140 Years Ago - 1880

The Jeffersonville Rifle Association will hold their first shooting match on March 1st, 1880, at Andrew Bietz's saloon.

Peter R. Bogert and Robert Bradley, with their families, left Jeffersonville on Monday morning for Ridgeway, Pa.

Rev. Wm. Glesgregen preached his farewell sermon in the German M.E. Church Sunday after serving the church two years.

The president has sent to the Senate the name of DeWitt Knapp of Cochecton as Supervisor of the Census for this, the Fourth Census District. He was recommended by Assemblyman Alpheus Potts.

A shocking accident took place at Gideon Moulthrop's circular saw mill near Pike Pond Wednesday afternoon when Richard Acker was terribly mangled in the feet and legs by a circular saw. While trying to grease the saw, his right leg came in contact with it, while it was revolving swiftly, threw him high in the air, cut off his right leg at the ankle and again about the middle of the calf, and also inflicted a ghastly wound in the side of his left foot. The saw, which is five feet in diameter, is entirely above the floor of the mill and is run by water power. Dr. Brand had to amputate the right leg above the knee. Only a miracle prevented the boy from falling directly on top of the saw.

130 Years Ago - 1890

Chief Engineer Lieb of the Jeffersonville Fire Department requests us to invite all the members of the company to be present at the engine home at 5 p.m. Saturday evening.

The O&W has announced that its tally-ho line between Liberty and White Lake will be put on about the middle of June and run during the boarding season.

Burglars broke into the office and store of Wm. C. Hardie of Shin Creek on Saturday night, took $3 in money and a little tobacco. They missed a box which contained $150 in cash and registered letters, one of which contained $100.

W.F. Grishaber and his gang of men have done some excellent work on Mill Street.

A Delaware County farmer owns a goose 70 years old. It is a well-known fact that these birds are extremely tenacious of life and frequently attain a great old age. There are authenticated records to indicate that geese have lived to the age of ninety years and upwards.

The house of Edwin Tyler of Cooks Falls was burned recently with all of its contents, the family barely escaping with their lives.

120 Years Ago - 1900

August H. Busch of New York and Gertrude E. Mootz, daughter of Phillip Mootz of Callicoon, were married at the bride's home April 16 by Rev. H. Unglaub.

Julius G. Hunt of Livingston Manor and Mrs. Bertha G. Lanning of Ithaca were married April 2. They will live in Manor.

Invitations have been issued by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hubbert to the marriage of their daughter, Minnie, to Andrew Fries of Sand Pond, May 2, at 3 p.m.

Invitations have also been issued for the marriage of Miss Libbie Terwilliger of Middletown and Simeon Schoonmaker of Rockland on May 6.

Among the census enumerators appointed for Sullivan County are: Henry L. Goubelman of Youngsville, John J. Snyder of Cochecton, Frederick Lindgren of Mileses, Frank M. Schrader of Liberty, Herbert A. Russell of Livingston Manor, and David T. Currie of Roscoe.

Elias Champlin, Charles Coleman, John Matzinger and George Huber of Liberty have graduated from a New York trade school in plumbing and gas fitting.

Harry Winter of Winterton is the largest boy of his age in Sullivan County. He is but sixteen and weighs 250 pounds.

Stephen Barnes of Beaver Brook died suddenly on April 7, at the age of 60.

110 Years Ago - 1910

Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Geib of New York City are parents of a baby girl, born April 12.

Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Knise, Mrs. L. Bauernfeind and children of North Branch, attended the confirmation of their granddaughter and niece, Gertrude Goodman, in the Reformed Church.

Ernest W. Ebert, son of John W. Ebert of Hortonville, and Clara Bivins of Willowemoc were married April 9 at the Livingston Manor Presbyterian parsonage. The groom has leased the E.J. Sheridan farm near Jeffersonville.

John McKege, aged 48 years, of Stevensville, was killed by an O&W train at Liberty early Sunday morning.

Frank Mootz, census taker, has the whole town of Callicoon to cover in 30 days.

Wm Brown of Jeffersonville is enumerator for the 2nd District of Delaware; Lawrence McGrath, Livingston Manor, was appointed for the DeBruce district, and turned it down. Enumerators are allowed 3 cents for each name and 30 cents for each farm. A fellow has to hustle to get eight or ten farms a day, with the multitude of questions to be answered.

John Kirch Sr. died at the age of 84 years, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Wm. F. Fehrenz, April 13.

Florence Kohler, daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Kohler of Swiss Hill, and wife of Jack Gardner of Brooklyn, died following a childbirth operation. She was 39.

Work on the new courthouse at Monticello progresses as rapidly as can be expected. Shortly a large force will be put on the work. The tower to the building has been enclosed and the floor has been put on. The interior work will be taken up soon. The building will be one that every Sullivan County man may well be proud of, and will reflect credit on the county.

The Monticello Baseball Association has leased the field of F.H. Osborn, on Spring St., and will put it in condition for a baseball field.

100 Years Ago - 1920

A meeting of the interchurch World Movement was held April 15 in Memorial Hall, Liberty. Dr. John R. Mott, a Livingston Manor native, has been executive secretary more than 30 years, and Dr. William E. Doughty, who was born in Jeffersonville, is associate secretary.

Irma Lock of Lake Charles, La., and Fred A. Tiemann of Jeffersonville, were married April 6th in Louisiana. He is on business in Granada, Texas.

Gertrude Reich of Brooklyn and Harold C. Schrumpf of Long Island City, were married April 14. He is the son of Christian Schrumpf and was born in Callicoon Center.

Hazel Hudson, nee Brand, of Jeffersonville, has been signed by Character Pictures Corp. for one of the principal parts in “The Isle of Destiny.” She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Brand and recently closed a season with one of the Shubert road companies of “Maytime.”

Fred Esselman and Wm. Schaefer have each bought an Overland car from Frank Hess.

Hyman Abel of New York will open a kosher meat market in part of the Yaeger store building on Maple Ave.

Bennett Bros. are installing a soda fountain and ice cream service in their Jeffersonville drug store.

Six government trucks have been assigned to Sullivan County by the federal war department and are now in charge of County Highway Superintendent Wright. There are two two-ton trucks and four 3-ton trucks.

90 Years Ago - 1930

Charles E. Lewis has been engaged by the Callicoon Board of Education as principal in the school. Robert M. Andrews, principal, was offered a contract for next year at a salary of $2,800 but turned it down.

The Monticello Board of Trade has started a movement for the building of an airport in conjunction with Liberty.

Fred Hick, a native of Youngsville, has been promoted to sergeant on the NYC police force, with a salary of $3,500. He is married to the former Gertrude Eggers, a NYC school teacher.

Earl Smith of Fremont Center and Miss Hazel Knack of Hortonville were married April 20 at the home of the bride, Rev. John Straub officiated.

Freda O. Stoesser and Edwin G. Ferber were married at the Callicoon Center parsonage by Rev. J. Straub.

“Slot machines and gambling devices will not be tolerated in summer hotels and stores in Sullivan County if we can find them,” said Sheriff Benjamin Gerow in comment of a report that some hotels and casinos in the county planned to install them.

The Callicoon Central office of the New York Telephone Co. was moved late Saturday evening from the Kautz building on Main St. to the old Grange Hall on Church St. The interior has been redecorated and an apartment on the second floor is being arranged for the night operator.

The state of New Jersey has engaged Frank W. Burnham of Chiloway, town of Hancock, to secure evidence and data regarding the Delaware River mainly as a navigable stream. He has been busy looking up old raftsmen who helped run logs down the river years ago. Their testimony will be used to show that the upper reaches of the Delaware are navigable and that by reason of this fact New Jersey and Pennsylvania have an interest in the stream beyond their own boundaries. The last raft to go down the river was floated from Tyler's to Portland in the summer of 1928 by Lewis Realy Sr. Among the raftsmen whom Mr. Burnham has on his list, some of whom will be called upon to testify at the hearings in Trenton, are George Fish, Fred Tompkins, Loren Leonard, George Brown, George LaFave, George Realy, Lewis Realy Sr., Edgar Bonnefond, Henry Vail, John Geer and Alfred Shepard.

80 Years Ago - 1940

A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Robisch on Friday, April 19. He has been named William Frederick. Also at the Callicoon Hospital the following patients were discharged: Mrs. Mortimer Rutledge and infant son of Tyler Hill; Mrs. Ward Graves and infant daughter of Callicoon; Mrs. Herman Wyss and infant daughter of Cochecton Center; Mrs. Charles Morgan and infant daughter of Fosterdale; Mrs. George Olsen and infant daughter of Cochecton; Mrs. Arthur Orth and infant son of Callicoon.

Elle E. Pinney, a descendant of early Sullivan County settlers, one of the oldest automobile dealers in the county, died Tuesday at his home in Liberty. He was 81. He was a wholesale milk and ice dealer for many years, but became a dealer for the Buick Motor Division of General Motors Corp., which he represented until his death.

Frederick W. Norr, aged 63, died at his home in Youngsville yesterday.

Mrs. Ellen Duerr has bought 5 acres from Lawrence Hauschild on the homestead of his grandfather, Louis Hauschild, on the Briscoe Road. She will raise chickens and goats there.

Lincoln Chapter, OES, will host Mrs. Guy T. Parsons of Delhi, DDGM, and District Grand Lecturer Charles Button of Roscoe, who is patron of Sullivan Chapter, OES, in Livingston Manor and a member of the Roscoe school faculty. Mrs. Wilfred G. Carpenter is matron and William C. Fuhrer is patron.

The Jeff softball league will open its season May 6. The captains are Hans Bernhardt, George Schaefer, Marty Eisenberg and Leonard Hess.

Miss Sylvia Seitel of Roscoe has been engaged as a swimmer in Billy Rose's Aquacade at the World's Fair.

Emilie Frederica Glassel, widow of John H. Glassel, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Joseph Kramp, Little Britain, April 22nd, at the age of 75. She was a Jeffersonville native.

Deputy Secretary of State James M. Kelly and family, who have spent the winter in Albany, have returned to their Monticello home for the spring, summer and fall. The change has done Mrs. Kelly and little Miss Kelly a lot of good.

70 Years Ago - 1950

Niels P. Rasmussen, prominent Narrowsburg businessman, died at the age of 80. He came from Denmark, at the age of 16, first taking up the harness making trade and then going into the undertaking business, building himself a hearse and attending embalming school. He bought the business of J.I. Beard and later the furniture business. He was an early member of the Narrowsburg Fire Department, one of the first directors of the First National Bank of Narrowsburg, an organizer of the local Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Big Eddy Telephone Co. and a director of the Glen Cove Cemetery Association. He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church and served on the church council. He was a 44-year member of Delaware Lodge, F.&A.M.

The sawmill owned by Raymond H. Conner was completely destroyed by fire on Monday evening with a loss of an estimated $2,000.

Three inches of snow Friday caused an hour and a half tie-up near Lake Louise Marie on Route 17, with over 100 cars, buses and trucks caught in the traffic snarl.

Mrs. Annie Eliza Miller, widow of John W. Miller, died Saturday at her home near Briscoe. She was the daughter of Walter and Eliza Starr and was born in Bethel in 1861.

Hospital facilities in Sullivan County will be increased by summer with the construction of a 2nd and 3rd story addition on the new portion of Hamilton Avenue Hospital in Monticello, according to an announcement by Frances McNeely. The Monticello Hospital is presently constructing an addition to its facility also.

At the Callicoon Hospital this past week it was a boy Sunday for Rev. and Mrs. Peter Bult of Tyler Hills, Pa.; a son, Monday, for Mr. and Mrs. Lee Williams of Long Eddy; a son, Tuesday, to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Murtagh of Swan Lake; a son, Monday, to Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Tillman of Kenoza Lake; and a son, Wednesday, to Mr. and Mrs. John Waldron of Fosterdale.

60 Years Ago - 1960

Mr. and Mrs. John Robertson are the parents of a baby daughter born this week at Cornell. She is the former Janet Meddaugh.

Monticello's Knights of Columbus has purchased a lot at the county seat to build a home. The lot is located on the northwest corner of High and Green St., near the Monticello Hospital.

Confirmation was made a the Jeff Presbyterian Church by Rev. Lawrence Ainsworth on Peter Hyatt, Eve Goldschmidt, Bethany Fuller, Roberta Schmauss, Kay Loughrey, Thomas Kutschera, Mary Ann Loesch, Peter Kutschera and Helen Olsen.

Bill Diehl has caught the largest brown trout, 16”, followed by Lanny Ernst's catch of a 15-incher for the contest at Ted's.

Mr. and Mrs. Les Parks are the parents of an 8 lb. 5 oz. girl born Easter Sunday at Liberty-Loomis.

Hiram Frank, poultryman of North Branch, and George Currie, incumbent board members from Youngsville, have filed petitions this week for the five-year term on the Jeff-Youngsville School Board.

Gilbert Weiss was appointed as cashier of the First National Bank in Jeffersonville last Friday, succeeding Stephen J. Hoffman, who recently retired.

Peter Gebelein, Superintendent of Highways in the Town of Fremont, died last Friday at the Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown. He was 56.

Liberty school voters go to the polls on Monday for the third time to pass the question of acquiring a site for a new junior-senior high school.

50 years ago - 1970

At the Liberty-Loomis Hospital it as a girl April 10 to Mr. and Mrs. John Nielson of Liberty; a girl, April 11, to Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Putman of Ferndale; a boy, April 12, to Mr. and Mrs. William McDoal of Roscoe; a boy, April 14, to Mr. and Mrs. Gene Dobell of Livingston Manor; and a girl was born April 15 to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Cirigliano of Swan Lake.

Alice Rosenbaum, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Rosenbaum of Liberty, was married April 19 to STS/3 James Hayden Capazzi of the U.S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Capazzi of Long Island. Her father is editor of the Liberty Register newspaper.

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Popolillo of Callicoon celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 11 with twenty-four members of their family at a dinner at Woodloch Pines, Hawley, Pa.

Erwin L. Baker, District Principal of the Jeffersonville-Youngsville Central School, announced this week that he would retire on October 2 from his present position. He has been principal of the district since 1935 with the exception of two years duty in the Navy during World War II.

It was cloudy and cool with a threat of rain in the air on Saturday, April 18, as a group of 88 Explorer Scouts and their leaders from Verona, NJ, prepared to leave the Delaware River Access Site in Callicoon in their canoes. They were one of the first groups of the season to canoe down river in this sport which has become very popular in recent years.

Marine Pvt. First Class Robert T. Lounsbury, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lounsbury of Jeffersonville, is serving aboard a Seventh Fleet ship as part of the Navy-Marine amphibious team off the Vietnam coast.

Bids for the proposed cultural center for Sullivan County will be opened Tuesday, June 2, according to a press release from Lionel K. Levy, architect. There is reportedly growing opposition to the cultural center complex among the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors. It is expected that the bid opening and subsequent voting on the letting of contracts will tell the story as to whether or not the structure is to be built. Many of the supervisors favor writing off the $300,000 already spent.

Representative Martin B. Mc­Kneally announced the approval of a Grant by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to the Sullivan County Community Action Commission. The grant, $96,949, is for a Headstart program, which will be conducted in Liberty under the direction of the Rev. Edward Straub.

40 Years Ago - 1980

Taxi fares may be going up a quarter per zone in Monticello, according to a proposal which was laid before the Village Board at its regular meeting last Monday night. A presentation was made to the board by Yellow Cab President Richard MacDonald and John DeSimone of Johnny's Taxi in which they actually pared down an earlier request, made at the February 23 board meeting in which the taxi companies had sought an increase of 50 cents per zone.

Jack Niflot of Long Eddy was elected president at the April 16 organizational meeting of the Basket Historical Society of the Upper Delaware Valley. To serve with him will be Clarence Zurn, vice president; Ruth Nevin, secretary; and Ronald Darder, treasurer. The next meeting will be May 5 at the Rock Valley School House.

More than 200 person, representing a cross-section of “Who's Who” in Sullivan County political and legal circles, gathered at Bernie's Chateau Restaurant in Monticello last Friday night to participate in the “roasting” of one of the area's most colorful personalities, former Supreme Court Justice Milton Levine of Monticello.

Seventy new postal boxes have been installed at the Cochecton Center Post Office. Postmaster Doug Heinle says the brass and beveled glass beauties were found after a three year search. Fourth class post offices must furnish their own equipment.

Lisa Townsend of Cochecton has been chosen 1980 Dairy Princess. First runner-up was Tracy Frey of Livingston Manor and Shari Myers of Jeffersonville is the second runner-up.

30 Years Ago - 1990

After a 20-year absence, the Memorial Day parade may be revived in Monticello. “I'm talking a good old parade,” said Monticello Mayor John Diuguid. “A parade with boy scouts, girl scouts, fire companies… with all the veterans organizations. I'm talking a parade with popcorn and clowns,” he said. The parade would be operated in conjunction with the traditional memorial Day ceremonies at the Sullivan County Government Center which are annually held at 11 a.m. on Memorial Monday.

Lynn and Harold Russell of Bethel were designated as “Farmers of the Year” by the Sullivan County Soil and Water Conservation District at the 7th award dinner held Wednesday night at King's Catering house in Livingston Manor… Robert Gilbert, ranger and foreman at the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp, accepted the 1989 Environmentalist Award at the dinner.

Olga Price was installed postmaster at the Jeffersonville office and Jeanne Roosa was installed as the Roscoe postmaster in ceremonies conducted this past week by Sherry Elkind, MSC director of Field Operations and Mary Bordonaro, MSC manager/postmaster of Poughkeepsie.

Ruth Bennett, founder of the Sullivan County ARC, died Tuesday, April 17, at the age of 74. The center serves 700 clients. The mother of a retarded child, it was said of Mrs. Bennett, “The ARC became her third child. She never forgot that the association was there to serve all the developmentally handicapped as well as her own.”

The Lady Bears (Tri-Valley Central School) distance medley relay team, on the strength of their record demolishing victory at last Saturday's High Point Region Relays at Sussex, MJ, will be seeded sixth in the prestigious Penn Relays DMR, to be held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Sullivan County Court Judge Eugene M. Hanofee has an­nounced that he will resign his position.

A 140-year-old building on Main Street in Livingston Manor was burned to the ground. It housed the law offices of Michael and Susan Keiser, the Fuhrer Pharmacy and four apartments. More than 150 firemen were on duty.

Miss Jennifer Barnier, daughter of Margaret Barnier of White Lake, has been chosen to compete for the title of America's perfect Teen at a pageant to be held in Poughkeepsie April 28 and 29.

20 Years Ago - 2000

The Alumni Team overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to claim a 91-85 victory over Team Ter Bush/Faculty in last Friday's Thomas Ter Bush Memorial Alumni Basketball Game. In the 15 years the game has been held. over $30,000 has been raised to help Tri-Valley graduates pursue their higher education.

Nancy Jordan of Jeffersonville caught a brown trout that weighed 8 1/2 lbs. and measured 27 inches in a small pond in the town of Callicoon on April 15.

Joan Farrow was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Community Bank of Sullivan County at its recent meeting.

Deaths: Bertha “Bert” Bernhardt, 95, of Kenoza Lake died April 21, 2000 at the home of her daughter, Helen Snedecker. She was the daughter of John and Cora Lucy Brown Abplanalp and the widow of John Bernhardt... Arthur Brown, 75, of Liberty died April 17, 2000 in the state of Florida. He was the former vice president and night club bar manager for the former Brown's Hotel in Loch Sheldrake.

Dwyer Avenue in Liberty became a model of the solar system Thursday as part of a science fair project Liberty resident John Webber's son Stephen is working on. With one inch equling 100,000 miles, just using pinheads, jelly beans, nuts and a volleyball for the sun, the model stretched for 3/4 of a mile. Local astronomer and WJFF host Jim McKeegan explained that Mars is most like Earth to an assembled crowd.

10 Years Ago - 2010

In honor of Earth Day, Cub Scouts Pack 92 from Wurtsboro spent the afternoon cleaning up the Mamakating Town Park Walking Trail. All scouts from first through fifth grade participated along with their parents. They collected over 30 bags of garbage, tons of old tires, lots of discarded appliances and broken glass.

The Monticello High School Eco Club hosted a celebration for the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day with a tree planting ceremony. The Club honored and presented Dick Riseling of Callicoon Center, their guest speaker, with the Club's “First Eco Hero Award” and planted a Colorado blue spruce in his honor.

The Monticello Panthers recorded a 7-6 victory over the Ellenville Blue Devils in the championship game of the third annual John Spears Memorial Baseball Tournament at Monticello High School. With the win, the Panthers improved their season record to 10-5, which guarantees them a berth in the upcoming Section IX tournament. This is the first time since 2001 that the Panthers have qualified for sectional play.

Members of the Wurtsboro Renaissance came to Emma Chase Elementary School with a pear tree in hand to celebrate Arbor Day. Dr. Robert Justus, a Renaissance member, talked to the students about the first Arbor Day explaining how and why it all started. The fourth grade students were studying about how plants and animals respond to environmental conditions. A pear tree was planted by Renaissance members with the help of the students.

The RJK Middle School community showed their pride for their Builders Club. The Club with the help of EPIC (Every Person Influences Children) collected toys for the Toys for Tots Program, collecting an amount that reached over 2,000 families. Also, with the help of the United Way of Monticello, The Builder's Club sold over 110 hearts for the Heart-a-thon. This club is advised by technology teacher William Ofelein.