Kayakthesusquehanna

HISTORY OF THE AREA: 

  The Anti-rent wars of 1843 and 1847: To better explain what these events were about I want to first provide some historical background. In the 1600's the Dutch granted large tracts of land to certain people. The title of Patroon was given to these people and in exchange for this gift of land they were to develop their holdings  into commercial enterprises. There were several conditions such as settling into the tract 50 individuals within 4 years, or 50 families within 5 years. And the goods produced (Agricultural products, timber, pelts) would be sold to the Dutch companies. 

 The patroons were given great powers over the people in their domain (these domains were known as wycks) including the power to make and enforce laws and the power to approve or disapprove marriages. It is difficult for us today to appreciate the importance of the marriage power. But, at a time when to be born a bastard was to be forever debased as an inferior member of the community  who would also lack certain rights (such as inheritance) this was a powerful way to keep people in line (It is for this reason that  the catholic church insisted on retaining this power when negotiating a treaty with the Italian government in the 1860's and then again in the 1920's. But this has nothing to do with our story. I mention it only to make the point that this was a powerful right in times past).

 The people who lived in the wycks plied their trades and shared with the patroon very much as tenants farmers. During times of plenty one can imagine that all were happy with the arrangement,  but in times of shortages we know that there was friction between patroons and the people. By the time of the American revolution several generations had been operating under this system and when the revolution was over the people of the wycks demanded changes. The new American government took away the powers of the patroons but they continued to retain ownership of the land. Fast forward to the 1840's and we have a system where the people working the land work and reap the rewards, but they don't actually own it. By that time some patroons sold some of their holdings to the people, but others either didn't try to buy the land or were not given the opportunity to buy it. But that was not a problem because the owners no longer demanded a share of the production. Still, they did have ownership of the land and if, say a farmer sold his lease to another person the patroon demanded and often got a quarter share of the sale price of the lease.

There was always tension under this system. The farmers felt that they had paid for the land many times over the several generations, and the owners felt that the land had been in their families for generations and they had every right to retain ownership. And then in 1839 an event happened that brought the simmer to a boil. Stephen Van Rensselaer died! He was a descendant of the first patroon of Renselaerwyck. His will instructed his heirs to collect outstanding rents and quarter sale payments to apply to the estate debts. The tenants could not pay and they were not granted favorable payment schedules so they revolted leading to the first Anti-rent war. 

 The Anti-renters had a mass meeting at the top of the Helderberg mountains in Berne NY and issued a declaration of independence. Albany County sheriff Michael Artcher sent a 500 man posse against the anti-renters who repulsed them. Then governor William Steward threaten to send 700 militia men against the rebels and he obtained their surrender. But, the insurrection didn't end completely. Instead it went into underground and continued to resist tax collection and law enforcement.

  Then (and this is when we connect these events to this area) in 1844 an association was formed in to prevent the collection of rent in what is now Delaware county. The area from the west branch of the Delaware river to a line  one mile from the Susquehanna was essentially a large patroonship owned by several entities who had received patents in 1707 and redefined in later years. The association worked to prevent Sheriff sales of property for non payment of rent (pretty much the same as the foreclosures of today). They would dress as Indians (they were referred to a "Calico Indians" ) and appear armed  at the sales to intimidate potential bidders. At one such event in the town of Andes in 1845 176 men showed up to stop a sale and a fight ensued with the sheriff and his men, and one of the sheriff deputies was killed. The governor sent a militia of 300 men (many of them from towns along the Susquehanna: Unadilla, Sydney and others) and the rebels disbanded. 90 were indicted for insurrection. Some went to prison and 2 were sentenced to death. The death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by governor Wright and later fully pardoned by governor Young. 

 Although the Anti-renters did not succeed in obtaining straight-out ownership of the land, they did gain sympathy and slowly all the land in question was conveyed in fee to the leasees finally ending a feudal like system of land ownership.