Reformed Church of New Paltz Records
(1683-1911)
Finding Aid completed by Beth Patkus, 2024, revised 2026
Special thanks to Joan Kelley for her inventory of the record books held at
the Reformed Church of New Paltz, on which the Box/Folder list is based.
Inclusive Dates: 1683-1911
Bulk Dates: 1683-1882
Volume: 0.5 cu. ft. at HHS, plus approximately 2 cu. ft. at Reformed Church of New Paltz (RCNP)
Collection ID: MSS.065 (HHS) and RCNP
Language: French, Dutch, English
Acquisition: Partial collection housed at HHS (MSS.065) is on loan from RCNP.
Access and Use: Unrestricted. Request for permission to publish materials from these records should be directed to the Archivist/Librarian at Historic Huguenot Street (HHS).
Digital Access: Digitized 2021-2025. Hosted online at New York Heritage (click on Reformed Church of New Paltz), or see links in Box/Folder listing below).
Administrative History
Founded in 1683, the Reformed Church was the first place of worship established in New Paltz, NY. In 1677 twelve French-speaking Protestant men from what is now northern France and Belgium signed a land agreement with the Indigenous Esopus people, agreeing to exchange European goods for permission to reside on approximately 40,000 acres of land that would become New Paltz and surrounding towns.
According to a translation of the earliest church record, on January 22 1683, “Mr. Pierre Daille, minister of the Word of God, arrived at New Paltz and preached twice on the following Sunday.” [1] Daille was a minister of the French Reformed Church who immigrated to New York in the early 1680s. He had been a professor at the French Protestant Academy of Saumur (closed by order of the Catholic French king in 1684). The church members followed his recommendation that the male heads of families vote to select an elder and a deacon by electing Louis DuBois and Hugo Freer, respectively.
The Dutch Reformed Church in America
The Dutch Reformed Church in America was founded in New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1628, more than 50 years prior to the establishment of the New Paltz Reformed Church. Both Huguenots (Calvinists from France) and Walloons (French-speaking Calvinists from the Spanish Netherlands, now Belgium and parts of Northern France) experienced religious persecution and the chaos of war in their homelands throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, resulting in various waves of migration to other European countries (including The Netherlands, England, and Germany) and to the New World. When the first settlers arrived in New Amsterdam from The Netherlands in 1624, the group included some French-speaking Huguenots and Walloons. However, the Walloons who would settle New Paltz emigrated later, in the 1650s and 60s, first to Mannheim in the Palatinate in Germany and then to New Netherland.
The earliest French-speaking settlers in New Amsterdam were ministered to by Jonas Michel, a Dutch Reformed minister of French descent, and then by Dutch clergy until the arrival of Rev. Daille in the early 1680s. In 1687 a second French clergyman, Rev. Pierre Peiret, ministered in the French Reformed Church in New York City, while Rev. Daille regularly visited French-speaking Reformed communities in New Paltz, New Rochelle, Staten Island, and New Jersey.
The Reformed churches in the colony of New Netherland were subject to the Classis of Amsterdam of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands. This was a regional church governing body within which the West India Company, which administered the colony until 1664, was located. After the Dutch surrendered the colony to the English in 1664, and re-captured and re-surrendered it in 1674, the colony of New York attempted to impose the Church of England on the inhabitants, but with limited success. Ultimately the French Reformed churches in the colony would be absorbed into the Dutch Reformed Church, which today is the Reformed Church in America.
Coetus/Conferentie Dispute
In the early decades of the 18th century, some Dutch Reformed ministers (dominie) in America advocated for an American governing body to support the churches in the colonies. This would address the shortage of clergy (ministers could be educated and ordained in America rather than sending them to Amsterdam), as well as the challenges of long-distance communication that made it difficult for the Classis to assist congregations and resolve ecclesiastical issues. Other more traditionalist dominie opposed this, fearing both that the intention was to be completely independent and that more evangelical, pietistic American ministers might bring theological change.
In 1739, the Classis created an American “Coetus,” a term used for an assembly of minsters and elders from various congregations that is deliberative with very limited authority to act. By 1754 some American dominie were urging transformation of the Coetus into an American Classis that could examine and ordain ministers and establish a college to educate them. In 1755 this group gained control of the Coetus, considering themselves independent, while the opposition group came together as the “Conferentie” (little conference). A meeting of the Coetus and Conferentie groups in New York in June 1763 resulted in the Conferentie formally organizing as an assembly subject to the Classis of Amsterdam. Churches and ministers took sides, and the dispute caused much upheaval in American Reformed churches over the next decade, including in New Paltz. The dispute was settled on the national level in 1771, when a gathering of ministers and elders was held in New York City and a plan to unify the two groups was approved, finally creating an American governing body. The Reformed Church in America became an independent denomination in 1792.
The Reformed Church of New Paltz Early History
Given the French Protestant origins of the early inhabitants of New Paltz, worship and record-keeping were in the French language for the first fifty years of the congregation. Records were kept in Dutch for about the next seventy years, with English being adopted around 1800. Through the years, New Paltz shared ministers with other churches in the area, such as New Hurley and Dashville; the first pastor to serve only New Paltz was called in 1832. The first church building in New Paltz was constructed of wood, located near the community’s burying ground on the southern end of Huguenot Street. It was replaced in 1717 by the first stone church. A replica of the 1717 stone church, part of the Historic Huguenot Street site, was built in 1973 on land adjacent to its original location near the burial ground.
In its early years, the New Paltz church considered itself an independent Walloon/French congregation rather than a congregation of the established Dutch Reformed Church, and consequently found it challenging to attract a minister. [2] It was served by Rev. Pierre Daille (as described above) until 1692 and then by David de Bonrepos (who had previously served the French Reformed Church in New Rochelle) from about 1695 to 1702. They visited New Paltz only occasionally, so most of the time church elders and deacons read printed sermons in French during worship.
From 1702 until about 1731, the church had no minister, but Sunday services continued. During this time the 1717 stone church was built, indicating the importance of local worship to the community. Church members traveled to the Dutch Reformed Church in Kingston as needed to receive the sacraments.
In 1731 the church called Rev. Johannes van Driessen to preach and offer the sacraments a few times per year. Van Driessen turned out to be controversial; his ordination by Congregationalists at Yale was considered irregular, and he had been accused of “unchristian” behavior. His arrival at New Paltz was opposed by the minister of the Kingston Dutch Reformed Church, which initiated a longstanding dispute between the two churches over whether the New Paltz church was independent of Kingston.
This dispute was reinforced with the arrival in 1749 of another pastor with a controversial ordination, Johannes Henricus Goetschius (the Classis considered his first ordination illegitimate and required him to be ordained again). After much consultation (amongst the two churches, the Coetus, and the Classis) the New Paltz church was declared to be separate from Kingston. In 1751 under Rev. Goetschius, the congregation decided to become part of the Dutch Reformed Church. In August 1753 they called Rev. Barent Vrooman as their pastor (who had recently been ordained in The Netherlands by the Classis and would stay only a year in New Paltz) and formally recorded their declaration of acceptance of the teachings of the Dutch Reformed Church. Between 1751 and 1754, ninety-six new members joined the New Paltz church.
The Coetus-Conferentie Dispute in New Paltz [3]
Kenneth Shefsiek argues that in New Paltz, the Coetus-Conferentie dispute was less about the Conferentie group’s stated desire to remain subordinate to the Classis of Amsterdam and more about the desire of conservative members of the community to preserve their Dutch culture against the increasingly predominant English culture.[4] Motivations were likely complex, but the timeline of the Coetus-Conferentie dispute in New Paltz is clear.
In 1760, the New Paltz church called Johannes Mauritius Goetschius (younger brother of Joh. Henricus Goetschius) as its pastor; he would remain there until his death in 1771. Mauritius Goetschius had been ordained in 1757 by the Coetus without the approval of the Classis, so he and the majority of the New Paltz congregation took the side of the Coetus in the dispute. However, a small group led by Hendricus DuBois did not agree. In the summer of 1765 Hendricus was called three times to appear before the New Paltz consistory, accused of “Sedition and schism” (see Related Collections below for links to the letters sent to Hendricus by the consistory). He refused to appear and in August 1765 church records show that he was censured.
In August 1766, Hendricus, along with members of the Elting, Low, Van Wagenen, Van Vliet, Ean and Auchmody families (many of them related to Hendricus directly or by marriage) met to pledge funds to build a new church on Libertyville Road in New Paltz. It was built on land owned by Noah Elting called the “Great Piece” on the west side of the Wallkill River, south of the village. Hendricus DuBois, Josiah Elting, and Noah Elting were elected churchmasters, and they appointed Philip DuBois to oversee the building of the church. They also purchased a book for recording detailed accounts relating to the subscriptions for the building and its construction (now held by HHS as MSS.151, see Related Collections below). The Conferentie Church was completed by December of 1766, and was colloquially known as the “Owl Church,” perhaps due to the owls that frequented the area. The church was a frame building 30 feet square with a shingle roof. The interior was plastered with clay, and large enough to allow a gallery to be built if needed.
The new church did not yet have a minister, but on August 29, 1767 it was officially organized and approved at a meeting held at the home of Hendricus DuBois. Domine Isaac Rysdyk, Conferentie pastor of the Poughkeepsie and Fishkill churches, his consistory, and five members of the Kingston Reformed Church who lived in New Paltz (Josiah Elting, Noah Elting, Petrus Van Wagenen, Jacob DuBois, and Dirk D. Wynkoop) were in attendance. The Kingston members noted that they lived too far away to properly attend worship and educate their children in Kingston. They agreed with other attendees that the existing New Paltz Reformed Church could not be considered lawful, since it was loyal to the Coetus rather than the Classis. An August 3, 1767 letter from the Kingston consistory dismissed the five members on the condition that a new church loyal to the Classis of Amsterdam was formed in New Paltz (a letter of dismissal allowed congregants to transfer to another church).
The New Paltz Conferentie congregation was always small, but it continued even after 1771 when the unification conference in New York City ended the Coetus/Conferentie dispute within the American church. The first New Paltz church sent Johannes Hardenbergh as its delegate and its Consistory approved the unification, but the Conferentie Church did not send a delegate.
Between 1767 and 1774, baptisms, marriages, and consistory meetings at the Conferentie Church were conducted either by Domine Rysdyk or by Domine Gerhard Daniel Cock, Conferentie pastor at Rhinebeck and Camp. In 1774 the Conferentie Church called Ryner Van Nest as its first and only pastor, shared with the Shawangunk Conferentie Church. In the later 1770s, members began to gradually move back to the original congregation. Hendricus DuBois died in 1780 and in 1783 the two churches reunited. The “Owl Church” register shows that 60 baptisms and 2 marriages were recorded, and a total of 35 members joined the church during its almost 20 years of existence. On May 25, 1783, 19 of them rejoined the first Reformed Church, marking the end of the Conferentie Church.
Later Reformed Church of New Paltz History [5]
Despite the Coetus/Conferentie dispute, during the 1770s the growing first Reformed Church congregation built a larger stone church farther north on Huguenot Street. Located in the area adjacent to the current church, the 1770s church location is marked with a brick outline in the grass in front of the church parking lot.
Rev. Stephen Goetschius (son of Rev. Joh. Henricus Goetschius), married Elizabeth DuBois, a descendant of Louis DuBois, and succeeded his uncle Mauritius as pastor from 1775 to 1796. The first resident pastor, he built a stone house in 1790 at 164 Huguenot Street, and the 1790 census states that he enslaved four people in his household. Rev. John Meier (Meyer) followed Rev. Goetschius as pastor from 1799-1803.
The church was most likely served by supply ministers between 1803 and 1807, one of whom appears to have been Rev. John J. Christie. A loose document in the Eighth Register is dated between 1800 and 1809 (the last number of the date is missing), and contains subscription amounts for the services of a clerk “for as long as Rev. John J. Christie shall be our standing min [page torn].” A standing minister likely referred to a supply minister. Rev. Christie may have served more than one church, making the services of a clerk helpful.
Rev. Peter Froelich pastored the church from 1807 to 1816, followed by Rev. William Bogardus from 1817 to 1831, and Rev. Douw Van Olinda from 1832 to 1844. The current church building was constructed in 1839, with the building project overseen by Rev. Van Olinda. The building is an example of Greek Revival architecture with a four-column portico and two-stage clock and bell tower. The 1770s church was dismantled and its stone used in the foundation of the new church. Both Rev. Bogardus and Rev. Van Olinda supported efforts to improve education in New Paltz. Rev. Bogardus contributed funds to organize the Classical School in New Paltz in 1828, and in 1833 Rev. Van Olinda was closely involved in organizing and building its successor, the New Paltz Academy, forerunner of the State Normal School and today’s State University of New York at New Paltz.
Pastor John Van der Voort served the church from 1845 to 1848, followed by Rev. Charles Stitt from 1848-1865. Rev. Stitt shepherded the church through the Civil War years, during which several church members who served in the 156th Regiment were lost. Transepts and a shallow chancel with a central pulpit were added to the church in 1872 during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Philip Peltz (1865-1881). From 1882 to 1886 Rev. Ame Vennema, later President of Hope College in Michigan, pastored the church, followed by Pastor Abel Huiginga (1886-1894) and Pastor John Fagg (1894-1895).
The church continued to grow in the 20th century, hosting Stone House Days along Huguenot Street and building a separate Education Building in 1958, named for Rev. Gerret J. Wullschleger, who served the church from 1931 to 1968. In 2020, the church voted to join the Reformed Association United Church of Christ, a group of churches who are dually affiliated with the Reformed Church of America and with the United Church of Christ.
Collection Description
Please note: digital page numbers in this description refer to the page(s) within the digital object in New Paltz
Historic Documents, and may vary from the scribed page numbers in the original volumes.
This finding aid covers Reformed Church of New Paltz (RCNP) records that have been digitized and are available online as part of the New Paltz Historic Documents Project (NPHD). They are housed both at HHS (early records into the 1770s and a small number of later miscellaneous records) and at RCNP (the majority of records post-1770s). Records are contained in eight bound RCNP church registers and additional foldered bound items and documents. The RCNP records include an additional church register maintained by the Conferentie Church (Owl Church), which split off from the First Reformed Church from 1767 to 1783. This book was most likely returned to the RCNP when the two churches reunited.
All digitized materials are available on New York Heritage (see www.newpaltzhistory.org and https://nyheritage.org/collections/new-paltz-historic-documents for background on the NPHD project). Direct links to items and folders are provided in the Box/Folder list below.
The majority of the records described here are found within the church registers, which date from 1683 to 1882. Loose documents and bound items in folders, and items tucked into some of the registers, are miscellaneous in nature with dates ranging widely, from 1720 to 1911. Some additional pre-1882 church records and the majority of post-1882 records are housed at RCNP; these are not digitized and are not covered in this finding aid.
Types of records are widely scattered within the registers, but fall into several categories: vital records (memberships/baptisms/marriages/deaths); consistory records; ministerial records; records of church pew sales and church construction/repair; and miscellaneous financial records. These categories are discussed in detail below. There are significant date gaps in all categories, but many important events in the history of the church are documented.
Translations/Transcriptions
New translations completed in 2024 are provided online with the digital object for the first two church registers. For the Third Register and the Conferentie Church register, references are provided in the Box/Folder list to translations/transcriptions in Dingman Versteeg’s Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Paltz, NY, 1977. Researchers should be aware that records in Versteeg were placed in chronological order rather than in their original order in the registers, and some Dutch material in the original registers may not have been included. For Registers Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine, references are provided in the Box/Folder list to transcriptions of vital records in Jean Worden’s Ulster County Church Records: New Paltz Reformed Dutch Church, 1817-1882, [et.al.], 1987.
General Topics of Interest
Within the church, subjects documented include relationships of congregants to the church through baptism, membership, marriage, and death; congregational activities and groups; church support for the poor; elections of elders and deacons; relationships with pastors; spiritual and financial health of the church; upkeep and repairs to buildings and property; and construction of new buildings. Some documentation is also found, primarily in the mid-19th century, of allegations of misconduct by congregants and consequences given by the consistory, with offenses ranging from playing cards to bearing illegitimate children.
There are records scattered throughout the registers that document the lives of enslaved and free Black people. Beginning in the Third Register, they appear periodically in the baptismal, marriage, membership, and death records, referred to variously as “Black,” “Negro,” and “coloured.” The year 1799 marked the beginning of the abolition of slavery in New York, and the first Black people who appear in the church records are Henry Linus (enslaved by Garrett Freer), Isaac Moorman (enslaved by David Doyo), and Samuel Samaria (enslaved by Jacobus Hasbrouck), all baptized in 1803 (pages 129-130 of the Second Register) and admitted as members in full communion with the church (page 190).
Additional entries for Black congregants appear from the early 1820s to the early 1880s in Registers Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine; some specific names are noted in the digital object descriptions on NPHD. Most Black congregants in New Paltz attended either the Reformed Church or the Methodist Church prior to the existence of the AME Zion Church of New Paltz from 1871 to 1915.
A consistorial record of the church written January 1, 1832 appears at the beginning of the Eighth Register, stating that the congregation comprises "about 250 families and about 180 members in communion four of which are coloured persons. The number of coloured persons at this time being greatly diminished in the congregation of the above number of families probably one third are but of nominal importance in supporting the church" (page 17). Evidence of segregation appears in the Eighth Register, where minutes regarding the 1839 church building state: “Resolved that the pews against the wall on each side of the door be for the use of the coloured people,” which according to the pew maps refers to the upstairs Gallery (page 397). Similarly, in 1872 when the church was expanded, the consistory stated: “Resolved, that Pews 31,32 & 33 be set aside for the use of the colored people,” referring to pews at the rear left on the main floor (page 341).
Finally, some vital records include information that may be of use for historical and sociological research as well as genealogy. Marriage records from 1832-1834 in the Sixth Register include ages and occupations; many death records from 1849-1880 in the Ninth Register include causes of death, as well as ages, notes made by the pastor about the location of the funeral, and highlights for the decedent’s eulogy.
Vital Records
Baptisms. Vital records make up the majority of the First Register and include primarily baptisms, intermingled with a few marriages, membership records, and deaths/burials – dating from 1683 to 1702 overall. The volume also includes two baptisms dated July 6, 1718, recorded in Dutch. Other than this exception, baptismal records from 1702 to 1729 are not recorded in the church registers. It is likely that some members had their children baptized in the Kingston church during that time.
The Second Register includes baptisms from 1729-1765 (child/parents’ names, date, and sponsors are provided). Baptisms continue in the Third Register from 1765 to November 1816. Baptisms pick up again in February 1817 in the Seventh Register, going through November 1831. The Eighth Register includes baptisms of infants by name from Jan 17, 1832 to Dec 10, 1848. The names of adults admitted by confession of faith and baptism continue to be noted in the consistory minutes in the Eighth Register, but these also appear to be recorded in the list of baptisms of infants and adults from January 7, 1849 to September 16, 1882 that appears in the Ninth Register (although researchers should check both registers). The Ninth Register list includes names of child and parents as appropriate, birth date, baptism date, death date, and remarks. Baptisms for the Conferentie Church are included in its register, dating from August 1767 to June 1779.
Marriages. Only scattered marriage records appear in the First Register. Prior to 1733 it is likely that some members were married in the Kingston church. Several marriages within the time period in the transcribed records of Kingston Dutch Reformed Church note that the parties resided “in the Pals” [New Paltz]. [6] Marriages are recorded more consistently beginning in 1733 in the Second Register. They appear there through 1765, with a gap between 1742 and 1745. Marriages from 1765 to 1815 are recorded in the Third Register, with a gap between 1803 and 1808. Marriages appear again in the Sixth Register beginning in February 1817 and continue through January 1844. They pick up again in the Ninth Register in June 1849 and continue through August 1882. Two marriages for the Conferentie Church dating from 1768 and 1769 appear in its register.
Membership. Early membership records are somewhat scattered. A few appear in the First Register, and members are listed from 1733-1764 in the Second Register. The Third Register contains a list of members from 1768-1815. Membership lists continue from February 1817 to October 1832 in the Sixth Register, In the Eighth Register, members received on confession of faith, and sometimes baptism, are interspersed with consistory meeting records from 1832 to 1875. After 1848 this information also appears to have been recorded in the membership list in the Ninth Register (although researchers should check both registers). The Ninth Register contains a census of members as of March 3, 1849 (arranged alphabetically by last name), then continues to record members received chronologically until 1882, with some deaths added later. These records include columns for: when/how received; when dismissed, suspended, excommunicated, restored, and/or died; and remarks. There are two additional church censuses: one from 1850 (divided by district) that includes heads of families, number of family members, and remarks; and one from 1864-65 that includes heads of families, number of persons, and number of church members, with a few additional notes (the symbol “+” is used to indicate “not supporters but nominal members of cong.”). Members of the Conferentie Church are listed in its register, from its founding in 1767 to 1783 when it rejoined the First Church.
Deaths. There are very few death records in the early church registers. Some deaths are interspersed with consistory minutes in the Eighth Register (which begins in 1832), and the Ninth Register includes a record of deaths and funerals from March 1849 to December 1880. As with other types of records, researchers should consult both registers for dates between 1849 and 1875. Records frequently include cause of death and notes made by the pastor about the location of the funeral, highlights for the decedent’s eulogy, and the book, chapter, and verse of the planned Scripture reading. Deaths are not recorded in the Conferentie Church register.
Consistory Records
In the Reformed Church tradition, the local church is governed by a consistory made up of elders, deacons and ministers. The First Register records the church's organization on January 22, 1683, but records of consistory meetings do not begin until 1730 in the Second Register, continuing until 1765. Consistory minutes continue in the Third Register from 1766 to 1798 in Dutch (not yet translated) and 1799 to 1816 in English. They pick up again in the Sixth Register from June 1817 to May 1831, and in the Eighth Register from January 1832 to April 1875. The Conferentie Church Register includes consistory records, in Dutch, dating from 1768 to 1776.
Early consistory minutes (through 1831 in the Second and Sixth Registers) primarily document elections of elders and deacons, but occasionally record other events. The Second Register documents the congregation’s union with the Dutch Reformed Church in 1753, as well as an accusation of dishonesty lodged against Abraham LeFever by Hanyoory Rang in 1761-62 and its resolution.
Beginning in 1832, the consistory minutes become more detailed, including records of baptisms, marriages, deaths, and new members, as well as accounts of discussions and resolutions on various topics, with the first dated June 30, 1832, requiring application for admission to the church “be made some time previous to the day when such applicants are to be admitted” so that all “may have better opportunity to form a proper judgement in the case.”
Changes in the minutes may be due to the arrival of Rev. Douw Van Olinda; the opening pages of the Eighth Register note that “The church at New Paltz had never before enjoyed the undivided labors of their pastor. This church had for years stood associated with the Reformed Dutch Church at New Hurly. And after this connection was dissolved their pastor the Rev. Wm. Bogardus spent part of his time at Dashville where a new church has since been organized.” Minutes in the Eighth Register from the 1830s through the 1870s include a variety of topics, many relating to church finances, repairs, and building. The minutes record a number of members being suspended from the congregation due to various offenses in the 1840s and 50s (pages 67, 68, 73, 74, 118, 129-130, and others). Special days of national significance are also observed, such as a “day of thanksgiving appointed by Governor William H. Seward" in 1840 (page 55); a day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer" declared by President Zachary Taylor on August 3, 1849, "to acknowledge with thanksgiving the national blessings conferred; and to implore the Almighty, in his own good time to stay the destroying hand which is now lifted up against us!" (a reference to the cholera pandemic of 1849, page 124); and a motion to meet in the church the evening of February 22, 1862 "in pursuance of the Proclamation of the President of the United States for the purpose of Reading the Farewell Address of George Washington the Father of his Country & such other Exercises as may be deemed proper" (page 192).
The Conferentie Church Register documents the life of that congregation through consistory meeting minutes from 1768-1776, and records relating to the Coetus/Conferentie dispute also appear in other registers and loose documents. These include: a copy of the minutes of the 1771 unification meeting in New York City in the Second Register; an August 1765 document in Dutch in the Third Register, likely related to Hendricus DuBois’ refusal to appear before the Consistory to address accusations of schism; a loose letter dated 1760 in the HHS miscellaneous folders; and a loose account record in the RCNP miscellaneous folders.
Ministerial Records
Records relating to ministers are scattered through the Second Register and the loose documents held at HHS, as well as in the Third, Fifth, and Eighth Registers held at RCNP. Ministerial records include a copy of Johannes van Driessen’s ordination by the Presbytery at Yale and the calls to ministry of Stephen Goetschius and John Meier in the Second Register. The miscellaneous consistory records held at HHS contain calls for Rev. William Eltinge in 1807 (to serve New Paltz and New Hurley), a compensation commitment to Rev. William Bogardus by the consistory of New Hurley, and a pastoral subscription to support Rev. Thomas C. Strong at New Hurley. Salary receipts for Johannes van Driessen, Mauritius Goetschius, Stephen Goetschius, John Meier, Peter Froelich, William Bogardus, Douw Van Olinda, and Charles Stitt are found in the Second, Third, and Fifth Registers. The Seventh Register contains a loose document providing notice of Reverend Van derVoort's call "to the Pastoral Care of this people" dated February 9, presumably 1845.
In Register Eight, the dissolution of the pastoral relationship between the church and Rev. Douw Van Olinda in 1844 is recorded on page 81. Draft consistory minutes of 1844 concerning Rev. van Olinda are found in the miscellaneous consistory records in MSS.065.000.003. The 1845 appointment of his successor, Rev. John C. Van derVoort, is recorded on pages 86-87 of the Eighth Register. Rev. Van derVoort's acceptance of a call from the consistory of the Dutch Reformed Church in West Ghent, Rensselaer County, in 1848 is recorded on page 120. The consistory's subsequent invitation to Charles H. Stitt to serve as pastor is recorded on page 126. The call to appoint Reverend Philip Peltz as pastor is recorded on April 1, 1865 (page 218).
Peltz's predecessor, Rev. Stitt, gives notice of his resignation on January 10, 1865 (page 214-15). The consistory minutes record "The Pastor stated that he made the request for a dissolution not for want of love, sympathy or operation on the part of the Consistory...nor because he did not heartily reciprocate the same, but on account of the health of his family & the prospect of entering a less arduous field of labor." Minutes of the consistory under Rev. Peltz's pastoral service begin on May 20, 1865 (page 221).
The 1774 call of Reyner Van Nest to serve the Conferentie Church and the Shawangunk Church, both loyal to the Classis of Amsterdam, is included in the Conferentie Church register.
Church Buildings
Records of the construction and repair of the several churches built by RCNP are scattered through the church registers and included in the loose documents.
The construction of the 1717 stone church and church repairs are documented in the Second Register, while the building of the 1770s church (including the teardown of the 1717 stone church) is documented in the Fifth Register and the miscellaneous foldered records at HHS and RCNP. Records relating to building the New Paltz parsonage and purchasing a share of the New Hurley parsonage are included in the Fifth Register. There are undated records of pew sales in the Second Register, some pew sales from 1774 in the miscellaneous folders held at HHS, and additional pew sales in the Fifth Register.
The building of the 1839 church is documented in the Eighth Register, within the consistory minutes and in a separate section at the back of the book. The minutes document the laying of the cornerstone for the new church (page 42) and the financing of the new building, including the death of John Bogardus, treasurer of the building committee (page 46), as well as plans for the addition of a lightning rod to the structure and the building of sheds "for the accommodation of the congregation" (page 52). The back section of Register Eight (pages 378-403) includes a chronological record of the process, including planning, financing, deciding on the lot for the new church, taking down the old church, deciding whether to build with stone, brick, or wood (eventually choosing brick), and selling pews. There is also a pew diagram for the 1839 church (pages 396-397) with a key to owners and prices (pages 400-402). The back section of Register Eight also includes a record of pew transfers (1840-1872 and undated), notes on pews (1846-1847 and undated), and lists of pews occupied (1859, 1865 and undated).
The expansion of the church in 1872 is also documented in the Eighth Register within the consistory minutes (pages 333-343). There is much discussion of pew sales, which provided a significant source of income. The sale of church pews took place at public auction on December 20, 1872. A conveyance of stipulations regarding pews is followed by a diagram of church pews and a list of sales that includes pew number, appraised value, price paid, and purchaser (pages 335-340). Later consistory meetings discuss renting of pews and final accounting of costs for the rebuilding of the Church, as well as yearly taxes on pews. The minutes of December 1874 and the report of the Church to the Classis of Kingston in March 1875 show that Hylah Hasbrouck (Mrs. Levi Hasbrouck) gave the church a bequest of $2400 upon her death in 1874, on the condition that the church raise the remainder of the money through subscription to pay off the $6000 debt incurred for the 1872 church expansion. Other minutes around this time discuss the possibility of selling the church parsonage and purchasing another.
The building of the Conferentie Church in 1766 is documented in an account book held by HHS (see Related Collections below).
Financial Records
Financial records are scattered throughout the collection and primarily relate to records mentioned above such as pew sales and building projects. Types of items include receipts, invoices, accounts, and subscriptions for repairs. The consistory minutes in the Eighth Register periodically discuss the church’s financial health, including church debt in the 1850s and 1870s. Benevolent contributions to larger church activities (e.g., foreign and domestic missions American Bible Society, American Tract Society Temperance Society, and Colonization Society) are documented periodically in the church’s annual reports in the Eighth Register.
Poor relief is documented in the folder of Deacon’s Accounts in the HHS collection (a photocopy, location of original unknown) from 1698 to 1712, and also in the Poor Box Receipts in the RCNP collection dating from 1840-1919. Of interest among the latter documents is support for Elizabeth Scudder from 1842 until her death on February 16, 1853 aged between 90 and 95. A motion relating to Elizabeth appears in the consistory minutes of June 22, 1842: “On motion Dan’l A. Dubois & Abraham W. Deyo were appointed a committee to make some provision for Mrs. Schudder a member of the Church in destitute circumstances and report to consistory” (page 62 in Register Eight).
Church Service Organizations
Two church service organizations are documented in the collection. The Ladies Benevolent Association (also sometimes called the Ladies Association and the Young Ladies Benevolent Association) was in existence from 1851-1857, and from 1865-66. A history of the association is scribed on the first page of the journal-style book, giving the date of its founding as Saturday, August 30, 1851, with a list of officers elected at the first meeting. The first president was Miss Antoinette DuBois; vice president, Miss Catherine E. Deyo; secretary, Miss Mary E. Elting; treasurer, Miss Margaret DB Eltinge. A constitution was adopted on October 2, and the association's first action was to raise $50 toward the debt of the church. The minutes record where each meeting was held (most frequently given as the home of various male members of the congregation), the weather, how well attended each meeting was, whether officers were absent, and if any business was conducted. Cash given to the consistory is recorded when given.
The Association adjourned indefinitely in early 1857 and was re-formed November 9, 1865 using the same record book. Its constitution appears on page 45, stating its mission as "The object of this Association shall be to cultivate a spirit of Benevolence and Sociability throughout the congregation and also to promote its secular interests by raising funds which shall be appropriated either to our own church, or to some benevolent object; whichever the members seem expedient." Other versions (perhaps drafts) of the constitution are scribed later in the volume. The first president in 1865 was Miss Jane LeFevre; vice president, Miss Gertrude DuBois; Secretary, Miss A.E. Van Wagenen; Treasurer, Miss Rachel Eltinge, and “Twenty-eight names were presented for membership.” Meetings were intermittent, with the last minutes on September 27, 1866.
The church’s chapter of the Band of Hope, a temperance organization, is documented from 1858-1860. The Band of Hope was founded in Leeds, England, in 1847. It grew to a national organization and by 1855 was an international organization. The first president at New Paltz, chosen September 25, 1858, was Jesse M. Eltinge; vice-president, Peter Eltinge; secretary, Peter Hasbrouck; treasurer, Josiah J. Hasbrouck. Frederic R. Brace was chosen superintendent of the New Paltz Band of Hope. The first part of the Secretary’s book (through page 32) comprises meeting minutes. Activities consisted of elections of officers, the assignment of essays by the young ladies and orations by the young men (assigned by name) for the next meeting, the reading/speaking of those assigned at the last meeting, repetition of “the Pledge…in concert,” and on one occasion the investigation of an unnamed young man who allegedly broke his pledge (he was exonerated). The remainder of the book is an account book in which are recorded foodstuffs, household goods, and postage stamps and the values of those items, on a daily and weekly basis.
Related Collections at HHS and other Repositories
New Paltz Conferentie Church (“Owl Church”) Records (1766-1787). MSS.151. One bound volume and one loose item. An account book documenting the construction of the Conferentie Church in New Paltz by members who separated from the RCNP (“First Church”) as part of the Coetus/Conferentie dispute in the Dutch Reformed Church.
Hendricus DuBois Family Papers. MSS.010. Contains three letters from Rev. Joh. Mauritius Goetschius to Hendricus DuBois, requiring him to appear before the Consistory of New Paltz, accused of “Sedition and schism.” Hendricus DuBois later led the group that founded the Conferentie Church in New Paltz.
Roelof J. and Ezekiel Elting Family Papers. MSS.017. Contains two items relating to Rev. Douw van Olinda dating from 1839-1844.
New Paltz Town Records. MSS.033. Poor relief was provided by the church from 1698 to 1712 (see below, folder MSS.065.000.007, Deacon’s accounts). The New Paltz Town Records show that the town elected overseers of the poor beginning in 1763, and include records kept by the Overseers of the Poor from 1820-1882.
Reformed Church of New Paltz Records. As noted elsewhere in this finding aid, additional primary sources that have not been digitized are located at the Reformed Church of New Paltz, 92 Huguenot Street, New Paltz NY 12561. These include some pre-1882 records and the majority of post-1882 records.
Box and Folder List
Digital page numbers below refer to the page(s) within the digital object in New Paltz Historic Documents,
and may vary from the scribed page numbers in the original volumes.
ITEMS AT HISTORIC HUGUENOT STREET
MSS.065 Box 000
MSS.065.000.001 (folder), Church Register, Volume 1 (1683-1702, 1718) originals and copies
Digital page #
1 Organization of the church, January 22, 1683
2-21 Baptisms, intermingled with a few marriages, membership records, and deaths/burials, from 1683 (earliest records on p. 3) to February 21, 1702.
9 Also includes two baptisms dated July 6, 1718, recorded in Dutch (page 9 of the digital object).
MSS.065.000.002 (folder), Church Register, Volume 2 (1720-1773, 1846)
Digital page #
3 In Latin, Johannes van Driessen’s testimonial of ordination, Yale College Presbytery, 1727
5 Consistory “subject themselves to the Church Order” (e.g., unite with the Dutch Reformed Church), 1753
9-13 Membership records, 1733-1764
15-20 Information regarding the 1717 stone church and pew sales, 1720
21-22 Marriages 1733-1742
23-26 Pew sale records, undated
27 Baptisms, 1846
28 List of subscribers for church repairs, n.d.
29-30 Marriages, 1745-65
31-58 Baptisms 1729 – 1765, with sponsors
59-69 Copy of minutes of 1771 unification meeting, New York City (includes RCNP affirmation of meeting vote, 1773)
70-80 Consistory minutes, 1730-65 (dispute between Hanyory Rang and Andras Lafefer on pages 78-80)
82 Marriages, 1761
84 Appointment of supervisors/builders for new church, 1762
85 Salary receipts for Rev. van Driessen, 1732-33
MSS.065.000.003 (folder)
Consistory Records (1807-1848 and undated) primarily relating to ministers
MSS.065.000.004 (folder)
Correspondence (1760-1892), includes a 1760 letter relating to the Coetus/Conferentie dispute, as well as personal letters unrelated to church matters
MSS.065.000.005 (folder)
Miscellaneous Church Records (1770-1872 and undated), includes receipts, invoices, pew deeds, and documents relating to building and salaries
MSS.065.000.006 (folder)
Miscellaneous Church Records (ca. 1720-ca. 1895), includes letter, drawings, and financial records
MSS.065.000.007 (folder)
Deacon’s Accounts (1698-1712) – PHOTOCOPIES (not digitized), entries document relief given to the poor by the church
ITEMS AT REFORMED CHURCH OF NEW PALTZ
RCNP Box 002
RCNP 002.001 (item), Church Register, Volume 3 (1760-1815)
V = page number in transcription/translation in Versteeg, Dingman (trans.), Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Paltz, NY (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977).
Digital page #
8-10 Call of Stephen Goetschius 1775. V: 16-20
13-16 Call of John Meier 1779
17-20 Documents in Dutch relating to Joh. Mauritius Goetschius, 1760 (copy) and 1771. V: 4, 9-12
20-33 Consistory Minutes, 1766-1798 (Dutch) and 1799-1816 (English)
36-37 Recommendation to the Reformed Dutch Church in Schenectady for Rev. John Meier, 1803
39-181 Baptisms, June 9, 1765 – November 1816 (in Dutch until 1799, page 117). V: 117-239
185-194 List of Members 1768-1815 (in Dutch until 1800, page 189). V: 75-79
195-200 Marriages 1765-1803 (in Dutch until 1799, page 197). V: 82-87
206-207 Document in Dutch, August 31, 1765. Mentions the separation of Hendricus DuBois.
208-215 Marriages 1808-1815. V: 88-93
216-218 Receipts for ministers’ salary (Joh. Mauritius Goetschius, Stephen Goetschius, John Meier), 1765-1803
219 Account record in Dutch, undated. Subscription money received and owing. V: 59-60
RCNP Box 003
RCNP 003.001 (folder)
Funding agreement, 1752
RCNP 003.002 (folder)
Account record (may pertain to the Owl Church), undated, ca. 1752
RCNP 003.003 (folder)
Account record (ca. 1752) and funding agreement (1752)
Public notice, request to dismantle the 1717 church building, April 1772
Public notice, distribution of 1717 church building materials, 1772
RCNP 003.004 (folder)
Appointment of Roelof Elting by the Consistory of New Paltz to attend meeting of area churches, 1773
RCNP 003.005 (folder)
Church pew deed, Isaac Hasbrouck, 1774
RCNP 003.006 (item), Conferentie Church (Owl Church) Register (1767-1783) [also known as “Church Register, Volume 4”]
V = page number in transcription/translation in Versteeg, Dingman (trans.), Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Paltz, NY (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977).
Digital page #
4-8 Copy, account of the founding of the Conferentie Church (Second Church) in New Paltz, August 1767, in Dutch. V: 7-9
8-9 Letter from Kingston consistory, August 3, 1767, in Dutch.
Relating to five members in the group that founded the Conferentie Church. V: 6
10-16 Consistory minutes of the Conferentie Church, 1768-1776. V: 71-73
17 Blank page
18-22 Conferentie Church baptisms August 30, 1767 – June 27, 1779. V: 113-117
24 Conferentie Church marriages (2 entries) November 1768 and August 1769. V: 82
26-27 Conferentie Church members 1769-1783. V: 79-80
29-32 Call of Ryner van Nest to the Conferentie churches of Shawangunk and New Paltz, 1774, in Dutch (copy). V: 13-16
RCNP Box 004
RCNP 004.001 (item), Church Register, Volume 5 and Account Book 25 (1771-1837)
Digital page #
3-14 Alphabetical Index
15-25 Accounts in Dutch, 1770s second stone church construction, October 25, 1771 – September 5, 1772
30-167 Account ledger in Dutch, likely relating to construction of the 1770s church, 1771-1778
168-171 Accounts, four loose pages, ca. 1810
172-188 Accounts in English, construction of parsonage, 1799-1819
190 Account records, purchase of New Hurley’s rights in the parsonage, and sale of lots
191-198 Church accounts, 1829-1836
200-217 Receipts for ministers’ salary, 1811-1863
218-219 Consistory Minutes, 1828 and 1829 regarding purchase of 1/8 of parsonage from New Hurley
220-221 Purchase of books for young men preparing for the Gospel Ministry, February 17, 1837
222-224 Records, minister’s salary, 1809 and 1816, and repair of the parsonage, 1817
225-233 Records of Pew Purchases, 1774
RCNP 004.002 (item), Church Register, Volume 6 (1817-1844)
W = Page number in transcription in Worden, Jean D. Ulster County Church records: New Paltz Reformed Dutch Church, 1817-1882, New Paltz and Plattekill Methodist Episcopal Circuit, 1842-1867 : Shokan Reformed Dutch Church, 1799-1892 ; death notices from newspapers, 1865-1895 ; Quaker records from Plains monthly meeting, 1787-1864 (Decorah, IA: Anundsen Publishing Company, 1987).
Digital page #
5-19 Member list, New Paltz and New Hurley, February 18, 1817 – October 12, 1832
24-63 Register of marriages, February 18, 1817 – January 26, 1844. W: 88-100 (1832-1844)
Starting on p. 38 (January 1832) ages, occupations, and residences included; occupations dropped on page 50 in 1834.
68-80 Consistory minutes, June 5, 1817 – May 20, 1831
RCNP Box 005
W = Page number in transcription in Worden, Jean D. Ulster County Church records : New Paltz Reformed Dutch Church, 1817-1882, New Paltz and Plattekill Methodist Episcopal Circuit, 1842-1867 : Shokan Reformed Dutch Church, 1799-1892 ; death notices from newspapers, 1865-1895 ; Quaker records from Plains monthly meeting, 1787-1864 (Decorah, IA: Anundsen Publishing Company, 1987).
RCNP.005.001 (item), Church Register, Volume 7 (1817-1849)
Digital page #
5-61 Baptisms, February 18, 1817 – August 30, 1831 Lists child, parents, birth date, and baptism date. W: 1-34
56 Loose document, two baptisms, September and November 1831; and certification of membership for Jane Lafavor, wife of Daniel I. Doyo, 1816
62-63 Loose document: notice of Reverend Van derVoort's call "to the Pastoral Care of this people" dated February 9, presumably 1845
64-66 Miscellaneous loose documents
67-68 Loose document and envelope: letter to Reverend Van derVoort from Reuben DeWitt Dubois regarding a wedding, 1845
69-70 Consistory meeting minutes, May 20, 1841
71-72 Loose document: certification of membership in good standing for Geritje Allyer, wife of Henry Heermance, 1823
73 Loose document: half of a notice of stock availabity from Manhattan Fire Insurance Company, to Mr. M.A. Still for C.A. Still
RCNP.004.002 (item), Church Register, Volume 8 (1832-1875)
Digital page #
2 Consistorial record (list of pastors, major events)
3-4 Blank
5-6 Loose page at front of volume: list of subscribers, for money to be paid for the services of “A Clarck”, dated between 1800 and 1809
7-16 Blank
17-366 Consistory Minutes, January 1, 1832 – April 11, 1875, with baptisms (Jan 17, 1832- Dec 10, 1848, W: 37-54) and other vital records (memberships, deaths) interspersed.
17-43 Baptisms, 1832-1840
48-51, 54-55 Baptisms, 1840
56-57 Baptisms, 1841
60-62, 64-66 Baptisms, 1842
68, 71, 74, 76-79 Baptisms, 1843
80, 82, 84 Baptisms, 1844
81 Resignation of Rev. Douw Van Olinda, 1844
86-87 Appointment of Rev. John C. Van derVoort, 1845
87, 89, 91-93 Baptisms, 1845
95-96, 99 Baptisms, 1846
100, 103, 104, 105-107 Baptisms, 1847
111, 116, 117 Baptisms, 1848
120 Departure of Rev. John C. Van derVoort to accept a call from the Dutch Reformed Church, West Ghent, Renssselaer County, 1848
126 Consistory invitation to Rev. Charles H. Stitt to serve as pastor, 1848
214-215 Resignation of Rev. Charles H. Stitt, 1865
216 Appointment of Rev. Philip Peltz, 1865
333-343 December 19, 1872 minutes/lists regarding rededication of “enlarged and beautified Church Edifice” and sale of church pews (includes pew diagram on page 335).
367-377 Blank
378-403 Records of Building the 1839 Church, March 1837- December 1839. Diagram of pews on p. 397; list of pews/price/purchaser on p. 400.
404-405 Record of transfer of pews, 1840-1872 and undated
406 Blank
407-409 Pews occupied in the North Side of the Gallery, 1859 & 1865
410-418 Blank
419 Pews occupied, undated
420 Minutes of December 21, 1860 consistory meeting
421 Notes on pews, 1846-1847 and undated
422-end Remainder of pages blank or have brief notes
RCNP.005.003 (item) Church Register, Volume 9 (1849-1882)
Digital page #
4 Title page
5-22 Census of members as of March 3, 1849, alphabetical order by surname
23-80 Membership list, 1850-1882 (with some later death additions), new members added chronologically
81-87 Church census, January 1, 1850, divided by district, includes heads of families, number of family members, and remarks
87-96 Church census, 1864-1865, includes heads of families, number of persons, number of church members, with a few additional notes
97-140 Baptisms, January 7, 1849 – September 16, 1882, includes names of parents and child, birth date, baptism date, death date; with remarks. W: 54-87
141 Blank
142-191 Marriages, June 10, 1849 – August 3, 1882. Includes names of bride and groom, residences, some ages, witnesses, and witness residences. W: 101-125
192-267 Record of deaths and funerals, March 3, 1849 – December 11, 1880. Includes causes of deaths and funeral details.
RCNP Box 006
RCNP.006.001 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1840-1849)
RCNP.006.002 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1850-1859)
RCNP.006.003 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1860-1869)
RCNP.006.004 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1870-1879)
RCNP.006.005 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1880-1889)
RCNP.006.006 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1890-1899)
RCNP.006.007 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1900-1909)
RCNP.006.008 (folder)
Poor Box Receipts (1910-1911)
RCNP.006.009 (folder)
Ladies Benevolent Association (1851-1857) and Young Ladies Benevolent Association (1865-1866)
RCNP.006.010 (folder)
Band of Hope, Secretary’s Book (1858-1860) (Temperance Society). Meeting minutes of the Band of Hope (through page 32 of the digital object), followed by unidentified account book entries.
Additional church register at RCNP, not digitized:
Church Register, Volume 10 (1882-1930)
Membership, pages 2-149 (1882-1930)
Baptisms, pages 205-241 (1882-1930)
Marriages, pages 353-387 (June 1882-October 1930)
Funerals, pages 440-528 (June 1882-August 1930)
Notes
[1] New Paltz Historic Documents, Reformed Church of New Paltz (housed at Historic Huguenot Street). “Church Register, Volume 1.” New York Heritage Digital Collections. 1683-1702. https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll153/id/24406/rec/2
[2] Kenneth Shefsiek. Set in Stone: Creating and Commemorating a Hudson Valley Culture (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2917), 143.
[3] Information about the history of the Conferentie Church was gathered from translations/transcriptions of the original records found in Dingman Versteeg (trans.), Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Paltz, NY (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977; originally published as Vol. III of Collections of the Holland Society of New York, 1896); from Shefsiek, Set in Stone, 2017; and from Ralph LeFevre, History of New Paltz and Its Old Families, second ed. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973; originally published Albany, 1909), pp. 148-151.
[4] Shefsiek, Set in Stone, 159-165.
[5] Information about the later history of the church was gathered from: Kevin Cook. The Reformed Church of New Paltz: A Timeline History (New Paltz: Reformed Church of New Paltz, 2020) and the RCNP website at https://www.reformedchurchofnewpaltz.org/our-church-history.html.
[6] Marriage and baptismal records, 1660-1809. Old Dutch Church, Kingston NY. Transcriptions online at https://olddutchchurch.org/history/genealogy/.