Abraham J. and Jansen Hasbrouck Family Papers (1786-1929)
Finding Aid Completed by Eric Roth, January 21, 2000
Revised April 2005, April 2025
Inclusive Dates: 1786-1929
Volume: 0.25 cu. ft.
Collection ID: MSS.022
Acquisition: Unknown.
Access: Unrestricted.
Copyright: Request for permission to publish materials from these records should be discussed with the Archivist/Librarian of Historic Huguenot Street.
Biographical Note
This collection documents the lives of Abraham J. Hasbrouck (1773-1845) and his son, Jansen Hasbrouck (1810-1891), both of Rondout ( Kingston ), Ulster County, New York.
Abraham Joseph Hasbrouck E-4 [1] was born on October 16, 1773 and baptized in the town of New Paltz, the eldest child of “General” Joseph Hasbrouck D-3 (1743-1808) and Elizabeth Bevier (daughter of Louis Bevier and Esther DuBois). Abraham was part of a wealthy and influential branch of the Hasbrouck family; his father was a great-grandson of Abraham Hasbrouck, the New Paltz patentee. Abraham had six brothers, several of whom were farmers in the New Paltz area, including his brother Philip Hasbrouck E-9 (1783-1841), who also owned a brick factory in the area of present-day Gardiner.
On March 6, 1797 Abraham married Helena Jansen (1770-1824), daughter of Henry Jansen and Helena Sleght. They had six children: Helena (b. 1797), Elizabeth (b. 1800), Catherine (b. 1805), Joseph Bevier (b. 1807), Jansen (b. 1810) and Maria (b. 1812). On October 7, 1828 Abraham married his second wife Rachel W. Seely (1790-1870). Abraham had no children from this second marriage. He died on January 12, 1845.
According to local tradition, Abraham was in the freighting and mercantile businesses in Kingston, and served as the President of the Rondout Bank. [2] He was colloquially known as “Abraham of the Strand.” He also served as a representative in the Thirteenth Congress of the United States from 1813-1815 under President James Madison. [3]
Jansen Hasbrouck D-5 was born at Kingston on January 27, 1810. In October 1849 he married Charlotte Ostrander (1826-1894), daughter of Jonathan DuBois Ostrander and Catherine H. Elmendorf. They had seven children. Jansen attended the Kingston Academy and later graduated from Yale College in 1831. [4] The next year he was appointed Aide-de-Camp and later Paymaster of the Sixth Division of New York Infantry under Major General Wynkoop.
Jansen took over his father's shipping business in 1834 and, according to his obituary, "became interested in a steamboat freight line between Rondout and New York, and also engaged extensively in the flour and feed business." He was also a founding director of both the Kingston Bank (1836) and the Bank of Rondout (1848), where he also served as President. Jansen Hasbrouck died on February 7, 1891 from a long battle with chronic inflammation of the bladder.
Collection Description
The collection consists of four types of records: correspondence, estate and legal papers, political and military papers, and miscellaneous. The majority of the collection is comprised of legal papers such as deeds, mortgages, articles of agreement, wills, receipts stock certificates, and financial documents of Abraham J. Hasbrouck and Jansen Hasbrouck primarily concerning property in the city of Kingston and the towns of New Paltz and Esopus in Ulster County, NY, and the city of Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County, 1786-1897. Documents of particular interest include the wills and probate records of Henry Jansen (1801), Abraham J. Hasbrouck (1842, probated 1845), John H. Janse (1840), Jansen Hasbrouck (1891), and Charlotte Ostrander Hasbrouck (1894); a furniture bill of Jansen Hasbrouck (1849); Articles of Association for the Bank of Rondout (1848); and deeds between the Montrepose Cemetery Association and Rev. Benjamin Phillips for cemetery plots (1850, 1853). Other individuals represented in these papers include John Longyear, John Atkins, Abraham A. Masten, and Christopher Tappen, Thomas Van Gaasbeek, John Atkins, John Longyear, Gideon Ostrander, Moses Cantine, Frederick DeZeng, Cornelius Elting, Mary H. Preston, Peter Vanderlyn, John Delafield and Rev. John DuBois.
The correspondence includes two main sets: the first includes two letters from 1830 chiefly discussing family news such as deaths in the family, a sloop accident involving Jansen's brother, Bevier Hasbrouck; and A. Hasbrouck's aspirations and concerns about her unidentified young adult son. The second batch of letters date from 1898 and 1899 relate to the sale and auction of livestock and farm supplies of Johnston Hasbrouck of Forest Glen (town of Gardiner), Ulster County New York. Other correspondence includes a letter of recommendation written by Rev. Philip Peltz of NPRDC for Eugenie Hasbrouck as a schoolteacher (1880), a letter from Rachel Van Etten, Walden NY, to Mrs. Hasbrouck discussing family news (1929), and an invitation from H. M. Rauscher to Sarah B. LeFevre to Alumni Reunion, New Paltz Acadamy, undated, ca. 1890.
The collection also includes a few letters to Abraham J. Hasbrouck as a U.S. Senator concerning New York State Elections in 1813 and 1821, and a proclamation by President Madison requesting Congress to convene from 1814; a certificate of Appointment, Abraham Hasbrouck to First Lieutenant of "Captain John Milspaugh's Troop of Horse in the Brigade of Militia in the County of Ulster County," 1797 (oversized); a poem titled "Metaphor" handwritten in pencil, ca. 1890s; and handwritten notes, by Frank Hasbrouck concerning Hasbrouck family genealogy in Europe, 1890.
The physical condition of the papers varies from poor to good, showing damage from fading, tearing, and yellowing. The handwriting is legible.
Related Collections
Related collections at Historic Huguenot Street include:
Hasbrouck-Bevier Family Papers (1709-1946). MSS.442. These papers include a letter from Abraham Hasbrouck to his brother Philip from Washington in 1815 where Abraham was serving in Congress, discussing their brother David, Congressional activities, and news of the Battle of New Orleans. Abraham’s son Jansen and several of his other children are mentioned in some of the estate papers.
Abraham Hasbrouck Diary/Scrapbook (1734-1846). MSS.119. Handwritten transcription of a diary kept by Abraham Hasbrouck C-8 (1707-1791), grandfather of Abraham E-4, and his descendants Jonathon Hasbrouck and A. Bruyn Hasbrouck.
Johnston Hasbrouck Family Papers (1807-1933). MSS.229. Letters, receipts, deeds, maps, photographs of Johnston Hasbrouck of Gardiner, Ulster County, New York primarily relating to his horse breeding business. Likely the same Johnston Hasbrouck documented in the Correspondence folder of the Abraham J. and Jansen Hasbrouck Family Papers.
Folder/Item List
Correspondence (1812-1927 scattered)
Estate and Legal Papers (1795-1897 and undated)
Oversized Papers (1797-1842)
Receipts and Miscellaneous (1786-1891)
Notes
[1] Identification numbers are taken from Kenneth E. Hasbrouck's The Hasbrouck Family in America with European Background, Third Edition, published by the Hasbrouck Family Association, Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz, NY (1986). Unless otherwise noted, all genealogical information is also taken from this source.
[2] Lefevre, Ralph. History of New Paltz and Its Old Families. Fort Orange Press, Albany NY (1909): p. 384.
[3] Hutchins, Stephen C. Civil List and Constitutional History of the Colony and State of New York. Albany, NY. Weed, Parsons & Co. (1880): p. 440.
[4] The following information is taken from Jansen Hasbrouck's obituary, reprinted in Hasbrouck, p. 1986.