140 Years Ago - 1886

Wednesday of this week was the last of the semi-weekly Republican. Mr. Calbreath purchased Mr. Stickney’s interest in that journal and will hereafter publish it weekly. The paper is located in Monticello.

Elizabeth, N.J., has a ghost that insists on kissing all the girls found in the streets after dark. All the ladies in the town now make calls at night and are not afraid to go out alone.

The settlement of Greek Lock, Ulster County, has 200 inhabitants and only seven liquor salons and thirty-six hotels.

130 Years Ago - 1896

William Bollenbach of Beechwoods has purchased Ross’s grist mill in Jeffersonville, paying $2,500 for it. Mr. Bollenbach, we understand, is an experienced miller, having worked at that trade in the old country.

The Livingston Manor Iron Works has taken a contract from William DuBois of Stevensville to manufacture his patent cutter sleigh-shoe, on which he obtained a patent two years ago. They are made of wrought and chilled iron. The foundry is turning them out in large quantities.

The general term of Supreme Court has granted a new trial to John T. Stephenson, convicted in the Oyer and Terminer of receiving, while a police captain in New York City, a bribe of four baskets of peaches and sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment and one thousand dollars fine.

William H. Millspaugh of Livingston Manor has just patented a device for changing at a moment’s notice, a vehicle from wheels to runners or runners to wheels. The boxing for the wheels is so contrived that it can be easily adjusted to any width track. Every description of the vehicle of this kind will be manufactured under the firm name of Sherwood & Millspaugh.

120 Years Ago - 1906

The Livingston Manor Ensign has added a Simplex typesetting machine to its plant. 

Joseph Kopolan of Wurtsboro and Samuel Maller of Centerville Station, two Russians, who were arrested at Tuxedo for stealing two horses and a buggy and other property from the barn of Jeremiah Merritt near Wurtsboro, have been committed to the county jail at Monticello to await the action of the grand jury.

110 Years Ago - 1916

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Persbacker of Callicoon announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Katherine, to Rev. Charles W. McClure of the Callicoon M.E. Charge.

A deal has just been made whereby George L. Schneider exchanges his handsome cottage of East Hill, Youngsville, valued at $6,500, for property in Brooklyn with Samuel D. Steinmetz who some time ago bought the Phoebe Heidt property of Alfred Dittmer below Jeff.

George Buddenhagen has again taken possession of the hotel at Hortonville, which he recently acquired of Wesley M. Dorrer. Mr. Buddenhagen ran the hotel before Mr. Dorrer took it over a few years ago.

A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. William Heinrichs of Springfield, N.J., on December 23. Mrs. Heinrichs is the former Louise Menges of Youngsville.

George C. Pinney, a well-known resident of Cochecton for many years and a veteran of the Civil War, died of pneumonia on January 1st at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Fred Brechtel at Carbondale.

Electric lighting for the towns of Delaware and Callicoon, Sullivan County, was provided for in an order of the Public Service Commission Tuesday at Albany.

100 Years Ago - 1926

Valleau C. Curtis of Callicoon was recently graduated from Syracuse University as a horticulturalist. He is the son of Charles G. Curtis who for many years has conducted a nursery at Callicoon. 

The old Bauernfeind Hotel property at North Branch was sold in foreclosure proceedings by Referee James H. Curtis at the Mansion House last Saturday. The farm of Henry Pless in White Lake was also sold at mortgage last Saturday.

When the 1600 pound weights of the county court house clock at Monticello were being wound up last Sunday morning, the steel cable suspending the weights snapped and the weights crashed down through the five-inch concrete ceiling of the second story of the building, landing in the corridor. The jar shook and rattled the building like an explosion or an earthquake.

John Bernhardt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Bernhardt of Kenoza Lake, and Bertha Abplanalp, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abplanalp of Youngsville, were married at the Kenoza Lake parsonage on December 29th.

90 Years Ago - 1936

The 22-acre farm of the late Louis Voegtli just north of Jeff was sold by William F. Hupke, executor of the Voegtli will, at the Mansion House last Friday. The only bid offered was $1325 by Attorney William Deckelman in behalf of Owen W. Bohan, judge of the general sessions court in New York.

Earle Poley, who drives the milk truck for his brother-in-law, John Muir, escaped serious injury on Monday when the truck, going by the Charles Baker farm, started slipping backwards, hit a projection in the road, and rolled over three times.

The many motorists who have often cussed that 2 1/2 miles of narrow, crooked, high-crowned macadam road from Indian Orchard into Honesdale, will be glad to know that the State of Pennsylvania has let the contract to rebuild the road of concrete, twenty feet wide, this spring.

Edwin Eugene Chellis, who runs a garage at Kenoza Lake, and Miss Sadie Emma Eggler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Eggler of Swiss Hill, were married at the Callicoon Center parsonage by Rev. Straub, December 28th. They were attended by Vincent Mullally and Miss Winifred Luchs of Jeffersonville.

John Nearing, aged about 40, of Pea Brook, near long Eddy, was hit on the head by a flying stick from a power wood saw on Tuesday and it is said that his skull is fractured and his condition is very serious.

80 Years Ago - 1946

Henry Bird, aged 65, one of the three janitors at the Jeff Central School, was suddenly stricken down by a heart attack shortly after entering the boiler room of the school January first.

Sol Strongin has sold his meat market in Lake Huntington to Carl and George Rohrman, sons of Emil Rohrman of Cochecton Center, who have taken possession.

Willard V. Schadt has landed at Camp Kilmer, N.J., from overseas, and is expected to get his discharge any day. Willard was in the Army Postal Service in England and France while overseas.

Miss Edna T. Long, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Long of Callicoon RD, and William G. Wagner of Youngsville were married at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Callicoon, December 29. The Rev. Angelus DeMarco, O.F.M., performed the ceremony.

A daughter, Carol Ann, was born at 8:30 the morning of Christmas Day at the Maimonides Hospital in Liberty to Kenneth and Frances Hill of White Sulphur Springs. Mr. Hill, a crewman on CVB 42 USS F.D. Roosevelt, was on leave and due to return to the ship that day. He called his commanding officer and requested an additional day’s leave (which was granted).

70 Years Ago - 1956

Richard Kelly, a White Sulphur Springs farm hand, was fatally injured by a car while walking on Route 52 near Youngsville.

The engagement of Arnold Sims of Kenoza Lake and Miss Eleanor Blackwell of New Hyde Park, L.I., was announced by her parents.

William Buddenhagen, 49, of Hortonville died suddenly at work in Binghamton of a heart attack.

Charles P. Kautz, president of the First National Bank in Callicoon, died at the age of 82 after suffering two heart attacks.

Herbert H. Hassis of Jeffersonville, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert A. Hassis, was among seven men recently initiated into the student chapter of Chi Epsilon, civil engineering honor society.

Richard J. Waag of Kenoza Lake was elected secretary of American Express Field Warehousing Corporation at a meeting of the Board of Directors on December 28, 1955.

At a special meeting of the Cochecton Town Board, the Board voted to appoint Henry P. Furk supervisor. Mr. Furk and August Merkenschlager, Democratic incumbent, each received 310 votes in the November election. At the County Board of Supervisors meeting, the board refused to accept Mr. Furk, and seated Mr. Merkenschlager. A lawsuit is expected.

Mr. and Mrs. Leo Graham are moving into their new house this week in Jeff.

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Luchs, who are wintering in Ft. Pierce, Fla., recently received a Christmas card sent by their three grandchildren in Jeffersonville. It was salvaged from the airliner which crashed in Jacksonville, Fla., with the loss of 17 lives. The envelope was considerably burned and the address almost unreadable.

60 Years Ago - 1966

The Sullivan County Board of Supervisors, which will be controlled by the Republicans after the organization meeting in 1966, will have many knotty problems to solve. The Community College site hassle is still going on. Where our children will be going to school in 1970 is still a mystery that needs solving. The County Airport question is in for a considerable amount of discussion, and of course, the site question here will undoubtedly cause considerable difficulty, if it is decided that the county will build the port. And what about the new county office building that is so desperately needed?

A special five-day deer season will be held January 10-14 in the Lordville deer wintering “yard” of southern Delaware County, according to the State Conservation Department.

Dr. Richard Grego, Joseph Raffa and Irving Shapiro were elected to the Board of Directors of the Liberty Maimonides Hospital at the group’s December meeting, it was announced by Paul Grossinger, president of the non-profit community institution.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wilcox of Callicoon RD2 celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Friday.

A roadside marker recently erected in Hankins commemorates John Hankins, founder of the town. The sign is the result of the joint efforts of the Hankins Fire Company and Philip F. Gottschalk.

50 Years Ago - 1976

Monticello Mayor Anne Kaplan is distributing pins and posters as she seeks a second term.

Prizes for the best Christmas decorations to non-members of the Roscoe-Rockland Gardens Club were awarded to the residences of Edward Vallove, Neal Kelly, Robert Winter, Walter Brzytwa and Clinton Young. Garden Club members receiving awards were Robert Dreher, Franklin Bullis and Verlynn Hill. Alicia’s Antiques was given the commercial award.

A sign erected in Narrowsburg points the way to the Town of Tusten Bi-Centennial Celebration of 1976. The sign was designed by the late Jim Burbank and painted by Gus Schluer. 

40 Years Ago - 1986

Twins, a boy and a girl, were born to Mr. and Mrs. George Sipple of Sunnyvale, Calif., on Sunday, December 22, 1985. Walter Daniel, born at 9:24 p.m., weighed 4 lbs. 3 1/2 ozs., and Melina Keanani, born at 9:26 p.m., weighed 3 lbs. 10 oz. Maternal grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Walter G. Sipple of Mileses. Paternal grandparents are Mrs. George Sipple and Mr. and Mrs. George Burkehardt of Mileses.

Construction is set to begin in the spring on the Sullivan County Infirmary and the County Government Center annexes. Groundbreaking for the Shared Clinic Facility at the Liberty Infirmary is scheduled for April 1, 1986. The annex will be shared by public health nurses and the Mental Health Department’s Community Services.

A robin seems to have lost his sense of direction. He has been seen munching red berries in Monticello for the past week and shows no sign of leaving for the sunny south, long ago sought out by his fellow summer songsters.

Father Edward Greene, O.F.M., pastor of St. George’s R.C. Church in Jeffersonville, has been named Episcopal Vicar of Sullivan County. He replaces Vicar John Brooks, pastor at St. Peter’s Church in Monticello whose term has expired. The appointment was made by Cardinal Archbishop of the New York Archdiocese John J. O’Connor.

After more than two decades, Rev. Donald Beck has been transferred from Narrowsburg to the Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Babylon, L.I. He has served St. Paul’s Church in Narrowsburg for 22 years.

Tri-Valley’s Clay Gorton tied a meet record in winning the pole vault at Friday’s Pearl River Holiday Track Festival at Rockland County Community College. He cleared the bar at 13 feet to take top honors.

30 Years Ago - 1996

After a brief swearing-in ceremony, the nine-member Sullivan County Legislature formally took office Thursday, ushering in what its new chairman promised would be an era of accomplishment and growth for Sullivan County and its citizens. The legislature replaces a 15-man board of supervisors which had governed the county for 186 years with each legislator now speaking for one or more towns and all pledging to work together in a bipartisan effort to help make Sullivan County the best it can be.

Many will remember watching HHH Frank Enterprises, Inc. near North Branch, become one of the largest egg farms in New York, perhaps the whole northeast. Others will remember the poultry giant being found guilty in November 1992 of defrauding several finance companies over equipment the farms allegedly owned and leased. Either way, a settlement has been reached between the two parties and the land has returned to Hiram Frank’s ownership. Official notification of the settlement has not yet reached county or town officials, said George Cooke, the Sull­ivan County Clerk.

Two projects – a regional farmers' market and a wood-drying kiln for Sullivan County – are on the drawing boards and could become a reality in the new year. Gerald Skoda, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Liberty, said local farmers hope to set up a regional market somewhere near the Route 17 Quickway.

Sullivan County’s Division of Economic Development, Promotion and Planning took a major step in furthering the creation of a unified ecotourism campaign this week with the announcement of a $5,000 grant from the Open Space Institute.

Community General Hospital internist, Jonathan R. Weiss, MD, has co-authored an article titled “Primary Pulmonary Hypertension and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.” The article by Dr. Weiss and his colleagues, Giuseppe G. Pietra, MD, and Steven Scharf, MD, appeared in the November 27 edition of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Mr. and Mrs. Ted Bagailuk of  Hurleyville, and Mr. and Mrs. George Pellam of Liberty announce the engagement of their children, Terri Lee and Timothy.

Father Ignatius E. Smith, new pastor of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Callicoon, has come full circle. Forty-six years ago, he was a young seminarian studying to be a priest at St. Joseph’s Seminary (now the Delaware Valley Job Corps Center). Since September he has been the Pastor of Holy Cross, only a mile away.

Sarah “Sally” Hermann of Pebble Beach, Calif., the widow of Grover M. Hermann, died December 21, 1995, from complications from long-term arthritis. She was 80 years of age. She and her husband created the Chicago foundation bearing his name in the 1950s, and she became foundation president after his death in May 1979. 

20 Years Ago - 2006

Chris Gozza, a Village of Liberty trustee for the last three years, has left his seat upon moving to the Town of Neversink.

Ellenville residents Christina Basden and Hakim Vazquez Sr. were Sullivan County’s first parents of 2006, when Hakim Vazquez Jr. was born at 6:36 p.m. on January 1 at Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris, thus becoming the first baby born in the county in the new year. 

Isabel Sigmund of Medford, Wisconsin, the mother of  Leon Sigmund of Callicoon, welcomed her newest great-grandchild last month. It was her 100th chance to do so. The 90-year-old lady has 10 children who have provided her over the years with 38 grandchildren, and they in turn have given her 100 great-grandchildren. The latest, Lorian, was born to Jolene (daughter of Isabel’s daughter Joyce) on December 28 and joins two brothers at home. The delighted great-grandmother is expecting her 101st descendant this spring, said Leon and wife Diane.

Michael and Suzanne Eardley Raponi of Atlanta, Ga. announce the birth of their first child, Matias Michael, on November 15, 2005. Paternal grandparents are Marcia and Gene Raponi of Forestburgh. Maternal grandparents are Dr. Keith Eardley of Ormond Beach, Fla. and the late Nancy Eardley.

10 Years Ago - 2016

Sullivan County flows through Glenn Pontier’s veins – and it’s led straight to his heart. He knows virtually every nook and cranny of this 1,000-square-mile municipality, thanks to his communications role in county government, his editorship of The River Reporter, his news directorship of WVOS and 37 years of making his home here, most recently in Barryville. Nowadays, he’s best-known for what has been one of his most rewarding and lauded roles: as executive director of Sullivan Renaissance. But the day ultimately arrived for Pontier to leave all that and “a really terrific staff” – which he did this past Thursday, when he retired.

Sullivan County welcomed the first baby of 2016 at 12:46 a.m. on January 1. Jonathan Ortiz, son of Alexandra Garcia and Gilberto Ortiz, came even earlier than his scheduled due date (January 24th) to take the coveted spot of first baby of the year.

Little Rowan James McKee  entered the world at 4:02 am on January 1, 2016 at Wayne Memorial Hospital, in Honesdale, PA. Born to mom Kierstyn Slocum and dad Devin McKee, both of Susquehanna, Rowan weighed in at 6 lbs., 4 oz. and stretched 19 inches long.