Josiah Hasbrouck

Josiah Hasbrouck (March 5, 1755 – March 19, 1821) was a United States Representative from New York and a prominent public official in Ulster County during the early national period. He was born in New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, the son of Major Jacob Hasbrouck Jr. (1727–1806) and Jannetje DuBois Hasbrouck (1731–1807). His father commanded an Ulster County regiment in the Revolutionary War and served as supervisor of the town of New Paltz from 1762 to 1765 and again from 1771 to 1776. Through both parents, Josiah was descended from several of the original New Paltz Patentees, or founders of the Huguenot settlement: on his father’s side from Jean Hasbrouck, Christian Deyo, and Louis Bevier, and on his mother’s side from Louis DuBois, as well as from Claes Martenszen Roosevelt, the earliest American ancestor of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. He completed preparatory studies in his native community and, as a young man, entered into a general merchandising business in New Paltz, establishing himself in local commercial life.

Hasbrouck’s early adulthood coincided with the latter years of the American Revolution. In 1780 he served as a second lieutenant in the Third Regiment of Ulster County Militia, reflecting both his family’s military tradition and his own participation in local defense. On February 11, 1785, in New Paltz, he married Sarah Decker, a cousin related to him through three ancestral lines (descending from Louis DuBois and twice from Matthys Blanchan). The couple had at least five children: Jane (1788–1870), Elizabeth (1789–1815), Levi (1791–1861), Maria Eliza (1798–1857), and Ester (1802–1818). Their children continued the family’s pattern of intermarriage among related Huguenot-descended families and public service. Jane married her cousin Colonel Joseph Hasbrouck Jr. (1781–1853), a New York State assemblyman from 1801 to 1804, and they had at least nine children. Elizabeth married her cousin Josiah DuBois (1781–1869); their daughter Pamela DuBois (1812–1893) married her first cousin Abner Hasbrouck (1811–1875), who later served as town supervisor of Gardiner in 1853, from 1855 to 1862, and again in 1871. Levi married his cousin Hylah Bevier (1795–1874) in 1822, and they had at least six children. Maria Eliza married Christopher Reeve (1798–1865) in 1825, with whom she had at least six children. Ester died young in 1818. Through these lines, Josiah was also related to other notable members of the extended Hasbrouck family, including being a third cousin once removed of Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck and a second cousin once removed of Abraham J. Hasbrouck.

Hasbrouck’s civic career developed in close connection with the local government of New Paltz. He was first elected supervisor of the town in 1784 and held that office from 1784 to 1786, again in 1793 and 1794, and then for an extended period from 1799 to 1805. In this capacity he oversaw town finances and local administration during a time when Ulster County was transitioning from a frontier community to a more settled agricultural and commercial region. He also served in the New York State Assembly, sitting as a member during the 1796, 1797, 1802, and 1806 sessions, where he participated in state-level legislative affairs as a representative of his district. Alongside his public duties, he continued his involvement in business and, increasingly, in agricultural pursuits, reflecting the predominance of farming in the region’s economy.

Hasbrouck entered national politics as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. He was elected to the Eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative John Cantine and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from April 28, 1803, to March 3, 1805. After this initial term in Congress, he returned to New York, where he focused on agriculture and local affairs. Maintaining his political connections and reputation, he was again elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fifteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1819. During this second term he held a significant administrative role as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State, overseeing and reviewing the fiscal management of that executive department at a time when the federal government was expanding its diplomatic and administrative activities following the War of 1812.

In his later years, Hasbrouck resided at Locust Lawn, a substantial Federal-style house constructed as his country seat along what is now New York State Route 32 in the present-day town of Gardiner, just south of New Paltz. The property reflected both his status as a prosperous landowner and the architectural tastes of the early nineteenth century. Locust Lawn, which became his principal residence during his final years, has been recognized for its historical and architectural significance and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house, owned and operated as a house museum by the Locust Grove Estate, preserves an outstanding collection of original furnishings and interior moldings and is open to the public on weekends from June through October, offering insight into the domestic life of a prominent Hudson Valley family of the period.

Josiah Hasbrouck died near Plattekill, Ulster County, New York, on March 19, 1821. He was originally interred in the family burial ground, in keeping with local custom for long-established families of the region. His remains were later reinterred in New Paltz Rural Cemetery in New Paltz, further cementing his association with the community in which he had been born, had built his career, and had long served in both local and national office.