Editing Brunswick, New York (section)

===Colonial era===
The first settlement in Brunswick dates to 1711 to 1715 at Haynersville.<ref name=barnett10>[https://archive.org/details/historygileadev00barngoog/page/n20 <!-- pg=10 --> Barnett], pp. 10</ref> Since Haynersville is located just at the current [[border|town line]] with [[Pittstown, New York|Pittstown]], it is currently impossible to be more specific about dates without knowing on which side of the town line various individual farms were.

In the records, Haynersville was first called simply "Hosek Road".<ref name=barnett10/> This is in reference to the public manor road that went north from the manor along the east side of the Hudson to where Troy now is, and then turned east across the area to Hoosick on the Vermont border, (the latter half of the road is basically today's Route 7, and is still known as Hoosick Road).<ref name=barnett15>[https://archive.org/details/historygileadev00barngoog/page/n25 <!-- pg=15 --> Barnett], pp. 15</ref>

The Hoosick Road was a vital link to the then frontier settlement at [[Hoosick, New York|Hoosick]], (settled in 1688), and which formed a link to both [[Bennington, Vermont]] and [[Williamstown, Massachusetts|Williamstown]]. Until the 1790s, the government at Albany claimed Vermont, and its only practical connection to Vermont was by the Hoosick Road.

[[German Palatines]] had settled in [[Livingston Manor|Livingston's Manor]], south of Rensselaer's Manor. Many of these were volunteers during [[Queen Anne's War]] in an expedition against [[Nicholson Expedition of 1711|Canada in 1711]], led locally by [[Peter Schuyler]], "and several finding the country north of them pleasant and desirable, determined, so soon as convenient after their return and discharge, to locate there". Johannes Jung, Job. Adam Freiderich, Georg Shaffer, Phillip Kelmer, Stephen Froelich, Andreas Bergman, Ludowig W. Schmidt, Job. Schneider, were in an initial group prior to 1715, and Coenraet Ham, Jans Witbeck and Hans Jury Kolemer, came in 1715. The last named individual settled within the manor and therefore within the town.<ref name=barnett10/>

In 1724, there was another campaign [[Dummer's War|against Canada]], and which produced a similar exodus of discontented veterans from the Livingston Manor to Brunswick, including Johannes Heener (Hayner), Peter Phillips, Peter Lamp-Man, Johannes Heinrich Conrad, and Olrig and Philip Barnet. Paul Dirk (Derrick) and Peter Ham were the first settlers of Center Brunswick.<ref name=barnett11>[https://archive.org/details/historygileadev00barngoog/page/n21 <!-- pg=11 --> Barnett], pp. 11</ref> Paul Derrick's manor farm still stands as the rear section of the farmhouse at 936 Hoosick Road.

Of the earliest church records for the Gilead Lutheran Church, consisting of several dated receipts, the earliest is from 1746. Their first minister, Peter Nicholas Sommer, began his ministry at Haynersville and adjoining areas in 1743.<ref>J. N. Barnett cites a history of the Lutheran Church in Schoharie County by Lintner. There does not appear to be any book with any similar title. It may be {{cite book |title=A historical discourse delivered before the Schoharie County Bible Society: at its semi-centennial meeting, in the Lutheran Church, Schoharie, October 6, 1863 |last=Lintner |first=George Ames |location=Schoharie County Bible Society |publisher=J. Munsell |year=1863 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVbTHAAACAAJ}}, or since Lintner was editor of the ''Lutheran Magazine'' in the 1820s, this reference may be to an article in that magazine.</ref>

In the 1740s and 1750s, van Rensselaer as [[patroon]] of the manor gave land for the erection of a church, and for the support of a minister at Hosek Road, (Haynersville). Barnett also gives the text of a document from 1769 in the records of the Gilead Lutheran Church: <blockquote>When it had pleased the Almighty and Merciful God in His goodness to plant the Evangelical Lutheran Church in this American part of the world also, and especially in the State of New York, during the reign of Queen Anna, and also in this neighborhood and district called Hosek Road, in Rensselaerwyck, Albany County, then more than twenty years ago, a small body of adherents of the above said Lutheran church, disposed to that end did build and erect a prayer and church House to the Honor of God, and for their convenience, upon that lot of ground which our most worthy Patroon generously gave to promote and perpetuate the service of God and for the better maintenance of our preacher, for which purpose he presented us with a Deed of Gift which We acknowledge with heartfelt thanks towards our Good Lord in Heaven, and that in addition He grants us all hereabouts by His grace that we through the permission of the Government are allowed to carry on our pure [[Divine Service (Lutheran)|Lutheran church service]] free and without hindrance.</blockquote> Barnett concludes that 'more than twenty years' before 1769 roughly corresponds to Sommer's appointment as minister, and that sometime between 1743 and 1749, the first church in Brunswick was built. It was referred to as the log church, and was probably a simple structure.<ref name=barnett14>[https://archive.org/details/historygileadev00barngoog/page/n24 <!-- pg=14 --> Barnett], pp. 14</ref>

From this beginning there was an increase, but not without conflict. "During the wars of 1745 and 1754 between the English and French, all this region north of Albany was marked by frequent atrocities perpetrated by the Savage allies of the French, and twice at least the majority of the settlers fled from their homes in terror, retiring to Livingston Manor and other points down the river, some of whom never returned." One particularly notorious incident was the burning of Hoosick, outside Brunswick, by the French in August 1754.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Seven Years War |publisher=[[New York State Museum]] |url=http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research_collections/research/history/albany/7yw.html |access-date=August 10, 2009}}</ref> Matters did not settle until the collapse of the French at Quebec in [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham|1760]]. "When these troubles were finally at an end, the inducements offered to settlers by the lord of the Manor attracted many emigrants, not only Germans, but Dutch, English, Scotch, Irish and French as well."<ref name=barnett15/>

Peace also brought the first tavern in the area, run by a John Tillman, followed by a second tavern in 1772, run by Johannes Hayner, Jr., from which Haynersville, (Hayner's Tavern), eventually got its name.<ref name=barnett18>[https://archive.org/details/historygileadev00barngoog/page/n28 <!-- pg=18 --> Barnett], pp. 18</ref>

The first store was opened by Conrad Hayner and Peter Loose at Tamarack, and the first grist mill was built by Johann Heinrich Gross, in 1772, on the Quackenkill.<ref name=barnett20>[https://archive.org/details/historygileadev00barngoog/page/n30 <!-- pg=20 --> Barnett], pp. 20</ref>

On the [[:File:Rensselaerswyck Map Bleeker Downsampled.png|map]] of the [[Rensselaerswyck|Manor of Rensselaerswyck]], drawn in 1767 by John R. Bleecker, there are many names associated with leased parcels, especially in the western part of the town and in Haynersville.<ref>{{cite map |title=A Map of the Manor Renselaerwick ''(sic)'' Surveyed and Laid Down By a Scale of 100 Chains to an Inch |publisher=JNo Bleeker, Surveyor |url=http://nysl.nysed.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/m4u9Qm4c8G/NYSL/18010010/523/74589 |year=1767 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The map shows that settlement had mostly been as far east as present day Center Brunswick and Eagle Mills.

By the 1770s, the original log church became inadequate to the needs of the community, as is made clear in this 1789 public plea. <blockquote>It is about fourteen Years ago, that the said Members of the (Gilead Lutheran) Congregation, whilst the Number of them did increase, so that the Block Meeting House, where they used to serve the Lord, was too small for them, and the said Meeting house was not fit for any Worship, for fear it might brake down and kill them, so that the took a Notion of building a Church, and they begone it in the year 1775. But the disturbance of the War put soon a Stop to it, so that a great many of the said Members were ruin'd & brought to great Distress and Poverty, so that they was oblig'd to leave of building: but now last Year they have begun again, and did their utmost Endeavour to finish the said Church. It was not their Intention in the least at that Time to molest their Neighbours and Fellow Christians with Collections, for it has the appearance last Fall, as if they should have a promising Crop this Harvest, but that Hope is all lost for the most part of the Grane is kill'd with the Frost, and the Rest is destroy'd by the Insects, and now they have such a heavy Debt to pay, which they are not able to discharge out of their own Pokets: So they are obliged to implore all good-minded Christians who has it in their Hearts to promote the kingdom of Christ to assist them and lay some mite for the said Building of the said Church in the Hands of their Fellow Brothers wiiich they have send for that purpose Namely Albertus Simon and Jacob Weager.<ref name=barnett2223>[https://archive.org/details/historygileadev00barngoog/page/n32 <!-- pg=22 --> Barnett], pp. 22-23</ref></blockquote>