Layout of the building as it is today.
“Coccles Town” by which name, often spelled “Cuckoldstown,” the village of Richmond was known before the Revolution. The origin of the name, Coccles Town, is a matter of conjecture as history fails to record it. The abundance of oyster and clam shells found in the waters of the Fresh Kills nearby and called “Coccle” shells in the early days, might account for the name. The central location of Richmond at the junction of roads from the south, the east and the west undoubtedly led to its settlement and with the building of the Voorlezer’s House before 1696, St. Andrews Church, 1712, the county jail 1709, and the court house 1729, Richmond was established as the county center and the leading village.
By subsequent division, the northern 80 acres of Rider’s patent of 320 acres (Liber B. p. 162) by July 17, 1696 had descended to James Hans Dye who on this date mortgaged it to James Fitchett. The recorded document reads in part, “Beginning at a flat rock below the Voorlezer’s House.” This is the first mention of the Voorlezer’s House and shows it to be standing at this date. On March 6, 1697 James Hans Dye and James Fitchett leased to the Dutch Congregation for 50 years a small tract of the above 80 acres lying on the west side of Arthur Kill Road and, as the property search discloses, lying nearly opposite where Center Street joins Arthur Kill Road. In this interesting document, brief and to
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the point, Fitchett states that his children are to receive free schooling and the property is to be occupied by no person other than the one serving the congregation, not naming but meaning the Voorlezer. It is not possible to locate the Voorlezer’s House by a direct examination of the title of the property, as the title is obscure. However, the property and more important, the house itself can accurately be located by the chain of title of the adjoining piece of property known as the one acre lot, now occupying the bed of Center Street. This property is described as, “Beginning at the southeast corner of the house formerly belonging to the Dutch Congregation,” obviously meaning the Voorlezer’s House which had been built by the Dutch Congregation. The location of this one acre piece was accurately determined by The Reverend Lefferd Haughwout of the Staten Island Historical Society from maps and records in the county clerk’s office, and by comparing these with present landmarks, notably the Rezeau family burial plot at the entrance to the County Jail, the north side of which was found to coincide with the south line of the one acre lot. This same south line when prolonged, met exactly the corner of 63 Arthur Kill Road, as described in the records. This established the site of the Voorlezer’s House but as several houses could have successively occupied this site, it remained to prove that 63 Arthur Kill Road was and is the Voorlezer’s House. This brings us to the second method of identifying an old building wherein a careful examination is made of all the architectural and structural details. This part of the identification of the Voorlezer’s House fell to the writer as this subject has been a particular study of his for some years. Not much is known and much less is written on this fascinating subject as our builder ancestors left very little in the way of written records of their work, and it is only largely through a comparative study of many details of dated structures that an unknown building can be dated. One finds that upon studying a great many dated buildings, certain details are found to have been used at specific periods. Such details as the raised or Georgian panel were used from circa 1710 to 1800, the sunken panel 1790 to 1840, bricks, measuring 41?2 x 21?4 x 81?2 inches