New Paltz
On the 26th of May, 1677, an agreement with the Esopus Indians was made, pursuant to a license from the Hon. Governor Edmund Andros, dated 28th of April, 1677, concerning the purchase of land "on the other side of the Rondout kill," known in history as the "Paltz Patent."
Hon. Governor Edmund Andros, dated 28th of April, 1677, concerning the purchase of land "on the other side of the Rondout kill," known in history as the "Paltz Patent." Matsayay, Wachtonck, Senerakan, Mayakahoos and Wawawanis acknowledged to have sold Lewis Du Bois and his associates the land within the following boundaries: Beginning at the high hill called Moggoneck (Mohonk), thence southeast toward the Great river to the point called Juffrow's hook in the Long beach, by the Indians called Magaat Ramis [point on Hudson river on line between the towns of Loyd and Marlborough]; thence north along the river to the island lying in the Crum Elbow at the beginning of the Long Reach, by the Indians called Raphoos [Pell's island]; thence west to the high hill at a place called Waraches and Tawaeretaque [Tower a Tawk, a point of white rocks in the Shawangunk mountain]; thence along the high hill southwest to Maggoneck, including between these boundaries, etc.” This tract the Indians agreed to sell for the goods specified in the following list:
Lewis Du Bois and his associates the land within the following boundaries: Beginning at the high hill called Moggoneck (Mohonk), thence southeast toward the Great river to the point called Juffrow's hook in the Long beach, by the Indians called Magaat Ramis [point on Hudson river on line between the towns of Loyd and Marlborough]; thence north along the river to the island lying in the Crum Elbow at the beginning of the Long Reach, by the Indians called Raphoos [Pell's island]; thence west to the high hill at a place called Waraches and Tawaeretaque [Tower a Tawk, a point of white rocks in the Shawangunk mountain]; thence along the high hill southwest to Maggoneck, including between these boundaries, etc.” This tract the Indians agreed to sell for the goods specified in the following list:40 kettles, 40 axes, 40 addices, 40 shirts, 100 fathoms of white
wampum, 100 bars of lead, 1 keg of powder, 60 pairs of socks,
100 knives, 4 ankers of wine, 40 guns, 60 duffel coats, 60 blankets,
1 schepel of pipes, etc.
Having thus extinguished the Indian title to this tract by the present of articles valued by the red man, the settlers of New Paltz enjoyed a comparative immunity from savage outbreak during the early wars. In order to arrive, however, at a more complete understanding of the history of this settlement, reference will be made, in brief, to an event in the chronicles of the old world.
The French Protestant Huguenots were celebrated for their love of liberty and zeal for their chosen religion. Persecutions against them were temporarily abandoned during the reign of Henry IV, King of Navarre, from 1589 to 1610, especially after he proclaimed the celebrated Edict of Nantes in 1598. Louis XIII repeatedly violated its stipulations; and a formal revocation of the Edict was made in 1685, which cost the lives of 10,000 of the Huguenot people, who perished at the stake, gibbet, or wheel. Thousands fled to other lands for refuge, especially to the Lower Palatinate, or Pfaltz, along the river Rhine. Some of the persecuted Hollanders likewise fled to the Lower Palatinate, and when they subsequently returned to Holland the Huguenots accompanied them, and both finally emigrated to America. These two peoples were attracted to each other by reason of their adoption of the same religion, and this fellowship was rendered still more firm in consequence of the free intermarriage among them. This accounts for the presence of Dutch physiognomies with French names, observable, even at the present day, among the congregations in localities where are found the posterity of the once persecuted Huguenots.
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