CMNews, cemetery listing add to historic resources

Aug 10, 2012 | news archive

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) is happy to announce that a new database of headstone inscriptions from the Margaretville Village Cemetery, and five more years of vintage Catskill Mountain News have been posted online.

Web users can find the cemetery listing and associated map at the Delaware County Genealogy and History website, www.dcnyhistory.org/MvilleCemIndex.html.

For the first time, web users can find more than 2,000 names arranged alphabetically. Entries include birth and date dates as recorded on the headstone, along with military service information, epitaphs and inscriptions about family members.

Some entries include clarifications or additional information gleaned from other sources if there were questions or discrepancies uncovered in the inventory process.

The field work was conducted by Friends of Middletown Cemeteries. The database was assembled by Trish Adams. It can be searched by name or subject, or browsed chronologically.

Researchers can now also search and browse the Margaretville-based Catskill Mountain News from July 13, 1902 to June 29, 1967. HSM is steadily working to have the News digitized through 1973. This ongoing project is made possible by several individual donors and the O’Connor Foundation. Visit http://history.catskill.net to find this treasure trove of history.

The newly added issues take readers back to a time when dial telephone service began (April 26, 1962), the Arkville School closed (August 16, 1962), Halcottsville Pond was eyed for a town park (Feb. 21, 1963), and, in the some-things-never-change department, a community pool was proposed for the Arkville flats (July 22, 1965).

There were many openings — the new lodge at Belleayre Ski Center ( March 1, 1962), the BOCES center at the former Rexmere Hotel in Stamford (Jan. 13, 1966), the A&P store on Bridge Street, Margaretville (Jan. 12, 1967), and Roxbury Run Village (late 1965).

The August 15, 1963 issue contains a special history section for the Bicentennial observance of Middletown’s settlement, and the Nov. 28, 1963 issue describes local reaction to President Kennedy’s assassination.

Vendors sought for Cauliflower Festival

Aug 10, 2012 | news archive

The Ninth Annual Margaretville Cauliflower Festival will be held rain or shine Saturday, Sept. 29 from 10 to 4 in the Village Park, Margaretville.

Space is still available for vendors, community organizations and artisans. Visit www.cauliflowerfestival.com to find forms, or call 845-586-3300 for information. Artists who prefer to be in the large tent must reserve their space with payment by August 25.

This free festival, sponsored by the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, was canceled in 2011 as Margaretville was still reeling from the heavy blow dealt by Hurricane Irene. The 2012 festival will not only celebrate local foods and the region’s agricultural heritage, but also the resilience of this community and the Catskill Mountain spirit.

Bushels of cauliflower and other locally produced items will be for sale. Festival fare will range from cauliflower soup to pulled pork. Highlighting the entertainment offerings this year will be the popular Catskill Mountain Boys, and the Blue Ribbon Cloggers.

A variety of children’s activities will be offered. A Tractor Parade, showing off vintage and modern day tractors, will roll around festival grounds at 11:30. And Catskill Outback Adventures will have the zipline ready for a quick trip across the East Branch of the Delaware.

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown will host “Barn Yesterday,” an exhibit of photographs and brief histories of some of the remaining barns in town. The exhibit will be displayed in the History Tent, which will also feature photos, artifacts and memorabilia from the heyday of the cauliflower industry in the Catskills.

Craftsman Wayne Ford of Denver will demonstrate the art of timber framing, a specialized version of post and beam construction that uses mortise and tenon joinery, held in place with wooden pegs. There will also be speakers on farm and garden topics.

Many fine artisans, a variety of vendors, and several area environmental and civic organizations, will fill the Village Park for the festival, which is supported by Coldwell/Banker Timberland Properties; MTC; Directive, Inc., and HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley.

Margaretville Cemetery desecrated, reward offered

Margaretville Cemetery desecrated, reward offered

Aug 8, 2012 | Tin Horn

The restoration of the Arkville Cemetery resumed August 2 when two Hubbell Inc. crew members, John Ferraro (in cab) and Scott Gray (standing), along with Joe McKeon (left), and Brian Wheaton (on ground) righted seven large monuments and cemented them to their bases. The project, coordinated by the Friends of Middletown Cemetery, is funded by a member item from Assemblyman Clifford Crouch.

Additional work days will be scheduled. If you would like to help, call Brian, 586-2294.

Headstones of the Hull family – Jeremiah (d. 1878), Achsa (d. 1893) and Elijah (d. 1915) – are once again upright following recent restoration work at the Arkville Cemetery.

The three-piece monument to Jacob Lockwood, who died in 1880, age 64, was a challenge to put back together, but is now standing tall.

ARKVILLE CEMETERY PHOTO GALLERY
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A challenging one . . .

Margaretville Cemetery desecrated, reward offered

Margaretville Cemetery desecrated, reward offered

Aug 7, 2012 | Tin Horn

Vandals struck the Margaretville Village Cemetery August 6, and toppled a dozen headstones in the oldest part of the cemetery, on the hill beneath the pines. The 3 gates were locked, but whoever did this actually cut through the chain on the upper gate to get in. The State Police are investigating. If you hear anything that could be useful in finding the person(s) responsible and making them pay for the repairs, please contact the Village Office, 586-4418.

The Village is offering a reward for information leading to an arrest. Call the Village office, or Mayor Bill Stanton, 586-4375.

Coming on the heels of our wonderful Living History Tour, and completion of the online headstone inventory of this cemetery, this outrageous disrespect is especially discouraging. It is a reminder — stay vigilant of your local burial ground!

MARGARETVILLE CEMETERY PHOTO GALLERY
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Fairbairns and Millers set to reunite

Jul 22, 2012 | Tin Horn

To renew bonds of kinship and affection and to share our stories, the descendants of John and Elizabeth Miller Fairbairn will gather on Saturday, October 13th, at 12PM at the Margaretville -New Kingston Presbyterian Church on Mountain Avenue and Orchard Street in Margaretville. Bring a dish to pass for a crowd. For more information or directions please contact Shirley Davis at (845) 586-4618.

In the year 1837, the Francis Miller family left Hawick in Roxburghshire, Scotland and sailed from Liverpool landing in NYC and settling on Coulter Brook, Bovina, Delaware County. Francis Miller hailed from Bewcastle, Cumberland, on the English side of the Borders, his wife Mary Kerr from Castleton, Roxburgh, on the Scottish side. They began their life together in Castleton and later moved to Hawick. In that party were Francis and Mary, their children, Elisabeth (1818), Gideon (1823), Walter (1825), Agnes (1829), and John (1837), and their eldest, Isabella (1816) with her husband, James Oliver. They practiced farming and blacksmithing among the many families from the Scottish Borders living in Delaware County.

Three years later, John Fairbairn (born 200 years ago, in 1812 in Morebattle, Roxburgh) sailed from Liverpool and found his way to Bovina, where he and Elizabeth Miller were married in 1841. The Miller family spread out to New Kingston, Andes, Delhi, and Campbell Mountain in Colchester. After several years on Coulter Brook, where Walter and Francis Miller Fairbairn were born, the Fairbairns again set sail by family tradition heading for Texas. The family Bible and census records confirm that their next son, Jarvis B. was born on the Atlantic Ocean in 1846 – the Bible has them living in New Kingston at the time of the birth of their next son James E. in1849. The 1850 Census records them in the Dry Brook Valley, Town of Shandaken, Ulster County, which would later become the Town of Hardenburgh. Here their sons, Nelson, George, John Francis, and William would be born.

During the Civil War, John Fairbairn and his eldest son Walter enlisted in the Union Army. John enlisted at Kingston, was mustered at Elmira and there contracted typhoid fever losing an eye. The army doctors then determined that at age 52 he had lied about his age when enlisting and discharged him as too old to serve. He later fought for a pension based upon his disability.

In the 1880 Census, John and Elizabeth Fairbairn are living in Hardenburgh, Ulster County, with their sons, Jarvis, George, William, and James E. with his wife, Mary Alton, and their first 3 children. This homestead would later be bought by George Jay Gould and is incorporated into the Gould home now known as Flyvaal on the Furlow estate.

Niles Fairbairn was famed as a naturalist and his ability to work with wild creatures. Walt Disney employed him and his pet otters to make the film, “Flash, A Teenage Otter” in which Niles also appeared.