Research notes on Arriaantia Van Auken, wife of Benjamin Depuy

#1376369 Cemetary Records:
Arena Van Auken, wife of Benjamin DePuy and mother of Elizabeth S. Davis.  Born 1769.  Died Dec 5 1829.

!Orange Co.,  ?Wawarsing #LDS 974.731.K2w  Marriage as Arrietta to Benjamin Depuy Jr.

!IGI:  1994 3.04:  Parent Search:
Elias Depuy b. 1789 of Machackemack, Orange, NY; Lib #1903788 James Benjamin b. 1799 Owasco, Cayuga, NY
Catherine Depuy b. 1801 Owasco, Cayuga, NY
Ann Depuy  b. 1807 Lysander, Onondaga, NY
Cornelius  b. 1810 of Lysander Onondaga, NY (film contains no additional info)

!Index to Deeds - Grantors - Onondaga Co., NY from 1794 to 1870 shows Arreney and Benjamin Depuy selling property in 1811 in Lysander lot 79.  Again in 1812. In 1819 lot 86,

 Also known as Arena (on gravestone), Arrianntia, and Sally.  Date of birth also listed as 1769.

 Also known as Arena (on gravestone), Arrianntia, and Sally.  Date of birth also listed as 1769.

#1376369 Cemetary Records:
Arena Van Auken, wife of Benjamin DePuy and mother of Elizabeth S. Davis.  Born 1769.  Died Dec 5 1829.

!Orange Co.,  ?Wawarsing #LDS 974.731.K2w  Marriage as Arrietta to Benjamin Depuy Jr.

!IGI:  1994 3.04:  Parent Search:
Elias Depuy b. 1789 of Machackemack, Orange, NY; Lib #1903788
James Benjamin b. 1799 Owasco, Cayuga, NY
Catherine Depuy b. 1801 Owasco, Cayuga, NY
Ann Depuy  b. 1807 Lysander, Onondaga, NY
Cornelius  b. 1810 of Lysander Onondaga, NY (film contains no additional info)

!Index to Deeds - Grantors - Onondaga Co., NY from 1794 to 1870 shows Arreney and Benjamin Depuy selling property in 1811 in Lysander lot 79.  Again in 1812. In 1819 lot 86,

 Also known as Arena (on gravestone), Arrianntia, and Sally.  Date of birth also listed as 1769.

 Also known as Arena (on gravestone), Arrianntia, and Sally.  Date of birth also listed as 1769.
 FIELD
 NAME Page
 VALUE <i>Cemeteries of Baldwinsville, Onondaga, New York</i>, Riverview Cemetery, Baldwinsville, Onondaga, New York; microfilm of typed copy.  LDS FHL US/CAN Film 1783634 Items 4 - 7
 _INFO P

Research Notes for Benjamin Depuy Jr 1764-1845 married Arriaantia Van Auken

The Indian name for the area of the town of Deerpark was spelled many ways. The most definitive spelling is apparently that of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society--Machackemeck.

From Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files [complete pension records in file drawer]:

Depuy, Benjamin, S31645, NY Line, applied 11 Sep 1832 Onondaga County, NY a resident of Lysander, NY, soldier was born 29 Dec 1764 (?) at Mamakating, Ulster Co., NY and lived there at enlistment and lived there until 1793 then moved to Aurelius in Cayuga Co., NY and in 1802 moved to Marcellus in Onondaga Co., NY and in 1804 moved to Lysander, NY, soldier mentions Samuel, Moses, and John DePuy being at Fort Depuy, the said John being soldier's brother, soldier was a son of Benjamin Depuy, Sr.

The 1800 Census has Benjamin Depuy living in Ulster Co. with three males and two females under 10, two females 10-16, two males 16-26, one female 26-45, and one male over 45.  1810 Census for Benjamin Depuy of Lysander listed one male under 10, three 10-16, one 16-26, and one over 45; females were three under 10, one 10-16, and one over 45.  The 1820 Census has Benjamin Depuy in Lysander with two males under 10, one 16-26, and over 45; one female 10-16 and one 26-45.  1830 Census: one male 60-70, one female 5-10, and one female 50-60.

I have a Benjamin Depugh from Aurelius page 682B (year?) showing:  4 1 1 2 0    0 2 0 1 0     2 0  (1800 fits)

LDS FHL:  #0850914 US/CAN Page 108
Mar 1799 - Grantor Benjamin Depuy - Grantee Abraham Striker - Town 13, Lot 5, 100 Acres, Liber. A Pg. 138
May 1801 - Grantor Benjamin Depuy - Grantee Abraham Johnson - Town 13, Lot 2, 150 Acres, Liber C Pg 4
? 1801 - Grantor Benjamin Depuy - Grantee William C. DeGroff- Town 8, Lot 46?, 95 Acres, Liber C Pg 65
?? - Grantor Benjamin Depuy - Grantee Moses Cortright - Town 8 , Lot 76, 500 Acres, Liber C page 67
Mar 1804 - Grantor Benjamin Depuy - Grantee Janice Esiais? - Town 8, Lot 93-99-100, 354 Acres Lib F Pg 372
LDS FHL:  #0850914 US/CAN Page 109 more to 1820!

Early Lysander Deed Information:

March 6, 1805 - Benjamin Depuy of Marcellus, Onondaga Co. bought lot 86 (402.6 acres) from William Thompson of the Town of Goshen, Orange Co. for $804. [from Lysander Map taken from Sweet's Atlas of Onondaga Co., 18874, this appears to begin on the north side of the Seneca River just east of Fobes Island and continues southeast for about 1/2 mile then straight north to Rte 31.

June 28, 1806 - B. Depuy bought lot 79 (276 acres about 1 mile west of Baldwinsville along the Seneca River) from Jonathan Wilkinson of Lysander for $773.

February 21, 1811 - Benjamin Depuy and wife, "Asenah" sold land to Abraham and Peter Emerick (100 acres of Lot 79) for $650.

September 28, 1811  - Grantor Robert Earle. late Shff (?) . Onondaga Co. re: Depuy, Benjamin suit of Baldwin, Jonas for $319/1st May.  Grantee sold to sold175 acres of Lot 86 to Elias Gumaer, Jr, Samuel Depuy, Philip Depuy, and Moses G. Rose the highest bidders for $320 and $78.68, respectively.

May 17, 1812 - Grantor Robert Earle, Shff. Onon Co. re: Depuy, Benjamin suit of Sabin, William H. and Bodley, William for $78.68.  Grantee Samuel Depuy, Philip Depuy, and Elias Gumaer, Jr.  100 acres of Lot 82.

October 19, 1815 - Grantor was Benjamin Depuy et al. by Earle, Jonas Shff Onon. Co. - suit of Baldwin, Jonas for $190.10.  Grantee was Baldwin, Jonas C.

March 7, 1816 - Grantor was Earll, Jonas, Jr. Shff. re: Depuy, Benjamin & Baldwin, Cyrus.  Grantee was Baldwin , Cyrus of the Town of Lysander. 327 acres of Lot 79:  West by land of Peter Emerick, south by Moses Depuy, east by Henry Westfall, north by line lot.

1819 - B. Depuy sold portions of Lot 86 to Cyrus Baldwin
1820 - B. Depuy sold portions of Lot 86 to John Hamill
1847 (?) - B. Depuy sold portions of Lot 60 to Dewitt C. Lusk

"Historical Review of the Town of Lysander;" L. Pearl Palmer:

Pg 55:  The first recorded Lysander Town Meeting occurred on April 5, 1808 at which Benjamin Depuy was appointed one of the fence viewers and pound masters.

Pg 103:  This part refers to early school districts and to its land owners as shown by Onongaga County map of 1853.  A B. Depuy is a land owner on the Sixty Road.  this road started at the intersection of Lots 80, 81, and 85 and ran north to the road in the center of Lot 60 which ran east.

Pg 122, This part refers to Report of School District No. 10 [would have been Lot 90] - names of parents or other persons with whom the number of children 5 and under 16 years reside as of 1 Jan 1825 -Benjamin was listed as having three.

Pg. 143:  Refers to the location of Benjamin Depuy' s land on Lot 90.

Pg 153 - Among the jurors selected for duty 1st Monday, July 1851

P6. 170:  Benjamin listed among the Inspectors for Election returns of 1806; dated 5 May 1806, and on Pg. 171, he was one of the qualified voters as of 21 Sept 1807.

!LDS FHL #1294873 item 5:  Riverview, Baldwinsville, Van Buren, Onandaga,

I need to go through these notes.  They are from two different Bens.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New York. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.  Died at age 90.

!1993 IGI Submitter for temple work was James Canfield. He has him from Rochester, New York. Film #170849 page 670
Source #822023 Batch #7224516-97, #1235165/7105449/61; #1260815/F802213/43

Batch #: 7224516, Sheet #: 97, Source Call #: 822023

!Found in 974.734/R1 K2w Baptisms of Rochester Church spons: Jan Depuy and Lena Depuy

!Wawarsing, Ulster New York LDS K2wa

!Jochem H. Schoonmaker shows that he was married to Anna VanAken

Went to Cander New York - via Marsha

!Index to Deeds - Grantors - Onondaga County NY From 1794 to 1870:  Arreney and Benjamin DePuy were Grantors in 1811 selling Lot 79 in Lysander to A. Emerick. Again, lot 79 in Lysander to H. Westfall in 1812.

!LDS FHL #1294873 item 5:  Riverview, Baldwinsville, Van Buren, Onandaga, New York. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.  Died at age 90.

Notes from Wayne L. Shepard wshep1@infi.net   on 2/3/01
Notes for Benjamin Depuy, Jr.:

Date and place of birth obtained from pension file.  Some of these documents state that Benjamin lived at amakating until 1793 with the exception of a few months during the War.  He moved his family to Aurelius, Cayuga Co., NY, in 1793, then Marcellus, Onondaga Co., in 1802, and finally, Lysander by 1804.  One affidavit mentions that he
lived in the Town of Salina in 1834.

Census data would seem to indicate that there were 15 children; Depuy Family History lists 16 - 4 might have died young.

(Research):<b>http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyononda/LYSANDER/DEVELOP.HTM

19th CENTURY DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOWN OF LYSANDER
Town of Lysander
Submitted by Kathy Crowell
Source: Onondaga's Centennial by Dwight H. Bruce. The Boston History Co., 1896, Vol. I, pp.752-754; 759-767.
</b>
What had the numerous hardy and energetic pioneers accomplished in the first quarter of the century? First and, perhaps, most important of all, many of them who settled on farms, cleared and cultivated their lands, improved their dwellings and other buildings and laid the foundations of the many beautiful homes that now belong to their posterity. Others built mills, especially saw mills, which sprang up in great numbers on the Seneca and a few on the small streams of the town. They were of great importance until the forests were largely cleared away, when most of them fell into disuse. Others engaged in trade, bringing their goods in early years from the east on long journeys by the well known water route, or in the winter by teams, and marketing such surplus products as the farmers could spare. And all labored to promote the general welfare.
At the first town meeting of which there are existing records, held on the first Tuesday in April, 1808, Cyrus Baldwin, moderator, the following officers were chosen:
Elijah Snow, supervisor; James Adams, town clerk; Henry Emerick, William Wilson, and James Clark, assessors; Thomas Clark, collector; Adam Emerick and Reuben Clark, poormasters; Job Loumis (the spelling found in the records is followed, thought it is palpably wrong in some instances), Abner Vickery, Adam Emerie, commissioners of highways; Fry Ferington, Thomas Clark, constables; William Wilson, Silas Scofield, Benjamin De Puy, fence viewers and poundmasters; Parmenis Adams, 1st ward, Adam Emerick, 2d war, Thomas Farington, 3d ward, Reuben Clark, 4th ward, Abner Vickery, 5th ward, William Wilson, 6th ward, Job Loumis, 7th ward, Alexander Adams, 8th ward, overseers of highways; Adam Emerie, Cyrus Baldwin, commissioners of public lots.

 Cemeteries of Baldwinsville, Onondaga, New York, Riverview Cemetery, Baldwinsville, Onondaga, New York; microfilm of typed copy.  LDS FHL US/CAN Film 1783634 Items 4 - 7
 Revelotionary War Pension Files

Depuy's in 1800 Census

Benjamin De Pugh, is living in Aurelius, Cayuga, New York.  John, a son was born in 1798 and is living with him.

Benj Depuy affidavit for pension

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Pensions
{Revolutionary War Records Section]

...military history of Benjamin Depuy,
a soldier of the REVOLUTIONARY WAR, ...

S31645
Dates of Enlistment or Appointment, Length of Service, Rank, Officer under - Captain then Colonel, State
April 1778 6 mos. Pvt. Abraham Cuddebeck Newkirk N.Y.
Apr 1779         4 mos “ Abraham Cuddebeck Newkirk “
Mch 1780 9 mos “ Abraham Cuddebeck Newkirk “
During 1781,
1782 & 1783         “ Abraham Cuddebeck Newkirk “



Battles engaged in: None Stated
Residence of soldier at enlistment: Mamaking, Ulster Co., N.Y.
Date of application for pension, Sept 11, 1832.  His claim was allowed.
Residence at date of application, Lysander, Onondaga, Co., N.Y.
Age at date of application, born Dec 29, 1764, in Mamakating, Ulster Co N.Y.
Remarks: Son of Benjamin Depuy

FILES:

Benjamin Depuy
12.068

At a Court of Chancery held for the State
Of New York at the village of Onondaga
In the county of Onondaga on the
Seventh day of September one thousand
Eight hundred thirty two     [7 Sep 1832]

Present: - Daniel Morley, Vice Chancellor of the
   Seventh Circuit

Benjamin Depuy of the Town of Lysander in the
County of Onondaga, aged sity seven years, who being
first duly sworn according to Law doth on his oath
make the following declaration in order to obtain the
benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7, 1832 -
He was born in the Town of Mamaking, in the
County of sullivan, New York, December 29, 1764 -
He has no record of his age in his possession but has
understood that the family records were burned in
1779 - He lived in that town until 1793 with the
exception of a few months during the war.  In the
spring of the year 1778, a party of persons of whom
he was one, volunteered to build a fort on the Never-
Sink River.  They were under the command of Capt
Cuddeback & officer by the name of Newkirk
commanded at Fort Dewitt, about a mile farther
up the river.  The fort was for the protection of
the Frontiers & to guard against Indians & Tories
had previously attacked & carried off a number of
families in the neighborhood, & for greater safety
the families remaining removed into the fort
when it was completed.  They continued to keep guard
at the Fort during the onsuing simmer & fall.  The persons
who were at the fort (which was called Fort Depuy)
as far as he recollects were Benjamin Depuy, his father;
Samuel Depuy, Moses Depuy, Elias Gumear, Abraham
[new page]
Cuddeback & Jacobus Cuddeback, head of families –
there were also John Depuy, James, a colored man,
three sisters of the despondant all of whom are now
living.  During the summer and fall, they kept scouting
parties out in the woods to watch the Indians and Tories,
but they saw nothing of them until the month of October
in that year, when a large body of them, & as he
now thinks between two and three hundred, under the
command of Brandt made their appearance.  Oh
Ken approach all who occupied Fort Depuy abandoned
it in haste & escaped to Dewitts Fort where there
was a small party of men.  The Tories came up &
commenced firing on the Fort & also fired on
the cattle in the fields.  They burned a number
of houses & barns in the neighborhood & destroyed
considerable property.  They killed about six persons
who were not in the Fort, & then retreated & did
not make their appearance again that year.
In the following winter he left the Fort & went
to live with his uncle in the Town of Rochester in
Ulster Co. New York & remained there until the
spring of 1779 when he returned to his fathers, in
Mamakating & enlisted to keep guard in the Fort
until the Month of August in the ensuing summer when
his father removed to what was called Wallkill -
he went with him & stayed until the whole family
moved back to Mamakating.  In the summer of
1779 there was a company @ DeWitts Fort commanded
by Capt’ Wood who were called nine months men
& who assisted to keep guard the Frontiers & to keep
off the Tories.  During that summer, the Tories and
Indians made an attack on a settlement four or
five miles below Dewitt Fort & burned nearly
the whole settlement, including some mills & a
meeting house.  They carried off some cattle
[new page]
and a number of prisoners.  Brandt, he thinks, commanded
the enemy.  In the ensuing winter they remained at
home near Dewitts Fort where a guard was kept -
The winter was uncommonly severe & they suffered
no inconvenience from the Indians or Tories –
In the spring of 1790 they rebuilt Fort Depuy.
This fort they continued to guard until the end
of the war, assisted nine months in the year
by parties of militia from the East, & for the remaining
three years the duty devolved on the residents at
that place.  He cannot now recollect the precise
nine of his service, but it was between four & five
years, during which time he was taken altogether
from agricultural employments & obliged to be
constantly on guard, & frequently to scour the
woods.  Said Depuy, his brother, now living &
James, a colored man also living were engaged
in the same service, & continued in it until the
end of the war.  Cornelius Wallace also living
was also in the same service during the same
length of time but was stationed about a mile
below at what was called Gumaer Fort –
In 1793 he moved to Aurelius in Cayugo Co.
New York - in 1802 he moved to Marcellius in
Onondaga Co. & in 1804 he moved to Lysander
in the same county where he now lives.
He has no documentary evidence in his pos-
session to show his services – He hereby all____?
Every claim whatever to a pension Except the present
Y declars that his name is not on the pension roll
of the agency of any State.
Sworn ....          Benj Depuy signature
...Daniel Moslley
   Circuit Judge & Vice Chancellor

Ben Jr.'s questionable death date

According to headstones, we believed that Benjamin Depuy Jr. died in 1842.  However, some people believe this is the same Benjamin that died on 19 Jan 1845, in Cold Springs, Lysander Township, Onondaga County, New York.

  It is possible these are the same Benjamin's but family records were burned about 1798 and area records are far from "good".  No other Benjamin has been identified that could possibly be this one that died in 1845.  

Source:   Onondaga Standard Examiner - January 29th 1845   New York

The Owasco Dutch Reformed Church, in Owasco, Cayuga, New York.  Benjamin Depuy Jr. would most likely been involved in helping to build this church and later attended it for a time. Cornelius VanAuken paid $2.00 for his seat.  This building was begun in 1810.

The seats were sold to obtain the money for the building.  The seats were only for those who purchased them, and perhaps their family. They could be sold to another if need be, but if they remained unoccupied for more than two years, they would again become the possession of the congregation and they could in turn resale them or use as they saw fit.

The settlement of Owasco can be traced to six families from Ulster and Orange Counties, NY (1794):  Adam Fries, Samuel Depuy, Benjamin Depuy, Daniel Miller, Moses Courtright, Elijah Price (who became a judge of Cayuga County).

In 1795 10 more families arrived from Gettysburg, Pa.  Jacob Brinkerhoff, Roetiff Brinkerhoff, Thomas Johnson, Abraham Bodine, Charles Vantine, Luke Brinkerhoff, James Dales, Isaac Percell, Jacob Loyster and Andrew Johnson.

The first church, Dutch Reformed,  in the county was organized in 1796,  at the home of Col. John L. Hardenburgh.  In 1797, a site was selected on land owned by Jacob Brinkerhoff (in possession of Harmon Robinson in 1896).

The first pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church was Rev. Abraham Brokaw.

Arena Van Auken Depuy headstone in Riverside, Baldwinsville, Onondaga, New York.

Benjamin Depuy Jr.'s headstone.
In the background you can see a large white painted tree trunk.  Right near it is Benjamin's wife, Arena',s headstone.  She is buried right next to  her daughter Elizabeth S. Davis.







Benjamin's headstone, located right next to the road by the office, and by his son Dr. James Depuy's monument.

Benjamin Depuy Jr. Pension Application

Shawnee-on-Delaware - Nicholas DePui / Depuy

Fort DePuy Location  

January 25, 2021 by Pete Sauvigne http://pete7a.com/fort.pdf  

Shared with Permission July 12, 2021

Summary  

The DePuy home was stockaded and garrissoned as a fort during the French and Indian War 1755-1763. However the  building we know as Fort DePuy did not exist until after the war, and is about 200 feet outside the old stockade, which  no longer exists. The present building, long known as Manwalamink, was built in 1785 by a later Nicholas DePuy. Below  is a 1896 map showing the relative locations of the old fort and Manwalamink, labelled as Robert DePui's house. 

Until the 20th century, it was never claimed that Manwalamink was within the stockaded fort. The Worthington family  never claimed that. However, after the mid 1900’s it became common belief that Manwalamink was the old fort. “Fort  DePuy” remains another fine name for the structure, to commemorate the events that occurred nearby.  

History  

Nicholas DePuy (1682-1761) was the first permanent European settler of the lower Minisink area. His grandfather, also  named Nicholas DePuy was a French Heugenot refugee who landed in Dutch New Amsterdam (now NYC) in 1662.  Nicholas “the settler” first built a log house in Shawnee  

1725-1727 and purchased much land: first from the  

Lanape, then again through the Penns. He developed a  

prosperous plantation and lived in harmony with the  

Lanape. By 1755 Indian relations had soured and many  

homesteads were attacked as the French and Indian  

War broke out. In 1755 the Depuy house was  

stockaded as a fort by family and neighbors. It was  

soon garrissoned with soldiers. 

As Nicholas “the settler” was in his 70's, most war-time accounts report his son Samuel as head of the family. Military  records describe a spring within the stockade and adequate accommodations for soldiers. The house had been much  improved from the settler's original log house some 30 years earlier, was built of stone, but was never called a mansion.  Another Nicholas was a teenager during the war. To clarify, below is the DePuys' direct line, significant to Shawnee:  

Nicholas DePui c1625-1691 French Huguenot immigrant  

Moses DePui c1657-1754 Ulster County NY  

Nicholas DePuy 1682-1761 FIRST SHAWNEE SETTLER 

Samuel DePuy 1716-1766 French & Indian War  

Nicholas DePuy 1738-1808 Built Manwalamink 1785  

Nicholas DePuy 1788-1816  

Robert R. DePuy 1814-1898 last DePuy in Shawnee  

In 1785 Samuel's son Nicholas built the mansion called Manwalamink near the fort's site. Since peace had prevailed for  years, the stockade had likely been burned for firewood, and stones from the fort site were reused elsewhere.    

Today there are no signs of the old fort site, but the spring still flows, presently through a pipe passing under a gravel  path. The spring is over 300 ft from Manwalamink.  

Evidence of 2 Sites  

1. The map at the top. This was produced for the state government specifically to locate frontier fort sites. 2. The spring location. It is unreasonable that a stockade could surround both Manwalamink and the spring. No other  frontier forts were that large, and this one was built by farmers, not soldiers.  

3. Prior to the 20th century, it was NEVER claimed that Manwalamink was the same house stockaded during the Indian  war. These early references all indicate that it was not:  

 1886 Mathews, Alfred. H "Nicholas (2d) son of Samuel, built the stone house .. at Shawnee in 1785"   1895 Browning, Charles H. " and very near the present house of Robert DePui”  

 1896 Richards, H.M.M "It was about 200 ft. west by south of Mr. Robert Depuy's present farm house"   1925 Brodhead, Luke W. "... near the location of the present stone mansion"  

 1927 Keller, Robert Brown "near the original dwelling, was built by Robert R. De Puy's grandfather, Nicholas" 

This article claims that Manwalamink was on the fort site, but also states that original features were put up in 1785. This could only be true if  the "site" meant more of the DePuy lands, not just the stockade.  

Misconception  

By the early 21st Century almost everyone believed that Manwalamink was the Indian war house. All had heard this  many times. It is easy to see the large building with this historic name and propagate the error. False assumptions could  easily be made about Manwalamink since:  

A. It was built by Nicholas DePuy as the family home. However, this Nicholas was the grandson of the first settler. 

B. It has a small spring behind it. Much too small to support a garrison, especially in dry weather. 

C. It has an iron fireback cast in 1746. These are portable, as it now sits in a room not built until 1907. 

D. It sits on DePuy land along the river across from the upper island, just a little further upstream. 

E. The DePuy family records were destroyed in Robert R. DePuy’s time, as he laments in H.M.M. Richards’ book.  

The first reference yet found that implies that Manwalamink was on the fort site is from a 1946 newspaper article:

This ambiguity evolved into the common  misunderstanding that Manwalamink existed in  1755 and was built by Nicholas Depuy, the first  settler of Shawnee.  Many historians erroneously propagate bad  information. That is why the oldest records are the most reliable. 

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Chris Francz for startling me about this.  

References  

Richards, H.M.M The Indian Forts of the Blue Mountains, Report of the Commission to Locate the Sites of the Frontier  Forts of Pennsylvania, Vol 1, Clarence M. Busch, State Printer of PA 1896 pages 322-328  http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/1picts/frontierforts/ff13.html 

Brodhead, Luke W, "The 200th Anniversary of the Settlement of Shawnee" Monroe County Historical Society 1925  

Browning, Charles H. The American Historical Register Sept 1894-Feb 1895, Philadelphia, the Historical Register  Publishing Company p.529  

Keller, Robert Brown, History of Monroe County PA, The Monroe Publishing Co 1927 p.23  https://digital.libraries.psu.edu/digital/collection/digitalbks2/id/18388/ Part_02  

Mathews, Alfred. History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania 1938 R. T. Peck and Co. 1886 p. 1054 Sauvigne, Peter C. “DePui lineage related to Shawnee, PA” 2019 http://pete7a.com/DePuiFamilyShawnee.pdf  

Manwalamink  

 ~ 1898  

“FORT DePUY”  2021

The following article was put up previously, and may not be correct with this new research from Pete Sauvigne.  

The Poco..... [Newspaper] Vol. 81, No 240: The Stroudsburgs, PA: [my copy came from correspondence and I do not have date [ 1975], nor full name of the paper. Typed without original newspaper format]

The past is prologue

Early years most dramatic

(Editor's Note: This is one of a weekly series by Bobby Westbrook on some of the historic places in this area, the people who built them and how the years have changed them - a countdown through 1975 toward the Bicentennial year of 1976.)

By Bobby Westbrook

SHAWNEE-On-DELAWARE -- Those who like their American history stereotyped with accounts of Indian raids on frontier forts can find plenty of authenticated material centering around Fort DePui. On its site now stands the lodge for overflow guests from Shawnee Inn behind the Fred Waring home in the village.

To put things in perspective, those few troubled years were not the most important nor the most typical of life in the earliest settlement in this area, where peace, farming, trade and progress were keynotes. But they may well be the most dramatic.

Thanks to research done by Russell Cramer II of Stroudsburg, the story of those troublesome times can be documented from state and military archives.

Certainly the Indian troubles weren't the fault of the first settler, Nicholas DePui who lived with them in peace for many years.

Nicholas DePui, whose French Huguenot grandfather, also Nicholas, had come to the New World in 1662, and was born in Rochester, [Ulster] N. Y. It was in 1725 that, seeking a lost boy or a lost horese, he came down the Delaware River and found the fertile valley on the Pennsylvania side of the river.

Entranced by the prospect, he spent two years preparing the land and building a house before he brought his wife and their 10 children down from Rochester to settle on the banks of the Delaware in 1727.

It may be that white settlers had been before him on that site. Just three years later, in 1730, a team of surveyors sent out from Philadelphia made their way upstream.

"After a fatiguing journey, there being no white inhabitants in the upper part of Northampton Counties", after leading their horses with difficulty through the water gap, they came at last to the DePui plantation where they found "great hospitality and plenty of the necessaries of life".

They also found "a grove of apple trees of size far beyond any near Philadelphia." These may have been planted by the Dutch who worked the copper mines on the Jersey side of the river as early as 1654 and may have cultivated the land here before the Penn Charter.

However, it was Nicholas DePui who came and stayed and his imprint on the area was to make Shawnee at one time the center of trade and hospitality for the whole area.

Nicholas DePui purchased the 3,000 acres of land from the Indians with Delaware chiefs signing the deed of Sept. 18, 1728. However, he found it necessary to repurchase the land from heirs of William Penn in 1733.

In the spacious stone house he built on the banks of the river, he was considered a friend by the Indians, who traded with him, sometimes sought his home as a refuge and some who worked on the plantation.

What sparked the Indian rebellion was the increasing pressure of English settlers coming up newly opened roads to the sough, frustrations arising from the Walking Purchase of 1737, the threat of the Iriquois -British coalition from the north. It all broke out locally when 200 Indians attacked the home of Daniel Broadhead in East Stroudsburg on Dec. 11, 1755.

In Shawnee, the settlers took the initiative in providing for their own protection, selecting the substantial house of Nicholas DePui and erecting around it a roomy stockade.

According to the Provincial Commissioners report of 1755, they found "The country all above this town is evacuated and ruined, excepting only the neighborhood of DePui's, five families which stand ground."

It was a square fort with swivel guns mounted at each corner, but, as an inspection report pointed out, "is open to attack from the hill above." On a navigable river, with its own spring within the stockade, where settlers later dipped their sheep, and well supplied their food, Fort DePui was named by Benjamin Franklin as a commissary base for all the Minisink area forts.

However, it was not Fort DePui but the neighboring home of Nicholas' son, Daniel, built about where Shawnee Inn now stands, which bore the brunt of a full-fledged Indian attack on Jan. 21, 1756.

Captain Salmare, stationed at nearby Fort Van Campen across the river, while scouting with his men on the New Jersey side, saw a fire over the river. "We crossed the river with 25 men", he reported, "and found upwards of 50 Indians attacking the house, who fled when they were fired upon." In Daniel's home he found two men killed, three wounded and 18 survivors. The Indians had burned the bard and fired the house in several places. They returned the next day and burnt the house but its inhabitants had found shelter.

Fort DePui, the home of Nicholas, was never attacked, whether because of his friendship with the Indians or the troops garrisoned there is pure conjecture. The soldiers were charged with protecting isolated farmers during their harvest. Attacks gradually tapered off and peace had returned by 1764.

[Photo in paper, but not included here] Walk-in-fireplace - The fireplace in the oldest part of Fort DePui Lodge, half obscured by the black gas range, still shows traces of the oval bakeoven in the back.

[Top Photo in newspaper, but not included here] Present Fort DePui Lodge - The present Fort DePui Lodge of Shawnee Inn on the banks of the Delaware show the Victorian influence of C. C. Worthington, founder of Buckwood Inn and Golf Course, now Fred Waring's Shawnee Inn, in additions and gables. The original Fort DePui at the left, shows the small door in the first floor section, typical of the earliest houses in this area.

 **Family Note: My Benjamin Depuy Junior served to defend this fort and lived here for one year.

Photos included here were found at www.bedandbreakfast.com

MORE NOTES BY ALLYSON:

I show this Nicholas in my records as the following:

Nicolaes Dupuy, born 12 Mar 1701, Kingston, Ulster, New York.

  Christening: 3 Dec 1682, Kingston Church, Ulster, New York

   Died - 1761, Lower Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
   Buried - Presbyterian Church, Shawnee, Pennsylvania

wife: Wyntje Roosa

  born in Hurley, Ulster and christened 4 Jun 1682 Kingston, Ulster, New York

  died 1760.

My relationship: Nicolaes is a brother to Moses Jr, making him an uncle to my Benjamin Sr.

My Benjamin Jr. lived in the fort for one year while serving in the military.
Source of Photos:  taken by and of Allyson Hunt Wood and Marsha Lockerby Pilger, 2010 trip to "Uncle Nicholas's"

Ben Depuy Jr and Arena's Cemetery Record

Benjamin Depuy Jr and his wife Arriantia (Arena) Van Auken were buried in the Riverview Cemetery, near Baldwinsville, Onondaga, New York.

The green hearts are next to our family members buried in that cemetery.

Ben Depuy Jr. Alternate Birth date

In the Pension Records of the Revolutionary Soldiers, Benjamin reports that his birth date is Dec 29, 1764.

Church records in Rochester, show that Benjamin was christened 2 Nov 1758. I have tried to figure out the discrepancy on birth dates, but have not discovered any clues.

David Canfield and Elizabeth Story Depew Canfield

Paternal Grandparents
by James Willard Canfield

My paternal grandfather, David Canfield, was born on May 9, 1812, in Gorham (Ontario County), New York, the son of James Canfield and Susanna Blake Canfield. Not much is known about his childhood, youth and early manhood. A brief reference indicated that he moved to Toronto, Canada, and married an Irish girl, Sally Mathison, about 1833. Two children were born in Candada, but no information is available as to what happend to this marriage and the two daughters, Jane and Susanna. [Preston Hunt later researched this line and has more information on this little family]. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1836. (It is possible that his conversion to the Mormon religion caused a divorce; this is mere conjecture on my part). Reliable data indicates that he came back to the United States and was baptized in 1843 by Parley P. Pratt.
He was married to my grandmother, Elizabeth Story Depew, on October 1, 1843, but records are not clear as to where they were married. She was the daughter of John Horace Depew and Lucy Lonsberre Roberts Depew, and was born on July 10, 1825, in Lysander, New York. The first of their ten children, David Jr., was born July 25, 1844, in Defiance, Ohio, and Ellen Elizabeth was born on April 1, 1846, in Chicago, Illinois, followed by Moroni on February 5, 1848.
Grandfather went to Nauvoo in 1845 and helped to finish up the Temple as far as it was completed. My grandparents did not join the first movement to Utah, but came there in 1850 and settled in Provo where my father, James Canfield, was born on October 9, 1850. The next five children were also born in Provo: Lucy Philena, January 21, 1853; Parley Pratt, July 24, 1855; Lyman, December 19, 1857; Harriet Alma, April 5, 1859 (died in infancy); and Clara, November 12, 1861. Their tenth child, Alice Lillian (Aunt Allie), was born in Pine Valley, Utah, on October 28, 1864.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Brigham Young was afraid that Utah would not be able to secure cotton, and knew that southern Utah, because of the climate and productive land, was suitable to grow cotton. This was the pirmary purpose of colonizing St. George. Men of various occupations were selected to insure a resourceful personnel, and David Canfield, who was a skilled carpenter, was called. The family moved to St. George and Grandfather helped build the Jacob Hamblin home in Santa Clara, Utah, late in 1861. He also did considerable work on the St. George Temple which was the first temple finished by the Mormons in Utah.
While I can state with some conviction that my grandparents were obedient Church members and came to southern Utah because they were so ordered by the Church authorities, they were a bit resentful that they lost their fine property acquired in Provo. Evidently Grandfather resented the continual control of local Church authorities, because he moved his family to a place called "The Foster Ranch" on the Santa Clara River, twenty-four miles north of St. George before 1864, where they raised fruit, vegetables and a few cattle. Sometime in the late sixties they moved to Hamblin, utah, their last home, and where I entered the picture and my first memories began.
Grandfather was a big man; he stood over six feet and weighed better than 200 pounds. He was quiet spoken and an agreeable, non-aggressive neighbor, From Father I later acquired the information that Grandfather had been very active in all physical activities. Father told me that at one time Grandfather walked from St. George to their dwelling on the Santa Clara Creek, a distance over twenty miles, carrying a huge brass kettle.
I remember Grandfather best as he sat in the big rocker, which he had constructed, and read the paper and smoked his corn cob pipe. Although the Mormon Church considered the use of tabacco an evil, Grandfather had acquired the habit before he joined the Church and found considerable comfort smoking his pipe. The tobacco was cut from a plug or roll of tobacco leaf, on a pine board made for that purpose. On one occasion, mary Sinfield, a neighbor my age, and I sat on the floor close to Grandfather's chair. We picked up small portions of the tobacco that occasionally fell when being cut, and ate the same. It had a sweet flavor; I presume it had been flavored. The out-come was that I became violently ill and lost my dinner, while the tough girl Mary weathered the experience without illness.
During the year of 1896, when he was in his eighty-fourth year, I remember that Grandfather Canfield was quite inactive. His physical activity consisted of chopping wood, and building fires around the outdoor kettle used for heating water for washing clothes and cooking food for the pigs. The pig pens at the back of the lot were of interest to me because of the litter of young pigs that frequently came in the springtime, and I helped when some of the pink-nose squealling midgets escaped from the pen through cracks in the logs and then had trboule finding their way back. The pigs were fed quantities of green weeks, green alfalfa, and cooked potatoes and wheat. The huge brass outdoor kettle would be filled with a mixture of small potatoes (culled out when picked in the fall and placed in a separate cellar) and wheat. The children were not opposed to dipping out a few clean potatoes and a cup of well cooked wheat and eating the same. We relished the dish when mixed with good milk and molasses; the molasses was obtained from Utah's Dixie where it was made from sugar cane.
The slaughtering of beef and pigs was supervised by Granfather Canfield. Beek was killed in the winter time when it could be frozen and hung high on the north side of the house. Pigs were raised for fresh meat and cured side bacon and hams which, when placed in large oak barrels in a strong salt solution for several weeks and then hung up to dry, would keep over the summer.
I remember once watching Grandfather as he gathered an armful of wood to carry to the back porch and I was alarmed when he stumbled over the chopping block and fell. He did not move for a moment or two and then could not get up. I ran for Grandmother; she, in turn, called for Father who came to Granfather's assistance. his last illness of four weeks was severe, but he bore this suffering patiently and went to his rest in Hamblin on May 8, 1897, leaving a record of a man who never failed to respond to the call of God's servants and who was ever true to the trust reposed in him.
In many respects, Grandmother Canfield was a stronger character than Grandfather. She was a medium sized women with a tremendous amount of mental and physical energy. She was neat and attractive, with a pleasing manner thant endeared her to all close friends and accosicates, and attracted frquent visitors. For years travelers stopped at her place for meals and lodging. The number that could be served was restricted to four or five because of lack of sleeping accomodations, but any larger groups were the exception in those days. After the railroads reached Modena, Utah, most of the freight and passenger service from St. George and vicinity came through Hamblin and Granmother sold hay and grain for the stage and freight teams. This of course provided extra pennies and she was thrifty. By saving over a period of time she accumulated enough for her to take the train to the Chicago World Fair in 1893. I cannot remember the event, but many times later I listed to her accounts of what she saw and who she met in Chicago. The bi-weekly mail occasionally brought newspapers and letters from her former home.
Grandmother was intelligent and resourceful. For years she was the post-mistress of Hamblin. Grandpa built her a carpet loom and every year or so it was put up in the north end of the long kitchen and new rugs and carpets were woven. All pieces of good cloth were saved, and sometimes colored to add to the artistic effect. Mother went there frequently to help and also fashion one to her liking.
They also made candles from tallow which were used especially in the three bedrooms. Grandfather made a cheese press which sat out by the porch, and I remember the cheese making process. Aunt Libby Canfield, Uncle Lyman's wife, fell heir to the press and made cheese and occasionally sold some of it. I learned to milk cows at five years of age, but my small hands seemed to be capable of milking only two cows each morning and evening.
After we moved from hablin I frequently would spend two or three days with Grandmother. She was quite proud of her maiden name, Depew, but I cannot recall her genealogy background. (However, I have always been of the opinion that Chauncy M. Depew, the lawyer nd famous after-dinner speaker, was a close relative). Grandmother Canfield died on June 5, 1908, in Cedar City and was buried in Hamblin.

Fort Depuy, Pennsylvania