150 Years Ago - 1873

A train on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company’s railroad ran 22 miles in 21 minutes a few days ago.

Middletown has a woman who has lived within nine miles of Margaretville for upward of 20 years, yet has never visited that village during the time.

A new post office has been established at Johnston’s Hotel on the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike.

Notice is hereby given that the wife of George Baer of the Town of Delaware has left her bed and board. If at the expiration of 30 days she does not return, the undersigned will consider himself free or divorced. The public generally is warned not to trust Mrs. Baer as her husband will not stand responsible for such debts. Callicoon Depot, George Baer.

140 Years Ago - 1883

At a law suit tried at Long Eddy John C. Geer charged Westerly Jenson with taking his wagon and never returning it. The plaintiff made out a plain case. There was no legal evidence given by the defendant and to the surprise of all the people present – and there was a large number – the jury brought in “no cause for action.”

The following amounts of money have been received by Rev. S. Muery and were forwarded by him to the N.Y. State Zietung for the sufferers from the flood in Germany from Callicoon Depot, Hortonville and Beechwoods, $60.75; and from North Branch, $9.25 — Total $70.

Twenty-three names are on the list of members for our GAR post. We are waiting for information from a part of these, as to rank, company regiment and the fee of one dollar.

In a conversation with G. Moulthrop of Pike Pond recently one of the largest and best dairymen in this section, the question of the advantages of the creamery system came up, when he expressed himself very much in favor of one in this vicinity. He favors the Lamb system which we have explained in these columns. Mr. Moulthrop has all the modern utensils and machinery for his dairy consisting of 40 cows yet he will pledge his cows to a creamery.

Krenrich and Co. shipped a carload of potatoes Monday morning.

Vast quantities of lumber have been banking on the Delaware and are waiting water to raft them to market.

Married at Youngsville by A.P. Bush, Esq., on February 10, 1883, Jonathan Hamilton and Fannie Whitmore.

130 Years Ago - 1893

Sidney Sheeley, tax collector of the Town of Rockland, made a levy on a stove in the shop of H.C. Zurner for taxes on his residence in Livingston Manor. Mr. Zurner refuses to pay the taxes, claiming that his property had been bought with his pension money.

The old Protectory building near Livingston Manor is being taken down. One half of the building will be taken to Old Morrston by Mr. Benton and an addition built to his house with an idea of keeping summer boarders.

A big fight will be made this year by Liberty Prohibitionists to install another no-licenses commissioner. They already have one, elected last year.

Diphtheria has prevailed in the town of Fremont for four or five months. The disease has, in most cases, been milked, but there have been 12 deaths.

Paul Adams of Damascus, Pa., killed a hog last fall that weighed 1,000 pounds. When dressed it fell 60 pounds short of this tipping the beam at 940 pounds. He sold the carcass for 12 cents a pound, making a total of $112.80 for one hog.

So far this season comparatively little lumber has been drawn to the Delaware for rafting to market.

Potatoes are worth one dollar a bushel.

There is a certain Damascus, Pa. man who takes a couple of cats in a sack to put his feet upon when he rides any distance on a cold day. He says it is way ahead of hotbricks or blocks of wood.

Tuesday night came the greatest fall of snow that we have had at one time in many years. It fell to a depth  of nearly two feet. The wind began to blow Wednesday and the work of opening the roads the day before was all for nothing. No mail Wednesday. Traffic has been at a standstill since Monday.

Louis Goodman of Lestershire, formerly of North Branch, and Miss Ella Knise, for some time the village belle, are to be married on the 22nd.

The mail route between Jeffersonville and Liberty has been sublet to Peter Hubert, the present carrier, at $140 per year.

Wanted – A bright and willing boy, about 14, to learn the printing trade at the Record office.

$10 reward will be given to the person returning an old leather pocketbook containing a little over $30 which I lost between North Branch and my place on January 31. Joseph Siebert, Jeffersonville.

120 Years Ago - 1903

Inspector Donald Grant and Captain John T. Stephenson were dismissed from the New York Police force last week for neglect of duty. Grant and Stephenson are brothers-in-law and own handsome country estates at Hurd in the Town of Bethel.

Commissioner Greene made public this finding in Grant’s case. Donald Grant is 54 years old, has served 26 years in the department, is the 9th officer in seniority in the uniformed  force  of more than 7,700 men and is a veteran of the Civil War. His case requires and has received the most earnest consideration. He has had a deliberate and impartial trial, in which he was represented by able counsel and has been found guilty. The charges are fully sustained by the evidence and an inspector of the police found guilty of such charges is unfit to hold his responsible office.

The finding in Stephenson’s case recited the charges against him and announced that he had been found guilty on most of the counts. Stephenson was appointed a patrolman in 1881, a sergeant in 1884, and a captain on December 3, 1887. He was dismissed from the force in August 1894 on the technical charge of confiscating a basket of peaches that belonged to someone else. This earned him the sobriquet of “Peaches,” a nickname he was never able to shake off. Stephenson was reinstated by the Supreme Court on December 24, 1895.

Wm. C. Brand died in his New York City home on February 3. He had been active in Democratic politics in Sullivan County and served one term of three years as County Clerk. He was a son of the late Dr. Brand and is survived by his widow, the former Emma Staib, and two brothers, Oscar in New York City, and Edwin of Jeffersonville.

A petition has been circulated to establish a mail route and post office in Buck Brook, the name of the office to be Alpine. The office, if granted, would be a great convenience as there is no office on the road between Roscoe and North Branch, a distance of 12 miles. Many of the inhabitants are obliged to travel five or six miles for their mail.

At a meeting of the members of the German Presbyterian Church Monday a committee was authorized to repair the parsonage at an expense of $600. The committee is composed of Wm. Kohler, Chas. Wilfert and Wm. Bollenbach. Work will be commenced as soon as possible.

Adolph Koenig and Miss Marie Lawe were married Wednesday at the home of the groom east of Jeffersonville. The bride is a native of Scotland. The wedding cake came from Scotland where the bride recently was on a visit to her native land.

110 Years Ago - 1913

Dr. Augustus Mayer and wife, Josephine, of Callicoon, have agreed to a separation, according to papers filed in the County Clerk’s office.

Mrs. Mary Scheidell is packing her household goods, preparatory to moving to Deposit where she has a daughter, Martha. Mrs. Scheidell will be accompanied by her daughter, Anne, and son, Merrel. Emily will remain to complete her school term.

Miss Margaret Sullivan of Bethel, who died at St. Mary’s Hospital, was buried from St. George’s Church Friday morning. She was 23 years old and had been a teacher for the past five years.

There will be a race on Shandelee Lake on Thursday, February 20, for a purse of $55.

It is rumored that a match race will be held on Shandelee Lake between Dale Johnston’s horse of Livingston Manor, and the stallion owned by John Dreher of Roscoe, for a purse of $100.

George W. Schloemer, second youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Schloemer, well known in western Sullivan County, and Miss Mary E. Briggs were united in marriage in New York City on January 22.

100 Years Ago - 1923

James Barrett, formerly of New York, has leased the Bauernfeind Hotel at North Branch and took possession last week. This is one of the famous hotelries of old days in Western Sullivan. It was built in 1869 by Chris Bauernfeind and for many years was conducted by him.

Isaac Post retired as ticket agent at Liberty. He entered the employ of the O&W in 1888.

Dr. F.A. Katzmeier, dentist of Callicoon, died at his home on Saturday. He was a native of Germany and came to Callicoon 23 years ago. He was 63 years of age.

The average weekly salary of school teachers according to a report just made by Superintendent Chas. S. Hick, was $30.06. The most common salary was $25 a week paid by 16 one-room schools, according to the same report in the 40 one-room schools, 12 teachers had never taught before, and six had taught but one year. Thirteen of the forty teachers are under 21 years of age (five are eighteen).

90 Years Ago - 1933

William Naegele, aged 56, well-known farmer living a mile and a half below Jeffersonville, was instantly killed by a hit and run driver shortly after 9:30 Tuesday night. The body was discovered by Rev. Robert Houghtaling,  a Methodist minister of Woodridge.

The contract for carrying the mail between Callicoon and Liberty for the next four year term, beginning next July 1, has been let to Percy Cross of Neversink. He is a son-in-law of Charles Wilfert Jr. of Jeffersonville. The present contractor is Edwin Schultz. Mootz and Steinhauser were the successful bidders on the Callicoon-Roscoe route.

Twenty members of the Protection Hose Company signed up for the organization of a military band at a meeting at the firehouse last Friday night. The writer has heirlooms, an E-flat clarinet and a rotary valve over the shoulder E-flat cornet, played in the first band organized in Jeffersonville almost a hundred years ago. The clarinet was made by William Haefer, musician and instrument maker, the cornet was made by Clier, a band instrument maker at Cochecton.

Edward J. McDermott, principal of the Jeffersonville School for the past 16 years, will retire at the end of the school year.

A daughter was born February 20 at the Callicoon Hospital to Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Townsend.

80 years ago - 1943

Miss Margery D. Baldwin, 23, of Callicoon Center, was sworn into the U.S. Naval Reserve as an apprentice seaman. She will go to Hunter College in New York City for indoctrination. She is the daughter of former Supervisor and Mrs. Ross Baldwin.

Max Odrezin and bride of a year paid a visit to his mother, Mrs. Reuben Cohen in Jeffersonville last week while he was on a 15-day furlough.

Pvt. Edwin A. Neuberger, who has been with the 36th Engineers on the Al-Can highway since March 1942, arrived at the home of her parents on Saturday for 15 days.

John Mages writes from Africa that he is alright and wants to thank all who sent him Christmas cards.

Sam Bodenstein, who came here from Bayonne a year and a half ago, and bought the bowling alleys from Jacob Gossweyler, has closed them for the duration of the war and leaves today to go into defense work in Bayonne.

A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Harold Stecker at the Callicoon Hospital. It is their first born.

The engagement of Miss Eleanor Allgeier of Hortonville to Albert Bogert, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Bogert of Callicoon Center, was announced at a party given at the home of the bride’s mother, Mrs. George Allgeier.

Donald Meyer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Meyer of Jeffersonville, and Rose M., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Bernhardt of Kenoza Lake, were married at the Lutheran Parsonage on February 10.

Mrs. Mary E. Schmidt died February 17 in New Haven at the age of 90. The death of Mrs. Schmidt recalls a mystery that enveloped the whole community of Youngsville in the 1860s. Mary, the eldest daughter of Peter Menges and Augusta Kaeb, 16 years old, was missing one morning from the parental home. A diligent search failed to locate a clue nor could they find a motive for leaving. The passing years brought no solution. Nearly 20 years later a letter arrived from California from Mary. A letter to her brought her quickly to her parents with whom she remained as long as they lived.

70 Years Ago - 1953

Mr. Orville Keeler was taken by ambulance to the Callicoon Hospital Thursday following a heart attack at home. He is reported to be up and around the hospital and doing well.

A daughter was born on Saturday evening to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Hahn at the Callicoon Hospital.

William Weber, 69, of South Berkeley Ave., Pasadena, Calif., passed away February 7, 1953. He was born in 1885 at Jeffersonville and went to California 31 years ago with his wife, the former Carrie Kohler.

Twin girls were born to Mr. and Mrs. Homer Sprague of Livingston Manor at the Liberty-Loomis Hospital Thursday morning.

60 Years Ago - 1963

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Nargang of Fremont Center celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on February 2 with friends, relatives and neighbors calling on the weekend to congratulate them.

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fendt have sold their home on Route 97, Callicoon, to Mrs. Leonor Adam who will operate a beauty parlor there. Mr. and Mrs. Fendt will be moving to Durham, N.C., to be near their son, Paul, and family.

Ross Buddenhagen of Hortonville, and Robert DePasquale of Cochecton Center, are among the 25-member Men’s Glee Club of State University College at Oneonta who began a six-day tour of upstate New York schools on January 28.

Mr. and Mrs. Allen Finkelson, he is public relations director for Monticello Raceway, are the parents of a daughter born at Horton Hospital in Middletown on Wednesday of last week… A daughter was born Sunday to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Buehl of Hankins and a son was born Monday to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Keesler of Callicoon Center, both at the Callicoon Hospital.

Shirley Tempel of Shandelee and Robert G. Roby of North Sutton, N.H., were married at St. Aloysius Church in Livingston Manor on February 2.

50 years ago - 1973

Lonnie L. Quinn, 14, daughter of Josiah and Laura Quinn, was killed when struck while walking on the Route 97 viaduct in Callicoon in a very dense fog. She was accompanied by her brother, Herman, and Kathleen Thomas, 14, also of Callicoon. They were not injured. According to the report, between 8 and 10 inches of snow remained on the walkway of the viaduct, making it necessary for the children to be in the southbound lane.

Len and Cora Stephenson were given a surprise farewell party at Stephenson’s Bar. Len has sold the business and the new owners, Peter and Anita Toscano, will rename the place “Pete’s Pub,” specializing in Italian cooking.

There was a total of 1,400 skiers Saturday and 1,200 Sunday at Holiday Mountain, the Thompsonville owned ski center at Bridgeville. On Saturday 28 buses transported skiers and on Sunday 19 buses brought skiers to the slopes.

40 Years Ago - 1983

Sullivan County Board of Supervisors Chairman Brian Ingber told members of the County Nursing Home Task Force Committee Wednesday that several members of the board are considering reviving the county’s application to build a new county infirmary. Last September, members of the board decided not to finance a multi-million dollar bond issue to build the infirmary in the Town of Liberty. The county had already received state approval for a new infirmary in early 1982, but with the defeat of the bond issue, the project was thought dead.

The ruin of the county’s main asset – its beauty – possible health hazards and the undependability of relying on a foreign country for energy here were the main points stressed by angry Sullivan County residents and officials who spoke out against PASNY’s proposed 345 kilovolt high tension powerline at Public Service Commission hearings Tuesday. About 175 persons turned out at the afternoon and evening hearings conducted by three state administrative judges at Monticello High School.

On December 26, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Faber of Lake Huntington were guests of honor at a 50th wedding anniversary party held in their honor in Huntington, L.I. Rena Smith entertained in honor of the occasion on January 7 for local friends and neighbors. The Fabers recently returned from a trip to Italy, Switzerland and France.

The Sullivan County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on – and approve – a proposal to develop a county-operated veterans’ cemetery near the County Infirmary in the Town of Liberty. The supervisors, according to reliable sources, are scheduled to vote on the proposal at their next regular monthly meeting February 14.

Mr. and Mrs. Vilho Makela of Hankins have announced the engagement of their daughter, Jodi, to Keith Peters, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Peters of North Branch. A fall 1983 wedding is planned.

Michael Stauch of Delaware Valley won another 1,600 meter walk, this one Saturday at John Jay High School in Wappingers Falls. His teammate, Alex Pradere, finished second in the 3200 meter run. The team of Stauch, Pradere and Ted Heinrich finished second to Clarkstown North in the walk. The triple jump team of Robbie Houghtaling, Tom Connell and Mike Hennigan was seventh. The shot put team of John Hoffmann, Henrich and Kevin Stauch was also 7th. Kevin Stauch was fourth in the pole vault clearing 9 feet.

30 Years Ago - 1993

Without skipping a beat, the 15th annual Sullivan County Heart-A-Thon sailed right on past its 1993 goal of $30,000 to pump a total of $37,042 into the coffers of the American Heart Association this past weekend. Bob Norris of Monticello co-chaired the event with Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jacquie Leventoff. The 22-hour event was broadcast live on WSUL-Monticello.

William J. Munday of Mamakating has the inside track to be the county’s next Veterans Service Agency director to fill out the two-year term of Warren Knapp who retired on December 31.

Normally closed up tight in the cold of winter, the Zane Grey Museum came out of hibernation for the celebration of its famed occupants’ 121st birthday last weekend.

Jeffersonville attorney, Hyman C. Levine, died February 5, 1993 in Florida. He was 85 years of age. He practiced law in Jeffersonville for 56 years prior to retiring.

Friday evening, almost a year to the day that they clinched the Western Division of the MHAL, the Fallsburg boys basketball team was mathematically eliminated from the 1993 race by the Liberty boys, 67-56, in a game played in front of a packed house at Fallsburg. Liberty was paced by Kaseem Sinceno’s 24 points and Russell Ahrens’ 19 points in the game. 

20 Years Ago - 2003

The schools in Liberty were shut down Wednesday afternoon to pay respect to a great teacher, seventh grade math teacher Barbra Sims, 38, a lifelong Sullivan County resident, who died in Sloan Kettering Hospital in Manhattan Saturday, January 25, 2003, after a long battle against breast cancer. The daughter of Leota “Lee” Deighton Hermann and the late Paul W. Hermann, she was born in Callicoon.

It’s been decades in the making but Fosterdale will finally have its long-awaited traffic signal.

Ross Dimler, retired Jeffersonville-Youngsville Central School teacher, has been added to the distinguished list of “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.” He is married to the former Bonnie Poley and has two sons, Lance and Derek, and a daughter, Trina.

The Sullivan West School Board meeting on Thursday night again featured public comments about the mold situation at the Delaware Valley campus in Callicoon.

Dr. David and Michelle Sager of Jeffersonville announce the birth of their first child, a boy, Owen, born January 22, 2003 in Honesdale, Pa.

10 Years Ago - 2013

A truck driver was lucky to be alive yesterday after his dump truck slid off an icy Route 97 in Cochecton and plunged more than 50 feet down an embankment. Around 9:30 a.m., Lake Huntington and Callicoon fire departments, plus the Cochecton Ambulance Corps and MobileMedic and State Police, were called out to the intersection of 97 and County Route 114 along the Delaware River. Freezing rain that morning had made the roads treacherous, and responders arrived to discover the mangled truck caught in some trees between 97 and the railroad tracks below. Reportedly having just delivered a load of salt in Narrowsburg, the truck was northbound and apparently slid sideways through the guardrail as it was coming around one of 97’s biggest curves, quickly tumbling down the forested hill. Three Good Samaritans who came across the accident got him out of the truck – in case it slid further down the steep hill – and held him motionless until emergency workers could arrive. Firefighters put the driver on a backboard, then carefully hauled him up the slope to MobileMedic’s waiting ambulance.

Now celebrating its 25th year, the Tri-Valley Central School FBLA is the longest serving and thriving high school chapter in the region. The chapter’s Outstanding Activity this year was making fleece blankets for children at the Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center. Members worked on blankets during chapter meetings and free periods throughout the school day; the club will be delivering close to 50 handmade blankets. Future Business Leaders of America--Phi Beta Lambda is a nonprofit educational organization whose first chapter was established in Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1942.