The first time the Declaration of Independence was read aloud for the public was in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, making the residents of that city the first outside of the government to learn of …
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John Conway
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7/4/25
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It is easy to think of Ten Mile River Scout Camp as something of little interest to anyone outside of scouting. But since David Malatzky has spearheaded the reorganization of the Museum there, that …
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John Conway
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6/27/25
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On or about June 20 in 1872, the D&H Canal Company received some good news. The NYS Court of Appeals had upheld a lower court ruling that had granted the canal company a rate increase in its …
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John Conway
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6/20/25
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It was sometime after 4 o’clock on the afternoon of Friday, June 13, 1913 that the fire alarm sounded in the village of Liberty, and by the time firemen responded, a number of buildings were …
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John Conway
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6/13/25
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Jack Kelly, the author of the highly acclaimed 2023 book, “God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man” said recently that he was “very …
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John Conway
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6/6/25
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It was late in May of 1909, and D.W. Griffith was putting the finishing touches on his plan for a trip that would forever change the business of making movies. Those changes would begin right here in …
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John Conway
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5/23/25
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At approximately 11:30pm on May 9, 1775, a force of colonial militia under the joint command of Colonels Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold began crossing Lake Champlain in an operation that would …
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John Conway
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5/16/25
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It may seem difficult to believe today, but there was a time when Sullivan County apple producers shipped apples to every state in the country except for Washington and Oregon. Local apple orchards …
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John Conway
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5/9/25
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It was early May in 1933, and one of America’s most notorious gangsters was lying low in Sullivan County, passing the time with a couple of bodyguards in a secluded hunting lodge in …
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John Conway
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5/2/25
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On April 23, 1823, the D&H Canal Company was incorporated in New York State, and a little more than two years later ground was broken for one of the most transformative projects in American …
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John Conway
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4/25/25
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It was on a dreary Monday afternoon in April of 1940 that the last of the bodies linked to Murder, Inc. turned up in Sullivan County.
That day, law enforcement officials, piecing together …
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John Conway
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4/18/25
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It may be difficult to believe based on life along the Delaware River today, but the area wasn’t always a tourist destination. In fact, in its earliest days, it wasn’t particularly …
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4/11/25
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There was quite a commotion in Sullivan County government circles in the spring of 1930, as officials came to grips with a surprising revelation: the village of Monticello had supplanted the village …
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John Conway
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4/4/25
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Abe “Kid Twist” Reles, the notorious Brooklyn mobster who helped run the enforcement arm of organized crime fashionably dubbed Murder, Inc., sat in the Manhattan jail called the Tombs and …
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John Conway
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3/28/25
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The grisly enforcement arm of the organized crime syndicate fashionably dubbed by the media of the day as Murder, Inc., was responsible for no less than eight murders in Sullivan County during the …
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John Conway
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3/21/25
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As spring approached in March of 1961, a brand new organization was gearing up to increase tourism in the Sullivan County Catskills. And it did not involve a single hotel.
The Catskill …
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John Conway
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3/14/25
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There are many colorful clergymen who have passed through the pages of Sullivan County’s history over the years, but none more noteworthy than Reverend Benjamin Montanye, who presided over the …
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John Conway
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3/7/25
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On March 2, 1785, a group of Baptists in New Vernon in the town of Mamakating organized what is believed to be the first church in the area that would later become Sullivan County. Reverend Eleazer …
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John Conway
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2/28/25
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On February 22, 1767, Benedict Arnold, a young, up and coming businessman, married Margaret Mansfield, whose father was the Sheriff of New Haven, Connecticut. Arnold, of course, would go on to become …
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John Conway
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2/21/25
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To many historians, Noble Sissle, composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer and playwright, is the man most responsible for ushering in the Harlem Renaissance.
For those whose main focus is …
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John Conway
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2/14/25
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In February of 2020, just before the COVID pandemic became national news, this columnist, your Sullivan County Historian, released a new book, “In Further Retrospect.”
The book was a …
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John Conway
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2/7/25
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Irving Jaffee was among the greatest speed skaters of his generation. He turned in the fastest time in the 10,000 meters at the 1928 Olympics in St. Moritz, only to have the event canceled without an …
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John Conway
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1/31/25
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As the Revolutionary War approached in the 1770s, American colonists were a divided lot, and at least as many of them were inclined to remain part of the British empire as favored breaking away.
…
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John Conway
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1/24/25
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It was on April 18, 1775 that Boston silversmith Paul Revere-- along with Samuel Prescott and William Dawes-- embarked on a ride to alert the Minutemen in his area about the sudden advance of British …
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John Conway
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1/17/25
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With another holiday season upon us, it is time for this column’s annual reminder that books about Sullivan County’s rich and colorful history always make great gifts, but especially this …
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John Conway
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12/13/24
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