150 Years Ago -  1873

Mr. Wales of Pike Pond, County Republican Chairman, attended a convention in Saratoga where he met an old associate, George William Curtis, chairman of the convention.

At the Town Democratic Caucus held Monday at the Hotel of Widow Ruth in Callicoon Center, delegates to the County Convention were named: Peter F. Bogert, Fred Hessinger and Henry Reinheimer are delegates to the County Convention. Wm. C. Brand, John Ludwig and Aaron Lovett and Jacob Dietz, delegates to School Commissioners Convention.

Carrier pigeons for sale, $12.00 a pair. A young pair can be bought for $6.00. Tumbler pigeons are offered for only $5.00 a pair. Call at farm located about half a mile from Jeffersonville. F. Berghofer.

140 Years Ago - 1883

ADV. — I am now running a daily stage route between Jeffersonville and Narrowsburg, leaving Jeffersonville at 7:30 a.m., arriving at Narrowsburg at 12 p.m. Leaving again at the arrival of Train 1 (1:40 p.m.) and reaching Jeffersonville at 6 p.m. The fare is the same as the other stages. All express business promptly attended to. N.B. passengers coming or going to New York can save 40 cents on their fare (the price from Callicoon to Narrowsburg) by going with me, and can take any train, as all trains stop at Narrowsburg. — Patrick Tormey. 

A CHALLENGE: My horses weigh respectfully 765 and 930 pounds and I challenge any person in Sullivan County to trot one or both from Fosterdale to Monticello, or stone boat either single or double. In case of a trot my opponent may pick a man to go with me, and I will make a selection to go with him. Patrick Tormey.

Pen Hardenburgh called on us yesterday. He has about four hundred barrels of eggs in cold storage.

Tunis Hardenburgh, formerly of Youngsville, but now of Parthow’s, Virginia, called on us yesterday. He says he likes Virginia much better than Nebraska.

Miles Hardenburgh has the largest pair of two-year steers in the county. Their weight last week was 2240.

The stage route between Pike Pond and Narrowsburg has been taken over by Patrick Tormey and has been extended to Jeffersonville, affording another outlet for our thriving village but we still look for a railroad.

A.H. Weyrauch, blacksmith, and A. Yager, wagon maker at Callicoon, turned out 14 new wagons this summer and have orders for four more to be completed before the end of October.

At the F.&A.M. Lodge Saturday night at Callicoon (Center) the villages of Fremont Center, Roscoe, Westfield Flats, Beaverkill, Jeffersonville, Parksville and Livingston Manor were represented.

Henry Huth of Beechwoods and Roudolpheania Pfefferman of Germany were married at the Presbyterian Church, by Rev. Bernhardt.

130 Years Ago - 1893

The bodies of two women, riddled with bullets, were found buried under a stack of hay and manure in the basement of Paul Halliday’s barn near Bloomingburg. They proved to be Mrs. Margaret McQuilan and her daughter, Sarah, of Newburgh, who had been lured to their death by Mrs. Lizzie Halliday. Later Paul Halliday’s body was found buried under the kitchen floor in the Halliday home. He had been shot three times. Paul Halliday was Lizzie’s aged husband.

The funeral of the late Dr. William Brand was held at 2  o’clock Saturday. Rev. O. Klose of Cochecton conducted services in English and Rev. Philip Metzger of Jeffersonville in German. Dr. Brand was born in Rotenburg, Germany, August 5, 1826. His father was an official. He studied medicine at Marburg University, graduating in 1847. He was married to Anna Froelich of Hanau, Germany, and with their first-born crossed the Atlantic in 1847, coming to Jeffersonville in 1851, and with the exception of five years, had since lived in Jeffersonville. His marriage was blessed with ten children, with only four sons surviving.

George Seibert of Jeffersonville and Miss Helen Lawless of Youngsville were married by Justice Darbee in Liberty on August 31.

The iron bridge is to be opened in Jeffersonville today.

 Mrs. William Hofer of Kansas has been chosen as one of the chorus of singers to the World’s Fair from that state. Mr. Hofer was formerly a Jeffersonville boy and Mrs. Hofer is a sister of E. F. Branning of Narrowsburg.

William Bury of Lowell, Washington, is spending a couple of weeks visiting his parents at Youngsville and calling on old friends. It is sixteen years since Mr. Bury left here for the far west.

Dudley Benton has bought the blacksmith tools of C. Bryon and intends to start business next month at Egypt.

120 Years Ago - 1903

The second track of the O&W between Fallsburg and Strongtown was opened this week.

A local branch of the National Protective Legion was organized at Livingston Manor a few days ago. The meetings are held in the GAR hall.

Valentine Scheidell of this place yesterday leased the Bethel Creamery, making five in which he is  interested.

In a friendly game of baseball at Callicoon Center Saturday afternoon between Callicoon and Livingston Manor, Louis Merklin, one of the Manor players was almost instantly killed by a foul ball hit from his own bat. Merklin was at bat and Frank Mootz, pitcher for the home team, delivered the ball which Merklin struck. The ball glanced from the bat and struck him behind the ear. He dropped unconscious to the ground. Young Merklin is about 18 years old.

A department store for Jeffersonville will be the next new enterprise. A special meeting of the Callicoon Lodge of Free Masons of Jeffersonville was held last Saturday night to consider the proposition to enlarge the lodge building to twice its present size for use as a department store by a combination of merchants in this village who will consolidate and form a corporation. So far those who have become interested in the enterprise are Charles Schmidt, H.U. Krenrich and Conrad Metzger.

John and Joseph Miller, the oldest sons of John Miller of Beechwoods, have been appointed policemen in New York City and began their duties on September 12.

Potatoes are not selling for 50¢ a bushel.

Hazel, not content with a store and a post office, is now going to have a hotel that will be the halfway house between Livingston Manor and Roscoe. The new acid factory there is the cause of all this for while these concerns turn out a great deal of alcohol, about five gallons for each cord of wood consumed, the workmen do not take to it as a steady drink. In fact if one drinks only a small glass of this wood liquor he is apt to wake up on the other side of the River Styx.

A daughter was born to Mike Keim and wife of Swiss Hill on Monday.

Lucy Ann Robertson, widow of Radley Robertson, died at Liberty at the age of 91. Her husband was a soldier in the War of 1812 and died in 1869. She leaves four children.

School Commissioner Henry J. Knoll reports that the following candidates who took examinations at Livingston Manor August 13-14 earned teachers certificates: First grade, Mary L. Hardenburgh and Chauncey Gray, Rockland; Arthur Russell, Livingston Manor; Homer Whitney, Downsville; Second grade, Mildred Porter, Eureka; Hettie Gilmore, Rockland; Emily Brooks, Grahamsville; Edythe Halsey, Rock Valley; William Cooney, Neversink; Marella Hanofee, Aden; Ralph Bird, Jeffersonville; and Austin Denman, Hasbrouck. Third Grade; Harriet Pinney, Liberty; Eva McKay, Stevensville; and Charles St. John, Hankins.

Charles H. Hardner has sold his farm of 81 acres on East Hill to Casper Bossley for $1,500.

Walter Hardenburgh of White Sulphur Springs has engaged to teach the East Hill School. Edward Rogler is teaching the Gulf School near Roscoe.

110 Years Ago - 1913

George Lowe of Jeffersonville, proprietor of the Lowe Garage Co. operating Eagle Hotel Garage here, has taken the Western Hotel garage at Callicoon, formerly conducted by Brown and Mitchell, and it will be run in connection with the garage in Jeffersonville.

Ground was broken for the new bank building at the Mansion House corner. The building will be erected under the supervision of George DeLapp who built Bollenbach’s new mill.

Frank A. Yager, formerly of Jeffersonville, and Miss Ivah Theresa Sperbeck of Each Branch, were married at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Hancock on September 17.

Wm. J. Manion of Ferndale, a graduate of Hamilton College, has taken a position of instructor of mathematics and athletic coach at University School, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Frank Neuberger and son of this place have contracted for the erection of a large building of concrete blocks for George W. Ihrig at Callicoon, on the Hoban property, bought by Ihrig. The building will be 50 x 90 feet with three stories and basement. There will be two large stores on the first floor with a driveway between. The second floor will be used as a YMCA with gymnasium and swimming pool. On the third floor will be four flats. The building is to cost $10,000.

The residents of Monticello are divided into factions over the rivalry between Gerahty and Son and L.F. Guimond, proprietors of  moving picture houses. The Gerahty’s for a long time had the only picture show in town but recently L.G. Guimond built a $25,000 casino there and immediately the proprietors of the shows advertised special attractions to get the patronage. Gerahty and Son advertised six reels and Guimond made it seven. Thereon Gerahty came back with eight reels and Guimond toured the town with an automobile bearing signs, “Eleven reels tonight and steam heat.” This prompted Gerahty and Son to engage two operators and put on the all-night show, announcing, “Come and stay as long as you like.” The house was packed until daylight.

100 Years Ago - 1923

The case of Mrs. Frances Lunevsky against Mr. and Mrs. William Breiner of Livingston Manor in which the plaintiff claimed $20,000 in damages because she stuck her leg through a stove pipe hole in the floor in the Breiner house was dismissed by Judge Roscoe with costs.

Work will be resumed this week on the lake dam of the Clarke Water and Power Co., which was held up last winter by the death of the engineer, Joseph B. Rider of Norwalk, Conn. The construction of the dam will be in charge of Will Lawrence.

Osmer Wilkin has gone to Philadelphia to attend college. He will study osteopathy.

The Albert Menges farm and boarding house at Youngsville, which Reuben Cohen bought a couple years ago for $16,000, was sold at foreclosure proceedings at the Mansion House last Friday. Mr. Menges was the only bidder and it was struck down to him for $5,000. His claim totaled $9,000.

Under an amendment to the election law a literacy test must be given a new voter.

Edward Reagan of Callicoon, a retired railroad man, was found dead in bed at the home of Patrick Griffin, in Middletown, on Sunday. He was born in 1854, in Milanville, Pa., a son of Peter Reagan and Ellen McNamara.

Walter Lewis is teaching the Fox Mountain School and Stanley Steele of Midway, the school at Midway. Mr. Steele has 40 pupils registered and there are several more small children that would attend if there were seating room.

W.J. Donaldson and Sons have completed the construction of a concrete dam on the preserve of the Cherokee Club which will make a sheet of water covering a hundred acres.

The widow of policeman Edward C. Dollard of Monticello, who was murdered by robbers September 5, will, under the compensation law, receive $20 weekly during the remainder of her life.

90 Years Ago - 1933

A daughter was born at the Callicoon Hospital on September 16 to Mr. and Mrs. George Dill of Woodbourne. The mother was Anna Wagner of Youngsville.

Under a new law all candidates for office this fall must be property holders of record.

The State of Maine, long a rigid prohibition state, has now gone wet as a way of solving its drinking problems. It is suggested that Tennessee and Kentucky stop feuding and give up making moonshine.

The bird sanctuary of the Tennanah Lake House of the Wolff brothers is now occupied only by show birds. The Wolff Bros. add to their birdhouses each year and each year brings increased numbers of tenants. The birdhouses make this one of the show places in Sullivan County.

Poor relief in Sullivan County for August cost $916. The sum was extended in aid to 63 families according to a report of Mrs. Susanna Potsch, Commissioner of Public Welfare. In July, the amount was $820. Towns that extended aid were Bethel, $130.17, six families; Fremont, $25, three families; Fallsburg, $276.55, fifteen families; Liberty, $283.27, twenty-seven families; Neversink, $5.77, three families; Rockland, $141.86, nine families.

Edwin Schultz is again carrying the high school pupils from Kenoza Lake to Jeffersonville at a contract price of $720. Schultz is also carrying the high school pupils from Fosterdale and the Hartmann districts.

80 Years Ago - 1943

Regina Edna Kehrley and Leonard A. Huff were married on Sunday, September 19, at 2 p.m., at Walton.

Gerald Hick is now in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with government engineers looking for minerals. They moved there from California. He is not in the military service. Gerald went to California from Connecticut.

Lt. Basil Hick of the Army was recently transferred from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to New York where he is awaiting further orders.

New gas ration books will soon be distributed. Old A books and a tire inspection must be presented when obtaining a new A book.

Edward Peters of Briscoe writes from Africa after seeing a good share of the territory from Guadalcanal to Tripoli. He describes farming in Africa as very primitive, with a stake in the ground pulled by an ox, cow or camel. Threshing is done by driving cattle over the grain or drawing a stone boat over it. Temperatures got to 145 degrees in the sun and to 115 degrees in the shade.

Rabbi Aaron Tofeld, who with his wife and child is vacationing at the home of his wife’s parents, the Alex Krongels, will soon enter the Army as a chaplain.

Albert T. Decker, attorney of Liberty, is a candidate for District Attorney.

A daughter was born last night to Mr. and Mrs. John T. Taylor at the Callicoon Hospital.

70 Years Ago - 1953

The Jeffersonville Firemen were busy Sunday preparing the space in front of the building to receive a treatment of blacktop.

The improvements in the local firehouse by the firemen by volunteer labor is a display of one of the finest examples of community spirit. The firemen have given very generously of their time and skill to have one of the finest firehouses in Sullivan County.

Clarence Fischer received the news yesterday morning, over the telephone, that his father, Oscar Fischer, had died in his sleep at the home of his son, John, in Jersey City. Mr. Oscar Fischer was 89 years of age.

A shower was given Miss Helen Sehm last night at the home of Mrs. Joseph Clifford. Miss Sehm will become the bride of Leo Graham on October 3rd.

Fred H. Zieres, of the Tegeler Insurance Agency, has returned from Syracuse where he met with top officials of American Motorists Insurance Company to discuss developments in the field of casualty insurance and problems in safety.

The local firemen have placed an order for more than half of a ton of turkey to provide for the turkey supper they plan to serve at the annual firemen’s supper on October 17.

Mr. Ludwig Ernst, retired New York City motorman of Youngsville, died suddenly in the French Hospital, New York City. He was born on the farm now owned by Charles Kuschner and was the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ernst, who came from New York with a family of six boys and three girls in 1884. Ludwig was the only one born on the farm.

60 Years Ago - 1963

Elizabeth A. Schadt, daughter of Postmaster and Mrs. Willard Schadt of Jeffersonville, was one of the first-day registrants at the Sullivan County Community College.

Jacob Aks headed a five-man Sullivan County delegation to the Democratic Judicial Convention for the Third Judicial District to nominate candidates for Supreme Court Justices. Also attending were Joseph Heller of Parksville, Willard Schop of Liberty, and David Grodsky and Albert Gerstman, both of Woodridge.

Anne Mages, VFW Auxiliary District 2 president, led a group of members to the Castle Point veterans hospital at Beacon for observance of VFW Day. Also in the parade were Jean Shankle, Sullivan County Council Auxiliary president and members of the H. Russell Kenyon Auxiliary 5808, Callicoon, with their colors. 

Officers elected at the September meeting of the Emmett Turner Legion Auxiliary were Mrs. Jennie Kolbe, president; Mrs. Mildred Sykes, secretary; Mrs. Erma Mall, treasurer; and Mrs. Thelma Wehner, chaplain.

Opening day dedication ceremonies of the Sullivan County Community College will be held at the college building  South Fallsburg next Monday afternoon, September 23, at 3 o’clock. Bernard Weiss, chairman of the Board of Trustees, will preside at the exercises.

Congressman Katherine St. George, State Senator E. Ogden Bush and Assemblyman Hyman E. Mintz, the clergy and the press have been invited to participate together with students, faculty and trustees of the college, representatives of the State University and county officials. At the ceremonies the building made available to the college for temporary headquarters by the Fallsburg Central School District will be dedicated. 

Douglas Mullally will be presented as an Eagle Scout at the Youngsville P.T.A. meeting on Monday, September 23.

50 Years Ago - 1973

Thirty-five charter members of the Campfire Girls and Boy Scouts, organized at Liberty in 1908, were present at the “Ole Timers’ Reunion” ad dinner held recently at Chan-Al, Shandelee. The original group of Campfire Girls was organized by Polly Young Keller. Seven of the original members were present – Caroline Doughty and Vivian Dewhurst Davie of Binghamton, Nella Heidt, Ada Moore, Vera Ernhout Kortright, Pearl Hobart Knack and Helen Pierpoint Sprague, all of Liberty. The original Boy Scout troop was led by the late L.O. Sweet. Nine of the charter members were present: Dewey Borden, Robert Gildersleeve, Carl Hoos, James Kenworthy, Harold Dexheimer, Francis Kortright, Louis Matzinger, Harry DeMeyer and Leon Harter.

A new sewage treatment system, with an expenditure of $35,000 in surplus funds for the upgrading, made necessary when the State Health Department condemned the old system, is nearly completed.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Mootz of Jeffersonville were guests of honor at a surprise dinner and dance party September 1 at the Youngsville Firehouse in honor of their 25th wedding anniversary. . . Mr. and Mrs. John Hemmer of Liberty celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at a surprise party given them at Pope John Hall, St. George’s Church, Jeffersonville, on September 2.

Randall Mills of Callicoon participated in the Summer College Orientation Program in Engineering and Science (SCOPES) at Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, designed to help students interested in sciences, engineering and business as a career to become aware of the needed preparations.

Ground was broken Friday for a UDC 125-unit housing development in Liberty on an eight-acre site on Route 52.

40 Years Ago - 1983

Mike Preis, retired insurance agent from Narrowsburg, died September 14 at the age of 63. He sold his brokerage to Edward T. Sykes of Callicoon a year ago with offices in Narrowsburg, Jeffersonville and Callicoon.

The Sullivan County Community College will hold a 20th anniversary open house on September 25 in front of the Hermann Memorial Library. State Assemblyman Richard Coombe will be the featured speaker.

The first Sullivan County 4-H Cloverbuds Club, aged 5 to 7 years, exhibited crafts, baked goods, vegetables and livestock alongside their older 4-H Club counterparts at the 104th Little World’s Fair in Grahamsville. Winning ribbons based upon high levels of participation, effort and achievement were Jennifer Diehl, Stephen DuBois, Carrie Pierce and Kelly Schadt, aged 5; Danielle Pierce, Rebecca Schlau, Jason Hahn, Tennile Ruth, Miyama Killion and Jaylin Vernon, aged  6; and in the 7-year-old age group, Adam Diehl.

On September 24, the Jesse Brams Post #206, Jewish War Veterans, will celebrate the burning of their mortgage at their post headquarters located on Liberty Street in Monticello. Entertainment and refreshments will be enjoyed by members and their spouses.

When you invest close to $100,000 in the “tools of your trade” the only way to make sure your investment lasts is through proper maintenance and care. Henry R. Good of Monticello, 31, recently returned from the 8th Annual U.S. Diesel Truckin’ Nationals at Englishtown, N.J., with a  first place trophy for Most Livable Cab and a third place trophy for best Appearing Crew. An independent trucker, who puts 5 or 6 days out of seven on the road, Good has had his truck dubbed “Hank’s Highway Hilton.”

Rhonda Grishaber of Jeffersonville and Jack Decker of Roscoe were married on August 27 at the Jeffersonville Lutheran Church.

30 Years Ago - 1993

It is anticipated that the new senior center for the Town of Highland, located on Route 55 north of the hamlet of Eldred, will be open by the end of September. The new 40-x- 50-foot center contains a meeting-dining room, kitchen and lavatories  and is located on a 10-acre tract which the town bought several years ago for a future senior center, town hall and highway garage complex.

Olaf Jenson of Callicoon and Paul Staats, a senior at the Monticello Central School have been named National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists.

The 3rd annual von Steuben Day Parade is scheduled to be held in Yulan September 25. The parade is named for Wilhelm von Steuben who came to this country as a volunteer offering his services to the embattled General George Washington. He drilled the troops, instilling in them much needed aspiration, confidence and competence which was the decisive factor in achieving ultimate victory in the Revolutionary War.

Gertrude Malkmus of Youngsville won first place at the 7th Annual Catskill Mountain Doll Club’s Doll and Teddy Bear Show held Sunday. Beverly Edelman of Monticello won Best of Show.

John LaPolt of Liberty was named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Liberty Chamber of Commerce in recognition of his devotion to Liberty and particularly to its youth.

Carol Santoro won one of the two grand prizes of $500 in a Mystery Wallet Giveaway conducted at the Monticello Raceway. A number of wallets, containing over $15,000 in cash and prizes were distributed to the 3,700 fans in attendance on September 4.

Fred Stabbert Jr. of  Callicoon was recognized with a plaque noting his 12 years (early 1970s to mid- 1980s) of leadership as Sullivan County Democratic Committee chairman (and more recently vice chairman) and 35-years as chairman of the Town of Delaware Democratic Committee at the 77th annual Jeffersonian Dinner held at the Villa Roma Country Club and Resort. Also honored were current chairman Elsa Greenwald of the Town of Mamakating and Mary Adamak of the Town of Highland.

Harold Barber, a senior at the Monticello High School, was recently named the winner of the district New York Farm Bureau Citizenship Award. He will compete for statewide honors next month.

20 Years Ago - 2003

Hurricane Isabel left its mark on the county, taking out electricity in some parts of the county and felling trees in several areas. An 80-year-old pine tree fell on the car of Joe and Donna Egan of Jeffersonville. Joe had been in the car just moments before the tree dropped.

Since the beginning of the year, a group of Monticello residents has been collecting signatures on a petition opposing the proposed expansion and importation of trash at the Sullivan County Landfill. They have collected more than 5,200 signatures countywide. The group Special Protection of the Environment for the County of Sullivan (SPECS) turned in its petition to the Legislature on September 18.

Ivan Katz is happy right where he is. The new superintendent of the Eldred Central School was born in Sullivan County. He graduated from Monticello High School and began his career as an English teacher in the Liberty District. As an alternate on the United States Olympic team (he’s a Greco Roman wrestler), Katz got to travel the world and see exotic places. But he liked Sullivan County best of all, so he was overjoyed when the Eldred Board of Education chose his application for the superintendency vacated by Candace Mazur this summer.

A dedication ceremony was held Sunday for the new addition to the Roscoe Free Library. The addition was planned after a truck drove through the wall of the building four years ago, making repairs necessary.

The Woodbourne Reformed Church, now in its 200th year, will celebrate its anniversary in late September and early October.

Dylan James Brockner, son of Michael and Janayna Brockner of North Branch, was baptized September 7, 2003, at the Grace Lutheran Church in North Branch. His godparents are Dennis and Michelle Brockner. He is the grandson of Russell and Lois Brockner of North Branch and Maria Rosely Cipriani of the state of Florida; great-grandson of Mary Baum of Jeffersonville and the late Conrad Baum Sr. and Elfrieda Cipriani and the late Alvino Cipriani of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and the nephew of Lisa and Doug Ondreyko.

10 Years Ago - 2013

The Sullivan County Historical Society has announced its History Maker and History Preserver Awards for 2013.The late Gladys Olmstead, RN (October 19, 1924–August 10, 1997) was a pioneer in public health nursing and is this year’s History Maker. She began her career as Sullivan County’s first public health nurse in 1951, in an “office” with a dirt floor in the basement of the courthouse and retired 34 years later as the Director of the Sullivan County Public Health Nursing Service. This year’s History Preserver is the late John B. (Jack) Niflot, (Feb. 10, 1935–June 22, 2013) Town of Fremont Board Member and Historian, whose dedication and advocacy for understanding and preserving the history and heritage of the Upper Delaware Valley is best exemplified by his co-founding of the Basket Historical Society in 1980, establishing its museum in Long Eddy and publishing/editing its newsletter, “The Echo,” continuously since then.

New Liberty Elementary School Principal Scott Brown and Assistant Principal Daniel Brown (not related) met with parents, students and members of the community during the opening week of school. Principal Scott Brown comes to Liberty with seven years of experience as an elementary school principal in the Marlboro Central School District. Assistant Principal Daniel Brown comes to Liberty with more than 17 years’ experience in the classroom at the Florida Union Free School District in Florida, NY, where he taught fifth and second grades. More recently, Mr. Brown served the Florida district as an interventions specialist and a leader in staff development before coming to Liberty.