Beekman, New York

town in Dutchess County, New York, United States

Beekman is a community in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is named after Henry Beekman, whose family owned owned land in the county as well as slaves.[1][2]

References change

  1. "Town History". Town of Beekman, NY. Archived from the original on 2008-10-09.
  2. White, Philip L. (1999). "Beekman, Henry (1688-1776), New York landowner and provincial assemblyman". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0101210. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7. Retrieved 2020-11-12. Beekman was not a self-made man. His Dutch ancestors were prominent locally in the turmoil associated with the Protestant Reformation and the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain. His immigrant grandfather, William Beekman, was an administrative subordinate to the governor of New Netherland. His father was a militia leader from Ulster County whose work in preparing for possible attacks by the French during King William's War (1689–1697), plus a small gratuity to the governor, won him land grants later branded "as large as a middling county of England." These Dutchess County land grants (Rhinebeck Patent, 21,766 acres; Beekman Patent, 84,000 acres) became the basis for the younger Henry Beekman's career.