I don't generally do this, but since I don't have much new to share, I thought I would re-blog a couple of items that might be of interest due to our Underground Railroad connection here in Easton/Greenwich. I hope to be back on track when my office is finally moved next week.
Sojourner Truth:
Olivia Twine writes, "[t]he unveiling of the Sojourner Truth statue in the town of Esopus, NY
where the abolitionist preacher was held a slave as a child, was a
remarkable experience. I’ve lived in the Hudson Valley County of Ulster
all my life and have never witnessed the 'owning' of the shameful past
of slavery before. Truth’s statue in the Esopus hamlet of Port Ewen
represents the only statue in the world of a child slave at work,
according to Ulster County Historian Anne Gordon.
Although Truth was well known in her time, her status as an emblem of
northern slavery is coming to light on a broad scale. That the people of
Port Ewen honor a former slave who left Ulster County and never looked
back, that children run their hands over her bronzed back to feel the
welts of the beatings she endured here, that the town supervisor proudly
describes her as 'a child of Esopus,' suggests that we as a people are
ready to move to the healing phase of a sordid aspect of our history..." Read more here.
Harriet Tubman:
"On November 8 and 9, 2013, Cayuga Community College in Auburn, NY will
host Harriet Tubman: No Longer Underground, a two-day symposium
marking the centennial of the death of Harriet Tubman in 1913..." Continued here...
Greenwich, NY
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
A little find...
I have mentioned a few times over the 3 years I have been writing this blog that I, occasionally, get little surprises when I walk into my office. Today was one such day. Town Clerk, Elaine Kelly found a nugget of history while going through some papers, & placed it in my office. (The old one, because I am still working on moving upstairs.)
At first I wasn't going to write about it, because I didn't see anything about it in my quick reference guide, Tim Tefft's Our Century: An Account of Local Twentieth Century History gleaned from the pages of The Greenwich Journal and Salem Press. However, while doing some research to answer a few e-mail queries, I happened to open right up to the marriage record of one LeRoy Grant Towns. Mr. Towns is the very man, this nugget of history concerns. He married Esther Vivian Varney on December 13, 1920 in the town of Greenwich. He was listed as a 23 year old chauffeur, born in Bristol, NH. His bride, a housekeeper, was from Glens Falls.
There is no indication why Mr. Towns decided to resign his post on November 11, 1947, but he also included his badge in the envelope. Off to search the Gaylord catalog for a box to store it in.
At first I wasn't going to write about it, because I didn't see anything about it in my quick reference guide, Tim Tefft's Our Century: An Account of Local Twentieth Century History gleaned from the pages of The Greenwich Journal and Salem Press. However, while doing some research to answer a few e-mail queries, I happened to open right up to the marriage record of one LeRoy Grant Towns. Mr. Towns is the very man, this nugget of history concerns. He married Esther Vivian Varney on December 13, 1920 in the town of Greenwich. He was listed as a 23 year old chauffeur, born in Bristol, NH. His bride, a housekeeper, was from Glens Falls.
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| Resignation of Constable Towns |
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| Constable of Greenwich NY badge circa 1947 |
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