Re: John Van Gilder 1698 1758
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In reply to:
Re: John Van Gilder 1698 1758
Jack Rifenbark 5/22/12
Hey, Jack, Fred speaks for himself and no other Van Gilder descendant.He certainly does not speak for me.Something happened that day, definitely SOMEONE shot and killed your ancestor, but what exactly happened has never been found out and I believe Livingston covered it up to his advantage.Livingston framed John Van Gilder because he held the native land rights for most of Putnam County adjacent to his land, and Livingston wanted them.The reason he could get away with it is that Sheriff Abraham Yates was his brother-in-law.Livingston was related to most of the powerful people of the New York Colony.There are two witness accounts that said the Van Gilders did nothing wrong.The only negative eyewitness account was from a Livingston EMPLOYEE.Those men were known to be violent and unscrupulous.
The Van Guilders of Washington County have the family history all wrong.Since they have this all wrong--they still believe John Van Gilder to be the offspring of a white man and an "Indian princess" when I can prove his father was Wappinger and his mother Mohican--how could you believe that the first John Van Gilder himself was a product of in-breeding, unless you are willing to believe that Native Americans are always inferior and always have an inferior background?There is only proof of in-breeding AFTER his DESCENDANTS moved to Washington County, New York.
That being said, how would you like it if you had an ancestor forever and always presented as a criminal even though all the proof is circumstantial and there is definitely room for doubt?Besides, it does NOT make your ancestor any less worthy if someone else was found guilty of his murder, so why do you insist on my ancestor?Hmm?A better suspect is one of Livingston's unnamed thugs.They were known to insult and beat up people with little provocation.I believe people were so wedded to the Indian man John Van Gilder in the past because it was an example of a good Indian story and good proof of the old racist opinions that Native Americans were an inferior race.Inferior?In order to get along with his neighbors and relative he had to speak Mohican, Wappinger, English, Dutch and German.Can we do that today?
Debra Winchell