My previous post about Weigand’s Tavern was written about an historic structure, one of the oldest in Newburgh, which was in peril. Sadly, it is but one instance of many; there are too many cases in other parts of Ulster and Orange counties.
Another example is the Johannes G. Hardenbergh house, which was introduced to me by a fellow firefighter who explored its remains as a young child. This post will be about what happens when a local community does not, or can not, move fast enough to save a piece of history in time.
All that is left of the Johannes G. Hardenbergh house is a blue and yellow State Education Department historic sign near the intersections of Routes 209 and 44/55 in Kerhonkson, Ulster County, proclaiming that the structure was a site of significance during the American Revolution. The home was important for two reasons. First, it belonged to a leading member of a once powerful Hudson Valley family, the Hardenberghs. Major Johannes Hardenbergh purchased over two million acres from the Esopus Indians. The land grant encompassed the modern counties of Sullivan, Ulster, and Delaware, or most of the Catskill Mountains. The second reason, and the subject of this article, is the role that this house played in the American War for Independence.
In October of 1777, a plan was underway by the British to launch an invasion of the Hudson Valley. If their plan played out, they hoped that it would allow them to take full control of the Hudson River. An attack was launched from the West, North, and South. Once control of the Hudson River was assured, New England could be isolated by splitting the colonies in half; hence, communication and supplies between the colonies would be severed. The British Army, marching from the West, was stopped at Oriskany; the Northern Army halted at Saratoga. However, a flotilla coming up from New York City inflicted heavy damage on the Hudson Valley, destroying Forts Clinton and Montgomery and the first chain-and-boom across the Hudson River.
Believing that an attack on the capital of Kingston was imminent, Governor George Clinton decided that the records held there needed safe-keeping. Some ten wagons were loaded with the government’s most important papers and were to be moved inland. Their ultimate destination was the Johannes G. Hardenbergh house. Kerhonkson, which was considered the frontier in 1777, was considered inland enough to avoid the British threat. Johannes G. Hardenbergh, Comfort Sands, and Hendricus Horrnbeek were placed in charge of the valuable archives.
In October 1777, the New York State Government and the residents of Kingston, were forced to flee in advance of General Vaughn’s expedition up the Hudson River. On October 12, the records arrived at the Hardenbergh House. On October 16, 1777, the British put Kingston to the torch.
After the war, Hardenbergh continued to reside in his house with his wife and children until his death in 1812. Less than a century after he perished, comments were being made regarding his house’s disrepair. Charles Gilbert Hines, who wrote a book about the Old Mine Road which is today Route 209, noted as early as 1908 that the home was showing signs of decay. Three years later, in 1911, Herman Kortright owned the Hardenbergh house.
Some in the community called for the home to be preserved as a site where General Washington visited, as well as a site of significance during the Revolutionary War. A meeting was held at the Hardenbergh house on September 5, 1922, which included a presentation by Thomas E. Benedict, on plans to preserve the home. It was hoped that the Hardenbergh House, then owned by Charles Osborne, would become an historic site and a park could be created from the grounds. Osborne had agreed to Benedict’s plan for the home, which he was then using for farm storage.
While preservationists deliberated however, the home continued to decline. Helen Wilkinson Reynolds, in her book Dutch Houses in the Hudson Valley before 1776, also commented on the poor condition of the house.
During 1933, attempts were made to document the significance of the home both historically and architecturally by the Federal Government’s Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). The recorder of the state of the house noted that the home was built around 1750 and was “one story large basement and large loft.” It had “fine paneled rooms and one of the best examples still standing of this type in Ulster County.” By that time however, the roof was already starting to fail.
Shortly after the HABS documentation, parts of the home were dismantled. The parlor, bedroom, and the kitchen were shipped to the Winterthur Museum in Delaware. Once there, the museum reassembled it as an outstanding example of an 18th century Dutch home. By 1940, though, the actual Johannes G. Hardenbergh house was no longer standing.
Today there is little left of the home, other than a sign which serves as a testament to its importance. Even the graves of Hardenbergh and his wife, which once occupied the “summit” of Turkey Hill, have long since been removed and relocated to the Old Dutch Reformed Church graveyard in Kingston.
The closest his property ever came to becoming a park was an old baseball field which has also disappeared. There is not much else at this location anymore, other than the remnants of a foundation which is overgrown by weeds.
Photos from Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress.
Great article! I’ve driven by that sign numerous times, but never knew the story of the site. “Preservation Failures” is a truly informative series – can’t wait to see the next installment!
Thank you for the moving and insightful article on the Hardenbergh House.
Yes, so many of the early markers of our national history have succumbed to time and inadequate maintenance. Where it is still possible to collect photos, drawings, official correspondences, diaries, personal recollections, etc. it is important to bring these together into official and vernacular repositories. By so doing, the essential story will take on continued life in the hearts and minds of our citizens.
Barbara
Thank you for a well written story. Please make such it heads to the local library and historical society for future reference.
I wonder about the phrase you used “…when a local community does not, or can not, move fast enough to save a piece of history…” Communities all over New York State are sitting on their hands. There is an incredible web of bureaucracy involved in saving a privately owned building. By the time the problem is brought to someone’s notice and all of the legal hoops have been jumped through, the funds required to repair what is left of a building is totally prohibitive. I have seen a couple of structures successfully saved but they were not saved by any “community,” they were saved by one person with either an incredible amount of persistence or the ability to come up with the money.
Interesting article. I am doing research about my mother’s family, She was born Audrey Hardenbergh. I can trace my lineage back to Johannes Hardenbergh. We have a very thorough genealogy book about the family and I was trying to find out more when I stumbled upon your article. Very sad that the house was not preserved.
Adele,
Thank you very much. There are many pictures of the house located online in the Library of Congress. I believe it is in the HABS/HAER. There is a Hardenbergh home that is for sale on Mill Dam Road in Stone Ridge, NY. It too was in rough shape when I last looked at it.
Sincerely,
AJ Schenkman
At this writing the Hardenburgh barn that went with the house has been removed, piece by piece, and will be reframed in Vermont and used as a “dance hall”, according to the workmen I spoke with. I was unsure how to feel while witnessing its “destruction” – horror and sadness that such an important piece of our history was being taken away, relief that it would be salvaged and saved, and any and all emotions in between. Interestingly, the workers informed me that the barn (which was a part of the grounds of the very house you mention – on Mill Dam Road) was built in two sections – one from the mid-to late 1700’s, and a second part in the early 1800’s. When they pulled up some of the modern shingles they discovered an entire roof of hand-cut slate shingles, dating from the initial construction of the barn. I was pleased to see those slates, carefully stacked in crates, to be included in the reconstruction of the barn in its new location. Some of the larger support beams (including two of the corners) were completely rotted, so perhaps this was the best end result for this barn. But I will surely miss it.
I like your blog !
I breath the history here and my ancestors , the Davis Family were early founders- 1652 in Marbletown.
I own the virtual twin to the Johannes Hardenburgh house in Kerhonkson, the Depuis – Dewitt house which has the earliest history of any house standing in Ulster County.
I welcome you to come over for a tour .
Regards,
Roger W Ross
6881 Route 209
Kerhonkson, NY 12446
(646) 342-9267 cell
845-647-7545 home
Mr. Ross, my name is Susan DeWitt Glickman. My father was Keith DeWitt, grandfather Monroe DeWitt, great grandfather Richard Verdik DeWitt, wife Sarah and I believe his brother Simeon DeWitt. I have just started getting really excited about family history. I was always interested but now at 62 I am even more interested. May my husband Alan and I stop by?
Adam, I enjoy all your historical stories concerning Ulster County and the area. Johannes Hardenbergh (the Patentee) was my 10th Great Grandfather. So many of your stories subjects’ have included my ancestors or had connections to them.
Thanks ,
Edward Scofield
I always enjoy Adam’s articles and appreciate when he posts them for our group, which shares a common interest in preserving & documenting local vernacular architecture. Fred Johnston, antique furniture dealer from Kingston, was a protege of Henry DuPont and located all the Ulster County architectural elements which were removed to Winterthur. Aside from the fine rooms from the Hardenbergh house, a Federal period (c.1820) storefront and some other elements from Kingston are now part of the American Street at Winterthur. Although Johnston has been accused of desecrating local architecture by some, it should be mentioned that removing such elements from their original location was unquestioned as an acceptable practice, in which many fine museums engaged, at that time (the interior paneling of another Ulster County house has been installed in the Metropolitan Museum). During the 1950s, while John Vanderlyn’s “Panorama of Versailles” was being moved from Kingston to the Metropolitan Museum and giant statues of Clinton, Hudson & Stuyvesant were being brought to Kingston from Brooklyn, Johnston did his part moving things around: He salvaged 4 wooden Ionic columns from 1 Federal house and placed them in front of another, creating a colossal portico whose harmony of scale makes it look as if it has always been there. As a young man, Johnston went into debt in 1938, in order to purchase the 1812 Senator John Sudam house, a fine 8-room Federal structure, and rescue it from being demolished by the Atlantic Richfield Company, to be replaced by a filling station. This became the museum house he legated to the Friends of Historic Kingston.
in 1940 when the house was torn down, two rooms – a bedroom and a parlor- from the Captain Johanne G Hardenburgh stone house which was located a mile south of kerhonkson, were taken to the Winterthru Museum, which is near Wilmingston, Delaware. The Winterthru Museum is a large museum. The Hardenburgh Parlor and Hardenburgh Bedroom are among rooms on the 8th floor of the museum.
The “Years and the People” Volume II- Album of the Catskill Foothills- a book written by William Winters has a photo of toehold Johanne G harden burgh house that was located near Kerhonkson and had the information on the 2 rooms that were taken to the Winterthru Museum and restored by DuPont Restoration- now on display in the museum.
Prior to the burning of Kingston by the British during the Revolutionary War- the Dutch records were taken from Kingston- then the capitol of colonial NY- and stored in the Johanne G Hardenburgh house near Kerhonkson- which was on the edge of the frontier of NY at that time. So the Dutch records were saved.
Thank you so much for sharing this information.
Sincerely,
AJ
Ms Gloria Thompson;Please pardon my nitpicking but the museum you mention is named Winterthur, (pronounced “winter-tour”) and is not Winterthru. I do like the latter name though and wish I had used it for a barn I helped a friend convert to a house in Buffalo, NY in the late fall and winter of 1968.
Dear Adam,
Thank you for your research and writing on history in the area! It’s quite appreciated!
I would like to add that the Colonel Hardenbergh family were slave owners and this is the birth place of the remarkable woman Sojourner Truth (born Isabella). Her story, too, is worth telling.
Thanks!
Ellen Tait
Thank you for this. This is another important (arguably most important) aspect of the farm’s history – and worth recording.
Ive always been taught Sojourner Truth was born in Rosendale. Also, since my childhood at least four historic stone houses have gone down along 209. And sadly it looks like a fifth will soon follow. The VanAken house, located at intersection of Kripplebush Rd and 209, lost the top floor two(?) years ago and just sits exposed. Also the stone house on the Rochester/ Marbletown town line on Whitfield Rd sits open and uninhabited. And finaly does anyone have a history of the Whitfield/ Mettacohonts/Kripplebuush area? That is where I grew up pre ‘80’s “gentrification” erased knowledge of it.
Johanne Hardenburgh senior lived in Rosendale
Actually, I believe the Hardenbergh house in which she was born is in the town of Esopus. Next to Rosendale.
According to info on the web, Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill (now Rifton) in the town of Esopus, at the Hardenbergh Farm owned by Col Johannes Hardenbergh. It is indicated that this structure still stands, No idea what condition it is in or if there is a marker regarding Sojourner Truth. Does anyone know?
Hi William,
Last night, I was searching stone houses in the Kripplebush area, as there is a mystery house mentioned on the group, The Hudson Valley in Pictures, and on the group, Written in Stone. These are both Facebook groups you can join. I think the mystery hous is in Kripplebush, and I grew up near there. I shared a Kripplebush stone house excerpt from Helen Wilkinson Reynolds book, Dutch houses in the Hudson Valley Before 1776., on my Facebook page. found it by googling Kripplebush stone houses, I think. The website is LivingPlaces.com. The title of the article is Kripplebush Historic District::Town of Marbletown, Stone Ridge, Ulster County, NY 12484.
William,
As I said in my previous comment, I grew up near Kripplebush, too, on the Buck Road, in a stone house. It is very sad about the Van Aken house, with the top floor lost. Judy Gumaer Testa, a historian who does research for AJ Schenkman inquired about the status of that house, on the Written in Stone Facebook group, and a possible Van Aken relative got upset. The family maybe doesn’t have the money to repair the house. But what about house insurance? Where, exactly, is that other stone house that’s in danger of being lost. If you’re not on the group already, go to Written in Stone, and join it. The discussion I mentioned about a mystery house, shared on there, surmises that it could be on the Whitfield Road. I believe it’s a public group. Gentrification can be good or not so good, can’t it? I like the Rondout area of Kingston, but Urban Renewal did do away with some of the old buildings there.
Its interesting that I came across this article. I literally just toured this property which is for sale and being advertised as the Col. Johannes Hardenbergh house. The listing actually talks about the ability to buy a historic home: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/143-Schoolhouse-Rd-Hurley-NY-12443/198829385_zpid/
Hello:
I lived not too far from there. There is not much left there if I remember correctly. HABS/HAER has pictures of it in disrepair. Finally, I think NYS was supposed to do a dig there, but not sure it happened. What I find interesting is the burying ground used to be on Turkey Hill Road and is on private property. A long time resident told me he used to go there when a child.
AJ