Winter into Spring

Mar 27, 2011 | Tin Horn

As the new season struggles to overcome the old, it’s worth remembering that ‘twas ever thus. Evidence of this can be found in the diaries of James Thomson, a New Kingston farmer who kept track of his family’s activities from 1838 to 1903, a remarkable 65 years, with only a few lapses. The original diaries are in the New York State Historical Association archives in Cooperstown, but George Hendricks photocopied some of the transcribed diaries, and has shared them with HSM.

Here are some entries from late winter, 1839:

March 9, Saturday.
I drawed some wood. Father, Andrew and John (James’ brothers) have made some Sap troughs (in the days before wooden buckets were commonly made by coopers to catch sap from the maples, farmers would make collection troughs of poplar or ash.)

March 10. Sabbath.
It froze very hard last night and was very cold through the day.

March 12.
Was a fine warm day. We have been getting out flax and Andrew has made a sap neck yoke.

March 18.
Has been warm with some rain, we have split rails. We have been up to the sugar Camp with troughs. 

March 20.
Cloudy with sleet and rain. John and father have been cutting wood at the camp.

March 23.
Was a cool day, we built a arch (stone fireplace) for the sap boilers. The sap ran very fast in the afternoon.

March 25.
The ground was white with snow and it did not melt all day. We have been drawing wood with both teames.

March 26.
A fine day, but cool. We cleaned flax in the forenoon, and in the afternoon we tap(p)ed (maple trees)

March 27,
Clear and warm, we tap(p)ed the rest of the Camp and boiled considerabel of Sap.

 

March 28.
Very warm, I made some Sap troughs and tap(p)ed 16 more trees and built some wall.

March 29 I have been building wall. John has been boiling sap.

March 30
Clear and frosty

April,
the first Month of Spring

April 1
Monday was a very warm day. We have got 125 pails of Sap.

April 2.
We carried 54 pails of Sap in the morning.

April 4.
Very warm and clear. We got 30 pails of Sap. Father has been to the mill and Andrew and me have been drawing stones. 

April 5.
The snow is I believe all in view gone. I have put off my woolen shirt and my fingers are very sore with handling stones.

April 7.
Very warm in the morning, it rained a little and the wind changed to the north and became cold.

April 8.
Cold in the morning, but the sun shone pleasant. I have begun to plow.

Because it was difficult to store maple syrup, farm families boiled it past the syrup stage, into sugar. James does not mention how much maple sugar was made in 1839, but the following year, on March 4, he wrote “Very warm all day. They sugared off 33 pounds of sugar.”

Genealogy Lunch April 2

Mar 25, 2011 | news archive

HSM hosts second Genealogy Lunch

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, will host the second in a three-part series of Genealogy Lunches Saturday, April 2 at Fairview Public Library, 43 Walnut St., Margaretville.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. in the library’s Community Room (the former garage). Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch. Beverage and dessert will be provided. Donations to cover the cost of refreshments will be welcomed.

Jean Ackerley, Karen McMurray and Barbara Moses will team up for this genealogy workshop. They will share information about members of the Archibald, Mead and other families.

 

If you have information, photographs, documents or genealogical research sources to share with the gathering, please bring them!

The next Genealogy Lunch will be Saturday, April 16, when Bill and Ann Sanford and Gene Rosa will share information on Sanfords, Rosas, Vermilyeas, Longs, Misners, Todds and other families.

The entire 2011 HSM schedule of events can be viewed at www.mtownhistory.org, where information on the Society’s projects, and features on special topics, can also be found.

Friends of Cemeteries to meet March 19

Mar 10, 2011 | news archive

Friends of Middletown Cemeteries will hold its annual spring planning meeting Saturday, March 19 at 10 a.m. at Fairview Public Library’s Community Room, 43 Walnut St., Margaretville.

This informal group of cemetery lovers will discuss projects that might be accomplished over the coming year in the Town of Middletown and contiguous areas. They include completion of the Arkville Cemetery restoration, inventorying headstones at the Margaretville Annex Cemetery, creation of a cemetery driving tour, development of signage and other projects. There are volunteer jobs for every interest and ability!

Everyone is welcome to bring project ideas and information on cemeteries that need our attention.

Can’t come but want to help? Call 586-4973.

HSM hosts first Genealogy Lunch

Mar 3, 2011 | news archive

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, will host the first in a three-part series of Genealogy Lunches Saturday, March 5 at Fairview Public Library, 43 Walnut St., Margaretville. The event will begin at 11 a.m. in the library’s Community Room (the former garage). Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch. Beverage and dessert will be provided. Donations to cover the cost of refreshments will be welcomed. George Hendricks and Barbara Pellett will team up for this first genealogy workshop. They will share information about members of the Hendricks, Kittle, Platt, Hall, Smith and other families, some of which go back more than 200 years in this area. If you have information, photographs, documents or genealogical research sources to share with the gathering, please bring them! The next Genealogy Lunch will be Saturday, April 2, when Jean Ackerley, Karen McMurray and Barbara Moses will discuss Ackerleys, Meads and other families. On Saturday, April 16, Bill and Ann Sanford, and Gene Rosa, will share insights into their families. The entire 2011 HSM schedule of events can be viewed at www.mtownhistory.org, where information on the Society’s projects, and features on special topics, can also be found.

Historical Society Plans 2011 Activities

Feb 19, 2011 | news archive

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, with six successful years of programming and preservation projects under its belt, is making plans for its seventh season celebrating local history.

Members will receive a detailed calendar of events in March.

A three-part series exploring the histories of several families with long ties to Middletown and vicinity will begin in early March. These “Genealogy Lunches” will be held Saturdays, March 5, April 2 and April 16 in the Community Room of Fairview Public Library from 11 to 1. Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch, and a notebook to record information about Hendricks and Kittles, Meads and McMurrays, Sanfords, Rosas and many other names who may tie into their own family trees!

On Saturday, May 14, a pleasant hike of moderate difficulty will lead to a history talk at the summit of Balsam Lake Mountain (between Dry Brook and Millbrook in the Town of Hardenburgh). Laurie Rankin, whose dad, Larry Baker was a fire observer at the mountain’s fire tower, will explain the tower’s history as she and husband Tom welcome hikers into the tower’s cab on the 3,723-foot mountain.

 “Eye on Arkville” on Thursday, July 28 will feature a slide show of historic images of the community that long rivaled Margaretville as the commercial center of Middletown. Postcard collector Lynda Stratton, and local historian Bud Barnes will share their images and knowledge in this evening program at the Arkville Fire Hall.

Autumn programs will include a photo exhibition of remaining Middletown barns and a demonstration by timber framer Wayne Ford at the Cauliflower Festival Sept. 24; a tour of several barns on October 2, and a then-and-now photographic exhibit titled “Time and Time Again” by Michael Musante, who will show and discuss the project at the HSM annual meeting October 23 at the Halcottsville Grange Hall.

Meanwhile, Friends of Middletown Cemeteries will meet Saturday, Mar. 19 at 10 a.m. at Fairview Library to discuss 2011projects, which will include completing the restoration of the Arkville Cemetery. All are welcome to bring project ideas to the meeting, and to participate in headstone inventories, signage initiatives, repair projects and a cemetery driving tour to be developed this year.