CHAPTER II
CLAVERACK IN THE LOWER VAN RENSSELAER MANOR.
Pages 8-18
A sloop carried the family and their belongings from Esopus to Claverack Landing, for the town of Hudson did not exist at that time, a hamlet at the river connecting the great water-way with the growing settlement of Claverack further inland. The road from Claverack Landing to the parsonage lay through a most beautiful and fertile tract of country. There is a tradition that the name Claverack, which is a Dutch term signifying clover reach or field, was first applied to this country by Henry Hudson and his followers, when they sailed up the beautiful river which bears Hudson's name, in the good ship, the "Half Moon." All along the eastern bank of the river for miles, white clover sprang up spontaneously, covering bare tracts of land which had been burned over by the Indians, and giving the whole section the appearance of blossoming [page 9] fields.
The name Claverack was first given to the stretch of the river including Kinderhook, Claverack Landing, and Livingston Manor, a flowering land of clover blossoms, covering three quarters of what is now Columbia county. At a later date Kinderhook and Livingston Manor were not included in the district going under this name.
The wagon-road lay along Claverack creek which was bordered by fertile flats. On either side of he road were nut trees and wild plums, with wild grape vines festooning the tree trunks, while stretches of field between were dyed red with wild strawberries. Set down in the midst of these beauties and gifts of nature, were farms and homesteads, and great tracts of woodland inviting the settler with their abundance of timber for building purposes.
The sight of the red brick parsonage with its gambrel roof behind the pear trees, must have been a pleasant one to the little family driven out from their late home. The parsonage was built near the church and on the post-road, both church and parsonage over-looking a wide sweep of valley and upland, to the [page 10] Hudson river and the Catskill mountains beyond. Doubtless the extended view differed from that of today, in that much of the present cleared land and cultivated farms was then woodland, but the stretch of woods and river, mountains and blue sky and magnificent sunsets, held that day as now, a grandeur seldom equaled in the location of our early churches. But this was no ordinary church situated in a convenient spot in a rural community. No general was ever placed at a more strategic point for wide-sweeping influence, than this young city Dominie, undertaking a country charge. The church property of Claverack lay within the Lower Manor of Rensselaerwick, and near the border of Livingston Manor.
This district was a part of the great purchase of land made by Kiliaen (sic) Van Rensselaer in 1630, and was subject to the rule of the Lord of the Manor. But the Patroon of that day found it difficult to control matters in this distant corner of his vast estate, so in 1704, he conveyed to his younger brother Hendrick, a large tract of land in the southern part of the Manor known by the name of Claverack, which covered one hundred and seventy thousand acres, and also one thousand [page 11] acres of the Upper Manor on the east side of the river, including the site of Greenbush.
Hendrick removed to Claverack with such of his friends from the older community of Albany as he could induce to join him, spending his time between the Lower Manor and Fort Crailo, which stood on the northern portion of his domain.
Fort Crailo, which was named after the family estate near Amsterdam, Holland, had been built in 1642, a stone in the cellar wall containing the inscription "K. V. R. 1642 Anno Domini." The initials stand for the first Patroon, and mark the date of the arrival of the first Dutch minister. It was a strongly built house with timbers eighteen inches square, and a chimney so constructed that nothing could be thrown down, and no one descend, a protection called for against the torches of the savages. As it was intended originally for purposes of defense, it contained nine musket or port-holes through which to project a rifle.
There is a tradition that the Ten Broecks, Mulders, Hogebooms, Bensons, and Van Cortlandts came with the Van Rensselaers from Holland, as neighbors, not tenants, since they are not in the list of those who [page 12] took the oath of allegiance to the first Patroon. That their children were named for the Van Rensselaers who were their sponsors in baptism, proves the friendly feeling existing between the families, and that Cornelis Stephense Mulder purchased of Hendrick Van Rensselaer one thousand acres in the town of Claverack as early as 1718, would make it appear that this family might have been among the Albany friends whom he persuaded to settle in his "Lower Manor."
The greater part of the early settlers of Claverack brought some pecuniary means with them from Holland, and often were accompanied by servants. These first comers also brought with them, household articles familiar in the home-land, "waffle-tongs, pewter platters, high back settles, long stemmed pipes, punch bowls, many utensils in brass and copper, and Dutch Bibles. In some instances they brought whole ship-loads of bricks to build houses after the pattern of those left behind," but this latter feature of home reproduction does not seem to have obtained at Claverack, where there were brick kilns at a very early date, from the product of which the brick houses in the vicinity were built. The home-made bricks were [page 13] of good workmanship as was also the mortar, the making of the latter being a lost art to-day, for it is said that a nail driven in between the bricks will break before it can be drawn out again.
Hendrick Van Rensselaer did not exercise his privileges as Lord of the Manor, but was active in the establishment of a church and other measures for the good of the settlers. Through the "upwaking" of the Patroon, and "out of regard for the aged and infirm, women and children," grew the desire to build a church and secure a settled minister. Their first attempt in this worthy cause failed, and the good people of Claverack laid it to to the fact, "that because of their sins God was not pleased to crown their efforts with success." During the time that they were without a settled minister, Claverack was a preaching station of the ministers from Albany, who administered the Sacraments and preached from time to time.
However, they did not give up with the first failure, for in 1726 a church was erected near where the Court House stood at a later date. There were only twenty-six pews in this primitive building, six of them being long benches ranged along the walls and occupied by [page 14] the men, the remaining twenty which faced the pulpit were set aside for the women, and each individual member had his own appointed seat allotted to him by a committee. So high was the pulpit in this sanctuary, and so near to heaven its elevated position, that it was reached by a ladder. Jacob's dream, in which he saw the angels ascending, and descending from heaven could not but have been realistic to a people who saw their pastor ascend this clerical ladder Sabbath by Sabbath, before unfolding to them the Scriptures.
Fifty years had passed since the building of the first church. During that time there had been a short settled pastorate, and a long season of twenty-eight years when the church was without a pastor, and the men who occupied the elevated pulpit at rare intervals were from the nearest churches, which were not very near, Albany, Schenectady, and Rhinebeck sending the most frequent supplies. But in the year 1756 the Claverack flock again had a shepherd, Rev. Johnanes Casparus Fryenmoet. His call was a joint one from Claverack, Kinderhook, and Livingston Manor, and his pastorate continued until 1770 when he withdrew to give his full service to the churches of Kinderhook and [page 15] Schodack. During his ministry had occurred the building of the church of which Mr. Gebhard had become pastor.
Hendrick Van Rensselaer, the brother of Killian the Patroon, had been gathered to his fathers, and Johannes his son reigned in his stead. Hendrick Van Rensselaer and his wife both died, and were buried at Crailo, in the family burial plot. In the annals of the day it is stated that news of the Patroon Hendrick's death was sent at once by messengers to all his relatives. Considering their number, and the wide district to be covered, one would infer that there must have been many lone funeral messengers, traveling the post-road and unfrequented bridle paths in may directions at this time.
Johannes Van Rensselaer added several extra rooms to the Crailo, and erected Claverack into a Manor, calling it the "Lower Manor," in distinction from the Upper Manor of Rensselaerwick, and was the first to exercise his lordly privileges. He was known as the "Proprietor" of the town, and up to March 24, 1772, when the civil government of Claverack began, with its formation as a district in the old county of Albany, [page 16] the affairs of the people were managed under the general direction of the Patroon and some of the leading men selected for the purpose. At a later period these were known as a committee of safety or tithing-men.
Like his father, Colonel Johannes Van Rensselaer was interested in the building of a church, and conveyed a tract of land to the trustees of the Reformed Church in Claverack, "for the building and erecting of a Reformed Protestant Church, according to the Articles of the Synod of Dordrecht," and the church long went under the name of the "Van Rensselaer Kirk." It is a tradition in the Van Rensselaer family that it was built of Holland brick which were first taken to Albany, and then brought down to Claverack Landing on a sloop, the Patroon taking great pride in having Holland brick for his church. The building was dedicated November 8, 1767, the date of the erection still being interwoven in the bricks of the outer wall. The site of the old cemetery at the side of the church was set apart at the same time.
It was to this church, only a short distance from the parsonage on the opposite side of the road, toward which the young minister and his wife turned their [page 17] steps their first Sabbath in Claverack. The beauty of the early summer was over all the land. Birds sang in the tree-tops over their heads, and wild flowers bloomed along their pathway. In the opening vistas between the trees were fields of early grain, while up the slight incline which led to the House of God could be seen the worshippers winding their way on foot or in springless wagons, father, mother, and long lines of children, for the Sunday school was still an undreamed-of church nursery. The women wore mob caps and white muslin handkerchiefs folded over the bosoms, while the men of their families graced the occasion in suits of homespun, with broad-brimmed hats and knee breeches, ruffled shirts, and buckles on trousers and shoes.
Many were the curious glances cast toward the minister's young wife, for were there not special interests connected with her being there? Young and attractive, she had known something of life in both Philadelphia and New York, a large portion of experience thought these country matrons for so young a woman. She was their Dominie's wife also, and that gave her a claim on the congregation, and the little child she held [page 18] by the hand insured her a place in all the mother hearts. The tiny bell in the belfry was tolling its last call, and the warm grasp of welcoming hands had ceased, when she entered the church door with the in-going tide of worshippers.
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