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UM, IT IS ANOTHER, YET ANOTHER HASTINGS RELATED EVENT.
UM, UH, IT'S COMMEMORATING THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNING OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS SAW OR WE'RE AT THE EVENT ON FRIDAY THAT THAT WAS ALSO TAPED.
SO IF YOU WERE NOT ABLE TO ATTEND IN A COUPLE OF DAYS TIME, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE IT ON H-O-H-T-V.
UM, ANYWAY, A COUPLE OF THINGS.
WE'RE GONNA DO A LITTLE HOUSEKEEPING AND THEN WE'LL GET TO THE MAIN EVENT.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, I DO WANNA POINT OUT THAT LINDSAY TAYLOR IS OUT IN THE BACK.
THERE'S LINDSAY, SHE IS MANNING A TABLE FOR MEMBERSHIPS.
WE ARE A FULLY MEMBERSHIP SUPPORTED WITH A LITTLE BIT OF MERCHANDISE, UM, ORGANIZATION, ALL VOLUNTEERS.
SO IF YOU LIKE THIS EVENT, YOU LIKE WHAT WE PUT OUT FOR YOU GUYS, PLEASE BECOME A MEMBER.
IT'S LIKE THREE, UM, STARBUCKS COFFEES AT THIS POINT,
SO I WANNA ENCOURAGE YOU TO BECOME A MEMBER
SO, UM, WE'RE GONNA DO A LITTLE BIT OF, UM, HISTORICAL SIDE SOCIETY HOUSEKEEPING.
UM, THEN SHAR WEIGEL, OUR SPEAKER, WILL DO HER, UH, TALK.
AND AFTERWARDS WE HAVE REFRESHMENTS IN THE ROUND ROOM.
SO WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO, OH, THERE'LL BE A Q AND A, SORRY ABOUT THAT.
AND THEN WE'LL HAVE REFRESHMENTS IN THE ROUND ROOM.
SO, TO START IT OFF, I JUST WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO OUR FORMER TREASURER, DAVID FORBES WATKINS, AND HIS WIFE EILEEN, WHO WAS A TRU TRUSTEE.
DAVID IS STEPPING DOWN FROM OUR BOARD AFTER ALMOST TWO DECADES OF SERVICE, UM, WHICH IS A REALLY LONG TIME IN, IN OUR, UM, HISTORICAL SOCIETY ANNALS.
SO, UH, WE WANNA THANK HIM FOR ALL OF HIS SERVICE.
AND THEN SUE SMITH, VILLAGE, HISTORIAN AND TRUSTEE AT THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY IS OUR NOMINATING PERSON, AND SHE'S GONNA TALK ABOUT SOME NEW TRUSTEES WHO ARE COMING ON OUR BOARD.
I'VE BEEN DOING THIS A LONG TIME.
UH, WE HAVE TWO NEW TRUSTEE PEOPLE COMING ON AS TRUSTEES, AND AS I SAY THEIR NAME, I'D APPRECIATE IF THEY STAND UP, IF YOU CAN'T STAND UP, WAVE YOUR HAND SO PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
UH, FIRST OVER HERE ON THE SIDE, BARON LERNER.
AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, LORI MURRAY, WHICH IS WONDERFUL.
A LOT OF US DO THINGS A LONG TIME WITH THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, BUT YOU ALWAYS NEED NEW BLOOD AND, UH, YOU KNOW, NEW IDEAS.
AND THAT'S REALLY WONDERFUL TO CONTINUE TO TAKE ON ADDITIONAL, UH, TRUSTEES.
WE, I'M GONNA HAVE TO ADD TO THE TABLE IN THE ROOM.
I THINK IT GETS KIND OF CROWDED THERE.
UH, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CURRENTLY ON THE BOARD AND WHOSE TERMS ARE UP, IT'S A THREE YEAR TERM.
JAN CLUFF, WHO MAY BE STILL WORKING IN ON THE FOOD, UH, KIMBERLY JANEWAY.
THERE SHE IS AT THE, OH, THIS IS JAN AND KIMBERLY, WHERE ARE YOU? WAIT, WAVING IN THE WAY BACK.
I DID NOT SEE HER COME IN, BUT MAYBE SHE'S NOT HERE.
UH, SO WE CAN HAVE, I THINK IF THERE'S ANYBODY FROM THE AUDIENCE WHO WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AS A BOARD MEMBER SPEAK.
NOW,
WE COULDN'T DO WHAT WE DO IF IT WASN'T FOR OTHER VOLUNTEERS, UH, WHICH IS WONDERFUL.
IT'S A LOVELY PLACE TO WORK, AND COMRADERY IS EXCELLENT.
UM, SO I WILL PROPOSE THAT THOSE FIVE PEOPLE, UM, JOIN THE BOARD OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, EITHER AGAIN OR NEWLY.
AND IF YOU WOULD SAY YAY OR NAY, RAISE YOUR HANDS IF YOU'RE YAY TO SUPPORT THEM.
MEMBER MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.
ANY, ANY NEGATIVES? IF IF YOU'RE NEGATIVE, YOU MIGHT GET ASKED TO WORK
UM, I'M GOING TO INTRODUCE OUR SPEAKER AND I'M GONNA READ IT BECAUSE SHE'S GOT A, AN A INTERESTING LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS HERE.
UM, SHAR IS A BOARD MEMBER OF THE ODELL HOUSE BU, UM, HEADQUARTERS MUSEUM, WHICH IS I, I GUESS MOVING ALONG.
UM, AND SHE'S THE VICE PRESIDENT OF SPECIAL PROJECTS FOR REVOLUTIONARY WESTCHESTER TWO 50.
AND WHEN WE WANTED AN ANNUAL SPEAKER, WE KNEW WE WANTED SOMETHING RELATED TO THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
AND GIVEN HOW BUSY SHAR IS, WE ARE GRATEFUL THAT SHE WAS ABLE TO
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COME AND JOIN US.SO HERE SHE IS, SHAR, THIS IS, UH, YES, THIS IS ON.
SO, UM, IT'S REALLY WONDERFUL TO BE HERE.
I HAVE TO COMPLIMENT HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND HASTINGS TWO 50 FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU'VE DONE.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE HERE FRIDAY NIGHT? I DIDN'T COME.
I WAS AWAY, BUT I WOULD'VE BEEN HERE.
IT JUST, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE VIDEO.
IT WAS INCREDIBLE, UM, AND MEANINGFUL TO DO THAT.
UH, SO WHAT I WANNA DO TODAY IS SHARE SOME HYPERLOCAL RESEARCH WITH YOU.
UH, THIS IS ALL KIND OF DE NOVO WORK.
UM, AND I WILL TALK ABOUT SORT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WE LIVE IN.
BUT BEFORE I START, I WANT TO ASK, I KNOW THAT WE DO HAVE SOME VETERANS IN THE AUDIENCE.
CAN EVERYONE WHO'S A VETERAN, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND, BOB, YOU HAVE TO RAISE YOUR HAND.
SO, UM, I WANNA THANK YOU BECAUSE I WANNA DEDICATE THIS PRESENTATION TO YOU.
THIS, WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT THE ORIGINAL VETERANS OF OUR COUNTRY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE TENANT FARMERS WHO BECAME SOLDIERS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
SO, UM, IT'S VERY MEANINGFUL TO THINK ABOUT THAT.
UM, SO I'M GONNA WALK THROUGH SOME RESEARCH FOR YOU AND THEN HAVE SOME TIME FOR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS.
'CAUSE I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE ROOM AS WELL, AND I'M REALLY EAGER TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS.
SO, IN ORDER TO TALK ABOUT WHERE WE LIVE, I LIVE IN SLEEPY HOLLOW.
SO I'M KIND OF TALKING ABOUT THE STRETCH FROM THE NORTHERN PART OF YONKERS UP TO KIND OF TERRYTOWN SLEEPY HOLLOW HERE.
UM, WE HAVE TO FIRST RECOGNIZE THAT BEFORE THE WAR, THIS WAS AN EXTRAORDINARILY TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY.
AND WASHINGTON IRVING, WHO CAME HERE WHEN HE WAS 14 AND SPENT HIS SUMMER HERE, HE PICKED UP ON THAT.
AND IN THIS LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, WHAT HE WROTE IS, THOUGH MANY YEARS HAVE ELAPSED SINCE I TRO THE DROWSY SHADES OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, YET I QUESTION WHETHER I SHOULD NOT STILL FIND THE SAME TREES AND THE SAME FAMILIES.
VEGETATING IN ITS SHELTERED BOSOM.
AND HE RECOGNIZED THAT THIS AREA, THE DUTCH CULTURE, IT WAS STICKY IF YOU MOVED HERE, EVEN IF YOU WERE A OT, YOU REALLY ASSIMILATED INTO THE DUTCH CULTURE.
AND WHAT I'VE GOT HERE, I HAVE A COUPLE OF LANDMARKS JUST SO YOU CAN FIND YOURSELF ON THIS MAP.
THIS IS A MAP FROM GREENVILLE MCKENZIE WHO DID SOME RESEARCH ON THE ORIGINAL TENANTS IN THE TENANT FARM.
SO THIS GOES BACK TO THE HARMS PLOT HERE, UH, WHERE THE ODELL TAVERN IS, STILL THE HARMS HOUSE.
SO YOU'RE LOOKING AT KIND OF THE LATE 1690S OR INTO THE EARLY 17 HUNDREDS HERE.
AND WHAT I DID IS THIS IS A MORE MODERN MAP.
WELL, MODERN
UM, EVERY FAMILY NAME IN RED THERE WAS HERE DURING THAT FIRST MAP.
SO 75 TO ALMOST A HUNDRED YEARS.
AND, UM, WE HAVE THE LIGHTS OUT, BUT WE ACTUALLY HAVE A ODELL IN THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW, RIGHT? SO CAN YOU RAISE YOUR HAND? UM, THERE WE GO.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THEY'RE HERE.
SO WE'RE GONNA TALK A LOT ABOUT THE ODELLS, AND IF YOU'RE AN ODELL, YOU'RE A DYKEMAN, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT BRANCH IN THE FAMILY.
AND SOME OF YOU MAY, LIKE I DO KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE VAN TASSEL STILL, UM, OR, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS NAMES THAT HAVE STILL STUCK AROUND.
SO WHY WAS THIS COMMUNITY SO COHESIVE? ONE REASON WAS THE OLD DUTCH CHURCH OF TODAY'S SLEEPY HOLLOW.
UM, THAT CHURCH WAS A UNIFYING ENTITY HERE.
UH, THEY HAVE A SIGN OUT IN FRONT BOB THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE CARVED, RIGHT? AND WHAT'S THE DATE ON IT? IT SAYS 1685.
YEAH, IT'S PROBABLY NOT QUITE THAT, BUT CLOSE, RIGHT? WE KNOW THAT IN 1697, FREDERICK PHILLIPS, THE FIRST WIFE, SECOND WIFE, UM, WAS THE FIRST CONGREGANT IN THE RECORDS OF THE CHURCH.
SO LET'S SAY IT'S PRETTY OLD THOUGH.
AND THE CHURCH WAS PLANNED THERE IN ORDER TO ATTRACT THE TENANT FARMERS THAT THE PHILLIPS FAMILY WANTED.
THEY CAME HERE, THEY BOUGHT 52,000 ACRES EVENTUALLY IN THIS PART WITHOUT EVEN GETTING INTO THE HUDSON HIGHLANDS OR BERGEN OR THE PLANTATION IN THE BARBADOS OR NEW YORK CITY.
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AND WHAT THEY NEEDED TO DO, BECAUSE AT THIS POINT THEY'RE PRACTICING ENGLISH LAWS, THEY NEEDED TO IMPROVE, IMPROVE IT.SO THE PROPERTY, IN ORDER TO REALLY STAY WITHOUT BEING CONTESTED, THEY HAD TO ATTRACT TENANT FARMERS IN ORDER TO FARM IT RIGHT AWAY.
SO THE CHURCH WAS DEFINITELY A UNIFYING ASPECT OF IT, AS WAS JUST THE FACT THAT NEIGHBORS, NEIGHBORS HELPED NEIGHBORS INTERMARRIAGE.
SO LIKE, AS AN ODELL, YOU WERE RELATED TO PROBABLY EVERY NAME YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR TODAY,
SO A LOT OF INTERMARRIAGE HAPPENED AND IT HAPPENED LOCALLY, BUT THEN WE APPROACHED THE TIME AS WE'RE APPROACHING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND THINGS ARE GONNA UNRAVEL HERE.
AND WHY? WELL, FREDERICK PHILLIPS IIV, WHO IS THE LORD OF PHILLIPSBURG MANOR AT THE TIME THAT WE'RE ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, UM, HE'S AND FREDERICK PHILLIPS THE THIRD, I SHOULD SAY, HE'S IN THE FOURTH GENERATION.
THE NAME SKIPS A GENERATION, SO IT'S FREDERICK PHILLIPS III.
HE HAS A VERY GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TENANT FARMERS HERE.
UM, I JUST SPENT A NICE LONG AFTERNOON AT THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY ARCHIVES READING MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS, WHICH ARE REALLY, REALLY INTERESTING.
GOING BACK THERE, I FOUND THAT HE HAD LENT MONEY TO A NUMBER OF THE TENANT FARMERS PERSONALLY.
SO THEY HAD A QUITE A, QUITE A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP.
EVEN THOUGH WRIT LARGER, YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR ABOUT TENANT REVOLTS, ESPECIALLY WITH HIS, HIS SISTER'S HUSBANDS.
SO HIS SISTER SUSANNA MARRIED BEVERLY ROBINSON.
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE BENEDICT ARNOLD STORY, THAT MIGHT BE A NAME THAT IS RECOGNIZABLE TO YOU.
AND HIS SISTER MARY, WHO MIGHT HAVE MARRIED GEORGE WASHINGTON, LITERALLY HE DID COURT HER.
UM, BUT SHE MARRIED A MAN BY THE NAME OF ROGER MORRIS AND THE MORRIS AND THE ROBINSONS OWN THE, UM, HIGHLAND PATENT GARRISON COLD SPRING AREA TODAY.
SO THERE WERE A LOT OF TENANT FARMER REVOLTS UP THERE.
UM, ALSO MISTREATMENT OF THE STOCKBRIDGE INDIANS.
SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT IN THE Q AND A IF YOU WANT, BUT FREDERICK HIMSELF HAD A REALLY GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TENANTS.
AND SO WE GET TO THE SPRING OF 1775 AND THERE ARE LIKE LOUIS MORRIS AND OTHERS AGITATORS WHO ARE REALLY TRYING TO TURN PEOPLE TOWARD INDEPENDENTS AND A REVOLUTION.
AND THERE'S THIS FAMOUS MEETING, TWO TAVERNS, THE HATFIELD TAVERN IN WHITE PLAINS AND THE OAKLEY TAVERN.
AND THE CROWD DIVIDES UP BY POLITICS.
SO I'M FROM PHILLY, AND WHEN THE COWBOYS WERE IN TOWN, YOU BETTER KNOW WHICH SPORTS BAR YOU WENT TO.
UM, AND SO IT'S KIND OF THE SAME THING HERE IN THE HATFIELD TAVERN.
UM, THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD TEND TO BE LOYALISTS, THEY WERE VIEWED AS CONSERVATIVES AT THE TIME WERE AGGREGATING.
AND IN THE OAKLEY TAVERN WAS WHERE THESE AGITATORS WERE.
FREDERICK PHILLIPS WAS IN THE HATFIELD TAVERN, AND A LOT OF HIS TENANT FARMERS WERE THERE AS WELL.
AND THE INTENT OF THOSE IN THE OAKLEY TAVERN WAS TO GO DOWN TO THE COURTHOUSE AND TO DECLARE THAT THEY WERE GONNA SEND REPRESENTATIVES TO, I THINK IT WAS THE SECOND PROVINCIAL CONGRESS IN PHILADELPHIA.
SO THEY HAVE THESE TWO ROWDY GROUPS DRINKING A LOT, AND A DECLARATION IS PASSED AROUND AT THE HATFIELD TAVERN.
AND YOU SEE THE FIRST NAME HERE.
I KNOW IT'S HARD FOR YOU TO SEE.
FREDERICK PHILLIPS IS RIGHT HERE.
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SORT OF THE ANONYMOUS PAMPHLET WARS THAT'S GONNA DEVELOP LETTERS FROM A WESTCHESTER FARMER, AND A NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE GONNA PUT THEIR NAME TO THE STATEMENT THAT THEY WANT TO SAY THAT THEY'RE STILL GOING TO BE LOYAL TO THE CROWN.
BUT IT'S MORE NUANCED THAN THAT BECAUSE EVEN FREDERICK PHILLIPS HIMSELF HAD OBJECTIONS, BUT HE HAD OBJECTIONS TO THE WAY THAT THIS COLONY WAS BEING TREATED WHEN IT BECAME ELECTING A NEW GOVERNMENT THAT WAS A STEP TOO FAR FROM HIM.
AND IT REALLY PUSHED HIM TO FIGURE OUT WHICH LINE, WHICH SIDE OF THE LINE HE WAS GONNA BE ON.
UM, IT'S SO INTERESTING TO SEE THIS LIST OF NAMES HERE.
UM, PETER POST IS ONE OF THE NAMES THAT'S ON THIS, AND IT, IT'S A SNAPSHOT IN TIME FROM APRIL OF 1775 OF WHO WAS LEANING WHICH WAY.
BUT I COLORED SOME OF THESE ARROWS IN BLUE BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA SEE ABRAHAM ACKER, CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL, ELIEZER HART, HERE'S PETER HOST POST, UM, PEOPLE WHO ARE ULTIMATELY GOING TO END UP BECOMING REBELS AT THIS POINT IN TIME, THEY WERE STILL NOT READY TO CROSS THAT LINE.
SO IT'S A SUPER INTERESTING HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, BUT THEN THINGS HAPPEN THAT REALLY FORCE A DIVISION IN THIS CLOSE KNIT COMMUNITY.
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UM, CERTAINLY LEXINGTON AND CONCORD HAS AN IMPACT THAT HAPPENED AFTER THE APRIL MEETING.UM, THE BRITISH OCCUPATION OF NEW YORK CITY TO THINK ABOUT BEING OCCUPIED TURNED SOME PEOPLE.
AND THEN IN THE SUMMER OF 1776, THE BRITISH JUST KIND OF STEAMROLL OVER THE UNDERWATER OBSTRUCTIONS THAT WERE SET, THAT WE SET THINKING WE WOULD KEEP THEM, UM, WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO ENTER THE HUDSON AND THE PHOENIX IN THE ROWS, TWO BRITISH SLOOPS OF WAR, HEAD UP THE RIVER.
AND IF WE WERE LIVING HERE, THEN WE WOULD HAVE SEEN THEM RIGHT OUT HERE.
AND THIS WAS VERY THREATENING TO A LOT OF THE TENANT FARMER FAMILIES.
SO YOU SEE THAT, UM, JULY 12TH IS THE DATE THE THE ROSE ANCHORS WHERE I'VE GOT IT INDICATED NOT TOO FAR FROM WHERE WE ARE TODAY, JUST A LITTLE NORTH OF US.
AND THE PHOENIX ANCHORS JUST OFF OF TERRYTOWN.
AND THIS REALLY CAUSES A KIND OF A CALL TO ARM HERE.
SAMSON DYKEMAN, WHO I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT, HE'S AN ODELL DYKEMAN AND ODELLS ARE THE SAME FAMILY.
UM, HE ACTUALLY COMES OUT FROM NEW YORK, HE'S AN IMPORTANT POST WRITER.
HE IS CARRYING INFORMATION AND HE GOES TO THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS THAT'S MEETING IN WHITE PLAINS AND TELLS THEM THAT THESE SHIPS HAVE NOW MOVED UP THE HUDSON.
AND THEN, UM, IN AUGUST WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA HAVE THE LADY WASHINGTON AND SOME OF OUR SMALL SHIPS THAT WE HAVE ATTACK THEM.
SO THIS I THINK IS ALSO A MOTIVATING PRINCIPLE FOR WHY PEOPLE DIVIDE UP.
WHEN, UM, ABRAHAM HATFIELD OF THE HATFIELD TAVERN WAS A MILITIA LEADER.
SO PRIOR TO THE WAR, EVERYONE HERE WAS IN THE SAME MILITIA.
NOW WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT A REBEL MILITIA OR AN AMERICAN MILITIA AND A LOYALIST MILITIA, UM, THE REFUGEE MILITIA, WHICH I CAN EXPLAIN IN A MINUTE.
SO PEOPLE ARE REALLY STARTING TO DIVIDE ON SIDES.
SO I'M GONNA TELL YOU A QUICK STORY ABOUT WILLIAM DUTCHER, UM, JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU SNIPPETS OF SORT OF HOW THIS AFFECTED LIFE DURING WARTIME THE TENANT FARMERS.
SO WILLIAM DUTCHER'S PROPERTY IS WHERE IRVINGTON IS TODAY, AND HE, AS SOON AS HE SAW THOSE SHIPS IN THE HUDSON, HE VOLUNTEERED TO RAISE AN ASSOCIATED COMPANY OF MILITIA.
SO THERE WERE SEVERAL COMPANIES OF MILITIA THAT WERE COMING OUT.
JAMES HAMMOND, THE HAMMOND HOUSE IS STILL UP NEAR THE HOSPITAL, RIGHT? UM, AND UH, FREDERICK ROCK LIVES THERE SOMETIMES.
I'VE BEEN THERE SEVERAL TIMES.
IT'S REALLY AMAZING THAT WE HAVE THESE HOUSES PRESERVED.
SO HE'S KIND OF IN CHARGE OF EVERYTHING.
HE SENDS WILLIAM DUTCHER TO WASHINGTON.
SO, UM, HERE'S A LETTER WHERE THEY'RE INFORMING WASHINGTON ABOUT THE PHOENIX IN THE ROSE.
AND AT THE END HAMMOND SAYS, IS TO FURTHER PARTICULARS, MUST BEG LEAVE TO REFER YOUR EXCELLENCY TO THE BEARER CAPTAIN WILLIAM DUTCHER.
SO DUTCHER IS DEFINITELY INVOLVED.
NOW THIS IS SOMETHING THAT REALLY BLEW MY MIND TO THINK ABOUT, UM, THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.
SO WE AT THIS POINT HAVE KIND OF GOVERNMENT BY COMMITTEES.
WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF WE'RE NOT GONNA BE RULED BY PARLIAMENT AND THE CROWN, HOW ARE WE GONNA BE RULED? SO WE HAVE A COMMITTEE FOR DETECTION OF CONSPIRACIES.
WE HAVE A COMMITTEE OF SAFETY THAT'S DOING THE MAIN GOVERNING HERE.
THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, AS THINGS HAD BEEN BUILDING, UM, ACTUALLY PASSED A RESOLUTION THAT SAID, IF YOU DID NOT SIGN THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENCE, THIS REBELLION, THEN YOUR ARMS COULD BE TAKEN FROM YOU.
ISN'T THIS INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT THIS, YOU KNOW, RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS IN OUR COUNTRY.
SO WE WENT AROUND, WE BEING THE AMERICANS, AND WE TOOK THE MUSKETS FROM PEOPLE WHO REFUSED POLITICALLY.
THESE WERE NOT DISARMING MILITARY OPPOSITION.
THIS WAS A POLITICAL DISARMING.
AND A MUSKET AT THAT TIME WAS YOUR GOOSE GUN.
IT IS HOW YOU SUPPORTED YOUR FAMILY.
SO THIS IS REALLY, REALLY SERIOUS.
AND WHO'S ONE OF THE GUYS THAT'S GOING AROUND AND DOING THAT HERE? IT'S CAPTAIN DUTCHER.
SO HE BY NAME IS GOING INTO THE HOMES OF THE PEOPLE THAT HE KNEW WHO WERE REFUSING TO SIGN THIS ASSOCIATION, THE OATH OF ASSOCIATION WITH THE REBELLION.
OH, WELL I SHOULD MENTION, UM, HIS HOUSE GOT BURNED DOWN
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A LOT OF BURNING DOWN OF HOUSES AS WELL.SO, UM, ONE STORY ABOUT THE DUCHESS.
SO WHEN THE HOUSE WAS BURNED DOWN, HIS WIFE CATHERINE AND THE FAMILY BECAME REFUGEES.
SO THIS IS A STORY OF REFUGEES AS WELL.
THEY WERE REBEL PATRIOT, REFUGEES MOVING TO FAMILY THAT THEY HAD IN THE NORTHERN PART OF WESTCHESTER, KIND OF NORTH OF THE CROTON RIVER.
THE CONTINENTAL ARMY SETS UP AFTER THE BATTLE OF WHITE PLAINS.
IT'S KIND OF RELIABLY AMERICAN TERRITORY.
THEN YOU GET DOWN TOWARD MORRISANIA, RIGHT? CLOSER TO NEW YORK CITY.
IT'S RELIABLY BRITISH TERRITORY.
SO THIS IS A MASS MOVEMENT OF REFUGEES IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, DEPENDING UPON YOUR POLITICAL AFFILIATION.
SO WHEN THE DUTCHERS LEFT, THEY LEFT A FAMILY THAT THEY ENSLAVED.
WELL, THEY LEFT ENSLAVED PEOPLE.
SOME APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN PART OF A FAMILY.
I HOPE AT SOME POINT I CAN FIND OUT THEIR NAMES.
THE BRITISH INTIMIDATED THESE ENSLAVED PEOPLE AND WANTED THEM TO SAY, WHERE WAS ANY WEALTH THAT THE DUTCHES HAD BURIED? AND WHERE HAD THE DUTCHES GONE? AND THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE REFUSED TO TELL THEM.
THE BRITISH PUT 'EM IN A BOAT, TOOK 'EM OUT IN THE HUDSON AND TOLD THEM THAT THEY WERE GOING TO TIP THEM OVERBOARD, YOU KNOW, THREATENING TO DROWNING UNLESS THEY TOLD THEM.
UM, AND THEY LEFT THEM THERE, BUT THE TIDE WAS OUT.
AND SO THEY WERE ABLE TO GET OUT OF THE BOAT AND WALK HOME AND THEY WERE ALL OKAY.
SO THIS STORY COMES DOWN THROUGH THE DUTCHES.
BUT, UM, I DO HAVE A COUPLE MORE STORIES I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE ENSLAVED.
I ALSO WANNA TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT CATHERINE, BUT I'LL COME BACK TO IT JUST IN THE INTEREST OF TIME.
UM, SO SETTING UP THIS NEUTRAL GROUND, LIKE WE ALL KNOW, WESTCHESTER COUNTY IS FAMOUSLY CALLED THE NEUTRAL GROUND.
AND BOY WOULD I LIKE TO GO BACK IN TIME AND FIND WHOEVER GAVE IT THAT NAME BECAUSE IT REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED THE BLOODY BORDER LAND OR THE DEADLY CONTESTED GROUND.
BECAUSE WE ARE NEUTRAL, ONLY IN THE SENSE THAT NEITHER THE AMERICANS NOR THE BRITISH HAD CONTROL AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN TIME OF OUR COUNTY.
PRETTY UNIQUE IN ALL OF THE COLONIES SLASH STATES AT ANY ONE POINT IN TIME.
MOST PLACES WERE CONTROLLED BY ONE OR THE OTHER, BUT WE ARE NOT NEUTRAL.
AND HERE'S A QUOTE FROM CHARLES LEE.
UM, HE SAYS, NEUTRALS IN CIVIL COUNTRY CAN BY NO MEANS BE SUFFERED.
THOSE THAT DO NOT TAKE A POSITIVE ACTIVE PART WITH THEIR COUNT COUNTRY SHALL BE TREATED AS ENEMIES.
THEIR WHOLE STOCK SHALL BE SEIZED AND THEIR HOUSES BURN.
SO I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE BURNING OF THE DUTCHES, LOTS OF BURNING OF THE LOYALIST FAMILIES AS WELL.
SO THINGS WENT VERY MUCH BOTH WAYS.
DO YOU KNOW THE HISTORICAL, LIKE I'M OBNOXIOUS WHEN I'M NAGGING MY HUSBAND TO DO A CERTAIN CHORE, RIGHT? BUT OBNOXIOUS AT THE TIME WAS A TERM THAT WAS APPLIED TO PEOPLE WHO WERE DISAFFECTED, WHO DID NOT GO ALONG WITH YOUR POLITICAL BELIEFS.
AND SO, UM, ISAAC HATFIELD, ONE OF THE HATFIELD FAMILY MEMBERS THAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT, THIS IS HIS CLAIM AT THE END OF THE WAR THAT HE'S TRYING TO GET COMPENSATION.
I WON'T READ YOU THE WHOLE THING, BUT RESIDED IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY WHEN THE TROUBLES BROKE OUT.
THAT'S A COMMON WORD THAT YOU HEAR.
UM, HE SIGNED UP WITH THE BRITISH AND HE, UM, WAS TRIED.
THEY TRIED TO, UM, WE, THE AMERICANS TRIED TO MAKE HIM PAY A TAX.
THERE WAS ALSO SOMETHING CALLED A BLACK TAX AT THE TIME, WHICH MEANT EVEN IF YOU WERE OLDER, BUT YOU HAD A CHILD WHO WAS A LOYALIST, YOU WERE GONNA HAVE TO PAY A TAX.
SO INTERESTING USE OF TAXING, RIGHT? ALSO TO GET MONEY FOR THIS REBELLION.
HE QUIT HOME, A VOLUNTEER IN THE QUEEN'S RANGERS.
AND THEN AT THE END HE'S UP, I THINK HE'S IN HALIFAX WHEN HE'S WRITING THIS.
AND HE'S CLAIMING HE LOST 18 HEADS OF CATTLE FOR HORSES, 50 SHEEP AND HIS FARM.
SO PEOPLE FROM BOTH SIDES SUFFERED GREATLY HERE.
UH, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE WAR WITH THAT.
OKAY, SO NOW ODELLS, UM, ODELL TAVERN BEHIND A GATE, BUT WE CAN STILL SEE, WE KNOW IT'S THERE.
THAT WAS AS YOU CAN SEE ON AUGUST 31ST.
SO THE BRITISH HAVE TAKEN OVER NEW YORK CITY, WASHINGTON HAS HAD TO RETREAT IN THIS INCREDIBLE MANEUVER THAT'S LIKE A DUNKIRK MOVE OF FROM THE TIME.
AND UM, THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, WHICH IS GOVERNING NEW YORK AS A NEW STATE, IS FLEEING.
AND FOR ONE DAY THEY'RE AT THE ODELL
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TAVERN.SO IT BECOMES THE SEAT OF THE NEW YORK GOVERNMENT.
AND THIS IS A SUPER INTERESTING LETTER FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THEIR RESPONSE.
SO WASHINGTON SENDS TO THE COMMITTEE THIS LETTER.
FIRST HE SPENDS SOME TIME JUSTIFYING HIS RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND, WHICH I THINK IS REALLY INTERESTING.
YOU KNOW, WASHINGTON IS GONNA BE BELEAGUERED 'CAUSE WE LOSE, LOSE, LOSE, RIGHT? WHICH IS WHEN SARATOGA BECOMES SO IMPORTANT.
THEN HE SAYS, I FIND THIS SUPER INTERESTING.
IT IS THE MOST INTRICATE THING IN THE WORLD, SIR, TO KNOW IN WHAT MANNER TO CONDUCT ONESELF WITH RESPECT TO THE MILITIA.
IF YOU DO NOT BEGIN MANY DAYS BEFORE THEY ARE WANTED TO RAISE THEM, YOU CANNOT HAVE THEM IN TIME.
AND IF YOU DO, THEY GET TIRED IN RETURN BESIDES BEING UNDER VERY LITTLE ORDER OR GOVERNMENT WHILST IN OUR SERVICE.
SO HE'S COMPLAINING, HE'S GOT THE CONTINENTAL ARMY, WHICH WE'RE STRUGGLING.
THESE STATES NOW ARE STRUGGLING TO HAVE ENOUGH, UM, RECRUITS AND SOLDIERS IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY AND IN EVERY STATE THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO RELY ON THE MILITIA DUTCHERS IN THE MILITIA.
THE ODELLS HERE IN THE MILITIA, THE DYKEMAN ARE IN THE MILITIA AND HE'S SAYING IT'S REALLY, REALLY HARD TO WORK WITH THEM.
THEN HE ALSO, UM, SUGGESTS, HE SAYS HE WANTS TO HAVE THEM TO RETARD A LANDING ON THE EAST OF THE HARLEM RIVER, WHICH IS, UM, KEEP THAT IN MIND BECAUSE THEN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY IS GONNA RETURN A LETTER TO HIM AND THEY'RE GOING TO COMMENT ON THE MILITIA, THE DIFFICULTY OF MANAGING THE MILITIAS SO AS TO RENDER THEM USEFUL, WHICH IS IN SOME MEASURE ONLY TO THEY'RE BEING ILL APPOINTED AND UNUSED TO CAMPS AND OF CONSEQUENCE SUFFERING MORE THAN THOSE WHO HAVE GOT INTO A REGULAR WAY OF PROVIDING AGAINST INCONVENIENCES.
SO THEY'RE ADMITTING THESE MILITIA, THEY HAVE BEEN A STANDING MILITIA CALLED OUT TO PROTECT THEIR FARMS. THEY ARE NOT USED TO THE KIND OF WAR THAT THEY'RE IN RIGHT NOW.
SO YOU HEAR THEM ADMITTING THAT ALSO SOMETHING THAT'S NOT HERE.
THE MILITIA OFTEN HAVE TO COME HOME TO HARVEST THEIR CROPS.
AND THIS IS A REAL CONUNDRUM FOR WASHINGTON THROUGHOUT THE WAR, BECAUSE WE NEED THE FOOD, WE NEED THE SUPPLIES, AND YET THESE GUYS JUST TAKE OFF AND LEAVE.
UM, AND SO IT'S NOT THE WAY THE CONTINENTAL SOLDIERS ARE BEHAVING, BUT THE MILITIA ARE CONSIDERED TO BE UNRELIABLE BECAUSE OF THAT.
UM, SO THEN WHAT ELSE HERE, UH, WASHINGTON, UH, WHERE DO I HAVE HERE THE COUNTRY, OKAY, ABOVE WE KNOW NO COUNTRY SO CAPABLE OF BEING DEFENDED AS THAT ABOVE THE BRIDGE.
SO THEY'RE BASICALLY SAYING, WE DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA COME FROM THE HARLEM RIVER.
WE THINK IT'S GONNA COME OVER KINGSBRIDGE.
WE'RE GONNA PUT OUR PEOPLE THERE.
SO ALREADY YOU'RE SEEING THIS DEBATE WHERE WASHINGTON IS TRYING TO TELL STATES IN THE MILITIA WHERE HE WANTS THE MILITARY TO STAND, AND THEY'RE SAYING, NO, WE KNOW THIS AREA.
IT'S GONNA COME ACROSS KINGSBRIDGE AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GONNA PUT OUR MILITIA.
THEN THEY END WITH SAYING, WE HOPE THE COMMISSARY WILL GIVE EVERY RELIEF TO THE INHABITANTS BY PURCHASING FROM THEM ALL THE STOCK THAT ARE FIT TO BE USED.
PLEASE DON'T IMPRESS OUR LIVESTOCK.
IS WHAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY SAYING THERE.
AND OF COURSE THAT'S GONNA GO ON THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WAR AS AN ISSUE.
OKAY? SO ODELL TAVERN, ODELLS, DYKEMAN, DYKEMAN DOWN HERE, HERE'S HASTINGS.
SO I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE ODELL AND DYKEMAN FAMILY.
GONNA HAVE TO BE SURE I DON'T TAKE TOO LONG ON THIS 'CAUSE I FIND 'EM SO FASCINATING.
UM, THERE WILL BE, BY THE WAY, I'M CURATING AN EXHIBIT THAT'S GONNA OPEN THE END OF AUGUST AT THE IRVINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY ON THE TENANT FARMERS.
AND THIS TALK AND THIS RESEARCH IS A BIG PIECE OF THAT.
SO THERE IS MORE TO TALK ABOUT THERE.
UM, IT IS INCREDIBLE TO ME THAT THESE TWO FAMILIES, WHICH ARE REALLY ONE, WE HAVE FIVE EX EXTENT HOUSES STILL IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY FROM THEM.
SO, UM, HERE'S THE ODELL ROSHAMBO MUSEUM IN HARTSDALE THAT WE'RE WORKING TO OPEN THE ODELL TAVERN.
IT'S AN, IT WAS ON MONTROSE POINT, THAT IS WHERE STATES DYKEMAN BUILT IT.
IT GOT MOVED THE 20TH CENTURY UP TO ITS CURRENT LOCATION.
UM, DOWN HERE WE HAVE THE DYKEMAN FARMHOUSE MUSEUM.
KOBIS DYKEMAN IS GONNA MOVE THERE AT THE END OF THE WAR.
AND THEN THE BENJAMIN DYKEMAN HOUSE, WHICH IS, UM, ALMOST ACROSS FROM WHERE THE VA IS IN MONTROSE TODAY.
IT'S PER PERPETUALLY FOR SALE.
SUPPOSED TO BE HAUNTED BY UM, BENJAMIN MANN'S DAUGHTER JANE, WHO NEVER MARRIED AND FENDED OFF THE RAILROAD THERE.
SHE REFUSED TO SELL OR REALLY FOUGHT THE RAILROAD.
AND I, I WORRY ALL THE TIME THAT WE'RE GONNA LOSE THAT HOUSE, BUT WE HAVE FIVE OF THEM.
SO HERE IS A PARTIAL FAMILY TREE.
UM, AND I'M GONNA FOCUS ON SORT OF INVOLVEMENT
[00:30:01]
IN THE WAR HERE.AND WE HAD INTERMARRIAGE BETWEEN ODELLS AND DIKEMAN AT ALL GENERATIONS.
BUT IN PARTICULAR WE HAVE THREE GENERATIONS OF ODELLS.
ABRAHAM ODELL, BROTHER OF JONATHAN.
JONATHAN IS JONATHAN ODELL OF THE ODELL TAVERN AND HIS BROTHER ISAAC.
ISAAC ODELL IS OVER, UM, IN UH, ELMSFORD AREA.
AND WE HAVE FOUR DYKEMAN SIBS AT THAT GENERATION.
JACOB DYKEMAN, WILLIAM, REBECCA, AND MARGARET.
AND MARGARET AND REBECCA ARE GONNA MARRY ODELLS.
AND THEN WHEN I GET INTO THE NEXT GENERATION, WE'RE GONNA HAVE SOME OF THEIR KIDS THAT ARE COUSINS MARRY EACH OTHER.
AND SO YOU'VE JUST GOT THIS KIND OF GENERATIONS OF ODELLS BECOMING DYKEMAN AND THEY ARE JUST ALL VERY INVOLVED IN THE WAR EXCEPT FOR TWO WHO ARE LOYALISTS.
AND THOSE TWO ARE REALLY INTERESTING AS WELL.
SO MARGARET AND JONATHAN, UM, ARE THE PARENTS OF, THIS IS JUST A SUBSET OF THEIR KIDS AND THE ONES THAT HAVE A CONNECTION TO UM, SOME OF THE PEOPLE I'M TALKING ABOUT.
AND JOHN ODELL OF THE ODELL HOUSE.
RO SHAMBO HEADQUARTERS MUSEUM IS THEIR SON AND THEY ARE THE PROPRIETORS AT THE START OF THE WAR OF THE ODELL TAVERN.
THE MAPS ARE JUST SO BEAUTIFUL FROM THIS TIME.
THESE ARE BRITISH MAPS AND THEY'RE SHOWING THE LINE AFTER THE BATTLE OF WHITE PLAINS, GENERAL VAUGHN.
AND THE HESSIANS CAME OVER HERE AND THIS IS JUST ABOVE DOBBS FERRY AND IT'S HARD TO SEE 'CAUSE IT'S A LITTLE BLURRED 'CAUSE I BLEW IT UP.
BUT THE ODELL TAVERN AREA IS SHOWING, IT WAS OCCUPIED AS WE KNOW BY THE BRITISH.
AFTER THEY'RE GONNA RETREAT FROM WHITE PLAINS DOWN, WE'RE GONNA, UM, BACK INTO NEW YORK CITY.
SO THE BRITISH DO TAKE OVER THE ODELL TAVERN AT THAT POINT IN TIME AND THEY'RE GOING TO ARREST JONATHAN ODELL AS WELL AS JOHN AND ABRAHAM'S STORM, WHO ARE JUST TO THE NORTH OF US FROM LAKE MERCY UNIVERSITY, JUST NORTH OF THERE WHERE THEIR FARMS WERE.
AND THEY'RE GONNA TAKE THEM TO THE SUGAR HOUSE.
WHEN THEY TAKE OVER THE ODELL TAVERN, THEY SLAUGHTER ALL THE HOGS, THEY'RE FEEDING THEIR SOLDIERS WITH THAT.
AND UM, THEY'RE ALSO THOUGH GONNA CUT DOWN THE ORCHARD.
SO THEY'RE NOT JUST FEEDING THEIR SOLDIERS, THEY'RE GONNA BE VINDICTIVE ABOUT IT AS WELL.
AND MARGARET ODELL IS BRIEFLY GONNA HEAD HERSELF AS A REFUGEE.
SO I WANNA TELL YOU ONE STORY ABOUT JOHN ODELL.
UM, JOHN, AS I'LL MENTION IN A MINUTE, WAS ONE OF THE GUIDES OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY, THE, UM, GETTING FEEDBACK, THE MOUNTED MILITIA.
AND SO, UH, SO WE THINK OF THE WAR PRETTY MUCH SLOWING DOWN AFTER YORKTOWN, RIGHT? BUT HERE IN WESTCHESTER, RIGHT THROUGH 7 83, 17 83, VERY, VERY BLOODY, LOTS OF MILITIA UPON MILITIA.
THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE WITH THE BATTLE OF EDGAR'S LANE CONTINENTAL ARE INVOLVED THERE CERTAINLY THE BATTLE OF WHITE PLAINS, BUT THROUGHOUT THE WAR IT'S THE LOYALIST MILITIA FACING OFF AGAINST THE PATRIOT MILITIA.
AND IN MOST PLACES, WASHINGTON TOLD PEOPLE TO TONE IT DOWN AFTER 1781, BUT NOT HERE BECAUSE HE WANTED THE BRITISH NOT TO GET AN IDEA THAT THEY COULD AGAIN, TRY TO ADVANCE OUT OF NEW YORK CITY.
SO THIS IS REALLY ACTIVE WARFARE THROUGH 1783.
AND IN JANUARY OF 1783, JOHN ODELL, CAPTAIN DANIEL WILLIAMS, RICHARD DUSENBERRY DUSENBERRY HOUSE IS JUST, UM, IN DOBBS AREA.
UM, JOHN PAULDING, ONE OF THE CAPTORS OF JOHN ANDRE, THEY HAVE GONE DOWN TO MORRISANIA TO DO A RAID AND THEY'RE TRYING TO GET THE HEAD OF THE LOYALIST MILITIA.
JAMES DELANCEY DELANCEY WAS THE HIGH SHERIFF OF WESTCHESTER BEFORE WE ALL DIVIDED UP INTO THESE TWO GROUPS.
AND HISTORICALLY A FRIEND OF THE ODELLS, HE ACTUALLY WHISPERED SOMETHING IN JOHN ODELLS EAR DURING THE, UM, DURING THE WAR THAT MAY HAVE SAVED JOHN ODELLS LIFE.
SO IT'S KIND OF FUNNY, ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE FRIENDS, THEY KNOW EACH OTHER, BUT THEY'RE ALSO ENEMIES AND THEY'RE SHOOTING AT EACH OTHER.
SO THEY DID THIS RAID, THEY'RE TRYING TO GET JAMES DELANY.
UM, THERE'S A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT STORIES.
ONE IS THAT JAMES DELANCEY WAS HIDING IN A PIG PEN.
UM, I HAVE A FEELING THAT ONE WAS MADE UP BY SOME OF THE PATRIOTS.
'CAUSE I THINK MOST OF THE STORIES SAY HE JUST WASN'T THERE AT THE TIME.
BUT THEY OBTAINED A LOT OF DRY GOODS.
1783, THE CONTINENTAL CURRENCY HAS ACTUALLY BEEN RETIRED.
UM, WE ARE NOT BACKING IT WITH GOLD OR SILVER.
WE'VE BEEN SO SEVERELY COUNTERFEITED AS AN ECONOMIC WARFARE STRATEGY BY THE BRITISH THAT PAPER MONEY ISN'T WORTH VERY MUCH.
[00:35:01]
GETTING DRY GOODS, THEY'RE GETTING FOOD, THEY'RE GETTING CLOTH, ET CETERA.AND DELANEY'S MILITIA ARE CHASING THEM, OKAY? SO EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN'T GET DELANCEY, THEY GOT THIS, THEY'RE BEING CHASED, THEY'RE COMING RIGHT UP.
ROUTE NINE, THEY GET TO DOBBS FERRY, THEY HAVE A FIGHT AT DOBBS FERRY.
THEY THINK THEY HAVE FENDED OFF DELANEY'S MILITIA AND THEY CONTINUE NORTH TO JUST NORTH OF OING.
SO HERE IS CROTON POINT, PARK TELLER'S POINT AT THE TIME.
AND UM, THERE'S A DISAGREEMENT NOW AMONG THIS GROUP OF AMERICANS.
JOHN O'DELL AND CAPTAIN DANIEL WILLIAMS WANT TO CROSS THE CROTON RIVER TO GET ON THE RELIABLY AMERICAN SIDE TO HAVE BETTER PROTECTION FROM THE CONTINENTAL ARMY.
AND A NUMBER OF THE MEN THAT ARE PART OF THIS GROUP, ACTUALLY THEY LIVE OVER BY UM, NORTH SALEM AREA AND THEY DON'T WANNA CROSS THE RIVER.
SO THEY WANNA STAY SOUTH OF THE RIVER AND JUST HEAD HOME.
THAT GROUP KIND OF WINS OUT AND WHAT THEY DO, WHAT DO THEY DO WHEN THEY HAVE THESE DRY GOODS? WELL, THEY TAKE WHATEVER THE MILITARY CAN USE AND THEN THEY DO SOMETHING CALLED A DU, WHICH IS A SALE ON THE SPOT TO RAISE MONEY.
SO THEY DECIDE TO DO A DU AT, AT THE ORSER FARM, I THINK IT'S ALBERT ORSER, ALTHOUGH THE WAY IT'S DOCUMENTED, IT SAYS, UM, EL EL FRED ORSER, BUT I THINK IT'S HERE.
BUT THERE'S ANOTHER ORSER FARM THERE.
THEY'RE HAVING THE DU AND IN FACT THE LOYALIST MILITIA HAS FOLLOWED THEM, SURPRISES THEM.
THE LOYALIST MILITIA MOVES THEIR HORSE LIKE FIRES THEIR MUSKETS AND RIFLES, THE HORSES FLEE.
JOHN O'DELL JUMPS ON A HORSE THAT HE CAN STILL FIND THE HORSE ISN'T SHAWED.
HE RIDES OUT ONTO THE FROZEN HUDSON RIVER.
SO THE HUDSON WOULD FREEZE SOLID BACK THEN.
HE'S GOT TWO OF THE LOYALIST MILITIA HOT ON HIS TRAIL OUT THERE.
THIS IS WHAT HE'S TRYING TO DO IS TO GET OVER HERE.
AND UM, TOTTEN AND ONE OF HIS OTHER LOYALIST MILITIA RIGHT BEHIND HIM AND JOHN O'DELL IS DESCRIBED AS BEING VERY TALL AND LONG LIMBED.
AND HE HAS THIS KIND OF SIGNATURE MOVE WHERE HE HAS A SWORD IN EACH HAND.
AND HE LEANS BACK ON HIS HORSE AND HE SWIPES AT THESE TWO MILITIA THAT ARE FOLLOWING HIM AND HE CUTS ONE OF THEM ON THE HEAD AND HE GETS AWAY.
UM, JOHN PAULDING, THE CAPTOR IS CAPTURED.
RICHARD DUSENBERRY IS CAPTURED.
THEY'RE GONNA BE TAKEN TO NEW YORK CITY EVEN IN JANUARY OF 1783 AND PUT IN THE SUGAR HOUSE PRISON.
UM, THE BROTHER OF JOHN'S FUTURE FIRST WIFE IS KILLED THERE, ONE OF THE MCSHANE'S.
SO THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT WHERE WE LIVE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WAR.
THIS IS, UM, A CONTEMPORARY, UH, IMAGE OF JOHN PAULDING.
SO HE WOULD'VE BEEN SORT OF IN HIS TWENTIES THEN HE WAS PART OF THIS GROUP.
AND YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SO FEW IMAGES OF ANYONE TO LOOK AT THAT I JUST, OKAY, SO HERE YOU GO.
THAT'S WHAT ONE PERSON LOOKED LIKE AT THE TIME.
UM, OKAY, SO I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE DYKEMAN.
UM, ESPECIALLY KOBIS OR JACOBIS, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SAY HIS NAME AT THE TIME.
SO THEIR COUSINS OF JOHN ODELL AND AT THE ODELL HOUSE CEBO HEADQUARTERS MUSEUM, UM, WE GOT SORT OF, UM, MATERIAL THAT CAME THROUGH THE FAMILY.
IT'S, WE'RE TRYING TO RESEARCH THE PROVENANCE BEFORE WE SAY SOMETHING IS REALLY ODELL BECAUSE IT COULD HAVE BEEN PURCHASED ALONG THE WAY.
THE DOCUMENTATION ISN'T GREAT IN A LOT OF CASES, BUT WE DO HAVE THIS PETER PLATE, JCD 1770, ALMOST CERTAINLY FROM KOBIS OR JACOBUS.
CORBUS WAS HIS NICKNAME, DYKEMAN.
SO, UM, IT'S KIND OF FUN TO, TO TOUCH SOMETHING AND THEY WERE GOING TO BE THE GREAT GUIDES, THE MOUNTED GUIDES.
AND I WILL TELL YOU THE LOYALIST MILITIA HAD THEIR OWN SET OF GUIDES AS WELL.
SO WHY DO WE NEED GUIDES? BECAUSE THE CONTINENTAL ARMY HERE, THEY'RE COMING FROM CONNECTICUT, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, THEY DON'T KNOW THE LAY OF THE LAND.
AND IN THIS PARTICULAR MAP YOU CAN REALLY SEE, AND WE KNOW THIS REALLY WELL, LIKE HERE'S THE ALBANY POST ROAD, RIGHT? AND THERE'S ANOTHER ROAD TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SAWMILL.
VERY FEW ROADS THAT GO EAST WEST.
MOST OF OUR ROADS ARE NORTH SOUTH AT THE TIME.
YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED THE GUIDES.
SO THE GREAT GUIDES ARE GOING TO DEFINITELY, UM, THEY'RE GONNA DO GUIDE THE TROOPS, BUT THEY ALSO ARE GONNA FORAGE A LOT.
THEY KNOW MAYBE WHO HAS GOTTEN A HARVEST IN WHERE THEY CAN GET SOME LIVESTOCK.
UM, AND THEY'RE ALSO GOING TO MANAGE RATES LIKE THE ONE
[00:40:01]
I TOLD YOU ABOUT WITH JOHN ODELL.SO IN THE ODELL DYKEMAN FAMILY, THEY HAD NINE GUIDES OR AN IN-LAW THAT'S A GUIDE OUT OF LIKE, IT DEPENDS UPON HOW YOU COUNT IT, BUT LIKE MAYBE 20.
AND BY THE WAY, THEY HAD 19 PEOPLE WHO WERE EITHER MARRIED TO AN ACTIVE SOLDIER OR AN ACTIVE SOLDIER THEMSELVES.
SO THESE FAMILIES HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE WAR.
AND I'LL MENTION, I'LL COME BACK TO THE PATRIOTS TOO, BUT I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT BRAM DYKEMAN, ABRAHAM DYKEMAN.
UM, THIS IS, UH, ON THE LEFT I FOUND THIS NEWSPAPER FROM MARCH 7TH SHOULD BE 1782.
UM, YEAH, SO THE HARTFORD OR THE CONNECTICUT KORAN IS WRITING ABOUT ON THE NIGHT OF THE 26TH LAST FEBRUARY, MR. ABRAHAM DYKEMAN, ONE OF THE GUIDES IN THE LINES WITH 13 VOLUNTEER HORSE MADE A DESCENT ON THE CONT CONTAINMENT OF DELANEY'S CORES AT MORRISA.
SO THEY'RE TRYING AGAIN TO GET DELANY HERE AND IT MAKES THE NEWS, IT MAKES THE NEWS.
SO THESE ARE JUST LOCAL FARM BOYS HERE, BUT THEY'RE KNOWN AT THIS TIME AS WELL.
I HAVE TO TELL YOU, I WAS KINDA SURPRISED TO FIND THIS ARTICLE TO SEE HOW WIDELY KNOWN THAT THEY WERE.
HE WAS LIKE A PERSONALITY LARGER THAN LIFE.
AND SUPPOSEDLY HE WAS LIKE A SHOWMAN.
AT ONE POINT THERE WAS THIS SKIRMISH BETWEEN THE TWO MILITIAS AND HE NOTICED THAT ONE OF THE, UM, AMERICANS HAD LOST HIS HAT.
AND HE SAYS, WHERE'S YOUR HAT? AND THE GUY POINTS TO A TREE THAT HAS THE HAT HANGING FROM A TREE, BUT IT'S OVER IN THE AREA WHERE THE LOYALIST MILITIA IS.
AND BRAM SAYS, YOU SHALL HAVE YOUR HAT.
AND HE HOPS ON HIS HORSE AND HE RIDES HIS HORSE OUT THERE.
AND THE LOYALISTS ARE LIKE, WHAT? WHAT'S HE COMING? AND HE GETS THE HAT AND HE MAKES IT BACK.
BUT HE WAS A RISK TAKER, RIGHT? JUST LIKE BENEDICT ARNOLD.
BENEDICT ARNOLD WAS A RISK TAKER AND IT WORKED AS LONG AS IT WORKED, RIGHT?
SO, AND ONE TIME FOR POOR BRAHM, 28 YEARS OLD ONCE AGAIN, THEY'RE DOWN IN MORRISANIA.
AND THIS UH, NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WAS ABOUT A MONTH BEFORE.
NOW THIS IS GONNA HAPPEN, UH, I THINK IT'S LIKE THE FIRST WEEK IN MARCH, 1782 WITH HIS TWO BROTHERS, KOBIS AND MICHAEL AND OTHERS.
THEY'VE GONE DOWN TO MORRISANIA ONCE AGAIN.
THEY'RE RAIDING, THEY'RE COMING BACK THIS TIME THEY'RE IN MOUNT VERNON.
AND UM, THE HORSES FOR BOTH GROUPS WERE SO TIRED THAT THEY ENDED UP BOTH STOPPING.
THERE IS A BRAHM DYKEMAN PARK IN MOUNT VERNON WHERE IT'S VERY CLOSE TO WHERE THIS HAPPENED.
AND THERE'S DIFFERENT STORIES ABOUT THIS, BUT MOST OF THE STORIES SAY THAT WHAT BROM DID IS HE DECIDED TO GET ON HIS HORSE AND CHALLENGE THE LOYALIST TO A MAN ON MAN SWORD FIGHT.
YOU KNOW, LIKE, UM, WHAT WAS THAT INDIANA JONES MOVIE? REMEMBER WHERE THE GUYS GOT ALL THE SWORDS? AND THEN INDY JUST PULLS OUT AND HE SHOOTS THE GUY, RIGHT? LIKE, SO THE, THESE WERE LIKE BIGGER THAN LIFE PERSONALITIES, BUT THEY SHOT HIM AND HE TURNED AROUND AND HIS BROTHERS MICHAEL AND KOBIS WERE THERE AND HE LOOKED AT THEM AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW, I THINK I'VE REALLY GOT IT NOW.
AND THEY WROTE OUT, THEY CAUGHT HIM.
HE LIVED FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND HE DIED UP AT UM, PINES BRIDGE.
SO WE'RE THE RHODE ISLAND REGIMENT, CHRISTOPHER GREEN MAJOR FLAG.
AND IN THAT AREA ARE FIVE BLACK SOLDIERS FROM THE RHODE ISLAND REGIMENT BURIED.
WE DON'T EXACTLY KNOW IF THEY'RE IN THE SAME CHURCH YARD.
DYKEMAN IS BURIED THERE AS WELL.
AND SUPPOSEDLY, UM, GEORGE WASHINGTON ATTENDED HIS FUNERAL BECAUSE HE KNEW HIM SO WELL.
SO, UM, OKAY, I'M GONNA MOVE ON AND TALK ABOUT SAMPSON AND BENJAMIN DYKEMAN.
NOW THAT DOESN'T SOUND SUPER EXCITING WHEN I'VE BEEN TELLING YOU ALL THESE STORIES ABOUT HAND-TO-HAND CLASHES POST RIDERS WERE SO IMPORTANT IN THE WAR.
THEY WERE THE ONES BRINGING WASHINGTON'S COMMUNICATION TO MCDOUGALL, TO HEATH, TO WHOMEVER.
SO THEY HAD TO KNOW THE LAND, THEY HAD TO BE COMPLETELY RELIABLE.
AND THIS WAS, UM, DID ANYBODY COME TO THE EXHIBIT THAT I HAD AT THE POCAN CENTER? TREES IN THE BLACKEST EYE? NILES? UM, YEAH, NATALIE WAS THERE.
IT'S THE SAME ONE THAT'S IN IRVINGTON RIGHT NOW.
UM, NILES, I SHOULD HAVE PUT THE PICTURE OF US WRESTLING THE MANNEQUINS HERE TO GET THEM INTO THEIR ATTIRE.
BUT FOR ONE DAY WE HAD THE ORIGINAL BOOT PAPERS THAT BENEDICT ARNOLD GAVE TO JOHN ANDRE.
AND ONE OF THOSE BOOT PAPERS IS ONE THAT I DID A LOT OF RESEARCH ON.
AND IT'S JUST THIS, IT'S JUST SIMPLY LABELED ADDRESSES FOUND
[00:45:01]
ON MAJOR ANDRE 1780.AND I'M GONNA RELATE THIS TO S SAMSON DYKEMAN.
UM, THESE WERE THE PAPERS THAT ARNOLD GAVE TO ANDRE TO BE SURE THAT THE BRITISH HAD THE GUIDANCE THEY NEEDED TO SUCCESSFULLY ATTACK AND TAKE WEST POINT.
AND THIS PARTICULAR PAPER HAD THIS NAME, WHICH IS ICUT AND THIS NAME ELIJAH HUNTER.
AND, BUT WHEN BENEDICT JOURNAL TOOK OVER WEST POINT, WHICH WAS JUST AUGUST 3RD, 1780, HE WAS ONLY THERE SEVEN WEEKS.
HE DID A LOT OF DAMAGE IN SEVEN WEEKS, DIDN'T HE?
WE ALWAYS THINK ABOUT THE CULPER SPYING BECAUSE THEY'VE BECOME PRETTY WELL KNOWN.
I SPEND A LOT OF MY HEAD SPACE LOOKING AT SPIES.
AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU, I DON'T, I THINK EVERYONE WAS A SPY
I WOULDN'T, I JUST REALLY TRULY BELIEVE THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF THEM, INCLUDING WOMEN LIKE ANNE BATES WHO OPERATED HERE IN WESTCHESTER AS WELL.
SO, BUT AT THIS POINT, BENEDICT ARNOLD WAS GIVING THESE TWO NAMES TO THE BRITISH SAYING THEY'RE DOUBLE AGENTS, YOU THINK THEY'RE WORKING FOR YOU, BUT THEY'RE REALLY PASSING INFORMATION BACK TO THE AMERICANS.
THIS WAS CRITICAL BECAUSE THEY WERE NETWORKED TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL.
ELIJAH HUNTER, I HAVE LETTERS WHERE HE WAS CORRESPONDING HIMSELF WITH ANDRE.
JOHN ANDRE WAS THE CHIEF INTELLIGENCE OFFICER FOR BRITISH COMMANDING GENERAL SIR HENRY CLINTON.
SO THEY WERE ENTIRELY TRUSTED BY THE BRITISH AND ANDRE MUST HAVE BEEN GOBSMACKED WHEN HE SAW THIS NAME OF THIS GUY THAT HE WORKED WITH ALL THE TIME ON THAT PAPER.
SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH SAMSON DYKEMAN? HOW DID ARNOLD FIND OUT THOSE NAMES? SAMSON DYKEMAN, THE POST WRITER WAS THE ONE THAT WAS CARRYING COMMUNICATION TO THESE INDIVIDUALS.
AND WHEN BENEDICT ARNOLD AS SAMSON DYKEMAN WHO ARE THE SPIES, DYKEMAN TOLD HIM BECAUSE DYKEMAN JUST ASSUMED THAT ARNOLD WAS HIS GENERAL AND IT WAS OKAY TO TELL HIM.
AND WHEN THESE PAPERS, SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE UM, THE TRIBUNAL THAT OCCURRED OVER IN JAPAN WHERE JOHN ANDRE WAS FOUND GUILTY, ALL OF THESE PAPERS ARE PUT INTO EVIDENCE THAT ANDRE HAD, YOU KNOW, LIKE SHOWING WHERE MEN WERE STATIONED ALONG THE HUDSON, SHOWING WHERE, UM, WEST POINT HAD BEEN WEAKENED, WHICH READOUTS HAD NO BACK DOOR.
ALL OF THESE ARE PUT INTO EVIDENCE, BUT NOT THIS PAPER.
IT'S NOT MENTIONED AT ALL IN ANY OF THE TRIALS.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE THE AMERICANS WERE TRYING TO DO WHAT THEY COULD TO PROTECT THE IDENTITY OF THESE TWO.
BUT THEY REALIZED EVEN THOUGH THE PAPER DIDN'T GET THROUGH 'CAUSE ANDRE WAS CAPTURED, ARNOLD DID.
AND WE DO KNOW THAT ARNOLD GAVE THE NAMES TO THE BRITISH ALONG WITH THE NAMES OF COUNTLESS OTHER SPIES WHOSE NAMES I DON'T KNOW.
AND I WOULD REALLY, REALLY LIKE TO FIND OUT THEY WERE ROUNDED UP AND EXECUTED WHEN ARNOLD GOT INTO THE CITY AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
SO SAMSON DYKEMAN, AS SOON AS HE REALIZED THAT THOSE NAMES ARE ON THIS PAPER, HE WROTE TO GOVERNOR GEORGE CLINTON AND SAID, I'M GONNA GO BELOW.
I HAVE TO EXTRICATE THESE GUYS.
'CAUSE HE DID NOT WANT, HE KNEW WHAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN TO THEM.
AND CLINTON HAS A LETTER THAT HE SENT BACK FORBIDDING HIM TO GO BELOW.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT NEITHER CONNECTICUT OR HUNTER WERE BELOW IN NEW YORK CITY.
THEY WERE ABLE TO BE WARNED THAT THEIR COVER HAD BEEN BLOWN.
BUT I THINK IT'S JUST REALLY INTERESTING THAT SAMSON DYKEMAN WAS WILLING TO RISK HIS OWN LIFE BECAUSE HE INADVERTENTLY GAVE THIS INFORMATION OUT.
HE WOULD'VE NEVER, EVER DONE IT OTHERWISE.
SO POST WRITERS, OH UM, THERE'S A LOYALIST THERE, SAMSON'S BROTHER WITH ALL OF THIS GOING ON.
STATE DYKEMAN, WHO IS GONNA BUILD BOSCO BELL, HE'S A LOYALIST.
HE'S WORKING AS A QUARTERMASTER IN NEW YORK CITY MAKING A LOT OF MONEY.
HE'S GONNA LOSE A LOT OF MONEY.
SO THE STORIES OF WHO MAKES A FORTUNE LOSES A FORTUNE DURING THE WAR IS INTERESTING AS WELL.
BUT THEY HAVE THAT CLOSE CONNECTION THERE WHERE THE FAMILY IS DIVIDED AS SO MANY FAMILIES WERE.
UM, THAT'S UM, BOSCO BELL AND HIS BROTHER BENJAMIN'S HOUSE HAS SHOWED YOU BEFORE.
THEN THERE IS ANOTHER DISTANT RELATIVE, BUT THEY KNEW OF EACH OTHER.
THE HONORABLE REVEREND JONATHAN O'DELL WHO IS LIVING IN NEW JERSEY AND HE IS ONE OF ARNOLD AND ANDRE'S GO-BETWEENS.
SO JONATHAN ODELL IS ENCODING AND DE ENCODING THE LETTERS FOR ANDRE, JUST LIKE A GENTLEMAN BY THE NAME OF JOSEPH STANSBURY WAS DOING THIS FOR ARNOLD
[00:50:01]
BECK IN PHILADELPHIA.SO I, I SAY THIS BECAUSE THESE FAMILIES ARE DIVIDED.
SO, UM, WHAT I'M SHOWING YOU HERE IS LIKE YEARS OF RESEARCH, IT IS VERY, VERY HARD TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT TENANT FARMERS, RIGHT? BECAUSE SOME OF THEM WEREN'T LITERATE.
UM, PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY KEEP DIARIES.
WE GET LUCKY EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE.
AND JUST TO SHOW YOU KIND OF HOW THINGS KIND OF CAN CHANGE AROUND SECONDARY SOURCES, I'M SORT OF ALLERGIC TO SECONDARY SOURCES 'CAUSE I'VE GOTTEN UM, STEERED WRONG SO MANY TIMES.
BUT THIS IS ONE, UM, THAT TALKED ABOUT ABRAHAM OELL, ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE AND USEFUL OF THE GUIDES EMPLOYED HIMSELF IN HIS BLACKSMITH SHOP OPPOSITE HIS FATHER'S HOUSE.
THIS WOULD'VE BEEN OPPOSITE THE ODELL TAVERN ON BROADWAY AND HE WAS GATHERING INFORMATION.
WELL THAT'S PRETTY INTERESTING, RIGHT? LIKE, OKAY SO HE'S IN THE INTELLIGENCE NETWORK, HE'S A BLACKSMITH, HE'S WORKING THERE.
THEN I'M READING THE MCDONALD PAPERS.
JOHN ROAMER, WHO IS ONE OF THE EXTENDED GROUP OF CAPTORS OF ANDRE, HE WRITES ABRAHAM ODE WAS UM, OFTEN CALLED ARMAND ARMAND BY HIS FRIEND BECAUSE HE RESEMBLED THE FRENCH LEGIONNAIRE COMMANDER.
I'M LIKE, OH WOW, LOOK AT THIS.
I KNOW WHAT ABRAHAM ODELL LOOKED LIKE.
YOU KNOW, HE LOOKS SOMETHING LIKE THIS GUY.
BUT THEN IN ANOTHER MCDONALD PAPER BY JAMES MANDEVILLE, I FIND HIM SAYING ISAAC ODELL, WHO WAS NICKNAMED ARMAN.
SO IS THIS ABRAHAM OR IS THIS ISAAC? I MEAN I KNOW IT'S SOMEBODY THAT'S ONE ODELL.
BUT WHEN I WAS RESEARCHING THE ARCHIVES AT BOSCO BELL, I FOUND THIS RECEIPT FROM ISAAC ODELL TO JOSEPH GRAHAM.
BUT THIS IS CLEARLY BLACKSMITH ACTIVITY.
SO I KNOW THAT ISAAC ODELL, AT LEAST I KNOW THAT ISAAC ELL WAS THE BLACKSMITH ABRAHAM O'DELL BY THE WAY.
I WAS KIND OF SURPRISED HE WAS A BLACKSMITH.
'CAUSE WHENEVER YOU LOOK AT ANYTHING THAT GIVES HIS OCCUPATION IT'S FARMER.
BUT HE BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY AND HE'S THE GREENBERG TOWN SUPERVISOR FOR SEVERAL ITERATIONS AS WELL.
SO ABRAHAM KIND OF GOES INTO POLITICS AND UM, SO I KNOW ISAAC WAS THE BLACKSMITH AND I KNOW ONE OF THEM LOOKED LIKE THAT
SO, UM, OKAY, SO GETTING TO FINISH THIS BRIDGING TO HASTINGS.
SO ANOTHER ODELL COUSIN ALSO NAMED ISAAC.
SO THEY NICKNAMED HIM UCK TO DISTINGUISH HIM FROM ISAAC ODELL THAT I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT.
WHO WAS MARGARET? UM, MARGARET AND JONATHAN'S ODELL TAVERN SON.
WHEN WE READ THE MCDONALD PAPERS, IT SAYS HERE THAT WHEN THE INFANTRY ATTACK UPON DONNA AND MERTZ AND EDGAR'S LANE HAPPENED, THE PRINCIPAL GUIDE WAS ISAAC ODELL, A COUSIN OF COLONEL JOHN ODELL UCK.
SO WE KNOW WHICH ODELL IT WAS.
SO THERE WAS AN ODELL WORKING WITH SHELDON AS PART OF THIS ATTACK AT THE BATTLE OF EDGAR'S LANE.
SO, UM, LOTS OF MAPS TELL ME DIFFERENT THINGS ABOUT WHERE THE POST HOUSE WAS.
SO I KNOW KEITH HAS DONE A TON OF WORK.
HE'S WRITTEN THIS REALLY WONDERFUL BOOK ON THE POST BAKER HOUSE.
I PULLED UP SOME MAPS HERE THAT SHOW THIS IS GONNA ACTUALLY SHOW, OKAY, I'M ALWAYS LOSING MY ABRAHAM POST ON THE EAST SIDE PETER POSTS, THIS IS THE 1880 COUSIN'S MAP WHERE HE, UM, ANNOTATED A 1785 HILL MAP.
PETER POST ON THE EAST SIDE, HERE'S THE 1789 KOHLS MAP POST ON THE EAST SIDE, RIGHT? BUT THEN I HAVE A BUNCH OF MAPS THAT SHOW IT ON THE WEST SIDE.
SO HERE IS, THIS IS AN 1810 MAP.
YOU SEE PETER POST HERE, THIS IS A 1797 GREENBERG MAP.
PETER POST HERE, UM, THIS MAP, WHAT IS THIS ONE? OH, IT'S A BRITISH MAP FROM 1777.
INTERESTING THAT PETER POST WAS ON A LOT OF BRITISH MAPS AS A, A LANDMARK.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT'S ON THE WEST SIDE.
AND THEN HERE'S THE ACTUAL HILL MAP THAT COUSINS ANNOTATED.
AND THE HILL MAP SHOWS PETER POST ON THE WEST SIDE AS WELL.
HILL MAP SHOWS TWO BUILDINGS THOUGH, RIGHT? IT SHOWS ONE ON THE EAST SIDE AS WELL.
I THINK EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM HAS A THOUGHT AS TO WHICH SIDE IT IS.
AND ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS I CAN'T TELL, I CAN'T TELL BECAUSE THEY SEE THESE MAPS THAT GO IN BOTH DIRECTIONS.
SO WAS THIS THE TAVERN OR WAS THE POST BAKER HOUSE THE TAVERN? I KNOW PEOPLE HAVE THEIR THOUGHTS IN THE ROOM, BUT I'M JUST SHOWING YOU THIS.
SO THE MCDONALD PAPERS, HANNAH DEVOE, WHOSE FAMILY WERE HEAVILY LOYALIST,
[00:55:01]
UM, SAID PETER POST, WHO LIVED, UH, ON THE NORTH RIVER AND KEPT A TAVERN, WAS A TORY.AND YEAH, PETER POST WAS ALLOWED TO BUY HIS PROPERTY AND YOU HAD TO HAVE A TEST AFTER THE WAR THAT HAD PEOPLE FOR YOU NOT HAVING BEEN A LOYALIST IN ORDER TO BUY THE FARM, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE THESE CONFLICTING STATEMENTS HERE.
SO I'VE BEEN DOING A DEEP DIVE READING THE DIARIES, UM, AND MEMOIRS AND PAPERS OF A LOT OF THE HESSIANS AND THE GERMANS, AND ALSO EMRICH, WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS EDGAR'S LANE AS WELL.
AND CERTAINLY YOU ALL, MANY PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM ALREADY KNOW THIS WITH YOU ALL.
WE HAVE GOOD DOCUMENTATION, UM, FROM CAPTAIN UL WHO WAS HESSIAN AT THE TIME, WROTE EXTENSIVE MEMOIR THAT DEFINITELY DESCRIBES THE, UM, THE BATTLE ITSELF.
BUT WHAT'S REALLY INTERESTING TO ME, IF YOU READ EVERYTHING HE WROTE, YUL SAID ON THE 30TH, HE HIMSELF AT DAYBREAK MADE A PATROL WITH JAGERS AND HORSE TOWARD DOBBS FERRY IN ORDER TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT WHETHER AN ENEMY DETACHMENT HAD APPROACHED PAST TERRYTOWN.
HE WENT FURTHER AND SO HE COULD NOT COLLECT THE SLIGHTEST NEWS FROM THE COUNTRY PEOPLE.
SO TO ME THAT IMPLIES EITHER WAY, UM, HE COULDN'T COLLECT NEWS FROM ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY.
THEN HE COMES BACK AND IT'S DONNA WHO'S GONNA COME BACK UP LATER WITH HIS HESSIANS, AND THAT'S GOING TO BE THE BATTLE OF EDGAR'S LANE.
UM, SIMCO WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THIS AS WELL, HE TALKS ABOUT THIS SAME, UM, BATTLE IN HIS LETTERS IN MEMOIR, EXCEPT WHAT SIMCO SAID IS GENERAL GRANT WISHING TO RETALIATE UPON THE ENEMY.
AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO SURPRISE OPPOSED AT HAMMOND'S HOUSE.
AND THIS A ATTACK AT HAMMOND'S HOUSE AFTER THE BATTLE OF HERS LANE IS WELL DOCUMENTED.
SO SIMCOE'S SAYING THE RETALIATION OR A RETALIATION WAS AN ATTACK AT THE HAMMONDS HOUSE OVER BY THE, UM, LEMME JUST GET TO THE END PART OF THIS, YOU KNOW, OVER BY THE MEDICAL CENTER.
SO EMERIC, WHO WAS, UM, CITED TO BE THERE AND, AND MANY PEOPLE SAY EMERIC, WHAT MANY PEOPLE, BOLTON AND SCHARF, THAT'S WHERE WE GET THESE STORIES.
SECONDARY SOURCES FROM THE 19TH CENTURY ARE THE PLACES WHERE I CAN FIND THAT SUPPOSEDLY PETER POST WAS BEATEN UP AFTERWARDS IN RETALIATION FOR NOT TELLING THE HESSIANS ABOUT THE AMERICANS BEING THERE.
SO WHAT EMERIC SAYS, WHO IS REPORTED TO BE IN ONE OF THOSE SOURCES, THE PERSON WHO DID THE BEATING EMERIC SAYS IF A PARTISAN SHOULD AT ANY TIME DISCOVER AN ENEMY SPY AMONG HIS CORE, HE MAY VERY PROBABLY CONVERT HIM BY PROPER MANAGEMENT TO HIS OWN USE AND ADVANTAGE.
NOR UNTIL HE HAS TRIED EVERY MEANS OF MAKING HIM SERVICEABLE, SHOULD HE IN POLICY PUNISH HIM, BUT INSTEAD PUT A CAREFUL WATCH OVER HIM.
DOESN'T MEAN THAT EMERIC DID NOT BEAT UP PETER POST, IT JUST MEANS THAT EMERIC STATED PHILOSOPHY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN TO HAVE DONE THAT AT THE TIME.
SO, UM, THE MOST INTERESTING THING, I SHARED THIS WITH KEITH.
DID KEITH PRESENT THIS WHEN HE TALKED TO YOU ABOUT THE POST THIS EARLIER PART OF UL'S JOURNAL? I DON'T KNOW IF HE MOST INTERESTING THING TO ME.
SO WE KNOW SEPTEMBER 30TH, 1778 WAS THE BATTLE OF EDGAR'S LANE, JULY 23RD IN UL'S JOURNAL HE SAYS THAT HE HEADED NORTH AND SENT FOR THE STEWARD FROM THE PLANTATION OF MR. PHILLIPS, WHICH I KEPT ON MY RIGHT.
HE GAVE ME THE NEWS THAT A PATROL OF 50 HORSE AND 300 INFANTRY HAD BEEN THERE YESTERDAY.
SO UL'S GETTING INFORMATION FROM SOMEONE, UM, AT THIS POINT IN JULY.
AND THEN HE SAID, THE MAN APPEARED TO BE A LOYALIST.
I DID NOT PERMIT ANY YEAGER TO LEAVE THE RANKS SO THAT THE MAN REMAINED MY FRIEND.
AFTERWARD I MADE AN ARRANGEMENT WITH HIM TO LET THE WASH HANG OUTTA THE ATTIC OF THE HOUSE WHEN ENEMY PARTIES WERE IN THE VICINITY OF HIS HOUSE, WHICH COULD BE SEEN HALFWAY FROM OUR POST.
SO IT'S VERY INTERESTING TO ME THAT YOU ALL HAD AN ARRANGEMENT WITH SOMEONE TO GIVE HIM THAT INFORMATION.
WAS THAT PETER POST IT? IT COULD BE THE DISTANCES THAT YOU ALL TALKS ABOUT.
COULD BE THAT IT, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN PETER POST IF IT WAS PETER POST, BECAUSE I ALWAYS WONDER WHY DID YOU ALL OR EXPECT PETER POST TO TELL HIM ABOUT THE AM WELL, WHY WOULD HE HAVE STOPPED THERE EXPECTED PETER POST TO KNOW AND THEN BEAT HIM UP FOR NOT GIVING HIM THE CORRECT INFORMATION.
[01:00:02]
SO WHY, WHY MAYBE THIS WAS PETER POST AND THE FACT THAT PETER POST WAS ALLOWED TO PURCHASE THE FARM AT THE END OF THE WAR.SO THIS IS WHERE MY HEAD GOES, LIKE THIS IS JUST HYPOTHESIS.
BUT YOU KNOW, MY HEAD'S IN THE SPY WORLD A LOT AS I TOLD YOU, LIKE, WAS PETER POST INTENTIONALLY THERE TO DECEIVE, LIKE THERE TO DECEIVE THE, THE HESSIANS DOING IT.
AND THE AMERICANS KNEW THAT HE WAS TAKING GREAT RISKS TO DO THAT.
THERE WERE DOUBLE AGENTS, THERE WERE SPIES.
IS THIS WHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON WITH PETER POST? I DON'T KNOW, BUT THIS INFORMATION, IT'S COMING.
YOU KNOW, MORE AND MORE I'M FINDING IT.
I JUST DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT ALL MEANS.
SO I I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE VERY END OF THE WAR.
UM, THE FACT THAT GIVES ME GREAT HOPE TODAY.
THE WE CAN COME TOGETHER AS A PEOPLE AFTER EVERYTHING I TOLD YOU ABOUT IN THE DIVISION WITHIN WESTCHESTER COUNTY AT THE END OF THE WAR.
THIS IS A SUPER INTERESTING QUOTE FROM THE MCDONALD PAPERS.
AGAIN, DAVID MERRITT WAS BEING INTERVIEWED, I THINK 1845, AND HE'S TALKING ABOUT A LOYALIST CAPTAIN TOTTEN TOTTEN, BY THE WAY, IS ONE OF THE ONES THAT WAS CHASING JOHN O'DELL ON THE ICE.
AND HE SAYS, CAPTAIN TOTTEN, UM, I GOTTA BACK UP SO I CAN READ IT ON THE OTHER, UM, HAND HAD A PLEASING MANNER.
I REMEMBER WHEN HE RETURNED FROM NOVA SCOTIA, HE SEEMED TO HAVE AS MANY FRIENDS AS THOUGH HE HAD BEEN A WIG, A WIG, MEANING A PATRIOT ON OUR POLITICAL SIDE.
SO A LOT OF THE LOYALISTS THAT WENT TO CANADA HATED IT THERE AND CAME BACK.
AND SOMEHOW WE HAD TO FIND OUR WAY TO, UM, GET ALONG AND TO COME BACK TOGETHER AGAIN AS A COUNTY.
AND I'LL CLOSE WITH, UM, JAKOBI DYKEMAN, ONE OF OUR DYKEMAN.
AND, YOU KNOW, UM, LAFORGE LAFORGE, THERE'S THE NAME HAS CHANGED QUITE A BIT.
MANY OF YOU RECOGNIZE THOSE STREETS.
SO THE, UH, TWO BROTHERS, ADRIAN LAFORGE AND HENDRICK LAFORGE LISTED AS LAFORGE AT THE TIME HAD FARMS JUST SOUTH OF HASTINGS.
AND THEY WERE ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED IN FISHKILL EARLY IN THE WAR BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO SIGN THE OATH OF ASSOCIATION WITH THE REBELLION.
AND UP IN FISHKILL, THE COMMITTEE INTERVIEWED THEM AND SAID A AMOS HENRY LE HENDRICK AND ADRIAN APPEARING AND HAVING VOLUNTARILY TAKEN THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE AND NO PARTICULAR CHARGE AGAINST THEM, THEY WOULD BE DISCHARGED.
SO THEY WERE TAKEN FROM THEIR FAMILY, KEPT IN JAIL AND FISH KILLED FOR MONTHS, FINALLY TOOK THE OATH.
BUT UM, AT THE END OF THE WAR, OBVIOUSLY ADRIAN WAS NOT ALLOWED TO BUY HIS OWN PROPERTY.
AND SO, AND JACOBUS BOUGHT THE PROPERTY OF HENDRICK.
SO THESE TWO PROPERTIES, GEORGE FISHER, A SPECULATOR BOUGHT, UM, ADRIAN'S PROPERTY, KOBIS JACOBS BUYS THE BROTHER HENDRICKS PROPERTY.
BUT WHERE'S THE RECONCILIATION? I THINK THIS IS PRETTY AMAZING.
SO WHEN ADRIAN DIES HIS WILL, HE HAS JACOBS AS AN EXECUTOR AND WITNESS TO THE WILL.
AND I THINK THAT REALLY SHOWS THESE LOCAL PEOPLE HAD TO FIND A WAY TO COME BACK TOGETHER AT THE END OF THE WAR AND TO PUT DOWN THEIR WEAPONS, AND PICK UP THEIR PLOWS AND REALLY FIND A WAY TO LIVE TOGETHER AGAIN.
AND IF THEY COULD DO THAT, THAT GIVES ME VERY MUCH GREAT HOPE FOR US TODAY.
SO, UM, SO I WANNA THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO A LOT OF SPECIFIC RESEARCH, AND IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, UH, WE'RE GONNA OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS AND, OR COMMENTS OR COMMENTS.
UM, BUT I'M GONNA PASS THE MIC IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
WHERE WAS THE, THE ODELL TAVERN LOCATED HERE? OH, YOU WANNA, OKAY.
SO THE ODELL TAVERN IS STILL THERE.
I HAVE SO MANY MAPS AT THE END.
SO IF YOU, SO THE ODELL TAVERN IS HERE.
THIS IS, UM, WHERE MERCY UNIVERSITY IS TODAY.
AND IF YOU ARE HEADING NORTH ON ROUTE NINE
[01:05:01]
TO THE LEFT, THERE IS A, UM, I THINK IT'S A, LIKE A REHAB FACILITY, AND IT'S JUST BEHIND THERE.AND THEY, UM, THEY HAVE ALLOWED THE VILLAGE OF IRVINGTON TO NOW JUST, JUST NOW, JUST THIS SUMMER, PUT A PLAQUE OUTSIDE, SO I HAVE IT.
I SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT MY MAPS.
NILES WE'RE, OH, I FORGOT TO BRING THE MAPS OF THE, WE HAVE A MAP OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR PLACES.
OH, HEY SUSAN, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE HERE IN, UM, IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
IT'S ON THE MAP, SO WE CAN GET SOME TO THE HASTINGS LIBRARY HERE AND YOU CAN PICK THEM UP THERE, BUT IT'S STILL STANDING THERE.
ONE OF THOSE FIVE ODELL SLASH DYKEMAN BUILDINGS THAT STILL REMAIN INCREDIBLE THAT WE HAVE SO MANY OF THOSE.
UM, WHERE'S YOUR CROWBAR? OH, YEAH.
OH, WHILE YOU'RE GETTING THAT, UM, BACK TO THE PETER POST TAVERN, WHICH I HATE TO OPEN UP THAT, BUT YOU HAVE TO REALIZE, WE, WE, WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT WHERE WAS PETER POST TAVERN, BUT, UM, IN TERMS OF THE MAN WHO WAS PUTTING THE WASH OUT THE WINDOW, UM, WHERE WAS IT BEING VIEWED? LIKE, WHERE, WHERE WAS, UH, BECAUSE THE REASON I MENTION THAT IS THE, THE HOUSE THAT'S ON THE POSTCARD, THE PETER POST, UM, WHAT THEY CALLED POST TAVERN WAS THE CHRISTIE HOUSE, WHICH WAS AT FIVE CORNERS.
UM, AND THAT'S UP ON A, IT WAS UP ON A HILL WHERE 5 55 AND 5 65 BROADWAY ARE NOW WAS WHERE THE CHRISTIE HOUSE WAS.
AND THAT'S UP ON A RISE, WHICH MAKES ME THINK, IF IT WAS PETER POST, THAT WOULD BE A GREAT PLACE TO HANG, WASH, TO BE VISIBLE.
UM, AND IF THERE WERE TWO BUILDINGS THERE, IT STILL COULD HAVE BEEN LIKE ONE BUILDING THAT THEY HAD.
SO WHAT, WHAT UL SAYS IS, UM, COULD BE SEEN HALFWAY FROM OUR POST.
SO IF YOU TAKE WHERE PHILLIPS MANOR HALL IS TODAY, BUT GO NORTH BECAUSE THE, THE HESSIANS WERE SPREAD OUT IN THEIR CAMP.
AND, UM, A GERMAN MILE, WHICH IS WHAT HE'S QUOTING HERE, IS DIFFERENT IN DISTANCE THAN IN ENGLISH MILE.
BUT IF YOU DO ALL OF THE MATH, IT DOES SUGGEST THAT IT COULD BE THAT IT, THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN, HE'S TALKING ABOUT A LOCATION BEING HERE, BEING IN HASTINGS FOR THAT.
UM, IF YOU HAVE, UM, STUDIED THE CULPER SPY RING, OR IF YOU WATCH TURN, HOW MANY PEOPLE WATCH TURN HERE? OKAY.
LIKE A GREAT PIECE OF FICTION.
BUT STILL, YOU PROBABLY SAW THAT ANNA STRONG WOULD HANG, I THINK IT WAS ANNA STRONG, RIGHT? WOULD HANG THE LAUNDRY, DIFFERENT COLORS, LAUNDRY.
AND THIS WAS A THING, IT DEFINITELY WAS A THING THAT WAS DONE AT TIME.
YOU WERE TRYING TO FIND SUBTLE WAYS THAT YOU COULD SEND SIGNALS.
SO THE FACT THAT LAUNDRY WAS HUNG MAKES A LOT OF SENSE TO ME.
UM, AGAIN, IT'S JUST LIKE, WAS HE INTENTIONALLY DECEIVING THE BRITISH AND WAS THIS EVEN PETER POST? BUT WELL, IT WAS THAT HE GOT THE FARM, HE GOT THE FARM AND EVERYONE KNEW EVERYONE.
SO IF HE TRULY HAD BEEN A TORY, YOU CAN IMAGINE ANY ONE OF THESE PEOPLE THAT LOST A BROTHER OR SPENT ALL THIS TIME IN THE WAR WOULD HAVE PROTESTED THAT.
SO I'M JUST WONDERING IF THE STORY ABOUT PETER POST IS MORE, IS DEEPER EVEN THAN WHAT WE'VE THOUGHT, UM, IN TERMS OF IT COULD EXPLAIN THIS KIND OF, IS HE A TORY? IS HE NOT A TORY THING? COMPLETE HYPOTHESIS THOUGH.
I'M NOT SAYING I HAVE THESE FACTS.
THAT'S JUST AN INTERESTING WAY TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE PRIMARY SOURCES.
SO THIS AND, UM, SUSAN SEALE, WHO IS THE VISIONARY WHO SAVED THE ODELL HOUSE CEBO HEADQUARTERS.
SHE IS THE PRESIDENT OF OUR NONPROFIT.
UM, WE HAD, UH, A LOT OF KIND OF SCRAP MATERIAL THAT WAS OUTSIDE THE HOUSE.
AND WHEN SUSAN AND I WERE LOOKING AT A PILE OF SCRAP, I SAID, CAN I PLEASE TAKE THIS PIECE OF METAL? BECAUSE AS I SHOWED YOU, YOU CAN PASS IT AROUND.
ISAAC ODELL WOULD LIKELY HAVE BEEN THE BLACKSMITH THAT WOULD'VE, YOU CAN SEE LIKE THE POUNDING MARKS ON IT NOW THAT I KNOW ISAAC WAS THE BLACKSMITH, NOT ABRAHAM.
AND IT WOULD'VE MADE A LOT OF SENSE AND EXPLAIN, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY HORSESHOE WE HAVE HUNDREDS OF HORSESHOES AND WE HAVE ALL OF THIS STUFF THERE THAT WAS ACCUMULATED BY THE ODELL FAMILY.
SO I JUST THINK IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THAT WAS ISAAC.
SOMEBODY OVER HERE HAD A QUESTION TOO.
I'M BOUNCING OFF HIS QUESTION ABOUT THE O ODELL HOUSE.
AND YOU ALSO SHOWED MUSEUMS. ARE THEY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC? IS THE ODELL HOUSE OPEN? YEAH.
HOW ABOUT THE OTHER MUSEUMS? OKAY, SO IS THE ODELL HOUSE OPEN? NO, IT IS PRIVATELY OWNED.
[01:10:01]
YOU CAN VISIT BOSCO BELL, UM, STATES DYKEMAN, YOU SAW BOSCO BELL WRIGHT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE TENANT FARMHOUSE ESTATE.HE HAD TO HAVE THE BEST OF EVERYTHING.
AND HE BUILT THIS FABULOUS HOUSE ON MONTROSE POINT THAT WAS ALLOWED TO COME INTO DISREPAIR.
SO IN THE MID 20TH CENTURY, A NON-PROFIT, A GROUP OF CARING PEOPLE PURCHASE THAT HOUSE AND THEY MOVED IT.
IT'S IN NEAR GARRISON TODAY, BUT I REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO VISIT IT 'CAUSE IT'S SUPER INTERESTING TO KNOW THAT THAT'S ONE OF THE HOUSES.
UM, BENJAMIN DYKE'S HOUSE IS PRIVATE, THE ODELL TAVERN IS PRIVATE, AND UM, YES, YOU CAN VISIT THE DYKEMAN FARMHOUSE MUSEUM.
SO AT THE END OF THE WAR, JAKOBI BOUGHT, UM, HENDRICK, UH, LAFARGE'S FARM, BUT THEN HE WENT DOWN AND CREATE AND, UH, WAS THE OWNER OF THE DYKEMAN FARMHOUSE MUSEUM.
AND SUSAN, WHAT DO YOU WANNA SAY ABOUT WHEN WE'RE GONNA OPEN THE ODE HOUSE? WELL, THERE IS A NEWSLETTER COMING OUT TOMORROW, SO IF YOU ON ON OUR LIST, SIGN UP, GO TO OUR WEBSITE.
THE CONTRACTS ARE SIGNED FOR THE FINAL PHASE OF CONSTRUCTION.
IT WILL START WITHIN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, AND THEY ANTICIPATE COMPLETION IN JANUARY.
SO THAT MEANS WE CAN INSTALL ALL THE EXHIBITS AND OPEN IN APRIL.
BUT SHAR TELL THEM ABOUT THE TRUNK.
SO, UM, SUSAN KNOWS
UM, AND SHE HAS A LOT OF THIS STUFF ACTUALLY BEING KEPT IN HER BASEMENT CAREFULLY NOW TOO.
UM, THE, THE WAY THAT WE INHERITED THE CONTENTS OF THE HOUSE CAME FROM SOME INTERMEDIARIES, LET'S JUST SAY, AND THE H THE, THE DOCUMENTS ARE NOT CLEAR AS TO WHICH ARE ACTUALLY ODELL.
UM, ACTUALLY ODELL ITEMS ARE NOT, WE HAVE SOME THAT WE KNOW ARE CIRCA THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, SO THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE THAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY FROM THE ODELL FAMILY.
UM, BUT THERE WAS A TRUNK THAT HAD IN NAIL HEADS, I AND O UM, NAILED INTO THE TOP OF IT.
AND IT'S, UH, IT IS THE TRAVELING TRUNK THAT A GUIDE WOULD'VE HAD ON THE BACK OF A HORSE.
SO ONE OF THE, UM, DO WE DO IT WITH A GRANT THAT IT'S WAS RESTORED WITH THE GRANT? PARTIALLY WITH THE GRANT, SO, OKAY.
UM, YEAH, SO, UM, IT, UH, IT WAS STABILIZED.
IT HAD A, LIKE AN ANIMAL SKIN OUTER TO IT.
UM, THE HINGES WERE BROKEN, SO WE'VE STABILIZED IT AND IT'S GONNA BE PART OF THE EXHIBIT.
SO THE PLATE THAT I SHOWED YOU, THE JCD PLATE, 1770, YOU KNOW, VERY LIKELY KOBIS, CORBIS DYKEMAN, AND THE ISAAC ODELL TRUNK.
UH, WE HAVE A COUPLE OTHER ITEMS TOO THAT WE THINK WERE FROM THE ODELL FAMILY.
THERE'S CERTAINLY CIRCA REVOLUTIONARY WAR, SO THAT'S PRETTY EXCITING TOO.
SO, UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YES.
LET ME BRING THIS BACK TO YOU.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO GIVE US THIS LOCAL HISTORY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF IT, UH, WITHIN THIS COMMUNITY.
UM, I WAS SORT OF CURIOUS ABOUT ONE OF THE ANECDOTES THAT YOU WERE GIVING THERE IN TERMS OF THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE THAT WERE LEFT OUT TO LOW TIDE.
UH, FORTUNATELY THEY WERE ABLE TO ESCAPE, BUT I'M SURE THERE WERE PROBABLY MANY OTHER SITUATIONS WHERE MAYBE THE TIDE WAS HIGH AND THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO ESCAPE.
BUT COULD YOU ALSO ADDRESS THE FACT THAT, UM, THE D MENS AND THE ODELLS HAD ENSLAVED PEOPLE, I BELIEVE, ON THEIR FARMS, RIGHT? SO COULD YOU TALK ABOUT THEIR LIVES PRE, DURING AND POST REVOLUTIONARY WAR? YEAH.
SO THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.
UM, SO I'LL TELL YOU ONE STORY ABOUT JONATHAN ODELL.
UH, SO TAVERN OWNER, JONATHAN AND MARGARET, UM, THEY ENSLAVED PEOPLE, JOHN ODELL ENSLAVED PEOPLE.
WE HAVE A PARTICULAR ROOM AT THE ODELL HOUSE CEBO HEADQUARTERS MUSEUM THAT WE ARE DEVOTING TO TELLING THE STORY AS BEST AS WE CAN OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE ENSLAVED AT THE ODELL HOUSE, JOHN DEL'S HOUSE, BUT AT THE TAVERN.
SO, UM, JONATHAN ODELL, THAT TAVERN ACTUALLY WAS USED BY THE BRITISH AND THE AMERICANS DURING THE WAR.
UM, BUT BECAUSE HE HAD ALL THOSE SONS THAT WERE FIGHTING FOR THE AMERICAN SIDE, HE WAS A PARTICULAR TARGET WAS AT ONE POINT ARRESTED AND TAKEN IN.
WHERE, BY THE WAY, WHEN JOHN AND ABRAHAM'S STORM WERE TAKEN WITH HIM, THOSE TWO DIED.
[01:15:01]
JOHN STORM, I MIGHT HAVE IT REVERSED, ONE OF THE TWO STORMS WAS POISONED AT THE, UM, PRISON IN NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER ONE DIED ON HIS WAY HOME.JONATHAN MADE IT BACK, BUT WHILE JONATHAN WAS BEING TAKEN PRISONER, UM, AND MARGARET WAS FLEEING AND THERE WAS AN ENSLAVED MAN, AND THE STORY THAT COMES DOWN THROUGH THE FAMILY AS HIS NAME WAS CAESAR AND THE BRITISH, OKAY, SO I HAVE TO GIVE YOU A TRIGGER WARNING, UM, BECAUSE THIS IS, THIS IS TERRIBLE TREATMENT, AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE WAR, THE BRITISH WOULD DO SOMETHING AND THE AMERICANS WOULD DO THIS TOO, CALLED HALF HANGING, AND THEY WOULD STRING SOMEONE UP, THEY WOULD ASK THEM, YOU KNOW, FOR INFORMATION IN THIS CASE, WHERE WAS MONEY, UM, HIDDEN, AND UM, THEN TAKE THEM DOWN.
AND THEY STRUNG CAESAR UP THE WAY THE STORY GOES, THESE STORIES COME THROUGH THE FAMILY.
UH, I DON'T HAVE LIKE A PRIMARY SOURCE, BUT THE FAMILY WILL TALK ABOUT IT.
DID TALK ABOUT IT IN SOME LATER DOCUMENTS.
UM, THEY LEFT CAESAR HANGING WHEN HE REFUSED TO TELL THEM ANYTHING.
AND EITHER ANOTHER ENSLAVED, SOME WOMEN THAT WERE ENSLAVED OR JONATHAN AND MARGARET'S DAUGHTERS CAME OUT AND CUT CAESAR DOWN FROM THE TREE.
BUT THIS IS, THIS IS THE TREATMENT THAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE TIME.
AND WHEN YOU READ THROUGH THOSE LOYALIST CLAIMS THAT I SHOWED YOU THE ONE OF THE OBNOXIOUS, UM, HATFIELD CLAIM, YOU'LL SEE MANY OF THE LOYALISTS WILL SAY THAT THE PATRIOTS CAME AND TOOK SOMEONE WHO WAS ENSLAVED.
UM, THERE IS GONNA BE A PRESENTATION THAT I REALLY, UH, I WISH I HAD THE DATE IN MY HEAD, BUT IF YOU LOOK UP AT PHILLIPS MANOR HALL, IT'S GUY CARLTON WHO, UM, ACTUALLY THE BOOK OF NEGROES, IF YOU'VE HEARD THAT VERY CAREFULLY RECORDED THE BLACK FREE AND ENSLAVED BLACKS WHO WERE BRITISH LEAVING WITH THE BRITISH TO GET ON THOSE VESSELS ON EVACUATION DAY AND BEFORE EVACUATION DAY TO GO EITHER TO ENGLAND OR TO CANADA.
WE HAVE SO MANY NAMES FROM THAT BOOK, AND UNFORTUNATELY I'VE READ THROUGH THE WHOLE THING.
I DON'T FIND ANY WHO HAVE THE NAME OF DYKEMAN OR ODELL, BUT UM, THAT WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT.
SO GUY CARLTON AND THE BRITISH, UH, WERE MUCH CLOSER TO ELIMINATING SLAVERY.
THE AMERICANS IN GEORGE WASHINGTON, WERE TRYING TO HOLD ONTO IT AS WE WELL KNOW RIGHT FROM OUR CONSTITUTION.
SO THERE WILL BE A PRESENTATION AT PHILLIPS MANOR HALL, WHICH IS GUY VERSUS GEORGE THAT IS HIGHLIGHTING THE DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES TOWARD ENSLAVEMENT THAT THE BRITISH HAD AND THAT THE AMERICANS HAD.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE PHILIP MANOR HALL WEBSITE, IF SOMEONE'S GOT A PHONE, YOU CAN PROBABLY LOOK IT UP RIGHT HERE AND TELL US ALL IT'S COMING UP REAL SOON.
UH, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO DOWN ONTO YOUTUBE.
SO, UM, THOSE STORIES, A PARTICULAR PLACE WHERE I SPEND A LOT OF MY TIME IS TRYING TO, UM, FIND THE ENSLAVED PERSON WHO WAS WITH JOHN ANDRE AND JOSHUA HATT SMITH.
AS ANDRE WAS COMING THROUGH WESTCHESTER COUNTY, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS, UM, A MAN THAT JOSHUA HATT SMITH, WHO WAS ARNOLD'S CIVILIAN ACCOMPLICE.
IT WAS ANDRE'S GUIDE THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THEIR TRAVELS THROUGH WESTCHESTER COUNTY, UM, THERE WAS AN ENSLAVED MAN.
HE WAS THERE ON THE SHORE WHEN ANDRE CAME AND MET WITH ARNOLD.
HE WAS THERE WHEN THEY RETREATED TO SMITH'S HOUSE.
AND THEN THE CANNONADE PUSHED THE VULTURE, THE SHIP DOWNSTREAM.
SO ANDRE HAD TO COME OVER LAND AND HE WAS ON THE FIRST PART OF THE OVERLAND JOURNEY AS WELL.
HE WAS NEVER CALLED AT ANDRE'S TRIBUNAL, AND YET HE KNEW EVERYTHING.
AND IT JUST TELLS YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THE ATTITUDES RIGHT AT THE TIME.
UM, THE LAST THING I WOULD TELL YOU IS IF YOU GO TO THE RW TWO 50 WEBSITE AND SEEING NILES HERE, UM, WE HAVE BEEN TELLING THE STORY AND SUPPORTING THE TELLING OF THE STORY OF THE ROAD ISLAND REGIMEN, UM, HEAVILY.
AND THEY WERE AMONG THE MOST INTEGRATED REGIMENS.
THEY HAD A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THEM, FREE FORMERLY ENSLAVED BLACKS AND AMERICAN INDIANS, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, BUT EVERY SINGLE MILITIA AND REGIMEN HAD, UM, FREE AND ENSLAVED BLACKS AS PART OF THEM.
AND IT'S A STORY THAT NEEDS MORE TELLING AND MORE RESEARCH.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU ASKING.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ON YOUR OWN TO ADD TO THAT IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU'VE LOOKED AT? I COME, I KNOW THIS PAST FRIDAY WE HAD A CELEBRATION EVENT IN TERMS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE HERE.
[01:20:01]
TALK INTO THE, OH, I'M SORRY,BUT I, I NOTICED THIS, UH, SUNDAY.
HOW MANY OF YOU GET TO NEW YORK TIMES? OH, QUITE A FEW.
HOW MANY OF YOU SEEN THE TRAVEL SECTION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TODAY? NOBODY GO TO THE TRAVEL SECTION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TODAY.
VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE THAT THEY HAVE.
SOMETHING THAT WAS THERE NEARLY CLOSE TO ME, UM, SINCE I HAVE, UH, FAMILY AND RELATIVES IN BARBADOS.
AND AS YOU KNOW, GEORGE WASHINGTON, FIRST TIME LEAVING THE UNITED STATES.
'CAUSE THERE'S A DIRECT CONNECTION IN TERMS OF SHOWING THE HISTORY OF THE FOUNDING OF THIS COUNTRY IN RELATIONSHIP TO BARBADOS BECAUSE PRIOR TO THE INDEPENDENCE HERE, THE BRITISH WERE IN BARBADOS IN ORDER TO CULTIVATE THE SUGAR.
AND SUGAR, AS YOU MAY KNOW, WAS GOLD TO THE BRITISH AT THAT TIME.
UM, SUSAN FOUND THE PRESENTATION AT THE PHILLIPS.
IT, IT'S ACTUALLY WEDNESDAY, IT'S JUNE 10TH AT 7:00 PM BUT YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP AND SEE IT ONLINE.
YEAH, IT'S JUST A YOUTUBE LINK, SO YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO HAVE THE ZOOM LINK.
SO, UM, YEAH, AND UH, THE PHILLIPS FAMILY HAD A PLANTATION ON BARBADOS AS WELL.
SO SUGAR WAS A BIG PIECE AND FREDERICK PHILLIPS SAID BASICALLY, I MAKE MONEY DOING EVERYTHING, BUT MY CHEAPEST PROFIT COMES FROM, HE SAID SLAVERY.
I KNOW WE HAVE REFRESHMENTS THERE.
NATALIE, MAYBE YOU WANNA THANK YOU SHARP.
WE WERE REALLY GRATEFUL THAT YOU CAME AND SPOKE ABOUT OUR LOCAL HISTORY.
UM, I'D LIKE TO INVITE EVERYBODY NEXT DOOR IN THE ROUND ROOM, WE HAVE REFRESHMENTS AND UH, THANK YOU FOR COMING.