Bennett Hill Farm

Bennett Farm Complex is an outstanding collection of farm architecture in the town of New Scotland, Albany County. It is architecturally significant as a largely intact example of a late-eighteenth early-nineteenth century tenant farmstead that developed with the expansion of mix agricultural economy and which has retained its original buildings and agricultural setting. Of particular interest is the farm’s Germanic barn. Established just after the American Revolution, the farm descended through the Bennett family virtually intact for more than a
century.

An intact collection of six contributing agricultural-related buildings in addition to the enhance the significance of the Bennett farm as an excellent example of an early Van Rensselaer tenant farm, which prospered, adding some buildings while adapting others to the ever changing needs of the regional agri-economy. The Germanic barn, smokehouse, animal barn, shed, fruit barn and tenant house all relate directly to the evolution of this working farmstead over 169 years of continuous operation. Collectively, the components of the Bennett Farm provide an important resource for the study of agricultural practices and rural life in New Scotland and the Capital District region of New York.

Stephan Van Rensselaer III (1764-1839), the sixth lord of the manor of Rensselaerwyck, presided over a domain of approximately 3000 tenants and 436,000 acres in Albany and Rensselaer counties. To attract tenants to his vast holdings. Van Rensselaer had offered patriots of the American Revolution homesteads without cost for a seven-year period, after which the landlord subjected his tenants to a "durable lease." Alexander Hamilton, Van Rensselaer's brother-in-law, designed a lease that bound the new tenants permanently to the estate. According
to historian Henry Christman, "Van Rensselaer adroitly sidestepped the issue of feudalism, which had been outlawed in New York State in 1872 by the abolition of entail and primogeniture." Van Rensselaer 'sold' the farmer and his heirs and assigns forever, on the following conditions:

As 'purchase' price for the title to and use of his soil, the tenant was to pay
ten to fourteen bushels of winter wheat annually, and four fat fowls; and he was to give one day's service each year with team and wagon. He was to pay all taxes, and was to use the land for agricultural services only. The patroon specifically reserved for himself all wood, mineral, and water rights, and the rights of re-entry to exploit these resources. The tenant could not sell the property, but only his contract of incomplete sale, with its terms unaltered. A 'quarter sale' clause restricted him still further: if he wished to sell, the landlord had the option of collecting one-fourth of the sale price or recovering full title to the property at three quarters of the market price.

Under Stephen Van Rensselaer III, farms in Rensselaer Manor grew in number until, at his death in 1839, there were over 3000. After 1846 the Van Rensselaer family sold many of their holdings to Walter Church, a real estate investor, who, in turn, sold most of the farms to the tenants occupying them. Tenants bought most of the farms between 1850 and 1880; however. some farmers continued to lease. Some farmers were still paying rent in the 1930s. On July 17,1797 Jonas T. Bush (records also refer to him as Jonas TerBush) leased the nominated property from Stephen Van Rensselaer. These leases were generally were granted for twenty years. It is during this period that the original frame house (no longer extent) and the large barn were constructed on the property. In the 1820s, presumably at the end of the Bush lease, the property is taken over by William Chapman and his wife, Elizabeth. Chapman had the new stone farmhouse constructed on the property in 1821. A date stone on the rear elevation of the house is inscribed "WCH 1821." The initials are those of the builder of the house, William C. Hewett.

In 1834 Rushmore Bennett acquired the farm. He was the son of Daniel Bennett (1777-1813), who immigrated from Falfield, Gloucestershire, England in 1802. Bennett arrived in New York and sailed up the Hudson to Albany. He then traveled westward seeking work. He arrived in New Scotland and was employed as a farm laborer by Titus Rushmore. Daniel would marry Rushmore’s daughter, Abigail (1782-1848) in 1804. Daniel purchased a farm adjoining the Rushmore farm to the south. Together Daniel and Abigail had four children, Ann (1806-1847), William (1807-1876), Rushmore (1809-1875), and Thomas (1812-1868). Rushmore married Emily Whitcomb. Together they raised three children, Erasmus Mary, and Elizabeth. In 1834 Bennett purchased the large farm on the north side of Bennett Hill from William Chapman. Bennett quickly expanded the operation of the farm. He constructed a gristmill on the Onesquethaw Creek, where it passes through the property and expanded the stone farmhouse with frame additions. Cash crops on the farm during this period included sheep (wool and meat), apples, pears, oats, and potatoes. By the close of the nineteenth century the farm had also begun its transformation into a seasonal inn.

In 1909 the property passed to Rushmore’s daughter, Elizabeth H. Bennett. Elizabeth married Wilhelmus Rowe. The couple continued the extensive farming operation on the property and added a large fruit bam and storehouse. They continued and expanded the operation of what became known as "Bennett House." Clients staying at Bennett House would arrive via the West Shore Railroad disembarking at the Ravena or Altamont stations. There they would be met by one of the farm’s carriages and driven to the hostelry.

In 1927 the farm passed to Anson H. Rowe and his wife, Ida. Anson was the first in the family line to farm the land on a part time basis. Anson was educated at Cornell where he studied agriculture. Rowe was employed by the State of New York. However, he also continued to operate the large apple and pear orchards and maintain several large flocks of sheep. In 1946, upon his retirement from the state, Rowe sold the farm to Ralph and Edna Schultz. This transaction ended the Bennett family’s 133-year occupation of the farm. The property sold again in 1978 and was acquired by the present owners in 1981. As part of this sale the farm lot was reduced to the nominated thirty-acre parcel, with much of the remaining acreage being donated to the Albany Land Conservancy. During the current ownership the buildings have been carefully restored and renovated.

The Bennett farm, with its intact farmhouse, agricultural outbuildings, cemetery and acreage retains a high degree of integrity of setting, location, feeling, association, design, materials and craftsmanship and survives as an important local reminder of the development and evolution of the town of New Scotland.