The Explosion of the Reindeer
By Shannon Butler If you read the title above and immediately thought of Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer blowing up into a million pieces with bits of antler flying everywhere, no one could blame you. Very few people today know that there was once a steamship called Reindeer and that it was considered one of the fastest steamers on the Hudson River during its short life. The title gives away the end of this story, but the ship actually exploded not once, but twice, which makes for an even more fascinating story. The tragedy[...]
Gunshots on Main Street: “Vice and Crime Go Hand in Hand” – The Wilbur Van Tassell Murder
In January of 1904, up the road from the Hudson Day Line Pier, and near the Poughkeepsie Train Station, a deadly shooting took place outside Frank Long’s Elberon Hotel at 50 Main Street. This crime wasn’t “cut and dry,” nor was it random. There was pre-meditation on both sides of the story. Yet one simple fact was clear. Wilbur Van Tassell was shot dead by an enraged James Newman. …And it seems as if the local and national press, along with most of the public, thought the murder was justifiable. The Poughkeepsie Eagle[...]
Dick Wood – Creepy Tales of the “Hudson River Grappler”
By Bill Kleppel Fame and celebrity tend to spout from the same fountainheads of publicity. Actors, athletes, politicians, musicians, entrepreneurs, or artists of any stripe, are bestowed with accolades, whether deservedly or not, by the usual media guttersnipe. A story going viral can make a person a household name in less than 24 hours. It’s all so amazing, remarkable, and at times, incredibly silly. But let’s ask this question: In the 21st Century, can a person get heaps of praise hoisted upon them for pulling dead bodies out of the Hudson River with grappling[...]
Lucy Maynard Salmon – The Records We Leave Behind
By Shannon Butler Studying history can be incredibly enlightening, while also full of holes and dead ends. Sometimes the records that we hope to come across in our research have actually been lost to time, and our questions go unanswered. Sometimes we need to look beyond the well known facts, and take the time to examine the little details that are often overlooked in order to get a better understanding of our past. If we do this, we discover that there is history in every detail and in every object. Nobody knew this better[...]
Nineteenth Century Main Street: Farrington’s China Shop
By Bill Kleppel Life on Poughkeepsie’s Main Street during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was frenetic and teeming with activity. The lifeblood of the city flowed through this arterial, transporting and distributing everything that was needed for Poughkeepsie to survive and thrive. It expanded exponentially during this period, developing its own culture that reverberated beyond its Hudson River banks to the rest of the World. It may seem hard to believe, but it really did. This era of Main Street has long since died. Yet, bits of its skeletal carcass remain. If you walk[...]
Gertrude Ford Ramsay – The Queen of Tea
By Shannon Butler As we head into the brisk time of the year known as Autumn (AKA Fall, AKA Sweater Weather), it's pleasant to sit down and enjoy a nice cup of tea. Did you know that Poughkeepsie was once the home to a major tea importing business that was run by a visionary woman? Perhaps some of you even remember heading down Route 44 to visit the G.H. Ford tea shop and purchase a cute little sampler tin. Gertrude Ford Ramsay came to this country with the notion that anyone could build a[...]
G. Gordon Liddy and Family
By Bill Kleppel The family attends the Dutchess County Fair every year. It’s 1969, and there are plenty of animals to see and lots of rides for the kids. “…Dutchess County apples are the best in the world, and it doesn’t matter how you eat them,” explained Thomas, the second youngest boy in a family of seven. This bucolic description of long ago summers in the Hudson Valley wasn’t brought to you by the Dutchess Tourism Board. It’s a remembrance from Thomas Liddy, son of G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy was the infamous mastermind behind[...]
Early Settlement In Poughkeepsie
By Shannon Butler Poughkeepsie has always been a place of growth and change, and despite what some may believe, it's never really been the kind of place that stays entirely frozen in time. Here in the Local History Room, we are always working on research projects that we intend to turn into programs that showcase different aspects of Poughkeepsie’s history. My most recent dive into the past is taking me back to the beginning, when things were slow to grow, and are now hard to understand, mostly due to a lack of proper documentation.[...]
Sounds from 19th Century Main St: Hickok’s Music Store
By Bill Kleppel There are many reasons why vinyl record stores have made a renaissance over the past 20+ years. Nostalgia looms large as one reason. Some music aficionados believe there’s an auditory resonance you get from vinyl records that cannot be replicated by other modes of listening to music. Other people just think it’s cool to flip through the LP covers to check out the colors and artwork of the albums themselves. But let’s say you’ve been transported back in time. The year is 1905. You walk into Hickok’s Music Store on 276[...]
No Longer Standing: Buildings of Poughkeepsie – The George Innis House
By Shannon Butler It's been awhile since we looked at a building that was once a part of the city’s landscape, but has now been lost to time. Much of the city’s waterfront has been altered over the past century and many buildings, as well as entire neighborhoods, are gone. If you take the time to study the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and compare them to modern day Google views, you will see areas that were completely wiped out, like Harris Street and Gate Street, partly due to urban renewal. Today we will look[...]
Uriah Boston – African American Barber
The story of Uriah Boston’s life and its significance to Poughkeepsie shouldn’t be lost to history. Frederick Douglass’s visit to Poughkeepsie and his famous “Emancipation Day” speech at College Hill on August 2, 1858, should be held in reverence. Learning more about the historical interaction between these two men, their differences in opinion, and what they had in common, is something to delve into for a deeper understanding of our local history, and how we can gain wisdom from it. Born in Pennsylvania in 1817, Uriah Boston was a well-known African American barber in[...]
A Different Perspective: Loyalists in Poughkeepsie
This weekend, Dutchess County is kicking off its celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Several local historical societies and organizations will set up displays at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center in Hyde Park. Why do we tell you this? Well, because the PPLD’s Local History Room will be there, too. When it comes to documents and collections from the American Revolution, we don’t exactly have much (our collection mainly focuses on the 19th and early 20th century), but what we do have are some very interesting documents that predate the war[...]
Poughkeepsie City Directories
Hannah and Storm Coach & Saddlery Hardware, 427 Main St. (1860) By Bill Kleppel Like newspapers and maps, village and city directories were once vital references for everyday life. From a historical perspective, these relatively modern conveniences are now being erased, in real time, by the explosion of the Information Age. For some people, this is a sad state of affairs. These handy and ever-present tools from yesteryear are being pummeled out of existence by the evils of cyberspace. Here’s a special message for you boomers and other “olds” out there. The changeover is[...]
Coming Soon! Walking Tour of Dwight Street and Hooker Avenue
By Shannon Butler You’ve been asking for a new walking tour, and it’s in the works! When you open the July-August Rotunda you will find mention of a walking tour on Dwight Street and Hooker Avenue. This is another historic district in the south end of the City of Poughkeepsie, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. In this tour we will look at the homes that were constructed between the 1890’s and the early 20th century. One of the most common questions we get in the Local History[...]
Ruth Linda Deyo: Child Prodigy
By Bill Kleppel Recently, we had a visiting patron in the Local History Rooms doing research for a project on Hudson Valley composers. He was particularly interested in sheet music from the 19th and early 20th centuries. My colleague and I selected material for him in advance so he could get to work right away. This is when we happened upon LH Document Box 780-M. Inside the box were musical compositions created by Ruth Linda Deyo in 1892. This music was published when Ms. Deyo was seven years old. Ruth Linda Deyo was born[...]
No Butts about it! Scrabble in Poughkeepsie
By Shannon Butler If you walk down Academy Street, you will see some lovely houses that represent the Victorian era. Among the people who lived in these homes were the big names of Poughkeepsie business and culture, such as Adriance, Smith, and Hull. Another name comes to mind that might not be as familiar, though it's quite likely that you have played the game he invented; that name is Butts. The family had been in Dutchess County since the mid-18th century and moved to Poughkeepsie when the city was booming with life and opportunity. That[...]
Female Physicians of Poughkeepsie
By Shannon Butler In previous blog entries we have discussed several female doctors that have lived, worked, and studied here in Poughkeepsie. It stands to reason that since we are home to one of the first female colleges in the country, this city would naturally be a more attractive place to do business. Some of these women came to Poughkeepsie to work for Vassar College, while others joined together and set up practices of their own. Some would serve in the military as doctors and see action overseas, but no matter what path they[...]
Grace Roberts
By Bill Kleppel Another treasure was found while sifting through the miscellaneous files of the History Rooms at the Adriance Memorial Library. Today, I’ll introduce you to a local outspoken suffragette and social reformer who ran her own dairy cattle farm. Her previously unearthed memoir was written in the year before her death at the age of 89. The document gives us a glimpse into her astounding life, as well as her family’s fascinating history. Yet, most of the story is dedicated to her crusade to take down crooked financial swindlers before, during, and after[...]
Poughkeepsie Architecture: The City Almshouse
By Shannon Butler In previous blog posts we have discussed beautiful buildings of Poughkeepsie, some that are still standing and many that have been lost to time. When one thinks of fabulous architecture, we tend to imagine grand mansions where wealthy bankers and businessmen once lived, or local landmarks like banks, train stations, and even our very own library building here on Market Street. There is one grand building that has stood the test of time and has been a witness to many sad stories over the past century, yet still looks beautiful, and[...]
Before the Oath of Office: Future Presidents at the Bardavon
February 9, 2024 By Bill Kleppel “All roads to the White House lead through Poughkeepsie!”…. are words that have never been uttered. However! Several future presidents visited our town in the years before they’d taken the oath of office. More specifically, their trips included being on or near the stage of our prestigious Bardavon Theater! Not only is 2024 a presidential election year, it’s also the 155th anniversary of the opening of the Bardavon (originally named the Collingwood Opera House). The Bardavon is the oldest continuously operating theater in New York State.1 Future President[...]
Mary Ellen Reid – A Name to a Face
January 26, 2024 By Shannon Butler There are lots of photographs of interesting people in our collections here in the Local History Room. Some of those people have been properly identified, while others have not. It can be somewhat difficult to put a name to a face, when everyone who might have remembered that face is gone. However, sometimes we get lucky and a research request can yield an answer that we never expected, and even a story that was lost to history. Not long ago, I received a request from a man looking[...]
The Bodey’s of Poughkeepsie Saga – Part II
by Bill Kleppel We left you at the end of Part I in November of 1859. The patriarch of the Bodey family had vanished in a blizzard close to where he had struck gold in the western hills of El Dorado, California… ….Meanwhile, Back In Poughkeepsie A flood of catastrophic events engulfed the rest of the Bodey’s. The Death of William A. O. Bodey William A. O. Bodey was born on November 5, 1843. On December 18, 1852, William and his friends went ice skating on Lent’s Pond in Poughkeepsie. Two of the friends[...]
The Bodey’s of Poughkeepsie Saga – Part I
Ogden Bodey While researching Civil War era veterans from the 150th New York Infantry Regiment, I stumbled across Ogden Bodey. His family story is so incomprehensible and tragic that I felt the need to share it with you. It features war, the California Gold Rush, a sudden disappearance, a Wild West boomtown and its demise, and an unfortunate litany of random deaths within one brood that is brutal in its magnitude. Ogden Bodey was born in Poughkeepsie on June 1, 1846, to Waterman S. Bodey and Sarah Wolcock Bodey. In 1862, Ogden enlisted into the 150th[...]
John Bolding
by Bill Kleppel In 1824, John Bolding was born enslaved in South Carolina. On August 24, 1851, he was a free man working as a tailor in Poughkeepsie. On August 29, 1851, John Bolding was held before a Federal Law Commissioner in New York City. This commissioner would determine if Bolding was free to live his life with his family, or if he was the property of Robert C. Anderson of Columbia, South Carolina. The concept of time is occasionally confounding and unfathomable. The Emancipation Proclamation was enacted into law 160 years ago in 1863.[...]
St. Barnabas’ Hospital
Long before the days of Vassar Brothers Medical Center or Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital (formerly St. Francis) there were not many options for medical care here in Poughkeepsie. In the 19th century, if you were ill or had an emergency, the best you could hope for was a trip to the local pharmacy, where you might be given a real cure, or something entirely useless. Or perhaps you were lucky enough to have a trained physician come to your home. By 1870, Poughkeepsie had a population of 20,000 people, but there was still no hospital to meet their medical needs.[...]
Paraclete Potter and the 1820 World Atlas
By William Kleppel It’s a cold and stormy winter night. You’re carrying a candle up the flight of stairs to your second floor study. The flame flickers and you realize someone has left the window open beside your desk! You shut it quickly, grab a quilted blanket, and drop into your chair to read. Earlier in the day, you stopped by the local bookshop and happened upon a small world atlas. It was printed by the store’s owner, and the editor of the Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, Paraclete Potter. Flipping through the maps, you dream of far flung adventures to[...]
Poughkeepsie Men in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment
by Shannon Butler If you are interested in the American Civil War, like me, perhaps you have seen the 1989 film Glory, starring Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Matthew Broderick. The film takes a close look at the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment; the first regiment of African American soldiers to fight in the Civil War. The regiment took heavy casualties as it tried and failed to take the confederate stronghold of Fort Wagner, just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, in July of 1863. Even if you’re not a history nerd you should check out the movie just for the[...]
Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery – 170 Years
by Shannon Butler Adriance Memorial Library just celebrated our 125th anniversary and we wanted to wish a happy anniversary to our partners in local history, the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery! This week the cemetery is 170 years old and still looks as beautiful as ever. We thought it would be nice to share some of the details of its early history and inform you of a very special installation at the cemetery: a Día de los Muertos ofrenda (altar), on display until November 15th. The remembrance of life and the mourning of the dead is handled quite differently from culture to[...]
125 Years of Adriance Memorial Library: The Old Days and the Future
by Shannon Butler We might sound like a broken record here, but have we mentioned that it's the 125th anniversary for Adriance Memorial Library? That’s right! Come and see us this Saturday from 1pm to 3pm for all sorts of fun activities (brownie points if you come dressed in 1890s clothing!) We will have a little bit of everything, from fun games to early documents that showcase our history. In an earlier post, we told you about how the library came to be at its current location. It was such a big deal that even the New York Times[...]
Must Love Dogs: Some Pups in Poughkeepsie
In this blog post, we decided to look at an interesting piece of dog history. Twenty twenty-three marks 215 years since the New York State Legislature decided that all dog owners must make sure that their dogs have collars and that their family name (meaning the owner’s) is visible on that collar. Is this a very random piece of history? Yes, it is. Did you know this random fact? Probably not.
William Lyon Dobbs and his Orchestra
Buried within the collections of the Local History Room is a box with a thick leather ledger inside. On the cover of this book, someone wrote in pen, “Chas. E. Dobbs, Daybook. Feb 1. 1906 to” and that's it. However, the pages inside the ledger are a bit more complicated than a simple daybook, as newspaper articles and musical programs are plastered over the older handwriting that once marked its pages.
No Longer Standing: Buildings of Poughkeepsie – The Stratford and Liberty Theaters
The invention of the moving picture was a big deal at the turn of the 20th century! Watching fast moving images of people on a big screen, as opposed to watching actual people in real time on the stage took some getting used to. However, not everyone was quick to jump on the movie making trend, nor did everyone immediately see this new technology as an art form. In spite of this, there was a group of men in Poughkeepsie who believed that not only was this art, and the future for theater goers, but also that it was[...]
125 Years of Adriance Memorial Library
By Shannon Butler Did you know that the library has a big birthday coming up? More specifically, the anniversary of the opening of Adriance Memorial Library! Save the date, October 21, 2023, for the special celebration event. We will honor the library namesake and benefactors, the Adriance Family, who financed the construction of this building through a donation on behalf of the family. Over the past century, the library has expanded, both in collection and in size, to include several branches and partnerships, but it would not have been possible without first establishing a permanent location. The public library[...]