The answer to this question can be found near the story's conclusion. The "ancient" village person that this question is asking about is Peter Vanderdonk.
Peter was the most ancient inhabitant of the village, and well versed in all the wonderful events and traditions of the neighborhood.
Peter's role in the story is small, but it is important. Rip has just come back from his extended sleep; however, nobody believes his story. They think it is the ramblings and fantasy of an old man. Peter is a wise and respected ancestor of an important historian in the town, and Peter says that it is a fact that the Kaatskill mountains had always been haunted by strange beings. Hendrick Hudson and his crew are such beings, and even Peter's own father claimed to have seen them playing nine-pins. With Peter's testimony of support for Rip's story, Rip is now believed. He lives out the rest of his days doing what he always did best—telling kids stories.
The oldest inhabitant of the village in "Rip Van Winkle" is Peter Vanderdonk. When Rip returns to the village after twenty years and says he has been asleep all that time, many don't believe his story of stumbling on ancient Dutch people and being enchanted. Many also don't believe he is Rip, even though an old woman recognizes him.
Peter, however, has more authority than the old woman, because his father was a historian who wrote an early account of the area and because he himself is "well versed" in the traditions and history of the region. Peter both affirms that Rip is who he says he is and that it is well-known that the mountains have long been haunted. Peter says that his own father saw people in old Dutch clothes playing nine-pins in the mountains, just as Rip says.
With this matter settled, the villagers turn back to the more important issue of the election.
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