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Down the Decades
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Leader, strike up the band!: The history of music in the county’s early days is phenomenal, with numerous local marching bands leading the way. Most of us are well-acquainted with the Callicoon Center Band, which has continued its history for many years in that hamlet. Jeffersonville, Liberty and Youngsville bands, too, have been featured on these pages. This group may be a version of the Youngsville band, because Philip Jacobs of Youngsville appears to be the fourth man from the left in the lineup. The photo is by E.L. Graeff, a noted photographer of Liberty, which casts some uncertainty on the band’s affiliation. According to his obituary, Phil Jacobs “was the leader of the first band in Liberty, and was later prominent in musical activities in Youngsville.” Jacobs was married to Clara Inderlied of Youngsville in 1874, and they conducted the Maple Cottage boarding house in that hamlet. Our thanks to Brian LaBarr, a descendant of the Jacobs family, who contributed this photo.
May 3, 2022 Edition
110 years ago - 1912 Adam Metzger, one of the oldest and best known residents of Callicoon, passed away at his home on Sunday evening, the result of old age. He was 82 years of age. Born in … more
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Jeff Bantams were a force: The Jeffersonville Bantams basketball team played at the Eagle Hotel’s hall (circa 1916) against such teams as the Youngsville Eagles, Roscoe’s Criterion Five, Liberty’s Emeralds, and the Lyceum Five of Monticello. The team featured Allington and Knell, forwards, Lieb, Lixfield and Brand, guards, and Bollenbach, center. Henry “Heiner” Bollenbach is standing, extreme right. Alan Lieb is seated, lower right. It is likely that when the Eagle Hotel was destroyed in the Jeffersonville fire of 1918, the team lost its hall; little information could be found about the team after that. If you know the names of the others pictured above, please email obits@sc-democrat.com or call (845) 887-5200.
April 26, 2022 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1912 The Jeffersonville Motor Car Co. started Thursday running a car to Liberty to meet the train leaving for New York at 10:14 a.m., and the train arriving at 12:29.May 1, the … more
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Demise of the Elmont: The Elmont Hotel, also known as the Piney Woods, was located on Carrier Street near Barton Road in Liberty. In this week’s column, we learn how the Elmont met its fate with flame in 1932. People have lamented the fact that few hotels of the past remain for the curious to view in person. Many of these immense buildings were built completely of wood, and built in a way that made them more vulnerable to fire, which is unfortunately the way that some of these structures departed. Those who have an interest in early hotels can find information in the archives of the Sullivan County Historical Society in Hurleyville. Call ahead to make an appointment at (845) 434-8044 or email info@scnyhistory.org
April 19, 2022 Edition
110 years ago - 1912 Buildings were demolished, railroad cars blown from the rails, trees uprooted and many persons injured by a tornado which devastated South Fallsburg at 4 o’clock a week … more
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Happy Easter: The bell shape of the lily of the valley and its sweet fragrance are often associated with the Easter holiday, but did you know that the plant is a member of the asparagus family? Wishing all who celebrate a Happy Easter!
April 12, 2022 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1912 Arthur Hust and bride of North Branch have returned home after a two-week honeymoon in the metropolis. Saturday morning while several men were walking through Manny’s … more
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Halcyon House on the edge: Newspaper accounts point to the Halcyon hotel as being in Stevensville, but the truth is a little more nuanced. According to the archives of the Sullivan County Historical Society in Hurleyville, the summer hotel was said to be the project of Miss Mary Keogh, who was born at Ferndale in 1854. Her obituary says that Keogh built the hotel in 1899 on the property in Liberty where her parents raised her (and presumably also her nine siblings). She focused her efforts on its success for at least 18 years, making it a popular establishment. The Halcyon was sold in 1917, so that Keogh could care for her two nephews, and not much more is known of the place. Anyone interested in researching local hotels can make an appointment to use the Sullivan County Museum archives by calling (845) 434-8044. This postcard depicts the Halcyon as being located below the Walnut Mountain House in Liberty, from the Stevensville/Swan Lake point of view.
April 5, 2022 Edition
110 years ago — 1912 Charles Doosenbach, the new baker in Callicoon, will open up his bakery on next Saturday. Married, March 20 — Edward Knack to Miss Nellie Tremper, both of White … more
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Stevensville sports endures: From bowling to basketball, to track and powerlifting, sports are mentioned often in this week’s Decades. Stevensville of yore may have changed in name, but have its favorite sports of hunting and fishing changed? That might depend on who you talk to. Anglers in particular have favorite fishing “spots” where they’ve had success in the past, and sometimes they are reluctant to share their knowledge. These fellows look as though they’re about to make a day of it (and we can’t say we wouldn’t join them if we could). In answer to last week’s question about “spoch” ice, Democrat publisher Fred Stabbert III tells us that so-called sposh ice is formed from slush that refreezes (see page 6A in the January 14, 2022 issue of the Democrat for a photo). Brrrr!
March 29, 2022 Edition
110 years ago — 1912 Charles Doosenbach, the new baker in Callicoon, will open up his bakery on next Saturday. Married, March 20 — Edward Knack to Miss Nellie Tremper, both of White … more
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Spring is sap season There are several mentions of the perils of ice in this week’s Decades column ... does anyone know what is “spoch ice” that is referred to from 1922? One bright note of winter’s thaw is the flow of sap that has led to seeing buckets below bare-limbed maples throughout the countryside. Just as in this photo from over a century ago, the work of collecting sap is time-consuming (though maybe not so much today with the use of tubing) but it’s wonderful to taste the sweet goodness of maple syrup or sugar candies. A treat from Mother Nature, for certain!
March 22, 2022 Edition
110 years ago - 1912 Dr. Augustus Meyer of Callicoon has purchased an Alpena Auto of William H. Lawrence of Jeffersonville.The ice in the Delaware River broke up on Wednesday and from … more
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Bush's Eddy: The plume from an Erie locomotive rises in the distance in this postcard view of Bush's Eddy, enough to reflect in the Delaware River. In 1915 Charles Stoehr and John Dering of Callicoon placed 10,000 wall-eyed pike fingerlings in the river here, projecting that in two or three years, with repeated stocking being planned, the pike population was expected to be excellent.
March 15, 2022 Edition
110 years ago - 1912 The creamery properties of the Dairy Products Company at Youngsville, Jeffersonville, Kenoza Lake, North Branch, Callicoon and Hankins are advertised to be sold at public … more
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Who loves a mystery? Most of us have experienced this: you find a photo stored with family heirlooms that has no date, no names, no familiar scene to clue you to the source of the photo. Folks who can tell the year by the type of clothes and hairstyles have studied hundreds of other photos over the years to be able to recognize them. This photo was sent to the Democrat by Eileen Brey, who says she doesn’t know who these people are, but she notes the child’s shoes, the high-neck blouses and long skirts of the women, the men’s suits, and the caned chair as styles of the early 1900s. Also, what might be a multi-generational family living together, with an interest in preserving a view of themselves for future generations. If any of our readers knows these people, we would love to hear from you! Give us a call at (845) 887-5200 or email obits@sc-democrat.com.
March 8, 2022 Edition
110 years ago - 1912 The Erie has a large force of men at Narrowsburg blasting the ice in the big eddy so there will be no damage done when the ice goes out.A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Merton … more
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A century ago: Instead of Throwback Thursday, this is A Century Ago Tuesday ... it’s nearly 110 years, by our reckoning. The photo above is undated, yet it shows the Mansion House in Jeffersonville during the time it must have housed the post office, which we mentioned a couple of weeks ago had moved in 1912 from the corner of Maple Avenue. The photographer is unknown, but the photos are among a number of western Sullivan County images which have been circulating online in recent years which we would give proper attribution if we could.
March 1, 2022 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1912 Born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Boettger Jr. of Beechwoods, on Sunday morning, a daughter.D.J. Starck has leased the Globe Hotel from V.J. Persbacker for a term of years and will … more
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Mill fire loss exceeded $12,000: The Jeffersonville Mill was destroyed by fire in 1912, stilling the operation of a business that had been owned by William Bollenbach for 16 years. While the Decades item of 110 years ago states that a man named Seibert had built the mill which burned, Callicoon historian Charles S. Hick later wrote in the Sullivan County Record that there were two mills operating in the late 1860s in Jeffersonville. Henry Seibert’s mill was passed on to Fred Scheidell, and it was demolished sometime before 1942. The report in 1912 indicated that this mill was owned by Sheriff Tuttle and Rudolph Bury initially. The mill had its longest, most successful run under Mr. Bollenbach, who learned milling from his father in Germany. This image is from the postcard collection at the Sullivan County Historical Society in Hurleyville. For information call (845) 434-8044 or email info@scnyhistory.org.
February 22, 2022 Edition
110 Years Ago -1912 Arthur Sipple of Mileses, while at work cutting logs last week with a force of men, had the misfortune to lose one of his horses. The men were at work, cutting down a large … more
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The moving post office: The Jeffersonville Post Office was at one time on the corner of Main Street and Maple Avenue. It was announced in the Sullivan County Record in 1922 that the post office would be moving two buildings east to the Mansion House, “where the former dance hall in the east wing has been fitted up for the purpose.” We wonder: did postal patrons feel like dancing when stopping in to buy stamps? For more information about vintage postcards of the area, call the Sullivan County Historical Society at (845) 434-8044.
February 15th, 2022 Edition
110 years ago - 1912 A bill is before Congress for the establishment of a mail carrier system in all incorporated villages of 1,000 population or over.At the semi-annual convention of County … more
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