250 Years Ago (July 1775)
Benjamin Franklin wrote to William Strahan in England: “You are a member of Parliament, and of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; You are now my enemy, and I am yours.”
The mayor of London and the Common Council petitioned King George to end military operations in the colonies.
The Continental Congress requested that each colony establish minutemen units.
Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, arriving at 10 p.m. on July 18 to take command at Lake George in the Adirondacks, found a single sentry on duty. On seeing the general, the soldier quickly tried to awaken the three other guards.
Patriots in New York City raided royal stores in Turtle Bay (East 42nd Street) for supplies, which were sent to Boston and Lake Champlain.
New York observed a day of fasting and devotion, as requested by the Continental Congress.
150 Years Ago (July 1875)
After assaulting and robbing the elderly Levi Washburne in Carmel inside his home at 2 a.m., five “ruffians” harnessed a pair of horses to a wagon and drove to Cold Spring, where they abandoned the vehicle. Two men chasing them took the property back to Carmel. The editor of The Cold Spring Recorder noted that local law enforcement did not continue the pursuit, but that the deputy sheriff in Cold Spring and the sheriff likely knew it would be difficult to get reimbursement from the Village Board for their expenses or a reward.
A horse left untied by a pineapple peddler at Moshier’s fish market was found near the Pacific Hotel.
The Cold Spring and Nelsonville rifle clubs held a friendly match, shooting at targets of 50, 75 and 100 yards with Hunter’s Pet guns. Cold Spring won, 390-375.
Frederick Osborn, 17, drowned while swimming off Mine Point. “His brother made a heroic attempt to save him, but finding that both were sinking, said goodbye and released his hold,” according to The Recorder.
A passenger on the Montreal Express who disembarked at Cold Spring forgot his pocketbook, with a large amount of cash. He rushed to the telegraph office. His message and the train reached Poughkeepsie at the same time, and the pocketbook was found on the seat, undisturbed.
At 7 p.m. on a Tuesday, Miss Kellogg called a girl playing the violin on Main Street for change to her carriage, where they conversed in Italian.
After a series of overnight burglaries and home invasions, the Village Board adopted a resolution “that the constables of the town and police officers of the village be specially requested to arrest and take into custody and detain all persons of suspicious character found roaming through the village at any unreasonable hour of the night, or found under suspicious circumstances at any time justifying their arrest and convent without delay to the police magistrate.”
Billy McCormick, jailed in Cold Spring for stealing a barrel of liquor, claimed he was paid $250 [about $7,300 today] for the job but would not say by whom.
A tornado at West Point broke 140 gas hotel lights and moved artillery guns.
After a shot was heard at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, two Fair Street men took their guns to Sandy Landing to investigate. They found a dog belonging to Michael O’Brien, of Garden Street, had been shot dead and supposed it was causing trouble for thieves hiding their goods.
Passengers aboard the Boardman and Cornwall steam yacht complained that young male swimmers waiting for the swell created by the boat would stand naked on the dock rather than jumping in the water in advance of her passing.
Burglars visited B Street, where they attempted to break into the home of James Ball and took a watch from under a mattress in the house of John Butler.
A child in Nelsonville was pushed into the road while he and a playmate jostled to catch a pear falling from a tree, and only skillful horse management by Mr. Mangham prevented injury.
A load of hay carried by John Jaycox stopped suddenly at Main and Garden streets; although hidden by the hay, the front wheel caught in the wearing iron. Until that was discovered and corrected, “the quantify of gratuitous advice given [by passersby] was marvelous,” reported The Recorder. “It was an exigency in which every man was peculiarly qualified.”
A few silver coins discovered in the cellar of Hall’s building after it burned down elicited a “California excitement” as people began digging for more.
125 Years Ago (July 1900)
The Recorder noted that a reporter had observed a touching scene during the Fourth of July parade. “As it was swinging from Bank Street into Parrott Street, Luke Higgins, a veteran of the Civil War, whose infirmities confine him to his home, leaned against a post on his stoop at attention, with the very musket, trimmed with Old Glory, that had done such good service nearly 40 years ago.”
The Davis Comedy Co. had scheduled a performance at Town Hall but did not raise the curtain due to poor attendance.
The Recorder questioned why the Village Board had given Officer Meloy a raise from $25 [$950] to $40 [$1,500] a month, when it had refused Officer McCaffrey any increase, prompting him to quit. The village clerk stated that 20 residents of Highlands Falls, where Meloy formerly worked, had signed a petition recommending him. However, the paper noted that the document was 17 years old and that 143 Cold Spring residents had signed a petition calling for McCaffrey to be reinstated.
Samuel Hamilton, who came with his parents from Ireland to Cold Spring at age 14, was killed in New York City. While working at the Consolidated Gas Co., he was caught in the flywheel in the engine room and whirled violently.
The census enumerator counted 2,067 people in the Village of Cold Spring, representing a 30 percent increase in just five years.
DeWolf Hopper, a Broadway actor and comedian, passed through Cold Spring with his wife on their way to perform in Poughkeepsie.
A.D. Campbell, a painter in Cold Spring, received a letter from a brother he had not heard from in 10 years. Two weeks earlier, one of Campbell’s painters had gone to Chicago looking for work. He stopped at a paint store and was asked where he last worked, a name the owner, Mr. Campbell, recognized immediately.
Margaret Pendergast, 8, of Cold Spring, who was a patient at a children’s hospital in New York City following foot surgery, was looking forward to a trip to the hospital’s summer home in Connecticut. On the journey, she contracted typhoid fever and was returned to the hospital, where she died.
William B. “Father Bill” Curtis, feted as the father of amateur athletics, was killed while climbing Mount Washington in New Hampshire. He had frequently visited Cold Spring with the Fresh Air Club.
The Recorder advised: “Young ladies who visit Constitution Island looking for huckleberries should provide themselves with hoodwinks so as not to see wild men and other things they are not looking for.”
Thieves stole five chickens from John Riggs’ hennery overnight, built a fire in Secor’s woods and had a feast.
A customer, irate that his washing was not ready, punched the Chinese laundryman, Jim Willie, giving him a black eye.
Mrs. William Benjamin complained by letter to the school board that children were using Morris Avenue to go to and from school, which was a residential street, and said they should use High Street instead.
A black bear seen around Indian Lake was captured and could be viewed for 10 cents.
Members of the Class of 1902 of the Stevens Institute in Hoboken painted their initials in large white letters on the rocks at Constitution Island.
Following complaints by Norman Ploss, an officer of the Anti-Saloon League, two bar owners lost their liquor licenses for not having their curtains drawn on Sunday.
Capt. Henry Metcalfe was the first person to own an automobile in the area. He was taking lessons to drive it, although it was not clear from whom.
A True Tale from Cold Spring
The following story appeared in 1900 in a “drummers’ yarn,” which were booklets with jokes attributed to traveling salesmen (because they “drummed” on your door).
While stopping at Cold Spring, on one of my regular trips, I dropped into the Highland Market, and while waiting for Seth Secor to make up an order, I was amused at an old farmer, Warren Biga, by name, who sat on a box in the store and munched crackers and cheese which he had just purchased. He appeared to have some difficulty in chewing and finally exclaimed, “Darn false teeth, anyway! I wouldn’t give six good teeth for a whole head of false ones!” “There is one consolation about false teeth,” said Seth, encouragingly. “You can take them out and wash them.” “Yes, I s’pose so.” When the old man had finished his cheese he went out into the extension to a big kerosene tank with a nickel-plated pump on the top and, holding his teeth in his hand, he pumped kerosene on them, slipped them into his mouth and came back into the store. “‘Pears to me that ice-water tastes like soap,” said he. “That is kerosene,” said Seth, looking up. “Whew, that so!” and the farmer pulled out his teeth and wiped them on the nearest thing that came to hand — a coarse bag that looked like a bran sack, and carefully replaced his teeth. In about a minute afterward, he exclaimed: “‘Pears to me there’s something dead about here! What’s this bag?” “That,” said Seth, as he walked out from behind the counter, “is a phosphate bag.” The old gentleman took his teeth out and went out on a dead run and made a beeline for Spalding’s drugstore, to get something to relieve him of “that queer feeling” in his stomach.
100 Years Ago (July 1925)
Construction began on the Thayer Hotel to replace the West Point Hotel, which had stood on the edge of Trophy Point for 96 years.
William Henry Knox, a former Haldane student, was nominated as a director of the British and American Church of Rio de Janeiro.
Newly paved with concrete, Main Street opened for traffic from lower Main in Cold Spring to the fork of the road in East Nelsonville.
The state Bureau of Highways announced it would spend $1 million [$18 million] to cover 12 miles of the Albany Post Road through Putnam County with concrete.
The Village Board required cars to park against the curb in the same direction as traffic and limited parking on Main Street between Fair and Church to one hour.
75 Years Ago (July 1950)
Col. Donald Berrigan, 48, formerly of Cold Spring, was appointed the Army transportation officer in Paris. He had held the same position at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and served as a transportation officer on Utah Beach in Normandy during World War II. His sons, Donald and William, were sent to live with an uncle who worked for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio in Hollywood.
George Hopkinson, a banker whose wife had been the music supervisor at Haldane High School before the couple moved to Korea, died in Seoul of polio. Mrs. Hopkinson and their 2-year-old son were evacuated to Japan following his burial, which was done quickly, “before [the] Communists arrive,” she told her mother in a telegram.
A Piper Cub made an emergency landing on a bumpy field on the Hubbard estate at Mekeel’s Corner because of an electrical storm. Residents helped turn the plane around so it could take off again.
The Putnam County Republican Committee endorsed former Rep. Hamilton Fish, who lived in Garrison, for the U.S. Senate. “My platform will be to get the government out of the red and the Reds out of the government,” he said.
The Cold Spring Fire Co. took receipt of a 500-gallon Brockway pumper.
More than 1,500 people lined village streets to watch a firematic parade. The Verplanck department won for best uniformed appearance, Garrison won for best non-uniformed appearance and Croton had the most men in line (70).
Gustav Kosney, owner of the Hudson View Hotel [now the Hudson House], was among the finalists in a recipe contest sponsored by Heinz that used its Magic Onions product. He won a tabletop radio for his cauliflower broth.
50 Years Ago (July 1975)
The Cold Spring Jaycees organized the seventh annual Philipstown Community Day at the riverfront, which attracted about 4,000 people. It ended with a concert by The Sands of Time and a fireworks display.
Mike Krzyzewski, the newly hired basketball coach at West Point, named two assistants, Pete Gaudet and Bobby Dwyer. A 1969 academy graduate, Krzyzewski played for the Black Knights under Coach Bobby Knight.
Mike and Mary Scalpi celebrated their fifth anniversary as owners of the Riverview Inn on Fair Street by hosting a 12-hour clam bake. They went through 30 crates of chickens and 40 bushels of clams.
As part of the nation’s bicentennial, a bronze plaque was installed on the Edward Swinburne estate in Manitou to honor Maj. Gen. Israel Putnam, who built batteries on the site in 1777 to defend against the British, and Maj. Gen. Frank Schwengel, who helped found the American Legion.
A sheriff’s deputy arrested a man living in a tent on railroad property in Garrison. He was charged with trespassing and public lewdness.
25 Years Ago (July 2000)
The Putnam County Historical Society announced a campaign to raise $500 [$900] to replace the Benedict Arnold historical marker on Route 9D in Garrison, which had been stolen. The original marker, installed in 1934, was destroyed in 1997 but recast with funds donated by John Svirsky.
The National Park Service said it might ask a judge to force the Franciscan Friars at Graymoor to sell 18 acres adjacent to the Appalachian Trail. The agency wanted to create a “buffer zone” around the trail, but negotiations had fallen apart.
Gordon Churchwell of Cold Spring spoke at Barnes & Noble in Mohegan Lake about his new book, Expecting: One Man’s Uncensored Memoir of Pregnancy.
Brian O’Neill, 14, an incoming freshman at Haldane High School, returned home after playing in a basketball tournament in Ireland sponsored by People-to-People.
