Introduction and Maps
A Florida Neighborhood
My interest in a neighborhood in Florida, Warwick, and the families that lived there is an outgrowth of research that I am doing on the Poppino family which began in Orange County in the early 1700s.
In 1703 a group of speculators around New York City purchased the Wawayanda patent (covering the later towns of Goshen, Warwick, Minisink and Hamptonburgh) from some Indian chiefs. They did not do anything with it until 1712 when one of the owners, Christopher Denn, moved there and began to lay out the town of Goshen. In 1714, Samuel Seeley, along with several others from Stamford, Connecticut, settled there. In 1715, the census taker estimated that there were only about 30 white families in the area west of the highlands along the Hudson River. Seeley's family was one of them.
In 1709, Seeley had married Charlotte Bouniot Popino--the young widow of Jean Papineau, a Huguenot immigrant--with two children. She bore Seeley eight more. Her oldest child, John Poppino, probably born about 1704, began the Poppino line that I have been researching. His children were:
1. Major John Poppino, 1727-1828 (i.e., over 101 years old), m. Elizabeth Wood
2. Catherine Poppino, -d > 1780, m. William Carr, <1719 - ca 1778/9
3. Sarah Poppino, 1732? - d >1793, m. ca 1750-52, Richard Johnson, 1729-1793
4. Christian Poppino, -ca 1847 - 1828, m. John Minthorn, 1720 - < 1790
5. Mary Poppino, d. bet. 1773-1780, m. Joseph Totten, 1727 - 1800
6.
Susanah Poppino, -d >
1780, m. Thomas Johnson
In those days the children of one family tended to marry the children of their close neighbors and so we find most of these other families clustered close by.
Orange County underwent many changes in the 18th Century. The present towns of New Windsor, Newburgh, Wallkill, Montgomery, and Deerpark were parts of Ulster County when they were transferred to Orange County. At the same time, the present Rockland County was created by cutting it off from Orange County. The area of our primary interest was called Goshen Precinct until 1778 when the Town of Warwick was established. A Town in Orange County is like a township in other states: the Town of Warwick includes Warwick, Florida, Amity, Edenville, Bellvale and other villages. Thus some of the families with whom we are concerned may have lived in Goshen, Warwick, and Florida at different times without ever moving.
The New Jersey border was uncertain during most of the 18th Century. The New Jersey claim line ran just north of Warwick village, across Mt. Eden, and was immediately south of the area where most of the Carrs, Armstrongs, and Poppinos lived. In the disputed territory, consisting of some 400,000 acres, both colonies had settlers and tried to exercise Court jurisdiction, muster the militia, and collect taxes. The line was not actually settled until 1774. In the meantime settlers spread all over the area. Thus we find many Orange County people settling in the two Sussex County, New Jersey townships that border Warwick and Minisink: Vernon and Wantage. We also find Orange County people serving in the New Jersey militia.
Maps used here are:
(1) Part of the Orange County 1988 Highway map.
(2) A map showing some of the early tracts in the Wawayanda Patent.
(3) My map of the Florida neighborhood I have researched, based on deeds and mortgages.
(4) Part of a map of Warwick in 1805, drawn in 1930 from recollections of Henry Pelton in the 1860s. Unfortunately it stops south of the area of our primary interest, but it does show some families that will be mentioned in these papers. From the Warwick Historical Society, reprinted by OCGS.
(5) Part of an 1850 map of Orange County that shows names and locations of some residents and outlines of the large land tracts.
(6) Part of an 1863 map of Warwick, which shows actual farm locations and sizes for most landowners.
(7) Part of a 1903 Mueller Atlas of Orange County with names of residents.
To identify locations, I am generally using current names for the roads that existed in the last century. If you look at the current road map, the road from Florida to Edenville is Union Corners Road. Wheeler Road runs from Mt. Eve to Union Corners Road at the edge of Florida. To the south, Spanktown Road runs from Mt. Eve, across Union Corners to Jessup Road, formerly called Armstrong Road. The original land of William Carr and John Poppino was probably around here. Farther down Jessup Road is West Ridge Road. It runs to Old Ridge Road on this map, formerly known as Ridge Road. Route 17A, Seward Highway, was the main Warwick to Florida road. Big Island Road, connects with Wheeler Road, then continues south along the east of side of Mt. Eve to Edenville. A west branch, now called Mountain Side Road, goes on to Amity.
The early history of land sales is well covered by E.M.Ruttenber in his History of Orange County, NY, 1881. Originally, Goshen was divided into four parts: NW, NE, SW, and SE, with lots numbered in each quadrangle. Unfortunately, no maps showing this scheme appear to have survived so when we read these lot numbers in old deeds we dont know where they were.
A lot of the land in possession of the original owners was in large tracts that were subsequently divided and sold to settlers. The second map below shows some of these. Note particularly, between Mt. Eve and Florida village, the Van Horne Tract, the Florida Tract, and below them, the Bancker tract. The 1853 map shows how these tracts relate to the roads in the area.
Map 1 Florida/Warwick today
Map 2 Early Land Tracts
Map 3 The Florida Neighborhood at the time of the Revolution
Map 4 - 1805
Map 5 1850
Map 6 1863
Map 7 1903
