George Von Beck: Rondout’s Alleged Lunatic presented by Taylor Bruck

$10/person, suggested donation

George Von Beck

George Von Beck was a German immigrant to Rondout in the 1830s who became employed by the D&H Canal and retired with a moderate fortune. After becoming one of the wealthiest men in the Rondout, Von Beck was met by a series of scandals that led to his own family accusing him of lunacy in court. How did a poor German immigrant work his way from weigh master to paymaster on the canal? And was Von Beck actually a lunatic? Or wrongfully accused?

Taylor Bruck

Taylor Bruck is Deputy County Clerk and the City of Kingston Historian. A Kingston native, Taylor is a board member of the Friends of Historic Kingston, the Friends of the Senate House, a trustee for the Association of Public Historians of New York State, and the captain of the Kingston Guards Vintage Base Ball team.