110 Years Ago - 1913

In a message delivered by Past District Deputy grand master Charles T. Curtis at the last annual public installation of Delaware Lodge No. 561, Callicoon, he gave evidence of the existence of the famous Indian Camp on what is known as Tammany Flats. Scharf, the historian for the State of Delaware, after giving a brief sketch of the life of Tammany to the time of his removal from the lower Delaware, states in these words the result of his investigations as to what became of him.

“And it is traditionally asserted that he lived far up towards the headwaters of the river of his people in the extreme northeastern part of Pennsylvania. It is believed that Tammanend lived for a considerable period on the west bank of the Delaware in what is now Damascus Township, Wayne  County.”

James E. Quinlan, in his history of Sullivan County, at page 183, deals with the fascinating rendition in the following manner. “On the banks of the river, near the present village of Cochecton, was an Indian village of some note, where the savages of the surrounding country met to observe their ancient customs. Here they had their corn dances, their dog festivals, their games of ball, etc., and here, according to the ancient tradition which has been nearly lost amid the din and whirl of modern days, lived the celebrated Lenape sage and Yankee saint, Tammanend, Tamming, or Tammany.” (Ed. Note: More of this account appears in the February 25, 1913, issue of the Sullivan County Democrat.)

The children of the late Adam Metzger have erected a very artistic and substantial memorial to his memory in the Callicoon Cemetery. Martin Caulfield of Honesdale designed and built the memorial.

On Wednesday Martin Hermann had a tree cut near the river bank at Bush’s Eddy that measured over four feet at the base. It took two teams to bring the butt end to the mill. The tree has withstood many Spring freshets, and is about the last one of its size in this section.

Last Monday evening a battle royal took place in the vicinity of Livingston Manor. All the game cocks far and near were brought together to defeat some local birds, but the local flock defeated all comers and finished with a clean slate, six victories in all. A purse of $200 is said to have been at stake besides some side bets which gave considerable spice to the evening’s events.

100 Years Ago - 1923

Cutting, hauling and packing of the ice at the Callicoon Co-Operative Creamery at Callicoon cost $1.06 per ton. The work was in charge of L.J. Buddenhagen of Hortonville. From E.O. Tyler’s pond, 1,300 tons were harvested and packed in the ice house. From the Delaware another 500 tons are being gathered to be packed in a stack. The ice averaged 17 inches in thickness and of an exceptionally fine quality.

Harry Jacobs, the 15-year-old school boy who left the home of his uncle, Frank L. Cole of Callicoon, three weeks ago, has not been heard from since. He has been traced to Hancock. It is supposed that he has gone to Delaware County and secured a position.

J. Ellis Terrell has shot his 13th fox for the season. This made the 54th of these rodents he has bagged. — Damascus Corresp.

The roof of Casper Engert’s barn caved in Sunday morning under the weight of the snow. No stock was injured. — Fremont Center Corresp.

Born Saturday, February 24, at Hortonville, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Wendelin Dirie. They named her Julia Alma.

After a milk war that has lasted since last April, the pool has acquired by purchase the creamery of the Rhenken Co. at Narrowsburg.

Supervisor Clark of Tusten at the last meeting of the board of supervisors introduced a resolution favoring hastening of the purchase of the Delaware toll bridges.

An oak tree, whose age was estimated at 116 years, yielded 1,600 feet sawed timber when it was cut up in the Town of Neversink last week. The aged monarch grew on Thunder Hill. The tract is one of the last of the old timberlands of the county.

90 Years Ago - 1933

Trapped by flames in their bedroom on the second floor of a lumberman’s shack, on a mountaintop near DeBruce, two children, Marjorie and Lyle Lobdell, 11 and 12, met their death Monday as the dwelling burned while their father tried in vain to rescue them. The parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elvin Lobdell, escaped with a year-old baby and a son, Cleo, 9, from the burning structure.

William Beiling Jr. of Jeffersonville, employed as a carpenter on the new Lorraine Hotel at Lake Huntington, sustained a serious injury to his eye on February 21. He is at the Horton Hospital in Middletown for a few days and it is uncertain at this time if he will lose the sight in the eye or not. 

Mrs. Seth Pelton of Monticello was an eyewitness to the attempted assassination of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, and came very close to becoming a national heroine. A winter resident of Miami, Fla., she lives but a couple of blocks from Bayfront Park where the shooting took place. A few minutes before the would-be assassin started firing, Mrs. Pelton spotted Mrs. W.F. Cross (the woman who saved Roosevelt’s life), whom she had met a short time before, and started to make her way through the crowd and stood beside Mrs. Cross when she struck the gunner’s arm.

Trial of Max Zucker and Hyman Becker, indicted on charges for having attempted to burn a Swan Lake hotel in December, 1931, was adjourned on Monday to Supreme Court, starting on March 6.

At the Callicoon Hospital, it was a 9 1/2 pound baby boy, Robert William, to Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Ferber of Beechwoods.

Marguerite Pfeiffer of Kenoza Lake and Roy Crandall of Roscoe were married at the office of Justice of the Peace Dan C. Osborn, at Honesdale, Saturday, February 25.

80 Years Ago - 1943

James M. Kelly, who has been chairman of the Sullivan County Democratic Committee since the death of John J. Burns, announced at a meeting this week that he is planning to retire May 1.

Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Swendsen of Damascus have an 8 lb. 11 oz. daughter, born March 3 at the Callicoon Hospital.

Charles A. Thorwelle, for many years a prominent banker and hotel proprietor of Callicoon, passed away at his home in Callicoon on February 26. He was elected vice president of the Callicoon National Bank at its organization meeting in 1909.

A daughter, Joyce Middleton, was born Tuesday to Mr. and Mrs. George A. Yaeger of Liberty. Mr. Yaeger is on the legislative research staff of Senator Thomas C. Desmond.

Word has been received here of the serious injury and ultimate death of Frank Lang, the younger son of Joseph Lang, a farmer of Swiss Hill, who was with the United States forces in the vicinity of Australia. He is the first Jeffersonville boy to be a casualty of this conflict.

Margery Baldwin and Hank Knack Jr. of Callicoon Center were feted with a going-away party at Tumble Inn Sunday evening. Adolph Wagner’s band provided music for round and square dancing. . . Milton Keim of Callicoon was tendered a farewell party by the post office force on Monday evening at Karg’s Olympia Hotel... Chester Wood was given a family farewell party on Sunday at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Wood. He left yesterday to join the United States forces… Wyman Rutledge of Abrahamsville recently took an examination as meteorologist in the U.S. Army.

William Pendell, county court stenographer for many years, is back on the job in the County Judge’s office after a brief period at newspaper work, his one-time vocation, with the Sullivan County News.

The house of Charles Stewart, RFD 2, Callicoon, burned to the ground last Friday morning. Hortonville firemen responded to a call but could do nothing on arrival. The home was only insured for $600 making the loss a severe one.

Agnes Hallenbeck of Fallsburg married Cpt. T. Robert Arthur of Cardondale, Pa., on February 27. He was home on a furlough from the Al-Can Highway.

Word has been received of the marriage of Agnes and Robert Arthur on February 27.

70 Years Ago - 1953

It is expected that final excavation on the East Delaware tunnel will be completed about the middle of March when miners will hole through at a point somewhere between the shafts at Lew Beach and Willowemoc. The tunnel is one of the longest of its kind and will connect the New York City Board of Water Supply at Pepacton in Delaware County with the Merriman Dam at Lackawack.

Fire of undetermined origin destroyed the wood-working shed and brooder house owned by A. Winglovitz Poultry Farm & Hatchery Co. on Route 97 about a mile above Cochecton Sunday... A Beaver Brook woman is dead and her grandmother seriously burned in the Callicoon Hospital as the result of a fire which completely destroyed the three-story hotel of James LaBarr at Beaver Brook early the morning of March 5. Miss Agnes LaBarr, 33, daughter of the hotel owner, apparently went back into the building to get some personal belongings and failed to return.

A daughter was born at the Callicoon Hospital on Thursday to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Leroy of Youngsville; a daughter was born Friday to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Bauernfeind of Callicoon; a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Adams of Roscoe on Saturday; a daughter was born Wednesday to Mr. and Mrs. Otto Bowers of Roscoe; a daughter was born Wednesday to Mr. and Mrs. William English of Long Eddy.

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ferguson of Liberty celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last evening with a family gathering.

A ten-year-old Livingston Manor girl was almost instantly killed Thursday evening when the front wheel of her bicycle struck the curb on a set of stone steps in front of her home on DuBois Street, catapulting her over the handlebars. She struck her head and died a short time later of a fractured skull. Carole Lorraine Butler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Butler, was a third grade student at the local school.

60 Years Ago - 1963

The Hankins Fire District has received a new Ford fire truck, donated by Philip F. Gottschalk, retired feed dealer in that community. The old truck, formerly housed at Hankins, is now in the new firehouse in Fremont Center. Another new truck is being housed at the Mileses firehouse.

Miss Linda Kellam, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Kellam of Tyler Hill, Pa., and James A. Metzger, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Metzger of Callicoon, were married on Sunday, February 24, in the Callicoon Methodist Church.

After ten years as head of the Livingston Manor Central School athletic department, Coach Silvio Pesavento will leave his post on March 1 to join the staff at the New Paltz State University College as direct field coordinator. He was honored at a dinner by the Livingston Manor Rotary Club last week.

A daughter was born Friday to Mr. and Mrs. Cono Manzolillo, Callicoon, at the Callicoon Hospital.

50 Years Ago - 1973

Diane E. Roth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Roth of White Sulphur Springs has graduated from Eastern Airlines flight attendant training center in Miami, Fla., and has started her career as a stewardess. She will be based in San Juan.

A large portion of the late Max Yasgur farm was sold to Barmann’s Realty Sales of Middletown. No future plans were made available by Barmann’s.

On February 22, a meeting was held at the Eldred School to discuss a merger between Eldred and Narrowsburg. About 250 people were present.

Liberty Varsity Debaters reached a climax on the weekend of February 17 when they bested 64 schools from ten states and the District of Columbia at a tournament held in West Roxbury, Mass. Jerry Jacobs and Eric Seiler received a magnificent trophy for sweeping the preliminaries 6-0 and then going on through the elimination round to ultimate victory. Eileen Pollack and Matthew Bessen placed fifth. Both Jacobs and Bessen received speaker awards.

What is possibly the first sheriff’s department underwater recovery squadron to be formed in New York State, proudly completed seven weeks of intensive training at Grossinger’s pool. In the group are Deputy Robert DuBois, Instructor Deputy Bruce Smith, Deputy Arthur Hawker, Deputy Ronald Shaw and Undersheriff William Forsbach. The unit will be used to aid in crime solution.

About 45 friends gathered to extend good wishes to Mrs. Clare Reddish and children, Butch and Sally, in their new home, with a housewarming on February 11.

A daughter, Jeanne Mary, was born at the Liberty-Loomis Hospital on February 3 to Mr. and Mrs. William Abplanalp of White Sulphur Springs.

40 Years Ago - 1983

An intentional fire set by Swan Lake firefighters burned down the once fashionable and popular Commodore Hotel in Swan Lake. The 150-room hotel was burned down when the Stevensville Hotel purchased it and asked local fire companies to burn it down as it had become a fire hazard.

The Sullivan County Audubon Society announced that they too will add to the fund to capture the killer or killers of eagles in the Pennsylvania area. The fund has climbed to more than $4,000 with the Sullivan County group’s donation of $100.

Rebecca Fisher and Michael Bauer have been named valedictorian and salutatorian of the Delaware Valley Central School Class of 1983.

Skijoring — an old winter sport that is fast paced action at its best as skiers are towed by horses — will be just one of the many events spanning three days of festivities during Holiday Mountain Ski Area’s 10th Annual Winter Carnival, starting Friday, February 25 with a Torchlight Parade, crowning of a new Snow Queen and races of all kinds. The Mayor’s Trophy Race will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. as three Monticello Raceway horses will pace down Broadway. The favorite is Ski Pal, driven by Joe  Romano Jr. (From the February 25 issue of the Sullivan County Democrat.)

Magic Heir of Bethlehem Stables in Bethlehem, Conn., driven by John Stubits of Liberty, was the winner of the Mayor’s Trophy in the race down Broadway Sunday. Nearly 1,000 fans lined Broadway to watch the race, all part of the gala Winter Carnival Weekend sponsored by the Town of Thompson and Holiday Mountain Ski Center.

Dwayne Cabrera was presented a “300 ring” by the Sullivan County Men’s Bowling Association in honor of his second 300 game, bowled in 1982. Last week, he accomplished the same feat by bowling another 300 perfect game. He has been bowling five years.

The Delaware Valley Job Corps Center, located on the site of the former St. Joseph’s Seminary in Callicoon, will be operating under International Telephone and Telegraph. The contract of RCA recently expired and ITT outbid RCA with a bid of less than $185,000 over a two year, $6 1/2 million dollar contract.

30 Years Ago - 1993

Judith Kaye, a native of Monticello, has been named New York Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals by Governor Mario Cuomo. The position is a 14-year term with an annual salary of $120,000. She will oversee the state court system as well as head up the seven member Court of Appeals.

The engineer operating the Village of Liberty water system told board members Monday that they should waste no time in deciding what they will do for a water supply once the Revonah Lake reservoir runs dry. John C. Kwak, vice president of the Circleville engineering firm of Eustance & Horowitz, said that the Revonah Lake supply is holding up ably under the pressure of substituting for the primary Elm Street well water source, which had to be shut down after traces of the organic chemical Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) were discovered. MTBE is a liquid octane-enhancer that apparently seeped into the groundwater through a gasoline spill or storage tank leak.

On February 6, the Jeffersonville Varsity Basketball Cheerleaders won third place, both in dance and cheerleading, in the National Conference Championship held at the Orange County Community College.

Jeffersonville has two celebrities. Anna Erlwein was guest of honor at a party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Erlwein in observance of her 80th birthday on December 27. Christine Segar, a retired English teacher and librarian at the Jeffersonville School, was feted at Mullally’s Pub on January 23 in honor of her 90th birthday. Both ladies are in reasonably good health.

Firefighters from the tri-state area converged on Holiday Mountain Ski Area over the weekend for the 12th annual Volunteer Firefighters Winter Games. A record 155 5-persons teams participated in the Giant Shalom on Sunday, an unusual sporting event which saw the firefighters clad in their turn-out coats and helmets, navigating down the ski slope and around several flags, all while holding onto a 55-foot length of fire hoses. The Rock Hill Firemen served 650 pancake breakfasts Sunday as its annual contribution to the fun winter weekend.

Hermine Engelhard, a resident at the Skilled Nursing Unit of Wayne Memorial Hospital, welcomed her first great-grandchild on the occasion of her 101st birthday. Noah Mark is the son of Mark and Marilyn Engelhard (a nurse at the hospital) of Carley Brook, Pa., and the grandson of Kurt and Irmgard Engelhard of Abrahamsville, Pa.

20 Years Ago - 2003

The lawsuit against the Village of Liberty, Exxon-Mobil, VanEtten and Premium Oil involving contamination of MTBE to one of the village of Liberty’s water supply wells has been dismissed because the statue of limitations for bringing the lawsuit has expired.

A winter carnival was held at Holiday Mountain in Bridgeville last weekend, just one of the many events planned to celebrate the Town of Thompson’s bicentennial celebration which will last through 2003.

Four generations of Thomas Halloran’s family gathered at the Dead End Café in Parksville to celebrate his 90th birthday, including Thomas M. Halloran Jr., Thomas H. Mungeer (grandson), and Thomas M. Mungeer (great-grandson).

Firefighters were called out in an effort to save a three-story barn behind the home of E. Pointer in Kenoza Lake Friday afternoon. Despite four hours of fighting the blaze, the structure was destroyed. No one was hurt.

Paul Minton recorded his first perfect 300 game at Kiamesha Lanes on February 19 in the Wednesday Night Mountain Top ISPN Men’s league.This is his third career 300. In addition to the three 300 games, he has three 298 games, a 299 game and a high series of 751, 761, 778 and 796.

10 Years Ago - 2013

The Sullivan West High School Auditorium will soon become home to a band of pirates, fairies, and Lost Boys when the Sullivan West Musical Production Club presents “Peter Pan” starring Madison Breslin in the title role, who literally flies across the stage for three performances.

Catskill Art Society will present a work-in-progress screening of “My Father Was a Logger” by Academy Award nominated filmmaker Alice Elliott. This video was drawn from dramatic 16MM black and white footage of logging in the 1920s or ‘30s, depicting the labor of horses and raw manpower in an age on the cusp of industrialization. The film was rescued from a flooded basement in 2005. 

Monticello senior Shane Jackson recently signed a letter of intent to play football at Saint Anslem College in Goffstown, New Hampshire.  

Fallsburg senior Rakkir Watson scored his 1,000th career point during a 72-37 loss to S.S. Seward last Wednesday in a Section IX–Class C semifinal. It came on a layup with 2:41 left in the game and the contest was stopped so Watson could be recognized with a ball presentation. He scored one more bucket to finish with 14 for the night to lead the fourth-seeded Comets (13–7). He finished with 1,002 points for his high school career. The host Spartans wound up losing to Pine Plains in the Class C final two days later.