The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown is searching for photographs, historical information and personal stories to add to its archives and to use in upcoming programs and exhibits.

Of particular interest this year are materials and memories pertaining to one-room schools in Middletown and vicinity; personal stories and artifacts related to the Grange; and images and accounts from local men and women who experienced the Sixties, and in particular 1969.

HSM would like to hear from elders who attended one- or two-room schools in this area through the 1940s. This is part of a year-long research project to document schoolhouse sites (there were as many as 26 school districts in Middletown in the mid-1800s) and to collect photographs, school records and school souvenirs. Interviews with long-ago students can be set up at their convenience. Call Barbara Moses, 586-3630.

A pair of Saturday workshops April 6 and 13 will teach participants how to search for their ancestors, and then how to write about what they’ve found.

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown will sponsor these workshops, to be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at Fairview Public Library, 43 Walnut St., Margaretville, NY. There is a $5 fee for each workshop. Participants may attend either or both sessions. Please register at history@catskill.net or 845-586-4973.

On April 6, genealogist and library director Doris Warner will teach “Genealogy for Beginners.” This workshop for novice family researchers will help answer the question “Where do I start?” Doris will cover basic and sometimes overlooked sources for vital statistics, residency, and personal information, and will offer tips on organizing data and linking with other researchers following similar trails.

“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 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.