Roeliff Jansen Kill

The Roeliff Jansen Kill^[2] is a major tributary to the Hudson River. Roeliff Jansen Kill was the traditional boundary between the Native American Mahican and Wappinger tribes.^[3]

Roeliff Jansen Kill Ancram Creek, Livingstons Creek
Roeliff Jansen Kill map
Native name	Sank-he-nak (Algonquin)[1]
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Columbia, Dutchess
Towns	, Livingston
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Chatham, NY
• coordinates	42°16′45″N 73°30′40″W
Mouth	Hudson River
• location	Livingston, New York
• coordinates	42°10′49″N 73°51′33″W
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	56 mi (90 km)

Its source is in the town of Austerlitz, New York, and its mouth is at the Hudson River at Linlithgo in the town of Livingston. The stream flows for 56.2 miles (90.4 km)^[4] through Dutchess and Columbia counties before entering the Hudson River about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Hudson.^[5]

Most of the watershed lies in Columbia County, although parts of the northern Dutchess County towns of North East, Stanford, Pine Plains, Milan, and Red Hook are within the stream's watershed of approximately 212 square miles (550 km²).^[6] A major tributary is Shekomeko Creek.^[7]

Tributaries

• Klein Kill
• Doove Kill
• Fall Kill
• Ham Brook
• Shekomeko Creek - Native American Che-co-min-go, "place of eels".^[8]
  • Bean River
• Punch Brook
• Noster Kill
  • Preechey Hollow Brook
• Bashbish Brook
  • Cedar Brook
  • Wright Brook
  • City Brook
    • Guilder Brook
  • Ashley Hill Brook
    • Lee Pond Brook
• Green River

History

Roeliff Jansen

Both Roeliff Jansen Kill and Roeliff Jansen Park outside Hillsdale, NY, were named after Roeliff Jansen.^[9] However, Roeloff Jansz was not an uncommon name.

According to popular belief Roeloff Jansen (1602-1637) was born on the island of Marstrand in Bohuslän, Sweden. In 1623, Jansen married Anneke Jans (1605-1663) who was from Flekkeroy, in Vest Agder, Norway. Following the birth of their first three children, they emigrated to New Netherland in 1630.^[10] The couple settled in first Rensselaerwyck near what is now Albany, New York, where Jansen had an engagement as a tenant farmer for Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. About 1634, he moved his family to New Amsterdam where he acquired a 62-acre farm on Manhattan Island, today in the Tribeca area of lower Manhattan. After his death, his widow married Domine Everardus Bogardus. ^{[11] [12]}

Willem Frijhoff suggests it more likely refers to Roelof Jansz Haes , an alderman in Manor of Rensselaerswyck who was a trader in Beverwyck about 1634. By one account, he and some others were returning from New Amsterdam one winter when their boat became icebound for several days. They crossed the ice to shore and exploring the area, discovered the stream. They named it after the highest ranking member of the party, who was the alderman. This story is sometimes conflated with that of Roeliff Jansen of Marstrand.^[13]

New York State Route 9G crosses the stream via the Roeliff Jansen Kill Bridge (also known as the Linlithgo Bridge), built in 1932.

Roeliff Jansen Park, in the town of Hillsdale, New York, is named after him.^[14] The Roeliff Jansen Community Library, which also serves the towns of Ancram, Copake, and Hillsdale.

Livingston Manor

In 1699, Robert Livingston built the manor house of Livingston Manor at Linlithgo at the mouth of the Roeloff Jansen Kill, where it flows into the Hudson. After his death, the stream formed a boundary between the manor left to his son Philip, and the estate created for his son Robert.^[15] In 1743, Philip Livingston, grandson of Robert, founded the Livingston Forge on the banks of the Roeliff Jansen Kill at "Scotchtown", later called Ancram after the town in Scotland where the Livingstons originated. It was at the Ancram iron works that the "Fort Montgomery Chain" was forged in 1776. The chain was placed across the Hudson River near West Point between Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton,^[16] to keep the British fleet from sailing up the Hudson. In 1854, the foundry became a paper mill.^[17] Paper manufacturer Schweitzer-Mauduit International operates a plant at that location.

See also

• List of rivers of New York

References

1. Beauchamp, William Martin (1907). Aboriginal Place Names of New York. New York State Education Department. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4047-5155-2.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Roeliff Jansen Kill
3. History of the Indian tribes of Hudson's River: their origin, manners and customs..., Edward Manning Ruttenberg, page 372
4. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed October 3, 2011
5. NY Public Fishing Rights Maps: Roeliff Jansen Kill
6. Roeliff Jansen Kill near Linlithgo, NY (USGS)
7. Dutchess County Watershed: Roeliff Jansen Kill Information
8. Aboriginal place names of New York, By William Martin Beauchamp, page 46
9. "Roeliff Jansen Park History". New York State Parks. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
10. Bielinski, Stefan. "Anneke Jans". New York State Museum. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
11. Raphelson, Jeffrey (February 2007). "A Certaine Parcell of Land Lying on this Island, Manhatans" (PDF). Court Legacy. XIV (1). Historical Society for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
12. Paul Loucks (10 Feb 2012). "Roeliff Jansen". Loucks-Wallace Genealogy. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
13. Frijhoff, Willem. Fulfilling God’s Mission: The Two Worlds of Dominie Everardus Bogardus, 1607-1647, BRILL, 2007, pp. 582-583ISBN 9789047422020
14. "Roeliff Jansen Park", Town of Hillsdale
15. "The Clermont Estate", Town of Clermont
16. Diamant, Lincoln. Chaining the Hudson; The fight for the river in the American Revolution, p. 92
17. "History", Town of Ancram

• Hudson Valley portal

External links

• Roeliff Jansen Historical Society