Lewis Hardenberg

Photo by Ed Poole: side-by-side headstones of Lewis Hardenberg and Agnes Laraway

Meanwhile, back in Schohary Kill.

Lewis Hardenberg (1783-1836), son of Isaac Hardenberg (1756-1838) and Rachel Graham (1760-1822) was born in Marbletown, Ulster County, the eldest of seven children born to them.

Lewis married Agnes Laraway on May 15, 1803 in the Reformed Church in the Village of Gilboa, Schoharie County, N. Y. formerly the Reformed Dutch Church in Dyse’s Manor, in the town of Broome. Together, they had five children: Ann Eliza Hardenberg More (more on the Moresville, first settled 1786, now Grand Gorge, in a later post); Catherine M. Hardenberg Stryker (1811-1896) (more on Strykersville, now West Conesville, in a later post); Rozinah Hardenberg (1813-1816); Isaac Hardenberg (1822-1889); and Addison Hardenburgh (1828-1886).

Lewis’ wife, Agnes Laraway, an early member of the Schohary Kill settlement, was the daughter of Martinus Laraway and Rosannah Becker. She was baptized in the Reformed Dutch Church of Schoharie in 1789. The Laraway family was an important one in the early settlement.

Lewis, who became supervisor of the Town of Roxbury in 1828-29 (remember, Roxbury separated from Schohary Kill in 1799), earned his title, Colonel, having served in the 174th Regiment, 25th Brigade infantry.

Lewis became postmaster in Roxbury in 1815 after establishing the post office of Hardenberg Mills, the second post office to be set up in the Town. The office was located and remained open in the Hardenberg Homestead until 1822, two years after the Moresville (present day Grand Gorge) post office opened its doors.

More about Lewis and his father, Isaac as the largest slave-owners in Roxbury, NY in the next post.

Hard to keep track of all these dates and shifting boundaries but it’s critical to piecing together the early European history of the region. It’s painstaking and I’m slogging my way through so if anyone out there catches an error or has more information and wants to weigh in, I’d appreciate it.

Hardenberg in Prattsville’s Upper or Lutz-Huggins Cemetery

Happy History-Hunter!

Carolyn Bennett

Prattsville Historian