KINDERHOOK RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES
KINDERHOOK, COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK
By Capt. Franklin Ellis62
1878
The early settlers of the town were under the religious supervision of the Dutch church at Albany. In 1677 that body applied to the council for an order to secure the punishment of evil-doers, "and to prevent and punish severely the shameful violation of the Sabbath, especially committed by the inhabitants of Kinderhook;" and asked that Jochem Lambertse, deputy sheriff, strictly attend to the order and bring the offenders to justice.
Again, in 1702, the church, or some of its members, came to grief by reason of it having been reported to his excellency, the governor, that they had without authority employed one Paulus Van Vleck to preach to them. Four of the recusants were sternly summoned to New York to answer, and were compelled to do so, although it was midwinter. They said, in defense, that they had not employed him as minister, but had merely accepted him as precentor and schoolmaster. After giving the best explanation they could, and making the most humble apologies, they were severely reprimanded and allowed to return as best they might, through the snow and ice, to Kinderhook.
These facts show, beyond reasonable doubt, that at some time during the last twenty years of the seventeenth century there was established at Kinderhook, under the auspices of the Albany church, a preaching station, which was the germ of the present.
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