Q 1798

Quitman House

QUITMAN RESOUCE CENTER FOR

PRESERVATION, INC.

QRC Officers

President: Conrad Fingado

Vice President: Kay Verrilli

Secretary and Newsletter

Editor: Marilyn Hatch

Treasurer: Carol DeSaram

Trustee: Linda Stanley

QRC/Palatine Farmstead

Committee Members

Conrad Fingado, Chairman

Joanne Engle, Secretary

Emily Majer, Treasurer

Steven Mann, Archivist

Bill Lazzarotti

Peter Dykeman

Colleen Bloxham

Nancy Kelly, Advisor

Sarah Bachelier, Education

Coordinator

Consortium of Rhinebeck

History

Nancy Kelly, Chairperson

Steve Hubbert: Computer

Technician

Eleven Organization Mem-

bers

2014 Dates to Note

Ice Cream Social July 12

Harvest Dinner at the El-

mendorf for the benefit of

the Palatine Farmstead Oc-

tober 18. 5:00 to 7:30.

Palatine Farmstead is open

Saturdays during the sum-

mer months from 1 - 4.

From the Editor

After 40 years as a member of Quitman Resource Center for Preservation

and 50 years in Rhinebeck, time has come to say farewell not only to the

QRC but to NY. Come May, John & I will finish packing, our son Scott

will come to give us a hand to load the U-haul and head to our summer

home in Harrison, Me. I leave many friends and numerous memories as I

start a new page in my life.

In 1973, when John was president of the Rhinebeck Historical Society,

Town Historian, Dewitt Gurrnell, came to a meeting to tell us that the trus-

tees of the Stone Church were considering demolishing the old parsonage

and proposed that the Society take on the task of saving the building. This

started a journey of restoration, finding a community use for the house, or-

ganizing the Museum for Rhinebeck History in 1990, forming the Consor-

tium of Rhinebeck History organizations in 1992, and in 2002, accepting the

1727 Palatine farmstead, the Neher, Elseffer, Cotting, Lossee, property from

the Rhinebeck Equine, Ltd.

Along the way we had the pleasure of working with and getting to know

many great volunteers. Without them John & I could not have accom-

plished what we did. We are so grateful to each one of them for their time

and talents. Your continued support of these projects makes Rhinebeck a

community grounded in our very special history.

Marilyn Hatch

Rev. Quitman’s “Treatise on Magic”

This winter a call was received from Adam Jortner who teaches US history

at Auburn University in Alabama seeking information about Rev. Quitman

and the book he wrote on Magic. We have this dissertation in our archives,

but I must admit that I never read past the first page of the document.

Mr. Jortner is in the process of researching on what Americans were saying

about miracles and other supernatural events between 1776 and 1840, for a

book he is writing. Did they believe in them? Quitman was important to

the story because of his 1810 Treatise was one of the few books written by

someone in the US that was specifically about magic.

Behind the book is a story about a Rhinebeck farmer in 1808 who ran afoul

of the evil spirits who threw stones across his farm (indoors and outdoors),

even when doors and windows were locked. Some winter stores were

blighted: those that survived simply vanished. The family feared witchcraft,

and they called in a famous conjuror from across the Hudson River. The

conjuror was one of the cunning-folk whose job it was to reverse enchant-

ments using counter-magic, but it did no good. Then Frederick Quitman

arrived. He was appalled to find his fellow citizens gabbing about witch-

Treatise cont.

‘With too many eyes on him, Quitman made ar-

rangements with some confederates, who literally

caught the culprits in the act of throwing stones; but

Quitman soon learned that even when the whole af-

fair had been exposed as a prank, “the infatuation is

so great that many, and even members of the injured

family, persist in the belief of its being practiced by

infernal influence… and it is really to be feared that

during this dull winter, all the corners of Rhinebeck,

for want of other employment, will be infested with

demons.”’

A copy of this Treatise is in the parlor of the Quit-

man House as a part of the F. H. Quitman exhibit

for those interested in reading what he thought about

magic.

Day Lily Bed Restored

On a sunny day in November, the men from Integral

Landscaping arrived with their machines to dig up

the day lilies along with the weeds and woody

growth in the front lily beds. The corns of the lilies

were removed, the old dirt thrown away and re-

placed with fresh.

From the Consortium of Rhinebeck History

Sampler Project: As part of a project sponsored

by the Dutchess County Historical Society, the

members of the Consortium have been asked to

join in documenting samplers held by individuals

as well as each organization. The first step in this

project is to identify what samplers we have in the

Rhinebeck area and if the owner is willing to have

their sampler(s) documented. The second step is

to set up an event to document and show the handi-

work created by the young girls who did sampler

work. If interested, call Nancy Kelly @ 876-4592.

The date for this show is to be announced.

Exhibits Remembering Special Anniversaries:

1864 was a memorable year for Rhinebeck for on

May 8, Village resident were awakened by the toll-

ing of the church bells and thought that the bells

were announcing the end to the Civil War. In-

stead, the bells were tolling to call citizens to help

fight a major fire in the business district. With the

help of an engine from Esopus, the fire was finally

extinguished at 5 p.m. after having demolished all

the businesses and buildings on the south side of E.

Market. The brick buildings from #2 - 42 E. Mar-

ket were built in the aftermath of the fire and still

stand to provide an enduring face of Rhinebeck.

Exhibits of this event and one on the Civil War can

be viewed at the Starr Library during normal Li-

brary hours.

75 years ago on May 1st, the Rhinebeck Post Of-

fice was dedicated by Franklin D. Roosevelt. He

had taken particular interest in the construction of

this PO because his ancestor, Henry Beekman, had

lived in the stone house chosen as the one on

which the PO was modeled. A display of this

event will be available in the Lobby of the PO dur-

ing normal lobby hours. A reenactment of the

dedication will take place on Saturday May 17

at 4 p.m. with Michael Frazier portraying FDR

and Anthony Musso, author of “FDR and the

Post Office”, will provide background informa-

tion.

At the Town Hall there will be an exhibit of the

“1939 New Town Hall” built when the original

Town Building was torn down to make way for the

Post Office. On the first floor was the auditorium

& stage, the judge’s chamber, four jail cells & a

The Quitman Resource Center is looking for

volunteers to serve on its Board of Trustees.

Trustees are elected on a rotating basis and

serve a three year term of office. The organiza-

tions officers are elected from the trustees. If

you are interested in serving as a trustee.

Please call Conrad Fingado after 5 p.m. at 845- Also on the weekend of May 17 & 18 there will be His-

toric Rhinebeck Day/Sidewalk Sale. Info C Of C 876-5904

From the Farmstead—Finding the Clues to Make

the Connection: Since our last newsletter, the de-

sign of the front stoop has evolved from one of a

simple design to one with Greek revival elements.

To remind our readers, the State of NY holds a 15

year covenant on the farmstead property and all

major work on the house must be approved by the

project manager, Stacey Matson-Zuvic. After re-

viewing the proposal, she wanted proof that the

stoop had a hood and if so what did it look like?

Because we felt certain that a stoop of the 1840’s

would have had a hood, the question was, where

do we find the proof. The first clue was found

when Chairman Fingado met with the archaeolo-

gist to verify approximately where the footings

would be found. As Conrad was looking closely at

the original stoop’s floor boards, that had been

uncovered when the front façade of the house was

being restored, he suddenly noticed, under layers

of dirt, that there was a faint outline of a fluted

Doric column. What an a-ha moment that was.

The next piece of evidence was that the footings

were exactly where they had been plotted out and

the artifacts found dated from 1835 to 1840. Now

for the connection: Steven McCarty was the local

artisan known for this style of work. In 1832, Mr.

McCarty had finished adding the south tower to

the Old Stone Church. Henry Elseffer, a church

trustee, was certainly familiar with his workman-

ship. With all this infor-

mation, we felt confident

that Mr. McCarty had

been employed to build

the stoop. The last step

was to take a picture of

Mr. McCarty’s home, lo-

cated at 138 E. Market St.,

to show his style of work-

manship and to resubmit

a new design. Ms. Mat-

son-Zuvic gave her ap-

proval for the hood .

This spring the front of the house is being cleaned

and painted in preparation for the construction of the

front stoop. We now await the grants to start the

work. A thank you to those who have donated toward

this project.

Winter’s work: The sever cold and snow kept the

Farmstead Committee members from working at the

house for most of the winter. But, before it turned

bitterly cold the stairway to the basement was in-

stalled, the molding for around the windows com-

pleted, outlets in the

North parlor installed and

broken window panes

replaced.

Just because it was too cold to work in the house, it

did not stop the members of the Committee from con-

tinuing the accessioning of the items found in the

house or working on plans for the Palatine Harvest

Dinner to be held at the Elmendorf Inn for the bene-

fit of the Farmstead. See the enclosed flyer.

Spring is really here!

If there is any doubt,

Joanne Engle uncov-

ered the asparagus

sprouts that were pok-

ing their heads up out

of the ground. The

plant seen in the mid-

dle of the bed is a

spring flower. Its dor-

mant roots found a

New member Emily Majer

installing the molding around

the 1st floor windows.

Mission Statement: The Quitman Resource Center for Preservation, Inc., hereinafter referred to as the QRC, ad-

vocates for the rehabilitation, preservation, and/or the restoration of the historic resources in the Town of Rhine-

beck, including its historic structures, documents, & artifacts,, by providing preservation workshops, information

and resources.

Membership Renewal

Name _________________________________________________ ____$25 Friend

Address _______________________________________________ ____ $10 Senior

City/State/Zip __________________________________________ ____ $30 Donor

E-mail/Telephone _______________________________________ ____ $50 Patron

____ $100 Benefactor ____ $1000 Life Member (May be given over a 4 year period)

My membership contribution is to go to:

____ QRC ____ Palatine Farmstead ____Consortium of Rhinebeck History

Send to: Membership Chairperson at PO Box 624, Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Quitman Resource Center for Preservation, Inc.

PO Box 624

Rhinebeck, NY 12572