Ye Olden Time - Chapter Twenty-Eight

Transcribed by Arlene Goodwin. From the book entitled, "Ye Olden Time, as compiled from the Coxsackie News of 1889" written by Robert Henry Van Bergen, together with notations by Rev. Delber W. Clark, and edited by Francis A. Hallenbeck, 1935

Enlarging Greene County

 In the year of 1811, following an application made to the Legislature of the State of New York for an Act to enlarge the County of Greene by annexing the towns of Rensselaer and Coeymans, the following legal document was drawn by Van Dyck and Bronk, attorneys at law.

The list of signatures following the bond include most of the prominent citizens of that period.

Under its stipulation the people of the village of Coeymans were to be exempted from any taxation caused from the proposed building of a Court House in the village of Coxsackie.

The document brought the light at this time through the efforts of Miss Dorothy Merseillis, librarian at the Heermance Memorial Library, is as follows:

Know all men by these present that we the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the town of Coxsackie in the County of Greene are held and firmly bound unto the Supervisor and Assessors of the town of Coeymans in the County of Albany or to their successors in office in the sum of five thousand Dollars to be paid them the said Supervisor and Assessors or their successors in office—For payment whereof we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators. —Sealed with our seals, dated the ninth day of February one thousand eight hundred and eleven.

Whereas application is about to be made to the Legislature of the State of New York for an Act to enlarge the County of Greene by annexing thereto the towns of Renselaerville and Coeymans, and for holding the Courts for the said County in the town of Coxsackie; now therefore the condition of this obligation is such that if we the subscribers shall well and truly indemnify and save harmless the Inhabitants of the said town of Coeymans of and from all and all manner of taxes for or on account of building a Court House and goal in the said town of Coxsackie, then this obligation to be void otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

Executed by Epenetus Reed, John H. Cuyler, William Judson, Peter C. Adams, Abm. Van Dyck, John L. Bronk, Ralph Barker, John Barker, John Bartlett, Colba Reed, James VanVickar, in presence of

Henry L. Homedin
William Van Note

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