Family

In the 1830 US Federal Census, “Jack” Hasbrouck was listed as a free “colored” head of household. He resided with a woman appropriately aged to be his mother Peg. John and Peg lived in the area of Pencil Hill and Water Street in the village of New Paltz and were neighbors with two other Black households, one headed by Philip DuBois, John’s father. As mentioned earlier, how often John would have seen his father during his childhood is unknown, but they appear to have aligned themselves by 1830.

Philip had achieved freedom eight years earlier and, by the time of the 1830 census, had had some time to establish himself. According to Reformed Church records, Philip (listed as Philip S. DuBois in the church records) married Isabella Deyo in 1826. Isabella had been enslaved by Philip Deyo on the Plains south of New Paltz. Isabella’s daughter Jane Deyo had married Thomas Wynkoop in 1827. They were John and Peg’s other Black neighbors and by the time of the census, Thomas and Jane had two young sons, John and Jacob[1] (Jacob Wynkoop would become a well-known house carpenter in New Paltz). John and Peg also had two boys and two girls under the age of ten living in their household. These children may have been orphaned or abandoned by their former enslavers and John and Peg may have been compensated for their care. At least one Black man was paid by the town’s Overseer of the Poor for care of Black children by this time.[2]

John’s account book tells us a little about day-to-day interactions with his father’s wife Isabella and stepdaughter Jane. In 1829, John noted settling accounts with Jane Deyo, possibly for making a shirt and “footing 2 pare of stockens” mentioned above on the page. At other points John and Jane exchanged food items such as potatoes, butter, molasses, and mackerel, as well as a gallon of soap, shoes, and eight yards of muslin. John settled accounts with Jane again in 1831 and 1832, noting once that he had given cash to her mother Isabella.[3]

John’s mother Peg may have been the woman of color named “Margret” (Peg being a diminutive of the name Margaret) who was baptized and accepted as a member upon confession of her faith in the Reformed Church on October 24, 1828. The 1830 census is believed to be the last known record for Peg, who apparently died before 1840 when the next federal census was taken. John’s father Philip was probably listed incorrectly in the 1840 census for New Paltz, but he and Isabella did appear in the 1850 census.[4] He was listed age 70 (providing a birth year of around 1780) and blind. Philip’s eyesight might have been impaired as early as 1834 and 1835 when he and Isabella worked on occasion for Ezekiel Elting.[5] Rather than chopping wood and other heavy farm labor, Philip was “hetcheling,” a key step in producing linen thread from flax, a type of flowery plant. The hetcheling process involves dragging prepared flax fibers through a series of iron-toothed combs known as hetchels to straighten the fibers and remove woody bits called shive. Hetcheling is performed while seated, using controlled arm and wrist movements that, with experience, would not require vision to be done safely and effectively. Tactile feedback, as Philip repeatedly dragged the flax through the hetchel, would have enabled him to sense when the fibers were free of tangles and shives and ready for spinning.[6]

The 1840 census indicated that John Hasbrouck had left the village and was living in the Ohioville area of New Paltz, possibly on the property he would later purchase. He was joined by a wife, Sarah, and three children under age ten. Two of these children were no doubt the couple’s oldest children: Philip and Margaret, each named for one of their grandparents (“Peg” being a diminutive form of the name Margaret). The third child may have been a foster child or perhaps their own child that died young. In 1840, the household also included two White, teenage boys, probably laborers that John boarded for one of his employers.

Little is known about John’s wife Sarah, sometimes known as Sally, except that she may have been indentured in her youth by Josiah Hasbrouck. John recorded her birthday in the back of one of his account books, writing, “Aprl 15^th in the year of our Lord 1806 then was Sally Hasbrouck Born.”[7] By 1845, John and Sarah’s daughter Almira was born and a third daughter, Sarah Jane, was born a few years later.[8]

John’s stepsister Jane Deyo Wynkoop appeared again in his account books in the 1840s, when accountings with Jane and her then teenage son John were recorded. Between 1841 and 1844, John exchanged cash with the Wynkoops, as well as a pair of shoes and a pair of boots, “cotton stuf for one pair of pantaloons,” a cord of wood, a bushel of wheat, and three bushels of rye.[9] Although not stated, John Wynkoop was probably working for John Hasbrouck. Thomas Wynkoop’s name disappears from the records by this time. In 1840, Jane Deyo Wynkoop had purchased, in her own name, the family’s home and land on today’s Church Street. John Wynkoop and his younger brother Jacob were likely working to supplement whatever income their mother earned to support their household.

But what about John Hasbrouck’s older sister Jane? According to Reformed Church records, Jane Hasbrouck married Lane (Leonard) Deyo in 1822. Leonard was the brother of Jane Deyo Wynkoop. Leonard and Jane had five children: Garret, John, Margaret, Philip, and Lewis (the names Margaret and Philip coming from Jane’s parents, of course), and by 1840, they relocated the family to Poughkeepsie, New York. Three of their sons, Garret, John, and Philip, became barbers. But in July 1843, John Hasbrouck provided board for a young John Deyo, his nephew and probable namesake, who was working for Daniel DuBois. John was about sixteen years old and was likely doing farm labor for the summer.[10]

By 1850, Philip DuBois had lived to know at least nine grandchildren. In fact, his eldest grandson Garret Deyo was in his mid-twenties, married with two daughters, and on his way to becoming a successful barber and business owner in the city of Hudson, New York.[11] Philip must have felt pride and satisfaction knowing his grandchildren and great grandchildren were free of the bondage that he and his own children had endured. His son John had learned to read and write and, as we shall see, John purchased his own land and may even have voted by this time. Philip was most certainly gratified by these family accomplishments.

Philip DuBois died within the next few years, probably before reaching his seventy-fifth year. In the 1855 state census, Isabella, his widow, was seventy-five and living on property owned by her grandson Jacob Wynkoop and his family. She stayed close to her two grandsons and her daughter Jane Deyo Wynkoop until her death nine years later in 1864.[12]

Notes

[1] 1830 US Federal Census. Reformed Church Records, vol. 6, images 33 and 34.

[2]Overseers of the Poor Account Book, 1805-1827, page 21 (not yet digitized). New Paltz Town Records Collection, courtesy of HHS. A man named Frank is paid for the support of three Black children. Frank is understood to be Frank DuBois who was once enslaved by Cornelius DuBois Junr. and who maintained ties to Cornelius’s son Josiah DuBois, a long-time Overseer of Poor.

[3]Hasbrouck Account Book 1, 1830-1838. HHS Archives, images 10-12. Although there was another Jane Deyo at this time in New Paltz, this is most likely Jane Deyo Wynkoop. John referred to Isabella as Isabella Deyo rather than Isabella DuBois, so he seems to have continued use of their maiden names (their enslaver’s surname), at least to this point in time.

[4] “Margret woman of couler” appears in the Reformed Church Records, vol. 6, image 14. 1850 US Federal Census. An appropriately aged “Philip Deyo” and his presumed wife are listed in the 1840 US Federal Census in New Paltz living in the same area as Philip DuBois and his household are listed in 1830 and 1850. The enumerator probably conflated the surnames.

[5] Ezekiel Elting Account Book, 1833-1842. Roelof J. & Ezekiel Elting Family Papers, HHS Archives, image 13. https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll153/id/4930/rec/5

[6] Philip is listed as Philip S. DuBois in the Ezekiel Elting Account Book, images 12-13.

[7] Harp article cited earlier indicated both John and Sarah were enslaved by Josiah Hasbrouck. Sarah’s birth date appears in the John Hasbrouck Account Book 2, 1837-1863. Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection (HHHC), Elting Memorial Library, image 149. 

[8] Almira and Sarah Jane’s birth years are indicated in the 1850 US Federal Census.

[9] Hasbrouck Account Book 2, images 148 and 145.

[10] See marriage record for “Lane” Deyo and Jane Hasbrouck in Reformed Church Records, vol. 6, image 31. 1840 and 1850 US Censuses for Poughkeepsie. John Deyo was recognized as the brother of Garret Deyo, who was referred to as John and Jacob Wynkoop’s cousin in the New Paltz Independent, June 11, 1886. Jane Hasbrouck Deyo and her three eldest sons are buried at the Hudson City Cemetery. Hasbrouck Account Book (2), image 28.

[11] 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 US Censuses for Hudson, New York.

[12]1855 New York State Census. Obituary for Isabella Dubois, New Paltz Times, February 26, 1864.