150 Years Ago -  1873

The Hankins nitroglycerin factory has suspended operations.

More than 800 people were in town on Fair Day in Jeffersonville.

The Hortonville Paper Factory will not commence to operate until the last of this month. The massive machinery which is required as motive power is being manufactured in Connecticut.

Our North Branch postmaster stands firm for Uncle Sam. He wears a No. 15 boot.

140 Years Ago - 1883

Union Academy of Damascus, Wayne County, Pa., offers to students good facilities for education in all departments, preparations for college receives special attention. Bookkeeping and higher studies are taught in a thorough manner. Excellent teachers in music and in all departments. LeRoy Monesteel, Secy.

At the IOOF picnic in Monticello there were 48 quadrilles and two waltzes danced.

Fred Staib has gone to Buffalo to accept a position in a wallpaper factory.

John H. Lawrence has opened a new store at Youngsville and just returned from New York with a full line of goods: prints, 4¢ a yard and upward; muslin, 6¢ a yard and upward; first-class ginghams, 9¢ a yard and upward; tea, 10¢; roasted coffee, 12¢; all kinds of country produce taken in exchange at the highest market prices.

The Damascus Union Academy will reopen Tuesday, September 2. This excellent institution is still under the management of Mr. McLaury.

A shoe peg factory will  soon number among the industries of Liberty.

The examination of the prisoners in the local case occupied 19 hours. Thomas S. Ward, appearing for the defendant, E.H. Pinney for the people. “Chunks of Logic” flew thick and fast.

The largest collection of newspapers in our county is on file at the residence of James E. Quinlan, Esq., of Pleasant Pond. He has a complete file to which he may refer for home incidents which occurred forty years ago.

130 Years Ago - 1893

The telegraph operator at White Sulphur Springs was calling Liberty Saturday evening that he might send a message that a doctor was wanted when White Lake broke in and, in order to keep the White Lake man quiet, he ticked off “keep still, big boarding house burning.” The message was heard by the Liberty operator and he at once spread the report that the Ernhout Hotel at the Spring was on fire, which caused much excitement in Liberty until the truth was known.

Sullivan County pays $5,252 into the state fund and receives in return $29,429.

The 12th annual reunion of the soldiers and sailors of Sullivan County will be held at the reunion grounds at Rockland on August 30.

C.W. Kays of Brooklyn has purchased the cider machinery of his brother, W.H. Kays of Youngsville, and will erect a cider mill at Liberty this fall.

Edward Eagin of Youngsville has bought the Kracht farm near his place. Consideration, $2800.

The Beechwoods picnic was a big affair as usual. The dancing numbers ran to over a hundred and the contents of about twenty kegs of beer was made to disappear. There was a little disturbance at night caused by a bullying fellow named Hendrickson from Callicoon but before he got through with his game he got his just desserts. He started in by smashing a beer glass over the head of Ben Rieber of Falls Mills and when the crowd got through with him it is said that he was the possessor of a couple of fractured ribs and thorough bounding around. There was no sympathy for him, it being the universal opinion that he got what he deserved.

The chemical works at Emmonsville, DeBruce and Willowemoc have closed down for an indefinite period.

There are people who have heard or read something about the present silver coinage discussion and from their understanding of the matter have assumed the idea that silver dollars are no longer of any value and therefore refuse to take them.

120 Years Ago - 1903

Mrs. R.L. Marks who has published the Democrat at Callicoon Depot since the death of her husband last winter, has sold the property to Harry S. Allison.

The Faubel house at Roscoe is gradually nearing completion. It will be a fine four-story building equipped with all modern improvements.

Mrs. Louis Hemmer of North Branch went to the city last week to accompany her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Schmidt, to Auburn, Pa., to visit her son, Frank Hemmer, who has resided there for fifteen years. Frank left home when he was sixteen years of age.

110 Years Ago - 1913

A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Brown on August 22.

Bloomingburg has voted $9,000 for a new Union Free School building.

The state road between Liberty and Monticello is complete except for a small portion near Bushville.

Ahira Green, a hotel proprietor in Rockland for many years, died at his home Thursday morning, aged about 70 years.

After many attempts since the death of W.E. Sprague, the Roscoe National bank has finally chosen George I. Treyz to be president. J.W. Albert was elected vice president.

Monday morning, a week ago, John L. Roesner, one of our merchants, gave to mail carrier George Schultz, a package containing $260 in bills and $105 in two checks for deposit in the Callicoon National Bank as has been his custom for some time. The deposit has not yet reached the bank and everybody is wondering where it went.

The new Liberty House at Liberty, the largest and finest hotel in Sullivan County, has been sold by the owner John D. Lehman, to George W. Rockwell, who for many years conducted the Hotel Rockwell at Monticello until it was destroyed by fire in the great Monticello fire a few years ago. The price paid was $25,000 and includes all the furnishings but not the stock. People declare the property was almost given away.

100 Years Ago - 1923

Guernsey T. Cross, the Callicoon attorney, is again the Democratic choice to run for member of assembly.

Sealed bids wanted for the job of janitor of the Youngsville school and also for the conveying of pupils from Yaun District, the Hardenburg District and the East Hill District for the ensuing school year. John F. Abplanalp, Clerk.

Sealed bids wanted for the contract to convey pupils from Birch Ridge District to the Jeffersonville School for the ensuing year. John Stephenson, Trustee.

The engagement is reported of Lawrence Hauschild and Miss Blanche Levy, a teacher in Newark, N.J. Miss Levy is boarding at the farm of George W. Baumgardt.

Sullivan County Fair and Races, Monticello, N.Y., August 28, 39, 30 and 31,  1923.

Theodore Heller of Liberty was the winner in the Sullivan County Spelling Contest at the County Fair. Rebecca Sapolin of Youngsville won second place and Charlotte Saar of Bethel won third place.

John Portz is building a house on the lot of School Street which he bought of John Townsend.

Alex Krongel is making arrangements to give up work as a bread baker for Roth’s Bakery, and return to the city. His family has moved temporarily to the Henry Kratz farm near White Sulphur Springs, which he formerly owned.

Winner in the assembly district scholarships were Emilie H. DuBois of Livingston Manor, Sara H. Barkley of Grahamsville, James H. Havey of Liberty, Charles K. DuBois of Bethel and Joseph Henke of Callicoon. Mr. Havey won the Cornell Scholarship for Sullivan County.

90 Years Ago - 1933

Six-year-old Peter Marinaro of Jersey City, vacationing with his father on a farm near Liberty, was shot for a woodchuck by 15-year-old Frank Greco who was hunting with a .22 calibre rifle. The six-year-old boy was walking along back of a stonewall. The bullet entered the child’s head.

Plans are being made for a by-pass on Route 17 outside the village of Bloomingburg which was frustrated when the road was built through personal influence with then Governor Roosevelt.

James Holmes received a telegram stating that his father, Thomas Holmes of Toronto, Canada, had died at his camp on Sturgent Lake. James and his brother, Sgt. Allen Holmes, who was visiting here, Mrs. James Holmes and son, Allen, went to Toronto Monday to attend the funeral on Tuesday and returned yesterday.

More than 8,500 enrolled Republicans in Sullivan County will get this week the first copies of a new publication, The Eagle, which is the official bulletin of the Republican party in this county. The paper is owned and issued by the Sullivan County Republican Committee and will be published monthly.

80 Years Ago - 1943

Monday night about 9:30, a blackout was sounded and lasted for about a half an hour. This alert was statewide with the exception of New York City.

Miss Edith Behling will be graduated as a nurse from the Flushing Hospital tonight. Among those attending are Edith’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Behling, her sisters, Charlotte and Wanda, and August Lott and family of Jeffersonville.

Ella Bertha Hupke and Mark Kohler were married on September 5 at Passaic, N.J.

Lillian Belle Moulthrop, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot Moulthrop of Kenoza Lake, and PFC Raymond A. Moran were married at the Army Chapel Sunday, August 29, by Army Chaplain Barron at Camp Carson, Colo. The bride and groom came East after the wedding and after a furlough, Raymond returned to his camp in Colorado. His bride will remain for the present with her parents.

Mrs. Clarence A. Royce died at her home on Chapel Street following an illness of six years from multiple sclerosis. She was born Minnie Louise Wilfert, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wilfert.

The Lake Jefferson Hotel, built some years ago by the late Thomas Emr of Bethel, at a cost of about $40,000 has been sold by its present owner, Frank Larocco of Swan Lake, to Gus Corey who  operated a restaurant for seven years in Liberty. The hotel has been closed for a number of years.

70 Years Ago - 1953

Two hundred five dinners were served at the Hotel Commodore in Swan Lake last Sunday night in the local synagogue benefit.

Charles Hahn, 72, a lifelong resident of Callicoon Center, died September 2 at the Callicoon Hospital.

Miss Mary Weyrauch left on Friday for New York where she has accepted a position as assistant governess of two children while their parents are on a trip to Europe.

Richard VonBergen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin VonBergen of Jeffersonville, and Miss Shirley Margaret Brown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Brown, Kenoza Lake, were married August  30, 1953, in the Kenoza Lake Methodist Church by Rev. Joseph Stutler.

On Saturday, August 29, at St. Aloysius R.C. Church, Miss Freda Marie Homer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Everard R. Homer of Livingston Manor, became the bride of Patrick J. Clifford, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Clifford of Jeffersonville.

Schaefer Bros. of Jeffersonville are busy building a dam on the former Graham homestead to provide storage water for the present owner, John Pinczykowski.

Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Ritters---hausen and sons, Arthur and Billy, left Sunday for a week’s vacation in Canada.

Gus Schmidt, employed by Ed Knack, while working at the John Urban place near Callicoon Center, fell on Friday breaking an ankle and bones in a heel. He was taken to the Liberty-Loomis Hospital where the bones were set in place on Tuesday.

The Martin Hermann Co. of Callicoon, who have the contract to build the new outside steps at the Jeffersonville Central School, has a crew on the job busily at work to get the job done before the opening of school. The steps will be faced with blue stone.

60 Years Ago - 1963

Last Friday morning, the main barn of the Yasgur Dairy in Bethel was completely destroyed by fire. All the livestock plus a creamery and bottling plant were saved, but an estimated $15,000 worth of baled hay was in the loft at the time. Milk deliveries were back on schedule this week.

Julie Ann, Willis and David Armbrust, Carol Kratz, Ines Illgen, Alan Dernback and Jack Herrmann, members of the Beechwoods Farmers 4-H Club took their calves and other exhibits to the Grahamsville Fair on Saturday. Several ribbons were won. Carol Kratz’s cookies were selected to go to the New York State Exhibition in Syracuse.

Mrs. Russell Olsen, who entered Callicoon Hospital August 18th after being gored by a cow, and barely missed being a fatality, returned to her home in Lake Huntington. Her many friends are happy to know she is back home after being gone one week instead of three weeks as it was at first thought it would take to get her back on her feet.

Airman Charles J. Menges, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Menges Sr. of Youngsville, is being reassigned to Lowry AFB, Colorado, for technical training as a United States Air Force missile mechanic.

50 Years Ago - 1973

White Sulphur Springs Fire Department Chief George DeWitt sported a pretty fancy mustache at the Hortonville parade last Sunday. Twisted into needle-like points, it has a wing-spread of twelve full inches.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gregory of Loomis Road were feted by relatives and friends to mark their 25th wedding anniversary on August 18 at the White Sulphur Springs Firehouse.

Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Ray were guests of honor at a 25th wedding anniversary celebration held at the Assembly of God Church in Hankins on August 28. The couple renewed their vows in a service led by their son, Calvin Jr., pastor of the south Lansing Assembly of God Church.

Miss Cheryl Noetzel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Noetzel of North Branch, became the bride of Douglas French of Richfield Springs, at St. Paul’s Reformed Church, Callicoon Center, on August 11.

Ed Reynolds, lineman with the NYS Electric & Gas Corporation for 44 years, was honored at a retirement luncheon at the Antrim Lodge in Roscoe. He and Mrs. Reynolds live in Hurleyville.

The engagement of Denise Quinn to Harold Wood, both of Abrahamsville, Pa., has been announced. A late summer 1974 wedding is planned.

40 Years Ago - 1983

New York Supreme Court Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke received the Award of Merit — the highest honor given by the American Judges Association — at an award’s dinner Thursday at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, Mass. Cooke has been a leading figure in court reform through New York State and the country and through his efforts many proposed reforms have become a reality such as transferring upstate judges to temporary terms in New York City and Long Island to reduce backlogs there, encouraging the establishment of local arbitration centers to handle certain civil disputes outside the courtroom; and imposing a rotation system based on New York City criminal case judges to prevent trial lawyers from picking judges friendly to them.

Mary Chanov and Keith L. Barbanti were married June 11 at St. Peter’s R.C. Church in Liberty. Father Lawrence Gibney officiated ...Judith Boyle, daughter of Mrs. Shirley Dernbach of Callicoon, and the late Joseph Boyle, and Jeffrey M. Qualls of Federal Way, Wash., were married at Holy Cross Church in Callicoon on June 25.

Brown’s Hotel in Loch Sheldrake will once again be the Sullivan County headquarters and telephone answering center for the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Dr. Abraham D. Barras, a former Monticello rabbi, died of a heart attack at his home in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on July 20. He was 61 years of age and was the first Conservative rabbi at the Monticello Jewish Community Center. He began his duties there even before graduating from the Jewish Seminary in 1946, serving for three years.

30 Years Ago - 1993

The Stone House in Abrahamsville, Pa., reached the grand old age of 100 and proper celebration activities marked the occasion. It was built in 1893 for the Morrison family. It passed to the George Chilson family, their son Gordon, and then to Allen Quinn and his brother, Joe, then to Ginny and Lee Stultz, George Hoffberg who owned it for a short time and in 1981 was purchased by Mark and Beverly Sherrid. They have undertaken to rebuild a small shed next to the house to use as a guest room, carefully matching the stone used in the big house.

More than 100 Kiwanians and their guests enjoyed a cookout in Callicoon. State Governor of Kiwanis Ed Koch and his wife, Christen, of Buffalo, were among those who attended. The cookout helped raise $413 to be used for local youth-oriented programs.

The Sullivan County Board of Supervisors unanimously endorsed the Multiple Sclerosis Association to  produce the 25th Woodstock Festival Anniversary in Bethel. The Town of Bethel will have to officially take the same action at their next board meeting. A two-day concert is planned for August 13 and 14.

More than 1,000 attended the second annual fair of the Community Resources Center of South Fallsburg at an event held at the Grahamsville Fairgrounds, helping to raise over $3,000 for the worthy organization.

The Harris Division of Community General Hospital will be renamed the Sam and Rose Seelig Division. Official ceremonies will be held September 12. The honor was bestowed on Mr. and Mrs. Seelig in view of their many years of generous gifts and support of the facility. Mrs. Seelig said, “It will be a thrill to see our names on the hospital and a great satisfaction to know that our efforts will be endowing some of the hospital’s capital needs long after we are gone.” The satellite hospital in Callicoon, opened in 1971, was named the Grover M. Hermann Division in honor of a local son who made good. Mr. Hermann achieved wealth and prominence as the founder of the Martin Marietta Corp. He has contributed large amounts of money to several projects in the county, including the library at Sullivan County Community College, Hermann Hall at the Delaware Youth Center in Callicoon, and the Callicoon hospital, to name a few.

Herbert Alvardo of Roscoe continued to gather Empire State Games gold, winning five of the six events he entered in the Masters 55-59 division. The games were held in Rochester August 4-7.

20 Years Ago - 2003

At Sullivan County Community College, dreams turned into reality Thursday afternoon as the two-year institution of higher learning hosted a double dedication ceremony celebrating the new 320-student Lazarus I. Levine Residence Hall and the naming of the freshly revamped Benmosche Family Dining Hall. 

On Thursday, Alan Sorensen tendered his resignation as Sullivan County Planning and Community Development Commissioner to County Manager Dan Briggs. Sorensen said he left his six-year job with the county for two reasons: he has formed his own private consulting firm, Palnit Mainstreet, Inc., and he’s determining whether he’ll run for the 98th Assembly seat that was vacated by the death of Jake Gunther III.

Sullivan West Central School District officials say the new $30 million high school in Lake Huntington will be open September 3, along with other schools throughout the county.

Callicoon Creek Park now has electrical service thanks to a grant from Sullivan Renaissance and a couple of days hard work by Fair Electric. Previously, Lander’s River Mart had provided electric by means of a long extension cord.

Megan and Keith Manzolillo announce the birth of their first child, Luke James, on Wednesday, August 27, at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, Pa. Paternal grandparents are Joyce and Victor Brooks of Callicoon. Maternal grandparents are Marty Moore of Marietta, Ohio, and Paul Greig of Marietta, Ohio. Maternal great-grandmother is Gwen Askew of Boca Raton, Fla. Upon arrival home, it is expected Luke will be looking for a fishing pole at his earliest convenience.

Cindy and Bruce Snedeker and family recently returned from a trip across Ohio. While there they experienced the blackout, being stranded in a motel in Cleveland. – oungsville Corresp.

The youngest duo ever to win the 22nd annual golf tourney sponsored by the Sullivan County Democrat. The championship team was Sean Semenetz and Nick Yaun.

10 Years Ago - 2013

Helen Siedlecki, Nancy Levine and a group of residents and Daytop volunteers have cleared away the brush from one of Joe Moshini’s four miniature castles in Swan Lake. Moshini was a black-bearded Italian immigrant who lived next to the firehouse and worked for the Bants, who owned the President Hotel where Presidential Estates now sits. A skilled mason, Moshini was commissioned to build stone walls and steps around the community, including the Commodore Hotel, which once overlooked the lake next door to the Stevensville. His work was so well-regarded that he was asked to design a “sunken garden” between the two hotels, featuring a medieval-looking castle perched atop a fountain. With permission of the Gallo family which owns the land, plus help from Daytop and locals, Siedlecki and Levine cleared away the years of brush and dirt – and in the process uncovered a work of art.

If all goes as planned, Tri-Valley will have three new athletic fields ready for the spring seasons.

Fallsburg native Will Young opened his Young’s Tae Kwon Do in Liberty after more than a month of renovations to the space on the corner of Main St. and Church St. – that once, and for more than 50 years, housed the Liberty Pharmacy.