At the time the first settlers arrived in the Helderberg mountains of western Albany County in the early half of the 18th century, all of the land had already been owned for over a century by the Van Rensselaer partoonship. It had been granted to Kiliaen Van Rensselaer by the Dutch in 1629. When the English took control in 1664, they did not disturb the patroonship. The Van Rensselaer's did not believe in selling their land; they rented it. The leases could be sold, along with the buildings on it, but the underlying land and mineral rights belonged to the Patroon. Most of the early leases were on the rich farm lands along the Hudson River. Berne is in the Helderberg mountains and the land is for the most part hilly and rocky. It was ignored.

The fertile valley lands of Schoharie, several miles to the west of Berne, were just beyond the far western border of the Rensselaerville Manor. The English were anxious to have the wilderness of Schoharie settled so as to provide a populace between the by then heavily settled Hudson and Mohawk Valleys, and the Indians and French pressing in from the west. To this end, about 1711 the British crown started making land grants to Palatine Germans who were fleeing the poverty and religious persecution in their country. Shortly afterwards, many Dutch settlers moved in from Schenectady and Albany.

By 1730 most of the best land in Schoharie Valley was taken; and was already being bought and sold. By contrast the land in Berne could be had for the taking. Therefore, when the first settlers arrived in Berne starting about 1730, they most likely came in by the back door, so to speak; from the west. They were poor farmers who probably wanted to settle in Schoharie but could not afford the afford to buy land. Because they came in from Schoharie, the Patroon probably did not even know they were there. They were squatters.

There is a 1767 map of the Rensselaer Manor that shows no leases in the Helderberg mountains; although by that time there were enough settlers that they were just starting to construct the first church. The first saw mill and grist mill had been built a decade earlier.

It was not until Stephen Van Rensselaer III took over the patroonship that the family took any notice of what was going on up in the Helderbergs. And there was a lot going on! By the time the first leases were finally issued starting in about 1774, there were dozens and dozens of families, some of which were already producing the third generation.

The Van Rensselaer Manor was surveyed into a quarter square mile grid, with each lot containing 160 square acres. These lots were numbered and the leases were keyed to the numbered lots. The earliest Van Rensselaer lease map showing settlement in Berne is 1787. It shows the name of each homesteader and the locations of roads, churches, mills, etc. It is part of a larger Albany County map showing the Van Rensselaer landholdings. A recent contact is sending me a copy of that map.

I also have a poor reproduction of an 1854 map of Berne that shows the households at that time, but not the grid. The next map of which I am aware, is the 1866 Beer's map, a reproduction of which is on the web site mentioned above. It too is part of a larger map of Albany County.

My other major resource at this time in the 1790 Federal Census for Rensselaerville, which as many of you know, includes Berne. I found this on line. Although I was born in Berne, I now live in southern Mexico and am doing my genealogy from here. That places me under a handicapped, but I am constantly amazed by the amount of information I can find on-line. What I am looking for now is a source for the 19th Century Federal Censuses for Berne; especially if they are on the Internet.

My records originally came from my brother Ralph, who is the Historian for the Town of Berne. Using town and church records, he is doing a genealogy that includes all Berne residents. I am helping him but concentrating mainly on early Berne residents, especially those living in Berne before 1800. I am only interested in people who lived in the hilltowns. Once they leave, I like to indicate in my records where they went, and then I stop following their line.

I am particularly interested in knowing the places where people lived; so now that Barbara Bolster-Barrett has created an index for Beer's 1866 map of Berne, I have decided to try an identify each person on the map and match it with an individual in my record. If any of you know lease or lot numbers, I would appreciate it if you would let me know.