On March 25, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the keynote address at the annual Rabbinical Assembly Convention at the renowned Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake in Sullivan County in the Catskills. Ten days later he was dead, murdered by a white supremacist. [Read more…] about Martin Luther King In The Catskills, 1968
The Minisink Battlefield Death of Dr. Benjamin Tusten in 1779
He was born in Southold, Long Island on December 11, 1743, and moved with his family to the banks of the Otterkill near Goshen just three years later. His father, a Colonel in the New York State Militia and a judge, wanted him to be farmer, but as he grew older it became apparent he was destined for other things, and he was sent off to study Latin and Greek and mathematics, eventually deciding on a career in medicine. [Read more…] about The Minisink Battlefield Death of Dr. Benjamin Tusten in 1779
Benedict Arnold’s Sullivan County Connection
On February 22, 1767, Benedict Arnold, a young, up and coming businessman, married Margaret Mansfield, whose father was the Sheriff of New Haven, Connecticut.
Arnold, of course, would go on to become one of the most successful of George Washington’s officers in the Continental Army, and shortly thereafter one of the most notorious traitors in American history. [Read more…] about Benedict Arnold’s Sullivan County Connection
The Borscht Belt in Retrospect
In February of 2020, just before the COVID pandemic became national news, this columnist, your Sullivan County Historian, released a new book, In Further Retrospect. The book was a collection of my “Retrospect” newspaper columns dealing with a wide range of topics from shad fishing on the Delaware River to major hotel fires to Nazis in Narrowsburg.
It was the third time the “Retrospect” columns, first published in 1987, had been collected in book form, following the book, Retrospect in 1996 and Remembering the Sullivan County Catskills in 2008. [Read more…] about The Borscht Belt in Retrospect
Noble Sissle’s Lucky Lake: An Interracial Catskills Lake Colony
To many historians, World War I Harlem Hell Fighters Band lead vocalist, composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer and playwright Noble Sissle (1889-1975) is the man most responsible for ushering in the Harlem Renaissance.
In Sullivan County, NY history however, he will be forever remembered as the celebrity name behind Lucky Lake, “America’s first and only inter-racial lake colony community.” [Read more…] about Noble Sissle’s Lucky Lake: An Interracial Catskills Lake Colony
The British Are Coming! Event to Celebrate Paul Revere’s Famous Ride 250th
It was on April 18, 1775 that Boston silversmith Paul Revere— along with Samuel Prescott and William Dawes– embarked on a ride to alert the Minutemen in his area about the sudden advance of British troops. By giving the Minutemen advance warning of the British Army’s actions, the ride played a crucial role in the Patriot victory in the subsequent battles at Lexington and Concord. [Read more…] about The British Are Coming! Event to Celebrate Paul Revere’s Famous Ride 250th
An 1851 Fratricide Over Hemlock Trees
In January of 1851, Mamakating, NY, resident William Palmer announced to two friends, James Larkin and Albert Squires, that he intended to kill his brother. The Sullivan County siblings had been at odds for quite a long time, but the declaration marked an escalation in the feud, and proved to be prophetic. [Read more…] about An 1851 Fratricide Over Hemlock Trees
Martin Luther King in the Catskills in 1960
In October of 1960, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech entitled “The Future of Integration” at the annual convention of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in the Catskills at the Laurels Country Club in Sackett Lake, Sullivan County, NY.
Less than two weeks after that October 8th appearance, he was sitting in jail for attempting to integrate the lunch counter at Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta, Georgia. [Read more…] about Martin Luther King in the Catskills in 1960
Ralph Lauren’s Catskills Roots
Fashion icon Ralph Lauren, who transformed a small necktie business into an international brand, joined elite company recently when he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
Lauren, known for his “preppy threads,” but whose fashion empire extends to fragrance and furniture and beyond, said in a statement that it was an “honor of a lifetime.” [Read more…] about Ralph Lauren’s Catskills Roots
Robert Land: Magistrate, Loyalist and Spy
In October of 1805, Robert Land, who was then 66 years old, penned his last will and testament, dividing up his considerable holdings in Ontario, Canada among a number of his children and providing a place for his wife Phoebe to reside as long as she might live. [Read more…] about Robert Land: Magistrate, Loyalist and Spy
One Of Sullivan County’s Most Destructive Fires
Brush fires have been much in the news of late, and those familiar with Sullivan County history have been moved to recall massively destructive wildfires from years gone by, including the May, 1884 blaze that wiped out thousands of acres, including most of the hamlet of Gilman’s in the town of Forestburgh. [Read more…] about One Of Sullivan County’s Most Destructive Fires
Farming Sullivan County: Some History & Statistics
Cushetunk, the first permanent European settlement in the Upper Delaware River region, part of which would later become Sullivan County, was established in the 1750s by a group of farmers from Eastern Connecticut who wanted to own their own farmland and traveled here to find it.
But those Connecticut settlers were not the first farmers in the region by a long shot. The Native American Lenape tribe, which spent the warm weather months here for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, depended upon farming, along with hunting and fishing, for survival. [Read more…] about Farming Sullivan County: Some History & Statistics
Master Ian, The Fife and Drum Corps & Fort Delaware
During the Revolutionary War, it was common for each company of men to include two boys between the ages of 10 and 18 who wore colors in the reverse of the soldiers, and whose duties were to play the fife and the drum. Whether in camp, on the march, or in battle, these boys played a vital role in the military. In battle, for example, absent the ability to communicate that modern technology has provided, fifes and drums were used to relay commands over long distances, bringing a necessary cohesion to any battle plan. [Read more…] about Master Ian, The Fife and Drum Corps & Fort Delaware
Woodstock, 1969: A Complicated Local Legacy
Fifty-five years after the fact, it should be clear to anyone who is paying attention that the Woodstock Festival that took place in the town of Bethel, NY, in August of 1969 was larger than life. It was also one of the best things to ever happen to Sullivan County.
One of the festival’s organizers and its main financial backer, John Roberts, once described Woodstock as “a coincidence” that resulted from the convergence of “many powerful trends.” Others, he said, decided it was “a phenomenon.” Being assigned that status, he admitted, was comforting, because it absolved the organizers of their failings and gave them “a sense of having participated in something larger than life.” [Read more…] about Woodstock, 1969: A Complicated Local Legacy
Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar & Marking Borscht Belt History
Mel Brooks was 14 years old and still known as Melvin Kaminsky when he began working as a busboy in the Catskills at the Butler Lodge in Hurleyville, Sullivan County, hoping to be in the right place at the right time to start a career as an entertainer. [Read more…] about Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar & Marking Borscht Belt History
Daniel Bennett St. John Roosa: A Sullivan County Doctor in New York City
On March 8, 1908, Daniel Bennett St. John Roosa, one of New York City’s most prominent doctors and a native of Sullivan County, suffered a major heart attack and died. Few men from the county have ever risen to greater heights in their chosen profession.
Born on a farm in Bethel in 1838, and named for a well-known Monticello merchant and banker, Roosa was, at the time of his death, perhaps the leading authority in the country on diseases of the eyes, ears and throat. [Read more…] about Daniel Bennett St. John Roosa: A Sullivan County Doctor in New York City
Jean Amatucci: Sullivan County’s First Assemblywoman
The fact that since 1987 the month of March has been celebrated as Women’s History Month in this country provides an interesting perspective on the recent announcement by Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther that she would not be seeking re-election in November, especially given the fact that it is quite possible that the two candidates running to replace her may both be women. [Read more…] about Jean Amatucci: Sullivan County’s First Assemblywoman
Wounded Black Civil War Veteran Henry Clay Jackson
Henry Clay Jackson of Wurtsboro in Sullivan County, NY, was the stepfather of the man known alternately as Robert Jackson and Robert Lewis, who was lynched by a mob of angry townspeople in Port Jervis in June of 1892. The man who has gone down in history as Robert Lewis was actually born Robert Murray, but was adopted by Henry Clay Jackson and assumed his surname. There is not universal agreement as to why, how or when he became known as Robert Lewis. [Read more…] about Wounded Black Civil War Veteran Henry Clay Jackson
Sunset Acres: A Black Catskills Resort
In many ways, Sunset Acres in Parksville, was typical of a small 1960s Catskills resort, offering guests “beautiful lobbies, filtered swimming pool, a comfortable large dining room, tennis and handball courts, a large social hall, all sports activities, dancing, and superb cuisine.”
But unlike every other Sullivan County resort of the era, Sunset Acres’ guests were almost exclusively African American. [Read more…] about Sunset Acres: A Black Catskills Resort
Black Catskills History: Harden’s Forestview Lodge
For decades, Fannie Harden worked alongside her husband William to build the Forestview Lodge near Swan Lake in the Catskills town of Liberty, into a successful business, carrying on alone after his death. When she passed away, the hotel went into decline and closed in 1955.
That is the story of many Sullivan County hotels, and in myriad ways, the story of the Forestview Lodge is quite typical. One important difference, however, is that the Hardens were African Americans. [Read more…] about Black Catskills History: Harden’s Forestview Lodge