Wednesday, March 11, 2015

New Kingston NY Communion Token

I have been digging up some info on this CT from New Kingston, NY. It is amazing what is available on the Internet, but it takes some sleuthing.
This CT comes from Steve Tannenbaum via Steve Hayden.
It dates to the latter half of the 19th century.
     First, I looked up Kingston, NY -- not the same as New Kingston -- but there is a connection. The town of Kingston was established in about 1651. It was located in the southeast part of the state about two miles west of the Hudson River. The town was burned by the British in October, 1777. The town was of strategic importance as a granary for much of the area. It was also the capital of the region.
     After the burning of the town, a land speculator named Robert Livingston made a gift of 5,000 acres in the Platteskill Stream area to the "Kingston Sufferers" who were displaced by the fire. Livingston had purchased many shares of the Hardenburgh Patent in eastern NY and wanted to stimulate settlement there. This patent originally represented the largest land grant in the colonies -- many parcels had been sold to speculators hoping to attract settlers.
     The piece that Livingston had gifted was located just 50 miles northwest of Kingston. Although few of the "sufferers" chose to settle in this place, some of their descendants moved there in the years to come. The earliest settlers represented Dutch, Scottish and Yankee pioneers.
     In 1848 a small store was opened by Swart & Birdsall, providing a market center for the small settlement. By the mid-1850s, there was a post-office, blacksmith shop, and a shoe shop with several fine houses clustered along the main road. A water-powered woodworking mill was constructed in 1869 -- many barns were built, plus a few houses, and the Presbyterian Church. A wagon shop and several dairy farms were also part of the economic history of the town.
     The New Kingston Presbyterian Church was established in 1853 with the first building constructed in the following year. A new church was built in 1900 -- a small, one-story frame building. Since it was a small town, the congregation was not likely to be a large one.
     If anyone knows more history from this church, please add a comment.
     I got the NK CT from the last Baltimore Expo -- the high price of $297 is what I paid for it. As you can see, the picture shows the token in its original holder from the Steve Tannenbaum collection. I do not know if there are really only two known, but I liked the attractive script on the obverse. The reverse is blank but for a pair of concentric circles. It appears that this CT was not used -- or used once.
     The script is challenging to make out, but it says: UPC. The trick to reading it (in my opinion) is to recognize that the letters do not connect, but overlap.

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