Rare Book Monthly
March: On the Prowl on eBay
In all the years I've collected Hudson Valley material I never saw local money until eBay.
“The twelve patentees were Louis DuBois and his sons Abraham and Isaac, Christian Deyo and his son Pierre, Simon and Andries LeFevre (brothers), Jean and Abraham Hasbrouck (brothers), Antoine Crispell, Louis Bevier, and Hugo Frere. Other families, with names like Elting, Schoonmaker, Terwilliger, Ean, and Schlecht, were part of the community from its earliest days. They built wooden homes that were later replaced by sturdy, stone structures. For 200 years after they first settled, New Paltz remained an isolated, small farming community. Farming, particularily of apples, is still one of New Paltz's largest businesses.”
“The community was clustered on the east shore of the Wallkill River, which is today known as Huguenot Street. Many of the seventh (make that seventeenth) century stone buildings still stand today and have been designated a National Historical Landmark, often referred to as "the oldest street in American in continuous state of habitation."
“The population slowly crept from the Wallkill up what is now Main Street and beyond. Areas which are now parts of the Towns of Lloyd, Shawangunk, Esopus and Gardiner split off from the Town of New Paltz between 1843 and 1853. The Village of New Paltz was incorporated in 1887.”
Okay, I’m convinced. Then I checked on ABE and there it was...for a lot less money. I bought it for $39.00 delivered: a first edition in excellent condition. You have to look.
There were a few other items I was interested in. I bid unsuccessfully on a “ CIVIL WAR MUSTER 38 SOLDIER POUGHKEEPSIE 1863, CAPTAIN PLATT PROV MAR 12TH DIST N Y DEC 1863.” This turned out to be:
“An original Muster for the 16th Regiment New York Volunteer Artillery dated at Washington Oct 23, 1863 and filled at Poughkeepsie, New York by Captain Isaac Platt for the 12th Congressional District. This form is completely filled out for 38 soldiers with names, ages, civilian occupation and address, where born, where recruited (Poughkeepsie) and race. Also what company posted to. Signed on the reverse by Captain Platt. This is a complete and original muster document, shown here in part only. A good Dutchess County Civil War Document.”
I bid $175.00 and someone topped my bid at the last moment to buy the lot for $177.50. You never know.
