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Swartout-BrinckerhoffTough Dutchmen From Fishkill AidedW F ----hlngton Col. Derick Brinckerhoff and his near neighbor in the Rombout Precinct (Fishkill), Gen. Jacobus -Swartwout, must have been made of the same clay. Both were of Dutch descent, were described as large, powerful men, and both at rather advanced ages entered wholeheartedly as patriots .into the American Revolution. Since both were rather well off, too, they had much to lose and little to. gain in a revolution. Col. Derick, one of the first of the - 13rinckerhoff name to be born in butchess County, was born in 1721, so he was about 54 years old when he started to spend a large part of his time working for the patriot cause. ,jliicidentally, to show what kind of people the Brinckerhoffs were, - Ilerick's uncle John, who also became a colonel in the Revolution, was 72 at this time). Uncle and nephew became good friends of Washington during the war, and he visited both of their houses. 37lie Col. Derick Brinckherhoff house, is at the Routes 82- 52 intersection in Brinckerhoff and the Col. John house on Route 82 at the enterance to Lomala, a few miles away. Both are still standing, the Col. Derick house in a somewhat changed form.It is owned by his descendent, A. Todd Brin- ckerhoff Jr. Derick's father, Abraham, had died at a young age, levfving his wife and several children, the oldest of whom was Derick. Derick (sometimes referred to as Dirck in histories), married Geertie Wyckoff of Flatlands, Long Island, in 1'747. An enterprising man, he built a ptore and a mill (probably the second trill in the county after Madam Brett's). According to a history of the Brinckerhoff family, published in 1887, Col. Derick was "unchangingly . uncompromisingly devoted to the 4-4use of the colonists." George Washington was a friend of Col. Derick Brinckerhoff and stayed at his home. The same book describes him as a large, strong man with dark hair and features, and florid complexion. "As he grew older, he was thought by some to be austere, reserved and forbidding." Like fellow New York patriots George Clinton and Gen. Swartwout, Brinckerhoff was active in both the military and political aspects of the Revolution. He had been elected to the Colonial Assembly in 1766 and continued as a member until 1777. When a committee of ob- servationwas formed in 1775 in the Rombout Precinct, Brinckerhoff was chosen chairman. Others on the committee were Capt. Jacobus Swartwout, department chairman, and John H. Sleight, clerk. Committee members included a Van Ben- schoten, a Horton, a Storm, other Brinckerhoffs, Van Wycks, a Schenck, a Myers and Capt. Jacob Griffin. The committee (also called the committee of safety) met at Capt. Griffin's tavern (on present-day Route 82) called the "Rendezvous." He was one of the committee who was charged with buying firearms from Tories, or if they refused, taking them forceably. Capt. Swartwout (later the general), also was on this committee unit. About the same time, Col. Brin- ckerhoff was elected a member of the first Provincial Congress, which assembled May 23, 1775, in New York City and was presided over by Peter Livingston. He was also a member of the first state Assembly which met at Kingston in 1777 and for nine years more was almost a continuous member of that body. Since the Brinckerhoff house was about two miles from the hospitals, workshops and barracks of the Continental Army at the large supply depot, he was visited almost con- stantly by army officers. The house also came to be a popular stopping point for important travelers during the war, according to Mrs. Charlotte Finkel, former historian of the town of East Fishkill. John Adams, destined to be the second President of the United States, wrote his wife, Abigail, on Jan. 17, 1777, from the house while traveling from Boston to Philadelphia. It reads in part: "After a March like that of Hannibal over the Alps We arrived last Night at this Place, Where we found the Utmost Difficulty to get Forage for our Horses, and Lodging for ourselves, and at last were indebted to the Hospitality of a private Gentleman Coll. Brinkhoff, who very kindly cared for Us." That the British knew of Col. Brinckerhoff is indicated by notations at the site of his home on two British maps found in the Sir Henry Clinton papers, "Derick Brinkerhof's, a warm Rebell, a Coll & State Assemblyman." Sir Henry Clinton was a British general who carried out a successful campaign in the Hudson Valley in late 1777. In March, 1778, the house became headquarters for Gen. Alexander McDougall, then commanding general in the Hudson Highlands. During this time, an important inquiry into the American loss to the British of Forts Montgomery and Clinton in October, 1777, was con- ducted by Gen. McDougall. Gens. Israel Putnam, James Clinton and Samuel Parsons were among the officers who appeared to give testimony. Others included Cols. Lewis Dubois and Henry Ludington. Col. Brinckerhoff and the Second Dutchess Militia were in the engagement at the forts and are mentioned creditably in the testimony of witnesses. Gen. McDougall kept a daily journal, listing visitors to his headquarters in the Brinckerhoff house. It includes Gov. Clinton, John Jay, Gens. Henry Knox, Nathaniel Greene and Horatio Gates, and two generals who later became infamous, Benedict Arnold and Thomas Conway. Most of these men stayed at the Brinckerhoffs' one or more nights. The entry for April 2, 1778, reads: Marquis de Lafayette arrived here at 5 p. m. with 7 horses and four Domestics." The entry for the next day is: "At one p.m. the Marquis left us after taking some refreshments." Benedict Arnold came May 11 accompanied by his aide and "portly" Mrs. Lucy Knox who was on her way to join her husband, Gen. Henry Knox, at Valley Forge. They left the John Adams, Massachusetts lawyer, patriot leader, and diplomat, stayed at the Brinckerhoff home. house May 13, and arrived at Valley Forge May 20. Mrs. Knox traveled in a chaise and the trip from Boston had taken her 22 days. Simeon Deane, the brother of Silas Deane, arrived the night of April 27. He had just come from Paris, by way of Boston, and was on his way to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, with highly important information on the Treaty of Alliance between France and the United States. This news was received, when announced, with great rejoicing throughout the 13 states. In Fishkill on May 2, General McDougall ordered an ox roasted and "an elegant en- tertainment provided" at Capt. Isaac Van Wyck's (the present-day Van Wyck Homestead on Route 9), as a special celebration for his officers. Gen. Washington stayed at Col. Brinckerhoff's house from Oct. I to 8, 1778. Among his staff members at that time were Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens and James McHenry. - Washington must have spent much time, during these eight days, dealing with correspondence, for many let- ters and memoranda were written from the place. Lafayette was at the home on two occasions, the second time after he became sick on a trip back to Fishkill from Philadelphia. During his illness, Lafayette was visited by Gen. Washington on Nov. 8 - and again Nov. 28 through 30. At this time he is believed to have reviewed the 4,000 English and Hessian prisoners from the Battle of Saratoga as they marched through Fishkill on their way south. These troops came into Dutchess - County at Amenia and marched through Hopewell to Fishkill, crossing the Hudson River at Fishkill Landing. Chief Daniel Nimham, the last chief of the Wappingers tribe of In- dians, was a friend of Col. Brin- ckerhoff's and came often to visit him at his home, according to the Brin- ckerhoff history published in 1887. When the Revolution broke out, Chief Nimham held his warriors true to the cause his white friend Brbi- ckerhoff had espoused and remained steadfast and unchanging throughout the war. Some reports say that the hillside around the Brinckerhoff house often was covered with Indians who were sleeping there through the night, wrapped in their blankets. Chief Nimham and several other Indians of the tribe were killed in the battle at King's Bridge early in the war. Col. Brinckerhoff's last term in the state Assembly ended in 1787. Two years later, in 1789, he died at the age of 68.