RHS: Fall 2008

SAVE THESE DATES

Saturday, December 13, 2008 – 1-4 P.M.
RHS Holiday Gathering at the home of Barbara Kraft
21 Crosmour Drive – Bring your own dish to share - All members welcome

Saturday, January 17, 2009 – 12 Noon

RHS Annual Luncheon at the Beekman Arms
Ed Ford – Kingston Historian
“The Bygone Shortcut to New England”
Philly, Port Jervis, Kingston, Landsman Kill, Salisbury Turnpike

President's Message Fall 2008
I've enjoyed 24 local events this past quarter. Wint
Aldrich gave a talk at the DAR on preservation. To me
he's so informative he states a headline every minute. John
Cronin gave the RHS the path he experienced restoring
the Hudson as Riverkeeper. A Poughkeepsie railroad
bridge expert and train engineer related the emotion
crossing the Hudson before fire ended it being "Gateway
to New England". Watch the next 10 months for
quadricenteniel events centering on trails to the bridge as
a spot for bicycling to picnicking. Judge Ted Feeney
described his family boatyard years on the Rondout.
Ancient wood frame craftsmanship produced barges back
to the Thomas Cornell days. I really look forward to each
year's HRH Country Seats Tour of historic houses. The
Lindners outdid themselves, and as recent newlyweds
Susan Hinkle told me she's feeling younger. Richard
Baright and I felt like kids stopping at unique barns on the
Winnakee tour south of Rhinebeck; a route similar to the
Chocolatour at the height of fall colors. It's an annual
Columbus Day rally when we get to bring out the variety
of antiques and sports cars.
Besides the events, I enjoy experiencing the local
characters we all are: Good Guys car show at our
Fairgrounds, Mills Mansion equally huge car-show
turnout, Poughkeepsie model-trains filled the civic-center;
Tivoli street chalk art reminded me of the 60's, and Red
Hook Hardscrabble. Upstate Theatre having Woodstock
Film Festival events led me to re-bond with lifetime-
achievement celebrant Haskell Wexler. I was his
soundman in my Hollywood days. Finding upcoming
events takes work but it's worth it. Before our November
28th speaker reminisces about our getting instant
communication in 1850 to the importance of WW-II
radio, on November 23rd 4pm Cynthia Philips will talk at
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the Rhinecliff about her new book "Rhinecliff, The
Tangled Tale of Rhinebeck's Waterfront".
Nicholas McCausland who has long been our RHS
guidepost is now stepping down as keeper of the archives.
December 13th with car packed he'll leave us for his new
home in Austin. We'll miss you dear friend.
John Vincent, president
RHS Annual Fundraiser
On September 27, 2008 the Rhinebeck
Historical Society hosted its first annual
fundraiser. The Sunset Supper took place
at the recently renovated Rhinecliff Hotel,
owned and managed by James Chapman,
an RHS board member. Members of the
Rhinebeck Historical Society and other
guests enjoyed hors' deurves and
cocktails on the balcony as the sun set on
the Hudson River, and listened to
Chapman’s tales of adventure with the
storied hotel’s renovation.
The "sold-out" event featured guest
speaker John Cronin, the first Hudson
River Keeper currently the Director of the
Institute of Rivers and Estuaries in Beacon.
He shared with guests the past hundred
years of the river’s history. He spoke of his
connection with the river, and how he and
others saved it from abuse, neglect and
"near death" bringing it back to what it is
today. wheels were carved into the roads, often getting so deep
wheels could not easily escape from them, and in low
A lovely evening, with old friends and new, places the road disappeared into virtual ponds. Woe to
was capped off with fine desserts and the driver who didn’t know the terrain. Even muskrats
coffee. If you missed this event, we plan to or beavers could be enemies as they didn’t take traffic
do it again in September 2009. Mark your into account when they built their dams and houses.
calendar and join us for the While the arrival of the steamroller did mean improved
Quadricentenial Celebration of the roads and reduced isolation in winter in Rhinebeck’s
more rural areas, little in fact had changed in a
discovery of the Hudson River.
household’s preparation for winter by the 1920’s when
Preparing for Winter/Facing Winter Weather
I was a small child living just outside the Village, a few
by Elma Williamson
hundred yards north of Hog’s Bridge. Electricity, when
available, was principally used for lighting. Houses
In the very early 1900’s, before cars became readily
were heated by coal and/or wood stoves or fireplaces,
available, and before there was public pressure to
and water did not run. Having an adequate supply of
improve the roads, the approach of winter meant that
coal from Lown’s was always important, especially as
Rhinebeck’s dirt roads would become increasingly
part of the preparation for winter. Cooking was done on
impassable as winter progressed. Residents of
a coal range or later a kerosene fueled stove.
Rhinebeck, especially those who lived in the more rural
parts of the Town, were well advised to be prepared
because winter meant the possibility of extended
periods of isolation. When Rhinebeck’s first steamroller
arrived in 1915, it was greeted with great ceremony.
Without paving and powered snow-removers, roads
were cleared only by sun power, and then often turned
into streams or swamps in places. The rural mail carrier
was the lifeline for residents of Rhinebeck’s outlying
farms, not only bringing the mail but often picking up
supplies and prescriptions at the stores in the Village
for his clients, although there were limits to what he
could or would do.

This ad for coal appeared in the Rhinebeck Gazette on September 29,

The man to the right of center, with his hand on the wheel of Rhinebeck’s
first steamroller, is Charles Staley, Rhinebeck Town Highway
Superintendent and the author’s grandfather, flanked by his crew. The
photographer is F. DuFlan, the date about 1915, and the location the
Rhinebeck Hotel, now known as the Beekman Arms.
As the ground thawed at winter’s end, ruts from wagon
1923, and variations of this ad appeared weekly for many years. “Getting
the kind of coal you want” refers to soft or hard coal. If you had the
means, you bought the more expensive hard coal since it lasted longer, but
you also bought some soft coal because it was easier to start. Lown’s was
at the northwest corner of the Village, where it could easily receive train
car loads at the adjacent Connecticut Railroad depot.
When the days began to shorten, almost imperceptibly
at first, preparations for the short cold days began.
Vegetables and fruit from garden and orchard were
picked. Tomatoes, beans, other vegetables and peaches

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and pears were canned. Potatoes, apples, onions were
stored in the root cellar where they would be kept cool
but safe from frost. Eggs would be preserved in water
glass in a stoneware crock. Coal and wood were
brought in and placed conveniently. Leaves were raked
into piles for later use.
Before Thanksgiving great cauldrons of water would
be boiled over open fires in the big storage shed, open
in front. Carcasses of pigs would be hung from frames
to drain the blood, and then cut up and plunged in great
cauldrons, heated over an open fire. Legs and haunches
would be smoked over a slow fire to turn into ham and
bacon, other parts including glands such as the thymus
and/or pancreas would be turned into sweetbreads, then
cooked and used over the next few days or weeks.
The hay mowed in summer was stored in the mows of
barn and sheds. Tools were cleaned and stored. The
freshwater well was deep enough not to freeze, but, as
drainage from the roofs ceased except for brief periods
of melting snow, the cistern was out of use.
On laundry day (usually Monday) great pots of water
were heated on the kitchen stove. Clothing and
household linens were washed, rinsed and run through a
hang-wringer, then hung on the line to dry in the wind
leaving them with a wonderful fresh scent.
There were no bathrooms. People did not have the
luxury of starting the day with a hot—or even cold—
shower. People took baths (usually) on a weekly basis.
In winter a portable tub was dragged into the kitchen.
Pots of water were heated on the stove, and then mixed
with cold to get the right temperature. People soaped
themselves up, then poured water over themselves to
rinse. Chamber pots were kept under the beds, or, in
deluxe mode, in boxes on legs with a seat with a hole if
the weather was too severe to use the outside privy.
In the house the straw matting that covered the parlor
and other floor in summer was taken up to be replaced
by carpets or rag or braided rugs. A full pail of coal was
placed by the parlor stove against the day when it might
be called into use. In my grandmother’s house this was
a round body about 5 feet tall topped with a lid with a
fancy finial that supplied a little moisture to the dry
(often dusty) air. In grandmother’s house there was a
grating (closable) above the stove to let a bit of warm
air into her bedroom above.
Outdoors, wire fencing was installed around the house
about two feet from the stone foundation. In this were
piled the raked-up leaves which served as a primitive
form of insulation. Snow shovels were cleaned and
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placed in strategic locations. Other tools were cleaned
and stored.
Such preparation for winter allowed Rhinebeck families
to go into the winter in a way that reduced the fears one
associated with that time of year. We never knew what
horrors an ugly winter full of frost and ice and
separation of one neighbor from another might bring.
Families prepared for the worst, and that allowed us to
be more confident that we could survive the stress and
worry normally associated with winter.
My Hudson River
by David Miller
As we approach the 400th anniversary of Henry
Hudson’s discovery of the river which bears his name, I
cannot help but reflect on my own discovery of the very
same river sixty five years ago. I was born in upper
Manhattan adjacent to the George Washington Bridge
with my bedroom window facing the great Hudson
River. As a little boy I would spend my days staring at
the tugboats pushing tankers and barges effortlessly
along the waterway, imagining myself at the helm
maneuvering around buoys and the boaters out sailing
for the day.
When I grew older my sister and I would stroll leisurely
down the long path, both over and under the Henry
Hudson parkway, down to the lighthouse on the river’s
edge. We would eat our sandwiches while watching
traffic move up and down the river. The wakes created
by the ships moved diagonally across the river and
splashed on the shore mesmerizing me for hours on
end. We played along the riverbank, climbed on the
light house platform, and skipped stones on the water,
without any fear of falling in. Sometimes, during the
warmer weather, our walks took us out to the halfway
point on the bridge, to the sign denoting the border
between New York and New Jersey, and we would
gaze down on the river from way on high.
Just as I entered my teenage years the Port Authority
decided to add a second level to the bridge; an exit
ramp was to run through my bedroom. My hopes that
somehow we could remain in the apartment were
dashed one autumn evening when my father announced
that our building was scheduled for demolition. The
knowledge that I would lose not only contact with my
childhood friends but also the river was traumatizing.
Would I ever see it again or be able to walk down and
touch it? Eventually, I moved to Park Slope, Brooklyn, not far
from my job in Brooklyn Heights where I worked for
35 years. At least once a week, in nice weather, I eat
my lunch on the Promenade with the harbor as the
backdrop. I still love to watch the pleasure boats,
freighters and ferries move back and forth across the
water.

My favorite type of restaurant has nothing to do with

the cuisine, having more to do with my love of dining
out by water, be it on a pier in San Francisco bay, the
Columbia River in Oregon, the Athabasca River in
Alberta or more locally, the Newburgh or Kingston
waterfronts.

For many years, I took day or weekend trips up the

A 1950’s view of the single level George Washington Bridge similar to Hudson Valley to escape city life. I loved touring the
the one from my window. historic mansions along the river and was jealous of
their fabulous aquatic views. When I began to think
My fears were unfounded since we traveled only two
about leaving the city I knew that I could never move
miles further up the island to Inwood. The window in
far from my river. Of all the towns that I visited over
my bedroom now gazed out on Inwood Hill Park with
the years, Rhinebeck was my favorite, so here I am. I
the river just one block away. I was thrilled to be so
still take Amtrak to the city several days of the week.
close yet again. My new friends and I played along the
The trek back and forth gives me the opportunity to
river and took long walks in woods, stared in awe as the
spend time with the river. Amtrak travel allows me to
New York Central train passed over the Sputen Duyvil
satisfy my love of eating by water as I have my dinner
Bridge or watched the bridge open to allow a boat to
on the train most nights, making certain my seat is on
pass through. It always seemed a unique place on an
the river side.
island made of concrete and stone. I later found out that
part of Inwood Hill Park, which runs along the river
I love to see the changing moods of the Hudson. Some
bank, contains the last natural forest and salt marsh in
days it is calm and you can see the reflections of the
Manhattan. There is also a plaque on a large boulder by
houses in its wet smoothness. Other days, when the
the river bank that honors Peter Minuit’s reputed
wind is up, it becomes very choppy and angry. On cold
purchase of Manhattan from the Lenape in 1626. I often
humid mornings the fog hangs eerily over the water. In
daydreamed about Indians in canoes sailing along the
the winter, when it is totally frozen, I wonder if it
Hudson to make their sale. The story that the entire
would be possible to walk to Kingston. No matter its
island was purchased for 24 dollars’ worth of beads
mood, the river owns my heart; it is a part of who I am.
never failed to shock me. To this day, I wish I could
have been there to tell them to ask for more money.
Well, my ends story for now. Stay tuned for more
stories on the Hudson in 2009 as we celebrate the
As I grew bigger so did my world and experiences with
anniversary. Many events are being planned in villages
the river. Once a year the fleet came into the harbor
and towns all up and down the river including the
during Fleet Week and my dad would take me
opening of the ‘Walkway over the Hudson’ in
downtown to see the ships. I was finally out on the
Poughkeepsie and a flotilla of ships sailing up to
river, getting the long awaited opportunity to look down
Albany. The Society expects to host an event as well
at the water from the side of those giant steel vessels. I
with Henry Hudson historians as speakers. Keep
never forgot my first trip on the Circle Line. I finally
watching future newsletters for more information.
got to see, what I thought at the time, was the entire
river as we circled Manhattan. That was when I finally
understood that I had been living on an island in the
middle of the river all of my life.
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