The Greenbush Historical Society’s interest is on the original territory know as Greenbush
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Dutch farm tenants first came to the land called the Town of Greenbush (Groenen Bosh) in about 1628. They were the recruits of Patroon Killian Van Rensselaer. It took them sixty-four days to cross the Atlantic Ocean in sailing ships. Some of the new settlers who built Fort Orange and Beverwyck (now Albany) came across the Hudson River to farm. At that time the Town included present day North Greenbush, East Greenbush, and City of Rensselaer.
Early History of the Towns The area was originally the homeland of the Mohican Tribe. As the fur trade intensified, conflicts arose between the Mohicans and Mohawks as well as between the Dutch, English and French for control of the territory. The Mohicans were eventually driven further east into Massachusetts and eventually to Wisconsin. East Greenbush The town was named Groenen Bosh (Greenbush) for the pine trees that forested the land. Early settlers, primarily Dutch, were recruited by Patroon Killian Van Rensselaer. He had been granted a large tract of land by the Dutch West Indies Company with the condition that it be settled with 50 people within four years. Edmund Charles Genet was a prominent resident of the town during the early 1800’s. He came to this country as a minister plenipotentiary and counsel general of the French Republic. He later became an American citizen. Genet’s wife, Cornelia, was a daughter of Governor George Clinton. He built a mansion at “Prospect Hill” on Hays Road and is buried behind the Greenbush Reformed Church. During the War of 1812, extensive barracks were erected on the hills of Greenbush Village. Sometime after the war, the army camp was abandoned. In 1831 the buildings and 300 acres were sold to a private investor. One of the buildings of “the Cantonment” still stands today. The town was incorporated in 1855, with the division of the area and was first called Clinton. Three years later, because there already was a Clinton in New York, the town’s name was changed to East Greenbush. |
East Greenbush Reformed Church
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North Greenbush
Van Alen house 1793
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In 1855, the Town of North Greenbush was incorporated in the division of Greenbush. Within the new town were the villages of Bath, Defreestville and Wynantskill. One of the villages in the town, called Bath-on-Hudson, was annexed to the city of Rensselaer in 1901. In addition to Bath, Blooming Grove (now Defreestville) and Wynantskill grew into flourishing settlements in the early 1800’s. In the 1920’s the Snyder’s Lake area became a popular place for summer homes and recreation.
Earliest Dutch residents of the town date back to about 1840. Early settlers included Van Alstyne, DeForrest/DeFreest, Sharpe, Van Eivern, and Van Duesen. John E. Van Alen, a US Congressman and surveyor laid out most of the property lines in the western part of Rensselaer County in the 1790. He owned a sizeable farmstead in Defreestville. |
For more information about East and North Greenbush go to Links & Resources