Henry Hudson wait....what??

While searching for images of Henry Hudson for a talk I am giving today - this came up.  Yes, that is a Pokemon card.

And this line came up on a biography website:

Place of death: In or near the Hudson Bay, Canada.

That's right, in or near the Hudson Bay. Which is correct, just an odd way of phrasing it. On his fourth voyage of discovery, Hudson and crew were forced to spend the winter in the subarctic on the shores of the bay that would bear his name. Ill-prepared, low on food, it was a harrowing experience.  Come spring, what was left of Hudson's crew refused to keep exploring, set Hudson and others adrift in a small boat and then headed back to England. Hudson was never heard from again.  And the few starving men that managed to limp back into port were all tried for mutiny.  So, an interesting turn of phrase that hides a tragic story.

Rupert Wiltsie: A Bethlehem Veteran

In honor of Veteran's Day, I give you these snapshots of Rupert Wiltsie of South Bethlehem.






The son of George and Ada, Rupert Wiltsie was born  May 21, 1889 in South Bethlehem. He enlisted at Albany on April 4, 1918 and served with the 308th Field Artillery. This unit fought during the battle of Saint-Mihiel (Sept 12-15, 1918) and the Meuse Argone Offensive (Sept. 26 until the Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice.) Both of these are in France. He was discharged at Camp Dix, NJ on May 26, 1919 with the rank of private 1st class.



After the war, Wiltsie returned home to South Bethlehem. He was living there with his parents during the 1925 NY census where he was listed as a fireman at the quarry (Callanans). By the 1930 US census, Wiltsie was married to Nettie, living in Ravena and still working at the quarry - now as a well driller.

Note the handwritten "Back from France" on the top picture.

Then and Now: 895 Delaware Avenue UPDATED with airplane info

While tidying up my digital files this morning, I came across this snapshot.  It is a building I see every time I come out of the Bethlehem Y.  And yes, there appears to be some sort of aircraft on the right.  Maybe someone out there knows the story?


UPDATE on the airplane:

Henry Klett bought the plane from the military after WWII.  He flew it home and when it was not air worthy any more, he placed it in front of the Klett Company. Klett instructed pilots during the war and used a similar basic trainer at Dos Palos Airport in California.  Dos Palos was activated June 24, 1943 as a U.S. Army Air Forces primary (level 1) pilot training airfield.

Here's a now photo - thank you Google!

Getting distracted at the Smithsonian - A Clarksville quilt

Per usual in my pursuit of historical inquiry, I am distracted by the National Museum of American History's searchable website.  Did you know a unique piece of Clarksville history somehow found its way to the Smithsonian?

The picture below really doesn't do it justice so follow this link for a lovely color photo.  http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_556249

It is a red and white embroidered coverlet from 1922 that was probably used as a fundraiser for the Clarksville Reformed Church.  Each of the 48 flowers has 12 petals covered with various names and inscriptions.  Most petals are simply names or signatures.

Here's what is written on the petals of one flower:

Rev. Boyce
Pastor
Peggy
His wife
Rex
Their dog
Clarksville
Reformed
Church
Fair
Dec 8th
1922

Another flower has only two names, Clara Weidman and Faith Weidman along with beautifully embroidered flowers within the flower petals. Right next to Clara and Faith's flower is one that is clearly an  advertisement - carefully written out on each petal is the following:

The
Lowest
Priced
Fully
Equipped
Automobile
Gardner
Wright
Chevrolet
Motor Cars
Economical
Transportation

Remember this is 1922!

Go to the website above and zoom in and around on the petals and you'll find lots of Bethlehem/New Scotland family names like Houck, Slingerland, Relyea, Pangburn and Glenn just to name a very few.

And yes, I know Clarksville is not in Bethlehem, but what a wonderful snip-it of local history.

And just because I can, here are three old Clarksville postcards.

Mid Century Bethlehem at the library

Head on over to the Bethlehem Public Library to take a look at the exhibit I just installed today.  Mid Century Bethlehem features Bethlehem images from the 1950s and 60s.

Like these two guys...

and this gal...

(This young woman is Diane Hunter and I hadn't had the picture up on the wall for two minutes before someone stopped by to say they remembered her from high school.)


Or how about this street scene...

See more pictures at the library!
The show will be up for the month of October, which just happens to be Archives Month.

Gerritje Van Schaick Ten Eyck

If you read this blog, you know when it comes to history, I am easily distracted.  This week it was Box 61 that did the trick. I opened the lid to find inside what is probably the oldest thing in Town Hall - an indenture from 1760.  That's well before there was even a United States, never mind a Town of Bethlehem.  It makes for fascinating reading.

Here's the first few lines as best as I can make out.

This Indenture made and conclused this fourteenth day of January in the fist year of the Raign of our Soveraign Lord George the third of Great Britain france and Ireland King Defender of the faith Between Gerritie Ten Eyck widow and Relect of Coenradt Ten Eyck of the City of Albany in the Provence of New York of the one part and Tobias Ten Eyck of the same place the other Part Witnesseth that the said Gerretie Ten Eyck for and in Consideration of the sum of fourty Pounds Current Money of new York to her hand paid … She the Said Gerrretie Ten Eyck hath bargain and sell Alein Release and Confirm unto the said Tobias Ten Eyck.. forty Morgans of the undivided low or meadow lands In the Patant of the Half Moon in the County of Albany…

There are all kinds of interesting items to explore just in that little piece.

 What is an indenture exactly? It is simply a deed, written contract or sealed agreement.  Dictionary.com goes on to point out that the documents have "edges  correspondingly indented as a means of identification."  Ironically, the document here is not indented at all.  It is one giant paragraph.

King George?  Yes that King George of Revolutionary American history.  He reigned in Great Britian from 1760 to 1801 - hence the date of this item being 1760.

And who is Gerritie Ten Eyck beyond a "relect" of her dead husband?  (A relic - a surviving trace of something - or someone as in this case).  A quick hop over to the People of Colonial Albany website reveals she is Gerritje Van Schaick, born in 1687, daughter of Anthony Van Schaick and Maria Vanderpoel.  (By the way, Van Schaick is mentioned in the indenture as having been granted the land since 1672.)

Let me just quote Stefan Bielinski's glimpse into her life.

 Gerritje  was born in September 1687. She was the eldest daughter of Albany residents Anthony and Maria VanderpoelVan Schaick. She grew up in a large family in the Albany homes of a wealthy businessman and landholder.
Just past her seventeenth birthday, Gerritje married silversmith Coenradt Ten Eyck at her father's Albany home on September 24, 1704. Seven months later, the first of her ten children was baptized in the Albany Dutch church.

These Ten Eycks lived in the first ward where Coenradt was a prominent silversmith, businessman, and city official. Over the next decades, their fortunes were bolstered by substantial bequests from Gerritje's family - the Van Schaicks. By the late 1740s, they had moved across State Street to a "good house" in the third ward.

Gerritje lost her husband early in 1753. She inherited the use of his property and was a well-known Albany householder for the next decade. Eight of her children married and raised their own families in Albany and its hinterland. Her son, Jacob, became mayor of Albany in 1748. Daughter Anna Margarita married future mayor John Barclay in 1771.

In November 1756, widow Gerritje filed her will. It named her seven living children as beneficiaries of her real and personal estate. The will passed probate in October 1768. Gerritje Van Schaick Ten Eyck had lived in Albany for close to eighty years.

And what about "morgans" of land?  According to a wikipedia article,  morgen is Dutch for morning so a morgen of land is the amount the could be plowed in a morning. Around 8500 square meters - I have no idea what that is in acres.

While I am unsure how this particular document ended up in box 61, there were, and are, lots of Ten Eyck's in Bethlehem.  I am sure there is a family connection!

Gerretie's signature, sideways because of Blogger, not Gerritje!


An update about the word "relect."


I was at a cemetery in Schoharie over the weekend and found a grave stone with the following wording:


Nancy E Settle
Relict of
Freeman W. Warner
Wife of
Marcus Shafer
1828-1904


So the word is relict which Dictionary.com defines as a remnant or survivor or widow. But I was still close with relic!

Glenmont Postcard

Just for fun on a Friday afternoon.  My latest eBay find.