Original settlement was by the Dutch near Kinderhook, in the north-west corner of the county, followed by a Palatine German settlement at Germantown (then East Kamp) in the southwest corner of the county. The eastern border was settled in the 1750's by New Englanders from Massachusetts and Connecticut. In the 1780's a group of New England Quakers from Nantucket and surrounding areas created the city of Hudson.
The original land disbursement in Columbia County was in the form of Patents:
| Patent | Acres | Date Purchased from Indians |
Date Patented |
Patentees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Hoesen (Hudson) | 1662 | 1667 | Jan Frans van Hoesen | |
| Major Abraham Staats (Stockport) | 200 | 1667 | Major Abraham Statts | |
| Major Abraham Staats (Stockport) | 400 | 1685 | Major Abraham Statts | |
| Flodder/Baker (Kinderhook) | 1667 | 1667 | Jacob Jansen Flodder Capt. John Baker |
|
| Wessels/Teunissen (Kinderhook) | Dirck Wessels Gerrit Teunissen |
|||
| Lower Manor (Claverack) | 700,000 (Including remainder of Manor) | 1649 | 1685 | Killian van Rensselaer |
| Livingston Manor | 160,240 | 1684 | 1686 | Robert Livingston |
| de Bruyn (Kinderhook) | 1668 | 1686 | Jan Hendrick de Bruyn | |
| Powell Tract (Stuyvesant) | ||||
| Burghart/van Schaack (between Kinderhook and Claverack) | 4,000 | Conradt Burghardt Elias van Schaack |
||
| van Alen/van Schaack (Kinderhook) | 1703 | Lawrence van Scaack Lawrence van Alen |
||
| (East of Kinderhook Creek) | 6,000 | 1731 | Burgar Huyck, et. al. | |
| Mawighanunk Patent (Northeast of Kinderhook) | 4,380 | 1743 | Stephen Bayard, Cornelius van Schaick, John Baptiste van Rensselaer, Johannes van Deusen, Barent Vosburgh |
|
| Wawieghnunk Patent | 1743 | William Bayard, Stephen Bayard |
||
| (East of Kinderhook Creek) | 1668 | Peter van Alen | ||
| Gore (between Claverack and Livingston Manors) originally part of Claverack Manor | 10,152 | 1767 | Abraham Lott, et. al. | |
| On Kinderhook Creek | 700 | 1788 | John van Ness | |
| Canaan | 1791 | Given to settlers in actual possession | ||
| Lands between Canaan to the north, Claverack to the south, Canaanto the East and Kinderhook to the west | 1793 | Given to settlers in actual possession |
The original towns of Columbia County were Canaan, Claverack, Germantown, Hillsdale, Hudson City, Kinderhook, and Livingston.
| Town | Date Founded |
Created From |
|---|---|---|
| Livingston Manor | 1686 | |
| East Kamp | 1709 | Livingston Manor |
| Kinderhook | 1772 | Original Town |
| Kings District | 1772 | Original Town |
| Livingston | 1772 | Original Town |
| Germantown | 1775 | East Kamp (town renamed) |
| Canaan | 1778 | Kings District |
| Hillsdale | 1782 | Claverack |
| Hudson | 1785 | Claverack |
| Columbia County Formed 1786 | ||
| Clermont | 1787 | Livingston |
| Chatham | 1795 | Kinderhook, Canaan |
| Granger | 1803 | Livingston |
| Gallatin | 1803 | Livingston |
| Ancram | 1814 | Gallatin (town renamed) |
| Taghkanic | 1814 | Granger (town renamed) |
|
Austerlitz |
1818 | Chatham, Hillsdale, Canaan |
| New Lebanon | 1818 | Canaan |
| Ghent | 1818 | Chatham, Claverack, Kinderhook |
| Stuyvesant | 1823 | Kinderhook |
| Copake | 1824 | Taghkanic |
| Gallatin | 1830 | Ancram |
| Stockport | 1833 | Hudson, Ghent, Stuyvesant |
| Greenport | 1837 | Hudson |
| Germantown | 1858 | Germantown, Clermont |
Reprinted with permission from Michael Bathrick, 2008.