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Pawling is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Its population was 8,463 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Catherine Pauling, the daughter of Henry Beekman, who held the second largest land patent in the county. A misprint caused the U to change to a W and the name stuck. The town is in the southeastern part of the county, and contains a village of the same name. [edit] History
A part of the town was involved in a boundary problem involving New York and Connecticut. A section of the town, located in the "Oblong"—the name was given to the disputed oblong strip of land, two miles in width forming part of the Eastern boundary of the now Dutchess and Putnam Counties—was settled by Nathan Birdsall and his wife Jane Langdon; they were the first pioneer settlers of Quaker Hill, Dutchess, NY. He was a native of Long Island and was born around 1700 to Quaker parents. He was one of the surveyors of the area and picked his home site during the survey. Nathan purchased his land from the Great Nine Partners Patent, prior to moving his family there, erected a log house and barn, probably around 1720. The next settler was Benjamin Ferris, a Quaker preacher. It was not until 1731, when the one-hundred-year-old dispute as to the boundary between the English in New England and the Dutch in New York was settled, that emigration started in any volume. A number of Friends began coming from Harrisons Purchase, now a part of Rye, in Westchester County, New York. Their Quaker Meeting House is still standing today, and open for visitors. In the American Revolution colonial commander in chief George Washington established his headquarters at the John Kane House in the town (now the village) for two months in 1778. The town was founded in 1788, but part of the town was used to form the neighboring town of Dover in 1807. The town of Pawling was part of the Beekman Patent, a large land grant to Col. Henry Beekman in 1697. [edit] Research Tips[edit] External Links
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