130 Years Ago - 1895

A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Mall of Beechwoods on September 30.

The case of Sipple against the Roscoe-Rockland Water Company has been carried to a higher court. Sipple has won the case all the way through. If the water companies would secure the right to the water before they laid the pipe it would come cheaper.

Assemblyman Henry Krenrich of Jeffersonville declined the renomination of the Republican County Convention on Tuesday. He explained, “My reason for declining the nomination is that my private affairs are such as to make it utterly impossible for me to accept another term in the Assembly.” Uriah S. Messiter of Liberty was nominated in his place.

James Bailey’s Pond, between DeBruce and Parksville, has been purchased by Messrs. Schoner and Adams of New York, representing a club of fifteen. Fifteen cottages will be built on the shores of this lake, and other extensive improvements will be made.

At the twenty-fifth annual convention of the county superintendents of the poor of New York State, held at Ogdensburg last June, a discussion of the tramp nuisance occupied a good share of the time. Superintendent Calkin of Sullivan County says, “We spend three to four hundred dollars every year to take care of these tramps, young fellows.” 

120 Years Ago - 1905

Fred Bietz is having the foundation laid for a 24 x 40 house on the lot he bought of Charles Kohl. Mike Kohler is also getting ready to build a house on Delaware Avenue.

It is said that parties are negotiating for the purchase of the Catholic parsonage, which has been in rent for many years.

Weddings — Dr. Wm. H. Archibald of Jeffersonville and Miss Lillian Hemmer were married last evening. Miss Mary Hubbert, Beechwoods, and John Bernhardt of Kenoza Lake, were united in marriage at the home of Rev. S. Muery at Hortonville, September 24. Charles Faubel and Miss Katherine Werlau of Hortonville were married at the church there on October 7.

Democrats of this town held their caucus at Callicoon and nominated the following ticket: Supervisor - Val Scheidell; Clerk - Edward Homer; Commissioner of Highways - Wm. Knemm; Collector - Jacob Hust; Justices - Wm. Harding, John Glassel; Assessor - John Peters, George Weyrauch, Joseph Hemmer; Overseers of Poor - Michael Fitzgerald and Peter Will; Constables - Casper Girard, John Kohler, Preston Goodman and Frank Scheffler; Inspectors, first district - James Carr, Wm. Grishaber, second district - Lewis Black and Michael Ernest.

110 Years Ago - 1915

Under date of October 2, the State Education Department renders its decisions dismissing the appeals from the orders of the school superintendents which dissolved three districts and consolidated them with the Jeffersonville district, and dissolved three districts at White Sulphur Springs and consolidated them with the White Sulphur district. These decisions settle the controversies and there can be no further appeal except to the Court of Appeals, and then only on a point of law.

William J. Durr, who has been running the cafe in the old Jeffersonville House, expects to remove to the city with his family shortly.

Several young men of this community, among them Oscar Eggler, Seth Eltz, George Ellmauer and Alfred Myers, expect to leave for Virginia soon, to seek employment for the winter. Mr. Eggler was down there last winter and made good wages at carpentering.

A son, Warren John, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Harry D. Gareiss of New York on September 21. Mrs. Gareiss is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Diehl of Jeffersonville.

Ten-year-old Harry Spielman of Youngsville sang a couple of popular songs at the Masonic Hall movies Tuesday night and was given great applause. In the near future, Mr. McKane will add variety to the shows by giving a program of one-reel features one night a week.

Women want to vote in order to help men, not oppose them. Giving women the vote will bring into the electorate a body of people whose interests complement men’s interests. In every state where women have been given the vote their political pressure has been brought to bear in behalf of social and domestic measures that men have neglected for affairs of trade, transportation and industry.

A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. William Kratz of Beechwoods on September 22.

On Sunday evening, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Frey of Youngsville gave at their home a farewell party in honor of Miss Bertha Hauschild, who leaves for Binghamton. The neighbors, friends — in fact to judge from the crowd — everybody was there. They came from all nearby towns.

100 Years Ago - 1925

The Henry Berghoefer house and lot in this village, which was sold at public sale by the administrator, Mrs. Caroline E. Segar, went to Edwin Weber of this place. Mr. Weber has leased the place for the past couple years.

The Jewish Society in Jeff have begun operations for the erection of a synagogue on their lot on Jefferson Avenue, formerly known as the Scheidell orchard lot. The building will be 28 x 46 feet in area, with one 12 foot story and a basement.

A very happy celebration was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Louis J. Dietrich in this village on Sunday, October 4. The occasion was Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich’s silver wedding anniversary.

John Gabel, the Narrowsburg butcher, was in town Tuesday. John’s shop was one of the places in Narrowsburg visited by thieves recently. The thieves failed to find $500 which John had placed casually in his account register. Instead, they took his adding machine outside, thinking it was a cash register.

People throughout these parts are still talking about the mysterious disappearance of Fred G. Beale, Binghamton insurance man, who is thought to have run his car off a bank opposite Hancock and then set fire to it after placing in the car the body of James H. Davis. The charred body of Davis was supposed to be that of Beale, whose family could collect $20,000 insurance and Beale could disappear with a lot of insurance premiums he had collected and failed to turn in. Beale was in Jeffersonville the night before the car burning and collected $200 insurance money from Edwin Schultz and later in Callicoon collected money from Peter Schmidt.

An important business transaction occurred at Bethel recently, when Walter C. Beatty of the firm of Beatty & Gillispie, sold his half interest in the general mercantile business to Wm. Greenberg of North White Lake.

90 Years Ago - 1935

Game Wardens George Hembdt of Monticello and Ron Steenrod of Liberty, after hearing a shot in the woods, went looking for deer jacklighters. They blocked the road with Hembdt’s car, prepared to stop the night hunters, blew their whistles and ordered them to stop. Instead of stopping the car rushed upon the protectors, swung into the ditch and around the Hembdt car in an effort to escape. It was then the protectors opened fire.

Spontaneous combustion, it is supposed, set fire to the hay in the large barn of William Wilke Jr. on the Fremont Hill at Callicoon at 10:30 Monday and brought out the firemen from Callicoon, Hortonville and North Branch for a hot fight to save the nearby house and other buildings.

A leak in the dam of Lake Jefferson is drawing the water out of the lake, as the water is running out faster than it comes in from the Youngsville and Briscoe brooks. Water in all brooks is getting very low. The village reservoir has been drawn down considerably and the trustees are looking for leaks in the system.

Mrs. Susanna Potsch was renominated for County Welfare Commissioner by the Democratic party.

Mark Kohler, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Kohler of Jeffersonville, and Clara Bischoff, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bischoff of Lake Huntington, were married September 30.

80 Years Ago - 1945

An 11-pound daughter was born September 26 at the Liberty Hospital to Mr. and Mrs. Maynard Holt on the former Graff farm, Jeffersonville.

Erwin L. Baker, who left the principalship of the school here to enter the Navy 18 months ago, is now in Tokyo, where he says the Japs are planting gardens in parts of the bombed  areas, which have been cleaned up.

Some people are trying to have Sixth Avenue in New York renamed the “Avenue of the Americas.” Why not call it the Speedway, for that is what it has become since the elevated road was removed.

Plans for reducing maintenance costs of the O&W Railroad by single tracking the entire line from Cornwall to Oswego on Lake Ontario, have been announced by Raymond Beghardt.

The lock and key safe in the Bush house at Ferndale was looted on Tuesday and about $3500 in cash and several checks were taken. The stolen cash included some left by guests on deposit.

On the Tuscaloosa in the Pacific, William R. Grishaber, seaman first class of Jeffersonville, has been serving on this cruiser, which was assigned to support occupation forces in Japan.

70 Years Ago - 1955

Word has been received from F. Gary Vogeny that he has completed training in Electricians Mate Class A School in  San Diego, Calif., and was transferred directly to the destroyer U.S.S. Urban, operating out of San Diego Bay.

Six went to New York City from Draft Board 17 at Monticello Tuesday for pre-induction physical examinations for the armed forces. They were Eli Shaff, Livingston Manor; David Kwartler, South Fallsburg; Harold Sturgis, Monticello; Richard Porter, Youngsville; James Farquhar, Hurleyville; and Kurt Kinzel, transferred in from New York City.

The Jeffersonville Trojans will open the 1955 football season with a game against the Roscoe Blue Devils at Roscoe on Friday, September 30, at 3:30. The Roscoe team will be defending their Western Sullivan League title, a winning streak of ten games and a 15-game streak without loosing.

Matthew Hassis of Jeffersonville, an employee of the Liberty Register plant, suffered a severe cut to his left thumb when he caught the member in a power saw Tuesday of last week.

60 Years Ago - 1965

A half-mile long viaduct just west of Horton will be included in the Horton-East Branch segment of new Route 17.

Backed by a rousing speech by Liberty Town Chairman Louis Fox and aided by an apparent lack of cohesion on the part of his opponents, former Liberty Town Supervisor Francis A. Hanofee turned back a challenge to his Democratic county leadership.

Pupils of Harold Mitchell of Delaware Avenue, Callicoon, in the Quick District and Petersburg schools met in reunion at the Delaware Youth Center.

The installation meeting of the Sullivan County Historical Society will be held Tuesday instead of the regularly scheduled Monday. The reason for this change, Fr. Myron McCormick of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Callicoon  is the nominating committee’s choice for the 1966 president. Father Myron is presently 1st vice president. One of the features of the meeting will be a symbolic passing of the gavel from president to president. Bert S. Feldman is the current president.

There was a 55 degree spread from the unseasonably hot weather last week and the cold wave which struck the county Monday.

50 Years Ago - 1975

Margaret L. Mosher and Norman M. Closs were married August 26 in the Lake Huntington Presbyterian Church. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy Mosher of Lake Huntington. Parents of the bridegroom are Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Conklin of Roscoe.

Charles and Esther Hubert of Hankins were given a surprise housewarming on Sunday afternoon with about 85 friends, neighbors and relatives attending.

Janice Olsen of Narrowsburg and Michael J. O’Neill of Honesdale, Pa., were united in matrimony on September 27, at St. Francis Xavier R.C. Church, Narrowsburg.

A son, Adam Cameron, was born October 2 to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Diehl (Alice Gain). A daughter, Heather was born to Mr. and Mrs. Glen Miller of  Bulls Head on Tuesday. Mr. and Mrs. Warren Miller are the proud grandparents.

Richard Adam, member of the Delaware Valley Central School Board, was one of nearly 300 persons attending the third annual seminar for new school board members presented at Albany, September 27-28.

The County of Sullivan will officially receive its Bicentennial designation and flag at next Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.

40 Years Ago - 1985

John Gorzynski of Cochecton Center was recently elected as president of the Sullivan County Farm Bureau to succeed Ed Grund.

The Kelly Home for Adults, located just south of Narrowsburg, celebrated its 20th anniversary with an outdoor picnic on October 1. Eugene and Elizabeth Kelly are the proprietors. Their oldest resident is Walter Wolff of Barryville, 100 years old on January 21. Mildred Meyer of Narrowsburg and Miriam Hill of Callicoon are the longest residents, having been at the home 12 years.

Sandy Morhrmann and Melissa Ruef have each been awarded a $500 scholarship for their studies in advanced conservation work, given by the Federated Sportsmen’s Clubs of Sullivan County. Art TerBush is the committee chairman. Jay Strunk of Narrowsburg was awarded the Sportsman of the Year award at the club’s annual dinner Saturday evening, held in Livingston Manor. Earlier this year he received a plaque for 40 years of service with the Lava Fire Department.

Highland Lake, Yulan and Shohola, Pa. fire departments were called to an early Thursday morning fire at “Mama’s on the Delaware” Restaurant in Barryville. Cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

30 Years Ago - 1995

The director of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) office came to the county Thursday carrying two symbolic checks worth more than a half-million dollars. One of the checks, (in the amount of $163,041) was delivered to Supervisor Eric Nystrom for the creation of a Senior Center in the Town of Delaware. However, the amount of the check was about $100,000 less than expected. The plan of the town board is to erect a 40x80 ft. building on their property located between Main Street and the Delaware River on Audley Dorrer Drive that would not only serve as a Senior Center, but also as a new town hall. According to Nystrom, the town board “has a three-month leeway to decide if this is the way we want to go or whether we should pursue other options.”

The 1995 Octoberfest/Craft Fair is being sponsored by the Tusten Lions at the Roto-Rooter Arena in Narrowsburg, on October 7 and 8.

Judge Robert Williams and his wife,  Dorothy, sat through more than three hours of anec-dotes, good-natured jokes, gift presentations and sincere accolades during his retirement party, sponsored by the Sullivan County Bar Association at the Concord Resort in Kiamesha Lake last Thursday night. He has given 37 years to  public service, including 23 years on the Supreme Court bench, and recognized the people who made his accomplishments possible. Among the many gifts was an autographed basketball from Hall-of-Famer  Willis Reed, presented by former Fremont Judge Walter Sipple. Sipple related that he had taken Williams to a Knicks basketball game back in 1971. “Here were all the kids at half-time, surrounding Knicks captain Willis Reed, trying to get his autograph — and the biggest kid of all was Judge Williams.” Sipple made good on Williams’ wish by presenting him with the autographed basketball.

The Daniel Pierce Library’s tenth annual Giant Pumpkin Party at the Grahamsville Fairgrounds seems to be growing. More than 1,500 participants took part in Saturday’s event with about 500 of them children in costume. The event raises money for the library/community center.

20 Years Ago - 2005

The world’s best photographers gathered at the Eddie Adams farm in Jeffersonville last weekend, just a year after the death of the world-renowned photographer Eddie Adams, for what Adams’ widow, Alyssa, calls a workshop “for photographers, by photographers.”

DEATHS: Ralph Knack of Liberty, a retired watershed inspector, died September 30, 2005 at the age of 90; Clara Meckle, 98, a homemaker of Narrowsburg, died October 5, 2005; Beatrice Rupp of Liberty, 94, died October 5, 2005; Lois Schrumpf of Callicoon Center, 92, died October 6, 2005; Mildred Eidel, 81, retired deputy town clerk of Fallsburg, died October 7, 2005; Anne Lindsley, 94, of Jeffersonville, a retired nurse, died October 8, 2005; Irene Sackett, a retired Catholic school teacher, died October 7, 2005 at the age of 92.

Five-year-old Alexa Csanko of Bullville reeled in a largemouth bass on Labor Day while fishing with her grandparents, Ted and Patricia Csanko, in the Town of Fremont. The fish was 17.5 inches long and weighed 3.5 pounds.

The late local lawyer Bruce Silverman was memorialized recently at the Sullivan County Courthouse in a gathering of family and friends, and was recalled by retired Judge Robert Williams as a man of “absolute honesty and truthfulness.”

10 Years Ago - 2015

In addition to the many activities planned for the Mackenzie Elementary School’s 20th anniversary celebration, a time capsule will be buried and include items like a tee-shirt commemorating the anniversary, photographs and best of all, booklets made up of predictions of what each student thinks he or she will be when they grow up.  While some aspire to be chemists, doctors, teachers, astronauts, professional athletes and actors, others  hope to be “ninja ghosts” or just hanging out at the ice cream factory. Time will tell – 20 years later, when the time capsule is unearthed – what became of the 319 students, but on Friday, October 2, singing, dancing and celebrating was the order of the day.

The Genzlinger and Ehrhardt families announced that The Settlers Hospitality Group will acquire Ehrhardt’s Waterfront Resort in 2015. The Genzlinger family has owned and operated The Settlers Inn in Hawley, Pa. for more than 35 years – and more recently have established a collection of local hospitality and lifestyle businesses including Ledges Hotel, the Hawley Silk Mill, Cocoon Coffee House, Mill Market and Lake Region Fitness. They will purchase Ehrhardt’s Waterfront Resort, a third-generation family business on Lake Wallenpaupack, from co-owners Eric and Craig Ehrhardt. The goal is to relaunch [in 2016] as The Silver Birches Resort, which was its name from 1928, when George and Rachel Singer built the inn, until the late 1980s when the name was changed to Ehrhardt’s.