The hidden woman mystery endures

tomrue 25 July 2008

This column by Sullivan County Historian John Conway appears in today's edition (July 25, 2008) of The Sullivan County Democrat. This is the second of a two-part series in Sullivan Retrospect on the subject, the first of which appeared last week. I e-mailed Mr. Conway after reading last week's column. He incorporated information that I sent him into his follow-up piece. Mr.

Pioneer Cemetery In Monticello Rescued

tomrue 21 July 2008

Click to view album of the Litts cemeteryMONTICELLO – A forgotten graveyard has gotten a long-overdue cleanup. The Litts cemetery, on the boundary of Sleepy Hollow Apartments and Monticello High School, is the resting place of the remains of some of the area’s first European pioneers.

The stone of Daniel Litts lies flat on the ground, barely legible. He was christened 7 January 1772 in Shawangunk. Another stone memorializes Metje (Martha) Masten Litz of Wawarsing. They married 5 October 1795. She was christened 7 April 1776 in Shawangunk, making her 82 at her death. Their children were: Lea Litz, christened 26 January 1796; Johannis Litz, christened 6 August 1798, both in Wawarsing; and Isaac Litz, christened 11 February 1815 in Wurtsboro.

The ancestors of the Litz family were Huguenots, said Tom Rue, historian for the Sullivan Masonic District, who posted an article on the web at the end of March calling on Monticello village officials to take action to save the cemetery from destruction. Rue’s headline asked, “Who cares about an old cemetery?”

The village never responded. Rue said Thompson highway superintendent Rich Benjamin e-mailed a pledge to assist. By mid-July, trees and brush were cleared, laying bare several headstones. Mr. Benjamin said he plans further action later this summer, carefully laying each stone in a bed of sand.

Rue said Doug Gurkin, a principal officer of Edgewater Associates of Spicewood, Texas, the prospective buyer for Sleepy Hollow Apartments, called him in March asking for details about the pioneers buried in the lot, promising to fully restore and maintain the graveyard once his company purchases Sleepy Hollow and other renovations are made.

More history on the Litz family and their times, and photos of the cemetery, can be found on the web at tomrue.net.

Breadth of Monticello's Broadway is "Six Rods"

tomrue 6 July 2008

Download a copy of the original survey of the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike, Liber 18 of Deeds, pp. 325-336, filed 13 June 1807 in the Ulster County Court House at Kingston by William A. Thompson, Esq., first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, County of Ulster, State of New York. (11 pages, 16MB, Acrobat file).

"The Breadth of Broadway" summary report to Village Attorney and short version given as public comment at the July 7th the Village of Monticello Board of Trustees meeting; relevant cases, and cover letter.

Click the link below to read more.

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Masonic Historian for Sullivan County

tomrue 1 June 2008

"It would be a double honor", I told newly installed District Deputy Grand Master John Wells when asked to assist him during his two-year term by serving as Historian for the Sullivan Masonic District.

He told me the last man to serve as Historian for the Sullivan District was Bert Feldman, late of Mongaup Valley. Bert published numerous articles on the subject of local history. He was also a friend and sponsored my initial application to become a Freemason in 1992.

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Who Cares About An Old Cemetery?

tomrue 30 March 2008
Litt cemetery near Sleep Hollow Apartments

It's been said that you can tell a lot about a community by observing how they treat the elderly, children and their cemeteries.

On the northern boundary of Sleepy Hollow Apartments, adjacent to athletic fields of Monticello High School, there sits a small, abandoned cemetery. Located inside a dilapidated split rail fence are several graves, with at least two visible tombstones. One marks the final resting place of Daniel Litts. The stone has been knocked over and lies flat on the ground, its lettering is barely legible. Next to it is an unmarked block which may memorialize Danie's wife Metje (Martha), who reportedly died on November 4, 1859 in Forestburgh. Metje was christened 7 April 1776 in Shawangunk, Ulster County, making her 82 years old at the time of her death.


Click the link below to read more.

Judge Burton Ledina sworn in again on New Years Eve

tomrue 31 December 2007
Photos of the public ceremony in which Sullivan County Court Judge Burton Ledina was sworn into office for another term may be found here, along with a link to order reprints for personal or non-profit use. The ceremony was held on December 31, 2007 at the Lawrence H. Cooke Court House in Monticello, New York, with Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kane presiding. In the photo below, Sullivan County Bar Association president is shown presenting Judge Ledina with a new set of judicial robes following the administration of his oath. Another photo taken with Judge Ledina, this one taken on Election Night last month, is here. If you were present that night and would like a link to a password-protected album, let me know.

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Magazet

tomrue 10 December 2007
This self-described "magazet" Friendly Chat, dated August 1934, was "published by Philip L. Kretz, Foot of Broadway, Newburgh, N.Y., to share with others thoughts that will promote mutual friendliness and right professional relations." A display advertises optometrist services provided by Dr. Kretz of Newburgh and Highland Falls. It is unclear if he authored the newsletter, or applied his brand to stock content which may have also been published by other businesses. Authorship is unattributed; no copyright asserted.

The title may allude indirectly to fireside chats by President Franklin Roosevelt in the same era. The home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park is a half hour's drive from Newburgh, of which FDR is quoted, "All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River."

Contents include poems and moral stories titled: The Weed, Rumors, The Lawn-Mower Society, Who Painted The House?, Grouchy Eyes, A Perfect Match, The Legend of the Happy Man, No Overtime, and Our Enemies.

Apolitical and commercial in its aim, the look and feel of Friendly Chat seem styled after The Philistine: A Periodical of Protest, published a generation before by the famous Utopian socialist turned rugged individualist Elbert Hubbard of Roycrofters fame, who employed the craft of writing in the western town of East Aurora, near Buffalo, and went down on the Lusitania in 1912, an early casualty of the First World War.

At this point, I'm not able to google anything about Friendly Chat magazet or the good Dr. Kretz of Dutchess County. Perhaps, seeing this, a descendant or local historian will fill me in.

The above document reached me through channels that I don't recall, from my grandfather, Arthur H. Rue, who owned a bookstore in Detroit at the time it was published (quite a ways from Newburgh). No idea how it reached him, I presume he retained it, at least in part, because it is dated the month that my father, Bud, his second son, was born. I also have an copy somewhere around here dated December 1938, though the significance of that date (if there was any) is unclear to me.

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Judge Burton Ledina is the sort of ethical jurist Sullivan County needs and deserves.

tomrue 24 October 2007

Judge Burton Ledina is the sort of ethical jurist Sullivan County needs and deserves.

Re-electing him means voters get to choose the next Sullivan County Court judge three years from now instead of a decade hence. His youthful opponent seeks to use Ledina's age against him, which is ageist and unfair.

Unlike the opposition, Ledina offers the benefit of 40 years judicial experience.

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