Genealogy Roundtables

Mar 1, 2012 | Tin Horn

Mark your calendar for two Genealogy Roundtables happening Saturdays, March 24 and April 14 from 10 a.m. to Noon at Fairview Library Community Room, Walnut St., Margaretville. Sally Elliott Scrimshaw will talk about Elliott, Squires, Long and related families on March 24, and on April 14, Ed Stewart will present on Fairbairn, Todd and related families.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about early local residents, their origins and offspring, the web of families to which they are connected and their influence on farm and community life. Ed and Sally will bring photos, family memorabilia and stories of memorable characters that populate their family trees. Share information on your own genealogical search, learn about new sources and just enjoy a few hours among fellow family sleuths! The roundtables are free, but donation towards the room rental are welcome.

The Irish of Clovesville

Feb 11, 2012 | Tin Horn

There is a small burial ground in Clovesville that harbors a forgotten immigrant history of our area. Known locally as the “Irish” or “Catholic” cemetery, it is located across Old Route 28 from the larger Clovesville Cemetery. Whether those interred wound up there by choice, or because they were denied admittance to the Protestant burial ground is not clear.

Roger Davis took the following headstone inventory of the Irish Cemetery in August of 2001. The cemetery was in bad shape then, and is even worse now, with the steep bank below it cut away by flood and excavator, leaving some of the graves in a precarious situation.

Headstone, 3 children who died within one month in 1877

The annotations in parentheses after each headstone inscription were prepared by Ed Stewart in 2009 in an attempt to provide a little more information about these folks. Says Ed, “I suspect there may be many more people buried in this cemetery than we realize given the significant number of Irish around in the 1840-1880 censuses, and the high mortality rates of those years particularly among the tanneries and the quarries.”

Many Irish immigrant men are known to have worked at the Clark Tannery in Dunraven around 1850, for example, and it can be assumed that the J. D. Elmore tannery, shown on the 1869 Beers Atlas map of Dunraven, employed Irish as well. The coming of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad in 1870 no doubt attracted a later tide of Irish laborers.

Interestingly, the Beers Atlas does not show either of the cemeteries that existed in Clovesville in 1869.

If you have any information about or are descended from these nearly forgotten people, or if you would like to help repair this cemetery, please email us at history@catskill.net.

John M. (Mc) Mullen, d. Sept. 18, 1877 aged 61 yrs. (Listed in the 1870 Census as John McMullen residing Town of Middletown with Bridget his wife. Listed in the 1850 Census as born in Ireland 1818 – probable son of Catherine)

Rachel Kelly, wife of John O. Kelly, b. March 6, 1820 d, Jan. 3, 1864 (Listed in the 1850 census Town of Shandaken as a 26 year old female born in Ireland along with John Kelly, 29 b. Ireland; William, 6, Thomas, 4, Edward, 1, Gerald Grace Kelly, 2, children all born NY)

Edward Kelly d. Oct. 6, 1894 (listed in 1850 census of the Town of Middletown as a farmer born in Ireland age 32 – also in household Thomas 30, Margaret 57, Mary 20, Sarah 14, George 17, and Anna Maria 13 with George being the first listed as born in NY))

William Kelly d. Sept. 18, 1847 aged 63y – 3m – 17d

Margaret Byrne, his wife, d. Sept. 29, 1857 aged 65y – 4m – 8d (in the 1850 census listed with Edward Kelly as a 57 year old female born in Ireland)

Rachel Barker, wife of John Kelly, d. July 8, 1847 aged 95y – 4m – 13d

John Dwyer, d. Nov. 5, 1865 aged 17 years (Listed with parents, James and Mary, both born Ireland, in 1860 census Town of Middletown, aged 13, b NY)

Mary, wife of Hugh Riley, d. Feb. 26, 18(65) aged 80y – 8m – 1d (Listed 1850 census Town of Shandaken, female born Ireland, aged 65, with Thomas, aged 24, laborer born Ireland)

Maggie d. Oct. 14, 1877 aged 10y – 14d, John d. Nov. 1, 1877 aged 5y – 1m, Burnie d. Oct. 22, 1877 aged 6y – 9m – 23d, Children of John and Bridgett McGuire (John possibly listed 1850 census, Town of Shandaken, as male born Ireland 1822)

Julia, wife of John White, d. April 14, 1846 in her 27th year

Julia, daughter of John and Julia White, d. Oct. 22, 1845 aged 4y – 4m – 2d

Alexander McMullen, d. Nov. 29, 1844 (Connected to the family of Catherine McMullen, see below, listed 1840 census, Town of Middletown, Delaware County)

John McMullen, Native of Ireland, d. May 7, 18(38) aged 51yrs

Catherine McMullen, Native of Ireland, d. Feb. 2, 1869 aged 95yrs (Listed 1850 census Town of Middletown, female aged 72 born in Ireland with John McMullen, farmer aged 32 b. Ireland, Sally McMullen, aged 25, b. NY; and Bridget McMullen, aged 34 b. Ireland)

Augustine Quinn, d. March 18, 1872 aged 20y – 11m – 2d (Possibly listed 1860 census Town of Colchester, male, age 9, with Timothy, 45, b. Ireland, and Mary A., aged 18, housekeeper b. NY) 

Michael McCormick, d. Feb. 12, 1873 aged 50 yrs (Listed in the 1850 and 1860 census town of Middletown as a 32 year old farmer born in Ireland along with Mary 32 b. Ireland, Catherine 12, William 10, Nicholas 8, Mary 5, Michael 3, Bridget 6/12, children all born NY)

Thomas Dwyer, Native of Roscommon County, Ireland, d. June 25, 1868 aged 34 yrs (Listed 1850 Census, Town of Shandaken, 18 year old, b. Ireland, listed with John Dwyer, Catherine Dwyer, Michael Dwyer, and Dennis Dwyer, all born in Ireland. Prior family listed is that of John Dwyer, 35, b. Ireland, Margaret Dwyer, 28, b. Ireland, Mary Dwyer, 7, b. Ireland, John Dwyer, 3, b. NY, and Michael Dwyer, 1 b. NY)

John Dwyer, d. June 10, 1886 aged 71y – 6m – 16d

Mary, wife of John Dewair (Dwyer) d. Sept. 6, (1859) aged 37yr – 6m

Michael Macan, d. July 12, 1859 (Listed in 1850 census Town of Shandaken (present Hardenburgh) as a farmer age 55, b. Ireland, along with Jane, 60, b. NY, Edward, a farmer, 23, b. NY, Abraham, a farmer, 21, b. NY) (On prior page is Peter McCan, 27, b. NY; Sarah, 39, b. NY; Mary, 2, b. NY; Patrick, 1, b. NY)

Jane, wife of Michael Macan, d. March 7, 1855 in her 68th year

Buried, and uncovered, by Dry Brook

Buried, and uncovered, by Dry Brook

Jan 16, 2012 | Tin Horn

The waters were cruel in our region late last summer. They claimed buildings, land and one precious life, and left a legacy of ruin that will take months, even years, to repair. But the flood also uncovered a bit of the past in a section of Dry Brook on the property of Gene Rosa.

Submerged water wheel that once ran a Dry Brook sawmillChiseled hole in old streambed for post of sawmill

The rusty remnant of an old water wheel bears mute testimony to the many mills that once thrived along Dry Brook, as well as to the power of the tempestuous creek that regularly destroyed them. Lester Rosa remembers hearing about this one. It powered a sawmill on his grandfather William Vermilyea’s farm (on the sharp curve 3.5 miles up Dry Brook Road from Arkville), where there was also a blacksmith shop and forge on the flat. Lester, who dug up artifacts from the blacksmith shop while gardening on the site over the years, speculates that the water wheel may have been made at that forge.

Water wheel jutting out of pool in foreground; former streambed to right

Lester’s paternal grandfather, Andrew Rosa, who died in 1915, was a sawyer who worked at this and other mills. It’s not clear whether it was abandoned before or after being washed off its moorings by some flood in the past.

It was one of no less than five sawmills that are depicted on the Beers map of 1869 on the Middletown end of Dry Brook – no doubt many more took advantage of the water power further up the stream in the Town of Hardenburgh. In 1869, this site belonged to Orson Allaben, a physician who helped develop Margaretville, served in the NYS Assembly and started a school. He also apparently dabbled in small industry. An article in the Nov. 26, 1948 Catskill Mountain News about the history of Arena (Lumberville) said this: “As in the case of (Asa) Grant, many of the wealthy men owned sawmills in connection with their other interests. One of them was Dr. Allaben of Margaretville, who owned several such mills in the various hollows of the section.”

Lester Rosa said deeds to his grandfather’s farm referred to it as the “Allaben Logging Reserve.”

Can you add information to this story? Write to us!

Chiseled hole in streambed for post of mill building

What’s going on here?

What’s going on here?

Jan 4, 2012 | Tin Horn

Mystery photo, What’s happening here?

The image above is one of 21 glass plate negatives found above Miller’s Drug Store in Margaretville years ago and donated to the Historical Society of Middletown by Al and Naomi Weiss. Several of the negatives were scanned and restored by Ed Kirstein of Roxbury. They were printed and framed by the Historical Society in 2007, and can currently be seen at Fairview Library’s conference room where the Historical Society will mount rotating historical displays.

What do you think is happening in this photo? What covered bridge is that in the background?

“Coming out of the ball smiling,” — is this the same event?

Is this postcard image, provided by Lynda Stratton, the same event? Is the clothing of the same era? Perhaps a daredevil sailed down the river in a flexible ball of some sort? Maybe the retaining wall at right (upon which the photographer must have been perched) offers a clue as to the location.

Ethel Bussy remembers the Flood of ’50

Ethel Bussy remembers the Flood of ’50

Nov 20, 2011 | Tin Horn

Mystery photo, What’s happening here?

Floods have always been a part of the history of Margaretville.

A devastating flash flood, called “the rain makers flood,” supposedly caused by chemical seeding of the clouds over this area to make rain after an extended period of dry weather, was one of the worst in the history of this area. It occurred on November 21, 1950. There was great damage not only in Margaretville but in Arkville, (Fleischmanns) and throughout this section. The damage done to roads alone were estimated by Middletown officials to run over $1,000,000. The loss to our village was fixed at $500,000. In some places on Main Street there was as much as six feet of water. People were rescued from their homes by boats.

Leyden Smith’s gas station, Bridge Street, nearly ruined in 1950, was destroyed in the 1996 flood. Photo by Bob Wyer, courtesy DCHA

The newly built Delaware Valley Oil Co. and service station of “Denny’s” on Bridge Street, owned by Leyden Smith, was badly damaged, the extent estimated to be $34,000.

An area field director for the American Red Cross was sent to this village to help plan the rehabilitation of families who lost possessions in the flood. The Methodist Church remained opened all night to feed volunteers and house approximately thirty people who were forced to flee their homes.

From History and Stories of Margaretville and Surrounding Area, by Ethel Bussy, 1960

Listening at Thanksgiving

Nov 20, 2011 | Tin Horn

The 4th Annual National Day of Listening, promoted by Storycorps, is Friday, Nov. 25. Ignore the hordes of holiday shoppers and offer the best gift of all to someone you care about – the gift of your time and attention. Use a digital or old-fashioned cassette recorder, your telephone, or a pen and paper to record the stories of an elder family member or a friend. Asking a few questions or offering open-ended statements can get the ball rolling. Here are some ideas (stolen from the current issue of the AARP newsletter!)

  • I remember my parents (grandparents) as being ___
  • I wanted to grow up to be a ___
  • My favorite activity at school was ___
  • My first job was ___
  • My most memorable meal was ___
  • My proudest moment was ___
  • I am happiest when ___
  • The most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do was ___

Well, you get the picture — siblings, chance encounters, accidents, favorite books or music, claims to fame – the sky’s the limit. Have fun! For inspiration, visit www.storycorps.org.