09/01/2026
Come learn about “The Church Land at Rhinebeck Flatts”: The History Behind John Cox Junior’s 1804 Survey Map of the Rhinebeck Reformed Church’s Property in the Village of Rhinebeck
Sunday, September 20th at 11:30am
Presented by:
William P. Tatum III, Ph.D., Dutchess County Historian
In July of 1804, noted local surveyor John Cox, Junior, conducted a survey of the Rhinebeck Reformed Church’s property in Rhinebeck Flats. The resulting map that still survives in the Reformed Church’s archives today records 44 lots laid out along a “Turnpike Road” and another unnamed street. What does this map tell us about the role of the Reformed Church as a landholder in Rhinebeck? What perspectives does it reveal on the early development of the modern village?
Join Dutchess County Historian William P. Tatum III, Ph.D., for an in-depth examination of how this rare survival from the early nineteenth century answers these questions and expands our understanding of how land title and access to land have shaped Rhinebeck’s development since its initial settlement in the eighteenth century. Attendees will learn about John Cox, Junior; Janet Livingston Montgomery, Henry Beekman, and how the landscape of the Village of Rhinebeck and the surrounding area changed over time. We will delve into other rare maps from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to provide additional context for understanding the 1804 map. This program will be an eye-opening journey on how one artifact can bring an entire era to life.
William P. Tatum III earned his BA in History and Archaeology at the College of William & Mary in Virginia in 2003, and his MA and Ph.D. in History from Brown University in 2004 and 2016. He has served as the Dutchess County Historian since October 2012. In that role, he has directed the Dutchess County Ancient Documents Project and other archival access initiatives and developed and delivered over 300 public presentations on topics across the entirety of Dutchess County’s 342 year history. His current research project focuses on how the system of English Land Title was imposed on Dutchess County between 1683 and the 1880s, and the implications of that process for access to land today.
