Mount Lebanon, New York, East Family Records

Historical notes

The East Family originated in 1787 as a group of small family farms located up the hill east of the Church Family in New Lebanon. These families were gathered in as part of the Order of Families in 1788 and the placed under the care of the Second Family in 1811. Known also as the Hill or the Brickyard Family, the East Family was set off from the Second Family in 1824. When the East Family was closed in 1872, the remaining members were transferred to the Second Family. The buildings were sold to the North Family and the fields to the Church Family. The Church Family continued to farm them. For many years prior to the East Family's eventual failure, the Mount Lebanon Ministry and Giles Avery in particular, attempted to bolster its economic base. John Dean was sent twice from the Church Family to supervise its affairs, the second time after the sudden 1872 departure of Edward Chase, the last East Family trustee.