140 Years Ago - 1885

It is rumored that the Western Union Telegraph Company will establish a telegraph office at Pike Pond (Kenoza Lake) and the wire is to be connected on the Jeffersonville line. Good, if it is true.

Advertisement — W.F. Grishaber – Special Offer – utters, 13 cents per foot; Roofing, 6 cents per foot. These gutters and roofs are made of the best material and will be put up in the spring and summer of 1885. 

We would be pleased if our delinquent subscribers would pay up. At least those who are a year and over in arrears.

Let the Nicaragua treaty be ratified, the interstate commerce and educational bill be passed, and the Agricultural Bureau be made a department and the people will be happy. The farmers of every section of the country should send in their petitions to the Senate, insisting on the passage of the House Bill.

William Parks, while driving from Parksville to Livingston Manor a week ago Tuesday, froze the thumb of his right hand. Mr. Parks at the time was wearing a thick heavy pair of fringed mittens and some idea of the coldness prevailing there at that time may be imagined.

Among one of the several curiosities in town this week we noticed a yoke of oxen going along the street in a complete set of harness, collars, traces and all complete.

130 Years Ago - 1895

Our genial young friend, Henry Krenrich, is laid up for repairs. He made a visit with some friends to Phil Bietz’s at Mongaup Valley last Sunday and as he went into the bar there, he was kicked in the face by a horse, cutting a gash of about two inches extending from his upper lip.

It is reported, says the Democrat, that the foundation for the big factory will be built this spring on the Ihrig and Kautz property at Callicoon Depot.

New arrivals: A son joined the family of Gus Newburger Sunday evening; twin boys arrived at the home of Fred Knack of Buck Brook on January 28.

News About Town: Ed Bennett has given up his position in the creamery.

Eddie Homer is the happy possessor of a new bicycle, which his father bought for him.

Ferdinand Yager has sold his property in Jeffersonville to William Krantz of the Beechwoods. It is said the latter will fix it up for summer boarders.

William E. McDermott, who has been the efficient groom at the Eagle Hotel since he retired from the stage route a couple of years ago, has accepted the position of chief dispenser of liquid refreshments at The Delaware, Callicoon Depot.

Joe Norris of Briscoe slid off the dugway at Schluecke’s turn on the Briscoe Road Tuesday night, coming in contact with a barbed wire fence. Joe’s face is now somewhat lacerated.

Deaths — Andrew Bayer died at his home in Fremont Center on Tuesday. He formerly kept a hotel at that place.

120 Years Ago - 1905

William, the eldest son of Peter Mathern of Jeffersonville, died of typhoid pneumonia at his home north of this village Saturday night, aged 20 years.

Jacob Keesler of Canada, visited his niece, Mrs. Will Pfeifle here for a few days.

Mrs. Charles Homer, who narrowly escaped death by accidental poisoning last week, is recovering as rapidly as can be expected.

More snow and wind the past week has drifted the highways on the hills considerably. The taxpayers of Jeff were ordered out yesterday to open the North Branch road.

Youngsville: Miss Susie DeWitt, principal of our school, spent the weekend at her home in Stevensville... It is said that Thomas Tremper of White Sulphur and Walter Dreanon of Hurleyville will run a livery in Youngsville next summer… Youngsville Tent of the Maccabees is looking for a big time at its 3rd annual reception and ball at the Maple Grove Hotel next Saturday night.

110 Years Ago - 1915

John Moersch of Brooklyn recently celebrated his 98th birthday. Mr. Moersch founded the settlement called Beechwoods and was appointed postmaster by President Pierce. He was the originator of the cattle fairs formerly held in Beechwoods. From 1846 to 1866, Mr. Moersch remained in Sullivan County and during the Civil War helped to organize several companies of volunteers, he himself being past the enlistment age. Returning to New York City in 1866, he became a cider merchant.

The men of the Presbyterian Church in Jeffersonville entertained the ladies at a banquet in the lecture room Tuesday night and about 150 persons sat down at one time and partook of the food prepared by Chef Wm. J. Durr and served by a trained corps of young men.

Bessie Kemp, daughter of the late Dr. S.A. Kemp of Callicoon, and wife of Arthur Emrich, a clerk in the New York post office, died suddenly last night at the home of her father-in-law, William F. A. Emrich at Fremont Center, where she had been since last June on account of ill health. She was about 34 years old.

Theodore Gautsche, proprietor of the Maple Hotel, formerly Link’s in North Branch, took a lighted lantern on Friday morning and went down cellar to complete repairs to his acetylene gas machine, which he had started to work on the day before. He had supposed that all the gas was out of the machine, but no sooner had he entered than a great explosion took place. The explosion set fire to Mr. Gautsche’s clothes but with presence of mind he extinguished the fire by rolling himself on the cellar floor. The building and contents were somewhat wrecked but no fire started. Two traveling tea salesmen were having breakfast at the time and the explosion threw them from the table.

The Board of Supervisors is being petitioned for the county to build a macadam road from Jeffersonville through Briscoe and Stevensville, to connect with the present state road at Bushville.

Peter DeWitt, who died February 2 at his home in New York City, was the eldest son of George G. DeWitt of Youngsville, a resident there from 1833 to 1875.

Margaret Elizabeth, wife of Albert Miller, died of heart disease at her home at Youngsville February 3, aged 70 years.

100 Years Ago - 1925

The barn occupied by Joseph Beiling and family below Jeffersonville while their new house is under construction was burned at 5 o’clock Monday evening.

The blizzard of last Thursday was the worst we have experienced in some years. Seven and one-half inches of snow fell – and it blew!

Minnie VanBerger, wife of Charles H. Stephenson of Kenoza Lake, died at the Deerpark Sanitarium, Port Jervis, January 31, at the age of 35 years. She has been ill since last fall.

The hunters of Delaware County have organized to protect the red fox from the ravages of trappers who set a line of traps as a blind to cover up their movements as they go about poisoning foxes.

Valentine Scheidell of Jeffersonville, manager of the Sullivan County Cooperative Dairy Association, has purchased the creamery at the railroad station at Sparta, Sussex county, N.J.

The proposed road from Youngsville to Livingston Manor, by way of Shandelee, will appear on the new state highway map, it is said.

90 Years Ago - 1935

School Physical Director K.C. Fuller was accompanied by Callicoon Principal Charles Lewis, Raymond Tate, Charlie Engert and Phil Gottschalk to drive to New York Saturday to attend the Millrose A.C. track games in Madison Square Garden that night, and on Sunday night, they saw a hockey game, returning home in the early hours of Monday.

Corporal William Waldron, Roscoe state trooper, is taking a vacation in Florida, leaving his sidekick, Trooper Robert Flynn, to buck the bandits and snowbanks around here in the meantime.

Obviously the child labor amendment proposal is really not a child labor amendment at all but a proposition to keep idle a large proportion of our population at time of life when they should be learning how to work, how to use their hands and their heads, and be gaining a bit of responsibility in the practical affairs of a work-a-day world. Farmers were fully in sympathy with giving children of this nation every needed protection, every help to make them strong and useful citizens. The farmers will be opposed to this resolution.

You don’t hear much about the Lord providing since Uncle Sam has taken over Santa Claus’ job. And “Lady Bountiful” has been blotted out of the picture by “General Relief.”

Rev. Dr. Henry W. Seibert, aged 78, a former Presbyterian pastor in Jeffersonville, died February 4 at the home of his brother, Dr. Edgar C. Seibert in Orange, N.J. He served the Jeffersonville church from October 31, 1880, to May 27, 1883, following Rev. August Wetterstroem, who expired suddenly in the church yard here.

80 Years Ago - 1945

Mrs. Lauretta J. Wales, aged 93, passed away in her sleep early Friday morning, January 19, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. H. Weir Goldsborough at Fairfield, Conn. Mrs. Wales was born August 3, 1851, at Chestnut Ridge, this side of Liberty, the eldest daughter of the late Capt. Edward H. Pinney and Harriet Hill.

Howard King, aged 26, who was with the infantry in Germany, was killed in action there in December.

Kenoza Lake, January 31 – Postmaster George H. Raum, received word today from his brother, Emil, of Bergenfield, N.J., that the latter’s son, Robert, 23, had been killed in action on the Western front. He was with the heavy artillery.

Simon Sattinger, garage operator in Jeffersonville who went in the Navy eight months ago as motor machinist’s mate, second class, was given a medical discharge on January 20 from the U.S. convalescent hospital at Braning, Calif. The cause of discharge was a perforated eardrum.

Gilbert Weiss, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred J. Weiss of Jeffersonville, has arrived in New Guinea.

Edwin A. Neuberger has been promoted to private first class and transferred to France. He is with the Army engineers.

The annual meeting of the Sullivan County Co-op Dairy Association was held at Hotel Jefferson Saturday. Wilbur Myers was re-elected director for three years. Edward Allgeier was elected director to succeed Andrew vonBergen.

Mrs. Marie Duttweiler of Maspeth, L.I., has sold her boarding house and three acres on Swiss Hill to Thomas Reilly of near Hunter Pond in the Town of Bethel.

70 Years Ago - 1955

The home of Herbert Sprague, a worker at the Livingston Manor poultry plant, was badly damaged and a large tractor-trailer was almost entirely demolished Wednesday morning of last week about 9 o’clock, when the trailer with 20 tons of apple sauce failed to negotiate the curve at Route 17 and Pearl Street, Livingston Manor, and rolled 100 feet down an incline into the side of the Sprague home. The driver of the tractor-trailer jumped and escaped with only a bruised leg.

Young Hugh McAllister, 5 years old, of Youngsville is in critical condition at the Liberty-Loomis Hospital with multiple fractures of the head and a broken leg, as a result of a sleigh riding accident when his sled slid in front of the pickup truck of William Ellmauer, also of Youngsville.

Mrs. Gertrude Huff, the only living charter member, was present when the Lutheran Ladies Aid celebrated their 50th anniversary Tuesday afternoon, with approximately 150 guests present.

The 40th Annual Grossinger Country Club winter sports carnival, will crown the new king and queen.

Fire, which started from an electric hot plate which had been left turned on, completely destroyed the two-story riding stable of the Grossinger Hotel last Wednesday. Nine horses were saved.

The following area men left from Draft Board 17 at Monticello February 3 for the armed services: Arthur Moller and Joseph Geiger of Jeffersonville, Joseph Warhaftig of Monticello, Benjamin Wechsler, St. Joseph’s, Richard Seibert of Narrowsburg and Frederick Hutt of Hankins.

Dr. John R. Mott, 89, a native of Livingston Manor, a veteran leader of the world YMCA movement and a co-winner of the 1946 Nobel prize, died January 31, at Orlando, Fla.

60 Years Ago - 1965

The Maynard Larson home at North Branch was completely destroyed by fire during last Thursday night, February 4. The firemen were called about 6:30 p.m. and with the assistance of Callicoon, Hortonville and Callicoon Center, firemen were able to quench the fire about midnight.

Heavy rains and melting snow Sunday caused floods in some sections of Sullivan County. The flooding caused ice jams in many streams and rivers.

Miss Peggy Rosenberger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Rosenberger of Hortonville, participated in the nurse capping ceremony at St. Mary’s Hospital in Orange, N.J., on February 7. It was a double celebration as she also celebrated her 18th birthday.

50 years ago - 1975

Sullivan County lost two of its prominent sons last week – County Historian Professor Manville B. Wakefield, chairman of the Commercial Art Department at SCCC, and retired Supreme Court Justice William E. Deckelman. Their deaths came with tragic swiftness, less than a day apart. Wakefield died Wednesday morning at the age of 50 following a sudden illness arising out of complications of the open-heart surgery which he had undergone last year. “Bill” Deckelman collapsed and died Thursday morning on the streets of Jeffersonville, the community which he had done so much to develop as a village and which he called home for over half a century. His death came less than a week before his 82nd birthday.

40 Years Ago - 1985

About 40 residents of Callicoon turned out last Thursday at the Delaware Community Center to hear officials from the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) present plans in progress for the renovating of the Route 97 viaduct in the hamlet. The project, which is scheduled to begin in September of 1986, calls for the construction of a new wider viaduct in the place of the present one, the widening of Viaduct Road which will be used as a detour during the construction and the construction of a parking area off Main Street. The total cost is expected to be nearly four million dollars with 80 percent of the funds coming from the federal government. It is probable that the former Martin Hermann Lumber Company, (now the home of Callicoon Supply Company) building will be destroyed to make room for the new structure.

After an hour-long executive session behind closed doors, the Town of Tusten town board selected Rick Lander, a 28-year-old businessman, to fill the supervisor slot vacated by the resignation of Fred Tegeler. 

Dr. William D. Baxter of Monticello, with dental offices in Rock Hill, returned last week to the WNBC studios in Los Angeles for taping of the “Sale of the Century,” a daily game show which had called back 18 of the big winners during the 1983 contest to play against each other and eventually choose a grand prize winner. Baxter is now two wins away from the championship.

Bob Fix Sr., owner of the Liberty Lanes, bowled his first 300 game in 32 years of activity in the sport. His son, Bob Jr., has three perfect games in his record. The Fix family came to Liberty in 1970 and purchased the 16-lane bowling alley in August of that year.

30 Years Ago - 1995

An adult bald eagle, with a wing span of 6-7 feet and which has an approximate height of 30 inches and weighs between 8-12 pounds, has been spotted along open water on the Delaware River in early February. An endangered species, the American bald eagle has been seen more frequently and seems to be making a comeback to the Sullivan County area.

Cablevision Industries of Ferndale has been sold to Time Warner for a reported $2.5-3 billion. The business, founded in 1956 by Alan Gerry, will merge with the world’s largest international media company. Mr. Gerry called his 250 employees to a meeting on Tuesday to break the news to them. Part of the deal includes an agreement to continue operating out of the Ferndale office of which Mr. Gerry will retain ownership. To minimize displacement of current employees, CVI has hired a national career counseling firm to help employees find other employment. About 25 workers will be retained at the local office.

The Happy Footers Square Dance Club, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, put on a dance demonstration for students at the Jeffersonville-Youngsville School recently.

Melanie Ferber of Neversink has announced the engagement of her daughter, Melissa Ann, to Chris Fisher of Aliston, Mass. Miss Ferber is also the daughter of the late Bruce Ferber. Wedding plans are incomplete.

Firemen from Liberty, Monticello, Kauneonga Lake, White Lake and Loch Sheldrake assisted Swan Lake firemen as they battled a blaze at Daytop Village in Swan Lake Monday afternoon. The main building, a three-story stucco building which housed the administrative offices, kitchen, dining hall, medical and dental facilities, was destroyed. Client records and computers were destroyed but none of the nearly 200 people in the building were injured. Daytop also operates a rehab center in Parksville.

20 Years Ago - 2005

The tracks of the old Erie Railroad sit largely quiet these days, devoid of the hustle and bustle that characterized most of the line’s 157 years. But unless you live or work right next to the railroad – now owned by Norfolk Southern – it’s hard to see much of anything, especially since one, sometimes two freight trains run through the area usually only late at night.

Eldred Central School will have the flag at half-mast for the next week in memory of H. Marsha Hunter Glasser, who passed away on February 9 at Morristown Hospital in New Jersey. She was 58. She has served on the school board since 1996 and was president of the board twice.

With a deep sense of loss, the Fallsburg Central School District acknowledges the death of Ted Scholefield on January 21. Ted was superintendent of the school district from 1962 to 1982 and was responsible for hiring many of Fallsburg’s teachers and staff over that period. Former teachers Eileen Kalter,  Ceil Cohen, Jack Leshner and others suggested honoring Ted by renaming the Citizenship Award given to graduating seniors for outstanding service to the community.

10 Years Ago - 2015

If there was a Sullivan County resident who didn’t know Tom Warren, they were the worse for it, agreed his friends yesterday. Strange as that may be to say about an undertaker and coroner, Tom defined his life by how often he helped the living as much as the dead. Near the intersection of NYS Route 52 and County Route 51 (Hilldale Road), Tom’s van crashed. He did not survive.

More than 100 folks showed up Saturday for the Catskill Fly Fishing Center’s annual FlyFest. The Livingston Manor museum’s usually open interior was cluttered with an array of tables where fly-tyers of all ages shared their techniques and achievements. The yearly get-together, held every winter for the past decade, kicks off the center’s season and soothes that itch to fish the legendary but iced-over Catskills creeks – months before trout season opens. 

All 7,000 solar panels are now installed on the 15 acres SUNY Sullivan and the county set aside for the Sullivan Solar Garden – row upon row upon row of ground-mounted solar arrays. Privately constructed by Heliosage, the solar farm will also be privately operated when it’s brought online around April, with the college promising to purchase power from the array for the next 20 years. Students will additionally benefit from being able to directly study the photovoltaic process, integrated into the existing green energy curriculum at SUNY Sullivan (the Loch Sheldrake campus also features a wind turbine and geothermal facility).