Then and Now...
Looking Back Helps us Look Forward
Excerpt from "Clinton- The History of a Town."

As early as 1762 there appear to have been enough Friends families located 'over the Creek' from the Nine Partners meeting centered near present-day South Millbrook to occasionally hold meetings for worship in the home of Jonathan Hoag in present day Clinton Corners. Beginning in 1771 such meetings became more regular transferring to the home of Paul and Phebe Upton and then to the home and barn of Elijah Hoag. In 1775 the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting approved a committee "to pitch upon a place" to build a stone meeting house. Such a lot was found and purchased from Abel Peters in 1776 for 10 British pounds. Construction was started in 1777, but due to the unsettled times it was not fully completed until 1782. At this time the Clinton Friends were permitted to conduct their own affairs as "Creek Monthly Meeting."

Another meeting was held at Crum Elbow Creek. Most of the history of the two groups was lost when the minute books were destroyed in a fire at the home of a clerk in 1835.

"The early 1800's seemed to be prosperous years for Clinton's Quakers.....Families were large and the number of Quakers was increasing modestly until, between 1810 and 1830, there were nearly 500 members in the two meetings. First Day (Sunday)and midweek meetings for worship were well attended and frequently visited by travelling ministers from other parts of the New York Yearly Meeting, from New England, Philadelphia and from old England." In the 1820's there was a split between the "orthodox" faction and the "Hicksite" group. "The Friends of the Creek meeting at Clinton Corners split"....between the two groups and "...the Hicksites were left in possession of the old stone meeting house and the Orthodox had to find a new home."*

In recent years, the Quaker meeting house has been lovingly cared for and restored and has been the home of the Clinton Historical Society.
If you have any historical pictures of Clinton and would like to share them we would love to eventually get them on this page. Once they are up we will archive them and make them available on the web site. Contact us
Have you ever wondered about the name Fiddlers Bridge Road?  Its history may intrigue you. This story was printed in the book Clinton, A History of a Town, edited by William McDermott. "Fiddlers Bridge Road was so named for the poor fiddler who, coming from playing at a dance, was killed [in the 1800s]. His body was pushed under the bridge, then a three plank wooden bridge. To this day on moonlit nights he can be heard playing his mournful tune. Many people would not travel on this road after midnight, fearful they would hear the fiddler."

Read up!

Dutchess County
from: " The Concise History of Dutchess County" link
The Quaker Meeting House


Then and Now

Place cursor on the photo below to see what Walnut Grove looks like today.
Then and Now
The front porch of the Walnut Grove farm house

The Pleasant Plains Presbyterian Church
This simple, beautiful church was completed in 1837 and enlarged in 1859. In 1866, the parsonage was built to attract ministers to stay with the congregation. Thanks to fundraising, the efforts of the congregation and the community both "in labor and giving"*,this Church remains one of the iconic sights in The Town of Clinton.
*Clinton- A History of a Town

Excerpts  from the chapter “Hamlets” by William Benson Jr. in Clinton- A history of a Town
 …..A hamlet is defined as a small cluster of houses and or businesses in an otherwise rural environment.  Clinton is made up of seven hamlets.  They are Bulls Head, Clinton Corners, Clinton Hollow, Frost’s Mills (or LeRoy’s Mills), Hibernia, Pleasant Plains, and Schultzville…….
During the late eighteenth century, saw mills and grist mills were established on the creeks and streams, and settlements grew around them.  From a few homes and a general store near a mill, in many cases, the hamlet expanded in the nineteenth century to include the blacksmith shop, harness shop, carpenter, shoemaker, and other trades. Later in the nineteenth century, each of the hamlets had a post office.  Some hamlets had a schoolhouse, although school districts were usually formed to cover a geographic area.  Through the twentieth century, improved transportation resulted in the centralization of services.  Schools were centralized, as were shopping and the services of the tradesmen. Because of these changes the hamlet has become primarily residential with three general characteristics: sometimes a church, sometimes a general store, and always a group of good neighbors.”
     “Five of Clinton’s seven hamlets started as a mill on a creek.  Bulls Head, Clinton Hollow, Frost’s Mills, Hibernia and Schultzville all had a prosperous mill prior to 1800.  Clinton Corners and Pleasant Plains  did not have mills in the hamlet proper, but appear to have grown around an early church, and a busy crossroads.  Clinton Corners grew on the first road across Dutchess County, from Dover Plains to Rhinecliff.” *The whole story of the Quakers in our town can be found in the book, "Clinton- A History of a Town"- A book compiled by our town's historian William Mc Dermott, and Andrea Zimmerman, Eleanor Rogers, Ralph and Frances Mark, Alson Van Wagner, Louise McDermott, David Greenwood, Ann Gabler, William Benson Jr. Donna Seelbach, Florence Germond, Marilyn Buchenholtz, William Ford Harper, Austin McEntee, Roy Ahlquist, and Clifford Buck.....with the help of others. It is the complete history of our town starting in the 1600's with the chapter "The Nine Partners and their Land" thru 1987, when the book was published.