Orange County Fair, Middletown, NY

Orange County Fair, Middletown, NY

Orange County Fair, Middletown, NY.

Orange County Fair at Middletown, NY.

Postcard showing the P.E. Sanford house (Col. Hathorne House). It is still there, but in need of repair.

This is a postcard of the M.E. Church and school in Edenville. The school building is no longer there and the church is now a private residence.

Tips on Researching an Old House in Warwick Township

Depending on the house there may be a lot on information or very little. Researching Baird's Tavern or the Old Shingle House would be fairly easy. An old farm house in Edenville may have gotten a lot less attention.

When I am researching an old house, I prefer to think of it as an old home. I want to know who lived there over the years and what went on. An old house with a date construction is just not that interesting to me.

I have only done a few home histories, but in attempting to expand on the Donald Clark inventory of historic structures of Warwick Township, I am beginning to realize that the same process is necessary to date the house and the possible builder.

What follows is the process I use in documenting the history of a house(structure) in Warwick. I have numbered the various resource possibilities, but the order doesn't really matter. If you try this, good luck to you, and let me know how you did. If you find other resource possibilities that I didn't mention, please let me know.

1. If you are researching your our own property, then you know what you know. If you are like me and researching a property that you don't own, then my first step is to get in contact with the current owner(s). They may have some history and may or may not be interested in history of what they currently own. I think a good first step.

2. Check out the maps for Orange County. They go back to 1850. There is also a map created from an article written by Henry Pelton when he arrived here in 1805. These can be found by using the Google search engine on this site. Find the one that gives you the list of maps and where you can find them.

3. Then there is the deed search. This is done at Goshen, the county seat. One can take the current owner of a property and go back through time. I have done this a few times. One goes back deed to deed over time. The deed you are dealing with refers you to the previous deed, and the sometimes not. Then you are stuck and you have to go to the grantee-grantor book and work in a different direction. Keep in mind that deed searches will not give you information concerning structures on the property; they deal with land ownership. Goshen also has books on mortgages that I have not used, but I am told are useful.

4. When researching the family(s) that lived in an old home, we are getting into the field of genealogy. Doing a proper genealogy of a family can take years. When doing a history of a house, I don't have years to spend on family history. So I put together what I think went on with a big Warning. A good place to start with family history is www.rootsweb.com. Click on Family Trees and type in who are looking for. If you get a lot of hits, you can narrow it down at the bottom of the page. Be careful with the information because much of it has no citation.

5. There are three histories of Orange County: Eager 1846/47; Ruttenber and Clark, 1881; Headlely, 1908. You can find them at the Albert Wisner Library in Warwick, NY. Be sure to check them out.

6. Warwick has two local newspapers that go back to the 19th century. They are on microfilm at the Albert Wisner Library in Warwick, NY. There is no index as to what is contained there, so for the past few years, I have been going page by page through the old issues - mainly the Warwick Valley Dispatch. I have done transcriptions of articles that pertain to local history. A record of what I have done can be found on this blog.

The bottom line, if you are attempting to do a history of a home and the families that lived there, is that you have to use many resources. I approach it as a puzzle with many pieces. Once you get enough pieces, you can begin to put together a history.

New Milford News Items of Days Gone By

For the last few years I have been going page by page through the microfilm records of Warwick's two local newspapers. When I find an article which I consider to be an important piece of local history, I make a photocopy and from there a transcription of the article. In an earlier post I listed the names of the articles and where they can be found. Not everthing I have found has been transcribed. Some is somewhat trivial. Other items are only a sentence or two found under the New Milford reportage. Here is what I have started to do with some of that material.

All of these items come from the Warwick Valley Dispatch. All items are direct quotes unless enclosed in parentheses.

1.06.1885
A pleasant evening was spent at the residence of Postmaster DeKay on New Years Eve. Supper was served and dancing indulged in till the dawning of the New Year.

9.03.1885
The public school has reopened for the Fall and Winter session, with Mr. T.L. Gillison as principal.

9.24.1885
"Our Ticket Agent" sold 25 tickets for the Coney Island excursion and a large number for the County Fair.

10.22.1885
Rev. C.C. Miller, who comes from Edenville each Sunday to preach to the erring sinners of Jockey Holler, generally finds a large and appreciative audience.

12.09.1885
The attendence at the singing school was not very large on Thursday evening, consequently Prof. Miller only obtained eight subscribers. There will be another meeting to-morrow night, and we hope all those interested will attend.

3.24.1886
The old cherry tree that has stood in the sidewalk of Main Street for many years has been hewn down. It has been a faithful guide for those coming or going on a dark night, especially those that came in contact with it.

4.28.1886
The gypsies have been encamped on Church-street, left on Monday for Newburg.

1.27.1892
(Irvington Giveans and a team of horses was killed by a train at the New Milford crossing on Covered Bridge Road.)

4.20.1892
Mr. S.R. Drew has gone to New York with a number of horses recently sold there.

8.03.1892
The sporting fraternity of New Milford was well represented at the trot and ball game last Saturday afternoon at Warwick.

9.14.1892
When you are in need of anything usually kept in a country store, give our obliging merchant, B. Scott, a call. Ed. This store was where the Stanabach store stands. It burned down in 1900.

10.05.1892
Mr. Chas. Thompson is making cider. Price two cents per gallon. Ed. Probably the Thompson cider mill on Iron Mountain Road.

11.16.1892
There will be a box social held at Benj. Scott's Friday evening, Nov. 18. The proceeds will be used in purchasing books for the Sabbath school library.

3.28.1900
(A fire in Jockey Hollow destroyed the hotel/store. The store was owned by Benjamin Scott and the hotel was run by James McCann. Also lost in the fire was the hotel barn, hotel sheds, Mr. Scott's residence, Mrs. Sloan's residence, and a buildig across from the store, half of which was used for storage and the other half was the residence of John L. Springer.)

4.29.1903
A gay gallant who rode his brave charger from Warwick town to call on one of our fair young maidens, hitched his horse to the wrong tie-post, full half a mile away from the home of the young lady. The young man discreetly declined to say whether his modesty was at fault or if he was unacquainted with the neighborhood and people.

8.12.1903
Mr. Phillips gives a great deal of pleasure with his Edison phonograph.

10.14.1903
(The flood of 1903 did great damage in New Milford.)

1.09.1907
Russ Ferguson and Will Talcott expect to go west to the Dokotas in the spring, and with pocketfulls of Orange County sheckels will make a try for fortune in the lumber and milk business.

1.30.1907
The people of New Milford have organized a singing school under the direction of Mr. Robert A. Wheat.

5.01.1907
Capt. O.W. Ferguson , who has been enjoying a two week's visit with his family and neighbors at New Milford, after an absence of three years in the Phillipines, went to Washington Sunday evening to consult with the department chiefs of the Geodetic Survey, and receive another assignment.

Detective Work

The above is a close view of the 1863 map of Orange County. The following short article comes from the Warwick Advertiser, dated June 9, 1866:

NEW MILFORD HOUSE - We took a look upon "mine host" of this House the other day, and were exceedingly gratified with the changed and improved conditions of affairs. A new bar-room has been fitted up in good style in the basement, a large dining hall contructed and furnished, and other improvements carried out. The proprietor, Mr. Campbell, is always found obliging, and his house noted for its good cheer. We doubt not he will merit the favor of the public.

It is on the map and in the artiicle, but I don't have a clue what this place was.

Warwick Historical Papers Volume 6, Part 2

This is a transcription from the Warwick Valley Dispatch, dated April 4. 1979. Used with permission.

The Filipowskis first Polish settlers in Pine Island
by ANN GURDA

The Filipowski family, whose roots were implanted in Pine Island at the turn of the century, holds the distinciton of being the first Polish family to settle in the area. Leo and Anna Filipowski settled in Pine Island in 1903 and bore twelve children, seven of whom are still living. All reside within a 20-mile radius of Pine Island, with the exception of one daughter, who resides in South Carolina.

Mr. Filipowski had first moved to Florida, near the Jessup swamp area, alongside the creek, from Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Prior to coming to Florida, he had obtained employment in a sugar wharehouse, where "they won't hire a Pole - only Germans." He had been born in Germany to Polish parents and spoke both languages. To get the job, he added a few years to his age and changed his name to Reynard Arndt.

While living in Florida, Mr. Filipowski worked on the James Finn farm, which was devoted to onions. He later met Floyd Teather, an owner of a grocery store in Florida and the owner of a farm in Pine Island. He became a sharecropper with Mr. Theater and also helped to clear swampland for crops. As a scrarecropper, Mr. Filipowski lived in a home near the Lehigh and New England Railroad which was located near the Teather farm. Teather had also been the owner of a sawmill, which was located at the junction of the Erie and L. & N.Y. RR in the vicinity of the Joseph Hucko farm on Pulaski Highway. Several years later the Filipowskis moved to living quarters located on the sawmill property. He later purchased a house on Pulaski Highway in the vicinity of the Krasniewicz home, from Jack Cook, a man of German descent, who moved to the Little York area. He later built a home near the Kaminski residence and remainded there until his death. Only the foundation remains today.

Most of the settlers in the Pine Island area upon the Fillipowski arrival had been of German descent. However, he blended in with the community because he was bilingual.

Mr. Filipowski helped with the excavation of St. Stanislaus R.C. Church using a pick and shovel. He also planted the maple trees that surround the church and served as its janitor and custodian.

Prior to the construction of the church, which was dedicated in 1912, Mr. Filipowski and his wife, and children walked the six miles by railroad track or the seven miles by black dirt to attend Mass in St. Joseph's Church in Florida. St. Stanislaus Church was contrusted on property owned by the Knapp family, also former owners of the Joseph Huko farm.

Mr. Filipowski, a six-foot tall, robust man, was known for his good humor, his love for music and hard work, a philosophy he has instilled in his children. As a clarinet player, he had formed a three piece band, including a base fiddle and violonist , the only band in Pine Island. Consequentlly he had been contracted to play for many of the Polish and German weddings in the area.

His son, John, recalls playing with his father on the bass fiddle at the age of 14. His first professional engagement was the Victoria and Chester Smolinski wedding in 1910. "Wedding took place on weekdays in those days," Mr. Filipowski said. "Mr. Smolinski, who resided in the Mission Lands area, owned a team of bay horses and a nice fringe carriage." So they drove to Florida," Mr. Filipowski continued, "and we sent them away playing march music and in about four hours they returned. We greeted them music and played for dancing which was held in the barn near the Smolinski home." he concluded. It was not so uncommon for weddings in those days, according to some oldtimers, to last as long as three days. One Polish man in the area renting a tuxedo for his wedding in 1933 for $3.00 and wearing it for three days. Mr. Filipowski's son, Tony Phillips, provided the music for that reception which was held in his father-in-law's barn. Because of a chill in the autumn air, the musicuans wore gloves to keep warm.

The Smolinski family was the first to settle in the Mission Lands area, according to Mr. Filipowski, and they were followed by the families of John Brozdowski, Frank Bogdanski, Paskiewicz, Staskewwicz, Roman Czubak, Theodore Bastek, Peter Grusz, and Adam Foremny families. Mr. Filipowski, who had been a 30-year salesman for the Metropoitan Life Insurance Company and a resident of Goshen for most of his life, married one of the Foremny girls of the Mission Lands. Like the elder Filipowski, he too raised a large family and led a productive and fruitful life. He devoted much of his time to community affairs and played important behind-the-scenes roles in projects as the paving of Pulaski Highway and the erection of the Polish Legion of American Veterans monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery. He also served as the first commander of the Polish Legion of American Veterans, Post # 16, which was first organized in Florida. Its home is now Pine Island.

John still remembers working in the black dirt fields from 7 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. at 10 cents an hour to help his family. He had also worked at Borden's creamery in Pine Island at the rate of $1.50 per day.

While Leonard Filipowski busied himself with providing for his family, his wife, Anna, also played an important role in the community. As a mother of a large family, she automatically became the midwife for the Polish community and supervised the birth of many of the older members of the community including the Hucko and Labanowski children, and "never lost a mother or a baby," in spite of the fact that she had no formal training.

Daughter Julia Kobylaski clearly remembers the days of her mother's duties as midwife. "I was a little girl and could not understand why my mother had to suddenly leave. A knock would be heard on the door in the middle of the night and off she went."

The Filipowski's, who enjoyed a long and productive life together, had also met with tragedies and setbacks. A flood hit the area when they lived in Florida that had Mrs. Filipowski scurrying about moving what she could to the upper floor of the home, including the children and their pigs and chickens. A hurricane destroyed their home on the sawmill property leaving them without furnishings and clothing. They had also lost a son while Mr. Filipowski worked on the excavation for St. Stanislaus Church, who had drwoned in the river.

Mr. Filipowski died at the age of 97 on Jan. 6, 1962. His wife preceded him in death. The seven remaining sons and daughters are Frances Kerstanski, Sophie Evansky, of South Carolina, Julia Kobylaski, Rose Lowkis, Anthony and Adam, all of Pine Island, and John, of Goshen. Mrs. Kerstanski's son, Joseph, followed in his grandfater's footsteps in his love of music and formed a band - Jolly Joe and His Sons - and is widely known in the area.

Anthony, another musically inclined member of the family, formed an orchestra known as Tony Phillips and His Orchestra and like his father, also played at many Polish weddings and affairs for several decades. His grandson, Leonard, 13, of Middletown, N.Y., has become an accomplished pianist and appears with his grandfather on many of their public engagements. Leonard is also the organist for his parish church.

Daughter Julia and her husband, Michael Kobylaski, had for many years operated a trucking firm which was located on Pulaski Highway near her father's home. She was one of the first women in the history of the Town of Warwick to ever serve on a jury for justice court.

Leonard Filipowski had been described by an Orange County historian as a man who "had a Santa Claus beard and plenty of white hair, a twinkling eye and a merry manner, as any Santa Claus person should; and a love of live and black dirt farming." He exemplifies the legacy of black dirt farming as well as the heritage of the Pole who contributed mind and muscle toward the establishment of the black dirt community as it stands today.