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William Pitcher Farmstead HSR

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In September 1710, Governor Hunter purchased 6,000 acres of land on the Hudson<br />

River, 100 miles north of New York City, within the manor of Robert Livingston. The<br />

trees from which the Palatines would be deriving the naval stores were a few miles<br />

inland, also on Livingston’s land. This arrangement had many benefits for Livingston:<br />

the Palatines would be clearing and improving his land, which had been previously<br />

unsettled; Livingston would have right to all trees cut down; and he was given the<br />

contract to provide the Palatines with bread and beer. Three camps were established<br />

on the west side of the Hudson and four situated on the east side, south of the Roelof-<br />

Jansen Kill: Haysbury, named for Hunter’s wife, Lady Hay; Queensbury and Annsbury,<br />

both named for Queen Ann; and Hunterstown.<br />

While the Palatines’ resentment was growing, Governor Hunter was running into trouble<br />

from England. The naval stores project was far from reducing the British navy’s<br />

dependence on Sweden, having not produced even one barrel of tar. Parliament<br />

refused to reimburse Hunter for the money he had put out for the support of the<br />

Palatines. In early September of 1712, the naval stores endeavor was shut down and<br />

the Palatine project was abandoned.<br />

Aside from his early arrangement with Harme Van Gansevoort, Pieter Schuyler appears<br />

to have been content to let the rest of his patent languish. In contrast, Henry<br />

Beekman was eager to get his land settled and actively encouraged the families of<br />

12<br />

disenfranchised German immigrants to rent or purchase farms from him. Culturally,<br />

the Dutch and the Palatines were quite similar, having come from an area sharing a<br />

border. Thirty-five Palatine families took Beekman up on his offer and moved to<br />

Monterey, renaming the larger area Rhine (for their homeland) beck (as a nod to<br />

Beekman). A union church, which served both Lutheran and Dutch Reformed<br />

congregations, was established in 1716. Lutheran minister and author of “The Golden<br />

12 Frank Hasbrouck ed., The History of Dutchess County New York, Chap. XXIX, S.A. Matthiew,<br />

Poughkeepsie, NY, 1909<br />

8

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