Category: New York

That’s All Folks

The Humble Fabulist1 Comment

After four unforgettable years, it was time to move on. Another country, another ocean, a new continent in the Southern Hemisphere. A series of very fortunate events would bring us to the faraway land that is New Zealand, and not a moment too soon. Because of Covid-19, our trip would be longer than usual, flying to Greece first, for a family reunion, then on to Auckland via Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. Almost full circle around the Globe.

We’ll stay in Athens for the next few days, before I figure out which is the best platform to go on sharing our New Zealand memories, as this blog has almost reached its maximum storage space.

Meanwhile, let’s bid farewell to the City with the most New Yorky picture of them all:

Good bye New York City, thank you for four amazing years!

August 1st, 2020

The Huguenot Houses of New Paltz

The Humble FabulistLeave a comment

”In 1677, leaders of seven prominent families from present-day France and Belgium, collectively known as the Patentees, purchased 40,000 acres of land from the Esopus Indians on the west side of the Hudson River. The contract for the sale — whose purchase price included domestic supplies, farming tools, clothing, blankets, wine, horses, tobacco, and gunpowder — was signed by five Esopus chiefs, and 21 Esopus braves approved the property deed. Governor Edmund Andros gave the settlers a patent grant for the land on September 29, 1677, about five years before William Penn negotiated his treaty with the Native Americans to found Pennsylvania.

In 1678, 12 members of the Bevier, Crispell, Deyo, DuBois, Freer, Hasbrouck, and LeFevre families — who collectively became known as the Duzine — settled the 40,000 acres. They named their settlement “die Pfalz” in honor of Pfalz-am-Rhein, the German state where they had temporarily found refuge on their way to the New World. Their village was set up like a commune: the Duzine owned some land in common, and shared their products and labor; the rest of the property was eventually divided among their descendants up until 1803. The Duzine held power over the community in various governmental forms until 1826.

Did you know?: According to the National Huguenot Society, the word Huguenot may be a combination of Flemish and German, and describes Protestants who met to study the Bible in secret; they were called Huis Genooten, meaning ‘house fellows’.” [source]

Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, NY

June 16th, 2020