^outh oithe ^yjfjountuinA published by The Historical Society of Rockland County Orangeburg, New York Vol. 17, No. 1 January-March 1973 HAVERSTRAW History Center Site K A K I A I •CLARKSTOWN Museum Building BERGEN COUNTY ORANGETOWN IN MEMORIAM Joseph Cornell, the sculpter famed for his constructions in small boxes and his collages, died at his Flushing home Joseph Cornell December 30. He was born in Nyack on Christmas Eve 1903, Son Joseph I. Cor­ nell (born in Closter, N. J.) and of Helen Le Roy Gates Ten Broeck Storms Cornell, he was de­ scended from old Dutch families. Mrs. Willis B. Inglis Mr. Cornell, who held membership in the Historical Society of Rockland, is sur­ Mrs. Clayton Johnson vived by two sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Ben­ ton and Mrs. Helen Jagger. We are in­ Donald N. McQueen debted to Mrs. Benton for information on the Dutch ancestry. She writes, “We are descended from Steven Coerten Van Joseph P. Monihan Yoorhees, who came here from the pro­ vince of Drente in Holland (the town of George M. Reaves Hees) in 1660. He and his family sailed on the “De Bonk Kou” (“The Spotted Cow”) Mrs. Nellie V. C. Wittholm and settled in New Amersfoort, later named Flatlands, Long Island. “Our great-grandfather was Commodore William R. Voorhrs, who had something to do with building up South Nyack. He had the racing yacht, “The Tidal Wave”. He also built the first catamarin (see SOUTH OF THE MOUNTAINS, January-March 1967), which sank. He used it for a dock when he owned the house on Piermont Avenue later owned by the Lloyds. “Mother was the daughter of Emma Voorhis Storms and Howard M. Storms of Nyack.” According to Hilton Kramer of the New York Times, Mr. Cornell “did not remain a special taste, but became a modern classic.” Cornell’s constructions, which included prints of birds, Old Masters engravings and representations of heavenly bodies, influenced artists who work in pop art, primary structures and assemblage. He received many awards for his constructions and collages. BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE Mrs. Reeve J. Terwilliger reports memorial contributions to the society’s Endowment Fund have been made for the following persons this past year: Jessie Chisholm Mrs. Mariette Koster Dr. Albert B. Corey George M. Reaves Mrs. Ada Gray Mrs. Mildred Rooney George Curran William C. Smith Le Roy Gates John L. Sullivan Dorothy Zehner The Rockland Country Day School, King’s Highway, Congers, has made arrangements with the Historical Society of Rockland County to include a visit to the Jacob Blauvelt House, at the society’s history center, 20 Zukor Road, New City, in the RCDS home tours, planned for Sunday, May 6, 1973, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets and information are available through the school’s secretary at CO 8-6802. © Copyright 1973 The Historical Society of Rockland County Acting Editor: Mariruth Campbell printed by Executive Editor: John R. Zehner PRINT SPRINT 2 COUNTY ERECTED IN 1798 MARKS 175th YEAR The document on parchment which records the creation by law of Rockland County bears three important signatures: John Jay as governor; Stephen Van Rensselaer, lieutenant governor and president of the state senate; Dirck Ten Broeck, speaker of the assembly. The governor’s signature fellows the notation, “In council of revision 23, February 1798 Resolved that it does not appear improper to the council that this bill should become a law of this state.” The bill as introduced has Ten Broeck’s signature following the lower- left corner notation, “State of New York. In Assembly February 17th, 1798. This bill having been read the third time Resolved that the bill do pass. By order of the Assembly.” Van Rensselaer’s signature at the lower right follows, “State of New York. In Senate January 27th, 1798. This bill having been read the third time Resolved that the bill do pass By order of the Senate.” The first portion of the bill concerns the setting aside of Orange as a separate county, “lying northward of the line beginning at the mouth of Popolopen Kill on Hudson River and running thence on a direct course to the southeastern most comer of the farm of Stephen Sloot and then along the south bounds of his farm, to the southwest comer thereof, and then on the same course to the bounds of the state of New Jersey.” Then the bill reads, “And be it further enacted that all that part of said county of Orange lying southward of the above described line shall be erected into a separate county and be called and known by the name Rockland.” The exact procedures for setting up a court of common pleas and a court of general sessions of the peace, the election of an assemblyman and the handling of mortgages affected by the act follows. Provision was made that one judge and one supervisor from each county (Orange and Rockland) meet^at the house of Stephen Sloot in the Clove” to handle all money matters then affecting the two counties. At the time of its erection, Rockland represented the southermost one-! fifth of Orange county, one of ten in the Province of New York. All ten, erected soon after the English permanently took over from the Dutch, were located on Long Island or in the Hudson Valley area, with Albany the northermost. From 1683 to 1783 only five new counties were set up in the Province of New York. But, with the close of the Revolution and the subsequent increase in population and commercial activity, 15 new counties were created in the 1790’s. Rockland was one of these. The ten original provinces had been named to honor historic overseas places or personages. Newer counties were inclined toward more homey names. It is said our area was early referred to as Rocky Land and the appelation carried over into our official name. According to historian A. W. Van Keuren, whose work is included in Tompkins “Historical Record of Rockland County” (1902), when the first census of this area was taken in 1693, the county (Orange) had only 21 families and 219 inhabitants—all of whom lived in Orangetown. He describes Orangetown as a tract purchased by sixteen Hollanders, 3 eight miles in length and ranging from two to five miles in width. It extended south to a point how below the present New York - New Jersey boundary line, which was established in 1769. In Rosalie Fellows Bailey’s “Pre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses” (Wm. Morrow, 1936; Dover, 1968) is the notation, “The lands at the southern end around Tappan were purchased from the Indians on March 17, 1681/2 by a group of eight white men and three free negroes from the Bouwery Village on Manhattan together with five men from New Jersey.” Eight plus three plus five equals the 16 Hollanders. On June 24th, 1719 the precinct of Haverstraw was set off from Orange- town on petition of the principal free-holders and inhabitants on claim they were too far from Tappan. Most of these petitioners resided in the central part of the precinct, known as Kakiat. Kakiat (later known as New Hempstead, then Hempstead and finally Ramapo) and Clarkstown were separated from Haverstraw Township March 18, 1791, so there were only four townships in Rockland County at its erection in 1798. Stony Point township remained part of Haverstraw town­ ship until March 20, 1865. 1876 and 1884 MAPS REPUBLISHED One county and four township maps from 1876 have been republished by the society. The township maps show locations of private houses, business establishments, schools and churches. Unframed, approximately 17 inches square, the maps of Rockland County, Clarkstown, Orangetown and Stony Point sell for $3; the map of Ramapo, 17" x 27", is priced at $4. They are available at the King’s Highway, Orangeburg, museum shop during the hours when the museum is open. The society’s treasurer, Dr. George R. Sharpless, who also handles the gift shop, notes these maps are in addition to the 1884 three-dimensional lithographs of Nyack and Haver­ straw. Elegantly detailed maps, these “pictures” of the two river-front villages are drawn from a Hudson River vantage point with the westerly mountains as backdrops. Some artistic flights of fancy keep them from being 100 per cent accurate but the deviations are slight, easily spotted and cause for an indulgent smile. They are priced at $3. THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY SALUTES the Village of Suffern on the 200th anniversary of its founding as New Antrim by John Suffern. Born near Antrim, Ireland, in November of 1741 John Suffern came to America in 1763 and established himself at Philadelphia. In 1773 he settled in what is now Suffern, where among other things he operated a potash factory and a woolen mill. He lived to be 95 years old. Five years later (1841) New Antrim was renamed in his honor. Charles Myneder of New City again heads the nominating committee which will present this year’s slate of officers. Assisting Mr. Myneder are Leland R. Meyer of Spring Valley, Mrs. Calvin Tomkins of Tomkins Cove, Julian H. Salomon of Suffern and Gene W. Setzer of Nyack. 4 ROCKLAND’S FIRE FIGHTERS by Le Roy Gates During July, August and September of 1972, Le Roy Gates typed up for our use in SOUTH OF THE MOUNTAINS an introductory to what we hoped would be an Historical Society of Rockland County publication of the county firemen’s full story. We have some odds and ends of last-minute notes that make excellent fillers and, at the museum’s library in Orangeburg we have “Alarms and Details”, printed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Nyack Fire Department and a copy of the 350th Hudson-Champlain Anniversary booklet, which carries Le Roy’s “Muscles to Microphones”.