6th Living History Cemetery Tour July 7

Jun 13, 2018 | news archive

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George W. Hubbell, who established this ice cream emporium on Wawaka Lake, s one of 11 people to be portrayed in the tour on July 7.

The sixth Living History Cemetery Tour presented by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) takes place Saturday, July 7 (rain date July 8) at the Halcottsville Cemetery. Tours begin every 20 minutes starting at 4 p.m., with the last tour departing at 6 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 845-586-4736. This popular event will bring to life eleven people who once lived in Halcottsville, ten of them now lying in this peaceful cemetery on Back River Road, on a hill overlooking Lake Wawaka. Meet the trio of brothers who shaped commerce and community in the hamlet; the diarist who recorded the comings and goings of her neighbors for 50 years; the railroad station agent haunted by a horrific train crash; the hotel keeper who was witness to a scandal, and the woman who knows the truth behind it and returns to tell her story.

Tour goers will be led in small groups to meet these folks and others who will talk about their families and friends, struggles and joys, and the events that shaped their lives. Humor, pathos and secrets mark this year’s presentations by area players, some of them descended from the people they will portray.

This is a fundraiser for HSM; tickets are $20, children 12 and under get in free.
Characters in this year’s tour, and the actors who will portray them, include Jennie McKenzie Hewitt Doland, schoolteacher, seamstress and diarist (Agnes Laub); the Kelly Brothers — George, Norman and David — who ran a large farm and several businesses in the hamlet (Rich, Tim and Terry Kelly, great-grandsons of George); Ed and Aurelia Griffin, railroad station agent, and keepers of a general store, post office and restaurant (Dave Truran and Amy Taylor).

Also, Andrew Moldovan, Russian immigrant farmer (Erwin Karl); Sherman Bussy, hotel proprietor, and his grandson Winfield (John Bernhardt and Eli Taylor); and George W. Hubbell, factory owner and jack of all trades (great-nephew Burr Hubbell).

Bertha Williams (Anne Saxon Hersh), who shocked the community in 1913 when she ran off with a local man and made a new life in South Dakota, will float on the cemetery’s periphery, bending the ear of tour goers to set the record straight.

Tour guides will be Tina Greene, Sydney Asher and Barbara Funck.

Scripts were written by Anne Saxon Hersh, Mary Barile, Beth Sherr, Mack Oliver, Jenny Liddle, and Terry Bradshaw, as well as Frank Canavan and Joyce St. George, who also serve as directors of the event.

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.

A few images from Headwaters History Days, 2018

Jun 6, 2018 | Tin Horn

HHD 2018 PHOTO GALLERY
Click for a larger view of each image…

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Steam returned to the DURR; seen in Halcottsville

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Members of the Mountain Athletic Club baseball team look at pic of 1896 MAC squad

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John Duda, and Collin Miller enjoy items brought to Skene Library by baseball historian Bob Mayer

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A dozen people took a walk through Norway spruce plantation planted by CCC near Margaretville

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Anthony Liberatore and Dan Underwood welcome Tim Hinkley and Rich and John Dykstra to 2nd OSB Church of Roxbury

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Anthony Liberatore looks at 1846 bible in 1833 “Yellow Church”

Skis, Trees and the Triple Cs

Jun 1, 2018 | news archive

Hardy Margaretville enrollees set off on a CCC work mission.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era program that put millions of young men to work repairing environmental damage and building parks and trails, will be discussed Saturday, June 9 at 10 a.m. at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM), 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville.
“Trees, Skis and the Triple Cs” is a program by Diane Galusha, author of Another Day, Another Dollar: The Civilian Conservation Corps in the Catskills. A Headwaters History Days offering, the illustrated presentation is free. It will be followed by a short walk in a nearby CCC-planted forest.

The CCC was created in 1933 by an Executive Order signed by newly-elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A federally-sponsored program for unemployed men from 17 to 25 years of age, its aim was to assist Depression-stricken families and at the same time conduct conservation projects to reverse decades of environmental degradation, improve public lands and develop parks and campgrounds for public enjoyment.

CCC camps in the Catskill region were established in Boiceville, Tannersville, and Margaretville, as well as in Sullivan, Otsego and Schoharie Counties. The Margaretville camp, located just west of the village, housed some 200 men and operated from 1935 to 1938.

Projects ranged from ski trail building and tree planting to erosion control and insect eradication. North Lake, Devil’s Tombstone, Woodland Valley and Beaverkill State Campgrounds were developed with Corps labor. Margaretville enrollees established a regional headquarters for NYS Conservation Department Rangers at a former fish hatchery which will be visited after the talk on June 9.

Galusha, president of HSM, is the author of several books of local history, including Liquid Assets, A History of New York City’s Water System; As the River Runs, A History of Halcottville, NY; and When Cauliflower Was King, a chronicle of the hey-day of cauliflower production in the Catskills.

For information on Headwaters History Days events and programs, visit headwatershistorydays.org.
HSM’s 2018 schedule may be found at mtownhistory.org.

HSM announces 2018 schedule of programs

Apr 2, 2018 | news archive

The Historical Society of Middletown has a busy schedule of talks, tours and special activities planned for 2018.

The season will start with a friendly battle of wits when HSM sponsors its first Trivia Challenge Saturday, May 5 at 7 p.m. at its hall, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville. Teams of two and four will compete for awards. Door prizes and libations will be offered. Register your team ($25 per person) at 845-586-4689.

The Second Annual Underground History weekend for metal detectors will be held June 2-3. This ‘relic hunt’ will happen at select sites throughout Middletown. To participate (there is a fee) contact mrmetaldetector@aol.com.

On Saturday, June 9, a free, illustrated talk, “Trees, Skis and the Triple Cs,” will discuss the lasting contributions made by the New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the Catskills. The talk, by Diane Galusha, begins at 10 a.m. at the HSM hall, and will be followed by a walk through a local CCC plantation.

The 6th Living History Cemetery Tour will be held at Halcottsville Cemetery Saturday, July 7. One of HSM’s most anticipated events, the tour introduces visitors to former community residents who share their stories of life, love and loss. Reserve a tour time at 845-586-4736.

Celebrated photographer Art Kane will be the subject of a free, illustrated talk, “Marking Time,” by his son, Jonathan Kane, on Saturday, July 21, at 7 p.m. Kane, who lived in Margaretville in the 1960s and ‘70s, was noted for his fashion, celebrity and editorial photographs and was considered among the most influential visual artists of the 20th century.

Autumn events include a Family History Afternoon Sept. 8, the Margaretville Cauliflower Festival Sept. 22, the Annual Meeting and Luncheon Oct. 20 and, on Nov. 3, an observance of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. “Middletown in the Great War” will feature a slide show with photos of many local veterans, and readings of soldier letters, by members of Open Eye Theater. This program will take place at Middletown American Legion Hall 216.

Rafting down the Delaware — audio history

Nov 16, 2017 | Tin Horn

Bill Horne’s presentation at the HSM Annual Meeting Oct. 23 gave us a chance to hear voices from the past, namely Mike Todd, legendary hunter and woodsman, and Orson Slack, a former raftsman on the Delaware. Horne’s book, The Improbable Community: Camp Woodland and the American Democratic Ideal, chronicles the relationship between the youngsters at the Phoenicia summer camp (1939-1962) and culture keepers like Todd and Slack.

Camp Woodland documents and recordings are preserved with the papers of Norman Studer, the camp’s founder and director, at The M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives at SUNY Albany. Give a listen to Studer’s 1944 interview of Orson Slack as he described the process and experience of poling rafts of logs and lumber from Arena to Trenton. He made the trip as a teenager, following his father, Richard Slack, who made more than 50 trips despite wearing a wooden leg, a souvenir of Civil War service.