Buying Land & Voting
Detail of the 1858 Map of Ulster County, NY. Library of Congress. Click on the image to see the full map.
A deed in Ulster County land records reveals that in September 1844, John Hasbrouck, then age 38, purchased a six-acre property in the Ohioville area of New Paltz on what is now North Putt Corners Road. He bought the property from Jacob Elting and his wife Elizabeth for the sum of $300. Jacob was the son of Ezekiel Elting, as mentioned earlier, suggesting that John had an ongoing connection to the Elting family. It seems likely that John had been living and working land in that part of New Paltz for some time, possibly even the plot of land he purchased.[1]
The following year, in 1845, John and family occupied “four improved acres,” and John was producing crops of wheat, corn, rye, and oats on land that reflected additional acreage he must have leased. His livestock included a horse, twelve hogs, and a cow. [2] While managing his own productive farm, John continued to work for wealthy White farmers during this time, as evidenced by his account books.
Voting
Based on a law passed in 1821, in order for a Black man to vote in New York State, he needed to own real property valued at $250 or more (the property requirement for White men was abolished). Despite having paid $300 for his property just a year before, John is not listed as a voter in the 1845 town census, suggesting that he may have been deprived of his legal right at the time. There is a John Hasbrouck listed in the 1849 voter registration list, and despite there being no designation of race, this could be him. When Caesar DuBois, the earliest known Black man to vote in New Paltz, went to the polls in 1840, there was no designation of color noted.[3] The color designation was left off some later poll lists, as well. In 1855, farm records valued John’s property at $500, ensuring his suffrage under the existing land requirement law, and in 1858 and 1859 voter lists, John Hasbrouck is listed again, in the latter identified as “col’d” or colored. [4]
Detail of the November 1849 Poll List including John Hasbrouck. New Paltz Town Records, courtesy of HHS.
In the 1860 US Census, the value of John’s farm was more than halved from the 1855 figure. The additional value of his livestock ($30) made him eligible to vote, but was not sufficient to enable his son Philip to vote when he turned 21 the following year. Racist desire to suppress the Black vote was strong, at least among some in the community, as demonstrated by a September 14, 1860 editorial in the New Paltz Times by Charles Ackert. The editorial called the idea of allowing Blacks general suffrage “repugnant,” and claimed that asking the poor white laborer to associate with an “inferior” class in the privilege of voting, “degrade[d] him.” Perhaps not surprisingly, later in 1860 an amendment to end the property restriction for Blacks was voted down statewide and in New Paltz by 204 to 32 votes.[5]
In such a hostile environment, one might wonder if John ever felt comfortable exercising his vote, at least not until 1870 when the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was approved in an effort to guarantee all male citizens the right to vote regardless of race. In November 1870, a general election was held. Twenty Black men cast their votes in New Paltz. The local Republican paper, the New Paltz Independent, complimented the men for freely discussing “the relative merits of the candidates and of the different political parties.” On both a local and national level, most Black voters chose to support the Republican Party (“The Party of Lincoln”). John Hasbrouck had a subscription for several years to the New Paltz Independent. Black citizens in New Paltz such as Jacob Wynkoop were active in a “colored” branch of the local Republican Party.[6]
New Paltz Independent, October 12, 1876.
Both courtesy of the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection, Elting Memorial Library.
Newspaper clipping mentioning Jacob as captain of a Black Republican club. New Paltz Independent, February 15, 1907
Notes
[1] Deed between Jacob and Elizabeth Elting and John Hasbrouck, dated November 15, 1844. Ulster County, New York Land Records: book 62, page 503. Ulster County Clerk’s Office. The 1840 U.S. Federal Census shows John living near Henry I. DuBois, who he is also living near in the 1850 census.
[2] 1845 New York State Census (District 1). New Paltz Town Records, courtesy of HHS.
[3] New Paltz Historic Documents Project website, “Caesar DuBois.” https://omeka.hrvh.org/exhibits/show/new-paltz-historic-doc-project/research-projects/free-black-community/caesar-dubois
[4] Poll and Voter Registration Lists for 1840, 1849, 1855, 1858, and 1859. New Paltz Town Records, courtesy of HHS. John Wynkoop is listed in the 1855 poll list and his brother Jacob appears in the 1858 poll list with no designation of color. 1855 NYS Census Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures, published on Ancestry.com.
[5] Record of Elections, 1821-1868. New Paltz Town Records, courtesy of HHS.
[6] Poll list for November 1870. New Paltz Town Records, courtesy of HHS, and New Paltz Independent, November 10, 1870. Receipts for the New Paltz Independent, 1870–75. John Hasbrouck Papers, HHHC, Elting Library. https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll153/id/35621/rec/19. New Paltz Independent, October 12, 1876 and February 15, 1907. See also the online exhibit Never was a Slave: Jacob Wynkoop, Free and Black in 19th-Century New Paltz, https://omeka.hrvh.org/exhibits/show/jacob-wynkoop/introduction.