It is somewhat uncertain which of the three Swartwouts remained in this neighborhood, but as the seats of Bernardus and Thomas became vacated, and Anthony's continued to be occupied by Van Inwegen after Samuel and James Swartwout removed more distantly from the neighborhood first settled, I will make use of his name as the father of the two latter. Another reason is that the seats of Bernardus and Thomas became possessed by the second Peter Gumaer. He bought the rights of two Swartwouts.
It is not known what became of the families of Tyse and Jamison, nor where the two Swartwouts went, who removed from here. There are Swartwouts down the Delaware river, in the State of Pennsylvania, or New Jersey, among whom the name of Bernardus has been kept up. These probably are descendants of Bernardus who settled here. There also are Swartwouts on the Susquehanna. These may be descendants of Thomas Swartwout.
After the seven first settlers had resided here a few years, they sent Jacob Cuddeback to the Governor of the New York Colony to obtain a patent to cover as much land as they intended to occupy, which was granted the 14th of October, 1697, for 1,200 acres land to Jacob Cuddeback, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swartwout, Bernardus Swartwout, Jan Tyse, Peter Germar and David Jamison, who, as near as can be determined, continued to be the only settlers of white people in this part of the country for a term of more than 20 years. The strongest evidence of this is that the children of the first settlers between this place and the Delaware river were contemporary with the grandchildren of the first settlers, and that some of the children of the first pioneers were among the first settlers of both the lands between this place and the Delaware river, and a few miles down the same in the north part of New Jersey. One daughter of Jacob Cuddeback, one of Van Inwegen, one of Swartwout, and a sister of the second Peter Gumaer's wife, were among the first settlers between this place and the Delaware; and one son and four daughters of Cuddeback were among the first in the north of New Jersey.
There were two neighborhoods in this town, one of which, formerly known by the name of Peenpack neighborhood, extended southwest to the old county line, formerly between Orange and Ulster counties, and the other extended from that line southwest to the Delaware river, and was in the first instance designated "over the river neighborhood," in consequence of its population then being principally on the east side of the river, but after the increase of inhabitants on the west side of the river the whole district was generally termed "the lower neighborhood."
[ANCIENT FAMILIES]
OF THE
PEENPACK NEIGHBORHOOD.
FAMILY OF JACOB CUDDEBACK AND WIFE, MARGARET PROVOST—(Jacob Cuddeback lived to be about 100 years old.)
First son, Benjamin Cuddeback, never married. He, in the first instance, lived with his brother William, and afterwards with his nephew, Benjamin Cuddeback. (Lived to be about 80 years old.)
Second son, William Cuddeback, married Jemima Elting, daughter of ____ Elting of the Old Paltz. He became owner of his father's farm, and resided on the premises afterwards occupied by his son, Captain Cuddeback. (Lived to be about 74 years old.)
Third son, James Cuddeback, married Neelje Decker, daughter of Christopher Decker, of Shipikunk, in the north part of New Jersey where Cuddeback became a resident. (Died about 30 years of age.)
Fourth son, Abraham Cuddeback, married Esther Swartwout, daughter of Major James Swartwout, of Peenpack. They resided near the present dwelling house of Peter L. Gumaer until they became old and were removed by their sons to Skaneateles Lake, in this State, where two of his sons lived. He owned a farm where he first resided, (Abraham Cuddeback died at Skaneateles Aug. 18th, 1796, aged 83 years. His wife died April 11th, 1798, aged 65.)