Searching for Patrick Callanan

Not too long ago I had an enjoyable time searching for the grave of Revolutionary War veteran Patrick Callanan down at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in South Bethlehem.  You can read more about Callanan in June's Our Towne Bethlehem.  For now, this is how my search went.

Entering the gates.

Patrick's historic marker.

Not this Callanan.

Not this one either.  

Not these two

or this one.

Wait, maybe that one.  The tipped one that looks really old.

Success! Patrick's names and dates are just barely visible.
Patrick Callanan
Who died October the 4th 1824 aged 89 yrs

A Native American Projectile Point

In the continuing saga of things that turn up on my desk, I present this photo.

That is a Native American projectile point carefully bagged as part of an archaeology survey.

It was a vivid reminder for me that Bethlehem's history goes way, way back with significant occupation by Native Americans before good old Henry Hudson made his famous journey.

It also reminds me of my undergraduate days at the University of Rhode Island where one semester I actually had a paying job in an archaeology lab typing various and assorted stone artifacts.

So, after hasty and thoroughly unprofessional scrutiny, and a visit to http://www.projectilepoints.net/, I am calling it an Otter Creek from 6,000-4300 BP.

Genealogy Talk and Vital Records

I am getting ready to give a talk at the Bethlehem Public Library about genealogy and vital records held by the Town of Bethlehem.*  It is a Powerpoint, so I was looking for illustrations and I took this quick photo.  

And then got totally distracted.

The picture here is from book #2 of the Register of Vital Records. Births, marriages and deaths are recorded  The pages in this book are an intriguing look into the everyday lives of Bethlehem people. The death register is especially poignant.

This particular page is the first one of the death section  with 35 records from June 15, 1894 through October 26, 1894.  35 records sounds so impersonal - it is really 35 people.

The youngest is Chester A. Glasser age 3 months and 24 days who died July 27 from "cholera (infantum)"; the oldest is Charles Hungerford, age 88, who died October 26 from cystitis (senile debility)"

What really caught my eye were the drownings - four of them on this single page.  A truly intriguing story emerges when one reads the four listings.  With of course more questions than answers.

On June 3 we have Henry Ling age 46 years, 10 months.  He is married and a mason.  Born in Germany, he has lived in the U.S. for 26 years. There is no father's or mother's name but both are indicated has having been born in Germany.  Place of death: Kenwood Creek. Cause; Submersion.

Next on August 4 is simply "unknown" a "Negro". Place of death: "found in Island Creek." Cause: apnoea** (submersion).  Note; Reflecting mores of 1894, the form asks for "Race if other than White."

Then on September 17 is Christopher Mulson - or is it Neilson - the name is hard to read. He is 26, single and a laborer.  He was born in Norway.  No parents are listed.  Place of death: Van Wies Point. Cause: Apnoea (submersion.)

And finally another "unknown" with no specific date but listed between October 23 and October 16.  Age is listed as 30, "Don't know" is the answer for occupation and "Supposed to be German" for birthplace. Place of death: Hudson River. Cause: Apnoea (submersion.)

Aren't you curious now to know the story of these four people?  To me, the two unknowns are especially poignant. I don't even know if they are male or female.  How did any of them end up in the river?  The questions go on and on.


* The talk is Tuesday May 12, 7 pm at the Bethlehem Public Library.  Librarian Frank Somers and I are going to share resources for local Bethlehem genealogy research. Free and open to the public.

** The term "apnoea" is used three times with this spelling.  Apnea is what we would recognize today "a suspension of breathing" - altho Dictionary.com says it is a temporary suspension. In this usage the suspension was decidedly permanent.

A Normansville Help Wanted Ad

Looking around the internet for what kinds of cows they had at Normanskill farm (really, and the answer is Guernseys,) I found this ad for a Single Man that  made me chuckle. 

In tiny print over on the right:

Wanted - Single Man to take charge of Cow barns.  Must be good milker and strictly temperate. C.P. Stevens, Normansville, Albany County, N.Y.

Good with his hands and not a drinker - could be on match.com  ;)

And then, in large print below the Normansville ad, is this gem.  

Now playing at Madison Square Garden Fat Stock ...

I am easily amused on this rainy Monday afternoon.

Source: The Cultivator & Country Gentleman, Volume 60. October 31, 1895. Albany, NY  via Google Books. 

A New Book and a New Office

It is official - I will have a new book coming out in about a year. Last week in the mail I received my official, signed contract from the History Press.  I'll be rounding up my then and now articles from Our Towne Bethlehem and other unpublished items I have written and putting them together in a book.  32,000+ words and 60 pictures. Yikes! It is a lot of work but I am excited to make the articles available in a more permanent format.  Now, they are out for the month with Our Town and then they disappear from print, and from their website.   I'll probably include some odds and ends from this blog as well.  So wish me luck.  September 1 is my first big deadline.  We're looking to bring the book out in the spring of 2016.

In other big news, after 7 1/2 years of working mostly from home, your town historian has an office space at town hall and will be keeping office hours.  Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-noon.  Right now I am in the cubicle that is outside the supervisor's office.  Many thanks to all of those at town hall who have eased my transition to coming into the office, and thank you Robin for putting up with me invading your space!

And no that is not me on the right.  That's Katie Ladd working in the Callanan's office in South Bethlehem.

Slingerlands Players

Sometimes my job is all about serendipity.

The Bethlehem Historical Association is gathering items about Bethlehem in 1965 and I was able to lend them some posters from the Slingerlands Players.  Literally, the day I handed  over the posters, I opened an email from John L. Moore's son.  Was I interested in some of his father's artwork related to the Slingerlands Players?  Yes, yes I was.

It turns out that Moore was a graphic designer who lived in Elsmere.  He designed many, many of the promotional items for the Slingerlands Players and saved most of them.

The Slingerlands Players got their start in 1952.  Here's a clip from the November 20, 1958 Spotlight from an article called The Slingerlands Players and How They Grew:

(Love how they describe housewives!)

Productions, usually two or three a year, were put on at the Middle School and later the High School.  In 1972, they were able to buy a run down, former hotel in Unionville. It was just off Delaware Avenue on Unionville Feura Bush Road.  The Unionville Playhouse was their home until the group disbanded in the early 1980s.   For about 30 years, the Slingerlands Players were a fine example of community theater.

John L. Moore became involved with the Slingerlands Players as early as 1965 - he, his wife Hedi and their three children, moved to Elsmere in 1959.  He opened his own shop, John Moore Graphics, in 1972.  Besides his excellent graphic design work for the Players, Moore had a few bit parts here and there, worked on production design, scenery and sets.  Moore passed away in 2012. Hedi still lives in Elsmere.

When I asked his son what else I should know about his father, he threw in the tidbit that he was a long time friend of Julia Child.  Moore met her before she was a famous chef while both were in the service in World War II.

Henry Ford and a Bethlehem Connection

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Chauncey Hakes and his wife Anna. Rockledge, their lovely Van Wies Point home, is this year's Vanguard Showhouse and also the subject, along with 2 others, of my April then and now for Our Towne Bethlehem.

Chauncey - besides having a great name - was quite the character.  He had a real passion for those new-fangled automobiles which he turned into a successful career with the Albany Garage and the Hakes and LeBourveau dealership. And now I know what Chauncey looked like, and who he hung out with.  Thanks to Ruth C. for pointing me to this wonderful photo.

Here is Henry Ford's camping party at Green Island in 1919.  This was the site of Ford's new tractor plant.  From left to right we have H.S. Firestone, Jr, H.S. Firestone, Thomas A. Edison, John Burroughs, Mayor James R. Watt of Albany, Henry Ford, Chauncey D. Hakes and Samuel Ott.

Recognize any of those names? 


To see more Ford pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/6436553699/

To find out more about the showhouse: http://vanguard-aso.org/index.asp

And for the latest Our Towne Bethlehem: http://www.ourtownebethlehem.com/