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Helen
Nellis, our Historian and expert in the lineage and history of the Nellis
Families, refers to herself as a Listener of History. That’s
probably why she knows so much about our family. From time to time,
this section will present some anecdote or interesting historical
story. This first piece is from Helen,
“HOW DID STONE ARABIA GET ITS NAME?” by Helen A. Nellis
“The above question is asked often by
visitors to our area, to my knowledge I do not know anyone who really
knows where the name came from. I’ve been told there was an early
Stone Arabia down along the Hudson River – another Stone Arabia was
located where Lansingburgh, NY is now situated. The name first appears
fifty years before the Stone Arabia Patent was granted by the King in
1722. Under a patent dated Oct. 19, 1669, Robert Sanders and Harmon Vedder
bought land from the Mohican Indians near Schenectady. In 1670
Harmon Vedder conveyed his interest to Robert Sanders. In 1680
Robert Sanders sells his farm which was commonly called ‘Steen
Arabia’. Robert Sanders was an interpreter for the Indians and
probably acted as such with the Stone Arabia patentees. In some way
the name of his Hudson Valley farm came to be the name of the Stone Arabia
Patent. There is an old tradition that the name is a Dutch way of saying
‘pitching’ or ‘throwing stone’ – with the variations of spellings this
does not shed much light on this theory – and we know the name appears
down along the Hudson earlier than our Stone Arabia, our Stone Arabia is
not especially stony. Variations of spelling are Steen Arabia, Steen
Rabbi, Stein Raby, Steinrepi, Stonraby, probably others can be found. Some
think the name has Biblical connotations, perhaps in research someday
someone will find it is a name the Palatines brought from the Palatinate.
Stone Arabia is one of the jewels of the Mohawk Valley with its rich
farmland, scenery, views of the distant hills, elegant church buildings,
certainly a heritage worth preserving.” |
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