52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week #39. Road Trip
Genealogy Road Trip – Summer 2018
In the summer of 2018, my wife and I took a genealogy road trip up the Hudson River valley in New York, cutting across Massachusetts and down to Connecticut to see the ancestors. After a visit to West Point (which I haven’t seen since I was about 8) we went to Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York to find the Old Burying Ground of my Rogers kin. Hezekiah Rogers (1738-1814) was one of the settlers of the Beekman Patent and for many years owned land there. Hezekiah was the brother of my 4th great grandfather, Zophar Rogers (1743-1800). The grounds were supposed to be alongside the road (a rural, but busy Route 9). After pre-trip research and Google maps, I found the grounds by noticing a buried stone wall in the foliage alongside the road. There it was - completely neglected, overgrown and many of the gravestones toppled. Fortunately, the graves were transcribed in J. Wilson Poucher and Helen Wilkinson Reynolds, Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, New York (Poughkeepsie: New York, 1924) as they are mostly unreadable now.
Gravestone of Hezekiah Rogers (1738-1814), Rogers Burial Ground, Beekman, Dutchess Co., NY. https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2333697/rogers-burial-ground
Our next stop was to try and locate the site of the old Morehouse Tavern in nearby South Dover, Dutchess Co. NY. Owned by Lt. Col. Andrew Morehouse (my 5th great grandfather) of the Dutchess Co. militia during the Revolutionary War. He hosted the likes of Washington, Arnold, Hamilton, Rochembeau, Clinton and other officers of Washington’s staff. A blog on his tavern is here: https://grmgenes.blogspot.com/2019/01/col.html. General Washington wrote several letters from this establishment. There was supposed to be a NY State sign marking the tavern, but it was gone and even the good librarians at the South Dover public library, did not know anything about it. Other researchers had eventually located what they believed to be the site. The tavern was torn down in the late 1880s and a photo does exist.
Top: Photo of the old Morehouse Tavern in Frank Hasbrouck, The History of Dutchess County, New York (Poughkeepsie, NY: 1909. Bottom: Illustration of the Morehouse Tavern in P.H. Smith, General History of Dutchess County from 1609 to 1876 inclusive (Pawling, NY: 1877).
Lt. Col. Andrew Morehouse was involved in a famous espionage incident in 1777. Known as a spy for the rebellion, but under the disguise of a Tory, Enoch Crosby was “captured” by Morehouse along with other Tory sympathizers at his tavern. Morehouse knew who he was working for and Morehouse knew, but could not divulge Crosby’s true nature. So, he was “captured” and later “escaped”. Crosby fled to Fishkill where a sign marks his “capture.” James Fenimore Cooper’s fictitious Harry Birch in his novel The Spy was based on the real-life exploits of Enoch Crosby.
Our most exciting stop was in Clifton Park, Saratoga County, New York. After visiting the gravesites [Clifton Park Baptist Cemetery] of my 3rd g.grandparents, Platt Rogers (1786-1858) & his wife, Harriett (1791-1848) and Cyrus Clark (1795-1880) & his wife, Nancy Morehouse (1794-1868 – granddaughter of the above named Andrew Morehouse), we found the house that Cyrus Clark built in 1820.
Gravestones of Platt Rogers and his wife Harriet. Clifton Park Baptist Cemetery.
It’s still standing! The house is well hidden from the main road at the end of a long driveway. As we started to take pictures of the house, the current owner came out and invited us in for a tour. The interior was undergoing some restoration and, as the house was on the local historical society list of houses, the owner was keeping to the original architecture as much as possible. Most of the windows and doors were original as was the staircase and wood beams in the ceiling. The exterior roof was the original slate roof and untouched since it was built. The owner had a number of vintage photos of the house. The original property once stood on over 100 acres of farm land, now much reduced to about an acre. It was a wonderful experience to get a personal tour of my ancestor’s home.
The Cyrus Clark House, circa 1820, Clifton Park, New York
Original interior door in the Cyrus Clark House
My other 3rd g.grandfather, Platt Rogers, house was also in Clifton Park (the Clark and Rogers families had married into each other). Unfortunately, no one was home, but we did take pictures and I had corresponded with the local historian who also did research on the house. It is largely original, built in the Greek-Revivalist style in about 1835. Pretty cool having two houses in the same town still standing that my ancestors built and lived in.
The Platt Rogers, circa 1835, Clifton Park, New York
On the way to visit my sister in Vermont, we stopped by Fort Ticonderoga and the fort at Crown Point. In the French & Indian War, my 6th g.grandfather, Edward Clark (1716-1799) was a Captain in the Massachusetts militia from Medway, Massachusetts and he was involved in the action at Crown Point in 1755.
The ruins of the barracks at Crown Point, New York
Our next genealogy stop was more historical. My 3rd cousin, 8X removed is President John Adams and we had the opportunity to visit his gravesite in Quincy and the fabulous Adams National Historic Park where we visited his boyhood home in Quincy and his home called Peace Field, home to generations of Adams.
Peace Field, Home of the Adams, Quincy, Mass.
Grave of President John Adams in the basement of the United First Parish Church, downtown Quincy, Mass. Abigail Adams and John Quincy Adams & his wife are also buried here.
Our last visit was to Mystic, Connecticut to see the gravesite of my Denison ancestors as well as the Denison homestead, which is now a museum. My 9th g.grandfather, George Denison, was quite a character – a Cromwell soldier, “Indian” fighter, settler of Mystic – a blog detailing his exploits are found here: https://grmgenes.blogspot.com/2020/09/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-39-should.html.
The original 1600s house is long gone, but the current property was built on the original foundation and now houses many Denison family artifacts and colonial period furniture, tools and objects (including a huge wooden loom). We also stopped to see the gravesites of ancestors in nearby Stonington, Connecticut (the Stantons and Lords).
The Denison Homestead and Museum, Mystic, Connecticut
A magnificent period, wooden loom. Still works! The Denison Homestead & Museum
The grave of George Denison’s wife, Ann Borodell, age 97, in Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic, Conn. Their relationship is like a fairy tale. By all account, Ann Borodell, also known as “Lady Ann,” was an elegant lady.
Here lies ye body
of Ann Denison
who died Septber
ye 26th 1712 aged
97 years
Grave of Thomas Stanton (1615-1677) and his wife, Anna Lord. Stanton, my 9th g.grandfather, was a founder of Stonington, Conn. He was an “Indian” interpreter and fought in the Pequot and King Philip Wars.
Wequetequock Burial Ground, Stonington, Conn.
