Madam Brett Homestead
|
Madam Catharyna Brett Homestead
|
|
Front side of the house in 2006
|
|
| Location | 50 Van Nydeck Ave., Beacon, NY |
|---|---|
| Built | 1709 |
| Architect | Robert Dengee |
| NRHP Reference # | 76001212 |
| Added to NRHP | December 12th, 1976 |
The Madam Brett Homestead is an early 18th-century home located in the city of Beacon, New York, United States. It is the oldest standing building in its part of Dutchess County and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. It is also listed on the NYS Independence Trail.
Catheryna Rombout Brett was born in New York, New York, baptized 25 May 1687. She was the daughter of Helena Teller Bogardus Van Ball Rombout and Francis Rombout. Helena Teller was the daughter of William Teller,of Albany, one of the original patent holders of the area around Schenectady. Francis Rombout was born in Hasselt in Limburg (today in Belgium) who emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1653. Rombout served as a lieutenant during Stuyvesants' expedition against New Sweden. In partnership with Gulyne Verplank, Rombout became a successful merchant-fur trader, and in 1679, Mayor of New York. In 1683, Rombout and Verplanck purchased about 85,000 acres from the Wappinger native Indians. The purchased was confirmed, 17 October 1685 by a royal patent issued by King James II to Francis Rombout, Jacobus Kipp (who married the widowed Henrica Verplank) and Stephanus Van Courtland. The original document is on display at the Homestead. Francis Rombout died in 1691 leaving his estate to his only surviving heir, Catharyna.
In November of 1703, at the age of sixteen, Catharyna Rombout married Roger Brett, who had arrived in the new world with Lord Cornbury, governor of New York. Brett was a well respected lieutenant in the British Royal Navy. After their marriage, the Bretts moved into the Rombout family home, which consisted of a large house and spacious grounds on lower Broadway, not far from the present site of Trinity Church on Broadway. Roger Brett was a vestryman of Trinity Church from 1703 to 1706.
About 1708, the patent, which became known as the Rombout Patent, was partitioned: the Van Cortlandt family was allotted substantially all the land lying along both banks of what was called Wappinger Creek; the middle portion fell to the heirs of Gulian Verplanck, and the lower part along the Fish Kill, fell to the Bretts. Catharyna inherited around 28,000 acres.
...
Wikipedia