He was the author of a "Life of General Montgomery," "Life of General "Wayne," and "Historical Notices of the "War of 1812." Eokeby, where this eminent man lived and died, is delightfully situated, in the midst of an undulating park, farther from the river than the other villas, but commanding some interesting glimpses of it, with more distant landscapes and mountain scenery. Among the latter may be seen the range of the Shawangunk (pronounced shon-gum), in the far

THE HUDSON. 177

south-west. Here Mr. Astor's family reside about eight months of the year. )

A few miles below Rokeby, and lying upon an elevated plain two miles from the river, is the beautiful village of Ehinebeck, containing little more than 1,000 inhabitants. The first settler was William Beekman, or Beckman, who came from the Rhine, in Germany, in 1647, purchased all this region from the Indians, and gave homes to several poor families who came with him. The name of the river in his fatherland, and his own, are commemorated in the title of the town -- Hhine-Beck. The house built by him is yet standing, upon a high point near the Ehinebeck station. It is a stone building. The bricks of which the chimney is constructed were imported from Holland. In this house the first public religious services in that region were held,

and it was used as a fortress in early times, against the Indians. It now belongs to the Heermance family, descendants of early settlers there. Beekman' s son, Henry, afterwards procured a patent from the English government for a very extensive tract of land in Duchess County, im*luding his Ehinebeck estate.