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New Paltz

Documents Reveal Sojourner Truth’s Battle to Free Her Son from Slavery

March 15, 2022 by Alan J. Singer 1 Comment

Sojourner TruthIn February 2022, the New York State Archives announced that archivists had uncovered court records detailing the 1828 legal battle by Sojourner Truth to secure her enslaved son Peter’s freedom. According to archivist Jim Folts, this case was the first time in United States history that a Black woman successfully sued a White man for a family member’s freedom.

After passage of the New York State Gradual Emancipation Act in 1799, some slaveholders illegally sold enslaved Africans to Southern planters for the expanding cotton industry. When Sojourner Truth, then known as Isabella Van Wagenen, escaped from enslavement in 1826, her former “owner,” John J. Dumont of New Paltz, Ulster County, NY, sold her five-year old son Peter to Eleazer Gedney who planned to take the boy with him to England.

When this plan fell through, Eleazer Gedney sold Peter to his brother, Solomon Gedney, who resold Peter to their sister’s husband, a man named Fowler, who was a wealthy Alabama planter. [Read more…] about Documents Reveal Sojourner Truth’s Battle to Free Her Son from Slavery

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Abolition, Archives, Black History, Legal History, New Paltz, New York State Archives, Political History, Slavery, Sojouner Truth, Ulster County, womens history

New Paltz Bevier-Elting House Restoration Project Planned

October 3, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Bevier-Elting HouseHistoric Huguenot Street (HHS) has been awarded a $500,000 Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant support much-needed major repairs and restoration work at the Bevier-Elting House (ca. 1700, 1735, and 1760) in New Paltz.

The project, expected to start in 2022 and continue over the next five years, is one of 49 projects in 29 states funded by the SAT program this year. [Read more…] about New Paltz Bevier-Elting House Restoration Project Planned

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Architecture, Historic Huguenot Street, Historic Preservation, Huguenots, New Netherland, New Paltz

Hudson Valley’s Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Improvements Coming

September 7, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

empire state trailNew York State Parks is partnering with the Open Space Institute and the Town and Village of New Paltz to improve a 3.5-mile section of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, a key link in the Empire State Trail in Ulster County. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley’s Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Improvements Coming

Filed Under: Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: bicycling, empire state trail, hiking, New Paltz, Wallkill Valley Rail Trail

Black Builder Jacob Wynkoop Exhibit Goes Online

August 21, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Jacob WynkoopJacob Wynkoop was born in New Paltz, New York, in 1829, the child of two former slaves, Thomas and Jane Deyo Wynkoop. Wynkoop had an exceptional and varied life for any man of his time.

Among the first African Americans to buy land in the community, he also served in the Union Army during the Civil War, organized politically on behalf of African American citizens in town, and built a series of homes that today still define a neighborhood in the village of New Paltz. [Read more…] about Black Builder Jacob Wynkoop Exhibit Goes Online

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Architecture, Black History, Civil War, exhibits, Historic Huguenot Street, Historic Preservation, Military History, New Paltz

Lion Courage: A New Paltz Soldier During The Civil War

June 11, 2020 by A. J. Schenkman 3 Comments

Lithograph of the Battle of Opequan by Kurz and AllisonJohannes LeFevre was born in New Paltz on May 26, 1837, to Josiah P. LeFevre and his wife, Elizabeth. Around New Paltz, his family was known as the Bontecoe LeFevres because of their large farm, just outside town.

The oldest child of seven, Johannes was born in his father’s stone house on what is today White Duck Road in New Paltz, off Route 32. The home had been built by Daniel LeFevre.  Later, Josiah built a home in 1849, on the opposite side of Route 32. Both houses remain standing and look much as they did during Johannes’s lifetime.

[Read more…] about Lion Courage: A New Paltz Soldier During The Civil War

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Cemeteries, Civil War, Military History, New Paltz

New Paltz’s Jane Deyo Wynkoop Exhibit Goes Online

June 2, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Detail from Register of Slaves (1799-1825), Records of the Town of New PaltzHistoric Huguenot Street is presenting a new online exhibit, Jane Deyo Wynkoop.  Wynkoop is believed to be the first African American — man or woman — to buy land in the Village of New Paltz, in Ulster County, New York. [Read more…] about New Paltz’s Jane Deyo Wynkoop Exhibit Goes Online

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Black History, exhibits, Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, Slavery, Ulster County

Historian Spotlight: Ulster County’s Ken Hasbrouck

April 10, 2020 by A. J. Schenkman 11 Comments

1950s postcard showing Hasbrouck HouseA direct descendant of French Huguenots who settled New Paltz in 1678, Kenneth E. Hasbrouck Sr. had an important influence on Ulster County local history. He served as County Historian, Town of Gardiner Historian and was a founder and president of the Huguenot Historical Society (HHS). [Read more…] about Historian Spotlight: Ulster County’s Ken Hasbrouck

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Hasbrouck House, Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, Ulster County

Haunted Historic Huguenot Street Events In October

October 10, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

historic huguenot street trick or treatingHistoric Huguenot Street has announced their 2019 Haunted Huguenot Street tours, set for the month of October. At nightfall, the historic houses and grounds will set the stage for the restless spirits of New Paltz to tell the harrowing stories of how their lives came to a tragic ending, and then what happened afterwards. [Read more…] about Haunted Historic Huguenot Street Events In October

Filed Under: Events, History Tagged With: Halloween, Historic Huguenot Street, New Netherland, New Paltz

1680s Huguenot Redoubt Painting, First of Series, On View in New Paltz

August 14, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Huguenot Redoubt c 1685Historic Huguenot Street has commissioned fine artist Len Tantillo to create a series of three paintings, looking at Huguenot Street during different times in history. The paintings will become part of the permanent collection at Historic Huguenot Street, enhancing the museum’s interpretations and aiding visitors in understanding what the street has looked like in the past. [Read more…] about 1680s Huguenot Redoubt Painting, First of Series, On View in New Paltz

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Art History, Historic Huguenot Street, New Netherland, New Paltz

Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Meetings Planned

June 4, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

ulster county transportation councilUlster County Transportation Council (UCTC), in partnership with the Village of New Paltz, Wallkill Valley Land Trust, and Historic Huguenot Street, has announced the beginning of a planning and community engagement process addressing the future use and design of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail in the Village of New Paltz. [Read more…] about Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Meetings Planned

Filed Under: Events, History Tagged With: Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, Ulster County

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