Where family is the story...
in New Paltz, New York
the heart of the Hudson Valley
New Paltz is unique in the Hudson Valley. While there are many towns in the region that can trace their founding to the Dutch, it was a small group of French-speaking Walloons that founded New Paltz. Their purchase of this land marked the end of a journey that had last for two and, in some cases, three generations for these unique families.
By 1675, there was a small but lively group of Walloons living in the two neighboring towns of Nieuw Dorp and Wiltwyck. They had arrived in the New World over the previous fifteen years and were eager to strike out on their own. In 1677, they began negotiating with the Lenape Indians to purchase a large tract of land about fifteen miles south of their current homes.
It must have been an exciting time. Louis DuBois, Christian Deyo, Abraham Hasbrouck, Andries LeFevre, Jean Hasbrouck, Pierre Deyo, Antoine Crispell, Abraham DuBois, Hugo Freer, Isaac DuBois and Simon LeFevre gathered together in congress with the Lenape, hoping that they could at last attain a place of their own.
They were successful and in 1678 they began cultivating the rich flood plains that hugged the small, winding river they dubbed the Wallkill after Wallonia, the region on today's French-Belgian border from which their families originated. Up the hill, on an expansive plateau, they built modest dwellings and staked their claim to an impressive 40,000 acre patent.
While New Paltz remained French at its core in those early years, others soon joined these Patentees. Jan Elting, a Dutch man, witnessed the agreement between the Lenape and the Walloons. His family soon joined his friends in New Paltz. Other Dutch families such as the Schoonmakers and the Terwilligers soon married into Walloon (or Huguenot) families or moved into the village, becoming integral members of the small New Paltz community.
Our early families include:
Louis Bevier, a founder or Patentee of New Paltz, and his wife Marie LeBlanc, along with their infant daughter Maria, left the Palatinate in Germany for America shortly after March 11, 1675. They probably lived initially near Manhattan and arrived in Nieuw Dorp (today known as Hurley, New York) by September 1677. Maria died prior to arriving in Nieuw Dorp. The Bevier-Elting Family Association was founded in 1963 and it supports the Bevier-Elting House.
Antoine Crispell and his wife, Maria Blanchan, arrived in America in 1660 aboard the Gilded Otter. Antoine was one of the original New Paltz Patentees but never lived in New Paltz. Antoine and his family settled in the Kingston/Hurley area. The Crispell Family Association was founded in 1966 with the purpose of reconstructing the 1717 French Church as a memorial to Antoine, and to compiling and publishing a family history. The Association continues to provide support for the church and has an on-going genealogy project.
Christian Deyo and his son Pierre Deyo were both New Paltz Patentees. Together with Christian’s wife, Jeanne Wibau, their children Anna, Maria, Elizabeth and Margaret, as well as Pierre’s wife Agatha Nickol, they arrived in America in 1675. The Deyo Family Association was founded in 1964 and supports the Deyo House.
Three DuBois siblings, Louis, Jacques and Francoise, played important roles in New Netherland and early New York. Louis emigrated with his wife, Catherine Blanchan, in either 1660 or 1661. Louis and his sons were New Paltz patentees & three of the twelve founders of the village. Francoise and her husband Pierre Billiou emigrated around the same time as Louis and settled on Staten Island. Their brother Jacques made the voyage fifteen years later, arriving in Wiltwyck with his wife Pierrone Bentyn and their seven children. His family was instrumental in the settlement of other areas of Ulster County and Dutchess County. The DuBois Family Association was founded in 1966. It supports the DuBois Fort Visitor Center and maintains the DuBois Family genealogy.
Jan Elting came to New Netherlands in 1657. In 1672, he married Jacomyntie Schlect. Though was not one of the original owners of the New Paltz Patent, he was a witness to the “Indian Deed,” the agreement of sale between the Huguenots and the Lenape. In 1703, their son Roelif settled in New Paltz with his wife Sarah, daughter of New Paltz Patentee Abraham DuBois. There have been many generations of Eltings in the family home, which is now known as the Bevier-Elting House. The house remained in the Elting family until 1963, when it was donated to Historic Huguenot Street. In 1963, the Elting family joined with the Bevier family to form the Bevier-Elting Family Association in order to assist in the support and restoration of the house.
The Freer Family
Hugo Freer, the New Paltz Patentee, and his second wife Jeanne Wibau, along with their sons Hugo, Abraham and Isaac, came to America around 1675 or 1676. The Freer-Low Family Association was founded in 1962 and supports the Freer House.
The Gerows (or Girauds) were Huguenots who left France in the late 1680s. Daniel Giraud settled in New Rochelle, New York. In 1774, members of his family first purchased land in Plattekill, a hamlet near New Paltz. They moved there from Westchester County in 1781. The Gerow Family Association was formed in 1967.
Brothers Abraham and Jean Hasbrouck signed the New Paltz Patent. Abraham and his future wife, Maria Deyo, came to America in 1675. Jean, his wife Anna Deyo, and their children Maria, Anne and Hester, came to America in 1673. The Hasbrouck Family Association was founded in 1957. Today, it helps support to Abraham and Jean Hasbrouck Houses.
Brothers Simon and Andries LeFevre, both signers of the New Paltz patent, came to America before 1665. Simon married Elizabeth Deyo, daughter of Patentee Christian Deyo. Andries never married. Founded in 1967, the LeFevre Family Association supports the LeFevre House, which was built by Ezekiel Elting in 1799.
The Low Family
In 1735, Johannes Low, son of Matthew Louw and Jannetje VanHeyning, married Rebecca, the granddaughter of Patentee Hugo Freer. The Freer-Low Family Association supports the Freer House.
The Magny Families
The largest number of people bearing the names Magny, Manee, Maney, Manney, Manny and Many descend from three French Huguenot brothers who left France in the 1680s to escape persecution. The Magny Families Association was formed in 1979 to trace and organize information on the descendants of anyone bearing one of our similar names. The Magny Families Association supports Historic Huguenot Street.
The Schoonmaker Family
Hendrick Jochemsz Schoonmaker came to the Hudson Valley in 1653. After settling in the Kingston area, Hendrick and his wife, Elsie Janse, had six children: Jochem, Egbert, Engeltje, Hendrick, Volckerte and Hillitje. Jochem’s daughter Elsie was the first Schoonmaker to marry into one of the New Paltz families when she married Joseph Hasbrouck, son of Abraham Hasbrouck and Maria Deyo, in 1706.
Evert Dirksen, widower, and his two sons, Dirk and Jan Everte, arrived in America aboard the De Arent on March 15, 1663. Jan married Sytie Jacobz Van Etten in the Kingston Reformed Dutch Church in 1685. Their first child, Evert, was born in 1686. He was the first in the family to bear some form or the surname that evolved into Terwilliger. Evert married Sarah Freer, granddaughter of New Paltz Patentee Hugo Freer. In 1738, Evert and Sarah built a house four miles south of New Paltz. That house still stands today. The Terwilliger Family Association was formed in 1974.
For more information about these families, visit our Family Associations page.