130 Years Ago - 1891

It's nearly time for our local politicians to make up a “spring slate.”

Mrs. Curtis, wife of ex-Judge Jas. Curtis of Callicoon Center, is dangerously sick at her residence.

“Pinafore” which was to be performed sometime during the winter by the Damascus and Cochecton home talent is “resting.”

The snow is two feet deep in the lumbering district of this county, and lumbermen are making things hum.

As we go to press, a walk is in progress at the Eagle Hall here. Last night, Thomas Yarrow made 22 miles to become the winner.

We are informed that Philip Elbert of Beechwoods and Henry Weber of the same place have formed a city produce company, under the name of H. Weber Company. Consult them to get rid of your produce at honest prices.

A fine deer weighing one hundred thirty pounds was raffled at the Clements House in Liberty on Monday even­ing.

There is a very “cultured group” in the county who instead of saying “The collection will now be taken up!” impressively remarks, “The accumulation of money will now ensue.”

The editor in alluding to a nearby town says: Their mercenary attitude is best sum­med up in terms of hospitality by the reference “Give us this day our daily stranger.”

It doesn't require a pair of horses to drag out a miserable existence.

120 Years Ago - 1901

Mongaup Valley — Mrs. Hultzlander, an old and respected neighbor, was buried here December 29th. She was sick but a short time and died Christmas Day. …John Leonard has purchased a fine organ for Miss Leonard… Howard Snyder has purchased the Haley property and in the spring he will begin to improve the place. Mr. Snyder has also started a horseshoeing and wagon shop.

Dan Hoffman and Miss Kate Stanton were united in the bonds of matrimony some time ago.

Cochecton — Leroy Bonesteel, a highly respected citizen of Damascus, was buried on Tuesday of last week …Sleighing is splendid though the recent rain came nearly ruining it.… No bears or wildcats have lately been killed in the vicinity.

110 Years Ago - 1911

Christian Miller, better known as “Sheriff” Miller, died at his home near Hortonville recently and was buried December 29. He was about 60 and was one of the early German Settlers in that community.

Alice Sutton, aged 30 years, died at the home of her sister, Mrs. Archibald Wood, Livingston Manor, December 29.

Carpenter Charles Wagner has the frame of the engine house about up.

Miss Minnie Bernhardt of Kenoza Lake has been quite ill of indigestion for over a week past at the home of her brother, William, in Jeffersonville.

George J. Yager has begun the opening of a new street across his lot. We suggest that the street be called Orchard Street as it was the orchard lot that brought about the street.

A son was born on December 29 to School Commissioner and Mrs. George S. Woolsey of Livingston Manor.

The marriage of Fred Chelius, son of Henry Chelius of Jeffersonville, and Miss Millie, daughter of John H. Wagner of Horton­ville, took place Sunday, December 23, at the residence of Victor Staib in Brooklyn.

At the fire meeting at Eagle Hotel last Thursday night the names of about 50 volunteer firemen were enrolled and Rufus C. Maltby, Valentine Scheidell and Philip Bietz were appointed to draw up bylaws, after which the officers will be chosen.

John Hau Sr., and wife of Youngsville, returned last week from a lengthy visit with their daughter, Mrs. Henry Hipp at Philadelphia.

August Polster, who bought the Henry Krantz farm in the Beechwoods, has gone back to the city to work, leaving his family here on the farm.

Louis H. Mall of Jeffersonville and Joseph O. Layman of the Beechwoods spent New Year's with friends in New York.

Edward Kohler has gone to Wellsville where he has a brother, to paint and paper a house.

“Mene,” the little Eskimo boy who was here visiting at the home of Theodore Cook in March, 1909, has written to Royal Stanton, who is attending the Western Theological seminary at Hudson, Ohio, declaring that neither Peary nor Cook ever reached the North Pole, but that Cook went as far as anybody. He also said that Cook is loved by all and that Peary is hated for his cruelty. This letter was written seven months ago, before Cook made his confession, and therefore could not be influenced by the latter's acknowledged failure. “Mene” is, without a doubt, right when he says that neither was a success for he is in a position to know exactly, and should the natives confide in anyone it would unquestionably be him. “Mene” is also a great friend of Stanton and it is no more than to be expected that he would in turn confide the truth to him. “Truth will win out,” and the time is coming when Peary will be compelled to stand before the world blacklisted for the same imposition as Cook. And the North Pole will still be the unsolved mystery that it has always been, waiting for someone to turn the trick which has been an impossibility for explorers for the past hundred years or so.

The County Clerk's office is now located in its handsome quarters in the new Court House and in a short time the force will have all the records properly placed.

At the Delaware House on Friday night, proprietor S.D. Sawyer gave a raccoon supper to about twenty of his friends. Very few had ever eaten raccoon before and they were agreeably surprised at the excellent quality of Mr. Raccoon's steaks.

Richard A. Deighton, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Deighton, Callicoon, died of spinal trouble at his home in Binghamton Saturday morning, aged 37 years.

The Erie has adopted a plan to honor those engineers who keep their engines in the best possible condition. The mark of the company's approval will be the placing on the sides of the cab, the engineer's name in gold lettering. The numbers of the honored men's locomotives will be backed with red instead of black as of old. The engineers gaining this honor are given membership in the “Order of the Red Spot.”

Terwilliger Hose Co., at a regular meeting Tuesday night, disclosed the finances on hand at the end of the year and showed a surplus of $406, which is an excellent showing for a company in as small a town as Callicoon. And beside that, the company has spent during the year over $100 improvements to the hose house, cart and apparatus, and is now equipped with all the latest material with which to fight fires.

Carney & Selleck, the distillers of South Fallsburg, have closed their distillery for the season, after a very successful business. Their output for the season was over 4,000 gallons of apple whiskey.

100 Years Ago - 1921

A quiet wedding took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Brey, near Callicoon Center, on January 1, when their daughter, Clara Anna, was united in marriage with Wesley Mansfield Dorrer of North Branch by the Rev. J.E. Straub.

William Portz, son of George Portz of Roscoe, and Miss Leona Smith were married at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith at Pleasant Mount, PA., on December 24.

Our North Branch correspondent says that Henry Baker of North Branch and Mrs. Matilda Menges of Callicoon Center were married at the home of the groom on December 28.

Miss Mary E. Maltby, a native of the town of Bethel, died of old age at the home of Thomas Taylor near Kenoza Lake on Monday morning, at the age of 77 years. Mrs. Abigail L. Bryan died of old age at the home of her son, Albert M. Bryan, near Youngs­ville, Thursday morning, aged 81. Her maiden name was Robertson. She was born at White Sulphur Springs and always lived in the area.

90 Years Ago - 1931

Of the six county officials inducted into office with the new year, Hon. George H. Smith of Monticello was the only Demo­crat to escape the landslide which engulfed his party at the last election. He will serve as County Judge and Surrogate for six more years at a salary of $2500 instead of $1200 as formerly.

John G. Gray of Liberty succeeds Guernsey T. Cross of Callicoon as Member of Assembly.

Mrs. Anna Zahorik, aged 90, died of apoplexy, December 31, at the home of Edward Banuat at Obernburg, where she made her home for the last thirteen years.

Harold W. Cole of Hurleyville has been appointed as chief doorkeeper for the New York State Senate as the result of a motion introduced by Sen. Thomas C. Desmond.

On Thursday evening, January 15, the new gymnasium at St. Joseph's Seminary, Callicoon, will be formally opened. It measures 92 feet in length, 68 feet in width, and 40 feet in height. The exterior of the building is of red tapestry wire-cut brick and trimmed with white Indiana limestone.

Funeral services for Sherman Stiles of Leavenworth, one of the few remaining Civil War veterans in this section, were held Sunday afternoon at the home of the deceased in Eldred. He would have been 92 on February 14, served with Company B, 56th New York Infantry and took part in 24 important engagements, including the siege of Yorktown and Seven Oaks.

Otto Hillig, Liberty photographer, whose suit over a revoked passage on the dirigible Graf Zeppelin, gained wide notoriety, again sought fame this week when he announced the purchase of a six-passenger plane in early next May. Hillig will be accompanied by Captain Holger Horiis, as his pilot. The plane will be delivered March 1.

Mr. and Mrs. Coe F. Young announce the birth of a daughter, Margaret Jeanne, on December 31.

Born to Mr. and Mrs. John Nearing of Long Eddy, a son, December 10.

80 Years Ago - 1941

The fight between the Fremont Center School trustees and the State Commissioner of Education seems to have developed into a heavyweight championship contest. The trustees refused to furnish transportation for high school pupils. The Commissioner ordered them to do so, and when they wouldn't, ordered their ouster. Their attorney, Ellsworth Baker, got a certiorari order from Supreme Court Judge Foster to vacate the Commissioner's order ousting them and now the Commissioner has obtained an order for the trustees to show cause before Supreme Court Justice Staley at Albany Saturday why Judge Foster's certiorari order should not be vacated. Judge Foster's order was intended to determine the authority of the commissioner to oust the school trustees for failure to obey his directive to furnish high school transportation.

The big hard maple tree on the former Jacobs homestead before Youngsville village was cut down recently by Phil Kespert. This tree was the largest around that section, measuring four feet through the butt, and had limbs 16 inches through. The butt had 98 rings on it indicating, it is said, a ring for each year of its age. It was planted there by Mrs. Royce, mother of Dewey J. Royce, who was associated with Arthur P. Childs and William T. Morgans in the publication of the “Record,” then printed at Youngsville. Mr. Kespert cut eight cords of wood out of the tree.

The first hotel built in Youngsville, erected by Dimmick D. Quick in 1851, first known as the Youngsville House and later as the Youngsville Hotel and the Myers Hotel, operated for the last six years by Jacob Malovitch and his wife, Rachel, has been sold to Eben Lawrence of White Sulphur Springs for the amount due on the mortgage of $5116.96.

70 Years Ago - 1951

There are four babies at the Callicoon Hospital: A daughter was born Saturday to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Crellin of Shohola, PA.; a daughter was born Monday to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred White of Cochecton Center; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Diehl of Kenoza Lake are the parents of a son, born Tuesday; Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Bador of Narrowsburg are the parents of a son, born Tuesday.

Mr. and Mrs. Grant Caffrey of Equinunk, PA., announce the engagement of their daughter, Patricia Ann, to Lieut. Arnold R. Baum, son of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Baum of Callicoon.

William Simon of Rock Valley and Miss Jean Caswell were married at the Harvard Meth­odist Church last Saturday.

The Callicoon Center members of the Home Bureau met for the first time January 9. They will be known as the Callicoon Center Ruralettes.

Joseph Strawbridge took five students from Jeffersonville School to Poughkeepsie last week where they debated in humorous, extemporaneous and dramatic presentations. Those to make the trip were Richard Clifford, who won three 1st places; Barbara Lott, took one 1st place; Barbara Peters, Barbara Adams and Audrey Schmidt who won one 2nd place and two 3rd places.

60 Years Ago - 1961

Charles Volke has retired from his work at the Roscoe bank after 40 years of service as a teller.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Rode became the parents of a daughter in the Roscoe-Rockland Community Hospital on December 30.

George Inman, an experienced operator from Monticello, is the new intertype operator at the Democrat, taking the place of Raimondo Salvia who was employed there the last year and a half. Raimondo and his family have moved back to Brooklyn and he will return to his first love, the sea.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Stewart have announced plans for a coin-operated laundry for Callicoon, consisting of 12 washers and four dryers, to be situated in the Kelly building. It will open in about a month.

Mr. and Mrs. J. Bruce Lindsley of White Sulphur Springs entertained their children and grandchildren New Year's Day in celebration of their 59th wedding anniversary.

50 years ago - 1971

Earl Clark of Roscoe, Lloyd Heller of Callicoon and Steven Bose of Jeffersonville have purchased a controlling interest in the Stewart Funeral Service from Mr. and Mrs. Howard Stewart. Mr. Stewart will continue on as president and Mrs. Stewart will be vice president of the corporation. Mr. Clark will be secretary-treasurer and will manage the Roscoe funeral home. Mr. Heller will be at the Callicoon establishment and Mr. Bose will continue to manage the Jeffersonville funeral home.

A son was born at the Callicoon Hospital on Wednesday to Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Keesler of Mileses.

40 Years Ago - 1981

The Sullivan County Board of Supervisors, during a heated regular January session held Monday afternoon in the County Government Center, dashed the plans of Thompson Supervisor David Kaufman to impose strict water rationing controls on New York City to assist in the present drought situation… The Dela­ware River Basin Commission (DRBC) will meet in a special session on January 15 in Trenton, NJ. The purpose of this meeting is to consider current drought conditions and possible drought emergency actions.

As of Monday, the administration of Sullivan County Community Hospital and chairman of the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors, Brian Ingber, were locked in a disagreement about what might be done to end the three-month-old strike of Local 1199 against the hospital. Mr. Ingber once again pressed for a hospital agreement to “unconditional binding arbitration” and once again the hospital's Executive Director Martin Rosenblum said through a spokesman that Mr. Ingber's request is “unreasonable.”

Members of the night shift at Grover Hermann Hospital congratulated Millie Callahan last Thursday on her 47 years of service in the nursing profession. She began nursing in the local area in 1948 at the old Callicoon Hospital and then moved into the new facility when it opened in 1976 with a short stint in the Monticello Hospital.

Terri Trotta of the Monticello School of Gymnastics took a fourth place on the beam at the state sectionals in Binghamton. Lori Goldsmith took a second place on the floor and Renee Vandermark took a fifth place on the floor. Lori Kelly of Grahamsville finished first in her age group at the meet and is the first girl to qualify from the Monticello School of Gymnastics.

30 Years Ago - 1991

Members of the Delaware Valley Central School Board of Education voted 4-1 Tuesday evening to accept the resignation of District Sup­er­intendent Charles Kozora, effective March 8, and began the process leading to the selection of his replacement.

An open house will be held January 20 to dedicate the new addition to the Liberty Senior Center at 119 North Main St.

Ray Durkin, a 1985 graduate of J-YCS, has been chosen a member of the Performing Ensemble of DANSCORE, the touring dance company of SUNY College at Brockport. The 1990-1991 tour includes performances in Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo.

The 10th annual Wood­ridge-Mountaindale Reunion will be held on February 26 at the Crystal Lake Country Club in Pompano Beach, FL.

Maria Meyer of Cochecton Center is the artist of the month at the Delaware Arts Center in Narrowsburg. She will have 20 pieces of art on exhibit which range from landscapes to portraits in charcoal, pastel, oil, watercolor and alkyd.

20 Years Ago - 2001

The White Sulphur Spring Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire at the Barry Klein residence around noon this past Friday. Arriving at the scene, White Sulphur Springs Fire Chief Jim Austin found the barn which houses Klein's logging business, directly behind his home, to be engulfed in flames. Some 50 firefighters brought the fire under control in about 30 minutes, but the building was a total loss. Fire departments assisting at the scene were Liberty, Swan Lake and Youngsville and Liberty Volunteer Ambulance Corps stood by at the site.

On Saturday, members of the Sullivan County Million Man March Community Action Group and their Committee of Sisters sponsored a Martin Luther King Day celebration in the Monticello Middle School auditorium. Olivia Armstrong, a local poet and performance artist, served as master of ceremonies.

Kohl's plans to hire upwards of 900 employees at its Sullivan County facility, which is located adjacent to the Wurtsboro Airport, 1.6 miles north of the Village of Wurtsboro. Site preparation work has already started, with the plan to have the center operational before Christmas.

Miss Sullivan County Teenager, Andrea Grastataro delivered bags of food to the Sullivan County SPCA. She sponsored a food drive for the shelter during the month of December, and plans to sponsor another one in March.

10 Years Ago - 2011

The Liberty Central School District was one of 62 schools chosen by Governor Cuomo's transition team to represent Sullivan County at the State of the State Address on January 5, 2011. Liberty senior Megahn Burke represented the district, community and county. Governor Cuomo's staff praised Liberty for the positive changes they are seeing in our district, and that is a reflection on everyone - students, faculty, administration and our community.

The Town of Callicoon ordered the historic Hessinger Building in Callicoon Center to be torn down, but opponents made a case for preserving the structure at a recent board meeting. According to Supervisor Tom Bose, it's an issue the town has dealt with on and off for more than 12 years, since Pauline Plum purchased the building in 1998. No one representing Plum showed up to the public hearing held to determine the fate of the building.

Robert Dufour, who began his educational career at Eldred Central School as a substitute teacher in 2002 has been named the district's superintendent. Dufour earned his bachelor's in history from St. John's University in 1982.

The third grade students of Damascus Christian Academy, Ruth Homenick, Taylor Warner, Olivia Warfield and Rose Sheard, were recent recipients of their own personal dictionary made available through The Wayne County Community Foundation. Each year, the Foundation solicits donations to give this important tool to every third grader in Wayne County, PA schools.