Jane VanBenschoten Dowie
The Fourth Annual Living History Cemetery Tour, sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM), will take place Saturday, June 20 at the New Kingston Valley Cemetery, Thomson Hollow Rd., New Kingston.
Rain date is June 21. Reservations ($15) are required. Call 586-4736 by June 17 to reserve a specific tour time. Those 15 and under get in free.
The popular event combines history, theater and an authentic taste of Catskill Mountain culture by bringing to life eight men and women who share their stories and hard-won wisdom with tour goers.
Ezra Henderson
Costumed guides will conduct seven tours – one leaves every 20 minutes starting at 4 p.m. — throughout the cemetery to meet these interesting folks from the past. Directors are Joyce St. George and Frank Canavan.
Performers this year include two newcomers to the living history “stage” – Bill Birns of Fleischmanns and John Lehmann of Redkill. Returning players include Roy Moses, Anne Hersh, Fred Margulies, Amy Taylor, Harriet Grossman and John Bernhardt.
Docents are Barbara Atkin, Tina Greene, Cedric Taylor and Fred Travis.
Lincoln Long
Returning to the land of the living for the evening are Lincoln Long, 1861-1927, school superintendent, Methodist minister and NYS Assemblyman; farmer Ezra Henderson, 1838-1925; salesman Andrew Russell, 1852-1933; Harriet Martin Slack, 1842-1928, wife of a Civil War amputee and mother of nine; M. J. Faulkner, 1877-1953, long-time proprietor of the New Kingston general store; sisters Jane Dowie and Mary Swart, descendants of VanBenschoten pioneers; and Charles W. Halleck, 1840-1914, travelling performer, cooper and horse lover.