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Bible Westerlo used, I chose the contemporary Bible text from Coogan 2001, to
enhance the understanding of today’s reader. Only when necessary were
eighteenth-century versions of the Bible used, and these instances are duly noted.
In Appendix 2 the books in Westerlo’s personal library, together with the books
he mentioned in his Memoirs and his correspondence, have been enumerated. The
357 books, with bibliographical notes, provide insight into what one lateeighteenth-century
Dutch Reformed minister in Upstate New York had at his
disposal to prepare his sermons. Comparisons with the collections of other
ministers will thus be possible. This may yield useful information regarding the
materials available to the clergy in the New World.
In Appendix 3 all the letters written by and to Westerlo, as well as those involving
major players in his life, are indexed. The date of each letter, and the location
where they can be found today, are recorded as an aid to future researchers. Their
content does not merit inclusion in these appendices.
In Appendix 4 both Westerlo’s will and his genealogical information are
presented. It had always been assumed that Westerlo never wrote a will, but I
have found one, drawn up and signed in September 1775, shortly after he married
Catharine Livingston. A few months later, likely early in 1776, Westerlo sat
down to draw up the information he had about his family and ancestors in the
Netherlands. He was very knowledgeable about his family’s situation in the
Netherlands, some 3,500 miles away. Unfortunately, and although Westerlo
mentioned receiving mail from the Netherlands more than once in his Memoirs,
none of his correspondence from his family members in the Netherlands has been
found in the archives.
Appendix 5 contains the text of the Remonstrance of September 17, 1773, both in
English and in Dutch, and Westerlo’s Preface and Addendum to it, in Dutch, with
my translation into English. In 1773, hundreds of distressed members of the
Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, and many non-members, submitted a petition
to the Albany consistory against the Albany congregation’s joining of the Union
of Dutch Reformed Churches in North America. This petition became known as
the Remonstrance of September 17, 1773. Westerlo’s additions provide insight
into his opinion of the Plan of Union and how the Albany congregation should
proceed (see Chapters 2 and 6). The full impact of these documents falls beyond
the scope of this dissertation, but they certainly merit further research.
Appendix 6 is a transcription and translation of the letter Westerlo wrote to his
own congregation four months after the Remonstrance, on January 5, 1774. The
issue of whether the Albany congregation would join the Union had still not been
resolved by then, more than two years after the Plan of Union was introduced.
This letter sheds more light on the role Westerlo played in coaxing his
congregation towards joining the Union, as discussed in Chapters 2 and 5.
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