WILLIAM HOUSTON FARM

This is scan of an original plate found in the Beers County Atlas of 1875. I was told that this farm was on Jessup Road and is no longer there.

More on the B.F. Dunning Residence

This stately residence was/is on Maple Avenue. It is a mystery to me at the present time.

The following is a transcription of an article published in the Warwick Advertiser,dated May 26, 1866.

Handsome Residence.

We paid a visit the other day to mansion of B.F. Dunning, Esq., which for the past few months has been undergoing the process of remodeling and improvement. An entire change has been made in the interior and exterior of the building, which now displays alike the liberal taste of the owner and the skill of designer and workmen.

A large and convenient cellar has been placed under the entire building, an achievement which reflects the greatest credit upon our townsman, Mr. Henry McElroy, under whose direction all the improvements have been completed. Upon the main floor, are eight rooms: the kitchen, furnished with range and every modern improvement, force pump, and arrangement for a supply of hot water; wash room, with a supply of hot and cold water; dining room, parlor with folding doors, and the library opening from the front parlor, and supplied with writing desk and black walnut bookcases. These rooms are on the north side of the main hall. On the south side is the sitting room, with a sewing room in the rear. The wood work upon this floor is grained in imitation of black walnut, by Mr. Wm. Williams, from New York city.
On the second floor are four large chambers, two bedrooms, and the bathroom. In addition to these, there is also three sleeping rooms in the rear. A large cistern, capable of holding some 1200 gallons, supplies water to the various apartments. The house is supplied with gas fixtures, whit an arrangement for its manufacture.
From this floor we ascend to the tower, and after the first flight enter a cozy and pleasant smoking room, and from this by another flight to the lookout of the tower, from which one of the finest views is had which our beautiful valley affords.
One thing is apparent in all the arrangements. There has been no sacrifice of comfort to mere architectural display, and while extensive additions have been made, an effort has been made to preserve the general uniformity. The design was furnished by Mr. D. Jardine, of New York city.
The ceilings and walls are finely finished with cornice and centre pieces, which, as also all the mason work, has been performed by Mr. Rensealler Decker of this place. The painting, both outside and inside, was done by Mr. William E. Barnes, of this place, in his accustomed finished style. The walls are now being papered by Mr. Bond, in the employ of J.G. Lugar, of New York city. The carpenter work, and general direction of the whole, has been under the management of Mr. Henry McEllroy, of this village, and the work reflects great credit upon his skill and ability for execution.
The grounds are yet in a transition state, but under the skillful care and taste of Mr.Hope, the experienced gardener, they will become yet increasingly an ornament to that portion of our town. The very liberal taste which has been displayed by Mr. Dunning is not only worthy of commendation, but of imitation. The style of architecture and character of the improvements of a village or city, is something of an index of the taste and spirit of its people. Our village is indebted to Mr. Dunning, and his neighbor, Mr. McJimsey, for two of the finest residences of which Orange County can boast.

Elias Fancher

This is an old photo of Elias Fancher that I won at auction. The studio was E.F. Still which checks out. There was an Edwin F. Still by 1866+ in Warwick at the corner of West Street. The back of the photo has Elias Fancher. Father of Darius Fancher. The seller states that the item is from the estate of William Bradner which fits in with the genealogy of the Fancher family. Lilly Fancher, daughter of Darius Fancher, married William Bradner of Warwick. Elias Fancher had the house on Route 94 across from the 1810 house, from which the current owners run an antique business. The Fanchers were an early family in New Milford. Elias was a founding member of both the Edvenville Methodist Church and the New Milford Methodist Church.

Richard Schilling?

This post has to do with personal genealogy. My grandfather, on my mother's side, was Curtis Schilling,Sr. He owned the farm on Route 94 going to Florida - the horse farm on the right. Curtis came here from Germany in 1893 and his brother Richard followed in 1905. Teresa Specht is a neighbor of my fathter in Warwick, NY. The photo comes from Teresa. It appears that Richard married her aunt. Her name was Genevieve Koczewski, who came here in 1907 at age 8. Richard and Jenny married and had two children, Richard and Betty. There may have been a divorce and then a remarriage on Jenny's part. If anyone could help here, both Teresa and I would appreciate it.

P.E. Sanford Residence

This is a Warwick postcard that arrived in the mail today. It was unsent, but back was filled out. A Bessie Lawrence was writing to her Uncle William Smith of Poughkeepsie, NY. This should be the old Col. Hathorn house.

P. E. SANFORD FARM

This is a scan of an original plate from the Beers Atlas of 1875. The is the Col. John Hathorn house built in 1773. It sits on the corner of Hathorn Rd. and what is now County 1.

THOMAS WELLING FARM

This is a scan of an original plate from the Beers Atlas of 1875. It is on Route 94 North, just prior to the Pioneer Restaurant. Anita Panas recently did an article on the history of the house for the Warwick Valley Dispatch.

DR. JAMES H. HOLLY HOUSE

This is a scan of an original plate from the Beers County Atlas of 1875. I currently have no idea where this house is/was.

GEORGE W. SANFORD FARM

This is a scan of an original plate from the Beers County Atlas of 1875. I think it is currently owned by Mrs. John Sanford. I have addressed this property in previous posts.

RICHARD WISNER AND GUYMARD SPRING HOUSE

This is a scan of an original plate from the the Beers County Atlas of 1875. Michael Sweeton checked it out with others and tells me the house was on Distillery Road. The house is no longer there, but the barn is still there.

EAGER AND LAWRENCE, WARWICK ADVERTISER

This is a scan of an original plate from the Beers County Atlas of 1875. This building was at the corner of Main and South streets. It burned down in 1879. I did a transcription of an article pertaining to this fire. Email me if you would like it. More information can be found in Days Gone By.

H. A. BENEDICT HOUSE

This is a scan of an original plate from the Beers Atlas of 1875. I checked with Michael Sweeton, who asked around. He told me this was on Wisner Road and torn down by Wisners. Remember you can click on the image twice to enlarge it. A neat feature of the site.

B.F. Dunning

This is a scan of an original plate from the Beers Atlas of 1875. It was on Maple Ave. I don't think it is there at present. Notice what look to be greenhouses in the upper lefthand corner. Check Days Gone By for more information.

National Hotel, W.S. Benedict, and Charles Morehouse

This is a scan of an original plate contained in the Beer's County Atlas of 1875. The National Hotel was built in 1865 by Thomas Demerest. It burned in 1887 and the current brick building was built on the site. These building are on Railroad Ave. across from the old train station.

Seely Everett and James Park

This is a photo of Seely Everett and James Park at the old Everett store in Edenville. James Park and Casper Hann ran the farm on DeKay as a partnership. James Park died in 1960, so the photo was prior to that. Seely ran the store from 1912 until 1968.

More on the Maple Terrace Farm

This post relates to the previous two posts.

This year, 2009, Victor Robinson transcribed Florence Tate's data on historic structures in the Village of Warwick. This is the information on Maple Terrace Farm: "Wood frame clapboard Victorian farmhouse built by James Taylor c. 1840. Part of a working farm, the house was greatly enlarged between 1867 and 1875. George married Frances A. Baird. He was a member of the boards of the Warwick Valley Railroad and the First National Bank.

Using www.rootsweb.ancestry.com, I found some information on Garret Ackerson, the owner of Maple Terrace Farm in 1805. Remember this in not my research findings. Some of these family trees are quite accurate; other not so accurate. Be warned when using the material. Garret was born on Feb. 24, 1743, in Rockland County, New York. He died on May 30, 1811, in Warwick. During the Revolutionary War Garret was a Captain in the 1st Orange Co. Regiment serving under Col. Ann Hawk Hay of the New York Militia. At the time of his death he had ten living children. His wife was Dirkje Dorcas Springsteen and they married in 1763. One of their daughters, Jannitje Jane, married Aaron Taylor. One of their childern was James Taylor. James was born in Warwick in 1804 and died in Warwick in 1865. This fits in neatly with the information found here in Warwick.

I problem I now have is dating the house. Both W.B. Sayre and the 1805 map ( created from an article by Henry Pelton) claim there was a house there in 1805 owned by Ackerson. However, Florence Tate claims the house was built c. 1840 by James Taylor.

Ezra Sanford, Jr. and His Three Sons

This is the house on Covered Bridge Road just before you get to Sanfordville Rd. When I was growing up in the New Milford section of Warwick, this was the Mrs. Reynold's house. This house relates to my previous post concerning the Park/Hann farm on 104 Dekay Rd. It appears that the common denominator here is the Sanford family.

David Sanford was born in Connecticut in 1711. He came to Warwick and built a house on Cascade Rd. in 1765. They lived there for four generations before moving into the valley. One of David's sons, Ezra, was born in 1747. He lived until 1822. One of Ezra's sons was also named Ezra. He was born in Warwick on November 11, 1793 and lived to a ripe old age. He died in 1883 or 5. Ezra, Jr., married Adeline Terry and the couple had ten children. His three sons later became the owners of or lived in four historic houses I am currently researching.

It appears that Ezra, Jr., purchased the Col Hathorn property in 1834. His son Pierson Ezra Sanford (1832 - 1916) ended up owning the Morehouse home on Hathorn Rd., where the late Bill Raynor lived. Later he ended up owning the Col. Hathorn house. His lovely estate is illustrated in a lithograph contained in the Beers County Atlas of 1875. (Email me for a copy of the Pierson E. Sanford obit.)

It seems that at some point Ezra Sanford, Jr., purchased the house and farm on Covered Bridge Rd. This house, pictured above, sits on the hill just before the intersection with Sanfordville Rd. This was a large farm and I believe it included the old Wheeler/Sanford mill.

This may have been Dekay property originally. According to he Warwick Historical Papers, Nos. 1 and 2, p.67: David McCamly built the mill in 1760. In 1770 Judge John Wheeler bought the property. And around 1855 Ezra Sanford puchaed the farm.

In the notebook of W.B. Sayre, the owners are listed as: David McCamley, Judge John Wheeler, James Wheeler, Ezra Sanford Sr.(my Jr. I presume), William M. Sanford, James Everett Sanford, Mrs. A. Moreau Reynolds and Raymond P. Sanford 1967.

On our maps we have the following information:
1805 John Wheeler, Esq.
1859 Ezra Sanford
1863 Ezra Sanford
1875 ?
1903 Mrs. William Sanford

William More Sanford (1827 - 1887) was a son of Ezra Sanford, Jr. His early years were spent at the Col Hathorn house. For our New Milford followers, William attended the Charles Winfield School on Route 94 in the New Milford section of Warwick.
The information here comes from an obit. published in the Warwick Advertiser, dated August 25, 1887. (Email me for a copy if you need it.) William and his wife, Sarah, do of James Burt, Esq., had seven children. J. Everett and Ezra T. are two of them. Ezra T., who lives on the farm, received it from his grandfather by devise. By devise is an old legal terms meaning he was left the farm by his grandfather. However I don't see him listed as an owner anywhere else. Don't yet know if Mrs. Reynolds was a Sanford. And I don't yet know where Raymond P. Sanford fits in.

George W. Sanford, another son of Ezra Sanford, Jr., (1821 - 1900) is my next subject. Ezra Sanford, Jr., and Adeline Terry owned my father's farm on 104 Dekay Rd. George W. Sanford and his wife Francis Baird were living there when their first child, Lansing Haight Sanford, was born in 1847. So this fact would date Dad's farm to that time. The previous post discussed Dad's farm. From here George W. Sanford bought the Sanford house at the end of Maple Avenue, Maple Terrace Farm, in 1847.

The following information comes from the notebook of W.B.Sayre, regarding this property:

Owned by Garret Ackerson in 1805 grson of Garret (?son? Jane Ackerson & Aaron Taylor, Ezra Sanford, George W. Sanford 1926 John W. Sanford. John W. Sanford, Jr.

The old house and buildings on this farm stood in the meadow near an old well still visible (1926) about 100 yards east of the present State Road and about 300 yards south of the barn on the farm on the farm belonging to the heirs of Ross W. Sly.

The old road ran down by them back of the present Sly barn on up by the spring on the Sly farm now (1926) used as a milk spring.

The old Jersey claim line ran short distance north of John W.Sanford's house.

The above information comes from Sue Gardner who did this draft transcription of W.B. Sayre's notebook. I certainly thank Sue for her massive efforts of getting the archived material out to the public. Sue does give a warning to double check before using this data.

This is an aerial shot of the farm at 104 Dekay Road. My father ran this farm in partnership with James and Cassie Park. It had a small dairy and four apple orchards. I spent part of my youth working on the farm. Don't know when the photo was taken, but the road looks like it was a dirt road.

On the 1850 map I can see three dots which probably represent the house, carriage house and barn, but with no owner listed. ON the 1863 map James Green is listed as the owner with N.K. Wood as the resident. On the 1875 map, George Cary is listed as the owner. On the 1875 map R.W. Dekay is listed as the owner. And on the 1903 map George Carey continues to be the owner.

My father currently owns the farm and has in his possession a number of the old deeds. According to www.orangecounty.gov, the current farm consists of two parcels: 31.30 acres and 14.30 acres. They have the house as being built in 1800, which is quite possible. My brother took 5 acres on which he built a house, which he no longer owns. That means the farm at the time was about 50 acres.

The 1863 map claims the property being 40 acres, with Dekay Rd. splitting the property somewhat like it is currently, which doesn't make too much sense. The 1903 map also claims that the property is 40 acres.

Here is what I learn from the old deeds that Dad has:

April 4, 1848, Ezra Sanford and wife Adeline to James Green for $2350; 39.10 acres.
There was a note on the above deed. Sophia Green to Robert Dekay $3200.
April 12. 1888 Robert W.Dekay and wife Elizabeth to George Carey $3650: 39.10 acres.
April 1, 1907 George and Frances Carey to James Park $4000; 39.10 acres.

This is the second parcel:

Oct. 15,1911 Harry Vail and Cecial Vale and Fred C.Carey to John Pelton $900; 14.31 acres.
April 1, 1918 John and Martha S.H. Pelton to James Park $1200; 14.31 acres.
Dad got the farm on Jan. 30, 1973.

This is what one has to go through to date a house. And then you might run into this. The Warwick Advertiser published an Obit for Lansing Haight Sanford, son of George W. Sanford. He was the eldest son of G.W.Sanford. And was born on the Robert Dekay farm (now owned by George Carey) near New Milford on Oct. 1847. From his birthplace he removed with his parents in 1848 to the homestead at the beginning of Maple avenue, where he was reared, and where his parents lived.
afterwards."

This is about as far as I can go with data at the present time. I enjoy doing history mystery.