140 Years Ago - 1884

The Fourth in Jeffersonville — It is fitting and right for the people of Jeffersonville, who live in the village named after the author of the glorious Declaration of Independence signer, that they should celebrate in a proper and becoming manner. At an early hour of the evening of July third, the enterprising host of the Jeffersonville Hotel opened the festivities with a dance, where joy was unconfined and youth and beauty met. Never did the Jeffersonville House obtain within its walls a finer array of feminine charm. Fosterdale, Pike Pond, Youngs-ville, Robertsonville and adjacent villages, contributed their quota to this gay and festive scene. At midnight the bell of the Presbyterian Church rang out as merry a peal as one could reasonably expect, seeing that the bell ringer had been “celebrating” all night by pouring spiritual comfort down a throat which had long been a stranger to pure water. The procession was led by Mayor E.H. Pinney. Next came the tanners, fittingly represented by John Schafer, assisted by young Rudolph. Finally came the crowning glory conveying the representative of the Goddess of Liberty, Miss Matilda Schafer.

130 Years Ago - 1894

Monticello now claims to have one of the finest country post offices in the state.

Rev. J.B. Williams of White Lake has been elected one of the vice presidents of the State Sunday School Association.

An ox, belonging to John Fraser near Bullville, was killed by lightning Friday night. During the same storm, the house of Henry Sanford of Stevensville was struck and slightly damaged.

A prominent woman suffragist says that the women of the State who have $600,000,000 of property, mean to have their rights and an exchange remarks that the bulk of this $600,000,000 belongs to men who have placed it in the hands of the women while they keep an eye out for the sheriff. And that’s no josh.

A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Mall of North Branch on June 20th. 

A small epidemic of typhoid fever has broken out at Bran Hill, near Rockland.

Fred P. Palen of Monticello has just been graduated with high honors at Cornell University.

William Bartholomew has purchased the carding mill of William Pierpont, situated about a mile south of Liberty.

At the time the noted speakers for woman suffrage, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet May Mills, and others held their meeting in Liberty last spring, a committee was appointed to compile the amount of the taxes paid by the women of Sullivan County. But only seven of the fifteen towns of the county have thus far reported. The assessed valuation on which taxes are paid by women in the Town of Fremont is $46,425; Fallsburg, $41,815; Thompson, $37,075; Liberty, $56,822; Neversink, $11,070; Delaware, $19,930; and Rockland, $13,200.

During the thunder shower of last Friday night, the large barn of Hugh Townsend in the Hurd Settlement was struck and set on fire by lightning between 12 and 1 o’clock. Mr. Townsend saw the blaze from his bedroom window, and arousing his sons, rushed out barefoot to save what he could from the burning building. Though the rain was coming down in torrents, the barn was immediately enveloped in flames and nothing could be gotten out except the wagons. A few tons of hay, some grain, all the farming machinery and tools, sleighs, harnesses, etc., were consumed. No stock was in the barn at the time. The building was insured in the Callicoon Mutual for $375, and there was some insurance on the contents, but not enough to cover the loss.

120 Years Ago - 1904

J. William Lieb of New York, a nephew of Fred Lieb of this place, was recently elected president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. He was also appointed chairman of the electric lighting section of the Electrical Congress of the St. Louis Exposition, also a high honor. Mr. Lieb is a Newark boy born in 1860. 

Christopher Hunt and Miss Anna Adaline Neiger were married Wednesday noon at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Neiger at Narrowsburg by Rev. Wm. Terbert of Middletown. 

A Liberty correspondent says that M.J. Weyrauch, formerly of the Liberty Herald, and Fred Cunningham, John Reiner’s right hand, are going out on the road with a moving picture machine. They intend to give their performance at White Lake, July 1. Mr. Weyrauch went to the city to buy the necessary machines.

The Livingston Manor Manufacturing Co.’s mill has again shut down. This makes things very unpleasant for the men that have worked there for many years and are depending on their work for the support of themselves and families.

A North Branch subscriber sends to the Record a report of the nuptials of Edward Haberstroh, a city young man summering there, and Miss Susie Kornfield, also a rusticator over in those diggings. Said to be a case of love at first sight. Subscriber asks, “What shall the harvest be?” “What we can tell. We think it is all chaff – don’t amount to shocks.”

Monticello had a big day on the Fourth. The firemen’s parade started at 11 o’clock with the following in line: Kimble Hose Co. and the Drum Corps of Ellenville, Port Jervis Hose Co. No. 4, Delaware Fife and Drum Corps of Matamoras, the Monticello Gorton’s Minstrel Band, decorated automobiles and wagons. The judges of the parade were Dr. W.H. Hoar of Grahamsville, Editor Chester Hawthorne of Poughkeepsie and Mr. Byrnes, an old volunteer fireman of Brooklyn. The judges awarded the firemen’s prize, an electric lamp to the Port Jervis Co. Cash prizes were given on decorated wagons to Mrs. Murray of Sackett Lake, first prize of $25, and Mrs. R.J. Muller, the suffragette, second prize. Following the parade, a patriotic speech was made by District Attorney Cunningham of Ellenville.

110 Years Ago - 1914

C.G. Yager yesterday received another carload of six Ford cars, three of which are already sold.

Barber George H. York of Monticello was arrested and fined $5 recently for shaving Judge Smith on Sunday.

Liberty has passed a village law prohibiting anyone from operating a motor vehicle on the streets faster than fifteen miles an hour. The penalty is $10 for the first offense and $25 for each subsequent violation.

Electric lighting fixtures are being installed in the Presbyterian Church this week by electrician George B. Fraley and assistants, John Slaver and F. Foster of Liberty. In the church auditorium, the semi-indirect lighting system is being installed, the first to be put in a public building here. The wiring is through a conduit and armored cable. It will be a thorough and up to date job.

The  Alpy brothers, who bought the Jeffersonville House barn, are remodeling the interior into a machine shop and garage.

Emily Scheidell of this place and Sophia Menges of Youngsville, of the Jeffersonville Union School, and Gladys Hessinger of Callicoon Center, a graduate of Roscoe High School, will enter the Liberty training class for teachers next fall.

While Charles B. Ward, proprietor of the Liberty Register, was driving his car to his home at DeBruce in the blinding storm on Tuesday afternoon last week, he ran into Abraham Dunn, employed at the Klein farm, south of Parksville, who was crossing the road with his coat over his head to protect him from the storm. The car fender struck Dunn and broke his leg. Mr. Ward took the injured man to Liberty for treatment, and he was later taken to Thrall Hospital in Middletown. Mr. Ward carries liability insurance, so if there is any damage suit arising from the accident, the surety company will have to defend it.

Little Katherine Schadt, in the second grade, was awarded a camera by her teacher, Miss Glendening, for the neatest work during the term. Katherine is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred W. Schadt.

Earl Ranft and David Moran, two young men who left here a year ago last fall to try their luck in the state of California, will start for home on June 30, sailing via the Panama Canal. Miss Mildred Stephenson of Hurd Road will also shortly return from the Golden State by the canal route.

Three organizations, the Farm Bureau, Pomona Grange and the Dairymen’s League, held their annual county picnic at the Jeffersonville Baseball Park on June 21. There were so many activities that the longest day of the year seemed like the shortest. Cars were parked in every available spot and according to the state trooper they numbered 383. That would put the attendance at the picnic at about 1500, a good sized crowd. Music was furnished by the Roscoe Band. Mr. Chase of the Grange League Federation, assisted by E.N. Moot, distributed dividends to stock holders in the corporation.

100 Years Ago - 1924

The A&P grocery store which is opening here is the eighth one in this county.

Veronica Scardefield of Kenoza Lake, Helen Rahankiener of Long Eddy and Samuel Fraser of Ferndale were the winners in the essay contest held by the Sullivan County Farm Bureau among school pupils on the subject of “Farm Topics.” The decisions were made by the three county school superintendents, F.J. Lewis, Charles S. Hick and Mrs. Emma C. Chase. The award is a trip to the field day at the state college, Ithaca, this week, and the three winners left yesterday by automobile for Ithaca, chaperoned by Farm Bureau Agent Moot and wife of Liberty.

Six students of the Jeffersonville high school received their “sheepskins” at the graduating exercises at the school auditorium last night. They were Martha Frieda Neuberger, Edith Hamilton Gain, Dorothy Katherine Scheidell, Charles Vincent Grishaber and Clyde William Fitch of this place and Arnold Stanley Fischer of Fosterdale.

90 Years Ago - 1934

The petitioners in the Sixteen District, northeast of this village, have finally won out in their efforts to be transferred from the Callicoon Center School District to the Jeffersonville District.

Two men purporting to be inspectors from State Department of Farms and Markets were here last week checking up on the local retail milk dealers. Some dealers now paying a license fee of $10 were required to pay a fee of $25 and all were notified to sell their milk and cream at prices fixed by the department. Some of the dealers say this price is too high and ask why people here should be compelled to pay 12 cents a quart for milk when the people in New York City buy it for 8 cents a quart.

Fred H. Starck of Callicoon, former Monticello theater owner and banker, and Joseph Dealy, well-known vaudeville actor manager, and Henry Welk, have leased the J.M. Beck and Henry Weber theatre for a term of ten years and will take possession July 1.

The state highway crew have suspended work in Jeffersonville and gone elsewhere, and there is no telling now when the work here will be finished. They say good things come slowly, well then this job ought to be a good one.

Ernie Fimpel Jr. is doing some squawking down at Atlantic City this week. He is with the Long Island Grotto Band and plays the clarinet. In fact, we surmise Ernie will be emitting a lotta squawk notes as his attention is diverted from his music to the bathing beauties – bachelor or no bachelor.

80 Years Ago - 1944

Property owners at Long Eddy have brought suits against the state, claiming that the changing of the course of Pea Brook in that village in rebuilding State Highway 97, caused the floods in May 1942 to destroy their property.

At the special meeting at the Callicoon schoolhouse, the voters in the Delaware Valley Central School District decided by a vote of 439 to 119 to purchase about thirty acres of land at what is known as the gas station site for $3,365. The site is on Route 97, three and a half miles from Callicoon and a mile and a half from Hankins. This is the only site that the state department will approve.

Mrs.  George Doetsch has sold her house in Hortonville, the former Muery place, to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Schneider of Woodhaven, who will make their home there. Mr. Schneider is a descendant of an Obernburg pioneer.

A passenger bus of the Jeffersonville Transfer, with Al Knapp as the driver, on the way to Liberty, left the road near the turn just beyond the Yole place a mile and a half east of this village, went through a wire fence, kissed a maple tree and turned over on its side down a six-foot bank. Although unconscious for quite a while, the driver sustained only bruises. No one else was in the bus at the time.

Corporal William Danzer Jr. and his brother, Seaman Robert Danzer, met in far off North Africa. Both boys wrote their parents that the day was one they shall never forget.

After many years of ownership, William Deckelman and Dr. J. Cameron Gain have announced that commencing on July 4th they will offer for sale the Lake Jefferson property in Jeffersonville, which has been subdivided into building lots of about 50x100 feet. Lake Jefferson is acknowledged by all to be one of the most beautiful in all Sullivan County.

70 Years Ago - 1954

Twenty-eight seniors were graduated from the Jeffersonville Central School: Anne F. Reitmann, Sondra Epstein, Marlene Schaefer, Mary Steinhauer, Peggy Hess, Beatrice M. Downing, Marie E. Snedeker, June Ebert, Ruth Kron, Josephine Rocco, Ronald Gorr, Josephine Erlwein, Virginia Korth, Virginia Schuler, Barbara Williams, Shirley A. Bauernfeind, Marilyn Baker, Shirley Scardefield, Lorraine C. Young, Alfred J Stephenson Jr., Daniel F. Sickmiller, Michael Erlwein, Gale Bury, Frank Pecsi, Winton McHenry and Ellie Hanslmaier.

Henry Schaefer of Jeffersonville has announced the engagement of his daughter, Marlene Phyllis, to George I. Worden of Jeffersonville.

Residents of Sullivan County will shortly have a full-fledged cerebral   palsy center at their disposal at Liberty-Loomis Hospital in Liberty.

Arthur Brey of Youngsville was given a surprise birthday party last Saturday night by Mrs. Arthur Dubinbaum.

In Youngsville, six seniors were graduated from the Central School: Penelope Baker, Robert Abplanalp, Jerome Menges, Armand Seibert, George Worden and Herbert Robinson.

Eugene M. Hanofee, clerk of the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors since April, has announced the  opening of law offices in the theatre building in Liberty.

Leo Irving Kratz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Irving Kratz, graduated from the New York School for the Deaf on June 24th.

Ten persons were injured Sunday near Livingston Manor when a bus skidded on a curve on Route 17 and side-swiped three cars.

60 Years Ago - 1964

For the first time in Jeffersonville, Baccalaureate Services were held at the Congregation Ahavath Shalom, attended by over 250 persons. The smartly capped and gowned graduates, 30 girls in white and 17 boys in royal blue, sat on opposite sides of the altar, according to division of gender, which is an integral part of ancient Hebraic custom.

Sullivan County Broadcasting Corp., operators of Station WVOS-AM, has been granted a permit by the Federal Communications Commission to construct an FM station to serve Sullivan County.

Mrs. Scyrintha Osterhout of Jeffersonville, has been appointed to represent the Sullivan County teacher council to the National Education Association Convention to be held in Seattle, Washington. Charlotte Turner of the Monticello faculty is also a delegate. On her return from Seattle, she will enter the state sponsored training program of New Mathematics to be held at Cortland University. Mrs. Osterhout is the 5th grade teacher in Jeff.

50 Years Ago - 1974

Exultant Community General Hospital officials reached the end of a long, long trail last week when Wednesday afternoon ground was formally broken for the new 297-bed facility which will be erected at Harris. Irving Shapiro, president; Gordon Winarick, chairman of the Planning and Development Committee; Helen Stuart, R.N., director of nurses and J.A. Riesenberg, M.D., Medical Staff president, were among those taking part in the ceremonies.

Miss Elizabeth Mary Schick and R. Douglas Olmstead were married on June 22 at St. Mary’s Church in Obernburg. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Francis J. Schick of Obernburg.

Wedding bells rang for Sandra Lee Sauer and Richard John Jay on June 15 at the First Presbyterian Church of Cochecton. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Karl Sauer of Cochecton and the bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Jay of Cochecton Center.

Diane Fisher became the bride of Vincent Alventosa on June 15 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Liberty. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle P. Fisher of Aden Rd., Liberty.

The 24th anniversary dinner of the Catholic Daughters of America, Court Father Raphael #1542, was held at the Holiday Inn, Liberty, on June 18. Marion Roche of Hortonville is the Worthy Regent.

Douglas Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith of Callicoon, received his Eagle Scout Award at ceremonies held at the Callicoon Methodist Church Hall on June 13. Douglas had to work on his own, with the aid of local scouting officials, for almost two years after the troop to which he was assigned was disbanded.

40 Years Ago - 1984

On June 3, the 95th anniversary of the wedding of John and Ellamanda Bauernfeind, their descendants met for the 72nd consecutive year with 62 members and guests present. A copy of a motion for all family members to make a concerted effort to attend the reunion every five years starting in 1985, made by Lucille Engert, will be included with a copy of the family tree (made by Ross Bauernfeind of Derry, N.H.) and mailed to every member of the family.

Kids Port USA officially opened its doors Friday to become the first in a series of direct manufacturer outets to occupy the new Apollo Plaza, formerly the Monteco Mall near Monticello. More than 50 Sullivan County officials and members of the media were welcomed to a press conference to mark the opening of the newly renovated facility.

The heavy rain, wind, hail and sleet storm that struck the Sullivan County area Friday night dumped more than two inches of water on the Monticello Raceway shortly after 8 p.m. Monticello firemen were called to pump water from the area in front of the grandstand and near the winners circle when more than three feet of water flooded the sloping macadam in front of the grandstand. Even worse, there was nearly two inches of ice and sleet accumulated from the storm laying in the area south of the main stands.

Anna Oskarsson and Robert Bjorklund, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Bjorklund of Mileses, were married in Linkopings Courthouse, Linkopings, Sweden, on May 10. Robert is employed at the university there and Anna works at the hospital.

The Roscoe Red Caboose, home of the Ontario and Western Railway Museum in Roscoe, opened on July 1.

30 Years Ago - 1994

With Woodstock ‘94, the 25th anniversary of the world-famous Woodstock Festival, held in the Town of Bethel, it is expected that tens of thousands of fans will converge on Max Yasgur’s “Field of Dreams” in the next few weeks and the state and the county must be ready for them. The Airport Subcommittee was advised this week that the New York State Police are taking over the airport manager’s office and a conference room next to it to use as a command post, they are sealing off much of the parking area and barring parking on the road leading to the airport from Route 17B. They are planning to use the vacant Kingston Industries building in an adjacent industrial park as a detention center if arrests are made. The state has assigned 470 troopers to control the sites in Bethel and a second one located off the New York State Thruway in Saugerties, site of a later Woodstock Festival. Both concerts are scheduled for August 13-15.

The former Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in Liberty, vacant for three years, opened July 1 as Richard’s Steakhouse.

Lester Wallman, selected as one of the top divorce lawyers in the United States by “Town & Country” magazine and a resident of Callicoon, has published a second book, titled “Cupid, Couples and Contracts.” He is a partner in the Manhattan law firm of Wallman, Kramer, Gasman & McKnight.

Construction is underway for the new ambulatory services division of Community General Hospital in Harris. It will house the HELP Clinic and be linked directly to the Seelig Division, providing direct access to radiology, laboratory, cardio-pulmonary and other outpatient services.

Monticello Raceway joins 18 other tracks with the installation of the passing lane. The passing lane or “open stretch” allows racing room for boxed-in horses.

Sandra Flynn of Callicoon was installed as state president of the Department of New York Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars at the state convention held in Rochester June 22-25. She was installed by her mother, Past State President Leota Hermann, with her sister, Barbra Sims and Sandy’s daughter, Tami Flynn, serving as installing conductresses. The ladies are all members of the H. Russell Kenyon Auxiliary #5808 in Callicoon.

A new convenience store, kitchen  and gas station is being constructed in Jeffersonville and is expected to open in August. It is located across from the auction barn at the corner of Main and Center Streets.

20 Years Ago - 2004

The Sullivan County Democrat made a big issue – literally – of its 114th birthday on Friday, July 2, 2004, with a 68-page broadsheet issue, the largest ever produced, according to publisher Fred Stabbert III. The number read Vol. CXIV, No. 1. The newspaper was founded on that date in 1891.

U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY-22) announced that his bill to name the Liberty Post Office in honor of Ben R. Gerow has been signed into law by President Bush. Gerow was a lifelong resident of Liberty, a successful businessman, Sullivan County Sheriff, New York State Assemblyman, and Liberty Postmaster. Gerow was born in 1880 and died in 1961.

William and Catherine Gloor of Ferndale announce the engagement of their daughter, Melissa Lynn Gloor, to David George Semones, the son of Connie Eastmore and George Semones of Georgia. An August 2004 wedding is planned to be held in Georgia.

Exactly one month from today, the 23rd annual Sullivan County Democrat Golf Tourney will tee off at the Villa Roma Golf Course in Callicoon, and the field of 56 teams is almost complete. A host of former champions have joined the lineup as well.

10 Years Ago - 2014

A second line of storms brought heavy rains to Western Sullivan County on Thursday, adding to the misery of residents already dealing with flooding in the Town of Callicoon and its Village of Jeffersonville and Youngsville hamlet. The Town of Delaware hamlet of Kohlertown also suffered flooding and damage. Approximately five inches of rain fell in two hours.

Sullivan County Bureau of Fire investigators are fairly certain the cause of Wednesday’s catastrophic house fire in Cochecton was lightning. The same thunderstorms that battered Jeffersonville and Youngsville with torrential downpours also struck a home along County Route 114, requiring firefighters to mount a dramatic exterior and then interior attack. Despite their best efforts, the century-old home succumbed to the flames and is now boarded up. Thankfully, there were no deaths or injuries, even as the fire was being fought in the midst of the thunderstorms. Responding were Lake Huntington, Callicoon, White Lake, Lava, Hortonville, Smallwood-Mongaup Valley, North Branch and Narrowsburg fire departments; the Cochecton and Upper Delaware ambulance corps; and the Sheriff’s Office and the State Police. On standby were the Yulan and Beach Lake (PA) departments.

The Board of Directors of The Delaware Company is proud to announce the first recipients of two new recognition awards which will be presented annually. The 2014 President’s Award has been presented to architect Robert Dadras of Liberty, who first initiated the idea of an annual architectural/historical tour and has served as the organizer and narrator of each of the 19 annual trips conducted so far. The James W. Burbank Memorial Award was presented to Debra Conway, the current Director of the Fort, for her vision, enthusiasm, perseverance and skill in advancing the appreciation of the history and historic landmarks of the Upper Delaware River Valley in the true spirit of the former County Historian and founder of Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History for whom the award is named.