Donor issues campaign challenge to HSM

Donor issues campaign challenge to HSM

Nov 12, 2018 | news archive

Architect’s rendering of planned archives facilitity

A generous donor to the campaign for a Middletown History Center is challenging other history lovers to match his contribution by the end of 2018.

Nicholas J. Juried has pledged $50,000 towards the construction of an archives facility and research room to be housed in an expansion of the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown’s existing program hall near Margaretville. The archives portion of the addition will be named for the Nicholas J. Juried Family Foundation in recognition of this major contribution towards the $350,000 project.

“Congratulations are in order to the Executive Committee and to every one of your dedicated HSM members for conceiving this wonderful building to fulfill so many vital historical preservation, research and public service functions,” commented Juried.

He suggested that HSM supporters might want to add their own contributions by December 31 to take advantage of tax benefits. Gifts can be made by mail (PO Box 734, Margaretville, NY 12455) or electronically (mtownhistory.org). HSM is a 501c3 non-profit organization chartered by the New York State Education Department. It has 156 members and an 11-member governing board.

Nick Juried is a 1947 graduate of Gilboa-Conesville Central School and of Cornell University where he earned a degree in agricultural economics. He served in the Air Force during the Korean conflict, and then moved to Texas where he built a successful manufacturer’s marketing and promotion company. He and his late wife Dorothy restored a 37-acre ranch in Sandy, Texas, and he currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Juried is an avowed history enthusiast who has given substantial support to the Gilboa Historical Society’s Gilboa Museum/Juried History Center, the Zadock Pratt Museum in Prattsville, the Jefferson and Middleburgh Historical Societies, and the Catskill Tri-County Historical Views Magazine of which he is honorary editor. He noted recent efforts to link historical resources in the tri-county area (Delaware, Greene and Schoharie) as a factor in supporting HSM.

“We are ever so grateful to Mr. Juried for seeing the value – culturally and economically – in preserving the documents and artifacts of our past,” commented HSM President Diane Galusha. “Saving the stories of our communities is a priceless gift we leave for our children and theirs.”

Galusha announced the Juried Challenge at HSM’s annual meeting October 27 when she gave an update on the campaign to build the Middletown History Center. The campaign kicked off in September when State Senator James Seward secured a $50,000 grant from the state to be used towards construction of the 1600-square-foot addition. Several generous donors whose families have deep roots in the Middletown area subsequently joined the Legacy Circle with gifts of $1,000 or more.

“We are thrilled to report that the campaign is one-third of the way towards the goal,” Galusha reported to 50 members and friends who attended the annual meeting. “Since our collection has outgrown the space allotted for it at the Town Hall, the need is great and the time is now to construct a permanent archives. We truly appreciate the support of our early donors.”

While HSM developed plans for the building project and launched the fundraising campaign, it also produced several programs and events, including the 6th Living History Cemetery Tour at Halcottsville, and presentations on the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Catskills, famed photographer Art Kane, and the impact of World War I on Middletown area soldiers and communities. A relic hunt by the Nor’easters Metal Detecting Club and a Family History Day were also held in 2018. HSM once again participated with exhibits and activities at the annual Cauliflower Festival.

Two new trustees were elected to the HSM Executive Committee at the annual meeting. They are Bill Blish of Margaretville and Agnes Laub of Fleischmanns. Henry Friedman was re-elected as a trustee, as were officers Diane Galusha, Vice President Tina Greene, Treasurer Marilyn Pitetti and Secretary Amy Taylor. Remaining trustees are Anne Sanford, Pat Moore, Barbara Moses and Shirley Davis.

The Historical Society had 156 members in 106 households in 2017-18. New and renewing members are invited to join at mtownhistory.org.

Ideas for future programs and research projects are most welcome. Contact HSM at history@catskill.net if you would like to contribute information or volunteer to organize a program.

The Revolution comes to Pakatakan

Oct 10, 2018 | news archive

“The Revolution Comes to Pakatakan” will be the topic when the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown holds its Annual Meeting and Luncheon Sat., Oct. 27 at Noon at the HSM hall, 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville.

Charles Yaple, author of Jacob’s Land: Revolutionary War Soldiers, Schemers, Scoundrels and the Settling of New York’s Frontier, will be the guest speaker.
Reservations ($20) are required for the luncheon, catered by Anna Blish. Call 845-586-2860 to save your place at the table. Lunch will be followed by a brief business meeting, which will include election of board members, an accounting of the past year’s activities, and an update on the capital campaign for the building expansion project that was launched in September.

Charles Yaple is a sixth-generation grandson of Jacob Yaple, who came to Middletown in 1771 with his parents, German immigrants Phillip Henrich and Susanna Yaple, and seven siblings. The Yaples moved to New York from near Allentown, PA to settle along the East Branch just south of the current village of Margaretville.

With the coming of the Revolutionary War, the community of some 40 families was divided in its support of the Patriot cause, and fearful of attack by Indians in league with the British. In 1778, they evacuated their farms to find safety in the Hudson Valley. While moving his possessions, Harmonus Dumond was taken prisoner at Pakatakan (now Arkville) by a party of colonial militiamen from Schoharie. He was fatally shot as he tried to escape in a tragic episode which remains the subject of speculation 200 years later. Was Harmonus a Tory? Was he a spy? Was it a case of mistaken identity? 

 

The book “Jacob’s Land” includes a chapter detailing the event featuring original source material and research by Robert Rowe.

Dr. Yaple’s October 27 talk will describe these harrowing times, including the disputed incident at Pakatakan, and will explain what became of his kin: Two of Jacob’s brothers married daughters of Harmonus Dumond, and returned with their families in 1794 as the first settlers of the new Kingston Valley.

Dr. Yaple is Professor Emeritus of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies at State University of New York College at Cortland where he continues to teach environmental and outdoor education courses. He was raised near Ithaca, where Revolutionary War veteran Jacob Yaple and other family members moved after the war.

The Devil Wagons are coming!

Sep 14, 2018 | news archive

The 2nd Annual Catskill Conquest Pilot Rally Commemorating the 1903 Automobile Endurance Run will be held Saturday September 22. View more than 30 vintage vehicles Saturday morning at the Maurice D. Hinchey Catskill Interpretive Center, 5069 State Route 28, Mount Tremper. Many will later stop by the Cauliflower Festival in Margaretville.

The route will follow 75 miles of the historic Endurance Run through Delaware County and across the Susquehanna River at Unadilla.

This event celebrates the birth of automobiling. In October 1903, after a daunting journey through torrential downpours on dirt roads in the Catskill Mountains and Central New York State, the 125 people in 36 automobiles from 17 American makers in the First Annual Endurance Run of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers demonstrated their pluck when 25 cars completed the 800 mile route from New York City to Pittsburgh. The noisy and smelly early cars frightened horses and people and Sunday drives kept them from church, hence they were called Devil Wagons. Their perseverance through the debacle of the Endurance Run gave the veterans the nick-name of the Mud Larks which they proudly carried through later reunions.

The 17 makes represented in the 1903 Endurance Run were: Pierce Arrow, White (steam), Columbia, Locomobile, Packard, Rambler, Pope Toledo, Oldsmobile, Knox, Phelps, Stearns, Northern, Haynes-Apperson, Franklin, Holley, St Louis and Fredonia. In many cases the builders and design engineers drove their own cars: A. L. Riker in the Locomobile, Percy P. Pierce in the Pierce Stanhope, Frank Stearns in the Stearns, L.J. Phelps in the Phelps, John Wilkinson in the Franklin. ET Fetch had driven his Old Pacific Packard from San Francisco to New York that Summer, then ran the Endurance Run in October. BB Holcomb and Lawrence Duffie had just set a speed record from Chicago to New York in their Columbia and then returned up the route in the Endurance Run.

There was one woman who took part, Edith Riker, wife of A. L. Riker in the Locomobile. Edith was often mentioned in the press and was interviewed by a ride-along correspondent of The Automobile, a few quotes illustrate her undaunted character, she was “delighted”: O, isn’t this glorious? Do you know, I just think this is fine. Afraid? No, why should I be? The car is true and tried and Mr. Riker is driving…Mr. Riker does love to drive fast and I don’t care. He won’t jeopardize his own life and I am as safe as Mr. Riker, anyway…It is glorious, I think, to fly through the country night or day at a railroad speed over all sorts of roads.

An 1898 Riker Electric Car and a 1909 Locomobile are expected at the start in Mount Tremper at the Catskill Interpretive Center. Richard Riker will talk about his grandfather’s career and we will have a light breakfast from 9am and head out along the route about 10:30. Host checkpoints along the way include the village of Pine Hill, the Cauliflower Festival in Margaretville, the Delaware County Historical Association with an exhibit of the 1907 NY State Engineer road building maps and the Franklin Railroad and Community Museum. There are several historical railroad sites along the way and the route passes through Fleischmanns, where a vintage baseball game is scheduled, and also through the village of Andes.

Registered entrants include a 1933 Franklin Olympic and cars of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s from Ford, Plymouth and Chevrolet. Clubs participating include the Hudson Mohawk Region Mercedes Benz Owners Club, Northeast Region Plymouth Owners Club, Reservoir Thunder Auto Club and Team Shelby Northeast Region. Other entries include Porsches and a 1957 Thunderbird, all are welcome.

For more information please call Director Robert Selkowitz at 845-657-6982 or email at 1903autorun@gmail.com.

Cauliflower Festival is Sept. 22!

Sep 13, 2018 | news archive

The Fifteenth Annual Margaretville Cauliflower Festival will be held rain or shine Saturday, Sept. 22 from 10 to 4 in the Village Park, Margaretville.

This free festival, sponsored by the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, is focused on the agricultural heritage of the region, once known for its outstanding cauliflower. The festival is a Catskill Mountain Scenic Byway annual event and is presided over by Callie, the Cauliflower Spirit.

The tractor parade will roll out of the Margaretville Central School parking lot at 11:30 a.m., headed for the festival grounds. Tractor owners who would like to participate are asked to call Lauren Davis, 586-4661 or Sally Fairbairn, 586-2813 to register and meet at the school at 11.

Local restaurants and organizations, like the Masons who will serve up barbecue chicken and the Fleischmanns-Pine Hill Rotary Club with their ice cream stand, will sell a variety of treats, with lots of dishes featuring cauliflower.

On overflowing Pure Catskills tent will tempt festival goers with seasonal produce and local products, including fresh cauliflower, offered by area farmers and makers.

Blues musician Mike Herman and folk singer Jason Starr, perennial crowd favorites, will perform alternate sets on the hour from Noon until 3:30 p.m.

Children will enjoy games like a cauliflower bean bag toss, crafts assisted by MCS art students, a petting zoo and pony rides and other fun activities.

Participants in the second annual Catskill Conquest, vintage cars traveling part of the rouet of the 1903 Endurance Run along the Byway, will stop at the festival to show off their vehicles.

The history of the cauliflower growing industry in the region will be featured in the History Tent. A scavenger hunt will occupy the kids while grownups peruse a new exhibit by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, “Guns and Butter,” on the impact of World War I on local farms and foodways.

The artisan’s tent will feature pottery, jewelry, sewn goods, knit items, hand-made dolls, wood bowls, art prints and cards, outdoor driftwood furniture and more. More than 60 vendors will be on hand, including non-profit organizations and agencies like Soil & Water Conservation District whose staff will use a stream table to demonstrate how water, and human intervention, help shape the land.
The festival is supported by Adams Fairacre Farms, WIOX Community Radio; HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley; Directive, Inc.; the Watershed Agricultural Council and Pure Catskills.

For regular updates on the festival, visit facebook.com/margaretvillecauliflowerfestival.

Family History Day Sept. 8

Sep 4, 2018 | news archive

Explore, share and celebrate your family’s heritage at the Historical Society of Middletown’s first Family History Afternoon Saturday, Sept. 8.

This free event runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at the HSM hall, 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville. All are welcome.

Genealogist and Fairview Library Director Doris Warner will lead a 1 p.m. workshop for beginning family researchers that will help answer the question “Where do I begin?” Doris will cover basic and sometimes overlooked sources for vital statistics, residency, and personal information, and will offer tips on organizing your data and linking with other researchers following similar trails.

At 2 p.m,, Ray LaFever, archivist at the Delaware County Historical Association and Bovina Town Historian, will discuss how to preserve your precious family photographs, mementoes and artifacts so that future generations can enjoy and learn from them.

History Show-N-Tell at 3 p.m. will offer a chance to share the story behind – or ask questions about — an old photograph, heirloom, tool, hand-made item, toy or other memorabilia. Stories will be recorded and preserved for the HSM collection.

The Historical Society is looking for photos of Middletown area people, places and events to add to its archives. If you have images you’d be willing to share, please come to the HSM hall anytime from 1 to 4 p.m. September 8 to have them scanned. We’ll take the information about the photos and return them to you on the spot.

Community displays, reference books, binders of HSM inventories of Middletown barns and Civil War soldiers, and other materials will be available to peruse. Current exhibits at the hall feature Middletown area covered bridges and World War I soldiers.

Those who cannot attend but would like to loan photos for scanning or donate materials to HSM may call 845-586-4973, or email history@catskill.net.

To find a schedule of HSM’s 2018 events and programs, and many articles and photos pertaining to Middletown’s history, visit mtownhistory.org, where you can also become a member and make an online donation towards the preservation of local history.