The Dey House
Summary
The Dey House: George Washington's Headquarters at Preakness!
On July 4, 1780, George Washington arrived from Ramapo with his army at Totowa, where he spread out his troops, while he established his headquarters in the handsome and spacious residence of Col. Theunis Dey, at Lower Preakness.
The Dey House was on the road leading from Laurel Grove cemetery westerly and northwesterly toward Lower Preakness and Mountain View, of being about four miles west of the Paterson city hall, and about two and a half miles from the Passaic River at the cemetery mentioned.
History
On June 6, 1695, a huge tract was obtained from the Indians by a company of associates, headed by Arent Schuyler, Brockholst, and Mandeville, extending from the Passaic River on the south up along both sides of the Pequannock River between the foothills on the east and west. They received a patent for it December 2, 1696, and sold the lower end to Maurice Mourison.
Derrick Dey probably bought from him and settled almost immediately in the extreme southeastern tip of the township, bounded on the east by the Pequannock River and on the south and west by the Passaic River.
This locality early acquired importance, as the two rivers could be crossed separately before they joined to become the broad Passaic River just below.
Here was one of the few bridges over the Passaic River before the Revolution.
Derrick Dey came from Wesel on the Passaic River (now eastern Paterson) and settled on a large farm at Pequannock. He also owned land on the east side of the Passaic nearby, mainly to the south.
In 1730, he bought a triangular plot of several acres to the south from Peter Sonmans, in the deed to which he is styled "Derrick Dey of Pachgannic”. His house stood a few rods northwest of the present house; was a stone building of great depth.
On December 11, 1736, at Hackensack he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Laurensen Toers, and had two sons and five daughters.
He died at the age of 91 years and was buried on the farm.
His son John inherited his father's house and kept a public inn here; he married Jane Doremus on December 19, 1771.
In 1823 this older house was owned by Simeon Doremus. It burned down in 1846-47.
Thomas Dey, born December 8, 1747, and baptized at Hackensack, was an elder son of Derrick and Sarah.
In 1779, he built his stone house adjoining his father, and recorded the date in iron figures across the front of the house (later taken off when a piazza was added). It is marked Thomas Dye on Erskine's Revolutionary map.
He had a tannery nearby, also a fur hattery and a store.
By his wife Abigail Lewis, Thomas had a daughter Sarah Dey, born May 18, 1769, who married first Cornelius, son of Frans Post, and secondly a Mr. Hughes.
Her only child Dirck Dey Post, born May 6, 1791, was the father of C. Henry Post, who was born in the family homestead in 1820 and still owned it in 1900, dying a few years later.[1]
More About The Dey House
According to William Nelson, History of The City of Paterson and The County of Passaic, New Jersey (Paterson, N.J.: The Press Printing and Publishing Co., 269 Main Street, 1901), 427.
The Dey house is on the road leading from Laurel Grove cemetery westerly and northwesterly toward Lower Preakness and Mountain View, being about four miles west of the Paterson city hall, and about two and a half miles from the Passaic river at the cemetery mentioned, and is one hundred yards north of the road, which it faces.
When George Washington honored it with his presence the dwelling must have been one of the finest in New Jersey, for it is yet remarkable for its architectural symmetry and the artistic finish of its masonry.
It is two stories in height, with a double pitch roof, through which dormer windows were thrust about 1875, giving it the appearance of a mansard.
The building is about fifty-two feet long and thirty feet deep.
The front is of brick, the doorway and windows framed in polished brown sandstone, squared and set in the most accurate manner; the sides and rear are of rubble-work, the windows and doors trimmed with brick, the end walls above the eaves being also carried up in brick.
All the masonry is laid up in yellow clay, pointed on the outside with mortar, yet the walls are perfectly firm, and are apparently good for another hundred years.
The timbers, where exposed, in the cellar and attic, are of hewn oak, of the most massive description, and all mortised and fastened together with wooden pins.
Through the centre, from south to north, runs a hall twelve feet wide, on either side of which are two rooms, a fireplace faced with rubbed sandstone in each.
The arrangement of the second floor is the same, so that there are eight large apartments, besides a large open attic.
The ceilings on the first floor are about nine feet, and on the upper floor eight feet high.
Nearly all the rooms are decorated with neat wooden cornices, fluted in the colonial style.
According to Marquis de Chastellux, Washington occupied four of the rooms--probably two on each floor.
Tradition has mainly preserved reminiscences of one room -- in the southeast corner of the first floor; this is pointed out as "Washington's room." It was his audience chamber and dining room; the family dined in the spacious hall.
The wall above the fireplace in the General's office is ornamented with elaborate wooden paneling and pilasters, rayed and fluted, to correspond with the cornices.
Washington is said to have papered the walls at his own expense, and the paper was not removed until about 1870.[2]
From various circumstances the writer inclines to the belief that it could not have been built more than twenty years before the Revolution, and that it was erected by Col. Theunis Dey, son of Dirck Dey, and father of Major Richard Dey.
Dirck Dey, son of Teunis Dey and Anneken Schouten, was bap. March 17, 1687. His mother having married George Reyerson, of Pacquanac, he lived with her until he grew up. On October 9, 1717, he bought from the heirs of Thomas Hart a tract of 600 acres on the "Singhack Brook," and in 1730 bought 200 acres more in the same neighborhood. He married Jannetje Blanshar, and died about 1764. His son, Theunis, b. Oct. 18, 1726, married Hester Dey. He was a Colonel of the Bergen county militia in the early part of 1776, and for some years thereafter; he was a member of the Assembly in 1776, and represented Bergen County in the Council in 1779-80-81, and was again in the Assembly in 1783. His son, Richard Dey, was a Captain and afterwards Major of the Bergen county militia; after the War he was sheriff, county collector, General of militia, etc. He sold his homestead, with 355 acres of land, June 12, 1801, to Garret Neafie and John Neafie[3], of New York city, for 3,000 lbs, N.Y. money, and removed to New York city, where he died in 1811; his widow and children--among the latter being Anthony, afterwards prominent in the founding of Jersey City--then removed to Seneca county, N.Y.
The Deys have disappeared from the vicinity of Preakness and Singack for three-quarters of a century.
Garret Neafie conveyed his interest in the old Dey Homestead "at Bloomsbury otherwise called Preakness," to John J. Neafie, or John Neafie, Jr., May 1, 1802, Garret being then of Franklin township, Bergen county, and John being of Saddle River, probably living on the place.
John Neafie, Sr., and John Neafie, Jr., the former a farmer, of Saddle River, and the latter of Orange county, cabinet maker, conveyed the premises, 352 acres, to Martynus J. Hogencamp, of Rockland county, April 10, 1813, for $8,750.
By will dated Nov. 29, 1832, proved June 2, 1853, Martynus Hogencamp devised the homestead farm, containing about 150 acres, to his son, William S. Hogencamp, who conveyed the homestead, with about 200 acres, to Isaac Yoemans, of Franklin township, March 4, 1861, for $10,000.
Yoemans conveyed, May 10, 1864, to Anthony Gilland, of New York, who occupied the place a short time, and on Sept. 2, 1865, sold it to Sarah Matilda, wife of Horace B. Taintor, of New York; Mr. Taintor was in the dry-goods business, in Paterson, some years, living on the Preakness place about a year; Mrs. Taintor sold it, Aug. 13, 1866, to Maria, wife of Aaron Millington, of Preakness, from whom the property passed, Jan. 30, 1875, to Dr. John M. Howe, of Passaic, who conveyed the same, July 10, 1883, to Henry Heeseman, of Paterson. He conveyed the homestead, with 56.31 acres, Feb. 3, 1892, to Ellen Petry, wife of Cornelius L. Petry, who now occupies it as a dairy farm.
Tour the Dey House
Today the house is owned and operated as a museum by Passaic County. The two-acre site includes several replica outbuildings, including a Blacksmith Shop and Plantation House that are open for special programming. A formal garden and herb and vegetable gardens add to the beauty of the place, providing a pleasant visit for individuals, families and groups.
Several distinguished Revolutionary War organizations meet here, and the site is also the home of the Bergen County Militia, a re-enactment group dedicated to the recreation of the military life of the War.
To tour the house is to step back in time. Period furnishings give visitors a glimpse of life during this most important era. It's an interesting visit for people of all ages.
While there are no formal school programs, the Museum does offer pre- and post-visit materials to help teachers and students get the most out of a guided tour.
Hours: Wednesday - Friday 1 - 4:00pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am - 4:00pm.
Closed between 12:00 and 1pm. Last tour begins at 3:30pm.
Group tours at other times by appointment.
Admission: $1.00 per person.
Reservations: At least 2 weeks in advance.
Lunch: Picnic area on grounds.
For more information and pictures, please go to:
[1] Rosalie Fellows Bailey, Pre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1936), 533.
[2] The author described the Dey house in a paper published, with accompanying map and illustration, in the Magazine of American History, III, 490 (August, 1879). Family tradition says Dirck Dey erected this house, about 1720. --Ib., IV. 160.
[3] Note: John Neafie was husband to Dirck Dey’s daughter Helena (Turse Family Genealogy – Jim Turse, ed.)