Arena, uncovered
ARENA, UNCOVERED PHOTO GALLERY
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ARENA, UNCOVERED PHOTO GALLERY
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Active history can be enjoyed at a hike on Sunday, Aug. 26 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Balsam Lake Mountain in the Catskills as the site of the first fire tower in New York State. Hikers may gather at the Millbrook Road trailhead at 8:30am and tramp to the summit with several authors of related books. Authors, who will be available at the tower from 10am until 1pm, include Marty Podskoch (Fire Towers of the Catskills), Dave and Carol White (Catskill Day Hikes), and Diane Galusha (Another Day, Another Dollar: The Civilian Conservation Corps in the Catskills.) FMI: Laurie Rankin, laurierankin@hvc.rr.com.
No time for a hike? The authors will also be available to sell and sign their books from 3 until 5pm that day at the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Arkville.
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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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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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.
On Saturday, August 4 the Historical Society will have a table at the Margaretville Hospital Auxiliary Flea Market and Antique Show in Margaretville Village Park.
Do you have old stuff (in good condition, and not really big) that you would consider donating to HSM for this fundraiser? We can arrange pickup. We also need volunteers to help staff the table. We’re looking for a few people to spend an hour or two between 9:30 and 1.
If you can help by contributing an item or time, please call 845-586-4973, or reply to this email. Many thanks!