The Josiah P. LeFevre House: Generations of History

When you see houses along local roads, you may not know the rich history the house possesses. This artwork depicts the Josiah P. LeFevre farmhouse, one part of a historic large farm of hundreds of acres, and a young LeFevre son who fought and died in the Civil War.

The mid-19th century farmhouse at 454 Route 32 North holds the history of a long-time New Paltz family. A designated Town of New Paltz landmark, it provides a connecting thread through ancestry from an original Huguenot patentee, Simon LeFevre, to descendants in the 20th and 21st centuries.

On a segment of land owned a member of the LeFevre family, Josiah P. LeFevre built a Greek Revival-style farmhouse around 1850 that became a home for the children of Josiah and his wife Elizabeth. The area, near a major bend of the Wallkill River, was known as Bontecoe, a word that likely traces its origin to a French term meaning “neck of good land.”

Various members of the LeFevre family had notable lives connected to local and national history. One LeFevre son, Johannes, lost his life in the Civil War fighting for the Union cause. Serving in the Union Army, he fought in a number of battles and died in 1864 after suffering wounds in a crucial battle in the Shenandoah Valley, the Battle of Cedar Creek. Both Johannes and his brother, Peter, served in the 156th New York regiment. Johannes wrote many letters to his family in New Paltz while at the battlefront.

Some other highlights about the LeFevre family members include:

– Josiah LeFevre was a Town Supervisor in New Paltz in the mid-19th century and was also an elder of the Dutch Reformed Church.

– Jane LeFevre, daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth, appeared to be the abiding keeper of the home for many decades. For one, she kept an annual journal of the family’s Thanksgiving dinners every year from the holiday in 1864, the year that Johannes was killed in the Civil War, until her own passing in 1908 at the age of 66.

– Another LeFevre sibling of this generation, Ralph, was one of New Paltz’s most prominent citizens in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After moving to the Village of New Paltz, Ralph LeFevre became the editor of the New Paltz Independent, a newspaper that existed for more than 100 years. He also wrote the "History of New Paltz, New York, And Its Old Families (from 1678 to 1820)."

– Simon P. LeFevre (1858-1946), the youngest son of Josiah and Elizabeth, kept the family farm until 1941, when he sold it to a cousin, Elizabeth LeFevre Elting Smith.

TO EXPLORE FURTHER

Check out the Landmark Designation Form (pdf) for the Josiah P. LeFevre House. It includes the architectural, family, and related town history, and much more. The document also has copies of exhibits such as one of the letters Johannes LeFevre wrote from Baton Rouge, La., while serving in the Civil War.

http://hpc.townofnewpaltz.org/images/hpc_data/78.2-3-5.pdf

To read an in-depth and moving account in the online New York Almanack of Johannes LeFevre’s life, his Civil War service, camp life in the war, and the battle during which he was mortally wounded:

"Lion Courage: A New Paltz Soldier During The Civil War" - New York Almanack

https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/.../lion-courage-a-new.../

See a photo of a LeFevre Family gathering in 1892 and learn more about the family history, from a Historic Huguenot Street Archives blog post:

"From the Archives: A LeFevre Family Gathering" | Historic Huguenot Street Collections

https://hhscollections.wordpress.com/.../from-the.../

MAIN SOURCE AND CREDITS:

Landmark Designation Report, 2006: Susan Stessin-Cohn and Richard Miller

Artwork: Matt Maley, Town of New Paltz HPC

Text: Susan DeMark, Town of New Paltz HPC