What’s in a name? Elm Cote or Pine Hill?

(c) 2020 by Kroll Family Historian Frederick Walton

My Great-Grandparents, German immigrants named Ottilie and Julius Kroll, owned a farm with a large house on a rural road[1] between Chester and Blooming Grove. With eleven children, a large house was necessary.

This was the house my grandmother, Lydia, grew up in. She told us stories and showed me pictures of her childhood home. This is the house my Mother visited throughout her childhood, creating her own stories and memories. This was a house that was less than 10 miles from my childhood home, yet, sadly, I never visited and have virtually NO memories of it.

The Kroll family farmhouse in Chester, New York where my Grandmother grew up, from a photo in her collection

 Recently, while analyzing some old photographs, I  came across some conflicting information. Some of the older photos are labeled “Elm Cote” while others are labeled “Pine Hill”.

Which name is correct, I wondered?

Former Kroll farmhouse Circa 1999 (photo by Bob Terry) 

A contemporary view of a very dilapidated, overgrown  house, taken by Bob Terry probably 20 years ago and shared with me, shows a blue and yellow New York State Historic Marker at the edge of the driveway.

New York State Historic Sign dedicated in 1992

According to this marker, the historic name is ”Pine Hill Farm”.  But what exactly is being named?


The inscription reads:

“Pine Hill Farm

Hector St. John De Crevecoeur, 

1735-1813. 

Settled here 1769 and here wrote 

"Letters From an American Farmer”

 (London 1782)”

Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur was a young French soldier and mapmaker who came from Canada after the French Seven years war. He traveled widely, but had his heart set on settling down and becoming a farmer. In 1769, already a naturalized citizen of the province of New York who had anglicized his name to “Hector St. John”, he bought 120 acres of rich farm land near the already historic Grey Court Inn and christened it Pine Hill Farm.

Hector St. John- Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur
creator of "Pine Hill Farm"

He first built a cabin, then a house, got married, to the daughter of a successful N. Y. Merchant, and had three children. He became an industrious and enthusiastic agronomist lovingly transforming his property into a productive farm.  A well educated man, he was sought out by friends and neighbors for both his agricultural knowledge as well as the culture his presence lent to any affair.

Being an astute observer of his surroundings he began recording his observations, which would later be published in England.

As the winds of war flared up the valleys of Orange county, Hector St. John took little interest, and as he was not an active participant, his neighbors looked at him as a traitor. He was banished from his home by neighbors who thought him a Loyalist and then Jailed by the British in New York, thinking him a rebel spy. Reduced to poverty, he returned to his native France. In his absence, his farm was destroyed, his wife died and his children were scattered.

in 1781 he published a series of essays under the title of "Letters From an American Farmer” which became a success and were widely read throughout Europe. De Crevecoeur is also credited with introducing alfalfa, lima beans and other innovations to American agriculture on his Pine Hill farm.

He returned to N. Y. as a French Consul, but sold his Orange county property and went home to France in 1790, never to return to America. [2]

Longer biographies may be found on the web, but they agree that while De Crevecoeur was exiled from his Orange county farm in the 1780’s, Indians raided and burned down Pine Hill leaving his wife dead and his children under the care of neighbors. [3]

I therefore interpret this to mean that the Kroll Farm house was NOT the house occupied by Hector St. John De Crevecoeur and his family.  (Which one might assume from the historic sign in front of the existing house.) The Pine Hill Farm more properly denotes the 120 acre property De Crevecoeur bought, transformed to a idyllic rural farm  and raised his family on in the 1770’s before the Revolution uprooted him.

My Mother recalled that when she was a child there used to be a historical marker that said “Site of Indian Massacre”. The dirt floor basement, used as a summer kitchen had uneven mounds and she was told that it was because that is where they buried the Indians. This story was probably meant to scare the children and keep them out of the basement. Whenever I heard this story though, I always thought that it would do just the opposite for me and my brothers. We would have been in there with shovels to see what treasures we could find! [4]

In fact, based on the historical information I reviewed, if this was the site of an Indian massacre, it wasn’t Indians who were massacred, so there are probably no bodies buried in the basement, at least not Indians.

Elm Cote

Early Post Card of Elm Cote in Chester, New York where my Grandmother grew up, from her collection

Both my Mother, Jeanne Walton, and her sister, Dee Terry, recall their mother, Lydia Kroll Packhiser always calling her parents farm “Elm Cote”. A recently discovered, undated postcard featuring Elm Cote, in her handwriting says:

“Elm Cote in Chester [Orange county, N. Y.] was Owned by Grandpa Kroll [her father] where we grew up. An old historical residence.

Lydia Kroll Packhiser”

Back of above Elm Cote Postcard with description in her handwriting

A “Cote” is an early British term for a small cottage or small shelter for sheep or birds. Neither of these describes the massive house that goes by that name. Perhaps this name  dates back to the earliest colonial inhabitants of the property.

The home was surrounded by stately Elm trees as seen in the early photographs. Although missing from contemporary views, these long gone Elms clearly are responsible, in part, for the home’s Moniker.

A different Post Card view of Elm Cote from a Postcard in the collection of the Chester Historical Society.

Family oral history would indicate this house had colonial origins, certainly predating its early 20th century occupation by the Kroll family. In fact, current real estate and tax records indicate the house was built in 1800. [5]

I though I might discover some additional information from early maps.

Section of 1779 Map of Orange county from thre Library of Congress

The earliest map I found, dated 1779, mentions neither Pine Grove Farm,  Elm Cote or any family place name, but it does show some houses on the road between Chester and Blooming Grove in about the location of the Kroll Farm. Known as “the Kings Road” this was  a well traveled route during the colonial period. [6]

The Greycourt Inn was a welcome stopping point for travelers on this road and was located barely 300 yards from Pine Hill. Also known as the Cromline House, after the builder Daniel Cromline, the Greycourt Inn was the main public building between New Windsor and New Jersey prior to 1765 when the Yelverton Inn was opened in Chester. Today the name Greycourt describes this entire region on modern maps. [7]

I found 6 other maps from various source dating between 1829 and 1930. Most had an indication of a house in the approximate location of the Kroll farm, some had property owners names attached, but one stood out. In 1903 The house, owned by William Roe Conklin, was labeled “Elm Cote”. [8]

Section of 1903 Atlas showing house labled "Elm Cote"

That would lead me to believe Elm Cote may be the more correct house name, for the current buildinh, but Pine Hill Farm may still be a reliable designation to signify the overall property at this location.

While descendants of the Kroll family may prefer “Elm Cote”, today the property is owned by the Conklin Family who run a Farm Market called Pine Hill Farm. [9]

Whats in a Name? Elm Cote or Pine Hill Farm? It turns out both are correct, depending on when and what you are referring to.


Notes 

1 Currently New York State route 94 between Chester and Craigsville.

2 1992 Pine Hill Farm marker dedication brochure, Chester Historical Society & Historical Marker Database- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=22065&Result=1 (Note: No Marker found for “Elm Cote” “indian Massacre” or “ Richcreek Farm”

3 Indian Raid mentioned in his Biography: https://liternet.bg/ebook/amerikanska/bio/ j_de_crevecoeur.htm (“The Sun is but a Morning Star”) I was unable to find any other sources mentioning and Indian Raid. Considering the Actions Taken by Patriots in Boston, during the Boston Teas PArty, The “Indians” may well have been disguised neighbors.

4 To date I have been unable to find any “Indian Massacre” markers or mentions in local newspapers.

5 Municipality of Blooming Grove Tax records for tax ID 43-1-21.1 SWIS Record 332089 (The former Kroll house as indicated by Location and included contempory photos of the house) reviewed April 2020 at: http://propertydata.orangecountygov.com/propdetail.aspx? swis=332089&printkey=04300000010211000000

6 Library of Congress, 1779 Map of Orange and Rockland counties area of New York; https:// www.loc.gov/item/gm71002215/

7 Celebrated Taverns of Historic Interest, Orange County, New York. NY Genealogy; https:// newyorkgenealogy.org/orange/celebratedtaverns.htm

8 reviewed maps of orange county from 1829, 1851, 1875, 1897, 1902, 1930 focusing on the road between Chester and Craigsville where the Kroll Farm was located.

9 The current address is 3298 Rte 94, Chester, N. Y. 10918; The current parcel number is 43-1-21.1 in Blooming Grove; Tax Information: http://propertydata.orangecountygov.com/ propdetail.aspx?swis=332089&printkey=04300000010211000000

Map information may be found at:

old maps online- https://www.oldmapsonline.org

New York Public Library Maps- http://maps.nypl.org/warper/o