Place Name Origin- Battenkill

Over the last couple of weeks I have been having an interesting e-mail exchange regarding the etymology of "Battenkill". I received a query from Rudy in MA asking if I knew where the word for the famous fly-fishing river came from. I did not, so I set out checking all of the resources in my office. Old histories by Mr. Gill, Mrs. Sharpe & Mr. Grant Tefft were not very helpful. New books like The Hudson: A History by Tom Lewis & the massive Encyclopedia of New York State barely mention the river. I was particularly disappointed that the encyclopedia didn't even have a separate listing for the Battenkill!

After a quick Internet search, because I assumed that Rudy was capable of that himself, since he composed a decent e-mail, I turned to local historian & newspaper man, Tim Tefft. (Yes, that is his ancestor is mentioned above.)

Tim's answer was... interesting. Basically it comes down to legend & conjecture that will require further research, but here are the hypotheses...

Rudy's: that the river is named after the bats found in a cave near Mt. Aeolus near Dorset, VT. This cave is near the headwaters of the Battenkill. Rudy admits that to be plausible it would take a combination of Dutch & English etymology. (Tim points out that very few rivers are named for points near the headwaters, but for where they flow into another body of water.)

Now, it should be recognized that the Dutch word for the flying mammal is 
not "bat," but "vleermuis," derived from the Germanic "fledermaus" (or 
literally, fluttering mouse). "Bat," on the other hand is from the Middle 
English word "bakke," which has a Scandinavian origin. Dutch Americans, in 
the years after the English took control of New York, naturally adopted 
English words into their vocabulary, and vice versa. In this regard, they 
might well have adopted the English word "bat."
 
Dutch formed their plurals in most cases by adding "en" to the end of the 
singular noun... Thus, the plural for "bat" would be "batten." And the 
river that formed at the Dorset bat cave that flowed all the way back to 
their homes in the Upper Hudson Valley would, of course, be the Batten 
Kill.

Tim sent a long e-mail with a couple of theories as well. One states that the river was named after Bartholomew Van Hogeboom, an early settler of the area. The nickname "Bat", plus the plural "en" & "kill" for river, give rise to the Battenkill name. However, Tim states

I can find no proof that Bart or Bat Van Hogeboom ever lived at the mouth of the
Battenkill, but genealogies list a number of Bartholomew/Bartholomus Van
Hogebooms who were born in towns along the Hudson from the early to mid 1700's,
one of them was baptised at Albany in 1702. 
There is a tradition of an early 1700's community along the Hudson near
the mouth of the Battenkill.  If it
existed, perhaps Bart Hogeboom was among the settlers.

Next Tim mentions our local Bottskill Baptist Church, & that is name seems to derive from "Bart's Kill."The local hamlet of Battenville (where Susan B. Anthony's father moved the family in 1826) is named after the river, right? Or is it named after the "battens" used in looms?

What about the native name for the river "Dionondehowe". Apparently the earliest this name shows in writing is 1709. & is loosely translated as "she opens the door for them".  Check out some amazing images of the Dionondehowa Falls here.

One thing is for sure. The Battenkill River is redundant & incorrect. Simply the Battenkill will do.

In search of... books!

As you might guess, I am a book obsessed person. Once I started making my own money, I started frequenting bookstores. I've spent ten years of my life working in bookstores. Actually, if you count all of the museums I have worked at, it's closer to thirteen.

I am reading six books at the moment. Yes, six. My ten year old & I are reading aloud Ribsy by Beverly Cleary. I am listening to the audio book version of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron as I drive to and from work. I have a free copy of Eighty Years and More by Elizabeth Cady Stanton open on my nook (e-reader). Plus, I am in the middle of three print books: Lucretia Mott's Heresy: Abolition and Women's Rights in Nineteenth-Century America by Carol Faulkner, Baker Towers: A Novel by Jennifer Haigh & Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden. Oh, & I waiting for my book club selection to arrive at the Greenwich Free Library. I had to request it through inter-library loan. Once that comes, I'll have to set aside a couple of other books & devote the majority of my attention to Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other by Sherry Turkle. I have to have it read by July 17th!

So, you see, I also frequent the library as well. & not just the Greenwich Free Library which I can see right now from my office window. I have been to many of the local libraries. I just dropped off two books at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls today after work. Three days overdue, I owe a whopping $0.50. I never complain about library fees. I pay them gladly. On Monday, after the 4th of July parade in nearby Argyle, Mom and I spent less than $5.00 at the annual used book sale at the Argyle Free Library on Sheridan Street. I got some great children's books to read with my daughter & a thick biography of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.



Owl Pen Books 1970



But, I have to admit, my favorite place to get books in the area is an amazing bookstore called the Owl Pen. It's one of those you-can't-get-there-from-here kind of places. Even if you follow the handmade signs correctly and turn on Riddle Road without a wrong turn or three, you begin to wonder if you are on the right road, going in the correct direction. The green canopy of deciduous trees shades the dirt road. I always turn off the CD, roll down the window and slow the car to a walk. Partly, I slow down because the road is narrow, but mostly, it's because I think I'm lost. But I'm not. I've never been lost driving there. It's just a feeling that I could be.





Then you finally come upon the beautiful white farm house and the red barn of Owl Pen Books. In 1944, Barbara Probst bought the dilapidated farm for $1,000 in war bonds. She started the bookstore in 1960 with 1,200 books bought for $25. According to an article in the Fall 1970* edition of Adirondack Life there were 40,000 books for sale ten years later. In today's world of Amazon.com, the Owl Pen is still a place you need to visit personally. Stroll around the grounds. Weave in and out of the bookshelves. Smell the paper, ink and glue. Touch the binding and open a book. It is an amazing sensation. You will probably find a book you didn't know you were searching for.



There is another reason I love the Owl Pen. Occasionally Hank Howard, one of the current owners, brings me a gift. Well, not me, really, more like the Town of Greenwich. These gifts are random bits of the past, ephemera. Photographs, calendars, menus, bylaws and constitutions of local clubs. I have an envelope full of pieces of Greenwich history. Here are a few such pieces...

The Owl Pen is located at 166 Riddle Rd Greenwich, NY 12834.

Their phone number is 518/692-7039.

Online catalog can be found at http://www.abebooks.com/owl-pen-books-greenwich-ny-u.s.a/802871/sf

but you should visit if at all possible.

*Mellon, Robert. "If You Can Find the Owl Pen You Can Probably Find That Book You've Been Looking For." Adirondack Life 1.4 (1970): 48-51.

Chester Alan Arthur

Did you know... that Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the USA, lived in Greenwich?

Statue of Arthur at Union College

Arthur was born in North Fairfield, Vermont (http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/arthur.html) in 1829. After heading various congregations in VT and NY, his father, the baptist minister Rev. William Arthur, moved the family to Greenwich (then Union Village) in 1839. Rev. Arthur remained pastor of the Bottskill Baptist Church until 1844. By that time, young Chet had graduated from Union Village Academy and was attending Union College in Schenectady, NY.

Arthur became president on September 20, 1881, the day after the death of President James A. Garfield. Garfield was shot three months prior, by Charles Guiteau at a train station in Washington, D.C. Arthur was not elected president in his own right. The nomination went to James G. Blaine (R-ME), who lost to Grover Cleveland (D-NY) in 1884.

Chester Alan Arthur died of natural causes on November 18, 1886 at the age of 57. He is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery. (http://www.presidentialgraves.com/graves/chester-a-arthur)



NY State marker



Little is known of the future president's youthful days in our village. His sister Mary, who would serve as hostess during his presidency, was born here in 1841. The house the Arthur's lived in still stands, though it has been moved twice. The old parsonage now sits on Gray Avenue, just a few blocks from its original location. A NY State marker commemorates the site.

Books of Interest:

Adult-

Chester Alan Arthur by Zachary Karabell- ISBN 9780805069518

Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur by Thomas C. Reeves- ISBN 0394460952

The Complete State of the Union Address of Chester A. Arthur- ISBN 9781406589665

Continental Liar From the State of Maine: James G. Blaine by Neil Rolde- ISBN 9780884482864

Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of James A. Garfield by Kenneth D. Ackerman- ISBN 9780786711512

Children-

Chester A. Arthur: Twenty-First President: 1881 - 1885 by Mike Venezia ISBN 9780516254012