Melodrama, Pie Social August 20

Aug 14, 2016 | news archive

Some old fashioned entertainment will be offered by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown Saturday, Aug. 20 when a troupe of local players presents “Middletown! A Melodrama” at 1 p.m. at the HSM Hall, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

The short play, with music, will be followed by a pie social. Admission of $5 includes a generous slice of home-made pie (HSM bakers will make all kinds!), along with coffee, tea or cold beverage.

“Middletown!” is an original comic and campy play, the kind that used to be screened in silent movie houses and vaudeville stages. Written and directed by Marjorie Miller. it features Pat Gonzalez as maiden Daisy Fairbaby; Michael Fairbairn as Rex Hendrickson, pure-hearted farmer; Agnes Laub as Luce Bustle, a dancer at McMurray’s Tavern; Dave Riordan as Snidely Jeepers, villainous landlord, and John Bernhardt as Rev. Doright Huggable, local pastor.

Music will be provided by Monica Liddle.

John B. Hinkley of Halcottsville

John B. Hinkley of Halcottsville

Jul 10, 2016 | Tin Horn

This broadside for the auction of John B. Hin(c)kley’s dairy herd and equipment is in the Roxbury historian’s collection. It paints a good picture of what the average farm contained in 1917, and what the average farmer considered important. Top of the list was Mr. Hinkley’s “entire dairy of forty cows, all in good condition, young and A No. 1 dairy.” And his team of horses, weighing about 2,500 pounds, in their prime at eight years old, “true in all harness, good workers in any place.”

Up for auction were a rubber tired wagon, a lumber wagon, sulky plow, big pot ash kettle and more. Attendees were even treated to a free lunch!

John Burton Hinkley was 61 when he retired from farming on the back river road in Halcottsville. His wife Emily (Keator) had died just two years before. They had six children (Everett, Ella, Edward, Mae, Archie and Vertie). Archie was only 32 when he was killed in a blasting accident while dynamiting stumps with neighbor Arthur Miller in 1923. He left his young wife Elsie (Sanford) and two little girls, Hazel (Mead), 8, and Doris (Stahl), 5. Elsie was pregnant and delivered their third daughter, Emily (Schuman) a month after Archie’s death.

John B. Hinkley (who later married Prudence O’Connor and lived in Bragg Hollow) was one of eight children born to Edward (1830-1911) and Sarah Caroline Pulling Hinkley (1831-1894), a couple that saw more than their share of sorrow. Twins Ephraim and Abram, born Sept. 25, 1859, died within a week of each other the following February. Elmer, born in 1862, died at 14 months of age. Mary, born in 1865, was just nine when she passed away in 1875. And five years later, Everett died at age 12. Grant lived long enough to marry Ida Carroll, but was only 38 when he died in 1900.

John B. and his brother (Winfield) Scott Hinkley who lived in Meeker Hollow with wife Mary Cantwell, were the only siblings to live to old age. They died within weeks of each other in 1943. John was 87 and Scott was 72.

Headwaters History Days June 3-5

Headwaters History Days June 3-5

Jun 5, 2016 | news archive

Headwaters History Days 2016 features programs, exhibits, concerts, open houses, tours and workshops from Olive to Andes along the newly designated Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway (NYS Route 28).

Fifteen historic sites and organizations will celebrate the history, culture, folklife and landscape of the Central Catskills in this Signature Byway Event of the Town of Middletown. For a map, schedule and description of all activities, as well as a trio of short videos from last year’s event, visit www.headwatershistorydays.org.

This is the third annual Headwaters History Days. New venues this year will host concerts featuring original and traditional music: Halcott Grange and Town Hall will ring with the music of the John Burroughs Memorial Locust and Wild Honey Orchestra at 7 p.m. Friday; while Country Express will close out the weekend on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the newly refurbished Andes Train Depot with a history-themed program, “Looking for the Past.” A walk on the adjacent Andes Rail Trail will precede that concert at 12:30.

Railroad buffs will also be pleased to note that two former depot museums — in Roxbury and Phoenicia – will be open both days with exhibits on the Ulster & Delaware Railroad. There will also be a talk by Dakin Morehouse of the Empire State Railway Museum in Phoenicia about train service in John Burroughs’ day at Woodchuck Lodge in Roxbury Saturday at 1, and a film, “Railroad Man,” on the life of Roxbury native Jay Gould at the Roxbury Methodist Church at 2:30 p.m. that day.

A genealogy workshop for beginners will be offered at Fairview Public Library, Margaretville Friday at 3 p.m.

The Olive Free Library on Route 28A not far from Boiceville will host an illustrated presentation by Gina Giuliano on “The Diaries of Elwyn Davis” at 2 p.m. Saturday. John Duda will deliver a talk on the Fleischmanns family Saturday at 4 at Skene Memorial Library, Fleischmanns. A third talk, at 7 p.m. Saturday, will cover a century of Margaretville Telephone Company history. That talk will be given at the Historical Society of Middletown in Margaretville.

 Hubbell Homestead Farm in Kelly Corners will offer farm tours and sawmill demonstrations Saturday afternoon. There will be a walking tour of the hamlet of Roxbury Saturday at 10 (meet at Gould Church). Tours of the Roxbury Methodist Church clock tower will also be offered that day from 10 to 2. The beautiful and historic Jay Gould Memorial Reformed Church will be open as well.

A history of area telephone developments will be offered at HSM June 4 at 7 p.m.

 Visitors will be welcome Saturday at the Stone School in Dunraven, the Hunting Tavern in Andes, and the Greater Fleischmanns Museum of Memories; and both Saturday and Sunday at the Shandaken Museum in Pine Hill and at John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge in Roxbury.

The Pakatakan Farmers Market will welcome visitors to the iconic Kelly Brothers Round Barn in Kelly Corners on Saturday.

For more information, contact Doris Warner at 845-586-2484.

A century of Margaretville Telephone recounted June 4

A century of Margaretville Telephone recounted June 4

May 28, 2016 | news archive

An illustrated talk, “Can you hear me now? Margaretville Telephone Company at 100,” will be presented Saturday, June 4 at 7 p.m. at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville.

The free program, a collaboration between HSM and MTC, celebrates the centennial of the family-owned company. Vintage equipment and memorabilia will be on display and the hall will open at 6 p.m. for those who’d like to come early and have a look. Former employees and others with stories or photographs to share will be warmly welcomed. 

John Birdsall started the Margaretville Telephone Exchange in 1916

The program, by Diane Galusha, Kendra Grocholl and long-time company manager Doug Hinkley, will offer a colorful look at the sweep of communications technology as it played out locally, from hand cranked calls made on 10-party ‘farmer lines’ to cable, fiber optic and broadband services provided to some 6500 customers now. General Manager Glen Faulkner will provide a snapshot of the company’s varied communications interests today.

The presentation uses photos and information from family members, MTC retirees, and the company archives. It will profile the people behind MTC, which began in 1916 when John Birdsall, a New Kingston farmer, purchased 16 telephone lines from the New York Telephone Company to establish the Margaretville Telephone Exchange.

John and wife Lillian first set up shop in a second floor office on Main Street, then moved to a house on Swart Street where they installed a switchboard to allow customers to call outside their local lines. In 1920, they acquired the tiny Andes Telephone Company and maintained a separate switchboard there until 1948.

Rhoda Peet at the MTC switchboard

In 1933, the company passed to the Birdsalls’ son Sheldon and his wife Madeline (Madge), and in 1963 to Shel and Madge’s daughter Dawn Roadman and her husband Keene. The Roadmans’ children, Larry and Karen, continue as Directors of MTC, which is one of 23 independent, family-owned telephone companies in New York State. 

The talk will show how MTC persisted and expanded through wars, storms, recessions and the claiming of the East Branch Valley for the Pepacton Reservoir. Hear how operators slept on a cot next to the switchboard to provide night service; how linemen have been tested by the worst weather Mother Nature can dish out, and how repair crews learned to expect the unexpected, like snakes in the coin box.

This presentation is part of Headwaters History Days, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway Signature Event of the Town of Middletown For more information, visit www.headwatershistorydays.org.

Gilbert Story and Bill Blish, MTC retirees, look at a 1942 telephone book

5th Annual Cemetery Tour coming up

May 14, 2016 | news archive

Eight men and women, whose lives were woven into the tapestry of local lore, will return to tell their stories at the Fifth Annual Living History Cemetery Tour Saturday, June 18 at the Halcott Cemetery, Bouton Road, Halcott.

The popular event combines history, theater and family stories. It is sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM). The tour is part of Path Through History Weekend which shines a light on local heritage throughout New York State.

Rain date is June 19. Admission is $15, by reservation only. Well behaved children under 15 are free. Costumed docents will conduct seven tours leaving every 20 minutes starting at 4 p.m. Reserve a tour time by calling 845-586-4736.

Groups will be guided through the cemetery to meet interesting folks from the past, portrayed by local residents. Featured this year:

  • Farmer, entrepreneur and long-time Halcott Town Clerk Marshall Bouton, portrayed by Michael Fairbairn
  • William and Sarah Johnson, farmers and ancestors of many Johnsons in the area today, played by John Bernhardt and Agnes Laub;
  • John Peter VanValkenburgh, first pastor of the Halcott Methodist Church, played by Kent Brown
  • Warren Scudder, a Roxbury Anti-Rent War leader who spent his last years in Halcott, played by Erwin Karl
  • Ellen Bellows, who witnessed her mother’s fiery death as a child, played by Sidney Asher
  • Mary Bloomburgh Griffin, whose son and husband died in the Civil War, portrayed by Peg DiBenedetto
  • Marion Moseman, a young patriot who enlisted for service in World War I but became a victim of the flu pandemic at training camp, portrayed by Cedric Taylor.
Seven writers used background information provided by researchers to develop scripts for each presentation. Directors are Joyce St. George and Frank Canavan. Amy Taylor, Adina Johnson, Harriet Grossman and Anne Hersh will be tour guides. The tour will be professionally filmed by Kevin Spelman (ModMedia). 2016 tour goers will have an opportunity to purchase a video of last year’s tour which was held at New Kingston Valley Cemetery.