|
Dutch Barn Preservation Society Dedicated
to the Study and Preservation NEWSLETTER FALL 2000, Vol. 13, Issue 2, part two Happy Anniversary
This will be the tenth anniversary of one barn that was saved from destruction by the many efforts of a few people. Two people in particular deserve most of the credit for saving the life of The Greater Wemp Barn, they are: Carl Touhey of Feura Bush, and the late Vincent Schaefer Professor of Atmospheric Science and co-founder of the Dutch Barn Preservation Society. Working together to replace, on Mr. Touhey's property, a Dutch barn that had been destroyed by fire, they chose The Greater Wemp Barn. This is one of the two oldest barns still in existence, the Wemple Barn in Rotterdam being the other. The Babcock family, experts in this field, did the dismantling, moving, and re-erecting. A few timbers had to be replaced, but in general the structure was sound. When work on the barn was completed in 1990, a dedication ceremony took place with about 150 people present. Carl Touhey formed a Corporation in order to protect The Greater Wemp Barn. He wanted the barn to be used by and for the public good. Over these past ten years, the barn has seen many meetings, gatherings, weddings, reenactments, and visits by people interested in learning about an American Dutch Barn. To compliment the barn, The Dutch Barn Preservation Society has erected a hay barrack nearby, and dedicated it to the memory of the late Vincent Schaefer. We cannot save every Dutch Barn, but with the help of people like Carl Touhey we can teach people about its importance in our American history. We wish The Greater Wemp Barn a Happy Tenth Anniversary in its new home, and hope it will stand for another 250 years or more. THE TIME (The first of a series about the history of the barn) The American-Dutch Barn is important for its joinery but it was much more important as a vehicle for progress. As such, we will attempt to develop its perspective in history. The time of the Van Bergen Barn of Leeds NY is 1680. This period can be associated with the birth of the American Dutch barn. It has just seen the death of the poet Milton and the painter Rembrandt. The composers Handel and Bach will soon be born. Newton, the father of space travel, and Lewenhoch, the perfecter of the microscope, were in their prime. Descartes the philosopher has done his monumental works. That was distinguished company, at the inception of the American-Dutch Barn. It was a time of cultural and scientific explosion, especially in and around Holland. The Reformation gave men the freedom to explore nature, in other-than the divine terms ordained by the Spanish clergy. "A million and a half people, including the women and children against the whole might of the Spanish Empire was a very uneven battle. But in the end (1648) the Hollanders not only were able to hold their own but actually turned the tables on their enemies to such an extent that Spain never quite recovered from the blow." ......almost overnight Holland was turned into an economic/ intellectual and artistic beehive..." ("The Arts" Van Loon, 1937). The fear of heresy was removed from much of human dogma. A mind set was established, conducive to great invention, such as the highly efficient barn structure. An Italian author of the 17th century said of the Dutch, "They have a special and happy talent for the ready invention of all sorts of mediums, ingenious and suitable for facilitating, shortening and dispatching everything they do." In the 17th century the Hollanders had 2000 ships trading west to Albany N.Y. (42N73W) and east to Nagasaki, Japan (33N130E), a traverse of 17,700 Nautical miles. Albany-to-NY City 180 Miles Daniel Defoe (1659-1731) said, "Understand, the Dutch are middlemen, they buy to sell again and buy to sell in all parts of the world." It was this network of commerce that beckoned the products of New York farmers. They would build their wealth with exports. Banking was common and marine insurance was wide spread. Check writing was starting.AII this was to help make Holland the foremost trading nation in the world. (Special Issue "Time" Fall '92, "Beyond The Year 2000") She was to be challenged everywhere by England, including the New World where the English would prevail after 1664. Such was the background of the pioneers who built the agricultural industry, and the early Dutch Barns of New York State. The time of this story is the 17TH CENTURY, when great things were accomplished with so little. Today the tools of progress are endless. Nuclear, steam, and oil provide the power. Chemistry, metallurgy, ceramics, and thin films (Chips) together with sophisticated mathematics produce things like the computer and other high tech equipment. We reach high, with satellites and space travel. We reach low, with the electron microscope. Teams and armies of scientists tackle problems, like the human genome, and usually solve them. The colonists, no doubt, adopted the philosophy of that "Golden Age", after the Reformation. The answer to life's material problems became analytical rather than mystical, an earth shaking development, in those times. Remarkable is the fact that in that early time, 320 years ago, suddenly, in the Dutch community of the Hudson Valley of New York State and vicinity, there began an era of barn construction that would last 145 years. Except for builder eccentricities they all could have been built from the same plans. This was the first time in history any single building or structure had been built in such great numbers. Perhaps there were as many as 2000. This would not be duplicated until the mass production of the Industrial Revolution, 70 years after the first barn. Shipbuilding was prolific, but new hull shapes and sail rigs were constantly introduced. This made most ships unique in themselves. The design of the American-Dutch barn, however, remained the same for 145 years. The joinery of the barn was proudly added to the carpenter's encyclopedia. The part played by the barn's usage will remain unique in the annals of New York State and the nation. (To be continued. Next issue, "The Place") CHRONOLOGY * 1453 The capture of Constantinople by the Turks makes it
necessary for the merchants of Europe to find new routes to the
Orient. *Sundry sources but especially, "Manna-hatin," The
Story of New York. |
