150 Years Ago (July 1873)
On the Saturday after the Fourth of July, Undercliff took on Kellogg’s at the Sandy Landing ground in a baseball game that took nearly five hours. After leading 9-1 at the end of the first inning, Kellogg’s held on to win, 70-43.
The box score of a 33-9 Undercliff win over Aetna included fly balls caught and fly balls missed. Undercliff caught five and missed two.
In other games, the Alligators of the finishing shop at the West Point Foundry defeated the Sharks of the pattern shop, 41-33, and the dry goods clerks defeated the grocery clerks, 48-41.
The War Department proposed sending the first gun alleged to have been fired in the rebellion — a 4-pound cannon — to West Point as a trophy.
Isaac Davenport donated two books to the Library Association, one from 1720 and the other from 1723. (The titles were not shared.) Inside the cover of one was a fragment of a pasted-in proclamation of some kind made by King George III with the date of July 4, 1776.
The pews were full for the Sunday service on July 14 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church to hear prima donna Clara Louise Kellogg, who had a summer home in Philipstown, sing Hymn 177 of the prayer book — “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah / Pilgrim in this barren land” — and a solo from Handel’s Messiah.
Paulding Kemble & Co. presented Miss S.E. Dykeman, who retired from the telegraph office, with an ornamental vase.
The Cold Spring Library Association voted to open its reading room to the public, although only members could borrow books and periodicals.
The Cold Spring Recorder reported that “the display of fireworks at West Point was fine, especially the peculiar bomb which the cadets manufactured and the groups of 20 to 30 rockets set off simultaneously” to resemble “a gigantic palm tree of fire.”
During a Sunday service, the Rev. Benjamin Bowen of the Baptist Church explained the new envelope system for offerings.
Wallace Jefferds of South Highlands was mowing with a horse-drawn cutter when he noticed a stone on the top of the bar. Fearing it would damage the knives, he leaned over to pick it off without stopping and lost the first finger of his right hand.
James Smith, who discovered traces of iron on the farm owned by Bryon Youmans, purchased mining rights from Mr. Philipse. [To this day, the Philipse family retains mining rights in many Philipstown deeds.]
After William Warren, who taught a Bible class at the South Highland Methodist Episcopal Church in Garrison, wrote a letter to The Recorder accusing a local schoolmaster of denying the authenticity of the Bible, the teacher replied in kind. He wrote that while he occasionally attended Warren’s class, they had barely spoken and so he was puzzled by the attack. Regardless, he wrote: “I have just as good a right to my religious opinions as any Sunday school teacher.” Warren wrote the next week to say the letter under his name had been forged.
The editor of The Recorder offered that, given the dry weather, it was not the best idea for thirsty boys to expel a half gallon of water from the public pump “to get at the cool” before taking a drink.
Mathew Fitzpatrick, a former Cold Spring business owner who confessed to strangling his wife in Yonkers, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years at Sing Sing.
S.P. Monks, a Cold Spring resident who graduated from Vassar College, was hired as a college professor in San Francisco.
In a benefit for the Sunday school of the Methodist Episcopal Church, two professors exhibited paintings on a large canvas that depicted 28 scenes in the life of Christ, 18 scenes from The Pilgrim’s Progress and 21 scenes inside a tavern (presumably showing the wages of sin).
Two residents rowed to West Point to help search for a cadet from Illinois who had drowned. They attached leads and fishhooks, at intervals, to 300 feet of rope, held the line between their boats and began trawling. Two hours later, they hooked the body and received a $50 reward.
The Highlander, a newspaper covering Garrison, published its second issue.
The Methodist Episcopal Church built horse sheds for those who could not walk to church.
125 Years Ago (July 1898)
At 2 p.m. on July 3, the thermometer at Perry & Reilley’s read 103 degrees.
Officer McCaffrey appeared on July 4 wearing a dark blue uniform with matching cap — the first uniformed officer in the village.
John Clune injured both hands when a bottle of soda water exploded while he was working at the family bottling works on West Street.
Officer McCaffrey made two arrests but the complainants failed to appear in court. The accused were released and the accusers fined.
While the sexton of Our Lady of Loretto was cleaning the grounds, a well-dressed stranger asked if he could go inside the church to retrieve his umbrella. Later in the day, the Rev. P.L. Connick noticed a white silk vestment was missing.
Bicycle racer William Ladue won three events at the Newburgh Wheelmen meet on July 4 and received three diamonds valued at $105 [about $3,800].
The trustees of the Haldane High School library announced it would be open to the public over the summer from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. A printed catalog was available for 10 cents at Spaulding’s pharmacy, Dalzell’s bookstore and Bullock & Secor’s music and bookstore.
The Cold Spring Board of Trustees discussed at length a proposal to award a five-year franchise to Samuel Barriett to provide electricity in the village and maintain 31 streetlights at a cost of $1,000 [$37,000] annually. When President Miller asked what would happen if the expense exceeded the budget, Trustee King replied: “Collect a special tax.” When Miller asked about Peter Wood, the lamplighter, Barriett said he would hire him. The vote was 3-0 to award the franchise, with Miller and Trustee Ferris abstaining. Within a week, a representative from the Barriett Electric Illuminating Co. was knocking on doors.
Irving McCoy, the editor of The Recorder, asked: “Waterworks and electric lights. Why not have sewers?”
The Shetland pony owned by James Wood, the baker, gave birth to a colt.
A stranger appeared at the window of a woman on Paulding Avenue and said her neighbor had sent him to borrow an ax and sawbuck. Her neighbor later said he had no idea what she was talking about.
McCoy at The Recorder suggested that members of the League of American Wheelmen and others should combine forces to construct a riding and walking path along the road from Garrison to Cold Spring.
A benefit organized by Hamilton Fish at Rocklawn, his estate in Garrison, raised $268.98 [about $10,000] to support the soldiers fighting Spain to liberate Cuba; William Church Osborn donated $1,000 [$37,000] to build a second ice plant for the military hospital; and West Point sent its engineer company 100 pounds of tobacco and 100 corncob pipes.
A few days before he was killed in battle in Cuba, Hamilton Fish Jr. was said to have predicted his death. As his regiment was galloping across a field, a 4-year-old girl suddenly appeared ahead of the column. According to the Boston Herald, Fish raced ahead, reached down and lifted the girl to his saddle. In gratitude, the girl’s mother gave him a protective St. Joseph pendant her daughter had been wearing, but warned him not to lose it or he would face grave danger. Fish did lose it, and told companions that he feared the consequences. He was buried in t St. Philip’s churchyard in Garrison.
John Toucey of Garrison, the recently retired superintendent of the Hudson River Railroad, was being recruited to pursue the Republican nomination for the state Senate seat representing Putnam and Dutchess counties.
The passenger coaches of the New York Central lines were being repainted a color described as “Quaker green.”
At a meeting of the Haldane school board, the trustees heard details of a plan to alleviate overcrowding by building a two-story brick annex with eight classrooms at a cost of $15,000 [$550,000].
Vredenburgh, the butcher who closed his shop to take a better-paying position at the Matteawan State Hospital, changed his mind and opened a vegetable market.
The Farrell saloon was burglarized overnight and $52 [$1,900] taken from the safe and 10 Columbian half-dollars from the cash drawer. It didn’t take Officer McCaffrey long to solve the case, because Thomas Walsh was spending Columbian half-dollars all over town. He was arrested and jailed at Town Hall.
Capt. Henry Metcalfe wrote to the secretary of war to protest three wayward shots during practice by the Second Battery at West Point. He said a 70-pound piece landed on the Sandy Land road in Cold Spring and embedded 4 feet into the ground; the other two, each about 60 pounds, landed near the Main Street dock and were embedded 3 feet. He noted that eight years earlier, a shell had fallen on the Sandy Land road that penetrated 8 feet into the ground.
The cellar of Perry & Reilley’s store held a spring of water that drained through an 8-inch pipe that ran under the Main Street sidewalk for 60 feet to the brook. To loosen clogs, employees would shake a chain attached to a heavy wire that ran through the pipe. During the most recent clog, the wire snapped and the cellar flooded. Mr. Perry responded by catching a catfish at the furnace dock, bringing it to the cellar, tying a cord to its tail and sending it through the pipe. The cord was then used to pull through a new wire.
At 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, William Brewer, the blacksmith of Nelsonville, lost control of his horse and wagon on Main Street. He was ejected at Rock Street (but not injured) when the horse took to the sidewalk and the wagon hit and broke a lamppost. The horse continued down the walk, taking out stoops and destroying an (empty) baby carriage before finally stopping at West Street.
An Internal Revenue Service collector called on hotel and saloon owners to collect a $5 tax to support the Cuban war effort from those who had pool tables. A Raines Law inspector also made the rounds to saloons. [The Raines Law, passed in New York in 1896, raised the drinking age from 16 to 18 and prohibited bars from serving alcohol on Sundays.]
Michael Parks was sentenced to six months in jail for being drunk and disorderly.
The Kemble Cornet Band gave the first outdoor concert of the season at the bandstand at Main and Furnace streets.
Albert Lawrence recalled that, some years before, he had been repairing the summer house at Osborn’s Castle when J.P. Morgan, the banker, drove up the hill looking to call on Mr. Osborn. When the horses were near the house, they became frightened and began to back toward the cliff. Mr. Morgan jumped from the carriage. After the coachman was able to control the team, Mr. Morgan walked to the edge and gazed down the 400-foot drop. “Mister, I wonder what would have become of me if I had tumbled down among those rocks?” he said. Without looking up, Lawrence responded, “Mister, it’s all according to how you have lived,” causing Mr. Morgan to laugh.
75 Years Ago (July 1948)
Members of the Cold Spring Lions Club met with representatives of the New York Central line to discuss the “extremely poor railroad service” to the village and the elimination of two trains. The railroad said it had no plans to restore service.
The Columbus Society of Cold Spring held its annual celebration of St. Anthony’s Day, which began with a parade of 30 drum corps down Main Street in Nelsonville to Kemble’s Field for a competition.
The Cold Spring police received a report from a motorist that a man was hanging from the Indian Brook Bridge in Garrison, but Officer Angelo Immorica could not find anyone.
About 2,000 people lined Main Street for the village’s inaugural firemen’s parade. The Garrison Fire Department was awarded first prize as an organization, and Norman Champlin Jr. as an individual.
50 Years Ago (July 1973)
Haldane voters rejected a proposal, 461-330, to build a $2.6 million [$17.8 million] elementary school but approved $240,000 [$1.6 million] in renovations, 428-349. After the vote, the school board said it would conserve space in the fall by operating grades 3 to 6 in double sessions.
A former Garrison resident who lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and his 5-year-old son were killed in a vacation crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The West Point Foundry, established in 1817, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The property was owned by the Deuterium Corp., which planned to build a hotel and marina.
25 Years Ago (July 1998)
The Quarrymen, who had performed as teenagers in Liverpool in the late 1950s with John Lennon, performed at Boscobel in Garrison during a U.S. tour. Lennon, Len Garry, Eric Griffiths, Rod Davis, Colin Hanton and Pete Shotten played at the Cavern Club and parties and school dances. When Shotton and Davis left the group in late 1957, they were replaced by Paul McCartney. Griffiths left in early 1958 and was succeeded by George Harrison. Garry left in mid-1958 for health reasons and Hanton departed in early 1959.
Jim Rod, the manager of the Constitution Marsh Sanctuary in Garrison for the previous 16 years, and a founder in 1989 of the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, died at 53. A Vietnam veteran, he studied wildlife biology at Iowa State University and journalism at Iona.
Marilyn Brannigan, interim superintendent of the Garrison School, warned the board: “We’ve been running our school district as a family affair. This is a $4.5 million corporation and should be operated that way.”
A Cold Spring man was arrested and charged with menacing for allegedly brandishing a loaded 9mm pistol after an argument with another driver.
Schwartzberg Associates submitted a $99,100 [$185,000] application fee to the Town Board with its plans to redevelop the 93-acre former Capuchin Friary on Route 9D in Garrison as a 425-unit retirement village and 60-room hotel.
The Cold Spring Fire Co. and Philipstown Ambulance Corps rescued the second hiker in a month from Hudson Highlands State Park.
Cecilia Dinio-Durkin and Pete Durkin of Cold Spring appeared on NBC’s The Today Show to promote their book, Hit the Trail! The Kids’ Camping Kit.
At the Empire State Games in Rochester, Matthew Nowak of Garrison won the silver medal in fencing while representing the Hudson Valley in the scholastic division (ages 19 and younger). Neil Murray of Garrison, newly graduated from the University of Buffalo, won silver in the pole vault.
The Philipstown Depot Theatre hosted two 1950s-style coffeehouses with live jazz from The World’s End Ensemble, beat poetry readings and performances from Steve Allen’s Bop Fables.
