News and Views from the Empire State
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has confirmed that several white-tailed deer in the towns of Nelsonville and Cold Spring in Putnam County, and near Goshen in Orange County, died after contracting Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD).
EHD is a viral disease of white-tailed deer that cannot be contracted by humans. [Read more…] about Viral Deer Disease Confirmed in Putnam, Orange Counties
I recently attended the Putnam County Historians’ Roundtable. The meeting was called by the Putnam County Historian’s Office and was held in early December at the Putnam County Historical Society in Cold Spring.
To read about that meeting and to see if it is applicable to your county, click here.
When you enter the hamlet of Wallkill, you are greeted by the happy face of the Borden Company’s mascot, Elsie the Cow. The company’s website states that this mascot dates to the 1930s.
Underneath Elsie is a sign stating that the Hamlet of Wallkill was the location the “Home Farm” of John G. Borden. Thus, many commonly believe that Borden Condensed Milk was in fact invented in the Hamlet of Wallkill; however, its origins can be traced to Burrville, Connecticut and Gail Borden, Jr. Actually, the business was not originally called Borden at all – that title would come later. [Read more…] about Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History
Putnam County Historian Dr. Sarah Johnson will lead a lecture entitled “Votes for Women! Putnam County in the Struggle for Women’s Suffrage,” sponsored by the Putnam Valley Historical Society, on Sunday, November 12 at 1 pm.
In Putnam County, the push for Women’s Suffrage began to heat up by the early 1890s and continued through the 1910s, with setbacks including the defeat in the election of 1915 in New York State. Numerous local women’s suffrage supporters gained traction for the movement by hosting and giving talks, organizing booths at local civic events, and marching in Albany and Washington, D.C. [Read more…] about Women’s Suffrage in Putnam County Talk Sunday
Although his father was said to have been born as a slave, and was later a junk dealer in the Augusta, Georgia area, Sumner H. Lark came to be a trend-breaking black leader in New York State who worked to establish an African-American community in Putnam County.
Sumner Lark was born in in 1874 to a father later described as “a pioneer race business man in his home town and accumulated a considerable fortune at one time.” He grew up in the Augusta area, and attended the Haines Institute before attending Howard University, graduating in 1897. He then returned to Georgia, taught Chemistry and Physics at Haines and ran a local newspaper for about a year, having edited a student-run newspaper in college. After marrying he relocated to Brooklyn, New York just after the start of the 20th century. There, he ran his own printing business, and started The Eye, a newspaper which reported information of interest to African Americans. [Read more…] about Sumner Lark’s Putnam County African-American Projects
The Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS), Region 3, will hold its 2014 meeting on Saturday, September 20, 2014 from 9:45 am to 2:00 pm at the Westchester County historical Society, 2199 Saw Mill River Road, Elmsford, NY. Region 3 includes Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, and Orange counties.
Registration for the 2014 APHNYS Region 3 Meeting should be mailed to: Suzanne Isaksen, APHNYS Region 3 Coordinator, 10 Windrift Lane, Walden, NY 12586-1524. Include the names and titles (e.g. “Town of Montgomery Historian”) of attendees, along with telephone and e-mail contact information. A fee of $10.00 per person is being charged to help defray costs of lunch and refreshments. Make checks payable to APHNYS. [Read more…] about Lower Hudson Valley Public Historians Meeting
The Preservation League of New York State has named a 6-mile section of the Old Albany Post Road in Putnam County to its list of the Empire State’s most threatened historic resources, Seven to Save.
This path between the settlements that would become known as Albany and New York City followed earlier trails established by the Native residents of the region. It provided for movement of troops, supplies and postal mail during the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars. Connecting homes in a sparsely settled area of Garrison, the Old Albany Post Road still retains landscape features from Colonial times and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [Read more…] about Old Albany Post Road Named One Of ‘Seven To Save’
Did our early 19th-century ancestors imbibe unusual brews? Find out in Boscobel’s picturesque West Meadow during a presentation by Warwick Winery and Distillery. Warwick Valley Winery and Distillery representative, Ray DeLear, will discuss a variety of spirits and demonstrate how to mix popular 1800s libations with them all.
Boscobel’s 1800s cocktail gathering takes place in the west meadow, under the pavilion at Boscobel on Saturday, June 28, 4-7pm. Music of the period will be performed by Thaddeus MacGregor. Your $35 admission ticket will include the presentation, cocktail samples, light fare and live music. Please drink responsibly; a discounted designated driver rate is available. [Read more…] about Boscobel Hosting 1800s Cocktail Party
The Revolutionary War spy drama “Turn” on the AMC cable TV network is a much fictionalized version of the activities of a real life American patriot, Ben Tallmadge who headed the “Culper Spy Ring” based on Long Island.
However, Westchester and the surrounding counties of Dutchess, Orange and Putnam have their own connection to Revolutionary War espionage story in the persons of John Jay, Elijah Hunter, and Enoch Crosby. [Read more…] about Revolutionary War Spies:
The Lower Hudson Valley’s “TURN”
Life on a Rocky Farm (SUNY Press, 2013) is a folksy look at farm life in rugged Putnam Valley (Putnam County) just as it was being transformed by industrialization and mechanization. The book couples Lucas C. Barger’s (1866–1939) eye for detail with a folksy, anecdotal style to provide an interesting depiction of both the traditional ways of farm life, and the challenges farmers faced as times changed.
Previously unpublished, Barger’s first-hand account of farm life near New York City begins in the late nineteenth century. Little had changed for well over a century in the hilly and rugged terrain of Putnam Valley, where Lucas grew up as a member of the sixth generation of Barger farmers. But as the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, industrialization and mechanization decreased the demand for farm labor and farmers had to come up with alternate ways to make money. [Read more…] about New Book Explores Life On A Putnam County Farm