I chose to include this material under Tryon Co., since that was the correct political division of the entire area of the area west of Albany at the time - although the family lived around Middleburg and Harpersfield [a portion of which became Kortright in 1797 when Otsego Co. was partitioned]. One branch of the family stayed put around Middleburg, and Burghardt/Burgett descendants live there today. Between 1800-1810, some of the family moved even further westward to Smithville and German in Chenango Co. - thus my interest in all three of the current counties of Schoharie, Delaware, and Chenango. Also, interestingly enough , a group of settlers led by the Harper family of Harpersfield migrated into northeastern Ohio [originally the "Western Reserve" portion of Connecticut], OH after their previous home in Harpersfield, Delaware Co., NY!
Milbrey Otto Burgett, September 1, 1997
By the mid-1700's, BURGAART/BURGHARDT descendants of Coenraat Hendrickse BORGHGHARDT3, the founder of Housatonic Colony, Berkshire Co., MA [now Great Barrington] had begun to migrate from the area around Great Barrington and Kinderhook, Albany Co., NY [became Columbia Co. in 1786] to the west of the Hudson River and Albany in what was then Albany County, one of the original counties of New York.
Original counties of New York in 1683 were: Albany, Dutchess, Kings, New York, Orange, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester.
Tryon County was formed from Albany County in 1772 and named after William Tryon, the British Royal Governor of New York. Note below that it was renamed Montgomery County in 1784.
"The area which comprised Tryon County was essentially all of NY State west of historical Ulster, Albany, and Charlotte Counties; and no western limit was specified. At that time, Schenectady was part of Albany County, to the eastern boundary lay approximately five miles west of Schenectady into the Mohawk Valley and included the Western Adirondacks and the areas west of the West Branch of the Delaware River to the south. Today, some 37 counties have been created from what was Tryon County. Upon its creation, the county was a hotbed of pre-Revolutionary War activity, the scene of dramatic intermingling of cultures and was to become the focal point of earnest westward expansion in the decades following the Revolution. Following the Treaty of Peace with the British in 1784, the county was renamed Montgomery County after General Richard Montgomery, the hero of the American Quebec Expedition." 1
Individuals of the Burghardt/Burgett family can be associated with Albany County and the following Counties of the 37 Counties subsequently formed from Tryon/Montgomery County:
Date County Formed From Location
1786 Columbia Albany Claverack, Kinderhook
1791 Herkimer Tryon/Montgomery [see Chenango Co.]
1791 Otsego Tryon/Montgomery [see Delaware Co.]
1791 Tioga Tryon/Montgomery [see Chenango Col.]
1795 Schoharie Albany, Otsego Fultonham, Middleburg
1796 Steuben Ontario Painted Post, Erwin
1797 Delaware Otsego, Ulster Kortright, Harpersfield
1798 Chenango Herkimer, Tioga German, Oxford, Smithville
1800 Greene Albany, Ulster Loonenburg
1823 Yates Ontario, Steuben
"The Revolutionary War disrupted all aspects of life in the Mohawk Valley. Many villages were laid to waste by British and Indian attacks, and many civilians were murdered. Major military activities included the siege at Fort Stanwix, the battle at Oriskany in 1777, the Cherry Valley Massacre in 1778, the 1779 punitive expedition against the Iroguois led by General John Sullivan through the Finger Lakes Region, and the raid of Colonel Sir John Johnson through the Schoharie and Mohawk Valleys in 1781. The end of the war brought great relief to the residents of Tryon County. It is said that the county was left with 12,000 abandoned farmsteads and counted 380 widows and 2,000 orphans." 2
Conrad5 BURGHARDT and Judithje VAN VALKENBURG
Coenrad5 and Judithje [VAN VALKENBURG] BURGHARDT migrated into that area of Albany Co. around Schoharie and Middleburg, which was to become Schoharie County in 1795, before the formal formation of Tryon/Montgomery County. They were involved in one of the Indian massacres that took place there.
"Conrad BURGETT and family were driven out of N. Y. in the Indian massacre in the Revolution, into Schoharie Valley, left large property there, m. Margaret [Judithje?] VAN VALKENBURG, who in above massacre, was shot through the body by an Indian, but recovered. Had 10 ch.: Margaret m. Lemuel CLEVELAND; John; Lambert BURGETT (the 9th ch.), whose daughter m. Isaac WARD of Painted Post, N. Y., whose son, Aaron WARD of Bath [NY], claimed descent from Annetje JANS.
Lemuel CLEVELAND, b. Mass. ab. 1748-55, d. Bloomfield, Ontario Co., NY or Mendon, Monroe Co., NY about 1820, aged 65 or 70, m. in Schoharie Co., NY, Margaret BURGETT, b. Schoharie Co., d. Mendon about 1815, a da. of Conrad BURGETT and Margaret [Judithje?] VAN VALKENBURG.
Lemuel CLEVELAND lived in Great Barrington, Berkshire Co., MA. He hired as a Revolution soldier about 1780. He removed from Great Barrington about 1797 to Middleburg, and thence, about 1798-9, to Mendon or Bloomfield. Farmer.
John Lemuel CLEVELAND [a son of Lemuel and Margaret] at age 4 was adopted by his uncle, John BURGETT, with whom he lived at Great Barrington, Mass."
Coenrad BURGAART5, a son of Hendrik BURKHARDT4 and Evatie (Eva) VAN VALKENBURG, was christened at the Dutch Reformed Church of Kinderhook, Albany Co., NY [became Columbia Co. in 1786], on 14 May 1727. Evatie was a daughter of Lambert Jochumse VAN VALKENBURG and Jannetje Franse KLAUW.
He was a grandson of Coenraat Hendrickse BORGHGHARDT3 and Geesje VAN WIE. In accordance with Dutch naming traditions, both grandson and grandfather had the same names. The suffix -se to the middle name, Hendrickse, indicated that his father's name was Hendrick. Geesje was a daughter of Hendrick Gerritse VAN WIE and Eytie ARIAANSZ.
Coenreat3 Hendrickse BORGHGHARDT and Geesje VAN WIE
"Coenreat Hendrickse BORGHGHARDT, or, as the name has since been written, Coonrod BURGHARDT, was born about 1677, probably in the vicinity of Albany, and was the son of Hendrick Coenreatse BORGHGHARDT2 and Marya Janse Franse VAN HOESEN, daughter of Jan Franse VAN HOESEN and Volkie JUIRIAANSE. Coonrod Burghardt's maternal grandfather, Jan Franse VAN HOESEN, came from a place called Huisen, near the Zuyder Zee, Netherlands. He was a commissioner for the Dutch West India Company, and a resident of New Amsterdam (New York City) before 1654, and afterward of Fort Orange and Beaverwyck (Albany). He was interested in shipping, and bought considerable real estate in the village and vicinity of Fort Orange, also half the island opposite, which, after his death, about 1667, was sold to Jeremiah Van RENNSELAER.
On June 5, 1662, he bought from the Indians, for five hundred guilders, in beavers, several hundred acres along the Hudson River, in the vicinity of Claverack, including the present city of Hudson. Coonrod Burghardt married, before 1698, Gesie Hendrickse VAN WIE, daughter of Hendrick Gerritse VAN WIE, and settled in Kinderhook, before 1700. He is mentioned as a prominent citizen of that place in 1702, and again in 1720, in the Documentary History of the State of New York. In December 1702, Mr. Burghardt, and some of his neighbors, were summoned to appear before the Governor and Council, in the City of New York, and answer the charge of having employed Paulus VAN VLECK, a religious teacher, who had been forbidden to preach by the former.
As the season was unfavorable for traveling, Mr. Burghardt petitioned that the matter be postponed until spring, but it was not granted, so he, with the others, journeyed to New York, appearing before the proper authorities on March ll, 1703, "acknowledged their error, and, submitting themselves thereon, were discharged, with a caution to be more careful for the future."
Mr. Burghardt was extensively engaged in the fur trade, with the Indians, along the New England path, which extended from Albany to Boston, and passed through Kinderhook and the southern part of the Housatonic valley, which he had undoubtedly explored at an early date, and he was on friendly terms with them and familiar with their language and customs.
In the spring of 1717, he and Elias VAN SCHAICK applied to the Governor of New York for a license to purchase a tract of four thousand acres of land, south-east of Kinderhook, and west of the Westenhook patent, which latter included a large part of the Housatonic valley.
The land was laid out in the fall of the same year, by a government surveyor, but it was immediately claimed by Henry VAN RENNSELAER, of Claverack manor, upon the strength of an alleged prior patent, and this circumstance was followed by a controversy, which continued many years, and finally resulted unfavorably for Mr. Burghardt, however, it was probably in consequence of this that he connected himself with the New England settlers, in the Housatonic valley, which alliance proved of great benefit to himself and his posterity. In 1724 he was employed by the Settling Committee, of the Housatonic colony, to purchase, from the Indians, land in the southern portion Berkshire County, for the formation of the Housatonic townships, and he was so successful that he reduced the money value from 1200 pounds, the price asked to 460 pounds, the price given.
On April 25, 1724, Konkapot and twenty other Indian owners, met the committee at Westfield, Massachusetts, Mr. Burghardt, acting as interpreter, and he was also one of the witnesses to the deed, which the former gave to the latter, with certain reservations, to a tract of land extending four miles east of the Housatonic River, bounded on the south by the Connecticut line, north on "ye great mountain, known by ye name of Man-ska-fee-hunk," supposed to be Rattlesnake Mountain, in Stockbridge, and west on the New York line, which at that time had not been permanently settled.
In 1725 the committee engaged Mr. Burghardt to measure the distance from the Hudson to the Housatonic rivers, at the nearest point, in the vicinity of the Housatonic Townships, but he was caused much annoyance by the Westenhook patentees, who claimed a larger portion of Berkshire County. The history of this patent which is too long to repeat here, was granted by the Governor of New York, which state, at an early period, before the line was established, claimed the western end of Massachusetts as far east as the Connecticut River. Mr. Burghardt went to Albany, and engaged a surveyor, but, as he did not appear on the appointed time, Mr. Burghardt again visited Albany, when he learned that the man had been bribed by the Westenhook patentees; he then went to Schenectady and employed another, but this one also disappointed him, for the same reasons, but nothing daunted, he went eighty miles farther, to Kings Township, and there secured the services of a third, by paying 5 pounds New York currency, and, with the assistance of Mr. Burghardt and one of his sons, the surveyor measured the line.
In 1726 some of the settlers in the Housatonic Townships were molested, and sued as trespassers, by the Westnehook patentees, and lost their suits in Albany. The Settling Committee requested Mr. Burghardt to give bonds, for the damages and costs, which he did, and in consequence he had the trouble and expense of several trips to Albany and Westfield, and eventually paid 70 pounds to satisfy his bonds.
Later he was employed by the committee to purchase a tract of land north of the Housatonic Townships, and for seventeen days he enterained "with great fatigue and trouble," at his home in Kinderhook, thirty-one Indian owners, who came from the Susquehannah country, in Pennsylvania.
In 1741 Mr. Burghardt petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for reward for his services, in connection with the colonization of Southern Berkshire county, relating the various details pertaining to them, and although they showed that had received some conpensation, they presented him in 1742, a tract of two hundred acres of land, in Richmond, north of Great Barrington. He removed from Kinderhook to the Housatonic settlement a little later than 1730, bringing nearly all his children with him. "The mansion house of the Burghardts, a low, Dutch looking structure, with a long sloping roof to the south," was near the corner, north of the Mahaiwe or south cemetery, upon a plot of several acres. It was occupied by the Burghardts for about one hundred years, and was torn down about 1840.
Besides the house lands, he owned the meadow, now the Agricultural Grounds, two hundred acres in the town of Richmond, and several thousand acres of the finest lands in the present towns of Great Barrington and Egremont, some being on the banks of the Green River.
His six rights, of four hundred acres each, in the Upper Housatonic Township, he transferred as follows: Two to his son-in-law, Isaac VAN DEUSEN, in 1743; three to his sons, Peter and Jacob, in 1746, and one to his son Hendrick, at an earlier date.
"He was a man of great intelligence, enterprise and public spirit, as well as of sturdy integrity, and, judging from his autograph, a man of good education for those times," and "appears to have been the most wealthy of all the settlers, and to have maintained an influential position among them."
Mr. Burghardt died about 1750, and was undoubtedly buried in the vicinity of others of his family, in the south burial ground, at Great Barrington. It is to be regretted that no suitably inscribed monument perpetuates the memory of this sturdy patriarch, who may fairly be entitled to called the founder of the Housatonic colony."
Coenraat Hendrickse BORGHGHARDT3, married Geesje VAN WIE on 12 Nov 1697, probably at Kinderhook, NY; although their marriage was recorded in the Dutch Reformed Church of Albany, which was the only DRC north of New Amsterdam until the early 1700's.
JAN FRANSE VAN HUSUM and Volkertje JUIRAANSE
Marya's father, Jan Franse VAN HUSUM, who was born ca. 1608 at Husum, Schlesweig-Holstein, Denmark and married Volkertje JUIRAANSE of Noorstrand in Amsterdam in 1639 prior to coming to New Amsterdam, was the progenitor of all of the VAN HOESENS in America.
"How long Jan Franse remained in New Amsterdam we do not know, but he later moved to Renselaerwyck, now Albany. Documents represent Jan Franse VAN HOESEN, his wife, Volkie JURRIAANSE, and his son, Jurian, as being of Fort Orange and Beverwyck (now Albany, NY) as early as 1645 when he made several purchases of land and erected buildings. His principal purchase was that of Claverack land of several hundred acres along the Hudson River from the Mohican Indians which he made on June 5, 1662 (under the Dutch regime). Jan Franse Van Hoesen was the first settler near Claverack Landing (now Hudson). These lands were confirmed to him by a patent from Governor NICOLL at Albany on May 14, 1667. The purchase was originally made from an Indian named Pamotepiet (or Pompocnick) and another Indian named Tatan Kenant, the purchase price being 500 guilders in beavers. One June 11, 1664, the sale was confirmed by another Indian owner named Sickanoek (alias Tunis), all signatures being made with signs or marks.The original house occupied by Jan Franse VAN HOESEN and his family was on a site near the entrance to the old covered bridge north of the [present] city of Hudson. Mynheer Jan Franse VAN HOESEN died at Claverack in 1667, probably a few days prior to May 30th, when Volkie, widow of Jan Franse, made a contract entered in the Orphans Court at Albany on that date."
Children of Conrad and Judithje BURGHARDT
According to records of the Zion Lutheran Church at Loonenburg, Albany Co., NY [Green Co. in 1800], Coenrad5 married Judithje [Judick] VAN VALKENBURG there on 14 Jan 1750 . Judithje was a daughter of Jochem VAN VALKENBURG and Elsje VAN HUSEN. Judithje was niece of her husband's mother, Eva VAN VALKENBURG.
Three sons of Conrad and Judithje are known to have served the colony of New York during the Revolutionary War6 . They were: Jehoiakim [Jochem], Sr.; Milbury; and Lambert. A Henry Burghardt, who is also listed on the roster of the 9th Regiment of the Albany County Militia, was probably another son.
Jehoiakim6 [Jochem] BURGHARDT, Sr.
Jehoiakim, Sr. served in the 9th Regiment of the Albany County Militia.
After the Revolutionary War, Jehoiakim BURGHARDT [Sr.] was listed as a Head of Household in the 1790 and 1800 Federal Census records at Kortright, NY, which was in Montgomery Co. in 1790, but became Delaware Co. in 1797. By 1810, he had moved his family westward to Smithville, Chenango Co., NY, where his sons, William, Sr. and Jehoiakim, Jr., were both listed as Heads of Household in the 1810 Federal Census. Jehoiakim, Sr. probably died there; but beginning ca. 1813, his widow, Sarah WHITE, and four of their children began a further western movement to Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., OH, which was named for Harpersfield, Delaware Co., NY from whence its early settlers had migrated. Those children were: Judith, who married Josiah DODGE, a seventh-generation descendant of Mayflower passenger, Richard MORE; William, Sr., who married Abigail ANDREWS; Milbury, who married Abigail's sister, Sarah (Sally) ANDREWS; and Jehoiakim, Jr., married 1) Catherine Anne Sarissa PATTERSON and 2) Catherine DODGE in Ashtabula Co., OH after 1813.
Lambert6 BURGHARDT
Lambert served from the colony of New York during the Revolutionary War, also in the 9th Regiment of the Albany County Militia. According to his pension application, he enlisted in May or June 1780 at Hinsdale, Columbia Co., NY, where he was born in 1753, and served as a private in Capt. Miller's Company, Col. Livingston's New York Regiment. He was stationed at the middle fort in Schoharie and was discharged in Oct 1780. He re-enlisted in May 1782 and served as a private in Capt. Jonathan Pearcy's Company, Col. Willett's New York Regiment, until peace was declared with a length of service of 1 year and 6 months. It was also stated that he served in Capt. Conner's Company, Col. Willett's New York Regiment. His brother-in-law, Abijah WARD, also enlisted with him at Hinsdale, NY. Wife: Margaret [EKKERSON] (Application # W1710, BLWT 28588-160-55)
After the Revolution, Lambert also resided at Middleburg, Schoharie Co., NY, where he was listed as a Head of Household in both the 1800 and 1810 Federal Census Records. He later lived at Painted Post, Steuben Co., NY and Addison, Steuben Co., NY. The families of Lambert Burgett and his twin sister, Rachel Burgett, who married Abijah Ward, removed from Schoharie Co., NY to Painted Post, Steuben Co., NY in 1819. According to a descendant of Lambert Burgett and Margaret Eckerson, Mrs. F. S. Ems, of Belfair, WA: "The Town of Painted Post in 1819 covered a large area, and I feel that they were probably early settlers in the hamlet of Gibson, located just to the east of the city of Corning today. Mrs. Ems indicated that Rachel and Lambert were born in 1764 and baptized in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Schoharie Co., NY."
Lambert and his son, Cornelius, are both listed in the 1820 Federal Census for Painted Post, Steuben Co., NY. Cornelius was previously listed in the 1810 Census in German, Chenango Co., NY.
Lambert was interred in the Erwin-Townsend Cemetery, located in the town of Erwin, NY on the old U. S. Route 15 highway just north of Presho, NY. It is located on a knoll across from the Mullulland bridge on the westside of the Tioga River. It was here that the Corning, NY Chapter of the DAR marked the graves of brothers Benjamin and Robert Patterson in December 1915. There are four known Revolutionary War soldiers interred in this cemetery, but only the two were ever marked. The four Revolutionary soldiers:
Benjamin Patterson (d. 2 Jul 1830, aged 70 yrs, 9 mo) Rev. soldier
Robert Patterson (d. 2 Oct 1840, aged 80 yrs, 7 mo) Rev. soldier
Abijah Ward (d. 15 Jan 1835, aged 77 yrs, 3 mo) Rev. soldier
Rachel (Burgett), his wife (d. 6 Aug 1850, aged 87 yrs, 5 mo)
Lambert Burgett (b. 1764, d. after 1840) No stone remains for him.
Margaret (Eckerson) his wife (b. 1765, d. after 1855)
Millbury6 BURGHARDT
Another brother, Millbury Burget, served in The Line, 4th Regiment (Col. James Holmes, Col. Henry B. Livingston) during the Revolutionary War. According to Revolutionary War Records: Massachusetts (Vol. 2, p. 840).Burget, Milbury. Wagoner, Q. M. Gen. Dept. at Fishkill; return dated 10/14/1781. Enlisted to expire 1/1/1782. Wife: Mary [MATTICE]. (Application #W21730).
Milbury is listed in the 1810 Federal Census as a Head of Household in Middleburgh, Schoharie Co., NY. His descendants remained in the area, and many of them reside there today.
Henry6 BURGHARDT
A Henry BURGHARDT, who was probably the younger brother of Jehoiakim, also served in the 9th Regiment of the Albany County Militia.
After the Revolutionary War, a Henry BURGHARDT was also listed as a Head of Household in the 1790 and 1800 Federal Census records at Kortright, NY, which was in Montgomery Co. in 1790, but have become Delaware Co. by 1800.
Peter5 BURGHARDT
"Peter5 BURGHARDT, another grandson of Coenraadt3 and a son of Garrett4 BURGHARDT and Mary JACOBS, was born in 1753 in Great Barrington, Berkshire Co., MA and died in 1825 while building bridges or rafting logs in Kentucky. Peter married Mercy CHURCH, a daughter of Moses CHURCH and Mary YOUNGLOVE, in 1772 in Great Barrington, Berkshire Co., MA. Peter came to Oxford, Chenango Co., NY with his wife and eight children from Great Barrington in 1792 and settled on the farm now owned by F. P. NEWKIRK. He removed at any early part of the nineteenth century to Allegheny County [NY] and died in Kentucky while engaged in building bridges. He erected the first grist mill in this town on Hovey's creek, one and one half miles west of the village. His wife died at Warren, Warren Co., PA. Two daughters died in Oxford: Mary, who married John DODGE, and left many descendants, and Sally, wife of Abijah LOBDELL, Jr., who has only two descendants now living; Miss Helen M. LOBDELL and Miss Augusta C. GODFREY of this village. Lucretia married 1) Selah BURLINGAME and moved to IL; married 2) _______ PARSONS. The first death in this town was an infant daughter, Happy Leona, of Mr. BURGHARDT. There were four sons: Moses, Gerritt, Peter, and Abraham, and they all went to the western part of New York state, where their descendants are still living. Peter was a tax-paying inhabitant of Brokenstraw Twp. in 1816 and owned a sawmill."
"Peter BURGETT, whose son Garrett, still lives in Pine Grove, settled on the spot where Wrightsville now stands, and erected a sawmill there in 1815--the first sawmill built on the LittleBrokenstraw Creek. The writer was present at the raising and also when he sawed the first pine log on the mill. After the mill had started, he came into the shanty where quite a number had collected to witness so interesting an event as the starting of a sawmill in the neighborhood, where boards were so much needed, he seated himself like the rest of us, on a three-legged stool, and said 'Boys, do you know what the sawmill says? No one seeming to understand the language of a saw mill, all remained mute or answered in the negative. 'I'll tell you said he, 'It says this,' raising his fist and bringing it down on his knee, keeping time with the motion of the saw, 'go shilling, come pound; go shilling, come pound, that's the way it talks, do you understand, boys?' Poor old man, as it turned out, it was 'go pound, come shilling' with him. The difficulty of getting the boards out of the creek to market, and the fall of lumber proved disastrous to his fortune. He left a few years after, poorer than he went there by a good many pounds, shilling and pence. He died some years later, while down the river with lumber. The property he left was purchased by Joshu WRIGHT, who built a grist mill, rebuilt the saw mill and succeeded in making it talk right. [At this time, Peter's age was about 64.]"
References from the Introductory section of the US GenWeb site for Tryon County: "Morris, George. "Introduction To Tryon County of 1772-1784," December 1996."
Milbrey Otto Burgett
777 Bayshore Drive, #601
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
954-564-1322
July 1997
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