The first volume of The Settlers of the Beekman Patent series was published in 1990, and included all early information available on the Patent — the lease system, precinct (town) records, road dedications, the rent wars, over three hundred pages of local Revolutionary War data, and more. This installment also contains previously undiscovered Revolutionary War muster rolls for four of the nine companies of minutemen in Dutchess County as well as important information found in the two newspapers that were published in the county during the Revolution.

Each chapter of this volume is divided into several topic areas, which are listed below. The links lead to the page where the topic begins, and the topic is indicated by a subheading. In some cases, scrolling down the page will be necessary to find the topic of choice.

Preface

Introduction

Abbreviations

Chapter 1.
The Beekman Patent

The Beekman Family
Early Land Transfers
Old Place Names in the Patent
Physical Features of the Patent
The Towns — Beekman
The Towns — Dover
The Towns — LaGrange
The Towns — Pawling
The Towns — Union Vale
The Oblong
The Gore

Chapter 2
The Lease System

The Lease
The Bonding System
Conveyances & D'Myers Purchase
A List of Bonds Due 1st May 1785
Bonds Taken 1785
Rent Due Notices
Wheat Payment Lists

Chapter 3
Life in 18th Century Beekman

Early Churches
The Census
Schools
Commerce
Stores
Currency in the Beekman Patent
The 18th Century Calender
Metes and Bounds
Dr. Stephen Thorn
Precinct Duties
The Mail
Tax Lists

Chapter 4
Beekman Patent Records

Beekman Records (includes precinct/town meetings and officers)
Early Elections in Beekman
Beekman's First Public Library

Chapter 5
Pawling Records

Precinct/town officers, supervisor's records, precinct/town charges
Elections
Pawling Public Library
Slave Manumissions
Poormaster Records
Pawling Poor Records
Constables
Precinct and Town Valuations

Chapter 6
Beekman Patent Roads

Chapter 7
Early Military History

The French and Indian War
Losses in the French and Indian War
Quakers and the Military
The Rent Wars
Law Suit Charges
Other Gore Problems

Chapter 8
The Revolutionary War - I

The Articles of Association
Signers in Beekman's Precinct, July 1775
Names of Those Persons who Refused to Sign
The County and Precinct Committees
The Third Militia
The Fifth Militia
Beekman Patent Minute Companies
The Wyoming Massacre
The Continental Line
Cooper's Rangers

Chapter 9
The Revolutionary War II

Military Officers of the 3rd and 5th Regiments
Provisions for the Army
The Tories

Chapter 10
The Revolutionary War - III

Johannes Walter Myer
Petitions
Robberies and Other Crimes
Dover Loyalists
Pawling Tories
British Officers from Pawling
Confiscation and Sequestration
Washington's Headquarters at Fredericksburgh
Historical Events in Pawling
Councils of War
Other Court Martials
Other Events at Pawling
The Military Hospital
The Minutes of the Meeting (Poem "A Ballad of Quaker Hill" on p. 654  reprinted with permission of The Saturday Evening Post c 1951 Renewed BFL&MS, Inc.).
Burgoynes March
Land Bounty Rights and Pensions
Pensions
Post Revolution Militia

Chapter 11
Beekman-Livingston Letters

Chapter 12
Diary of Robert Gilbert Livingston Jr. of Dover, 1782 - Oct. 1785

Frequently Used References

Addenda

Back to Search Page