Major Johannes Hardenbergh (1670–1745), also known as Sir Johannes Hardenbergh, was the owner of the Hardenbergh patent of land in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

Biography

He was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, in 1670. His father's name was Gerrit, and he married Catherine Rutsen. He was Sheriff of Ulster County, New York in 1709. He served as a

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the Ulster County Regiment. In 1706, Hardenbergh bought the immense tract of land since known as the "Hardenbergh patent", which covered some of the

in what is today Sullivan,

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

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counties, from Nanisinos, ''

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Alg ...

'' of the Esopus Indians, for the sum of 60 pounds. The purchase was subsequently confirmed and patent was granted to Hardenbergh and six others in 1708. There were some disputes as to whether Hardenbergh's acquisition of the property had been truly legal. Indeed, in 1769 another former British officer,

John Bradstreet Major General John Bradstreet, born Jean-Baptiste Bradstreet (21 December 1714 – 25 September 1774) was a British Army officer during King George's War, the French and Indian War, and Pontiac's War. He was born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia ...

, filed a claim to based on that very assumption. Miller, Myrtle Hardenbergh. ''The Hardenberg family; a genealogical compilation''. New York: American Historical Co., 1958. pp. 29-30
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Shares in the patent changed hands frequently, and the terms under which the land was sold or leased were so varied and complex that it impeded settlement of the district and clouded the title to most of its tracts until well after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. He died in 1745.

Descendants

* Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh, Jr. (1706–1786), a field officer under Washington in the Continental Army, served in New York's Colonial Assembly, was Hardenbergh's son. * The Reverend Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1735/6-1790), Dutch Reformed clergyman, first president of Queen's College (now

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

), member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey and

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

during the American Revolution, was his grandson. * Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (1847-1918), great-great-great-great-grandson, was a prominent architect in New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. * Jacob_Hardenbergh (1823-1872), third great-grandson, was a lawyer and politician in New York.

Notes

External links

Early Sullivan County History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardenbergh, Johannes 1670 births 1745 deaths American people of Dutch descent Hardenbergh family Catskills Members of the New York General Assembly People from colonial New York People from Albany, New York Sheriffs of Ulster County, New York

Biography

Descendants

See also

Notes

External links