Three Early Free Black Households

The 1830 U.S. Federal Census [1] reveals the names of three “free colored” heads of households living not far from Huguenot Street: Jane Deyo, Cezaer Elting, and Jack DuBois. Their homes were located on the eastern outskirts of the old village lots in an area marked by today’s Mulberry and Church Streets. Jane, Cezaer, and Jack were undoubtedly all once enslaved. Indeed, Jack is likely the man listed as enslaved by Louis B. DuBois in the Bounty Hunters Agreement of 1810.

Jane Deyo (assumed to be Jane Deyo Wynkoop) appeared to be living with her family on the property she eventually purchased from Maria Hasbrouck ten years later, in 1840. An online exhibit about Jane and her family can be found here.

Jane’s neighbor on the 1830 census, Cezaer Elting, was listed as over age 55 and living with his presumed wife (also over 55) and one child (under 10). Only heads of the household are listed in the 1830 census, but Cezaer’s wife is believed to have been Betsey Elting mentioned in a deed dated 1842. The land recorded in the deed was adjacent to a property being sold by Benjamin and Catherine Van Wagenen in the vicinity of what is now Mulberry Street.[2]

Cezaer Elting likely died a few years later, but Betsey seems to survive and appears in the 1845 New York Census, this time as Betsey DuBois. Betsey’s name is listed immediately below that of Jane Deyo Wynkoop in the census, just as Cezaer’s name had been fifteen years earlier. DuBois was likely Betsey’s maiden name. In 1845, Betsey’s household consisted of two men and two women living on one-quarter acre and owning one hog.[3]

Just above Cezaer Elting and Jane Deyo Wynkoop’s households in the 1830 census is that of Jack DuBois. Jack was between the ages of 36 and 55 and living with a wife, 24 to 36 years of age. There were also a boy and a girl under the age of 10, as well as a young man between the ages of 24 and 36. Based on records of the Reformed Church of New Paltz, Jack (John) and Maria were married in 1824. Their names in the Church records include the designation “People of Couler.”[4]

Maria DuBois is revealed as the owner of the land in 1851, after her husband presumably had passed, when Jacob Wynkoop purchased seven-eighths of an acre of land from her. The deed tells us that the land was bordered on the “west by lands of Catharine DuBois being the one half of a whole lot deeded to Elizabeth + Maria DuBois by Ambrose Seaman.”[5] The Maria mentioned in the 1851 deed was long assumed to have been a white woman, but is now known to have been a person of color and likely the wife of Jack DuBois. Elizabeth, named in the deed, was certainly Betsey DuBois, who is believed to have died by this time since Maria alone signed her mark to sell the land to Jacob. Betsey’s death by 1855 is confirmed by the deed that year for John Wynkoop’s purchase of one quarter of an acre, “more or less … formerly owned and occupied by Betty DuBois deceased.”[6]

Based on the age ranges provided in the 1830 census, Betsey was twenty years or so older than Maria, suggesting they might have been mother and daughter. When did the two women acquire the land from Ambrose Seaman? The specific deed or deeds have not yet been identified, but tax assessments listing Ambrose indicate a decrease in his acreage took place between June 1830 and June 1831. That is likely the time period in which Betsey and Maria took ownership of their parcels, which places them among the earliest Black landowners in New Paltz.[7]

The deeds contain the names of two possible additional family members. Catharine DuBois, named in the 1851 deed mentioned earlier, may have been Betsey’s daughter. Catharine appeared in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census as a Black woman age 44, living with two Black men who were probably boarding with her: Israel F. Flagler, age 24, and John J. Jansen, age 16. [8] According to the census, Catharine owned the property (likely having inherited it from her mother), which was valued at $100. Catharine’s age in the census suggests she was the “Catharine” whose birth was recorded in the New Paltz Register of Slaves in 1805. If that’s the case, Catharine and her mother were enslaved by Cornelius DuBois Jr. of Libertyville.

Another probable daughter is Clarissa (DuBois) Tuthill, who relinquished her interest in the property when it was purchased by John Wynkoop in 1855. The marriage of Clarissa DuBois and Tobias Tuthill in 1834 is listed in the records of the Reformed Church of New Paltz. They were married on Christmas Day.[9]

- Josephine Bloodgood, HHS Director of Curatorial and Preservation Affairs, adapted and expanded from the exhibition, The Old Village, the Evolving Neighborhood of Huguenot Street (DuBois Fort Visitor Center, May-September 2023).

Notes

1. 1830 U.S. Federal Census for New Paltz, New York (published on FamilySearch).
2. 1842 deed between Benjamin and Catherine Van Wagenen and Corodon Norton: "New York, Land Records, 1630-1975," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99WR-881M?cc=2078654&wc=M7CD-WP8%3A359005801%2C360471201: 31 July 2025), Ulster > Deeds 1841-1842 vol 57-58 > image 1427 of 1517. Special thanks to Carol Johnson, Elting Memorial Library, for bringing this deed to my attention.
3. 1845 New York State Census. New Paltz Town Records Collection, courtesy of HHS.
4. Records of the Reformed Church of New Paltz, vol. 6, image 31. https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll153/id/23279/rec/2
5. Both the names Betsey and Betty are considered diminutives of the name Elizabeth. 1851 deed between Maria DuBois and Jacob Wynkoop: "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9W5-B86J?cc=2078654&wc=M7C3-MPN%3A359005801%2C359240801: 16 April 2019). Ulster > Deeds 1863-1864 vol 124-125 > image 993-994 of 1347.
6. 1855 deed between John Wynkoop and S.W. Morey, et al.: “United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975,” database with images, FamilySearch, (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89WR-H84S?cc=2078654&wc=M7C6-N3F%3A359005801%2C360583001: 22 May 2014), Ulster > Deeds 1855 vol 92-93 > image 387 of 1556.
7. Tax Assessment Rolls. New Paltz Town Records Collection, courtesy of HHS. LINK
8. 1850 U.S. Federal Census (published on FamilySearch).
9. Records of the Reformed Church of New Paltz, vol. 6, image 51. https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll153/id/23299/rec/2