The Gale's of Galesville

My personal & professional experience with other public historians has been one of generosity. If one of us comes across a document or artifact that does not fit with our collections, we do a little research & find out where it might belong, then we send a letter of inquiry to see if anyone wants the item. If it is wanted, we ship it out for free with the idea we will pay it forward to the next public historian.

AB Sherman's account book for John Gale's estate

The Town of Skaneateles Historian, Elizabeth Battle & I had just such an exchange in 2009-10. Elizabeth had in her office a letter & account book that did not belong in Skaneateles. The letter is dated March 9, 1839 & is addressed to "Mr A.B Sherman P.M. Galesville Washington Co N.Y." It is from  F.R. & C.M. Townsend of Troy. The account book belonged to AB Sherman regarding the late John Gale's estate.

When I received the letter I thought, "Galesville? Of course if belongs here." With just a bit of searching I was able to find a file on the Gale's in the family name files here in my office. What I did not expect to find were photographs. The images are photos of paintings of the Gale family including Amander Bryant Sherman & Caroline Matilda Gale. The photos came from a Gale ancestor in California who was in contact with former Town of Greenwich Historian, Jane Haverly from 1975-78.

Caroline Matilda b. September 17, 1818, was a daughter of John Gale, founder of Galesville (now Middle Falls). Caroline married Francis R. Townsend of Troy, NY. Caroline's sister Mary Elizabeth married Dr. John E. Newcomb of Whitehall, NY. The mother of the two girls was Remember Mary Brown Sherman. A.B. Sherman was her son from a previous marriage (Brown being her maiden name). So, A.B. was John Gale's step-son &, more than likely, executor to his estate.



detail of letter to Sherman from his half-sister Caroline & her husband

 So, I must thank Elizabeth Battle for taking the extra time to find out where two random items in her office belonged. Thanks to her generosity, I now have a better idea of the Gale-Sherman family here in Greenwich.

Oh, you may be wondering what the P.M. stood for after AB Sherman's name. He was the first post master of Galesville/ Middle Falls.

Lansing Prouty, Age 4

I just read an interesting article in the 2004 edition of the Journal of the Washington County Historical Society. If you have never heard of it visit their booth at the Washington County Fair next week & pick up a copy or two, or order online (http://www.wchs-ny.org/booksncollect.html). There are many fascinating local stories held within the pages, like the one I am going to tell you about.

In 1848, Lansing N. Prouty was a four year old boy living with his brother, George, mother, Sarah (nee Angell), & father, Franklin in Galesville (now Middle Falls), NY.  That summer he came down with diarrhea, fever & cramps. The only doctor in town diagnosed dysentery. By August 26th, Lansing was dead, possibly the victim on E. coli or amebiasis, microorganisms believed to be the common causes of dysentery.

Map of the home of Lansing Prouty & family 1848*

You may be asking why I am mentioning Lansing. Well, history for me is about anything and everything. Yes, I admire people like Susan B. Anthony, or George Washington Carver because of what they accomplished. But, I study history because of all the untold stories; the people & events that have been forgotten. That is what this article represents to me, a reminder of why I am here writing this blog, why I became an historian. Lansing's story was uncovered because of a road. By the discovery of his gravestone during routine, preliminary research before & during road construction, this little boy's story was unearthed & told so that he may live on.

* https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=1054+Route+29,+Greenwich,+NY&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x89de290d9d22da43:0xf404501248b542bc,1054+New+York+29,+Greenwich,+NY+12834&gl=us&ei=snctUPDTFYy20AHQ6oGICQ&ved=0CBcQ8gEwAA

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley

I love musicals. Astaire & Rogers. Rogers & Hammerstein... There are few I don't like, though I can't think of one at the moment. Ah well. I love Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland. There are some great songs & some over the top costumes. The Trolley Song is a high point! But, I digress...

I am really talking about actual trolleys. This area had a number of electric trolleys, even Greenwich. On April 8, 1900, the electric trolley began service between the village of Greenwich & Middle Falls. By June 17th the track was complete & service to Schuylerville was available. This also meant a person could ride to Stillwater & Mechanicville. In January 1901 the track to Fort Edward was complete.*

Oh, & those dry glass plates... There is a plate of the trolley. Along with other shots that seem to be of the construction of the trolley line.

Trolley from Greenwich to Schuylerville c. 1900

 This car appears to be the Hudson Valley Railroad car #133 that was, according to David Nestle's book A History of the Hudson Valley Railway, a 15 bench D.T. open car. It was 40' 00" long and sat 75 passengers. These cars were build between 1899-1902.*


building of bridge over the Dionondahowa Falls

 Going over/near the Dionondahowa Falls in an electric trolley must have been quite a sight! A power plant built at this sight harnessed the power of the Battenkill & provided the electricity for the trolley.*




Dionondahowa Falls- Battenkill River

 The postcard below was donated to the Town of Greenwich by Deputy Washington County Historian Loretta Bates.

Hudson Valley Railway car crossing the Battenkill

Oh, what the heck... Here's The Trolley Song for fun!

* Nestle, David F. A History of the Hudson Valley Railway, Greenwich NY: David F. Nestle, 1967.

Zip code 12848

When the United States Postal Service stated last week that they were considering closing some 3,700 post offices across the country, I didn't think of my brother and sister-in-law losing their jobs. I immediately thought of the little, white clapboard post office of zip code 12848, who's main purpose is to provide post office boxes to residents & businesses in and around the hamlet of Middle Falls in the Town of Greenwich. But, I needn't have worried. It is not on the list of potential closures.

So, I thought I would place a photograph of the previous post office in Middle Falls, to pay homage to rural post offices nationwide. It was the kind of post office that USPS wants to go back to, a store that provides post office like services. Everything old is new again, as the saying goes.



Middle Falls Post Office 1962

The following is on the back of the photograph... "First post office I remember. Middle Falls, N.Y. The only thing I bought there was gum. Either spruce gum or white parafine [sic] gum. I lived in a red brick house in the village at that time." Lee Fuller- July 1962