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Retrospect
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A copy of George Washington’s April 9, 1779 letter sparing Robert Land’s life and ordering his captors to tranport him to Easton, PA for a civil trial.
Retrospect
According to records, only four men were hanged for treason in the state of Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War. Robert Land was very nearly the fifth. Land, the Justice of the Peace in … more
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My View from the Mountains, A Catskill Memoir by Patti Posner.
New book tells the Brickman story
Shortly after emigrating from Russia in 1908, Abraham and Molly Brickman fled the overcrowded tenements of New York City and purchased land just outside South Fallsburg in Sullivan County. Like many … more
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Charles E. Becker as a NYC police officer.
The notorious Charles E. Becker
The story of Charles E. Becker, one of the most notorious natives of Sullivan County ever, continues to fascinate people to this day. Born on July 26, 1870 in Callicoon Center, Becker lived and … more
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The author William L. “Larry” Kidder.
Free black men in Colonial America
The author Larry Kidder describes his book, “The Revolutionary World of a Free Black Man: Jacob Francis: 1754-1836” as “a story of grit and determination combined with kindness and … more
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NY Governor John T. Hoffman
The execution of Noah Bigelow
On July 15, 1869, Noah Bigelow of North Branch became the third man to be hanged for murder in Sullivan County’s history. Just three days earlier, New York Governor John T. Hoffman had … more
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Of patriots and loyalists
Cushetunk, the first permanent European settlement in the Upper Delaware Valley was established around 1755 by a group of Connecticut farmers calling themselves the Delaware Company. The settlement … more
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Mugshot of Irving “Big Gangi” Cohen.
The acquittal of Big Gangi
Late in the afternoon of Friday, June 21, 1940, a jury of 11 men and one woman delivered a verdict in one of the most famous trials ever conducted in Sullivan County Court. They found Irving … more
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In May of 1953, a year after Sullivan County’s perfect summer, the New York Times reported that there were 2,000 bungalow colonies in the county, averaging 25 bungalows each, for a total of 50,000 bungalows. This is a fairly typical example.
Retrospect
It is probably safe to say that the participants in last Sunday’s bus trip to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway and the closing of the second annual Festival of … more
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Photo of a portion of “the letter that won the American Revolution” from George Washington to Nathaniel Sackett asking him to form a network of spies.
The godfather of American Intelligence
On May 23, 1789, Nathaniel Sackett sent a long, rambling letter to newly inaugurated president George Washington. The letter informed Washington that Congress had denied Sackett’s proposal that … more
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The Festival of the Founding Fish 2023 emblem.
Retrospect
As far back as 2012, Debra Conway, at that time beginning her second year as the Director at Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History in Narrowsburg, was advocating for an annual festival in the … more
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A sportsmen’s parade
Long before the O&W Railway touted the healing environment that was Sullivan County beginning in the 1880s, the Erie Railroad had been established along the county’s western edge. By … more
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Arthur C. Butts.
Famous Sullivan County murder trials
Few Sullivan County residents have ever attained the success of Arthur C. Butts of Monticello– lawyer, assemblyman, judge, and published author– and yet there are only a handful of locals … more
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The comedian Jean Carroll
The first Mrs. Maisel
It seems as if a number of those who chose to celebrate April as National Humor Month last week by taking in this columnist’s presentation of “Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Borscht … more
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Some of the participants at last year’s Delaware Company sponsored Highland History Hike at the Minisink Battleground Park listening to the hike’s narrator, Sullivan County Historian John Conway (forground).
History hikes in Hurleyville and Barryville
Hurleyville’s Milk Train Trail and Barryville’s Minisink Battleground Park are the venues for two more in a long line of popular History Hikes, this time to again commemorate national … more
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Like so many trends in the Sullivan County resort industry, the idea of making entertainment a staple of the visitor’s experience began at the Flagler Hotel in Fallsburg.
Laughter is the best medicine
Like so many other Sullivan County hotel trends, from Mission style architecture to telephones in the rooms, it all started with the Flagler.   In 1929, Asias Fleischer and Philip … more
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Columbia University pitcher W. O’Connell, lower right (#11), played on the Liberty town team during the summer of 1908, when some of the top collegiate players in the country worked at Sullivan County hotels so they could play baseball here.
The reigning fad
For many years prior to 1951, the very best basketball players in the world spent their summers in Sullivan County, honing their skills and showcasing their talents representing one hotel or another … more
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Dr. Jokichi Takamine.
The chemist and the cherry trees
On March 27, 1912, the first two of thousands of Japanese cherry trees were planted along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC by First Lady Helen Taft, the wife of President William … more
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Judge Judith Smith Kaye.
Mother of justice
Judith Smith Kaye was born to immigrant parents in Monticello in 1938, attended a one-room schoolhouse in Maplewood, and graduated early from Monticello High School, where she participated on the … more
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Margaret Bross Thomas.
The Barryville family school for young ladies
Chauncey Thomas was one of the most prominent residents of the upper Delaware River valley in the 19th century, a successful entrepreneur who, among other accomplishments, built the first suspension … more
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Deputy County Clerk J. Maxwell Knapp, who recorded the historic event in the court archive.
Retrospect
Women’s inexorable march toward equality in politics and government in this country has been one of small steps, and there have been many obstacles to overcome. Sometimes in looking back, it is … more
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A Middletown Times Herald photo of Susanna Potsch and her family shortly after her nomination to run for Superintendent of the Poor in 1929. Susanna is bottom right. Her mother, Susanna Schwatz, is next to her and her two daughters are behind them.
Retrospect
There were probably not many Sullivan County women less likely to be the first to win a county wide election than Susanna Potsch.   She was born Susanna Schwatz in Germany in 1887, and came … more
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James Eldridge Quinlan, writer, editor, publisher, Copperhead.
The copperhead strikes
Regular readers of this Retrospect column over the years should by now be well aware of the fact that one of Sullivan County’s first historians and most noted newspaper publishers, James … more
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The regimental flag of the 26th Infantry, United States Colored Troops.
The 26th regiment, U.S.C.T.
It was in December of 1863 that the United States War Department authorized the Union League Club of New York to recruit, train and equip an infantry unit to fight for the North in the Civil War. The … more
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One of the few photos extant of Philip Del Fungo Giera.
Was bungalow project a del fungo con?
In 1930, when the population of Sullivan County was just over 35 thousand, Census figures reveal there were just 91 African-Americans living here. That’s slightly more than one-quarter of one … more
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The artist Francis W. Davis's conception of Albion Hall, created for the Sullivan County Historical Society's “Directory to Quinlan's History.”
The end of Albion Hall
It was February of 1903, and the embers were still smoldering from the fire that had destroyed one of the most historically significant buildings in the county just a few days before.   It … more
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