Washington got around the region

By Anthony Farmer
Poughkeepsie Journal

While leaving an indelible mark on a newborn nation, George Washington also left his mark on the Hudson Valley.

Whether it's his former military headquarters, a plaque marking an overnight stay, or even a tale that has lived on through 220-plus years -- with little or no factual basis -- evidence of Washington's time in the region abounds. From Newburgh to Pawling to Kingston, many places stake a claim, and a connection, to the ''father of our country.''

And there's good reason why places where he set up camp, ate a meal or drank from a stream are still remembered today.

While the nation's founding fathers are often thought of as equally great men, Washington truly stood out, which eventually led to him becoming the nation's first president, said Tom Hughes, site manager at Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh.

''All the other founding fathers would have seen George Washington not as an equal at all, but on a higher rung on the ladder,'' Hughes said. ''He really was a legend in his own time.''

Legends live on

And as another President's Day holiday passes -- honoring Washington's birth Feb. 22, 1732 and Abraham Lincoln's on Feb. 12, 1809 -- the legends of Washington live on.

Long before he was selected as a young nation's first president, Washington was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. It was during the war, with battles across the 13 colonies, that Washington often passed through the Hudson Valley.

James M. Johnson, military historian for the Hudson River Valley and executive director of the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College, said Washington spent 813 days in the Hudson Highlands and 235 days within a 30-mile radius of the area.

During his time here, the virtues that epitomized Washington as a true American were on display.

And at a time when people are once again rethinking what it means to be an American, there may be no better example than Washington, Johnson said. One of Washington's contemporaries may have summed it up best, he said.

''A citizen, first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen,'' Henry ''Light Horse Harry'' Lee wrote to Congress in 1799 on Washington's death.

''He served selflessly from the time he assumed command in July 1775 until he turned his commission into Congress after the war,'' Johnson said. ''In terms of selfless service, devotion to duty -- to the independence we sought as a free and independent country -- I think Washington pretty much sums that up by the way he lived.''

It's no wonder so many places wish to lay claim to once hosting the father of our country.

But not many can back it up the way Hopewell Junction residents Cheryl and Eugene Bernstein can.

The couple bought a house there last year that was built in 1759 and once hosted Washington as he passed through the area. Besides a bronze plaque on a large stone in the front yard commemorating the event, it is documented in numerous history books.

Though it's unclear exactly when Washington was a guest at the house -- his host Thomas Storm owned the house from 1769 until 1785 -- the story helps to define Washington's hopes for his newborn nation.

'A man like other men'

One written account capsulizes the visit to the Storm-Adriance-Brinckerhoff House, as it's been known through the years:

''It is related in regard to Washington's visit that in the morning, when he came out of the house, word having gone abroad of his presence, a group of nearby residents had gathered on the little green before the door and stood bareheaded to greet the commander-in-chief, only to be told by him to put on their hats, for he was a man like all other men,'' Helen Wilkinson Reynolds wrote in ''Dutchess Houses in the Hudson Valley Before 1776.''

Such stories, passed down through the generations, thrive throughout the region.

Another long-told tale has Washington taking a drink from a particularly chilly stream in Putnam County and remarking what a ''cold spring'' it was. As the story goes, the moniker stuck and that's how the Village of Cold Spring got its name.

It isn't true.

It was written minutes before a town meeting in 1772 show an allusion to a village named Cold Spring, said Donald McDonald, historian for both the Village of Cold Spring and the Town of Philipstown.

''There are still a few older people in the village who don't like to have that even toyed with,'' McDonald said. ''(They say) 'George named the village and that's it.' ''

Another legend holds that the Town of Washington, in Dutchess County, was named in honor of the nation's first president, after he had camped for a short period of time on the town's western edge, an area now known as Washington Hollow.

No evidence of visit

But town historian David Greenwood said there is no evidence Washington ever visited the town that now bears his name.

''The original name was just patriotic fervor and a lot of places received the name Washington for the same reason,'' Greenwood said.

Just off Route 9D in Fishkill stands an old farmhouse, constructed in 1920, that up until recently was known as ''The Washington House'' because of a visit by the general. Those working on its restoration have now dubbed it the Verplanck Tenant Farm House, after the family that originally owned it.

''There's no indication that old George was there at all,'' said Warren McKeon, past president of the Stony Kill Foundation and chairman of the committee restoring the structure.

But Washington did visit numerous other places around the region, including Hurley and Kingston in 1782, where he was honored by local residents who helped to provide food for his troops during his winter at Valley Forge.

It is said that after crossing the Hudson River to Rhinecliff in 1783, Washington stopped at the Jacob Kip River House, an 18th century tavern. The Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck boasts that Washington and several other Revolutionary luminaries, ''ate and drank and argued and laughed here'' during the war.

The Madam Brett Homestead in Beacon and the Van Wyck House in Fishkill both played host to Washington during the war.

Bust put up at homestead

In 1999, the Melzingah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a bronze bust of Washington near the Madame Brett Homestead to mark the 200th anniversary of his death. The bust was placed at a small triangle of land at Wolcott and Teller avenues.

The Tioronda Garden Club landscaped the small plot of land before the monument was there and continues to, especially right around President's Day. The small, triangle parcel had been a local landmark for years, often helpful in giving directions to strangers, said Norman McLeod, chairman of the club's civic beautification committee.

''George has now become that. When you see George, take a left,'' McLeod said with a laugh. ''It's the father of our country, we all have to love him.''

The respect Washington commands today was not unlike that he received in the late 18th century.

When it came time to select a leader for the new government, Washington didn't have the government or political experience others had, Hughes of the Washington state historic site said. But time and time again, Washington proved capable on the battlefield, he said.

''Everybody else contributed and everybody else played an important part, but George Washington had to do it every day,'' Johnson, the military historian said. ''He played a perfect role as commander-in-chief. Even though he lost a number of battles, he won the war.''

''They had every confidence those leadership skills would translate into leading the government,'' Hughes said.

Johnson said another legend has Washington even giving New York state it's nickname.

''Washington is the guy who allegedly said, 'The Empire State,' '' he said. ''He said something like New York is spreading the empire. He knew how important it was from 1775 until after the war.''

Washington's recognition of New York continues to be returned in kind by local residents more than two centuries later.

''He was all over the place,'' said Elizabeth Smith, a board member of the Pawling Historical Society.

''He didn't sleep here but he seemed to have slept everywhere else,'' said McDonald, the Cold Spring historian. ''I wonder how he won the war.''