Johnston Hasbrouck Family Papers (1807-1933)

Finding Aid Completed by Bibi DeFalice, March 8, 2004
Volume: 0.5 cu. ft.
Acquisition: The collection is believed to have been donated by Kenneth E. Hasbrouck, past HHS director and descendant of Johnston and Daniel J. Hasbrouck. Date of acquisition is unknown.
Access: Unrestricted.
Copyright: Request for permission to publish materials from these records should be discussed with the Archivist and Director of the Huguenot Historical Society.

Biographical Note
 

Johnston Hasbrouck was born on February 8,1854 to Daniel Isaiah Hasbrouck and Margaret Jane Johnston. [1] He was baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church in the hamlet of Guilford in the town of Gardiner, Ulster County, New York on September 2,1854. He married Sarah (DuBois) LeFevre on June 13,1878 in Guilford. Sarah was born to Josiah LeFevre and Mary DuBois on September 23, 1857 and died January 7, 1933. [2] Johnston and Sarah had two sons: Josiah L., born in 1889 and Daniel L., born in the neighboring hamlet of Kettleborough on September 12,1893. Johnston 's father owned and operated a 190-acre farm where he cultivated cereals, raised cows, and sold milk. Johnston inherited the farm and later opened a horse breeding business. [3]

Collection Description
 

This collection includes correspondence, financial papers, deeds and survey maps, and photographs primarily relating to farm business and estate management of Johnston Hasbrouck (1854-1945), who owned and operated a horse breeding business and dairy in the town of Gardiner, Ulster County, New York during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Johnston 's son, Daniel L. Hasbrouck, is also frequently mentioned in the papers.

The main strength of the collection lies in the correspondence files, which document the business activities of the horse breeding business and farm. The correspondence consists of letters and inquiries from Auction Houses such as L.H. Cowley and Hedges Seaman & Co. and Horse Carriage Suppliers like George Vanderlyn that supply carriage horses, livery and stable accoutrements. Correspondents primarily inquire about consignments, purchase and or sale of horses, and breeding proposals. Issues such as grand performance and speed of racehorses are also mentioned.

The Estate and Financial Papers consist primarily of receipts, deeds, and survey maps relating to farm business and estate management. Receipts detail transactions concerning the purchase of feed, supplies, dairy products, veterinary services, seeds. Of note in the receipts are images of pastoral scenes and livestock used as business logos and letterheads. Examples include detailed color etchings of pastoral scenes and livestock. The maps and deeds, most of them oversized, appear to form an anomaly within this collection. These items include an 1807 deed between the Trustees of the town of Hurley and Simon LeFevre relating to the town of Hurley, NY, an 1836 map of the village of Bloomingdale, Orange County, NY, an 1850 map of Wiltwyck Cemetery in Kingston, NY, and 1851 map of "Golden Hill' identified as "land of Gilead Smith", an 1851 deed of Jacob R. and Anna Marie Hardenbergh for an island in the Rondout Creek, and a blueprint drawing of the Kingston Hotel, identified as "Property of Jacob I Signer" dating from 1853.

Photographs chiefly document livestock, and unidentified persons believed to be Hasbrouck family members, including an unidentified girl in her late adolescence, two unidentified men (possibly brothers), and an unidentified man with a horse (presumed to be Daniel Hasbrouck). One photograph is identified as showing "Uncle Dan" Hasbrouck with a horse.

The overall condition of the oversize documents is fragile, as many of the maps have been long folded. Other signs of damage include crease lines, staining and discoloration, and tearing around page edges. Envelopes found with this collection are housed separately and are accessible upon request.

Folder/Item List
 

Correspondence (1877, 1887-1901)

Estate & Financial Papers (1857-1933)

Maps (1836-1853) - oversize

Deeds (1807-1851) - oversize

Photographs (mid-late 19th century)

Notes
 

[1] Unless otherwise noted, all genealogical information is drawn from Kenneth E Hasbrouck's The Hasbrouck Family in America With European Background. Third Edition. The Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz, NY, 1986.

[2] Heidgerd, Ruth P. New Paltz Rural Cemetery: Records 1860-1962. New Paltz, NY, 1962.

[3] Beers, J. H. Commemorative Bibliographical Record of Ulster County, New York, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families. J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1896.