This Day in Bovina for December 2025

 

Here's the monthly compilation of the Town of Bovina Historian Facebook page entries for December 2025.

204 years ago today, December 1, 1821, a seventh school district was created in Bovina in the area of southern Bovina. 

This view of the Bovina Methodist Church dates from the early 20th century. Located across from the community hall, it was built in 1849 for the cost of $1,397. Never as large as the Presbyterian congregations, none-the-less it was active into the late 19th century. By the early 20th century, however, the membership dropped. The congregation was merged with Andes in 1916 and the building was sold in 1921. The building was demolished in April 1926 by Champ Worden, the wood being used to build a barn on his farm (that barn has since been demolished). William Archibald  built a house on the lot that still stands today. 

Seventy-one years ago today, the Bovina column of the December 3, 1954 Catskill Mountain News reported that "Mrs. Glenn Hobbie was the only woman deer hunter in this area to get her deer. She shot a three point buck weighing 140 pounds on Tuesday." Mrs. Hobbie was Anna Boggs Hobbie Lounsbury, who passed away in 2009.

Twenty nine years ago today, the December 4, 1996 Walton Reporter carried the following in its Bovina column: "The Bovina Happy Hearts 4-H club held its first meeting of the year on Oct 25 at the Bovina community hall with 19 members present. The officers elected were: president Tom Weber; vice president Brad Darling; secretary, Beth Rossley; treasurer, Heather Hilson; corresponding secretary, Amber Dariing; news reporter, Leanne Stewart; games leaders, Cody Weber and Jordan Dibble; song leaders, Erin Mcintosh and Linda Darling; and snack leader, Danielle Stewart.

172 years ago today, the December 5, 1853 Bloomville Mirror carried this ad for the sale of a farm near Bovina Center. I'm not totally sure where this was located, but it might have been what is now the Gullow farm, which is about a mile and a half from Bovina Center going east on County Route 6. 

This chauffeur license images of Lester Hoy was taken by Delhi photographer Harold McMurdy in the late 1930s. Chauffeur licenses were required for anyone driving for hire or as part of their job. Today this is known as a Class E license in New York. Lester was born in 1899 in Bovina and was named for his paternal uncle who died in 1897. He married Jean Atkin in 1920 and lived in Bovina most of his life. He died in July 1978 at the age of 78 and is buried in the Bovina cemetery. Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

Ninety-six years ago today, on December 7, 1929, as later reported in the Catskill Mountain News, "M.O. Miller while at the farm in Bovina last Saturday was injured by a horse, and was brought to the office of Dr. C.L. Wakeman, who found that his right shoulder had been dislocated. He will be compelled to favor the injured member for some time but it is hoped that no other trouble may develop." This likely is Mural Oliver Miller, who would have been 33 at the time of this accident. He recovered and was 79 at his death in 1976.

176 years ago today, the December 8, 1849 Kingston Daily Freeman carried this small item: "The Delaware People’s Press states that the article about the murder at Bovina, in that county going the rounds of the press, is a base fabrication from beginning to end." This appears to concern the case of Daniel Frazier, who was reported as having killed his father, also named Daniel. It does appear to have been a false article.  Nothing showed up in the court records that there was a murder, though the family appeared to have been involved in a case of assault and battery around this time.

128 years ago today, December 9, 1897, Mary Gordon McLean, sister of Thomas Gordon, wrote this letter from her home in Laurel Bank, Scotland to her brother in Bovina. Thomas had been widowed earlier that same year. She mentions the monument, meaning the one to his wife (and his daughter who died at the end of 1896) and the fact that he's living in lodgings after giving up the farm that had been in his late wife's family. More on Tom Gordon's life appears in the Bovina NY History blog at http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-people-of-county-who-knew-him-will.html.

 

These images of Robert (Bob) Boggs were taken by Delhi photographer Harold McMurdy in the late 1930s/early 1940s. Robert Russell Boggs was born in 1910 in Bovina, the son of J. Russell Boggs and Margaret Ann Coulter. He married Geraldine Edwards (my aunt) in 1933. They farmed on what is now the Dominic Gullow farm in Bovina, NY with their children Bobby and Barbara. Bob and Gerry moved to Georgia in the 1950s, though they came to Bovina in the summer for several years. Bob died in 1991 (his wife died in 1996). Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

Eighty-five years ago today, on December 11, 1941, Celia Coulter sent a letter from Bovina to her friend Marjorie Russell, who was teaching home economics in Ohio. The first page shown includes a comment about getting "a grim set of facts from the news.." Her reference, of course, is to the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7.  "The dominie" she mentions was the Bovina UP Church Pastor, Harvey McClellan. McClellan had tried to resign earlier in the year but was talked into staying. With the outbreak of war and the fact that he was going to be a naval chaplain, the church agreed to his going. I'm not sure about Mrs. Banuat - I think this was Craig Banuat's mother. If she did have cancer, she survived it, dying in 1968. 

Abigail Fuller was born 171 years ago today on December 12, 1854.  The daughter of James Seacord and Esther Close, she married Thomas Fuller in 1878 and was widowed in 1913.  Abigail died on her 79th birthday, December 12, 1933 (ninety-two years ago today).

Twenty-nine years ago today, the December 13, 1995 issue of the Walton Reporter carried this article about Marjorie Russell and Russell's Store.  

102 years ago today, the Andes Recorder in its December 14, 1923 issue reported that the "Bovina Dairymen have received notice that they must put in three tons of ice per cow.  Must want the milk made into ice cream."

In 1946, Delhi photographer Bob Wyer took a series of aerial pictures around Bovina in a plane piloted by Eddie Davidson. The farm on the right of the road was the Gustav Lifgren farm at the time the image was taken. The farm belonged to William D. Thomson, Sr. for many years. It later was owned by Gustav and later was the farm of Bill and Mary Inman. It is currently Pepacton Farms, owned by Molly Brannen and managed by her and her son Henry Post. The farm on the left at one point was also owned by Gustav, who had the house built there in the 1920s. He later sold it to Arthur Hadley.  Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

Ninety-nine years ago today, on December 16, 1926, M.T. Hastings sent this bill to Town of Bovina Highway department.  

135 years ago today, the Delaware Gazette for December 17, 1890, reported the following: "For Heresy - Five young clergymen, of whom the Rev. O.B. Milligan, recently of Bovina, seems to be a leader, were suspended by the Pittsburg Reformed Presbytery last Friday. Their offense is in the setting forth their belief that the exercise of the right of suffrage is not sinful, and that they will not forbid members to vote. They made a powerful defense and will appeal to the synod. They claim that they will be supported there by about one third of the clergy. If they fall they will join the U.P. church, and claim they can take their congregations." Milligan was the pastor of the Bovina Reformed Presbyterian Church for in 1887, staying for about a year before leaving in 1888. And go to the Bovina NY History Blog for more about what happened to Rev. Milligan.  https://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2016/11/found-dead-in-his-study-with-heart.html

In 1946, Delhi photographer Bob Wyer took a series of aerial pictures around Bovina in a plane piloted by Eddie Davidson. This shows the Robert Burns farm, which still is in the Burns family today, occupied by Marie Burns. One of the previous owners of the farm was Adam Laidlaw, who was the father of Bovina Town Clerk Margaret Hoy. Before Adam Laidlaw, it was the farm of Thomas Russell for many years. Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

This postcard, likely dating from the 1920s or 1930s, shows County Route 6 just off from State Route 28. The house is the Clarence and Frances Burns residence. You can barely make out the barn behind the trees. It seems likely the term 'Bovine' is a typo for Bovina. 

Ninety-seven years ago today, the December 20, 1928 Stamford Mirror-Recorder carried this item: "Walter Coulter, with a few helpers, is tearing down the red barn by his mill. He will leave the basement and is taking the remainder up to the upper end of the village where he will make an up-to-date shop. They moved the large parts of the building with the tractor." This mill probably was in the vicinity of what is now the town highway garage. The building that Coulter moved still stands behind the house next to the Bovina UP Church now owned by Pat Parsons Miele. Walter Coulter was the grandfather of the late Herb Parsons.

101 years ago today, on December 21, 1924, Gladys Reinertsen was born, the daughter of Andrew and Sophia [Larsen] Reinertsen. She grew up in Bovina and married Clark Lay in 1946. She and Clark raised their four daughters in Bovina. Clark died in 2004. Gladys passed away in 2011. Image by Bob Wyer, courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

Jane, the 15-month-old daughter of Walter Coulter and Margaret Storie, died 196 years ago today on December 22, 1829.  Out of the twelve children they would have, four would die before reaching adulthood - a fifth child, their eldest daughter, died six weeks after her marriage.

130 years ago today, on December 23, 1895, as later reported in the Andes Recorder, "Bovina had a case of Kidnapping on Monday evening. Archie VanBramer came to W.B. Thompson's to see his wife, a daughter of Mr. Thompson, and his child and had the child brought out to the wagon and then took it into the wagon and sent his wife to the house on some trivial excuse and in her absence drove away with the child. The child has not yet been recovered. It is thought that Van Bramer hopes to secure money for the return of the child." The Andes Recorder reported in its January 17, 1896 issue that Van Bramer brought the child back "of his own accord, after having caused the family lots of trouble and worry. If he has any shame about him he should be ashamed of his recent capers." It appears this couple was not married. The child's mother was Cora Thomson, daughter of William B. Thomson (1843-1929). The child, a boy named Ray Thomson was about 9 months old at the time of the kidnapping. He spent most of his life in Unadilla, dying at the age of 80 in 1975.

Eighty-eight years ago today, December 24, 1937, Bovina's district 3 school held a Christmas Eve program:

This undated photo came from the Archibald family and shows children at the Bovina District 4 School house, which is now the Bovina Public Library. The names have not been provided, though I think I can see Bob Burns, Sr. and Clarence Burns in the second row. And Louise Hilson, Celia Coulter and Leif Reinertsen are next to each other in the first row. If you all have some ideas of other identifications, please share that with me. 

Sixty-two years ago today, the December 26, 1963 issue of the Catskill Mountain News carried this obituary for Thomas Archibald, who had died on December 19:  

145 years ago today, the Bovina column in the December 27, 1881 Stamford Mirror reported that "Wm. Richardson has sold his premises (the Henry McDonald place) to Alexander Hoy." This property would later become my house. The same paper also reported that "Dr. Dickson has moved his drugs and medicines to the basement of his new building." This is now the Brushland Eating House.

Eighty-six years ago today, December 28, 1939, the Mexico Independent (Mexico is a town in Oswego County) carried this death notice and obituary for W. Elliott Thomson, one of the last blacksmiths in Bovina. He was living with his daughter in Mexico for a few years before his death: 

126 years ago, in the December 29, 1899 issue of the Andes Recorder in the Bovina column, the following appeared:  "A new order just received from the State Department forbids the acceptance of any excuse from pupils except for sickness, and that only on the certificate of a physician.  Take warning."

A notice from the Andes Recorder, dated 158 years ago today, December 30, 1867:  "Estray – Came to the premises of the subscriber, on our about the 16th of December, a Newfoundland dog.  The owner can have the same by proving property and paying charges. Jas. Coulter, Bovina Valley, Dec. 30, 1867." Bovina Valley is now the Lake Delaware area.  And no, I have not found out if anyone ever came forward to claim the dog.

159 years ago today, December 31, 1866, the Bovina UP Church session passed the following resolution: “Whereas Elder Wm Thomson has for the past 18 months failed to perform his duties as an elder and whereas Mr. Thomson has not given to Session any reason for this course, or formerly tendered his resignation of the office of Elder, and whereas it is desirable that there be a free interchange of views between Session and Mr. T. therefore Res[olved] That Mr. Wm Thomson be again cited to appear before Session to either tender his resignation or give excuse for his neglect of duty.  Res[olved] 2nd That in case Mr. Thomson refuse or neglect to appear at the next meeting of Session, his case be referred directly to the Presbytery for its actions and instruction.  Res[olved] 3 That a copy of the above resolution be given to Mr Thomson, with his citation to appear at the next meeting of Session on the 22nd of January 1867.”  Thomson ultimately resumed his duties.  His absence was due to a family squabble that is further documented in the Bovina NY History blog for May 5 and 17, 2011.  http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/05/brothers-in-law-part-i.html

A Week with Bovina People - December 1900 - 125 Years ago from the Andes Recorder

 

December 7, 1900

• Vern Dumond was at John Oliver’s on Sabbath.

• W.B. Scott was in town from Delhi on Sabbath.

• Alex. Archibald passed through this place on Sabbath.

• John Miller’s hired man is seriously ill with pneumonia.

• A daughter of Richard Fuller has been visiting in town.

• Bovina’s tax rate this year is $7.72 on each thousand assessed.

• Adam Scott and wife were up from Delhi the first of the week.

• Miss Jennie Campbell was home from Hobart over Thanksgiving.

• Born on Tuesday, December 4, to Mr. and Mrs. Milton Doig, a son.

• Rev. Samson attended the meeting of the Presbytery at West Kortright Tuesday.

• Alex. Johnson, a brother of the late Thomas Johnson, has been visiting in town.

• Thomas Gordon is in Delhi assisting B.F. Gerowe with the laying of the taxes, etc.

• Elder T.C. Strangeway attended the meeting of Presbytery at West Kortright this week.

• G.D. Miller was at Pine Hill Tuesday attending the funeral of a child of Adolphus Banker.

• Robert Foreman and Miss Dora Boggs were married Wednesday evening at home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Boggs, in upper Bovina at 7:30 o’clock, Rev. W.L.C. Samson officiating. Over 100 guests were in attendance and many valuable presents were received. A wedding trip was taken to Albany. 

Gordon-Rogers

Mr. and Mrs. T. Gordon and B.S. Miller returned last Saturday from New York, having been attending the marriage of John L. Gordon of the New York police force, and Miss Lizzie Rogers, daughter of William Rogers, of N. 41, East 62d street. The ceremony was attending by over 100 guests and took place in St. Vincent Ferrer’s church. The bride was attired in white silk, covered and trimmed with white and cream lace, and the groom in conventional black. They were attended by the bride’s brother, James, as best man and Miss Mamie Levy of Bridgeport, Conn, a cousin of the bride, as bridesmaid, also attired in white silk. The bride carried a magnificent bouquet of white roses and the bridesmaid one of pink roses. Afterwards a royal reception took place at the bride’s home, where tables were set for 105. The presents were numerous and valuable. The young couple have commenced housekeeping in their flat at No. 225 East 71st Street. 

December 14, 1900

• A.O. Butts was at Bloomville Sabbath.

• Charles Barker was in this place on Monday.

• R.A. Thompson went to Kingston Monday.

• W.G. McNee is ill at John Irvine’s with pleurisy.

• Rev. Marvin J. .Thompson arrived in town Monday.

• John Blair and Alex. Hilson were at Delhi Tuesday.

• R.A. Thompson and A.O. Butts have traded horses.

• Thomas Gordon and wife returned home from Delhi Monday.

• The musical entertainment Monday evening is said to have been very fine.

• Presiding Elder Germond preached in the Methodist church Saturday afternoon.

• Supervisor Irvine is at Delhi attending the meeting of the supervisors this week. 

• Mrs. W.J. Doig and Mrs. E. George Galdstone went to New York city Monday on the excursion.

• James Townsend and family have moved from the Samuel Adee farm to Covert Hollow, Hamden.

• Marshall Gladstone and Smith Hillis of Delhi, were in town Saturday doing some work for F.G. Bramley. 

• Winter weather is here and Monday morning the thermometer registered from 2 to 5 degrees below zero.

December 21, 1900

• A.A. Johnson visited Delhi on Tuesday.

• John Irvine was at the County seat Tuesday.

• John Blair and wife visited Delhi on Saturday.

• Commissioner Gow was at Stamford Thursday.

• James Armstrong was here Saturday from Andes. 

• John Storie was down at the County Seat Thursday.

• Dr. Seacord and Orrin Reynolds were at Andes Monday.

• Robert Laing was seen in town from Andes Wednesday.

• Mrs. Alex Hilson and son, John, visited Delhi Saturday.

• Mrs. Barnhart has been visiting her son, Jeremy Barnhart.

• E.F. Thompson, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, is in this vicinity.

• John Douglas and John Glendenning were up from Delhi Monday.

• Thomas Miller visited Walton and Norwich the first of the week.

• Mrs. William Crosier and Mrs. M.M. Boggs were at Delhi Saturday.

• Michael, Berry S. and Gilbert D. Miller visited Delhi Wednesday.

• A Christmas tree will be held next Tuesday evening in Strangeway’s Hall.

• Rev. Williams arrived home Tuesday after an absence of about a fortnight.

• W.W. Hoy, wife and children, from Oil City, Pennsylvania, are guests of his parents, Mr. and John R. Hoy in this village.

• Among those at Delhi Wednesday were Rev. Samson and wife, Mrs. J.I. Coulter, Miss Jennie Gladstone, Frank R. Coulter and wife, and Fred Thompson.

• Wesley Williams, who had been ill with pneumonia at John M. Miller’s died Thursday morning.  The remains will be taken to his home at Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

• Rev. Minch of Delhi, will deliver a lecture on the “Battle of Gettysburg” in Strangeway’s Hall, Thursday evening, December 27.  Admission 25 cents and proceeds for the benefit of the soldiers’ monument fund.

• William Strangeway died Saturday morning at his home on Federal Hill, near Delhi with heart trouble, and had he lived until January would have been 64 years old.  He was born in Bovina.  The funeral was held at his home Tuesday, his pastor Rev. Samson, officiating. Interment was made in the cemetery at this place.

December 28, 1900

• Bert Elliott was at Andes Tuesday.

• Charles Palmer was down at Delhi Friday.

• Robert Biggar was over at Andes on Monday.

• Mrs. James Boyd visited Andes on Tuesday.

• Leonard Sloan and wife visited Delhi Friday.

• William Coulter was here Wednesday from Andes.

• Arthur Burns is home from school at Kingston.

• The Centre school is enjoying a two weeks’ vacation.

• W.M. Johnson visited relatives at Walton last week.

• Mr. and Mrs. John M. Miller were at Delhi Friday last.

• Milton Hoy, of Oil City, Pennsylvania, is visiting his parents here.

• Robert Brown and Elliott Liddle, of Andes, were seen in town Saturday.

• John Smith, of Walton, visited his parents here the latter part of last week.

• Hon. E.T. Gerry has made J.W. Coulter a present of a very fine gold watch.

• Rev. John H. Lee has received and accepted a call at Columbus, Ohio, and will be installed sometime in January. 

• Hon. E.T. Gerry will build a large new barn with all modern improvements at his summer home at Lake Delaware.

• Some of those home for a vacation are, Miss Jennie Campbell, Misses Anna and Bertha Phyfe, Irving Phinney and Leslie McNee.

• Night Cap social will be held at the residence of Peter McNair on Monday evening, December 31, under the auspices of the Ladies Aid Society, for the benefit of the Methodist church.

• Alex. Crosier, A.O. Butts and Will Maynard have each put in a bid to carry the mail for the next four years from Bovina to Bloomville.  We understand that the bids range from about $390 up to $500.

• January 1.  J.W. Coulter who has for many years been manager at the Gerry summer home at Lake Delaware will retire and move to rooms in A.T. Strangeway’s store.  He will be succeeded by Mr. McWilliams who will institute many radical reforms.

Bovina and the American Revolution - James Vanderburgh (1758-1840)

The second revolutionary war burial in the Brush cemetery is James Vanderburgh. Like Samuel Ludington, his time in Bovina was relatively brief. James was born in 1758 in Beekman, Dutchess County, NY. In April 1776, he joined the company of Captain Durling, re-enlisting in 1777 and 1779. He was a guard over military stores in the Town of Beekman and participated in the taking of two robbers or, “cow boys as they were usually called, named Weeks and Ackerly.” They actually were British spies and were hanged at Poughkeepsie in April 1781. The whole time he was in service, as he later noted in his pension application, he did not attend to any civil pursuit, saying that “his business was solely that of a soldier…” 

While in service, he found time in October 1779 to marry Jane Rosecrans. After the war, he settled in Columbia County, where he filed for his Revolutionary War pension in 1831. His pension was $40 a year. 

One of the people writing to support his application wrote: “Mr. Vanderburgh is an honest & very respectable old man, all who know him feel a very deep interest in the success of his application because he is poor & meritorious. It would afford me very great pleasure to be able to take home with me a certificate that he is to be one of the recipients of his Country’s bounty and thus gladden the heart of the good old patriot.” 

We don’t know when he came to Bovina but by 1840, he and his wife were living in Bovina with their son Clarence. James died later that year, as did his wife. He’s buried in the Brush cemetery, next to what is now the Bovina library, as likely is his wife, though her grave is not marked. 

December 1925 - 100 Years Ago in "That Thriving Town"

 

December 4, 1925

• John Aitken’s jr. is on the sick list.

• Gilbert Banker motored to Pine Hill on Friday.

• Frank Coulter and family were Delhi visitors Tuesday.

• Mrs. Carrie Doig is visiting her brother in Walton.

• The Thank Offering at the U.P. church amounted to $528.

• A.P. Lee is preparing to erect a modern barn on the Lee homestead.

• From a supper the Young Woman’s Missionary Society cleared $32.70.

• Elmer Hastings, of Saranac Lake, is renewing acquaintances in town.

• Mrs. Walter G. Coulter had her toe severely injured when a soap stone fell on it. [This is Margaret Strangeway Coulter, mother of Ruth Coulter Parsons and Celia Coulter.]

• The friends of Mr. and Mrs. Benj Schofield made them a visit Monday evening.

• Harry Robinson and Miss Mary Thomson were at South Kortright on Tuesday. [This might be Harry Robertson, not Robinson, but I’m not sure.]

• Mr. and Mrs. Arnold VanDusen, of Oneonta, spent Sabbath with his parents here.

• Mr. and Mrs. James A. Gow spent over Thanksgiving with their sons in Endicott.

• Robert E. Thomson and wife and Norton Forrest spent Thanksgiving at George Cable’s in Delhi.

• It is reported that Mr. Miner, who has been living in the A.B. Phyfe house, will move to Big Indian.

• Mr. Smith, who has been on Barney Johnson’s farm in the upper part of the town, has moved to John Blair’s farm.

• Frank Drake has moved from the Dickson house to the A.W. Baker farm uptown, known as the Fred Johnson place.

• Owing to the absence of the pastor there will be no preaching in the U.P. church on Sabbath. Sabbath school at 12 o’clock.

• Edgar Lee, who has a position as a pharmacist in Buffalo, spent over the weekend with his father, John B. Lee in Tuttle Hollow. [Edgar became a successful pharmacist in Delhi, running Lee’s Pharmacy for many years. His daughter Lucile would marry Willard Frisbee.]

• Mrs. Lucy Coulter spent Thanksgiving with her son Ward Coulter, at Walton, and also attended the 30th anniversary of the marriage of her brother, William Ward at Colchester Station.

• Mrs. Dixon Thomson and Mrs. Wm Armstrong received word Monday that their brother, Frank Kaufman, died in Kingston on Sabbath, November 29. Death was due to shock. He was connected with the Kaufman ice cream business. 

• Professor Leon Taggart and family, of Oneonta, Frank Dickson and family, from Little Delaware, were at T.C. Strangeway’s on Friday. Mrs. Dickson remained until Monday to help care for her mother, who is confined to her bed with grip poisoning.

Had Delicate Operation

Wm. H. Irvine, a Former Bovina Boy, Has Operation for Tumor on Brain

William H. Irvine, a former Bovina boy, now a business man of Seattle, Washington, is improving in St. Mary’s hospital at Rochester, Minn, after an operation for tumor at the base of the brain, performed on November 26.  He was on the operation table three hours and went through a very painful and trying ordeal, only a local anesthetic being used so that he was conscious during the entire time.  A partition of the skull over and above the tumor was removed and a quantity of the fluid drained from the tumor, but the tumor itself was not taken out.  The surgeons hope by radium and x-ray treatment to dry up the tumor in time, but think it will likely continue to fill up with the fluid may have to [be] drained several times before recovery is complete.  When the section of the skull that was removed was replaced a small opening was left over the spot where the tumor is, before the flesh and skin were replaced.  This will allow easy drainage of the tumor without the severe operation that was performed last week.  [Bill Irvine recovered enough to make a trip back east a year later. He had a second operation in 1928 but sadly, it was all for naught. He died in 1929 at the age of 41.]

December 11, 1925

• Mr. and Mrs. Loron Maxim visited his mother at Fleischmanns on Sabbath.

• Born to Mr. and Mrs. Guy Rockefeller, Thursday morning, December 10, a son. [This was Bill Rockefeller. He married Marge Thomas and passed away in 2005.]

• Robert Robinson was at Andes on Tuesday attending the funeral of his sister-in-law.

• Mr. and Mrs. C.S. Gladstone and daughter attended church at Andes on Sabbath evening.

• Thomas Miner, who has been employed at the dry milk plant, moved to Big Indian on Tuesday.

• Mr. Hoyt, who has been living on the James Henry Dean farm for past two or three years, is very low with cancer of the stomach.

• Mrs. M.M. Wright, who teaches in the Armstrong district, had an exciting experience Tuesday morning.  In coming down the hill on the state road from Andes her car skidded on the slippery road and went around and into the ditch.  One tire was torn off.  Fortunately Harry Robinson came along and put on another tire for her and helped her get righted.

Resolutions on the Death of Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor Raitt

The Women’s Missionary Society of Bovina Cener desire to pay this tribute of love and respect to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor Raitt, wife of John Raitt, ruling Elder in this congregation for a great number of years.

In the passing of Mrs. Raitt we have had taken from among us, and from our membership one who was truly a saint of Israel.

She was a Charter member of the Women’s Missionary Society; quiet and unassuming in her nature but always interested in the activities that were for the building up of Christ Kingdom at home in the mission fields. Her long life of over ninety years was truly a benediction and the fragrance of it remains with us.

For a number of years feebleness of body and distance from the place of meeting prevent her from meeting with us, but she always maintained her interest in the work, and what was and will be accomplished by her prayers and liberality will only be revealed in the future. In the closing of life, she could truthfully say;

It pays to live in Gods service

Faithfully day by day,

Cheerfully bearing the Chalis

Which shows to others the way.

To the only son and aged Brother we extend our sincere sympathy and commend them to Him who said; As one who his Mother comforteth so will I comfort you.

Mrs. Lucy Coulter, Mrs. Mary Gordon, Mrs. Eliott Thomson; Committee

[Mrs. Raitt had been widowed for many years. She had two children. Her daughter Anna predeceased her in 1910. She was the grandmother of John Raitt, who was Delaware County Historian and wrote several volumes of local history, including his “Ruts in the Road” series.]

December 18, 1925

• The Willing Workers made Mrs. W.B. Smith a surprise Monday.

• Mrs. Everett Joslin and Mrs. Hull are spending the week in New York City.

• Mrs. Walter McDivitt , of South Kortright, has been visiting in town a few days.

• Mrs. William T. Forrest, of Lake Delaware, is spending a few weeks in New York City.

• George Miller is improving his barn on the old Kinmuth place, re-siding it and making other repairs. [This was later the residence of Clark and Gladys Lay. George Miller was Clark’s maternal grandfather.]

• The second number of the Bovina lecture course was a lecture by Ward Flexington last Friday night.

• Mrs. William M. Armstrong, who has been ill several months, does not improve as her friends would wish.

• Supervisor Wallace B. Smith is in Delhi this week attending the closing sessions of the board of Supervisors.

• Mrs. and Mrs. Abram Foremeu and Mr. and Mrs. Ed McCumber, of Poughkeepsie, spent the weekend with their parents in town. [Foremeu might be Foreman but I’m not sure.]

• Mr. and Mrs. Collin Reside of Shavertown and Mrs. Bell Reside of Andes, were visiting their cousin Mrs. David D. Liddle, Tuesday.

• Mrs. Anna Ruff, formerly of this town, who lives in Delhi, has gone to Abescon, N.J. to spend the winter with her brother, M.H. White. [Anna was the widow of William Ruff, who died in 1912. Anna died in 1943.]

• Mr. and Mrs. E.G. Gladstone, who left Bovina about 16 years ago and went to Crested Butte, Colorado, have moved to Farr, Colorado, where another of the Fuel & Iron Co. mines is located.  The altitude of their new location is about 2,000 feet lower.

Gerry House Started

Henry Connor, of Walton, has the contract for the cellar of the new house of Miss Angelica Gerry at Lake Delaware, and it must be finished in April.  The location is on the highest point of the J.K. Russell place, the former Hogaboom farm.  It is found the foundation is on solid rock and the stone blasted out will be used to build a road to connect with the stone highway running thru the original Gerry estate. [This was Ancram House, which stood until the early 60s.]

Bovina Boys at Cornell

Sheldon Budine, Walton; Howard Dickson, Delhi, and Hugh McPherson, Bovina Center, were the members of the team which represented Delaware at the State Poultry Judging contest at the Cornell Poultry show December 1-3. Their total score was 1,810 which gave them third place with Orange First and Chenango second. 

Was Lake Delaware Girl

Mrs. Bertha Landon died at Great Barrington, Mass., December 3, from cancer. She was born at Lake Delaware and is a daughter of Charles A. Lee. Besides her father she leaves three daughters and two sons. Last spring she was granted a divorce from her husband Dr. F.D. Landon, a veterinary. 

December 25, 1925

• Fred Thomson was a Delhi caller Monday.

• C.S. Gladstone and family were Andes shoppers Saturday evening.

• A Christmas tree and exercises were held at the U.P. church Thursday evening.

• Frank Palmer has moved from the Dickson big house to Arch Phyfe’s tenant house.

• Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Burgin visited her sister, Mrs. Harvey Robertson at Andes on Friday.

• William C. Russell, who had been helping his sisters in southern Bovina returned home Saturday.

• Mrs. and Mrs. Alfred Russell and children and Mr. and Mrs. William C. Russell were at Delhi on Monday. 

• Paul Furhman has purchased the McCune house and lot for $1,250 and will open a barber shop in the old grocery building. [This was later owned by Florence and Clayton Thomas and currently is owned by Tom Hetterich.]

• John Northrup, who lives on what is known as the Margaret Hoy farm, underwent an operation for appendicitis at Delhi last Thursday afternoon.

• Mr. and Mrs. Millard Gow and son, and Mr. and Mrs. Willard Gow, of Endicott, are here to spend over Christmas with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jas A. Gow.

• C.J. Hoyt, who for about two years had been employed at Len Smith on the former James Henry Dean farm, died on Thursday afternoon, December 17, from cancer of the stomach. His age was about 60 years.

• Those home for the holidays are: Mabel Thomson, Winstead, Conn; William Gordon, Pratts Institute, Brooklyn; Margaret Gordon, Albany Teachers’ College; Jane Hilson, South Orange, J.J.; Caroline Dickson, Vermont; Professor and Mrs. Geo Baldwin, Spring Valley.

This Day in Bovina for November 2025

Ninety-six years ago today, the Catskill Mountain News on the front page of its November 1, 1929 issue printed an article that originally appeared in the Delaware Republican with the headline "CITY ENGINEERS PLAN DAM ON THE LITTLE DELAWARE." The paper noted that if the plans reached fruition, "properties at the 'Hook' including the beautiful St. James' chapel and community house erected by Miss Angelica Gerry…" would be flooded. The article went on to note that "nothing may come of all this…." but noted that "there may be 'more truth than fiction' in the rumors of the Little Delaware dam project; the fact may be nearer than we think."

166 years ago today, on November 2, 1859, Robert J. Forrest, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Forrest, died at the age of 4 years, 6 months and 19 days. He died as the result of being scalded. The hired girl had left a pail of water on the floor while getting more. The little boy was playing with the water in the pail when he heard the girl coming back. He was afraid he would be scolded and backed away from the pail, falling against a pot of boiling water which proceeded to spill on him. He lived for a couple of days after the accident.

167 years ago today, November 3, 1858, Edward O’Connor signed this document submitting his claim for expenses as commissioner of highways.  O’Connor is noted in history as one of the two men sentenced to hang for the killing of Undersheriff Osman Steele during the Anti-Rent War in 1845.  O’Connor’s sentence was commuted to life in prison, and he was released from prison within about a year.  He had been a town official before going to prison and resumed participating in town government after his release. 

This image of Edwin LaFever taken by Delhi photographer Harold McMurdy in 1940. My great uncle Ed was born in 1914, the son of Sylvan A. LaFever and his second wife, Alice Smith. He married Thelma Reinertsen in Bovina the year this photo was taken. Ed and Thelma would have five children and were married until Ed's death in 1975 at the age of 61. Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

About 100 of the 212 women voters in Bovina voted 107 years ago today, November 5, 1918.  As reported later by the Andes Recorder, “Their votes did not change results in the town except to swell the Prohibition vote by about 40.”  Women in New York gained the right to vote in the November 1917.  This was the first time in New York that women were able to vote.  Women suffrage became nationwide in 1920.

117 years ago today, the Bovina column of the November 6, 1908 Andes Recorder reported that "A monument has been erected in the Center cemetery to memory of John and Barbara Lewis." Here's the stone today. 

These two images are of the Bovina Center creamery in the 1910s. They come from Chuck McIntosh's postcard collection. 

142 years ago today, on November 8, 1883, James R. Shackelton was paid $1 for taking a quarantine notice to E.L. Dean. 

These passport images of Mrs. Henry Menke were taken by Delhi photographer Bob Wyer in 1960. Mrs. Menke was born Frieda Petsche and married Henry Menke in 1952. She was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1921 and came to the U.S. after World War II. She was widowed in 2000 and died in 2012 at the age of 90. Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

161 years ago today, on November 10, 1864, tavern keeper Dorcas Aitkin presented this bill for various services to the town, including lodging four recruits likely receiving town bounty to help Bovina meet its quota (who these men were we do not know).  Her hotel/tavern was located where the Jardine house is now located. 

Gordon Coulter entered the blacksmith shop of Gideon Miller to learn the trade 118 years ago today, November 11, 1907.  Gordon probably is Elton Gordon Coulter (1891-1945), the son of David and Lucy Coulter and an uncle to Grace Coulter Roberts.

This image of the Francis Coulter family was in the collection of images from Martena Monroe Kellem. Francis was a grandson and namesake of the original Coulter settler. Born in 1831, he married Loruhama Henderson in 1857. They had five children, all of whom made it to adulthood. This image shows the five children. Hannah (1870-1933) and Walter (1862-1900) are in the back row, James (1872-1900) is in the middle and Margaret (1868-1915) and Elizabeth (1860-1937) are in front. Martena was the daughter of Margaret Coulter, who married James Monroe in 1893.  Sadly, the two brothers, Walter and James, died 11 days apart in March 1900, both of pneumonia. James' wife, Minnie Miller, died a few days after her husband and two days before her brother-in-law, also of pneumonia. Loruhama died in January 1909 and her husband followed her to the grave six months later, after an illness of over 10 years. 

128 years ago today, November 13, 1897, as later reported in the Delaware Republican: "Lester Hoy, son of Thomas Hoy of Bovina, died of consumption Sunday, aged 22. Mr. Hoy was a very exemplary young man and had a wide circle of friends who will mourn his early death." Two years later, his brother William’s wife Robena gave birth to a son who was named for his uncle Lester. This later Lester Hoy is the one who lived in the Hoy family home, now the home of Tim and Tamara McIntosh.

In 1946, Delhi photographer Bob Wyer took a series of aerial pictures around Bovina in a plane piloted by Eddie Davidson. This is an image of Lake Delaware at the Gerry estate. The Lake House is partially hidden by trees. Lee Hollow is at the upper right. Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. Wyer Aerials 058 Gerry Estate

Thirty years ago today, the November 15, 1995 Walton Reporter carried this Bovina column by Ann Cairns: 

Eighty-six years ago today, the Bovina column of the November 16, 1939 Delaware Republican reported that "Mrs. Elizabeth McNair has returned to Binghamton to spend the winter with her son, Raymond, and family after spending the summer with her daughter Mrs. J.W. McCune." She would die at her son's home a few months later in April 1940. Mrs. McNair was born in 1852, the daughter of James and Jane Crosier. She married Peter McNair in 1869 and would have four children. Peter died in 1908. She is buried in the Bovina Cemetery.

104 years ago today, on November 17, 1921, Mina Wilson signed this oath of office as the Tax Collector for the town of Bovina. She was the town's first female office holder. More about Mina can be found on the Bovina NY History blog at http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/11/bovinas-first-female-office-holder.html

Sunset View Farm on Russell Hill Road was one of the earliest boarding establishments. Run by Martha Bergman Russell, she started the business in the 1920s. The late Dorothy Ryder was introduced to Bovina by spending summers at Mrs. Russell’s. The rate was $12.50 per week for adults and children over ten years old. Children aged five to ten were $8.00 a week; children under five were charged $5.00 per week. Today it is a private residence. 

146 years ago today, November 19, 1879 Alexander Meyers was married to Isabelle Laing.  The couple would be married for almost 68 years.  In 1939, the couple celebrated their 60th anniversary with a party given for them in the Bovina UP Church parlors.  Bob Wyer photographed the event. Alex died in 1947 at the age of 91.  His wife Isabelle died 4 years later in 1951, when she was 90 years old.  

In 1946, Delhi photographer Bob Wyer took a series of aerial pictures around Bovina in a plane piloted by Eddie Davidson. This is a view of Tunis Lake when the Tunis Lake Camp was still in existence. Established by Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Mirski in 1922, they sold it in 1944. The camp, originally a boys’ camp, became co-ed in the 60s. It operated until 1970. Image courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

205 years ago today, on November 21, 1820, William Murray was born in Bovina, the son of William Murray and Jean Black. He married Rachel Merwin in 1850 and died in Delhi in 1887 at the age of 66.

 

148 years ago today, the Andes Recorder, November 22, 1877, reported that "A number of cases of typhoid fever and other diseases, thirteen cases in all, are reported from Bovina.”

124 years ago today, the November 23, 1901 Walton Reporter carried this article about the new Bovina Center Creamery: "The Bovina Center Cooperative creamery building is completed and

the company will open it for business on January 1, 1902. The buildings are all first class and satisfactory and the outlook is very good. The officers are Wm. A. Hoy. president; Douglas Davidson, vice president; Jas. A. Thompson. secretary and treasurer. The directors are, W. A. Hoy. Alex Hilson, Silas T. Rockefeller, Douglas Davidson and James A. Thompson.

132 years ago today, the Andes Recorder's November 24, 1893 issue, reported that "A son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Gow, and a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Barnhart, all of Bovina." Sadly, the son of James and Willamina Gow died a couple of days after this was reported. The Barnhart daughter was my grandmother, Anna Bell, who died in 1980 at the age of 86. 

Earl Harold Miller, son of John M. Miller of Bovina, and Miss Rachel Mary Sullivan, of St. Paul, Minnesota, were married 111 years ago today, November 25, 1914, in Minnesota. Miller was living in Minnesota by then, but had grown up on Pink Street, the son of John and Bertha Miller, at the farm that later became Suits Us Farm. He was a lawyer in St. Paul and ran for congress there (unsuccessfully) in 1920. Earl died in 1955 in Walton and is buried in Bovina.

Eighty-eight years ago today, the November 26, 1937 Otsego Farmer (published in Cooperstown), carried this item on its front page: "Residents of the upper end of Delaware county are looking forward to uninterrupted, sleep following the arrest of Walfred Hansen, aged twenty-four of Bovina, picked up by Corp. Harold Bentley and Trooper Russell Coons of the Stamford outpost of Troop C, State Police, who charged him with having a siren on his private car. Arraigned before Justice of the Peace Omar Edwards at Stamford, Hansen pleaded guilty, paid a five-dollar fine and promised to remove the noise-maker from his car."

142 years ago today, the Bovina column in the November 27, 1883 issue of the Stamford Mirror reported that "D.L. Thomson has finished his job of tinning the roof of the R.P. Church." This church stood where the playground and fire hall now stand. It was taken down in 1943. 

Charles F. Smith was married to Christina Lamont 169 years ago today, November 28, 1856.  This was his second marriage.  Born in Scotland in 1824, he first married Annie Williamson, by whom he had two children before her death in November 1855.  There were no children from the second marriage.  Charles was widowed again in 1898 and he died 10 years later in 1908.  He ran the hotel at what is now Jardine's for many years.

107 years ago today, on November 29, 1918, John Elliot moved from his house on Maple Avenue "to the Thomas Miller house."  The following Monday, Mrs. John Irvine, the mother of Isabell Russell, moved into the Elliott house (now the home of Tony and Norma Gabriele).  Note: I’m still trying to figure out which house was the "Thomas Miller house."

Eighty-one years ago today, the Bovina column in the November 30, 1944 Delaware Republican Express had this item: "Mr. and Mrs. Alex Hilson have a son, born on November 24th; his name is James Alexander." This is Jim on the left with his parents and siblings, taken in 1952.