Hello Members, Friends and Supporters of the New Paltz Historical Society,
Welcome to the New Paltz Historical Society’s Biweekly Newsletter. We have decide to change over to a new mailing schedule, and beginning with this issue, we will be sending it to you every two weeks.
Newsletter #9, June 1, 2020
* The New Paltz Historical Society is pleased to continue our series of video lectures originally hosted by the Senate House State Historic Site, in Kingston. This series, “Kingston’s Buried Treasures” featured the forgotten, yet vital people of Kingston, and the events that took place in New York’s first capital, one of America’s most unique communities. Kingston’s history tells more than just the story of a city - its arguably the story of a nation. Through war and peace, boom and bust, Kingston’s place in our state and our national lore has few rivals. One of our past (and favorite) speakers, Paul O'Neill, Commissioner of Jurors for Ulster County, facilitated this series.
This week’s lecture is titled Thomas Cornell: Vanderbilt of the Rondout, and is presented by Stuart Murray.
Click https://youtu.be/ZUtIBepOmh4 to begin viewing. This talk took place at the Senate House on Dec. 14, 2012. (Note: the lecture begins at about 1 minute 15 seconds, and the total time of the video is 1 hour and 22 minutes.)
** As a supplement to this week’s Kingston’s Buried Treasures lecture, we thought you might enjoy a self-guided Walking Tour of the Rondout National Historic District of Kingston. The attached brochure (click here) lists over 30 locations within easy walking distance of each other, starting from the Kingston Heritage Area Visitors Center/County Tourism Offices, at #20 Broadway, on the lower Strand. The brochure includes each location’s address and a brief description. (Note: The Tour includes a few sites directly related to Thomas Cornell.) The Tour ends by listing a few nearby sites which can be reached by a short drive. The brochure was funded by The Friends of Historic Kingston and Ulster County Tourism.
*** This week's Special Feature is a link to a Virtual Exhibit about a local historic site, which was designed and curated by our own Susan Stessin-Cohn and Ashley Hurlburt Biagini.
The Hasbrouck’s of Locust Lawn: A lens into the history of a 19th century Hudson Valley Family
Curated by Susan Stessin-Cohn and Ashley Hurlburt Biagini
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wondered about the Federal-style mansion on the left bend on Route 32 South heading towards Modena? Several years ago, Ashley and I decided to delve into the history of this almost forgotten Hudson Valley mansion. This mansion, known as Locust Lawn Farm, is a significant part of Hudson Valley history and is showcased in the exhibit entitled The Hasbrouck’s of Locust Lawn. This exhibit was expanded from a physical exhibit entitled A Notion to Sew and was curated to give you a lens into the lives of the Hasbrouck’s during the 19th century, the following is the introduction.
Locust Lawn
In the early 1800’s, Josiah Hasbrouck, a descendant of Jean Hasbrouck, chose to move his family from a small stone house in New Paltz to a large plot of land in Gardiner, N.Y. While the family was building their future home, Josiah and his wife Sarah Decker (1764-1845), along with several of their children, lived on the same property in an 18th century stone house built by Evert Terwilliger (1686-1767), an early owner of the land.
The sprawling Hasbrouck farm complex would eventually be known as Locust Lawn, which featured a Federal era house, as well as several barns and additional outbuildings. Locust Lawn was a prosperous farm of some 385 acres that grew rye, oats, corn, and wheat and also had apple orchards. Milk cows, chickens, beef cattle and pigs provided dairy and meat - all for home consumption and for sale at market. A herd of sheep also provided wool. A sawmill on the property supplied lumber for the farm and for sale. According to the 1810 census, there were four individuals of African descent who were enslaved by the Hasbrouck family at the Jean/Jacob Hasbrouck House. By 1820, when the family had moved to Locust Lawn, the number of enslaved individuals working the farm complex had swelled to 14; five males and three females under the age of 14, and two males and two females between the ages of 26 and 44. These individuals would have labored inside the house as well as on the farm.
Locust Lawn, completed in 1814, would be a symbol of the areas rural tradition while simultaneously expressing the social progress of the era; a dichotomy that Josiah seemed to embody as a descendant of one of the original New Paltz patentees, a Revolutionary War veteran, and a U.S. Congressman. By 1817, Josiah’s son, Levi Hasbrouck, had assumed responsibility of the farm. Upon Josiah’s death in 1821, he inherited the estate and it became the permanent home of Levi, his wife Hylah Bevier, and their children; Sarah Maria, Ann, Josiah, Louisa, and Laura. It is this family that made the estate into a prominent home that welcomed many friends and guests throughout the years. Ownership of the property passed from Levi to his only surviving son, Josiah Hasbrouck, named after his grandfather. After Josiah’s management of the farm and his untimely death in 1884, the house was vacated by the family.
Using photographs, letters and other archival materials, this exhibit, an expansion from a physical exhibit entitled A Notion to Sew on display in 2008, will examine a talented and energetic family whose history goes back to the earliest days of settlement in New Paltz. It offers viewers a glimpse of the family’s handiwork and their personal possessions including: sewing kits, artwork, clothing and much more. Many items were packed in trunks, tucked away in drawers and nestled into baskets, wrapped in newspapers, pillowcases and old towels. These personal and documented possessions belonged to real people who lived locally, and are treasures that tell us the story of a mid-19th century Hudson Valley family.
Today, the mansion serves as a museum where one can see the original pieces that have remained in place since the house was vacated. Some of the artifacts can be matched to those featured in portraits and photographs. It is through the display of these possessions, many of which are handmade and initialed, that the museum presents to the public the lives of the Hasbrouck’s of Locust Lawn.
To visit Locust Lawn Farm, contact Locust Grove Estate.
After reading this introduction, you might want to learn more by visiting our exhibit at HRVH.org. To view the exhibit, click on this link: https://omeka.hrvh.org/exhibits/show/the-hasbroucks-of-locust-lawn-/introduction, and then follow the links along the
right side of the page to view all the pages.
Let us know what you think about our exhibit. Email us any questions, comments, or additions at: nphistoricalsociety@gmail.com
(NOTE: If you have any difficulty getting these links to open, hold down the Control (CTRL) key in the lower left of your keyboard,
and then place your cursor on the link and left click on it.)
**** Finally, for your enjoyment, here are a few jigsaw puzzles created from photographs in The Hasbrouck’s of Locust Lawn exhibition. Try them, and have fun!
***** Work is always continuing on our website and Facebook page. (Thanks to Webmistress and Social Media Guru, Ashley Biagini!)
Click on the link and check it our website: https://sites.google.com/view/newpaltzhistoricalsociety/home.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome! Let us know what you think of our virtual presence out there in the ether!
****** As of now, we have cancelled our June presentation, and do not yet know what July holds for us. Any decisions we make will be based New York State Policy, sound medical advice, social distancing issues, the Town, County and State guidelines, and Community Center policy and room capacity. Your health and safety is our main concern. We look forward to being able to continue our program of lectures and events as soon as it is safe to do so, and we will inform you of any developments through these Newsletters. We are investigating the possibility of online and streaming events in the near future.
******* As always, if you have any questions, suggestions or comments, or just want to drop us a line, email us at: nphistoricalsociety@gmail.com. We hope that you are enjoying our Newsletter.
Stay safe, stay home!
Diane, Ashley, Susan, Dolly, Jack, and Marny
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