The Time for Redemption by Jill Susan Witbeck Knapp ISBN 9781614683988, 1614683980 instant download

The Time for Redemption by Jill Susan Witbeck Knapp ISBN 9781614683988, 1614683980 instant download

THIS IS THE STORY OF ONE FARMER, WILLIAM WITBECK, WHO STOOD HIS GROUND AGAINST WALTER S. CHURCH WITH TRAGIC RESULTS, AN EVENT THAT RESULTED IN ONE OF THE MOST PUBLICISED TRIALS OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT.
During the Colonial Period and following the Revolutionary War, much of the Hudson Valley and landswest through the Catskills [a subrange of the Appalachian mountains] were owned by a few very wealthy ‘Lords’, or in the Dutch, ‘Patroons.’ The longest-lasting of these was the Manor of Rensselaerwyck, which covered most of the land in today’s Albany and Rensselaer counties. The tenants paid rent for perpetuity in bushels of wheat, fat hens, and service with horse and wagon. 
Stephen Van Rensselaer III acquired the manor in 1785. He was considered ‘The Good Patroon’ since he was lenient in the collection of rent, but when he died in 1839, his sons immediately pursued collection of the rents in arrears to settle his debts, often with violent consequences.
In 1852, a case was decided in the courts which declared the conveyances to be deeds which transferred the title to the farmers. The Van Rensselaers abandoned their claims to the farms, but land speculator Walter S. Church, a cousin of the Van Rensselaers from western New York, bought out the claims and vigorously pursued collection.