Putting the Dutch in Dutchess County
Uncovering the history hiding in plain sight
Ever wonder why many town names in the Hudson Valley end with “kill,” or what made the Roosevelt family first settle in this area? Both are seemingly small, insignificant questions, but they share an important connection that reveals a key aspect of Dutchess County history.
As you’ve probably already guessed from the title (or the name of the county), that connection would be the Dutch, who made their way to New York City and then Poughkeepsie and beyond over 300 years ago. As history buffs will recall, NYC was initially known as New Amsterdam because much of the Dutch population settled in the area. Among them was Claes Martensen van Rosenvelt, who came to Manhattan in the mid 1600s. His children eventually changed their last name to Roosevelt, and historians claim he is the direct ancestor of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, born in Manhattan 200 years later.
Of course, while Rosenvelt was settling in NYC, other Dutch immigrants spread throughout the state. The Gazetteer of New York, a history book published in the 1860s, writes that the first settlements in the Poughkeepsie area were made by the Dutch as early as 1700.
These settlers, like all visitors of the Hudson Valley area, recognized the importance of the river that flowed through the land. This was a key point of reference for naming many of the towns, using the Dutch word for stream — “kill”. Thus, towns such as Fishkill, Spackenkill and Cobleskill survive today.
Evidence of the Dutch presence in the Hudson Valley abounds, but it is the Roosevelt properties that attract the most attention, even if most people don’t know what brought them here in the first place. In reality, members of the Roosevelt family moved to Hyde Park as early as the 1700s.
Today, the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt is operated by the National Park Service, with 173,000 visitors touring the property in 2014 alone, according the Poughkeepsie Journal. Just a few miles away — and accessible by foot via a marked path through the woods — is the residence where wife Eleanor Roosevelt worked and consulted with friends. It is formally known as Val-Kill Cottage.
Sensing a pattern here?
Other reminders of Poughkeepsie’s past include the many churches that were established by the Dutch, and the crooked streets that resemble those found in old Dutch villages, according to James H Smith. The Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie — still in operation today — was first established in 1716 as stated on its website.
Dutchess County may be a far cry from the exciting city of Amsterdam or the tulip filled towns of The Netherlands, but the connection to its Dutch beginnings remain, with a history lurking just beneath its surface.
