Volume 17 , Issue 39

NW Okie's Journey

As we research back through the logs of our history, October, 2015, we journey to the 19th century in discovery of Washington Irving 's and his "Sketch Book," especially "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The New Amsterdam (New York) history interests this NW Okie, because my mother's paternal side were family through the COUENHOVEN (probably the original form of Conover).

Washington Irving wrote: "To me the Hudson is full of storied associations, connected as it is with some of the happiest portions of my life. Each striking feature brings to mind some early adventure or enjoyment, some favorite companion who shared it with me, some fair object, perchance, of youthful admiration, who, like a star, may have beamed her allotted time and passed away."

Tarrytown, NY

Tarrytown, New York is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank the Hudson River, about 25 miles north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the north of Tarrytown is the village of Sleepy Hollow (formerly "North Tarrytown"), to the South the village of Irvington and to the east unicorporated parts of Greenburgh. The Tappan Zee Bridge crosses the Hudson at Tarrytown, carrying the New York State Thruway (Interstates 87 & 287) to South Nyack, Rockland County and points in upstate New York. The population was 11,277 at the 2010 census.

The Native American Weckquaesgeek tribe, who were closely related to the Wappinger Confederacy and further related to the Mohicans, lived in the area prior to European settlement. They fished the Hudson River for shad, oysters and other shellfish. Their principal settlement was at what is now the foot of Church Street near the Hudson River shore, between the current location of Losee Park and the Tappan Zee Bridge, at a place they called Alipconk, or the "Place of Elms".

The first European settlers of Tarrytown were Dutch farmers, fur trappers, and fishermen. The first Dutch residence in Tarrytown was built in 1645. Tarrytown sits within the lands of the former Dutch Colony of New Netherland which became English territory in 1674 with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster. The Dutch called the area "Terwe Town" (Wheat town). The soil was light and ideal for growing cereal grains like wheat, leading to its Dutch name. Mispronunciations led to the current name of Tarrytown.

Tarrytown was described in 1820 by the writer Washington Irving in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Irving began his story, "In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators of the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port which by some is called Greenburgh, but is more generally, properly known by the name of Tarrytown." The Underground Railroad ran through Tarrytown prior to the end of the U. S. Civil War.

Good Night! Good Luck!
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