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Site
made possible through a grant awarded by
the
Mohonasen Foundation for Excellence
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Mr.
Keszey's
Mabee Farm
Pre-Visit Activity |
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Geography of the Valley |
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"Mohawk
River as it flows past the Mabee Farm" image Courtesy of
the Mabee Farm.
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Nature never stays the
same. What we now see as the Mohawk Valley once looked quite different.
Ancient lakes, mighty rivers, and glaciers a mile high sculpted and eroded the
existing mountains and lands creating the Mohawk Valley. As glaciers
melted raging waters, along with the rock debris they held, cut through the
mountains creating the river valley. Between 1.6 million years ago and
10,00 years ago the Mohawk Valley had a number of different appearances.
At times it was covered over completely with ice, and other times it lay
under ancient lakes created by ice jams. Each of these periods left their
mark on the valley and help to create the hills, lakes, rivers, waterfalls
and flat lands of our present valley.
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Cohoes Falls on the Mohawk River is in sharp contrast to the way the
river flows past the Mabee Farm above.
1. What do we know about the
appearance of the Mohawk Valley over the years?
2. What cut through the rock
creating the river valley 10,000 years ago? |
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"Cohoes
Falls" image courtesy of: Hamilton, Eric, Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway.
Online. 10/2000
<http://www.mohawktowpath.homestead.com/files/0607_005.jpg>
29 September 2004. |
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Exploring the Mohawk and Hudson
Valley
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Dutch Exploration and Settlement
Some of the European nations that explored the New World were the
French, Spanish, Dutch, English, Portuguese, and Swedes.
In 1609, Captain Henry Hudson was hired by the Dutch East India
Company to search for a Northwest Passage to Asia.
Although he did not find the passage he did manage to sail up the Hudson
river as far as present-day Albany, New York. By 1614, the Dutch West
Indies Company had built a fort at Manhattan and established a fur trade
with the local Native Americans. In 1624, the first real settlements were
established in both New Amsterdam (New York) and Fort Orange (Albany).
To help settle the new lands the Dutch West Indies Company gave large
tracts of land to anyone who brought over 50 or more families to settle in
New Netherlands. The men who brought these settlers over were called Patroons.
The most successful of these patrons was a man named Kiliaen Van
Rensselaer. Van Rensselaer’s lands included much of what we now know as
Albany and Rensselaer Counties.
The Dutch were very good at business. They concentrated much of their
efforts on the fur trade with the local Native American tribes which
included
the Iroquois, Mahicans, and other groups living up and down the Hudson
River and beyond.
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1. Which of the
European nations would first settle colonial New York?
2. What was the purpose of the first settlements?
3. How could you become a Patroon?
4. What did a Patroon get for bringing over 50 families?
5. How many years passed between the discovery of the Hudson River and
the first settlement in Albany?
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| Settling the Land |
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1. Why
isn’t it surprising that the Great Flat would be good agricultural land?
2. Why was the colony of New York said to be ethnically diverse?
3. Who owned the wilderness beyond Schenectady?
4. Using the information in the reading, label the map below.
Remember to use all clues to accurately locate A-E.
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The Land
The Dutch called the frontier lands the
Woestyne,
meaning wilderness. It into this Woestyne that traders would go to meet Native
Americans and trade furs for European good such as knives, guns, cloth,
and cookware, just to name a few. In addition to trading, many of the early
settlers began to farm the Mohawk Valley. Throughout the 1700’s farms
were established up and down the valley.
The first European community
settled within the Mohawk Valley was Schenectady, it was founded in
1661. Remembered from a previous visit through the valley, Arent Van
Curler, a local Dutchman, made note of a great flat plain that followed
the Mohawk River as it bent northward. These plains or “flats” were
only fourteen miles northwest of Beverwcke (Albany), and they flooded
annually leaving fertile soil for farming. Van Culer and 14
other Dutch families made arrangements to purchase “Schonowe” which
meant “Great Flats” from the Mohawk Indians. Within 10 years the small
community would prosper and additional lands westward out the
valley were soon purchased from the Mohawks. With these purchases came
the eventual settlement of the Mohawk Valley. Slowly, settling westward
farms dotted the rivers banks and up the sloping wooded hills of the
valley. The first areas to be planted were the areas immediately along the
river because spring flooding would scour the land removing most of
the large trees. This made the life of a farmer a little easier in that he did
not have to go through the difficult process of cutting down the forest.
Instead, nature completed the task for the farmer! One of these farms,
located 8 miles westward up the
valley, was the farm now known as the Mabee Farm.
Throughout the remainder of the 1600’s and 1700’s,
the valley continued to be settled by Dutch, French, German,
Scots-Irish, and English farmers and traders, and eventually became one of
the most productive farm regions in America. In 1664, the English
took over control of New Netherlands and renamed the entire colony New
York. Although the colony was now English many of the Dutch settlers
retained many of their traditions and customs. The Dutch; however, were
only one of the many ethnic groups that lived within the
colony. Other groups included the French, Indians, Scots, English, and
African slaves. The colony of New York would be one of the most diverse
colonies in the New World. |
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| "Schenectady Stockade 1690"
Image Courtesy of: New York State Division of Military and Naval
Affairs. Online. NA <http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/forts/pictures/schnctdy.gif>
29 September 2004. |
| 5. The above drawing is what the settlement of Schenectady looked like
around 1690. Why was it called the Schenectady Stockade? |
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The Mabee
Farm
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land around Schenectady had been planted and arrangements were made
to purchase more lands from the Mohawks. Daniel Van
Antwerpan, a local fur trader, acquired 127 acres of this new land. This
land is where the Mabee farm now sits. Sometime between 1670 and 1705 Jan
Pieterse Mabee came to settle this land, and he eventually bought 63 acres from Van
Antwerpen. The stone house on the farm today was either built by Jan
Pieterse or Van Antwerpen around 1680. This makes the Mabee house the
oldest existing house in the Mohawk Valley today. Some of the typical features
that were common in the very old colonial homes included the steep roofs,
few windows and doors, wide plank floors, open hearth fireplace, and large
ceiling beams. All of these features can be found in the Mabee house.
The “Inn” attached by a porch and the “Slaves Quarters” besides
the house were most likely built in the early to mid 1700’s. Although
the Mabee's owned slaves, as did many New York farmers, it is not known
whether slaves actually lived in the building. Buildings such as this were
used as summer homes, homes for grandparents, and homes for slaves.
The Mabee “Inn” was built to take advantage of the movement up and
down the Mohawk River. Boats would travel upstream past the farm to the
western lands, often stopping for a rest or some refreshments at the Mabee
Inn. This was one way that the Mabee Family made additional money.
By the time Jan Pieterse Mabee died, in 1725, he had become a fairly
successful farmer. His will was written on April 3, 1725, five days before he
died, leaves the following to his children:
“ my estate on the south of the Mohawk river…. Together with my
houses, barns, barricks, orchards & gardens, pastures, swamps…
ploughs, harrows, hoes, axes, wagons, sleys, or other utensils for work on
the said farm”
Jan family continued farming the land and most likely grew many of the
common subsistence crops of the day including, corn, wheat,
rye, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, watermelons and beans.
Although none of the barns are originally from the property the large
barn dates to before the Revolutionary War (1776) and was most likely very
similar to the one that existed on the farm. This barn allowed for storage
of crops as well as housing for the animals. Barn doors at each end opened
into a large center area used for chafing wheat, and the
smaller areas off to the side kept the animals. All of these features were
common in what we now refer to as a “Dutch” barn.
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1. Why do you
think we can not be certain when Jan Pieterse Mabee first came out to the
land, and who built the stone house?
2. Name five features you can expect to find in an old Dutch colonial
home.
3. What is the difference between a slave and an indentured servant?
4. Why would it take longer to travel westward on the Mohawk River than
going eastward?
5. What items from Jan’s will would least likely be found in the will
of a modern farmer ?
6. Take all the dates listed in this reading and make a timeline of
the
colony and the Mabee family.
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| The three of the original colonial buildings you can tour at the Mabee
Farm today. Image Courtesy of the Mabee Farm. |
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This bateau (boat) built for the Mabee Farm is very similar to ones
that used to travel by the farm in the 18th century. Pictured above are
Revolutionary War reenactors at a recent event at the Mabee Farm.
Image Courtesy of the Mabee Farm.
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