Lowville

Big Cheese Politics: Federalist Cows Need Not Apply

November 15, 2023 by Milton Sernett 1 Comment

A huge cheese is said to have sealed the election of Thomas Jefferson, who occupied the White House on January 1, 1802, after a bitter contest with his rival, the incumbent president and Federalist leader John Adams. It is an oft-told tale.

Upset by Puritan denunciations of Jefferson, Elder John Leland of the Baptist Church of Cheshire, Massachusetts, organized a communal effort to demonstrate support for Jeffersonian Democracy. [Read more…] about Big Cheese Politics: Federalist Cows Need Not Apply

The Naming of Twitchell Lake in the Adirondacks

July 31, 2023 by Noel Sherry 4 Comments

“Toponym” is the technical term for a place name, especially one derived from a topographical feature. I’m hooked on toponyms. My starting point is Twitchell Lake in Big Moose, located in the town Webb, Herkimer County, NY, in the Adirondacks where six generations of my family have vacationed in a cabin since the early 1900s.

Debate on our lake’s name has reached a crescendo as a history committee collects our stories for a Twitchell book. This article explores the fascinating connection between our lake’s name and the Twitchell family of Copenhagen, in Lewis County, NY. This map traces the 50-mile route from Copenhagen through Lewis County, across the Black River, and then up the Number Four Road into the Adirondack Mountains. Which leads to my question: How on earth did this dairy farming family get its name attached to this lake? [Read more…] about The Naming of Twitchell Lake in the Adirondacks

Stillwater Reservoir Boat Launch Gets New Docks

July 22, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

DEC Region 6 Operations staff in Lowville recently rehabilitated the Stillwater Reservoir boat launch docks in Herkimer County. The existing docks had deteriorated with age and significant use and needed to be repaired to ensure public safety and access as the boat ramp is the only location for launching of trailered boats on the reservoir. [Read more…] about Stillwater Reservoir Boat Launch Gets New Docks

Logging The Adirondacks From The West (1800-1820)

May 2, 2022 by Noel Sherry 6 Comments

In the nineteenth century Lewis County settlements east of the Black River were just getting established; most of these included at least one saw mill. By 1820 these settlements were beginning to push their way up the rivers into the Adirondacks, and new mills were being built along their courses. A Copenhagen, NY farmer on Tug Hill, viewing the Adirondack panorama spread out to his east, wrote the following in a Journal & Republican article titled “North Woods Wonder:”

“All the wilderness is strewn with lakes as if some great mirror had been shattered by an Almighty hand, and scattered through the forests for Nature to make her toilet by … And how the rivers meander the woods as the veins of a human hand. There are Beaver, Moose, and Indian, Bog, Grass and Racket… And how rough and shaggy the wilderness is with mountains … Let them pass unnamed.”

One of these “shattered” gems was Twitchell Lake. [Read more…] about Logging The Adirondacks From The West (1800-1820)

Hiram Burke, Noted Adirondack Guide of Twitchell Lake

May 5, 2020 by Noel Sherry 3 Comments

Many of the lakes in John Brown’s Tract had guides who took their sporting parties to their own fishing or hunting camps north and south of the Beaver River. This is how lakes like Hitchcock, Beach, and Salmon got their names. [Read more…] about Hiram Burke, Noted Adirondack Guide of Twitchell Lake

Charles M. Dickinson: Lowville Poet and Diplomat

July 20, 2015 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Among the foreign issues America has dealt with many times is hostage taking. Kidnappers have claimed various motives, but it was frequently done to extort money in support of a cause. Extortion kidnappings have often involved seizing of American missionaries and threatening to kill them unless ransom was paid. More than a hundred years ago, there occurred what is referred to as “America’s First Modern Hostage Crisis,” which is actually the subtitle of a 2003 book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Teresa Carpenter.

“The Miss Stone Affair” is the title, referring to Protestant missionary Ellen Maria Stone. A North Country man was a key player in her story, which riveted the nation for half a year. [Read more…] about Charles M. Dickinson: Lowville Poet and Diplomat

What A Wonderful Life: Lowville’s Erwin Eugene Lanpher

November 1, 2011 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Research has taken me to more cemeteries than I can remember. Surrounded by hundreds of gravestones, I frequently remind myself that every person has a story. What often impresses me is that many people who are largely forgotten actually made a real difference in other people’s lives. Uncovering those stories from the past is humbling, carrying with it the realization that I’ll probably never approach the good works done by others. [Read more…] about What A Wonderful Life: Lowville’s Erwin Eugene Lanpher