nothing different from ours, are now feed- 
 ing on the Grass which is nearly as forward as with 
 us when we left Burlington, the Trees quite as for- 
 ward, and the White Pine is common. One Shad 
 taken with the rest had a Lamprey eel about 7 inches 
 
 237 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 long fastened to his Back. I was informed here by a 
 Person concerned in measuring it, that the Distance 
 from KaatsKill Landing to Schoharie is 32 1-2 miles 
 reckoned to Capt. Eckerson's, a good Wagon Road 
 and Produce brot. down daily from thence to Cher- 
 ry Valley half a Day's Journey, that People are now 
 laying out a New Road from bopus Kill to Schoharie 
 which is supposed to be about 32 1-2 miles, Sopus 
 Creek is about 11 Miles below KaatsKill Creek, and 
 a Mile below where we now Landed, they say that 7 
 or 8 Sloops belong to Sopus — the Fish are the same in 
 Hudson's River above the Salt Water as in the Dela- 
 ware — the Skipper bought a Parcel of Fish here cheap, 
 these Fishermen draw their Nets oftener than ours, 
 not stopping between the Draughts. At three ocloc 
 we passed by the German Camp, a small Village so 
 called, having Two Churches, situated on the East 
 Side of the River, upon a rising Ground which shows 
 the Place to Advantage, some iJistance further on the 
 same Side of the River we sailed by the Upper Manor 
 House of Livingston, a quantity of low cripple Land 
 may be seen on the opposite Side, and this reaches 4 
 Miles to the Kaats Kill called 36 Miles from Albany ; 
 ofif the Mouth of this Creek we have a view of the 
 large House built by John Dyer the Person who made 
 the Road from hence to Schoharie at the Expense of 
 400 Lbs. if common Report may be credited — Two 
 Sloops belong to KaatsKill, a little beyond the Mouth 
 whereof lies the large Island of Vastic — there is a 
 House on the North Side of the Creek and another 
 with several Saw Mills on the South Side but no Town 
 
 238 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 as we expected. Sloops go no further than Dyer about 
 a Half a Mile up the Creek, the Lands on both sides 
 of Kaats Kill belong to Van Berger, Van Vecthe, Sal- 
 isbury, DuBois and a man in York, their lands, as our 
 Skipper says Extend up the Creek 12 Miles to Barber 
 the English Gentleman his Settlement, the Creek runs 
 through the Kaats Kill Moimts said hereabouts to be 
 a Distance of 12 or 14 Miles from the North River, but 
 there are Falls above which obstruct the Navigation 
 (these particular enquiries were made because this 
 was supposed to be the nearest Port to our newly 
 purchased Territory). We landed in the Evening on 
 the KaatsKill Shore 4 Miles above the Creek, but 
 could gain no satisfactory Intelligence, only that the 
 Dutchess of Gordon and her Husband Col. Staats 
 Long Morris were just gone from Dyer's House for 
 Cherry Valley and Susquehanna with Two Wagons, 
 they went by the way of Freehold by the Foot of the 
 Mountains on this Side, and so over them to Scho- 
 harie, guessed to be about 32 1-2 Miles as was said 
 before." 
 
 " loth. — We passed by Sunday Islands where of 
 Scutters Island affords a good low Bottom fit for 
 Meadow and some of it is improved, Bear's Island 
 said to be the beginning of the Manor of Rensselaer- 
 wic which extends on both Sides of the River, the 
 Lords of the Manors are called by the common Peo- 
 ple Patroons, Bearen Island or Bear's Island 
 just mentioned is reputed to be twelve Miles below 
 Albany — Cojemans Houses with Two Grist Mills and 
 Two Saw Mills stand a little above on the ^Vest 
 
 239 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Side and opposite is an Island of about Two 
 Acres covered with young Button Wood Trees which 
 Island, our Skipper says, has arisen there to his 
 Knowledge within i6 years and since he has navigat- 
 ed the River — more low bottom Land is discovered as 
 we pass up, generally covered with Trees, being clear- 
 ed might be made good Meadow by Banking or Im- 
 provement to which the Inhabitants are altogether 
 Strangers, the upper End of Scotic's Island is a fine 
 cleared Bottom not in Grass but partly in Wheat and 
 partly in Tilth, however there was one rich Meadow 
 improved, we saw the first Batteaux a few Miles be- 
 low Albany, Canoes being the common Craft. One 
 Staats House is prettily fixed on a rising Ground in 
 a low Island, the City of Albany being 3 Miles aHead 
 we discovered for the first Time, a Spot of Meadow 
 Ground Plowed and Sowed with Peas in the Broad 
 Cast Way, the Uplands are now covered with Pitch 
 Pine and are sandy and barren as the Desarts of New 
 Jersey, as we approach the town the Houses multiply 
 on each Shore and we observe a Person in the Act of 
 Sowing Peas upon a fruitful Meadow on an Island to 
 the right. The Hudson near Albany seems to be about 
 a Half Mile over. Henry Cuyler's Brick House on the 
 East Side about a Mile below the Town looks well, 
 and we descry the King's Stables a long wooden Build- 
 ing on the left, and on the same side Philip Schuyler's 
 Grand House with whom at present resides Colonel 
 Bradstreet (since Deceased and Schuyler is now a Ma- 
 jor Gen. in the service of the United States) Col. John 
 Van Rensselaer has a good House on the East Side. 
 
 240 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 At Half after lo oCloc we arrived at Albany estimat- 
 ed to be 164 Miles by Water from N. York and by 
 land 157. * * * Stephen Van Rensselaer, the Pa- 
 troon, or Lord of the Manor of Rensselaerwick his 
 House stands a little above the Town, he is a young 
 Man (since deceased)." 
 
 The foregoing journal gives some idea of the life of 
 the tenants of the Manors of the upper Hudson a iew 
 years prior to the Revolutionary War. Every decade 
 after that brought changes not only on the farms, but 
 the life of the Manors themselves changed with each 
 succeeding generation. When Robert Livingston 
 bought the first tracts of his Manor land, the price 
 paid to the Indians was in "guilders. Blankets and 
 Child's Blankets, large shoes and small, large and 
 small stockings, guns, powder, staves of lead, caps, 
 tin kettles, axes, adzes, two pounds of paint, twenty 
 little scissors, twenty little looking glasses, one hun- 
 dred fish hooks, one hundred pipes, nails, tobacco, 
 knives, rum, and beer, and four stroud coats, and two 
 duffel coats." 
 
 Upon the payment of this price the lands were to be 
 "delivered free and unburdened to Robert Livingston," 
 save only "that the previous Indian owners should 
 
 241 
 17 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETV/EEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 have the right of fishing in the Kill and hunting deer, 
 provided they brought the head to the new owner." 
 There was a marginal note added to this document by 
 Tamaranachquae an Indian woman, who stipulated be- 
 fore signing the contract, that she should have the 
 privilege "to plant for four years a little hook of land." 
 
 This first grant was for tv/o thousand acres on 
 Hudson's River. 
 
 In 1685 there was another purchase of land, 
 and both tracts were erected into a Manor, with the 
 right to "One Court Leet and one Court Baron, to 
 hold and to keep at such time and times, and so often 
 yearly as Robert Livingston or his heirs should see 
 meet." Eventually Robert Livingston's grants of land 
 reached sixteen miles long and twenty-four broad, for 
 which he paid the Crown a yearly rent of "eight and 
 tAventy shillings, Currant money of this country." 
 
 The boundary lines of the Manor were drawn by 
 distances from the spot where "the Indians have laid 
 several heaps of stones together by an ancient custom 
 used among them," along "kills" and "mountain sides" 
 and "runs of water" to other stones, and on to "five 
 lime trees marked by Saint Andrew's Cross." On the 
 
 243 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 old maps of Livin^^ston Manor a certain point is mark- 
 ed "Manor Rock" which is presumably one of these 
 old piles of stones which the Indians had thrown one 
 upon the other. The earlier maps of 17 14 also contain 
 a print of the group of five lime trees, marking one 
 corner of the estate. 
 
 In 1721 through the influence of the first Lord of the 
 Manor, a church was built, to which an "able and pious 
 Dutch Reformed Protestant minister from Flolland" 
 was to be called, and at the time of his death the fol- 
 lowing year, he willed a number of acres of land for a 
 parsonage glebe, and still further acres for a sustain- 
 ing fund for the church. Although Robert Livingston 
 had been instrumental in erecting a church, it seems 
 to have been largely for the benefit of the tenants of 
 the estate for the first fifty years, except in case of 
 death, when the members of the Livingston family 
 were brought home to be laid in the vault beneath the 
 Manor Church. The Revolutionary War effected a 
 change in this respect. This patriotic family being 
 driven from the cities, the Manor Church, as well as 
 the homes at Livingston, took on greater importance, 
 and the church books began to bear record that many 
 
 243 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Livingston babies were baptized here, and older mem- 
 bers of the family were married in the Manor Houses, 
 while the noted Dr. Livingston who had been compell- 
 ed to flee from New York took charge of the Manor 
 Church during eighteen months of these troublous 
 times. The old Manor Church and the first Manor 
 House were only a mile and a half apart, the church 
 being at Staatje, (little village). 
 
 In this same old record book, whose entries begin 
 in 1723, there is a page written by John H. Livingston 
 in finest script, under date of 1781, the language em- 
 ployed being Low Dutch. An entry is also to be found 
 here of the baptism of "Johannes, son of Hendrick 
 Van Rensselaer and Elizabeth Van Brug, Oct. 20th, 
 1744," which took place in the Manor Church at a time 
 when the Claverack church was without a pastor, this 
 Hendrick being a younger son of Hendrick Van Rens- 
 selaer the first Proprietor of the Lower Manor of Rens- 
 selaerwick, and among the early settlers of Claverack. 
 
 The first Manor House was very different from 
 those which followed. The walls, as in all well built 
 houses of that period, were built for protection, and 
 were so thick that the windows looked like mere in- 
 
 244 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 dentations. It was low ceiled and heavy raftered, and 
 an old story connected with it, affirms that the first 
 Lord Robert Livingston kept his money on the floor 
 of his bedroom. It was literally his "pile," and a place 
 of untold wealth in the eyes of the children and ser- 
 vants who passed his door, and looking in caught 
 fleeting glimpses of heaps of Spanish coins upon the 
 floor. In later years an occasional rusty coin has been 
 unearthed near the site of the old Manor House, which 
 has been thought to be one of these first rolling Span- 
 ish doubloons. This primitive bank had no Board or 
 bank officials connected with it, and its President, and 
 day and night guard, was the Lord of the Manor him- 
 self, whose strong personality seems to have been its 
 only safety and defense. 
 
 The second Lord of the Manor, Philip the eldest son 
 of Robert, did not live permanently at Linlithgo, but 
 came and went as the business of the estate called him. 
 However there are records of parties of children and 
 grandchildren, and occasional friends in need of coun- 
 try air, coming to the Manor for long stays during the 
 summer months, or a bride and groom spending a hon- 
 eymoon there. One of these happy honeymoons spent 
 
 245 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 at Livingston Manor was that of Sarah Livingston, 
 Philip Livingston's daughter, who chose her country 
 home even in windy March for a wedding trip, on her 
 marriage to Wilham Alexander. There was no hint 
 of spring in the air at this time of year, but like a host 
 of later dwellers along the banks of the Hudson, they 
 probably saw that yearly marvel, the ice moving down 
 the Hudson to the sea. 
 
 The marriage of "Sally Livingston" seems to have 
 been pleasing to her family. On the birth of a daugh- 
 ter a year later, a humorous letter from Robert, her 
 eldest brother, to his brother-in-law, says : 
 
 "I congratulate you on the increase in your family, 
 and hope in the future my sister will beget a more 
 masculine kind, and not spoil the family with such 
 Lilliputians as your daughter." 
 
 Upon the death of Philip, the Manor again had a res- 
 ident proprietor in the person of this same Robert, 
 Philip's eldest son, who married Mary Tong. 
 
 Sons and grandsons had built Manor Houses on 
 sightly locations in every direction before the year 
 1800, but during the war, and for several decades after- 
 ward, Robert Livingston, the third Lord, lived in the 
 
 246 
 
ROBERT LIINGSTON 
 Third ami last Lord of Livingston Manor. 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 old Manor House while at Livingston, for nearly all 
 
 the family had winter homes in New York or Albany, 
 
 as well as on the Livingston Manor. 
 
 Governor William Livingston of "Liberty Hall" 
 
 New Jersey, wrote his brother Robert from Trenton 
 
 in December of 1781 in reference to the visit of one oi 
 
 his daughters to the Manor. 
 
 "Dear Brother: I hear that your very numerous 
 family is going to be increased by one of mine. I fear 
 Susan will be troublesome to a house so overrun with 
 company as yours. But my poor girls are so terrified 
 by the frequent incursions of the refugees into Eliza- 
 bethtown, that it is a kind of cruelty to insist on their 
 keeping at home, especially as their mother chooses 
 rather to submit to her present solitary life, than to 
 expose them to such disagreeable apprehensions. But 
 she herself will keep her ground to save the place from 
 being ruined, and I must quit it to save my laody from 
 the Provost in New York, so that we are all scattered 
 about the country. But by the blessing of God, and 
 the instrumentality of General Washington and Rob- 
 ert Morris, I hope we shall drive the devils to old 
 England before next June." 
 
 This letter tells the story of a house full of guests at 
 
 the low-browed old Manor House at Linlithgo, and 
 
 not a summer party, but at a time when the roads were 
 
 white with snow, and the river was a pathway of ice. 
 
 247 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 We may imagine that there were merry sleighride par- 
 ties, and that the slaves who lived in the outhouses 
 near the Manor House kept the fires roaring in the 
 great fire-places, and warming-pans ready for the 
 Manor beds, in the efifort to keep out the one unwel- 
 come guest, Jack Frost ; that the apples and cider 
 stored away in the cellars beneath the house, were 
 greatly enjoyed by the guests, and that Susan Liv- 
 ingston did not regret that the troubles of war sent 
 her to her uncle's for a genuine Manor Christmas. 
 
 To a friend Governor Livingston speaks again of 
 his daughter, when it was the gayeties of city life 
 which were giving her pleasure : 
 
 "My principal Secretary of State, which is one of 
 my daughters, is gone to New York to shake her heels 
 at the balls and assemblies of a metropolis, which 
 might as well be more studious of paying its taxes 
 than of instituting expensive diversions. * * My 
 secretary is as celebrated for writing a good hand as 
 her father is notorious for scribbling a bad one. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 "WILLIAM LIVINGSTON." 
 
 This same William Livingston, the patriotic Gov- 
 ernor of New Jersey, had much mechanical talent, and 
 was fond of entertaining his leisure hours with tools. 
 
 248 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 He said to his daughter one day, "Come with me, my 
 dear, and see how many houses I own, and how rich 
 I am in real estate." She followed him, to find in his 
 study and workshop a large number of wren houses, 
 whicli he had made with great enjoyment, and after- 
 ward put up on his piazza, and in trees all over his 
 place. He was also very fond of children, and delight- 
 ed in the visits of his sons and daughters and their 
 children. A letter written to his son-in-law Mr. Rid- 
 ley evinces this pleasure to a marked degree. 
 
 "Suppose, in reality, that you, and and Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. Jay, and should come to Liberty Hall next 
 
 cherry time; why then, with my romping with some 
 upon the piazza, and shooting robins with others out 
 of the mazzard trees, and talking and romping with 
 the elder boys and girls, and their fathers and mothers 
 around the table, I protest, as some ladies say, that I 
 would not exchange such a scene of happiness for any 
 gratification of the Grand Seigneur." 
 
 William Livingston's daughters were as welcome 
 guests at their uncle Robert's at Livingston Manor, 
 as the Schuyler girls were at the Lower Van Rensse- 
 laer Manor. In the maps of 1798, previously referred 
 to, the old Manor House waves a flag or pennant from 
 its highest gables, and in the imaginations of the Liv- 
 
 249 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ingston girls of Liberty Hall, a flag always waved 
 from this happy country home. In the spring time the 
 breath of the trailing-arbutus, blossoming under the 
 leaves in the woods, and in the fall the spicy odor of 
 the Chancellor's rare fruits, drew them toward the Liv- 
 ingston country. 
 
 During the war, Liberty Hall was open to much 
 hostile attention from the British, but the patriotism 
 of their father only bred greater loyalty to the Colo- 
 nies in the hearts of his children. In a letter written 
 by one of the Governor's daughters to a friend in I777? 
 we gain a glimpse of the state of things which sent Su- 
 san on a visit to the Manor at a later date : 
 
 "K. has been to Elizabethtown, found our 
 
 house in a ruinous situation. General Dickenson had 
 stationed a Captain with his artillery company in it, 
 and after that it was kept for a bullock's guard. K — 
 waited on the General, and he ordered the troops re- 
 moved the next day, but then the mischief was done. 
 Everything is carried ofif that mama had collected for 
 her accommodation, so that it is impossible for her to 
 go down to have the grapes and other things secured, 
 the very hinges, locks and panes of glass are taken 
 away." 
 
 A couple of years later her father wrote to his daugh- 
 ter Catherine visiting in Philadelphia : 
 
 250 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 "I know there are a number of flirts in Philadelphia 
 equally famed for their want of modesty, as want of pa- 
 triotism, who will triumph in our over-complaisance to 
 the Red Coat prisoners lately arrived in that metropo- 
 lis. I hope none of my connections will imitate them, 
 either in the dress of their heads, or the still more 
 Tory feelings of their hearts." 
 
 "I am your affectionate father, 
 
 ' " WILLIAM LIVINGSTON." 
 
 In her eighteenth year Sarah Livingston married 
 Hon. John Jay, and to the same daughter as in the pre- 
 vious letter, a few months later Governor Livingston 
 wrote concerning them : 
 
 "I am obliged to Mr. Morris for his promise of giv- 
 ing me the earliest intelligence of their arrival in 
 France. I hope his business with the four quarters of 
 the globe will not eft'ace it from his memory. I have 
 already suffered more anxiety on their account than 
 I should have imagined I could be affected by on any 
 account. The tenderness of a parent's heart can never 
 be known till it is tried." 
 
 Miss Susan Livingston, who was her father's secre- 
 tary, proved her kinship to her patriotic parent, when 
 she saved his papers from the British on one of theii 
 raids. Governor Livingston, being warned, had left 
 home at an early hour to escape capture by the Red 
 Coats, entrusting his valuable papers to Susan's 
 
 251 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 keeping. She placed the papers in a carriage box, and 
 took them to a room in the upper story, then climbed 
 out of a window to watch the approach of the soldiers. 
 An officer, seeing her there, warned her to go within, 
 for she was in danger of being taken for a man and 
 fired upon. She turned to obey, but found it impossi- 
 ble to return by the window, through which she had 
 found so easy egress. 
 
 Seeing her plight, the young officer entered the 
 house, and sprang up the stairs, lifting her in through 
 the window. With this vantage, she asked his name, 
 and upon its being given as "Lord Cathcart" with a 
 sudden inspiration she appealed to him for protection 
 for a box of her own personal possessions, offering 
 to open her father's library to the soldiers. Her re- 
 quest was complied with, and the box was guarded, 
 while her father's library was ransacked, with no re- 
 sults detrimental to the patriot cause. 
 
 Mrs. Ellet gives a spicy letter from Kitty Livingston 
 to her sister, Mrs. John Jay, in which many of the 
 members of the Manor families of the upper Hudson, 
 are mentioned. 
 
 252 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 "May 23rd, 1780." 
 "Lady Mary and Mrs. Watts have rented Mrs. Mont- 
 gomery's farm for two years ; cousin Nancy Brown is 
 one of their family. Colonel Lewis has purchased a 
 house in Albany ; one of the girls lives there with Git- 
 tey. fie and Robert have each presented Cousin Liv- 
 ingston with a granddaughter. The Chancellor's is a 
 remarkably fine child. Mrs. Livingston never looked 
 so well as she did the last winter, and was so much 
 admired in Philadelphia. She and Mrs. Morris are in- 
 separable ; she was also a first favorite of Mr. Morris. 
 His esteem I think very flattering. Robert is in Con- 
 gress, and T believe is at present there; she is to ac- 
 company him in the fall. General and Mrs. Schuyler 
 are at Morristown. Tlie General is one of the tliree 
 that compose a Committee from Congress. They ex- 
 pect to be with the army all summer. Mrs. Schuyler 
 returns to Albany when the campaign opens. Apropos : 
 Betsey Schuyler is engaged to our friend Colonel 
 Hamilton. She has been at Morristown. at Dr. Coch- 
 rane's since last February. Morristown continues to 
 be lively." 
 
 It was this same Kitty Livingston who married Mat- 
 thew Ridley of Baltimore, and who sent the following 
 order to Nantes. In a return letter from John Jay dated 
 Madrid, Jan. 21st, 1782, he hopes that at least one 
 of the parcels may reach its destination : 
 
 "Be pleased to send for Miss Kitty VV. Livingston, 
 to the care of Hon. R. Morris, Esq., at Philadelphia, 
 
 253 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 by the first three good vessels bound there, the three 
 following parcels, viz. 
 
 "No. I to contain 2 white embroidered patterns for 
 shoes; 4 pair of silk stockings; a pattern for a Negli- 
 gee of light colored silk, with a set of ribbons suitable 
 to it ; 6 pairs of kid gloves : 6 yards of cat-gut and ca- 
 puire in proportion; 6 yards of white silk gauze." 
 
 "No. 2 to contain the same as above, except the silk 
 for the Negligee must not be pink colored, but of any 
 color that Mrs. Johnson may think fashionable and 
 pretty. The shoes and ribbons may be adapted to it." 
 
 "No. 3 to contain the same as above, except that 
 the silk for the Negligee must be of a different color 
 from the other two, and the shoes and ribbons of a 
 proper color to be worn with it." 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting of the incidents con- 
 nected with the patriotic Kitty Livingston's career, 
 was the letter General Washington sent her, from Val- 
 ley Forge. 
 
 " General Washington having been informed lately 
 of the honor done him by Miss Kitty Livingston in 
 wishing for a lock of his hair, takes the liberty of in- 
 closing one, accompanied by his most respectful com- 
 pliments." 
 
 These girls, among the other cousins, continued to 
 
 come and go at the Livingston Manor, and in time 
 
 their children came also. The journey on the sloop 
 
 up river was of itself a great pleasure. The sloops oft 
 
 254 
 
THE FIRST ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 
 
 en sailed in little fleets, with possibly friends and ac- 
 quaintances on the neighboring white-winged vessels. 
 Sailing through the beautiful Highlands by day, and 
 anchoring at night under some craggy shelter where 
 the whip-poor-will, or some splashing fish, made eerie 
 noises in the shadows, and the sky above their heads 
 swept in a great dark circle spangled with countless 
 stars, was an experience to look forward to wath joy. 
 
 All along the wharves of the upper Hudson were 
 waiting relatives. The Chancellor's, Madam Living- 
 ston's, and John Livingston's houses were all near the 
 river, and on the days when sloops were expected, 
 there were sure to be some members of the Manor fam- 
 ilies awaiting merchandise, and others with an eager 
 welcome for the expected guests. 
 
 On the Manor road which ran further inland, lived 
 the "Widow Livingston," Henry W. Livingston, and 
 General Harry Livingston in his bachelor hall, while 
 at the crossing of the Manor-road and the postroad 
 was the home of Walter Tryon Livingston, youngest 
 son of Peter R. Livingston. This house at the cross- 
 roads held one son and six daughters who added a 
 large share to the life and interest of the Livingston 
 
 255 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 country. Surely Livingston Manor was a place of 
 which one might dream, and toward which the travel- 
 er would turn joyful and willing feet. 
 
 Out of the happy visits to the Manor in the early 
 days, we have the printed record of a romantic out- 
 come. Mrs. Lamb writes : 
 
 " The newspapers in November, 1796, chronicle a 
 marriage and reception at the Governor's mansion, as 
 follows: 'Married on the 3rd, at his Excellency's 
 John Jay, Governor, Government House, John Liv- 
 ingston of Livingston Manor, to Mrs. Catherine Rid- 
 ley, daughter of the late Governor William Living- 
 ston.' The bride wa.s Mrs. Jay's accomplished and 
 piquant sister, Kitty Livingston, who in 1787 became 
 the wife of Matthew Ridley of Baltimore, and after 
 a brief wedded happiness was left a widow." 
 
 256 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 MANOR JUNKETINGS. 
 
 John Livingston, a son of Robert, had built his house 
 at Oak Hill in 1798. The walls, like those of the old 
 Manor were very thick, and built of brick made on 
 the estate, the woodwork also was constructed from 
 trees hewn from the Manor forests. The old Lord's 
 wide acres provided for all the needs of a household 
 from the foundations to the roof. Within were deep 
 window-seats, and stairs with old fashioned comfort- 
 able landings, and high mantels decorated with the 
 beautiful putty-work figures of the past. 
 
 There were variations in the building of the various 
 Manor Houses, but in each were the furnishings of 
 the colonial period, Chippendale chairs, high-post, 
 elaborately festooned bedsteads, pier glasses, and in- 
 laid tables, beautiful little sewing tables which held 
 the embroidery of the lady of the Manor in 
 
 257 
 18 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 its tiny drawers, and many times some rare toy 
 for the pleasure of the child who hung about 
 its mother's knees, as she traced the fine stitches 
 in her needle work. Embroidering chair-seats was a 
 favorite occupation of the Manor ladies and their 
 guests. One of these pieces of needle-work made by 
 a daughter of Chancellor Livingston is still preserved. 
 There were treasures in silver and china also, much of 
 the silver being inherited from the first Lord Robert, 
 and marked with the family crest. 
 
 There is a pen portrait of John Livingston written 
 by one of his descendants, which almost brings the 
 genial and courtly proprietor of Oak Hill into our pres- 
 ence, after the passing of over a century. "His style 
 of dress was that worn by all the courtly gentlemen of 
 the olden time, — a black dress coat with knee breeches 
 fastened over his black silk stockings with silver 
 buckles; similar buckles of a larger size were in his 
 shoes. He had a high forehead, beautiful blue eyes, a 
 straight nose and very determined mouth. His hair 
 was carefully dressed every morning, the long queue 
 was rewound, the whole head plentifully besprinkled 
 with powder, and the small curls that had remained 
 
 258 
 
MANOR JUNKETINGS. 
 
 in papers during breakfast time, adjusted on each side 
 of his neck." 
 
 The Livingstons were still buying land and building 
 saw-mills and flour-mills, and managing iron works 
 as in earlier days of the Manor, only the purchases 
 were made now in distant parts of the State, and in 
 western lands. 
 
 There were dinner parties in those days where one 
 great house entertained the guests of another ; even- 
 ing gatherings of neighbors dropping in unexpectedly 
 on moonlight nights, "water-picnics" in summer, and 
 sleighride and skating parties in winter, with laughter 
 and frolic. When the river was a glare of new ice aft- 
 er three zero nights, the venturesome spirits among 
 the young people might stray down to its banks and 
 embark on some swift-flying ice boat, skimming over 
 the surface of the black ice before the wind, hearing 
 the resounding noises of cracks in the new^ ice, avoid- 
 ing air holes where groups of wild birds quenched their 
 thirst in a circle about the open water, sweeping on 
 with a thrill of excitement and pleasure over the wide 
 expanse of the frozen river, while the cold winds blew 
 down from the north, and the sky hung a half circle 
 
 259 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 of steely blue over their heads, and the sun in the west 
 sent comforting rays of warmth through their chilled 
 bodies. 
 
 Less exciting, but still having the form of novelty, 
 were the river sleigh-rides, when the fallen snow had 
 turned the Hudson into a great white thoroughfare, 
 and a sleigh-ride party, on a starry night drove up or 
 down the river to their destination, wrapped in warm 
 robes with soap-stones at their feet, and a tingle of joy 
 in the air, yet glad to reach the door thrown wide open 
 into the night, flooding the snow with a cheerful light, 
 where warmth and welcome awaited them. Often they 
 danced till the small hours in the long drawing-rooms, 
 where the chill in the distant corners sent the dancers 
 back to the nearer circles about the crackling log-fires 
 in the great fire places. At Oak Hill alone there were 
 nine sons and daughters, and the many groups of cou- 
 sins of the different Manor Houses with their guests, 
 made a merry company of almost any neighborhood 
 gathering. 
 
 All the Livingstons were ship-owners, and the sloops 
 at the docks were a perpetual temptation on the blos- 
 
 260 
 
MANOR JUNKETINGS. 
 
 soming days of spring, or in the balmy summer time, 
 or during the glorious autumn days. 
 
 "Our two voyages" (to New York and back) "occu- 
 pied nine days and seven hours," wrote one of the 
 voyagers, "and we were received at Oak Hill with as 
 hearty a welcome as if we had performed the journey 
 around the world." 
 
 The Manor servants were still negro slaves, and the 
 slaves on John Livingston's estate lived in the base- 
 ment of the great house. They had a happy and an 
 easy time, if we may fust a humorous sketch in a 
 newspaper of later date : 
 
 "At Oak Hill, John Livingston resided, and owned a 
 whole flock of negroes, the fattest, and the laziest, 
 and the sauciest set of darkies that ever lay in the sun- 
 shine. They worked little and ate much, and when- 
 ever there was a horse-race or a pig-shave at the 
 'Stauchy' ((Staatje), the negroes must have the 
 horses, even if the master should be obliged to go 
 about his business on foot. When they visited Cats- 
 kill in tasseled boots and ruffled shirts, they were sure 
 to create a sensation, and it was not unusual for the 
 'poor whites' to sigh for the sumptuous happiness of 
 John Livingston's slaves." 
 
 Washington Irving gives a graphic account of a 
 
 visit to one of the Livingston Manor Houses in a let- 
 
 261 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ter written in the early part of 1812 to his friend Henry 
 Brevoort : 
 
 "From the Captain's I proceeded to the country seat 
 of John R. Livingston where I remained for a week, 
 in complete fairy-land. His seat is spacious and ele- 
 gant, with fine grounds around it, and the neighbor- 
 hood is very gay and hospitable. I dined twice at the 
 Chancellor's, and once at old Mrs. Montgomery's. Our 
 own household was numerous and charming. In ad- 
 dition to the ladies of the family, there were Miss Mc- 
 Evers and Miss Haywood. Had you but seen me, hap- 
 py rogue, up to my ears in 'an ocean of peacock feath- 
 ers/ or rather 'like a strawberry smothered in cream !' 
 The mode of living at the Manor is exactly after my 
 own heart." 
 
 "You have every variety of rural amusement within 
 your reach, and are left to yourself to occupy your time 
 as you please. We made several charming excursions, 
 and you may suppose how delightful they were, 
 through such beautiful scenery, with such fine women 
 to accompany you. They surpassed even our Sunday 
 morning rambles among the groves on the banks of 
 
 the Hudson, when you and the divine H were so 
 
 tender and sentimental, and you displayed your horse- 
 manship so gallantly by leaping over a three-barred 
 gate." 
 
 The "Widow Mary"' or "Lady Mary Livingston," 
 
 both of which titles belonged to her, was a marked 
 
 personality in the Manor life of the early years of the 
 
 262 
 
CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON'S HOME 
 This house was burned durinji: the war. and rebuilt at a later date. 
 
 JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON'S HOME 
 
 One of the Livinsrston Manor Hou.ses which wa.s burne<l durint^ the war. 
 
 and rebuilt by "brave Martrarel Beckman." the .ludRe's widow. 
 
MANOR JUNKETINGS. 
 
 nineteenth century. She had been a Miss Allen of Al- 
 lentown when she married Henry W. Livingston, 
 whom she survived forty-five years. Like Margaret 
 Beekman of Revolutionary fame, and Catherine Schuy- 
 ler, she built a mansion upon a commanding eminence, 
 whose substantial elegance, has withstood the march 
 of time, and whose beauty has never been excelled in 
 any of the Manor Houses. 
 
 The "Widow Mary" Livingston was a woman of 
 strong character who conducted her vast estate, brought 
 up her family, built houses for her sons, and entertained 
 widely and hospitably, as did all the Livingston wives 
 before her. An old lady of Claverack who made her 
 an afternoon call as a child, never forgot the grandeur 
 of the great hall, the dignified "Lady Mary," with her 
 high Swiss cap, which she was in the habit of carry- 
 ing from place to place in a basket when traveling, the 
 dark-faced butler in swallow-tails, with his mammoth 
 silver tray, which he lowered hospitably before the 
 child and her father, ofifering them cake and wine at 
 his mistress' command. 
 
 The "Widow Mary" loved a garden, and from some 
 
 263 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 far-away place imported the snap-dragon of our fields 
 to-day. In neighborly kindness she presented a 
 portion of her yellow-blossoming plant to the wife 
 of Colonel Henry I. Van Rensselaer at the Stone 
 Mills, and the hardy little flower showing wild in- 
 stincts when planted in a box-bordered flower-bed, 
 wandered all over the Livingston and Van Rensselaer 
 Manors, and crept through all the Manor fences into 
 the farm-yards and fields, till the "Widow Mary's" gold- 
 en blossom is one of the best known wild flowers of 
 Columbia County to-day. 
 
 It was this same neighbor, Colonel Henry I. Van 
 Rensselaer, who aspired to have the first buggy in 
 this part of the country, so placed his wood in the 
 mill-pond to season for a year, at the end of which 
 time the buggy was constructed, and presumably had 
 the same durable qualities as the "wonderful one- 
 horse shay" of New England fame. 
 
 Four Henry W. Livingstons have descended in a 
 straight line from the first Henry W. Livingston, the 
 husband of "Lady Mary." At the death of one of them 
 in the long ago, a whole ox was roasted to entertain 
 the great gathering of people who attended the funer- 
 
 264 
 
MANOR JUNKETINGS. 
 
 al. These were also the days when the minister and 
 pall-bearers attended funerals clad in long pleated 
 scarfs of white linen, fastened with black rosettes, 
 and wearing black gloves. 
 
 To the first fifty years of the Republic belonged 
 Robert, the last Lord of Livingston Manor ; his broth- 
 er, Peter Van Brugh, a merchant of New York, and 
 active in the Provincial Congress; John, also a mer- 
 chant of New York; Philip, the "Signer;" Henry; 
 William, Governor of New Jersey, and father of 
 Brockholst Livingston, Judge of the State Supreme 
 Court, and Assistant Justice of the United States 
 Court; Sarah, wife of Major-General Alexander, Earl 
 of Stirling; Alida (Mrs. Martin HofiFman) ; Catherine 
 (Mrs. John L Lawrence). 
 
 Of the children of the last Lord Robert who belong to 
 this same period, was Peter R. Livingston, who was 
 President of the Convention of the State of New 
 York in 1776; Chairman of the New York Committee 
 of Safety; Colonel of the loth Regiment from Albany 
 County in 1775, but was detained from leading his 
 men to the field by his duties to the State at that 
 time, his younger brother, Henry, leading the Regi- 
 
 265 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 ment as Lieutenant-Colonel. Peter R. began to build 
 before the war, what he had intended to be his 
 grand Manor House. The Revolution doing away 
 with the entail brought his hopes to an end, and the 
 house, with its solid foundation was never finished, 
 simply a roof being placed over the first story. It has 
 ever since gone under the name of the "Hermitage." 
 At a later date Peter R. Livingston held the office of 
 Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Columbia 
 County. 
 
 Walter Livingston, the second son of the last Lord 
 of the Manor, was a member of the Provincial Con- 
 gress, and first custodian of the United States Treas- 
 ury. His home was at "Teviotdale," which later came 
 to be called "Fulton House," after the marriage of 
 Walter's daughter Harriet to Robert Fulton, and 
 their residence in this beautiful country hoiiie during 
 many of the summers of their early married life. Rob- 
 ert C. was a merchant of New York and Jamaica, "C." 
 standing for Cambridge University, where he was ed- 
 ucated, and to distinguish him from the many other 
 Roberts. John, for whom Johnstown was named, 
 
 266 
 
MANOR JUNKETINGS. 
 
 and who built Oak Hill, and General Harry, of Revo- 
 lutionary fame, completed the sons, to whom were 
 added Maria, who married Judge James Duane ; Alida, 
 the wife of Valentine Gardner, and Mrs. John Patter- 
 son. 
 
 The life of Livingston Manor a century ago belongs 
 to the picturesque past, when great political service 
 and large land and mercantile enterprises were com- 
 bined with a home life, whose junketings and visit- 
 ings, "water-picnics" and sloop journeys, and coach- 
 ing parties, ended around the festal board of some 
 Lord of the Manor, whose hospitality was as far-fam- 
 ed as were the beauty and grace of the Lady of the 
 Manor, and the hearty welcome of his sons and 
 dausfhters. 
 
 267 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON. 
 
 While Claverack's nearest neighbor, the town of 
 Hudson, was progressing so rapidly, the quiet Dutch 
 village and country-side were not forgetting their old- 
 er neighbors and friends in Livingston and Clermont. 
 
 Chancellor Livingston's residence held a prominent 
 place among the important homes of the upper Hud- 
 son. He had married a daughter of that John Stevens 
 who owned the most of the site of Hoboken, and who 
 was also a sister of the second John Stevens, the build- 
 er of the first ocean-going steamer. Her charming 
 presence in the home added to the luster and renown 
 of its hospitalities. 
 
 Each step of the Chancellor's advance had been 
 watched with interest, from his selection as the Sec- 
 retary of Foreign Affairs, to the appointment of Chan- 
 cellor of the State of New York, and when the State 
 
 268 
 
CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON. 
 
 Convention met at the old Van Kleeck house at 
 Poughkeepsie to consider the Constitution, with the 
 Chancellor, Philip Livingston, Hamilton, Jay, and 
 Philip Schuyler among its warmest advocates, no sec- 
 tion of the State was more alive to its outcome, than 
 that along Chancellor Livingston's own stretch of the 
 river, on the east side of the Hudson. 
 
 During the six weeks in which the debates continued, 
 the subject was equally, if not as learnedly discussed 
 through the country-side, and at last, when it was 
 known that New York had unconditionally ratified 
 the Constitution, the friends of its advocates, both 
 personal and political, in Claverack, Livingston and 
 Clermont, were jubilant, and the publication in the 
 newspapers of the Constitution of the United States 
 in full, found most earnest and interested readers in 
 the men of the upper Hudson. 
 
 At the Lower Manor of Claverack, there was a 
 double reason for rejoicing. Part of the Constitution 
 had been drafted by Alexander Hamilton in one of 
 the rooms of General Schuyler's house at Albany. As 
 in other cases, it was a family as well as a State affair. 
 
 269 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 and on the evening of the announcement of the ratifi- 
 cation, the Schuyler mansion was brilliantly illuminat- 
 ed in celebration of the great Federal victory. 
 
 In 1801 Chancellor Livingston was appointed, by 
 President Jefferson, as ambassador to the Court of 
 France during the First Napoleon's reign, and his ne- 
 gotiations for the purchase of Louisiana, the success- 
 ful conclusion of which doubled the extent of the coun- 
 try, giving the United States the whole valley of the 
 Mississippi, the Rocky Mountains, the great plains, 
 and a large stretch of the Pacific slopes, could not but 
 excite intense interest in his fellow countrymen. 
 
 He returned from his stay in France to enter hearti- 
 ly, with Robert Fulton, into the plans for the first 
 steamboat, proving himself an ideal friend, as well as 
 an able coadjutor in the great project. In the absence 
 of public encouragement in their venture, Fulton and 
 Livingston found in each other a mutual inspiration, 
 which carried them on a wave of courage and hope 
 toward their great final achievement. 
 
 Though prominent in so many events of national 
 importance, the Chancellor's interest in country life. 
 
 270 
 
CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON. 
 
 its possibilities and improvements, gave his estate at 
 Clermont a warm place in his regard, and his opin- 
 ions in agricultural matters a value with the farmers 
 of the section. He was keenly alive to all of nature's 
 blessings, delighted in producing rare varieties of 
 fruit, and was instrumental in introducing the 
 race of Merino sheep into the United States. He 
 himself owned at one time a flock of one thousand 
 sheep of this breed, and a neighbor of his, Beriah 
 Pease, who kept a flock on the "Fonda Hill Farm," 
 gave the name, "Mount Merino," to the sightly ele- 
 vation at the south of the city of Hudson. 
 
 His own home at Clermont was eloquent of the Chan- 
 cellor's love of nature and the charms of a country life. 
 The spacious mansion which he built a little south of 
 the one which was burned during the war of the Revo- 
 lution, had a river front of over one hundred feet and 
 was almost as deep, built in the form of the letter H. 
 In one of its wings the Chancellor is said to have had 
 a fine library of over four thousand volumes, and the 
 house itself was furnished with beautiful tapestry and 
 furniture specially imported from France by its own- 
 
 271 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS 
 
 er. The silver service was also among the most mag- 
 nificent of its time. Outside of the house were wide- 
 sweeping lawns on three sides, skirted by the virgin 
 forests, and the beguiling water-view of the Hudson 
 river and Catskill mountains. 
 
 There were long planted avenues of favorite trees, 
 favorable to a study of the Chancellor's views on the 
 subject of tree-culture, and offering his guests enticing 
 walks in the early dew-crowned morning, and the hours 
 of sunset, or the witching hours of moonlight. These 
 vistas of tree-planted avenues could tell stories of 
 lengthy discussions of a political nature, between 
 statesmen who found at the Chancellor's home a place 
 of relaxation from the strain of the jarring world, or 
 of younger people who met there at house parties, 
 and found the dignity and charm of their surround- 
 ings conducive to the play of fancy, and the growth 
 of sentiment. This house of history and story, with 
 its past associations, is still standing on the banks oi 
 the Hudson, one of the old landmarks of the Manor 
 days. 
 
 So courtly were the Chancellor's manners, so up- 
 
 272 
 
CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON. 
 
 right his integrity, so full of honor the acts of his 
 public and private life, it is not strange that his pres- 
 ence at Clermont was most highly esteemed. A stu- 
 dent of men and of books, a man keenly interested in 
 scientific pursuits, his life was a broad one, carrying 
 through all its manifold activities a strong faith in 
 God, as the guide and director of the lives of men. 
 
 Under Chancellor Livingston's name and the date 
 of birth in the family Bible, one reads the prayer, 
 "The Lord bless and be with him. Amen." 
 
 His friendships were strong, one of the closest being 
 that with John Jay, who was his law partner for a 
 short time in his early life. The correspondence of 
 the two great men is among the gems of literature. 
 
 The Chancellor often ended his letters to his friends 
 with "God bless you," as his ultimate wish for their 
 well-being. When he died in^i8i5 the grief along the 
 Clover-reach of the Hudson helH a peculiar quality, 
 in which respect and proprietorship, pride and affec- 
 tion, were equally mingled. i 
 
 273 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 The perpetual leases given by the Van Rensselaers 
 of the Lower Manor were considered equivalent to a 
 sale, and brought to Claverack a class of men whose 
 distinction gave the town a reputation beyond that of 
 the settlements of the neighboring Manors, and whose 
 family residences compared favorably with the Manor 
 Houses. 
 
 William Henry Ludlow came to Claverack from 
 New York some years before the War, and opened a 
 grain store. As the raising and selling of crops was 
 the business of farms for miles around, and Claverack 
 was the place of exchange between the country and 
 the " Landing," this business was of great importance. 
 All traces of this first grain depot have passed away, 
 but the fine colonial mansion which Mr. Ludlow built 
 in 1786 still stands, and hanging upon its walls are the 
 portraits of many of the early settlers of Claverack, 
 
 274 
 
0. fM^ 
 
 
 Z = 
 
 < 3 
 
 II 
 
 Q £ 
 =) .2 
 _l = 
 
 
 ■#• 
 
EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 and the branch of the Livingston family with which 
 they intermarried, for back and forth between these 
 two great estates came the sons and grandsons of the 
 Lords of the Manors, seeking wives among the daugh- 
 ters of those who had bought farms, and built homes 
 in this section of the country. 
 
 The first owner of the Ludlow mansion and his wife 
 with their high-bred faces, the merchant of that day in 
 ruffled shirt and with lace dropping over his hands, 
 look across the room into the faces of Robert Morris, 
 the son of Chief Justice Richard Morris of "Bob Hill" 
 fame, a prominent man of his day, and his wife, a sweet 
 old lady in dotted-net cap, with kerchief and lace 
 shawl below, and the tapering fingers of her time. The 
 two families intermarried after the War, and later 
 again with the family of Robert Fulton, whose portrait 
 by Benjamin West holds an honored place among the 
 rest ; and all these pictures of the Claverack families 
 of the past show gentle blood and courtly bearing. 
 
 Most of these earlier families built a second house, 
 which is the one which stands to-day. This was the 
 case with the Millers who descended from Cornelius 
 Stephense Muldor who bought his thousand acres 
 
 275 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 from the first proprietor of the Lower Manor. This 
 family sent its branches into as many important posi- 
 tions in life as its acres were broad. The old Race 
 homestead in Claverack occupies a portion of the old 
 Miller estate. Here Court Martials were held during 
 the Revolution. Cornelius S. Miller was a member of 
 the Vigilance Committee, appointed to arrest Tories 
 who were often confined in the cellar of his house, as 
 were also delinquents of the Claverack regiment under 
 the command of Colonel Robert Van Rensselaer. 
 Killian Miller was Member of Congress and Coun- 
 ty Clerk, Stephen was a Presidential Elector and Mem- 
 ber of Assembly, Hon. John I. Miller was Judge of the 
 Court of Common Pleas in 1808 and Senator in 1821- 
 22. They held military commissions, and were promi- 
 nent in political life, both at that time and in later 
 years. " On one occasion according to the late Joseph 
 D. Monell, after a sharp political contest in which Cor- 
 nelius S. Miller was successful, the young men of the 
 town attached ropes to his gig and drew him home in 
 triumph, Mr. Monell participating." 
 
 This branch of the Miller family continued to use 
 Dutch in its family intercourse long after English was 
 
 276 
 
EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 in common use, which would lead us to infer that they 
 were among- those lovers of the tongue of the home- 
 land, who stipulated that the " Dutch call should re- 
 main unaltered, integer, as it stood," when an English 
 colleague was called to assist Dominie Gebhard. 
 
 Stephen Miller of this family, carried on a store of 
 similar importance to that of Mr. Ludlow from 1790- 
 1834 known as the " old store " which was said to have 
 been " a central point of trade and barter, where the 
 farmers for miles around gathered to obtain their sup- 
 plies." Previous to the time of railroads, transporta- 
 tion was carried on by wagons and sloops, and the 
 country roads were never quiet or untraveled even in 
 unpleasant weather. A store-keeper of Hudson, who 
 was interested in this traveling wagon-trade, tells in 
 his journal written in 1816 of a ride to Austerlitz, a 
 distance of twenty miles, on which trip he counted 
 seventy-two farmers going, and seventy-six returning. 
 A country-store on the road to the "Landing" held an 
 important place in those days. 
 
 Killian Hogeboom emigrated from Holland, bring- 
 ing an infant son Jeremiah with him, soon after Hen- 
 drick Van Rensselaer came into possession of the Low- 
 
 277 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 er Manor. His son Johannes was born in Claverack, 
 and was the father of eleven children. There seems 
 to have been room for any number of children to grow 
 and prosper on the Claverack farms, some of the Clav- 
 erack families numbering among their relatives one 
 hundred own cousins. Cornelius Hogeboom, one of 
 Columbia County's first Sheriffs, who was killed by 
 the Anti-renters in 1791 was a son of Johannes. Judge 
 John C. Hogeboom his grandson, was said by his con- 
 temporaries in political life to have been "one of na- 
 ture's great men," who, while rendering marked polit- 
 ical service to his State, won the respect and admira- 
 tion of both friends and opponents. 
 
 Jeremiah Hogeboom was prominent in public life, 
 as was also Stephen, his son, who was often Member 
 of the Assembly and of the Constitutional Convention 
 in 1801, also serving as State Senator. One of his 
 daughters married General Samuel B. Webb who 
 came to Claverack to reside after the Revolutionary 
 War. General Webb had a most distinguished mili- 
 tary career. "Hearing of the battle of Lexington he 
 went to Boston in command of a company of light in- 
 fantry, was engaged and wounded at Bunker Hill, 
 
 278 
 
EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 was subsequently aide to Gen. Putnam, and private 
 secretary and aide-de-camp to General Washington. 
 He was engaged in the battle of Long Island, wound- 
 ed at White Plains and again at Trenton, and was in 
 action at Brandywine. In 1777 he raised the third 
 Connecticut regiment, which was captured by the 
 British fleet. Colonel Webb was not exchanged till 
 1780, when he took command of the light infantry, 
 with the brevet rank of Brigadier-General." Soon 
 after he made Claverack his place of residence, he 
 made an important journey to New York. This was 
 at the time of the Inauguration of George Washing- 
 ton as President of the United States, upon which oc- 
 casion he held the Bible upon which the President 
 took the oath of office. 
 
 General Webb lived in one of the houses built by 
 the Hogebooms after an ancient Dutch model, about 
 the year 1760. Here in 1802 the General's son James 
 Watson Webb was born, and until the house was 
 burned in 1890 it was considered one of Claverack's 
 most interesting landmarks. While holding import- 
 ant historical prominence, it possessed at a later day 
 an interest forever connecting it with the glad Christ- 
 
 279 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 mas season, for it was in one of its old fashioned 
 rooms, that a descendant of the Hogebooms wrote 
 that time-honored Christmas rhyme, "The Night Be- 
 fore Christmas." The picture painted of the silent 
 house, the broad chimney accommodated to the de- 
 scent of St. Nicholas, and the sleeping children, all 
 took place beneath its Dutch roof, and the prancing 
 horses bringing "St. Nick" and his Christmas toys, were 
 supposed to have been galloping over the gambrel 
 roofs of Claverack. A ride with children at a later 
 date always embraced the road past the Webb house 
 and its Christmas story. 
 
 The Esselstyns came from Holland in 1659, and 
 Marten Cornelise Ysselsteyn was one of the fourteen 
 original proprietors of Schenectady, but the charms 
 of Claverack drew him away from his original pur- 
 chase, and in 1668 he sold his farm for three hundred 
 and thirty beaver skins, and ultimately settled in Clav- 
 erack, where he leased a large tract of land, and to 
 the seventh generation, Claverack still holds his de- 
 scendants residing on the ancestral estate. We have 
 no record as to whether the "beaver skins" paid for 
 the new purchase, but the change of residence from 
 
 280 
 
EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 Schenectady to Claverack does not seem ever to have 
 been regretted. Military honors were plentiful in 
 this family. Richard E. was a Captain and a Major 
 in the Continental army, while his son Jacob, follow- 
 ing in his father's footsteps, went forth at fifteen to 
 fight for his country, and was a Major in the war of 
 1812. "The Esselstyns and Millers have at various 
 times held nearly, if not all, the public offices in the 
 county." 
 
 The Van Nesses, than whom no family stood higher 
 in social and political life in the first fifty years of the 
 Republic, have been already mentioned in the fruitage 
 of eminent men who gave renown to Washington 
 Seminary. This family was one of the earliest of those 
 who built their homes along the Kolderberg (Post- 
 hill) ; and who gave to that beautiful thoroughfare the 
 name of being a very aristocratic section of Claverack. 
 
 The descendants of Samuel Ten Broeck, who mar- 
 ried Maria Van Rensselaer, the eldest daughter of 
 Hendrick, and who, with his wife, were the first to 
 live in Hendrick Van Rensselaer's new Manor House, 
 remained in Claverack to the third and fourth genera- 
 tion, owning a tract of land now divided into four 
 
 281 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 farms. Samuel Ten Broeck was one of the committee 
 appointed to erect the first church in 1726. Adam Ten 
 Broeck served seven years in the War, and William 
 Ten Broeck of this family was one of the " voorlesers" 
 of the old Dutch Church. 
 
 Like Captain Conyn, Fitz Muzigh of Livingston 
 was hung- up in his own cellar by the Tories, and was 
 most fortunately rescued by a neighbor. His son 
 Hendrick acquired "a tenth lease" of one William 
 Snyder of Claverack, with the consent of Colonel Jo- 
 hannes Van Rensselaer, agreeing to pay him "one- 
 tenth of all the produce and four fat hens annually." 
 Upon this farm he built a house in 1770. This house 
 is still the property of his descendants, but the pur- 
 chase in 1809 of the summer home of Hendrick Van 
 Rensselaer, and their long residence there, has asso- 
 ciated the Mesick name indelibly with this quaint 
 old house, whose high ridge and sloping roof still re- 
 main, though the gambrel roof of the Van Rensselaer 
 Manor days at the back has undergone change. This 
 family have also held military commissions and filled 
 civil offices, the first Lieutenant's commission being 
 signed by Cadwallader Colden in 1764. 
 
 282 
 
EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 The Tobias Van Deusen house was built in 1742 
 with gambrel roof, and its gable end to the road once 
 bore the date 1742 in figures over a foot long. Tobias 
 I St married a Scotch lady of Linlithgo, and his son 
 James, a daughter of Robert Hathaway, one of the 
 early settlers of Hudson, who was a ship owner who 
 sent "ventures" to the West Indies. This couple 
 seem to have been among the pioneers of the Dutch 
 residents of Claverack who entered into marriage with 
 the New Englanders of Hudson. 
 
 Steadily in the early years after the "Proprietors" 
 from Providence and Nantucket, bought land for a 
 town from Peter Hogeboom and the Widow Hardick, 
 one house after another was built by the Quakers on 
 the turnpike road to Claverack. Equally as steadily 
 Claverack poured her citizens into the new town of 
 Hudson, till eventually there came to be the mixed 
 Dutch and Quaker race which are residents of this 
 section to-day. 
 
 Time would fail to tell of the Rossmans and Hoff- 
 mans, the Philips and Russells, the Delamaters and 
 Le Roys, Leggetts and Schumakers and Flemings and 
 many others who have wrought large deeds for the 
 
 283 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 well-being of Claverack, and often for their native 
 State as well. Are they not all written in the County 
 and State records and in every history of Claverack? 
 
 It is the women of these families who raised house- 
 fuls of children, who saw their sons occupy positions 
 of honor g-eneration after generation, and their 
 daughters marry and repeat their mothers' lives, of 
 whom it is difficult to find the records, yet these were 
 a mighty factor in the life of Claverack. We read it 
 best in the quaint household utensils that tell of their 
 daily labors, in the work of their hands in quilts and 
 spreads, woolen sheets and woven coverlids made by 
 their industrious fingers, by the beautiful embroider- 
 ies of dress and furniture, the samplers with their vir- 
 tuous rhymes, and the more impressive picture sam- 
 plers, whose subjects were wont to be of tomb-stones 
 and weeping willows, and wooden-armed mourners, 
 hiding wooden features through the handkerchiefs 
 held before their eyes. 
 
 Occasionally there are favorite books to be found, 
 very grave treatises on manners and personal piety, 
 with a pressed leaf or flower between the leaves, or a 
 worked card-board book-mark of as serious a design 
 
 284 
 
EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 as the samplers. 
 
 There are tender family stories laid away as it were 
 in lavender, by some lover of her ancestors ; or some 
 ludicrous incident of the long ago held fast in a humor- 
 ous memory. Sometimes one hears of a merry group of 
 girls, the village beauties, and how many proposals 
 they each boasted, giving their descendants the im- 
 pression that proposals of marriage were as common 
 and constant as the gentleman's attentions to his lady, 
 and that the chosen wUt at last, had she known, must 
 have felt like the end belle of a long line. 
 
 After all this, — from which we picture the woman 
 of the past, — there are still occasional portraits so 
 charming and characteristic, that one may read be- 
 tween the lines, and see the haughty dame whose head 
 was carried high, the gentle matron whose heart is 
 shown in her face, the sunshiny eyes and humorous 
 curves to the lips in another frame, the serene faces 
 of the women who were mothers at sixteen, the sad 
 and tiie glad, — and we gain a fresh insight into the 
 personalities of our fore-mothers. 
 
 Thus we come to know the women of yesterday, 
 who are in no records, yet who graced the homes of 
 
 285 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 Claverack and of other colonial towns, who visited 
 each other, rejoicing and weeping with their friends in 
 turn, who filled their days with earnest labors, who 
 walked the village streets, and were driven over 
 the roads, and tripped across lots as their descendants 
 do to-day, pleased with the first wild flowers, tending 
 their gardens, planting tiny trees that now shade us 
 from the heat of the summer sun, watching the glisten- 
 ing icicles that hung to the pine-needles, and the snow 
 drifts that blocked the road and hid the fences, own- 
 ing and loving the world they lived in, and their hus- 
 bands and children in that time of long ago. 
 
 Through this Claverack world of men and women 
 and children. Dominie Gebhard walked for fifty years, 
 social and vivacious, but always dignified and courte- 
 ous, his personal amiability making him a peacemaker 
 in the congregation, and as a pastor a most welcome 
 visitor, carrying with him to his outskirting churches 
 a genial fellowship as well as a clerical blessing. One 
 of the descendants of these families of the past has 
 said of him, "For nearly half a century he filled a 
 large place, albeit a man of small statue, in the relig- 
 ious, social, and educational life of Claverack. His 
 
 286 
 
EARLY RESIDENTS OF CLAVERACK. 
 
 memory is a shrine at which even the descendants of 
 those who lived under his ministry never cease to 
 worship." 
 
 287 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 MONTGOMERY, LAFAYETTE, AND THE 
 ERIE CANAL. 
 
 A dramatic event took place on the Hudson during 
 the summer of 1818. For forty years the body of the 
 brave General Montgomery had lain in Canadian soil. 
 Janet Livingston Montgomery had only been allowed 
 three years of happy married life with her soldier hus- 
 band. Her years of bereavement had been many. 
 When the request was made for her, to the Governor- 
 in-Chief of Canada, Sir John Sherbrooke, that General 
 Montgomery's remains be removed to New York, it 
 was courteously granted. 
 
 An act had been passed in a recent session of the 
 Legislature of New York, recommending that a com- 
 mission be sent to Quebec on this important errand, 
 and Governor DeWitt Clinton appointed Lewis Liv- 
 ingston, a son of Edward Livingston, to receive the 
 remains and direct the formalities incident to the re- 
 
 288 
 
MONTGOMERY, LAFAYETTE, ETC. 
 
 moval. On July Fourth a military escort under the 
 Adjutant-General and Colonel Van Rensselaer accom- 
 panied the body from Whitehall to Albany where 
 there were impressive ceremonies. After resting in 
 state in the Capitol over Sunday, the body was taken 
 down river in the steamboat Richmond, the following 
 day. The greatest respect was paid the passing boat 
 by the citizens of the towns along the river, in many 
 places minute guns breaking the silence. There were 
 old soldiers and ofificers of the Revolutionary war still 
 living, and many a tear-dimmed eye and lifted hat, 
 watched the silent movements of this unique funeral 
 bier, which brought the brave General back to his own 
 after nearly half a century. 
 
 The Governor had acquainted Mrs Montgomery of 
 the hour in which the Richmond would pass Mont- 
 gomery Place. Alone she waited on the verandah in 
 front of her house as the hour approached. Since the 
 good-bye spoken at General Schuyler's house at Sara- 
 toga, she had lived half a lifetime, always cherishing 
 the memory of "her soldier," made doubly precious 
 through the early tragic parting. As the wheels 
 ceased to move, and the boat stopped in front of Mont- 
 
 289 
 20 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 gomery Place, over the water came the muffled music 
 of the "Dead March," played by the band on board. 
 A salute was fired and the Richmond proceeded on its 
 way, leaving behind the grey-haired woman who had 
 given her all for her country, and could still say, as 
 she had written from Ireland some years earlier, 
 where she was visiting General Montgomery's family, 
 "When I return home I hope to find my dear country 
 for which I have bled, the envy of her enemies and the 
 glory of her patriots." The events of this July day 
 were the crown of her great sacrifice and grief of 
 years, and the glory of a country whose army had 
 held such a soldier as General Montgomery. 
 
 General Montgomery's monument in front of St. 
 Paul's chapel, New York, bears this inscription— 
 
 "This monument is erected by order of Congress, 
 January 25th, 1776, to transmit to posterity a grateful 
 remembrance of the patriotism, conduct, enterprise, 
 and perseverance of General Richard Montgomery, 
 who, after a series of successes in the midst of the 
 most discouraging difficulties, fell in the attack on 
 Quebec, 31st December, 1775." 
 
 After the removal of Governor Montgomery's body 
 
 290 
 
MONTGOMERY, LAFAYETTE, ETC. 
 
 the following- inscription was added — 
 
 "The State of New York caused the remains of Ma- 
 jor-General Montgomery to be conveyed from Quebec 
 and deposited beneath this monument the 8th of July, 
 1818." 
 
 The War of the Revolution was still leaving its af- 
 termath in many ways, and it was not all sorrowful. 
 
 Hudson is said to have been one of the first cities 
 in the Union, which sent a committee of invitation to 
 Lafayette in New York, on his last visit to America, 
 offering the hospitalities of the town. 
 
 In September 1824, he embarked on the steamer 
 James Kent, commanded by Captain Samuel Wiswall, 
 the "Commodore," to make a tour of the Hudson, 
 stopping along the way to meet old friends and to ac- 
 cept invitations which had been tendered him. He 
 spent a morning with General Morgan Lewis and his 
 wnfe, Gertrude Livingston, at Staatsburg, and after 
 leaving their hospitable home, asked for his old 
 friend Colonel Harry Livingston. A little later the 
 steamer stopped at Kingston Point, and Colonel Liv- 
 ingston, who had crossed the river in a row boat, 
 came aboard. Lafayette's joy at the meeting was un- 
 
 291 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 mistakable. The two old friends rushed into each oth- 
 er's arms, giving one another a hearty kiss in true 
 French fashion, to the surprise of the Americans 
 aboard. Their close association in army experiences 
 had made a tie of warm comradeship between them, 
 not easily forgotten through the intervening years. 
 
 Chancellor Livingston's two daughters lived at this 
 time in the Livingston homes at Clermont. The eld- 
 est had married Edward P. Livingston, a grandson 
 of the Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He 
 had been private secretary to Chancellor Livingston 
 during the latter portion of his ministry to France, 
 and at this time lived in the older of the two Manor 
 Houses, the one rebuilt by Margaret Beekman, widow 
 of Judge Robert R. Livingston, during the Revolu- 
 tion. In the Chancellor's home lived Robert L. Liv- 
 ingston who had married the younger daughter. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the James Kent at Clermont, 
 with General Lafayette on board as the guest of hon- 
 or, word was sent to the city of Hudson, when a 
 "committee of citizens consisting of Rufus Reed Esq., 
 Mayor Dr. John Tallman, and Colonel Strong, accom- 
 panied by two military companies, the Hudson Brass 
 
 293 
 
MONTGOMERY, LAFAYETTE, ETC. 
 
 Band, General Jacob R. Van Rensselaer and suite, 
 and Brig.-General James Flemming and suite, pro- 
 ceeded upon the steamboat Richmond, Captain Wil- 
 liam J. Wiswall, to meet Lafayette at Clermont, and 
 escort him to Hudson." 
 
 The reception given Lafayette at Clermont was a most 
 brilliant social event. The lawn of the Chancellor's old 
 home was beautifully illuminated, and for half a mile 
 crowded with guests, while the water in front was 
 dotted white with vessels bringing guests from the 
 towns in the vicinity. The cups, plates, ladies' gloves, 
 and slippers, bore the likeness of Lafayette. It was 
 a distinguished gathering, including among its num- 
 bers many of the most prominent citizens of the State. 
 Lafayette reached Hudson on the following day, 
 and it is said, "met with a reception the most heartfelt 
 and joyous ever bestowed on man." The procession 
 through the streets was a notable one. As it stopped 
 a moment before Mayor Tallman's residence (now 
 the Graceland) his little boy, a very beautiful child, 
 ran to the carriage to see Lafayette. The General 
 was so pleased with the bright face of the little fellow, 
 that he lifted him into the carriage with him, and the 
 
 293 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 child reached the acme of boyish aspiration, as he 
 rode through the streets of the town under the arches, 
 and between the cheering lines of people, seated be- 
 side the visiting General. 
 
 The carriage in which Lafayette rode was drawn by 
 four black horses, and attended by four grooms in 
 hvery. Following was a lengthy procession of mili- 
 tary organizations and citizens of Hudson and Claver- 
 ack, and other near-by places. The streets were crowd- 
 ed with people, all anxious to gain at least one look at 
 the man America delighted to honor. The procession 
 passed on its way through arches of evergreens, bear- 
 ing inscriptions of welcome to America's friend, bow- 
 ing cordially to the hosts which lined the thoroughfare 
 on either side. At the head of the street surmounting 
 one of the arches stood a colossal figure of the God- 
 dess of Liberty, bearing the stars and stripes in her 
 hand. 
 
 At the Court House Lafayette was received by the 
 ladies of the town, and welcomed by the Mayor, to 
 whom he responded in a brief speech. Here he met 
 sixty-eight veterans of the Revolution and had a kind- 
 ly word for each. It had been expected that he would 
 
 294 
 
MONTGOMERY. LAFAYETTE, ETC. 
 
 dine in Hudson, but the beautiful and elaborate deco- 
 rations of Allen's tavern, and the sumptuous feast 
 provided, were a lost labor of love, since the delays of 
 the journey made it necessary that the guest of the 
 day should leave without partaking of the banquet. 
 He did alight, however, at this point, and admire the 
 efforts made in his behalf, which included a wreath 
 suspended over the chair designed for him, and con- 
 tained an appropriate poetical welcome. After partak- 
 ing of some light refreshment, he bade the multitude 
 farewell, and embarked for Albany. 
 
 The beautiful water-way of the Hudson was the 
 medium of transmitting the great public events of the 
 day in this quarter of the world. One other spectacle 
 of momentous import occurred the following year. 
 Governor Clinton's dream and ambition had been to 
 cut a canal through New York State, and thus unite 
 the Great Lakes and the Hudson. Clinton met with 
 similar experiences to those of Robert Fulton in his 
 great project, and his political antagonists called his 
 design, "The Big Ditch," and ridiculed his scheme, 
 hampering him at every step. However, during at 
 least a part of the long waiting time, he had the en- 
 
 295 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 couragement of Gouverneur Morris and Robert Ful- 
 ton on his committee, able coadjutors and courageous 
 friends. 
 
 After fifteen years of hard work, and many discour- 
 agements, on October 26th, 1825, the canal, which was 
 four hundred and forty miles in length, was finished, 
 and everything was in readiness to let the waters of 
 Lake Erie into the channel. There being no telegraph, 
 the news was carried to distant points by means of a 
 chain of cannon placed all along the route, to give no- 
 tice of the event. The first gun was fired at ten 
 o'clock ; at eleven Albany rang out her salute of 
 joy, and from then on all the way down the Hudson, 
 the flashes told the story. It is easy to imagine the 
 interest of the crowd on Round Top Hill at Hudson 
 that October morning, and the villagers and farmers 
 of Claverack were said to have gathered in large num- 
 bers at the Landing. At eleven o'clock and twenty- 
 one minutes, New York city heard the glad tidings. 
 
 Nor were the fire-flash messages all. Four canal 
 boats, with the Seneca Chief in the lead, followed, hav- 
 ing started from Buffalo with a distinguished com- 
 pany on board. The canal boats did not travel as 
 
 296 
 
MONTGOMERY, LAFAYETTE, ETC. 
 
 quickly as the flashes, but their progress was triumph- 
 ant. People gathered at every available place along 
 the route to welcome the little fleet. Some of the citi- 
 zens of that day thought the whole State had turned 
 out to rejoice. There was a special celebration at Al- 
 bany, where Ambrose Spencer, formerly of Claverack, 
 was then Mayor. Sloops and steamboats saluted the 
 whole length of the river, in which ovation the whis- 
 tles and flags of the Hudson boats joined most heart- 
 ily. 
 
 When the four canal boats reached New York, 
 tliere were great processions on water and land. The 
 boats moved down the bay beyond Sandy Hook amid 
 greetings from the Forts, and here Governor Clinton 
 lifted aloft a keg of Lake Erie water, and poured it 
 into the ocean, thus mingling the two waters. The 
 completion of the Erie Canal opened up a vast area in 
 the central and western part of the State, paving the 
 way to great cities, and increased commercial prosper- 
 ity, almost past computation in its beneficial effects. 
 
 297 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 SHADOWS ACROSS THE SUNSHINE. 
 
 The later years in the Claverack parsonage held 
 both tragedy and romance. Annamaria, the last of 
 the Dominie's children, was little older than the 
 grandchildren who had come to make the parsonage 
 their home. The charm of her fair young womanhood 
 appealed greatly to her nephews and nieces, and they 
 seem to have looked upon her with wide-eyed admira- 
 tion. Her engagement in her seventeenth year to 
 John Bay, a rising young lawyer of the village, wove 
 around her a romantic interest in the eyes of the 
 younger members of the family. 
 
 When she started one fair spring day for Hudson, 
 to buy her wedding dress, with the consciousness that 
 her wealth for the purpose lay in a veritable gold piece 
 safely stowed away until she had reached her destina- 
 tion, it is probable that the fancies of the young, which 
 in the spring time "lightly turn to thoughts of love," 
 
 298 
 
SHADOWS ACROSS THE SUNSHINE. 
 
 were hers in a large measure, and that they wove 
 threads of gold through the dreams of flowered silks 
 and silvery satins, which formed the goal toward 
 which she traveled. Already she could see the sales- 
 men in the shops of Hudson, gathering- breadths of 
 silk in their hands, as they threw out the folds of soft 
 sheeny material, descanting on the relative beauty and 
 merit, of trailing green vines or rose-bud figures, 
 while Annamaria told herself that there never had 
 Ijeen such a beauty before, as she would select for her 
 wedding gown. 
 
 The birds sang love-songs among tiie blossoms, or 
 built new nests in the tree tops, wind flowers along 
 the roadside bent their delicate heads to the gentle 
 t)reezes, and the slender green branches of the willows 
 mirrored themselves in the clear waters of Claverack 
 Creek. Everything in nature spoke of renewal in the 
 spring of 1816, but no part of it all exceeded the joy 
 that sang its own song in the young girl's heart as she 
 drove to Hudson to buy her wedding dress. 
 
 Where or how it happened no one knows to-day, or 
 who in the long after time, found a tiny gold mine in 
 some clump of cow-slips, or just under the edge of 
 
 299 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 some sheltering rock, or among the pebbles in the 
 purling brook beside the road, but Annamaria lost her 
 gold piece that fair spring day, and the wedding dress 
 waiting for her, was never cut from the piece. 
 
 Her grief came down in the annals of the boy who 
 helped build the church steeple, and the deep pity of 
 his childish heart, led him to his grandfather to plead 
 that his Aunt Annamaria be given another gold piece 
 for the wedding dress. That gold pieces of consider- 
 able value were not plentiful in a country parsonage, 
 where the fatherless and motherless were also being 
 cared for, was not discernible to the child, only the 
 sad look of the old man as he gently said, "Go away, 
 child. Go away, child," remained in his memory. 
 
 Whether the mother's Philadelphia wedding dress 
 of long ago, with its soft satin stripes, and hair lines 
 of green on the corn-colored background, was substi- 
 tuted for the gown that was to have been chosen by 
 the young bride herself, or whether the disappoint- 
 ment brought on a decline, history is silent, but be- 
 fore the next springtime had brought birds and flow- 
 ers and apple blossoms, Annamaria had died of "a 
 
 300 
 
SHADOWS ACROSS THE SUNSHINE. 
 
 consumption," aged seventeen years and seven 
 months. 
 
 In the days when the joys of earth v^ere sHpping 
 away, she copied in her own hand and signed with her 
 own initials, in the family Bible, that record book of 
 vital events of the past, "The Bride's Farewell," a 
 tender and touching good-bye to the loved members 
 of her family. In the rhythmical measures, we are 
 led to believe it was originally intended as a farewell 
 to her girlhood's home from a bride about to leave it 
 for the home of her husband, but it was at this time 
 used as a last farewell. In such lines as — 
 
 "I in gems and roses gleaming. 
 On the eternal sunshine dreaming. 
 Scarce this sad farewell may speak." 
 
 the poetess, all unconsciously, had inserted lines of 
 double meaning, fitting them to this unforeseen use. 
 
 301 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 THE CROWN OF LIFE. 
 
 It is a significant fact that in 1799 in the zenith of 
 his labors and influence, there had come to Dominie 
 Gebhard the "Proclamation of the President of the 
 United States, John Adams, calling for 'a day of fast- 
 ing, humiliation and prayer,' " while in the closing 
 months of his ministr}^, October i8th, 1825, Governor 
 Clinton issued his first proclamation for the observ- 
 ance of a public thanksgiving. The fullness of days 
 and of labors called for thankfvilness both in church 
 and State. 
 
 In April 1825, the original large parish over which 
 Dominie Gebhard had presided, was reduced still 
 further in size by the withdrawal of the Hillsdale 
 church, to which Claverack agreed. A few days later 
 the old Dominie passed in his resignation as the sen- 
 ior-pastor of the church, and the Dutch call which had 
 
 302 
 
THE CROWN OF LIFE. 
 
 "remained unaltered, integer, as it stood" for nearly 
 fifty years became null and void. 
 
 The years were sapping the strength of the intrepid 
 Dominie of the past, yet the letter to the Classis of 
 Rensselaer asking to be relieved of his charge on ac- 
 count of advancing age and infirmities, rang also with 
 a touch of the old undaunted spirit in its closing sen- 
 tences which asked "that he might still l)e Iield a 
 member of the Classis of Rensselaer, and be permitted 
 to preach occasionally when invited, or administer the 
 Holy Sacrament when his strength would permit" 
 and was signed, 
 
 "Yours in the love of the Gospel, 
 
 "J. G. GEBHARD." 
 
 The last of the grandchildren to be born in the old 
 parsonage, and to be baptized by the old Dominie in 
 December, 1824, was Charles William Gebliard, M. D., 
 the writer's father. Nine other children of the congre- 
 gation received the rite of baptism at the old Domi- 
 nie's hands the same year. In the year of his resig- 
 nation he performed twenty marriages, and two in 
 the last year of his life, for that the life of this godl} 
 man was drawing to a close, was becoming apparent 
 
 303 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 to his old parishioners. Preeminently a minister of 
 the Sacraments, it is fitting that the last word that 
 we have of an act of his on earth, should have been 
 the administering of the Holy Communion. 
 
 Dr. Currie, a child of the old church, writes, "I, 
 who was kindly taken by the hand and encouraged by 
 Mr. Gebhard when I resolved to devote myself to the 
 work of the ministry, cannot forbear to revert to one 
 scene in which that venerable servant of God was an 
 actor, and which is vividly impressed on my mind. 
 
 "It was the Sabbath, and the church had come to- 
 gether to remember Christ in the 'ordinance of the 
 Holy Supper.' Just before the elements were to be 
 distributed, Mr. Gebhard came into the church, it is 
 believed, for the last time. As he opened the door 
 every eye was directed toward him. His gait was 
 erect, but his countenance was wan. He took his 
 seat in the front of the pulpit and at the right of the 
 table. And as he sat there contemplating the scene 
 before him, and doubtless anticipating with confidence 
 and joy of heart the arrival of the moment, when he 
 should be welcomed home to glory with the plaudit, 
 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' the peace with- 
 
 304 
 
THE CROWN OF LIFE. 
 
 in was shadowed forth in the heavenly serenity 
 which was depicted on his brow. 'He ate of the bread, 
 and drank of the wine in remembrance of Christ.' He 
 arose in his place amid a profound silence, and deliv- 
 ered the last address which he ever made at the Com^ 
 munion table, or to the church to which he had min- 
 istered for more than half a century. 
 
 "He spoke in the Dutch language, with earnestness, 
 yet with deliberation, and in a manner such as became 
 him, standing on the borders of eternity. He seemed 
 like one from the other world, who had just ap- 
 peared to deliver a message from God and return. 
 And when I looked on him standing forth as the 'am- 
 bassador of Christ,' and remembered how often he 
 had said, 'I would rather wear out than rust out,' and 
 saw the lamp of life then evidently flickering in the 
 socket, I experienced sensations which for the time 
 were overpowering, and cannot be described." 
 
 On August i6th, 1826, this faithful servant of God 
 passed to his reward. The church books recording his 
 demise, add this resolution, "Resolved that the present 
 minister and consistory of this church wear the usual 
 badge of mourning on the left arm for eight weeks, 
 
 305 
 
 2\ 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 and that the pulpit be draped in mourning for six 
 months." 
 
 In the childhood of the author and compiler of 
 these records, she often heard elderly people speak of 
 having heard Dominie Gebhard preach, or his having 
 married or baptized them or their ancestors, as a mat- 
 ter of self-congratulation, an honor attained. Within 
 the past year, two persons, one an old lady over nine- 
 ty, another a granddaughter of a Quaker resident of 
 Hudson, speaking for her grandmother, have made 
 this same claim in the same manner, but with an ex- 
 planatory sentence. "We heard old Dominie Gebhard 
 preach in our girlhood. Of course we did not under- 
 stand a word, but people went to hear him as they 
 went to hear Beecher in later years." That, then, 
 was the clew to this apparent attainment, but with a 
 difference. Men went to hear Beecher that they might 
 enjoy the brilliant thoughts of a mighty intellect. 
 Men and women went to hear the Dutch Dominie of 
 Claverack, that they might see and hear a man whose 
 personality had dominated nearly a whole County, for 
 over fifty years. 
 
 30^ 
 
THE CROWN OF LIFE. 
 
 The great work of his life may be read in the rec- 
 ords of hundreds of family Bibles of Manors and farm 
 houses, not only scattered through the old Claverack 
 congregation and Columbia County, but carried to 
 the large cities, and over the prairies to the far west, 
 and into the sunny south, and with sailors across the 
 sea. He pleaded for heavenly blessings in baptism over 
 the heads of five thousand children save seventy-six, 
 and solemnized nearly two thousand marriages. Besides 
 this, hundreds were welcomed to the communion of 
 the church. 
 
 Who can tell how far Dominie Gebhard's influence 
 counted in the making of this nation, in heavenly 
 blessings called down by this minister of the Sacra- 
 ments, and also in the educational advantages brought 
 with him from an older country, and showered gener- 
 ously on the infancy and youth of our new Republic! 
 The closing note of such a life is a glad one, with its 
 obituary written long ago : — 
 
 "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of 
 him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, 
 that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth." 
 
 307 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 IN BLOSSOM TIME. 
 
 "Thus it is our daughters leave us, 
 Those we love, and those who love us! 
 Just when they have learned to help us. 
 When we are old and lean upon them. 
 Comes a youth with flaunting feathers, 
 With his flute of reeds, a stranger. 
 Wanders, piping through the village, 
 Beckons to the fairest maiden, 
 And she follows where he leads her. 
 Leaving all things for the stranger." 
 
 Like a sunbeam slanting in at the half-closed door 
 of the old parsonage, there appears one final scene 
 connected with the old home, full of a romantic inter- 
 est and youthful happiness. The Dominie's wife and 
 daughter, and the grandchildren who composed the 
 parsonage family, had moved into a house on the Kol- 
 derberg with one of the old Dominie's sons, Dr. John 
 G. Gebhard, and his Philadelphia wife, while they 
 awaited the building of a new home near by, and the 
 
 308 
 
MRS. RICHARD C. MORSE AND TWO OF HER CHILDREN 
 After !i painting by Samui-l F. B. Morse. 
 
IN BLOSSOM TIME. 
 
 Rev. Richard Sluyter, the English minister, occupied 
 the parsonage. 
 
 The following spring, Mr. Richard Morse, a son of 
 Jedediah Morse of geography fame, was traveling 
 through the country obtaining subscribers to the New 
 York Observer, a religious weekly lately established 
 in New York city. He bore letters of introduction to 
 the clergy, and among them was one to the Rev. Rich- 
 ard Sluyter with whom he stayed over a Sabbath. Be- 
 ing a linguist himself and a book lover, he was attract- 
 ed by a bookcase in Dominie Sluyter's parlor, contain- 
 ing volumes in many languages. It proved to be 
 Dominie Gebhard's library which had not yet been 
 removed from the parsonage. Upon enquiry, he was 
 told that the old Dominie's wife held the key, and 
 would be very willing that he should examine the 
 books. 
 
 He lost no time in taking the walk over the Kolder- 
 berg. It was just at sunset, and the beauty of the 
 magnificent view which swept off to the Catskills, 
 over fields and woods and orchards, sunk deep into 
 the New Englander's soul. The Old-Man-of-the- 
 Mountain was sinking to sleep beneath a pink coverHd 
 
 309 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 of clouds, and for a wide half circle the sky was ablaze 
 with a mass of brilliant colors. Thoughts of sun-set 
 and spring-time were woven through the young man's 
 thoughts, as he approached his destination. He found 
 his host, the son of the old Dominie, upon the porch, 
 enjoying the rest and quietness of the close of the day, 
 and seating his guest in this pleasant out-door gath- 
 ering place, the two men entered into a conversation 
 of marked interest to both. Long ago Jedediah Morse 
 had written in his geography, that "the Dutch were an 
 honest, industrious, and enterprising people," and his 
 son was very willing to make their acquaintance. 
 
 The bright clouds faded while they talked, and the 
 gathering twilight hung a mist about them full of the 
 odor of the blossoming trees. Sweetly, out of the twi- 
 light there sounded a girl's voice. She was evidently 
 somewhere within the house. What she said we do 
 not know, or what vibrant quality thrilled through her 
 words. Perhaps it was the inherited musical charm 
 of the grandmother's singing, which touched an an- 
 swering chord in the young man's heart. Perhaps the 
 sunset and the blossoms had created a hush in his 
 soul which waited for the voice of the maiden to fill 
 
 310 
 
IN BLOSSOM TIME. 
 
 it. From this time his host held only half his atten- 
 tion. With all his heart he was listening for the mu- 
 sical voice again, and when at last he left, with the 
 promise of the key to the library on Monday morning, 
 the books in many languages had become a secondary 
 interest, — he was in love with a voice. 
 
 A little discreet questioning at the parsonage 
 brought out the fact that the old Dominie's grand- 
 daughter, Louisa Davis, lived with her mother in her 
 uncle's home on the Kolderberg, and the young man 
 resolved to stay in Claverack till he had made her ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
 Eagerly he looked forward to the hour of church 
 service, and the opportunity to behold the maiden 
 whose voice had charmed him, but disappointment 
 was in store for him. All unconsciously she had stay- 
 ed at home that spring day. 
 
 Her absence but fanned the rising flame in the visi- 
 tor's heart. There is time for much quiet meditation 
 and the formation of many plans and purposes 
 through a long church service, and piety and love al- 
 ternately swayed one worshiper that morning. Be- 
 fore the close of the service he had resolved to search 
 
 311 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 the church records and discover whether the Domi- 
 nie's granddaughter was a member of the church, 
 his New England conscience refusing its consent to 
 an affection unblessed by religious experience. 
 
 Here again he was doomed to disappointment, for 
 the eighteen-year-old maiden was not a church mem- 
 ber, but between the pages of the church records he 
 found the entries of the many marriages performed by 
 the old Dominie. It was a poor source from which to 
 strengthen his resolution to forget the beautiful voice, 
 if he could not prove its owner's piety. And so, dis- 
 appointed once more, his heart only grew fonder, and 
 on Monday morning, instead of fleeing from the en- 
 chanted spot back to his city home, or to breathe the 
 air of his native New England, he took his way once 
 more over the Kolderberg in the dewy morning, a 
 path already rich with the thought of love. 
 
 At the end of his walk, a vision burst upon his 
 sight, which made his heart start, and then stand still 
 with awe. Etched against the masses of white and 
 pink blossoming trees, with pools of blue skj between, 
 stood a young girl holding in her hands a mass oj 
 filmy white material. The gentle breezes blew the 
 
 312 
 
IN BLOSSOM TIME. 
 
 white film, her dress, and liair in the sinnmer sun- 
 shine. Her beautiful arms, dimpled at the elbows, 
 waved in the air as she tried to throw the lacey goods 
 out straight in front of her, before placing it on the 
 hillside grass. Her motions as well as her voice were 
 full of grace, her long swan-like throat, the escaping 
 tendrils of her hair, the liquid depths of her blue eyes. 
 and the pink of her wind-swept cheeks, making a pic» 
 ture a painter might long to capture, and before which 
 a lover worshiped. 
 
 The young girl was sent with the key and the guest 
 to the parsonage, and once more the Kolderberg 
 seemed a road of light to the young man's feet. They 
 looked over the books together, her sweet voice of- 
 fering many happy comments as he handled the old 
 volumes, and at length, thirsty with the walk and the 
 morning's occupation, they strolled down to the old 
 well in the garden. Perhaps the young man planned 
 to stray beyond ear-shot of the parsonage family, for 
 it was not only a cup of cool water he offered the 
 maiden at the parsonage well, but his heart, and his 
 hand, and his life. There is no chronicle of her ans- 
 wer, but we may reasonably suppose that she said it- 
 
 313 
 22 
 
THE PARSONAGE BETWEEN TWO MANORS. 
 
 was "very sudden." 
 
 In the end she asked her lover to wait a year for his 
 answer, which he consented to do, writing regularly, 
 letters which breathed his passion on every sheet. As 
 for the Dominie's granddaughter it would seem that she 
 was somewhat of a coquette, for she never answered 
 the letters, till at last being expostulated with by her 
 mother, she acknowledged that she cared for her ar- 
 dent suitor. 
 
 He is said to have sailed toward Claverack for his 
 answer one year to a day from the time that was set. 
 By some means the letter with the crown of his hopes 
 reached him upon a steamboat on the Hudson, while 
 he was traveling northward, and his joy knew no 
 bounds. 
 
 In the fall of the same year they were married in 
 the uncle's new home, and the maiden of the sweet 
 voice rode over the Kolderberg, that pathway of beau- 
 tiful sunsets and love, to the town of Hudson, where 
 she set sail for New York, and a life in the wide world 
 little dreamed of in the days before a stranger fell in 
 love with her voice in the twilight. 
 
 The Manors with their Court Leet and Court 
 
 314 
 
IN BLOSSOM TIME. 
 
 Baron and their old world grandeur are gone. The 
 tenants no longer pay rent in "scheppels" of wheat, 
 hut own their own farms. The old Dominie is gone to his 
 reward, and the parsonage with its gambrel roof and 
 its past associations is no more, but tales of them all 
 still hang low over Clover-reach, like sunset clouds 
 edged with gold and rose color, making it a land of 
 legend and story, of a romantic interest and dream- 
 like charm, equalled by few sections of our home-land. 
 
 THE END 
 
 315 
 

 
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