You’ve most likely never heard the following story, and for good reason. Most of the true history in America has been covered up. Isaiah ‘Davis’ Winne was a good man. This is his story.

Born in 1818 to Christian and Annatje Winne in the Catskills Mountains of Ulster County, New York. The Winne family were considered pioneers in the region descending from original 1652 settler from Leeuwarden, Netherlands, Pieter Winne. Pieter was granted large amounts of land in the Catskills region due to his background as a founder, businessman, patriot and father to sons that would join the New York Division of the Sons of Liberty and go on to fight in the Revolutionary War, and every major war and conflict America has had its hand in.

Davis grew up along the banks of Esopus Creek in Shandaken, Phoenicia and Mount Tremper. Running a family farm and sawmills with his father Christian to provide food and lumber to the growing communities nearby. The Winne family had been running farms, sawmills and other businesses since the 1600s and it was a great way for Davis and other younger Winne children to learn from their father’s. The value of hard work, running a business and helping to grow your local community.

Marriage to Angeline Longyear

Davis and Angeline were married sometime around the year 1842, when Davis was around 24 years old. Angeline was from the Longyear family and were established family friends with the Winnes. The Longyear family ran successful boarding house businesses to meet growing tourism demand of the Catskills. One of them is still in existence today. It’s called the Foxfire Mountain House, in Mount Tremper.

Together, Davis and Angeline had an amazing marriage until her passing in 1871. They had 10 children together. 7 sons and 3 daughters. Their first son Isaac was born in1843. Davis raised his sons and taught them the value of hard work. Teaching them how to farm and run businesses just like he had always known.

Community Service

Davis was constantly in service to his community. He was Captain of the Olive Home Guard in 1855. Captain of Company D, 20th New York State Militia, April 23, 1861 — August 2, 1861. And Sheriff of Ulster County, NY, 1861-1864. Davis was also a very active elder in the Reformed Church of Shokan. He contributed very largely toward its support and was one of the most efficient men the church ever had.

Businessman & Executive Leader

Davis was involved in multiple businesses during his life. His obituary called him “one of the most active men in the country”. Davis was arguably the most well-known farmer in Ulster County. He also built the original Route 28 plank road in the Catskills with his father Christian and then transitioning his road building skills into a private blue stone toll road that he operated.

Davis was the operator of the ‘Winne House’, a large 40-room farmhouse mansion in Mount Tremper, that was known to be one of the best and most beautiful in the Catskills. In addition, he was a director of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad and a director of the Ulster County Savings Bank.

Now that we’ve established a baseline for the type of person Davis Winne was, it’s important to think about the New York influencer landscape and what was happening at the time. There was a silent battle brewing for many decades previously regarding Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The Winnes were family friends of Alexander Hamilton and there were certain families of influence in New York at the time that did not like that.

Esopus Creek Water Rights & Water for New York City

The Winne family owned multiple properties with water rights, where the Esopus Creek would run right through the property. The main property was the 1,000 acres in which the Winne House was built on the east side of Route 28 and the Esopus Creek on the west side of road. Sawmills were built and operated along the creeks to provide lumber for new structures to be built within the growing Catskills region.

New York City desperately needed access to fresh water from the Catskills and the Winne family was standing in their way. In 1835, 3,500 people had died due to the bad drinking water. It was growing out of control at a rapid rate. The clash between the Winne family, and other Catskills families, and the State of New York would be devastating. The State of New York had to build a reservoir in the Catskills to provide fresh water to New York City, so they planned to development of the Ashokan Reservoir, and they would let nothing stand in their way.

Timeline of Death & Destruction

The timeline of events that would happen over the next 30 years from 1871 to Davis’ death in 1902 are extraordinary and very troublesome to say the least. There are way too many coincidences that formed a pattern which makes it mathematically impossible for all of this to be just a coincidence.

1871 – Davis Winne’s beloved wife, Angeline, passes away at 54 years old

1872 – Davis Winne’s father, Christian passes away

1872 – Davis gets remarried to Sarah Dimmick

1875 – Davis Winne’s daughter Josephine and her husband pass away in the same year. They’re in their early thirties

1886 – Publicly revealed that a Ramapo Water engineer suggests the Catskills as the region that should supply the water to NYC

1886 – Davis Winne’s son Isaac is murdered in his hotel room

1892 – Davis Winne’s son Alonzo passes away at 37 years old

1894 – Davis Winne’s brother Henry passes away at 69 years old

1894 – Davis Winne’s brother Benjamin passes away at 67 years old

1896 – Davis Winne’s brother Calvin passes away at 57 years old

1897 – Davis Winne’s brother Cornelius passes away at 79 years old

1899 – Davis Winne is approached by Ramapo Water Company and he still refuses to sell his land to New York

1900 – Coincidentally, Davis Winne becomes gravely ill

1902 – Davis Winne passes away at 84 years old

1903 – Mysteriously, the Harriet E. Winne barge sinks in the Hudson River

1905 – Davis Winne’s grandson Alonzo passes away randomly at his home in New Jersey. He was the son of Isaac who was murdered.

1907 – Construction of the Ashokan Reservoir begins

1907 – J.W. Bennett of Brooklyn purchases Davis Winne’s property

1915 – Completion of the Ashokan Reservoir 

1959 – Nelson Rockefeller becomes governor of New York

1961 – Winne House demolished under the watch of Nelson Rockefeller. 

1963 – JFK Assassinated while Nelson Rockefeller is Governor of New York. 

 

 

The Discovery of the Catskill Visitor Center & The Department of Transportation Facility on Winne Land

While doing research about where the Davis Winne property was located (it’s not like this is the type of thing that would be on the news or easily found on Google) we stumbled upon a couple of roads named “Winnie” and “Winne” near a large area of what looked like used to be farmland along the Esopus Creek. We had discovered many stories via Google Books about the Winne’s owning farmland along the Esopus so we began the search there.

The street “Winnie” was a dead giveaway. Notice how they spell it wrong on purpose. It gives them power and takes away power away from our family. You can learn more about etymology of Winne here and the name change here.

Here is the direct Google street view link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/hkDBUnUdyNv2Gt9R8

As we moved north along Route 28 from Winnie Road (spelled wrong) we noticed a very peculiar thing on the map which was another dead giveaway. Government buildings on what was now quiet obviously, Winne land.

How odd is this? We know that Davis Winne refused to sell his land. We know that Winne family members were dying left and right. We know that New York City needed water. We know that Esopus Creek and the Catskill Mountains were the target. We know Davis owned the most valuable real estate before where the proposed dam was going to go. We know that people were noticing the Winne family was gaining wealth and success at a rapid rate. We know that the value of this land and this water was priceless.

And now we fast forward to today. And what’s on the land? State government buildings.

What are the odds?

Moving north on Route 28, you see the rest of the property. The Catskills Visitor is there now. So the state of New York has two buildings on the Winne property. And they would say, “well technically it’s not the state of New York, blah blah blah….”.

Google Map link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SEmjZ5DTCtrRt5X88

This gets more interesting. Stay with us.

 

Finding the Winne Family Burial Plot on the Land

After doing more research and using multiple maps to look at the property in different ways, we discovered OpenStreetMap. What we found interesting about OpenStreetMap is it clearly shows the ‘Winne Family Burial Ground’.

Here is a direct link: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/42.026688/-74.268447

Incredibly creepy and disturbing that the state of New York, not only took this land, but they realized there is a family burial plot on it, with massive historical significance to the Winne family, and they knowingly live with it like that and don’t do anything positive about it. I guess when there is a paper trail of crime and corruption, it all falls in line with the rest of the narrative though.

 

The Winne House Destroyed on Nelson Rockefeller’s Watch

Nelson Rockefeller was an evil man. He had a very clear agenda, and that agenda wasn’t to help the Winne family and other Patriot colonial families in New York. His agenda was to destroy them.

You can see from this aerial photo in 1959, right as Nelson Rockefeller is taking office, the Winne House is still standing.

In 1967, the house is gone. We know it was destroyed by fire in 1961, due to the newspaper article. It was then totally demolished and cleaned up.

By 1985, they had built the Department of Transportation building on the property.

In 1995, you can see that the road turnaround for the future Catskills Visitor Center is in with fresh blacktop. Why would this be necessary if construction for the Catskills Visitor Center didn’t begin until 2014? Funding can’t be an excuse because we know New York has had plenty of funding. Go look at the small size of the Visitor Center building today. Very small.

This almost looks like it was used for something else. A drop-off point for large trucks maybe? Some of the soil looks wet and separated by the rest of the earth. Is there something underneath the ground? Were large trucks making drop-offs here sometime between 1995 and 2014? What is the point of this?

By 2015, you can see that the Catskills Visitor Center now appears to be completed or almost completed.

Go see for yourself. Go to https://historicaerials.com/ and use the coordinates of: 42.02780286466725, -74.26963570018135

 

A Pattern for the Systematic Destruction of Winne Family Properties During Nelson Rockefeller’s Time as Governor of New York

What you see above is just the tip of the iceberg to the destruction that would occur to multiple Winne family properties during the Nelson Rockefeller administration. Please read the following posts about additional properties that had been destroyed:

The Destruction of the Winne Farm in Niskayuna

Winne’s Dock Destroyed Along Hudson River

Winne Peach Orchards Destroyed, Replaced with CITGO

Winne Family Destruction During Nelson Rockefeller Administration in New York

 

What are the odds of all of this property destruction? Is it all just a coincidence?

We performed a scientific analysis to estimate probabilities by considering patterns, motives, and statistical likelihoods. Check that out at the link below:

Mathematically impossible? Less than 0.000000001% or 1 in 100 billion