July 5, 2004

Dear Mr. Davis,

My name is Hendrick V. Miller and I presently live in Seattle, Washington where I have lived since 1974. It was my intention to be present at the July 7th meeting to participate in the discussion on the preservation of the Fort Homestead. At the last minute my employer requested that I travel outside the Seattle area to resolve a situation that involves the use of my particular training.

I wanted to be present to express my feelings about the significance of the historic structure my family referred to as "Colonial House". My parents, Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Miller, purchased the homestead in 1957 and I spent my adolescent and teenage years growing up there. There was always a strong sense of history there. I will reminisce a while if I may:

The 8" square beams that support the ceilings in the three main rooms downstairs were hand cut, presumably from the forest that once stood there. The cut marks from the adze and axes that shaped them form the surface of the beams. The rough edges are worn smooth from hundreds of years of being touched. They are a deep brown in color, and very hard, again, visible reminders of their age. The planks that make up the floors also reflect the age of the place, often over 12" wide and several inches thick, very dark, hard, and polished with wear. The ceiling beams and the floor planks are held in place with visible wooden dowels, no nails, the construction method of the period. The central beam over the living room has a concealed 1" wooden peg that can be removed and behind it is a hollow chamber. As a child I wondered if it was used to hide secrete documents during the Revolutionary War. The room we used as the dining room was originally the homestead kitchen, with a huge stone hearth, complete with heavy iron hangers for the huge black iron pots. There is a Dutch oven, too, heated by the hearth and used for baking bread. As a reminder of a darker period in our countries history there were quarters in the basement connected to the kitchen that I was told were the slave's quarters. Wide stairs and heavy doors with iron bolts and latches connect the basement, outdoors, and the old kitchen. The massive stone walls, three feet to five feet thick at the base have provided a sturdy foundation for over 250 years. Many of the glass panes in the windows are believed to be original. The surface is wavy and grains of unmelted sand are obvious on the surface. One pane, protected on the inside and outside of the house with additional sheets of glass, is engraved "Jane Fort "1778, Henry Dawkins, Engraver". [See Image Below] Dawkins was an influential engraver with somewhat of a dubious past who was hired to engrave the seals of the states of New York and Connecticut. I was told he was such a skilled engraver that the state felt it was more logical to hire him than to continue to prosecute him for counterfeiting.

My recollections of the sense of history I had as I lived, and played, and grew up in that house shaped my life. The sound of the wrought iron door latches and dead bolts, the sound of walking on the heavy wooden floors, still bring images to mind of what generations of people who lived there, early American settlers to the recent past, experienced. In that respect, I shared something with all those families over the past 250 years.

This is the importance of such a structure as "Colonial House". That generations of future citizens can walk those floors, listen to the latches and locks, imagine what experience was behind each door, look into the massive cooking hearth and imagine what it was like when people who cooked and ate and dressed differently than we do lived there. They had a different way of life than ours, but similarly they lived, and ate, and slept, and loved in this place they too called home. Preserving this structure is not just about how we lived in the past, but the path we took to get to where we are today.

I urge you to accept the wisdom of preserving this beautiful and significant piece of our living history. I believe that the residents of Poughkeepsie and those who come to visit Colonial House in the future will appreciate your foresight in preserving this extraordinary Early America, Poughkeepsie, homestead.

Sincerely,

Hendrick V. Miller