GREENE & COLUMBIA COUNTIES

ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET

The early days of Greene County and Columbia County,New York, and their various towns and townships, are recalled through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this NEW 47 Page Booklet, reprinted primarily from two hard-to-find books: the 1841 edition of Historical Collections of the State of New York by John Warner Barber and Henry Howe, and New York, a Guide to the Empire State, a WPA project.
The spiral-bound booklet, sold exclusively on eBay, is one-sided on 60# paper, with the print enlarged for easier reading. A clear vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover.
The communities mentioned include: Acra, Ancram, Ashland, Athens, Austerlitz, Boston CornersCairo, Canaan, Canaan Corners, Catskill, Chatham, Chatham Corners, Claverack, Clermont, Copake, Copake Falls, Coxsackie, Craryville, East Windham, Gallatin, Germantown, Ghent, Green River, Greenville, Hillsdale, Hudson, Hunter, Kinderhook, Lebanon Springs, Leeds, Lexington, Livingston, New Baltimore, New Lebanon, Palenville, Prattsville, Red Rock, Spencertown, Stockport, Stuyvesant, Taghkanic, Tannersville, Valatie and Windham.
Among the many and diverse topics in the booklet are: Murder of Sally Hamilton of Athens; Pine Orchard and Mountain House, a hotel on Catskill Mountain at Hunter; Kaaterskill Falls as described by early vacationer; a "mouthful" of humor; a long-awaited death sentence with ghostly overtones; the Ancram Iron Works; John Marshall & Co. Calico Print Works, Early Difficulties between Landlords and Tennants; Settlement of Germantown; Gravestone Inscriptions; Name Derivations; Birthplace of President Martin Van Buren; the Shakers of New Lebanon; the shrieking woman tied to a horse's tail and other legends; Prohibition home of Jack "Legs" Diamond; Tanbark peelers, Ropewalk spinners, Hoop-shaving and other interesting occupations; the Mount Lebanon Shaker Settlement; Gov. Samuel J. Tilden (who lost the presidency by one vote), the Kinderhook "Tea Party"; the Hexagonal House and the Octagonal House; and the Robert Livingston family, their lives and manor houses.
The booklet has no index, but some of the names mentioned are: Alexander, Barnard, Coffin, Duane, Goodrich, Greene, Jones, Kissam, Hamilton, Jenkins, Minturn, Capt. Noble, Northrop, Paddock, Pendergraft, John Van Rennelaer, Scott, Smith, Ashbel Stoddard, Thurston, Washington Irving, Jomes Fenimore Cooper, John Cowper Powys, Arthur Davison Ficke, Alan Devoe, Hendrick Van Rensselaer, Alexander Hamilton, Harry Croswell, Ludlow, Miller, Vanderbo, Chancellor Livingston (introduced Merino sheep to America), David Abeel, Hamlin Garland, Enoch Hyde, Benjamin Hall, Thurlow Weed (political boss), Jairns Munson, Zadock Pratt, Joseph Meacham, Benjamin Budd, David Brainard, Captain Thomas Hitchcock, Judah Laurence, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Eugene Jay Boissivain, Yankee Sullivan, John Morrissey, President Martin Van Buren, Aaron Vanderpoels, Van de Bogarts, Thomas Burt, Beekman, Richard Upjohn, Orson S. Fowler, Aaron Staats, Capt. Seth Macy, Job Center, Jan Frans Van Hoesen, Collier, Major Gen. William Worth, Robert Jenkins, Seth Jenkins, Ralph Adams Cram, William G. Harrison, Mary Penn Allen, Robert Fulton, General John Ross Delafield, General Samuel Ten Broeck, Jan Van Loon, Pieter Bronck family, Leonard Bronck Lampman, Charles L. Beach, Thomas Cole (artist), Frederick Edwin Church, Calvert Vaux, Peter de Labigarre, Robert B. Ward, Dr. John Bard, Gen. John Armstrong, and Robert Donaldson
ILLUSTRATIONS depict the Hudson City from Prospect Hill; Allen’s Monument; Birthplace of Van Buren, Kinderhook; Shaker Buildings in New Lebanon.; Northwestern View of Catskill; Catskill Mountain House.
The Howe/Barber history covers the development of this area until about 1841, while excerpts from the WPA book, give a nostalgic glympse from a 1940 vantage point, including interesting historical notes, especially as they relate to sightseeing possibilities. There's also a small map of the area from a 1948 booklet printed by the New York Telephone Company.