HATHORN PARK
Name selected by the Warwick Building Association for the Wood Tract - Fourty-four Choice Lots Offered - $800 Asked for Choice of First Six Lots Sold - Contract Let for Five New Houses on Sayer Tract.
The Building Association has nearly completed the new street through the Wood tract and the extention through to the Bellvale road, and invites the public to drive through the tract and admire the choice lots which are now ready for sale.
The name of Hathorn Park has been given to the whole tract, and Park avenue to the street leading from South st. to Galloway road. The street running east and west through the center has been named Burt street, in honor of the late Senator Jame Burt, and his descendents, whose old homestead lying to the east of Hathorn Park, may at some future time be required for our rapidly growing village for building purposes.
There are 44 choice lots in Hathorn Park; the Association reserves 10 of these for the surplus material, which will be needed for the grading and filling other lots. With the exception of these ten, any six of the remaining 34 will be sold to the first buyer at $800 each; no buyer to be permitted to buy more than one lot. After the sale of the first six lots the price of the balance will be increased.
All lots will be restricted, houses to cost less than $4000.00, and to be located not less than 50 feet from the street, stables and barns not less than 100 feet, no ales or liquors to be sold on the premises or at any part of the tract.
The Association has just completed 9 houses, 3 sungle and 3 double on Orchard street, all of which have been rented, except one.
Contract was let last night to Welch Brothers t to build a single house on Wheeler avenue to be completed by October 1st.
The Association will have for sale within a few days about 30 lots on the Sayer tract, on Wheeler avenue, which are much cheaper than those in Hathorn Park.
For maps and particulars enquire at the office of F.V. Sanford, or of either of the undersigned committee.
Mr. Samuel Armstrong knowing a good thing when he sees it has bought the first $800 lot in Hathorn Park.
G. F. PITTS,
HENRY PELTON,
F.V. SANFORD,
Committee
This is a transcription from the Warwick Valley Dispatch, dated July 31,1907. Used with permission.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Warwick Historical Papers Volume 6, Part 2
History as it should be ...
by ROBERT M. RICHMOND
Over the years since the Warwick Historical Society bought The Shingle House in 1915, families with deep roots in the communtiy have generously donated more and more things to the Society - and so many of them were part of the "working" side of the early settlers' lives that a building in which to display them became a real necessity. Accordingly, the Society searched for, and found on the old Sly farm, in 1965, an old red barn (circa 1825) that would make a good campanion for the old house; then through the Lewis family, had it taken completely apart, piece by piece, even including the hand-cut stones of its foundation, and carefully re-assembled it behind the house; and soon it was overflowing with interesting early American tools and agricultural implements you will find here today - most of them from farms in the vicintiy of Warwick.
In the early days, the men of Warwick were definitely "of the land." Most of them had dairy herds; and also raised for their own use, such crops as hay, rye, corn, oats and wheat, along with what we now call "truck" vegetables - peas, beans, carrots, squash, potatoes, and so forth. Many farmers had apple and peach orchards, too. Back then, a man's tools were extremely important to him, since he had to depend on them so completely; and many of them he made entirely, or personalized by making handles for them to fit his own hand.
So here we find his farming tools - such a adzes, sickles, axes, flials (for threshing wheat), hay knives, corn kinves, pitch forks (including a rare 2-pronged one), grain forks, scythes, including a big cradle scythe, rakes (one of them a sheaf-rake), and many others. Then there are larger implements, like wheel-barrows, ploughs, seeders - plus things for making crops usable, like a fanning mill to take the chaff out of the wheat, a grain cradle, a beet press (for sugar beets), a corn-sheller; also a feed carrier for taking feed to the cattle, and an old Amish handdrawn combination cart for corn, hay or grain.
Hand tools are here in profusion; buck saws, hammers, mallets, chisels, pliers, cutters, planes, bits, tool sharpening grinder to keep edges sharp - many of these necessary items in several styles, forms, sizes. Also milk cans, early lanterns (some very primitive), harnesses and bridles.
And there are countless thing that the early settlers needed, to get along; such as a candle-making rack, spinning wheels, yarn carders, butter churns, cider vats, a wine press, maple syrup kettles, old wood stoves, a sausage grinder, cistern pump. And children's thing, like a very old rocking horse, old skates, sleds, school desks with seats attached, small wagons, a baby carriage.
Also, here are household appliances that are of later vintage, but still from seventy to a hundred years old; a vacuum cleaner, an old telephone, Warwick's first bath tub, (zinc, inside a wood frame), old birdcage, a clothes-drying stand, an early wasing machine, a later model butte churn with a side handle, a screened closet for storing food, and old sewing machines.
Two special groups of great interest are found on the ground floor; a collection of ice cutting and storing implements - a big sledge, many huge saws, hooks, tongs, rollers and picks, all of which saw a lot of use back when the cutting and storing of ice was a big industry. And there's an unusual group that includes two carriages - one a phaeton with handsome top and uphoistery, the other a rubber-tired runabout with candle lamps; and six old sleighs - two 2 seaters, a fine single-seater with striking red upholstery, a racy cutter and two workday wooden sleighs.
THE SHINGLE HOUSE
The construction of The Shingle House began in 1764 - 11 years before the Battle of Lexington and Concord; George
Washington, 32 years old, was raising livestock and crops at Mt. Vernon; Thomas Jefferson, 21, was just 2 years out of college. The 13 original colonies, of which New York was the 2nd oldest (1614 - Virginia was 1st in 1607) had to wait a full 23 years more before they formed the beginning of what is now the United States.
Daniel Burt, building this house for his son, Daniel, Jr., chose an excellent location - practically where the Kings Highway from Newburg and the old road from Goshen joined together to make their way to Trenton and beyond. That explains why the 2nd oldest house in the Village, built originally by Francis Baird as a residence, in 1776, became Baird's Tavern a little later with the addion of a story-and-half frame kitchen. Old timers used to speak of these two homes as being opposite each other "across the square." Daniel, Sr., lived in a house on the site of what is now the McFarland house on Galloway Avenue; and in going back and forth between his own house and The Shingle House, he created what was called Burts' Lane, now known as Forester Avenue.
The Shingle House, with its shingled sides and saltbox outline, reveals its New England heritage, as do many of the early Warwick homes. And, accordingly to authentic tradition, the shingle for sides and roof were hewn from a single tree - few of them have had to be replaced in the house's 211 years. A small side porch is the only exterior alteration.
Within, the original stairway, the characteristic paneled wainscoting, the built-in-coner cupboard with its attractive shell top, and the remarkable central chimney, with its 4 fireplaces and its hidey-hole, are still just about as they were when Daniel, Jr., moved in, in January, 1770.
The house has six rooms, four of them on the first floor. The two front rooms were both living rooms. The fireplace in the left hand room was closed up many years ago, and a Franklin, cast-iron stove place in front of it. It is on the paneling behind this stove that one sees the remarkable and rare primitive painting of the Battle of the Hudson River, said to have been done by a Revolutionary soldier in gratitude for having been nursed back to health by the Burts.
The Shingle House became the property of The Warwick Historical Society in 1915, and since that time, considerable restoration has been done. A combination of judicious purchasing and generous giving has resulted in a collection of fine old furnishings that stand as a monument to Warwick's early years. Such unusual pieces as a Chippendale Governor Winthrop drop desk, a Hepplewhite cherry Pembroke table, a Chippendale mahogany bookcase-desk, a Sheraton mahogany chair, are among the many things that make a visit to these rooms most rewarding.
The huge kitchen, with its tremendous open hearth for cooking, its bread oven, its Dutch walnut kaas, old table and bench, and dozens of other home-making necessities of the late 1770's, is most interestng. And the first-floor "borning-room," and the two bedrooms upstairs, are also very appropriately furnished.
by ROBERT M. RICHMOND
Over the years since the Warwick Historical Society bought The Shingle House in 1915, families with deep roots in the communtiy have generously donated more and more things to the Society - and so many of them were part of the "working" side of the early settlers' lives that a building in which to display them became a real necessity. Accordingly, the Society searched for, and found on the old Sly farm, in 1965, an old red barn (circa 1825) that would make a good campanion for the old house; then through the Lewis family, had it taken completely apart, piece by piece, even including the hand-cut stones of its foundation, and carefully re-assembled it behind the house; and soon it was overflowing with interesting early American tools and agricultural implements you will find here today - most of them from farms in the vicintiy of Warwick.
In the early days, the men of Warwick were definitely "of the land." Most of them had dairy herds; and also raised for their own use, such crops as hay, rye, corn, oats and wheat, along with what we now call "truck" vegetables - peas, beans, carrots, squash, potatoes, and so forth. Many farmers had apple and peach orchards, too. Back then, a man's tools were extremely important to him, since he had to depend on them so completely; and many of them he made entirely, or personalized by making handles for them to fit his own hand.
So here we find his farming tools - such a adzes, sickles, axes, flials (for threshing wheat), hay knives, corn kinves, pitch forks (including a rare 2-pronged one), grain forks, scythes, including a big cradle scythe, rakes (one of them a sheaf-rake), and many others. Then there are larger implements, like wheel-barrows, ploughs, seeders - plus things for making crops usable, like a fanning mill to take the chaff out of the wheat, a grain cradle, a beet press (for sugar beets), a corn-sheller; also a feed carrier for taking feed to the cattle, and an old Amish handdrawn combination cart for corn, hay or grain.
Hand tools are here in profusion; buck saws, hammers, mallets, chisels, pliers, cutters, planes, bits, tool sharpening grinder to keep edges sharp - many of these necessary items in several styles, forms, sizes. Also milk cans, early lanterns (some very primitive), harnesses and bridles.
And there are countless thing that the early settlers needed, to get along; such as a candle-making rack, spinning wheels, yarn carders, butter churns, cider vats, a wine press, maple syrup kettles, old wood stoves, a sausage grinder, cistern pump. And children's thing, like a very old rocking horse, old skates, sleds, school desks with seats attached, small wagons, a baby carriage.
Also, here are household appliances that are of later vintage, but still from seventy to a hundred years old; a vacuum cleaner, an old telephone, Warwick's first bath tub, (zinc, inside a wood frame), old birdcage, a clothes-drying stand, an early wasing machine, a later model butte churn with a side handle, a screened closet for storing food, and old sewing machines.
Two special groups of great interest are found on the ground floor; a collection of ice cutting and storing implements - a big sledge, many huge saws, hooks, tongs, rollers and picks, all of which saw a lot of use back when the cutting and storing of ice was a big industry. And there's an unusual group that includes two carriages - one a phaeton with handsome top and uphoistery, the other a rubber-tired runabout with candle lamps; and six old sleighs - two 2 seaters, a fine single-seater with striking red upholstery, a racy cutter and two workday wooden sleighs.
THE SHINGLE HOUSE
The construction of The Shingle House began in 1764 - 11 years before the Battle of Lexington and Concord; George
Washington, 32 years old, was raising livestock and crops at Mt. Vernon; Thomas Jefferson, 21, was just 2 years out of college. The 13 original colonies, of which New York was the 2nd oldest (1614 - Virginia was 1st in 1607) had to wait a full 23 years more before they formed the beginning of what is now the United States.
Daniel Burt, building this house for his son, Daniel, Jr., chose an excellent location - practically where the Kings Highway from Newburg and the old road from Goshen joined together to make their way to Trenton and beyond. That explains why the 2nd oldest house in the Village, built originally by Francis Baird as a residence, in 1776, became Baird's Tavern a little later with the addion of a story-and-half frame kitchen. Old timers used to speak of these two homes as being opposite each other "across the square." Daniel, Sr., lived in a house on the site of what is now the McFarland house on Galloway Avenue; and in going back and forth between his own house and The Shingle House, he created what was called Burts' Lane, now known as Forester Avenue.
The Shingle House, with its shingled sides and saltbox outline, reveals its New England heritage, as do many of the early Warwick homes. And, accordingly to authentic tradition, the shingle for sides and roof were hewn from a single tree - few of them have had to be replaced in the house's 211 years. A small side porch is the only exterior alteration.
Within, the original stairway, the characteristic paneled wainscoting, the built-in-coner cupboard with its attractive shell top, and the remarkable central chimney, with its 4 fireplaces and its hidey-hole, are still just about as they were when Daniel, Jr., moved in, in January, 1770.
The house has six rooms, four of them on the first floor. The two front rooms were both living rooms. The fireplace in the left hand room was closed up many years ago, and a Franklin, cast-iron stove place in front of it. It is on the paneling behind this stove that one sees the remarkable and rare primitive painting of the Battle of the Hudson River, said to have been done by a Revolutionary soldier in gratitude for having been nursed back to health by the Burts.
The Shingle House became the property of The Warwick Historical Society in 1915, and since that time, considerable restoration has been done. A combination of judicious purchasing and generous giving has resulted in a collection of fine old furnishings that stand as a monument to Warwick's early years. Such unusual pieces as a Chippendale Governor Winthrop drop desk, a Hepplewhite cherry Pembroke table, a Chippendale mahogany bookcase-desk, a Sheraton mahogany chair, are among the many things that make a visit to these rooms most rewarding.
The huge kitchen, with its tremendous open hearth for cooking, its bread oven, its Dutch walnut kaas, old table and bench, and dozens of other home-making necessities of the late 1770's, is most interestng. And the first-floor "borning-room," and the two bedrooms upstairs, are also very appropriately furnished.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Warwick Historical Papers Volume 6, Part 2
This is a transcription of an article published in the Warwick Valley Dispatch, dated February 18, 1976. Used with permission.
History as it should be ...
From the diary of C. J. Benedict
HOW EDENVILLE, AMITY, LITTLE YORK, LITTLE BROOKLYN, PINE ISLAND, HOOPSTICK, SNUFTOWN AND BIG ISLAND OBTAINED SERVICE FREE OF CHARGE.
In 1926, I obtained a contract to wire the farm home of Mr. Weiss on Big Island Road out of Edenville. He was getting a home lighting plant.
I completed the contract and filed an application for inspection with the New York State Fire Insurance Rating Organization of Syracuse, New York. In a few days, Mr. William Bliven came to inspect as he had many times before. When he arrived, he asked me to go with him and be prepared to spend the day. We drove to Mr. Weiss' home and Mr. Bliven inspected the job.
When he finished, he came out and got to his car and reached into the back seat. Handing me a clipboard, he asked me to draw a rough map of the road from there to Edenville, the streets of Edenville, then on to Amity and the streets there. Then from Amity to Little York, Little Brooklyn, Pine Islalnd, Hoopstick, Snufftown and Big Island.
He then took his speedometer reading which I marked down at the Weiss farm. Then Mr. Blivan stopped at each house of farm on the road and gave me the mileage from one to the other which I wrote on the map.
When we had made the round trip to Big Island and back via the Weiss farm to Edenville, Mr. Blivan stopped and told me he knew the Orange and Rockland Electric Company had had meetings in Seeley Everrett's store in Edenville and Dick Seeley's in Pine Island trying to get the people of the area to sign up for electric service at a cost of $300 per home plus wiring and fixtures.
Mr. Bliven also said he knew that the Orange and Rockland Electric Company had signed a contract to run a high line to the Amity stone quarry for Atlas Cement Company. The same high line would cross Mr. Weiss' property and the Jake Feagles property.
Our survey that day proved there were more than enough homes and farms per mile than the Orange and Rockland Electric Company charer called for, therefore, they could be compelled to run the electric lines and hook up all the places we had marked on the map free of charge.
He advised me to have contracts printed similar to those we already had, but with the following clauses added:
1. Electric service guaranteed at no cost to customer.
2. No money to be paid until current is turned on.
3. Customer agrees to sign right-of-way permit for the Orange and Rockland Company to run pole lines.
I did this and in about two months I had 250 wiring contracts signed with four churches and two schools. In passing, I would like to mention Mr. Martin Schmick paid for two of those church jobs and he was not in politics at the time.
I took the contracts to the Orange and Rockland Electric Company offices in Monroe, New York and both Mr. William Kehl and Mr. Roscoe Smith (President) looked them over and concluded they would have to run the line and would do so. They asked me to do them a favor and get the right-of-way contracts signed, which I did.
There were two property owners who refused to sign right-of-ways. One was the richest man in Edenville who made me install a new service in his house free as he already had a lighting plant and his house had been wired for several years. I had to do this as he owned the land on both sides of the road right in Edenville.
The other owner who refused lived in Pine Island. His home set back 150 feet from the road and the Orange and Rockland Electric Company charter allowed them to charge for any service that was over 100 feet from the road. I protected myself there and the Orange and Rockland did not charge me.
I had just wired the Hamilton Avenue School in Warwick and in 1927 won the contract and did the Burt Street School. I also won the contract to do the Pine Island School. I must say the Pine Island School Board had my name put on a plaque. The Warwick Board did not and I was the only contractor left off.
It was a busy time for me and I got to know nearly everyone in the area.
Old timers like Seely Everett, Cliff Quakenbush and Helen Houston can verify this story.
History as it should be ...
From the diary of C. J. Benedict
HOW EDENVILLE, AMITY, LITTLE YORK, LITTLE BROOKLYN, PINE ISLAND, HOOPSTICK, SNUFTOWN AND BIG ISLAND OBTAINED SERVICE FREE OF CHARGE.
In 1926, I obtained a contract to wire the farm home of Mr. Weiss on Big Island Road out of Edenville. He was getting a home lighting plant.
I completed the contract and filed an application for inspection with the New York State Fire Insurance Rating Organization of Syracuse, New York. In a few days, Mr. William Bliven came to inspect as he had many times before. When he arrived, he asked me to go with him and be prepared to spend the day. We drove to Mr. Weiss' home and Mr. Bliven inspected the job.
When he finished, he came out and got to his car and reached into the back seat. Handing me a clipboard, he asked me to draw a rough map of the road from there to Edenville, the streets of Edenville, then on to Amity and the streets there. Then from Amity to Little York, Little Brooklyn, Pine Islalnd, Hoopstick, Snufftown and Big Island.
He then took his speedometer reading which I marked down at the Weiss farm. Then Mr. Blivan stopped at each house of farm on the road and gave me the mileage from one to the other which I wrote on the map.
When we had made the round trip to Big Island and back via the Weiss farm to Edenville, Mr. Blivan stopped and told me he knew the Orange and Rockland Electric Company had had meetings in Seeley Everrett's store in Edenville and Dick Seeley's in Pine Island trying to get the people of the area to sign up for electric service at a cost of $300 per home plus wiring and fixtures.
Mr. Bliven also said he knew that the Orange and Rockland Electric Company had signed a contract to run a high line to the Amity stone quarry for Atlas Cement Company. The same high line would cross Mr. Weiss' property and the Jake Feagles property.
Our survey that day proved there were more than enough homes and farms per mile than the Orange and Rockland Electric Company charer called for, therefore, they could be compelled to run the electric lines and hook up all the places we had marked on the map free of charge.
He advised me to have contracts printed similar to those we already had, but with the following clauses added:
1. Electric service guaranteed at no cost to customer.
2. No money to be paid until current is turned on.
3. Customer agrees to sign right-of-way permit for the Orange and Rockland Company to run pole lines.
I did this and in about two months I had 250 wiring contracts signed with four churches and two schools. In passing, I would like to mention Mr. Martin Schmick paid for two of those church jobs and he was not in politics at the time.
I took the contracts to the Orange and Rockland Electric Company offices in Monroe, New York and both Mr. William Kehl and Mr. Roscoe Smith (President) looked them over and concluded they would have to run the line and would do so. They asked me to do them a favor and get the right-of-way contracts signed, which I did.
There were two property owners who refused to sign right-of-ways. One was the richest man in Edenville who made me install a new service in his house free as he already had a lighting plant and his house had been wired for several years. I had to do this as he owned the land on both sides of the road right in Edenville.
The other owner who refused lived in Pine Island. His home set back 150 feet from the road and the Orange and Rockland Electric Company charter allowed them to charge for any service that was over 100 feet from the road. I protected myself there and the Orange and Rockland did not charge me.
I had just wired the Hamilton Avenue School in Warwick and in 1927 won the contract and did the Burt Street School. I also won the contract to do the Pine Island School. I must say the Pine Island School Board had my name put on a plaque. The Warwick Board did not and I was the only contractor left off.
It was a busy time for me and I got to know nearly everyone in the area.
Old timers like Seely Everett, Cliff Quakenbush and Helen Houston can verify this story.
Christmas Exercises at New Milford M.E. Church
This was published in the Warwick Valley Dispatch, dated December 30, 1964.
Schilling Farm in Florida
I believe this photo was taken on the Schilling farm. I can identify one Aunt. Probably 1920's or 1930's.
The Schilling Farm in Florida
Top photo is from Wheeler of Goshen, N.Y. When I showed this photo to my aunts, they came up with Aunt Minn & Uncle Ott. However, this guy looks like the guy in the other photo, so they could have been mistaken.
Bottom photo is from Wheeler of Goshen, New York. For me this all started with family genealogy and then went from there. I think this is photo of Carl Krause and his three sons, Daniel, Charles and Freddie. Carl Krause was born in Germany November 20, 1848 and died on February 14,1922. He is buried in the Florida cemetery. His first wife was Caroline Mowitz (Movitz). Their children were: Daniel, Augusta, Minnie Julia, Lena, Charles, Anna and Freddie. My grandmother, Lena Krause, married Curtis Schiling. I did not know my mother's parents, since both of them died before I was born. The Schilling Farm is on Route 94, going toward Florida, Once you pass Ackerman Road, it is on the right. It is now a horse boarding business. This is an old house and it is being researched.
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