William Pitcher Farmstead HSR

the deed, Peter and his family had already been living on the property as tenants
before the purchase, and that more than one house was on the property prior to 1746.
The Heermanse homestead farm, located in the northeast quadrant of that parcel is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is noted for being a rare example of
an 18th-century (circa 1733 or 1745) stone farmhouse. The Heermanse farm is on a
road that connected the King’s Highway (now Route 9) to the Hudson River at
Hoffman’s Landing, which was subsequently known as Cantine’s Landing, Upper Red
Hook Landing, and now is called Tivoli. In 1749, Pieter Pitser (sic) is listed as having
been the overseer of the road to “Hoffman’s Landing,” which is now County Route 78
(Kerley’s Corners Road). 19 This information places the original Pitcher farm to the east
of the Heermance Farm, near the intersection with the King’s Highway (MAP 6). In
1719, Peter Pitcher married Anna Catherine Phillips and they had Maria Catherine,
Wilhelm, Magdalena, Gertraudt, Christina, Elizabeth, and Adam between 1720 and
1738. Wilhelm was baptised at the union church in Rhinebeck in 1725. 20
At the age of 71 on 13 May 1768, Peter Pitser (sic) divided his property in half, north
and south (MAP 7). He deeded his own dwelling house and 275 acres to his younger son
Adam. Two weeks later Adam, only 30 years old but “weak in body but of sound and
perfect mind,” willed all his property to his wife, Anna Maria Richter, but gave his father
continued use of half of the farm that had been deeded over to him, and refers to the
arrangement that they have made regarding said farm. He also instructed that his
three daughters (Elizabeth, Gertien, and Catherine) be sent to school to learn “reading,
writing and sewing.” In this instrument, Adam Pitcher also makes reference to his
21
“negro girl named Flora” and to his indentured boy, Fred.
19 H.H. Morse, Historic Old Rhinebeck, Pocantico Printery, Flocker & Hicks, Tarrytown-on-
Hudson, NY, 1908
20
21
“Dutch Selected Reformed Church VItal Records, 1660-1926,” Holland Society of New York
Dutchess County Surrogate Court, will of Adam Pitcher, probated 12 September 1768
11