Travelogue: Rebecca Chipman’s Trip Back in Time continued from the Fall/Winter issue
After saying goodbye to Laurens, NY, I made my way to Cooperstown, which is also in Otsego County. You see, that was another reason I made this trip. I wanted to donate some correspondence, deeds, and a handwritten cookbook to the Research Library at the Fenimore Art Museum, which sits on property once owned by James Fenimore Cooper. My family kept and passed down many documents and letters from one generation to the next. I was now the keeper of those documents. After careful consideration, my brother and I decided some of the documents and letters needed to return back “home.” Some were letters between Sarah Sabina (Cooper) Comstock, the niece of James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Last of the Mohicans, and William Cooper, founder of Cooperstown and a politician. Sarah married Horace Hawkins Comstock, brother of my 4th great-grandmother, Rosepha Comstock Tripp, whom you met in my first installment.
I have to pause here and say what a beautiful town Cooperstown is, situated on the banks of Otsego Lake and steeped in the rich history of its own. I walked the town, taking in the sights in the historic part of the old town, finding the beautiful museum and delivering the family papers, and spending the night by the lake. It was heaven to sit by the water’s edge and watch the sun go down, and in the morning sip my coffee as the sun rose over a misty fog. I was bidding the town farewell, but my journey didn’t end there.
From Cooperstown I made my way east to Van Schaick Island, a few miles north of Albany. This was a journey back to another line of ancestors that came to America, my Huguenot and Dutch roots. This side was from the granddaughter of Rosepha (Comstock) Tripp, my 2nd great-grandmother, Clara Tripp. It is through her husband, James Chester Coxe, my 2nd great-grandfather, that you find the families of De Peyster and Van Schaick. Johannes De Peyster II was a French Huguenot and was the 23rd Mayor of New York City, serving in 1698 and 1699. The Van Schaick family was Dutch. They were granted the patent of Van Schaick Island, which still bears their name. The Van Schaick Mansion is on the island in the town of Cohoes. This home was built in 1755 and belonged to Anthony Van Schaick, the son of Goosen Gerritse Van Schaick. The mansion is now owned by the General Peter Gansevoort Chapter, DAR.
RI was fortunate that day to meet a distant cousin (pictured on the right with Rebecca on the left) from Illinois, there for just a few hours of a tight schedule for her and her husband. We exchanged history and contact information, and have since been in touch. I soon met another woman when I stopped to take photos of the river I crossed to get to Van Schaick Island, the Hudson River. She told me of a place nearby that I simply must go see before leaving the area. I took her advice, and behold, I found it, the Cohoes Falls! The falls were truly beautiful and well worth the time and a few miles and minutes it took to get there. Then it was a short ride down to Albany, where I had flown into and rented the car for my adventures back to visit my early roots and ancestors. I wanted to stay longer, explore more, and stay “in the moment” just a little longer. But reality calls you back to the everyday hustle and bustle of life. What a joy it was to have the opportunity to learn about my family, to take a few days just to glimpse back into their world, and to see the land where they had lived, loved, and died.
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