Name/Title
Typed summary of story of Goodwill Notes Mar 1966 by Margaret Moon pg1Entry/Object ID
001739Tags
Sarah Wells, William Bull, Chistopher DenneScope and Content
Summary of first 5 typed pages by Margaret Moon - March 1966
This document provides a historical narrative concerning the settlement of the Wawayanda Patent in Orange County, New York, during the early 18th century. It is a typed copy (made in 1966) of an earlier account that blends land record data with the semi-legendary story of Sarah Wells and Christopher Denn.
• Land History: The text begins by outlining the boundaries of the Wawayanda Patent and listing the twelve Indian Chiefs who sold the land to twelve "Civilized Gentlemen" (the Patentees) in 1703. It notes the early court sessions in Tappan and details the subsequent sale of undivided rights among speculators like Daniel Cromline and Adrian Hoagland.
• The Settlement Incentive: To encourage settlement, the proprietors offered 600 acres to the first person to make a permanent home in the "howling wilderness" by 1709. Despite initial attempts and the surveying of Goshen by Peter Berrian, no family lived there for several years.
• Sarah Wells' Journey: Seeking to claim a site, Christopher Denn recruited his young indentured servant, Sarah Wells, to lead a pack train of supplies and livestock from New York City to the Otterkill. Sarah traveled by sloop to New Windsor and then overland with Indian guides, eventually camping under a beech tree and building a temporary wigwam near the present site of Hamptonburgh.
• The Reunion: The narrative shifts to Sarah’s perspective as she struggles with the isolation and fear of the wilderness. It concludes with the emotional arrival of Christopher and Elizabeth Denn, who had traveled overland via the Ramapo Mountains to join her, expressing their remorse for sending the young girl alone and their relief at finding her safe.
